#i get why he would have nightmares about being killed by robots considering that.

[ineffable-gallimaufry]

i blame james cameron btw. if that jerk hadn't have worked on piranha two the spawning i wouldn't be looking at the imdb summary for a movie called zombeavers

[seaside-writings]

Well, well, well! Hello. all you lovely people! It's been a hot minute since I did one of these lol.

As you can all probably tell, I've been dragged kicking and screaming back into Gravity Falls by "The Book of Bill." Because of this, I wanted to make a prompt list from all of my favorite lines of darker dialogue from the book.

Now I know this book is filled with dark dialogue from front to back, but these are the ones that stood out the most to me, and I know they stood out to others as well.

I hope you all enjoy this list, and if you use any of these prompts, please credit/tag me so I can come check out what you’ve created!

I hope you all stay blessed and safe throughout your day.

Lots of Love & Wishes: Celia 💙△💛👁️‍🗨️🖤

P.s. I did add some lines from the Axolotl’s poem I just felt like they fit well in this mess.

"Until there was no one left but me, covered in blood, alone in the universe,"

"Turn back while you still can, or live forever with the regret,"

"It infects other books!"

"Any regrets about causing the apocalypse?"

"Blame the arson for the fire."

"It's not with it. Trust me. You have to trust me,"

"Love is a trick and worst of all it's a trick you play on yourself,"

"Even his lies are lies,"

"I don't want to die alone,"

"I'm broken wanna fix me?"

"Once you kill with one of these, it becomes a "serious straw,"

"This book has no codes,"

"They don't even consider for a single moment the sheer improbability that they got to exist in the ONE timeline where they kept all of their bodily organs,"

"Maybe one day in the future all their good luck will finally run out,"

"I've peered into the souls of the madmen, but this was the first time I'd been in a mind that was collapsing like a neutron star,"

"Your world is controlled by dark invisible forces that need to operate in the shadows to maintain their power,"

"Some desperate part of him seemed to be trying to heal himself, hoping to weld his memories back together like one of his robots,"

"For the first time, I felt a kind of pain that wasn't hilarious,"

"Nightmares about trying to wash blood off her hands that never comes out,"

"Recurring nightmares about overhearing a fight between his parents he wasn't supposed to hear. Why do you think they were in such a rush to get the kids out the door for the Summer?"

"A single spark from the memory inferno hit me, and a hole sizzled straight through me like a laser through butter,"

"And if I ran into any symbols, I'd be ready,"

"Their screams getting louder and louder."

"Listen not to his lies!"

"And he tended to rip out journal pages that had anything to do with his issues with others… especially me,"

"Is my strange way of seeing the universe a gift or a curse?"

"Is loneliness just the cost of greatness? And if it is… how long am I fated to endure?"

"On your own, you're a bunch of sepia-tinted nobodies destined for the dumpster of history,"

"Although the day had begun with us as strangers, it ended with us as brothers, bonded by vengeance and a newfound hatred,"

"Someone had reversed the Shaman's spell and had summoned me back! Who would it be?! A genius? An idiot? Oh. Oh my goodness me. Yes. It was both,"

"Can you collect them all before the end-times come?"

"How about that; you've got an inferior clone! Why didn't you just eat him in the womb? Think of how powerful you'd be!"

"Assemble all seven collectibles to open the seal,"

"The perfect weight to kill a man,"

"Says he's happy, he's a liar,"

"I grow maddened."

"A different form, a different time."

"He looked distant, more distant than I'd ever seen him before,"

"By a monster."

"He laughed joylessly,"

"It would eat you alive."

"Trust no one,"

"As the chanting grew louder, the forest was suddenly engulfed in flames, screaming laughter echoing, and then- I awake on the floor, gasping for breath,"

"I could see in the third dimension,"

"But being special comes with a price,"

"I've shut down the portal! Damn it all!"

"My mind reels from horror and humiliation! How could I have been so foolish!?"

"Saw his own dimension burn, misses home, and can’t return."

"I was wrong about everything!"

"Break my bones if you must, but you cannot break my will!"

"No, I won't give him the satisfaction! Instead of destroying my work, I'll destroy him instead!"

"That's because I've been knock-knocking your skull against the wall!"

"Has he done this before?? How far would he go?"

"I keep coughing up spiders,"

"My heart was in my throat until I heard the dial tone… the pay phone was out of order. The message hadn't gotten through,"

"You're my property. Don't forget it,"

"You gave me your blood, You let me into your mind!"

"From the graves around me arose a horde of cackling cadavers eyes aglow,"

"Why are you doing this?! Why won't you just leave me alone?"

"Without me, you'll always feel unseen, surrounded by dolts who don't recognize your true potential,"

"You've always felt alone in a crowd, haven't you? Who else will give you this feeling again?"

"Even if you got rid of me, you'd miss me. Admit it, you'd miss me,"

"The hillbilly abandoned you, your father won't want you returning without millions, you have no friends, and if you died out here in the snow. who would even miss you?"

"I have no one else,"

“I awoke from the hallucination, heart pounding, to find myself back in my living room, clock ticking, record skipping- and began to weep,”

"What if… he mocks me? What if he sees that I abandoned our family to become a recluse on the brink of madness?"

"Where did you all go? WHERE DID-"

"Shame is a powerful emotion. But if grows even more in the dark,"

"I thought I was protecting my family, but I was really protecting myself… from humiliation,"

"No, they mean nothing to you!"

"Because no matter what the idiot counselors in this smiling cage say, I don't need anyone, I never have, and I don't miss any of them!"

"I'm fine,"

"This morning I awoke to find my knuckles bloody and sore. He must have been punching and scraping the steel door like a caged animal all night in a frenzy to get in,"

“Someday… someone… will let… me… out,”

[weirdmorefics]

Unmasked - Chpt 2

Previous Chapter

Word Count- 1,707

The phone ringing was all I could focus on not the stares the phone ringing non-stop in my pocket.

"Garcia trace the call coming to L/N phone now!" Prentiss demanded

Garcia froze in shock at Emily's sudden yelling and Spencer asked full of concern, "Emily what is going on?"

"Reid now is not the time, Garcia now! Y/n I am going to need you to answer your phone." Emily shouts speedily.

"Prentiss you promised you wouldn't get the team involved," I gasped the words barely making it out of my mouth.

"L/N answer your phone," Emily demanded as if she didn't hear me.

I clenched my fists and picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"I hear you like scary movies, and so do I. What's your favorite scary movie?" The robotic voice sends shivers down my spine it's the same one I've heard time and time again in my life and in my nightmares.

"Listen hear dipshit, I've done this three times in my life and the one thing that always stays the same is Ghostface dies," I growl.

"And you listen hear Y/n this isn't your movie! It's mine! Aren't you tired of Sidney getting all the spotlight? The money, the book deals, the fame? You are just the nobody sister who would've died if not for Sidney!" The voice loses its temper. Ghostface just made his motive very clear, he is jealous of Sidney.

"If I am just the nobody sister, why are you calling me?"

"You're a loose end, can't finish the movie without Sidney failing to save her baby sister. Ruining her completely." Ghostface says it like it's common sense.

"Then I'll just keep killing. Who should I start with? Dewey the cop that inspired you to be one? Or your best friend that's trying to track this call right now? Oh, I know that agent who just got out of prison? I know how much you love bad boys, must be genetic." Ghostface taunts succeeding in knocking the breath out of my lungs.

"How do you know about my team!" I scream

Ghostface laughs, "I will see you soon Y/n."

The line goes dead, I drop my phone to the ground and hold my hand to my chest. I am hyperventilating and feel like I might pass out. Sidney had it right all along to hide away in a cabin. The more people you love the more Ghostface has to hold over your head.

Rossi speaks when the call ends, "Prentiss, what is going on?"

Emily ignores him and instead shouts to Garcia, "Did you trace the call?"

"Um, yes 34 Elm St Woodsboro California," Penelope stutters.

I slid my back against the wall outside Emily's office still out of breath. That call must have been hard for Penelope to listen to as well considering the fact that Ghostface just threatened her life.

Spencer squats down to my position on the floor god I hate that he has to see me like this.

"Y/n you are okay, you are at the BAU, you are with the team," he tries to soothe if only it were that easy. Any other time I would have melted to hear him talk to me so gently but I know I am going back to Woodsboro no matter what.

I look to Prentiss, "That's my childhood home."

Spencer's eyes widen at my statement, it was inevitable that I would be found out. I will always be a Prescott no matter how far or fast I run.

"Isn't Woodsboro where those Stab movies take place?" Alvez asks

"Agh I hate those movies so cheesy and bloody, not for me," JJ gags at the mention.

I am sure Spencer connected it after the phone call and as soon as I said that was my childhood home. It must be a curse to have so many things permanently stuck in your brain.

"Those movies are based on a true story of the original Ghostface murders witnessed by Gale Weathers," he reluctantly says looking at me with pity.

"Garcia, get all the files you have on each Ghostface killing and let the local police know we are coming. We will need you on this one since phones and voice changers are always used. Wheels up in thirty!" Emily shouts

I quickly stand causing me to feel a little dizzy from all the hyperventilating, "Prentiss this case is a danger to the team, they are specifically being targeted. I suggest this case be sent to another team.

"Are you doubting your team agent," Emily narrows her gaze on me.

"Of course not! But I feel you are underestimating Ghostface."

"We are going end of story. We protect our team and you will always be a part of this team Y/n," Emily states as a fact.

The team gives me worrying glances as they collect their go bags and collect Ghostface files from Garcia. Rossi pats my shoulder as he passes me, "You got this kid."

I walk to my desk and collect my go bag from underneath it. I can feel Spencer's gaze burning into me the whole time. I try to walk by his desk without looking at him. I don't want to see his beautiful eyes full of pity. Unfortunately, not looking at him was not a choice because he grabbed my wrist as I walked by him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He whispers

"I don't tell anyone," I sigh.

"I am not anyone Y/n, or at least I didn't think I was." He responds quietly at the last part of his sentence. It makes my heart swell at what the insinuation of his comment could mean but now was definitely not the time to think about it.

"Spencer, please don't go on this case," I beg.

"You can't be serious?"

"I just got you back- I mean we- the team just got you back. Scratch is gone you're safe, and the team is safe. I can't jeopardize the team just because I attract lethal serial killers," I stressfully explain tugging at my hair.

"Y/n I just got you and the team back and if you think I'm going to lose you again. You are wrong," he looks at me with his eyes full of seriousness.

"Is there nothing I can say to convince you?"

"No. Now come on before we are late for the jet." He speaks, his voice still filled with hurt.

I sigh and quietly follow Spencer to the jet the team's eyes glued to me as I enter. I ignore their questioning glances and sit next to Penelope.

"I am so sorry you had to listen to that phone call. You never should have been involved," I sighed.

Penelope looks offended, "Sweetie I am not upset because of the phone call. I am upset you had to keep all this to yourself for so many years! I am always here if you need anything."

I frown that the team is being so nice to me when I have lied to them for so long. At least Spencer seems as mad at me as I am at myself.

"Thank you, Garcia," I sigh.

"Kid, could you tell us what we are in for?" Rossi sympathetically asks.

"Well, hopefully, you are looking for a new book deal Rossi cause Ghostface one's fly off the shelf. However, you will have to fight Gale Weathers for the story. She is always there when Ghostface returns." I say self-depreciatingly.

"Could she be a suspect?" JJ asks.

"That would make sense run out of story material, why not make your own," Tara adds.

"One thing you need to know about Ghostface cases is that everyone is a suspect and it's always based on horror movie cliches, "I state.

"That should make him easier to profile shouldn't?" JJ asks

"You would think that but it's hard to find the motive when every Ghostface is a copycat. Ghostface also kills so fast it's hard to keep the kill count down and you never know if they are working in a pair." I respond

"There was only one case where Ghostface worked alone though so it's more likely it would be a duo since the only one who worked alone was a jealous brother," Rossi responds and I can tell he instantly regrets the last part.

"It's okay Rossi, he was jealous and a psycho killer who should have used words or gone to therapy," I responded coldly.

The jet got oddly silent but I guess that was to be suspected with. comment like that.

Emily broke the awkward silence, "How about we all go back to reviewing the case files. Silently this time."

For the rest of the jet ride, you could hear a pin drop and the light snores of Alvez. I swore Spencer's eyes never left me but it made me feel oddly comfortable like Ghostface could never get me as long as Spencer was here.

When the flight ended we all filed off the jet and Emily suggested she and I go to the police station and the rest of the team get checked into the hotel for the night because it was late.

"Prentiss, I would actually like to speak to my sister before anything to assure her safety," I plead.

"Okay, Y/n meet me at the station after," She responds.

Spencer jumps in, "Wouldn't it be safer in teams! I definitely don't think L/N should be anywhere alone since she is a target."

I could still sense Reid's anger and I really did not want to be a hassle so I assured him, "I will be fine I've survived this three times."

"Barely according to Gale Weather's book, you were in the ICU for a week after being stabbed three times in the back and that was only the first Ghostface spree, " Rossi muttered.

I rolled my eyes, "Thanks for the reminder, Rossi."

"Reid and Rossi have a point Y/n, you should have backup," Prentiss assists.

"I'll go with L/N," Spencer instantly volunteers.

"Okay then Rossi with me the rest of you get settled into the hotel," Emily instructions. Then we all head our separate ways.

[dyns33]

Flufftober 2024- 8 Nathan Bateman

There was no point in celebrating Halloween with Nathan Bateman.

First, because he could be a real nightmare all by himself all year long. Then, since they were alone in the middle of nowhere, no one would come asking for candy. And the genius always found a way to criticize the things that Y/N liked.

However, he could have liked this holiday. They could have eaten sweets, drunk alcohol while watching a horror movie. He wouldn't have been scared, but he could have made fun of it by hugging Y/N.

It was tempting, she could have at least offered it to him, but being used to his refusals, she hadn't even tried.

While he would be busy in his office underground, she would spend the evening on her own, maybe in the company of Kyoko, observing her micro reactions to jump scares and other scary scenes. If she had any. It was unlikely that Nathan would have thought to include this kind of thing in her program. Y/N was curious to find out.

What she had forgotten was that Nathan was curious too. Not caring about privacy, conventions, other people.

The moment he saw what was happening in the living room, that Y/N was spending time with his mute creation rather than with him, he abandoned his work. There was nothing in the world that Bateman hated more than not being the center of attention.

"What are you doing ?" he asked casually, taking a bottle of water from the kitchen.

"As you can see, we're watching a horror movie."

"Why ? Kyoko can't appreciate that kind of thing."

"Ah. What does she appreciate then ?"

"Serving me. Cleaning, cooking, good sex."

"Lovely. Now, shush, let's watch the movie."

He grumbled a little, but Nathan obeyed, coming to sit with her. If he understood the absurdity of the situation when he discovered that she was watching Frankenstein, he kept it to himself, staring at the screen without saying anything.

For at least ten minutes, a world record.

"Why are you watching this ? It's not even funny."

"I think it's pretty funny. And it's the day for it."

"What's that supposed to mean ?"

For the first time since he had entered the room, Y/N looked at him, trying to determine if he was serious or if he was pretending not to know what day it was. As if he was doing it on purpose, Nathan stared back at her with a neutral look that was impossible to decipher.

"Kyoko, get out." he suddenly ordered, making his robot obey him immediately.

"We were having so much fun though. She could have been inspired by the creature."

"Impossible, she is programmed to love me more than her own existence. You could be inspired by her, like that you would have considered inviting me to your little horror party."

"You would have refused."

"I would have appreciated the gesture, and I might have joined you later, delighted to find you in a sexy maid outfit. You know my passion for role-playing games, I can't completely hate Halloween."

The discussion could have lasted a long time, a discussion they had already had often enough to know it by heart, her telling him that he was only a selfish pervert, he telling her that she could leave if it didn't suit her, folowwed by a silence for a while, until Nathan found a way to make up for it without ever having to apologize.

Y/N therefore turned her attention back to the end of the film, with the mad scientist killing his thing, before kissing his beloved fiancée tenderly.

The only time Bateman was tender was when he was drunk. But maybe those were the times he was the most honest.

"I wouldn't have chosen a maid costume." she sighed.

"Whatever, you're always sexy."

"You could ask Kyoko."

"I could, but it wouldn't be the same."

And there it was, his subtle way of telling her that she mattered, a little anyway, more than his own creation and all the other humans he'd fled when he moved here. Even if he was serious about the costume.

[panda-writing]

Fives Lives: Bad Batch Pilot Episode AU

Dividers by: @ saradika @ freesia-writes / @ lornaka

Note: So it got kinda long...

~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~ ~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~

Content Warnings: death mention, mention of medical procedures/experiments, loss, imprisonment, lack of sleep/exhaustion, mention or reprogramming aka messing with mind. (I think that's all of them)

~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~ ~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~⚄~~

The sound of the blaster went off.

He felt the searing pain of being shot as he looked at the hole in his chestplate

Falling to the ground...

Getting shot.

Dying.

That was the easy part. Why was that the easy part?

Maybe because everything after that made it harder..

He at least thought he had. If what he had felt wasn't dying.. He wasn't sure what was.

"Call for help! We need a medic!"

He remembered what, at the time he was certain was death as he grew weaker and weaker as his ori'vod help him in his arms.

"Stay with me Fives. Fives!"

He heard Rex beg for his life as he was fighting the urge to pass out. He remembered as Rex clung to his body.

He looked into the face of Commander Fox. "Don't do it trooper! Don't do it!"

He panicked. He couldn't let Palatine kill him before the truth got out.

His Vod shot him down. Quickly.

Now.. He had the feeling that Fox was under orders. The chip.

She drugged him. He wouldn't have ever done that if she hadn't drugged him. To this moment he was filled with regrets.

He woke up. The recent events, fresh on his mind.

Wait... How long had it been?

Wearing the blacks. His wound healed almost..

