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j-graysonlibrary · 1 year ago

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The Xiang Chronicles: Book Two Chapter 32

Title: The Xiang Chronicles: Book Two

Author: Jay Grayson

Word Count: 98k

Genres: Fantasy, adventure, drama, LGBT+

Available on: my website

Synopsis: With another Xiang in the mix, for the first time in history, Pangu decides to reevaluate his methods and his place in the world. Along with taking his little sister Heidi as his last disciple, he also chooses to take the more political path in his efforts to end the discord throughout the land—particularly within Terra. (And gaining favor from the handsome Lord of Ultimos does not hurt.)

Heidi butts heads with everyone in the group, save Raine, and tensions are higher than ever. There are failed love confessions, in-group fighting, and demons from Kira’s past but that all comes to a head when they meet a servant of Shakti who is more than what she seems.

Could it be that the Mistresses of Shadow are more nuanced than previously believed? Or that the strict dichotomy between light and dark are, perhaps, a touch exaggerated? That and more begin to plague Pangu’s mind and his faith wavers…

Full chapter 32 under the cut

Chapter XXXII:

Baiya watched the small group leave and he wondered if Viren would talk to Pangu about his feelings. As clear as it was that Pangu cared for Viren, it was just as obvious that the lord reciprocated those affections. Now that Pangu no longer had restrictions of his Xiang status, something beautiful might be born.

It was a bittersweet feeling that birthed in his chest but he did hope for the best. He was even surprised by how much he wanted that for them.

“Hey.” Kira snapped his fingers in his face. When he came to, the Terran disciple sighed. “You need to sleep too.

“We need to discuss a plan, right?” Baiya responded, trying to keep focused.

“Nope. You. Tent. Now.” Kira pushed him away. “Alf, take him out of here.”

He thought of protesting but he genuinely did not have the strength to do so. The responses lived and died in his head, unable to come out through his throat.

Heidi shook her head as the two disappeared over the hill. “So stubborn.”

“You need to sleep too,” Raine mentioned, shooting a look down at her.

“I’m restless. I would not be able to sleep now even if I wanted to.”

Kira smirked. “Worried about your brother?”

“And the rest of us,” she came back quickly, “I have no idea what is going to happen.”

Alf did not return but Idris appeared, a huge smile across his face. Kira had been wondering where the large man was since he had not seen him yet.

He wore his usual cloth around his waist but there was also a sash across his torso, covering the bulk of his bright red paint. His eyes, as expected, drew to Heidi only.

“Beautiful, you are back. Alf told.”

“Ugh, my name is Heidi, okay? Hei-di.” She stressed each syllable.

Idris just grinned for a long second. “Heidi,” he finally repeated. “How about Urishka?”

Kira, Raine, and Heidi all stared at him before Kira asked, “What does that mean? Beautiful?”

“Ki.” His grin widened.

“That means yes,” Alf pointed out as he rejoined them. He sighed. “I asked him to be polite.”

“He is not…impolite,” Raine chose his words carefully, “It is simply clear that he has a favorite.”

“Yes well, he just came of marrying age and he does not find the women here to his taste.” Alf rolled his eyes. “He grew up with them and sees them as his friends, nothing more. A few he even views as his sisters. So, a new woman is exciting.”

“Is that all it is?” Heidi asked and glared up at the man. “You think I am mysterious or some shit?”

“Chono, you are Urishka,” Idris tried to defend himself but Heidi was not interested.

“You know what? I am tired, actually.” She turned on her heel and left to find where her brother had gone to sleep.

Idris frowned as he stared after her but a quick slap on his chest from Alf got his attention back. “Pay attention. Fas oubides.”

“Oh…sorry.”

“Anyway, before you two go off to sleep too, mind telling me what happened?”

Raine and Kira exchanged a quick glance. “Well…”

Leaving out the unnecessary details, they gave a basic rundown of the past few days and what they knew from what Pangu had discovered of Merra’s plan. It was not a pleasant future for them or for the people of Meala.

With a frown, Alf recapped, “So, this new Xiang wishes to subjugate us by force and make us fight in a war against Enlil and/or Kyrie if it comes to it and then help her kill an entity we do not even believe in?”

“Basically.” Kira nodded.

“I had heard from Dio that she visited him…not even a full week after you all departed.” He shook his head. “This whole situation reeks.”

“We want to help but our own list of allies has been cut short,” Raine stated. “I have been thinking, however, and I believe that my King will listen to us.”

“He does have a soft spot for you.” Kira started to smile.

“And Pangu.” Raine rubbed the back of his neck, fighting off fatigue. “I can only hope that he will remain loyal in the face of Merra’s divinity. He is a very religious man so it could be difficult to navigate.”

“Do you not trust your King?” Alf questioned.

“I do…” Raine sighed. “And he is the only lord, aside Viren and the Agni lords, who would be willing to help.”

“Fleeing to Agni is always an option but I think they will all expect it,” Kira replied.

Agni would probably be the first place Merra and her disciples checked and going there could end up playing into her hands. Kyrie was their best option for securing some degree of authority behind their position.

“Well, until you are sure and ready, you can stay here and rest.” Alf glanced to Idris as he said, “We need to figure some things out for our future as well. I will send a message out to Dio and maybe we can have a proper meeting before you go.”

It sounded good enough for the time being so they all nodded and then disbanded. Raine and Kira found where Baiya had crashed and they joined him, taking the pelt on the other side of the tent.

Raine took off only the most cumbersome of armor pieces before lying down and Kira took the space beside him. There was no option other than to stay close but, in their exhausted states, there was no room for awkward feelings or comments about the arrangement.

“I know I have mentioned it a few times on the trip down here…” Kira started, keeping his voice down as to not wake Baiya, “but, thanks for taking Pangu’s side and sticking with us. For me, this is pretty easy but I know it’s more difficult for you…turning your back on your god and all.”

“It is easy for me as well,” Raine responded, not wavering for a second. “Seeing a dragon, from the spirit realm, was quite jarring and to be on the opposing side definitely felt…well…bad, but I would not betray Pangu for anything. He is my Xiang and that is all I care about.”

After a moment of silence, Raine took a hefty sigh and Kira glanced up at him, just barely able to see him through the darkness inside the tent.

“Besides,” Raine continued, “The rest of you are on this side. I would not be parted from you…and, on top of that, I need to reach my own conclusions, separate from what the mouthpiece of Tiandi tells me to believe.”

“That is an afterthought?” Kira chuckled under his breath.

“Perhaps.” The remaining armor clinked together as the Kyrie disciple moved to get more comfortable. “I…I follow my heart. That is all I really mean to say.”

He was more emotional than he seemed, Kira found himself thinking. Baiya as well, he thought as he heard the steady sound of the man’s breathing from the other side of the tent.

Surely, he was thrilled about Pangu’s speech, just as Viren was, and Kira wondered which of the two that Pangu would end up choosing. Both certainly hoped his declaration was about them.

With a snicker caught in his throat, Kira let his eyes close and his body drifted inward, to the warmth of Raine beside him. Though their situation was still new and dangerous, he was glad, through and through, that they had all escaped together and were in agreement that Tiandi could not be adhered to any longer.

As much as he may have, on a strictly petty level, wanted to proclaim, “I told you so,” to the believers, he would hold it back until a later date.

***

The sun was already making its descent by the time everyone woke up again. Alf instructed the villagers not to disturb any of them until they were ready and Idris waited with impatience over the cauldron of stew he made for them. He had even neglected to add meat to cater to Pangu’s diet and he threw a few heart shaped herbs in the broth for Heidi.

Of course, she did not notice when she ate it. No one noticed much of anything—they still fought off the lingering exhaustion. It was not just the burden from the escape that they, collectively, worked through but a culmination of weeks of insufficient rest and care. Especially for Pangu and his disciples who had been running from one place to the other with little down time.

But a belly full of food and a good bath with a fresh change of clothes was enough to reinvigorate even the most tired among them.

Oli sat with Alf, looking over a map and talking about what the man had been told last night, only in more detail. Viren joined them, nodding and commenting occasionally but the other two were leading the conversation. Baiya preemptively shut off his attention regarding them, knowing from firsthand experience how much Oli could talk about his interests.

He turned, instead, to the rest of the group carrying on a very different conversation.

“Pangu, did you know Kira liked men?” Heidi asked with a serious expression on her face.

Her brother laughed. “Yeah?”

“Was I really the only one who did not know?” It seemed she was still not over the trick Kira pulled in the dungeon.

“I suppose so,” Pangu guessed with a shrug.

“What about you, Raine?” she glanced up at him and her brows pinched together.

He responded with something similar to a grunt and a nod. Baiya noticed how stiff he became when the topic surfaced but he doubted the man had yet to realize why he reacted in such a way. If it would not be a behemoth of a conversation to have with him, Baiya might have considered talking to him about it.

That did remind him of something else he needed to take care of, however.

Baiya cleared his throat and said, “Pangu.” Once he got his attention, he gestured with his head to the side, “Can we talk a moment?”

His words were so direct that they made Pangu nervous but he still nodded and stood. “Sure.”

There was a small clearing a little further east of the village and a cliff overlooked it. Pangu almost wanted to scale it since he knew the view up there was probably amazing but he was comfortable enough with the spot as it was. Plus, he was curious as to what Baiya would want to talk about alone. Even if he had a few ideas, he could not be sure.

“Yes?” he did not want to sound too impatient but the hitch in his voice definitely gave him away.

Regardless, Baiya smiled and then looked around, making sure they were alone. Once he was certain, he let his shoulders droop and he sighed. “So…I realize we have not spoken like this in a while.”

“I know. Sorry.” Pangu’s eyes shifted to the ground.

“No, it is my fault as well.” He stepped closer, getting his focus back on him. “But, after your speech at the temple, I feel I have to speak to you.”

Pangu gulped. Was he going to confess again? To ask if he had changed his mind? He was ready for it because he did have a different answer.

But, Baiya continued, “You do not need to hold back on your feelings for Viren on my account. I will not be hurt by you choosing to give him your affections and…I would hate to be in the way of your happiness.”

Despite the fear in saying those words, Baiya found that they came quite naturally. As if he had said them before or as if they were just the right words to say. It was a relief, truly.

Pangu, however, froze. Too many emotions to name passed through his body—none staying for good. At one point, he almost laughed.

“Baiya,” he spoke his name with a smile, unsure of how to proceed. There were several options but many of them would hide parts of the truth and he did not want that. It could make this all easier, yes, but he wanted to be as honest as possible to right the wrongs of their last talk.

“…Yes?” Baiya quietly urged him, making him realize he had yet to actually say anything.

That time he did chuckle. “Yes, right…” Pangu took a deep breath. “You are right…I do like Viren. I really do but…when I made that speech and when I spoke of wanting to marry a man…I had you in mind.”

The look on Baiya’s face would have been a good enough reason, on its own, to say what he had.

“You…wait…” Baiya struggled with the information so Pangu helped him.

“I like you both,” he confessed with a smile.

Baiya took his turn laughing. He even rubbed a hand over his brow while his other hand settled on his hip. “Wow…I am not sure what to say.”

Pangu inched closer. This was easier since he knew how Baiya felt already although, he considered, he could change his mind once he realized Pangu’s love was not solely linked to him. He doubted he would be troubled by it but it was a possibility.

“I am sorry I lied to you before,” Pangu carried on, slightly changing the subject, “I felt the eyes of spirits on me and the pressure got to me. I was suffocating but now…now I have no reason to uphold those laws. So, I think you should know I do…I do love you too.”

The use of that strong word was what finally got Baiya’s eyes to meet his. It had been a small eternity since they last looked at one another like this.

Pangu smiled and his heart jumped up into his throat as Baiya walked even closer. He expected him to close the distance right away but he did not. Instead, he touched the side of Pangu’s face with careful hands on either side—fingertips just barely making contact.

“I am glad to hear it.” He continued to just stare down at him, caressing his face and nothing more.

It was a bit frustrating and Pangu let out a breathy laugh. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”

Baiya had been surprised for the entirety of the conversation but that actually made him jerk back for a second. His eyebrows rose up and, before he knew it, he was laughing too. “Right, sorry.”

Despite saying so, Baiya still hesitated to move. He rested his forehead against Pangu’s taking small, incremental steps while brushing along his cheeks with his thumbs. It was as if he was afraid to actually do it and Pangu almost asked if he was sure he even wanted to.

But there was desire in his eyes. Pangu was drawn into his gaze and the world became smaller as the last breath between them disappeared. He closed his eyes and just felt. His hands moved on their own, attaching to Baiya’s shoulders and holding him firmly.

It did not last long enough and Baiya pulled away, still battling his tentativeness. He looked to Pangu as if he expected a scolding or maybe just to check to see if it was satisfactory.

Pangu grinned. In his dreams, his Agni disciple had always been more forward and never doubted himself but the reality—a stark contrast—was pleasantly surprising. He would have been perfectly happy with an impassioned kiss but the small flecks of worry passing over Baiya’s face were endearing and made his chest tighten.

He let out a silent laugh as he pulled Baiya closer, circling his arms around his neck so he could anchor himself better. The second kiss was much longer, much deeper, and much more than Pangu could have ever hoped for. He almost started to wonder if this was another dream but the sweat beading on his skin from the humid air and the way Baiya’s fingers tangled into his hair, tugging by accident was too realistic to be a dream.

When they parted, they shared another wide, careless grin between them. Things would never be the same, for more reasons than Pangu could count, but he was at least excited about the future rather than terrified of it.

#the xiang chronicles #my novel #my writing

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fabelyn · 4 years ago

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In Carcere Ch.40

Pairing: inahoxslaine (orangebat, inasure)

Rated: T Warnings: spoilers for series finale Chapter: 40/? (previous chapter) Chapter Word Count: 13k

Summary: At first Inaho visits out of duty and humanity. And then he finds he can’t stop going back to see Slaine Troyard.

“I’m sorry to say, I can’t reveal who our leader is yet,” Lemrina says the minute she can find some time alone with Inaho. “He actually requested it from me after meeting with Slaine. He says he’d like to talk to you without prior knowledge coloring the discussion.”

Meaning he wants to ensure I don’t have time to prepare or plan based on his identity. At least I know it’s a male, though that was hardly unexpected considering the male gender predominance in high Martian ranks.

“And while normally I would assume your lack of expression might help…”

“You don’t want to risk the breach of trust it would be if I accidentally reveal I knew in some way. I understand. I assume he revealed his motivation and plans to Slaine?”

“They didn’t have time to go over details of the current plan, but yes, he told Slaine why he’s doing all this and some other relevant information I can’t reveal.”

“And Slaine’s verdict?”

“Agrees the words made sense, and the emotion demonstrated seemed real, so Slaine ‘trusts him as far as he can shoot him’.”

Inaho nods. “So he has decided to believe this man but hasn’t been blindly led and is keeping a healthy skepticism. Good, in between you two choosing to follow him, I assume I will have the same opinion, unless I’m privy to information you both were not.”

Lemrina is pleased enough with the mild compliment, as Kaizuka acknowledging anyone else’s intellect is certainly one, and tries to be gentle. “I’m sure it all means he should be coming to you soon.”

“That depends, did he also ask Slaine not to tell me?”

“Hm, I don’t know actually.”

“If he asked the same of Slaine, it means he won’t be coming anytime soon.” Which is a nuisance; the faster I can discuss this with Slaine, the better.

“Maybe that will be for the best, I heard the medical staff say you’re making quite a bit of progress, but that doesn’t mean you’d be fully mentally ready for him soon.”

“Certainly. And did Slaine go forth with our plan?”

“You mean, that pathetic excuse of an idea, where you pretend to only be pretending to love him?” Lemrina hisses.

“Did you not once pretend to only be pretending to be in love with him as Asseylum?”

Lemrina gasps as if he’d physically slapped her. “That… was different . And much more toned down. And… and besides if you really think it’s the same situation, all the more reason for you to accept my opinion on the subject as the correct one.”

With that, she pushes her wheelchair out of the room.

Inaho is hardly concerned; Lemrina is hardly one to be fine with prolonged solitude. And his observation was perfectly logical, she will admit it herself soon if never out loud to him. She will be back.

And she certainly was.

“I think it’s time to tell you one more thing.”

You mean you forgot to do so yesterday when you left in exaggerated displeasure. “Yes?”

She recounts the Emperor’s situation as well as Slaine’s fears.

Inaho considers it. “This is something I should examine further when I’m fully recovered. But for now I agree with Slaine’s interest in this. How both the UFE and Vers treat you and Asseylum will change according to this knowledge. But, we have an edge over both.”

“Rayet’s attempt,” Lemrina says. “I asked her before coming over. She told me she tried strangling Asseylum to the point where she required CPR to be revived.”

Inaho nods. “Correct, and at that time, Asseylum was the one that had directly activated the Deucalion, and it stopped functioning, confirming her momentary death.”

“By then, Slaine had already received aldnoah from her by way of CPR—what?” Lemrina stops, noticing the rare sight of Inaho’s lips quivering upwards for a moment.

“Nothing, the coincidence amuses me.”

“I hope you’re not thinking this is a case of indirect kissing?” Lemrina asks in disgust.

“No. I never understood the logic behind attaching the sentimentality of a kiss to the action of sharing a surface at different—”

“No need to go further, I’m satisfied. What’s important is that Slaine retained his aldnoah access even after her momentary death.” She sighs. “If only all of the Deucalion crew hadn’t witnessed that death and subsequent system failure. It will be easy for either faction to get their hands on that information.”

Inaho shrugs. “Even if they do, it’s of little consequence unless the knowledge that Slaine piloted the Tharsis thanks to Asseylum is also information they can procure.”

Lemrina considers it. “It’s hard to say for certain, but I think not. He first used it when he was with Count Saazbaum.”

“During a fight between planets, where all eyes were elsewhere, and Slaine didn’t use the Tharsis to interfere in a way that would have gotten him noticed before he took off with Asseylum in tow. At which point one could assume that he drank her blood and only after was able to use the Tharsis to leave.”

“Count Saazbaum was aware of my existence, so one could assume if Saazbaum didn’t pass his aldnoah access to Slaine, I might have. They'd have to go as far as know Slaine only met me after using the Tharsis.”

“Although that only works for people that are aware of your existence. Meaning, assuming that you and Slaine met before his using the Tharsis is something that may only dissuade your leader from looking for— wait.” Inaho considers it further. “Slaine could have operated the Tharsis without the aldnoah drive, if Count Saazbaum had allowed it, unless he made a show of being able to operate it fully when he reached martians with Asseylum?”

Lemrina shakes her head. “No, initially there was an uproar as they focused on saving her life. Count Sauzbaum took over and simply acted as if her rescue was his plan and Slaine a mere follower of his. After that, they focused on silently keeping her coma a secret and pretending I was her, partially recovered. There was no interest from martians to getting to know Slaine, much less the extent of what he could do with the Tharsis.”

Inaho’s head begins to feel uncomfortable. Although he can still plough on further, he’d rather not do any damage that might show up on test results. “This is as far as I can go for now,” he says, pointing to his eye. “But I can still say at least this until I’m able to reflect further: I don’t think we are at the risk of either martians or terrans finding out the truth. One would have to have an intricate knowledge of Slaine's abilities with the Tharsis, a timeline, as well be aware the Deucalion shut down mid flight once. We never divulged to every crew that it was due to Asseylum nearly being murdered. I don’t see it happening. Besides—”

“Really, if it’s hurting you, you can stop and retake this another time!”

“This much I can handle. It’s one last thing. If your leader was on the path of closing in on the truth, he’d have to ask you, Slaine or Harklight for details on Slaine and the Tharsis. So long as neither of you ever divulged anything to him, only we know about this.”

“He never asked. So we know something neither the UFE or he does. I wonder if we can use that to our favor? Ah, but don’t think about that now!”

It is frustrating that he can’t reflect on it now. Even more so when Inaho acknowledges there are many things he could have already thought through if he’d been invested in it since the start.

There’s no point in regret now.

“ Ha! I win again. Told you that the second match was a fluke. There’s no way I’d lose to someone who… who…”

Rayet realizes too late that making fun of Slaine for being incarcerated and thus not being allowed to work out properly really isn’t a good look.

“I mean, of course I wouldn’t lose every match, but it’s actually really impressive you bet me in arm wrestle at all! You should be proud!”

Slaine bursts out laughing. “You are even worse at giving compliments than Inaho. It’s fine, really. It is the truth. I’ve been tying some stuff together and lifting those but the results are slow.”

Rayet relaxes; Slaine laughing without a biting edge to it is rare and a good sign. “I used to think anyone could pilot if they had the coordination for it. It took me a while to realize you do need strength to keep your stamina at the controls for long. Nina and Inko always complain about feeling bruised after too long.”

“Did you visit them before coming back? How are they?”

“In good spirits. Which is something, after being forced to work like that for the UFE.”

“Can’t they simply quit?”

“Not everyone can walk away that easily. They let me go at first because they thought I was touched in the head. Inaho, they assumed broken, plus I guess since he was only leaving to take up, well, you, I guess that worked out just fine. The old geezers aboard the Deucalion… I think they refuse to leave because they know the UFE is simply going to shove someone else in their place, so they might as well stay aboard to protect the Deucalion.

“And the rest… I guess they could ask to leave but… and go where? I guess this is my own fault because I keep complaining, and also because you only saw them when the UFE started doing shit. But the Deucalion itself… It feels like home. And safe. If there was a way to leave the UFE without sacrificing the Deucalion, who knows.”

“... Speaking of the Deucalion. Rayet?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you tell me about that time you once mentioned, when you tried to strangle Her Majesty?”

Rayet leans back on her chair, now worried again. “...Why?” Inaho had been very emphatic about not trying to pry the topic of Asseylum out of Slaine in his absence. The possibility of Slaine himself bringing it up hadn’t factored in. Especially not with this sort of request.

Then it hits her. “Oh, wait. Is this about the aldnoah thing? Lemrina asked about the same thing. Yeah, I tried killing her, she fainted, Deucalion went down, she was revived.”

“Yes. But I’d like the details, please.”

Not that Slaine truly needs the details, but it’s clear Rayet is treating him like some invalid that cannot handle even that, and it’s grating on his nerves to not be able to show he is not as unstable as he had been. “I think they might be important.” he lies. “And it’s fine, you won’t upset me.”

Rayet considers it, then shrugs. She can blame Slaine if Inaho complains later. “Alright then. My memory is a little foggy because I wasn’t in my right mind but uh… I was in the shower, reflecting on, well, watching my family be killed before my eyes.”

Slaine blinks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine. You couldn’t have known. Anyway, in comes Asseylum chatting happily to her maid about how everyone is so nice to her and I just… broke? I know how ridiculous it sounds when I tell anyone. Hell, even back then I knew I wasn’t okay doing it. Anyway, the motivation was stupid so we can skip that—”

“You can skip it if that’s what you want. But as for stupid motivation to commit crimes, I certainly cannot judge you, if you wan’t to talk about it,” Slaine says with a mirthless smile.

