#hey dead son! *gets spranged*

[darthpastry]

If Cassidy was there when William got springlocked then Evan probably was too. I wonder what sort of emotions Evan was going through? Imagine watching your abusive dad choke on his own blood after trying to escape the kids he murdered.

[nogitsunbae]

I posted 7,084 times in 2022

That's 7,084 more posts than 2021!

326 posts created (5%)

6,758 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ickypuppi3

@every-dayiwakeup

@billiammayfield

@deedoop

@junkyardcamaro

I tagged 1,296 of my posts in 2022

#mungrove - 121 posts

#billy hargrove - 71 posts

#harringrove - 57 posts

#skz - 56 posts

#harringroveson - 55 posts

#hellcheer - 17 posts

#abuse tw - 14 posts

#actual sunshine of my life - 13 posts

#👀👀👀👀 - 13 posts

#yes - 11 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#billy watched him go didn’t say anything else pulled the list out of his back pocket and saw the word sugar in susan’s messy handwriting.

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Hopper took Billy in after Neil was arrested.

It was a nightmare, getting a call from El, who was trying so hard to be calm, and all Hopper could hear in the background was Max screaming, crying, telling someone to “please wake up, please!”

Walking into the Hargrove house to see El holding Max, them both huddled next to a crumpled body on the floor, bloody and barely breathing.

Hopper didn’t know Billy that well, but he knew what he was seeing. He crouched down and rolled Billy over, asked El what the hell happened, and when the only response he got was Max whispering “Neil,” he knew.

He called an ambulance, got Billy to the hospital, and promptly waited for Neil Hargrove to get back from wherever the fuck he went after almost beating his son to death.

That was three years ago. Billy had been 16, scared, angry, wild. After he was released from the hospital Hopper had offered, mostly because Jane had that look in her eyes that said she knew more than she said, and surprisingly the teen boy had said yes.

So he moved in, his trashy band posters in his new tiny bedroom, more ashtrays added to the ones Hopper already had, and now Hopper had to not only deal with El wanting sleepovers and new clothes and trips to the mall, but also Billy blaring his music and rolling home at 3 am.

It wasn’t an easy transition, but they made it work. Billy would flinch every time Hopper so much as moved in his direction, would scream and shout at him, would knock over shit just to get a reaction, but he never did.

Then, one day, kind of similar to when the first autumn wind blows in, things had seemed to have changed.

El and Max were best friends. Billy didn’t mind driving them places. He stopped flinching when Hopper looked at him. Started talking more. Started bringing his own friends over.

Hopper had to reinstate the 3-inch rule whenever Steve Harrington came into the picture.

Three years, and he became part of Hopper’s little family, which by then had grown to include Joyce and her boys, and also, since Billy had taken a shining to him, Steve, who didn’t have much for parents, either.

Three years, and then Billy was 19 and leaving, back to California, to the sun and waves that he always talked about. Steve was already in the car, waiting, and Billy stood in front of Hopper, leaning his weight from foot to foot.

“Thanks,” he had said, blushing and looking down at his feet. He didn’t hug, still, and that was fine, Hopper knew.

He didn’t know if he would ever hear from the boy again, hoped he would, but the bittersweet tears sprang to his eyes as he watched the Camaro zoom away, because Billy was gone.

Two weeks later, Hopper was making breakfast with Joyce for the kids, when the phone rang. He groaned, already thinking of the bullshit work had for him now, and picked it up.

“Hey, Dad… we made it.”

1,722 notes - Posted September 18, 2022

#4

Billy is dead. He’s dead and gone and Steve and Max are going insane, actually, because Steve will trip over a crack in the sidewalk and hear manic laughter, Max will be listening to music and hears what she thinks is “this is a terrible fucking song, shitbird” in her headphones over the song, Steve keeps waking up at night to the smell of cigarette smoke, Max keeps hearing an engine rev in the distance.

Finally one of them breaks and just screams “Billy you piece of shit, you’re dead!” and all the lightbulbs in the room smash, they hear the Camaro roaring in their ears, and someone is screaming so loudly the walls shake.

Billy isn’t quite dead and gone, yet.

1,989 notes - Posted August 20, 2022

#3

Billy gives Steve a mixtape and Steve thinks it’s going to be dirty metal songs about sex and drugs and driving too fast. He fondly rolls his eyes at Billy, who’s just smiling, wicked lips upturned and tongue sweeping his bottom lip.

“You trying to turn me on to your trashy music?”

Billy leans in, gives him a kiss, cotton candy sweet and melting on Steve’s tongue.

“See you tomorrow, Pretty Boy?”

“Of course, weirdo.”

Billy walks to his car, rolling out of the quarry and leaving dust in his wake. Steve scoffs and gets in the Beamer. Didn’t really look at tape in his hands before shoving it into the tape deck. Expects his speakers to explode with heavy metal.

Instead.

Instead he hears Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix. Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd.

Finally, he hears Going to California by Led Zeppelin, and he doesn’t realize he hasn’t driven home, hasn’t left the quarry, is sitting in his car and crying and realizing he’s so, achingly so, in love.

The tape pops out, and Steve finally looks at it, teary eyed, and lets out a laugh, because written on the front, there in Billy’s perfect handwriting, is a question Steve knew Billy wouldn’t ask him with words. So he asked him with music instead.

“California?”

2,231 notes - Posted August 10, 2022

#2

“Billy you can’t just punch Vecna in the face.”

“I’m gonna clock that motherfucker.”

“We have a plan!”

2,291 notes - Posted July 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Billy and Eddie after fucking Steve

2,456 notes - Posted July 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[cruelsumm3r85]

Chapter One: The Cabin in the Woods

warnings: alcohol use, drug use, strong language, kissing summary: Mary invites her best friend Kristine with their group of friends and boyfriends to her family's cabin for the weakened . word count: 1,419

In a far away jail cell, a cop steps down the hallway, whistling a tune as he approaches a large cell. He grabs his baton and bangs on the door, calling out to the prisoner. No one makes a sound as he does it once again , announcing he's coming in.

The cop grabs the set of key from his pocket, almost fumbling with them before grabbing the right one and putting it in the key hole. Once unlocked, he enters before stepping toward a bed, checking it carefully and cautiously.

The officer extends his arm out, reaching toward the ratty blanket. He throws the covers off as the sight of deceased bodyguard lies dead on the mattress. Blood and guts decorate the mattress and wall around. The cop panics, running out of the cell, almost losing his balance on the way, letting know the other officers what happened.

"Son of a bitch!"

~~~

Seated in her chair and pencil between her teeth as she lightly bites down on the thin piece of wood, staring diligently at the clock above the classroom door. With each second ticking, excitement inside Kristine claws inside her to escape, focusing on her history book below and listening to the teacher finish her lesson.

With a sudden ring of the bell that sits on the wall above the chalkboard causes many students to rise from their seats and clear out the room. Kristine is one of the last students to leave, shouldering her bag. She quickly swept up her items and stepped out of the small classroom, watching her friends meet up with their boyfriends, and leaving the building. Kristine slides her phone out of her pocket, glancing at the She suddenly something felt off... almost an eerie feeling creeping up on her. Like someone was watching her.

Suddenly though, her boyfriend sprang out of nowhere and wrapped his arms around her waist. Kristine's back was pressed against his chest as she was tensing up with a shriek escaping her mouth. She soon calmed down when she sees who it is, turning to face him.

"You scared me,"

"I'm sorry, baby. Give me a kiss." He said, puckering his lips.

Elizabeth connected her lips to Joe's, pulling back after a few seconds. "Oh, we are going up to Mary's family cabin for the summer. It was originally an Airbnb, but her family purchased it. Wifi, a pool, alcohol."

"I... uh, y-yeah... Let's do it." He smiles.

"Alright. I'll send you the details when Mary sends me the time and date."

The young couple exit the building before rushing toward his vehicle that sits untouched in the half desolate parking lot. When they get to car, Steve leans against his 2015 Chevrolet SS with his hands settled in his pants pockets. Kristine steps up to him, grinning.

"Someone's in a good mood."

"I am," She speaks, pressing her lips against his. After a few seconds, they pull back.

Steve pulled his hands from his pockets, wrapping them around her waist and kissing Kristine on the lips. They stay a couple more seconds, not wanting to let each other go. Her phone begins to ring whilst she ignores it, continuing to makeout with Steve. He tells her to ignore the call, but she pulls away and answers the call.

"Hey, Cheryl. What's going on?"

"Can, uh, you help me with something... in the bathroom?"

"Uh, sure. Where are you...exactly?"

"In the universities restroom,"

"Okay, I'll be there. Give me a sec."

Kristine hangs up her phone and looks into Steve's eyes.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Cheryl needs my help."

He nodded, likely knowing what the cause is related to. She steps away from him, entering the school once again before finding Cheryl into the women's bathroom. She sits perched on the toilet, knees together as she holds a box of Clearblue at home pregnancy tests. Fear plastered on her face with tears welling up in her eyes. Kristine's eyes widen, knowing that this is real. She makes eye contact with the other female, leaning against the stall entrance.

"Whatever happens, you'll be okay. If you are pregnant, I can try and help in any way possible."

Cheryl nodded, handing Kristine the box as she begins opening it, pulling out the test along with the directions. After a few seconds, she hands the test stick to Cheryl and lets her do her business, exting the stall. She closes the door, continuing to look over the directions to make sure she is telling the other female the correct information. Soon, Cheryl tells her that she's done and holds the stick in her hand. She puts the cap on before stepping out of the stall, and over to the counter.

Kristine reads off the instructions once again, processing the information herself while the other female does what the paper tells. She proceeds to set a timer, to let it run its course. Once finished, the blonde haired girl comes and stands beside the brunette as she watches the test carefully. After some time -- long awaiting -- Cheryl's phone rings, turning of her alarm and looking at Kristine, who stands there silent.

She attempts to grab the test, but hesitates before swiping it from the counter and seeing her results. Cheryl then brings her hands over her mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes, leaning again the counter and stared at the pregnancy test in her hand. She turned toward Kristine before being brought into her embrace as Cheryl cried into her shoulder.

She look up and at Kristine with serious utterance. "It's... positive,"

"Okay,"

"I -- I can't do this. I'm only twenty two, I can't raise a baby." Cheryl sobs. "I-I think I'm gonna get an abortion so I can live out my life the way I want to."

"Don't worry, we can get you the abortion you want. That is if you want to go that route..."

"I don't know, honestly. I need time think about it for a while. And, I need to tell Thomas. I think it should be thought out by both of us."

"Okay. That's alright. If you need anything I'm here."

"Thank you, Tina. That's sweet of you. But I think it's best if I deal with this. It's my problem anyway."

"Okay."

The two girls toss the test in a nearby trash can as Kristine covers it up with tissue paper, hiding it from the view of other people before trudging into the hallway, parting ways with her friend.

She enters the vehicle, closing her beside her. Kristine slides on the seatbelt before sitting in her spot. A sigh escapes from between her lips, looking at Steve.

"Is Cheryl okay? You were in there for a while."

"Yeah, she's fine. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Ye-- No, I'm not. I'm worried for her."

"Okay. Why?"

"Because she's pregnant with Thomas' baby."

"Thomas?"

"Yes, but please don't tell Cherri that I told you. She still needs to tell him, and possibly her family too. I told her that if she needed help in the future -- if she does have the baby -- then I will help in any way."

Steve nods, focusing on the road in front of him as he pulls out of the deserted parking lot. He pretty much stays silent, eyeing the road while Kristine swallowed and glanced out her window right when her phone pings. She grabs her device, reading the message before putting the phone in her pocket.

"Uh, Steve, I was thinking stopping by Joe's Bar to see what Mary's plans are for the summer."

He nodded. "Okay,"

~~~

That night, Kristine and Steve enter the bar where it's crowded in the little area. TV's play various channels such as sports and late night soap operas, men and women of every kind surround the bar where a lone female quickly prepares various drinks. Kristine steps up to her best friend, greeting the agitated female.

"What can I get for you, Kris?"

"Just a daiquiri. That's all. And Steve, a beer of some kind."

"You got it," Mary responds, quickly putting the drinks together. In the process, she clears her throat. "So, besides drinking, why else are you here?"

"Well, I wanted to see what you had planned for spring break."

"Not anything at the moment. This is the busiest hour for drinks, and since students from Chesterton University are here, they are gonna want a lot of alcohol."

Kristine nodded, leaning her chin against her hand as a pout forms on her face. "What if we go and stay somewhere. You know, like a cabin or something."

Mary handed the daiquiri to Kristine. "My parents have a cabin located in Divide, Colorado. I can see if they are okay with us renting it for the week."

Kristine perked up as she took a sip. Steve stepped toward her, resting a hand on her waist, sitting beside her.

"What's happening?"

"Mary is gonna see if she can rent her parents cabin this week."

