#i finally get IMPOSTOR again and my laptop turns off <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[batj]

i hate my laptop

[dumbkiri]

Fate Changes

Parts: [ Here, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]

Summary: [Name] along with the rest of the Batfamily is stuck in Gotham fighting bad guys. She gets pulled along when the Arkham Knight and his military guys barge into her home uninvited. 

Pairing: Jason Todd x Female! Reader

Genre: Slight Angst

Word Count: 3.3k// 8 pages 

Warnings: Attempted suicide, guns, curse words, death

“Fly me to the moon…” 

It was that song again. That dreaded song. 

“Let me play among the stars…”

Oh, how she hated the song. It reminded her too much of him. 

“Let me see that Spring is like on…”

She remembers being in his arms. The smiles on their faces bringing happiness to one another.

“A-Jupiter and Mars…” 

She felt his lips on her forehead and heard a chuckle leave them. 

“In other words, hold my hand,”

They were dancing along the beat of the song. His hands leading her and his blue eyes lingering on her form. 

“In other words, baby, kiss me…”

Then he brought his hands up to her face. He let his fingers trace along her skin. 

“Fill my heart with song and let me sing for ever more…"

Slowly, he came closer to her face. She could feel his breath against her face.

“You are all I long for...”

 It smelled of chocolate and mint.

“All I worship and adore…”

She held her hands close to her chest, anticipating his next move. 

“In other words, please be true…”

 “How long?” He asked her. She gave him a puzzled look, “How long for what?” 

“In other words, I love-”

Her hands trembled and the song completely stopped. The record no longer moving. “How long did it take for you to replace me?” His question stung and she didn't know what he was saying. He waited for her to answer and she could tell he was getting impatient. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. How was she supposed to answer him. 

He backed away from her and the room around them grew cold. His body was hiding something behind him. She could see the pool of blood around his feet. She closed her eyes wanting to wake up from this nightmare. When she opened them up again, he was no longer in casual clothing. He was wearing his costume. The costume he wore proudly. The costume he died in.

“How long did it take for you to find me!” He yelled at her. His voice made her flinch and she kept her hands close to her chest. Her lips trembled, “I never replaced you.” Then she heard beeping. It was like a countdown. “I waited for you to save me from The Joker. But you did nothing!”

He walked into the shadows and revealed what was behind him. It was himself, tied up to a chair. His breathing was labored and his costume had dried blood on it. Suddenly, she heard footsteps from behind her and Joker appeared with his sickly grin. 

“Fill my heart with song…”

The record was playing again and her heart raced. 

“Let me sing for ever more…”

The green haired male walked with a hop in his step. 

“You are all I long for, all I worship and adore…”

Her right leg took a step forward. 

“In other words, please be true…”

Joker raised his right arm high in the air. 

“In other words…”

She had to stop him from killing the person she held dearly. 

“In other words…”

She ran in front of Joker, his gun pointing at her chest. Where her heart resided. 

“I love you…” 

Joker pulled the trigger and on instinct, her eyes shut tightly. She heard a thud behind her, the sound of a body dropping to the floor. Quickly, she looked down at her chest and saw that the bullet didn’t go through her. She turned her body around and saw Jason laying on his back with his eyes shut like hers earlier. Tears fell down her cheeks and she choked up. 

“It felt like years with him,” Jason’s voice echoed around in the dark room. The only light source was focused on his dead body. She fell to her knees, too weak to bring herself closer to him. “But I still waited for you.”

She nodded her head, “I know. But Bruce held me back, he said that my emotions would cloud my judgement. So that’s why Tim-”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses, [Name]!” Jason yelled, “I want to know why you replaced me so easily. I thought you loved me?” 

Her hands balled up into fists and she hit her thighs with them, “I still love you!” Her declaration rang in the room and her sobs followed after. 

……

[Name]’s body shot up from her bed and her hair stuck to her forehead. Her revealed skin covered in a light coat of sweat. She took in a deep breath and exhaled. Once every week, that song would play in her dreams and slowly turn it into a nightmare. A nightmare that reminded her of how her boyfriend died and by who. She heard her alarm go off, now she knows why she heard a beeping in her nightmare. 

