#hopefully it would just be about her teenage daughter being manipulated by an adult man

[rororow]

I am a simple podcast listener with simple needs. I just need Scary Marlowe to call her mom and have an honest conversation about the situation she’s in.

[avengerscompound]

Home - Chapter 9

Home: A Captain America Fanfic

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Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers

Word Count:  1928

Warnings:  Angst, parenthood, sexual manipulation, action, injuries, underage drinking and drug-taking.

Synopsis:  16 Years after the death of Daisy, Steve and Bucky have successfully raised two teenage kids with telepathy. Teens are never easy to live with though. Sarah in particular likes to test boundaries. Now on top of all the usual challenges of parenting, they have to deal with troublemaking demigods, a daughter who just wants to be accepted for who she is and running the Avengers. That’s when the children of other super-powered individuals start going missing.

Chapter 9

The satellite scans had found three potential locations that could be used to hold Sarah and have her mind completely hidden from Jamie. One was in the United States, in the middle of Arizona. One was in a remote part of Nunavut, Canada. The final one was in Siberia not far from where the Winter Soldier program had started.

Hearing that made Bucky’s skin crawl and a pit form in his stomach. Somehow he knew. He knew right away that’s where she was. He tried to convince Steve that’s where she was but Steve was sure it would be one of the closer places given how quickly Hydra had been grabbing the children.

They went to investigate the Arizona location first. The group consisted of Steve, Bucky, Jamie, Carol, and Wanda. It was definitely a Hydra base. Jamie knew right away it wasn’t the Hydra base. It was sparsely defended and none of the agents had even passing thoughts about the kidnapped children.

The base was taken quickly. Jamie didn’t even have to Nock an Arrow. Clint had taught him archery and he liked to be the Hawkeye of the group when he could even though he had the strength of his father and could use his mind to incapacitate everyone anyway.

It wasted two days. Bucky started fraying around the edges. He wasn’t sleeping. When he slept he had nightmares. They’d start with him being tortured. Being strapped into a chair while they electroshocked him and experimented on him. While they broke the man he was down and destroyed him and built up a new man in the shell that he’d left for them.

Then they changed. It was Sarah, not him. She called out for them. Begged to be saved. Bucky would sit helplessly watching them break his daughter apart. Then she’d get out of the chair her hair hanging over her face. Raise a gun and shoot him.

Steve tried to reassure him. Nothing he said seemed to help. Bucky paced the halls and considered just leaving on his own to check Siberia. He didn’t know how to fly the Quinjet but he was sure he could convince Natasha to go with him. He was just about to go and call her when the idea hit him and he cursed himself for not thinking about it sooner.

“Loki!” He yelled. “Loki! Get here now!”

There was a shimmer in the air. “What is it now, Barnes? I swear I haven’t been anywhere near your daughter.”

Bucky’s hands tightened into fists. “Do you know where she is?” He growled.

“Did she run away?” Loki laughed. “Oh, Barnes. Can’t even keep tabs on your own blood. Oh but she isn’t your blood is she? How could I forget.”

Bucky snapped. He grabbed Loki by the throat with his cybernetic hand and slammed him against the wall. “Don’t fuck with me, Loki.” He seethed. “I don’t like bringing out the Soldier. But doesn’t mean I can’t do it. Do you know where she is?”

“Of course I do.” Loki scoffed.

Bucky relaxed letting Loki slip from his grip. Loki rubbed his throat where Bucky’s fingers had been. “She’s alive?”

“Yes, she’s alive.”

Hope and relief flooded through Bucky. He started pacing again. “Can you take me to her?”

“That’s not how it works,” Loki said. “What’s happened, Barnes?”

Bucky told Loki everything that had been happening. He spoke quickly but left out no detail.

Loki ran his thumb over his bottom lip. “You must really be desperate to come to me.”

“I am. Tell me where she is.” Bucky yelled.

Loki chuckled and conjured a globe of the Earth. He pointed to a spot in Siberia and Bucky cursed. “How quickly can you get there?” Loki asked.