Steve nodded. "Okay,"

~~~

The following morning, Kristine quickly gets dressed and to pack up her bag. Stepping into the heated room, she feels the heat rising as she steps toward her window and slides it open. The humid breeze flows through her bedroom as she walks to the opposite of her bed, nudging Steve's shoulder. He groans and shuffles before falling asleep.

"Steve, honey. Hey,"

"Mmm, what?"

"We gotta get packed and leave for the cabin, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, I know."

"Hey! Get up."

He awakes, closing his eyes and exhales. Steve sits up slowly, glancing to the side, seeing Kristine staring at him angrily. He gets up and packs his bag, getting dressed in the process. Grabbing her suitcase, she packs what she needs before zipping the bag. Kristine then throws on some clothes then pins her hair back, hooking a gold necklace around her neck with small, gold earrings. She finally throws on simple makeup and does her hygiene routine.

Eventually, Barbara is fully ready as she steps out of her bedroom with her suitcase in hand and her shoulder bag as it hangs there. Steve trailed behind her with his bag before they walked toward his vehicle, setting the bags in the trunk then sliding into the passenger and driver's seat.

~~

They finally make it to Colorado, where Mary's cabin awaits. Steve parks the rental vehicle on the long driveway, killing the ignition and exiting. Kristine quickly gets out of the vehicle, greeting Mary and Pamela where their bags sit near the entrance. Garrett and Cheryl arrive, getting out of the vehicle and greet their friends. In the back, a moody teenager and her friend exit. The blonde's arms were folded against her chest. She scoffed. Everyone soon gets inside where the temperature is just right.

"Hey!"

"How was the flight. Wasn't too bad, right?"

"Yeah, it was fine. This place is... amazing! Holy shit!"

"Right? It was built in 1975, and was used by my grandparents and parents when we'd go camping. However, it was last sold to a company for cabin rentals. Fortunately, My dad despised the cabin being used by other people besides us, so he bought the cabin back in 2004, and since then, it's been my parents. Though, for tonight, it's ours."

"That's great! How much did your dad buy it for?"

"Over two hundred, sixty-five grand,"

"Jesus! That's a lot of money."

"It was my grandfather's and since he died, and we needed something to remember him by."

"That's sweet of your dad,"

"Isn't it?"

~~

Later that night, everyone sits around a cozy fire as marshmallows and Hershey's chocolate sit on a little tray with graham crackers. Cheryl took a seat when a cool breeze blows past as Garrett approached her, greeting her with a smile. She practically avoided his eye contact, glancing at her phone.

"I hope you all don't mind my sister staying with us for the week. As a slight punishment, my mom told me to bring my sister due to possession of marijuana. And now, her friend wanted to come. So, I don't know if this is a real punishment, or not. But she's stuck with us."

"Jeez,"

"It's fine with me. But if she breaks something, you both replace it." Mary retorts, nibbling on a graham cracker.

"Ha ha. No, your daddy can pay for it." Garrett sarcastically speaks. "We're low on money. My mom is struggling to pay for things, although, her rich boyfriend whisked her away on a cruise. That's another reason that little brat is with us."

They laugh.

Soon Judith and her friend stepped onto the stone pavement and over to two empty chairs, slinking inside it as Pamela offers the two teens two crisp marshmallows. Judith thanks the older female, grabbing it carefully with two graham crackers. The brunette beside her, quickly added a piece of Hershey's chocolate as they eat the s'mores.

"So, how many people are staying for the next few nights?" Kristine questioned.

Mary looks toward Kristine and Steve. "Just the eight of us, I suppose."

She smiles. "Okay,"

"Just a night, or two." Cheryl spoke, shuffling in her seat. "I have an online appointment tomorrow."

Her feet were pressed firmly on the ground beneath her.

"For what?" Garrett asked.

Cheryl rises from her seat. "Personal issues. Hey, I'm gonna get some air."

"You okay?" Mary interrogated with furrowed brows.

"Y-Yeah, probably sick from the altitude."

"Okay,"

~~

Cheryl's point of view.

She walks away the campfire and toward the large home. Stepping onto the lit front porch, she closes the door behind her. Tears well up in her eyes before sobbing in her hands when the door opens behind her. Garrett approached the upset female, leaning his back against the railing. He held a beer and managed to make eye contact with a shaken Cheryl.

"I'm pregnant." She announces in a vague tone.

Garrett stayed silent, now downing half the bottle. Without Cheryl's knowledge, he felt lightheaded as he managed to hold himself up against the wooden rails. However, he didn't want to break anything.

"Did you hear that I'm pregnant. I just... just wanted to know if you--"

"Yup, I got all of it. I just... I just need to think about it."

The awkward silence rises on both of them. The crickets chirp around them and a gentle breeze flows through the strands of Cheryl's blonde hair. Garrett finally decided to break the soundlessness.

"We used condoms. This only happens to other people."

"I know,"

"We should not be in this situation. Damn it." He paused, staring at the ocean of trees before continuing. "Listen, um... It is your choice. I don't mean it as a cop-out because this, obviously affects me too. And, I support whatever you choose."

Cheryl nodded, making eye contact with him. "Thank you."

He flashed a small smile, standing straight and bringing the anxious female into his arms. Tears well up in her eyes once again, laying her head in the crook of his neck beginning to cry once again.

Little did they all know is that a psycho from the ward has escaped and is hiding in the nearby woods, awaiting his next victim.

[realjoearts]

Zira Pup’s Adventure

(Original) (Unfinished)

authors note: this story has a continuity issue regarding Zira (Mud Foot) and Shadow Pup’s relationship as they weren’t always brothers in the canon (though they are now) and also a few of the characters named here have been renamed (such as Dragon Pup) or are in a grey area of existence (Ginger Pup) (i don’t know what to do with her). this is about Mud Foot’s vivid dreams of the past and the past as his dreams show him the death of Dawn Star and the life of Colt Foot (at the time Colt Pup). i’m definitely going to rewrite this one and finish it in the future.

•✦•·······································•✦•·········································•✦•

“Hey everyone look it’s dirt pup” yapped Shadow Pup. There were giggles across the nursery. Zira Pup bowed his head. “Aww is Dirt Pup going to cry” yapped Dragon Pup “Now Shadow Pup and Dragon Pup stop being so mean to Zira Pup” growled Dove Feather. She licked her son’s head and he lay next to Ginger Pup and slept. “Are you okay Zira Pup” whispered Violet Wing “I’m fine” Zira Pup replied. Violet Wing was Zira Pup’s foster mother since his mother abandoned him and left him in the dirt. Zira Pup lay at the round curve of her belly. He nestled into her soft belly fur and drifted into a sleep were a horrible nightmare came over him.

Zira Pup sprang awake shaking violently tears in his eyes. His fur was bristled from the top of his nose to the tip of his tail. When he suddenly awoke Pine Barb and Claw Face we’re visiting there pups. Violet Wing sprung to his aid licking his bristled fur flat or as flat as it would stay. Zira Pup was panting and was shaking so much he felt sick. He fell back he could feel Violet Wing’s soft fur on his back but his vision was blurred and there was a ringing in his ears. He wanted it too stop soon because the pain us unbearable. The she wolves and there mates crowded round him. “Someone get Flame Foot” cried Tober Wing. Pine Barb rushed out the den his foot steps fading into the night. Then everything stopped the pain suddenly vanished his vision became clear and he stood on his paws. The she wolves stood there in shook at the sight of the pup who lay on the floor a few seconds ago in horrible pain arise to his paws like nothing had happened. Pine Barb and Flame Foot rushed in to see the pup on his feet in no pain. “Come with me Zira Pup” barked Flame Foot “O...o..okay” Zira Pup stuttered. They both marched out the nursery into the night.

The forest was dark Zira Pup turned to see the Nursery being swallowed by the darkness before disappearing into the night.  

Flame Foot cheeked Zira Pup over but there was nothing wrong. He had never seen anything like it. Flame Foot turned away from the pup and started to sort through leaves and berries. The den was silent no words were spoken, no birds singing and no stars shining just the frost that hung in air from there breathes. “I had a nightmare” whispered Zira Pup breaking the silence. “You did?” replied Flame Foot “Yeah it was horrible” he said a chill ran down his spine at the thought of it “There was a she wolf and a male wolf and there was a flood and and it it the she wolf went under the water and I could hear the ringing in her ears and I could hear the males cries and howls from above and it was really blurry and she died and the male wolf kept crying her name I I think it was Dawn Star but I could barely hear it over the ringing” “Dawn Star” repeated Flame Foot. “Dawn Star is dead and has been for many many moons”. Zira Pup looked up at the Medics deep red pelt. “You mean I I dreamed of a dead wolf” he whispered in fear. “It’s fine Zira Pup... I’m just puzzled I have never seen something like this” he barked “Let me know if it ever happens again” he added. “Now lets get you back to Violet Wing will we” he said heading to the exit “Okay” Zira Pup yapped running to Flame Foot’s red paws. The dawn chorus sung there song as the early morning sun was rising they trotted to the nursery were Violet Wing lay waiting. 

The sun was high in the sky and the pups were wide awake playing with there litter mates and having fun. Zira Pup lay at the curve of Violet Wing’s belly his head resting on his paws. “Are you not going to play with Meadow Pup, Dawn Pup and Ginger Pup?” Violet Wing asked “No I don’t wanna go playing with feathers” he replied “How about you play fight with Dusk Pup, Shadow Pup and Dragon Pup?” She added “No they don’t like me playing with them they said I was to weak to play” he barked. “I’d rather stay with you” He barked rolling onto his belly to stretch. 

Zira Pup was awoken by Violet Wing that night. He looked up at her to see she was in great pain. “Violet Wing are you okay” Zira Pup whispered “No Zira go get Flame Foot” she barked. Zira Pup rolled out of the leaf nest and dashed out the den heading down the same path he took last moon high. “Flame Foot Violet Wing needs you!” Zira Pup panted. Flame Foot turned and ran out the medic den Zira Pup trotting at his heals. They arrived at the Nursery were Violet Wing lay panting “Tober Wing!” barked Flame Foot. Tober Wing opened her eyes to see Flame Foot standing over her “Oh... Brother what is it?” Tober Wing said half asleep “I need you to take care of Zira Pup tonight” he whispered. Tober Wing looked over at Violet Wing before she replied “Of course” she replied. “Zira Pup you’ll be sleeping her tonight” she whispered making a space between Cloud Pup and Berry Pup “But I want to be with Violet Wing” he barked sitting down. “Come on over” whispered Tober Wing. He was to sleepy to say no so he went over and laid between Cloud Pup and Berry Pup and dozed off. 

Zira Pup was awoken by Cloud Pup fidgeting in his sleep. He lay his head on his paws looking out at the forest that was covered in a light layer of frost and shone in the early dawn sun. Dawn Star he thought Who was Dawn Star? His thoughts were interrupted by a shadowy figure standing at the entrance blocking the early morning sun. “Cloud Pup get up we’re going out” said the figure. It was Claw Face of course Cloud Pup was his son so it would make sense Zira Pup thought. A nightmare passed through his mind while he was awake it was of Clod Pup and Claw Face in the meadow Claw Face was fighting another wolf Cloud Pup watching from the cover of a bush and then Claw Face sunk his fangs into the other wolves neck and blood cover the shore and turned the surrounding water red the words flew throughout head as Claw Face uttered Grey Swipe is dead. Cloud Pup sprung to his feet breaking Zira Pup’s thoughts. Zira Pup pretended to sleep as he could feel Claw Face’s eyes piercing through him. Claw Face turned and walked out the den with his son walking beside him. Zira Pup tried sleeping but he couldn’t find comfort against Tober Wing’s rough belly fur. Zira Pup also couldn’t sleep knowing that Claw Face was a murderer but then he found himself dozing of in his own thoughts.

When Zira Pup awoke he realised that Flame Foot and Violet Wing we’re back in the nursery. Zira Pup sprung to his paws slowly walking over. By his surprise there were 3 small bodies laying next to Violet Wing’s belly. “Zira Pup come here” whispered Flame Foot. Zira Pup came closer not making a noise he crouched down and sniffed the pups “They are your new siblings” barked Violet Wing softly. “That one looks like you Flame Foot” Zira Pup barked pointing at a small red pelted body “That’s because they are my pups to” he replied. “Do the pups have names yet?” questioned Tober Wing “They do” whispered Flame Foot. “This one is Red Pup” Flame Foot said licking the small wolves head “And these two are Chaos Pup and Sunny Pup” Violet Wing barked pointing at the golden pup and black pup.

Zira Pup could see the joy in Flame Foot’s eyes as looked at the pups. Zira Pup lay at Violet Wing’s tail and looked at the pups. My new siblings he thought They would never leave me he added. He soon found himself drifting of to sleep as the sunset over the forest. 

Zira Pup woke up. He had an other one of those dreams. Zira Pup could feel a pain in his foot he looked to see what was wrong but there was nothing there. It must be part of the pain the wolf was feeling in his dream he thought. Zira Pup looked at the nursery around him but he didn’t recognise it it wasn’t the same it was different. He looked around at the she wolves in the den and he didn’t recognise any of them, he didn’t recognise any of the pups either. There was a small hole in the roof of the den a puddle lay below it Zira Pup looked at his reflection. He was speechless he couldn’t even recognise himself. “Colt Pup what are you doing up” yawned the she wolf behind him “W..w..where am I?” Panted Zira Pup “Your at home of course” she replied. “You must be excited for the naming tomorrow” she said softly walking over picking him up and laying him back down. “Dove Pup and Wisp Pup are excited to but you need your rest” she said her voice was soft and comforting. Zira Pup looked at the other two pups the lay at the curve of her belly. 

One rolled over on to her belly the other yawned and blinked. “Is it time yet” yawned the white pup “No not yet Dove Pup” she said softly licking her head. Dove Pup’s bushy tail brushed passed the other pup and she sneezed and woke up blinking. “Well maybe now we are all up we can go a walk in the forest” she suggested. The pups jumped around in excitement. “Ok then let’s go” she stood up and stretched and trotted out the den this sent the pups dashing and trampling over each other to spend time outside the den.

It was moon high and the sky was littered with glowing stars. “Wow look at them Colt Pup” yapped Dove Pup pointing her stubby paw to the sky “Wow” said Wisp Pup. Zira Pup looked at the sky and he saw outlines of wolves dancing, playing and looking down at them. “Those are our ancestors all of them are dead some died long ago others died not so long ago” said the she wolf staring at the sky. “Eagle Breeze!” Shouted a voice from down the path “We’re are you going” they panted “I’m going to take the pups on a walk with the pups”Eagle Breeze told him. Zira Pup had never seen this wolf before he was skinny and was bald in some patches and it was hard to say what his pelt colour was because of the moonlight streaming down. “But Eagle Breeze your pups are due any day now” he panicked “It’ll be fine Breeze Fern I’ll be fine and the pups will be fine too” she said calming him down. “Come on pups lets go” she said nudging Wisp Pup to her paws.

The forest was filled with new smells and new sights Dove Pup pounced ahead excitedly Zira Pup raced beside her. Wisp Pup stayed at Eagle Breeze’s Paws never straying a step from her mother. “Look at that” barked Dove Pup who was staring out onto the sandy shore of The RiverSide Pack’s Territory “We can go there can’t we?” asked Dove Pup curiously “No that’s not our territory that is RiverSide’s Territory” she whispered dragging Dove Pup from the edge of the territory. “Mama look”whispered Wisp Pup. A tall male Wolf was headed toward them Zira Pup fell backward and the pups hid between Eagle Breeze’s forepaws as she crouched down trying to be unseen. The wolf stopped in front of them “Eagle Breeze?!” he tilted his head in confusion “Patch Fur?!” she gasped Patch Fur ran over to see Eagle Breeze who was no longer crouching but sitting up.

•✦•·······································•✦•·········································•✦•

to read the writing posts in chronological order you can find a reading order in this post here! (link to be added)

[dannyphantom-justiceleauge]

What are your thoughts on Easton Weston, the supposedly psychic eldest Weston son, & Flynn Walker, the Phandom's rewrite of Hartmen's Flynn Fenton, Ghost Zone hermit, & the lost son of Danny's aunt, Alicia Walker?

For that matter, what do you think of the idea of the au where Warden Walker turns out to be Maddie Fenton's father?

i'm down with whatever. just in general though i find the fact that we're collectively making an extended universe for danny phantom beyond canon. that we just agree on these things enough to establish fandom characters, it's FASINATING. it's just so interesting that we as a collective, a group of people who don't personally know eachother, thousands of people, decided to just adopt wes weston as a character to the point where people coming into this fandom are confused when they see him, because they don't remember his characters.

and then we did it again. i was there for the formation of easton and kyle. it was purely a hey these background characters look like they could be related to wes. and a seperate post was like 'what if we had a charcter who just didn't believe in ghosts despite living in amity. and it was decided lets make him wes's brother. and everyone was like Yeah! and now it's a thing. easton came along after and i don't remember the specifics right now but i'm pretty sure the post is on our blog somewhere. and it was essentially, wouldn't it be funny if the third brother, misunderstood wes's ghost obsession and was actively hiding being part ghost/ psychic from his brother. especially when wes gets accused of being phantom. just a whole narrative sprang up and i love it so much. i love that we as a community are down to yes and each other

flynn was a similar collective thing. where butch initially introduced the character. and we all collectively went "i see your idea but seeing as that's stupid, we're going to do it ourselves and better. like the fenton's losing a son to the first portal and just continuing to build it and never mentioning said son again. jazz and danny never bringing their presumed dead bother up through all the various trauma and presented opportunities to talk about it. bad writing. bad character writing too because it makes everyone involved look like monsters. a cousin, the child of a character that's already established as existing and someone we aren't likely to know or hear about, getting sucked into a natural portal. better.

the drama and intrigue of flynn as a character is so much better if he isn't their brother. the family implications for alicia who got divorced from her husband, presumably partially because her kid went missing and that kind of thing is rough on a family. the implication that ghosts stole a family member being why the fenton parents have it out for ghosts, because they were their through that greif even though it wasn't their kid. the protectiveness we sometimes see when it comes to protecting their kids from ghosts. excellent. the fact that flynn is a human living in the ghost zone. the only human and the loneliness on top of survival skills he would need to develop to make it through that situation. fascinating. i want more of that. giving that human a way back to the real world through danny and just all the potential drama that would bring. yesssss. hell yes. danny and him having a philosophical parallel of not really belonging in either world. the talks of being to ghost to be human, but to human to be ghosts. flynn just having a breadth of knowledge on ghosts and the zone and survival but having no idea how to use money or a computer. the reuniting of him and his mother. the talks of ecto-contamination and the questions of how human flynn is after living in the zone for so long. the implications that might have for danny watching people react to flynn. flynn also being a possible mentor and older brother figure for danny, but his bad habits and hatred of ghosts leaking through and causing issues.

just ahhh i love stories and story telling and all these characters are great for that.

as for maddie and alecia being related to walker. weird coincidence but i'm down with that too because it's interesting to see where that goes. do they recognize their father? does he recognize them. is walker a more distant relative. i'm here for drama, y'all - Hestia

[gaeasun]

I’ll Rest When I’m Dead

Commander Fox Week 2021

Prompt(s): Forgiveness (out of order but whatever)

Warnings: Major Character death (don't worry its not really sad)

Relationships: Fox & Thorn, Fox & Fives

Characters: Fox, Vader, Fives, Thorn, tiny little bit of Dogma and Tup

Additional Tags: I’m pulling a Risk Riordan, Fox needs a hug, Fox needs a nap, and he gets BOTH. Fox gets closure. Clone Heaven, hurt comfort but more comfort than hurt for once

Summary/Description:  CC-1010 is killed by Vader. Fox wakes up and sees brothers he’d never thought he’d see again

@loving-fox-hours @amikoroyai cause it’s Fox related

“You have failed me for the last time, Commander.”

Vader reached out his hand, towards Fox, who never had a choice or a chance, who stood helpless while his neck jerked of his own accord.

A single crack sounded, and Commander Fox slumped to the ground, lifeless.

No one who was there mourned. No one could.

*****

Fox opened his eyes. Strange. He could have sworn he was dead.

Then everything came rushing in, more clear than in years. Fox shot up and began hyperventilating.

“Woah there vod. Easy.”

That voice… the slightest inflection that Fox was able to pick out from the rest. Something Fox had never though he’d hear again.

“Th-Thorn?”

“Yeah, vod. Come on, breathe. You’re safe.”

“I’m dead,” Fox choked out. “I, Vader, he-”

“Shhh,” Thorn said soothingly, and hugged Fox close. “Yeah, you marched on. But hey, nothing worse can happen now. You’re safe, vod, I promise.”

Fox panted into Thorn’s shoulder, until his breathing slowed and he’d stopped panicking. Which happened faster than usual.

“Thorn,” he said suddenly.

“Yeah?” “Thorn.”

Fox sprang up and tackled Thorn. “You slimy son of a shabuir, if you ever do anything like that again, I will having scrubbing the refreshers until-”

“Until what?” Thorn said all too cheekily.

Until the day you die, Fox was going to say. That didn’t exactly work here.

So he just tackled Thorn and pinned him to the ground, and draped himself over him.

“I missed you too,” Thorn said, from underneath Fox. Fox grunted.

After some time, Fox rolled to the side and allowed Thorn to breathe (did they need to breathe?). Thorn flopped an arm across Fox’s chest.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Thorn laughed. “Not that I wanted you to die, but you know how you’d always say, ‘I’ll rest when I’m dead’?”

