#him catching on so quickly both of them complete executed the little fake fight without either having to say a word

[the-fiddlesticks-affair]

the summit-five affair completely rocked me what a fucking episode. heres my absolute favorite bit from the whole thing if i must absolutely be forced to choose

[sporksaber]

Ok, I love the role swap concept with zuko and azula, but I feel like they switch their abilities and personalities a bit too and I think itd be more fun without that. Where Azula is an antisocial and unstable genius who wants to gain power and zuko still struggles with being the less powerful and extremely empathetic sibling. So here's how I'd do it.

(Note, this is just for fun. I'm not saying anyone else's version is bad. But I've though about this so much and need it out of my head before I go off cuz make a whole comic and I do not have the time, i need to work.)

First off, Azula wouldn't call out in concern for the men like how zuko did. In my version she's allowed into the meeting because of the aptitude for strategy shes shown. She speaks up because it's an inefficient plan that uses up too many resources when there are other options. This enrages her father and leads to the agni kai. Azula is terrified and feels betrayed but has no idea how to handle any of it. She fights back during the agni kai, but in her panic she sets off a bolt of lightning. Ozai finishes the match and severely burns on her lower back. Azula is banished for her use of lightning on the fire lord (bc ozai fears she will no longer be easy to manipulate and might plot his death) and is forced to leave the next morning.

Some things to note: azula is eleven at this point. I changed the placement of the scar bc I think zuko's is very symbolic in a way that doesnt suit azula. Zuko's scar being over his eye and close to the light chakra shows the way his view of the fire nation and honour obscures his vision and how he is unaware of the truth of the world under fire nation rule. I set azula's over her spine because that chakra is based on survival and blocked by fear. It also represents trust which will fit into her arc with the gaang. Finally, she doesnt have Iroh to guide her. One of the things that bothered me was Iroh writing her off as evil despite her being a mentally unstable child. She did have to be defeated, but the way he talked about it was too dismissive. (Personally I think he was projecting his views of his brother and his perceived failures with him onto her.) Azula isnt sent to capture the avatar so she isnt given soldiers. She's completely alone without an advisor to look to or keep her calm.

Azula is given a manned ship with a disgraced soldier and an attendant when she leaves. The way I see it the soldiers zuko had were probably more irohs than his. The soldier is relieved to not be executed but hates being demoted to playing babysitter to a child at sea. The attendant views it as a punishment and hates Azula for it. Eventually the attendant will betray her and be killed for it. Azula never trusted the soldier and he eventually leaves to start a family in an earth kingdom colony. Azula doesnt miss him, he was no longer useful. The loneliness does get to her though.

Azula is obsessed with getting the underhand, so she had been successfully building connections and planting spies where needed.

(Zuko has been acting as a respectable crowned prince. He holds a zealous loyalty to his nation and father. He still faulters as Iroh tries to steer him from tyranny, but his sights are set on his father's approval and that alone. Afterall, if his prodigy could be discarded who's to say what would happen to him if he failed?)

This brings us to the start of the series. Like Zuko Azula witnesses the trap on the old fire nation battle ship go off. She investigates and finds that an air bending avatar is living at the south pole village. She decides she wants to speak with him.

Azula didn't believe the avatar existed before this point. Hiding didnt add up to her knowledge of the morality of airbenders, so she assumed the air nation avatar from the start of the war would be dead. She would know if one had appeared in the water tribe, as the south had all its benders killed and the north was compacted so close together it would be impossible to hide. Earth would be harder, but they were most likely to fight back and out act. And if in ba sing se they'd be used as a weapon or gotten rid of to preserve the peace of the city. Once the culcle progressed to the fire nation it would either be used to take over the other nations or enf the cycle for good. After all, there hasn't been an air bender for a hundred years even if the rumors of some acolytes surviving were truthful.

Azula kidnaps aang with far more ease than she should of been able to. Once he stops struggling she calmly offers him tea and promises to release him once their discussion is finished. He takes the tea and drinks it without question and besides a wary glare shows no more hostility. She thought him a fool, the tea could have easily been poisoned and promised are nothing but words. His naivete makes her job easier though.

She finds out that he was suspended frozen in the avatar state the last 100 years. And so, Azula informs him of the war and the fire nations crimes, advising him to master the elements if he wants to prevent all his new friends and the avatar cycle from certain destruction. Aang is conflicted, he never asked for any of this. Azula just gives a bitter smile. "The hands of fate were never designed to take requests, they move without regard to any life dependent on it. Dont waste your breath when there is nothing you can do."

Azula wants to see Ozai fail. If helping the avatar is what it takes then so be it. When his friends appear to save him she let's them leave without a fight. Theyll be useful in the future.

As the gaang's travels kick off she sets out to find out if the rumours about the acolytes are true. In this she finds a traveling circus. The youngest daughter and an old friend of hers was eager to escape and found Azula's life exciting. She didn't hesitate after being invited along, insisting that traveling would be easy for her and that she'd pull her own weight.

She encounters the gaang a few times as time goes by. The relationship is reluctant on the water tribe siblings part, they dont trust her and hold a decent amount of fear towards her. Her cold and calculating demeanor was unsettling, but the unhinged way she fought was terrifying. Her form was perfect and her attacks were precise, but the bigger the fight the more lost she became as she laughed and shrieked and occasionally snapped at someone who didnt seem to be there. The only worse reaction was when she zeroed in on one opponent, picking them apart both mentally and physically as she drove them to the ground. )

Things that'll happen as I move through an episode list:

Azula doesn't have her ship attacked do she diesnt run into zhao while doing repairs, instead going straight to ty lee.

Azula learns that the gaang is on kyoshi island and heads ther after them. She has been keeping track of the avatar as they move. Ty lee gets along well with the kyoshi warriors while azula buts heads with them. They dont want her there and azula hates it when people get in the way. Zhao appears to try to capture aang and Azula dips at the same time as the gaang. She tells ty lee she can stay but she insists on sticking with azula. This puts her on edge.

Ty lee gets captured by earth benders, when she escapes on her own she cements her usefulness to Azula.

They run into zhao trying to capture the avatar and azula tells him she'll capture him first. They both attack aang during the solstice, though azula's attacks are all purposefully set to miss and trip up zhao as much as possible. Aang is the best way to prove her father wrong and she's not going to lose that.

They rob the pirates that try to capture the avatar. Azula needs the resources and it gives her leverage over the gaang.

After almost killing ty lee for scaring her by popping up behind her Azula tells her why she was banished. (In more of a "my own mother thought I was a monster" way than an opening up about trauma way.)

Azula learns that zhao has captured aang and frees him. She then sets to reworking her information network as not all of them are scared enough of her to not fail her. She remedies it quickly.

Azula learns that zhao is plotting her assassination and decides it's the perfect moment to fake her death.

Azula enters the north pole to defeat zhao and gain any information she can. Ty lee rades a library during the confrontation. Zhao is surprised and infuriated to see her alive, Azula smiles as she sends him to his death knowing that she is not only helping the avatar but also that he gave her a perfect way to hide from the fire nation. (When news of his sisters death reaches hum, Zuko doesnt know what to think. She was always cruel to him, but she was still his little sister.)

The crown prince of the fire nation is sent to capture the avatar. Azula follows him as he begins his search. (Zuko begins to think he's going insane as he keeps catching glimpses of his recently deceased sister out of the corner of his eye.)

Ty lee keeps running into a girl she slowly befriends. She's gloomy and sarcastic and ty lee thinks Azula would like her. (Zuko's fiance Mai tells him that she thinks his sister is still alive.)

As Azula notices ty lee become more and more distracted as she absorbed herself into the cultures that surround them she decides it's best for them to split up. Ty lee diesnt agree, but Azula leaves anyway. She has work to do.

While traveling alone Azula cant escape the thoughts of her mother. Of her fathers betrayal. Of the life she lost because the idiot elders had no grip on proper strategy that even a child could create. She meets a boy that reminds her far too much of zuko with a mother far to similar to theirs. When she sends the bandits controlling the town running she knows it's more than just controlling a territory that compelled her. But at the same time she doubts not following through on the whim would have bothered her.

Ty lee meets toph and chat for a bit. Ty lee tells her about azula and how she left. When toph tells her she should forget her she insists that azula didnt really ditch her and that they're still friends. They talk about their friends and childhood.

Ty lee finds Azula and immidiently jumps at her, which she does not enjoy. Ty lee insists that she still wants to travel with her and Axula sighs as she let's her tag along to the next location, ba sing se.

Azula slips through guards and protocols as she tries to gain any information she can to help her once they reach the city. Ty lee befriends a guy named jet and his group, the freedom fighters. When he tries to get more than friendship she turns him down and it becomes much more awkward.

Ty lee becomes a street performer and chames everyone she meets as Azula researches the dai lee and how they keep control. After lashing out in frustration ty lee drags her out to enjoy the city's night life.

Azula learns of the presence of the avatar and location of appa. She frees him and sets to work taking control of the dai lee. She let's herself be briefly captured but her plan shifts when katara is thrown in with her. Katara is pissed just being around her and azula plays up a cool kind of annoyance. Katara briefly catches sight of the burns on Azula's back and offers to heal her, only for Azula to freak out and yell at her to stay away, backing against a far wall in a fighting stance. They are saved by the rest if the gaang and ty lee shortly after.

Azula goes back to try and salvage her plan only to be caught off guard by the appearance of her brother and his offer to return to the fire nation. Not willing to lose all possible advantages, she agrees. They battle the gaang, and when they are almost captured azula sends a bolt of lightning at aang, causing them to retreat. Katara can heal him more easily than she can maneuver them out of an execution.

Azula returns to the fire nation with her brother, mai and ty lee, starting the beginning of a large power play between her and her father. They are sent to lo and li beach house. The relationship between the siblings is tense, zuko has always been the child born with nothing who gained everything when his blessed at birth sister lost it all. Azula has always been cruel, but he cant help but let his heart catch on the moments when she's not. ("My own mother thought I was a monster, My father thought i was too difficult to keep around" "Don't let their words blind you, you need to be more careful, zuzu." "I learned the hard way to never turn your back to anyone, and the scars will always be there as a reminder if I need it." )

Azula runs into iroh, who is very disapproving of her presence. He warns her to stay away from zuko and to watch herself while at the palace. Later, zuko comes to her asking about their great grandfather. Upon being pressed he admits that he was sent a mysterious letter. He thought she was going to burn it when he handed it to her but instead the heat from the fire revealed a hidden ink. "Honestly brother, did you ever pay attention at all during lessons?" They find a autobiographical scroll of their great grandfathers life and the secret that their other great grandfather was roku. Azula scoffed at the idea of bloodlines deciding fate and quickly left. But Zuko remained conflicted.

During the day of the black sun Azula confronts Ozai. As iroh and Zuko fight the avatar. She learns that her mother left for zuko's sake and that she was never going to be fire lord. Azula tells him she'll be somthing even better and leaves the palace.

Azula and ty lee follow the gaang to the western air temple. Katara immidprntly attacks but is quickly rendered unable to bend by ty lee. Azula tells them that the only way for them to of gotten out was for Aang to be incapacitated, and she knew katara could heal him. Aang decides they can stay but have to stay distanced from everyone else.

Azula tries to teach aang fire bending but is slowly growing sick while aang is barely able to produce a puff of smoke. Unable to sleep and constantly on edge, it soon affects her bending, sending her spiraling as she loses control on the only consistent power she's ever had. Her and aang journey to find the true source of fire bending to try to help their conditions.

Still sick, Azula is itching to do anything away from the temple. Finding sokka trying to reach the boiling rock to find his father, she decides to go with him as she knows the prison well. Sokka declines but she goes anyway. They dont find his father, but they do find suki. Azula formulates a plan but they postpone when sokka's father arrives.

Azula comes up with a new plan, now reluctant to include sokka. He tells her to trust him but she insists she has no reason to. Her sickness has been getting worse and he tells her she needs to trust him, making her angry. Only when he catches her while they're escaping dies she finally begin to accept trusting him, if only slightly.

(While they're away ty lee tries to convince

Azula goes with Katara to find the man who killed her mother. Azula has no concept of why katara is so upset, which causes her to get angry. But azula tracks the man anyway.

Ember island players- azulas character has the scar across her chest. She's absolutely insane and "not entirely inaccurate, but I'd never come up with such a dumb plan." Shes also heavily implied to be more than close to ty lee, which azula has no reaction to even as the others freak out.

I havent decided the ending, zuko will probably turn to the gaang's side. I'll add more later and maybe write or illustrate a bit.

[detroitbydark]

Chp 10

Characters: Commander Fox/Mouse (reader), Palpatine, Captain Rex, Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu.

Word count:4500

Warnings: Sith typical mind fuckery, canon typical violence. Use of the force to injure.

A/N: well here we are ladies and lads, Fox lovers all. The day is upon us. I’m pretty stoked the way this one came out and I hope y’all don’t hate me too much after the fact. As always let me know what you think, ask questions, yell at me. Whatever floats your boat.

Today hadn’t started well and you were already so far past caring it was insane.

You didn’t care you’d woken up on your couch in your clothes from the day before, rumpled and wrinkled beyond salvage, your mascara a messy mask under your eyes.

You didn’t care that you spent the better part of your first hour at the office staring out the transparisteel window into the skylane that ran not far from where you sat, watching transports and speeders for by in a soothing blur.

You didn’t care about the tartness in your voice when the 501st Captain had comm’d stating it was important that he speak with Commander Fox immediately. You’d told him, in no uncertain terms, that what the Commander had on the schedule for today was of the utmost importance and that you would make sure he got the message when he got in.

Maybe you’d been a bitch, latent embarrassment from the peep show you’d unintentionally given the day before still simmering but, really, he hadn’t even offered an apology and the muffled yelling behind closed doors hadn’t done much to place him in your good graces either.

You try not to replay the night before. You’d done that plenty on the ride home. All the same, you let it play through again in your head. Now, you're looking at it in the light of day and with more clarity. The way the anxiety had been almost palpable when you’d first entered the room hadn’t seemed so obvious at the time-

“Ma’am?”

A portly woman is standing a few feet away politely smiling. Your face flushes.

“I’m sorry. Daydreaming.” You explain with a forced smile and a lie “what can I do for you?” A movement behind the woman catches your attention. A tiny green hand clings to the women's slacks as equally green eyes peek around her thick leg.