She threw her blanket off her body, welcoming the cold air. She then reached for her phone turning the alarm off with a sigh. She rubbed her tired eyes and got off her bed to start her morning routine. After taking a well needed shower, she got dressed and walked into her living room where Tim Drake sat on her couch typing away on her laptop. “Good morning, Tim,” She lazily greeted the teen and began making themselves coffee. 

Tim nodded his head, “It's still night.” He paused his typing and stared at the female in the kitchen. She wore a regular white shirt and a pair of shorts. Her legs were lightly covered in scars which she received from patrols. Her feet covered with red socks. He resumed his typing when [Name] glanced up from her cup of coffee. She knew something was on his mind.

“Alright, Drake.” She swished the coffee in her cup, “spill it.”

He didn’t hesitate. “I heard you talking in your sleep,” His eyes looked for a reaction. She stopped messing with her drink and set the cup down on the counter. She didn’t know she was capable of talking in her sleep. “You mentioned a Jason a couple of times. Who is he?” 

[Name] gulped and wondered if she should tell him. Bruce had told her to keep Jason a secret, but sooner or later, Tim was going to find out. “An old boyfriend,” She concluded and took another daring sip from her coffee. Tim squinted his eyes, “He seems important to be an old boyfriend.” 

“Sometimes, old lovers become a part of you that you can’t forget. Sometimes, there are regrets.” [Name] walked over to him and gave him a cup of coffee. Then she sat next to him and placed her feet on the stand in front of her. 

“You regret loving him?” Tim asked shifting in his spot to make room for her. He was glad that she made him a cup, she was finally getting used to his company. 

[Name] denied him, “God, no. Jason was very sweet. Annoying, yes. But he knew how to love even if our relationship was young love. Alfred would always say that-”

“Alfred knew him?” Tim cut her off with his question and [Name] knew she screwed up by letting the young Robin know that Alfred knew Jason. How can she fix this stupid problem. “Yeah, Alfred knew Jason very well," She said remembering. 

"Ah, Master Todd, how is the book?" Alfred questioned looking over the black haired male's shoulder. 

Jason smiled and waved the book in the air, "Shakespeare never gets old. He has his ways of defining love." He pondered about his feelings with [Name], the new Batgirl. 

Alfred nodded his head in acknowledgment, "Well, yes. Shakespeare has no problem making a couple star-crossed. It's a tragedy unlike most others." 

Jason was going to respond to Alfred until [Name] declared from on top of the stairs, "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" She had a playful side which Jason was grateful for. Bruce was moodier than usual and she seemed to lighten up even his darkest days. She wore her costume, but didn’t have her mask on. Was it already patrol time?  Alfred backed away from the couch Jason was casually reading on and greeted [Name], “Miss [L.Name], is it time to patrol the city already?” 

[Name] happily replied, “Of course and guess what? Batman is allowing me to patrol a section by myself!” She ran down the stairs and jumped over the last few. Her cape flew up before resting on her back. “I guess I proved myself to him during training. Who would have known I was capable of putting Jason in a lock.” 

Jason scoffed, “I let you win that match. It won’t happen again, babe.” [Name] blushed profusely at the name he called her and swiftly chucked a pillow at his face to which he nearly dodged. She put her mask on and let her hands rest on her hips, “Well, Jaybird, have fun cleaning the Batmobile.”

“[Name],” Tim called out waving his hand in front of her face, “hey, [Name].” She was brought back to the present and chuckled. It was embarrassing that she left herself vulnerable. Bruce would always reprimand her for daydreaming. “Are you okay?” Tim asked setting her laptop on the table in front of them. He rested his hand on her shoulder and concern was etched onto his face. 

“I’m okay, Tim,” She reassured him and looked at her laptop, “I see that you’re sending coded messages to Barbara, huh? Anything cool happen yet?” He removed his hand off her shoulder and typed away on the laptop. Batman had removed him from the scene and had him focus on the cure for the impostors. 

"She hasn't messaged me in an hour. I'm getting kind of worried," Tim stated truthfully, his eyes trained on the computer. [Name] quirked an eyebrow. Barbara was always quick with her responses. "Batman probably has her doing some important things right now and you need to find a cure, remember? Tonight is going to be a long night." 