“I’m dead, why do I need to sleep?” Fox pointed out.

Thorn groaned. “Because you can you di’kut. You finally can rest. No more paperwork, no more working yourself under the waves trying to help everyone around you.”

“No more Palpatine?” Fox said softly.

Thorn flinched, then shook himself. “No more Palpatine,” he promised. “Now come on. You’re taking a nap.”

Standing, Thorn offered a hand to Fox. He accepted, and let Thorn lead them deeper into the forest. Why were they in a forest? Fox had no idea. He’d never even seen a forest. It was nice.

Too nice. In all honesty, it didn’t feel real.

Fox froze.

“What’s wrong?” Thorn tilted his head.

“This can’t be real,” Fox whispered. “It’s too nice. I never get nice. This is all some crazy dream, isn’t it?”

Thorn sighed. “This is real Fox. I’m real. You’re here. Just please, sleep. You’ll feel better when you wake up.”

Fox had already let his mind wander. He numbly moved with Thorn to a large and gnarled tree, where Thorn sat down and pulled Fox down with him.

“Sleep, ori’vod. You’re safe now.”

It went against Fox’s instincts, but he so badly wanted to believe Thorn, he closed his eyes and let Thorns warm presence lull him into sleep.

*****

When Fox opened his eyes, he felt refreshed like he hadn’t in a long time. Night had fallen, but light from a large moon above gave enough visibility in their surroundings.

Thorn stirred underneath him. “How you doing?” he yawned.

“This is real,” Fox’s voice trembled. “This is too good to be a dream. I don’t have good dreams.”

“Aw vod.” Thorn sounded so sad. “Come on. Let’s go find the others. They’re probably at the fires now.” Others?

All the shinies he’d failed, all the brothers he’d watch march on. Here.

“I can’t do this.” Fox found himself hyperventilating again. “I can’t, can’t face them. I let them down, I let them die.”

“You did all you could, and more Fox. Please. Let them tell you that they don’t blame you.”

Fox wanted Wolffe or Cody so badly. But they weren’t here, were they? They were still fighting. Or still trapped in their own heads, more likely. Fox’s fault. He could have stopped it. If only he’d-

“Breathe, Fox.” Thorn pressed his forehead against Fox’s, and patiently waited until Fox had calmed.

Once again, Fox let himself be led, like a tooka kit. Soon Fox heard noises, happy noises. Laughing and banter and cheering. Sounds he hadn’t heard in a long time.

One vod stood above all the others, shouting out a story.

“And then, you know what Tup did? He taunted Krell, may he be dead in horrible agony, and the besalisk fell right into his trap.”

“Kriff Krell,” shouted a vod with a v-shaped tattoo, while a long haired brother laughed in delight next to him. The cry echoed around the vode with much gusto.

“Krell died on his knees, like, like…”

The orator trailed off as he made eye contact with Fox.

Kriff.

Fox tore himself away from Thorn and ignored his shouting as he ran deeper into the forest, further away from the reason he called himself vod’kyramud on the nights where self-pity and shame threatened to drown him.

Someone was chasing him, Fox could hear the rustling behind him.

Fox ran faster and harder, until all the trees blurred together and too fast for him to really dodge-

Fox ran face-first into a tree and collapsed to the ground.

“I don’t think that was your finest moment, vod,” panted someone behind him. Not Thorn.

Fives hoisted Fox up, but Fox let himself fall to his knees, too ashamed to look his, victim, in the eyes.

“Aw jeez,” Fives muttered. “Please, just, don’t.”

I’m sorry, Fox wanted to scream, but his throat was all closed up. I’m so sorry, you were just trying to do your job and I had to do mine-

“Stop,” Fives said firmly, and Fox realized he might have indeed said those words out loud. “It’s ok. You’re right, you know. You never did have a choice.” Fives pulled him up again and held him so he couldn’t fall. “Honestly, I don’t know if Palpatine told you to do it, or you were just trying to protect yourself and your men. But I don’t care. We each just were trying our best, you know?”

Fives chuckled, and pulled Fox so his forehead was against his own. “I’ve had a lot of time to think. To wonder what I was going to say to you, what I was going to do. And even though you don’t need it, you have my forgiveness anyways.”

“I, don’t, deserve it,” Fox sobbed out. If it wasn’t his fault, then why did he feel so painfully guilty?

“It doesn’t matter. I’m giving it to you. Here, take it.” Fives pretended to hand something to Fox, so ridiculous that it pulled a half sob, half chuckle from him.

“Palpatine messed with your head, vod. The more you keep trying to blame yourself, the more you let Palpatine stay there. We were both victims of something so much bigger than either of us.”

Fives turned and pulled him towards the distant fire. “Come one. Why don’t you meet my aliit? They’re a good bunch.”

Fox shuddered. “You’re a good man, Fives. You don’t even need to call me vod. I’m so, so sorry.”

“I know. It’s ok. I forgive you.”

[anothertimdrakestan]

Mommy Issues (Damian Wayne x Reader)

words: 2.2k

req? yes! from a lovely anon!

“Can I request a Damian x Reader soulmate AU fic where you write on your skin and it appears on your soulmate? I had this idea where reader doodles on her arm in class and Dami doodles back, and they start sending little notes in class and one day they ask for each other's names and just look cross the class and lift their arm? and then the school is under villain attack or something and Dami rescues her! I think it could be really cute<3 sorry for the long request”

this is too cute!!! 10/10 great idea i hope my writing brought it to life for you : ) hope you enjoy thank you for the req!

no notes today? you looked at the ink on your arm one last time before rolling down your sleeve. The notes and doodles had just recently started but you’d grown attached quickly- they were from your soulmate after all. However, today was silent, your notes exchanged last night had been washed off before you had woken up and there was nothing waiting for you. This seemed normal at first, whomever your soulmate is, they were always the first to remove the notes, most of the time before the sun fell for the days notes and similarly before dawn for the occasional late night writing. This was strange behavior as most everyone let their soulmates notes and doodles linger until they were just faint ink splotches, but your soulmate was diligent to never leave a trace.

You couldn’t help yourself, pulling up your sleeve to look for an answer but there was none. It was strange as whenever you were in english was when your soulmate was most active. English, what started as the most boring, dull class slowly shifted into the class you remember most fondly. Relishing in the slight tickle that comes from your soulmate drawing little pictures or little notes across your forearm you learned to appreciate the boring lectures your teacher gave as they made the perfect cover for getting to know your soulmate. 

So far, you’d learned your soulmate was a he, with some wild artistic talent, even though he was always complaining about his pen bleeding through the small crinkles in skin as he tried to draw various pictures on your arm. It had only been around a couple days or so since lettering began to show, typically soulmates can start drawing pictures and whatnot that will show through a month or two before lettering fades through the bond as well, then finally your name will bleed through onto the base of your soulmates wrist, giving away the secret to your penpal. As is fate makes you patiently wait your turn, falling in love with the little doodles and notes until you finally know exactly who your soulmate is. 

Your day dreaming was cut short by the familiar tickle on your forearm. Trying to keep calm you slid your sleeve back and watched as the beautiful penmanship appeared. As he wrote you admired the sloppy but exquisite writing, a mix of cursive for speed and lettering for flair that exuded a kind of careless confidence- at least that’s what you’d determined from hours of pouring over the little notes on your skin.

Apologies for the delay, hectic day. You smiled at the formal-ness of the message as it seemed he slipped into that type of writing when he was distracted- god, you needed to stop obsessing over every last detail of the writing. You grabbed your pen, considering what to write back before the tingling started again. 

Do you go to GCHS as well? Your heart stopped at the message. Quickly you scribbled back, Yes! I do! You waited for a reply, scanning your class realizing that anyone there could be your soulmate. 

There was no wordy reply, but you felt large swooping curves begin to bleed onto your skin meaning your soulmate was drawing something. “Y/n care to give us an answer?” your head snapped from your arm to your professor, your pen which you had been toying with sliding down your neck as you flinched, almost assuredly leaving a black line down your neck. Slapping a hand on your neck you looked at your professor who was asking about last night's reading, a section you definitely did not do. “I gotcha y/n it was in Chapter 39!” your classmate Jack called from the other side of the classroom, giving you a wink as he turned his attention back to the teacher. “That so? Can you confirm 39 was the chapter?” the teacher turned back to you with a glint in his eyes daring you to accept that answer. 

“It was 41, can we move on now?” A voice echoed with boredom from the back of the class. “Ah mister Damian, welcome back, you know I’ll have to mark you tardy for class,” you let out a sigh of relief glancing back at Damian with a thankful smile, but his eyes were cast down looking at something on his desk. 

Class got out shortly after and as you packed up your books you saw the curling black stem of a drawing peeking from the exposed skin on your wrist. Pulling it back you saw the most beautiful drawing of a large rose with vines creeping beautifully from it’s edges. You were too busy admiring the rose to realize that there at the base of your wrist in the handwriting you’d been obsessing over for days was forming a new message. 

damian wayne

Your soul just about left your body. 

Then all the windows in your school shattered.

You flung yourself to the floor covering your head as you heard shouting and the sound of bones breaking. Peeking up you saw cloaked figures tearing their way through the hordes of terrified students grabbing the wrists then throwing them backwards. You crept away until your back was pressed against the back of the classroom. Watching as they checked student after student you saw a blur flit past every cloaked figure, knocking many of them out with ease. You craned your neck to follow the blur but your vision was interrupted by a dark figure entering the classroom, following the same protocol as he grabbed the wrist of students then threw them backwards. 

When he came up to you his ice cold fingers wrapped around your arm, you yelped, trying to rip your arm away but he held tight. He just stared at your wrist, then an eery smile crept over his lips, the cheshire smile was the only thing you could see from under the deep green, almost black hood. Unlike the other students his grip held strong, dragging you out of the classroom while you kicked and screamed. 

“Look what I found” he cooed as he pulled you towards the main hallway of your school. The view from the second story of your school was shocking. There was a blue and black blur fighting alongside a green and yellow one as they both attacked a group of the cloaked assassins, all watched over by a tall woman dressed in black. Her head snapped up to you and the same terrifying smile slid over her face. “See! Was that so hard dearest?” her voice drawled as Robin looked up at you, his expression hardening. “Over my dead body mother” he said between clenched teeth as he sprang backwards, breaking into a run in your direction while (you assumed to be) Nightwing began sweeping through the figures. 

You screamed as you were tugged backwards, you had way too bright a future for this shit. With all the courage you had you wound back, and swung, your fist connecting with the mans face. You winced as you felt your ring finger click out of place against his nose but it was a good and unexpected punch, sending him stumbling back as you ripped your other arm out of his grasp. 

“Y/n!” you whipped your head to Robin who flipped past you, giving far too hard a blow to the assassin, returning to your side almost immediately. “Did he hurt you,” his gruff voice dipped into concern while you held your breath in his presence. When you gave a small nod he released a breath he seemed to have been holding for far too long, turning his gaze off of you and back down to the fight below you saw a black streak jutting down his neck. Your hand flew to your own, your mouth moving before your brain.

“Damian” his masked eyes snapped back to you. “Y/n” he answered, his tone softer and more natural. He continued, “we’ll sort this out in a minute,” as he jumped off the banister, rolling to break his fall and diving back into the fight with Nightwing against the woman. She seemed to be laughing into the fight, whispering teasing remarks that seemed to anger Damian, but Nightwing was already overpowering her and with Damian’s assistance she knew she was out played. She gracefully dodged Nightwings punch, gliding up to Damian. Giving his hair a little ruffle she winked at him “be terrible my son I’ll be back yet” and before he could reacted she ran out of the building, followed by her men. 

You sat for a second in shock, trying to let everything set in. The school was silent, most students had either fled or were huddled in classrooms still unaware the fight was over. 

“Hey! Your hand okay?” Nightwing gained your attention as he was waving his arm with a dazzling smile. “Oh uh, I hurt my finger but it’s nothing,” you replied, hearing your shaky voice echo through the halls of your school. “C’mon down I’d love to help you out!” Nightwing beckoned you, getting jabbed in the ribs from an uncomfortable looking Robin. 

A few minutes later you were perched on the roof of your school sitting with Damian while Nightwing briefed the public. Damian broke the silence, “Which finger” his gaze cast down to your hands, you held out a shaky hand where your finger was visibly bent. “You gave him a hard hit” Damian mused, taking off his gloves to more delicately hold your hand while he began to bandage it. 

“y-yeah” you swallowed, bidding your voice to stop shaking. Damian’s eyes refused to meet yours. “Do you wanna talk about the whole, wrist thing?” you whispered, casting your eyes down to notice his exposed wrist had y/n l/n written on it as well. He stayed silent, you brought your eyes up only to notice he’d been staring at you, quickly he looked back down, finishing the bandaging he released your hand with a sigh. 

“Nice to meet you soulmate” you said with a small smile. Damian glanced up at you, giving you a surprised look. “Soulmates?” he gulped as he continued, “I completely understand if you like to move on and forget about all this, I know better than anyone how dangerous my life is and if today with my mother was any sign I should’ve known soulmates just aren’t in the books for me,” you watched as his hardened expression faltered, even behind the mask Damian seemed easy to read to you. “Oh uh, that was your mom?” he gave you a pained nod when you realized you’d hit a touchy subject. “Not the point! Soulmates are soulmates for a reason and as you saw today [you held up your bandaged hand] I’m a freaking badass and can totally defend myself. I’m not giving up or forgetting anything.” you finished with a deep breath, telling yourself that this was the beginning of something epic. 

“Then, I suppose it is nice to meet you soulmate” Damian said, his lips faintly curling into a smile as he stuck out his hand. “Shaking hands with your soulmate? Absolutely not.” you teased, wrapping your good arm around him and giving a squeeze. He seemed frozen at first, but slowly but surely you felt his arms begin to caress your back in a lopsided slightly dysfunctional hug, but a hug nonetheless. You could feel him smiling against your shoulder, making you melt into his embrace as he let out a sigh, his hot breath tickling your neck. 

“Aw Dames this is too cute!” Damian scrambled out of your embrace as a tall raven haired boy joined you on the roof. “Dick Grayson, Nightwing” the man grinned at you, ruffling Damian’s hair against his protest. “You got your soulmate baby bird congrats!” you laughed as Damian huffed, a light blush peeking out from under his mask. “I’m all ready to go unless you wanna stay with what’s your name again?” before you could answer Dick grabbed Damian’s wrist with a laugh, “y/n! Pretty name isn’t it Dames” he swerved Damian’s fist half heartedly launching towards his face. “I’ll be at the cave waiting!” Dick cooed triumphantly as he careened down the stairs. 

“I should be going,” Damian agreed, getting up and offering you a hand. As you stood up he quietly said, “I’ll text you okay?” and you nodded, “oh okay! Do you need my number or anything?” you began to pull out your phone. “No, it’ll be easy for me to find,” he said honestly. You shook your head, “right, Robin, Batman- oh my god you’re Bruce Wayne’s son is he-?” “Yup” Damian flashed a confident smile at your dropped jaw. 

“See you around y/n” Damian nodded at you, pulling his hood over his head and grappling off the top of the building, leaving you standing atop Gotham still trying to process the days events. Pulling your phone out you dialed your best friend. 

“Dude are you okay? I heard shit went down at your school!” their voice echoed from your phone. 

“You’re never gonna guess but I found my soulmate” you said, revelling in just saying the sentence. “Who?” they screeched.

“R- Damian Wayne!” you cut yourself short, realizing that now you had a secret to keep for Damian. There was certainly more than meets the eye about the quiet boy in the back of English.

“HOLY SHIT BITCH YOU’RE GONNA BE RICH!” 

[deascheck]

Midterm Surprise

Midterms

Ask: “How - how did you find me?”

Word Count: 1922

Warnings: smut

A/N: This is one of my first DeanxReader fics… would love feedback on whether or not I captured his personality! Though they aren't really an item... ?? @flamencodiva I hope it's everything you were wanting! I'm a novice to writing smut so I hope it's ok! *crosses fingers*

You sighed. You could not believe you’d made it through your three hour lecture class. Somehow, you’d stayed awake, though you could not say the same for everyone in the class. You looked around. About every fifth person was still asleep. You chuckled tiredly. I can’t blame them, now can I? I wanted to do the exact same thing. You picked up your laptop and notebook and stuffed them in your backpack.

Maybe I’ll go to my favorite diner to study for midterms, you thought. I deserve a fucking treat after getting through this goddamn class.

You walked to the parking lot and got into your 1967 Chevy Camaro. You loved your car. She was your pride and joy and you called her Baby. Not unlike a certain hero who’d saved you from a werewolf a couple years back. His car was similar to yours, a 1967 Chevy Impala. A real beauty. He called her Baby, too. You smiled at the memory. Damn, was Dean proud of that car. Dean had gone on his way, but not before the two of you had spent the night together making memories neither of you were likely to forget.

Shaking your head, you brought yourself back to the present. You drove across town to your favorite hole in the wall diner, a quaint little 24/7 diner where the workers all knew you by name.

You hauled your backpack onto your back and walked in.

“Hey, Joy! Hey, Dave! How’s it goin’ today?” you asked.

Joy and Dave smiled at you as you sat down at the counter. “It’s goin even better now that you’re here, Y/N! It’s been a couple weeks! Where ya been hiding?” replied Joy, the waitress who was standing by your seat.

‘Oh you know, it’s midterms comin’ up, and all. Gotta study so I can get those A’s!” you said.

Dave laughed. “Ohhh midterms. I don’t miss those,” he stated. “I know I’ve only been out of college for a couple years, but damn I don’t miss it!”

Joy nudged you. “Your usual?”

You grinned. “Yes m’am! I gotta be fully nourished to study for this stupid Psychology class. I thought I’d love Psychology,” you added. “But having it in a three hour lecture format just blows.”

Thirty minutes later, you were deeply engrossed in lecture notes and flashcards. You were so busy studying, you didn’t hear the bell ring as the door opened. You were looking at your flashcards in your lap, and all of a sudden noticed a pair of worn boots standing close to you. Offended, you brought your head up to tell the guy off for invading your space when your words stopped dead in your throat. A brown-haired, green-eyed, devilishly handsome man was smirking back at you.

“D-Dean! Oh my god! How- how did you find me?” You couldn’t believe your eyes.

“You’re assuming I was looking for you sweetheart,” he retorted. “Just kiddin’. Sammy and I are in town for a hunt. I dropped him off at the morgue and was looking for a bite to eat when I saw your Baby. I’d recognize that car anywhere. I figured I’d stop in here and give you a hard time,” he said with a glint in his eye.

“A hard time, eh?” you said. “I see. Well, I’m in the middle of studying for my Psychology midterm. Would you care to join me?”

Dean’s smirk turned into a smile when you didn’t turn him down, and he replied, “Darlin’, I’d love to.”

An hour later, Dean was quizzing you with your flashcards when his phone rang.

“Sammy, what’s up? …. Uh-huh. Ok. … Yeah, I’ll be right there. Gimme 10 minutes.”

Dean looked at you regretfully. “Well, sweetheart, I’ve gotta go pick up Sammy from the morgue. It was really nice seein’ you.” He looked at you with something almost like hope in his eyes.

You knew you couldn’t let this opportunity pass you up. “Umm… I don’t suppose you’d want to meet up later?” you asked.

Dean grinned broadly. “Here’s my number. Text me your address and we’ll figure somethin’ out,” he said. He grabbed your hand and wrote his number on the back of it. Winking at you, Dean stood up and headed for the door. “I’ll see you later, sweetheart,” he called over his shoulder.

As soon as he left, you texted him your address. “Meet me at 7pm,” your next text said.

You realized it was almost five and panicked. You had to clean up the apartment, shower, and find something suitable to wear for Dean when he arrived.

You drove home in record time and instantly went about putting laundry away, putting dishes in the dishwasher, and picking up school papers and tidying them. You then took a quick shower and chose your best pair of lingerie, hoping your night with Dean would end steamy. Over your dark red lace panties and bra, you put yoga pants and a loose t-shirt that hung over one shoulder. Just as you finished getting dressed, the doorbell rang.

You took a deep breath. This is it, you thought. Here goes nothing. You swung the door open to find Dean standing there about to knock. He smiled at you. “Hey there, sweetheart.”

“Hey stranger,” you managed back. Why was he so handsome? He was in a red shirt, with dark jeans and boots. He’d clearly run his hands through his hair in an attempt to smooth it.

Stepping back, you let him into your apartment. He took his shoes off and followed you to the kitchen. “Drink?” you asked.

“Sure, sweetheart,” he answered. “Thanks.”

You got out a bottle of whiskey and two whiskey glasses. You poured a couple fingers and handed him his drink. Drinking was not what was on your mind though, as you stared at him from under your lashes.

He shifted in his seat at the kitchen table and said, “If you keep looking at me like that, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.” His pupils were blown, lust filling his eyes.