“...I blamed her. But it wasn’t like my anger now. Now I can see her actively failing and harming people, so it feels like it’s okay to feel this way. But back then… I blamed her for things that weren’t really her fault. I mean, everything happened because she was so naive, but there’s a limit to what I can blame her for that. My family was tasked with murdering her with false promises of glory. Then they were betrayed and killed instead. We had lived a life of lies until then, not being allowed to reveal where we came from, even.

“I thought… if she hadn’t come to Earth, none of it would have happened. And then, despite the destruction that her arrival inadvertently caused, she went around skipping through the corridors of the Deucalion like she was out on a fun vacation. No one even blamed her for it! It was too much. My family was dead and she didn’t even look upset . I wanted her to stop smiling. ”

Rayet’s hands are balled into fists on the table. Slaine reaches out to place his hands over hers.

How different from the me of back then . Cruhteo would whip him, tell him he was worthless, the rest would at best ignore him, at worst steal his food and beat him up. Every day he had to walk in tiptoes, no mistake was ever too small to not get ruthlessly punished for.

And then there was her, smiling brightly and talking about seeing birds and water, unaware of his treatment.

He had loved that. He could bask in her obliviousness and for a while pretend nothing was wrong, nothing was happening to him. He had needed that small amount of joy to get through the day.

...But would he have ever suffered that much if she had known and done something to stop it?

No, don’t do that. Don’t blame her for the things you never told her about.

“What then?” He asks, hoping to pull them both away from a spiral by focusing elsewhere.

It works, and Rayet focuses. Her hands relax again, so Slaine takes his back. “So then the maid left to do… whatever, I don’t remember. I wasn’t in my right mind, like I was acting on autopilot. I went to where she was showering, and grabbed... the nearest object I could to choke her.”

“You choked her with a towel?” It would have been easier to use her bare hands.

“No, I don’t remember what that object was.”

“I deal with Inaho constantly. Don’t try to lie to me.”

“... It was that pendant.”

Slaine lets out a sound that is between incredulous laughter and choking.

“I really only brought her more misery, didn’t I?”

“Slaine—”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have given it to Inaho. I guess it brings bad luck.”

That he switched so fast from focusing on Asseylum to worrying about Inaho makes Rayet excited enough to speak without thinking. “He’d have taken it anyway.”

“What?”

“... Because… Because he doesn’t believe in that stuff, you know.”

“Ah, right. So, you used my pendant.”

“Right. She eventually stopped struggling and fainted so I let her fall to the floor. I just...stood there not really thinking. But then the Deucalion lurched, fell and stopped moving. Then Inaho and the maid came back.”

“He likely realized what the Deucalion losing power meant.”

“I guess. And then more people came, they brought in a defibrillator. Inaho personally administered CPR…”

There is a fleeting expression on Slaine’s face, that goes away too quickly for her to make out.

“She woke up again, but the Deucalion didn’t start up.”

“Yes, once turned off, aldnoah needs to be personally activated again.”

“Right. And… that was it. So, Lemrina said this all means even if the former Emperor does die, martians will keep their power?”

“...Yes.”

Rayet clicks her tongue in annoyance. “There really is no easy way to get rid of their power.”

I wonder. “Please don’t tell anyone. No one knows as much as we do.”

“Don’t worry. The only person I’m inclined to tell is Inaho, and I know Lemrina is going to fill him in. As for why knowing is so useful, I’ll leave you scheming people to it. Now, one more game before I leave?”

“Since Inaho isn’t around, how about poker?”

“Sure, but don’t invite that Harklight. He looks like he can keep a straight face a little too well.”

Slaine does, later on, invite Harklight for a game of poker.

Rayet was right; he does have a good poker face.

“That’s it,” Slaine says after the third loss in a row. “You are playing against Inaho when he comes back.”

“I fear I’m not quite that good.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner.”

“Don’t be silly, I know how packed your schedule is.”

Packed mostly with useless fluff. Still, it is necessary to establish a routine of continuous movement and meetings, so as to mask any suspicious activities.

Mazuurek, leading the way to a private room, continues the mindless chatter. “I’m surprised you came so early, in fact. I hope I haven’t interrupted any important meetings, I really have nothing urgent to say, I just miss personal company sometimes.”

“On the contrary,” Klancain replies. “I happened to have an opening.” True, as dropping a meeting to randomly visit Mazuurek might seem suspicious. “So it was simply luck that I could come over so soon.”

Instead of answering, Mazuurek stops in front of a door and opens it for Klancain to walk inside.

It’s one of Mazuurek’s favorite guest rooms, and Klancain is casual enough with Mazuurek to sit himself down on a couch.

“This room is safe, I always check,” Mazuurek assured him, sitting down on the opposite side.

“Is somewhere in your Landing Castle not safe right now?”

“Not that I’m aware. But, well, I thought it might be prudent to be careful.”

“Oh yes. Pardon me, I didn’t mean to come off as judging you, my friend. It is indeed better to be safe than sorry in these troubled times. It’s just that, if you had a more concrete belief on being spied upon, I could try and help.”

Before Mazuurek can answer, there is a knock on the door and a servant comes in bringing food, glasses and a bottle to set the low table between the two Counts.

“That was different,” Klancain comments mildly when they’re alone again. “Usually I see that former maid of Her Majesty’s.”

Mazuurek smiles as he grabs a pastry. “She had been granted some vacation time off. I made some calculations and realized she had accrued two months of vacation she had never bothered to request. Hungry?”

“Not really, thank you, but I’ll accept a drink. And that was nice of you.”

“Not that nice, according to her. She certainly acted like I was kicking her out, not rewarding her with some time to rest.” Mazuurek sighs. “I used to allow them to do as they wish with their vacation, but I’ve noticed my martian underlings all refuse to take time off, so I decided to set her as an example. Really, I do understand that in between needing to build up Vers to become hospitable and then getting ready for war, we hardly ever had time for such things. But now that we’re here, I want to increase Labor Rights so my workers have a better life. Even if it takes a while for it to sink in.”

“A commendable idea. I should reinforce that in my own Landing Castle. Oh!” Klancain had been examining the drink bottle and finally noticed the label on it. “This is new, and from your territory, no less. What’s this, Mazuurek?”

Mazuurek looks half apologetic. “I’m sorry, but I was hoping to hear your opinion on it? It’s something that has been around for a while here, but recently I thought of perhaps increasing production and trying to export to other territories. It might help the economy.”

“I’ll gladly be your test group. Let’s see…” He tries taking a sip. “Very good. I can definitely see this succeeding as an export.”

“I hope you aren’t saying that just to please me.”

“I wouldn't jeopardize your economic endeavors by lying about their success rate. But tell me, has something happened? I thought you were doing fine.”

“Fine is good, certainly, but I want more than that. Perhaps with a surplus of income I could expand and help more people. Not to mention… who knows how things will be in the future, considering the current situation.”

Ah, here we go .

Mazuurek waits, but when he sees Klancain has no plans to say anything, he continues, now serious.

“The UFE murdered Count Mikael.”

“...Yes.”

“And you knew about it.”

“I did.”

“Why didn’t you…”

“Do anything?” Klancain downs the rest of his glass in one motion, then looks at Mazuurek with sincere despondency. “Because there was nothing I could do. If I had sufficient sway, I would never had allowed the UFE to not only murder one of our own, but to go further and do it in a way to create strife between our people. Yes, I knew about it; but that is the extent of what I can do. The terrans that compose the UFE Council did not arrive there by easily listening to martians.

“...You could have told me.”

“Did Kaizuka tell you?”

“I... thought we were closer than Kaizuka and I,” Mazuurek says, and colors lightly, likely from frustration.

Klancain flinches; he’s gone too far. “I apologize, my friend. The subject is a complicated one for me. If you’re upset with me for not having done anything, rest assured I am even more so. I didn’t tell you because I saw no point in burdening you with it.”

“But I could have done something!”

“Do you truly think so? What would you have done, then? Revealed what the UFE was planning, thus restarting another planetary conflict and resulting in more bloodshed?”

“... I…”

“If Kaizuka also chose to keep this from you, then it’s because even he realized there was nothing you could do. But please, don’t take that as you are lacking. If it is a failure, it’s one we both share.”

Mazuurek silently stares at him, then his shoulders sag. He leans forward, reaching for his empty glass.

Klancain grabs the bottle and offers to pour for him. Mazuurek hesitates then, to Klancain’s surprise, grabs the whole bottle from him and drinks directly from it.

“That isn’t very respectful of you,” Klancain says with amusement.

“Ah, screw that,” Mazuurek says uncharacteristically, but he’s smiling.

“Care to share?”

“As much as you care to share your information.”

“Alright, I deserve that. Sobriety it is.”

“Ah, fine, you don’t,” Mazuurek admits, and hands the bottle over. Klancain considers it for a second before shrugging and following his example, foregoing the glass.

“I understand that it’s not as if I’d do anything about it. Just like about… Slaine Troyard.”

Ah. “Kaizuka told you that, too.”

“Oh, you have no idea .”

“Hm? I’m all ears.”

“... No, I will keep the details to myself. Not out of spite, but some things… are Kaizuka’s to talk about. You can go ask him.”

Oh? Did he mention his feelings for Slaine to Mazuurek? A pity it would be too suspicious to inquire about that. “Maybe I will. He and I never had a chance to talk, actually.”

“You’ll work out great, with those tendencies to not tell your friends the very relevant information you know.”

“Mazuurek…” Klancain tries to offer him the bottle again, but Mazuurek refuses.

“No. Look, as I said, I have to admit I really can do nothing about Troyard, nor could I have stopped the UFE without making it worse. But to think that even you will refuse to tell me such important things… it means not only do you not think me useless, you don’t even see me as trustworthy or care about me enough to ensure that I’m also aware!”

Maybe I shouldn’t tread too lightly after all. “I see. So, when will you be telling Her Majesty?”

“...!”

“Come now. Are you perhaps not fond of her enough to keep her informed?” It would be nice if you acknowledged she is hardly intelligent enough for you to ever risk it, but you won’t go down that path.

“That’s… I don’t want to hurt her.”

“And that, my friend, is why I haven’t told you. Sharing this with you, so you too can live knowing how powerless we are, wouldn’t make me happier.”

Mazuurek’s shoulders sag in defeat. “I suppose I understand. But still, now that I know this much, it’s not going to help me to keep more from me. Promise me you’ll now tell me if you know of the next attack.

“While I can swear I am not aware of any attack at the moment... no, I cannot promise you I’ll warn you of future ones. Not unless you promise you’ll take that information and do nothing with it.”

“...! But what if I find a way—”

“And what way would that be? Visit the Count and stay with him forever? No Mazuurek, I will not risk your life by telling you that information in advance.”

Mazuurek looks like he wants to argue, but again can’t find an argument. Klancain takes pity on him.

“Obviously, if you are ever their target,” he chuckles at the notion, “I will immediately warn you. Although, thanks to Kaizuka, I assume you’ll be on the lookout hereon for suspicious skycarriers requesting permission to land, and you can just shoot Troyard on sight.”

To Klancain’s surprise, Mazuurek groans, pulling at his bangs. “I… am going to try and avoid that. Shooting him down I mean.”

So Kaizuka did say something about his feelings. “What is this? Pity for him now?”

“I guess,” Mazuurek says, and can’t quite look him in the eyes, confirming Klancain’s assumption. “Oh. Maybe you can at least help me with his collar?”

“Hm?”

“Can you acquire the plans to how it was made? I could try and find a way to dismantle it.”

It’s a relief to finally hear something he can agree with, and Klancain smiles. “As a matter of fact, I might be able to procure that for you.” He had, in fact, already begun to do so; if he could remove the collar mid-operations, he could take Slaine from the UFE through the easiest route. “Or at the very least, the signal information. The UFE knows this collar is all that keeps Troyard in check and obedient outside of his cell, the plans won’t be something they’ve left unguarded.”

“I imagine so. But it’s fine, we have to try something. Maybe I could create a device to jam the signal, at least.”

“True, I’ll tell you of any updates I have on that, just don’t get your hopes up too much. And if the UFE tires of keeping Troyard alive, I’ll tell you after the fact. That’s the most I can do.”

Mazuurek sighs. “Fine, I know not to push my luck. That said, Slaine Troyard… I feel partially to blame for that.”

“Hm? Why so?”

“I’ve been thinking, ever since Inaho came over. I recalled when I first heard they’d use him as a scapegoat to secure peace.”

Klancain considers it. “Ah, yes. The UFE Council called Her Majesty in for a private meeting, and neither of us had the power or influence to join in.”

Mazuurek nods. “And then when she came to us later, with the idea of using him in her head, I remember… remember how I didn’t really object. I thought, ‘he’s dead, and nearly succeeded in hurting terrans and was keeping Her Majesty captive, why not?’. I was tired, I wanted an end to all the fighting already and besides, maybe it would be cathartic for Her Majesty to pay him back for the hurt he caused her. I never voiced a complaint.”

“You didn’t know he was alive.”

“Did you?”

“No. We landed on Earth together, remember? I still hadn’t managed to acquire any connections to terrans, much less the UFE or Kaizuka. I didn’t have the information,” Klancain answers truthfully.

“That’s the thing. You also didn’t know he was alive, but you thought things true. I remember how you tried dissuading Her Majesty. You said Count Saazbaum would be more appropriate. In fact, you even offered your father—”

“Ah, please don’t think that suggestion was a big sacrifice on my part. We weren’t close and besides, my dear father would want nothing more than to have his memory used for the sake of Vers’ future.”

“Even so, you tried . I said nothing. It never occurred to me just how fragile the peace we’ve brokered on this lie really is, until Inaho spelled it out to me. Maybe, if I had just said anything…”

“Maybe nothing would have changed.” Klancain cuts his thoughts short. “It wasn’t your job to think of it for Her Majesty, don’t blame yourself for something that you might not have achieved even if you had tried. I could also have done more. Insisted on it, or talked to you to get you to help me. But I dropped it quickly enough, too.”

He had initially wanted for Slaine to not be used, as he had known nothing would seal his fate tighter than that; in any other situation the UFE might lock him up but never as closely guarded as now that they cannot afford to lose their excuse.

That said, choosing Slaine as the figurehead did help him in other regards; by blaming a young boy, it speeded up martian suspicion of Asseylum by at least a year.

“I suppose. And I’m sure the UFE wouldn’t let Her Majesty change her mind so easily.”

Klancain considers if he can afford to push Mazuurek a little more. He doesn’t want him feeling worse, yet he does need to plant seeds of doubt on him, if he ever hopes to not have to fight him in the future. He chooses to try. “As a matter of fact, that is something I’ve been wondering.”

“Yes?”

“Was placing all the blame on Troyard something the UFE came up with?”

“You mean…!”

“When I think about it, wouldn’t the UFE rather blame a martian Count, instead of a terran boy that had just barely risen to power?”

“So, you think Her Majesty suggested him.”

It certainly sounds like the foolish, lacking in oversight, decision of someone who never had to think of the consequences of her actions in a negative light, and who wanted him to personally pay. “I’m afraid I am leaning towards that assumption, for now. Recall, if you please, that Troyard’s troops were poised on the eve of a victory. The peace protected terrans and not our people. It would not interest them to broker a peace too fragile that would result in Vers taking back the fight before they could even recover.”

“But then, why?”

“Maybe at that moment they wanted nothing more than to please the one person they had to thank for creating the ceasefire. And if her request was something that came with no sacrifice to them or their power, why start their relationship with a refusal? Better to give her that, start amicable relationships with a show of being willing to follow her lead then disagree and push back or more serious matters for the UFE.”

That, and now having something over Asseylum’s head. If she ever seems to be no longer following UFE’s interests, they can hold Slaine over her head. If she tries to amass martian power against terrans one day, they can ruin trust her people have in her by revealing the truth.

And that is the true reason they willingly kept Slaine alive even before they had any use for him. They could have killed him and claimed an accident, or suicide, to appease Asseylum’s sensibility if she ever cared to ask.

He is a tool to overturn regimes. The question is, who will use him.

Wherever you realize it or not, accept it or not, Asseylum, it was Slaine that gave you the power to create this false peace. Everything you built thanks to him, he can destroy.

And I’ll see to it that he does.

Mazuurek does not notice Klancain’s darkening face, lost in his own thoughts.

The UFE’s power must be diminished.

He’d been meaning to tell Klancain of his plans to increase his own influence, but now he’s changed his mind. It’s not that he wants to be petty over the lack of information; he simply feels it would best if Klancain continued to be oblivious, to not harm his own standing in the UFE.

Besides, Klancain is smart, he’ll notice it in time, if Mazuurek succeeds.

“Lemrina, how does the aldnoah transfer work?”

Lemrina frowns. “ You don’t know?”

“Assume I don’t.”

“Fine. By swearing fealty to the Royal Family then accepting our blood. The loyalty and the blood together allow for aldnoah use.”

“Slaine—”

“Other body fluids don’t carry the same power as blood. Rather than that, through skin to skin contact is how loyalty, or love, is verified. That gives the subject a temporary contract; you can use aldnoah to activate one thing to your will, but nothing else. To complete the contract and fully receive aldnoah, blood must then be ingested.”

“I presume you gave Slaine your blood then, during the war?”

Lemrina shifts uncomfortably. “... As a matter of fact, no. I… was foolish. I knew he’d need me less if I did give him, and I wanted to retain some power over him… “

“That was a very sensible decision on your part.”

“No, no it wasn’t. Maybe it sounds like it, but I know there was nothing logical about it, I just wanted attention. Anyway, I would give him my blood now, but I can’t ask for his loyalty.”

“About that, is there some basis, some test done, to ascertain it requires loyalty?”

“A text left behind by the ancients. It said:

“ Those who are loaned to ‘successor’ and ‘maneuver’ need to ‘recognize’ each other as part of their own. The consciousness that feels like a part of oneself, recognizing that the object is a personality different from oneself, can also be called ‘loyalty’. In other words, it is also called ‘love’. Only to those who pledge ‘loyalty’ or ‘love’, Ald Noah's ‘maneuver’ is borrowed .”

“...”

“What is it?”

“Nothing, just my head.” For once, it’s a lie.

“Kaizuka, you have a visitor.”

Inaho frowns at the unexpectedness. He doubts it’s his friends from the Deucalion, or else they’d come as a group. He glances at Lemrina, doing strength training a few feet away, but she looks back clearly just as lost.

“That’s fine, bring them in,” Inaho says.

Even more surprisingly, it turns out to be Eddelrittuo.

“Greetings, Inaho Kaizuka…” she says, and Inaho can’t quite place the look on her face.

Well, whatever it may be, she doesn’t seem pleased to be here. “It’s been a while, Eddelrittuo.”

“Yes…” Before she can say anything else, she catches sight of Lemrina and her eyes grow wide. “Y-You!”

Inaho sighs inwardly, wishing Eddelrittuo had learned to be a little less open and expressive.

“I suppose working under Mazuurek, you haven’t seen a fellow maid of Her Highness, so your surprise isn’t shocking.”

Annoyingly, she does not catch the hint. “W-What?”

“Hello, Eddelrittuo,” Lemrina says smoothly, coming over as fast as her wheelchair would allow. “It’s been a while since we both worked together under Her Majesty’s employ, hasn’t it?”

Finally Eddelrittuo understands. “Oh! Right! Yes, it’s been so long, how are you?”

“I’m doing better. My legs can almost move again.” To prove her point, Lemrina exerts some effort and her legs kick.

Eddelrittuo’s eyes grow wide again, but for the first time since her arrival, she smiles warmly. “That’s great! I’m so happy for you!”

“I’m done, we can relocate to my room,” Inaho says, trying to steer them towards privacy, but to his surprise Eddelrittuo scrunches up her nose.

“Why would I want to visit your room?”

So she wasn’t sent by Mazuurek due to a sensitive topic. “That’s fine then. So, why are you here?”

She stomps her foot. “Count Mazuurek he… he gave me a vacation! ” The last word is said as a wail.

Inaho looks to Lemrina, assuming this is a cultural thing.

Lemrina is frowning slightly. “Vacation…? Oh, yes, I recall that concept.” She giggles and turns to Inaho. “Receiving time off isn’t expected for martians, especially not those… those of us who work directly with the Royal Family. That is a privilege, you see, and needing to rest would imply weakness and dissatisfaction with the work. At most you receive a day or so of rest a month.”

“And I’m not tired!” Eddelrittuo whined. “I didn’t become Her Majesty’s personal maid on a whim! I was picked as the best, and I never shirked from duty!”

Child and slave labor rolled in one. Hm, is this a consequence of the harsh conditions of the planet, resulting in the need for more work and less ethics? Something similar even if not as drastic did occur in Japan after—

This isn’t the time for that. “That is stupid,” he says bluntly. “People need rest, for the sake of their psychological health. There are countless studies on it. Outside of martial law, Earth has civil rights and labor laws in place to protect people, and I assume Mazuurek is trying to implement them.”

Eddelrittuo sniffs. “Yes, he mentioned something of the kind. And said that…” She raised her head up proudly. “As a former maid of Her Majesty and someone that others hold in high esteem in the Landing Castle, I had to be the example to do it first, because if I did it, others would naturally follow.”

So are you upset or not? “So you decided to visit me?” Inaho doesn’t bother to hide the incredulity in his voice. Lemrina bites her lip, but it’s clear she’s stifling laughter.

Eddelrittuo puts her hands on her hips, and looks up at Inaho vexed again. “Obviously this isn’t my idea of this ‘vacation’ thing. When the Count told me to take off from work, I wanted to hang around the Landing Castle to help out. It’s my time off so I could right? But then Mazuurek asked me to run errands.”

“... You could have refused. If it’s your vacation, it means time away from work.”

Eddelrittuo looks horrified. “ Disobey direct orders from the Count?! I am an exemplary maid! I would never! ”

Trying to comprehend this further might just undo all the progress I’ve done with my recovery. I’ll send Mazuurek a list of materials to help him when I can, he’ll need it . “I see. So, what was the errand?”

“He wanted me to bring you... this!” She reaches into her bag and takes out a carefully wrapped up bottle.

He unwraps it as Lemrina looks over his shoulder. “... Alcohol?”

Eddelrittuo is looking proud again. “Not just any alcohol! That liquor was especially made in Count Mazuurek’s territory! He said he wants to start promoting it to other places, so you better show respect and be thankful he let you have such a thing for free!”

Is he planning to supplement his economic revenue by finally taking up trading? This is a luxury item so it won’t have much of a big impact. Then again, if the impact is small, less attention to him earlier on. And the revenue from this could then be used to invest in better items…

“Tell him I appreciate it. I’ll keep it safe and share it with my sister when I return home.”

Eddelrittuo looks satisfied. “Good!” She glances at Lemrina and hesitates. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Is that her loyalty to the Royal family, or did she grow fond of Lemrina after being with her for two years? So long as it isn’t pity it should be—

“I’m fine , thank you,” Lemrina says, too curtly.

Whether Eddelrittuo meant is a friendly gesture or not no longer mattered; Lemrina had interpreted it as pity.

It’s not enough to deter Eddelrittuo. “Now that Count Mazuurek managed to kick me out, I’m going to stay here. I know that if I come back earlier he’ll just send me on another long errand again. So, if you need me, or you just want to talk about… about our work, you can call me!”