Suddenly, an alarm buzzed through her house. It was a trigger alarm meaning that someone had entered her house without permission. Tim stood up from the couch ready to fight the intruders while [Name] didn't have time to change into her costume. "Shit," she cursed and grabbed her laptop shoving it into Tim's chest, "take this and go."  

Tim shook his head, "You're not even dressed and I'm not leaving you alone to fight them by yourself. There's probably-" 

"I'm not arguing with you right now," [Name] glared at him and pushed him toward the window. She gave him one last look, one that was filled with determination, "Find the cure." The front door was blasted off its hinges giving Tim the opportunity to climb out of the window with a heavy heart. He didn't want to leave [Name] behind, but she was right. He needed to find the cure. 

[Name] closed the window after him and ran up the stairs to enter her bedroom. She ran down the hallway and quietly shut the door behind her. She heard orders being yelled down stairs and she had to hurry. Quickly, she walked over to her closet and moved the clothes on hangers to the side. Behind them was a secret door. She placed her hand in the center and the scanner beeps before the door hissed signaling that she opened it. 

Lo and behold, her Batgirl suit waited for her to be put on. Without wasting any more time, she slipped into the costume and fixed her hair. Then she placed her mask on. At this point, it didn't matter if she put it on. They knew where she lived, they know who she is. But for the sake of feeling safe, she put it on. The secret door closed and she walked into the closet sliding the wooden doors closed. 

She heard a pair of footsteps walk into her room and heard the creaking underneath the person's feet. She had the advantage of knowing where they were. The man slowly walked over to the closet and he opened it with one hand on the door and the other on his gun. [Name] jumped on him before he could yell and hurry to subdue him. The man closed his eyes and fell to the floor gradually with [Name] holding him up. She laid him on the floor and sighed, "I need to find a new place now." 

She peeked out of her bedroom and looked down the hallway. So far, she saw no one. [Name] walked out of her bedroom and down the hallway listening out for any other thugs. She saw something out of the corner of her eyes, to her right and when she faced that way, a big man lifted his foot and planted the bottom of his shoe onto her chest. He kicked her with so much force that her back broke the wooden railing behind her and she fell backwards. She fell for at least five seconds before her back fell onto the floor with broken pieces of wood making the fall hurt more. 

"Found Batgirl! She's down here!" The big man yelled to his fellow comrades. He wore black and red and the uniform gave it all away. He was a part of the militia that the Arkham Knight brought into Gotham. She coughed and coughed, wanting to breathe the air that was knocked out of her lungs. She rolled onto her side and used her right arm to push her off the floor. She heard more than ten men run at her with their guns pointing down at her. 

"Move and we will shoot you!" One man yelled and [Name] froze in her spot. She hadn't fought in weeks and now here she was. Sitting on the floor with guns trained on her from all sides. Maybe she should have let Tim stay by her side. Or maybe she wanted to get caught. 

The big man jumped down from where he kicked her and landed right in front of her. "The boss said to bring her in alive, but he didn't say we couldn't break anything." [Name] looked up from her fetal position and glared at the man. If he dared to lay a finger on her, she wouldn't hesitate to kick his ass. He raised his foot and went to slam it on her left leg, but she quickly moved it to the side. He nearly missed her and he scowled. 

She was ruining his fun. But he was ruining her night. "You come into my house and you expect me to suddenly surrender," She jumped to her feet, "you should have brought more men." [Name] jumped on the guy and put him into a choke hold with her legs then she used the jump as an advantage to bring him down. The force of her toppling and slamming him against the floor made another guy watching pull the trigger on her. 

A bullet lodged itself into her shoulder barely missing her heart and the big man yelled at the noob, "You idiot, don't kill her!" [Name] would have laughed because the big man was on the floor with his head stuck between her thighs. She had the power to snap his neck. "Move and I'll kill your lieutenant," She groaned out and felt blood leave her bullet wound. The men didn't move and [Name] hurriedly knocked the big man out and went onto another guy.

She took his gun away from him and slammed the butt of it onto his face rendering him immobile as his head snapped to the left. His body dropped onto the floor and she dodged an oncoming hit from behind her. Still holding the gun, she swung the weapon like a baseball bat and it broke on impact. The guy groaned out and in a daze, stumbled backwards. Before she could land a couple hits, someone had shot her in the leg. 