“I’m Sukin Maly with level 504 children’s home. I was told this was Commander Fox’s office?” She’s pleasant looking as she glances back at the child clinging to her before focusing on you. Lines pull at the corner of her eyes letting you know she was a woman who enjoyed smiling a lot and often.

The child slowly rounds the woman’s thigh and you watch with delight as you recognize the twi’lek girl from the pictures Fox had shown you. Pushing away from your desk you move closer, crouching down and offering your hand. Wide eyes look from your hand to the attendant who gives a small nod. The girl hesitantly takes it and you give it a gentle shake before looking back up to her minder.

“I’m afraid the Commander is out of the office today.” The woman gives an understanding smile as you turn back to the little girl.

“I think I know who you are.” You offer conspiratorially, “are you Me’kar? You made quite the impression on Commander Fox.”

Her little lekku wriggle happily at the sound of her name.

The children’s attendant says something in Ryl you don’t understand. Me’kar’s tiny hands go to the top of each lek and she makes little ears with her fingers.

“Fox” she says clear as day in basic.

You can’t help but laugh and her smile brightens as she repeats the word over and over.

“She’s picking it up quickly”, Sukin explains “but that seems to be her favorite word.

“It’s ok, sweetheart. It’s mine too” you say softly as she bounces in front of the older woman.

”it’s nice to meet you both.” You offer them your given name before addressing the child again, “but you can call me Mouse if you’d like. Everyone around here does.”

This brings a peel of laughter bubbling up in the child as the attendant translates. She holds her hands in front of her like tiny paws and wiggles her little green button of a nose before making a squeaking noise. “Mouse,” she giggles.

You laugh as she pulls a stuffed tooka out of the bag draped across her shoulders.

“Cat. Meow.” She says proudly, holding the raggedy stuffy up. “Fox kiss better.”

You look up to the attendant with a furrowed brow. “She was quite taken that the Commander gave her kitten kisses when it was scared.”

You fight back a laugh at the image. “I wish he was here to see you. He’s going to be disappointed he missed such an important visitor.” The girl's smile fades as Sukin translates but only for a moment before she’s digging back in her bag for a folded piece of flimsy.

“Fox” she says proudly as she unfolds the flimsy, finally holding up an image she’d obviously been very proud of. It’s rough but you can very clearly make out little Me’kar and Fox drawn as brightly colored stick figures. Fox’s helmet is so large that the weight of it looks like it will break his little stick body in half at any moment, maybe it’s the small green hand intertwined with his red one that stops it from happening.

Your ovaries nearly implode. It is the single most adorable thing you’ve ever seen and you willingly take it as she turns to her minder and speaks in rapid Ryl.

“She’d like you to give it to the Commander.”

“Please?”

Saying no was never going to be an option so you nod, thrown off when she attaches herself to your waist and gives you a big hug. You pay the top of her head, “how about this. I give him this” you wriggle the picture, “and we set something up so you and your friends can come a different day when I know the Commander and his friends will be here? You could eat lunch in the big cafeteria and maybe they could give you a tour?”

Me’kar can barely contain herself as the older woman translates. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

She spins and bounces with excitement and Sulin hurries to calm her as you hide a smile behind your hand. You trade comms with the woman and promise to be in touch after you’ve spoken with the Commander and set something up. Me’kar waves manically, turning and pulling every few steps when It’s time to leave.

“Bye Mouse! Bye!”

It’s the first bright spot in your day and you cling to the swelling feeling in your heart as you return to sorting out the mess that was the day to day operations of the Coruscant Guard.

——-

The aide arrives early afternoon. You’d only just finished lunch and are busy packing your bag when you see them coming down the hall. The upturned nose and refined, high-end clothing scream politician from 20 klicks away. They’re feet away from your desk before their eyes even move to you.

“I’m sorry, Commander Fox-“ you begin your usual explanation and are quickly cut off.

“Your presence is requested this afternoon in the office of the Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine.”

The request strikes you as odd immediately both in its formality and, if by the way the aide is staring at you, its presumed immediacy.

You were not an individual that ever had any right being in the same room as someone as powerful as the Supreme Chancellor, not because you were unworthy or less than, but simply because you had nothing to offer in any way you could find necessary.

You inform the aide gently that he is likely in the wrong place, has the wrong person.

He huffs impatiently before speaking your name, “that is your name correct?”.

You nod mutely.

“Than, miss, I believe I am in the right place and the Chancellor is well aware of who you are.”

Something sours in your stomach. You wish Fox or one of the boys were around because something just seems off. “We could do this a different time?” You question hopefully, retrieving your datapad and flipping open the calendar, “I really shouldn’t be leaving halfway through my day.”

“The Commander is with the Chancellor awaiting your arrival.”

Well, you knew that, didn’t you? You were the one who’d been answering comms for Fox all day. So why did it make your stomach flip and lurch? Maybe because you’d expect Fox to contact you with a heads up or, knowing him, send one of the kits to collect you.

“So, like now?” You clarify.

The aide's foot begins an impatient rhythm, toes tapping irritably against the floor, “like, now.” He clarifies pointedly.

You try to ignore his demeanor, he probably wasn’t used to playing go-for and certainly not used to anyone doing anything less than jumping at a chance to meet the Chancellor. Still, you don’t move with any great urgency. Maybe had he been a little nicer or the request not been so abnormal to begin with. You make a point of locking down the datapads and grabbing your coat and bags, ignoring his sigh while he glances at his chrono.

He never introduces himself. Not as you follow a step behind down the halls, not as you climb into the sleek black speeder on the landing platform. Hound And Rule are parking a pair of speeder bikes. You give them a shrug and a nervous smile as their helmets both cock in question. Hound looks like his namesake be it with a more viscous paint job. You’d laugh if you weren’t so kriffing nervous. It’s stupid. So this wasn’t exactly normal, but aside from a rude, nameless aide this was nothing worse than heading to an inter-office meeting.

Than why couldn’t you shake the feeling that you were about to get in trouble, like a child being called to the principals office? Your fingers fumble as you buckle the restraint across your chest. You barely have a chance to wave to the two Guardsmen still looking your way before the speeder is diving into the skylane and heading toward the Senate Executive building.

The ride is quiet. Any attempt to make small talk is met with a simple yes or no, a few things are even ignored completely. If this guy was intending on going into politics he’d need to take a class or two on how to fake interest in his constituents.

The speeder comes to a stop at the Supreme Chancellor’s private platform and you’re ushered off without fanfare.

“Don’t we need to check in with security?” You ask as your collector opens the door to what you can only assume is the Chancellor’s suite, a rich expanse of room and excess that doesn’t allow your eyes a moment to relax or focus on one point.

“That won’t be necessary, unless you feel like you need to be scanned and patted down?” His raises brow makes you blush.

“No- of course not. Just protocol-“

“The Supreme Chancellor sets his own protocols.” He explains as you move further into the office. The large wall of transparisteel looks out over the very tops of buildings you knew to tower high about the highest heights of the Coruscanti top level. It’s breathtaking.

The decorations are ostentatious, with a very strong splash of deep red everywhere- from the carpeting to the tapestries interspersed on the walls. Bronzium statues sit atop marble stands, their twisted faces and gnarled figures seem out of place amongst all the finery before you.

“This way, please.”

You hadn’t realized you’d slowed to gawk and move to pick up the pace from where you’d fallen back. You offer a small apology that goes unacknowledged as he presses through an imposing set of doors on the other side is more transparisteel, more red.

And the Chancellor.

Sheev Palpatine sits with his hands folded on the dark wood in front of him looking as if he’d been waiting for you to arrive. He greets you as such.

“My dear girl!” He rises to greet you, moving carefully around his desk.

Your first thought is that he was not nearly as tall as you’d imagined he’d be. On the holonet he looked every bit as tall as any of the clones that served as his guards. He’s only a head taller than you, you note as he reaches for your hand and gives it a gentle shake. You smile weakly, a spark of something uncomfortable and disquieting burning inside you.

“Supreme Chancellor” you incline your head to break the uncomfortably intense eye contact, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“She is a beautiful little creature, Commander.” He intones looking past you, ignoring your greeting.

You glance over your shoulder to see Fox standing at attention next to the door you’d walked through. It was a wonder you hadn’t noticed him immediately but with all the red bleeding through the room it was no great difficulty for him to blend in. He tips his helmet toward you even though he seems stiff. Regardless, just his presence does something to calm your nerves. Any residual anxiety about the pair of you seems to dissolve as you look at him. When you turn back to the Chancellor your smile is genuine.

The chancellor’s is still questionable while he cups your elbow and leads you toward his desk. The soft clatter of plastoid armor follows behind you. You can feel Fox behind you, can almost imagine his all too familiar body heat radiating along your back. You fight the urge to let your hand sweep behind you in an attempt to capture his own.

“My dear, the good Commander speaks very highly of you.”

“I think very highly of him” you murmur fighting the urge to look behind you.

“Very good. Very good. Have a seat and we’ll begin our little meeting.”

The chair is plush and comfortable. When the Chancellor sits down across you notice that his chair is positioned slightly higher than your own, making him appear as if he was looking down at you. The desk is fairly clean, only a handful of datapads and some neatly organized flimsy. Next to everything is a gleaming blaster. It’s hard to keep your eyes from skimming over it. You’d sat through enough conversations with Hound and Ryk to not recognize a hold-out blaster when you saw one.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it? Blas-Tech, I believe.” The chancellor motions toward the blaster but you shake your head. As much as you’ve been privy to conversations about the different makes and models you’d never really become comfortable with the actual blasters themselves. “Well suit yourself” the chancellor shakes his head gently picking up the blaster and making a show of turning it in the light. It’s small, most hold-outs were. “A gift from one of the Corellian delegates” he continues “a very thoughtful gift but I personally find blasters rather uncivilized.” He makes a show of setting it down closer to you.

“I see” you fidget in your seat, “I really don’t want to waste any of your time. I’m sure you have far more important-“

“- this is of the utmost importance, I’m afraid” there’s something about the almost apologetic look he gives you or maybe it’s the slight cooling of his tone that washes away any comfort that knowing Fox was with you had provided.

“I’m afraid, I’m not sure what this conversation is about.”

A scoff crosses the length of the desk as the Chancellor looks past you to Fox. “She is very tricky isn’t she Commander? Had I known you couldn’t see past a simple deception I would never have encouraged you to pursue her.”

“My apologies, my lord” Fox’s voice is cool and emotionless, not the rich baritone you were used to. Warning klaxons sound in your head.

“Sir?”

“Oh, dear girl there’s no use hiding it any longer.”

Your heart rate is slowly creeping up, moving more close to the rate of your namesake than you were comfortable with. You attempt to rise to your feet but a pair of gauntlets come down on your shoulders and press you back into the chair that no longer feels comfortable.

The chancellor rises and moves toward the windows, his fine robes swing around him as he goes. Your eyes follow him carefully. Pressure builds at the back of your skull, a wholly inopportune moment for a headache to present itself if you’ve ever had one. You shake your head gently in an attempt to dislodge it. The chancellor laughs and it sends a cold shock down your spine.

“You’ve used your position and your wiles to lead the Commander astray” he begins “you’ve filled his head full of ideas of conspiracies and plots that don’t exist. And for what, might I ask?”

When you turn and look up at Fox he’s staring down at you through the dark lens of his visor. You will him to say something, anything. Surely this was a mistake.

“Fox, you can’t believe this?” You turn toward Palpatine, “this is a mistake. I’m not sure where this has come from-“

“-So I shouldn’t believe that you gathered the data for the Commander? That you didn’t read through it unlawfully and offer your own silly ideas as to what happened after our best investigators found that the ARC trooper acted against the Republic? That he was, indeed, intent on assassignation?” The chancellor’s voice grows louder as he speaks.

Your mouth gapes as he continues.

“Should the Commander not be made aware that you’ve used his affection to manipulate a good soldier into believing that the Grand Army, the highest level of military excellence in the galaxy, was intent on destroying not only his brothers but the entire Jedi order?”

Fox’s hands leave your shoulders and you jump to your feet, the chair pushing back behind you, forcing him to take a step back or be hit with it. His hand rests at his hip, fingers wrapped around the grip of his deece. The pressure on the back of your head intensifies, burns.

“You used me” the words are a broken snarl, an injured animal fighting back. “You made me love you so you could what? Tell me damnit!” His body is tight, coiled like a spring ready to snap.

“Fox, this isn’t right-“

Palpatine's voice rises over the pair of you. “I’ll tell you Commander. She came with the intent of finishing what the ARc trooper started. She was a conspirator.” The word conspirator is hissed out. Fox’s head jerks than shakes. The heel of his free hand presses against his visor. You want to go to him, find a way to make him understand, to soften the hard lines of his body.

Pick up the blaster.

A voice, cool and calculating echoes in your skull. Your eyes trail down to the blaster and your fingers flex into a fist, knuckles going white as you fight the urge that you shouldn’t have. You can hear your heartbeat pounding along rapidly in your head, adrenaline flooding your system.

“She’s here to kill me Commander. She is a spy and assassin. How else could she get in here without the guards knowing?”

Fox’s hand twitches over his own blaster. “It hurts” one hand presses at the side of his bucket. Is Palpatine in his head too?

Pick. Up. The. Blaster.

Your skull feels as if it will implode at any moment. Your eyes turn away from Fox and to the Chancellor. A cruel smile twists his mouth, a vicious play on a genuine one. Your brows furrow together as the clanging in your head grows louder.

“You’re doing this?!” Panic rises in your throat, bile burns it raw. “Why? Get out of my head!”

The pained squeal that slips from your mouth sounds foreign, a feral animal sound. “Get out of my head!” You sob whipping around. Fox, who seems to be struggling on his own, drops down to one knee, bucket cradled in his hands.

“Cyar’ika-“ he sounds small and you want it to stop, would do anything to protect him. His visor rises up to meet your eyes and you swear you see him clear as day as if it’s not there. He’s your Fox and he needs you.

Because you love him.

“How touching” Palpatine's voice echoes through the room, a perverse pleasure notable in his tone as he sees your realization from inside your mind.

But you love Fox and the weight of it gives you strength. You push harder against whatever magic has slithered into your head.

“Good soldiers follow orders” Palpatine reminds, voice cold and calculating “Shoot the traitor.”

“Fox, it’s me.” You beg him to see you. To look at you “he’s making you believe something that isn’t real. See me-“ a broken sob bubbles it’s way over your lips, “Fox…”

Distantly, the sound of blasters and the rising shout of voices becomes clear but you don’t have time to discern what’s going on.