“There won’t be a need,” Lemrina insists.

“Certainly, give us your address,” Inaho says instead, and ignores the glare from Lemrina.

He doubted he’d need it, but it might be useful to know where she was staying at, to use her to move around if he needed an excuse.

Inaho is finally seen as fit to walk outside soon enough.

Lemrina wonders if she should be polite and act happy for him, but decides not to when Inaho barely blinks at the news.

“It’s only natural. I’ve been fit to do so for some time, but since I never insisted on leaving, they decided to make use of that and pay extra heed. Everything points to me being discharged on time, so naturally they can’t keep me away from open spaces for longer, as they need to see how I react to the public. Besides, the level of rehabilitation necessary has been exaggerated from the start, to dissuade the UFE from using me more.”

Lemrina shakes her head at the predictability of his answer and focuses on moving her feet, frustration bubbling at being unable to follow suit just yet.

“You started your own rehabilitation after mine,” Inaho points out. “If we consider time spent and results, you are making progress faster.”

Is he trying to console her for not being allowed to walk with him? It doesn’t quite work.

“It’s not as if I’m missing out on anything,” Lemrina says, more for herself than him, and even Inaho knows better than to contradict such a thing.

He could have argued in favor of allowing her, accompanied by him, to walk outside with her crutches. However, while Inaho knows the UFE is not monitoring his every move, he has plans he’d rather not have something as conspicuous as someone on crutches accompanying him.

He barely pays attention to the rest of the medical facility as he walks to the exit; he only notes that it remains unchanged, as expected.

Outside he pauses and pays more attention. The flow of people remains the same as the last time he had been there. No, perhaps it had increased slightly.

Nothing he’d seen had reached the number of crowds he’d witnessed in his birth city before the war, but compared to other places, he supposed this city could be considered of the more populated ones for the current standards.

Just as well for him, as with that many people, he’d be able to find an exclusive martian bar.

Not that, technically, exclusivity was allowed. Asseylum had been vocal against bars that attempted to be specific to any race… which did not mean people had not found ways to circumvent that.

There are two places he’s been told of. One is a bar recommended by Lemrina, as the base for those of her faction in the city.

Not that she had to tell him that. The name alone was clear enough the owner was feeling disinclined to the current martian rule: The Sons of Zeus .

Even as Inaho is amused at the name —is it overconfidence that no one would understand the bar was, in a way, referencing the Dioscuri , or boldness to not care for consequences?— he would rather not go there. He wants to hear the regular opinion of martians, not the chatter of already converted dissidents.

Which brings him to the restaurant recommended by Mazuurek.

He finds it, entrance half hidden in a narrow alley, and it’s name is equally amusing to him: Prometheus Restaurant .

Martians quite enjoy their Greek. I wonder if the connection in name is on purpose.

There is no window to the inside, and the door is closed, manned by a waitress who jumps to attention when it becomes clear Inaho plans to enter.

“I’m sorry, sir,” the man says politely, “I’m afraid we are full. Do you have a reservation, sir?”

And as easily as that, a place could guarantee exclusivity while flying under the radar.

Wordlessly, Inaho takes out and shows him the token Mazuurek had long ago handed him for such a situation. The waiter examines it and smiles, opening the door for him to enter.

It’s dimly lit and, while not truly full, has a decent number of seated people. Inaho finds a table in between two filled ones and sits down. A television overhead is playing the news. He orders something and settles down for listening in.

For a while, nothing relevant is being said. At the table behind him are a couple who are lightly mocking their Count and laughing at their brilliance at having used an errand to make a date week between them. The table in front of Inaho has three martians who are unaffiliated to any Count —did they defect or have their Count die? They never say, but all martians on Earth are military so they must have worked for one— discussing the jobs they’ve been doing in the city to make ends meet. Sadly nothing relevant of the operations is being said, as they are clearly very low on the hierarchy and simply bemoan their work.

And then food and drinks arrive for both tables, and the conversations all converge into awe. Awe at what they’re currently tasting, reminiscent awe over things they’ve tasted before, and hopeful awe at what they’re planning to taste next.

Inaho’s own appetizer arrives, and it isn’t anything he hasn't tasted before.

If martians are still reacting like this to terran food after all this time, then the quality of their food on Vers is worse than I presumed.

And then, finally, something of use to him is said.

It happens, naturally, the moment the television brings news of Asseylum. A hush falls over the restaurant as everyone, even the waiters, stop to look at the news.

It’s nothing much: Asseylum is seen somewhere in Africa, talking to an affected population still struggling after the war, saying she feels for their plight and pledging to help.

“We are all humans,” Asseylum says to a microphone, surrounded by bodyguards, “we should not be harming each other. Vers will make up for the pain it caused our terran brothers and sisters.”

“Why are they so sure the war is the cause for their issues?” Someone grumbles in the restaurant. “I heard terrans were all fighting themselves before we came along.”

“Right, right. That’s why Vers was created in the first place, wasn’t it? To get less people on Earth to fix their problems.”

“Why is she pledging to help them when she hasn’t even helped us ?” One of the people on the table ahead of Inaho says, voice a little too loud. His companion hisses at him for it, but no one else tries to argue.

No other complaint is forthcoming, but even Inaho can read the displeasure on the faces around him. It’s soon gone, however.

This is not enough for a revolution, but the dissatisfaction has already settled in. If the dissidents want, they can spread and increase resentment until Asseylum’s defenders become the minority.

Inaho waits longer, but there is nothing else of note.

As he leaves, he glances at the name of the restaurant again, and wonders if in the future any call back to Prometheus will be removed.

Slaine lays in his bed, running over his talk with Klancain again. No matter how much he thinks back to it, or how much time passes, he can’t get any additional clarity.

Inaho should be coming back in less than a month, if he doesn’t dawdle, but Slaine doubts he will bring back any news of Klancain. Even if the man had requested that he keep the identity from Inaho, it would be foolish of him to go so soon. Whoever he has in his pocket in the UFE might accept a meeting with Slaine… but one followed quickly by a meeting with Inaho? No, Klancain had done everything slowly so far, he could afford to wait longer.

Slaine frowns as he looks at the dark ceiling. That is something he’s wondering about. Why has Klancain been so slow? Certainly, by letting things run their course, the martian acceptance of the Empress may decrease naturally… but he runs the risk of terrans fortifying themselves. Is it a mere oversight of Klancain’s? Slaine doubts it. Either Klancain has less power than he seems, and thus can barely make a move, or he is waiting for something.

How many times have I come back to this? There’s no point, there are too many possibilities, I need Inaho’s insight for this.

Not that Slaine is too frustrated. He had expected to gleam little from the conversation; his main priority was finally seeing who the leader was, and setting in motion his plan with Inaho.

If nothing else, hopefully I succeeded in…

In keeping Inaho alive?

Slaine blinks, and sits up from his bed as the realization dawned. He quickly covers his mouth with a hand before a nervous laugh escapes. He doesn’t want the guard coming in wondering why he is awake.

He could have gotten rid of him. Inaho is useful, but hardly as much as he had been before the brain damage. Not to mention, his status as a terran makes it clear where his allegiances would always truly lie.

If Slaine had wanted to, he could have instead told Klancain that Inaho will be a liability, no matter how nice he is to Slaine in his captivity. The Warden is in Klancain’s pocket, so is Harklight.

Honestly… they could even recreate what they had done for the Empress: stage an accident, murder Inaho, put Lemrina in disguise in his place.

Laughter bubbles again, and Slaine grabs the pillow to muffle it.

He hadn’t even contemplated that. He had so little desire of wanting to harm Inaho now that when the singular chance presented itself all he could focus on was how to protect him instead.

All that time he had wanted him gone and yet failed at every turn… and finally the opportunity only presents itself when he no longer has any desire to do it.

It truly is as if the universe is laughing at him.

Even so… more than the hilarious irony of it all, the situation feels… freeing.

For the first time, for truly the first time, Slaine feels the burden of their roles gone.

No matter how much Inaho treated him as an equal, and no matter how much Slaine truly believed it, the fact never changed that Inaho had his life in his hands.

Now, even if a little, Slaine has a similar power.

Maybe it shouldn’t change anything, yet it does, even if Slaine can’t quite place what.

“Do you have a detailed world map? No, of course you don’t. Do you have a personal device that can use the internet?”

Lemrina blinks. Inaho visiting her room was unexpected enough, and his appearance by asking strange questions was even more so.

“... Yes, I do not have a map. And no, I don’t have a personal device of that sort. Why?”

Inaho sits down on her bed. “I knew the probability was very low, but had to check.”

She observes him. She still can’t read his face, but Inaho is talking faster and being ruder than normal.

This may be his way of being upset. “What’s wrong? Why the map? Why not use your tablet?”

Inaho sighs. “They took away my personal tablet when I got here and gave me a pre-approved one, to avoid my looking at material that might overload my neural senses.”

“And this new tablet won’t allow you to look at a map?”

“It would. But it’s not as safe as mine.”

“Start from the beginning. Why do you need a map and why must it be kept a secret?”

“Inko called me. Inko is—”

“I know who she is, Rayet told me.”

“Inko and my other friends had been planning to pass by me here in a week, but the Deucalion’s route has been changed.”

“... I’m not following.” She hates to admit it, but she doubts Inaho will explain if she doesn't say it.

Inaho hesitates before replying. “The Deucalion has a pre-established route. It has never needed to be changed.”

“Did Inko not have a reason for the change?”

“They told her that with the escalating tension and suspicion due to the Landing Castle massacre, they want to avoid the Deucalion moving in the same pattern as it has for the last year, to avoid it becoming a target from martians. And the new route would also be better for monitoring all the Landing Castles as it focuses on Europe.”

Lemrina huffs. “Well, apart from the fact that we know it wasn’t my people that did it, isn’t this a logical step? The Deucalion is the most well known symbol of terran power, after all.”

“As you said, the UFE knows martians are nowhere near to attacking them yet. That said, yes, this could be simply a ruse to make it more believable that the UFE is just as worried and in the dark about the attack as anyone else. However, there are two other possibilities.”

“Which are?”

“They could be using this to have attention focused on the Deucalion, and with that act elsewhere without being noticed.”

Finally Lemrina understands. “They want attention on the Deucalion to attack another Landing Castle.”

“Possibly. However these two hypothesis—”

“Are you not exerting yourself?”

Inaho frowns. “I have less than three weeks before I’m discharged. I can do this much without backlash.”

“Alright. You were saying?”

“The two hypothesis we’ve talked about so far are easy to verify: if the Deucalion changing route becomes news, then indeed either the UFE wants to act worried over martians, or it wants attention diverted to the Deucalion. I’ve already checked the news, and there is nothing of the sort so far.”

“It could be early days yet. Official announcements often need to be reviewed. If your friends just learned of it, maybe it’s still being sent to the press. But, where does the map come in?”

“... If this change isn’t advertised at all, then something else is being done. I have one or two ideas, but I don’t want to voice probabilities without first checking a map. My knowledge of the European continent isn’t detailed enough to visualize their route and what they’ll be passing through without one.”

“... I think they’ll be allowing me to walk out of this place soon, I could look for one.”

“Bringing back a map will be strange. There is a museum close by. My sister took me to it the first time I was here, there’s a map that will suffice. I would go there myself but, in this case I think it would be prudent to be careful. So I’d like to have you with me as an excuse.”

“Alright. But if you need to acquire one faster—”

“I don’t. Even if we had confirmation, there is nothing we can do, so we might as well be cautious about it.”

“... I see.”

There is no news of the Deucalion the next day, or the next, or the following days either.

Lemrina sees Inaho frown sometimes, as he watches the news channels intently.

Perhaps a kinder person than Lemrina might try to placate him with platitutes on how maybe the staff is hiding such information from them, as a means to avoid a lapse in Inaho’s recovery now that it is almost done.

No, there is no reason for them to hide something so simple from him. And he isn’t the sort to feel better by silly words.

It is, however, frustrating to not know what are the possibilities Inaho is worrying about. But Lemrina’s pride won’t let her beg for information he has already refused to impart. She can demand answers again when they manage to procure a map.

If Slaine was around, he’d be able to keep up with Kaizuka and would explain it to me without acting like it’s an obvious conclusion to make.

“Your— Lemrina?” A timid voice brings her back from her reverie, and Lemrina is forced to focus on Eddelrittuo again.

The maid had decided to visit her, and Lemrina didn’t want to cause a stir by refusing to meet.

Worst of all, Eddelrittuo had assured her yet again she’d spend the remainder of her vacation nearby, in case Lemrina wanted her help.

“I apologize, my mind was far off. You were saying?” She asks with a plastered smile.

“N-Not a problem! I just said that it’s amazing how much progress you’ve made!”

Lemrina wants to use her once again functioning legs to kick the girl. Instead she keeps on her smile and pretends to focus on her physical exercise, to avoid having to look at Eddelrittuo.

It’s not, truly, as if the maid has done her ill. She treated Lemrina very well during their time working together, giving her the full respect and attention a legitimate royal member deserved.

… But Lemrina had caught her wistful gazes at her comatose sister. Much like Slaine, Eddelrittuo had seen her as a replacement for Asseylum, and had always hoped that was only temporary.

Of course, if she had forgiven Slaine for that, she could hardly lash out at Eddelrittuo for the same.

No, if the maid’s former actions had simply not created a bond between them, it had not brought out vengeance as well. What was making Lemrina wish to kick the girl out was her actions now. More precisely, her looks.

The pity. The terrible pity in her eyes. Eddelrittuo had never loved her, yet here she is throwing out praises for every little thing. As if she had seen Lemrina as so pitiful and weak that even this much success was beyond expectation. As if she needed validation to succeed. As if she was so miserable she needed the pity of a pathetic little maid who couldn’t even decide her own loyalties.

Slaine is alive. She wants to say that. It would shock Eddelrittuo more than any slap or kick would. She has the words on the tip of her tongue.

You think you can afford to act like I’m beneath you? Like I need your pity and your kindness and your silly little praises? Do you think your words or existence mean anything to me, change anything of mine? Foolish little girl! Pity yourself and the stupid life you’ve led. You gave your all to my sister, did you know she has kept Slaine prisoner all this time? She lied about his involvement, while he is alive and kicking and thanks to her, will never see the light of day! Pity—

She realizes she is stepping too hard and stops, breathing in deeply. To not only shake Eddelrittuo, but even make her fully push away Asseylum would feel vindictive but…

But that feeling would leave, and I’ll just feel guilty. This girl is so young. If my sister, who prepared all her life to rule, can turn out so pathetic, who am I to grow bitter over a little maid, who was taught nothing at all?

So what if she pities me now. I won’t be forced to bear this for long. Soon she will leave, and Kaizuka will treat me like I’m not in rehabilitation at all. Then I can go see Rayet, and Slaine, and Harklight, who will be happy for me but won’t look at me like I’m a charity case…

She sighs. Eddelrittuo is immediately alert.

“Is everything alright? Should I call someone? Can I help?”

Lemrina looks at the eager little face… and pities her instead.

“I might have stepped incorrectly just now, help me to a seat.” She doesn’t request, she demands, even if softly, yet Eddelrittuo happily obliges.

Maybe she doesn’t pity me as much as I think. Maybe what she wants is to be useful. Is she trying to make up for having chosen Asseylum?

… It doesn’t matter. Let her have her peace. I’ve found mine.

As for Slaine… no, she wouldn’t tell her. It would help no one.

Enough people are broken. If all goes well, one day she will know the truth. Let her have her last few moments of innocence.

Eddelrittuo helps her to a seat. Lemrina looks at her and smiles. “Thank you,” she says, then can’t help but giggle.

“What is it?”

“Oh, I apologize for laughing. I’m just… happy I’ve come this far.”

Actually, I’m imagining Rayet’s face if I tell her meeting her has stopped me from lashing out at a martian.

Another week, and finally Lemrina’s legs are good enough that she’s allowed out. She makes a show of telling staff she wants to visit the museum she heard is nearby, and Inaho agrees to take her there.

Inaho glances at Lemrina as they walk unheeded towards the exit of the medical facility. She seems focused on walking but nothing else.

Then again, this won’t be the first terran city she has visited, so it’s expected that she wouldn’t be nervous or excited about it.

They walk through a doorway and find themselves in a crowded corridor, with nurses running left and right, and people with physical disabilities being helped around. Inaho ignores it all, naturally as he’s been walking by alone for a while now, but Lemrina pays attention.

“It’s always surprising when I see how crowded the rest of the facility is,” Lemrina says as they pass by the doorway to a room where some wait in a line for physical training.

“It’s because we have connections, so we are rewarded with more space fully dedicated to us.”

Lemrina sighs. “I know.”

“This way,” Inaho says, then walks without waiting for her. His pace isn’t fast, so Lemrina can keep up without struggle. A good thing, as she’d never put herself low enough to ask Kaizuka to slow down for her sake.

Lemrina looks at their surroundings intently as they walk, then turns to him. “I always wondered, looking at all the buildings, is the sparse population a direct result of the last war only?”

“It depends on the location. Although everywhere was impacted by the last attempted invasion, many locations were already partially abandoned as a result of Heaven’s Fall.”

“... Although Mars is a vast planet, the habitable land is small. I have heard the soldiers talk about it, and seen pictures: the streets are lined with people. They have barely any space to walk, much less live. Meanwhile Earth has all this space… Vers could come here and inhabit it without needing to kill more terrans.”

“It’s not so simple. Not every land is equal in resources. Not everywhere can handle now the population density it once could.”

“I know. I’m just saying, it isn’t impossible.”

Inaho doesn’t bother to answer, as they’ve reached their destination.

The museum was hastily created; Inaho assumes the reasoning being that with the popular medical facility nearby, the museum might thrive.

It was set up in an abandoned office building with a large reception area.

“Lead the way,” Inaho whispers; although he is now certain he is being too cautious, since he can afford to do so, he will.

Lemrina nods, and steps ahead as if leading Inaho to where she wants to go. They pass by the entrance to the martian center as she heads straight to where the Earth exhibit is.

As expected, the room is dominated with a hologram 3-D map of Earth as it is. Thankfully, they are alone.

Inaho reaches out to touch it, and the map amplifies where his fingertip landed.

“It’s interactive, if you want,” he says nonchalantly to Lemrina, who nods and pushes him aside, understanding her cue.

She looks at the map: Inaho had amplified it in Europe.

Was that by chance or is that where he wants me to focus? This is Kaizuka, I’m sure even this was thought out.

Unwilling to ask for more directions, Lemrina focuses on pretending to be engrossed in it.

It soon isn’t pretense.

So much land, and it all had people living in it? Or perhaps, like the city itself, there was so much space for more…

Focus.

Inaho had told her what to look for before they’d arrived, so she simply scrolls around Europe, between the parts Inaho wants and her random choices.

She’s not sure how long she stood there; being able to see a detailed layout of Earth really did interest her, but eventually Inaho cuts her wandering hand.

“You’ve spent too much time at this, let’s go back,” he says, and Lemrina instinctively becomes defensive.

“It wasn’t that long!” She snaps, before realizing it’s likely just his excuse now that he’s seen enough. Lemrina tries to read the conclusion on his face, but it’s fruitless as usual.

Lemrina wishes she could say she patiently waited until they were back to the medical center to demand answers, but she makes it only as far as the empty road before rounding on Inaho.

“So?”

Inaho doesn’t look at her, but his brows crease slightly. “You need to understand this is mere conjecture, although I believe the probability of this happening to be around 80%—”

“Yes, yes! What is your theory?”

“... The Count that is currently aggressively campaigning against the UFE has a protection the last Count did not. His Landing Castle is based deep within the continent, so using abandoned ships like the last operation isn’t a possibility.”

“So the UFE would use the Deucalion? But that is so conspicuous.”

“Yes, too much so. There are abandoned military bases or simply half destroyed cities all over Earth that could be used for a short, secret, operation. Initially I had assumed that the UFE would take time, around months, to slowly arm and staff one of those near the Landing Castle without their movements being noticed. To try and make use of that in a short period without anyone noticing the movement of armaments and personnel would normally not be possible, in the layout.”

“Which is why you thought the Deucalion might be used as a distraction? Because while everyone looks at it, they could operate more freely?”

“Yes, but that is also flawed. Not everyone will focus that much on a simple route change, and not for long enough, unless they plan to have the Deucalion do more for attention. However, it’s been a week and so far there has been no news about it; which brings me to my other theory, which the map has confirmed.”

“Which is?”

“... The Deucalion will be used to transport people and tools to a chosen settlement. Whenever they land in a larger city, they’ll likely get people to secretly board along with equipment, then drop them off at strategic spots. Given the size of the Deucalion, and that the UFE can also supplement what it carries through some small ground operations, they can speed it up and have the bare minimum for training ready in weeks, and launch an attack in less time afterwards.”

“... You got all that from a map.” To her chagrin, Lemrina’s words don’t come at as flat as she hoped, and there’s a small tone of admiration.

If Inaho notices it, he takes no heed and simply shrugs. “Not necessarily just that map. I had previous knowledge I needed to confirm by viewing one.”

“So you knew which settlement they’d use for operations.”

“No, there are countless places and bases that could work. The relevant information isn’t that, but the traceability of the route chosen.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Not all of Earth is covered in connectivity. The war, the destruction, the weapons used all caused spots where signals and transmissions don’t work well or at all unless you are side by side. Even if the Deucalion did carry equipment and people, anyone tracing it would notice if it kept landing in a spot that should have nothing. However, if the Deucalion does the landing in a transmission blind spot, no one far away would be able to tell.”

“So you… knew where the blindspots were?”

“I had a general overview, as it was necessary to either avoid or use them when we were in the Deucalion, especially trying to reach the Russian base. The map was necessary to confirm my memory: the route they are taking does pass through blindspots, two of which are right over abandoned bases.”

“I believe that’s what must be happening.”

“Don’t be too sure just yet. But we might know soon enough, maybe.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll tell Dr. Yagarai I plan to stay another week around here after my treatment is done. If the UFE, however, tells me to go back home when it’s done, or even recalls me before I am done—”

Lemrina sucks in her breath. “They’ll want you to return to prepare to bring in Slaine.”

“Precisely. Obviously they could take longer and take Slaine by other means, but the longer the transport, the more danger of Slaine being seen or escaping there is, which they will never risk. In twenty six days the Deucalion will be on the route point nearest to Slaine’s location, so that is when they’ll want him to board it.”

“Let’s think of something we can do with the information in the meanwhile,” Lemrina says, though what she really means is that she’s hoping Kaizuka can come up with a plan.

“I don’t know if there is anything to be done.”

“There must be!”

But when they arrive back, Dr. Yagarai is waiting for them, looking both grave and apologetic.

“Inaho… I truly am sorry but… your presence was requested back in your home. Your… work has been piling up, it seems.”

Notes:

-A sentence was changed in the last chapter in the exchange between Inaho and Yagarai. I forgot that it was clear the UFE knew Inaho could use aldnoah, and a comment thankfully reminded me. The sentence was changed not long after I posted it, so if you've read last chapter recently, you probably got the corrected setence.