“It would take four or five hours if I left right now. But I have to convince someone to fly the jet.”  Bucky said.

“Do that. I’ll go to her.” Loki said. Before Bucky had a chance to thank him, he’d disappeared.

Sarah lay on the bench that acted as her bed, curled into a ball and facing the wall. She hadn’t opened her eyes yet, but she’d been awake for hours. Feigning sleep. Waiting for them to come reeducate her.

She had already been through one round of re-education. They had strapped her into a chair. The same one she saw in her dad’s mind all the time. They had put a mouthguard in her mouth and electroshocked her. They then proceeded to continue shocking her between lengthy lectures of how Hydra was the right path. That freedom was a lie. That individuality was a flaw that needed eradicating.

All the while Viper sat watching. She never spoke, but anytime Sarah was able to she would ask Viper how she wanted to die. She would list the ways she was considering killing her. Viper just smiled and watched.

After about four hours they then returned her to her cell and took Danielle.

She had water but they hadn’t fed her since she’d gotten there. Her stomach hurt and she felt light-headed. It was time to act.

Two guards stepped into her room. She kept her breathing deep and calm. Not reacting to the presence in her room.

“Wake up, girl.” A deep, gravelly voice said. A hand was placed on her shoulder and Sarah reacted. She grabbed the arm and slammed the person into the wall above her. With their now unconscious form acting as a shield from the others, she scrambled to free their taser from their belt.

Another form came upon her. She reacted quickly using the taser. She held it against them, holding down the trigger as the form jerked wildly above her. When she released the trigger. She quickly assessed the room. There were two unconscious guards, one male one female. Another male stood at the door. He had his taser out and he’d just gotten his walkie-talkie off his belt. Sarah charged at him. At the last second, she did a roundhouse kick, knocking the walkie-talkie from his hand.

He lunged at her and she grabbed his arm spinning him and slamming his head into the bars of the cell. Grabbing him by the neck she slammed him into the bars again and again.

“Sarah, you’re gonna kill him.” Danielle screeched.

Sarah let him go and started frisking the guards for their weapons and keys. She found two more tasers and two knives as well as the keycards to open the doors and cells of the building. Sarah first went and opened the cells of the other children. Besides Danielle and May Day there was a boy who looked to be around eight years old and didn’t speak any English and a fourteen-year-old girl named Senka.

“What’s your plan?” Senka asked.

“If you cut the thing out of my neck, my powers should kick in. I heal fast. Hopefully faster than it will kill me. But even if it does kill me I can take out everyone in here and you can all get to safety.” Sarah said.

“No, Sarah.” May Day cried. The little redhead hadn’t let go of her since Sarah had opened her cell.

“Do it to me,” Danielle said. “I heal immediately.”

“You sure?” Sarah asked. Danielle nodded.

Sarah moved behind Danielle and ran her fingers over her neck feeling for the little scar where they’d inserted whatever it was that they’d put in them to negate their powers.

“Well, this looks entertaining.”

Sarah looked up at the sound of the cold, familiar voice. Loki leaned against the bars of the cell watching them.

“Loki.” Sarah yelped and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. May Day followed, relief of seeing a familiar adult taking hold of her. She hugged his leg. Loki hugged Sarah and patted May Day on the back at the two girls both broke into tears.

“What did they do to you?” Loki asked.

“They put something in our necks. It’s shut our powers off.” Sarah said, trying to get control of herself. “We have to hurry, Loki. They’ll be sending more people.”

“Don’t worry, my love. The idiots who work here all think everything is normal for now.” Loki soothed. “Let’s see if I can’t undo what they’ve done.”

Loki turned Sarah to face away from him. His long fingers caressed the skin of her neck. He pulled his knife from its scabbard. “This will hurt, but just for a moment.” He said, softly.

The knife bit into her skin and he pressed down. Sarah clenched her teeth, unwilling to show any weakness. Loki gently worked a small chip from her neck and when it was clear he froze the wound, using his powers to seal it. Sarah’s abilities kicked in immediately.

“I still can’t feel the people outside of here,” Sarah said, frowning.