“You will shoot the assassin commander. The blaster is in her hand. Do it, Commander!”

“Mouse- I- I- can’t” Fox’s voice comes out as if through gritted teeth and then something snaps and he rises back to his full height. The uncertainty that had been rolling off of him is gone.

“No, no, no…” you mumble, shaking your head as tears fill yours eyes. Your hand covers your mouth in horror as if it alone can hold your grief in. Fox raises his blaster at you. Desperately you turn to the chancellor. “Please! Please don’t make him do this! I’ll do anything. Please don’t make him!”

He laughs in your face and you finally do as the voice in you head has willed.

You grab the blaster.

It feels foreign in your grip. You scream as a bolt from Fox’s deece grazes your left shoulder but your right hand holds tight to the one in your hand.

“PUT IT DOWN! GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES!” Fox’s voice booms as you turn back toward him. There’s no way you will get a shot off on the chancellor. “Mouse- please-“ desperation bleeds through his words suddenly and it hurts almost as much as the singed flesh of your arm.

You raise the blaster to your head. You're going to die. You know it in your very soul. Now it was only a matter of how and who. It won’t be Fox. It will be the last thing you do-

“DO IT!”

Noise erupts around you. The doors of the Chancellor's office explode open, splinters of wood showering down.

Chaos ensues.

Another blaster bolt hits you in the right flank while your attention is divided. Everything moves in slow motion. The blaster in Fox’s hand shakes as he continues to aim it in your direction. The smell of ozone assault your senses. The room spins on its own unseen axis.

The blaster falls from your fingers with a clatter as you drop to your knees. You can’t breathe, your mind screams to draw in a breath but your body refuses to comply only allowing shallow, useless gasps.

Lights flare in your periphery purple, red, blue. Voices roar to life.

Electricity tickles at your skin as your hands press down over burnt flesh. “Fox…” his name comes out as a whimper as the transparisteel at your back shatters, shards of it bite into your back, burrow deep into your flesh. The smell of blood, the coppery tang makes your stomach heave..

Chaos is everywhere, omnipotent and overwhelming. Voices shout, threaten, and yell and you struggle to focus in on any one thing.

“Don’t take another step, vod!” You see the familiar blue and white jaig eyed bucket of Captain Rex. Twin deeces are aimed at Fox but his blaster is only half pointed, his head cocks then shakes violently. “I said stop, Fox!”

“It’s not him-“ the words come out in a choked cough, not loud enough to be heard over the cacophony of wind rising up between the buildings and the clashing of Jedi lightsabers. You press up on one arm and point shakily with your injured left arm. You try again, “it’s him!”

Rex’s helmet tips toward you but his blasters remain trained on Fox as you point toward the old man held at the tip of a purple saber.

You don’t have the strength to stay upright and your arm crumples. You fall against the red carpet with a gasp. Your shoulder bears the brunt of it causing bright hot pain to shoot anew through your body. When you're able to open your eyes, your blood mixing with the red fibers, almost imperceptibly, greets you.

“Mouse- Fierfek” the gutted sound of Fox’s voice slips into your ears, “I’m sorry. I’m-“ he voice is choked off as he grabs at his throat. Another man, lip curled back in a snarl, advances on him hand raised. His robes are dark matching the poisonous look in his eyes.

“Yes, young Skywalker. Strike him down!” The chancellor's sickly voice rises up over the winds.

“Anakin!” The Jedi wielding the purple saber snarls. You see him look back at the chancellor.

“I am the senate. You will not kill me, Jedi”

“The senate is overruled”

The purple saber flashes without hesitation. You choke back a scream as Sheev Palpatine’s head leaves his body. You struggle, dragging yourself toward Fox as his hands claw against his own throat trying to dislodge his invisible assailant.

“General! Enough!” Rex’s voice rises as you grab at Fox’s leg pulling yourself in front of him.

“Skywalker” the other man intones quietly. The purple glow retracts as he places a hand over the younger Jedi’s forearm and presses down, “let him go. This wasn’t his doing.”

You miss the choked cry the younger man bites back because whatever has held Fox at bay releases him and he falls forward, body draping over you protectively.

The winds still howl, blowing up from the deep wells of Coruscant below but it sounds distant. It doesn’t chill you like it had because Fox is with you and he’ll make everything right.

You want to tell him how much you love him. You want to kiss him just once as the darkness presses in at the edges of your vision. It’s a struggle to focus on the lines of his helmet, to pretend you can see through to the cut of his jaw, his full lips -that turn up just so when he smiles- and the soothing browns of his eyes.

“You don’t get to do this” he whispers angrily between harsh breaths. His arms wrap around your body pulling you close his nose pressing against your temple. “You don’t get to die because of me”

You tell him it’s not his fault, or at least you try. You can’t make your voice work.

Fox’s lips press roughly behind your ear. A continuous loop of promises and apologies and curses spill from his mouth. Mando’a and basic slur together. You try to keep your eyes open. You want to stay with him. It doesn’t hurt anymore so everything must be ok. Fox has made it ok…

Someone yells for a medic and the darkness overtakes you.

[helbramstrauma]

Unkillable Chapter 4

Hello! as always this you can read on AO3, or if you need to catch up here is Chapters One Two Three

Now for a quick synopsis: You are a former knife thrower that now lives undercover with other escapee’s trying to make ends meet. This leads to some morally questioning jobs, you aren’t assassins but everything has a price. Just like any other job you were prepared, although your intel failed to mention something incredibly important. There seem to be other people trying to steal from the infamous underground auction as well

Word Count: 2260

Tw: Blood and Gore

Every ounce of confidence you once had is fleeting, realizing how dire your situation is, they always said curiosity is what killed the cat, but what other choice did you have? Noticing your position in the sky you are not far from your hideout, and you cannot sense the circus people anymore. Could that clown defeat all of them? All of that aside, you need to think, do you jump or do you wait? If you go to whatever location they are taking you to, your chances of survival are going to be low at best. Would it have been better to get killed by the circus, because Feitan has been staring at me the whole time oozing bloodlust? You begin to shift your weight towards the opening in the helicopter preparing to jump, however, Feitan quickly realizes and grabs my hand drawing blood. That is a mistake, you flip the small man over you and out of the helicopter forming a metal bar connection between us. Soon after you are plummeting towards the ground, though Feitan softens the landing. You change the previous bond back to blood as you stand up, giving your previous target your hand, there is no way you could kill him, and even if you did you cannot have the Phantom Troupe tagging you. “What this” Feitan stands up, pushing me against a wall holding his hand against my throat, but he is not crushing my windpipe, “start talking bitch”. He is extremely confident but you can sense a little hesitation in his eyes, but it is disappearing as he grows impatient for my answer. You attempt to pry his hand off of your throat but that only causes his grip to tighten, with a shortness of breath you are able to say, “Sorry”. This causes the man to look at you with confusion loosening the grip momentarily before it tightens again, but it is still looser than before.“ Wrong answer, try again”. “You never asked a question,” You say, realizing he never asked anything. Although you know nothing about the chain user, he could ask about the circus or why you were at the auction. He doesn’t say anything for a moment or two, and it remains silent after that. Until you finally hear his voice, “Name?” his grip also moves from your throat instead opting to pin your hands above your head. You remain silent, dumbfounded by his question: why would he want to know something so trivial? However he grows impatient and knees me in the gut, “You stupid? Don’t know your own name?” you can see his mouth peeking out behind his mask, in a notorious smirk. “You can call me y/n” You manage to get out. “Why people chase you?” he questions, this time not waiting for me to answer, he scratches your cheek drawing more blood. Has he not noticed how you get your knives to materialize? Either way, you were not going to harm him, you are too afraid of the consequences with the troupe. However, the hesitation in his eyes remains, despite his actions to hurt you. It is barely noticeable but when he hurts you, there is a slight flinch. Knowing you have some sort of footing you say, “You are going to have to hurt me more than that for me to answer that”. This does flip a switch and suddenly your head is bashed against the concrete, Feitan still holds your hands above your head but he leans down to your ear whispering in it, barely audible, “You no want that sweetheart, but I gladly do so”. After saying this it sends a shiver up your whole body, either out of fear or arousal, but you don’t have time to unpack all of that. Suddenly the warmth and wetness of his tongue press against the side of your face, slowly making its way to the cut on your cheek taking in some of your blood. Does this man not know anything about hepatitis, not that you have it, but if you did he would be dead. His breath is hitting my lips as we lock eye contact, “Change of heart?” he asks, waiting for my answer. This time not hurting me for an answer so I decided to test my luck again, “at least take me to dinner first”. You laugh at your own joke, noticing he isn’t laughing. He backs away from my face and simply says, “That all it take for information. You boring”. Did he not get it? More importantly, is he going to take me on a date? “I rather torture, but” he trails off lost in thought. He clearly isn’t opposed to date, am I opposed to a date? This is not what should be happening. You turn your head to look at your reflection in the window hoping for answers, but instead, you are greeted with the clown from earlier, throwing a card at what seems to be my neck. Of course, this was a setup, from the wrist wound you materialize a knife and throw it at the card cutting it in half. Getting the attention of both Feitan and the clown. A chuckle comes from the clown before he climbs down from his spot on the fire escape. “I underestimated you, girl”. Girl? You’re 24, do you look that young? “Hisoka, what you want?” Feitan asks the clown, clearly annoyed. “Doing something you clearly don’t have the guts to do” the clown says, getting ready to slit my throat with the card, drawing a little bit of blood at the end of my neck. Clown man just made a mistake, with Feitan’s loosened grip you are able to get one hand free, you then grab the end of your neck you pull away this time with a new knife. The clown is taken aback and at that moment you are able to stab the knife into his hand. “I decide to torture anyway” You hear Feitan say from behind you, but before you can turn around you see your surroundings turn black. However, before you lose consciousness you can hear the man in black say something, “You pay for my hesitation. I no like this feeling, so you pay”. Your vision is hazy and it takes you some time to get a recollection of the previous events, which adds to the surprise when you wake up in your own bed. After this realization, you sit up too quickly and your vision blurs for a second before refocusing also causing a creek in the bed frame signaling to your friends that you have awoken. A sharp and demanding voice of Adam pieces through the room, “Hey, idiot you shouldn’t leave without your earpiece,” he is stern but you know he is right, “What would've happened if Aim didn’t see what was happening and sent a dummy in your place”. Not only can Aim manipulate their own image they are also able to create a mirror image of someone else, although they haven’t mastered that yet and it can only create a lifeless doll. Soon, they’ll realize that they took a fake if they haven’t already figured it out already. “What kind of fun, I mean trouble, did you get us into y/n?” Lue asks. That's right they don’t know that you have a vendetta against the Phantom Troupe and they probably have some price on your head by now. How do you convey how much trouble you are in? “Is there danger you wouldn’t find fun?” you ask Lue. “Not that I can think of, now spill!” Lue is growing impatient and when she does this she acts like a child. With a deep breath, you let them know about the Phantom Troupe and the damage you have seen them done, with the circus. Adam is silent, but he is picking underneath his nails so you can tell he is nervous, however, Lue is the complete opposite. She is ecstatic to have some real fun and is babbling about training some more. Aim seems to be deep in thought, they are the only one who knows what risks to take, Adam is too careful and Lue not careful enough: you just don’t think things through. “Do you have anything on you?” Aim immediately starts using guo and sees the worst thing imaginable, a small silver string. There is no doubt that they have figured out that the other you was a fake, and they have to be on their way now. You have two options: prepare, or meet them here. “Calm down Adam! We can go somewhere we know well enough and lure them into a trap,” Aim suggests. “But you would be putting others' lives in danger, we can’t do that '' Adam rebuttals. “We should just charge at em, there is no fun in calculations” Lue complains. That's how you know it is a good plan when both Adam and Lue don’t like the plan. That way it is perfectly balanced and is often perfectly executed because despite Lue’s impulsive attitude she performs way better with some kind of plan and Adam performs best under pressure. The only question is where to set the trap, it needs to be far from Adam so he doesn’t have to worry about himself so he can just focus on the battlefield. “Where is it happening,” Adam asks as he moves over to his monitors already accessing the cameras around the building. “Y/n, this is going to happen quickly, get out of here and run as far away and prepare for a fight, they’ll be here in about a minute- get going” he tosses the earpieces to Aim, Lue, and you. They must have realized sooner than you and it is only spelling trouble. You are the last to leave the building and you give Adam a nod before you leave, however you don’t wait long enough for him to nod back. When you are on the roof, you can see Feitan and a different girl, she has pink hair. “The girl is the one who tracked you, let's not waste any time,” Aim says before sprinting after Lue and quickly catching up, you catch up as well. Your eyes lock onto some new construction a few buildings up, the others are also staring at it. “Adam we are going to the new construction” Lue informs. Within your earpiece, you can hear Adam complain about the lack of cameras in that area. However you are too focused on the maze in front of you, a maze you already know the way through but you cannot manage any mistakes. However, your nerves still catch up, when you are jumping to a higher building you underestimate it and you have to grab onto the ledge and keep moving. As if Aim can hear me cursing myself for that mistake they say, “Shake it off, you don’t have time to worry about it”. In about thirty seconds you are in the scaffolding surrounding the building with Aim barley behind you, and it takes Lue about another 10 seconds to meet us. “Lue go down the stairs into the building and wait to make your appearance,” Adam instructs over the earpiece, “Aim disguise yourself as a worker, and head up and to the left on the scaffolding, they are climbing a fire escape now so hurry before they see you getting into position”. Before Adam is done talking Lue has entered the building and Aim, is already on the upper-level morphing. The only way they will catch on is if they can see Aim’s real persona with guo. Wait, if they are using guo to find me, they’ll see right through the mirage, they need to hide too! “Aim gets inside” you hear Lue yell coming to the same realization as you. However, all you can do is hope Aim heard her as you can now see the man in black approaching and the woman he was with and if you call out now they’ll hear it. Unfortunately, you see the woman get up higher meaning she has already seen Aim. This is bad. Although you don’t have time to worry about that right now, you have your own problem at arm's length, Feitan. He unsheathes a sword from an umbrella before jumping onto the platform I am standing on. We exchanged a few blows, only getting a few scratches, but it was enough to draw blood which means you can get your own blade. There is a shallow cut running up your forearm, and you create a blade coming out of it, however when you lift that arm to strike, you look into his grey eyes, and in that moment of hesitation, you are pinned down to the scaffolding. He positions the blade just above the center of your neck, not yet connecting, and it isn’t moving either. When you look up into his eyes you see the same hesitation you saw earlier and the same hesitation you just showed. The sword is then removed by a whip, Lue is here, but you know that Feitan let her take it, he could have easily countered that. “Come Y/n, you could have had him,” Lue says approaching the two of us, “Guess it is more fun for me” I am pinned underneath him but his grip is loose enough for you to escape but what holds you back is the strange warmth it provides you. However, you see Luebella about to pounce Feitan that would knock him off the scaffolding. Before she can make contact you quickly switch positions with him, causing Lue to knock you off the scaffolding. It is about ten stories up, there is no way you can survive that fall. They say your life flashes before your eyes but all you can see is your time at the circus. Your former boss is holding your tent mate dangling them holding them by their throat, at that moment you were not able to turn your head although you know that he is about to break her neck, poor Julia. However it never comes instead he looks down and whispers something you were not able to hear at the time, but now it is clear as day, “Damn it, no use can’t kill who the universe tells you you're meant to love”. In your final thoughts you think, what does that even mean? But the memory continues throwing her across the room at you, you were barely able to keep steady. The next thing he says is something you would never forget, “Kill her, or else it's you”. Then you did because you knew nothing but to obey orders.