-I forgot to add this to ch39 but, after the 2year wait between ch37 and 38 I never imagined I'd get so many comments. I'm really thankful for everyone who comes back to read despite the ridiculous update frequency and then comment too!

-On how aldnoah works: I talked it over with some people. Many thanks to the Discord group chat for giving me the supposed poem that explain how it works. That said, the whole “oh it works with love/loyalty” thing is… bullshit to me. For many reasons. I wanted to explain them here but… let’s see if the characters don't eventually explain in the fic. If they don't, i'll make a future note explaining the reasoning behind what Ive chosen. because I have given up and decided I need to pick what I want because canon is so filled with plotholes over this that there is no valid answer there.

-My beta has begged me to go back and beta the early chapters (which had no beta). After even commenters started offering to beta those chapters, I came to the conclusion they were really that in need of work, so my beta is not only betaing the new chapter, but has now gone back to do former chapters too. Thank my poor beta. As of this moment, chapters 01 has been redone and reuploaded to AO3 a bit after this new chapter. I need to figure out if reuploading old chapters will make AO3 act like I’m uploading new content. I dont want to reupload and accidently have readers think theres new chapters, so I might only reupload along with new content, depending.

Regardless, here are the changes being made, so you guys dont fret: NO changes to story. No matter how cheesy or clunky i feel dialogue or plot progression used to be, any redoing of written plot will not be done, and in the rare case that I realize I should redo it, I will absolutely warn people in current chapter notes. But i feel like that cheapens the experience and i dont recall a need for that, so assume NO plot content is being altered. Changes are: fixing grammar and punctuation mistakes. Also removing the usage of “blond” “brunet” descriptors, as I’ve since realized using those arent that good and its better to just work harder on sentences to use names without too much repetition. Clunky or cheesy sentences will stay as they were (though my beta is still also fixing those in the current chapters).

-Deucalion is Prometheus son.

#aldnoah.zero #aldnoah zero #orangebat #inasure #slaine troyard #inaho kaizuka #az fic: in carcere #my fic

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writinginstardust · 5 years ago

Text

Do Anything | Part 3

Pairing: Tyler Jones x reader

Warnings: tiny bit of violence

A/N: Tyler’s POV for this chapter in case it’s not clear immediately. Yeah technically I didn’t need to write this bit but I wanted to focus at least a little on Tyler and his own feelings because it’s like one of my favourite things to do. Because like yeah, we all know we love him or whatever character but what we really want is to see how my they love us in this fantasy world. It’s also just a lot of fun tbh. Anyway, there’s actually some vaguely happy stuff in this chapter but not too much.

Word Count: 2028

I stared blankly out the window of the control deck, not really seeing any of the stars or anything much at all. The stars seemed dim now anyway. The beauty that used to mesmerise me as a child, diminished. They felt wrong. Everything did now.

It had been just over a month since we’d lost her and every day the loss seemed to weigh on me more. I hadn’t given up hope though. Not completely. She might already be dead but until I knew for sure, I wasn’t going to stop fighting to get her back. None of us were .

That’s what we’d been doing for the past few weeks. Laying low, planning, preparing, training in between figuring out how to save the damn galaxy. It helped. Took my mind off what might be happening to her and the nagging feeling of guilt for failing her. She’d wanted to be the one that stayed, demanded it even, but I’d promised myself when she joined our mission that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I’d failed. The weight of that threatened to crush me if I didn’t keep busy. I only let myself think about it in these quiet times when I kept watch while everyone slept. I could never sleep anymore.

So I spent nights thinking about her, about those last moments. When I’d kissed her, when she’d stayed behind anyway, when she’d cried and told me she was sorry, and when she’d told me she loved me. She probably thought I hadn’t heard but I did, her words somehow carried safely through the shouting and disruptor fire. She might have died without knowing I felt the same. It tore my heart to shreds.

I let myself dwell on happier memories too. They were the only thing that kept me sane in those long silent stretches, alone in the night. Her smile, the hugs she gave whenever she got excited, the first time we’d piloted together, the nights when she snuck into my room and talked about the future until she fell asleep in my bed, taking her to the beach when we had shore leave, late night study sessions when everything softened and she fought to stay awake and help me, being dragged to a karaoke night and seeing her so happy and carefree while she belted out some cheesy pop song. All of it tucked away in my heart. Things I worried I might never have again. I’d give up everything just to see her smile one more time. I’d burn the galaxy to the ground to have her here, rolling her eyes and calling me a dramatic idiot.

Two bleeps and a flashing yellow light drew my eyes over to the control panel, frown settling on my face. An incoming transmission. I walked over and hit the button to answer. A woman in TDF uniform filled the holographic display. Not good.

“Legionnaire Jones,” she said by way of greeting.

“What do you want?” I asked through gritted teeth. Even the sight of the uniform had my blood boiling.

“I am Lieutenant Croft with Terran Defence Force squadron Sigma-Ra-”

“I don’t care who you are. What do you want?” I couldn’t see any reason for a call. If they were close enough to hail us, surely they’d just fly over and shoot at us until we were nothing more than little pieces of flesh and scrap metal floating around in the void.

“We want to offer you a trade. You left something behind when you escaped Colonel Wymack’s custody and we think you might want it back.” A surveillance image flashed up on the screen and it took me a moment to process what I was seeing. It hit me like a physical blow. (Y/N). Clearly injured, locked in a cell, but alive.

“What have you done to her?” I had to fight to keep my voice steady.

“Nothing she won’t eventually recover from. Provided you agree to our deal that is. Hand over Aurora O’Malley and she’s yours.”

“What are your terms?”

“In one week’s time, come to the Sincastri spaceport at 0900 hours galactic standard. Come with your entire squad. Two of you may remain on your ship, the rest will escort Aurora out and one of you may come forward to make the hand-off. We will give you Legionnaire (L/N) alive. Should you try anything we will terminate her immediately.”

“Understood.”

“Do we have an agreement then?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We shall see you in one week Legionnaire.” And she cut off the call. It took me a moment to gather my thoughts again. We had a chance to get her back. The GIA would probably be there and one or both agencies would likely try to double cross us but it didn’t matter. We’d figure out a way to get us all out of this alive and safe, I knew we would.

(Y/N) would say it was a risk, one we shouldn’t take. She’d say not to do it, that her life wasn’t worth it, and maybe to an uncaring authority she’d be right. But not to me. Not to us. We could do this and we would. We were getting her back.

“Guys,” I said over the ship-wide comms channel. “Get to the control deck now. We’ve got work to do.”

I worked to keep my breathing steady and my mind clear as we came in to land. No one failed to notice the extra ships both in orbit and patrolling the port from 100ft up as we entered the atmosphere. We were right to be wary. They were clearly prepared to shoot us down if we tried anything. Probably even if we didn’t. Well, they were in for a surprise.

We’d spent the past week planning and training every hour of the day for this. Kal and Zila had even come to do recon on the area to better plan our getaway and plant a few strategically placed explosives that would hopefully give us a fighting chance. Auri had been practising to within an inch of her life, pushing and stretching the limits of her power further and further. She was in complete control now and what she could do was truly terrifying. So long as we kept her alive to do her thing, we could do this. It was the only reason Kal wasn’t throwing a Syldrathi fit at having her walk into so much danger practically alone.

We touched down and Cat lowered the engines to an idle hum. I looked out the window. A sea of TDF uniforms filled my vision. They weren’t taking any chances.

“Everyone ready?” I asked. Grim faces and tight nods answered me. “Let’s do this.”

Scar, Zila, Auri, and Kal followed me off the ship and the silence out our arrival was deafening. My eyes scanned the crowd, who all looked ready to kil,l and finally found her. Our eyes met and nothing else existed anymore.

She looked terrified, beaten and weak, her eyes pleading with me. To stop this. To leave her. To let the TDF kill her rather than give them Auri. I hated to disappoint her, but I couldn’t do what she wanted. I tried to silently tell her to trust us but I could tell it didn’t register and it was taking all my willpower to stand still and not run straight to her. I’d kill everyone that stood between us if it wasn’t a surefire way to get us both killed and the rest of the squad too. I had to stick to the plan. Get her to safety first. Then, oh then they would all get what was coming to them.

Scarlett and the TDF leader stopped talking and Kal started walking forward, Auri half a pace in front of him. Time to get ready. I cleared my mind, focusing on the task ahead, but then I saw (Y/N) going for the pistol of the agent who was trying to push her forward and my mind was a whirlwind of panic. I recognised the look in her eye and knew what she was trying to do. No. No no no. Not when we were so close to getting her back.

She wasn’t strong enough to manage the follow-through and relief momentarily flooded me when the pistol was knocked from her hand. The agent proceeded to punch her in the stomach and a yell of rage pierced the air. I barely recognised it as my own. Agony lined her face as she attempted to keep walking forward at the agent’s insistence. More than it should be. That lodged in my heart like a shard of glass. Yeah, that agent was going to die. I’d make sure of it.

With every clearly agonising step I felt my anger climb to new heights, my fingers itching with the need to reach for my pistol and start shooting. Once, I’d been hesitant to fire on our own people, but the TDF weren’t our people anymore. Not these ones at least. No following orders defence could let this slide.

Finally the two parties met in the middle. I could her (Y/N) trying to convince them not to go through with this but I could hear in her voice that she knew she was too late to stop it. Still it broke my heart how readily she was willing to give up her own life. It almost sounded like she truly wanted to die, not even for the good of the galaxy. Just to make it all end. She should never have been driven to feel that way. It should have been me there.

A moment later, Kal was leading her back to our side, quickly and quietly explaining as much of the plan as he could and urging her to move as fast as she could manage. We had to get her to safety before Auri could start her own job but every second wasted lowered our odds of success.

Finally, finally, she was standing in front of me and then without me even realising I’d moved, she was in my arms. She was back where she belonged. I cried the second I finally felt her against me. Here. Alive. Safe. Well, safer. It finally felt like things might be okay. I never wanted it to end, never wanted to let her go again.

She was shaking, tears trickling out and soaking into my jacket as she clung to me like I might disappear If I let go. I didn’t plan to. I thought I might just die if I did. But then again, I might very well die if I didn’t. We weren’t out of the woods just yet. Still, I held onto her a little longer, it had to be convincing. At least, that was as good an excuse as any other.

“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry,” I whispered into her hair. She’d refused to give me the option to keep her safe but maybe if I’d done more, this never would have happened. I could have stopped it, should have stopped it, but I hadn’t been able to and I could never apologise enough for failing her. She shook her head against my chest.

“It’s okay. ‘S not your fault. I’m sorry,” she whispered back, her voice thick and scratchy.

“I love you.” She stilled and tilted her head up slightly, eyes shining, face awed. Had she really not believed I felt it too? After everything?

I kissed her quickly, desperately wishing I could linger there but far too aware of how little time we had. Pulling away, I slid an arm around her shoulders and helped her to the ship.

“Stay on it this time okay?” A little smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and struck me right in the gut. I’d been terrified I’d never get to see her smile again and seeing just a fraction of one gave me hope.

“I promise. Just please, don’t die.”

“Promise.” I kissed her again, I couldn’t help it. When I stepped back all hell broke loose behind me.

Tag Lists: (send an ask if you want to be added!)

Everything: @wonderfilledness @writingbychelle @ad-astraaaa @moderngenius94

Aurora Cycle: @aurising

#aurora rising #aurora cycle #Tyler Jones #Tyler Jones x reader #tyler jones imagine #Tyler Jones x you #Tyler Jones Fanfic #aurora rising imagine #aurora rising fanfic #aurora cycle fanfic #aurora cycle imagine #reader insert #Fic - Do Anything

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athena-athena · 6 years ago

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Million Dollar Secret (Yondu x Reader)

A/N: I always struggle with naming fics, and I normally turn to song titles to try to find a name for them. I put iTunes on shuffle to find a name for this one tonight, and Million Dollar Secret by Lucius popped up after a few tries. It is perfect.

The lyrics:

I've got a million dollar secret Can't tell you what it is, I'm keeping it to myself, I won't give it away

I've got a million dollar secret Hope I have the courage to keep it in Won't give in and just give it away

If you really wanna know, baby, come a little closer and I'll whisper in your ear Maybe I'll have forgotten what I was gonna say but Come a little closer, let me whisper in your ear anyway

You can ask over and over But I'm not ready to tell ‘Cause I have all your attention This feeling is suspended in air And I can keep it as long as I may need it Have all your attention as long as it's a mystery

I've got this million dollar secret I think it's best for now that I hold strong But maybe I'll share it at the end of this song

Tagged List: @celticheart72 @misfitgirlwrites @animeaniseed (As always, just let me know if you’d like to be added/removed to/from my tagged list! 💙)

Warnings: None. Teensy bit of angst, but mostly fluff.

Sitting in the mess hall after dinner, you listened to Yondu talking, while you absentmindedly swirled your glass of water around.

“When me an’ tha boys were at tha bar last night, there was an asshole in there that jus’ would not shut ‘is stupid mouth. Kept botherin’ tha waitress, an’ it was obvious she weren’t interested in ‘im. An’ I told ‘im ta leave her alone, an’ he got all smart an’ wanted ta start a fight. So I said to ‘im, if ya know what’s good fer ya, ya won’t take another step. An’ then he did, so I sent my arrow through ‘im. He ain’t gonna be botherin’ nobody again… Are ya even listenin’ ta me?”

“What?”

“I said, are ya listenin’ ta me?”

“Of course, I am.”

"No, ya ain’t. Ya ain't payin' a bit of attention ta what I'm tellin' ya."

"That's not true."

"Then what was I sayin'?"

"Um... y’all went to a bar last night.”

"That's all ya got outta all that?"

You crinkled your nose. "Sorry."

"I don't understand why yer actin' like this. It ain't like ya ta ignore me. 'S'almost like yer in love or somethin'."

"What?"

His eyes widened in realization. "That's it, ain't it? Yer in love."

"Don't be ridiculous, Yondu! Of course I'm not. I'm just distracted, that's all."

"Now ya know ya can't lie ta me. I can see right through ya, so ya might as well come clean."

"I'm not lying."

"Yer fiddlin' with yer hair. That's a sure sign ya ain't bein' completely honest. I know all yer tells."

"You do not!"

He grinned. "Yeah, I do. So who's tha lucky man?"

"I am not in love, so you can stop asking about it."

His grin widened, and he said, "Now yer playing with tha zipper on yer jacket. ‘Nother giveaway that ya ain't bein' honest with me."

You dropped your zipper and placed your hands on the table in front of you to keep you from doing anything else to give you away.

Yondu laughed. “Lookit me.”

“No.” You were determined to look anywhere other than him, and focused your attention on the control panel on the wall.

“Ya can’t, ‘cause ya know I’ll see right through yer lies if ya do.”

“That’s not true, I just don’t want to give you the satisfaction of doing what you say.”

He laughed again. “C’mon, now.” He cupped your chin in his hand and turned your head gently so you had no choice but to look at him.

“I ain’t gonna let this go, ya know.”

“Oh, believe me, I know.”

“Then ya might as well give up, an’ go on an’ admit it.”

You moved your chin out of his grasp. “Why do you even care?”

“Well, first of all, I thought we’s friends, an’ second, I gotta right ta know what’s goin’ on with my crew members when they keep actin’ all distracted. Tha last thing I need is fer ya ta be out on a mission an’ get distracted.”

“I’m not going to get distracted while I’m on a mission. I know better than that.”

“But it’s okay ta ignore yer Cap’n, is it?”

“I thought we were just talking as friends, not as crew and Captain?” You smirked.

“Think yer so clever. What if I ordered ya ta tell me, as yer Cap’n?”

“You can’t order me to tell you something about my personal life.”

“Guess yer jus’ ashamed of whoever this fella is.”

You gave him a look. “If I was in love, I wouldn’t be ashamed. But I’m not in love.”

“Yer messin’ with yer hair again.”

“Oh, come on!” You slammed your hands down on the table again.

He chuckled.

“I know ya almost as well as ya know yerself, an’ I know yer lyin’, an I ain’t givin’ up ‘til I know who yer in love with. Could save us a lotta time if ya’d jus’ come clean now. I ain’t gonna give ya a hard time.”

“You already are.”

“I mean I ain’t gonna give ya a hard time ‘bout whoever yer in love with.”

“If you knew me as well as you think you do, you’d already have your answer.”

“Oh, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“So yer admittin’ yer in love?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Huh. Well, it don’t matter if ya say it or not. We both already know ya are.”

He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and studied your face.

“Will you stop that?”

“I’m jus’ thinkin’.”

“Well, you don’t have to stare at me to think.”

“Ya been on this ship fer three years now, an’ this is tha first I’m noticin’ ya actin’ like this, so it can’t be nobody from Terra.”

“Will you please stop?”

“An’ ya don’t really spend much time by yerself off tha ship.”

“Stop trying to figure this out.”

“An’ ya ain’t never flirted with nobody at a bar or nothin’.”

“Yondu...”

“So it’s gotta be somebody on tha ship. One a tha crew...”

“Just drop it, please.”

“Can’t believe ya’d be in love with one a tha crew.”

You rolled your eyes. “I can’t believe you’re so interested in this.”

“Oh, I’m interested. Wanna know who ‘xactly ya find attractive.”

“I honestly don’t know why you care, unless it’s just something to hold over my head.”

“Havin’ somethin’ on ya does sound nice. Might get ya ta follow my orders fer once.”

“Shut up.”

He placed his elbows on the table, and leaned closer to you, still studying your face.

“That’s really getting annoying, you know.”

“Might as well get used ta it, ‘cause I ain’t stoppin’ ‘til I figure it out.”

Standing up, you said, “Well, I’m going to bed. Good luck figuring it out.”

“Ya goin’ ta bed by yerself, or is yer mystery man gonna join ya?”

“Do not even think about spying outside my quarters, Yondu Udonta.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. I’s jus’ askin’.”

“You are the worst.”

“’Night, darlin’.”

“Good night, Yondu.”

Later, as you were lying in bed, you thought back over the conversation you’d had with Yondu. You could not believe he’d actually figured out what was going on with you. He usually acted as though he was oblivious to things like that, but you knew he saw more than most people realized. It was why you should have known better than to let your guard down.

You were paying attention to him, but you’d gotten distracted by his eyes and mouth as he talked, and you’d lost focus on what he was actually saying. And he was telling the truth – he would not let it go until he figured it out.

You sighed, and rolled over. You weren’t sure if he’d ever actually guess that he was the one you were in love with, but he’d eventually run out of Ravagers to consider. The thought of Yondu trying to play matchmaker between you and one of the crew made you laugh to yourself. Closing your eyes, you decided you’d worry about it later.

“So I’s thinkin’ ‘bout it after ya went ta bed last night, an’ I think I know who it is.”

“Good morning to you, too, Yondu.”

“Yeah, yeah, mornin’. Ain’t ya interested in who I think yer in love with?”

“Oh, yes, very interested.” You picked up a plate, and started looking at your choices for breakfast.

“It’s Kraglin, ain’t it?”

You looked at him, and realized he actually thought it was Kraglin. He looked so proud of himself that you almost hated to tell him. “No, it’s not Kraglin.”

“Ya sure?”

“Yeah, pretty sure.” You picked up a muffin, placed it on your plate, and walked over to the tray covered in different pastries. You were so thankful Cook had learned a few Terran recipes for you. You’d spent the first few months of your time aboard the Eclector trying to find something you could manage to eat.

“Not Kraglin, huh?” He was standing with his hands on his hips, surveying the Ravagers already gathered in the mess hall for breakfast.

“Are you going to eat?”

“Wha’? Oh, yeah.” He picked up a plate and started piling things onto it without paying attention. He was too focused on looking at his crew to even see what he was putting on his plate.

“Hungry this morning, are we?”

“Wha’?”

You raised a brow and looked at his plate.

He glanced at it, then looked back at you. “Yeah, reckon I am.”

You laughed, selected your pastry, then set your plate down so you could pour yourself a cup of coffee.

“You do realize you’re ridiculous, right?”

“Whad’dya mean?”

“Trying to figure out who I’m in love with by examining your crew members in the mess hall?”

“I wouldn’t hafta worry ‘bout it if ya’d jus’ tell me.”

“Nope.” You picked up your plate and headed to an empty table.

He joined you a couple of minutes later. “Smart.”

“What’s smart?”

“You not sittin’ with nobody. Might give me a clue.”

You shook your head and took a bite of your muffin. Swallowing, you replied, “So ridiculous.”

“Gonna be headin’ out on a mission later this week. Got any preference who I group ya with?”

“Nope.”

“A’right. How ‘bout I put ya with Oblo?”

“That’s fine.”

“An’… Narblik.”

“Also fine.”

“What about…” He glanced around the room again. “Gef?”

“Whatever you want to do, Captain.”

“Ya ain’t gonna gimme no clues, are ya?”

“Nope.” You grinned, then took another bite of your muffin.

“Ain’t a problem. Yer gonna slip up one a these days, an’ I’m gonna figure out yer secret.”

You smiled sweetly at him. “I’m sure you will.”

He sighed, and finally turned his attention to his plate. He looked surprised at the amount of food he’d piled onto it. “I ain’t gonna be able ta eat all this.”

Laughing, you replied, “I didn’t think so.”

You finished the last of your coffee, then stood, and said, “Well, I’ve gotta get to work. See you later, Sherlock.”

“What’s that supposed ta mean?”

You laughed. “Nothing. Enjoy your feast.”

You were on your way to your quarters later than evening, looking forward to a hot shower and a nice, relaxing evening with a book, when your wrist communicator beeped. It was Yondu.

“Hey, Yondu, what’s up?”

“Where are ya?”

“Heading to my room. Why?”

“Meet me in tha common room.”

“Why?”

“Jus’ do it.”

“I was planning on taking a shower and then catching up on some reading..”

“Ya can still do that. Jus’ wanna talk ta ya fer a while.”

“Is this another ploy to try to get me to tell you who I’m in love with?”

“’Course not! Jus’ wanna see ya.”

“I saw you not that long ago. What could you possibly have to say that you can’t say right now?”

“Ya sure yer gonna be alone, or -?”

“Don’t go there again, Yondu. I swear, you’re not going to find me sneaking one of the crew members into my quarters.”

“So does he know yer in love with him?”

“No, he obviously does not.”

“How’re ya so sure?”

Because he’s spending his entire day trying to figure out who I’m in love with, instead of realizing it’s him.

“Because I haven’t told him.”

“I think he’d notice that ya had feelin’s fer him.”

“No, I really don’t think he would.”

“Ain’t too bright, huh?”

You laughed, hard. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that.”

“Why’re ya laughin’?”

“No reason.”

“C’mon, meet me in tha common room.”

“Fine, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Good. See ya in a few.”

He disconnected before you could respond, and you sighed. So much for a nice, relaxing evening with your book.

You walked into the common room to see Yondu deep in thought. “Hey, Yondu.”

He jerked his head in your direction at the sound of your voice. “Oh, hey, Y/N.”

Sitting next to him on the couch, you asked, “You still trying to figure out who I’m in love with?”