A brief sense of security until his mind came into focus. He lay on a medical table.

Kamino.

Ever since he woke up... It was constant experiments, it felt like... Done by Nala Se, mainly. Or spending the day in a cell.

He enjoyed the cell more.

How long had he been here? Every day was the same. It was moments like these he had to wonder if being killed on Umbara would've been better. At least then, it was because he did his duty.

The nightmares started.

Not too long after the first day he remembered. The experiments. The poking and prodding.. It now just freaked him out.

There was no comfort in any of this.

He was the last of his batch, surely they expected better of him.

He had been. He did the right thing. But now.. All he was seen as was the clone that went rogue then insane and tried to murder their political leader... Despite what the truth really was.

He had suspicions Nala Se enjoyed the suffering this caused him. Her anger and disdain as he tried to uncover the truth before his 'death' the drugging.. He almost undermined her. And the Kaminoans, they wouldn't like that much. Was this his payback?

The nightmares still went strong. Constantly reliving the death of Echo, his twin... The massacre on Umbara.. How he had been hunted down like a terrorist. And how no one believed a word he said.

He had a break once. It lasted for a little while... Until Nala Se found out about it. It was a research assistant to her. A sister. Omega.

She would come in often. And they just talked about anything. He'd tell her about the war if she asked. She'd tell him about her day.

But eventually he was moved somewhere else in the cloning facility. And then the visits stopped.

He knew when the war ended. And it was more than just the feeling he got

He noticed the shock troopers passing through. And then he noticed clones occasionally moving past his cell, now Shock troopers on duty.

He knew.

He had been right about the fears plaguing his mind. Now that he wasn't completely kept from everything and everyone.. He assumed this meant the worst.

They didn't consider what he knew a threat anymore. He had lost.

He noticed the difference in the troopers around him. They were all under control of those chips and there was nothing he could do to save them...

They weren't completely robotic it seemed. As they had things to say about him. The shock troopers knew who he was. Some of them might've been in the group that was sent to kill or arrest him. There was no real way of telling.

For Rex.. He hoped he had either been able to stop what was happening, get out of that situation... Or have died before his free will was taken like everyone else.

The clones around him made their opinions known. The words hurting more than before.

"Defect."

"Bad Batcher."

Back in his domino days. They had also called him and his batchmates bad batchers at times.

But this was different. Maybe because the implications were steeper now. Now he was looked at as a traitor instead of the soldier he once was. Every day he spent fighting for the republic... Washed away just like that. Forgotten.

The troopers guarding his cell were talking some shit. Not like the rogue clone was ever gonna escape, right?

Or maybe they just didn't care he was right there, thinking even less of him.

"I heard they're gonna be messing in his head to try and fix the crazy."

"They'll ship him out to some top secret research facility."

"If it works they'll put him back on the line of duty."

"If not Tarkin'll order him decommissioned or killed, I bet."

"If he wants to live he'd better shape up-"

Suddenly their comms beeped.

"Clone force 99 has escaped, we're supposed to meet up with CT-9904 to cut off their escape!"

They grabbed their weapons before running out of the room.

He had to wonder about this Clone Force 99. If they were going after them.. Maybe they had went against the Chancellor too.

If this was the case he hoped they actually escaped instead of being stuck in a situation much like his own.

On a side upfront.. He looked ahead at his ARC gear. It had been saved. Before he didn't understand why.. But now he had.

It usually served as a little... Miniscule sort of comfort. It was his past and the only thing he had ever truly owned. It was the armor he painted alongside his twin.

A reminder of how he made it to ARC Trooper. The dream they all shared, butost hadn't gotten to see... So he promised himself he'd live it for them. He had to get out of here one day...

When they tried to move him, he was gonna fight like haran. For his squad.. And for all of his brothers.

He had tried to escape, fight his way out many times. The cell fought him back, making him weaker than when he first attempted it.

He was leaning against the bottom wall of his cell. His head was tilted back, he was trying to rest some from all of the exhaustion. His knees against his chest, and his arms crossed around them.

Suddenly he heard voices near the door of the room. The Shock troopers had forgotten to shut it.

"Normally we wouldn't even consider sticking our neck out for a reg like this... But I hear he's a special case."

"They also said he went against order 66, but that seems unlikely because according to records.. he's been here a while."

"I heard shock troopers talking about reprogramming him. When we were in the cell."

"If we don't get him out..."

"We'd better hurry if we're gonna get him out and back to the ship before the shocks find us."

They walked in. He could tell they were clones, but they definitely didn't look like any he knew.

One had goggles and the other was even more different. His arm was a scomp link and he had ports in his head along with a pale ish skin tone.

He took notice of them. They weren't wearing their armor, but instead they were in their blacks.

These must've been the escaped clones the shock troopers were talking about.. He had also been in his, that was standard as a Kaminoan Prisoner.

He took notice as the pale one walked in slowly, to a stop.. his eyes were fixated on something. Fives turned his head, and noticed him looking at his armor intently.

The one in googles was looking at something on a datapad. Then suddenly he looked between the other one and himself, a look of realization..? was crossing his face.

Was the pale one.. from the 501st? Did he recognize him? He seemed in disbelief upon looking at his armor. Stopping in his tracks.

The clone wearing goggles noticed the distraction and tapped the pale one on the shoulder.

"I understand this might be a complicated situation for you. But you must remain focused if all of us are to leave alive."

"I.. Yeah I got it. Just this belonged to... Nevermind. We better hurry."

"You'll have to scomp in. Once we break him out, they'll know if we don't divert their attention. He appears to be on high priority."

They rushed to a terminal, center room.

One typed away ferviously as the one beside him, plugged in and twisted against the gears with the scomp in his arm.

"Got it Tech."

Tech pressed a button.

"We don't have a lot of time. If you want to get out without your brain being reconstructed, you'll need to grab your things and push on."

Fives hopped to his feet, though the exhaustion all over his body was still evident. He moved over to his old gear.

"Hey, uh thanks for saving me. Haven't been out for a while." He was placing the armor plates over his blacks.

"It's what we do.. And really no one deserves to be stuck like that." The pale one said before turning around.

He was in shock, staggering backwards despite his mechanical limbs.

Fives sent a glance upwards after securing his kama.

He looked at the trooper ahead of him. Something felt familiar... Then he looked at his eyes.

He held his breath..

He didn't move, looking ahead.

Echo

He didn't blink, scared he was hallucinating it all.

Scared he would just disappear...

Tech noticed the silence, he knew why. He could understand it from a psychological standpoint.. But they had more pressing concerns.

"We are running out of time. Hunter can't wait on us forever when everyone on Kamino will be looking for us."

Fives shook his head, to snap out of it. It took Echo a little longer to regain focus at first, but he did. They were soldiers.. It's what was required of them.

"Right." Fives finished securing his armor and placed his helmet on his head.

He never thought he'd wear it again. He never thought he'd see Echo again either... The day was full of surprises. Despite the overall horrible... This was good. Though he did feel guilty for thinking it.

"Got a blaster Echo?"

"Back with our gear in the hangar bay."

Fives tossed one of his DC-17s to his vod'ika. Echo caught it.

Tech pressed a button on the datapad.

"Now we move. The cell's alarm is triggered."

They rushed out, hoping to make it back before Crosshair realized they were missing.

Upon reaching the hangar, Echo handed Fives back his blaster before moving to the trunks of gear to find his own.

"Fives?" Omega said surprised as she saw him. She hasn't seen him in months. She wasn't even sure he was still here.

"Yeah kid, it's me. It's good to see you."

She hugged him from the side as batch 99 started and finished grabbing their gear. He returned the hug briefly. Echo and Hunter looked over at them curiously.

"Haven't seen Crosshair over here yet." Hunter finished gearing up.

"Omega, keep with Echo and The Reg..."

Fives moved next to Echo and the crate he had just finished grabbing from.

"Tech, get the ship fired up, we might need a quick escape."

Tech nodded and moved for the ship, readying it.

"And Wrecker, with me. We're finding Crosshair."

"You've got it Sarge."

Omega picked up Wrecker's Lula. As she stood on her feet, she noticed the bay doors.

"I think he had the same idea." Omega said pointing to the bay doors, as they slowly opened.

Fives set his blasters to stun as he ducked behind the crate with Echo. The others also ducked.

A squad of shock troopers came rushing in, their carbines were pointed in their direction.

Crosshair carried a sniper rifle as he walked in.

Hunter stood up, walking to the center as he looked at Crosshair.

Wrecker, Echo and Fives peered over their crates.

"Is that...Crosshair?"

Crosshair stared ahead at Fives, but quickly returned his attention to Hunter.

"Best surrender. Sargeant."

"Turn in the reg. Make it...easy on yourself."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Hunter exclaimed

"We should've killed that Jedi. You disobeyed orders."

"I did what I thought was right!" He defended

"How's that working out for you? Now you're throwing in with a reg, a traitorous one at that and... A kid?"

"Now Surrender."

Hunter looked back at the men. Wrecker put his helmet on his head and readied his weapon. Echo was aiming, and the ARC Trooper nodded his head as he took aim.

He returned his look to Crosshair. "Is that an order?"

Crosshair smirked. "Heh. I guess it is."

"Well.. I guess I'm disobeying that one too."

The tension was high as soldiers stared upon each other, daring the other to make the first move.

The silence. Loud.

Crosshair's expression narrowed, his finger inched closely on the trigger of his hand held pistol and sniper rifle.

Then he fired a shot.

Hunter ducked in time and it had hit the side of the ship.

It was quick to become a firefight.

In the end, the batch escaped mainly unscathed, except for Wrecker who had been shot by Crosshair.

Echo was currently tending to him. And this was giving Fives the entire world time to think.

But thinking.. Was all he had since he was in that cell. He was tired of thinking.

Omega had shot the blasters out of Crosshair's hands. It was a very impressive feat for an untrained clone.

Hunter walked over to Fives. Even Tech would easily read that which appeared all over his face.

"Uh thanks... For covering us back there." He started an awkward conversation.

"It's what we do.." He said a hazy focus.

"What's on your mind uh...-"

"Fives."

Hunter chuckled briefly.

"What is it?"

"ARC-5555?" He looked up at his 5 tattoo after he spoke.

"Uh yeah?"

"That's a little on the nose, isn't it?"

"Says the guy who has batchmates named Tech, Crosshair and Wrecker." Fives

Okay, he had him there.

"So... Uh.. Heard you tried to kill the Chancellor.."

"That's just the version clones were told about me. Because the truth... Would've stopped this from ever happening."

Fives held his palm against the side wall as he sighed.

"You mean order 66?"

"It was much worse... But that was a big part of it."

He looked back at Echo, fending off Wrecker who complained about the medical attention.

"It's why they pushed the crazy clone narrative so hard. Because if I appeared insane... No one would believe me."

"And it worked."

"They expect all of us to be unthinking droids... To follow every order without a single question? But.. That's not who I am. They weren't expecting it, I suppose."

"They weren't prepared for me to investigate when things were clearly not right... It was unsettling to them. They had to take the nuclear option to protect the skeletons in their closets."

"You defied their 'programming?' too?" Hunter asked

"Good soldiers follow orders.. But the best ones know when not to." Fives said

"That type of thinking usually gets you labelled as a defect."

"Eh, I'm used to it. My squad and I, we've been hearing that one since were cadets." Fives said

"Maybe they were right. But I figure the way things are going, that's how you know you're in the right."

"Conforming to the standards of the rest.. They are basically unthinking droids. I wouldn't want that either."

"You know you might be stuck with us for a while, considering the move we just made." Hunter said

"You're all brothers. It's more than I had back when I was imprisoned on Kamino."

"And you don't care that we're not.. Well, regs?" Hunter asked

"Why should I care about that?"

"Don't examine me! I'm not a computer!" They heard Wrecker yell out.

They looked over at him, diverting their attention.

"This will just take a second."

Hunter uncrossed his arms, he glanced at Fives before they began to walk over.

"Get that thing away from me!"

Echo looked past, seeing Fives again. Well... Now was as good of a time to address this as any.

Fives looked over at him. There was a sigh in relief.

Omega silently observed them. Having already known they were batch mates.

Wrecker, Tech and Hunter were busy talking about Cross hair, until they realized Echo wasn't part of the conversation. He walked over to Fives.

"Did you miss me?" Echo asked, breaking the long silence as he reached his twin's location.

Fives didn't say anything as he quickly pulled him into a tight hug.

Echo took a breath, returning the hug with his one good arm.

"It's really you... I can't believe it."

They caught the attention of the others, the only ones not appearing to be confused were Tech and Omega.

"I'm so sorry.. I never should have-"

"It's not your fault. I never blamed you." Echo said

"I left you.."

"No. You followed orders."

"Look where following orders has gotten clones." He sighed, blame on himself...

"What happened?" They asked at the same time after a silence.

They let go finally.

"Fives.. Rex told me you were killed. In fact you're listed as legally dead."

"How are you-"

"I don't know. There's.. things I just don't remember." He was honest, his mind was hazy at times

"You recognized me back on Kamino. Before anyone else ever called me Echo."

"Like I would ever not recognize you Ech'ika?"

"What.. Happened.. After.. You know." Fives said

"I take it they used to know each other." Hunter said off hand

"I would certainly hope so, being batchmates and all." Tech replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world

"What?" Hunter asked

His eyes were glued to the datapad.

"CT-27-5555 and CT-1409 were the last remaining members of Domino Squad, both making it to ARC Trooper status shortly after helping The Republic take a win during the Battle of Kamino. Report by Taun We.."

"Domino Squad consisted of members Hevy, Cutup, Droid-Bait, Echo and Fives. Three of the Five were killed on their first mission at the Rishi Moon outpost. Echo and Fives were the last remaining, and were requested for the 501st legion by Captain Rex."

"Echo was seemingly killed by an explosion at the citadel rescue, leaving Fives as the last remaining Domino before the parasite turned him crazy, resulting in his death by blaster, Commander Fox."

"I have recently been informed that Echo survived the blast, and was taken captive by the Techno Union. Later joining with Clone Force 99. Report taken by General Shaak Ti."

"So you mean they're from the same squad?" Wrecker asked

"That is what I just said."

"Can they read each other's minds?" Omega asked

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked

"They keep giving each other looks without talking and look like they're having a conversation." Omega said

"Maybe they have telepathy!" Wrecker said

"I highly doubt that as a possibility." Tech said

The Domino Twins walked over together after finishing their conversation. Echo came by to check on Wrecker. And Fives briefly spoke with Tech as Hunter spoke up to Omega.

"Impressive shot back there." Hunter looked to Omega

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

"I don't know.  I never fired a blaster before."

"I guess I just got lucky."

The attention of the others was diverted to the conversation when Echo spoke up.

"She's not the only one." He moved Wrecker up.

"I'm fine. It'll take more than a blaster shot to take me down." Wrecker said

"You were down." Echo reminds him.

"Yeah, well.. Not for long!" He laughed out loud, playfully punching Echo in the arm.

He groaned in pain shortly after.

"So uh.. Where are we gonna go now? Not exactly a lot of places for clone deserters and a clone traitor." Fives asked Hunter

"I thought we could go off on our own. Lay low."

"But with Crosshair gunning for us, I'm not so sure." Hunter was thinking

"What about your friends?  Can any of them help us?" Omega asks

"That would be a short list.." Tech said

"Well.. I can think of one. Plot a course for J-19." Hunter said

Tech nodded his head and set the Navi computer.

"J-19?" The twins spoke up at the same time.

"We know a guy."

The ship was silent.

Wrecker and Omega were huddled up together, asleep.

Tech was flying the ship through hyperspace.

Fives and Echo were sitting next to one another. Fives rubbed his eyes, he still tried hiding how tired he really was.

"Fives. Get some sleep. Even those two are asleep by now." He motioned towards Omega and Wrecker.

"I'm not tired."

Echo scoffed. How dumb did this fool think he was?

"Did you by chance forget who you tried that with just now?" Echo was a little snarky

"Or did you perhaps think I somehow don't know you anymore?"

"I'm the one person who has always known you and will always know you."

Fives looked down at the floor. And Echo put his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's going on?"

He didn't want to bring it up.

"I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"We haven't seen each other since the Citadel before today. And the first problem you're having.. You don't even want to talk about it?"

"I have my reasons." He responded

"They all- look.."

"You're right. We did just get each other back. And that's exactly why I don't want to ruin that with this."

"Talk to me."

It was easy to slip back into old habits with Echo around. Of course.. Things were somehow harder now than it had been.. But there were a few things in this moment that did feel the same.

"Well uh...I don't sleep...really. Not anymore."

"Things have gotten worse the longer I was there."

"I just can't take it... It's all the nightmares. They just.."

"Everytime I sleep.. I'm reliving it."

"I only sleep when I absolutely have to. Maybe 2 times a week."

"Things are different now.. They've been difficult for a while." Echo said

"We never really seem to catch a break,  do we?"

"No.. We really don't." Fives responded

"Except this time." Echo said

"After every horrible thing that's happened this last... Well since the Empire. It brought back our best way to fight through these things. Being together."

"As long as we live.. We're still batchmates. And you're still my twin. Though I might not exactly look the part anymore."

The joke resulted in a chuckle from the pair as they made eye contact.

"Try and sleep. I'll be right here the whole time." He promised.

"We're going to get through this eventually."

"You know after everything... It did nothing. The warning. No one believed me and no one was saved." Fives sighed.

"It might have."

"Do you think it's ever gonna be okay?" Fives asked

"I know.. We're clones. We were made for being soldiers.."

"But this brings back the fear.. What are they going to do to our brothers now that the war is over?"

"I don't know Ori'vod.. But we are going to save who we can."

Fives rested his head on Echo's shoulder.

"If they could see us now.. I hope they'd be proud." Echo said

"They would." Fives answered

[howlsofbloodhounds]

A common interpretation I’ve seen of Killer is that he’s really horny and goes to Lusttale/Lust’s brothel to get his sexual needs met.