[ofmythsandmadness]

i need a favour - five.

PART FIVE - dinner and a show - or in which, two dumbasses both struggling with the same emotional dilemma force themselves to continue their silly little game without acknowledging what’s really going on in their minds (or something like that). WORD COUNT - 4716. A/N - It’s been so long, I’m really sorry. I had zero inspiration for this chapter and struggled to even write 200 words...and then just sort of spent two+ weeks writing little by little until this happened. It’s not great, but it’s...it’s a thing. Just as reference - the relationship between the two sisters (as portrayed in the chapter) is tense and broken from unnamed past experiences. basically to sum it up, they were close as kids, but they didn’t have great parents, and both were just depending on each other. but then the older sister left y/n alone with them when she turned 18 and basically turned against her, becoming totally independent and renouncing her old life - including y/n. while the two are trying to have a relationship now (really just forced by her sister), it’s strained and not at all the same. and her sister really’s just a dick, it’s not entirely her fault but she’s a dick. so that’s that, on that. and that makes no sense...but it’s too early for me to make sense. enjoy.x

THANK GOD FOR HER SISTER’S WINE CELLAR.

Sure, she had mocked her silently plenty-a-time for it, believing it truly a waste of aesthetic space considering how little her sister drank - but Y/N was really singing its praises that night. Quite possibly, the best thing her sister had ever done.

“He’ll be here,” she promised, wincing as the red liquid slipped down her throat. “He’s just running late at work.”

That was complete bullshit. Really, she had no clue where the guy was - all she had gotten from Diego that day was a call two hours before heading over, a rushed conversation telling her he might be late and that she should go there on her own. Reassuring. But she could not explain to her sister that, no matter what the woman knew about the two of them. 

Weren’t couples dinners supposed to be light-hearted, not, ‘my fake-boyfriend might be doing something super dangerous and stupid and I will have no clue until the hospital calls me because I’m still his emergency contact, even after bitchin’ and bitchin’ at him to change it’? She was not totally sure, but had a feeling that was not a good thing to mention over drinks with her way-too-eager-to-judge sister. 

“He’s still coming, right?” the woman asked, a twinkle in her eye. “I mean, this isn’t just a joke on me, you do have a boyfriend?”

“Don’t be funny. He’s coming.”

“Good. I’m glad. And I mean that - I was worried about you, for a little bit.”

Y/N frowned. “Mm. Worried?”

“Sure,” her sister shrugged. Her tone was light-hearted, but there was a hint of malice behind it - because there always had to be, with her. “It’s been a while since the last guy...and I was just you know, worried that you just made the guy up to shut me up. Which is why I insisted on this little meeting happening sooner than later, so you couldn’t just pretend a guy up.”

She was not one for dramatics, but she was really close to throwing a glass, at that. Sure, her love life had been a tried and troubled tale, but it was not as bad as the woman made it out to be. Just because she did not run everyone past her sister, does not mean they did not exist. And okay, sure, they all turned out to be dicks and liars, but that did not mean - 

Y/N sighed, letting her shoulders slump down and give up a little bit of the weight resting on them. Letting herself get riled up too early would be her downfall. So instead, she pretended to find it funny, letting a mirthless laugh slip through gritted teeth. “Yeah. Guess so. But uh...Diego’s good.”

“Mm. Well, I’m glad.” Her sister downed another sip of her water (she had referenced several times that she could not have alcohol - even though Y/N knew that, dammit). “How long have you two been actually together?”

“Um...couple we-months. Maybe two months.” That might be the wrong number. Shit. “Not too long.” 

“Really? It always seemed like you two were, you know…” she gestured lamely with her hands, “you weren’t - you know - on the low?”

Y/N was about ready to chase Diego down herself, from pure irritation. “No.”

“No?”

“Just friends,” she shot back. “Like I told you, the relationship part’s a very new thing.”

Just before her sister could ask one more time something sort of totally invasive that made Y/N question her every decision, the doorbell rang. It seemed just maybe, her mumbled prayers (or veiled threats) for Diego to finally show his face, had been greeted by a miracle. 

Y/N sprang to her feet. “I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, but-”

“-right back,” she repeated, already turning and walk-running to the foyer. Her eagerness for some relief had quickly beaten out her annoyance for him being so late, and she found herself smoothing her top, biting back a grin that was not yet deserved of him. She carefully swung the door open, catching the man on the other side mid-knock.

“You’re late.”

Diego shrugged, looking slightly sheepish as he offered up his hand full of...flowers? 

Not what she had been expecting. 

“Got held up. Would you believe it was just for these?”

“Uh...no - but why do you have them?”

“Knew I’d be late,” he explained, brushing past and into the home. His eyes left hers to trace the room, taking in the bright decor and sounds of laughter in the back. She could practically see the anxiety building behind his dark eyes, but he easily covered it with a short chuckle. “But, explaining to your sister what I was actually doing didn’t seem right. Flowers were an easy out.”

Y/N ignored the humourous adlib, seizing upon his other words, instead. “What exactly were you doing? Are you alright?”

“I’m good. Trust me,” he added, seeing the look on her face. He bared his teeth in a smile that more resembled a grimace.” You should see the other guys.”

“Dumbass,” she grumbled, even through a half-smile. She traced her hands over his face and upper torso, prodding to see if there was any pain - only to be swatted away seconds later. “Are you hurt?”

Diego just shrugged. “M’fine.”

“Diego-”

“-if we stay here workin’ out the details, your sister’s going to come around the corner thinking we’re bumpin’ uglies right on her weird doormat,” he hissed, once more pulling her hands from him. “If that’s what you want to go with, sure, but...”

She felt her face grow hot and inwardly cringed. Her head ducked down, an attempt to disguise any redness in her cheeks and she gestured forward. “Fine. Lead the way, Casanova.”

He just grinned and poked a calloused finger at her reddened cheeks, mumbling a ‘cute’ before making a beeline forward. Y/N was left open-mouthed in the hall. But with no time to consider yet another odd remark, she pushed ahead too, forcing herself to smile at the pair. One, already looking so much more uncomfortable than the other.

“Isn’t that sweet?” Y/N simpered, swallowing the bile brought up at the stupid, fake words. “I mean, you’ve known this idiot for years n’ years and yet he still shows up with flowers and all that.”

Diego shuffled back and threw an arm around her shoulders. He looked towards her, but strangely not really at her; like he was somewhere else completely. “Aren’t flowers a necessity for meeting a girl’s family?”

“Maybe if it was with her uptight parents,” her sister butted in, smiling like she was the goddamn Cheshire Cat, “but you know what? I’ll take these gratefully, necessary or not. They’re beautiful, Diego.”

Y/N smiled a little more at that. A little bit more genuinely. There was something nice, seeing two people she truly cared about interacting. Sure, her sister had known Diego for ages, after meeting him one night, post shitty fight - and post climbing through her window, blood dripping from almost every part of his body. But apart from brief interactions when one or the other was not in the right state of mind (booze or injuries or otherwise) they really did not exist in one another’s worlds. And sure, her sister was mostly a malicious, passive-aggressive asshole who somehow had grown up to be a copy of her mother even after hating her for most of her childhood, and probably was going to call Y/N later and make up so much shit on Diego. Just to be a dick.

And sure, this was all fake. But it was a little fun, pretending like she was actually taking a real boyfriend back to meet someone.

Maybe she needed to drink a little more, because that fantasy needed to drown. A-S-A-P.

“...wanted to be here,” floated through her thoughts. Y/N shook her head and drew herself back to reality, where her sister was discussing - what was she discussing? “But you know, guy’s been working overtime to cushion out the accounts. He’s eyeing a Christmas vacation, you know?”

Right. Andy, her husband. Her actual husband who genuinely loved her - and what was she supposed to do there? Shit. Right. 

She forced herself to nod. “That’s sweet. Where are you two looking?”

The woman shrugged and looked back down to the pot she was stirring. “No clue yet. Somewhere warm, though. I don’t want to deal with the snow, and-” she paused to pat her protruding belly, “-I know mini me doesn’t either.”

Diego laughed at that. A fake laugh, sure, but it was pleasantly well executed. Maybe Allison’s acting abilities had rubbed off on her brother. 

“When are you due?”

“February! But it’ll probably be early. Both his mama and aunt were, so…”

“Yeah?”

Her sister nodded eagerly. “Y/N a little earlier than me, though funnily enough, that’s the only thing she’s not been late to? I mean, you probably know that though. How criminally late your girlfriend is to everything?”

“You’re hilarious,” Y/N grumbled back. “But I’m not that bad.”

She stole a carrot and sank back against the counter, that time a little bit apart from Diego. His arms, now freed from resting around her shoulder, folded across his broad chest. “You just don’t understand. Sometimes, you gotta take a couple more minutes to be this much better than your annoying git of a sister.” Half a joke, half bitter sentiment bottled up and thrown back at her sister’s simpering smile.

“Really?” the woman scoffed. She shuffled away from the pots, ready to pour the thick stew into the bowls. “Please. You’re just jealous that I got all this way before you. And that it took you five more years n’ me to meet a guy that’ll actually put up with you, eh?”

Okay, so that stung a little bit more. Mostly because it was a little too true - even if she did not know it. Y/N forced a chuckle, still, because it was supposed to be funny. “It’s more me putting up with him than vice versa, I’ll have you know.”

“Hey,” Diego admonished. His voice shook a little, but only the littlest bit, a tremor only she could probably sense. “I’m a dream.”

“Sure you are, sweetheart.” She did not miss the flash of surprise at the pet name, feeling a sense of pride for catching him off guard.  “Do you know how many shirts of mine he’s ruined because he’s just thrown everything in with his bloody shit?”

“Hey, be grateful he does laundry!” Her sister groaned. “I mean, Andy’s a dream, I love him to bits, but…”

And just like that, things were okay. Her sister was eager to talk about her own relationship, her life in general - and both Diego and Y/N were more than okay to let the focus remain on her. The less questions about them, the better. They could eat in some sort of peace, and pretend to care a little bit more about her workplace politics than they did. And unlike at the Hargreeves place, Y/N did not have to worry about planting an emergency smooch on her ‘boyfriend’ in order to save face.

But of course, things could not be that simple. Just as she had been hoping for an easy visit in and out, the woman’s eyes widened and she seemed to remember who was joining her for dinner. That this was not just a normal get-together where she could talk an ear off a ‘friend’ and kick them out an hour later.

“Sorry for talking so much,” her sister gushed, resting her spoon in the now empty bowl. “I swear, I haven’t shut up at all. I’m such a rude host.”

Y/N scoffed. “Please, it’s fine. It’s nice to hear what’s going on in your life.”

“Well, sure, but this is when I’m supposed to be grilling Diego and making sure he knows not to hurt you, ask all about your future plans, embarrass you - yada, yada, yada. I totally forgot - it just felt natural, you know? But whoopsie, on my part.”

Y/N and Diego shared a look of minor distress. 

“But really,” her sister continued, oblivious to the tension growing, “I’m not that worried about him. Or you two. I knew you two were gonna have a thing from the start. Felt like it was just waiting for it to happen, you know?”

She laughed quietly, a little bitter. “Funny. Everyone seems to say that.”

“Do they really?”

She nodded again. “You’d be surprised. I-I mean, I was. Didn’t think that we were so, um...so obvious.” Obvious? More like out of a Hallmark Christmas special, from the way everyone gasped when they were told the two were not together. Really made a girl question-

“-well, probably ‘cause it’s true,” her sister shrugged, unknowingly interrupting yet another of Y/N’s inner monologues. She waved her piece of bread between the couple sitting across from her. “I mean, the way you two look at each other? I got to a point where I thought you two were already together, that I’d get a postcard from Vegas saying y’all eloped or something.”

“I wish,” Diego mumbled. But it was louder than he seemed to expect - at least, that was what his face said when both women looked his way. He swallowed and stammered for an answer. “I-I just m-m-m-mean, I had a thing for her for too long to count. If only I could have gotten a grip sooner.”

Y/N rolled her eyes, her hand finding his arm, squeezing lightly. “I should’a done the same. No sweat.” She looked his way, trying to make herself smile like those Hallmark movie women did. Her next words were softer, raspier as she struggled to get them out. “Guess we’re both just idiots...yeah?”

It was fake. Of course. There was nothing between them, no cheesy romance building that would lead them to a couple thousand fairytale moments afterwards. She knew that, he knew that - there was nothing between them, aside from mutual anxieties about screwing up their pretend relationship.

But the look he gave her, did not feel so fake. It was a little strange and a little too strong, like something in the way she said that made his heart twist like it did her own. His dark eyes trained on hers, slipping from them for a second to - did he look down, or was she just messing with her own mind? 

“You two are seriously, so adorable. I swear to god, it’s disgusting and I love this so much.” Her sister, oblivious to anything happening in front of her, continued on. “You actually like her, yeah?”

“Yeah. Course.”

She nodded. “Good. Cause you know, not everyone can be as lucky as I have been..and somehow, my sister manages to attract the worst guys. Always after the same thing, then once they really know her, they scram.”