“Somethin’ like that.”

“So what did you want to tell me?”

“Wha’?”

“You made me walk all the way over here from my quarters because you wanted to talk to me, and you couldn’t say it over the communicator.”

“I jus’ wanted ta see ya.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nah, I did.”

“You know I’m not going to accidentally slip up and tell you who I love, right?”

“Yeah, I know. I ain’t gonna bug ya ‘bout it tonight.”

“Are you sick?” You looked at him in concern, and placed the back of your hand against his forehead.

“Very funny. Nah, I ain’t sick.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Nothin’.”

“Something is wrong, This is not normal Yondu Udonta behavior.”

He finally looked at you. “I don’t like it.”

Your brows constricted in confusion. “Don’t like what?”

“Tha thought of ya in love with somebody on tha ship.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ain’t none of ‘em can treat ya right.”

“Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.”

“Yondu… what brought this on? You were all into figuring it out earlier today, and now you don’t want me in love with anybody?”

“Jus’ been’ doin’ some thinkin’, that’s all.”

“About what?”

“Nothin’.”

“Okay, you’re the one who wanted me to come down here and talk to you, so you’re going to talk. What happened?”

“I said it’s nothin’. I jus’ don’t wanna see ya with any a tha clowns on this ship.”

He crossed his arms and leaned back on the couch, a scowl on his face.

“I don’t see why you care who it is...”

He looked at you then, and said, “I care ‘cause I can’t stand tha thought a seein’ ya with another man!”

“What?”

“I don’t wanna hafta see ya hangin’ all over somebody, while I hafta jus’ sit back an’ act like I don’t care.”

“I don’t understand...”

“Jus’ ferget I said anythin’ ‘bout it.” He stood up, and continued, “Sorry fer makin’ ya walk down here. I’m goin’ ta bed.”

You grabbed his hand before he walked away. “Oh, no, you’re not. You’re not leaving this room until we talk about this.” You pulled him down beside you, and he sat with a huff.

“Look at me.”

He turned his ruby eyes on you, and you could see the pain in them. “What’s wrong, Yondu?”

He closed his eyes, and turned away from you again. “It don’t matter.”

“Yeah, it does. What happened today?”

He sighed, and sat in silence for a moment, before he said, “I been doin’ a lot a thinkin’ today...”

“Yeah, I know. Trying to figure out who I’m in love with.”

“Yeah, that. An’ the more I thought about it, the angrier I got.”

“Angry?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He stood up, suddenly, and strode to the other side of the room, keeping his back to you. “Dammit, ‘cause I’m in love with ya myself! An’ I’d jus’ as soon kill any man that laid a hand on ya as ta look at ‘im. An’ I wouldn’t be able ta do that, ‘cause then I’d be causin’ ya pain, and’ that’s tha last thing I wanna do.”

“Yondu...”

“No, lemme finish. I know I’m tha one that was botherin’ ya by tryin’ ta get ya ta tell me, an’ I’s sorry ‘bout that, but I don’t wanna know. Jus’ don’t tell me, an’ if I ever see ya with someone, I’ll jus’ pretend I didn’t see nothin’, an’ we can jus’ go on bein’ friends.”

“Yondu, please...”

“Unless ya don’t wanna be friends no more. Then I guess I can jus’ be yer Cap’n.”

“I don’t want that, Yondu.” You stood and walked to stand behind him, placing a hand on his back. “I need to tell you something.”

You felt his back stiffen at your words, and he said, “I don’t wanna know who yer in love with now, a’right?”

“I think you need to know.”

He turned around to face you, and the sadness on his face almost made you cry. “No, I don’t need ta know. It’s tha last thing I wanna know.”

“You idiot.”

“Wha’?”

“You are such an idiot. How can you realize I’m in love, and not realize you’re the one I’m in love with? You’ve spent the last twenty-four hours trying to figure it out, and you never realized it was you?”

“If it was me, why didn’t ya jus’ say so?”

“Because I didn’t think you felt the same way.”

“I didn’t realize jus’ how much I loved ya ‘til I thought about ya with another man.” He placed his hand on your hip. “Ya sure ya ain’t jus’ sayin’ this ta make me feel better?”

“You really are an idiot, Yondu Udonta.” You leaned up onto your tiptoes and kissed him.

His other arm snaked around your waist and pulled you closer to him, as you wrapped your arms around his neck.

When you broke the kiss several minutes later, he grinned at you, and said, “I might be an idiot, but I’m yer idiot.”

“Yes, you are.” You returned his grin, then kissed him again.

#yondu udonta #yondu x reader #yondu #yondu udonta x reader #yondu fanfiction #guardians of the galaxy fanfiction #gotg fanfiction #gotg #marvel fanfiction

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spideyxchelle · 6 years ago

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Carol did not relent as she berated Mary Jane in front of the entire team in the heart of the ship, “What did I say to you? You were to stay on earth, where you belong.”

Mary Jane tipped her chin up defiantly, “I’m an asset to the team.” “You’re a teenager,” Steve interjected. “All due respect,” Mary Jane said without any respect to spare, “Your guys lost a teenager. I think listening to the adults because they’re adults stopped being a valid argument the moment Peter was flung into space.” “Mary Jane,” Carol said calmly, “That was a direct order.” “I resigned my post with Nick hours before the snap. I don’t report to you. To any of you,” she leaned leisurely against the wall. “Besides, it’s not like you can ground me now. We’re already several systems away from Earth.” Carol stormed out of the room. Mary Jane did not flinch. Thor lumbered up to Mary Jane and squinted down at her. She did not blink. The Asgardian smiled broadly, “I like your spunk Mary.” “Mary Jane,” she corrected him. He paused, thoroughly confused, “Is it Mary or Jane?” “It’s both,” she gawked at him. “Mary Jane.” “Mary or Jane.” “No,” she sighed. “Mary Jane.” “Yes, Mary or Jane??” “It’s BOTH!” “Shut up!” The wild raccoon in the corner yelled.

Now free from the tiny closet she had stowed away in, Mary Jane openly explored the ship. She ran her fingertips along the grooves of the metal as she walked from corridor to corridor. It was a strange ship, as if Carol had tried to make the steel and machinery as close to an earthly home as possible. It ached of homesickness. And Mary Jane couldn’t help but wonder if the ship that Peter had taken off in looked like this one, or if it had been a metal cage. Mary Jane brushed her hand across the small button imbedded in a nearby wall and with a whoosh an invisible door swung open. She stepped inside and tacked on the wall like some b-rated private investigator was a collage of information on all of the Avengers. Different colored strings connected the pictures. Mary Jane didn’t even try to discern what colors meant what. Her eyes were glued to one picture in particular— Peter. He was in his school clothes. He was wearing those jeans that never quite fit him right and he had his cozy Midtown gym sweatshirt hanging off his hands like kitten paws. The picture version of Peter was laughing with someone, but they were cut out of the frame. Her heart sank. Mary Jane touched her fingertips to the edge of the picture. Peter. “You shouldn’t go poking your nose around unfamiliar places. You never know which of these doors could be an airlock,” Carol said. She did not turn around the face the blonde. Mary Jane was singularly focused on Peter’s smiling face, “What is this room?” She heard, but did not see, Carol walk across the room and take up a seat on a desk. “Nick had me on call for Avengers duty as soon as he formed the team. If things got really bad I was supposed to swoop in to help. I figured I should know the names and faces of my would-be teammates.” “And the strings?” Mary Jane questioned. “Relationships. It would make it easier to keep all the politics straight if I had to touch down. Who slept with who. Who disliked who. Mentorships. Friendships. It kept it straight in my head.” Mary Jane nodded, and turned to face Carol head-on, “I’m not sorry.” Carol sighed, exhausted, “I know.” “And I know I can help.” “I know that, too.” “Then, why didn’t you let me come in the first place?” The older woman reached into the desk drawer beside her and pulled out a Manila envelope. The back of Mary Jane’s neck tingled. Carol pulled a picture free from the items inside, and offered it to the Junior agent. With an unsteady hand, she took the picture and flipped it over. There, in color, was the complete picture of Peter hanging on the wall. The person beside him was a beaming Mary Jane. Her breath hitched. And Carol spoke, deadly calm, “If we get there and it’s bad news, I can’t afford to have you lose your head. It’s why I tried to ground you.” “Shuri said,” Mary Jane felt her eyes water, “Dusting can be reversed.” “She thinks,” Carol corrected. “She thinks it can be reversed. And what if he hasn’t been dusted? What if Thanos killed him outright? You have no idea what you’re walking into.” She shook her head violently, “Don’t say that.” Carol nodded to herself and pulled herself out of her chair. She walked silently to the door of the room and paused before she exited for one last word, “Whatever we find, you’re not ready.”

It took nearly three weeks to retrace all of Thanos’ steps with half-pieced together information scattered across the cosmos. And even still, the team only landed on some semblance of helpful information when Carol tracked down a woman named Nebula drinking herself under the table in at a cantina in the Mists. The blue woman swatted Carol away, “I said get out of my face.” The raccoon, Rocket, bore his teeth, “Where. Is. Quill?” “Dead,” she said, meanly, slamming her glass down on the bar table. “Ash. Along with all your stupid friends.” Rocket launched himself toward her. Thor grabbed the raccoon by the middle and swung him away before a fight could break out. “Settle, rabbit, settle,” Thor said. “We need your help,” Carol said, unruffled. “Two of our guys went missing. We need to find them, then find Thanos and reverse the dusting.” Nebula snorted into her glass, “You’re going to stop Thanos? There’s only one woman in the galaxy that can and she’s dead.” Rocket stopped thrashing in Thor’s arms. His voice was devoid of any emotion, raked free of it from the heavy weight of loss, “Gamora.” Nebula sneered. “If you’re looking for that Terran in the red suit, he’s out back.” “Peter,” Mary Jane sprinted. She pushed through the crowds of aliens and wiggles her way out the back door. “Peter are you—“ But Peter wasn’t there. Instead, she was met with Tony Stark’s blank, red eyes. His knees were tucked into his chest and he had a half-empty bottle dangling from his fist. “Mr. Stark?” Mary Jane whispered. The tech billionaire snapped his head up, “Peter?” Mary Jane nearly heaved. They both searched for the same ghost. The lost boy. “No,” she shook her head, “I’m Mary Jane Watson. I was assigned to—“ “Peter’s case by SHIELD. I know. I read your reports,” Tony slumped back against the brick. She was almost too afraid to ask, “Mr. Stark, where is Peter?” He moved his mouth, he replied, but all Mary Jane heard was white, tinny noise. It rung like church bells in her ears. She knew what he said, and Carol was right. She was not ready. “No,” she whispered. “He’s fine,” she broke. Tony turned his head back into the safety of his bottle and Mary Jane felt her world tumble from beneath her feet. Alone, again. In a galaxy full of beings, she was all alone.

Carol struggled to sober Tony up. Nebula outrightly refused and no one on the team, save Thor, had the skill to stop the habit, and even Thor was a little too afraid to get too close to Nebula. There was more broken in her than just nuts and bolts. Still, with Tony and Nebula’s help, the incomplete and fractured Avengers’ began to plot to save the universe.

Nebula had thoughts and leads as to where to find Thanos, which she never divulged to anyone but Carol in long, restless meetings behind durasteel that Mary Jane was not allowed to penetrate. She had been told, in not so many words, that she had been grounded from sensitive intel. Her antics as a stowaway saw to that.

Being left out of important meetings meant that she was often left to wait. And wait. And wait. She once read that to become an expert in anything, people had to invest 10,000 hours. She mirthlessly thought at the pace the team was going to save the universe she was slowly going to become an expert in waiting.

Tony watched her from the corners, too, which was unsettling. He looked at her with his bleary, newly-sober eyes, and it grated on her patience. “Can I help you?” she snapped at him one afternoon.

The billionaire took a sip of a tea that smelled funky from five feet away. He slapped his lips together and cut to the heart of her insecurities that had been building steadily in the weeks she had been stranded in space without agency and purpose, “If we get him back, what are you going to tell him?”

Mary Jane forcefully scoffed, playing the role of indifferent to his tasteless probing, “That’s none of your business.”

“Sure,” Tony agreed, “But he is going to have questions. Starting with why you’re in space.”

“Let’s just worry about getting him undusted.” Tony infuriatingly lifted his cup to his mouth and took another swig of the foul tea. Mary Jane snapped, “You don’t get to judge me. You’re the one that got him killed.”

Tony immediately reacted. He slammed his cup down on a nearby table and leapt out of his chair ferociously, “That isn’t fair. I tried to ground him.”

“Not hard enough.”

“What is with you Midtown kids getting yourselves propelled into space, anyway? Huh? Especially when the adults tell you not to follow us. To stay put.”

“You got Peter killed!” Mary Jane accused him. There was no room for forgiveness in her tone. All of that had been swept away by the wind as everyone she loved died. Hopelessness made her cruel. Devastation striped her of all of her good will.

Tony’s eye twitched. “I know.”

They did not speak again until the team found Thanos on a small, uninhabited moon in the same system as Titan six days later.

Iron-Man yelled to Mary Jane across the foreign planet’s battlefield as Thanos used the full power of the Infinity Stones to beat back their entire team. “Mary Jane, the blaster! Use the blaster!”

She fumbled for the small gun that Rocket strapped to her belt before they landed planet-side. She expected the kick of the blaster to be like Earth weapons. It was not. She launched the laser at Thanos’ head and it kicked her back into the dirt. It knocked the wind out of her. It made her head pound.

Mary Jane tried to rally her body, to stand, but she was disoriented.

From afar, she could see the rest of her team throwing everything, their full power, in rapid succession at the purple alien. Thanos looked at the Avengers like they were mild irritants, not a fully superpowered team. Only Carol continually landed disarming blows on Thanos’ person.

She made him bleed.

And Mary Jane found the strength to stand.

She lifted the blaster again, squinted and zeroed-in on the Thanos’ right hand. The gauntlet seemed fused into his skin. There were violent scars licking up his arms. The residual damage from destroying half the universe was gruesome.

She exhaled and fired off the blaster. It chinked off of the gauntlet and the speed of the blast compounded with the angle from which she shot it off, wiggled the gauntlet free from his hand a little. A little was all they needed.

Rocket tossed his entire body on Thanos’ arm and began to tug the gauntlet off. Thanos tried to toss Rocket away, but Clint let arrow after arrow fly, occupying Thanos. Steve ran across the dirt and slammed his shield into Thanos’ face, and down he went like a child. Kicked into the ground.

One against a team was barely enough to keep Thanos down. Then, mercifully, the Rocket got the gauntlet free.

Steve took it up and slid the gauntlet on his arm. Carol, Thor, and Nebula restrained Thanos. And Tony panicked, “Steve. Whatever you’re thinking. Don’t.”

“He snapped the universe away,” Steve looked down at the gauntlet, transfixed. “I can snap it back.”

Natasha shook her head, “That much power will kill you, Cap.”

“It’s seventy years overdue.”

“Steve—” Another voice pleaded.

Captain America snapped his fingers. And saved the world.

The world pieced together like a puzzle. Things happened out of order. Dust crowded the heavens, like an impending rainstorm, and then people began to reform. Wherever they had died, they returned.

May Parker woke up on her kitchen floor, clutching the towel she had grabbed the morning she disappeared to wipe down the counters.

Ned Leeds returned in the Parker bathroom and startled when he was suddenly in front of a mirror, as if to watch his hands.

Peter Parker woke up staring at a browning sky on a planet called Titan. He almost expected to see Tony peering over him as Peter begged not to go, but he was all alone.

The Infinity Gauntlet clattered to the ground. There was no Steve Rogers. Just a hunk of metal.

Thor roared in fury and swung his hammer. At once he was judge, jury and executioner.

She tried to be patient when the team flew to Titan to collect the Guardians and Peter and someone named Doctor Strange. Mary Jane tried not to let her hope get the best of her. Steve had sacrificed everything to save the universe, but there were not guarantees that it worked. After all, Shuri was the most brilliant person that Mary Jane had ever met and even she had called the regeneration theory unlikely.

Still, when the metal doors whooshed open when they landed on Titan, she anxiously tapped her foot. There were too many variables, too many unknowns, and she did not like her odds of seeing Peter again. But damn her, she hoped. Beside her, Carol held Mary Jane’s hand.

When she stepped off the ships, her eyes searched the desolate landscape for Peter. She saw others she did not recognize, but not Peter. Her heart began to race and thud and thunder. Until—

“—MJ?”

She turned around and there, in some stupid upgraded costume with his hair blown every which way, was Peter Parker. She was not sure who moved first, her or him, but one moment they were steps apart and they next they were crashing into each other’s arms. Gripping. Clutching. Breathless.

“You’re alive,” she choked on tears that threatened to spill loose. “You’re alive.”

“You’re here,” he replied, kissing every available inch of her face. “How are you here?”

Mary Jane threw her arms around his neck and tugged him to her almost too tightly. They swayed. “You got yourself beamed into space, you absolute moron. What else was I supposed to do? Wait at home?”

He laughed hoarsely, “God, I missed you.” He held her face in his hands and whisked her into the most singular kiss of her life thus far. The dreary planet ceases to weep and, for the first time in a century, it sparkled with life. The kiss revived whatever life was once on Titan, when young people there were able to laugh, fall in love, and live. It was a fleeting memory of happiness for the planet. And a joyous moment of reunion for the lovers.

From beyond their embrace, Carol handed out warm blankets to the returned dead. When she reached Peter, Mary Jane was loathe to extricate herself from the shower of heady kisses. He laughed against her mouth, “Michelle, hang on, this nice lady--”

“—Carol,” Captain Marvel offered.

“Carol,” Peter amended, “has something for us.”

“Nice to meet you, Mister Parker,” Carol smiled, “And well done, Agent Watson,” Carol said, offering Mary Jane a warm blanket.

Peter blinked. And then, his eyes narrowed, “Agent Watson?”

“You lied,” he said bluntly. He laid out the truth perfectly clear and did not leave any wiggle room for half-truths or silly excuses. After years of sustaining a cover, Mary Jane was finally all out in the open without the hulking shadow of Michelle to keep her warm. It was a relief unlike any she had ever known.

Yet, she could not miss the look of pure betrayal in his mournful eyes. Her heart didn’t allow it. Peter Parker looked devastated. His entire world had just been torn apart from the inside-out. He had been erased from existence. And to top it all off, she was a liar. “You lied to me,” he said a little louder. “And I trusted you. I trusted you more than anyone.”

“Peter, what you have to understand,” Mary Jane adopted the perfect, calm SHIELD persona. She loathed the professional tone that hijacked her voice. The spy, not the girl, had taken over.

He pushed back, “I don’t have to understand a thing.”

The metal hull of the ship did not echo. There was nothing and no one to hear them in space. The other Avengers were all congregating on the top deck of the ship, which now felt like another galaxy all on its own. Mary Jane and Peter were completely alone.

“So what?” He challenged her and inadvertently stepped into her space. It was as if he was regaining his sea legs, after the dusting. Space and time were still foreign things. “I was some kind of mark?”

“Mission,” she corrected him. “I’m not an assassin.”

He choked on a bitter laugh, “What? Like I’m supposed to believe that? After everything? I don’t trust you. I can’t.”

His words hurt. They chipped away at the hopes she had been harboring for weeks as she searched the galaxy for him. At night, she had stared at the ceiling of the small cabin she had been afforded as a stowaway and dreamt of him. She had concocted a million versions of their reunion but fighting on the ship, him being unforgiving in the face of her deceit, had not been in her imaginings.

They had been far more amorous.

The hurt blackened her blood and she felt her heart began to build walls. The lie popped out of her so easily, so coldly that she almost believed it. Her words were callous and calculated in the very manner in which she had been trained. And she wanted to take them back as soon as they flapped free. “I had to save Nick. Saving you too was just collateral to that mission.”

She watched her words impact his chest, like a bullet to the heart. He buckled under the cruelty of the lie and shrunk away. “Fine,” he said. “I get it.”

“Peter,” she said helplessly.

His shoulders tensed just before he reached the door and he paused. Mary Jane heard her heart plead for him to turn around. To give her one more chance. He did not look back. “I took you to my Dad’s spot,” he whispered. And then, he wrenched open the door and disappeared into the darkness of the ship.

#shield agent mj au #ficlet

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theprojectava · 7 years ago

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KURO WEEK - DAY 8 (FREE DAY): Magic.

“Lance - what exactly are you doing?”, Kuro whined, feeling the freshly closed wounds on his arm and back strain with the movement. The Blue Paladin decidedly kept his usually chatty mouth shut. Instead of answering-- or even recognizing-- Kuro’s defiant tugging, he gently closed his grip around Kuro’s flesh wrist a little tighter and pulled him along.

Only minutes ago they had been at the Castle’s med-bay, tending to his scratches and cuts. Their latest mission had been rough. Although it was supposed to be a simple in and out rescue mission, it had gone awfully wrong. As in, Kuro was happy he’d walked away with his flesh arm and legs still intact and attached to his body. Thankfully, the rest of the group had had more luck.

In hindsight, they should’ve known better. They should’ve been prepared for the whole mission to go sideways with how heavily guarded the planet they’d freed had been. But saving planets and whole star systems from the ones that once had created him was their job now. It was Kuro’s job now. And nothing, not even the most hopeless situation, would keep them from doing just that. Saving lives.

This whole concept, the mere thought of him being one of the good guys, still had the Galra hybrid feeling adrift and somewhat out of place. He hadn’t been created for this. For killing - yes. For fighting, shedding blood and tearing whole fleets apart - definitely. But doing so for a good cause? A higher goal? On behalf of the whole damn universe? Nope. Just- no. Kuro would’ve laughed his ass off at that prospect.

But times change you, a small voice in the back of his head provided.

Averting his gaze from the back of Lance’s head and focusing on their somewhat awkwardly joined hands instead (he was still new to the whole human interaction and physical contact thing, okay?), Kuro couldn’t hide the small smile creeping onto his face.

Not times, he countered. People. People change you.

It took one more turn around a corner for Kuro to know where they were heading. Lance had asked him to close his eyes. What for, Lance wouldn’t tell. Not even when Kuro stated how he knew they were going to Lance’s room. The Cuban boy wouldn’t have any of it; simply shushed him with a finger to the clone’s dry lips. There had been a gleam in those dark blue eyes. A gleam he couldn’t quite pin down, but made him want to lick that delicate digit pressed to his lips.

“Just do it already!”, Lance huffed and playfully put one hand over Kuro’s yellow eyes, before he opened the door to his quarters. “Or you’ll ruin the surprise.”

Had he been smiling before, he was downright smirking now.

“Lance, I swear to all deities out there, if the surprise is you taking off your clothes right in front of me, I-”

His teasing died right on Kuro’s tongue and came out as a sputtered, choked sound when he felt two warm hands grab for the hem of his own shirt and pull it upwards.

What the-

“Don’t open your eyes”, came Lance’s voice - a bit shaky, but determined nonetheless. “Just-... Take that off, will you? But please be careful with those scratches on your back.”

It took Kuro a second.

Then another two or three.