You sidled to his lap and straddled him. “Maybe I don’t want you to be,” you said seductively.

With that, he pulled you flush against him and began to heatedly kiss you, his soft lips crushed against yours. As you kissed, you could feel a bulge building in his pants, and as your tongues fought for dominance in each other’s mouths, you brought one hand down from his hair and began to palm his erection through his jeans.

He moaned against your mouth and bucked his hips. You grinned into the kiss and suddenly Dean was slapping your ass. You jerked, surprised, but it turned you on, and the heat that was already pooling between your legs became more intense. You needed friction. You started grinding against him. The two of you were breathing raggedly, grinding against each other like teenagers.

All of a sudden, Dean growled. “Enough of this. Where is your room?” He stood up with you wrapping your legs around his waist and you murmured, “Down the hall to the right,” as you kissed his neck and sucked on his earlobe. Dean groaned as he walked. “You’re killin’ me, sweetheart.”

You could feel Dean’s erection and you wanted nothing more than to take it in your mouth and get him off. But Dean had other plans for you. His hands were grabbing your shirt, ripping it over your head and throwing it across the room. His face darkened with lust when he saw your red lace bra and he eagerly pulled your pants down to your ankles, where you stepped out of them. Dean stepped back for a minute, admiring you in your lingerie before closing the gap between you and smashing his lips against yours, his hands coming up behind you and unclasping your bra. It fell between the two of you and Dean brought one of his hands back around and started fondling your breast. He massaged it, and rolled the nipple between his fingers. It was hardened, showing how turned on you were.

You decided he had too many clothes on too, and began to work on the buttons on his shirt, letting out a grunt of frustration at how many buttons there were. Dean chuckled into the kiss and deftly finished unbuttoning his shirt. He shrugged it off and followed it with his black t-shirt. He shoved you against the edge of the bed so that you fell back onto it. You watched him hungrily as he undid his pants and brought them down with his boxers. His erection sprang free, and you could see the pre-cum leaking from his head already.

Dean crawled on top of you and began kissing your neck and trailing down between your breasts, down your stomach, and down your leg, ending at your ankle. You had no idea how sensitive your ankle was to kisses but you weren’t about to complain. Your chest heaved as you silently begged for him to relieve your need.

Dimly, in the background, you could hear Dean’s phone ringing. The two of you ignored it as Dean pulled your panties to one side, exposing your drenched pussy. He groaned at the sight of it. “So ready for me, sweetheart. All that for me,” he muttered as he brought his tongue sliding through your folds.

Your response was instantaneous. Your hips bucked, needing more of that friction. Dean grabbed your hips and held them down as he sucked on your clit, pleasure shooting through you. You took one of your hands and fisted Dean’s hair, gently pulling and attempting to guide him. Your other hand went to your breast as you massaged it, desperate to find your climax. Dean’s fingers found your hole, and he slipped two inside as he curled them against your walls, licking and sucking along your pussy. You were close. You could feel yourself tightening, and you moaned, “Dean, I’m gonna cum!”

“Cum for me, baby girl,” he said. “Cum.” He took your clit in his teeth and gently rolled it around in his mouth. With that, your back arched off the bed and you screamed his name, waves of pleasure coursing through you. Dean finger fucked you through your orgasm, your pussy clenching around his fingers over and over again. His tongue lapped your juices, sucking up every drop.

Dean’s phone rang again. And again. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered. He got up and answered it. “This had better be good, Sammy,” he said angrily. He went silent as he listened. “Fuck,” he said. “Ok, I’m coming.”

“Sorry, sweetheart. We’re gonna have to pick this up later,” he murmured as he leaned over to kiss you. You grabbed behind his ears with both hands and held him in place, your lips caressing his. “Don’t go,” you pleaded.

“I’m sorry,” he groaned with frustration. “Trust me, doll, I don’t want to go anymore than you want me to leave. But it’s an emergency. Another person just died. I’ve gotta go,” he explained.

You sighed and released him. “I’ll be waiting,” you said, and spread your legs wide so he could get a good look.

“FUCK, Y/N. You’re - you’re going to be the death of me,” he stuttered. He got dressed, his erection at full mast. He tucked it into his pants with a groan. “Goddammit Sam, always the cockblocker.”

“I’ll be back, sweetheart,” he said. And just like that, he was gone.

Taglist: @katelynw93

[infinitebells]

the other side (s. moran)

genre: angst. like pure angst. i’m so sorry.

a/n: i had this idea and instead of doing a massive honors presentation i wrote this LMAO. i started crying while writing this just fyi. and then sent it to my sister and made her cry too. she came into my room and started sobbing. i laughed rly hard at her.

TW: GORE, DEATH

“i’ll see you on the other side!” your lighthearted giggles permeate through the otherwise silent house as you call out to sebastian on the other side of the fort you two had built in his bedroom. his parents had gone out to the town on some business that neither of you cared about, leaving you two nine year olds at home. he flashed you a toothy grin as you bent down, getting on your hands and knees and crawling through the tube of blankets and oddly placed pillows. you could hear him laughing as the blankets shifted each time you moved, and his laughs were only a catalyst for yours. you were always well aware of your best friend’s infectious laughter.

“hurry up!” you could hear his voice from somewhere in front of you, so you pushed forward, knocking down the pillow that had been blocking the ‘entrance’ to your home of sheets. on the other side, sebastian was crouched down, staring at you with wide smile.

“i’m here!” you sprang forward, knocking him down as you land on top of him and wrap your arms around his neck. he instinctively hugged you back, both of you dissolving into pure laughter. you looked up to examine the mess of inky black hair sat on top of his head, the glint of mischief in his eyes, and the way his nostrils flared ever so slightly whenever he smiled.

“you’re here!” he replied just as enthusiastically, and neither of you could do anything but break down into laughs that later turned into snorts and coughs.

in the entrance of the room, his parents stood watching the two of you roll around on the floor, laughing and coming up rules for your fort that would inevitably collapse in the next half hour.

“i hope they stay friends as they grow older. i don’t think i could bare to see our young boy part with such an important part of his life,” his mother confessed, turning to her husband with a sad smile. he nodded in agreement, eyes focused on how truly happy his son looked in your presence. he’d never seen such a beautiful grin on his face.

✧  ✧  ✧

“sweetheart!” sebastian’s voice tore through the air, following him as he sprinted into the manor. his heart was pounding, eyes glistening with tears as he prayed to every god he knew of that you were ok. that you were safe.

“sebastian?” he had just barely missed it, but he could recognize your voice anywhere. he ran faster, heart pumping wildly fast.

“i’m coming!” he hoped you couldn’t hear how his voice cracked. by the time he reached the room you were in, he was panting and red faced, but he swore his heart nearly stopped at the sight before him. in front of you, the noble that he had sniped through the window lay dead with a bullet wound in between his eyebrows. blood poured steadily, but that wasn’t what scared him. what did scare him was you, propped up against the wall, a gash across your stomach. your light colored clothes were stained bright red, your blood dribbling out at an alarmingly fast pace. your face was pale, paler than he had ever seen.

“hey prince charming,” you rasped out, coughing slightly. he could feel a lump in the back of his through as flecks of blood splattered across the hand raise above your mouth.

“hey princess. what happened?” he really tried to keep his voice steady, but you could hear the tell tale sign of his anxiety crawling through him in the way his voice wavered. you smiled lazily, eyes fluttering as you forced them back open.

“when he heard the door open unannounced, he figured i had something to do with it and came at me just before you killed him. at least i’m assuming this was you,” your voice was quiet, much quieter than before. sebastian quickly made his way around the dead noble and sat next to you, gently pulling your shivering body into his lap. he supported your head with his arm, grabbing a nearby napkin in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

“well i’m here now so you’ll be alright ok? but you have to stay awake for me,” he had no control over the tears now free falling onto your chest, but that didn’t stop him from trying to stop the bleeding. he knew it was a lost cause, but his hands still shook violently as your right hand feebly came up and held his wrist still.

“you and i both know that won’t work,” you spoke after a few seconds of silence. sebastian could barely look you in the eyes as he failed to suppress a sob.

“but i-i needed to tell you how much i love you and take you out and mar-” he chokes on the last phrase, a fresh wave of tears wetting his cheeks. your hand left his wrist, just barely reaching his face as you wiped his tears away. your smile was watery, but he could still recognize it as the same pure smile from your days as children.

“i know. i’m sorry,” your eyes were starting to get heavy, and he could see how much you were struggling. it felt as though someone was slowly tearing his heart out of his chest through his throat, but he willed himself to keep some of his composure.

“you don’t have to apologize for anything. i’m really proud of you ok?” he maneuvered your body closer to his, pressing your head to his chest as he placed a shaky kiss on top of your forehead. he could hear your breathing slow down, and he knew whatever you said next would be your last words. so when you spoke for the final time before closing your eyes for good, he swore he had never experienced the same sharp pain that roared through his chest, spreading out across his body until every cell ached painfully. the pain demanded to be felt, and it wasn’t until your heart stopped that he allowed himself to scream into nothingness, voice giving out at the force of his yells.

“i’ll see you on the other side.”

[michaelmilligan]

Destiel fix-it fic (post 15x19)

Okay so this is 1,8k of fix-it for that horrible shit we call an 'ending'. Yes, I am still not over the finale. No, I will not take criticism at this time. (I meant to work on a genderfluid Dean(na) fic which will likely have several parts, but this wouldn't leave my brain so here you go. No beta, just pure rage against the machine that churned out the finale.) (Also my first time adding a cut so if it doesn't work please tell me.)

Dean hadn't taken it well. Not that Sam could blame him. He himself was still struggling with everything that had happened. Chuck snapping everyone away, the fear and the desperation... But they won, and everyone was back. Well, everyone except Cas.

Dean had said “just us” and Sam had said the same and they had driven for a while and it had been good to be on the road, to finally be free. But at the end of the day, it wasn't just them, and that was good too. Great even. There were Jody and the girls. Eileen. Donna. Charlie and Stevie. Garth and his family. All these people they knew and loved, everyone they cared about. Everyone was safe. Everything was good.

Except for Cas.

It had taken a few days for it to really sink in for Sam that he was gone. After all, he hadn't been there when it had happened. Hell, Dean had never even really told him how it went down. But Dean's grief was undeniable, the way he drunk himself into oblivion, much like the last time they had lost Cas, when they had also lost their mom. Both losses had been temporary, but they hadn't known that at the time.

Now their mom was gone for good, up in Heaven and apparently happy. And Cas was gone too, probably in the Empty if he was dead. Sam missed him, of course he did. He was their best friend, the other father in their trio, however weird that sounded. Also Sam also missed Jack, not knowing if they would ever see him again, now that he was almighty and all that. But Sam handled it, he always handled it, and he had Eileen to keep him company, to hold him when he needed to cry.

Dean had noone, hadn't had anyone in years. Maybe he had never had anyone who would do that for him, and Sam was starting to worry about Dean's liver as well as his mental health. Not that any of them could be great in that department, but so far they had always been able to keep it together. Now Sam wasn't so sure.

As he walked into the kitchen, he half expected to find Dean slumped over, drooling onto the kitchen table with a half-full bottle of whiskey in his hand. Instead, the room was empty, no empty bottles in sight. Huh.

Sam set out in search for his brother, trying his room first but finding it just as empty. It took him several minutes before he ducked his head into the library, and finally saw Dean sitting at a table, several books open in front of him.

“Dean? What are you doing?”

Dean's shoulders tensed for a moment, but he didn't turn around.

“Research,” he said gruffly, sounding like he had woken up less than an hour ago.

“On what? You got a case?” Sam came into the room, looking over the books. He saw Enochian, an angel summoning spell, a dictionary... “What's this for?”

Dean pressed his lips into a thin line. “Cas,” he croaked out. “We've got to... there has to be a way.”

“Dean. I thought you said he was dead. You know we can't... There's no way to get him from the Empty.”

Dean gritted his teeth, looking like he was about to snap. “That dude almost got Lucifer out, but we can't get Cas back?” He sprang up, walking towards the nearest shelf just to stare at it.

“Dean. What even happened? How did... you never told me what happened,” Sam tried, hoping against hope that his brother wouldn't just clam up like every other goddamn time he tried to talk about something difficult.

“He... he just. Goddamnit, he said- He- he made a deal with the Empty and then-”

“Wait, what? The Empty was there? Why the hell would he make a-”

“No, I mean. Before. He made the deal to save Jack, back when... It agreed to take him instead of Jack, but only... only if... and he said...” Dean's shoulders were shaking as he leaned his forehead against the shelf. “He... he summoned it. The Empty. To take him away so it would take Billie too. And I... I couldn't do anything. There was... we had no weapons, nothing to fight the Empty, nothing to fight Billie and he...” Sam couldn't see his face, but he could hear the tears in his voice.

“Okay. Okay.” Sam let out a deep breath. It wasn't the first time one of them had sacrificed himself for the others. And like any other time, Dean couldn't let it go. Well, not that Sam had always been able to. “So you want to get him back. You think that's wise?”

Dean whirled to him, his eyes hard and full of tears. “What?”

“I'm just saying... Cas sacrificed himself to save you. And now you're going to endanger yourself to get him back, do you think that's really what he wants? And even if we had a way of getting to the Empty, who says that we're gonna be able to get Cas out, or that the Empty won't just snatch him again as soon as we're back on Earth?”

But Dean's face had completely shuttered closed. This was one of the times were no logical arguments would get through to him.

“I'll find a way,” he said, turning back to the shelf to sort through the books.

Sam sighed, and after watching his brother for a while, he left him to it, deciding to let him grieve in his own way.

It was about three days later when Sam heard a noise from the entrance. Frowning, he walked towards it, wondering if Dean had invited anyone. Eileen wasn't scheduled to come over, but maybe she had wanted to surprise him? He had told her not to come, didn't want her to see Dean like that, but then again when did she ever listen to him?

When he saw who was coming down the stairs from the entrance, Sam felt his eyes widen.

“Jack!”

The boy – God, whatever – smiled and raised his hand.

“Dean! Dean, Jack is here,” Sam called in the direction of the corrdor, then hurried over to him. He hesitated, not sure if you were supposed to hug the newly appointed God. But Jack was his son and he had missed him, so in the end he pulled him into a tight hug. Jack returned it, squeezing him and still smiling when they pulled apart.

Which was when Sam noticed the other figure coming down the stairs and he gasped. “Cas?” He looked at Jack, who just kept smiling, and Sam laughed and pulled Cas into a hug, too. Cas returned it, though a little more carefully than Jack, and his smile wasn't as bright. Maybe a little... shy? Embarrassed?

“Dean? Dean! It's- Dean, get your ass over here!” Sam called again, hardly believing their luck.

Dean jerked awake to a stiff neck and an aching back, hunched over on the library table, drool on a three-hundred year old book. He thought he'd heard Sam, calling for him, and he got up to walk out of the library in spite of his protesting body. “Sam?” he called as walked along the corridor, anxiety forming in his gut. What if something was wrong? What if they were under attack? What if the next big villain – whoever that might be after thee actual God – was here to get them? Or maybe just some regular monster, ready to tear them apart, taking them by surprise?

Dean pulled his gun and tread carefully, peering around each corner before rounding it. He heard voices from the entrance, and by the time he was almost at the door, he heard a laugh. It sounded like Sam... He still peeked around the door frame before getting in and saw Jack, just standing there, looking comfortable.

“Jack?” Dean made his way over to him quickly, not believing his eyes. “What are you- I thought you-”

“Dean!” Jack beamed at him and Dean couldn't not pull him into a hug.

“Hey, kiddo.”

“Hi.” Jack squeezed him tight.

When Dean looked towards Sam, he also saw... no. This wasn't possible, was it? Dean pulled back, eyes wide, just staring for a moment before he turned towards Jack. “You- how-”

“I know I said I'd be hands-off, but...” Jack shrugged, looking apologetic. “I didn't want to be.”

Dean let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, his eyes going back to Cas. His eyes were prickling, and he suddenly noticed how Cas evaded his eyes, peering up at him from beneath his eyelashes almost shyly.

“Thank you,” Dean said to Jack, aware of the tremor in his voice, and then he rushed towards Cas.

“You goddamn- fucking moron,” he hissed as he wrapped him in the tightest hug he might have ever given anyone. “Stupid fucking dumbass.”

“Uh,” Cas made, sounding insecure. “Hello, Dean.”

Dean gripped him the shoulders when he pulled back, then put his hands on Cas' face. “You fucking- what does that even mean, huh? 'It's in the just saying it'. What the fuck. What the actual fuck!”

Cas squinted at him, opened his mouth, closed it again.

“You-” Dean cut himself off, running out of words, so he kissed Cas instead. It was a rough kiss, and long, and Cas seemed to have trouble keeping up, his hands coming up to claw at the flannel on Dean's back.

Dean was vaguely aware of a gasp behind him, but he was still laser-focused on Cas, glaring daggers at him.

“You maybe wanna re-think that?” He shoved him.

“Uh, I- I do?” Cas said, still looking terribly confused, and Dean couldn't help but kiss him again, just as roughly at first but getting softer over time until they were just breathing each other's air.

“You fucking asshole. You could have said something sooner! Before you got your ass dragged to the-” Dean stopped, feeling his face going through several emotions at once.

Cas squinted at him. “So could you.”

Dean stared at him, hearing Jack say “What's wrong, Sam?”, and yet he still couldn't have cared less.

“Goddamnit, you're right, we're both dumbasses.” When Cas opened his mouth, he added: “No, Cas, 'trusting' really doesn't cut it here.”

Cas huffed out a laugh – and wasn't that a sight for sore eyes. Dean kissed him again, hearing Jack in the background: “Wait, is this something new? I always thought they were just not very public about it.”

Dean grinned against Cas' lips, and Cas smiled back as Dean pulled him into another hug.

Meanwhile, Jack was still talking: “You know what, I think they need a minute. And I want to eat Crunch Cookie Crunch. Do you still have any?”

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Star Wars Wednesday

Because Disney can pry the Finn Skywalker headcanon from my cold, dead, fingers. And because Disney can’t stop me from reworking their movies if I darn well please.

Most of the fortress had been picked over by scavengers years ago. Any Imperial memorabilia had long since been looted and either auctioned off or confiscated by the First Order. Really, that was the only reason the scout team had considered it as a potential base at all. It had already been gutted, and was pretty well beneath the notice of Kylo Ren unless he was up for sentimental tours.

The general didn’t find that very likely.

Mustafar was far from a hospitable world for most species, but the heat shielding of the fortress was still highly efficient. The scouts had set up a base camp in what looked like it had once been some kind of audience chamber. Nobody had felt like exploring alone. The whole castle just felt...off. 

The young leader of the scouts sat on a pile of rubble, head tilted like he was listening for something. He frowned and glanced down at his team.

“What, Trache?” he asked.

The Twi’lek raised his brows at Finn. “I didn’t say anything.”

Finn seemed confused. “You sure? I could’ve sworn-”

Finn?

Finn looked up again. "Rose, you heard Trache call me just now, right?"

Rose Tico set down a power lamp and plugged it into their Artoo unit, then shook her head. “Sorry Finn,” she said, “All I heard was Artoo.”

Finn.

He whirled, squinting into the darkness of the derelict fortress. “There! You guys heard it that time, right?”

Rose fidgeted awkwardly. "Finn...I didn't hear anything."

Finn.

Finn turned again. He felt as though someone had tied a string around his soul and was pulling. As if under some other power than his own, the boy began to stumble into the shadows.

"W- what are you doing?" Trache hissed.

"Gotta check something out," Finn mumbled. He could just make out what looked like a figure, standing at the end of the corridor. "It's...it's okay. I think it's the Force."

His scout team's protests faded into static behind him. There was nothing but the voice.

Finn. Come to me.

Finn slowly reached down and loosened his blaster in its holster. There was a possibility that he was hearing this voice in his mind. And that had to mean enemies.

"Where are you?" he asked, tensed and ready to fight.

The shadowy figure he had glimpsed before reappeared, further away. It stood, as if waiting. Then it raised one arm, beckoning.

Finn didn't sense anything particularly hostile about the stranger, but he was wary nonetheless. He eased forward, following the dark shape into another chamber. The closer he got, the more he realized that it wasn't made of pure shadow after all. A faint flicker of blue light outlined the person, if a person it was, slowly illuminating more details. A black tabard. A heavy gauntlet. A cape that fell to the floor and seemed to swallow all light that touched it.