Y/N bit her tongue, holding back any retorts that might slip out. She knew what she meant to say, but it really didn’t work. And putting up with her insinuating that she just couldn’t get a guy to actually like her...while she was talking to a current guy? It was to be expected, sadly, but that did not mean it did not hurt.

“But you know what, Diego, I think you’re okay. I mean, you’ve stayed this long, right?” Her sister cackled - yes, cackled - at her own joke, while both Diego and Y/N sat in silence. “Ha - right?”

Y/N downed her second glass of wine and wished she could sink into the floor.

||

THE SECOND THEY WERE OUT OF HER SISTER’S house, and at a safe enough distance from it, Y/N finally let out the frustrated groan she had been holding back all night. She whirled away from Diego, catching just a glimpse of his confused expression before she let her facade be shattered.

“I regret ever, ever even suggesting we do this. You know what? I regret all of this. Lord - what was I thinking?”

A soft chuckle left his lips, quiet compared to aggravated shouts. “Was it that bad?”

“That bad?” She retorted. “Diego, that was like if Allison, Five and Luther all combined their DNA and created some super-being who then smoked a whole boatload of crack and decided to live in Suburbia and feed only on bragging and passive agressive remarks.”

“Mm. Might be an exaggeration.”

“I - barely but - come on, you didn’t see how bad she was?”

Diego shrugged and headed over to where he parked his car, her following suit after his silent gesture. “Maybe a bit.”

Y/N sank into the passenger seat with a snort. “She might as well thrown your stupid knives at you a thousand times over -- or - or something stupid like that. The shit she said? Good lord, I would have thought she was the second coming of your dad.”

“Y/N-”

“-I mean, she basically told me to my face that I wasn’t deserving of you of anyone? And that you were just gonna up and drop my ass soon enough. And then, insinuated to you that you should get ready, like I was a goddamn timebomb just waiting to go off! Like she knows me through and through - she doesn’t know jack shit about me. Nothing! That woman only cares about one thing, and that’s herself. Ever since she could leave home, she lost the ability to think of me as anything than a piece of work that she was burdened to guide. And anything something happens to her, she gloats about it. Her stupid job, her stupid husband and their stupid Christmas vacation - everything is so fucking stupid and amazing and I’m just a piece of fucking stupid shit!”

She did not mean to grow so heated, and had not even realised things were so bad, until her voice cracked at the end and she felt hot tears build in her eyes. Y/N gulped in air and scrubbed at her cheeks, brushing away any tear that slipped out. She did not even dare to look Diego’s way, suddenly ashamed at her childish outburst.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know - sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

She laughed bitterly, still biting back the angry tears. “No, it’s not. You just put up with me and her all night, and then I have to come and whine like this - I’m so-”

“-hey, a’right, stop there. Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do-” she paused to sniffle and lifted her head so she could watch his face, “-what?”

He sighed, suddenly looking very out of his element. And she could understand why; sure, the two of them had been through a lot, but it was unlike either of them to break down in tears in their car, bitching about their family - further than just their surface actions. Normally, it was pushed down or masked by bad jokes, they’d drink too much and ignore their familial issues because mentioning them were too painful. Only sometimes did they face the pain - and honestly, Y/N could not remember a time she had truly broken down over her sister with him.

“Can we just get out of here, please?” She tried a tearful smile. “Escape this suburbian nightmare, ‘fore I lose my dinner in your car?”

He just nodded and revved the car engine, a strange look in his eye as he turned away. It looked as though he wanted to say something, even going so far as to open his mouth twice and look back her way - but nothing came out. They both just sat in silence then, driving forward aimlessly through the pretty neighbourhoods. Though neither really saw any of it; both were too lost in their thoughts to take in the sights.

“I don’t know why I bother,” Y/N finally mumbled, softer than anything else she had said before. She avoided Diego’s sharp gaze. “Like, I know I’m just gonna leave her place upset, but yet I keep going and letting myself be dragged through the dirt. Eve-even before you came, she was ragging on me. Maybe worse, I dunno. Just shit about how different we are, about how old I’ve gotten, and then just all these little malicious comments that makes her sound so much better than I am. I mean,” she choked, trying her best to hold back the emotions but failing, “she’s right, sure. I’m not like her at all. I live in a dump of an apartment, I’ve got no friends and my ‘boyfriend’ isn’t even really my boyfriend at all. Just a fellow loser I entrapped, got ourselves stuck together.”

“Y/N…”

“Right. You’re not a loser, sorry.” She snorted to herself, looking down at her trembling hands. “I’m the loser. Yeah? A sorry little loser, who you’re now fake-stuck with.”

She dared not look up. She did not want to see his face, to take in the pity, half-baked sympathy radiating through that he couldn’t express. That would probably just make things worse - it stung enough, admitting this out loud. She sounded like a whiny teenager all over again - and she really didn’t want to think about that just then, it was easier to pretend like this was all in her head, scrunch her eyes tightly shut and just let the car drive down the dark streets.

“If you’re a loser, than I’m a...a thousand times worse.”

She dared to open one eye, squinting his way. “Huh?”

“I-I - you’re - d-don’t let what she says g-g-get to you,” he stammered out. His voice was hoarse, low, hushed like someone else was listening in. “I mean, shit. Look what you’ve done for yourself.”

Y/N bit her lip and let both eyes open, but said nothing. Just sat in silence and waited for him to say more.

Which, he did, just a moment later. “You’ve got a good job you worked for. You work y-y-y-your ass off f-f-f-or everyone around you.”

“Not true, I-”

“-and you p-p-p-put up with my bullshit all the time. For nothin’ but the goodness of your heart.”

She scoffed a little at that, but she was smiling still, softly into the darkness. “Not true. You normally bring some sort of monetary gift back.”

“Sure. But a coupl’a pizzas and beers is nothing to what you do for me.”

“What does it matter? We’re friends, friends do stuff like for each other - what are you getting at here?”

He did not look her way. His eyes remained trained forward, frozen as they stared through the glass window, but she could tell they were not totally focused. All his energy was being poured into his words, forcing them to come out the way he wanted even through his evident emotional issue. He was holding something back, but what? She could not say for the life of her.

“D-don’t let yourself get d-d-dragged by her shit,” he finally said. His right hand left the steering wheel and hovered before falling awkwardly against his leg. “I did that to myself too long. Let the stupid numbers define who I was, just ‘cause a lunatic decided to give ourselves them so we h-h-hated each other. B-but you know who stopped me from letting it t-t-t-tear me up?”

She could barely breathe.

“You.” Only then did his eyes leave and meet her own, pausing as they bored into her glassy gaze before flitting away. “And maybe I can’t make the same speeches you can, b-but I’m not gonna let you think you’re not as fucking great as you are. You got that, Y/N?”

“Diego…”

“You’re maybe the greatest person I know,” he said, gruffer that time, “and sure that’s not much to say...but I do mean that.”

And Y/N, Y/N had no clue what to say to that. She stared his way, watching his stone face shift with the shadows, but no words left her lips. She could only watch in silent shock, unsure where this was all coming from - or how to respond to such sweet words. He had never said anything like that to her before, leaving compliments to five word-or-less mutters, and she would throw a joke back just so things didn’t get weird. That was what their friendship was. Don’t let shit leave surface level, else they might just drown in all the unspoken emotions lurking underneath.

But this was different. This was raw, and from his heart, confessions that she couldn’t just up and ignore. What she was supposed to make of it, she didn’t know, but she was certain it wasn’t just nothing. Diego didn’t say all that for nothing.

“Thanks,” she finally said, silently cursing herself for the trembling voice. “Means a lot.”

He grunted. “Sure.”

“No, I mean that...dude.” In an act of half adrenaline, half why-the-fuck-not, she reached out and tentatively touched his free hand. She ignored the shock that flinched through his body and grasped it tightly in her own. “I...I don’t know, I’m not good at accepting compliments.”

“It’s chill.”

“But, but,” she repeated, squeezing a little tighter, “I appreciate it. I needed that. You know? Sort of, okay, someone thinks something of you, but it’s okay cause I’ve got someone I actually l-care about in my corner. So...uh, I don’t know anything about boxing, I’m trying to make a reference but it isn’t working?”

She could just barely see a smirk creep across his mouth, and she in turn grinned at that, feeling a bit better then. His hand moved in hers, finally holding her own back. She almost drew away then, but still held tight - for reasons she could quite place. But she knew she didn’t want to let it go, let him go, and so she let her fingers intertwined with his, and let her back hit the seat once more.

Soon enough, they were on her street, then pulling up in front of her dimly-lit apartment lobby. Only then did Y/N shift again, slipping off her seatbelt and preparing to exit. Her hand, however, did not leave his just yet.

She glanced his way and bobbed her head towards the building. “You wanna come up?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“You sure?”

He nodded, smiling softly. She rarely saw that from him, the sweet grin he only let slip to certain people - but god, did it suit his face. Absent-mindedly, she made a note to remember how much she liked that smile on him.

“I have to get back, Al’ll kill me if I don’t close up properly tonight.”

“Okay. Well...uh, feel free to stop by, if you need to.” Her words hung between them, hesitant, unsure. Her hand slipped from his and she leant down to pick up her bag. “Thanks, Diego.”

Y/N’s hand found the door handle and she twisted away, gaze now far away from his own. She was just about to leave, when-

His hand found her arm and she turned immediately. Without hesitation, they both rushed forward and lips met lips, hitting one another sloppily before moving into better position, pressing hard and fast as though the world was ending and these were their last moments. She felt, almost distantly, as his hands met her face and tilted it up, just so he could reach it a bit better, taste her lips a little more against his. She found herself dropping her bags and reaching up too, threading her hands around his neck so she could hold him closer. They moved slightly awkwardly, but despite the tight space the embrace was still frantic and unhindered by the car. If anything, it only added to the close quarters, forcing the pair to pull even nearer to the other to feel the right amount of warmth from the other.

And then, just like that--

--it was over.

Both pulling away. Both wearing mirrored looks of shock. One sinking back into his seat, the other frantically searching for the passenger door handle and stumbling out. Both struggling to comprehend just what the fuck happened even as they ran away from the other, one slamming their brakes and the other forcing her legs to run like they never had before. Neither one stopped until their were both inside, pressed against their doors with hands tracing at their lips, lips that had been just so easily slotted against the others. Both left staring off hazily into the distance, unsure what that kiss meant - for them, and their future ‘together’.

  TAG LIST -  @asexualmarauder​ @thatshellfiredean​ @the-bird-suit​  @rangotangomango​ @fandomsandmore394​ @thatkidofwarandpeace​ @antoouu @soul-of-a-traveller @yall-wildin-like-siriusly @artsyle @asuperconfusedgirl @fic-cheesecake​ (let me know if you want to be added, or if I missed you)

[cxsmic-reactions]

Companions react to learning that F!SS can dance fight:

Back during the Pre-war days, Sole had a bit of a secret life. As a little girl, she excelled in gaining straight A’s with minimal effort. At the age of 10, she received all types of rewards for her brilliance and received a lot of attention to it. Attention particularly from the United States government. They were working on this new program for gifted children to be used for espionage against the Chinese government. Over the span of 8 years, Sole was transformed into a highly trained assassin. In particular, she specialized in seduction and deception. Thought her methods were a bit odd she still got the job done. After a few years, the government didn’t need her services as much and the sent her into retirement. Doing so they set her up with a fake identity and a new life, in order to protect her. The government never expected she’d meet Nate and on top of that have a baby. It was a perfect way to blend into society. 

Flashforward to present day and She still uses those skills she learned years ago. Especially now that someone had kidnapped Synth Shaun. Sole and her companion were on their way back from Diamond City to Sanctuary when a settler came running towards them. The settler had said that Shaun had been kidnapped by Gunners and it was Sole’s job to get him back. They also told them where they had taken him. It was some old abandoned hotel that Nate and she had stayed at once. On the way there they came up with a plan of attack. Sole will take care of the front while the companion sneaks around the back to let Sole in. Once they got there they quickly executed the plan, the companion ran to the back and Sole started her show. Thankfully Travis put on He's a demon He's a devil He's a doll by Betty Hutton. As the beat came on Sole started with the first guard... (link to the video example here)

Cait: “Holy shite.” was all Cait could say. The way her body moved to the sync of the music was mesmerizing and the way she took down the bad guys with style was amazing. Who knew Sole could do all that? In one song Sole took out all the guards out front without even breaking a sweat. Damn. Nevertheless, Cait had a job to do and she would be damned if she didn't complete it. Quickly taking out the guards in the back she meets up with Sole. They both make their way into the building to see the gunner leader with Shaun tied to a chair with duct tape over his mouth. Still playing the song Sole slowly makes her way to the boss taking him out instantly. After that they got Shaun untied and took him to Homeplate to rest. When they were finally done the sat down and had a drink. Almost instantly Cait popped the question of how did you do that. Once she explained Cait remarked how sexy it was and she would mind seeing that outside the battlefield.

Curie: As soon as the music starts Curie smiled, it was her favorite song after all. But they way Sole moved was the icing on the cake. How could her hips move that way? Oh boy. As soon as she was enjoying it that's when the violence came. In the blink of an eye Sole had taken down most of the security guards in the front. When Curie finally came to Sole had already taken out the guards and was standing there waiting for her. Apologizing she ran into the building after her. There weren't many guards to pick off as they made their way up to the top floor. When they had got there the gunner leader had Shaun tied up. Without hesitation Sole did her routine which ended in the mercenary’s death. After Curie finished assessing if Shaun was okay they took him back to Homeplate. Setting him down to rest Curie and Sole sat down to talk. As soon as Sole’s butt hit the seat she was firing questions at her. Like How did you do that? and Where did you learn that from? Sole would, of course, answer the girl’s questions at the best of her abilities but leaving a bit of mystery behind it. She can’t tell all the secrets you know. 

Deacon: Now Deacon is a man of mystery. There's always something you don’t know about him no matter what. And when it comes to Deacon he knows damn near everything. So when Sole started her dance it caught him completely off guard. He kinda found himself getting a little excited and impressed. Nodding his head in approval seeing Sole take down the enemies without ease. Was there nothing this woman couldn’t do he thought. His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Sole take down the last enemy with a swift kick and running towards him. “When we get back home you have to tell me how the hell you did that,” he said with a smirk as they both walked into the building. Like once before Sole used her charm to take out the enemies while Deacon took them out behind cover. Once they got to the top floor Sole worked her charm once more on the Gunner boss and ending his life almost instantly. With that, she quickly rushed over to Shaun check on his well being. After their reunion Sole took him back to Homeplate to rest and recover. When they later sat down and talked all Deacon could say was how impressed he was and if Sole could teach him to do it. Hell, he wanted to try it on Glory.