His mind had gone completely blank, out of order, Kuro.exe had stopped working. His hands however - oh he’d have to have a talk with them in the near future about not acting on their own, pulling his shirt off within a heartbeat, just because a certain Paladin told them to.

Cool air hit his bare skin - thanks for that you little traitors!, he glowered at his hands for a moment, before screwing his eyes shut again, waiting for Lance’s next move. Heartbeat thundering in his ears and filling the silence that hung over them for a few moments before the smaller man carefully took his clawed bionic hand in his own flesh ones and led him to the bed.

Even with his eyes shut, Kuro could still smell it; the way countless sleepovers made his and Lance’s scents mingle and cling to the sheets and pillows, creating a whole new fragrance that filled him with a warmth he hadn’t felt before.

It smelled like home.

Home…

Something fuzzy, tingling unfurled in his chest at that.

“Okay, now sit down, please?”, he could hear the rustling of blankets being pulled back. Without giving a second thought to it, Kuro simply purred an affirmative sound and carefully sat down as not to disturb the straining and prickling wounds on his back any further.

When he’d finally arranged himself properly on the soft mattress, the hybrid heaved a sigh.

“And… what now?”, he asked, proud that the anticipation that caused his guts to twitch didn’t seep into his voice.

Around him Lance rummaged through the room, providing him with the softest wool blanket they possessed and finally turning off the main lights.

There was a soft pad of bare feet on the cold metal floor, followed by the now familiar feeling of a slender body’s weight sinking into the mattress behind him.

Lance shifted closer behind him, close enough that Kuro could feel his breath hit the skin between his shoulderblades. Warm hands crept up his sides until they rested on his ribs. Tender. Careful. So, so careful.

“Do you trust me?”

That question, though barely audible, caught Kuro off guard.

“Uh…”, wow, eloquent as always. “Y-yes? Yes, I trust you.”

He still kept his eyes firmly shut, but he didn’t really need his eyes to know what kind of expression flickered over Lance’s face when the smaller man inhaled sharply.

A heartbeat.

Then another.

“Okay.”

The soft hands at Kuro’s ribs gave him a reassuring squeeze, before Lance continued: “If I do something you don’t feel comfortable with… just tell me and I’ll stop. Got that?”

Another purring sound escaped the clone’s throat, followed by a small nod to make sure the other one saw his approval.

“Good…”

Before he could say anything in return, Kuro felt a hesitant pressure at his back. Warm and soft, barely noticeable, but still it felt like he’d been struck by lightning. His eyes flew open. Heat rushed to his cheeks.

The room around them was mostly dark, the only source of light being the warm yellow fairy lights, they had attached to the ceiling right above their shared bed.

There were soft blankets and pillows everywhere, effectively building a nest around the two of them.

And right in the center of all this cozyness there was Lance. Sitting right behind him. Drawing lazy circles into his sides. Pressing his ever so soft lips to the tender, badly scratched skin between his shoulders. Kissing him.

“W-what… what exactly are you doing there?”, the question came out as a high, squeaky sound that made him cringe.

Lance however seemed to have regained some of his confidence over the first contact of skin to skin. For he dragged his lips over the expanse of Kuro’s wide shoulders, right to the next cut, where they lingered, as light as a feather. A shiver ran down his spine, while Lance replied - lips ghosting over his skin with every syllable: “You know, back on earth we have that term ‘to kiss away the pain’. That’s what I’m doing here.”

“O-okay? And is that… some kind of Terran healing technique?”

Trying and failing at fighting off the major blush that set his whole face on fire, he finally gave up and opted for hiding it behind his hands.

Terran healing technique? Seriously?! What the hell, Kuro?

This… this was so surreal.

Kuro felt like combusting would be an acceptable reaction by now.

“No, you silly goose”, came the huffed response. “It’s called magic.”

And with that the Blue Paladins lips continued their journey from cut, to scratch, to bruise, to scar.

Until Kuro’s whole body tingled with the warmth they left in their wake.

Magic…

___

aaaand there we go. My final entry for the @kuroweek 2017. I’ve been longing to upload this for so long now!! Especially because I made my poor bean suffer like hell. He was in dire need of something good and happy. :3 I had so much fun doing this - all of my entries. This week was super awesome! Thanks!! :3

#kuroweek2k17 #kuroweek #kuro voltron #dark shiro #galra shiro #kuro/lance #luro #fluff

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valkirsif · 7 years ago

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Life in Midgard

Thank you so much at @mycapt-ohcapt and @senorita-stucky for inspiration!!

Valkyrie x Wanda

Warning: Smut

2000 word

I hope enoj :)

“So this would be Midgard?” Valkyrie said looking from the porthole of the shuttle, “I do not understand what you find of beautiful Thor, I really do not understand is a blue and green ball and I understand even less Loki who wants to destroy, for me it makes no sense “ she threw the empty bottle to the ground and sit down again

"You will understand when we land, from here it looks like only a blue and green ball, when you know the humans you will understand my love for the Earth” Thor answered as they approached his favorite planet

“Ahahah the humans say ?? If I’m all like this I’ll have a lot of fun !! ” said, and she punched Bruce’s shoulder

“I’m sorry to give you a pain but I’m the only one of my kind” Banner said holding his shoulder and getting out of the woman’s trajectory “But I agree with Thor, the inhabitants of the Earth will please you, they are cheerful and usually welcoming, yes apart with the other part of me ”

“Brother the conditions that Stark has placed are absurd, I do not mean to be treated like an animal!” Loki entered altered in the bridge “It pretends to put a collar, A COLLAR, to prevent me from using magic, as if I could not control myself !! ” he was as indignant as ever, the three looked at each other not knowing whether to laugh or pretend anything, they chose the second hypothesis.

Entering the Earth orbit Tony managed to contact them to give the coordinates of descent to a safe place where he would have expected them together with the others,

“Banner, are you there? Are you OK?? What happened? "Nat had entered the conversation, wanted, pretended to hear Bruce,

"I’m here Nat, it’s all right, I’ve been in the dark for a while, but now it’s me again and I missed you so much!” Bruce was happy to hear she again, he had no idea how she’d explained the last 3 years but he could not wait,

“Nat please let me finish then the big and green will be all yours” Tony was able to resume communication “Point Break I send you the coordinates, try not to destroy anything while you park, that shuttle has a very wide ass”

“I missed too Stark” Thor laughed while setting the navigator, “We’ll be there in 20 minutes, um we’re in several here, we’ll need medical attention, clothes and food”

“Many of you say ?! It seems to me a euphemism to call the entire population of Asgard several, we are already equipped, quiet your people will be fine Re Point Break "and with the usual sarcasm closed the link,

20 minutes after the shuttle was in sight, the Avengers were deployed and ready to welcome the survivors, landed without problems, there were hugs and smiles, Nat literally launched himself on Bruce falling with him in amazement of all, Nat was not a sociable or affectionate woman, Valkyrie got out and looked around, the doctors reached her, seeing covered with blood and rickety, in response she landed 3 even before they could touch her,

"Hey hey, they’re friends, they just want to make sure you’re okay.” Clint had already hit the stun arrow as he spoke,

“Calm down, nobody will hurt you here, take a breath” Wanda’s voice crept into her mind making her waver

“Was not the Prince of mistchief enough I have to endure a witch now?” Valkyrie took back control and lowered the sword,

“Do not you have to offer guests to drink on Midgard? Bring fresh animals to the arena and cover you with money and alcohol .. save an entire people and try to stun you, Thor where the hell you dragged me? "she said, Clint lowered the bow and burst out laughing

"Are you okay?” Wanda asked the stranger “May I know your name?” she said slowly approaching

“Yes im ok the blood is not mine, I do not come from the underworld my blood is red like your witch” put away the sword and went to Wanda with firm step “I am SR-142, Valkyrie, protector of Asgard, last of my caste” said looking at Wanda’s outstretched hand,” What should I do now kiss your hand? “

Wanda tried to keep her attitude "It’s a landly habit to shake hands when you introduce yourself, I’m Wanda,” and she shook hands with her, Valkyrie squeezed back with a little more force than necessary, but Wanda did not let go.

More than a month had passed since their arrival, the Asgardians were integrating, Stark loved spending time with scientists to study how they used energy, Nat was the most tender of women and spent all his free time on Bruce, Clint was the shadow of Loki still did not trust him, Thor helped by Heimdall sought the ideal place for his people, Wanda and Valkyrie had become very friends, Wanda helped her to sleep with magic and during the day Valkyrie taught her how a guardian fights, they spent most of their time together

“Valk film !!” Wanda said preparing the popcorn, “Damn is your turn” Valk entered the kitchen with afflicted air, she hated when Wanwan was shooting the film, always the same story.. him and her.. then something happens that divides them.. and the end find themselves, it was hard to send down those ridiculous stories but she liked to watch Wanda who was passionate, also noticed that she tried to hide the tears in the most moaning and it always made her smile, “Come on Valk this time you’ll like promised” switched on the TV while she was comfortable with favorite blanket, Valk sit down next to her turning off the light.

In fact, she liked the film a lot, zombies and guts were flying in a good mood, during a particularly grim scene felt Wanda cling to her, turned and recognized the fear in her eyes, Wanda sank head in her hair jumping for fear,

“These terrans are frightened with nothing” she thought as embraced a trembling Wanda, laughing she took her face in hands “Hey little witch you will not be afraid of a movie like this is it?” teasing her,

“Did that zombie do it? He opened it in two and extracted the entrails .. from what disgust now is eating! How do you laugh? “Wanda replied,

” I forget that on earth you do not know anything about what you have around, there are universes where this is normal, not a third-class movie “Valk looked at her seriously "Why did you choose this film if it scares you? "she asked

” I know that romance bores you, I wanted .. I wanted .. “Wanda said clumsily looking down, Valk lifted her head and on impulse kissed, she heard Wanda smile and tighten more to she,

"Little witch is all a staging, you are not afraid you were just looking for an excuse to make you kiss!” she detached from her and tickled her, “It did not matter all this waste of time, just ask” she said continuing to torture her,

“It was so unromantic …” Wanda laughed trying to defend herself,

“Romanticism … romanticism is so important on this planet,” Valk whispered in her ear, blocking any movement of the girl below her, with free hand stroked her face and kissed again, slowly, in a romantic way, Wanda melted like snow in the sun feeling lips on her, a burst of energy imprisoned the girls, Valk freed her hostage

“You do not need your tricks with me my little witch, your magic is wasted..I’m already yours” she said slipping a hand under her shirt, she bit her lip and began to lick her neck, Wanda passed nails on her back, the energy is she moved with her drawing on Valk’s skin through the thin fabric of her pajamas.

Valk sit down with Wanda in her lap and pulled her shirt off, “You’re so beautiful, so pale,” she said, running hands over her neck and descending at breast, a moan came from Wanda’s mouth as she bent to kiss her, there was nothing romantic in that kiss, passion had taken over, felt Valk’s hands on her and bite her lip, with a quick movement of the hands Valk drew her hair, the girl’s head snapped back, panting, kissed her chin and smiling down on her collarbone kissing and biting her pale skin, she stopped at the breast and began to lick it, Wanda’s nipples swelled up under those assaults and the girl moaned her name

“Ohh Valk please do not stop, I dreamed so much this moment, please do not stop …”, the excitement in her voice was palpable, a bubble of energy enveloped her amplifying pleasure, Valk slipped a hand on her pants, put it on her feet and took them off, Wanda was naked in front of her, kissed every inch of her skin coming down from her breasts, licked her navel as her hands made their way on her back to ass, Valk knelt to kiss her pubis, Wanda’s legs trembled and sank hands in her hair, her tongue made its way between legs while her hands were clutching and stroking ass.

It brought a leg of Wanda on her shoulder to be able to sink better in her, tongue turned around her clit making the girl cry out with pleasure, brought a hand between her thighs to tease her pussy while she started to suck her clit gently, the tongue passed on her entry making her shudder and gasp with each step, “You’re so sweet my little witch” she said kissing her pubis and sliding two fingers in her, Wanda squeezed her hair moaning her name, Valk resumed the assault on his clit sucking greedily as her fingers touched and pushed on G-spot, the girl felt the orgasm mount in her and pushed Valk’s head to increase contact, her mouth focused on clit avidly sucking her fingers they moved faster and faster in and out of her, Wanda came screaming her name and fell to knees exhausted, Valk took her fingers from the girl and licked them

“You really have a great taste for it I was a witch "she said laughing, embracing Wanda kissing her "My little witch ” smiled

“Your little witch has a surprise for you my guardian of Asgard ..” bundles of energy came out of her hands and imprisoned Valk in a warm embrace that made her moan,

“Now it’s my turn” Wanda was above her, her eyes lit with lust, she kissed her passionately, biting her lower lip and passing her tongue over the edge of his lips before descending to her neck, the tongue leaving a trace of warmth and passion as she passed, Valk indulged in the magic of she and she lost herself in lust as Wanda ran hands over her chest, took her breasts in her hands and squeezed gently, her nipples reacted to touch while her mouth sucked and licked her other breast, Valk’s arched and stroked her hair, a hand had slipped from stomach to her hips, her fingers stroked scars as they descended, causing them to flush with pleasure and making her moan and gasp,

“Open your legs for me Valkyrie "she whispered down to her excited pussy, Valk obeyed without hesitation, agile fingers teased her clit scratching the skin of her thighs, Wanda stopped for a second to look at her

” You’re the sexiest alien I’ve ever seen my guardian of Asgard “ and buried face between her legs, her soft lips rubbed on the clit making her scream, the tongue made its way into her, Valk planted the nails in the carpet, crossing her legs on the shoulders of Wanda who took her ass and lifted her, inserted two fingers into her cunt digging up to her G-spot, rubbing her tongue inside to the rhythm of her fingers deeper and deeper, the energy amplifying every touch and the orgasm swept over her like a river in flood, she arched at most screaming her name like a prayer.

Wanda came away from her, sit next to her and hugged with transport, Valk turned to look at her and they kissed, a real kiss, of those romantic films,

"I believe of them I’m in love with you, my little witch, "she told her seriously,

” The thing is mutual, “Wanda replied, making the verse, burst into laughter and hugged on the carpet.

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inkyardpress · 7 years ago

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Our Favorite Space Squads

With the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi literally within our grasp, our fan hearts have gone and catapulted themselves into a galaxy far, far away. From way up among the stars, we couldn’t help but share some of our all-time favorite space squads:

1. The Star Wars golden trio (Old and New)—Star Wars

Whether you live and die for Luke, Leia and Han, or you’ve completely fallen for new rebels on the block Rey, Finn and Poe, the heroes of Star Wars have always been—and will always be—iconic. No matter if you are just beginning your hero’s journey through this fantastic space odyssey, if you’ve always felt bonded to that scoundrel with a heart of gold or if you’re a fierce fan only starting to understand the extent of the power of the force, Star Wars might just feature the most recognizable space-based squads in the galaxy.

2. Andi and her crew—Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings

We’re counting down the days to January 16, when we can finally launch head-on into the Mirabel Galaxy with Andi, aka The Bloody Baroness, and her crew of totally cool, take-no-prisoners lady space pirates. If you’ve always dreamed of having a wild adventure in space with your three besties, dodging danger, sidestepping your ex and maybe saving the galaxy while you’re at it, you will fall right in with Andi, Lyra, Breck and Gilly. We can’t think of a better way to scratch that post-Star Wars itch than a flight with the crew of the Marauder.

3. The Guardians of the Galaxy crew—Guardians of the Galaxy

Peter Quill—sorry, Starlord—might just have the best dance moves in the galaxy, and he’s only one of the reasons we find the crew from Guardians irresistible. Somehow, in the cold emptiness of space, a raccoon with too much intelligence, an orphaned Terran boy, a girl born to be a weapon, a fugitive warrior prone to oversharing and a big lumbering tree (who stole our hearts with that adorable smile) found a reason to stick together. Their adventures are action packed, but it’s the dysfunctional family dynamic that keep us coming back for more.

4. The renegade crew of Serenity—Firefly

We don’t want to say that Firefly was Joss Whedon’s finest work, but… (Don’t @ us, okay? It’s AMAZING.) Firefly was the first time anyone really mapped the concept of the Wild West onto the vast, unexplored recesses of space, and though the show was canceled far too soon, this franchise is so beloved that the legacy has continued in other mediums, including comics and roleplaying games. Also, if that’s not enough to entice you, this is the series that launched Nathan Fillion into the pop-culture stratosphere.

5. Arthur Dent and friends—The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Okay, so we’re reaching back a bit through time and space for this one, but we guarantee The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has influenced much more of our pop culture than you realize. When Earth is casually destroyed by a Vogon construction crew to make room for a hyperspace bypass, Arthur Dent, the last remaining Earthling, and his friend Ford Prefect hitchhike through space…and into more than a few misadventures.

6. The crew of the USS Discovery—Star Trek: Discovery

Forget Kirk vs. Picard. We are here for Michael Burnham. It was a bold move for Discovery to stray from the formula behind old-school Trek, focusing on the perspective of a crew member instead of the ship’s captain, but we can’t get enough. As a human raised in Vulcan culture, Michael Burnham is totally…transporting… (sorry!), and she’s not afraid to make a bold decision or two. Season number one pulled out all the stops, introducing a new and awesomely diverse cast. Plus Jason Isaacs (aka Lucius Malfoy)!

7. The Doctor and companions—Doctor Who

Whether you fell for David Tennant but stayed for Matt Smith or are just stepping into the Tardis for the first time (it’s bigger on the inside), the legacy of Doctor Who has something to offer everyone. Since it first hit the airwaves in 1963, the Doctor and a variety of companions have journeyed to the end of the universe and back, and they’re still going places we haven’t even imagined. And, if you haven’t been living under a rock, you will know that the thirteenth incarnation will be the first female Doctor in the show’s history, and we can’t wait!

8. The Sailor Scouts—Sailor Moon

With Sailor Moon Crystal, the 2014 reboot of 1995’s hit anime Sailor Moon, a whole new generation was introduced to fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight. Though the series takes place largely on Earth, Sailor Moon and her crew have intergalactic origins and represent the planets of our solar system. We don’t want to give away any spoilers if you haven’t yet had a chance to experience this action-packed lesson in girl power, but we highly recommend it.

#Zenith #Star Wars #Sailor Moon #Firefly #Star Trek

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occasionalfics · 7 years ago

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The Arrow and the Flame, xxiv

part xxiii

Summary: Yondu has a secret, and it’s not one you’ll like.

A/N: Another slight time jump. Things are gonna be kind of faster-paced from here on out.