A common reason people seem to think he’d do this is because they think he would use sex as an unhealthy coping mechanism.

I don’t really see Killer as horny, in fact, i think that Stage 2 has a very low sex drive and that he experiences a degree of asexuality due to not only his trauma, but his emotional numbness and extreme apathy.

And since Killer was Sans once, and I remember hearing that Toby Fox once said Sans would be too lazy for a relationship (that paired with the circumstances of his AT), I don’t doubt Killer is a virgin when Nightmare takes him from his AT.

I think he’d turn to sex as a very last resort, mostly because I think he’d struggle to understand why people would allow others to touch them like that. How they could trust them like that.

Maybe his curiosity peaks when he reads a book about how things like sex could have a positive effects of humans, monsters, and even souls. But he never actually considers it until his Boss sends him on a mission to Lusttale.

An AU of Toriel notices him and approaches him and Killer reacts instinctively to another monster approaching him. Squaring his shoulders, glaring, ready to snap at her to go away until she opens her mouth and flirts with him.

He’s suprised by this. The Toriel is pretty, and he recalls how he vaguely had a crush on his Toriel when he was Sans; so he cautiously flirts back.

They’re having a fun back and forth, but the mission pulls Killer away and he pushes the thought of that Toriel away until he’s back at the castle. And, well, now he’s curious.

He isn’t really sexually attracted to the Toriel, although she is beautiful, but what’s the harm in giving this a shot? He used to see something in Toriels, he used to feel something for them before. Maybe he can do it again.

He cannot do it again. He runs into that Toriel at Lusttale again a few weeks later, and this time they actually managed to get somewhere. Only as soon as they’re in a bedroom, already half way undressed, and Toriel’s calling him Sans and suddenly he isn’t there anymore.

Physically, he is. But not in any other way. The world slips, turning foggy and gray. Toriel’s voice sounds like Killer is hearing her from underwater, and he struggles to breathe. Her hands on him feel too hot and tight, and not in the good way.

Toriel notices the eyelight in his right socket and calls it beautiful, and Killer shuts down; his target soul going deathly still. He robotically goes through the motions, fumbling occasionally as Toriel has to guide him back to where she wants him to be. He doesn’t have the presence of mind to be embarrassed about it.

Toriel’s hand brushes against his soul—accidentally, accidentally, it was an accident—and suddenly a knife is at her throat before she can blink. Killer’s soul is spinning erratically, the goop gushing down his cheeks, and he shortcuts away before Toriel can do anything else.

He ends up in alleyway somewhere, struggling to calm down as his soul wobbles and warps on his chest. It can’t decide which Stage to go in, 1 or 3.

He can hear faint, panicking voices in the back of his head; but he takes a deep breathe and tries to ignore it. Tries to ignore Toriel’s voice mixed in there, and the ghostly presence at his side.

“Shouldn’t have done that, Sans.” Their voice says. “What a sick thing to do. You’ve killed versions of her countless times.”

Killer doesn’t respond, but now he knows he can’t go for Toriels. Maybe not even Grillbys.

He leaves a blue hyacinth at the steps of the bedroom door they were in, as an apology, and takes his leave without a goodbye.

He doesn’t go back to Lusttale for anything more than missions his Boss sends him on, and he tries his best to avoid Lust’s brothel. He heard rumors about how this Lust was protective of his workers, and well, Killer wasn’t interested in being involved with anyone from Lusttale.

But as time goes on, and the more it’s just him and the Boss, he finds himself getting more and more lonely. It feels like he’s going insane, living his life from mission to mission; becoming a blur in his mind as the weeks melded together.

He vaguely recalls having meetings with that flame headed Sans. He remembers feeling happy, and safe. It never lasts long, as it doesn’t take long for Nightmare to show up. Nothing is feeling real. Nothing at all.

His usual but equally unhealthy tricks to stay grounded aren’t working, and he finds himself in UnderLust. He isn’t sure what the difference between UnderLust and Lusttale is supposed to be, but so long as he doesn’t run into anymore Toriels he really doesn’t care by this point.

And maybe this is where he officially meets UnderLust Sans.

[triphimi]

So a lot of people really dislike Dittophobia for messing with their theories. So let me tell you all the things that Dittophobia actually confirmed for my theories.

1. Fnaf SL happened after fnaf 1. The book pretty much confirmed my timeline of games order which I'm happy about since there was really not a lot of evidence for either side and I'm glad we finally have an answer for that.

2. Experiment theory. Self explanatory. Even though it was pretty known a lot of people still belived we play as CC in a coma (and I wad really surprised by how many since I haven't seen that theory being popular since the logbook came out)

3. Nightmare animatronics weren't real or at least not in their in game forms. Among experiment theory believers there were still arguments whenever nightmare animatronics were actually real. My theory was that yes but no. In short there was something either plushies or mannequins (which actually turned out to be correct!) That were moved around and the whole illusion was made with factor of darkness. Well that is true however I never really considered the whole nightmare gas thing so I'd say I was like 80% correct on that one.

4. William was already a killer before CC died. I've even had a post about how I think MCI happened in 1983 bc there's already rumors about haunted robots while CC is still alive. And people are mad about that one because it supposedly "ruins his motivation" which for them was death of his son but I always found that theory unbelievably stupid. William's motivation isn't really covered in games. Sure he wanted to experiment on fear and agony. But the most motivation on why he would do this is in book trilogy where after killing Charlie he's scared of what awaits him in the afterlife so he tries to find the key to immortality. And it doesn't have to be the exact same reason in games since the trilogy is different continuity from games. However I could see that be the case but it's just speculations.

5. Since Fredbear plush is just William talking through it finally is a nail in the coffin for "William was actually a good father and wanted to protect his family" theory. I've also had and entire post about why I don't think he was a good father before Dittophobia came out just based on games so no trilogy evidence there. I honestly don't know why would someone think that William wasn't all that bad and why would he be somehow redeemable.

6. There were maaaaaany victims. Yeah William is a psychopath and a serial killer. People are still to this day arguing whenever toy animatronics are haunted and some say he only killed 6 children. So it makes so much sense to me that there were many victims beside them and even more beside toy animatronics kids bc William was monster who would do anything for his own gain. "He always comes back" but not just from the dead but to commit another murder.

So yeah these were the things that I've already belived before Dittophobia came out and said book just confirmed them. Did it confirm literally every and each one of my theories? No, like 70% of them. But am I gonna claim other 30% that were disproved are a retcon because I'm never wrong? No lmao and I don't get why people are like that since all the things I listed above are conclusions to which I came to some years ago (most recent being probably Midnight Motorist one). So it was possible to form these theories without Dittophobia and yes I'm happy we finally have fnaf 4 explained and I still would be even if it disproved all of my theories as long as we have a consistent story.

[tw1l1te]

Whispers From the Sky: Chapter VI

A/N: Helllloooo! I finally finished this chapter, and I’m so happy with all the support and nice comments I’ve been getting. I wish you all happy holidays and a great holiday season! I plan to upload another chapter before New Year’s, so stay tuned!!

~

You didn’t get any sleep the rest of the night. You sat under the tree, watching as the night sky brightened, but the clouds stayed, almost as if the weather wanted to match what you were feeling.

Hazy.

Confused.

Numb.

You were brought out of your thoughts when Time spoke softly to you.

“Although this isn’t ideal, we have to keep moving. Once we make it up to the plateau we can rest and try to process this mystery. No one is going to let anyone hurt you, even though we have no idea who you are.”

You looked down at your lap, not even knowing what to respond.

Sighing, Time stood up, you followed shortly after, and the walk to The Great Plateau began.

It seems your nightmare dampened the mood for the group, but it wasn’t necessarily awkward. You would occasionally hear someone make quiet conversation, but it ended quickly thereafter.

Twilight slowed down to keep in pace with you, causing you to look up.

“I’m sorry last night was so painful for you. Although I don’t understand what exactly happened, I understand, in a way. We all do.”

You were confused at what he meant by that.

Oh.

They didn’t choose to be heroes. They didn’t choose this life of fighting and glory… if you could even call it that.

“I just don’t understand why I would be shown this dream, vision, whatever it is. And the triforce being burned onto my hand? Seems more like a threat than some blessing or great prophecy…” you mumbled off, turning your attention onto your bandaged hand, which needed to be re-bandanged soon.

Twilight sighed.

“Maybe you do have a greater role in this and none of us know it yet. You should give yourself more credit considering all the events that have transpired in the few days that you’ve come to Hyrule.”

Twilight was about to reach for your bandaged hand, but at the last second he hesitated and brought his hand back to his side, looking out towards the expanse of Hyrule Field.

You had thought the rest of the day’s journey would go on solemnly and quiet, but you were sorely mistaken.

A beeping and whirring sound made you halt in your steps, Wild snapping his head at the mechanical sounds.

While one guardian could be taken out by Wild in a few minutes, two more appeared from behind you, already targeting their victims.

Swords were unsheathed, shields were equipped, and you stood, frozen, staring at the guardian about 20 feet away from you.

“Y/n, move! I need you to stay behind me!” Wild yelled, two beams of light colliding with his shield. Nodding, you stood against Wild, looking at the heroes slashing at the machinery.

You then remembered.

Ancient arrows. Those could work.

Looking down at Wild’s quiver, you saw a few Ancient arrows sticking out, casting a faint blue glow against Wild’s clothes.

Taking them out, you breathed in, and out.

You only have a short amount of time to actually kill these octopus robots, so you needed to make it count. You are not going to watch helplessly from the sidelines just to watch someone get hurt.

You can do this.

You sprinted up to the first guardian, hearing a bunch of yelling and cursing your way from the group.

You gripped the arrow and plunged it into the center blue eye, the machine instantly sputtering and breaking down. Scampering off the guardian, you run over to the next, narrowly passing a beam aimed straight for your head.

Jump. Plunge, Twist.

You jump down, looking around for the third, which had occupied Time and Sky’s attention.

You had one arrow left, so you mustered up all your energy and raced towards the last guardian, its attention still on the two heroes.

Sky yelled out as he saw you run towards the guardian, arrow in hand.

You jumped up the body, slipping at the texture, but managed to shatter the eye, rolling off onto the grass with a grunt.

When you heard the machine power down, you closed your eyes, exhausted from the exertion powered by adrenaline that has tired you out.

You heard nothing but crickets and the wind blowing for a few moments, but that was short lived.

“That was incredibly reckless and dangerous for you to do. You were told to stay protected behind Wild and you disobeyed. You are lucky to have returned unscathed or badly hurt, but next time might not be so lucky,” Time spoke. He was standing right in front of you, towering over your weak form.

Nodding, you turn around, preparing to continue the journey to the Great Plateau. Wild looks at you with sympathy, already falling in step with you to give you company.

Twilight, Warriors and Legend looked annoyed, the latter mumbling something under his breath.

The rest just looked worried, but sent you sympathetic smiles and Sky gave you a small pat on the shoulder. You avoided looking at Time, your eyes starting to burn from embarrassment.

The rest of the walk was awkward and quiet. You didn’t talk, even when Wild tried to spark a conversation, but he noticed your lack of response, so he stopped conversing and merely walked with you.

You knew it was a bad idea to get involved in such physical and violent moments, but you’ve fought guardians in game so many times.

Surely Time knows that?

I feel so useless just standing there, hoping a hero would protect me. I don’t want to be an extra weight on their shoulders.

Maybe I should just lea-

“Ah, we’re here!” Wild exclaimed.

Legend and Warriors groaned, peering up at the stone wall. You couldn’t even see the top from the mist and fog.

How the HELL am I supposed to climb that?

“Alright, I’m gonna teleport to the shrine close to the wall and drop down a rope. I believe the rope can hold two to three people at a time, so probably someone heavier will go with someone lighter to decrease the chance of the rope snapping.”

Twilight shuffled, giving a thick rope to Wild, who slinged it over his shoulder and waved to you, teleporting through glowing blue wisps.

It looked so much cooler in person than it did through a screen. You hoped you could try it one time, if Wild let you.

A few minutes pass, everyone standing around, waiting for the rope to drop.

Suddenly, the rope dropped, a few feet away from you, making you panic for a split-second.

Sky, Four and you were up first. Four went in front of you, and Sky behind you for extra precaution just in case you fell or lost grip.

You did not want to think about that scenario.

And so, the climb began.

Not even 20 feet off the ground, your palms started to burn. The rope was scratchy, digging into your palms every time you climbed up. You could hear Four and Sky panting, in a similar predicament to you. After a few minutes, you accidentally looked down, making you halt in your progress.

It was a very long way down.

If you slipped, you’re as good as dead.

“Y/n! Don’t look down!” Sky yelled, snapping you out of your panicking. Nodding, you looked up, making out the shape of Wild over the ledge, looking out for his partners. Your eyes were itching from the wind and dust particles, but you could not let go.

You could feel your calves burning from relying on them so much. You prayed to whatever being that you would somehow make it to the top.

You could now makeout Wild’s face, colors, and his long hair, which gave the last push of momentum to finish the climb. As soon as you were within reach, Wild grasped your arm and used his strength to yank you onto solid ground. Gasping, you tumbled onto your back, gasping deeply, trying to wind down from the burning in your legs.

“Hey, you still with me Y/n? You did so well. I know it was a hard and scary climb, but I’m sure we won’t have to do that for a long time.” he murmured, brushing your hair out of your face and mouth.

You didn’t process how close he was to you, still exhausted from the physical activity, but you managed to nod slightly to give him a sign that you were awake.

It took another hour to get everyone to the top, almost everyone slightly red in the face and panting. Wild was so damn lucky to not have climbed a giant rock wall.

“We have a few hours of daylight left, so we can make it to the Temple of Time. It’s up on that ridge over there. Don’t worry, there’s practically no climbing, just walking.” he said with a smile, a few of the members sending him annoyed looks.

Hyrule and Four walked next to you, checking up on you. Your hands were blistered from gripping the rock so hard, so Hyrule made it his priority to get you some leather gloves at the next shop they saw.

Looking around, you almost expected to see monster camps near the edge, but it was serene. The sun was lowering in the sky, and the breeze was so much more bearable up here than while climbing. You could see Gerudo Highlands in the distance and the Sheikah Tower, still glowing blue from when Wild reactivated it.

You started spacing out and didn’t realize that you were humming. You didn’t notice until Twilight spoke up.

“What song is that? I haven’t heard it before.”

With Twilight’s curiosity, a few of the group’s heads perked up with curiosity, hell, even Legend’s.

You stopped.

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t realize that I was doing that. I tend to space off quite a bit and fidget or hum unknowingly.” you said, your face burning red from the attention on you.

Sky chuckled, “It’s no trouble at all. I space the most in the group, so I know. Is the song from your home?”

You sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, uh, its called ‘Venus’. Its a song about a goddess, I guess? My mom loved that song when she was— younger. It’s kinda talking about how women are goddesses and are powerful. I don’t know, it makes me feel good when I’m conflicted with myself.” you explained.

“Can you hum some more? It’s catchy.” Four commented, smiling up at you.

You continued humming, switching to a few other songs once it ended. No one seemed to mind though. You already felt better from earlier, hiding your soft smile while you walked.

You arrived at the temple before you knew it, the sky quickly darkening from when you climbed to the top of the plateau.

“It would be best to set up camp within the temple. It would give us shelter from any rain, but also prevent vulnerability to monsters at night,” Warriors stated, unpacking his bag in the middle of the temple.

Everyone else agreed, so you laid out your belongings, checking to make sure you didn’t lose anything on the journey here. You were still in a musical mood, so you checked your phone to see if it was still working.

Battery at 100%.

Weird.

It’s been a few days, and the battery life hasn’t changed? You supposed that it had something to do with the fact that you were inside a video game, so maybe the electrical factor of it powered it.

You scrolled through your phone to find your downloaded music. You plugged in your earphones and picked a song. A guitar riff started up, buzzing you up with energy.

You continued sifting through your bag and that’s when you noticed that everyone was staring at you. They have no idea what even happened.

You stared at them for a moment, but started hysterically laughing at their facial expressions. 

“HAHAHAHAH- you should see the look on your faces! You look live you’ve seen a ghost!” you cackle, falling on your side and clutching your stomach.

Twilight and Wild broke into a smile, Wind and Four also started laughing, the rest just having confusion still apparent on their faces.

After calming down and wiping your eyes, you spoke again.

“Alright, alright. Since you all are SO curious, I’ll show you. Who wants to listen to some of my music?”

[tenebraevesper]

Five Nights at Freddy's: Salvaged, Night 9: Salvage Dreams

''What is point of creation? No answer, only nightmares. Cold and lifeless iron death cells, seems we have hearts inside us. Maybe I will scare you too much; Please, I really need to know why. Vicious circle all around me, we can't keep this scary old lie. My old scene, it beckons me, but should we freeze our lives forever, or you'll embrace us all together, to get us all free in the flame.''

 – Salvage Dreams by MiaRissyTV ft. Cheshire (Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator)

xXxXxXx

Sam leaned against the pillow, feeling tired as she checked some notifications on her smartphone. It was late evening, with her and Springtrap having returned home from their investigation at the factory. The animatronic in question was sitting on the other end of her bed, looking just as tired as she was, but also somewhat content.

''So, I guess we have another mystery at our hands,'' Sam said, glancing at Springtrap.

''I'm pretty sure that this mystery is connected to what happened at Ricky's,'' Springtrap replied.

''Speaking of which, we know that a man, a night guard, had been murdered at Ricky's and left at Freddy's,'' Sam said. ''We also know that whoever killed him made sure nobody would find out about it.''

''We also know that someone constructed that animatronic, maybe more, at the factory, but we don't know why,'' Springtrap added. ''There is a possibility that it was the same person, someone who has an interest in robots. Perhaps, they were caught by the night guard doing something which they wanted to keep secret and that is why the night guard had to die.''