Danse: All he could think about was how inappropriate his subordinate was acting. But he would be lying if he didn't find sexy. You can catch him blushing to himself when he sees her. The way her body moved to the beat of the music was mesmerizing. Though highly inappropriate in a military way Danse couldn't help but be drawn to Sole more and more. Brushing those thoughts aside he continued his mission with Sole. With her dancing and his sniping, the enemies were quickly dispatched one by one. Once they had taken out the enemies they had made there way up to the top level. Upon coming on to the door Sole kicked it open and took down the boss. Within seconds of that, she went to check on Shaun. Reassuring that everything will be okay and that he was safe now. After checking the building for remaining enemies they made there way back to home plate to relax. Once Shaun was put down Danse started to remark how inappropriate her fighting style was. But before she could retort back he ould complement her tactical advantages and leave it at that. Maybe in the future, he could see more of those moves perhaps more privately.

Hancock: All he could think about is his impure thoughts when he saw the way Sole was guiding her hips to the music. He never saw that in the bedroom so where did it come from. It could be from her clouded past he thought still admiring the view. But as soon as the song was over Sole killed all of them in the blink of an eye. Maybe he won't ask her to see that again in private. And with that, they regrouped and stormed the building killing everyone inside. When they got to the top Sole started her dance again on the boss. Which made him a little jealous but he’ll see it later anyway. As soon as Sole took him out she was right by Shaun’s side again. Hugging on him for dear life. After a while, Shaun would ask to go home already and she would oblige and take him back to home plate. When Sole was sure that he was asleep, Hancock and she made their way to the living room. They would sit and talk about her past for a few minutes before Hancock wants to act on his thoughts. Knowing Shaun was a heavy sleeper she was cool with it.

MacCready: Blushing. All Mac could do was blush his face off. Sole sent him to higher ground so he can snipe gunners from afar. But while he was looking for enemies he spotted Sole. She was rocking her hips to the song as she twisted one of the other gunners' necks. He couldn’t lie it was hot to him. He couldn't help but blush every time she swayed. Who could blame him? Mac knew if he was in one of the guards shoes he would totally fall for it no problem. Shaking those thoughts away he returned to his duty, sniping the gunners from afar. Once they got rid of the gunners on the outside they made their way into the building. Taking down the enemies like before but this time Mac was able to see Sole do her thing up close. He could see the guards flocking to her only to end up with a bullet in the head. It was impressive to say the less. After clearing the building the made their way to the top suite. There was Shaun next to the boss with a gun to his head. Before Mac could do anything she did her dance and took him down without a fuss. Picking up Shaun they headed back to home plate. Once Shaun was out cold Mac pulled Sole aside and talked to her about what she did. Every time he would try to say something he would stutter and blush like crazy. Guess he will have to try again later.

Nick: Shocked. All he could be was shocked. What else could he be? Nick actually though Sole was an innocent woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But this just changes everything. Who knew she could move her hips in that direction and be on the beat at the same time. If synths could blush right now he would be as red as a tato. After this mission, he would definitely have to talk to them about their “tactical skills”. After the gunners were taken out on the outside they made their way inside. Almost exactly how she did outside she took down the more enemies but with much more force. Once cleared they made their way up towards the top suite taking down enemies as the walked past. When they reached the suite without hesitation Sole quickly ended the boss life and ran to Shaun. After they made sure he was okay they went back to home plate. Once Shaun fell asleep Nick asked about what she did back there. He had to admit he was impressed but he told her next time she wanted to do something new to at least tell him beforehand.

Piper: Oh boy, was she trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She couldn't tell if this were some sort of prank or what. Don't get her wrong she wasn't enjoying it but it kind of seemed out of the ordinary. Like something you would read in a story or watch in a movie. Not something in real life. Even though Piper thought it was a little weird it was still pretty damn cool to see. She even thought about writing about it in the newspaper maybe an article about how cool the vault dweller is. But before that can happen they needed to save Shaun. Before long they were at the top floor and there stood a man with a gun pointed at Shaun’s head. Before Piper could say a thing Sole started to rock her hips from side to side. Making sure to keep eye contact Sole walked towards the man and practically seduced him. Once he put the gun down she killed him without hesitation. Making sure he was dead Sole then turned to Shaun and hugged him. After the reunion, they head back to home plate to chat and rest. When Shaun fell asleep Piper asked Sole if she could write an article about what happened. Agreeing Sole started to tell her story while Piper was taking notes. Man, this would be a story to remember she thought.

Preston: He was as red as a tato. He tried to look away but he couldn't. He found himself getting drawn in by her moves. He couldn't help it she was amazing at what she does. After they were sure that the enemies outside were taken care of, they regrouped. When Sole tried to talk to him couldn't make eye contact with her without stuttering and blushing. But before she could ask him about it they were attacked. Clearing the enemies in one big swoop they made their way up to the top floor. Once there they took out the boss and recovered Shaun. Returning back to home plate for Shaun to recover Sole finally confronted Preston. But every time Preston who start to talk he would stumble over his words and blush again. I guess she'll have to try again later.

X6-88: X6 knew Sole was government trained due to prior research. That was the whole reason why he was assigned to be with her. Father had asked the robotics team to come up with a courser that was trained as a spy back in the prewar days. It was a test to see if training like that would be effective in the field. Though X6 knew she was highly skilled he didn't know she was skilled in that. When he saw the way she moved and took down the enemy it was entrancing to say the less. He thought that they were both trained in basically the same way. Father did uncover training documents and videos from the building she worked at. X6 couldn't help but be impressed by her moves and he found himself being a little jealous that he didn't have training like that. Once they got into the building it was the same story but even better. She took down the gunners barley needing his help. Yeah, she definitely has to teach me some of those moves he thought.  Once they got up to the top floor she had X6 take care of the remaining gunners while she went and got Shaun. In no time they had Shaun and they were on their way back to home plate to rest and talk. When they got there Shaun went to bed immediately while Sole and X6 stayed to talk. All he could say was how impressed he was of her skill and that she had to teach him some one day.

This was both helped and requested by the lovely @electronicagirl. I hope you like it. Also, this is a link to her amazing story. Its a really good read and you guys should check it out. By the way, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while I've been working on my summer assignments and trying to get my life together for the new school year.

[zpidey-sense]

Dark Night: The God of Thunder.

Previous Issue / Next Issue 

Description: Loki fucked up big time and now the whole Realm knows they have been ruled by him for 4 straight years. Meanwhile Thor and Mae finally reunite again and Mae is asked take a decision, whether to stay in Asgard or go with them to Midgard. Which decision will she take?

Warnings for the whole fic: yes, a lot. Strong language such as cursing, violence of course, death yes, also spoilers for all the MCU movies already released to date, and also a lot of fluff cause yeah lol I love fluff. AND ANGST.

Words: 5.483 ohhhhhh 

Note: maybe some chapters will be written on third person. And it’s finally here! And oh I love writing Thor, he is such a sunshine! 

And here is my masterlist! If you are interested!

This is it; this is how my Asgardian adventures will finally come to an end and how I will end up in jail for the rest of my sad, pathetic, human life.

And no, it wasn’t for the jokes I used to pull on the guards of the castle, it wasn’t for trespassing places people weren’t allowed in, it wasn’t neither for occasionally making something, most likely something bad, happen at school just for fun.

Nope, it was going to be for something that wasn’t even in my control.

Fuck. Goddammit.

I really should have said no back then when Loki offered this to me and let him kill me just there. Jesus, why do I always have to do the wrong things?

‘’Uh, my son, Thor, has returned!’’, Loki said out loud, for everyone there to listen as he pointed at Thor, with a fake smile on his face. ‘’Greetings, my boy!’’, he added.

Everybody started to clap as Thor kindly smiled at them, but just a little bit. I clapped as well; slowly starting to walk away of there because I knew what was coming. But there were a lot of people surrounding us anyway, so I couldn’t get away without anyone noticing.

Perfect.

‘’It’s an interesting play. What’s it called?’’, Thor asked as he started to walk towards Odin… Loki was sitting again on his chair as Thor looked at him, trying to determinate him.

Loki was too relaxed, too unbothered. Or at least, he was pretending to be so.

‘’The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard’’, Loki said with pride on his voice. I just shook my head as I closed my eyes, I couldn’t believe he said it that way. ‘’The people wanted to commemorate him’’, he added when Thor didn’t say anything.

‘’Ah, indeed they should’’, Thor said as he stood in front of Loki now. ‘’I like the statue’’, he added.

I let out a little chuckle, because sarcasm coming from Thor was always better than it coming from Loki. When I laughed Loki looked at me for a small fraction of a second and then just looked back at Thor.

I’ve always said to him that the statue was the main thing that would give him away if Thor ever returned to Asgard, which he would soon of course, and he did.

‘’A lot better looking than he was when he was alive, though’’, I just couldn’t keep my smile back when he said that. ‘’A little less weaselly, less greasy, maybe’’

Oh, Thor definitely knew he wasn’t Odin. That’s why he was saying that.

Loki kind of let out a faint laugh on a rather uncomfortable and nervous way, he shifted positions while he was still sitting and I just smiled a bit more. Oh, maybe this was going to be more hilarious than disastrous. And if it was going to be like that then I might as well enjoy this and have the time of my life before going to jail.

‘’Do you know what this is?’’, Thor asked as he held up what seemed to be like a skull, with some huge horns on it. Loki seemed now surprised.

‘’The skull of Surtur. That’s a formidable weapon!’’, but Thor didn’t pay attention to him or what he said.

‘’Do me a favor’’, he spoke to one of the soldiers that stood behind Loki. ‘’Lock this away in a vault so it doesn’t turn into a giant monster and destroy the whole planet’’, he said as the soldier took it away from his hand.

Loki and Thor then exchanged looks, Loki seemed really nervous meanwhile Thor seemed… not as angry as I thought he would be, but still angry. Loki stood up quickly and kind of followed his brother to where he started to walk when they both stopped looking at each other.

‘’Thank you dear’’, he said quickly giving the cup of wine, still full; to one of the girls he always kept around to help him. They didn’t like me, and I did neither, so I just smiled when a bit of wine dropped on her dress. ‘’Uhm… so it’s back to Midgard for you, is it?’’

Thor smiled: 

‘’Nope’’, he said as he simultaneously threw the Mjolnir in the air, and caught it back as if it was just a little ball you’d play with.

Loki looked quickly at me, like asking for help as Thor was too distracted now looking at the Mjolnir. I just made him a little sign, because I honestly didn’t know what to do neither, then we just looked back at Thor as he started to talk again.

‘’I’ve been having this recurring dream lately’’, he looked back at Loki. ‘’Every night I see Asgard fall into ruins’’, and he threw his Mjolnir again.

‘’That’s just a silly dream… signs of an overactive imagination’’, Loki said as they both got closer to each other.

‘’Possibly’’, Thor responded with a smile. ‘’But then I decide to go out there and investigate. And what do I find, but the Nine Realms completely in chaos’’

And he threw his Mjolnir again, catching it just as easily as he threw it:

‘’Enemies of Asgard assembling, plotting our demise, all while you Odin, the protector of those Nine Realms, are sitting here in your bathrobe eating grapes’’

Ouch.

Thor really said that in front of everyone.

Everyone was looking at them, everyone was listening at them. They were pretending not to be doing it, but that’s what they always did. Some of them were of course just admiring Thor and wondering why he had disappeared all these years, but most of them were totally eavesdropping.

‘’Yes, it is best to respect our neighbors’ freedom’’, and Thor smiled again, rather sarcastically.

‘’Yes, of course, the freedom to be massacred’’, and just as he finished that sentence he threw the Mjolnir on Loki’s direction. He was almost hit by it, but he moved quickly aside.

Now everyone really turned their attention to the both of them. Pretending time was over.

‘’Yes, besides I’ve been rather busy myself’’, Loki quickly added to the conversation. He was really nervous and it showed. I just rolled my eyes at how dumb he was for saying that.

‘’Watching theatre’’, Thor nodded.

‘’Well… board meetings and Security Council meetings…’’, but Thor quickly interrupted him, getting closer now.

‘’You’re really gonna make me do it?’’, he asked, rather disappointed than mad. 

Oh no. So this is how it’s going to happen… in front of everyone.

‘’Do what?’’, Loki asked totally oblivious of the situation. Or more like in hopes that it wasn’t what he thought it was. He was in denial. 

Thor just kept silent for some seconds with a blank expression on his face, until he threw the Mjolnir again but this time farther away from us. Loki seemed confused and now just a bit scared of what was going to happen. Everyone started to murmur as they seemed scared too.

‘’You know that nothing will stop Mjolnir as it returns to my hand’’, he said as he walked behind Loki and just smiled a bit. ‘’Not even your face’’

The guards quickly put themselves in position as Thor put his hand behind Odin’s head, everyone seemed alarmed and ready to attack him, and meanwhile I just watched the whole situation, totally serene. Everyone seemed scared of Thor, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen… Thor just wasn’t like that.

‘’You’ve gone quite mad. You’ll be executed for this’’, Loki said rather calmly, but no, he really wasn’t. I knew he was shaking. I knew him too well; he was too scared of his brother right now.

But Thor just smiled and then he said on an unbothered voice:

‘’Then I’ll see you in the other side, brother’’

The look on Loki’s face said it all, he was busted.

‘’Alright! I yield!’’, and then Thor pushed him away of the Mjolnir’s way, just before it returned to his hand. Loki took off his Odin appearance and then just showed his true self.

As soon as he did that everyone screamed, some people surprised and some others scared of him. People dropped things and some others even jumped a few steps back, Loki kept quiet for some seconds until he turned around and looked at Thor again, he gave him one of his smiles.

I just rolled my eyes as I saw how Skurge, the one who was supposed to tell the King who is entering and leaving the realm at any times, appeared through the crowd:

‘’Behold!’’, he began to say while he was still gasping, too tired to even talk. ‘’Thor… Odinson… ‘’

‘’No’’, Loki finally spoke as he turned around to look at him. ‘’No, no, no… you had one job. Just the one’’

And then he finally turned around to see his brother, who seemed tired and still mad at his brother, but again not as mad as I imagined he would be. I mean he was impersonating their father, I thought he would be raging fire and fighting Loki at this point.