Tags: @thewildomega @pitrymcbride @fandommemporiumm @grippleback-galaxy

Words: 3,894

~~~

Every time you went to the Elector after that, you paused outside of the cockpit to try to get a glimpse of the little green thing. You never saw it again. Instead, you saw vast improvements to the ship; new wall panels, clean, sparkling double-thick windows, patched holes in the floors and stairs, new dishes in the mess hall, a brand new navigation system that Kraglin had to learn to operate from scratch.

It was a lot. And to top it all off, it seemed there were more and more crew members every time you visited. After half a year, you only recognized every third Ravager aboard the Elector. But the expansion seemed to be a good thing. Yondu had a small circle of Officers he trusted above the cadets, and they were able to lead more jobs and heists than he would've been able to oversee on his own. They made good money by being large, ambitious, and exceptionally ravenous.

Yondu started showering you with gifts: dresses he wanted to see on you, little trinkets like the Troll and the feline on his console to go with your blue haired Troll, new weapons your father probably wouldn’t clear as legal but you kept anyway. Being a Ravager, you didn't question how he got those gifts. You just accepted them and put them to use.

At the end of one of your longer stays - only four days, but that was still long comparatively - that something happened. Something big. It didn’t help that your father was with you on this trip, on a sort of diplomatic excursion from his own ship (really, you were supposed to be there as his Advisor, but he knew better than to expect that was all you’d do for the duration of the stay).

Your father and Yondu were busy being Captains, which left you to your own devices. The crew knew not to mess with you - partially because of Yondu and partially because you were Stakar Ogord’s daughter. So you wandered around, seeing parts of the ship you hadn’t seen before. There weren’t too many, but you did find a mostly unused corridor of showers and a laundry room filled with soiled garments and practically none of the cleaning devices running. Maybe the crew was saving water and power. Or maybe they were lazy. Either way, you left that room almost as quickly as you’d found it.

On the third deck, there was a hallway you’d never even noticed before. Most of the doors were unadorned, and when you opened them, you found they were empty. Some of the doors led to closets full of brooms, mops, and other cleaning supplies (most of the chemical containers were still full). One was a bathroom. One at the end of the hall was locked.

You paused at that door, putting your ear against its cold, smooth surface. You didn’t hear much, but every couple of seconds there was a slight hum from somewhere within the room. It wasn’t a mechanical hum, as far as you could tell. It sounded like...like singing, actually. Ameture singing at best, but singing nonetheless.

You knocked on the door, ear still pressed against it. There was a pause in the singing, a gasp, and the clatter of hurried feet. Then you almost fell forward onto a person when the door opened. You stared at them, and they up at you. They had pale skin and little orange dots that decorated their face. Their hair looked almost red in the maroon light of the Elector, and they wore some kind of noise cancelling device around their neck, with huge mufflers at the end covered in an orange foam.

“You’re not the Captain,” they said in a small, shy voice.

“You know the Captain?” you asked. You immediately wanted to smack yourself - of course this person knew the Captain. Anyone on the ship did.

They nodded. “But I don’t know you, and he says not to talk to the others on the ship.”

You raised an eyebrow. “That seems...lonely,” you said.

They shrugged. “I should go before he comes around.” They moved to shut the door, but you put your hand out to stop it.

“Who are you?” you asked, looking for a rank and an explanation for the isolation.

They looked up at you with widened eyes and an open mouth. “I-I’m really not supposed to talk to you,” they said.

“That’s not an answer to my question, Cadet.”

“I’m not Cadet,” they said.

You pushed on the door, but so did they. Unfortunately for them, you were a highly trained Ravager. They seemed to be a child, maybe Xandarian in appearance. Maybe even Terran, though you hadn’t seen one of those, besides your father, this far out in the Galaxy in a long time.

“Then who are you?” you asked, trying to get closer to them.

They stepped back with a screech. They let go of the door so abruptly that the force you were applying to it forced you forward as it flew back. You stumbled into the dark room, and they hid across the room in the corner by the window.

“Where did you come from?” you asked.

They turned their face to the wall. You could see them shaking from where you were, and suddenly you realized they...were scared of you.

You took a breath, straightened, and cleared your throat. “I didn’t mean to frighten you,” you said. You’d gotten caught up, worried about the presence of this skinny, unknown person.

They peeked at you, but didn’t respond. You tried to take another step toward them, but they coward, turning back toward the window with their arms over their face.

You crouched down to their level and said, “I’m (Y/N).”

They looked at you again, but still shook. “H-how do you know the Cap-captain?” they asked, their voice tiny now, and full of squeaking.

You looked at your wrist, knowing the mark was just below the fabric of your jacket. You didn’t know who this person was or what they knew of soulmates, so you knew trying to get into that whole ordeal was for another day. Instead you said, “I love him.” It was the simplest way you could put it.

They gasped, and you wondered if they knew who you were. Maybe Yondu’d told them about you. But their next question squashed those assumptions.

“Does he love you?”

You nodded, unable to stop yourself from smiling. “Very much.”

“I don’t believe you,” they said.

Your face fell. “Excuse me?” you asked, your voice lowered.

“The Captain doesn’t love anyone. He’s mean and loud. All he does is boss people around,” they said.

Your brows furrowed. “We must not be talking about the same Captain,” you said, though you knew you had to be. This person was stashed away on Yondu’s ship, after all.

“The Captain’s a tall blue guy. Got a southern accent,” they said, though you didn’t know what southern was supposed to reference. Southern of what? you wondered. “He has that...red thing in his head that lights up when he whistles, and that arrow…” Their eyes were pointed at you, but suddenly they seemed to be looking past you.

You couldn’t reconcile what you were hearing with reality. Yondu wasn’t mean. He wasn’t scary. He was gentle and wonderful. To you. Mostly in the dark. Maybe he’d established dominance in front of his men when he slapped your ass or left bruises and marks all over you for them to see, but those were just...things he did so everyone knew to keep their hands to themselves. It was meant to scare people off, but not like this.

“What did he do?” you asked before you could stop yourself.

They looked at you again, focusing as they turned to face you. They sat against the wall and pulled their legs to their chest. “I’m not supposed to tell,” they said quietly. Then their eyes left you again, and suddenly they were shaking more violently than before.

You looked behind you to see Yondu in the doorway. There was a look in his eye you could only remember seeing a handful of times, when he lost control in a sparring room as an Officer. The red of his pupils blazed, and his mouth was in such an exaggerated frown he looked about four times as old as he was. Was he...snarling? At you?

You stood slowly, keeping your hands close to your jacket. “Yondu,” you said.

“Captain,” he said, venom on his tongue.

“You’re not my Captain,” you said.

He growled. It stirred your stomach, but you stood your ground.

“What is this?” you asked as calmly as you could.

“None’a your business,” he said.

You heard shuffling behind you, so you turned to see the small person huddled in on themselves.

“It wasn’t before, but it is now,” you said, glaring at Yondu. “Explain this.”

“I don’t answer to you,” he said.

You stifled a gasp, but you were almost certain you could hear a piece of your heart break off from the whole. This was what you’d feared would happen - you could taste the acrid bile in the back of your throat that reminded you of your parents. He’d promised. Yondu had insisted that you were different. A power imbalance wouldn’t mean anything because you had the stars.

Apparently, all it took to kill a star was a small child of unknown origin.

“Get out,” he demanded, an almost insane twinge to his tone.

You refused. “You’re fighting the wrong fight, Yondu,” you said, then ignored his subsequent growl. “I’m not the one you need to keep out.”

He pulled his duster to the side, blew a whistle, and let the arrow fly. It raced toward you so quickly, you barely had enough time to watch it halt against the tip of your nose. “I said get out.”

He had never threatened you with the arrow before. It made your eyes widen and a piece of you go dark, but you couldn’t say quite what part. Your breathing hitched as you stared at the tip of it against your face, thinking of the day you’d gone to find it. You’d been so proud of yourself then, and he’d been so proud of the arrow when you gave it to him that this felt so wrong.

You held in a breath, feeling your throat start to close, and backed away from the arrow. It kept its place mid-flight, but didn’t approach as you went around it. You kept your eyes on Yondu, walking toward him with as much determination as you could muster. But you knew you were shaking. He’d never threatened your life before, and now you didn’t even know what was worth hurting you over. It was just a child, you thought.

You stopped just short of colliding into him in the doorway. He still looked at you with a lethal ferality in his eyes, but that softened just enough for you to notice when you let out a shaky sigh.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” you asked, shaking your head.

His shoulders dropped. Slowly, his face relaxed as well. He must’ve realized who you were, because suddenly the fire in his eyes went out and it was replaced with dying embers in a sad, pathetic pit. “Stars,” he mumbled.

You shook your head faster and pushed right past him, hitting his shoulder on purpose as you went. You headed to the staircase, then up a level. You found your father’s chambers easily enough, slipped in, and sighed when he wasn’t there. You locked the door, slid back against it, and let out the shakes, the tears, and the sighs.

Too soon, someone banged on the door. You didn’t want to talk. You wanted to be left alone. Most of you did, anyway. But another part of you wanted answers. That...person. They were so scared, terrified more of the consequences of talking to you than you as an individual. And then when Yondu showed up...it was like they were living a nightmare they couldn’t wake up from.

“(Y/N),” he called from the hall. “I’m sorry.”

You’d half-hoped it was your father on the other side of the door. He’d know what to do. But it wasn’t.

“C’mon,” Yondu said, knocking on the door again. “Can we talk ‘bout this?”

“You could’ve killed me,” you called, fighting an ugly hiccup from cutting off your words. It wasn’t easy, and it was painful, but somehow you made it work.

“I wouldn’t’a done it,” he said. There was a clank unlike a hand hitting the door, then a plop. You figured he’d sat against the door on the outside.

“I gave you that power,” you said. “And you almost used it to kill me.”

“I never would’a done it, (Y/N). Promise.”

That word. It meant nothing now. Promises meant nothing, after what he’d said.

“You don’t answer to me,” you spat, ignoring the tears falling down your face. “We’re not equals, Yondu. You promised that wouldn’t be a problem, too.”

“Would you please let me in so we can talk?” he asked.

You didn't want to. You liked having the barrier between you. He couldn't use something else you’d given him against you that way. But you did want an explanation. And he hadn't used his power as Captain to barge into the room, which he could have done. You weren't grateful or anything, but it was something.

You sighed and pushed off the floor, making sure to make as much noise as possible. That must’ve done something, because when you opened the door, he was standing, his head down but eyes up. They were back to his normal red, the fire gone out and the embers dead. You looked away from him and backed up, letting him through the door before watching it shut itself automatically.

He stood just behind you. You thought about moving past him, but staying near the door felt safer. He reached for you had the way he had a million times before, but you leaned away from him. He paused and you watched his mouth fall open, but you stayed silent. It was his idea to talk now, so you’d let him start.

“I said I was sorry, (Y/N),” he said.

“You almost killed me.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “It was a warnin’.”

You scoffed. “You think that makes it better,” you said, not as a question, but a statement. “You think I can be treated the way any of your other men are.”

“I don’t,” he said, taking a step toward you.

You forced yourself not to step back, to stand your ground and keep eye contact. You stood taller and let the tension in your body take over your face. “Then you think you can do to me what papa did to my mother. Good to know,” you said. You knew, just by the aching in your face, that his expression was much softer than yours. But you were angry and stiff from crying, so you didn’t care.

“I promised you I wouldn’ do that to you,” he said.

“Promises must mean nothing to you, then,” you said. “Or do you not remember telling me you don’t answer to me less than fifteen minutes ago, Yondu? Is this not the exact same fight we watched my parents have before they split?”

“No,” he said, his eyes widening in seriousness.

“I’m gonna need you to tell me why, exactly. Because, from my corner, you lied to me, kept secrets from me, and then proceeded to tell me I’m below you.” You pushed, hard, against his shoulder. He hardly moved. “Are you gonna tell me my ambition will get me killed, too?” You pushed again, and he finally stepped back. You followed, refusing to hold back now.

“No,” he said, sounding as pathetic as you could imagine.

“That green thing I saw months ago - that was real, wasn’t it?” you asked, getting progressively louder. He didn’t answer then, just looked away. You pushed him again. “Tell me, Yondu! Tell me you let me believe I’d hallucinated! Tell me why!” You kept pushing him until he hit the bed and fell onto the mattress. He had enough sense to support himself and sit up. “What the fuck is going on here, Yondu?” you asked, still yelling.

He sat and stared at you for too long. You wanted to smack him, to get answers, but you kept your hands to yourself for once, hoping he’d give you what you wanted on his own.

He sighed finally, then said, “It’s...complicated.”

Your eyes widened and you shook your head. “Bullshit,” you said. “Obviously it’s complicated - you have a small child stowed away on your ship, and you’ve apparently been so terrible to it that it’s terrified to talk to people! And you let me believe that green...thing was a figment of my own imagination!” You wanted to pull your hair out, to get him to see how angry you were about all of this. Maybe that would make him talk. Instead, you grunted and said, “This isn’t like you.”

“You ain’t gonna like what I have to say,” he said, watching your every move.

“What could you possibly tell me to make this worse?” you asked, throwing your arms out wide to make a point, even if you weren’t sure what it was.

He studied your face. You assumed he was waiting for you to soften, to come back down to his level so you could listen rationally. But you were beyond that. You breathed heavily, maintaining an elevated heartbeat as you waited.

“The kid is Ego’s,” he said. “The green thing, too.”

Your eyes squinted in disbelief. “Excuse me?”

He nodded once. “They’re both Ego’s kids.”

“Ego, like the Celestial asshole no one we knew got a good feeling from?” you asked. “Wait. What are you doing with Ego’s children?”

He hesitated. You dropped your arms and stood straight.

“Yondu,” you said in a stern voice.

He stood, too, and looked at you with a sudden sadness in his eyes. You felt yourself melt under his gaze, but you tried to keep some composure about you. You clenched your teeth to hold onto some of your anger.

“He’s payin’ me real well,” he said, so quietly you almost missed half of it.

Your eyes squinted more. “What?” you asked through your teeth.

“I’m bringin’ the kid to him soon,” he said.

You shook your head. What he was saying was impossible. It was illegal by Alliance standards, and beyond illegal - punishable by death - on countless planets and within too many quadrants to name.

“You’re lying,” you whispered, this time without spitting it through your teeth. “Tell me you’re lying, Yondu.”

“One second you want me to fess up, and the next you want me to lie,” he said, though there wasn’t a hint of accusation in his eyes. “I’m tellin’ you the truth.”

“No,” you said. “If that’s the truth, you-” You couldn’t even bring yourself to go on. “That small child. Where is it from?”

“He’s from Terra,” he said. “Says his name’s Peter Quill.”

You shook your head. “Take him back,” you said.

“I can’t,” he whispered.

“Take. Him. Back.” The anger had faded from your face and body. It was replaced by something mostly unfamiliar to you, something worse. Something not so easily overcome.

Fear.

“Take him back, Yondu.”

“He ain’t got no family left,” he said.

“He’s Terra’s problem. I hear they have a foster care system of some sort. They need to worry about him.”

“He’s got a daddy out here,” he said. “Shouldn’ he be with his family?”

“You’re not doing him a favor,” you said. “He’s a child, and you’re trafficking. Take him back.”

You felt sick. You wanted to throw up, to make the twisting feeling in your stomach go away. You wanted to yell, to throw punches at something - anything - to get some of the feeling out of your body once and for all. It was all too much. You needed some kind of reprieve.

You let tears fall. That was all you could manage as you stared at Yondu. Your soulmate. A total stranger.

He brought a hand up and wiped away your tears, but you slapped his arm away.

“Don’t touch me,” you whispered.

“Darlin’, I-”

“Don’t say you’re sorry, Yondu. You’re beyond that, now.”

“I tol’ you it was complicated.”

“No!” you said. “Complicated is ‘he stowed away on the ship and won’t tell you where he’s from so you can’t return him.’ Complicated is ‘you want to adopt him but don’t know how to say that because he’s fucking terrified of you.’ This is not complicated, it’s illegal.”

“Ego’s payin’ us real well, (Y/N). I can pay my crew. I can afford upgrades’n repairs! I can buy you nice things, ‘n we can have a good life!”

You took a step back from him, and he immediately stopped talking. You shook your head. “This isn’t a good life, Yondu. It’s illegal. It’s breaking the code - breaking your word. To me, to papa, to the Alliance - it’s treachery.”

“I don’t gotta be,” he said. “Pete’s the last one. There ain’t no more, and if I just get him to Ego before Stakar knows, none’a it’ll matter.”

You shook your head. “You want me to lie to my father, like you lied to me?” You scoffed and took another step back.

“No,” he said, bringing his hands up and out, as if to reach for you. But he stopped mid-way and shook his head. “He ain’t never gonna know, that’s all.”

“That’s not better, Yondu. Do your men know what you’re doing? Does Kraglin?” you asked. Just maybe, if Kraglin was innocent, you could help him. You could take him back to the Arcturian and keep him safe. He wasn’t a child anymore, but you wanted him to be safe from the consequences of what Yondu was doing.

He stayed silent for too long. You had your answers. You asked yourself how Kraglin could let him do this. Kraglin had been with the Alliance for most of his life and he knew something like this would get them into trouble. That was putting it lightly, and he’d know that, too.

“How could you?” you whispered. “You’ve put everyone on this ship in danger, Yondu. You have to know that.”

“I didn’ mean to-”

“That doesn’t matter because you’ve already done it! All this time, I thought you were doing good work. Ravager work. Legal work, according to the Alliance. But this… Yondu, you’ve put yourself, your entire crew, Kraglin and...and me in danger!”

“Please, (Y/N), you gotta see-” He stepped to you again, but you stepped back and held your hands up.

You could feel yourself shaking again. The tears came back, too. “No!” you said, much louder than you’d meant it. “You can’t come back from this, Yondu. And I can’t let it go. I won’t be a part of your treason.”

You lowered your hands and kept your eyes on him as you backed up, opened the door, and stepped into the empty hallway.

#yondu x reader #Yondu Udonta #the arrow and the flame #sfw

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luki-fanfic · 7 years ago

Text

GOTG & Tokyo Ghoul Fanfic: Star-Ghoul

Rating: M

Characters: Peter Quill, Yondu, OC’s

Warnings: Violence and cannibalism

Summary: Peter is half terran. It’s just that there’s more than one sapient species living on Earth…

Okay, so this is something I’ve been playing with whenever I was bored of working on KHR fic. Please note that I haven’t stayed up to date or even watched Tokyo Ghoul in a very long time, so things may not be fully accurate.

Will be posted to A03 if I ever finish it.

From the day he was old enough to talk, Peter knew he was special.

His grandfather said he was impossible. His aunt said he was a miracle. But his mother just called him her little Star-Lord. A perfect billion-to-one chance made when she fell for a man made of stardust.

The normal, human people of their little town chalked her musings up to the tumour in her brain, but their family knew differently. They knew the taste of human flesh, and Peter’s blood tasted of ghoul and burning suns. Whatever Meredith Quill had fallen for, it hadn’t been human, but had survived incubation in a ghoul’s womb all the same.

As a half breed, he only had one real eye, but in exchange, Peter could do things other ghouls couldn’t. He could heal a little faster and he could beat up all the other kids in the family, even the ones almost five years older than him, but unless he was at home, there was no letting anyone see. Humans wouldn’t understand, and his mother had already brought attention to them with her episodes. Peter had to be quiet and pretend to be human. Weak and frail and pretending the meat in his pocket was baloney and not the thigh of a man who committed suicide in the woods just outside town.

Then his mother died before he could summon up the courage to hold her hand, he was running onto the grass, a space ship was lifting him into the air, and it all suddenly ceased to matter.

—

Yondu Udonta was not a man who believed in fate. If there was a higher power deciding the path everyone decided to take, he’d be first in line to kill the bastard for the road one Centaurian had found himself walking down. No, he made his choices of his own free will. Stupid and naïve choices perhaps, but his all the same.

Yet the fact that Peter Jason Quill was the boy he chose to save out of all the kids he’d damned was either the greatest stroke of luck in the entire galaxy, or someone else was pulling strings.

The kid was a tiny scrap from a backwater planet that still thought the universe revolved around them. When Yondu picked him up, he’d expected a weak, sobbing, stubborn, hopefully scrappy, brat that he’d have to work overtime to turn into a Ravager without his crew trying to mutiny.

Instead, he’d picked up the perfect little Ravager mascot.

Don’t get him wrong, the boy was a sobbing, miserable little brat, made all the worse when they inserted the universal translator and made it clear he was never going home again, but the second the crew started their usual threats of eatin’ their new cargo?

Yondu Udonta has seen plenty cargo people and recruits, and not a one relaxed at the threat of being eaten, but that’s what Peter Quill did. As if being eaten was a perfectly acceptable fate for a kid unable to keep up with adults.

Not that the boy had much to worry about on that end. Udonta figured he’d start him off soft, basic cleaning duties until they could get some muscle on him and start the heavy lifting and fighting lessons, tossing a mop in his hands and leaving him to it.

Yet within a week the kid had his section of the ship looking more spic and span than Yondu remembered it being when he’d first set foot in the Eclector. And in record time too. Nobody could figure out why a brat Quill’s age could move faster than half a dozen other grunts, but it earned him the respect of the crew. A month in, the biggest dissenters who’d complained about keeping their new cargo instead of cashing in had shut up. At least, most of them.

Those on their own cleaning rosters didn’t take kindly to a Terran brat making them look bad. Nobody in the Ravagers wanted the scut job, and it grated something fierce to clean up blood and dirt only to watch the boy wander through with his stupid music player halfway through and finished for the day, getting ready to explore the vents only he was small enough to navigate.

That choice in extra-curricular was why Yondu wasn’t too worried about the more agitated Ravagers. No, he was more focused on trying to figure out how much Terrans were supposed to eat. The first day Quill had been on the ship proper, they’d all but shoved a tray of standard space-faring food and told him to figure out what he could and couldn’t eat. Brat had tasted every single thing and spat every single morsel out, and hadn’t been seen near the mess hall since. One would have thought kids would have needed to eat regularly (one of his siblings had nearly cleaned out their entire stock), but outside of water, no Ravager had seen Quill eat anything.

Quill however, didn’t seem to think that was weird, and he was definitely more in the know about what was normal for Terrans, so unless Yondu found him collapsed and half-starved in a hallway somewhere, he wasn’t going to press it.

In conclusion, the kid was a dutiful worker, surprisingly strong for his age, the perfect size for thieving, and cost next to nothing to keep alive. All in all, Yondu started to think this half-baked plan to keep the kid out of his Daddy’s hands might actually work.

So naturally, that’s when he learned just what he’d brought on board.

—

Two months into this life and, and Peter was so hungry it hurt.

He’d tried to ration what little flesh he’d had when he’d been abducted, but without any way to store the meat, he’d finished it off within a week. Seven weeks ago.

Right now, he felt like a man on a desert island, desperate for a drink of water and surrounded only by ocean. Humans, or terrans as the Ravagers called them, were not common in space, and Peter had no clue if he could eat an alien species. Admittedly, a lot of the Ravagers looked human enough to make his eye want to shift, but he always managed to pull back.

His family didn’t kill. Respectable ghouls don’t hunt.

But it was getting harder and harder to remember that.

Growls whine from his stomach, but he forces himself to push it down, and dunks the sponge thing he’s been given into the bucket so he can continue cleaning the wall. He much prefers cleaning when there’s been a fight – they make him clean up the blood and sometimes he can take a lick without anyone noticing. It hasn’t made him sick yet, but It’s hardly a full meal.

Nobody has stabbed anybody in the past week though, so Peter is stuck scrubbing grease stains and gun residue from the walls. It’s repetitive and he’s getting slow cause he’s getting weaker, but it keeps him from thinking about food.

He’s so absorbed in the job, he doesn’t hear the three men sneaking up on him until the boot slams into his ribs and sends him flying.

Hysterical laughter follows as he collapses to the ground, and he bares his teeth at the invaders. Burder, a beefy and hairy Hraxian, flanked by his two friends stroke minions, Kalls from Xandar and Gorming the, well, Peter’s not sure, but he has gills and a weird facial ribbing that kind of makes it look as if he’s been skinned at some point.

“You’ve been making us look bad brat” Burder warns, hand twirling in part of his beard. “Got the Captain on our backs every scut shift wanting to know how a scrawny kid like you manages to outperform three full grown men. We aint allowed back on guard duty unless we stop slackin’ off.”

Gorming scoffs. “We aint slackin. Worked last shift till my frackin fingers bled and you still pranced off as you please three hours early.”

Burder gives a malicious grin as Peter stumbles up, glaring at them and fighting the urge to bare his fangs.

“It’s not my fault you’re slow” he mutters, eyes darting at the corridor and trying to figure out if he can make it past them.

He can’t. Maybe last month, but he’s running on fumes now. Even if he passed Burder, Kalls is deceptively quick when it comes to detaining small terrans.

Perhaps he should have made that calculation before he snarky remark, because Burder’s going a remarkable shade of puce.

“Know what brat? Forget what Yondu said, I’m getting a taste of terran. Let’s see if you move quite so fast if you’re missing a few pieces.”

He digs out a knife from his jacket, and descends while Kalls and Gorming take lookout, although they’re keeping one eye on the spectacle in front of them. Kalls even licks his lips, and Peter looks away.

Burder had been threatening to eat him for weeks. Kalls and Gorming had been whining to the Captain for just a taste for nearly as long. Yondu had warned against killing Peter, but there had been nothing about severing limbs.