[Name] cried out and threw a batarang at the happy trigger guy. It successfully knocked him out and she evaded a guy whose intentions were to tackle her onto the floor. When she landed on her right leg, it sent a wave of pain throughout her body. And it wasn't like her shoulder wasn't in pain either. She turned around and threw a punch at the guy behind her, but her fist was caught in one swoop. 

Her eyes widened at who was standing in front of her. It was the one and only Arkham Knight. He chuckled, but it sounded darker due to the voice modifier he wore to mask his voice. "You have grown so much," He commented and let go of her hand. [Name] limped away from him, but kept her eyes trained on his form. How did he know her? She racked her brain for some answers, yet she couldn't find anything. 

The Arkham Knight took a step forward each time she took one backwards. He was taunting her. Her back hit the book shelf behind her and she looked to her left. Romeo and Juliet in big gold letters caught her attention and she took the book out. The Arkham Knight stopped in his tracks and looked at her. Her hands shook while holding the book, she hasn't held the book in what felt like forever and in her mind it weighed a lot in her hands. 

"O Romeo, Romeo," She rasped out and opened the book, "wherefore art thou Romeo?" [Name] slid down to the floor and examined the pages her boyfriend left on. His bookmark was a photo of the two of them on Christmas. She gulped and let her bloody fingers hold the photo. The bullet wounds didn't ache as much and she knew she was slipping away. She let a few tears escape and she wiped them away. Jason wouldn't want her to succumb to an enemy, but she didn't want to live. 

Maybe the Arkham Knight was giving her a chance to finally be with Jason. She looked up from the photo and to the man in a very advanced suit. He was staring down at her with his men standing behind him, their guns aimed at the floor. She put the photo back in the book and closed it. Then she set it next to her without giving it a glance. [Name] coughed into her hands and blood specked her [s.color] hands. 

"I suppose that you're here to give me away to Scarecrow. Make me have a taste of his fear toxin and let Batman watch as another one of his sidekicks die in front of him, huh?" She questioned and let her right hand reach behind her. [Name] had guns hidden around in her house and death was better than being one of Scarecrow's baits. The Arkham Knight didn't respond instead his eyes were set on the book. 

[Name] felt the cold weapon and almost flinched from the temperature. "You a fan of Shakespeare or something?" She asked to keep him distracted. Again, he didn't respond. This was her chance to pull the trigger on herself. "O happy dagger," [Name] revealed the gun and cocked it, pointing the barrel at her head with her eyes closed. She was accepting death. "This is thy sheath." 

She pulled the trigger without hesitation and the ringing in her ear was loud. [Name] opened her eyes and saw the white symbol in front of her. She looked up at his blue mask and no words were exchanged for what felt like minutes. She didn't understand why she wasn't dead. She looked to her right and saw that the Arkham Knight had placed his hand over the gun. His suit allowed him to deflect bullets. He ruined her plans of reuniting with her love. 

"I fear too early, for my mind misgives," The Arkham Knight started, removing the gun away from her weak grip. "Some consequences, yet hanging in the stars-" 

"Why?" [Name] asked with tears blurring her vision. "Why couldn't you let me die!" 

"Shall bitterly begin," The Arkham Knight finished knocking out the girl successfully with a syringe in her neck. 

[washoutking]

Not-So Fashionably Late

( read on AO3 here )

Rating: Teen and Up (for swearing)

Ships: Grimmons, Sargrey, a bit of Tuckington and some backround ones if you squint really hard

Summary: The war is over. Everybody is living their peaceful lives back on Earth. And Sarge just invited everyone to his wedding!Simmons finds out Grif is taking someone else to the wedding, he is stuck on a 3-hour car ride with his suitemates, and they already missed the entire ceremony. His day couldn't get any worse, could it?

Written for @powerfulpomegranate for @redvsbluesecretsanta ~ The prompt was shippy or platonic domestic things, Sarge being secretly fond of his team, getting drunk and spilling about friendship, some repressed protags, and good old wholesome content.  

“Son of a bitch,” Simmons’s voice groans in frustration through the speakers of Dexter Grif’s laptop.

“Did a twelve-year-old snipe you from across the map again?” Grif mutters in the direction of his computer screen, eating an oreo in two bites. He lays on his battered couch in front of a fan that barely cools the 90-degree room.