“This place was designed to hold your mother, darling. It is meant to keep them safe from your mind.” Loki said. “There are however four more of you with abilities. We can fight our way out of here.”

Sarah surveyed the scared faces of the children whose lives were now in their hands. “Let Loki cut those chips out. It only hurts a little. You don’t have to fight, but with your powers, you can defend yourselves.” She said.

Steve sat in the back of the Quinjet next to Bucky. Their fingers were linked together. “You’re sure about this, Buck?” Steve asked for what felt like the 600th time.

“Loki has some kind of connection to her. Why do you think he’s always showing up when we’re not around?” Bucky said. “Whether we like it or not, that’s the truth. He says she’s in Siberia. I believe him.”

Jamie looked up at his dad’s again. Fiddled with one of his arrows and looked away. He kept wanting to ask Bucky if he was sure. Deep down, Jamie couldn’t shake the feeling that Sarah was dead.

Carol landed the jet on an icy plane out of sight of the base. The group that consisted of Steve, Bucky, Jamie, Carol, Vision, and Wanda all climbed off the jet.

“Captain, I’ll fly ahead with Vision. See if we can’t find a way in. Meet you when you get there, slowpokes.” Carol said, taking to the air.

“Right you are, major,” Steve said. He turned to the others as Carol and Vision flew towards the base. “Jamie, stick with your dad. Wanda, you’re with me. We’ll go out wide try and come in on the other side. You stick to this side, Buck.”

Bucky nodded and they move forward. When they made it to the compound there were a dozen Hydra agents already lying on the ground. Five children were gathered around Carol. Bucky recognized Danielle and May Day but not the others. One looked like they were made of blue flames. Sarah was nowhere to be seen. Buck and Jamie jogged over to Carol.

“Did you do this?” He asked.

Carol laughed. “We got here and we were just about to see how we might go about getting in when all these agents just dropped to the ground. They’re all alive. Just unconscious. Then the kids ran out.”

“Sarah,” Jamie said. Relief filled him. He just wished he could feel her again.

“Vision get the door open,” Bucky said. “We’re going to find my daughter.”

“What about, dad?” Jamie asked as Vision floated through the door. The circuits popped and it slid open.

“She’s already been here too long. I’m going to get her.”

// NEXT

[marvelhead17]

Miracle (Original Female Character x Cable Fic)

Chapter 11

Summary: “How did you fix it?” he asked. “Ask Ellen the Teenage Warhead,” Wade shrugged as he stood up, “As for baby Hitler he ended up having a diaper change, funny story I was actually going to call Cable since he was so keen on killing Russel, I thought this would be like taking candy from a baby, if that means replacing it with a bullet that is,” Warnings to cover the whole fic: Graphic depictions of violence, use of weapons, mild to strong language, mentions of rape, mentions of pregnancy and miscarriage, referenced torture and psychological abuse/manipulation, nightmares and night terrors, sexual humour, sexual content.

Word Count: 1.9k

The Future

“DADDY!” she leapt into his arms and he hugged her so tightly that she squirmed and giggled, “Daddy you’re squeezing me too tight!” he let her go slightly and kissed her several times on the head.

“Sorry sweetheart, I just missed you, a whole lot,”

“I missed you too Daddy,” she let go and he did as well, rather reluctantly.

“I’m just going to talk to your mom sweetheart, don’t go anywhere, alright?” he smiled and brushed her hair from her face.

“Alright Daddy,” she grinned and watched as Nathan walked away to her mot her standing a few feet away.

 “I’m taking her out so don’t try and come back and insist that there’s something important with you and Chet so that you can take her, this is my weekend with her and I intend to spend every minute I can with her,” he said with an air of confidence that he himself was surprised at.

“Nathan you can’t just-”

“She’s my daughter too, I have the right to see her,” he strode to his daughter and scooped her into his metal arm and grabbed her packed bags with the other.

“Yay weekend with Daddy!” she cheered, he smiled as he flung the bags over his shoulder and opened the door before slamming it behind him.