''Maybe, but we have no idea what our culprit had done,'' Sam said. ''Also, leaving the body at Freddy's was a smart move, considering how infamous Freddy's is for missing people cases and murders.'' She bit her lip. ''You know, I think this is less about damaging the reputation of a rival company and perhaps more personal, with Freddy's being the scapegoat.''

''The question remains, who would do that and why,'' Springtrap said, frowning. He could still see the twitching endoskeleton and the pleading look it gave him. It wasn't made to kill.

''Do you think that someone is trying to recreate the haunted animatronics?'' Sam asked. Springtrap shrugged.

''Why don't you check the news for any missing children?'' he asked, half-jokingly. It was merely a suggestion, but Sam instantly checked her smartphone, looking at the local news.

''There's nothing. Just a car accident and a burglary on the other side of the town,'' she said. ''There are no reported kidnappings or missing people cases.''

''I see. Even if the night guard's death was covered, a missing child wouldn't go unnoticed,'' Springtrap said, feeling a little frustrated. What exactly is going on?

''I think you were right about the theory that the night guard might've been killed because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time,'' Sam said. ''However, whether the animatronic we saw had anything to do with it, we don't know.''

''Maybe it does,'' Springtrap said. ''I'm not saying that someone would try to recreate a haunted animatronic, but it was sure created with some kind of function.''

''Who knows,'' Sam sighed. ''I think we should figure out tomorrow what to do next.''

''So, I guess my Five Nights trial is over, right?'' Springtrap asked, giving Sam a curious look. ''Unless you want to add an extra Night.''

''As long as you're here, I don't think those Five Nights will ever end,'' Sam replied, noticing Springtrap's sly expression.

''Well, perhaps I could start my own trial with you,'' Springtrap said, his eyes glowing in a very faint purple. The glow faded, however, when he saw how reluctant Sam was. He actually wanted to let her know that he was just messing with her, and was surprised when she nodded. He sat closer to her, noticing the empty stare she had. ''What happened?''

Sam took a deep breath, speaking in a heavy, bitter tone.

''Remember what I told you about my former friends?'' She looked at Springtrap, who nodded. ''Even though I ghosted them, they were still trying to be a part of my life. I had to endure two years straight of them switching between being my best friends and being bullies. That was two years of psychological torture, where they would switch between trying to be nice and friendly and calling me a horrible person and blaming me for everything that went wrong.''

''That's incredibly cruel,'' Springtrap muttered, torn between trying to comfort her and letting her have some of her own space. One thing he hated about himself was that, despite what he said, he had some trouble connecting with people on an emotional level. He understood how Sam felt and what she was going through, but he felt he lacked the empathy any other decent human being would feel in such situation.

''They would get more aggressive the more I ignored them,'' Sam continued, with Springtrap noticing that her eyes were sparkling. ''Instead of kicking and punching me, they would send me messages over social media or something similar. Then, there was this…'' She trailed off, choking up. Her eyes were tearing, with her wiping them away.

''Sam?'' Springtrap lifted his hand, wanting to place it on her shoulder in a comforting manner, but something stopped him. Sam shook her head.

''They set me up with this older guy. It was supposed to be some kind of prank,'' she said, clenching her fists and shaking. ''I had no idea what was going on. I had no idea who he was. All I knew was that a stranger appeared in front of my door, while it was evening and I was home alone, screaming at me for standing him up and threatening me for lying to him. I was so scared…''

Tears were flowing down her cheeks, with her gasping and wiping them away. Springtrap wished he could do more for her. Rage was growing inside him at the thought of seeing Sam suffer like this.

''He believed I was in on the prank, even though I told him I had no idea what he was talking about. Luckily, I managed to lock the door, because he attempted to break in and show me why people shouldn't mess with him. I-I thought I was going to get h-hurt or worse,'' she added. ''The next day, a girl in my class told me how someone made a fake profile of me and catfished the guy. I had deleted all of my social media before that, so I had no idea what was going on. Nobody knew who did that, but I already had an idea. However, nothing could be p-proven, since they had already d-deleted the fake profile.''

She broke down crying.

''Sam,'' Springtrap muttered, reaching for her shoulder, only to look back in shock when she recoiled from his touch. ''Sam, I'm sorry.''

''No, it's not you…'' Sam shook her head, wiping her tears and taking a deep breath. ''I'm such an idiot.''

''No, you're not,'' Springtrap told her, only to be cut off by Sam.

''Yes, I am,'' Sam replied in a firm tone. ''I knew how toxic they were and despite that, I felt that I needed to be part of that group. There were times I blamed myself, thinking I was indeed somehow at fault and that I was a horrible person.''

''Sam, you're in no way a horrible person nor an idiot,'' Springtrap told her in a calm, comforting tone. ''You simply wanted support, but instead had to go through something horrible that scarred you.''

''To be honest, I have struggled with low self-esteem and anxiety, and even depression, after I ghosted my friends. I did tell myself that I could do better, but I only found myself locking up in my room more and more,'' Sam said. ''I didn't want to go out anymore because I was afraid. I felt that I couldn't trust people anymore, even though I really wanted to trust someone. I managed to somehow reconstruct my life and went out, bit by bit, but sometimes, I would still hear their voices, telling me how selfish I was or that I did something that made everyone hate me.'' She took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. ''I knew I needed to move on, and I figured I would be better off without any friends than having even one toxic friend.''

''You sure felt incredibly lonely,'' Springtrap muttered, with Sam nodding. He sighed. ''Sam, I don't think you're better off with me as your friend.'' He noticed her questioning look. ''You know what I did to my only friend, to Henry.''

''Yeah,'' Sam said in a quiet tone. ''That went far beyond petty pranks.''

''You know, lately I have been wondering what Henry might think about this whole thing,'' Springtrap said.

''I think he'd probably try to incinerate you again,'' Sam said. Springtrap lowered his head, chuckling softly, and looked at Sam with a smug expression.

''True,'' he said, his eyes glowing purple. ''Still, I have returned, despite all of Henry's efforts.''

He saw Sam's unnerved look as she stared back at him. She looked a little pale and was still shaking. Springtrap realized that he messed up and, instead of comforting her, made her even more upset. This was not what he had in mind.

''It doesn't matter,'' he said hastily, trying to calm her down. Sam shook her head.

''It seems like it does,'' she said, narrowing her eyes. ''Remember what I said? Whenever your eyes start glowing, it means that you're excited or aggressive. In other words, you become a danger to other people.''

''Sam, I-'' Springtrap cut himself off, realizing that Sam would only get upset if he made up an excuse in order to calm her down. After all, she only trusted him because he was completely honest with her. He sighed. ''Sam, I know I said that I'm a dangerous person, but I mean no harm to you. However, I cannot say the same for anyone else.'' He clenched his fists, the purple glow in his eyes intensifying. ''This is something that won't change.'' He then glanced Sam. ''It still surprises me that out of all people, I am the one you have chosen to trust. Were you really that desperate to have someone to talk to?''

''Yeah, kind of,'' Sam admitted. ''I'm a mess.''

''I think that we're both a mess,'' Springtrap said, with Sam smiling a little, her pale cheeks regaining some colour.

''Isolation really screws with your head, doesn't it?'' Sam said, with Springtrap nodding. ''So, what was that about a possible Night 6?''

''It depends on whether you already know what you would like to do,'' Springtrap replied.

''To be honest, I don't,'' Sam said.

''May I suggest something?'' Springtrap asked, with Sam nodding. ''I think we should go to Ricky's tomorrow. After all, this is where the mystery had started. Maybe we could find out more.''

''Okay,'' Sam said, yawning. ''Sounds like a plan.''

Springtrap then stood up, walking over to the door and glancing back at Sam, who had lied down on her bed. He turned the lights off.

''Good night,'' he said, only to hear a barely audible ''Night'' from her. He then exited the room, closing the door. Leaning back against the door, he closed his eyes, as if trying to calm himself down.

Once he opened them again, they flared purple.

xXx

Scrapes were heard, sounding as if a caged animal was trying to break free. It begged him for attention, for the release from its miserable prison. The endoskeleton twitched again and again whenever he would come closer to it. He frowned, staring at it with a look of dissatisfaction.

He then walked over to the table, taking something long and metallic – a crowbar. He weighted it in his hands, taking a swing in order to test it. The endoskeleton started to only twitch more. He then turned to the pitiful mess of metal and wires.

''Shhhhh…'' he hissed. His tone of voice wasn't comforting anymore, as he felt that the twitching of the scared robot was making him only more frustrated. It was already annoying making it work again, but he felt now that he had no use for it.

''You aren't good enough,'' he whispered and swung at the endoskeleton, tearing its head off cleanly. A clanking sound echoed through the room as the head fell down, the glow in its eyes fading. ''You're a failure.''

xXx

My eyes are still glowing purple.

Springtrap was lying on the couch in the guest room, looking at his reflection in the window. He wasn't really unsettled by having his eyes suddenly turn purple, and he had figured that it would fade away eventually and return to the normal silver and green. He lied down, looking past his reflection and at the starry sky.

It had been a long day for both him and Sam. He still had a little trouble believing that Sam wanted him to stay here, but he was glad about that decision. He wasn't really sure whether he could even call this place his new home, but he could get used to that idea.

However, what he was actually looking forward to was the feeling of satisfaction whenever he saw Sam smile. Having spent what seemed to be an eternity in isolation, he understood well how she felt. The feeling of loneliness could drive people crazy, making them desperate enough to do anything to just have some kind of company. While Sam seemed to be able to handle herself, being lonely sure did take a toll on her. Even though there were still things he wasn't sure about, keeping her happy and content was one thing he was certain he would do.

So, what do you say, Henry? What is your opinion on me trying to make someone happy for once?

It did frustrate him a little that he couldn't talk to his old friend. There were a lot of unsaid things he wanted to talk about, but he knew that there was nothing he could do now. Henry was gone, and so were Michael, Sammy and Elizabeth. All the people had a connection to had perished thanks to what he had done.

But, Sam won't. I won't let that happen to her.

He was aware that Henry probably wouldn't approve of their friendship and, frankly, he didn't care. However, he knew that his old partner certainly would not approve of what he was up to now, especially since it also involved Sam.

There is still something I need to finish.

xXx

Sam stretched her arms, holding her smartphone next to her ear and walking downstairs, towards the kitchen.

''Yeah, I'm fine,'' she said, yawning and listening to her mother. As she walked into the kitchen, she saw a fresh batch of pancakes, with Springtrap holding a frying pan. She gave him a questioning look.

''Well, you liked the pancakes I made for you, so I thought I could make them again,'' he replied, with Sam nodding, listened briefly to something her mother told her and then turning the loudspeaker on.

''Good morning, Springtrap!'' Emma greeted the animatronic in a chipper tone, with Springtrap feeling a knot somewhere in the stomach area. He knew that something was wrong, getting a confirmation a moment later. ''I hope you nor Sam are going to do anything stupid today.''

Springtrap felt unnerved by Emma's ability of figuring things out, even though she wasn't here at all. He remembered her warning from yesterday and shuddered, realizing that she wasn't joking.

''Are you some kind of psychic?'' he asked, trying to sound calm, but it was obvious that he was unnerved.

''Actually, I'm just a parent who has developed a sixth sense for figuring out whenever my kid is about to do something I wouldn't approve of,'' Emma replied. ''The fact that you're with her doesn't make me feel less worried.''

Springtrap rolled his eyes, feeling annoyed.

''Don't give me that look!'' Emma suddenly yelled, startling the animatronic, who stepped back, completely freaked out.

How does she know?!

''I think you achieved what you wanted, Mum,'' Sam said, looking a little baffled and having a feeling that her mother was grinning in satisfaction. ''So, when are you coming back?''

''I got a call and I will have to make a little detour,'' Emma said in a regretful tone. ''I'm coming back either tomorrow or the day after.''

''I see,'' Sam said, turning the loudspeaker off, mostly for Springtrap's sake, and quickly finishing the call. There was something amusing in seeing him giving her a look that was a mix of feeling annoyed and unsettled.

''Why is she even treating me like I'm some kind of bratty child?'' he said. ''I'm an adult, certainly a lot older than her, and went through things she couldn't even imagine!''

''True, but your past doesn't help your case,'' Sam replied. ''Also, Mum believes that people should earn her respect instead of demanding it. You should try working on that.''

Springtrap still felt irritated, but didn't say anything and focused on cleaning the dishes by putting them in the dishwasher, while Sam targeted her breakfast.

''Mum also said that you don't have to freak out so much in her presence,'' she added.

''Trust me, I don't want that either, but she's quite good at making me paranoid,'' Springtrap replied as he sat next to her.

''I guess that nothing can be done then,'' Sam said, then grinned. ''In any case, the pancakes you made are delicious.''

''I'm glad about that,'' Springtrap replied, putting his arms on the table, crossing them and leaning his head against them as he looked at Sam. ''Honestly, I'm just waiting for you to ask me something.''

''You still have your mind settled on an extra Night,'' Sam said, noticing his ears twitch and lower. ''If I have any questions, I'll ask you.''

''Okay,'' Springtrap said and sat up. ''Then, we are focusing on Ricky's today.''

"Say, Will," Sam said, taking a bite of her pancake. ''Have you suggested Ricky's because it might give us answers on what happened or because you want to go back to an establishment that is similar to the one you used to work?''

Springtrap kept quiet, looking a little unsure about what to say. Sure, his primary reason to go there was their investigation, but he couldn't deny that he missed the atmosphere at Freddy's. It had been a huge part of his life, after all.

''So, let me get this straight. Aside from being a father, a co-founder of a franchise, an engineer, a manager, a CEO of a company, a night guard and a murderer, you're also a performer at heart,'' Sam said.

''You forgot that I'm also an animatronic,'' Springtrap said. ''Besides, I have already told you that something inside me would change whenever I put the mask on. I always considered myself as the character I performed as, with no one being able to replace me.''

''Considering how you're stuck in this suit, there is indeed no way that someone could replace you now,'' Sam said. Springtrap grinned.

''You have a point there,'' he said as she stood up, having finished with her breakfast and placing the dishes into the dishwasher. He then followed her into the living room. ''We still have a lot of time left before we go, so, is there anything you want to do? Do you want to play a game or something like that?''

''Actually, there is something that I've been thinking about,'' Sam said, turning to him. ''About what I said yesterday, it's…'' She sighed. ''It doesn't matter. I'm over it.''

''Are you trying to downplay your situation?'' Springtrap asked, crossing his arms. Sam sat on the couch, leaning back.

''I just wanted to say that my problems aren't as bad as yours, and that I feel that I was just overreacting,'' Sam said, looking up when Springtrap leaned against the couch, giving her a look of concern.

''Sam, you weren't overreacting and I don't think that your problems were less bad than mine,'' he told her. ''What happened affected you more than you think. Therefore, if you want to talk about it, I'm here for you.''

''I'm sorry for pushing you away,'' Sam said in a quiet tone.

''It's fine,'' Springtrap replied. ''You felt vulnerable and uncomfortable at that moment and you just wanted your own space. I understand that. Although, I am curious whether Emma knew about this?''

''I didn't tell her anything, but she had probably figured it out once I started to lock myself up in my room,'' Sam said. ''She didn't say anything, though. I guess she wanted to let me handle it by myself and assumed I would ask her for help if I had trouble dealing with it. She did tell me several times that I should go out and make some new friends.''

''I sincerely doubt she a haunted robot in mind,'' Springtrap said, with Sam chuckling.

''It's still better than nothing,'' she said, with Springtrap stepping back, grinning as he crossed his arms on his back. There was a faint glow of purple in his eyes.

''I am certainly a better option than your former friends,'' he said in an assuring tone. ''Don't worry.''

''There is something I want to ask you, though,'' Sam said. Springtrap's ears lowered, although he had already expected that.

''Okay, what is it?''

''I'm curious about how you feel about being an animatronic,'' Sam said, with Springtrap tilting his head.

''Hadn't we already covered that?'' he asked.

''We kinda did, but I'm curious about your experience before and after becoming the character you used to perform as,'' Sam replied. ''You said that you already liked the idea of being Spring Bonnie aka Springtrap.''

''True, but to be honest, I haven't really thought about it. I just accepted my new existence,'' Springtrap said, rubbing his wrists absentmindedly. After being trapped inside the suit, all he could remember was the agony he felt as he experienced a slow death. After his soul was attached to the suit, there had been a surge of satisfaction once he realized what he had achieved. However, he hadn't really payed much thought to the whole situation and focused on how to take advantage of his new existence. ''It did feel a little strange, though. While I was still alive and would wear the springlock suit while performing, I had to be careful to not trigger the spring locks.''

''After all, there had been a few times when you had seen the aftermath of that,'' Sam said. Springtrap nodded, the purple glow in his eyes becoming stronger.

''Despite the danger, I knew how to handle the suit, different than the other employees,'' he added. ''They were always careful with it, while I managed to move around more easily. It certainly did baffle some of them when they realized that. However, they didn't dare to move around more than necessary.''

''Considering how you and Henry built it, you obviously knew how to wear it without triggering the spring locks and getting crushed by them. Everyone else had Phone Guy's instruction tapes,'' Sam said, watching as Springtrap suddenly took a step forward and bowed gracefully.

''Nevertheless, death has its advantages,'' he said, giving her a smug grin. ''There are no restrictions and there is nothing I have to fear. Despite having my soul trapped inside the suit, I had gained more freedom than I ever had.''

''Unlike your victims,'' Sam said, watching as he went quiet, the smug expression vanishing. His eyes were still glowing purple.

''They have achieved their freedom,'' he said. ''They're gone.''

''That may be true, but what I'm curious about is how much control their souls had over the animatronic AI,'' Sam said. ''You said that you had to overpower the Spring Bonnie AI to take control over the suit, so I'm wondering who really was in control of Freddy and his friends, or who exactly controlled Circus Baby.''