The rhythmic hiss that Finn had taken for some kind of machinery in the fortress took on a new volume.

It sounded like breathing.

Finn stopped dead in his tracks. He had seen that shape before. In the First Order barracks, as a little boy, he had seen that shape in the propaganda forced down the children's throats. 

"Aren't you dead?" he blurted out before he could stop himself. 

The giant inclined his head -- or, well, his helmet -- regally and turned. He gestured to one side.

"Walk with me."

The authoritative voice brooked no argument. 

Finn knew he should have been running. That was Darth Kriffing Vader, or his ghost, or a clone, or something. But...he didn't sense the kind of painful storm he'd always experienced around Kylo Ren. There was no hatred, filling the air with danger. Just a strange echo of regret.

With one hand firmly on the butt of his blaster, he gritted his teeth and stepped closer. 

"The Force is with you, young one," the late Sith Lord remarked, "but you are not a Jedi yet."

That rankled a little bit. Finn knew he couldn't do all the things Rey could yet. The General had told him that his connection to the Force was more like hers than Rey's, but he still didn't know what that meant. That didn't mean he wasn't learning. He was just going at his own pace.

"Maybe I'm not," he said, "But I will be."

Will I be?

Darth Vader began to walk. Hands clasped thoughtfully behind his back, steps slow and measured. Relentless. What did he want? And why was he even here?

Reluctantly, Finn followed a half step behind. 

"I'm not hallucinating this, right? Because my team can't see you." Getting lured into the depths of the castle by the ghost of a Sith probably wasn't a good thing. "Why'd you call me?"

"I have been expecting you for some time," Vader said, tipping his helmet down as if observing Finn. "It was inevitable that you would find me here."

His footsteps echoed on the stone, but did not disturb so much as a single mote of dust. The hair on the back of Finn's neck rose when he looked down and saw only one set of footprints behind them.

"You know who I am." It was not a question. 

Swallowing hard, Finn nodded. His mouth was dry, and despite himself, his fingers trembled. Like a death sentence the name fell from his lips.

"Darth Vader."

Abruptly, the man turned on his heel. His cape flared out around him as he raised a finger almost in warning.

"That name no longer has any meaning for me," he said sternly.

"Then..." Finn wrinkled his brow and tried to remember the legend. "You're um, you're a Skywalker-?"

His companion nodded. "I suspected that if I had chosen my true form, you would not have known me."

He raised his helmet as the chamber emptied out into another set of corridors. "Come. There is something I must show you."

Well. This was going to make an interesting story to tell the General later. Finn pulled the collar of his jacket up and shivered.

"Dar- I mean, uh...Master Skywalker? You didn't answer my question before. Aren't you dead?"

Anakin did not slow his steps. "The Force, young one, is a pathway to many abilities that some may consider to be...unnatural."

A wry chuckle wrenched itself from Finn's lips. He shook his head and took a jogging half step to keep up with the ghostly warrior. "You're telling me."

Anakin glanced down at him again. Finn wasn't sure how he knew the ghost's eyes were on him, but somehow he could guess where to look.

"You show remarkably little trepidation in the face of the impossible," he commented.

It was strange, but Finn was almost beginning to feel comfortable with the conversation. He shrugged. "Nobody ever told me how the Force was supposed to work. How am I supposed to know what's possible and what's not?"

He jumped when Anakin tipped back his helmet and laughed. It was a deep, rolling sound, utterly at odds with the mechanical whoosh of his respirator. 

"Indeed! Do not lose your open mind, Finn. It will serve you well."

"Did anybody ever tell you," Finn huffed, "That you make even compliments sound ominous?"

Another low chuckle. "Yes. Your father did."

His father?!

What was the ghost talking about?

Finn scowled at him. "Whoa, hold on. How do you know my father? I don't even know my father!"

Under his breath he added, "I don't even know what I'm doing here."

Abruptly, he began to sense a complicated tangle of emotions from the ghost of Anakin Skywalker. Regret, anger, concern.

"You remember nothing, child?"

Sometimes Finn thought he did remember. But they were just images. Feelings. A woman's voice and strong arms. A man's smile. Sometimes he heard snatches of a song in his dreams, always just out of reach by the time he opened his eyes.

Other times, the dreams were not so kind. Flashes of an old man, reaching for him even as he was shot in the back. His own tiny hands reaching desperately for an old woman screaming a name he couldn't hear. He wondered sometimes if they had been his grandparents. 

The Resistance was his family now. Rey and Chewie were his family. Poe and BB-8 were his family. The General was his family. But in his heart, Finn still wanted closure. To at least know where he had come from. 

"I...remember my grandfather dying." Finn said haltingly. 

"Not your grandfather," Anakin corrected him. "Your mother's cousin. Your grandfather died long before your birth."

He quickened his pace before Finn could insist on an answer. Through stone galleries and ominous archways he continued with a single-minded determination. He did not stop until he had reached what had once been an impressively secure door, long since reduced to ruin by looters. Inside sat a strange dome-like structure that reminded Finn of an egg.

"Did you see that in my head? Is that like a thing you can do?" Finn demanded. He was determined to get the truth. Maybe he could "sense" it somehow. "How did you see it if I can't?"

Anakin did not immediately answer. He waved his hand over the dome, and with a rumbling groan it separated neatly into two halves. It was an old-fashioned hyperbaric chamber. A few lights still flickered dimly inside. Anakin reached down to touch one small screen, and a hologram sprang up. A young man in Rebellion era fatigues smiled up at them from the hologram. Old though it was, the holo was still recognizable. 

"What the- That's Luke Skywalker!" Finn realized.

Anakin nodded. "He was no older than you are now when my spies brought me this image." He seemed almost lost in nostalgia for a moment. "Truly, I would have torn the very fabric of the universe apart to find him."

Finn watched the ghost, noting that he cupped the hologram in his hands as though he held something infinitely precious. 

"You...kept a holo of him in your chamber?" Seemed a little odd for a Sith.

He was pretty sure Ren didn't keep holos of his parents.

"Of course." Anakin did not look away from the tiny, grinning face of Luke. "He is my son."

Finn sat down carefully on the seat within the chamber. His feet didn't even touch the floor. "Hey...Master Skywalker?" he asked, "How did you know my grandfather died before I was born? If it was before I was born, I wouldn't have had any memory of that. Buried or no. Did you...meet him in the afterlife or something? Do all ghosts know each other?"

He sensed hesitation as Anakin answered, "No, I...I was...there."

That could mean a lot of things. "Did you kill him?" Finn guessed, "Like, was he a Rebel? Or a Jedi?"

He heard the creaking of leather as Anakin's hands tightened into fists.

"He was a rogue and peasant Sith. A knave who chased after power at the cost of his kin," Anakin snarled. 

Finn jolted back. A Sith?

A horrible thought slid into the back of his mind. What if his family had given him willingly to the First Order? What if they expected him to follow in his grandfather's footsteps?

"So...what does that make me?" he rasped. 

The tension drained quickly from Anakin's shoulders. He turned away from the hologram of his son and raised a spectral hand to rest against Finn's cheek. It did not pass through him, as he had expected it to. Instead, it lingered, like the brush of a curtain. 

"You are," Anakin said, almost reverently, "A valiant son of a worthy father. And the beloved grandchild of a grandmother who deserved a better life than she was given."

The Force was almost screaming at him that the answers to his questions were at last before him, but Finn was afraid to believe it. Afraid to get his hopes up and be wrong. If, after all this, his growing suspicion was wrong, he wasn't sure he could bear it. 

"Master Skywalker, please," he begged, "I don't know why I'm here, I don't know what you want from me. Just tell me the truth? Did you know my grandfather?"

The other glove rose, and Finn found his face being gently cradled by an ex-Sith Lord.

“No,” Anakin answered, quiet and inevitable. “I am your grandfather.”

[walkerwords]

“My Person” Connie x GN!Reader

IMAGE CREDIT:  Gene Page/AMC

Request from @thanossexual​ So I had this idea for Connie x Reader where they were together looooong before the apocalypse happened (imagine if they're engaged 😍) so they are in alexandria for a while now. Connie is friends with Daryl, but Y/n notices that glint Daryl has in his eye when his talking with Connie and she gets a little insecure so her fiancé reassures her, and they have a cuddling session 😌❤️ Lots of fluff with a little bit of jealousy. You can add something there if you want to spice up things even more and make it into more angsty imagine. Thank you ❤️❤️❤️

Word Count: 2123

Warning: None

Song I Wrote To: “Our Love Comes Back” by James Blake

Note: Of course we don’t know Connie’s sexuality for sure, but the reader is GN in this one! All ASL is in italics

--------

The waves crashed into one another on a sunlit shore as an army prepared for battle.

You stood on a watchpoint, keeping your eyes on the formation below as Aaron led the charge. When Oceanside had offered their beach for training, Daryl had roped everyone else into agreeing. While the Whisperers had drawn their lines, nobody was dropping their guard, especially after what had happened at the fair.

Your group had joined Hilltop when Judith Grimes had found you in the woods one afternoon. You, Magna, Yumiko, Luke, Kelly, and your fiancée, Connie, had all been welcomed quite coldly by Michonne at first, but now, everyone had begun to feel like a family. One you were thrilled to have after being on the road for so long. 

You and Connie had been together since before the Turn. The two of you had been High School sweethearts and when the world ended, you didn’t let her out of your sight. As you moved through the world with both Connie and Kelly, you became their main protector. While Connie was the most intuitive of your trio, you had been a strong fighter since before everything had crashed down. 

You acted as their scout and took care of any threat that would try to take the love of your life and your best friend away from you. Since living in the new world, you were wary of strangers. Connie trusted people, or rather she wanted to believe that there were still good people out there. Kelly was more skeptical but tended to be more of an optimist like her sister. 

When you had met Michonne and then more of her people as the days went by, you didn’t know how to feel about being around them in such close quarters. Then, Connie had gone with Daryl to rescue a couple of teenagers from the girl’s homicidal mother, and you were left alone without the woman you loved. 

After the fair, everyone was closer, especially Connie and Daryl. While a part of you knew that they had gone through a lot together, that they had fought together, you couldn’t help but see how much Connie’s eyes lit up whenever he was around. Daryl Dixon was a kind man and a strong leader. He had taken to your family easily and he had even begun to learn ASL.

As much as you liked him, you weren’t too thrilled about how much time he spent with Connie. Since arriving at Oceanside, you noticed that they were never too far from each other. Connie was always watching him train, the way he easily killed the Dead with his dual blades and crossbow. 

Dixon didn’t seem like the kind of man to initiate any kind of physical touches with anyone, but with Connie, it seemed easy. He would squeeze her arm or tap his fist against her shoulder with pride. You knew that he was just being friendly, but you couldn’t stop the jealously that rose in you when you watched them.

One afternoon, you were sitting down by the water when you heard soft footsteps approaching. You smiled over at Kelly as she sat down next to you. “Hey,” she said, her eyes turned towards the horizon.

“Hi,” you said back with a quick sign as well. While Kelly hadn’t completely lost her hearing, you knew that she was having days when it would come in and out and that she was worried. You also knew that she appreciated it when you used ASL whenever you spoke to her, just in case. “What’s up?”

“Are you okay?” Kelly asked. You nodded, not looking at your friend. Kelly sighed and then reached over and touched your shoulder, getting you to look at her. “Talk to me,” Kelly signed. 

“It’s nothing,” you signed back, shrugging your shoulders. 

“They’re just friends, (Y/N),” Kelly said out loud. 

“If you already knew what was bothering me, why bother asking, Kel?”

“I was hoping you would tell me yourself,” she said with a knowing look. She was looking at you with patience, something she always did. Kelly was the one person who could read you like a book. Even Connie didn’t know everything her sister did. It was a bond that you never thought you would have and you cherished it, especially in the world you now were forced to survive in. 

“Have you noticed her acting weird lately?” You asked Kelly. 

“Weird how?”

“I don’t know...distant?” 

“Distant from you?” Kelly asked and you nodded. “Not really, but we are sort of all stressed out right now. With the Skins pissed at us and with what happened to Henry and the others…” Kelly trailed off and you flopped down onto the sand, basking in the warm sun. 

“I know,” you sighed, your hands following your words. “I’m being crazy right? Thinking something is going on between the two of them?”

“I get why your head is goin’ there, but they are just friends. My sister loves you so much and she and Daryl are oddly similar. I guess she finally found her own best friend. Sort of how you have me,” she said with a wink. 

“Daryl Dixon has nothing on you,” you signed, earning a smile from Kelly. 

“Thank you,” she signed back. “Seriously though,” she said, “talk to Connie. I’m sure your thoughts will shut up afterward.”

---------

Later that day, you found Daryl with Dog watching over his niece and nephew. 

“It’s weird, right?” Daryl said as you sat next to him. You were somewhat startled because he was never the one to initiate a conversation with you. 

“What is?” you asked, looking over at him. He gestured forward, pointing at Judith and RJ. 

“That,” he said. “Seein’ the little ones playin’ in the sand like the old times.”

“Yeah,” you agreed. “I guess I never thought I would see something like that again.” It was silent again as the salty air rushed around you two. Eventually, he tore his eyes from the kids again to refocus on you. 

“How are ya doin’?” Daryl asked, catching you off guard again. 

“I’m fine, Daryl,” you said with a small smile, not liking how awkward the energy between the two of you was. “And you? How’s the training going?” 

“You tell me,” he said as he picked at his fingernails with the smaller knife in his hands. “Were the formations lookin’ good from yer spot up top?” 

“So far,” you said, kicking at the stray rocks at your feet. 

“Thanks for bein’ our eyes, (Y/N),” Daryl said. “Usually it’s Carol, but…” he trailed off and you didn’t ask him to elaborate. You didn’t know the woman that well, but you knew that she was grieving over the loss of her son, something you could never even begin to imagine. You also knew that Carol was Daryl’s best friend according to Connie. 

“You know, “ you said, “it’s too bad we can’t just clone you a bunch of times. You’re a hell of a fighter, Daryl.” He gave you a small smile, one that was hard to receive from the stoic man, but he seemed to be warming up to you and the others quickly. 

“Connie tells me you’re pretty great yourself. Told me the other day that you trained her and her sister.” You nodded, smiling at the thought of Connie praising you in front of your new friends. 

“My father was a SEAL,” you explained. “I had to pick up a few things before the end of the world. Though their skills are all thanks to them, they’re quick studies.”

“It’s good that ya knew all that. M’glad you were able to survive this long,” he said with a knock to your shoulder, something he only ever did to his friends. Perhaps he was starting to think of you that way as well. 

“Thanks, Dixon,” you said. 

“Ya think ya can help some of the fresher faces wield their blades? Not sure if many are gettin’ the hang of hand to hand at this point,” Daryl asked, gathering up his stuff. 

“Not a problem,” you agreed. Daryl smiled once more at you before clapping his hands together and getting Dog to chase Judith and RJ, the kids laughing as the canine yipped happily at them. You smiled after them and immediately felt stupid for the thoughts you had expressed earlier. 

Daryl Dixon was a good man.

--------

Later that night you lay awake in the trailer you and the rest of your family were sharing. 

You didn’t know where Kelly or Luke were, but you were grateful for the quiet. It was well after dinner when Connie crept quietly into the room, probably thinking you were asleep. Reaching over, you clicked on the lantern, gaining her attention. She waved to you and you sat up in the bed, watching her peel off her boots and pull her hair out of its tie. 

You loved the moments when she began to relax for the evening. You always felt so lucky to be able to see the more vulnerable side of her. “What’s up, Love?” she signed, sitting down on the side of the bed.

Shrugging, you just signed, “nothing.” Connie rolled her eyes and playfully pushed you, tucking her legs underneath her to fully face you. 

“I know you better than that,” she signed with a frown. You watched her in the low light of the trailer for a moment before giving in. 

“It’s ridiculous. I was just feeling jealous,” you explained.

“Jealous? Why?” You gave her a look, but she still didn’t seem to get it. 

“You and Daryl were just getting closer,” you said. “I didn’t like it.” Connie shook her head, her curls bouncing around her face. 

“Is that what this is about? We are just friends,” she promised. 

“No, I know,” you said. “I was just letting my emotions get to me. Lots of stress.” Connie frowned again and then in a single movement, sprang at you. You tumbled back down onto the bed as she pinned you, keeping your hands locked to your sides so you couldn’t interrupt her. 

“Listen to me,” she signed, her eyes never leaving yours. “I love you. I have always loved you. I know that we have been under stress, but we will beat it. Together.” Connie repeated the sign for “together”, her hands placed together at the knuckles with her thumbs up as she rotated her hands in a horizontal circle. “Okay?” 

You raised your brows, asking for permission to respond when she moved her legs so you can free your hands. “Okay,” you first signed. “I’m sorry I was being so…”

“Jealous?” she asked and you nodded with a roll of your eyes. 

“It has just been a while since I have seen you smile the way you do when you are with him,” you finally admitted. 

“He is a horrible signer, it is funny,” she said with a snicker. 

“You know what I mean, Connie,” you said and she nodded her fist, the sign for “yes”.

“You are my person, (Y/N). Kelly loves you, Luke loves you, Magna, Yumiko, all of them. You are family and you are the only one for me.” A tear fell from your eye as you watched her hands, feeling the emotions that she expressed through her signing.

“I guess I never thought I would have to worry about losing you to anything but the Dead,” you admitted. 

“Never, never,” she signed. 

“I love you,” you said aloud and she read your lips perfectly. With a wide smile, she pinned your arms above your head and kissed you slowly. Your fingers intertwined as you melted into the woman you loved with everything you had. 

Just as she began to slide down your body, the door opened and you froze. Connie furrowed her brow just as Kelly slid into Connie’s view. Used to her sister’s interruptions, Connie smiled at Kelly. 

With a smile of her own, Kelly jumped on top of both of you, hugging her best friend and sister tightly as you and Connie struggled for air. When she sat up, she was beaming down at both of you. You grinned at her and Connie. 

“My two favourite people!” you signed enthusiastically. 

“But you like me more, right?” Kelly signed with a chuckle. With a roll of her eyes, Connie kicked her sister, shoving her off the bed and onto the hard floor.

Kelly looked up at both of you in shock before dissolving into a fit of laughter. You and Connie soon followed and all the worry from earlier in the day washed away.

You were Connie’s person and nothing was going to change that. 

TAGS: @thanossexual​ @yes-sir-hotchner​   @felicisimor

[starshine583]

Crossing a Line

Part 17

(Ya’ll ready for the angst? Because I was not)

Part 1 / Part 16 / Part 18

Le Paon stumbled to a stop, his chest tight and his heart in his throat. He clutched the earrings in his palms, causing the ends to dig into his skin. 

I.. I did it. 

He took the earrings. After all the work Father’s put forward, Le Paon finally got a hold of Ladybug’s earrings.. Of Marinette’s earrings.

A sigh escaped him as he slumped against the Mansion walls. She sounded absolutely horrified when she realized what was going on. How was he going to apologize? Would she even listen to him after this?

Felix dropped his transformation and slipped inside the mansion, carefully searching for witnesses. He could return her earrings after the wish, right? Would that help? She wouldn’t be missing her kwami then..

Nathalie sat in her usual desk next to Father’s office, but she appeared engrossed in something on the computer, so he was able to slip by unnoticed. Felix quietly hopped up the stairs, a part of him wondering how Father would have handled this. How would Father proceed if he knew that his youngest son was fighting against him with a miraculous they needed? What would he have done to Marinette to get her miraculous afterwards? Would he have made the same choices?

Felix stopped in front of his bedroom door. Whether Father might have done something differently or not didn’t help him now. Felix had the earrings, and Adrien had the ring. It was down to this next conversation. 

Tentatively, he knocked on the door. 

No response.

Felix drew in a breath and opened the door anyway. The room was pitch black, and the faint sound of a fan fluttered around. Was he sleeping? Already? It was a little past midnight, but..

Felix closed the door, and ran a hand through his hair. What should he do now? He couldn’t just wake Adrien up to talk about this. “Hey, I know you just woke up, but let me tell you about our not-so-dead mother and the fact that your brother and Father are super villains. Also, can I have your ring that I know has been a miraculous this whole time even though you had no idea that I even knew what a miraculous was?”

Yeah.. he had a feeling that wouldn’t go well.

Felix turned on his heel to go back down the stairs. He would have to talk to Adrien about the wish in the morning. In the meantime, he could hide the earrings in the library. Even if Marinette didn’t know his identity, carrying her Miraculous around provided a flurry of plausible problems that Felix didn’t care to deal with.

Tomorrow. He promised himself, slipping the earrings into a pocket in one of the book shelves. He would talk to Adrien tomorrow, and they would finally have their mother back.