                                                          * * *

  Present Day

“Jesus Christ!” she placed her hand on her chest as Nathan popped into the room unexpectedly, a small girl and bags in his arms.

“Hope, this is a friend of mine, Hades,” he said as he lowered her to the floor.

She stared up at Hayden with excitement, “That’s such a cool name! My Daddy told me you’re taking us to a carnival, we heard about them in school, are they really fun?”

“Um…” Hayden looked dumbfounded as she stared at Hope.

“Hope sweetheart, why don’t you go have a seat over there for me, I’ll join you just now,” he pointed to the couches.

“Okay Daddy,” she bounded off and hopped onto the nearest couch.

 “Wow, a kid. She’s, wow. Yours,” Hayden couldn’t formulate full sentences.

“She’s beautiful isn’t she?” he smiled.

“I- yeah, me taking carnival?” she said stupidly as she looked over at Hope and then back at Nathan.

“Yeah- I was actually meaning to ask if you could come with us, I have no idea what’s good or not at a carnival, and having someone who is more socially appropriate around will make things easier for me,” he said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck.

“I-” she shook her head, “Yeah I’d love to,” which made Nathan smile again, “but one condition, I’m bringing Wade along as well.” She said, Nathan sighed. “But only because he’s going to whine worse than an actual child about not going to a carnival, he loves them,”

“Fine, just keep him in check and make sure that trap of his doesn’t curse around my little girl, and we have a deal,”

“Deal,” she stuck out her hand and they shook in agreement.

                                                               * * *

 “I still don’t see why you brought me along on your date; we can go to the carnival anytime we want,”

Hayden elbowed Wade in the ribs, “It’s not a date idiot; his daughter is here too,”

“That’s exactly why it is a date my Dear Hayden- Hades,” he corrected himself as she gave him a look, “Single parents have to take their kids with them on dates to see if the relationship that they want to get into has potential depending on how well they get along with the kid,”

“That’s crap, you so made that up right now,”

“It’s so not!”

“Hey, are you two coming or what?” Nathan called to them, his daughter Hope standing at his side and holding his hand, she was looking all around her trying to take the colourful scenery in.

“Cool your jets old man we’re coming,” Wade said as he walked through the entrance.

 Hayden stared up at the entrance banner, it was bright and colourful and inviting, and she turned her gaze to the crowds and took in the scene before her. It was noisy and busy, something she would normally not walk straight into; however, today she was in good company and felt safer than she had been in a long time.

“Haydes?”

“Yeah, I’m coming,” she smiled and walked to Wade, they caught up to Nathan and Hope, she was bouncing on the spot impatiently.

“So, where to first?” Nathan asked Hayden, she looked to Wade for help.

“Uh, why don’t we start over there and work our way around?” he pointed to a water themed booth.

“We’re following your lead,” Nathan said, Hope turned to see where Wade was pointing and immediately ran to the booth, Nathan moved to follow her with a worried expression on his face.

  Hope’s hands held the edge of the booth that was named as ‘Aqua Snipers’ and she peered over, the attendee smiled and leaned over to talk to her.

“Hope, don’t run away like that, there are too many people here, I don’t want to lose you.” Nathan chided.

“Daddy the man says that it’s five dollars to play one game,” she looked at him hopefully.

“Alright,” he pulled out a few crumpled notes from his pocket and placed it on the table, “How do we play?”

“Why it’s simple sir, all you have to do is aim this here plastic gun at the clown’s mouth over there, and once the balloon attached bursts you win,”

“Seems easy enough,” Nathan shrugged but Wade grabbed the money on the table.

“Hold on Carnie, what’s the catch?”

“No catch, just a two minute time limit,” he held his palm out.

“Hmm, fine,” Wade placed the money in his hand; the attendee closed it quickly and put the money in his tin, “Let’s kick some butt.”

                              They were each given a plastic gun that was attached to a water filled tank, Nathan showed Hope how to hold the toy properly and then the attendee started the game; the three of them were easily filling the balloon given their experience with guns. However, Hope was struggling to hold it with it being so heavy and shooting a strong spray of water, and the three of managed to pop their balloons while Hope’s balloon fizzled out.