But I guess not, and I’m really glad it wasn’t like that.

‘’Where’s Odin?’’, Thor asked immediately.

‘’You just couldn’t stay away, could you?’’, Loki asked now looking totally defeated, but also amused. He was smiling still. ‘’Everything was fine without you!’’

Well, he wasn’t that wrong. I’ve heard from people in the street and even at school that Asgard hadn’t had a war or battle in years, and the people seemed alright with it. And they also liked the theatre plays, a lot to be honest.

Loki continued to speak:

‘’Asgard was prospering. You’ve ruined everything’’. He said as he started to walk towards Thor, too confident on himself now. ‘’Ask them…’’

But Thor quickly interrupted him, walking now towards him as Loki quickly walked backwards, almost falling with the stairs behind him. He seemed notably scared of his brother.

‘’Where is father? Did you kill him?’’, he asked again.

‘’You had what you wanted’’, Loki continued to say as he kept walking backwards. ‘’You had the independence you asked for’’

And then Loki fell on top of the chair he was sit on just some minutes ago, Thor just put Mjolnir above his chest, pressing it a bit just as Loki started to shout in pain. After some seconds he finally gave in.

‘’Okay, I know exactly where he is’’

And then Thor just smiled, lifting the Mjolnir off his chest and just walking away of him:

‘’Then let’s go brother’’

‘’Alright, alright’’, he said as he quickly got up and started to walk behind his brother. He then made me a sign to follow the both of them.

‘’No’’, I whispered as I shook my head saying no a couple of times, everyone was looking at me. And they were starting to whisper.

He then raised his eyebrow as he looked at me that way I already knew too well, he was threatening me again, so I just rolled my eyes and then just followed them, Loki smiling again.

Sometimes he was really a child.

‘’Hey, Thor’’, I murmured as I just walked next to them.

‘’Hey, Mae’’ he smiled just as big as the last time he smiled at me, and I just smiled back. ‘’It’s good to see you again’’

‘’And it’s good to have you back’’, I replied actually happy, just as Loki made an annoyed sound.

‘’What are you looking for, again?’’, Thor asked now rather annoyed.

I get him; we had been here for the last half an hour.

‘’Something’’, Loki murmured.

‘’And is it that important?’’, Thor asked again.

‘’Yes, it is’’

‘’Why?’’

‘’For Odin’s sake, literally! Because it is the paper they gave me where I left father and without it they will not let us in’’, he said as he opened and closed cabinets. We were on Odin’s chambers and now it just looked like a giant mess.

‘’Are you sure you remember where is he?’’, Thor asked again, not believing Loki’s story that much.

‘’Yes, I am. But you came back out of nowhere and I of course don’t have that damn paper at hands. Also you’ve ruined everything, brother’’, Loki said more annoyed than Thor was. ‘’So don’t expect me to be faster than this’’, he added on the low.

‘’Oh come on, you knew he was going to come back some day’’, I said as I kept eating my apple, totally unbothered. I was sitting above the desk just as I looked at him.

‘’I knew he was going to come! And I had a plan for that, that’s why that idiot of Snurge needed to tell me just before, so I could be prepared to execute the plan!’’

‘’Skurge’’, I corrected him.

‘’That moron’’

‘’Anyhow, don’t you think he was going to notice the huge Loki statue over there, or the changes you did in Asgard?’’, he was going to reply but I just kept talking. ‘’I told you the idea of the statue was a bad one, and yet you didn’t listen to me’’

‘’Come on! You were the one who helped m…’’, he started to say but was quickly interrupted by Thor.

‘’Wait, Mae, you knew about him impersonating Odin all this time?’’, he was really surprised.

‘’Huh…’’, I gulped but then quickly spoke in my defense. ‘’He threatened to kill me if I ever told someone, especially you’’

Thor then looked at Loki, and he just shrugged as he smiled, turning around and starting to look for the paper again. Thor just shook his head in disapproval, as he closed his eyes and held the bridge of his nose:

‘’Now he is threatening children… god, brother. When will you learn?’’

I was going to say that I wasn’t a child, but Loki just laughed in response of his brother’s question. I just rolled my eyes and then just turned back to face Thor.

‘’I’m not going to jail, right?’’, I asked to him.

‘’Oh no, you’re just a child. And he threatened you, so you’re clearly not going to jail’’

‘’I’m not a child anymore, I’m almost 16’’, I replied while frowning

‘’You’re a child, Mae. And that’s the only thing keeping you from going to jail, so just hush and be a child’’, Loki said as he looked at me, I just looked down and kept quiet.

He was probably right, so I wasn’t going to argue against that; instead I just took another bite from my apple.

‘’Huh… also, because you’re my friend’’, Thor quickly added and I looked at him, my heart pounding really fast as I saw how he was smiling. ‘’I’m glad to see you again, Mae!’’

Thor said it, he considered me his friend. That was it, my life was made.

‘’I’m really glad to see you again too!’’, I smiled again, too big that it even hurt.

‘’Oh please brother, I was your friend too and you still put me in jail some years ago’’

‘’No, you were my brother and you were being a moron, so you totally deserved to go to jail’’

‘’Same diff’’, he commented.

‘’How is it the same to try to slave a whole planet to keeping quiet because someone threatened you to do so?’’, Loki just shrugged in response and I looked back at Thor. ‘’Moron’’, he repeated.

We then went silent for some minutes; meanwhile we could only hear the sound of the papers flying through the room as Thor kept throwing the Mjolnir in the air and catching it back, as if it was a tennis ball.

‘’But why is a paper necessary, where did you leave father?’’, Thor suddenly asked as he caught the Mjolnir again.

‘’He is in Earth, alright?’’, Loki finally let it out, facing us.

‘’Wait what?’’, I quickly asked.

‘’You went to earth, again?’’, me and Thor said, in unison.

‘’Yes…’’

‘’And you went unnoticed?’’, Thor asked now skeptical.

‘’How I didn’t know about this?’’, I asked at the same time Thor did.

‘’I went there when you were still passed out, like two days after the guards saved you from drowning’’, he said looking at me and then he looked at his brother. ‘’And yes, I went and then left as quickly as possible, totally invisible’’

‘’And now we are going back, and you don’t want to go, clearly… be fast Loki’’, Thor said.

‘’I’m trying brother’’, he replied now really pissed, as he kept throwing papers aside.

And then we all went quiet again, until many minutes later when I finally dared to ask the one thing I was dying to ask Thor since he said that he wanted to leave Asgard right away.

‘’Are you sure you want to go… like right now?’’, I asked as I made my, mostly finished, apple vanish in thin air, Thor looking at me with that weird expression he had whenever I used my magic tricks. ‘’I mean… you have been gone for too long’’

‘’When my father is back we will have a big feast to celebrate it, and I will stay for a longer time than the last one’’

‘’That’s amazing’’, I replied with a smile. Because I actually missed Thor being around.

When he was there it was just easier for me, because I could kind of hang out with him. And maybe if he was back I wouldn’t have to spend my free time hiding from people that were already murmuring about me.

‘’Amazing indeed’’, Loki said too loud and too sarcastic.

‘’By the way, how is it going at school Mae?’’, Thor asked, ignoring Loki’s comment.

‘’The school… is going’’, I nodded and then looked at him again.

‘’Is that a good or a bad thing?’’, he was a bit confused.

‘’It’s… a thing’’, Thor looked at me weirdly and then I just smiled, making him smile a little bit.

‘’Alright, Loki… really, how long is it going to take?’’

‘’If you two are not going to help me and keep sitting there, then is going to take a lot, brother’’, he said as papers were surrounding him and the mess was getting bigger.

‘’I mean, I don’t even know what you’re looking for so…’’, I say as I shrugged.

‘’Alright… Mae, let’s go! Let’s take a walk by the castle, I haven’t been here in a while’’, Thor said as he got up and walked to the door.

‘’Oh, magnificent’’, Loki said as he frowned and just kept looking, with the difference that he was really mad now. ‘’Don’t help me at all!’’

‘’Sorry, Loki’’, I quickly added as I just followed Thor out of the room.

I mean, I kind of felt bad for him because he actually looked distressed now and I wasn’t used to seeing him like that. I wanted to help, but when I tried to do it at the beginning he asked me to not do it, so I didn’t.

‘’So Mae!’’, Thor said as he closed the door behind me and started to walk away of the room. ‘’Do you really like Asgard? How it is going for you here; is it really better than your life back on Midgard?’’

I looked at him and then just smiled, he truly seemed worried about how was it going for me here. And I appreciated it.

‘’Oh, definitely’’, I nodded as I looked in front of us. ‘’It is so much better’’

‘’Really, how?’’

‘’Well… first thing, I don’t have to share my room with other 9 kids who absolutely hate me and always pull pranks on me, so that’s a huge improvement’’, I said as I nodded, I heard his laugh and couldn’t help but smile.

‘’Alright, that’s a great thing. But... what about your friends, do you have some?’’

When he asked that I unconsciously made a pretty clear face of ‘’I don’t have any friends here’’, and I noticed because Thor made a little sad sound in response. But I quickly spoke before he could say something:

‘’I mean, it’s not like I’m lonely… I kind of have friends here’’

Well, if Loki counted as my friend, of course.

‘’What do you mean by kind of?’’

Uh, oh.

‘’I mean… it’s not like I’m always alone or I don’t have anyone to talk to’’, oh but I was and I definitely didn’t. ‘’Really, I have this study group on Saturdays and after it we always hang out, so I think we are friends’’, I said to him while faking a smile.

The study group was in fact a real thing, and the part of going out wasn’t fake… the only thing that was fake was the fact that I actually didn’t hang out with them afterwards, and it was because they never invited me to go with them. But I didn’t want Thor to get sad about it, so I just lied.

‘’That’s great!’’, he nodded and then we just kept walking. ‘’And talking about study groups and such, how is it going for you at school. What did you mean back then?’’

It’s hell.

‘’Oh, I meant… it’s great!’’, I nodded.

‘’Is it really? How are your teachers?’’

They are the absolute worst.

‘’They are good teachers, if I’m honest’’, I said faking a smile.

I mean they were, but they were also awful people.

‘’And how are your classes going, your grades?’���

Actually, that was the only thing that was going great.

‘’You know, I’ve always been a study nerd type so my grades are the highest in the class’’, I said now really proud of myself, because it was true.

‘’Really! Congratulations, Mae’’, he said with a warm smile as he softly patted my back, which made me feel so much better.

As I said, when Thor was there everything was easier. Happier.

Better.

‘’You know… these past moments, I have been thinking’’, he started to say as he looked at me and then we just stopped in one of those huge windows, that gave away the view of the town.

‘’Oh, yeah?’’

‘’Yeah! And well, I think you should go back to Midgard with us’’, he finally said, a huge smile appearing on his face.

‘’Huh… what?’’, I asked immediately, not getting it.

‘’Yes!’’, he nodded as he smiled. ‘’I’ve really been thinking about it and I think your life would improve, I mean you wouldn’t go back to that ugly school you always talk about, of course not, but to my friend’s place… you might know him, Tony Stark, he’d l-’’

‘’Wh-what?’’, this felt unreal. I suddenly felt dizzy and had to lay my back against one of the columns, was he actually being serious? ‘’I mean, wh-why would Iron Man a.k.a. Tony Stark take me… and where exactly? What?’’

I was startled.

‘’I have seen you’ve gotten really better with your powers and abilities, and I also think Loki has been teaching you some of the Asgardian magic himself’’, I was going to deny it but he talked first ‘’and don’t deny it, I know Asgardian magic where I see it’’

I just blushed in response, so he kept talking.

‘’But it’s okay, my mother was also great using it… but what I’ve been wanting to say is that you would probably be a great member of, you’ve probably heard of them, The Avengers’’, he was smiling way too big and I just felt like fainting right there.

‘’I-I… The Avengers… I’’

I was speechless.

This couldn’t be happening.

Loki’s plan.

The Avengers.

Tony Stark.

Going back to Earth.

This is too much. Oh, I was going to vomit.

‘’You have a golden heart, Mae’’, I gulped as I thought on all the times I’ve thought on how to wreck The Avengers, thinking on Loki’s plan and how to make it happen. ‘’You are a good soul, you could help us protect Midgard’’

I gulped again. Was I a good soul? I didn’t feel so good after all these years.

‘’I- just, woah’’, I looked at him again and then closed my eyes; I took a deep breath and then looked at him. He was smiling so big, my heart was sinking. ‘’This is a lot to take in, I mean… The Avengers!’’

‘’Yes! I’m telling you, you’d be a great member of the team’’, he said as he put his hand on my shoulder.

Oh man, I felt like shit.

‘’I don’t know if I’m ready’’, I finally said. ‘’About going back to Earth, I mean. And I know I’m just not ready for The Avengers neither’’

‘’I think you are, for both things’’, he said being totally honest, I just knew he was being honest. I could someway feel it.

Oh man, this is horrible.

I gulped and then nodded, feeling guilty about it:

‘’Please, let me just think about it first’’

‘’For sure!’’, he smiled now bigger. ‘’Oh, you will love The Avengers’ Compound, and the members of the team!’’, he said as we started to walk again to Odin’s chambers.

‘’Yeah, for sure… huh, but could you please don’t tell this to Loki’’

‘’Oh, don’t worry, I won’t. Just think about it’’

‘’Yeah… I am’’

And oh man, I was really doing it.

Jesus Christ, Thor really fucking believes I can be an Avenger and also believes I’m a good person with a golden heart, and a good soul, meanwhile I feel like a total hypocrite because I have been secretly training and thinking for the past 4 years on how to fight, destroy and literally pull The Avengers apart.

Holy shit, life was really a simulation because this couldn’t be possibly happening to me.

I mean, this was worst than I thought it would be.

Because okay, I really didn’t know how Loki was planning to get me inside The Avengers on the first place and thinking about it, that plan seemed so metaphorical, so far away... so impossible to make, but no. Now it was a reality, I actually got an invitation from An Actual Real Avenger to be part of The freaking Avengers.

And he thought I was a good person, when I was really not.

And he was Thor, and I cared about him, and he actually thinks I have a heart of gold and thought of me as his friend.

And oh, I was really going to faint soon.

‘’I found it!’’, Loki shouted as we opened the door, he was smiling and sitting above the desk.

‘’Amazing, finally brother’’, he said smiling as well.