~~~~~~

 Two hours. It’d been two hours since Le Paon came and took her miraculous. 

Marinette sat at the bottom of the ladder that led to her balcony, eyes puffed from tears. She couldn’t understand what went wrong. They were supposed to talk and work things out. He was supposed to surrender so they could heal his mother together. How did she let this happen?

Marinette sniffed, trying to think of what Tikki would say in this moment. Maybe she would insist that it wasn’t her fault, or that she did everything she could, but neither of those would be true. This was her fault. She didn’t do everything. If Marinette were really a good Ladybug, she would have swiped Le Paon’s miraculous the first time he visited her balcony. Or even the second time. Or all the other times she let him swing by. 

But she hadn’t. She let him inside, let herself trust him, and he betrayed her.

How long had he known that she was Ladybug? Did he know from the beginning? Were the times they spent together all a lie? A mere ploy to get close enough to grab her miraculous? 

Was his confession a lie too?

Marinette choked out another sob. Stupid, stupid! She should have known not to trust him. After his first betrayal towards Ladybug, it should have been obvious that everything else was an act. It just felt so wonderful, having Felix by her side. The quiet smiles he would give to only her, the endless praises on her crafts. She didn’t want to imagine a world without him.

And yet, he was gone.

And so was Tikki.

And she was alone.

Marinette wiped away another tear that spilled down her cheek and looked up at the trapdoor. He’s had her earrings for two hours now. Hawkmoth could do a lot in a mere two hours.

Despite the crushing weight in her chest, Marinette forced herself to her feet. There was no more time for crying. There wasn’t time in the first place, actually. She needed to get her earrings back before Felix went too far. She needed to talk to Master Fu.

-

Sneaking out was the easy part. Maman and Papa had been asleep for four hours already. As long as she got back before four in the morning, they wouldn’t be a problem. It was finding Master Fu that was hard. 

Marinette vaguely remembered a few turns, but she normally relied on Tikki for guidance. The address escaped her too, and her phone’s gps didn’t have a hit for “Fu’s Massage Parlor”. So, she ended up wandering around Paris for a while, avoiding dark alleyways and hoping she was going in the right direction. It must have been her last bits of Ladybug Luck that let her arrive at Master Fu’s around thirty minutes after leaving the bakery. 

Marinette let out a relieved sigh when she saw the sign and quickly started knocking on the door. The first few knocks were met with silence, but she was desperate. She knocked a few more times, and after the eighth round of knocks, Master Fu finally opened the door.

“Master! I’m so sorry to come here this late, but It’s urgent!” She all but spat out. “My miraculous- I didn’t expect him to, but- It’s gone! Felix- he took it and just ran off!”

Master Fu, through his groggy state, managed to pick up the gist of her ramblings and promptly ushered her inside.

“Are you sure you weren’t followed?” He asked, glancing up and down the street.

“Positive.” Felix had no ‘use’ for her without her miraculous. She imagined he wouldn’t even bother to speak with her again after this.

Master Fu nodded and closed the door. “Good. I have something that can help you upstairs.”

Marinette was brought back up to Master Fu’s massaging room where they usually practiced her healing magic. Once inside, he crossed the room and picked up an old phonograph. 

“Before we begin, I’d like to apologize.” Master Fu said as he sat the phonograph down in front of her. “It’s my fault Felix got close enough to take your miraculous.”

Marinette shook her head. “No, Master, you can’t blame yourself. I’m the one that let him inside my home without thinking of the consequences.”

“You don’t understand.” Fu responded. “I had his miraculous, but I gave it back.”

Marinette’s eyes bulged out of her head.

“You- you what? When did you have it?” She asked, dumbfounded.

Master Fu sighed. “A few weeks ago, I saw Felix running alone after the giant, movie akuma.”

Marinette pursed her lips. She remembered that night. If the akuma hadn’t appeared she might have kissed Felix for the first time while they ate ice cream. If only she knew then how dangerous he truly was.

“I pretended to be a victim of a mugging, and he offered to help me home. He even came inside and had a cup of tea, sitting where you sit right now.”

Marinette frowned. “If you had his miraculous.. why give it back?”

Regret painted his features. “When I talked with him, he did not seem evil, only desperate. I gave him the miraculous in hopes that he would change his mind and use it to fight against Hawkmoth instead, but..”

He trailed off, and Marinette cast her gaze to the floor.

But I guess we were both wrong about him.

“Tikki is waiting for you.” Master Fu continued. A renewed determination filled his eyes as he opened the phonograph to reveal multiple platforms of jewelry. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I am entrusting you another miraculous to reclaim your first one. Choose wisely.”

Marinette gasped, watching the miniature shelves pop out of the box. “You mean.. These are all miraculous?”

“Yes, and each holds a specific power.” He explained, pointing out a few. “For example, the fox miraculous can create illusions, and the bee miraculous can paralyze others for a short amount of time.”

“Create illusions?” Marinette pondered aloud. That could help her immensely if she was going to sneak into the Agreste Mansion. An illusion might be able to cloak her movements to the security cameras.

Master Fu nodded and held it up for her. “The illusions will look completely lifelike until someone touches it or you detransform. Then the image you’ve created will fade away.”

No one should be touching the illusion if it’s outside. Marinette thought as she took the miraculous. It was too late for anyone to be up.

“I’ll be back soon.” She promised, slipping on the necklace. 

An orange orb appeared around the tail pendant, and its glow brightened until a small, orange, fox-like kwami appeared.

“Hi-ya!” The creature greeted. “My name’s Trixx, and I’ll be your kwami. If you wanna transform, you just need to say one thing: Trixx, let’s pounce!”

“Good luck, Ladybug.” Master Fu stated as Marinette transformed.

Marinette offered a smile. “You mean ‘Jiāng húlí’.” 

This time, she’d be the one visiting Felix as an alter ego. Let’s see if he’ll be as hospitable as she was.

-

Running across the rooftops was extremely different compared to her usual mode of transportation via yo-yo. Nevertheless, it felt nice to have a miraculous again. A few skyscrapers even gave her a glimpse of her new costume. Her raven hair had been swept up into a long ponytail that trailed down to the back of her knees. The tips of her bangs and ponytail were stark white, and a pair of pointed, orange ears that were also white-tipped sprang from the top of her bangs. Contrary to her red and black spotted Ladybug costume, the fox miraculous bathed her in colors of orange and white. She had a jacket around her waist that was lined with black and had a popped collar, of which the inside was also black. The rest of the jacket was orange, save for the two blotches of white in the middle that continued in a line past her jacket and stopped on the inside of her upper thighs. The fox miraculous acted as a clip for the black zipper in the middle of her jacket. She had a pair white gloves and boots as well, with black lining around each. (Of course, the lining for the gloves was really the lining of the jacket sleeves) A thick, orange belt was also wrapped around her waist, cutting a line between the splashes of white on her midsection and holding her flute tightly to her side.All in all, it didn’t look half bad.

All in all, it didn’t look half bad.

The Agreste Mansion, being much larger in size than Fu’s massage parlor, was mere child’s play to find, and with her renewed, miraculous strength, Marinette managed to get there in a matter of minutes. 

She crept up to the dark windows, hoping the lack of light meant no one was in the room to see her. If Felix found a new miraculous holder sneaking into his house, she doubted that he would think of it as a coincidence, and her only leverage at the moment was his ignorance towards her knowing his true identity. 

Her claws clicked against the glass as she pushed on the windows for an opening. An evil super villain couldn’t sneak out of his house constantly without a way-

A window near the center fell open at her touch. Marinette smiled. 

Easy now. She told herself, carefully stepping into the room. The sound of a fan insured that someone was sleeping. It was best not to wake them up.

By the time her feet were firmly on the floor, her eyes were adjusted to the light, and she was able to make out furniture. A couch.. A desk.. A rockwall?

Marinette sucked in a breath and immediately started scrambling for a hiding place. This was the boys’ room, meaning Felix was probably in here sleeping. Sleeping! She thought, at the very least, that he would lose a little sleep from betraying her. He really didn’t feel guilty at all, did he?

She shook her head. Focus. If he’s asleep, that means the miraculous is unguarded.

The pads on her feet kept her steps silent as she crossed the room. The earrings shouldn’t be far from Felix, in a pocket, or a drawer, or something. She checked his pockets first- or rather, his clothes. Pajamas didn’t tend to have pockets -by carefully patting him down. It wasn’t easy. He moved a few times, and she was certain he’d woken up when she checked under his pillow. It must have been a miracle that he remained asleep. 

With pockets checked, she went to the drawers. The second and third were filled with nothing but clothes. The first drawer, however..

Marinette gasped, a swirl of bittersweet delight overtaking her at the sight of Felix’s miraculous. What a wonderful opportunity she’d been provided.

“Turnabout’s fair play, Paon.” She whispered to herself as she took the miraculous. His panicked face when he noticed his absent miraculous in the morning was going to be a horrible thing to miss. 

Marinette tucked the peacock miraculous away in her belt and turned to keep looking for her miraculous, but a certain sound stopped her in her tracks. A door. Someone was coming into the boys’ room. A sliver of light entered the dark abyss, quickly growing as the door opened further. Marinette rushed to the side of the room to avoid it, scurrying up a winding staircase. She pressed herself against the shelves above and tried to control her rapid breathing. Was someone coming to check on them or did Gabriel see her on the security cameras? Would she be able to fight off Gorilla and possibly more if that were the case?

A creak emitted from the door as it opened fully, and a single woman walked into the bedroom, straight and tall. Aside from her clicking heels, she was quiet as a mouse as she crossed the room to the boys’ bed. Strangely, she opened the very drawer that Marinette had searched through a moment earlier. When she opened it, though, she paused, almost like she expected to see something else. Then- curiouser, still -the woman started digging through the drawer. 

How interesting.

It took a few seconds, but the woman finally muttered some curses to herself and left the room, looking quite displeased. Marinette might have considered following her under different circumstances. Unfortunately, her time stamp didn’t allow it. In walking into the room, the woman caused the illusion to fade. The cameras might catch her any moment. Marinette didn’t mind. She now had more leverage than the knowledge of Felix’s identity. If he was dumb enough to go to school tomorrow, she would lure him into a private area there. He might not care to look at her anymore, but Marinette was going to drag him by the ear anyway. 