She put the toy gun down and looked unhappily at the ground, Nathan quickly rubbed her backside and told her it was okay that she didn’t get it the first time, then he put more money on the table before showing her how to hold it steadier for her turn again. This time she won and she grinned happily.

“Thank you Daddy!” she giggled as she walked holding her new stuffed panda, the others each holding their own stuffed toy that they had won.

“Don’t thank me Hope, you did it all by yourself,” he ruffled her hair.

“I think my heart just grew three sizes,” Wade teased with a hand covering his heart, “And here I thought you were always a hard- butt. Hard-butt,”

Nathan grunted, “Nice save.”

Hayden smiled at seeing Nathan interact with Hope, Wade was right he normally was a bit of a hard ass but seeing this softer side of him, it made her feel at ease for some reason.

  They played the Basketball Bonanza next, the adults playing before Hope so that she could see how the game worked, when she tossed her first ball she missed by a great distance. Nathan didn’t want her to be discouraged so he lifted her up in his muscular arms; he winced briefly enough for Hayden to notice, with the added height she was able to score and won another stuffed animal prize.

After dominating the Ring Toss Extraordinaire with use of some super abilities and calculative cyborg vision, they defeated the Milk Bottle Slammers, Hope was overwhelmed with all the stuffed animals that she now had for her collection, and although she hadn’t been very good at the games herself she enjoyed watching the others play.

They seated themselves on the outskirts of the carnival that was made into a makeshift hay-bale farm style courtyard specifically for the food booths. Hope was attempting to suckle down on a large candy apple, Wade happily chewed down on his seventh chimichanga, Hayden opted for the classic caramel popcorn and Nathan settled for a corndog (after Wade insisted that it was a must-have for ten solid minutes).

 “So did you enjoy your first carnival?” Wade asked after swallowing another bite.

“It was awesome! The games were so fun and the people are so loud and everything is so fun in the past! I wish it was like this back home,” Hope said and gave her candy apple another lick.

“Oh, that’s nice Hope,” Wade looked down at Hope and then looked back up again, “but I was actually asking Haydes,”

Nathan turned to Hayden, “This was your first carnival too?”

“I- uh, yeah,”

“That’s why you brought Wade along, because you didn’t know what to do at carnivals.” He said in realisation.

“Well sue me for not having a normal childhood, I suggested it because Wade told me that one was coming to town and I, I just wanted to know what the big deal was,”

“And?” Nathan asked.

“With you two idiots and Hope, I could do it another hundred times over,”

“She’s a lot more fun than Mommy,” Hope said with a grin, “I like her.”

 “I like you too Hope,” she smiled down at the girl.

“Hope, it’s not nice to say mean things about your mother,” Wade chided making the other two turn their heads, “On the other hand your father-”

“Daddy is the best Daddy in the world, I could never say anything mean about him!” she seemed shocked by the very idea, “But Chet-”

“Who’s Chet?” Wade asked taking another bite of his snack.

“Chet is… my ex-wife’s new husband,” Nathan said with a hint of bitterness.

“You’re divorced?” Wade asked surprised, “The way you talked about her I- sorry man.”

“And I hate him,” Hope continued, crossing her arms. “He always sends me to my room so he can be alone with Mommy and the baby,”

“Hope-” Nathan started.

“No, let her talk it out,” Hayden said looking at Hope with full attention, “Hope?”

 “I feel like Mommy loves the baby more than me, it’s like she doesn’t want me anymore,”

“Sweetheart, your mother still loves you, they’re just excited that the baby is here,” Nathan assured her.

“But I’m here, they’re replacing me,” a tear fell down her cheek.

“No one could ever replace you,” Nathan touched her face gently, “Do you understand? A lot of attention is going to be towards the baby now that it’s here because it’s too small to take care of itself, not like you, you’re my big strong girl aren’t you?” he wiped away her tears.

“Yes,”

“Look at me,” he lifted her chin, “Your mother and I still love you, we just don’t love each other anymore, but just because we don’t love each other anymore doesn’t mean we’re leaving you behind, alright?”