If there’s anything Grif misses about Blood Gulch was the dry heat. It was hot, but at least he did not have to deal with the suffocating humidity here in Hawaii. Though if he has to be honest, at least he was as far away from Sarge as he could be. Which also means he’s away from Donut, Lopez, and Simmons, some of which he is not as happy to be away from, but he would never say so out loud.

Grif and Simmons make do with biweekly skype call to make up for the distance. Grif uses the excuse that he needs someone to talk to that is not Sister and that Simmons would surely go mad if left alone with Donut unsupervised for too long. It was the system they have been using for almost a year, and Grif was quite happy with it.

“First of all, I have no knowledge about whether a player is twelve or not,” Simmons’s voice replied through the call, cracking already at the first word. “Second of all, they didn’t snipe me, they sneaked up and stabbed me in the back.”

Grif bursts out laughing, “you got shanked by a twelve-year-old!”

“I didn’t-” There was a sigh and the sound of a remote hitting a table as it is dropped. “I think that’s enough for today.”

“Why? Can’t take another twelve-year-old outranking you in the kill chart?” Grif makes it a point that his smug grin is wide enough to be heard through the audio.

“I’ll have you know I still have second place in that kill chart. That’s the best spot there is.”

Grif chuckles, “You only say that because you get shanked by too many twelve-year-olds to make it to first.”

The audio cuts for a second and comes back with Donut’s distant voice asking Simmon’s something while standing just slightly too far away from the mic.

“He’s not- Donut stop-... Okay, I’ll ask him! Don’t you have better things to do?”

“Wow,” Grif raised an eyebrow at the ceiling, amused. “You sound like the real twelve-year-old right there, Simmons. No wonder they’re trying to kill you, impostor.”

“I do NOT sound like a twelve-year-old,” Simmon’s voice cracks, contradicting his words.

“Sure, Simmons, whatever you say.”

There is a small pause between them, filled only by the distant waiting music from whatever Simmons was playing and the whirring of Grif’s fan across from him.

“Hey, Grif,” Simmons speaks after a few seconds, his voice interrupted by static as the internet dies down “Do-..... -one?

“Can’t hear you, Simmons,” Grif complains at the laptop, turning himself around to check on it.

“D-.... want-....?”

Grif huffs to himself, sitting up and checking the internet connection. “I’m losing you, buddy.”

“H- Hello?” Simmons finally comes through clear as before.

“There we go,” Grif smiles, sitting back again. “What were you saying before?”

“I-I was asking you who you were bringing as your plus one,” Simmons stutters through the audio. “For Sarge’s wedding, remember? Did you get the invite?”

Grif made a noise of realization at that. “Yeah, I remember… Made a note saying he did not care if I showed up but he offered to buy my plane tickets.”

“WHAT!?” Simmon’s voice broke again for the third time in that hour. “He didn’t offer any such thing to me.”

“That’s because you can drive there,” Grif states. “I cannot. And to answer your question I am bringing a plus one.”

“Really? Who are you br-”

Simmons suddenly stops talking, and it takes Grif a few seconds to figure out the call dropped.

The country road seems to stretch for eternity through Simmons’ windshield, rolling out into the blue sky with trees lining on either side. He’s been stuck in his small car with Donut and Doc for close to four hours now, and it was not getting any better.

“I spy…” Donut begins for his 30th turn that day, looking out from the passenger’s seat window.  “Something long and wet.”

“Uh… is it the creek?” Doc guesses from the back seat.

Donut turns around, smiling back at his suitemate. “How’d you guess?"

“Can you guys stop?” Simmons interrupts the two, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “I’m trying to concentrate on driving.”

“Is that why you shut off the music as soon as I turned on the radio?” Donut kicks one of his legs on the dashboard. “Chill out, Simmons. What do you need to concentrate on? It’s not like the road is that complicated.”

Simmons frees one of his hands from the wheel, using it to motion past the windshield to the rows upon rows of trees. “We are in the middle of nowhere! What if there’s a wild animal- or a deer that runs through!”

“I think a deer is a wild animal,” Doc points out.

Simmons waves him off, “Shut up.”

Donut sits up on his seat, eyes wide. “OoOOoh~ you’re worried about something, aren't you?”

“No, I’m not!” Simmons’ voice cracks.