Mark her words, Felix was going to wish he never betrayed the hero of Paris.

~~~~~~

Sunlight poured into the bedroom as Felix got ready. He fiddled with the buttons on his dark grey vest, too nervous to think properly. Adrien was currently in the bathroom freshening up. When he came out, Felix was going to have to find a way to tell him that their long-lost mother was actually in a coma under their house. (Seriously, couldn’t Father find a less unsettling place to hide her?)

Heaven only knows how his brother was going to react. Felix might have agreed to help, but Adrien has been playing hero during this whole fiasco. With all of those battles stored in his mind, the personal insults shot at each other and near-death experiences, he probably won’t be as easily.. persuaded. Not to mention, Felix was going to have to get Adrien down to the basement. Chances were, he wouldn’t be able to do that without Father seeing them. Ugh, so many obstacles!

The bathroom door opened, and Felix tensed. 

“Hey, Fe, did you move the toothpaste?” Adrien asked as he walked out.

Felix almost smiled. Such an innocent question for such a serious topic he was about to bring up. “No, but-”

“Oh, nevermind.” Adrien cut him off, spinning on his heel. “I just remembered that I saw it in the mirror cabinet.”

Felix stared as his brother closed the bathroom door again. He could already see how this was going to go. Heaving a sigh, he walked over to his bedside drawer to grab his miraculous. Maybe Duusu would have some advice. 

The drawer slid open, and a few of the contents inside rolled with it, but there was no miraculous. Felix furrowed his eyebrows and started digging through the drawer a bit. He could have sworn that he put it in there the night before. It’s where he always puts it when he takes it off. 

Maybe I set it somewhere else? He thought with a frown, starting to check under the bed and in the other drawers. He’d been a bit out of last night, but it couldn’t be far, since he’d definitely used it last night. 

“Felix? Did you lose something?”

Felix shot up at his brother’s voice, causing him to smack his head on the bottom of Adrien’s desk that he’d begun looking under. “Ah! Yes, I’m- everything’s fine. It’s nothing.”

It’s not like I need it anymore, anyway. Felix reminded himself as he rubbed the back of his head. I have the earrings, and soon I’ll have the ring too.

“Adrien,” Felix began, trying not to glance at his brother’s ring while he stood, “do you ever.. I don’t know.. Think about mom?”

Adrien hesitated, obviously not expecting the question. “Uh.. I mean.. Of course I do. All the time. Why?” 

“Do you ever wonder what would happen if we could bring her back?” 

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. “Sometimes.. But that’s not possible, so I try not to think about it.”

Boy, are you in for a surprise. Felix refrained from saying. “What if you could? Would you do what it took to have her back?”

Adrien completely frowned now. “Felix-”

“Boys.”

The brothers turned to see Nathalie in the doorway. When did she come in?

“Gorilla is waiting for you downstairs.” She informed. “Please hurry.”

Felix and Adrien nodded, and Nathalie left the room as quickly as she’d come. He turned back to Adrien, hoping to continue the conversation, but his brother had already grabbed his bag and started for the door.

Before he fully rounded the corner, though, Adrien stopped. 

“Felix, about Mom.. I miss her as much as anybody, but I don’t think she would want us to grieve over her like this. Having Mom back would be great, but would she really want us to go ‘above and beyond’ just to bring her back?” 

Adrien left before Felix could reply, though he’s not sure he would have had a response, anyway. Mother wouldn’t want them to obsess over her. She would them to live their lives and be happy.. 

Too bad it’s too late to back out now. 

-

School that day came with a whole new level of anxiety. He couldn’t help glancing left and right as he walked up the steps. Marinette could be anywhere, and she had to be worried for her miraculous, though she might not show it. She didn’t know his identity, so he should be fine, but the guilt that would smother him upon seeing her wasn’t an experience he was excited to go through.

He pondered not attending school himself, in all honesty. Alas, he didn’t have a good excuse to stay home. So here he was, carrying his bag to his locker and getting ready to burn through classes as fast as possible.

“Felix.”

Goosebumps crawled across his skin at the sound of Marinette’s voice. Why was everyone sneaking up on him today?

He reluctantly turned to greet her and had to force a neutral expression when he saw her smile. That didn’t look like someone who was grieving the loss of a miraculous.

“I want to talk to you.” She said, the usual, perky tone noticeably lacking in her voice.

The hair on the back of Felix’s neck stood up. “Uh.. that’s very kind of you-” Very kind of her? How did that response make sense? “-but class is going to be starting soon, so I need to get going.”

He moved to pass her, but she grabbed his wrist, her grip iron-tight. “I wasn’t asking.”

She yanked him backwards, slamming him against the lockers. Felix gasped for air, his eyes blowing wide with shock. Was this really happening? Marinette has never been violent in her life! He glanced around the locker room for witnesses, only to find that they were completely alone. Something told him that wasn’t a coincidence.

Marinette pressed her forearm to his chest, pinning him to the lockers. “Where did you put them!”

Felix struggled in vain to pull her arm away. Had she always been this strong in civilian form? “Put what?!”

“My miraculous!” She hissed, pushing harder. “Where are they!”

Felix’s eyes snapped to hers. The miraculous? She was asking his civilian form about her miraculous? But that meant..

He stopped struggling. “..You know.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “Yeah. And, apparently, so did you.”

Felix might have felt guilty towards the jab had his mind not been reeling. How long had she known that he was Le Paon? When did she find out? How did she find out? 

“Tell me you didn’t use the wish.” She spoke again, bringing Felix from his thoughts.

“Not yet. I still need the ring.” He answered honestly.

Her entire body seemed to loosen at the news. “Good. Where are my earrings?”

“They're hidden in the mansion.”

“Then you’re taking me there to get them.”

Felix shook his head. “I can’t.”

“You can, and you will.” She remarked, her voice dripping with venom. He didn’t know she was capable of sounding so threatening.

Still, Felix held his ground. “Marinette, you don’t understand-”

“No, you don’t understand!” Marinette shot back. “That wish is dangerous! It has consequences! If you use it to heal your mother, someone else is going to take her place!”

Take her place? “What do you mean?”

Marinette sighed. “The universe needs to be balanced. If you heal Emilie from an incurable coma, someone else will fall into an incurable coma as a result. Did you honestly think that I was fighting tooth and nail to keep my miraculous for the fun of it all?”

Felix furrowed his eyebrows. No, that.. That can’t be right. Father had never mentioned a consequence to using the wish. 

“..I had hoped that was the case.” Was all he ended up saying.

Marinette huffed. “You’re so infuriating! Call Gorilla or whoever drives you. You’re taking me to get my miraculous back, unless you want me to keep this..”

She pulled something out of her pocket, and though Felix swore he’d seen everything that morning already, his jaw dropped when he saw his miraculous in her hands. 

“How did-”

“That’s not important.” She cut him off sharply. “Call the car. Now.”

“W-Wait!” So many things were happening at once. “I can’t just take you to our house during school! Nathalie’s never going to let that fly.”

Marinette thought that over. “..I don’t trust you enough to wait till after school.”

The words sank into his heart like knives, but he couldn’t blame her. “That’s completely fair, but your plan will never work as is.”

“And what do you propose we do instead?” She inquired, raising a brow.

Felix swallowed. “We can go after school, and-” he emphasized the ‘and’ before she could interrupt “-to ease your mind, I will check in with you after every class period. Our class schedules are relatively the same. We can even have lunch together if that makes you feel better.”

Disgruntlement flickered across her features at the notion of eating together. Felix would be lying if he said that didn’t bother him.

“If I sense any sort of foul play-”

“You won’t.” He promised. “Heck, take my phone for good measure.”

Marinette’s expression leveled, and she held out her hand. “Deal.”

Despite still being pinned to the lockers, Felix managed to dig out his phone and hand it to her. 

Marinette, being satisfied, dropped him as she pocketed the phone. “See you after classes, Agreste.”

Felix watched her sweep out of the room, noting the fact that she kept an eye on him the whole time. She must truly see him as a monster now if she’s waiting for him to pounce like that. He rubbed his chest where her forearm had been, knowing it would probably leave some type of bruise later, and headed for his first class. 

Today was decidedly not going as planned.

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[scribbles97]

If You Don’t Try...

... You’ll Never Know.

Just some fluff between Jeff and Virgil. Thank you once again @gumnut-logic for the kick start I needed with this one and for your endless support <3

Jeff wasn’t sure what he had expected to come back to. He knew the boys had well and truly committed themselves to the cause of International Rescue, but he had never anticipated just how that would impact on the other aspects of their lives. 

It bothered him that Gordon seemed to be the only one of the five that seemed to have some form of established relationship. 

Not that that was a problem, but it was Gordon, the son he had always expected to be least likely to settle down and the most happy to just play the field. 

He could, however, guess at another relationship in the making. He just wasn’t sure if Virgil himself had realised it yet. 

Oh yes, he’d seen it in those brief moments back on the Island. The clear fear in his son’s brown eyes as they had learned of what the so-called Chaos Crew had done to Brains’ lab, followed by a clear angry dip of his brow. Alone it might not have been so much of a clue, Jeff could have easily put it down as a normal reaction to terrorists invading one's home. 

Except, then she had approached him, and Jeff knew his sight was off but he still didn’t miss the way her hand had reached out to brush his and the way the fear and anger had just evaporated from his son’s features. 

There had of course been other little actions that perhaps he hadn’t been meant to see, the briefest of glances across a room, the automatic shift of one when the other entered, and the telling smiles that neither seemed able to help. 

As far as he was concerned, it was a textbook romance. 

Yet, it seemed as if nobody else were aware of it. 

Nobody ever spoke of the couple together, none of them commented on how it had come about, there wasn’t even a jibe from Gordon. 

“Hey,” Virgil had greeted as he slipped into the hospital room, “Sorry I’m late, the parts for Two weren’t ready when I got to the depo so I had to wait for a while.” 

Jeff waved him off, shifting to sit up more in the bed, muscles protesting against the pull of gravity. 

“Nothing major needing fixing I hope?” 

“No,” Virgil shook his head, pulling the armchair around to face him before taking a seat, “Just some components for the thrusters that we anticipated would need replacing, they’ve already been fitted, these are just for spares.”

It didn’t surprise him in the slightest that the boys had kept on top of maintenance and improvements for their respective ships. To each of them their ships were like an extra limb, something they all knew by heart inside and out. He’d been there once, had known every intimate detail of them all, but that would no doubt be something else he would have to relearn. 

“Good,” He nodded quietly in approval, “And everyone alright at home?”

“Uh huh.” Virgil nodded, distracted briefly by his phone, smiling softly at whatever was on the screen. 

Jeff saw his moment, “Is that Tanusha checking in?”

Deer in headlights sprang to mind as Virgil looked up, the brown of his eyes wide as his mouth gaped slightly, clearly trying to find some rebuttal or excuse. 

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the look, everything he had been suspicious about finally confirmed. 

“You’re dating?” 

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Virgil sighed. Leaning back in the seat, he shrugged, the fear fading into something much more childlike and unsure. 

“Not yet.” He admitted quietly with a small shrug, “I mean, we haven’t really had chance to talk about it with everything going on.” 

It was understandable, Jeff nodded, it wasn’t every day that a family member came back from the dead. That alone was enough for anyone to have to take in without the added complication of falling in love. 

“I do love her,” Virgil continued, voice soft, almost as if he were afraid of being heard, “And I think she loves me. But we’re--”

He didn’t need to hear the end of the sentence to know what was coming. 

“You grew up together.” He cut in before his son could finish. 

The way his son’s face twisted suggested he’d thought about that fact long and hard. 

“So you don’t think it’s weird?” Virgil asked, “Because, come on Dad, she basically is like a sister.”

There was something in his tone, in the way that his smile seemed tight and didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“Are you expecting me to be mad or something?” He guessed. 

An unsure shrug as the man shrunk in on himself. 

“Virgil,” He sighed, wishing everything wasn’t so heavy, that it was easier to get up and hug his son, “I’m not here to tell you who you can and can’t fall in love with. Trust an old man when he tells you, that’s not even something you can control.”

“It’s weird though, isn’t it?” Virgil persisted, shifting forward in his seat, shoulders still hunched protectively around himself, “Me and her?”

It was years of bringing up five boys that clued him in to the knowledge that his worry lay in more than just his father’s thoughts on the matter. 

“Who said something?”

The scoff was soft as he looked down, but it was definitely there, answering the question before Virgil even had to speak. 

“He didn’t know at the time,” He murmured, playing with a threat on the end of his shirt cuff, “Gordon was saying it to Alan after Kay had knocked him back one time.”

Filing the information away for later, and making a mental note to check in on Alan, Jeff tilted his head slightly. 

“So does Gordon still think it’s weird?”

Something about the question drew a smile to Virgil’s face, his eyes clearly distant with thought as he slowly shook his head.

“No, he found out about us and took it all back. Though I’m not sure if he’s just scared of what Kay would do to him if he did say something.” 

Leaning back again, Jeff chuckled, “I’d definitely make sure to use that to your advantage in the future.”

He couldn’t help but notice the hint of smugness in Virgil’s smile as he looked up, the dangerous glint in his eye comparable to Gordon’s as he nodded a confirmation. 

“But anyway,” He waved his hand at him, not allowing the actual matter to be distracted from, “If your brothers are okay with it, why are you still bothered by it?”

There was a good guess in the front of his mind, but he needed the confirmation. 

It was no good trying to fix something based on assumptions. 

“Because,” Virgil sighed, flopping back in the seat again, “If that was Gordon’s first thought about it, then who else is going to think the same? It’s not like we’re a normal family living a normal life. Sooner or later the press will get wind of this and will probably have a field day.” 

Being in the public eye and being a people pleaser had always been a worry for Jeff when it came to some of his son’s. Virgil himself was a quiet person, much preferring to stay out of the public eye unlike some of his bolder brothers. He was also a peace keeper, someone that wanted to make everybody happy. 

It hadn’t been until those long years in the Oort cloud that Jeff had started to question himself and his own selfishness. He should have known his son well enough, should have recognised that by simply asking Virgil to be a part of International Rescue he had trapped his son into the role. There were few times when his son had done anything other than what he had asked of him. 

That wasn’t the moment for such self-flagellation though, apologies for that could wait. 

“Do you think that would affect your relationship with Tanusha?”

He visibly stumbled, blinking wide eyed up at him as his brain caught up to the question. 

“She knows that we live in the public eye.”

Shaking his head, Jeff smiled softly, “That’s not what I asked, son.” 

He could see the thoughts processing, the question of why anyone other than the two in the relationship should have a say in it, of why such comments and judgement from small minded people should change how two people in love felt about each other, of why the pair of them couldn’t make it work regardless. 

He saw the moment that Virgil came up blank. 

“We’d still love each other.” 

Smiling, Jeff nodded, “Exactly. Nobody else gets a say in that son, not Gordon, not me, and most certainly not the small minded gnats that make up the world news.”

He wished he was in reaching distance, that he could reach out and squeeze his shoulder, give him a hug or something. 

“If you both make each other happy, that’s the most important thing.”

Even with eyes still adjusting to being back on earth, he could see the tears welling as Virgil stood. Straightening as best he could, he held an arm out, signalling for his son to cross the small gap. 

“Thanks Dad.” He murmured as he rested his forehead against Jeff’s shoulder, “I really needed to hear that.” 

Smiling to himself, he held on as tight as he could, “I’ve got your back kid, focus on yourself for a while, everyone else can come second for a change.”

He might have been gone for a while, and many, many things may have changed, but he was fairly sure that love still worked the same as it always had.

[maree-ff]

Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

CAMILA

Opening the blinds to let in the slightest amount of light I glanced over my shoulder. Andre’s been out for four days since the surgery and I’m growing impatient. I’ve prayed every morning and night since the shooting with hopes that he will wake up soon. The kids have been rotating their stays here with me but I always send them home before their bedtime rolls around. I can’t fathom staying home right now so Divya is taking my place.

A soft knock on the door reverted my attention from Andre to the entrance of his room. Elaine, the night shift nurse, walked in the room with a fresh set of towels, linen, flowers and medication.

Smiling gently at her I met her halfway to take some of the items off of her hands. “Good morning and thank you for bringing these in.” I began.

“Good morning to you. Don’t mention it honey, any updates for me?” She inquired.

Inhaling soundly I shook my head and parted ways with her to put the towels aside. “I’m doing all that I can to stay positive but I’m starting to worry.” The uneasiness in my tone earned me some encouraging words from Elaine. After I adjusted the temperature in the room I took a seat, watching in silence as she finished out her shift. She prepped Andre with a new morphine bag, took his vitals and tidied up the room. As Elaine began to wrap up her work a thought came to me.

“Elaine..” I called out to her. Rising from my chair I set my journal and planner aside, walking to her side of the room. “I know your shift is pretty much over but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind praying with me? It would mean the world to me.” I twiddled my fingers awaiting her response.

Elaine’s prayer over Andre’s health, recovery and my willpower brought me to tears. I said my temporary farewell to her and did my part in Andre’s upkeep. Once I was all done I sat down beside his bed studying the monitor watching his heart beat steadily. My mind must’ve gone blank for quite some time. I found myself listening to my cell phone vibrate within my bag and the rain began to downpour.

“I remember when you came down with the flu and Zoe stayed up all night trying to take care of you. She was yawning every two minutes..” I chuckled lightly at the memory. “She kept trying to convince herself that she wasn’t tired and you were too weak to argue with her. That’s when Kenja stepped in to drag her out of our bed and into their room. I listened to them bicker for a solid twenty minutes or so about how best to care for you when they got home from school the next day.” Using my thumbs to dab underneath my eyes I made the slightest turn of my head surprised at what I’m seeing.

Andre’s eyes fluttered open and closed before settling on remaining half open.

“Andre..” I said gently. Turning around I minimized the distance between us to get a closer look at him. His gaze met mine and a very shy smile set itself up on his face. I’m bubbling over with inquisition but I can’t overwhelm him at a time like this. “Andre? Honey, if you can feel this..nod your head for me please.” Tucking my hair behind my ear I exposed one of his feet to run my fingernail along his sole.

He nodded reluctantly prompting me to keep testing his senses. We went five rounds of this, easing my nerves about serious loss of sensation. “Can you hear me okay? Am I being too loud?” I asked.

“Yes and no.” He mumbled with ease. “How long have....I been here?” He shifted around, rotating a tad on his side. A tear rolled over his right cheek as he took a deep breath in and out.

“Four days.” I sighed. “Tell me what you remember.” I pulled my chair up to his bedside, leaning forward to clutch his hands. He struggled but successfully managed to intertwine our fingers. “I’m not rushing you. Take your time, sweetie.”

“Where’s Jo? Is he hurt? Are the girls okay?” I can see the deep concern for our children in his eyes and I can feel it passing through me.

“Jo is doing just fine baby, not a hair missing or a scratch on him. The girls are alright too. You can’t get your heart rate up or you’ll go into shock. Deep breaths okay? Can you tell me what you remember?” I asked again.

“Jo and I were outside getting the mail. Next thing I know, I heard the shot. I didn’t let him go.” Caressing the back of my hand, Andre fidgeted from underneath the blankets. “He was asking for you.”

I lowered my head as my brain flooded itself with the scene I was faced with when I walked out of our front door four days ago. To see my son shielded by his unconscious father who was bleeding out on the concrete scared me nearly to death. My mother’s voice flooded my brain to advise me against killing April point blank. My lawyer told me that if I had aimed just centimeters off of where I did shoot April, she’d be dead and I would be behind bars. That’s a mighty uncanny coincidence being that if the bullet from April’s gun had ended up just centimeters from where Andre was shot, he’d be dead. I owe God my never ending faith and obedience for sparing the lives of my boys.

“Hey..” he called out to me. Andre found some strength to squeeze the fists my hands turned into. I raised my head to see him kissing my hands. He bore into my eyes to say, “my hero yet again. When do I get the chance to save you?” He smirked.

I blinked rapidly to rid my eyes of tears. “I was so scared. My mind froze and my heart was racing but my body was doing all of the work. I didn’t think to pay attention to my surroundings because I was so focused on you and Jo.” I took a moment to reign in my feelings before continuing to share my point of view. “I didn’t even blink when I fired. I shoved the gun in the back of my pants, ran over to you guys and balled my eyes out trying to get Jorden from underneath you. The look on his face is burned into memory. The girls were screaming on the phone with 911, Jorden was foaming at the mouth with questions and your mom...she was hysterical.” I explained. The last thing I want to do is freak him out or upset him but I’m confident that he wants to hear my perspective.