Technically, that wasn’t an issue. Peter could regrow them quickly enough. But that’s not really the point. They are going to eat him. Even though they have plenty of food on the ship, they want to eat him.

And that’s just blatantly unfair. If he’s edible, then Burder should be considered fair game too.

He knows his grandpa would be angry at him. His mother would be disappointed. They were respectable ghouls who didn’t hunt, but went after those who were already dead.

But that was Earth, and this was space. The rules were different.

It wasn’t wrong to kill in self-defence, right? It’s not like he even knew if he could eat Burder – the man was a hraxian, not human – but he’s going to hurt Peter if he doesn’t stop him. Especially if the terran-eating Ravagers find out he can regenerate limbs within a day.

And he’s so hungry…

As he struggles to sit up, he sees Burder descending upon him, knife raised. Almost without thinking, his right eye bleeds black, and his white rinkaku kagune emerges from his waist…

Yondu and Kraglin turn the corner just in time to see Burder impaled on the two glowing white tentacles growing from the Terran’s back, and watch in stunned silence as the man’s gurgling screams are cut short, tentacles shifting to take the shape of both a drill and a sword, body ripped apart and flesh splattering against the walls. Kalls and Gorming are both collapsed by the wall, staring in horror, but Yondu only has eyes for the Terran.

The tiny, weak little Terran with one red and black eye that’s currently picking up a large chunk of Burder and biting into the flesh with a self-satisfied smile.

—

Things become a lot more complicated after that.

It takes some time to explain to the boy that no, the men weren’t ever really going to eat you, it was meant to be funny. And then even longer to explain that no, they weren’t upset that he’d killed Burder or started to eat him, because Ravagers understand self-defence and honestly if they’d had any idea just what they’d had on board they never would have joked about it in the first place.

On the boys side, he fills in the now painfully obvious blanks. He is Terran, just not ‘human.’ There’s an additional sentient species living on Earth that goes to extreme lengths to hide themselves due to their nature. Ghouls – creatures that can only eat human flesh and nothing else.

Or possibly just sentient flesh, because Peter’s been gnawing on a chunk of Burder’s shoulder for this whole damn explanation. Which is something of a relief – hunting down Terran to feed their Terran would have been more trouble than Yondu could ever write off to his crew, even if the brat only had to eat the equivalent of a corpse per month (he has men that can polish that off in day given half the chance).

The glowing limbs are part of his mother’s heritage too (and boy does Yondu breathe a sigh of relief at that). The tentacles are something called ‘kagune’ and ‘rinkaku’ and have something to do with an additional organ that Peter clearly doesn’t really understand himself, but emerge from his waist and can be shifted into basic weaponry and tools depending on what Peter needs.

He’s already small and skinny, good for stealing what the Ravagers can’t quite manage, but the concept that the kid’s a predator – with a built in offensive system to take down sentient opponents, well, that makes him all the more valuable.

And makes sure every Ravager on board gives the boy a very wide berth. Two days later, Cook gets a brand new refrigerator for Quill’s ‘leftovers.’

There’s no talk of eating him again.

#fanfiction #guardians of the galaxy fanfiction #gotg fanfic #tokyo ghoul fanfiction #crossover #peter quill #tokyo ghoul #guardians of the gala

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mirkwoodshewolf · 7 years ago

Text

One thing can save the world; Rocket Raccoon

THIS IS NOT A READER INSERT!!! This came from an anon conversation I had when I first came onto tumblr with imagining Rocket cloning himself to create an army of Rockets taking over a fleet of airships AND with the big hub-bub of the Avengers Infinity War at Disney Expo 23, I thought I’d combine the anon request with a prediction of what’s to happen in the upcoming Infinity war movie coming next year *CAN’T FREAKING WAIT RELEASE THE TRAILER ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!* Now this is just my enterpretation of what could happen, I DO NOT own any of the characters and I hope whoever requested the Rocket army request will enjoy this :) And sorry in advance if it sucks.

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They were overwhelmed. Even with all the superheroes united together it was still too much for them. Thanos had come to take over the Earth and he brought with him a stronger Chitauri army as well as any other scum he could bride with a “promised share” of the Universe.

“How many more of these guys can he bring?” proclaimed Tony.

“Thanos had unlimited connections, he must’ve called every single one of his partnerships in hopes of sharing the Universe, but he’s never one to share” Gamora stated as she kicked one Chitauri in the head and tossed another one towards Natasha who caught it and electrocuted it with her spider-bite gloves.

“We’re overwhelmed, it’ll take a miracle to get us out of this mess” said Natasha. In the sky it was as much of a war zone as it was on the ground, aircrafts and superheroes who could fly were flying in the air with explosions booming like fireworks. Inside the Milano, Peter Quill and Rocket took control of piloting the Milano firing all their weapons at any oncoming spacecraft.

“I’ll have to agree with Gamora #2, everytime we take down one aircraft, hundreds more keep coming in”. As Rocket began to process something in his head, he suddenly got an idea. He taped on the comms link on the Milano and said.

“Hey Stark!”‘

I’m a little busy at the moment!’

“Just answer me this, how far advance is your technology?”

‘Pretty high-tech. Not to brag but its state of the art. Why?’

“Ahh no reason, just want to know if I can sneak back into that high tower of yours and play with some of your stuff” Rocket said as he got out of his seat and prepared his jetpack.

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa no one touches my stuff but me!’ Stark proclaimed. Rocket grabbed the handle switch that would open the lower escape doors and Peter hollered to Rocket.

“What are you planning Rocket?”

“Just keep them off my back till I reach Stark Towers. I have a plan!”

“You’ve got a plan?” Peter asked skeptically.

“Yes. Much better than your last plan back on Xandar”.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Before Quill could say anything else, Rocket jumped out of the Milano and flew towards Stark Towers and soon coming up behind him was Ironman himself.

‘So what’s this great plan of yours?’

“You’ll find out soon enough”. The two of them soon ignited their thrusters faster towards the tower.

In Stark’s lab, he and Rocket were putting together a special machine that could turn the tide in their favor and save the galaxy once and for all.

“Now I’ve never really invented something like this, you sure it’ll work?” Tony said to Rocket.

“You Terrans claim to have the most advance technology in the world and you have yet to invent a cloning device?” Rocket mocked to him as he connected some wires together on the machine.

“Well sorry but it never occurred to me to ever clone myself, especially after watching Multiplicity”.

“Multi-what?”

“Oh come on now don’t tell me you guys don’t get movies out there on alien planets!” Rocket only remained silent then Stark went back to work and muttered, “Okay geez, I thought out there there’d be some entertainment like we have here”.

“Just hand me that pilot’s driver and duct tape”. Stated Rocket. With a few more modifications, the duplication machine was finally ready.

“You sure about this? We don’t know what’ll happen since we didn’t test it”.

“We don’t have time to. If anything goes wrong, tell Quill to not take my stuff and Groot to take care of the others for me”.

“You got it raccoon, you ready?”

“Let’s do this”. Stark then activated the machine which sparked and buzzed and Rocket grinned before leaping through the arch of the machine.

Back on the battlefield, half of the heroes were barely scrapping the floor trying to get up while unfortunately some of them the help would come too late.

“Damnit where are Rocket and Stark!” Sam groaned.

“They’ll come, I know he will. Mr. Stark always likes to make a dramatic entrance” Peter winced.

“Well they better make it now, because I don’t know how much fight I’ve got left in me” stated T’Challa.

“Guardians and Avengers! Your time on this realm is over! The Earth is now mine”. Thanos’ voice proclaimed as he levitated in the air with the infinity gauntlet on with all 6 Infinity stones in each slot. He raised his hand and suddenly coming down towards the Earth was almost what looked like another planet heading towards them.

The remaining of Earth’s heroes and Guardians all looked up in horror. There was no way they would be able to stop a whole freakin planet from dropping on their heads it would take a miracle to stop this.

“Hey yah big purple monkey!” Rocket’s voice echoed out from an Intercom. Everyone looked up and saw something heading towards them. It looked like a swarm of some kind. “This here is our town! You want it, you gotta kill me and all my little friends here!” Suddenly swarming the air were millions of Rocket Raccoon clones all lined with jetpacks and all of them getting into each Chitauri air-fleet ships. “Alright you heroes you all take care of the aliens down there and leave the rest to me!”

“Son of a bitch” Bucky muttered.

“Way to go Rocket!” Peter Quill proclaimed from the Milano’s intercom.

With that motivation of seeing an army of Rocket Raccoons flying in space crafts, the remaining heroes all got up and proceeded to fight off the rest of the Chitauri army that all the Rockets had tossed out from their aircrafts.

The real Rocket soon stood before Thanos and the two of them glared at each other.

“You won’t be able to stop what’s coming!”

“Yeah, yeah but I can stop you”. Rocket then activated one of the Chitauri guns and aimed it right at the Infinity gauntlet. He then fired with all the fire-power it had right at the gauntlet and Thanos held out his hand which deflected the attack but Rocket kept hold on Thanos.

Soon coming up beside him was Stark who used his repulsor beams to give Rocket a hand and soon coming beside him was Peter on the Milano as well as Thor who used his newly built axe to fire the same lightning he would get from Mjolnir.

With the combined fire power, the gauntlet actually began to crack. Thanos’ eyes widened and within a few more firepower from all four heroes combined, the gauntlet was destroyed sending all six infinity stones flying in the air. Stark then grabbed the Time Stone and called out.

“Yo Strange!” He then threw the Time stone towards Stephen and with the help of the cloak of levitation, Stephen opened up the Eye of Agamotto and the stone landed safely inside of it which activated the relic once more.

“Everybody stand back!” His arm then became wrapped with the green magic crypt. He raised his arms and focused right on the incoming planet. “IN THE NAME OF THE SORCERER SUPREME. I BANISH YOU TO THE FAR REACHES OF THE MULTIVERSE. BE GONE THANOS AND TITAN!!!” The Eye of Agamotto soon fired a powerful green beam which hit right at Thanos’ planet Titan as well as Thanos himself.

He let out a scream and soon the planet and he disappeared into one of the infinite universes never to be released again.

Stephen Strange levitated back down to the ground panting in exhaustion and soon the four heroes landed in front of him. Quill and Rocket got out of their space crafts and stood beside Thor, Stephen and Stark.

“Did we just—”

“Yes Star-lord, we are victorious”. Stated Thor.“Where did you banish him?” asked Tony.

“Somewhere not even Thanos can get out. And I have you and Rocket to thank, had you both not decided to make a cloned army of raccoons, I’d never get the stone back into the Eye of Agamotto”. The rest of the Avengers and Guardians soon came out from the smoke all of them in complete silence for a moment not believing that they had won.

When it finally came to them that they did, they all cried and cheered and hugged each other. The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Antman and Wasp, Black Panther and Spiderman all saved the galaxy from the mad Titian Thanos and the galaxy was finally at peace.

As a few weeks went by and after some sorrow filled funerals of those who had unfortunately lost their lives in the battle against Thanos. They all had drinks at the newly rebuilt Avengers compound.

While everyone was sitting around drinking in celebration as well as in remembrance to those who gave their lives Bucky’s voice cried out.

“Where is my replacement arm!?” Rocket snickered as he sat on the counter with a drink in his hand.

“Don’t you think it’s time we got rid of the clones now Rocket?” asked Gamora.

“Are you kidding me? I ain’t never getting rid of those guys”. Everyone soon let out a laugh while the girls mainly rolled their eyes at Rocket’s response.

#Rocket Raccoon #rocket raccoon oneshot #gotg fanfiction #avengers infinity war #avengers #Guardians of the Galaxy #Doctor Strange #marvel fanfiction

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avidbeader · 7 years ago

Text

Have more of the Sheith soulmates AU

Voltron fanfic. Probably rated T for mild language when it’s done. Definitely Shiro x Keith. Situational names/pronouns for Pidge/Katie. Feedback is always welcome. Still pondering titles.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

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She left the details to her Druids. They could punish the guards that permitted themselves to be taken down. They could search for the traitorous Ulaz.

She had bigger things to do.

The second Haggar had removed Champion’s ruined hand, she had encased the mangled flesh in a unit designed to measure quintessence. The first step was successful: the wreck of a hand, magically preserved in a still-living state, showed the presence and fluctuations of the mysterious quintessence, allowing her a permanent barometer of Champion’s link with the other without having to physically watch him.

It also gave her unlimited access for further analyzing the quintessence. It took almost a full lunar cycle, but she was finally able to separate and identify the two separate halves of the meld, keeping them apart for brief moments before they coalesced again.

And if it were just another experiment, just another study of a random alien’s quintessence, she would have scrapped it. One of the two halves showed Galra characteristics.

Somehow the flesh had been tainted by a Galra. She didn’t know how—she was the only one who handled the destroyed limb between the body and the unit and she did so with full shields in place. While Champion had taken numerous injuries from Galra fighters in the arena—including the nasty head wound that had turned a shock of his hair white—their medical protocol was sound enough for cleansing such wounds. And the second quintessence was overwhelmingly similar to Champion’s, suggesting that the other was the same species, in a sector that the Galra had only just begun scouting.

But in spite of the Galra contamination, the device worked as she wished it. She could let Champion perform for Zarkon, who was toying with the idea of trying to brainwash the alien and test him on the Red Lion. There had been a few sessions with Zarkon’s pet team of persuaders. Those had actually been helpful to Haggar, allowing her to see that the quintessence meld responded to mental and emotional attacks in an identical manner to physical assault.

But for now, her device served a new purpose. The flesh called to itself. The quintessence sought its origin. She would be able to track Champion’s location as soon as the pod he was in dropped out of hyperdrive.

<> <> <> <> <>

The autopilot was driving him stir-crazy.

He was in a spacecraft, in the pilot’s seat, for the first time in nearly a year, and he couldn’t fly it. It was like being back in early training, next to an instructor, watching but not allowed to touch, not allowed to take control.

But he didn’t dare change any of Ulaz’s settings. His rescuer had entered the coordinates for Terra and programmed something called a hyperdrive that allowed for incredibly fast interstellar travel. Shiro had to settle for studying the control panels intently, learning the layout of the craft as it compared to a Garrison ship.

But Keith was with him, urging him on.

Shiro leaned back for a few minutes, closing his eyes to try and ward off a headache that was building. And suddenly he was seeing through Keith’s eyes as Keith prepared. His soulmate knew he was coming and was doing everything he could to get ready. Shiro was a bit astonished, watching and wondering where the slightly adrift boy he met in a combat class had gone. This Keith moved with purpose and surety, focused on his goal. This Keith no longer felt too young for him.

He would see this Keith soon.

Sensing his presence, Keith sent back affection and anticipation.

The ship jerked and shifted from hyperdrive into normal space. Shiro instinctively reached for the controls, then looked up through the viewscreen.

His eyes widened as he realized that the ship was already inside Terra’s atmosphere and coming in way too fast. He had to try and slow the descent!

His hands flew across the strange controls, searching for any way to decelerate. A screen turned red and he felt a shudder through the transport—it felt like a turbine had stopped, if he were in a jet. Velocity dipped, but now the ship veered sharply to the left, to the north of the landing coordinates.

And then he hit earth. He got his arms up to protect his face and head as he slammed into the control panel, but was flung back in the whiplash, his head striking the hard side of the pilot’s seat. He sent one last desperate call to Keith as he lost consciousness.

<> <> <> <> <>

Shiro woke and realized two things. The first was that Keith had not found him yet—he was coming but having to improvise for not being the first one there.

The second was that he was strapped down to a table.

The flashback overwhelmed him, the pain of the torture sessions, the agony of the procedure that had taken his hand and replaced it with the weapon. He clenched his teeth to hold in the screams.

“He’s awake!”

Figures in Terran hazmat suits leaned over him, waving scanners across his body.

Ulaz. Blue Lion. Voltron.

Keith was closer. He had done something that should get everyone’s attention soon and was moving in.

Someone moved to put a tourniquet on his left arm.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“Calm down, Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests.”

“No, you don’t understand! Aliens are coming! They’re after a weapon that was hidden here! We have to find Voltron!”

One of the medtechs recoiled from his right side. “Look at this! His arm! It’s been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic!”

“Put him under! We don’t know what that thing can do!”

“No! NO! Don’t put me under! You have to listen to me!” Shiro thrashed against the straps in a panic but one of the medtechs seized his head and another pressed an injector to his neck.

Keith! Help me!

<> <> <> <> <>

Pidge finished throwing laptops and equipment into his backpack and slid down the hill after Lance and Hunk. The minute he’d pointed out the person coming in on the hoverbike, Lance had gone competitive and insisted that he would be the one to rescue his idol.

Pidge would never understand Lance. Did it really matter who got credit for the rescue as long as they got a chance to speak to Shiro?

His emotions swung from hope that Shiro might actually be able to share what had happened to the rest of the crew and anger that Iverson’s people hadn’t even considered asking Shiro about them before knocking him out. He was obviously trying to communicate a warning, a major one, and they ignored it. All Iverson cared about was keeping his lies going.

Good thing Pidge Gunderson wasn’t interested in the Garrison as a career.

<> <> <> <> <>

In three swift moves, the medtechs went down. Keith leaped over the third as he fell and ran to the gurney. White hair spilled across the captive’s forehead and for one instant he felt despair. This was supposed to be Shiro…

Keith reached out to the man’s face and turned it toward him.

Their bond surged at his touch, making him sway. It was Shiro.

Shiro with a patch of white hair and a deep scar across his face. Shiro with a body hardened by months of being forced to fight for his life. Shiro with a smooth metal limb replacing his right hand.

But it was Shiro.

Keith sliced the straps with his dagger and heaved his soulmate up. The bond throbbed everywhere their skin touched. He was starting to worry that they wouldn’t be able to move fast enough when a voice interrupted.

“No, no, no you don’t! I’m saving Shiro!”

A boy that looked to be Keith’s age stalked through the door and took Shiro’s other arm, sharing the weight. Two others who would have fit perfectly on a flashcard teaching big and small stood in the door, watching with wide eyes.

Keith didn’t bother to reply. They were a godsend—they could help get Shiro to the hoverbike and then he and his soulmate would be off.

Except that the Garrison team was coming back much sooner than he had hoped and they all had to ride a hoverbike that wasn’t designed to hold five.

<> <> <> <> <>

One merry chase and one successful cliff dive later, they made it to the cabin. The big guy helped Keith move Shiro onto the bed in the bunker. Keith checked Shiro’s pulse and pupils while the short kid described how the medtechs had sedated him—he would be out for a while yet. Keith tucked a blanket around him and firmly told himself that he could leave for a few minutes. There was nowhere else for the other three to go and he needed to settle them in the cabin.

He directed the others into the main room, waving at the futon in indifferent invitation. He grabbed a cold water from the fridge and drank, getting the dust from the trip out of his throat.

The three of them looked at him and he looked back. Obviously there were questions that they all had, but no one was sure where to start. Then the big guy’s stomach growled loudly.

The other two broke into giggles and Keith snorted a little. He waved to the corner that served as a kitchen. “Help yourselves.”

The big guy moved toward him first, holding out a hand. “Thanks, man. My name’s Hunk.”

He shook. “Keith.”

Suddenly he had the short one’s attention. “Wait a minute, that’s how you knew to come after Shiro! You’re Keith Kogane!”

“Uh…yeah?”

“My mom and the Shiroganes, we’ve been worried sick!”

“Okay…”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m Katie Holt, Matt’s sister.”

That put a couple of puzzle pieces in place, but the reaction of the other two kept Keith off balance.

“Wait, what? Pidge? You’re a girl?” The thin one was clearly stunned.

“Huh. Okay, that explains a few things. Why were you in the Garrison under another name?” Hunk asked.

“Long story. Short version is I got banned from the Garrison for hacking into Iverson’s computer and had to find another way in.”

Keith grinned at that. “Good for you.”

The thin one was clearly still at sea. “Okay, Pidge is a girl and you two know each other. Any more surprises?”

Pidge…Katie…adjusted her glasses. “Oh, no. Not like that, Lance. I just know who he is. He’s Shiro’s soulmate.”

Hunk had his mouth full of granola bar but his expression showed interest as Lance began talking again.

“Soulmate, huh? Yeah, I remember that getting mentioned a few times around campus. Wacky shit. We had a case in our neighborhood, some woman who lived alone and must have been forty and one year at Halloween she was giving out candy like everyone else but when she handed some M&Ms to this one kid who had moved to the neighborhood that summer…wham! He was like, eight. Awk-ward! They got that shit broken by Christmas, you’d better believe it!”

He paused, clearly expecting someone to reply. He was not expecting to see Keith’s face drain of color or the concerned reactions of the other two.

Katie moved forward. “Keith, are you all right?”

Hunk also stepped up. “Dude, you’re not gonna pass out, are you?”

Keith swallowed hard. “No…no, I’m fine.”

“You are not fine! You look like you saw a ghost!” Lance flapped his arms, unsettled at Keith’s reaction.

“Sorry. It’s just that…they tried, at the Garrison. They tried to break the soul bond between Shiro and me.”

Katie’s eyes widened. “That was you! That night in the faculty building!”

“What?”

“Three men were dragging you somewhere, and then you started yelling. That was the night I broke into Iverson’s computer. I set off the security alarms to give you a chance to get away. You were screaming at them.”

Keith ran a hand over his face, fighting the memories. “Yeah, that was me. Thank you.”

“And thank you! They were so busy going after you that I was able to pull the video files that proved Shiro didn’t crash. That’s when my mom and I decided I needed to infiltrate the Garrison as Pidge Gunderson.” She stepped up to Keith and wrapped her arms around him. “Seriously, I’m glad they didn’t succeed. I’ve read about broken soul bonds…it’s not pretty, what it does to you.”

Lance shifted from one foot to the other. “Sorry I brought it up.”

Keith shrugged, returning Katie’s hug awkwardly. It had been a very long time since anyone had touched him in a caring way. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.” He moved away as Katie loosened her grip. “I’m going to sit with Shiro until he wakes up. You guys can hang out here.”

<> <> <> <> <>

Where am I?

The first thing Shiro noticed as his awareness returned was that he was warm. It had never been warm enough on the ships or in the cells or in the arena.

The second thing was that his bond with Keith was practically vibrating, it was so intense. His first impulse was to worry. The Garrison had found him. Are they going to try and break the bond again? Is Keith safe?

The third thing was someone holding his left hand.

He tightened his grip instinctively and heard someone draw in an anxious breath.

“Shiro?”

He squeezed his eyes shut. If he kept his eyes shut, he could stay in this dream where he was warm and Keith was holding his hand.

It got better. Keith was smoothing his hair back with the other hand, sending sizzles across his skin.

“Shiro?”

The dream wasn’t fading. It was getting more tangible, more real. His essence sang at every touch.

“Keith?”

The weight in his flesh hand shifted and he heard someone move, sitting next to him. The fingers interlocked with his and a second hand wrapped around their joined hands. Their bond pulsed with power.

“I’m here, Shiro. You’re home.”

Shiro drew a deep, shuddering breath, steeling himself for the disappointment, and opened his eyes.

Soft yellow light shone from above. Not the never-ending purple of the Galra and not the harsh white of the Garrison containment unit. He blinked and focused, seeing the person sitting beside him.

The dark hair that used to just brush his collar now spilled down to his shoulders. The graceful jawline and cheekbones were sharper, as if he had lost weight. But the eyes were the same deep indigo that had caught his attention as they took their first hesitant steps into the bond.

“Keith…” Shiro breathed, his voice barely audible.

Keith leaned forward and pressed his lips to Shiro’s forehead. The bond intensified further, stronger than anything they had felt before. Shiro pulled his hand from Keith’s grip so he could embrace him fully.

And found himself clinging desperately to Keith who clutched back as their bond pulsed again. They were tossed around in each other’s memories of the year apart, drowning in flashbacks of pain and isolation and misery. The bond had responded to extreme distance and time by growing stronger and now there was nowhere to put the excess, no way to cram the genie back into its bottle. The intensity of the connection was about to engulf them until they would no longer be able to tell which was which…

Then Keith heard the lion’s roar, giving him focus.

Shiro heard the second roar.

<> <> <> <> <>

Half a universe away, a glass case exploded, unable to contain the surging quintessence inside. Haggar shrieked, unable to stop the destruction of the flesh from Champion’s body as it disintegrated. She flew around the lab, scanning readouts from various instruments frantically.

Then she found what she needed.

“Tell Zarkon that the escaped prisoner is in Sector X-9-Y!”

<> <> <> <> <>

The two halves were whole once more, together in body now as well as spirit. As she had anticipated, the intensity of the quintessence-meld threatened to overwhelm them. Her little one reached out blindly for help and she answered. She sent forth her own energy, the soothing, life-giving essence of water, to absorb the worst of the surging forces and sustain the two of them.

Together they rode the wave until it crested and washed back into a more manageable state. The bodies of the two small ones relaxed, still entwined with one another. She sent out one more flow of energy to calm the area around them like the surf smoothing out sand.

And stopped in shock when her essence touched a new presence near them. It sparkled with dappled azure light, calling to her like no other had for thousands of years.

This was her new paladin. It had to be.

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Thank you for the likes, reblogs, and comments!

Part 9

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #sheith #fanfic: voltron #voltron fanfic #quintessential bond by avidbeader

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