“Uh… Guys…” Doc speaks up to get the attention of his suitemates.

“What is it!?” Simmons snaps.

“I think we missed our exit…”

Simmons shakes his head. “There hasn’t been an exit in ten miles. What do you mean we missed our exit?”

“That was it… ten miles ago…” Doc pointed out. His voice suddenly dropped an octave, “You fool. I wanted to see how long it would take you. Now you are truly stranded and nobody will find your body.”

“We’re going to miss the ceremony!” Simmons panics, turning the car around so fast that Doc was thrown into the door.

“We’ll make it to the reception at least,” Donut shrugged, holding onto his seat for dear life.

Simmons manages to get to the location of the wedding with the car in one piece and no casualties, but it just so happened to be about an hour late. By the time they arrive, the ceremony is officially over, and the guests had moved a ways farther into the park to enjoy the wedding reception.

The trio of not-so-fashionably-late men run through the empty chairs of the ceremony, following the sound of music and conversation.

Donut runs ahead of the group with Doc at his heels, as if it was a race to see who could get to Sarge first. “Don’t be slowing down now, Simmons!” He calls out over his shoulder, “We’ve only been at it for a minute. Don’t tell me you’re already hot and sweaty?”

“Donut, shut UP!” Simmons yells at his friend, adjusting his maroon tie as they run. “Sarge is gonna kill us! He’s gonna kill me! We missed his wedding ceremony, for fuck’s sake!”

“Well, then we better get to him quick, for the sake of fuck!”

“I do not think that’s how the expression goes…” Doc points out.

Donut does not have much time to respond. The three men stumble upon the reception area, crashing into each other and a few of the other guests. It starts a domino effect of tumbles and grunts of pain and surprise, and ends in a table toppling over with half a dozen expensive wine glasses.

Simmons shakes his head, pushing himself up with his elbows. He winces at the grass stains that already formed on his jacket, and the sting of a bruise forming on his jaw from the fall. His eyes catch a pair of brown armored boots approaching, possibly belonging to the only guest with any kind of armor on.

<<Hacia tiempo que llegaran, pendejos,>> A metallic voice speaks from the direction of the boots.

Simmons sits himself up and cranes his neck to stare into Lopez’s visor. “Nice to see you too, Lopez,” He wheezes, catching his breath.

By the time he gets to his feet, Donut is already throwing himself at the robot to greet him, earning himself only endless incomprehensible Spanish from the robot. Donut takes them as “I missed you”’s, but Simmons is not so sure if that was the true meaning of those words. It is Lopez they are dealing with, though, so Simmons decides to drop it in favor of looking for his former leader in order to apologize for their tardiness.

He spots Sarge across the reception party, sitting beside his new wife, clad in white, and another man who he could barely recognize from the distance. Clouds dance overhead, cooling down the park and Simmons’ worked up gears from all the running they had to do just to get there.

Simmons weaves around the tables hurriedly, tripping over the chair legs on his way to Sarge’s table. He bends over one of the chairs, catching his breath once he finally reaches it. With his head still down, touching the thin plastic tablecloth, he speaks. “Sir, I am so sorry we missed the ceremony,” He brings up his head for a second just to look Dr. Grey in the eyes. “Congratulations on the wedding though. I’m sure it was beautiful.” He drops his head again. “Please don’t be mad. It was all because-”

“You boys were out fighting the blues in my name!” Sarge interrupts him. Simmons lifts his head again, looking up at his former leader, wine glass in hand. “How can I be mad about that? You found out they were infiltrating civilian ranks! Just as I feared- Leave it to Simmons to lead an attack. That’s a damn good wedding present if I ever heard of one.”

Simmons facepalms, “I knew I forgot something back at the apartment…”

Gray could not help but chuckle in amusement. “Don’t mind him, he’s just had a tad too much to drink. You know how it is, with so much alcohol being passed around. Say, is that purple friend of yours around?”

Simmons furrows his eyebrows at Grey’s sudden change in conversation and her overly enthusiastic expression when mentioning Doc, but the third person on the table beats him to a speaking turn, slamming his glass on the table.

“What do you mean blues infiltrating civilian ranks?” Tucker, as equally intoxicated as Sarge, steers back the conversation. “Dude, the war is over . Anyways, your guys could never win an attack against any blues.”