Hayden felt unconvinced about Nathan not loving his ex-wife anymore as he had emphasised the ‘we’ a little too much for her liking.

“Alright Daddy,” she managed to smile.

“Aren’t you glad I suggested she talk it out?” Hayden asked smugly, “Hope, don’t be afraid of telling someone you trust how you’re feeling, alright? Sometimes it helps you to feel better,” she looked at Wade who smiled with a mouthful of chimichanga and nodded.

________________________________________________________________

>> Chapter 12 <<

[mercy-thompson-fanfiction]

There was a frustrated and childish groan from the living room of the Hauptman household. It wouldn’t be considered anything out of the ordinary for a thirteen year-old who was playing an adult in Scrabble. It was another thing entirely though when the adults they were playing ranged from forty to a million years older than them.

“That’s not a word!” Porsche gritted out.

“Do you want a dictionary?” Ben taunted. She just crossed her arms.

“I’m telling you, it’s not a word!”

“Ibex. It’s an animal, kind of like an antelope.” Samuel smiled, “You’re allowed a dictionary, Porsche. You’ve got a few less years than most of us.”

“Ugh, I don’t know how Fallon puts up with you for a father. I thought my dad was the worst.”

Warren smiled to himself and Ben started laughing. Samuel was able to keep his face straight longest, but only by a fraction of a millisecond.

“One day, you’ll go to college and learn big words, too.” Warren promised, playing ‘bell’ onto the previously placed 'cow’ and getting a triple word score for it.

“This is the last I ever play with any of you.” She grimaced.

“You whine more than your mother,” Samuel commented, “Why don’t you just find something else to win at?”

“I’m already in trouble.” She sighed dramatically, leaning into Ben. Warren raised an eyebrow at him that she didn’t catch.

“For tuna in your dad’s ex-wife’s car.” Ben rolled his eyes. “He’s not going to ground you for putting hair remover in Samuel’s hair product.”

“The tuna fish was karma, not me winning.” Porsche corrected thoughtfully. “And I can’t believe I’m still in trouble for that.”

“Your mom will do anything to get out of office work, even put her daughter in charge.” Warren agreed. “Come on now, it’s your turn.”

She stuck out her tongue and straightened up.

“Ok,” Samuel smiled at her. “You’re complaining about ibex and you played that?”

“It’s a word!” She grinned back. “It doesn’t have a big score, but it’s a word.”

“Have you been saving every letter to play that?” Ben frowned down at the board.

“No. I pulled the last three on my last turn.” She shrugged. “And you left an 'a’ open for me.”

“Apparently.”

“Latrans. Clever.” Samuel shook his head. “I’m impressed.”

She beamed as he shoved her playfully from across the board before getting up from her seat.

“Where are you going?” Warren called after her as she walked away.

“Grabbing my phone from upstairs!” She called back. They listened to her climbing the stairs and the door to her bedroom closing at the top.

"Are you ok, Ben?” Samuel asked almost immediately. Warren leaned back in his chair with a frown painted on his face.

“Fine.”

“You’re sure?” The doctor pried a little further. “She seems to have taken a liking to you.”

“Really? Hadn’t noticed.” He raised an eyebrow at the man opposite. “I wouldn’t think you’d be the one to mind, unless your own family isn’t enough–”

Warren cast him a warning glance and Ben leaned backwards himself.

“She’s thirteen. This is an overreaction.” He smoothed, still irritated beyond belief.

“She’s always felt most comfortable around Ben.” Warren agreed, feigning nonchalant. “Nothing strange. School girls have crushes. Ben pays her attention.” He would add that the former Brit spoiled her worse than her own father, but it didn’t help anything.

Her parents were in the basement discussing her future with the Marrok. Warren and Ben had been tasked with keeping her out of the way and distracted. She hadn’t a clue what was happening downstairs in the basement.

“It’s why he’s here,” Warren explained, his voice growing quiet for fear of the child upstairs listening in. “In case she’s upset.”