Springtrap gave her a curious look, quite interested into the direction this conversation was going.

''What do you think?'' he asked, crossing his arms.

''I believe that the struggle is harder the more advanced the animatronic AI is,'' she said. ''Freddy and his friends were following their programming, with some direction of the children's souls, although the souls weren't able to take control of the animatronics. Had the souls been completely in control or taken over the AI, I believe that they would've been able to enter the hidden safe room instead of experiencing an error.''

''There's also the fact that you're talking about children's souls. They never knew what they were really doing, didn't they? My situation was completely different. Not only did I know what I was doing, but, as an adult, I could handle the situation in a more efficient way,'' he said, his gaze softening. ''Concerning Elizabeth and Circus Baby, it seems that the soul and AI have merged. When I met her as Scrap Baby, Elizabeth was following the AI's programming, which was to kill.'' He frowned, closing his eyes in frustration. ''Yet, I didn't care. Thinking about it, I never understood how souls really work and I only knew that they could stay attached to metal.'' He opened his eyes, which flared purple as he looked at Sam. ''I did understand how fragile life was and I had searched for a method to make my stay, and everyone else's, here more permanent. Once it worked out, all I had to do was to give into my bloodlust.''

''If it were possible and you had the choice, would you want to become human again, rather than an animatronic?'' Sam asked. Springtrap noted the sincere and innocent tone in her voice, feeling that she was honestly curious about his choices and decisions. He felt that it was quite interesting that she managed to bring up things he never really thought about or payed much attention to, as he believed that it wouldn't serve him any purpose.

''I have already told you that I'm fine the way I'm not,'' he said.

''Okay, but what if that weren't the case?'' Sam persisted. ''If you were still alive, would you try to figure out how to bind your soul to the animatronic you grew attached to?''

Springtrap remained silent for a while, with Sam wondering whether he really had second thoughts about his decision. He then shook his head.

''I think I still would try to do that,'' he said. ''While I may be saying this because my soul is already attached to an animatronic, I still believe that, if I were alive, I would still do the same.''

''But whether you would or wouldn't go murder people to achieve that goal or satisfy your bloodlust remains uncertain,'' Sam said, with Springtrap nodding.

''To be honest, sometimes I feel as if all what happened before getting trapped inside this suit was just a dream,'' he said. ''The hallucinations don't help it either. Sometimes, they are memories of my former life, but sometimes, I have no idea what I'm experiencing. It's not a memory or a delusion, but something completely different.''

''Maybe you have trouble with your memory,'' Sam suggested.

''I think I know how to tell the difference between a memory and whatever I'm experiencing, and I'm fairly certain that there is something else going on in my head,'' Springtrap said.

''Do you think that it's the Spring Bonnie AI trying to tell you something?'' Sam asked.

''I doubt that. I haven't sensed the AI acting up at all,'' Springtrap replied. ''It seems like it's just me inside this suit.''

''I wish I could somehow help you with that,'' Sam said.

''You're already doing a lot for me, more than I had anticipated,'' Springtrap replied, sitting next to her.

''Yeah, it is a little strange that I'm still here and talking to you,'' Sam said.

''You mean the fact that you're talking to a dangerous murderer and still alive despite that,'' Springtrap said, his eyes glowing purple. He looked worried.

''Kinda,'' Sam said, with Springtrap feeling that there was more to it. ''I am not really afraid of you, but I do feel sometimes a little unnerved by your presence.''

Springtrap lowered his head. He had already expected her to tell him that and he felt bad about it. He wanted to make her feel comfortable, but it was obvious that that would be hard, if not impossible, to achieve.

''I'm sorry about that,'' he muttered.

''Remember what happened when we first met?'' Sam said in a dark tone. ''You basically dragged me into an empty building and threatened me, and the first thing you told me was: 'Do you really think I would let you go so easily? Don't struggle, it'll be over soon.'. I was completely freaked out and afraid for my life. It was as if I was stuck in a nightmare.''

Springtrap stared at her, a little shocked. He was aware that what happened that evening was probably burned into her memory, but he didn't really expect her to quote his exact words back at him. He lowered his head, his eyes glowing in a soft purple. It feels like ages had passed since then-

''I did see you as my next victim,'' he said, clenching his fists. ''I am not making an excuse for what I did, but at that time, I figured that I should just continue with what I had started.''

He suddenly went silent. I was allowed to return and finish what I had started. But, what I did…

''William?'' He opened his eyes, seeing Sam's worried expression. It wasn't the worry and fear he had seen in his victims, but something different. Unlike the children, he wasn't a stranger to her.

''Sam, I'm sorry that I hurt you,'' he said in a comforting tone. ''I don't want to see you being hurt again.''

His eyes were glowing purple and he was aware that he wouldn't achieve much with just apologizing to her, even if he was sincere about everything he said. Not to mention, there is still what I had planned for her. For both of us. His eyes flared purple. Something I had started and now I need to finish.

''William, what's going on?'' Sam asked. Springtrap frowned.

''Sam, I am not trying to atone for what I did, but there is something I need to do,'' he said.

''Does it involve murder?'' Sam asked in a quiet tone, with Springtrap staring at her, a dark, determined look on his expression.

''They have already happened,'' he said.

xXx

It was another busy day, with children and adults trying to enjoy the time they spent at this place. He was moving around the place, weaving through the groups of people, easily avoiding bumping into any of them, despite the fact that he wore a mascot suit. He was already used to it, capable of finding his way through the crowd.

He would occasionally stop, greet parents and their children, sing and dance with them or merely direct them towards the arcades, the animatronics or the counter where they could order something to eat or drink. It was a job he enjoyed, being able to act the way he never would when the mask was off. He was a different person, able to share his feelings with others, but at the same time hiding his true intentions. Once again, he was walking on a thin line, this one being between reality and imagination.

Still, something was missing.

As he walked around, checking on everything, he saw someone familiar looking at the animatronics that were performing on the stage, a teen with brown hair. She seemed to be quite curious about the robots.

She looks lovely today.

He approached her, amused that she didn't even notice him.

''Hello there,'' he said. ''I see you have taken interest in my friends.''

The girl suddenly turned around, surprised to see Ricky staring at her. Suddenly, they got approached by another girl, who took the teen's hand and the two quickly walked away, gossiping about something. The man inside the costume felt a deep sense of dissatisfaction, the feeling of anger rushing through his body.

This wasn't the girl I was searching for.

Links:

#Previous Chapter

#Current Chapter

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#Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story (Masterlist)

[glitchafton]

The Vanny and William Logs Master Post.

In which I accidentally ended up creating a very selectively canon adjacent-ish AU that first developed a continuity, and then ended up becoming a whole weird little fic I didn’t intend it to become, but I still refuse to write it in order. So here’s the post that puts them in that order.

also I make no promises to quality or even internal consistency. There’s a reason I keep editing as I go. 

Vanessa and the Long Hiring Process

You turned him into a collectable because you knew someone would be a completionst about the tapes didn’t you? 

Log #1

In Which Agreements Are Made

Vanessa needs some answers still.

The Second Supervisor 

When you successfully frame someone for murder don’t be surprised that the story stuck. 

William Needs to Trauma Dump on Someone. Vanessa Needs Coffee.

Are you sure that this is even possible?

How much else was haunted exactly? 

-

Believing vs Understanding

Malhare Unleashed

Breaking

Control.

Request for therapy notes

Possession. Again. 

The Glitch of Damocles

-

Expanding the Rabbit’s Snare

Expanding the Rabbit’s Snare II: Sometimes things take time

She Just Has To Show Up

The Arcade Might Be Free At Least 

The Arcade Was at Least Quite Good

Pop-up follow up question

-

Working Late and Ignoring Probable Crimes Committed

No talk of child murder before 11

It’s After 11.

You Date Luis

-

Causing Problems on accident

Moving House and Confessions of Part Arson  

-

Stolen emails and multiple levels of concerns about this whole Pizzaplex concept (Major edit 27/7/22)

The 1980 Interview Commentary Vanessa didn’t ask for.

Birthday Cake Hatch!

The Mystery of Why Foxy is Being Phased Out

(Vaguely threatening) Flowers Sent to the Office

Vanessa once again is watching old videos. But with purpose.

-

William You’re Going in the Plushtrap because Vanessa’s Going Out of Town If You Like it Or Not.

Let’s not talk about past incidents on the company slack channel or The Return of Tape Girl

Remnant and it’s uses takes a lengthy power point, and Vanessa’s pretty sure she didn’t sign up for child murder

On background checks

Luis has further questions about Vanessa’s search history during work.

The Bag

-

Just a Simple Request (Major Edit #2: 12/1/23)

Plushtrap’s Potential Damage is (unfortunately for some) Quite Low

These flagged searches were actually normal.

Things Continue to Get Worse For Tape Girl

I want him dead.

Who Taught You How to Kill People? Here have a chart (more importantly, comic version by @starlit-mansion of original version) (Edit: 12/1/23)  

Do I have to wear the mask for Luis? (Edit: 12/1/23)

-

That wasn’t a request.

The Animatronic Delivery Service’s Incredibly Smooth Launch Day

Progress Report: Not Great

-

vannycostumedesign.png

vannycostumedesign2.png or Vanessa an William have an impromptu design meeting

William have you ever considered you’re the problem? (Edited for continuity, 27/7/22)

Child Murder 101

Preparations 

Enter the Pizzaplex

Chat with the CEO

Nightmares and Nepo-Zombie

-

Dayshift at The Pizzaplex Would Drive Anyone to Murder

-

Vanny is doing just fine. She’s not holding in a mental break down at all.

-

Vanessa vs The Blob

-

Let’s not sit in the inferno room

To Look Upon the Code of The Day Care Attendant is To See Into The Eyes of Madness

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More People Should Like Clowns

But What Comes Next? (Minor Edit,8th Aug) 

Unaccounted for Children

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Chica and Roxy, Private Investigators 

William, I’m going to need you to stop projecting onto the robots

Chica eats garbage.

He’s a little gremlin and I want to take him home (Heavy edit: 27/7/22)

The End is in Sight

 Thoughts on Evan (Semi-heavy edit: 27/7/22)

[onceuponastory]

boyfriend - bucky barnes x y/n

"I love everything about you girl, don't you understand? I love you from head to toe girl, but I hate your boyfriend" - boyfriend: lou bega yes mambo no. 5 lou bega

Plot: Bucky is in love with his best friend Y/N. But unfortunately, his best friend has a boyfriend, and Bucky hates his guts. Warnings: Alcohol, some violence (but no abuse) and a small mention of sex. Also a small spoiler for TFATWS finale - just Sam's new job. Notes: So, my first Bucky fic is here! I've loved this song for a long time, and I listened to it again last week, and this fic was born. I recommend you listen to the song, because it's so upbeat and catchy, and I've tried to reflect that in this fic by making it more funny than angsty...but there is some angst ;) Oh also, Lou keeps calling the girl darling in the song, which is definitely a thing Bucky would do I think.

Also this is at least 7k words, probably even more. So sit back, relax and enjoy!

As Bucky Barnes watches his best friend Y/N sing to herself as she moves around her apartment, he smiles. The two of them have been friends for almost two years by this point, and hang out together almost every day. And for almost two years, Bucky Barnes has been head over heels in love with her. He loves everything about her: her smile, how gorgeous she looks, her sunny disposition, the way she’s the only one who can cheer him up after a nightmare...and so on and so forth. Y/N comes and sits beside him on the couch, grinning. “What are you thinking about?” She asks.

“Oh nothing.” He lies. Of course, he knows he can’t tell her that he’s in love with her. Especially since he knows there’s no way she feels the same about him. Before Y/N can reply, there’s a knock at the door, and she springs up to answer it.

“Sean! Hey!” She grins, pecking him on the lips and leading him inside, her arm wrapped around his waist. “Bucky! You remember my boyfriend Sean, right?” She asks.

“Yes, I do. Hey Sean.” He gives him a small wave from his position on the couch, which Sean returns, before being led into the kitchen by Y/N. Once they’re out of sight, Bucky’s smile falls. Sean is the big reason why he can’t tell Y/N that he’s in love with her. He might not know much about love, given he’s over a hundred years old, but he does know that you can’t tell people things like that and destroy their happiness, even if he wishes it was him she was with. Everytime he’s around, or even when she talks about him, a big grin is present on her face. And it tears him apart inside. But despite how happy she is around him, and how he knows that her happiness is all that matters, Bucky can’t stand Sean at all.

It’s not even just because he’s dating the girl he’s been in love with from the moment he met her. Bucky just...gets bad vibes from him, and doesn’t trust him as far as he can throw him (which, considering his metal arm, is quite far actually). He can’t explain why he dislikes him so much, he just does. And because of that, he refuses to get to know Sean any more than he has to, despite Y/N’s wishes for them to both get along. He knows it breaks her heart, but he can’t help it. He got through the last eighty or so years of his life trusting only himself, and isn’t about to stop now. But, his distrust of Sean for no reason is still confusing to him, so he decides he has to get to the bottom of it.

So, as soon as he can, Bucky visits another friend of his and Y/N’s.

~*~*~*~*~

“No, I cannot send Red Wing after her boyfriend to spy on him. Are you insane?! I thought all that mindless killing and spy stuff was behind you?” Sam asks.

“Okay first of all, ouch, and secondly, it is. I just hate HIM. I don’t trust him one bit.”

“Well...is he hurting her? Do you think she’s in danger?” Mulling it over, Bucky shakes his head.

“No. I just....think he’s weird and gross. He just...I don’t know! I just don’t like him Sam, is that really a big issue?!”

“It is when you’re trying to send The Avengers after him! And besides, if she’s not being hurt, there’s nothing we can do.” Huffing, Bucky rolls his eyes. “Why don’t you just spend time with him?” Sam asks. “I mean, you don’t like him, but Y/N has clearly got her heart set on this man, so there’s got to be something you’re missing. Maybe that robot brain of yours needs re-working.”

“Well, he did ask if I wanted to hang out, maybe get some coffee together a few weeks ago. And it’d make Y/N happy if we hung out more...” He trails off, and Sam starts nodding.

“See! You’re right! And after all, as long as Y/N’s happy, that’s all that matters...right Bucky?” Bucky is silent for a while, and Sam almost makes another crack at how he can hear the gears turning in his robot brain, but Bucky soon speaks up.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” Sam starts grinning. “But I uh...I’ll need some moral support there. Some help...guy to guy, you know.” Sam’s grin immediately disappears.

“Ohhh no. No no no. I am not getting dragged into this. Whatever’s between you and this dude is your business. I want no part of this.”

“Come on Sam! Please?!” Bucky asks. “That way you can see that it’s not just all in my head. I’m not wrong, I promise. You can trust my judgement.”

“Ah yes, because your judgement has been so great before...” Sam mumbles, but Bucky doesn’t respond to that.

“And after all, I think it’s an important part of my therapy, you know, making new friends and all that. I’m sure both the doc and Y/N will be pleased to hear that.” Sam shakes his head.

“I don’t care, I’m still not getting dragged into this.”

~*~*~*~*~

“I hate you.” Sam whispers, glaring at Bucky from across the Starbucks table. Bucky ignores him, and stares out the window, looking for Sean. “I cannot believe you dragged me into this.” Sam continues to complain.

“Shut up Sam.” Bucky orders, continuing to stare out the window.

“Oh, you’re going to be like that? You know Bucky, it’s really rude-“ Bucky suddenly sits up straighter, seeing Sean walking through the door.

“Shut up Sam.”

“Hey! You don’t- ouch!” Sam gasps as Bucky’s foot makes a connection with his ankle in an attempt to shut him up. “Thank god his foot’s not made of vibranium...” Sam hisses.

“Sean! Over here!” Bucky calls, waving him over as Sam rubs his ankle, continuing to glare at Bucky. Sean heads over to the table and sits down, greeting Bucky with a smile and a hello. Then he notices Sam beside him.

“Oh my god, hi! You’re Sam, right? It’s really nice to meet you. I’m a big fan of Captain America.” He gasps, holding out his hand, which Sam shakes, clearly happy with the attention. Bucky suppresses a groan, knowing Sam will not shut up about this, and will think Sean is great, no matter what he says. “Gotta admit, I didn’t expect to have you join us, but I’m glad you’re here.”

“Yeah, well...I was in the neighbourhood, so.....Bucky invited me to join you both.” Sam lies, giving Bucky a hard stare.

“Well I’m glad you’re here. Both of you. You seem to know her really well, so I’m glad to hang out with you both.” Sean grins, ignoring or failing to notice the tension between Sam and Bucky. “She talks about you both a lot, actually.”

“Oh she does? You know, she talks about you a lot too. It’s nice to finally meet you man.” The pair turn their eyes to Bucky, who still hasn’t said anything, and continues fixing his gaze on Sean.

“Um, hi Bucky. It’s nice to see you again. How have you been?” Sean asks, suddenly looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

“Good.” Bucky responds, continuing his staring. Sean’s face flushes.

“Does he uh...does he always stare like this?” Sean whispers to Sam, clearly loud enough for Bucky to hear.

“Yup. All the time. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. He does it to me too. It means he likes you.” Sam lies. Sean starts smiling.

“Oh, it does? That’s good then! Right, I’ll get the drinks then. What are you guys having?” He asks, heading up to the counter after both pass on their orders. As soon as he’s out of earshot, Sam rounds on Bucky.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You’re going to frighten the poor guy to death.” Sam hisses.

“Well, he’s weird right? Something’s off with him. He just doesn't seem genuine.” Bucky fires back. Sam frowns.

“No! He’s been nothing but polite, and you’re staring at him like you’re in Winter Soldier kill mode. Wait, you’re not actually in that...mode are you? You’re not gonna hurt him, right Bucky?”