“That’s what you think, you filthy blue,” Sarge replies, lifting his free arm, which Grey had hers hooked on, to point at the former blue soldier. “But I know my boys better than anyone. They may be a nuisance but they are my boys.”

Simmons blinks slowly, processing the fact that Sarge was actually saying positive about them. “Sarge…”

“Nah, man. Blue team was far superior,” Tucker tries to argue. “Caboose, the damn idiot he is, is already better than your whole group combined.”

“Did Tucker say something nice about me?” A familiar voice calls out from the reception hall.

Tucker turns to the direction of the voice. “Shut up, Caboose! I’m trying to convince Sarge that red team sucks!”

“The sharing of intimate thoughts while inebriated is quite fun to watch, isn't it?” Grey asks Simmons, who straightens himself as the argument unfolds.

“Alright, that’s enough,” A blonde man walks up from behind Tucker, taking the glass of whatever he was drinking from his grasp. He holds it far away enough that no matter how Tucker stretches, he cannot reach the glass. “We have to go pick up Junior from your mother’s house, remember?”

“But babe-”

“If we don’t leave now, you’re catching a ride back with Caboose,” Washington states as stern as he could, but a smile plays at his lips nonetheless.

Tucker sighs, “Fine.” He lifts his arm and Washington grabs hold of it to pull him to his feet.

“Another victory for the reds!” Sarge cheers, leaning back in his chair.

“Why’d you have to marry him?” Tucker grumbles at Dr. Gray, who just laughs in reply.

Simmons takes it as his cue to leave as well. It was a party after all, and parties usually involved socialization. Since he is finally here, and Sarge did not kill him for being late, Simmons decides to wander through the crowd and look for familiar faces.

He finally finds the man he was not aware that he was looking for, hiding away from the crowd and next to the buffet table with a plate piled past his head with different types of desserts. Simmons approaches him without thinking about it, only catching his attention when he finally speaks.

“I’m surprised you haven’t eaten half of the buffet table by now.”

Grif turns his head to look at Simmons, swallowing whatever he was working on. His hair is neatly pulled back for once, and the suit is a little disorienting to Simmons at first. “I’m surprised you even showed up,” Grif joked back. “Thought the fact that Sarge got married without asking you to be his right-hand man killed your from the shock.”

Simmons scoffs, “As if. I called that Lopez would be picked for right-hand man since the engagement. Remember?”

“Like you remembered to get here on time,” Grif teases, elbowing Simmons on the side.

Simmons drops his head in his hands, laughing out of nervousness. “Don’t remind me. Donut and Doc were playing I spy for three hours. Three hours, Grif. ” He sighed. “My suit is covered in grass stains, my car smells like whatever awful dish Doc was eating on the way here, and I missed the whole wedding ceremony. Today couldn’t get any worse.”

Thunder rumbles overhead. A couple of droplets hit Simmons on the head.

“You were saying?” Grif raises an eyebrow in amusement.

As soon as Grif spoke, the rain all hit at once. Guests scramble to find cover under their coats and under tables to protect themselves and their expensive garments from the rain. At this point, Simmons just allows himself to be drenched. He lifts his head once again, watching the chaos in utter silence.

Simmons turns to Grif, “Who’d you bring?”

“My sister,” the other man states, motioning over to a crowd of guests. In the midst of the chaos, Kaikaina was laughing at Doc, whose purple suit was dark with mud stains. “She wasn’t mentioned on the invite, but she wanted to come, so I said I’d bring her as a plus one.” He turns his face toward Simmons, “Why? Who else would I bring?”

“Sister…” Simmons repeats. “Of course it was Sister!” He facepalms.

“You know…” Grif shrugs. “She was talking to Tucker today about possibly trying out for a job at his workplace. Wanted to see what living in a mainland city was like.”

“So?”

“I have to tickets back to Hawaii, and she won’t be using hers,” Grif explains. “Could give you an excuse away from this awful weather.”

Simmons looks over at Grif for a second before hitting his side with his hipbone. “Next time, you could ask me to come visit like a normal human, you asshat.”

“Is that a yes?” Grifs asks expectantly.

Simmons could not help but smile. “Of course it’s a yes. Now move your fat ass  to the tents or we’re gonna catch a cold.”