Samuel gave Ben a disapproving look. The latter felt a snarl cause his upper lip to twitch. He bit it back, gritted his teeth against the noise, but the doctor has thoroughly pissed him off. If he insinuated one more time that Ben’s attachment to Porsche was anything more than friendly, Ben wasn’t sure he could keep himself together.

“Not everyone is like you,” He hissed instead. “Not everyone manipulates an innocent teenager for the purpose of broodmaredom.”

Warren was the one who slammed him into the wall. Ben knew it was because he was out of line. It was childish to pick a fight with the Marrok’s son and it was a low blow. He hadn’t kept his temper as he’d hoped.

“Ben,” Warren growled, “Stand. Down.” Ben didn’t lift his head, defeated.

“I’m not him.”

“He’s not talking about you.” Warren held up a hand, not glancing backwards. “Ben, you’re not.” He agreed. “So this shouldn’t upset you.” 
Porsche was coming down the stairs, notified by the ruckus of Ben being shoved against a wall and well out of harm’s way. She shyly poked her head in.

“What happened, what did you do?” She asked Ben immediately. He grimaced.

“Why do you always suspect it was me?” She just rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip. Spitting image of her half-sister, sometimes.

The silence and the lack of a game to occupy her gave her a moment to listen in to whatever her parents were fussing about. She heard her brother crying, he was barely a toddler yet so that was nothing new. If she really strained, she could hear her mother arguing something. She sounded angry–

“You want to go to the park?” Warren asked her. “Ben can take you and Samuel and I will follow when the game is cleaned up.”

She eyes him suspiciously.

“It doesn’t take two of you to clean up a game of Scrabble.” She turned to Samuel. “And I’m not a baby anymore, the park has lost its interest.”

“If you drag me shopping, I swear to Christ–” Ben stopped with a warning look that Warren cast over his shoulder. He’d backed off the moment the young teen had entered the room. “Let’s go shopping.”

She frowned at him. He’d never submit himself to the torture of shopping and honestly she didn’t care for it unless her sister came home to take her.

“Take me to get coffee?” She asked hopefully. She wasn’t allowed it at home and all three of the adults in the room were well aware.

“Yes. Fine.” Ben pulled his keys from where he’d left them on the counter and picked his jacket off a cushioned chair. “Get your coat, it’s cold.”

She ran to the closet and hurriedly pulled on shoes and a coat before grabbing her wallet. He held up his as she looked through it and Porsche glanced up. Her eyes met his momentarily in confusion.

“Hurry up, princess, this is the one time I’m buying.” Her face broke into a grin and she rushed past him. He looked at Warren.

Warren nodded once to Ben. At sound of the door closing, he turned around and strode back to the small coffee table to begin the clean up.

“Adam isn’t concerned?” Samuel asked, hushed.

“What Ben feels for Porsche, or at least what he’s willing to act on, is entirely innocent.” Warren said sincerely. “We have no reason to think otherwise.”

Samuel frowned, standing upright with arms crossed. The former cowboy had given up, simply sweeping letters into the box with a hand.

“She calls to him.”

“We are all very well aware and my understanding is that Adam has complete control over the situation.” Warren straightened after placing the top on the box. “Ben is her best friend.”

For a girl who didn’t fit in or have very many human friends, she needed what she could get. Ben and Warren were two constants in her life. They were there almost as much as her parents, but she’d always warmed up to Ben more. She had an eye for trouble, Warren and many others wondered if she didn’t stick closest to Ben purposefully for that reason. Regardless, it wasn’t a concern he would voice to Samuel Cornick of all people.

“I stopped him for his own sake, but Ben is right.” Warren drawled slowly. He moved to get his own keys with full intent to meet Porsche and Ben wherever it was they wound up. “You do not have a place to judge. If Adam was concerned, Ben would be far away from here.”

_________________________ <b> A/N </b> <b> I was supposed to write a Samuel request as well as a few more # prompts but for some reason Samuel came out here instead. Little out of character for Warren… > <b> Give me a direction. Samuel doing… (?) </b>