“Depends how the rest of this goes.” Bucky keeps a close eye on Sean as he waits for the drinks to be made. But so far, Sean seems to be doing nothing wrong or weird, and for a split second, Bucky wonders if he’s the one in the wrong, and that he’s just misguided. That is however, until Sean notices a pretty auburn haired woman is in front of him in line, and Bucky thinks he notices him look down towards her butt. Okay he’s definitely looking at her butt. His gaze lingers for a little while, and Bucky feels the rage building up in him. How could he disrespect Y/N like that? A girl just as beautiful, actually more beautiful than the one in front of him, and yet he disrespects her like this? “See?! He just started staring at her ass!” Bucky hisses, and Sam glances up from his phone, looking over.

“I don’t see anything.” He shrugs, going back to his phone. Bucky huffs.

“Are you serious? You barely looked! And that’s not an okay thing for him to do! I’m going to say something.”

“No. No you aren’t.” Sam orders. “You have no way to tell if that’s even what he did. And even if it was, you are not confronting him in a public Starbucks. Remember what happened last time everyone saw you fighting people?” He asks, and Bucky is immediately reminded of his face all over the news when people thought he killed King T’Chaka, and during the bar fight in Madripoor, when everyone was filming him, ready to post about how dangerous he was all over the internet. Even though he hates to admit it, Sam is right. Making this whole thing public was not a good choice. ...That doesn’t mean he can’t do it in private though. “Listen Bucky, I don’t get why you hate this guy so much, and sure, if he’s really rude or gross, I’d get it. But I’m telling you, I just don’t see it. And in the nicest way, I think you’re just grasping at straws here.” For a second, Bucky considers launching Sam’s phone across the room, and making him look at Sean so he could see what he does, but decides that’s probably not the best thing to do. Stay low and all that. “Now. We’re going to have a nice coffee with Sean, and you’re not going to antagonise him. Right Bucky?” Bucky shakes his head. There was no way in hell he’s going to agree with that. Sam sighs.

“Why are you being like this? Y/N is someone I care about a lot, and I know you care about her too, so why won’t you listen to me and trust me on this?!” Bucky asks, and Sam raises an eyebrow.

“Of course I care about her Buck, but I think you’re going too far with this, and I’m worried it’s going to hurt her in the long run. Trust me on this. This kind of thing never ends well.” Bucky scoffs, and is about to say that he’s not going too far at all, and if Sam just listened and watched, he’d understand where he was coming from. But before he can open his mouth, Sean comes back, carrying a tray with their drinks and some snacks.

“Hey, sorry about your wait. It took longer than expected. I know you guys didn’t ask for them, but I got some cakes too. Y/N told me that you guys love them, so I thought I’d get them too.” He laughs awkwardly, still clearly intimidated by Bucky.

“You did? Well thank you Sean. Isn’t that nice Bucky?” Sam asks, giving Bucky a look.

“Thanks.” Bucky hisses, glaring down at the cake pop on the tray. Sean starts smiling. He’s right, he does like them...just when Y/N buys them for him though. And even though Sam was right about not confronting him in public, that doesn’t mean Bucky has to eat the cake. “I’m not hungry though.” Sean’s face falls, and Sam sighs, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, well...you can eat it later, right?” Sean asks.

“Mhm.” Bucky gives a tiny nod, making Sean look even more scared. Noticing this look and trying desperately to avoid the impending catastrophe, Sam starts up a conversation with Sean, whilst Bucky drinks his coffee and pipes up every so often with a grunt or a nod.

After a while, mostly filled with conversations between Sam and Sean and complete silence from Bucky, Sam gets up to go to the toilet. As he leaves, Sam gives Bucky a look, clearly pleading with him not to launch Sean through the window while he’s away. Bucky rolls his eyes and gestures for Sam to just go, which he does..whilst keeping his eyes on them the entire way there.

“So...” Sean trails off, laughing awkwardly.

”Let me get one thing clear.” Bucky says, and Sean audibly gulps, clearly startled. Bucky leans forward, and Sean immediately looks like he’s about to shit himself in fear. “Y/N means a lot to me. And if you do ANYTHING to hurt her, you will have me to deal with. You understand?” He hisses. Sean nods, still looking startled. “Say it.”

“Y-Yes Bucky...” He stammers out.

“Good. And let me tell you. Don’t think you can just...stare at other girls without repercussions. It wont end well, trust me.”

“But I didn’t...” He begins, and Bucky gives him another glare. He can see the guilt written all over his face. “Anyway. As long as you remember that, that’s all that matters.” He leans back into his seat, and takes another sip of his coffee. The pair sit in silence until Sam returns.

“Hey guys, I didn’t miss much did I? You’re both okay, right?”

“Yup.” Bucky and Sean say at the same time. Sam looks surprised by this, but smiles, clearly happy that Sean hasn’t been launched through the Starbucks window, even though that’s still what Bucky wanted to do.

~*~*~*~*~

After the trio are finished in Starbucks, they stand outside to say their goodbyes. Well. Two of them do at least. “Well, bye guys, it was uh...nice to see you both.” Sean forces a smile, clearly trying to not anger Bucky even more.

“Yeah it was fun! Hopefully we can do this again.” Sam grins, clearly not noticing the awkwardness between them both, or ignoring it. Sean grimaces, and walks away from the pair. Sam waves him off.

“I don’t get why you like him so much.” Bucky sighs, starting to walk back towards his apartment, closely accompanied by Sam, who’s still grinning.

“At first I didn’t understand why you don’t like him, but I think I do now. I realised it when I was in the bathroom.”

“Well, that is where you do most of your thinking.” Bucky counters, rolling his eyes. He already told him why he didn’t like Sean. In his eyes, there wasn’t much else to think about. Sam ignores the dig, and continues:

“It’s because you have a crush on Y/N, isn’t it?” Bucky stops in his tracks, turning towards Sam.

“Uh no, I don’t. Who says I do?!” Bucky lies. Sam’s grin grows even wider.

“Oh yes you DO Bucky. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before. It’s SO obvious!” Even though he tries desperately to stop it, Bucky feels his cheeks flush. Sam picks up on this immediately. “Ha! I knew it! You like her. I mean, I should’ve noticed sooner, with the way you look at her, and the way you speak about her.”

“Sam, can you shut up?” Bucky hisses. “Please.” Sam’s face softens. “Yes..I like her. I think she’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, and I’m so glad to be her friend. But that is NOT why I hate Sean. I don’t care who Y/N is with, as long as she’s happy and they treat her well, and I'm worried he isn't going to.” Bucky feels his heart sink as he says that he doesn’t care who she’s with. Of course, he wants it to be him more than anything...but life doesn’t always work out like that. After all, it had treated him so shittily in the past, there’s no way it would also give him the girl of his dreams. Bucky had learned a long time ago that his dreams weren’t meant to come true. But despite that, if he was destined to just be Y/N’s friend, that was okay with him.

“I’m sorry Bucky.” Sam says, sounding genuine. He reaches over and gives Bucky a pat on the back. “For what it’s worth, despite me not seeing Sean the way you do, your support and love for Y/N is really admirable, and shows how good a guy you are. I hope you find love and happiness with someone, even if it’s not with Y/N.”

“Thanks Sam.” Bucky gives a soft smile. He knows he doesn’t deserve it, but it was still nice to hear. The pair resume walking towards Bucky’s apartment.

“I will say though, you gotta work on your anger issues.”

“I don’t have anger issues.”

“...Yeah you do. I saw the way you looked at him. Anyway, I know the best way to do that...video games at your place.”

“Why is it always my place?”

“It’s nice, and you have better games than I do. I have Y/N to thank for that.” Sam walks on ahead, and Bucky rolls his eyes. Even though Sam sometimes gets on his nerves, he’s still incredibly glad to have him as a friend. Even when he eats all the food in his fridge.

~*~*~*~*~

The duo soon arrive at Bucky’s apartment, and are midway through a game of Mario Kart when they’re interrupted by the sound of banging on Bucky’s door. Pausing the game, Sam and Bucky exchange a cautious look as they slowly move towards the door, not wanting to be surprised by something that could be The Avengers’ newest threat. That is however, until a voice sounds through the door:

“JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES, I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE!” Y/N calls. “I NEED TO TALK TO YOU.”

“Ooh, full name. You’re fucked.” Sam says, clearly trying not to laugh. Bucky glares at him, before steeling himself and opening the door. Y/N stands there, her arms folded and a glare on her face. “Oh she looks like you when she glares.” Sam whispers loud enough for just Bucky to hear.

“Um...hey Y/N.” Bucky gives her a small wave.

“Don’t ‘hey Y/N’ me asshole. I need to talk to you.” She orders, walking into the apartment. “Oh, hi Sam. Can I speak to Bucky please? Alone?” She asks, almost hissing the words.

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Sam responds, holding his hands up in surrender and leaving the room, taking a bowl of M&Ms with him. As soon as the door clicks shut behind Sam, Y/N unleashes her anger on Bucky.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” She asks. For a second, Bucky almost responds with ‘many, many things’ but he realises that might be the wrong thing to say. Y/N does not look like she can handle jokes right now. “Sean told me about your coffee date. I know you’re not the best person with socialising but GOD Bucky, are you even trying to be civil to him?”

“Doll, listen...” Bucky begins, but she cuts him off.

“Nope. Nuh uh. You do not get to call me that right now. And I’m not even finished speaking.” Bucky takes the hint and shuts up. “Everytime he speaks, or even breathes, you look like you want to wring his neck!”

“No I don’t!”

“Yes you do! I’ve seen it! And not even that, you THREATENED HIM!”

“Hey, I’m just being protective of you!” Bucky defends, trying not to feel bad. This is their first fight...ever, and he hates it. Especially because he’s trying to protect Y/N, and she just won’t listen.

“That’s not being protective! That’s being weird and creepy!”

“Exactly what I said!” Sam calls from the other room.

“Thanks Sam.” Bucky and Y/N say in unison. They both look at each other, the argument the last thing on their minds. “...Jinx.” Bucky whispers, smiling. For a second, a smile creeps its way onto Y/N’s face, and Bucky feels hopeful that they can have a civil conversation. But then, Y/N clearly remembers where she is, and the smile falls.

“Bucky...please don’t do that. Please don’t.” She pleads. She looks sad to be fighting with him, and Bucky feels a pang in his chest. Both about their fight, and about what he needs to tell her.

“I’m sorry d-Y/N.” He quickly clarifies. He takes a seat on his couch, beckoning for her to join him, which she does. He takes her hands in his, gently running his thumb over her knuckles with his non metal hand. “It may seem like I’ve been too hard on Sean, but trust me, I do have my reasons.” Y/N frowns, and Bucky continues. “When we were out...I saw him staring at another girl. He definitely stared at her butt. And because I care about you, I wanted him to know that wasn’t acceptable, and if he hurts you, he’ll have to answer to me.” Y/N is silent for a few seconds, frowning as she takes it all in. Bucky waits patiently, waiting to support her when she needs it. Finally, she speaks.

“Oh my god...” She begins. But just as Bucky is about to comfort her, she finishes her sentence. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” She scoffs. Bucky starts frowning, and before he can speak, Y/N stands up, pulling her hands out of his grasp. “I can’t believe you Bucky. First you threaten my boyfriend, and now you stoop so low to make up lies about him! I know you don't like him, but even so, that's no excuse.”

“B-But I didn’t! I saw it!” Bucky stammers, quickly getting up.

“Oh you did, did you? Did you also see a unicorn? Did you see a flying pig? Come on Bucky, just tell me the truth. You didn’t see those things because they don’t exist. I know he wouldn’t do that to me.”

“...And you don’t trust me?” He asks.

“I thought I did, but I don’t know if I can anymore.” She replies. Bucky swears he feels his heart shatter in that moment. A mixture of anger and pain begin to build in his stomach, and he feels tears welling up in his eyes. “I know. Why don’t we ask Sam what he saw?” She asks, walking towards the room. Bucky gasps, trying to reach out and stop her.

“No...no you don’t have to.” Scoffing, she turns around.

“Why? Because he didn’t see it?” She asks. Instead of letting him answer, she opens the door to a startled Sam, still clutching the bowl. “Sam. Did you see what Bucky said he saw? Did Sean cheat on me with a girl in Starbucks?”

“Well, I personally didn’t see it, but-“

“And that’s all I need.” Y/N sighs. She turns back to Bucky, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Just...I don’t know what I can say to you.” She sniffles. “I thought you were my friend.”

“Doll, I am, I swear-“

“I SAID DON’T CALL ME THAT!” She snaps, tears spilling from her eyes. “I...I need to go. Sean’s waiting on me. Just. Leave us alone please. I can’t be friends with you if you can’t respect me and my relationship. If you want to apologise, you know where to find me.” She starts walking towards the front door.

“Wait.” Bucky gasps, and Y/N stops in her tracks. “Please believe me Y/N. I wouldn’t lie to you about this.” She stays silent. “Please Y/N.” Bucky repeats, moving closer towards her. When he sees he’s getting no response, he feels the anger rising. “I’m not apologising for being right!” He says louder than he expected to. Y/N sniffles again, and Bucky immediately regrets his tone.

“Well....I guess this is goodbye then.” Y/N says, and Bucky can hear her start to cry. ”Goodbye Bucky. Bye Sam.” Without another word, she opens the door of Bucky’s apartment and leaves, closing the door behind her.

Bucky stands there for what feels like an eternity, just staring at the door. Part of him knows he should run after her, but it feels like his feet are rooted to the ground. So instead, he stands there, waiting for the slim chance of her coming back. At this point, he doesn’t even care who’s right or wrong...he just wants to apologise to her and have her back in his life. As time goes on, he slowly starts to accept she���s not coming back. When he said he felt his heart shatter before, this feels like the tiny shards were stabbing him, and piercing every part of him. And despite everything Bucky has been through, the fights, the torture, the nightmares...this pain hurts more than anything he’s ever experienced in his life.

“Bucky...” He registers Sam’s voice from beside him, but can’t even say anything back to him. “Are you....are you alright?” Sam asks. Bucky can tell from his voice that he knows he’s asking a dumb question. How the hell could anyone be okay after an argument like that? But he knows that Sam’s a therapist, and that’s what they do. His own doc would do the same. But the question still made him realise that he is definitely not okay. A tear falls from his eyes and rolls down his cheek, and Bucky says the only thing he’s able to say.

“I’ve lost her forever Sam.”

~*~*~*~*~

In the weeks after his argument with Y/N, Bucky has become even more reclusive than he is usually. He barely leaves his apartment, only venturing outside to go to his appointments or to get food. Aside from seeing his doctor and occasionally replying to Sam’s texts, he has no other social interactions. Y/N was his everything: his best friend...actually, his only friend, and one of the only girls he’s ever loved. And now, she was gone. And it was like Bucky’s happiness and joy for life left with her. After all, she was usually the reason why he was happy. Well...the only reason.

But he doesn’t judge her for being upset at him. Bucky has started to blame himself for what happened. Maybe he had seen things that didn’t exist, or taken things the wrong way. All he wants to do is go over to Y/N’s apartment, apologise to her and get her back. He doesn’t even care about being with her, he just wants to be her friend again. Unfortunately, Bucky is far too scared to do it. The last time they saw each other was filled with so much pain and tears, he didn’t want to put them both through that again. That and he was terrified it wouldn’t work out, and that he’d never see her again. So instead, he did nothing. He felt horrible about it, but he knew it was the best option, and nobody else would get hurt.

However, one day, Bucky has decided he’s fed up with being stuck in his apartment, and chooses to go for a walk. Once he is outside, he walks towards the park. As he walks, he takes a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air and the sun on his skin. He just wishes Y/N was here with him. Memories flash through his mind of spending time with her, having picnics together, buying ice creams for each other, giving her piggy back rides, running for shelter in the rain, playing catch and almost hitting people in the face because he forgot about the true strength of his arm. The memories are full of laughter, and Bucky almost starts laughing as he remembers them. But then he remembers that they’re not friends anymore, and his smile fades. He continues walking, trying his best to ignore the guilt.

As he looks around, he looks up and sees a familiar face from across the park, stopping him in his tracks. Is that...Sean? It definitely looks like him. Bucky realises he’s finally been granted a second chance. All he has to do is go over there, apologise and then everything would be better again. But as he’s making his way over to him, Bucky realises he’s not alone. Sean is accompanied by a woman. A woman who definitely isn’t Y/N. Although the can feel anger rising within him, Bucky takes a deep breath. Maybe he got it wrong again, and this isn’t Sean, or the woman he’s with is a distant relative? Or a friend? ...And then Sean pulls her close, and kisses her on the lips. Okaaaay....maybe Sean somehow has an identical twin who just so happens to live in the same town as them, and who neither he nor Y/N have mentioned before? Bucky suddenly realises the pair are heading towards him, and he’ll have to hide, or risk being discovered.

Thankfully, even though Bucky is still trying to forget the time he spent as the Winter Soldier, he hasn’t forgotten the stealth that came with it. So, he manages to find a hiding spot. Unfortunately, the park isn’t the best and most stealthiest place to hide, especially not for a man with a metal arm. So, Bucky has to resort to turning away and using his jacket’s collar as a form of protection. Thankfully, neither notice him, and walk past him. As they do, he hears a part of their conversation:

“Sean! You’re so bad!” She laughs.

“Can you blame me? You’re just so gorgeous baby.” Bucky feels his fists clenching as the reality begins to sink in. He was right. Sean is cheating on Y/N. He’s cheating on his best friend and the girl he’s been in love with since they first met. Bucky almost runs after Sean and confronts him. But before he does, his mind pictures Y/N, sifting alone in her apartment, completely unaware of the truth. And he realises what he has to do. So he starts to run towards her apartment.

On the way there, all Bucky can think about is the heartbreak that will be on her face when he tells her the truth. It’s going to break both of their hearts, but he has to do it. Soon, he reaches her building, and heads up to her apartment. As he knocks, he hopes to every god that she’s not in, so he doesn’t have to break the bad news to her. But despite all his hopes, the door opens, and Y/N peeks out. A smile grows onto her face when she sees Bucky, which causes another pang at his heart. How can he do this to her?