I just smiled faintly as I quickly closed the door and looked at them; I laid my back on the doors as I looked around. The chamber was back to its original status, everything were it belonged.

‘’Well, let’s go… I want to be over with this as soon as possible’’, Loki said as he started to walk towards the door, but I stopped him.

‘’You’re not going to go dressed like that, right?’’, I asked.

‘’Of course not’’, Loki looked at me as he quickly changed to a fully black suit. I smiled as I saw him looking like that, I mean; I had to admit he had a great sense of style.

‘’Alright’’, I said as he smiled back at me, but just a bit. ‘’Then, you can’t go looking like that’’, I said to Thor as I looked at him.

‘’Okay, Loki… I’m ready’’, he closed his eyes as he opened a bit his legs and arms. I quickly looked at Loki as he just tried not to laugh. ‘’Suit me up’’, he added with his eyes still closed, I just smiled at how adorable he looked.

‘’Brother, I am not doing that’’, Loki finally said after some seconds.

‘’What?’’, he opened one eye and then he just glared at Loki. ‘’Why not?’’

‘’I’m just not. Like I said, you’ve ruined everything’’, and he shrugged, now leaving the room.

‘’God, he can be so dense sometimes’’ I murmured as I looked back at Thor.

‘’Tell me about it’’

‘’Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll dress you casual, you don’t want to be walking around Earth looking like a witch, like some others do’’, I commented as I just quickly changed Thor’s outfit.

‘’I can hear you’’, Loki shouted from behind the door.

‘’Good’’, I said.

Thor then let out a faint laugh and after I finished he just looked at me with a huge smile:

‘’Alright, how do you think I look?’’

‘’Amazing, of course’’, I smiled back.

And it was true.

‘’Oh, even Mjolnir, cool!’’, he said now looking at the umbrella on his hand. ‘’You did a great job, thanks Mae, at least we know Loki knows how to do one thing good’’

‘’I said, I can hear you!’’, Loki shouted louder.

‘’I know!’’, Thor shouted back. ‘’Let’s go to the Bifröst’’

‘’After you’’, and then I opened the door for us. Loki was already waiting for us so we could finally go.

Both brothers were actually really impatient about going, and it was actually going to take a while to walk from where we were to the where the Bifröst was, so I suddenly stopped them.

‘’Hey, wait’’

‘’What now?’’, Loki asked rather annoyed.

‘’Do you wanna see a cool trick?’’, I asked totally ignoring Loki.

‘’Sure! What’s it?’’, Thor asked with a smile.

‘’Hold my hand’’ I said as I showed my hands to the both of them, Thor was the first who took it. I looked at Loki as he didn’t do it. ‘’Loki’’

‘’Mae’’

‘’Loki’’, I said again.

‘’No’’, but then I just looked at him on the same way he used to look at me, so he just rolled his eyes and took my hand. ‘’Al-‘’

But he couldn’t finish that sentence, I just closed my eyes and when I opened them we were already at the end of the Bifröst.

I let go of their hands after some seconds, when they seemed alright to be standing there by themselves, they seemed giddy. Skurge, that was where he had to be always, got surprised and almost fell off the stairs when we suddenly appeared out of thin air.

‘’Are you alright?’’, I asked to Thor and Loki. They still seemed to be a bit light-headed, meanwhile I was already used to that feeling.

‘’When did you…’’, Loki started to ask as he looked at me, surprised.

‘’Two years ago’’, I said, casually. ‘’And it wasn’t nice the first time neither. It also takes a lot of energy’’, I added, already feeling dreaded.

‘’I-‘’

‘’Skurge’’, Thor quickly interrupted Loki. ‘’We are ready to go’’

‘’Okay, alright. Sir- Thor Odinson, sir’’, I gave Skurge a weird look and then turned around to see the both of them, again.

‘’Alright’’, I said with a smile. ‘’This is it’’

‘’Mae, have you thought about it?’’, Thor asked.

‘’I’m- I’m just not ready right now’’, I finally said and totally meaning it.

I wasn’t ready, at all.

‘’It’s alright’’, Thor said as he nodded and then quickly gave me a hug, I reacted a bit later but after some seconds I gave in the hug. ‘’You’ll be great in that team some day, when you are ready’’

‘’Oh, thanks’’, I murmured and then got away, I felt my cheeks burning.

‘’We will be back sooner than later, and with Father’’, he said.

‘’Great, I’ll be looking forward to it’’, Thor just smiled and then got closer to Skurge.

‘’What is he talking about?’’ Loki asked immediately, getting close. ‘’What team?’’

‘’It doesn’t matter’’, I sighed and then just look at him. ‘’This feels weird’’

‘’What do you mean?’’, he frowned.

‘’Well, you’re leaving Asgard. And it just feels weird’’, I shook my head. ‘’I just feel odd; like there is a weird feeling I have… I don’t know’’

‘’Well, I’ll come back soon. Not sure if things are going to be like before with Odin back but… I guess it was meant to happen, it will be fine’’

‘’I just feel odd’’, I said again. ‘’Take care on Earth, please’’

‘’It’s just a care home Mae, we will have to sign some paperwork and then we will be back here’’

‘’Yeah… still, just… take care’’, I repeated.

‘’Alright… you take care too, kid’’, he said as he put a hand on my shoulder and then kind of walked away.

‘’Wait, Loki’’, I just walked to him and then suddenly hugged him. ‘’I… take care, I mean it’’.

I didn’t know why I did that, but it felt like the right thing to do in that moment.

‘’You too, kid’’, he said as he hugged me back for some seconds and then we just let go.

I saw them walk away and then stand on the same spot, they both gave me a last smile, Thor a big one and Loki a really faint one, but still a smile. And then they just left.

And now I was alone in Asgard, for the first time ever.

Next Issue:

Dark Night: Lingering Feeling

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if you want to be added into this, just tell me. And also, I’d love some feedback, I love you all, thanks for reading!

[mypoorfaves]

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

I was craving a sickie having trouble taking medicine and my mind whispered something to me about a stubborn sickie refusing medicine which then turned into this Victuuri angst with Victor as a snappy sickie.

The two have a fight, but they work it out because they love and understand each other and I cannot get enough of their love ♡

1800~ words

～～～

“I told you, I don't need medicine, I'm fine!” Victor snaps, swatting away Yuuri's hand and the medicine along with it.

Yuuri blinks, taken aback by the outburst, and withdraws his hand. He knows Victor isn't feeling well, but he's never snapped at Yuuri like this before. While Victor couldー true to his wordsーbe simply irritated at Yuuri's coddling, Yuuri has a feeling it's the fact that he feels so bad that's causing him to snap.

“I told you it's just a cold. I'm not dying. I barely even have a fever,” Victor goes on, irritation still evident in his voice. “I've survived getting sick without you before you came into my life, and I can still manage now. So just leave me alone and let me sleep.” He slips underneath the covers, turning over onto his side with a frustrated huff, his back to Yuuri.

Yuuri tries not to let the words get to him. Victor is sick and in pain (no matter how much he may try to deny it) and isn't thinking straight right now. The words still sting regardless. Yuuri just wants to be there for Victor like Victor always is for him, and instead he's being pushed away like some unwanted reporter at a press conference. (No, actually, Victor would still smile at them, even if it was fake; not completely shun them like he’s doing to Yuuri.)

“I know you're not feeling well, Victor. It's okay to admit it. You don't have to hide from meー”

“Who says I'm hiding from you?” Victor cuts Yuuri off and whips around to face him. “Am I not allowed to sleep in the peace and quiet of my own home?”

Yuuri feels his own irritation swell. “I just want to help you.”

“Well, you're making it worse.”

Yuuri staggers back as if physically slapped, his irritation replaced with hurt. He feels tears burn in the corners of his eyes. “Alright,” Yuuri says, and manages to keep his voice steady despite the lump in his throat. “You know what? Fine. I’ll leave you alone then. If that's what you really want.”

He doesn't wait for a response from Victor. He gets up and quickly exits the room, resisting the urge to slam the bedroom door behind him. He still has some compassion for Victor, after all; he doesn't want to worsen the headache Yuuri is certain he has.

He doesn't resist the urge to slam the front door, though, as he steps outside into the cold. He sends Victor a quick text, “I need to cool off. Taking a walk. Be back soon,” then he stuffs his hands in his pockets and makes his way down the snow-covered streets of St. Petersburg.

It's not too late in the day, yet the sky is already pitch black, something Yuuri isn't sure he'll ever grow used to. The streetlights glow a soft orange, the light catching on the snow slowly spiraling through the air to land on the piles already on the ground. The air is cold and crisp, and is exactly what Yuuri needs as he inhales deeply through his nose, and out through his mouth, his breath disappearing in a cloud of water vapour.

Much like the disappearing wisps of air, bit by bit Yuuri's irritation starts to fade away, and he's left feeling lighter. Not better, but no longer like he's about to burst into tears. The cold kiss of snowflakes on his skin grounds him, slows the emotions rushing through his mind. Another deep breath, in and out, and Yuuri begins to think back on what happened.

Victor isn't used to being with someone. That's something that Yuuri had come to learn early on in their relationship, and it's strange how easy it is to forget the fact. Victor has always been on his own, always acted independently, has never had the luxury of relying on someone else for support.

Yuuri suddenly remembers Victor's earlier words: “I've survived getting sick without you before you came into my life.” He feels his heart drop as he imagines what that would have been like. He's hit with the image of Victor curled up alone in bed, a blanket over his trembling body, a box of tissues tucked under his arm as he clings to Makkachin, the closest thing he had to a support system at the time. Yuuri wonders how long he would let his suffering go on for until he asked for help, if he even did ask for help.

Victor has always had trouble expressing his true feelings, even to Yuuri and even after this long being together. He's come a long way, but there are still the odd occasions where Victor would rather deal with his problems on his own than come to Yuuri. Even though Victor’s problems are his problems now too; their problems belong to both of them, each half coming together to share the burden as one.

Yuuri slows to a stop, gazing up at the sky. There are no stars visible, the clouds obscuring them, but the snow’s gentle descent is just as beautiful a sight. It was snowing the day Victor came into his life, Yuuri recalls, and finds himself smiling at the memory.

He had no way of knowing what his life would become after that; days filled with Victor at his side, Victor eating dinner with him and his family, Victor smiling as they stroll through Yuuri's hometown, Victor praising Yuuri as he executes a component particularly well on the ice.

He had no idea the joys being engaged to Victor would bring. Mornings started with soft kisses and whispers of “time to wake up, my solnyshko,” relaxing days spent simply enjoying each others company, and long nights wrapped up in each other's embrace.

But relationships require work too. It’s not all smooth sailing. Hardships are bound to happen no matter how deeply in love a couple may be. Just like now, with Victor turning his back to Yuuri (quite literally) and Yuuri doing his best not to let it get to him.

Yuuri's parents always stressed to him that open communication is the fundamental component of any healthy relationship. So the right thing to do would be to go back home and talk to Victor. Now that Yuuri has cooled off and has had some time to think, he knows how Victor feels.

If Victor doesn't want Yuuri smothering him, he'll do his best to make Victor feel loved and cared for without coming across too strong. Even if that means giving him space when all Yuuri wants to do is hold Victor in his arms until he recovers.

His resolve made up, Yuuri turns around and starts walking back home, the freshly fallen snow crunching beneath his boots.

～

When Yuuri opens the door to their flat, he's surprised to find Victor up. He had expected him to be in asleep in bed, not supporting himself against the bathroom counter and rummaging through their medicine cabinet.

Victor startles at the sound of the door, dropping his gaze to the floor when Yuuri tries to meet his eyes.

“I'm back,” Yuuri says by way of greeting. Victor is still silent in front of him, and Yuuri clears his throat nervously before speaking. “I… had some time to think. To clear my head a little. And I just want you to know that I'm sorry for bothering you, and I'll give you space if that's what you want.”

Something changes in Victor's expression at the words, his shoulders slumping further and his frown deepening.

“But,” Yuuri continues, “I also want to let you know that I'm here for you and I love you, and I can get you whatever you want. I know it's just a cold, but even that can be unpleasant. I've had one enough times to know,” Yuuri says with a light chuckle. “So if you need anything, you don't have to feel embarrassed about asking. But for now, I'll be on the couch,” Yuuri finishes, then begins to walk away.

“Wait!” Victor catches Yuuri by the wrist. He looks shy as Yuuri meets his eyes. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay, Victorー”

“No, It's not,” Victor interrupts, and Yuuri lets him speak. There's something in his eyes, a desperate need to tell Yuuri whatever it is he's going to say. Yuuri listens.

“You know that I'm not...I'm not used to this.” Yuuri nods gently. “I've never had someone like you who wants to always be there for me, who wants to love all sides of me, not just the glamorous ones. I'm so used to hiding the more vulnerable side of me, but I keep forgetting that I don't need to anymore.”

“You're right. You don't,” Yuuri says lovingly, taking a step towards Victor and stroking his cheek. “You can tell me what you need, Victor.”

“I know.” Victor closes his eyes, breathes in and out. “I know.”

“Good.” Yuuri smiles softly at him. “Now what are you doing out of bed? I thought you wanted to sleep,” he asks, his tone not accusatory but curious.

“I did. And I tried, but I have a headache,” Victor says, and he still looks so shy about admitting it. “I was trying to look for some painkillers, but I couldn't find any.”

“I had to use some the other day and forgot to put the bottle back. It's still in our room,” Yuuri tells him, taking Victor’s hand into his own. He lifts it up to his lips, placing a kiss upon the golden band on that rests on his finger. It's a simple gesture that speaks a thousand words: I love you, I forgive you, I'm never going to leave you. “Let's get you back to bed, hmm?” Yuuri asks, gently pulling him along. Victor nods, and lets himself get lead. 

Back in the bedroom, Yuuri procures the pills, Victor swallows them down with a fresh glass of water, then he lays down on the bed, facing Yuuri. “Thank you,” Victor says, and Yuuri knows it's not just for the medicine.

“Let me know if you need anything, okay?” Yuuri says, lightly tracing his fingers over Victor’s arm.

“I will,” Victor says back, and Yuuri can tell he means it.

“Good.” He kisses the tip of Victor’s nose. “Get some sleep.”

Victor nods tiredly, his eyes slipping shut, and Yuuri watches fondly as Victor’s breathing evens out, his chest rising and falling in the steady and slow rhythm of sleep.

～～～

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