“Come here, lay with me..” Andre created as much space for me on the bed as he could allowing me to stretch out beside him.

“I thought you died. For eight hours my mind had convinced me that I lost you. That we lost you.” I confessed. More tears sprang forward admitting the truth. “After Jo was finished being monitored he kept asking for you. Not one answer that I gave him was good enough.” I told him.

“Camila,” Andre ushered me to look him in the eye. “Thank you for saving our son’s life and mine.  I don’t take the sacrifice you took regarding your freedom lightly.”

I nodded graciously. “How do you feel?” I quizzed.

“I’m worried about you more than myself right now. I can hold a long conversation. I’m not that weak.” Andre’s familiar snicker put a smile on my face. “Talk to me.” His hands on my face brought more tears to my eyes. “Baby, I’m okay and I’ll heal just fine. Our family is safe thanks to you. Where is my little boy?”

“He’s at home with your mom. You want me to call her and have her bring him here? It’s his day. He and the girls have been taking turns staying here with me. He needs to see you. He’s been very distant, curious and angry about what happened. He doesn’t understand why April did what she did.” I sniffled.

“Call her.” He uttered sharply. I urgently called his mom and she answered on the first round of rings.

“Camila? Is everything alright?” She panicked.

“That mommy? I wanna talk!!!” Jorden exclaimed.

“Hey mama, he’s awake.” I smiled. Divya began to cry and repeat her vocalized gratitude for Andre coming out of his four day coma. We agreed to talk later as she handed the phone to Jorden who’s still babbling with anticipation. “Jorden, baby, take a breath for mama please. Talk slow.” I advised him.

“Mommy, where’s papa? I wanna talk to him.” Jorden said boldly. Not arguing I handed Andre my phone.

“Jo?” Andre began.

Jorden went quiet on his end. “Are you okay?” He spoke up after a brief pause.

“Yeah, I’m alright. How are you feeling buddy?” Andre looked down at me, lowering his eyebrows to minimize the tension in his face.

“Sad. I want to see you papa, can I come back? Please. It’s my turn.” Jorden begged.

“Of course you can. Mama and I are waiting for you.” Andre spoke briefly to his mother agreeing that she would bring Jorden back to the hospital. In the meantime we shared our last moments alone before I had to bring the nurse and doctor in to examine Andre. They tested him to the fullest extent, talked in grave detail about the surgery and the blood transfusion. By the time they were done, I heard Jorden rambling from outside the door. I invited Jo and Divya inside, shutting the door behind them.

Jorden clung to me once he saw his father. It saddened me because I know Jorden is just confused by his dad’s current health status. He doesn’t quite understand the complexity of this matter. While I emphasize with him, I also want to comfort my little boy.

“Mommy..” Jorden pulled at my sweater, asking to be held. I hooked him on my hip holding him close. He and Andre stared at one another in silence. “Is daddy okay?” He whispered.

“Daddy’s okay. He’s been waiting to see you.” Looking down at my son I searched his eyes, confident he would settle down.  Cautiously I walked over to the bed, sat down and waited for Jorden to let go of me.

“Hey man, you’re not scared of me are you?” Andre went to stretch out his bad arm, wincing in pain.

Jorden’s face twisted up in agony watching his dad reorient himself back to comfort. “Where does it hurt, dad?” That was Jorden’s cue to play doctor and tend to his father as best he can. Stepping away to allow Andre and Jorden their long awaited reunion, Divya and I stepped into the hallway. The minute I shut the door I threw my arms around her needing a moment to be selfish. She consoled me with the utmost love and empathy. She didn’t speak either. My mother-in-law simply allowed me time to cry, count my blessings and openly praise God for saving Andre’s life.

I used another couple of minutes to finish releasing these emotions before backing up to stand on my own two feet.

“I bet you feel so much better now.” She smiled warmly. A tissue appeared and she used it to dry my teary eyes.

Nodding with a growing smile on my face I fixed my sweater. “Much. I still have more left in me but I’ll be okay for now. Has Jo been terrorizing you or the house?”

“He’s been hostile but I know it’s only because he was confused about what happened. I’m sure that not seeing Andre for days after what went down has scarred Jorden to some capacity. It has scarred the girls and I, too. How are you feeling now?” Divya was quick to stop me from going back into the room. I know why and I’m grateful that she wants to check on me. I’m grateful that she cares for how I’m feeling mentally and emotionally.

“I just feel relieved. I hope that I never again have to answer the question of “where’s daddy” or “any updates on dad” or anything close to it. I’ve been telling Andre for quite some time now that I want the drama to be over. The girls have been through enough, Andre has been through more than enough and now Jorden…” shaking my head in disbelief at the trauma this family has faced I straightened out my top. “This has to be the end of it. I can’t take any more police reports and hospital visits. I may even talk to Andre about relocating. I think it would do all of us good.”

“Moving? Where to?!” Divya’s shock ruffled my feathers. I found her concern humorous.

“Not too far away mama I promise. Besides, it’s just an idea for now. Just to a better city where no one knows us. I just want the kids to be safe. I want for all of us to feel safe and at ease.” Divya and I went back into the room to find Jorden and Andre chest to chest. They look like they're asleep but I know this is how they are all the time at home.

Andre opened his eyes to smile at us.

“How are you feeling, honey?” Divya asked. She set her purse down to go over and greet her son.

“A little out of touch with reality but having you guys here is helping a l-lot.” He stumbled over his words freaking me out to the max. With Jorden front and center I have to remain calm. Jorden picks up on the slightest adjustment in attitudes and tones.

“Dre..” I hesitated to ask because I also don’t want to freak his mother out. Andre must have caught my drift because when he met my stare he smiled again.

“I’m okay. I just got tongue tied. I promise.” His sentence was crystal clear this time around so I had no choice but to take a deep breath and enjoy this time. God has yet again shown this family never ending mercy. Now is not the time to be ungrateful for God’s effort to bring the love of my life back to me. Back to earth and this family.

[vampiregirl1797]

When You Have a Breakdown at Work

Jake Peralta x Reader

 GIF Not Mine

 Word Count: 3,184

 Warnings: maybe a little angst, & so much fluff

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 Summary: Y/N’s having a bad day at work. The brother she hasn’t heard from in five years called to ask for bail money, and it brings back a lot of painful memories. More specifically, the memories of her parents turning her away after she removed the presence of her toxic brother from her life. Work isn’t the best place to have a breakdown, but the evidence room offers some privacy as she slowly falls apart, and when her partner finds her, his warm embrace provides some much needed comfort. As Y/N tells him what happened, he finds himself unable to hold his words back and ends up confessing how much she means to him. How will she react?

 I took another deep breath and forced myself to gently place my phone back on my desk, instead of throwing it through one of the precinct windows like I wanted to. Now wasn’t the time to express my anger and complete frustration—I was at work. Now was the time to be professional and get on with my job, no matter how unbelievably annoying my brother was.

He’d done it again. Gotten himself arrested for having drugs on his person and in his system evidently. His sentence was going to be higher than it usually was because the high quantity of illegal substances he had on him led the cops who arrested him to believe he had the intent to distribute. Hell, I wouldn’t even be surprised if he had turned to dealing—he couldn’t hold down any other work so why wouldn’t he try and make some money to ensure he could keep up his habit.

 I’d really tried with him, he was a year and seven months younger than me, and despite the fact that he towered over me and looked about forty five rather than thirty one, he was my little brother. But I’d disowned him about five years ago, after he’d gone off the rails for the third time, and I’d had to use what little savings I had to bail him out of jail, again. I realised then that I wasn’t family to him. I was a bank that he called up when he needed someone to come and save him because he couldn’t face the repercussions of his actions.

 That was the last time I’d saved his ass, and I told him that from that moment, as far as I was concerned, I no longer had a little brother. I was officially an only child. He hadn’t taken it well and my parents had taken it worse—they’d retaliated by disowning me. It had been hard for a while afterwards, but when I got transferred to the 99th precinct in Brooklyn, I found a new family. One that was better than the one I’d had, and I was incredibly grateful to have them all in my life every day.

 So, after all of this time, it came as a shock to receive a call from him. He’d gotten himself arrested again and apparently mom and dad couldn’t afford to bail him out this time. I idly wondered exactly how many other time’s they’d had to cough up some bail money for their perfect son, especially if it had gotten to the point of them having nothing left this time. I knew mom and dad had a nice little nest egg they’d put aside for their retirement—had he drained it all? I felt my heart clench at what that meant for them, but I didn’t let myself linger on it—it was their choice to keep him in their lives and ignore his toxic tendencies. I was not responsible for their choices and I was certainly not going to suffer the consequences of their actions.

 ‘Hey, Y/N did you finish the report for that B and E?’ Jake’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

 ‘Uh, yeah it’s on Holt’s desk.’ I forced a smile, grabbing some extra files I needed to finish and standing up, ‘I’m gonna go and finish these somewhere else. It’s a little loud in here, I can’t concentrate.’

 I fled before Jake could say anything in response—if I gave him the chance to talk he would comment on the fact that the bullpen was quieter than it ever was because him and I were the only ones there. Well, aside from Sarge and the Captain, but both were always quiet because they had their own paperwork to be getting on with. Rosa and Charles were out on a case and Amy was off for the weekend—apparently she was going to see a TED talk on body language…at least I think that’s what she’d said. Gina was out on lunch, but she’d been gone for at least two hours now—I was anyone’s guess if and when she was coming back.

 So really, needing quiet was a bogus excuse and Jake would pick up on that and start asking me what was wrong, and I didn’t want to talk about it. At least, not here anyway. Jake already knew about the non-existent relationship I had with my family—he was my partner and the stake outs, undercover missions and late nights filling out paperwork led to a lot of time for bonding. It was safe to say that the hyperactive man knew me better than anyone on the squad, or rather, anyone ever. There was just something about the brown haired, brown-eyed boy that made it impossible not to feel comfortable around him. I didn’t know if it was just a part of his personality, or if he was just the first and only person I’d ever clicked with so fast. Either way, I was lucky to have him in my life, as someone I could tell anything to, as someone I knew I could call at three in the morning because I needed to talk to someone who would listen… as someone I was starting to care for as more than a friend.

 I shook my head free of those thoughts and took a seat at the desk in the evidence room. I will only focus on my paperwork. With a determined nod I opened my files and started filling out the relevant information, placing sticky tabs onto the pages I’d need to get Peralta to sign too. It didn’t take as long as I’d thought and in no time, I’d finished the four lots of reports and I was staring blankly at one of the many plain brown boxes piled on the shelves of evidence lock up.

 These were times when I’d distract myself, refusing to linger on the pain and abandonment that sprang up inside of me whenever I thought about my family. Usually it worked great, and I got to a point where I could go months without them even crossing my mind. But I guess hearing my brother’s voice earlier was making it more difficult—he’d opened up the wound and I was going to have to wait for the skin to stitch itself back together.

 I knew I’d made the right decision for me—my brother was toxic and even though it hadn’t been easy, I’d cut him out of my life, because I just couldn’t be happy while I was constantly waiting for the phone to ring to bail his ass out of whatever problem he’d managed to get himself into. The thought of that isn’t what hurt; what hurt more than anything was how easily and quickly my parents had turned their backs on me. How couldn’t they see how poisonous, how selfish he was? Why couldn’t they understand why I had to do what I did?

 I took a deep breath and when it turned into a sob, the tears in my eyes spilled over. I leaned back in my chair, pulling my knees up to my chest and decided to indulge in a good cry. Everyone needed that once and a while, right? I hid my face in my knees and just let the tears, the sobs, all of it out. I’d been holding it in for a long time—while I’d shed a few tears over this predicament over the last five years, I’d never let myself go this much. And while my heart was throbbing painfully and my throat was starting to feel raw, it felt good to purge all of the feelings of abandonment, anger and hurt from my body.

 Being so lost in crying I hadn’t heard someone join me in the evidence room and I just about jumped a mile when I felt a hand on my back. I looked up to see Jake, his hands held in front of him defensively and his brown eyes shining with concern. Without much thought I practically leaped into his arms and buried my face in his chest, the sobs and tears continuing to fall from me—I was too far in to stop now, I had to let it run its course. Jake’s arms wound around me and he rested his chin on top of my head, murmuring soothing things to me. Eventually he sat in the chair I’d been on when he’d arrived, pulling me onto his lap and allowing me to nuzzle further into his warmth. He started to rub the bottom of my back comfortingly and I just about melted into him as the tears finally started to subside.

 I don’t know how long we were sat there for, but he never once complained or pushed me to talk about what had caused this reaction, even after the tears stopped. He just kept rubbing my back and occasionally placing a chaste kiss to my hair, which made my heart skip in my chest every time. I nuzzled my way up to the crook of his neck, inhaling his cologne and not fighting as my eyes fluttered shut at the comfort and security that intensified around me.

 ‘Thank you, Jake.’ I murmured, my voice was low but even I could hear how weak it sounded.

 ‘It’s no problem, Y/N.’ He kissed my hair again and I could sense that he was bracing himself to ask me something that he was worried I wouldn’t want to hear, ‘did something happen?’

 The question didn’t make me stiffen defensively like it would have if anyone else had asked. But coming from him, I didn’t mind, and so instead I sighed and melted further into him.

 ‘My bother called.’ I felt him stiffen momentarily—he knew that couldn’t mean anything good, especially with the state he’d found me in, ‘he was arrested for possession and intent to distribute. Mom and dad couldn’t afford to bail him out this time, apparently I was his last resort.’

 ‘What did you tell him?’ he asked, a little hesitantly.

 ‘I told him that I didn’t care and that it was about time he faced some repercussions for his actions. He told me I was a bitch and that I was dead to him. I told him he’d been dead to me for five years, harsh but true.’ I shrugged and Jake’s index finger tilted my chin up so he could study my eyes. I assumed he was trying to figure out if I was actually feeling as casual and dismissive as I was acting over the conversation I’d had with my brother.

 He frowned in confusion, ‘you don’t seem upset about that, so what’s bought this on?’

 Another sigh fell from me, my eyes fluttering closed as his hand caressed the side of my face, ‘over the past five years I’d gotten good at not thinking about my family, I’d just distract myself whenever a thought about them popped into my head.’ He nodded, but the crease between his brows hinted that his confusion lingered, ‘and I got to a point where they wouldn’t cross my mind for months, but that phone call, hearing his voice just bought it all back. Tore open the wound all over again, and while I honestly don’t care about my brother no longer being in my life… it still hurts that my mom and dad just disowned me so easily. I still don’t understand why. I get that they were pissed at me for disowning him, but why can’t they understand that with him in my life I was only ever on edge? That I couldn’t be truly happy while I was waiting for the phone to ring with him asking for more money to bail him out of whatever trouble he’d gotten himself into?’

 The pain in Jake’s eyes made my eyes tear up all over again, touched that he seemed to care enough that my sadness affected him so deeply. I took a deep breath, determined to get it all out.

 ‘My anger has stopped me from shedding more than a few tears over the years, I never let it out, never let myself properly grieve for the parents I lost. And for some reason I decided that here in the evidence lock up was the best location for that to happen.’ My tone turned a little light-hearted at the end and Jake acknowledged my effort by smiling a little, but the pain still lingered in his eyes.

 ‘I’m so sorry, Y/N.’ He said, his words coming out so quickly that I had to concentrate to catch them all, it was as if he’d been holding it in for a long time and now he was rushing to get it all out, ‘I’m sorry that your parents and your brother didn’t realise how lucky they were to have you in their lives. I’m sorry that they just disowned you so easily, without recognising what a loss it would be and how empty their lives must be without you in it. I’m sorry that they hurt you.’ His eyes were shining with such intensity as he spoke and when he paused to take a breath, a softness appeared in them that made my breath catch, ‘I’m sorry they didn’t appreciate how incredible you are when they had the chance, but I’m not sorry that they’re never going to get the chance again. Because they don’t deserve it, they don’t deserve to have you in their lives. They don’t deserve to know the person you are now because they didn’t realise how kind, sweet, caring and loving you were then. They don’t deserve to know all of the achievements you’ve accomplished in your career and your personal life.’ He gently wiped away the tears as they fell down my cheeks, ‘the truth is, Y/N, I don’t understand how anyone could ever turn their back on you, because I cannot imagine my life without you. It would be empty, a lot less fun, I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic to come to work because I wouldn’t have the fact that I would get to see you to motivate me.’

 ‘Jake,’ I whispered, overwhelmed and I feeling myself fall that little bit more in love with him.

 ‘I know I’m being a little intense here and I hope that it’s not freaking you out, but I wanted you to know that I and everyone in your life now, would never be able to abandon you like they did. You have a family, you have a home here.’ He kissed my forehead.

 His proximity didn’t diminish after, as he rested his forehead against mine, close enough that I could feel his breath mingling with mine, both of us suddenly breathing sporadically. I knew he wouldn’t move close enough to kiss me, he would leave the power in my hands, and if I pushed him away he would immediately get off me and give me space. But I didn’t want space; I wanted to feel his lips moving against mine, I wanted to taste his skin on my tongue. My hands trailed up either side of his neck and moved through his soft brunette hair, Jake’s eyes darkened with lust and I felt my knees go weak—if I’d still been standing I would have crumpled to the floor. I gently pulled him towards me, close enough to close the small gap between us.

 The kiss started off tender, his soft lips dancing gently with mine as we tentatively learned how to move together. Once the shyness melted into the heat of our lust, the kiss became more passionate, me shifting in his lap to straddle him, my hands tightening in his hair when he gripped my waist tighter to pull me closer. I felt a moan tumble from me when he flicked his tongue against mine—I’d never had that kind of reaction when kissing anyone before, but no one had ever kissed me so expertly, so effortlessly as if he knew what I wanted when I didn’t. I felt myself melt into him as his tongue dominated mine, another sound of pleasure leaving my throat. I was overwhelmed with the affect he was having on me—my whole body was tingling with electricity, my bones felt like they’d melted and a knot of pleasure was forming in my belly and growing so quickly that I felt like I was going to burst into flames at any moment.

 Eventually we reluctantly pulled apart, our bodies needing the oxygen we’d been denying it for too long. My forehead fell to his shoulder as I tried to get my breathing under control, and when I felt like I could speak again a breathy, ‘wow’ was whispered into the skin of his neck.

 ‘That was the hottest moment of my life.’ His voice was breathy too and I lifted my head to look at him, a teasing smile on my face.

 ‘Title of your sex tape.’ I winked, laughing with him, though I stopped abruptly when he sat up straighter, his hands tightening on my waist to assure he didn’t drop me.

 He gasped, ‘title of our sex tape!’

 I threw my head back, a loud laugh tumbling from my throat as I slapped the hand he held up for a high five. He entwined our fingers together and pulled me closer, placing a short but passionate and loving kiss to my lips. His eyes were soft when we pulled apart, and I knew that I was observing him in the same adoring way as my free hand fell to the back of his neck, playing with the longer strands of his soft hair.

 ‘I’m so lucky to have you in my life, Jake Peralta.’ I murmured, kissing his nose when he bashfully grinned, his eyes softening even more.

 ‘Not as lucky as I am.’ His hand caressed the side of my face, his eyes tender with adoration and sincerity, and he bought our lips together once again.

 As our lips moved together once again, I couldn’t help but thank whatever deity had bought Jake Peralta and the rest of the squad into my life. Because Jake was right, I did have a family here, one that was better and stronger than the relationships I used to have with my mom, dad and brother. But I was especially grateful for Jake. For his kindness, generosity, for caring about me, for loving me. We might not have said it, but I knew he felt it, just as I knew he was sure that I felt the same for him—it was clear in our eyes as we looked at each other and our touch as we held one another.

 And as our kiss deepened with fervour, I was certain that I would go through all the pain that came with my parents disowning me a thousand times over, if it meant that I would be blessed with having Jake Peralta in my life when it was done.