“Bucky...hi.” She smiles. “I was wondering if you’d come round. I need to talk to you. I-“

“Y/N listen.” Bucky cuts her off. She looks at him, her eyes curious. Sighing, he continues. “I have to tell you something. I was just at the park, and I saw Sean with another girl.” Y/N scoffs, and almost cuts in, but Bucky continues. “Please, hear me out. I know you probably don’t believe me, but I did see it, I promise. And the way they spoke about each other....I’m so sorry.”

“Seriously Bucky? You’re doing this again?” She sighs. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you. I trust Sean. I know you don’t trust him, but I know him better than you do. He wouldn’t do this. You don’t need to lie about him.” Bucky feels himself deflate slightly at that. Why won’t she believe him? Okay, maybe the first time, it was unbelievable, but now?

“...That’s not it at all! I’m just trying to protect you!” Bucky says. Y/N looks at him, a sympathetic look in her eyes.

“Well, I appreciate it, but I really don’t need you to. Sean and I were talking and-“ Bucky groans. That’s just what he needed. “And maybe...I don’t know, you’re jealous? Or you’re upset that I’m not spending as much time with you? If you are that’s okay, I’d understand. You don’t have to make up these lies. Both Sean and I are willing to sit and chat with you about this if you want, or I can come with you to your next therapy appointment if that’s easier.”

“No.” Bucky shakes his head. “I’m not lying. Please...why won’t you believe me?”

“Because I love him, and he loves me. When I'm with him, I'm happy, and so is he. Why would he do anything to jeopardise that?” Bucky feels his heart break again. Especially because he knows Sean doesn’t love her as much as he says he does. “Look, why don’t you come in for some tea, or a beer?” She offers, standing aside for him. Close to tears again, Bucky shakes his head.

“I’m sorry Y/N. But I can’t. If you don’t want to hear the truth because you’re so in love, I..I guess I understand. But I can’t stay here and watch you both together, knowing the kind of person he is.” He reaches out and gently takes her hands in his. “If you need me, you know where to find me. If not...well, I guess this is goodbye.” He whispers. He can see her face fall, and he turns and walks away. Bucky manages to maintain a straight face until he reaches the elevator, and then...he lets the tears fall.

 ~*~*~*~*~ 

In the days after Bucky said goodbye to Y/N, he feels even worse than he did the first time. This time feels more final. Now he doesn’t venture out of his apartment at all. Sam has been trying his best to talk to him, and get him outside, but Bucky has been ignoring him. He knows he shouldn’t be ignoring his friend, especially after losing one already...but by this point, Bucky has decided that he might as well lose all his friends at this point. He just doesn’t care anymore.

One day, almost two weeks since Bucky said goodbye to Y/N, he gets up around the middle of the afternoon, ready to spend this day like any other. But he’s soon stopped by a knock on his door. “Go away Sam!” He calls. But the knocking continues. “I’m not answering the door!” But still, the knocking doesn't stop. Bucky huffs, and stomps towards the door, flinging it open. “Sam! I told you to leave me alo-....Oh.” There, stands Y/N, tears streaming down her face. Seeing her there, Bucky is silent for a while. Part of him is convinced he’s still dreaming, and almost pinches himself to check he isn’t. But before he can do that, Y/N speaks, her voice shaky. 

“I owe you an apology.” Bucky stands aside, letting her in, which she gladly accepts. She sits on his couch, bringing her knees up to her face as Bucky closes the door. 

 “Do you uh..do you want something to drink? Or eat?” He offers. Y/N shakes her head, and Bucky sits down beside her. “What happened?” He asks, although he already has a feeling what it is. 

 “Well...you were right. He cheated on me. I uh...I came home from work early, and went over to his place to surprise him. I let myself in and...he was fucking some girl on the couch. Guess I got the surprise.” She sniffles again, before bursting into tears.

“Oh doll...” Bucky soothes. “Come here.” He opens his non metal arm, and she scoots over to him. He wraps his arm around her, pulling her into his chest, and holds her as she cries. Anger grows within him as she cries her eyes out. He’s going to kill him. 

 “I’m...I’m sorry Bucky. I just feel...so stupid! How could I have not believed you! You were just trying to tell me the truth...and I didn’t listen! I said you were a liar!” She wails, and Bucky rubs her back. 

 “No, no. It’s okay. You don’t have to apologise.”

“B-B-But I was so horrible to you, a-and condescending. I’m the worst friend ever!” She sniffles. Bucky knows his shirt is definitely drenched with tears by now, but he doesn’t care. All he cares about is making sure Y/N is happy. 

 “Y/N. It’s okay. Honestly. You were in love, and that’s totally understandable. I wouldn’t have believed me either.” She looks as if she doesn’t fully believe what he’s saying, but doesn’t say anything regardless. Instead, they both sit together, and Bucky gently rubs her back and down her arms, letting her cry out all her tears. “Tell you what. How about you stay over here tonight? I think there’s still some of your things here from when you last stayed over. I have a shirt I can give you if there isn’t. We can order some takeout, whatever you want, and we can play some video games...watch a movie, even one of those Disney ones you like so much.” Y/N smiles at that, and Bucky smiles with her. "There’s that smile I love so much. And tomorrow, I’ll go with you to his place, and we can grab your stuff. I can also kick his ass, or just stand around looking intimidating, whatever works.” Y/N lets out a loud laugh at that, making Bucky’s smile grow even wider. Hearing her laugh again is great. 

 “You are great at that, I have to admit.” She nods. Bucky winks. “Thanks Bucky. You’re the best. I don’t know what I did to deserve you in my life.” Bucky’s heart soars at that. It’s been a long time since someone told him that. 

 “You know doll, I ask myself the same question about you too.” He responds, making her smile. Before either can say anything though, there’s another knock at he door. Both look at each other, confused. “Sam? Is that you?” Bucky calls. They get their answer a few seconds later.  

“Y/N? Are you in there? Let me in please!” Sean’s voice calls. 

“Oh god, what is he doing here?” Y/N groans. Getting progressively angrier and protective, Bucky gets up off the couch, heading towards the door. Y/N gets up too, and Bucky gently moves her behind him for protection. Bucky opens the door, and Sean looks up, spotting Y/N behind Bucky. 

“Oh of course. She ran to the cyborg.” He scoffs. Bucky can smell some alcohol on his breath. His body tenses. 

“Sean, what the fuck?! Don’t speak to him like that! Especially not when you’re the one who I just caught cheating on me.” Y/N orders, but she’s ignored. Sean looks at Bucky’s angry face, and laughs. 

“I should’ve known. I can’t believe you’re getting mad at me for cheating once. Look at the two of you! Maybe I should’ve kept my eyes on you both. Who’s to say you didn’t cheat on me with him, huh?” Bucky’s fists clench, and Sean picks up on this immediately. “Oh, look. What are you going to do to me, Winter Soldier? Are you going to kill me?” Bucky thinks it over for a moment, then laughs. Sean looks confused. 

“I was thinking about it, but actually no, I won’t. I think I’ll let her handle it.” He smirks, standing aside to let Y/N step forward. She does...and immediately kicks Sean right in his balls, causing him to double over and groan in pain. 

“You’re a fucking asshole. Bucky was right about you, and I should’ve listened to him instead of your dumb ass. Because of you, I almost lost one of the best things I've ever had in my life. And you only cheated on me once? Really? Somehow, I doubt that.” She hisses. “Tomorrow, I’m going to come and pick up my stuff, and you can come and get yours from mine. Whether it’ll all be intact or in the garbage, I don’t know. After that, you’re going to stay away from Bucky and I. Do you understand?” When he doesn’t reply fast enough, she kicks him in the leg, causing another groan. “Do you understand?!” She repeats, her voice angrier. 

 “Yes! Yes! I got it!” He says quickly. Y/N stands up straight again. 

“Good. Now go back to whoever you were fucking on the couch, and leave us the fuck alone.” She orders, walking back into the apartment and slamming the door. 

“Hey! That was great!” Bucky grins. “You sure showed him better than I ever could.” 

“You really think so?” She asks, still slightly hyped on adrenaline. Bucky holds his arms out, pulling her into a tight hug. 

“Yes! Of course I do!” He encourages, squeezing her even tighter. They stay like that for a while, until the pair suddenly realise just how close they are to each other. They awkwardly spring apart, and both blush. Even though Bucky likes being so close to her, and wishes it could be like that all the time...he also knows how weird it is to do that to his best friend, especially when she just found her boyfriend cheating on her. “Um...wanna order a pizza?” He asks, and Y/N nods.

~*~*~*~*~ 

Later that night, Bucky and Y/N lay side by side on Bucky’s couch, a large cheese pizza between their legs, and an half finished bottle of rosé on the floor beside the couch...mostly for Y/N. The opening song to Beauty and the Beast plays on the television in front of them. “Here’s where she meets Prince Charming, but she won’t discover that it’s him til chapter three....” Y/N sings to herself, and she looks over at Bucky as she does. A small smile plays on her lips, and she starts to giggle. Bucky raises an eyebrow, asking if everything is okay. “It’s uh...it’s dumb. Well, not dumb. I was being dumb.” Y/N speaks quickly, before giggling even more. Bucky looks confused, and she continues. “I probably shouldn’t say this until I’m sober, but I’ve had a rough day and I have to let this out. It’s been eating me up inside for the past few days, and this afternoon.” 

Bucky pauses the movie, and turns to her. “Well that line kind of fits us! I mean....uh. I wasn’t being entirely honest with you at first. When Sean came over, and he said he should have kept his eyes on us, uh...” She takes a breath in an attempt to compose herself. “A few days ago, we had an argument about you...well, me and you.” She clarifies. “He was convinced that I liked you more than I liked him, and when I was on my way over here, I had a think about it, and....I think he’s maybe right.” Bucky almost feels his heart stop at that moment. She...likes him? Does she mean..in that way? Y/N continues. “I asked myself why I kept listening to him instead of you, and I realised...I wasn’t ever in love with him that much. But you...god Bucky, I’ve been in love with you since I met you. I just didn’t think you liked me in that way, so when a guy showed up who said he liked me, I kind of jumped at that and didn’t want to lose it, even when it’s obvious he didn’t love me. I was just so desperate to be loved, I blocked everything else out. And look where it got me.” She scoffs, finishes her glass of wine, and places it down. “I’m sorry Bucky. For everything.” 

“You don’t have to apologise. I told you.” Bucky replies, still in shock she might like him back. 

“I know, I know, but I do. And for what it’s worth, it’s okay if you don’t like me in that way. I just had to let it out. I’d understand if you don’t.” Without even responding, Bucky leans forward, and gently presses a kiss to her lips. 

 “Well...I do. I have for a long time.” He whispers. Y/N’s eyes go wide, and her cheeks flush.

“Oh...” She trails off. “Well, would you uh...would you like to go out with me sometime? On a date?” She asks. Bucky chuckles softly. 

“I would love to. But first, can I ask you to do something for me?” Y/N nods. “Can you kiss me again?” He asks. Smiling, both lean forward, pressing a kiss to each other’s lips. Even though both have no idea where their relationship will go from here, they’re ready to face it together.

And this time, Bucky doesn’t hate her new boyfriend. At least...not too much.

[just-an-enby-lemon]

My HCs of other Riddlers reacting to Gotham Riddler weird clown fetish scene:

[it has a small pull of riddlers cause I'm lazy]

WoRaJ Riddler - This mf has a crush on Joker. Clownfucking? That's his ideal date. He nods enthusiasticaly.

Codot Ridder - "Give me one reason I shoudn't murder the writers of this show right now, Jon!"/ "Because it's funny."/"So murder it is"/"If you do that people will know this scene upsets you, more importantly, Joker will know this scene upsets you"/"Fiiineee. Wait. You're smilling. Why are you smilling?"/"Can't I simply be happy?"/"No. You never smile. Unless you made a new toxin breaktrhough or you are planning something.... Oh hell no.... JON?!"/"What, Eddie?"/"If you dress up as a clown in bed we are DONE, I'm breaking up with you and destroying your shitty truck as a revenge!"

BTAS Riddler - Does not understand what the scene means. Why would he be happy if his girfriend was also dressed as clown? Decides Ed means he would like to have Lee helping him in the mission and it's happy with his conclusion. Clownfucking doesn't even cross his mind. He is too ace for this shit.

2004 Riddler - Lee is his type. Clowns not so much. Envys his counterpart for having two potencial romantic partners who fit his type (Lee and Oswald).

95 Riddler - Never though of it. But he is a kinky bastard. Tries to dress Harvey as a clown to see if he will feel somthing over it.

66 Riddler - RANTS. RANTS. He rants soo much that at some point he is not discussing clownfucking or his lack of atraction to clowns anymore but about how in his superior opinion mimes are better than clowns anyway. He doesn't have a fetish on mimes he just sidetracks too much, unfortunally now his henchman think he has (and some even dress as a mime for work the next day to try to seduce him, he is confused but maybe he forgot he had planned something involving mimes to destroy Batman?)

Arkham Riddler - It's very sleep deprived. Has clownfucking nightmares. His subsequent tantrum is massive. He rages about it to his robots. Accidentaly makes clownfucking freudian slips for the rest of the week. It's very angry about that.

Pre New-52 Riddler - This is Gotham and Clownfucking means you are attracted to Joker. Realises that there is a worse thing than being considered a poor mans Joker. "Query, Eccho, what do you think about killing some series producers? They are sexist and offended me too many times." [P.I Riddler would just sue them, maybe launch embarassing private details of the writers on the internet]

Telltale Riddler - Would do nothing cause he is dead. Lol. Outside that would extract revenge in a violent fashion, he isn't atracted to clowns but even if he was how dare they.

Lego Riddler - Wouldn't get the coment. Would end up talking to Joker about it because it looked like a joke and Joker gets jokes. Lego Joker would not get the joke either and would say that it was about clowns being great. Lego Harley would but she would not have the heart to tell them.

Unuried Riddler - Never got this far in the series. Not even for rant purposes. He has more empathy than most riddlers and when he saw the show was just that sexist and ableist he stopped. If someone showed him the scene by itself would probably be confused and a bit putted off. But hey who is he to judge someone's kink *proceeds to judge the kink*

[bcdwhcre]

“Betrayal,” Pt. 2 Levi x Reader

Summary: after being tortured and accused for a crime you didn’t commit, it changed you in ways you didn’t think was possible

Warnings: none, maybe like a bit of torture

PART ONE

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.

It’s been a few weeks since the incident with the MPs, your wounds have healed into scars and everything was now fully healed.

The few scars on your face had made you insecure and felt as if they were ugly. The scar on your cheek, the one below your lips and one on your forehead. They weren’t all that big but to you it felt like they were huge.

Levi had assured you time and time again that the scars made you look just as beautiful but you couldn’t help but get flashbacks every time you looked at any of your scars that were on your body.

The way your blood would boil at the constant reminders of what they did to you. The way you wanted to murder all of them in cold blood, it made your skin hot just thinking about it.

Your nightmares had continued, every night to be exact. They never stopped, they were a constant cycle over and over and over.

Levi has tried his best to be your support system and even though he’s noticed a few changes in your behavior, he assumed you were fine since you continued being your clingy and affectionate self when you were around him.

But deep down you had a huge amount of rage and hatred that wanted to spill out of your body. You’ve kept everything inside and locked away, only for his sake and to not worry him any longer.

But one night you laid in bed beside Levi, his arm tightly around your waist and his breathing fanning over the nape of your neck as he slept peacefully.

Your mind was clouded and you suddenly forgot about everything, your mind set on one thing- the military police.

You had slipped out of bed carefully, sneaking out of the base in your hood and ODM gear as you tried to get your mind off of things as you flew through the quiet empty town, settling on top of a roof.

You look down at your reflection in the blade, your fingertips just barely brushing over your scars and suddenly your mind had switched to defensive mode like you were a robot.

The way your feet had moved without even realizing and you snuck into one of the MPs houses, the one that had caused you the most pain.

Your head had tilted, watching him sleep. He looked peaceful for such a coward, you were sick just looking at him. When you walked closer, the floorboard creaking just loud enough to wake him up and you pointed the blade at his face.

“Don’t make a sound or else this will be going straight through your neck.” You threatened, his eyes wide and full of fear.

He stared at you, instantly recognizing your face, you weren’t hard to remember especially considering you were a scout dating the famous Captain but the main reason why he knew you is because he spent so much time torturing you.

“What do you want?” He said barely above a whisper, his lips quivering as he spoke.

“What do I want? Hm, what do I want? How about some fucking peace.” You started off, your feet making their way closer to where he laid and you ran the blade down to his chest.

“For once, I don’t want to fucking think about the cowards who punished me for nothing. Who tortured me to no end because they assumed. What a bunch of fucking idiots that people put their trust in to protect them, huh?” You laughed at his face, pressing the blade just enough to draw blood and he winced but shut his mouth when you stood in front of him over the bed.

“Is this some kind of sick revenge fantasy that you have? You think you’re going to get away so easily?”

“Yes and yes. Unlike you, I know how to hide a body.” You whispered the last part, in an instant you flung your blade and sliced it through his throat like butter, watching the blood gush out, splattering everywhere in the room and hearing his gasps for breath.

“Have fun in hell.” You pushed him down on the bed, watching the life drain from his eyes.

After you were done cleaning the mess you had made, you snuck back inside the base and went inside the bedroom where Levi still slept. You glanced down at your bloody clothes and cursed to yourself as you dug through the drawers for some clean clothes.

“Y/N?” You froze, your eyes wide and your hands already beginning to shake as you heard him shuffling behind you.

“Stop.” You said, making him stop from getting up off the bed and he rubbed his eyes as he tried to focus them on you.

“Why? What are you doing?” He leaned over, turning on the bedside lamp and before you could say anything, the light was on and shined up the room clearly.

You hung your head low, your back facing him but he noticed the spots of blood on your clothes and instantly ran to where you were, thinking you were injured.

When he flung you around, he stopped in his spot and stared down at the bloody clothes you wore and his eyes moved up to meet your gaze.

“What- what happened? Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Why is there blood on you?”

Within seconds, tears started streaming down your face and he grabbed onto you, embracing you in a tight hug. He knew deep down what you had done but he didn’t want to speak up about it, all he did was comfort you.

As your mind was set back to the harsh reality of what you did and what happened, you couldn’t help but cry into his shoulder and listen to him mumbling soft words in your ears, reminding you just how precious you truly are.

“It’s okay, look at me.” He cupped your cheeks, brushing the tears away and stared down at your eyes, full of fear and emptiness.

“It’s okay, I’ll clean everything up and no one isn’t going to know a thing, alright? This will be our secret.” He whispered, the pained expression on his face had made you want to die- the last thing you wanted to do was drag Levi into your mess.

“I already got rid of everything except this outfit.” You managed to stumble out between your sniffles, making him nod his head.

“Okay good, take them off and throw them in a bag. I’ll burn them tomorrow, okay?” He tried to be as soft as possible, grabbing the hem of your shirt and pulled it over your head.

Your tears had stopped but your red puffy eyes continued to stare at him as he helped take off your clothes, throwing them in a bag and you sucked in a sharp breath.

-

The next day had rolled around quick, you had stayed in bed from the overbearing guilt you felt and Levi was happy to take the day off again and help you deal with it, trying his best to keep you happy.

He kept you in his arms, your head on his chest and his hands rubbing soothing circles on your back as you stared at the wall, deep into thought.

“I want them all dead, Levi.” You said without even realizing what had fell from your lips, his eyes glancing down at you and he nodded.

“I know, I want them dead too, believe me.” He brushed the strands of hair back from your face and he caressed your cheek.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this, it isn’t fair. I just wanted them to feel the way I did and I just wanted this overbearing pain to leave my body and it did while I watched him die, I felt relieved.” You admitted, your sad eyes meeting his and he completely understood.

The amount of people Levi had killed in his past has been way too many, the pain and the guilt weighing him down but the way he felt better when he got rid of the people who didn’t deserve to live- it made him feel somewhat normal.

“Don’t be sorry, I’ll always support you.. you know how many people I’ve killed? You’re not getting rid of me.” He chuckled, making you smile up at him and thought about the times he had gone off the deep end.

“If you need help with the rest of the guards, I’ll do it.” He fully admitted, his thumb rubbing over the scar on your cheek.

“Why would I want to drag you further into this?”

“You’re not. You’re my world, I’m not going to let you go through it alone. I’ll kill them all.” He shook his head, pressing his lips to your forehead then pulling back to look at you before he spoke again.

“No matter what.”

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Here’s part two to betrayal like y’all having been askinnnnng. Hope you enjoyed it.

• Main Masterlist •

• AOT Masterlist •

[lailyn]

This Magical Journey Called Multiple (Chapter 2)

“Now will you let me take your blood?”

“Nothing I say will stop you." With a resigned sigh, Loki slowly straightened his arm in consent. "If it must be done." 

The incessant complaining continued, regardless. “Know that I hate this.”

“Duly noted, my dear," Stephen murmured. "You're such a great patient."

“Don’t sound so disappointed.”

“For someone so fond of knives, you sure are critical about needles.” Stephen found a juicy vein in the bend of Loki’s elbow, and pressed the tip of his syringe at the plumpest point. “Sharp prick.”

The tension in Loki's muscles did not let up even after Stephen had removed the needle. 

Handing the blood sample to one of Tony’s robots to be processed, he gently patted Loki’s arm where the needle mark was already fading as Stephen watched. "You can relax now. It's done."

Loki mustered a half-smile but something was still amiss.

Stephen narrowed his eyes. "Is your stomach hurting again?"

"Some," Loki admitted reluctantly. "It's not that bad."

"I call bullshit," Tony said darkly. "We practically had to carry you."

"Half-carry," Loki corrected, raising his head off his tiny pillow to glare at Tony, who had been standing silently in the far corner of the room ever since they returned from the farmers market. "If you hadn't freaked out and given me a moment like I asked instead of crying to Stephen, I would have recovered in time." 

But before Tony could counter-argue, Loki proved himself wrong when the pain returned in full force, cleaving him in two and leaving him panting for breath. 

That was the last straw. Tony stepped out of the shadows and grabbed the hand grasping the side of the bed in a white-knuckled grip. “Bambi.”

Stephen watched the beads of sweat form on Loki's forehead. "Pain scale of one to ten, where are you at?”

Loki shook his head in denial.

“Stephen, he’s not talking. Why isn’t he talking?”

“He’s trying to think of a number to throw us off.”

With a feverish roll of his eyes, Loki held up his right thumb and first two fingers.

Tony allowed himself to relax slightly. “A three. That’s not so bad, right?”

“It’s a seven,” Stephen said flatly. 

“Huh?”

“That’s finger abacus, the thumb represents a five,” Stephen glowered. “Thinks he’s smarter than us.”

Loki dropped his finger gun. “Sod off,” he muttered. 

“Now is not the time to be difficult, Loki,” Stephen growled. "Did you take any hits in the battle that you failed to mention?"

“No,” Loki grunted. "I had my shield up the whole time. This is new."

But Stephen was already pulling the ultrasound machine closer. "Can't hurt to take a look. Occult internal bleeding can happen long after the initial trauma, doctors miss it all the time."

"How reassuring." Loki squirmed as he tried to find the most comfortable position. The ice-cold gel Stephen was liberally squirting all over his tense abdomen did not help matters.

"Try to hold still."

Loki breathed deeply in and out of his nose, focusing on keeping the fidgeting to a minimum. As gentle as Stephen tried to be with maneuvering the transducer probe, every prod and push sent a fresh shard of pain lancing through his belly. 

"Loki, lower your shield. I need to see if there’s free fluid in your abdominal cavity.” 

"What? What are you talking about?" Loki asked.

“I can't see a thing." Stephen turned the monitor around so they both could see just what he meant. “Look.”

“It’s all black,” Tony said in rising horror. “Why the hell is it black? Are you liquidating inside? Is that what's happening?”

“Not if I can help it…” Stephen murmured distractedly, fingers flying over the knobs and dials but no amount of adjusting seemed to work. “And the word you're looking for is liquefying. Liquidating is what you do when your stock price falls and you start selling your yachts.”

Tony placed his hands on his hips. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

Stephen ignored him, focusing on the quieter of his two husbands, which was a great worry in itself. “I can’t see the inside of your body, you’re not letting me.”

"It's not me. I'm not doing anything," Loki said, sounding more breathless than Stephen would like. 

Tony must have thought the same. He turned the knob controlling the supplemental oxygen supply on the wall and cajoled Loki into wearing the nasal cannula. Unsurprisingly, he succeeded. It was something Tony would always be better at doing than Stephen, getting Loki to do stuff he did not want to do, and Stephen was forever grateful for it.

“Well, something’s blocking the sonic waves."

"Blocking?" 

Stephen nodded, allowing himself a moment of relief. Loki seemed to be breathing a bit easier now. 

"It’s like your abdomen’s made of solid rock,” he said, mind racing as he pondered their next move. “You need a CT scan. Is the blood test ready? I have to see if the kidney function’s okay if we’re thinking of giving you contrast.”

Tony typed away on the console for a few seconds. “Yeah. I’m bringing the results up right now.” 

Stephen reluctantly left Loki’s side and joined Tony at the computer. “Let’s see…” 

He scrolled down quickly before something caught his eye and he stopped. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Tony peered over Stephen’s shoulder. “What is it? What do you see?”

Stephen backed away from the monitor, looking spooked all of a sudden. “Maybe it’s not acoustic impedance at all...” 

Tony frowned. The look on Stephen’s face was not sitting right with him at all. “What isn’t? If you don’t start sharing what you know, I swear I am going to kick your ass.”

“Maybe there’s nothing wrong with the ultrasound. Maybe something is cancelling it out.” Stephen turned around very, very slowly. “Loki. Is there any chance that you could be pregnant?”

“What?” Loki balked. “No!” 

“Are you sure?” Stephen asked carefully. “It’s not like you have a discernible ovarian cycle to guide you.”

“I don’t need one,” Loki retorted, but the first glimmer of doubt crept into his voice. “What makes you think I am?”

“Your hCG level’s elevated," Stephen said. 

When Loki stared at him blankly through eyes glazed with pain, Stephen figured he should elaborate.

“It’s a marker of pregnancy and testicular carcinoma, but the latter takes slightly longer to kill you and isn’t a concern for right now.”

“This is a nightmare.” Tony sank into a chair and buried his face into his hands. “A fucking nightmare.”

“Stop being so dramatic, Stark,” Loki scoffed. "Why can't it be the latter? I do have a sizable pair."

“To confirm that, we need another panel of special blood tests that I will definitely take from you later,” Stephen said, blatantly ignoring Loki's poor attempt at humor. “One thing at a time.”

"I am not pregnant. Don't you think I would know if I were?"

"It's a moot question, considering there is no precedent for the current situation."

"I have been pregnant before."

"Not by us humans."

There were many things about Stephen Loki found endearing, too many to count, but there was a smugness to his persona whenever his husband put on his doctor hat...not that it was any more authoritative than his usual self, but definitely a lot less tolerable. In things concerning magic, Loki was easily his equal if not superior. But now, struggling with this awful pain in his gut, he was at Stephen’s mercy. 

Even so, Loki was not going to back down without a fight. “My contraceptive spells are infallible.”

“Spells can fail.”

Loki was out of the bed so fast he was a blur of shadow flying across the room toward them.

"Stephen - " Tony leaped forward.

Stephen fumbled as he tried to conjure a defence against whatever was coming, but before he knew it, Tony's fast reflexes kicked in and he caught Loki in mid-collapse, “Hey, easy, easy!”

As Tony lowered him to the floor, Loki buried his face as deeply as he could in Tony’s chest in the hope that it would stifle his scream, of pain and rage alike. "Did you do this?"

“What?” Tony strained to hear him amid the alarm blaring from the monitors from which Loki had extricated himself in his frenzy. 

“Not you.” A green eye stared out accusingly from the crevice of their interlocking arms. “Him.”

Stephen's heart thundered in his chest. He knew when something was meant for Tony, and when it was meant for him. “I did not.”

Tony swivelled his head. “Stephen, what is he talking about?”

“There is only one being in this world powerful enough to counter my spells,” Loki spat. “Is this your doing?”

“I would never do that to you,” Stephen said heatedly. “How could you even think that?”

“Bambi,” Tony said anxiously when Loki’s form began trembling in his arms. “Bambi, calm down.”

Stephen braced himself once more against the onslaught of daggers or fists or magic but no threat of any kind came forth. He watched the light leave Loki’s eyes like a candle snuffed and heard Tony shout out a warning. “Loki!” 

Stephen lunged to grab their listing husband and managed to save Loki’s head from hitting the floor, only just. 

“Loki,” he called urgently. True fear gripped his heart when Loki remained motionless. “Help me, Tony.”

They wrestled with Loki’s long limbs and together, they carried him over to the bed. 

“What the hell is going on?” Tony asked frantically. “Stephen?”

Stephen ignored him, focusing instead on reattaching the wires and cables that would connect Loki once more to the vital signs monitor. He did not speak until a blood pressure reading came back; it was borderline low but satisfactory for now, given the normal pulse rate and heart rhythm. 

“He’s fine,” Stephen said gruffly. “He just passed out.”

Tony growled, “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” 

He picked up a limp hand and rubbed it furiously between his palms. 

“He’s freezing. Why is he freezing? It’s like ninety-degrees in here,” he rambled, “And I don’t know if I heard you right the first time, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I swear I heard you say Loki was pregnant.”

“I did.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Tony pleaded.

Stephen sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. “Wish I could.”

“Are you sure?”

“I can’t be sure.” Stephen studied Loki’s wan face and the desire to just dip his astral fingers into his husband’s abdomen to take a look inside was overwhelming. He killed the thought before desperation could breathe it to life. “There’s one thing we haven’t tried. Another ultrasound.” 

He met Tony’s eyes across the bed. “Transvaginally.”

“What are you waiting for?” Tony demanded. 

Stephen bit the inside of his lip. “I don’t know how.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Tony’s voice shrilled. “You’re supposed to know everything!”

“About brains, not babies!” Stephen exploded. “I think I need to talk to Christine.”

Tony’s face changed. He pulled Stephen by the sleeve of his shirt to a corner, the farthest he could go while still keeping Loki in his line of sight and out of earshot. 

“Christine? As in your ex?” he hissed.

“She’s a doctor, Tony, and a damn good one too. She’s seen her fair share of strange things and ambiguous genitalia is nowhere near up there.”

“Okay, I don’t know if you can’t hear yourself or if you’re being an ass on purpose, but you’re being an ass!”

Stephen opened his mouth to protest, but Tony beat him to the punch. 

“Never mind how I feel, but you and I both know how Loki feels about her! No shade on Christine, coz I’m sure she’s great but - ” Tony’s knight’s-move thinking took him off course, “Ambiguous? Really?” 

Stephen stared. What’s so wrong with what he said? “That...is the clinical term, if you must know.”    

“I don’t give a shit. You don’t say things like that,” Tony seethed. “I’ve never been surer of what Loki is and what he has, and what he has is not a fucking cul-de-sac!”

“I know that, and that is why I’m trying to get to the bottom of this because I know what’s at stake!” Stephen’s voice rose in pitch to match Tony’s. “I am not going to argue semantics with you when Loki could be having an ectopic pregnancy that could kill him at any minute while we stand here fighting!”

Tony instantly deflated. “I’m not fighting.”

“Good!” Stephen snapped. A guilty look instantly flashed across his face. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

“No, I get it. You’re worried about Loki,” Tony sighed heavily. “And I’m sorry too. I just - I can't - " his voice caught in his throat, "You're probably used to it, but I can't stand seeing him like this."

"You never get used to seeing someone you love hurting," Stephen said quietly.

Tony's gaze softened. "Yeah." His thumb rubbed comforting circles on the back of Stephen's scarred hand. "I've got your back."

Stephen smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Tony."

When they turned around to return to Loki, the sight awaiting them froze them in their tracks. 

"Oh shit," Tony breathed. "No, no, no…"

Everywhere they looked they saw ice, creeping across the tiles from where the examination table was bolted to the floor and spreading toward the computers and sensitive medical equipment surrounding it.

Still deeply unconscious, Loki's Aesir glamour had fallen away, revealing his Jotun form, skin as blue as the slab of ice he was lying on.

[heliads]

Nightmares

Based on the request “Bucky having a nightmare from his HYDRA days and him choking you. You throw things and thrash until all the members come in and pull him off you. Tony just cuddling you as you grip on to his t shirt sobbing. A bruise around your neck from his robotic hand. You choose the ending :))”

masterlist

The sound of Bucky’s labored breathing wakes you. It’s a quiet night at the Avengers Tower, one of the rare still nights when you can’t hear the sounds of Tony or any of your friends working on projects that will keep them up until sunrise. This calm quiet surrounds you, but yet you’re certain you heard something else. You listen again, lying still in your bed to make out any possible noise, and then you hear it again. It sounds like someone trying their hardest not to scream, and instantly, you know who it is.

Bucky.

You race over to your boyfriend’s room, quickly letting yourself in. Sure enough, there he lies, still asleep but in the grasp of yet another nightmare. Ever since he escaped HYDRA’s control, Bucky has been victim to many nightmares of his time spent under mind control. Most nights, he wakes by himself soon after the terrors begin, but other times, like now, he may not wake for hours. Some times, even after he wakes you can tell he’s still in the hold of the nightmares, being forced to live out the day like normal while being plagued with the fear that it is all in his head, just another test by HYDRA to see if he would turn against them. If he closes his eyes, even for a second, will he open them to find himself back in the catacombs of the HYDRA base?

You blink yourself out of your trance and kneel next to Bucky, whispering frantically to try and wake him up. “Bucky, love, you’re having a nightmare. Bucky?” You touch his forehead to see if he’s feverish, and that is where you make your biggest mistake. The second he feels your touch, Bucky’s hand closes around your wrist. The sudden hurt makes you gasp in pain, and you try to wake him once more. “Bucky, it’s just me. Just Y/N. Please, wake up.”

But Bucky does not seem to be awake, and somewhere in the back of your mind, you realize that it was a bad idea to try to wake him alone. You should have gotten Tony or Steve or somebody else, because the man you love does not recognize you.

His metal arm shoots out and grabs you by the throat, and you try your best to pry away his fingers, but to no avail. You try to scream for help but you are choking, barely able to get a breath let alone call out loud enough for someone to hear you. As the oxygen slowly leaves you, you feel your energy starting to sap away. Is this how you die, choked to death by your own lover when he cannot recognize you?

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a pile of books stacked precariously on a nightstand, and an idea comes to you as a last resort. Desperately, you kick as hard as you can at the nightstand, once, and then once more, and yes! The books fall down in a loud heap of hardcovers on wooden floors. You might just be kidding yourself, but you think you hear someone stirring from down the hall. Bucky’s grip tightens around your throat, and you kick again and again at anything and everything that might make noise. Your kicks come slower and slower as a darkness fills the edge of your vision, threatening to close in and take you away from everything. Finally, you hear the glorious sound of the door opening, and you can slump back and stop moving.

You don’t come to for a while, but you feel yourself being held by two strong arms and the sensation of moving quickly. Dazedly, you blink open your eyes to find that you are being carried by Tony, who looks panicked. “Tony?” You wheeze. The second you speak, you wrinkle your eyebrows in confusion. Why is your voice so hoarse, and why does your throat hurt so much?

Tony looks down at you. “Oh, thank God you’re alright. We were worried we came too late…” You look up at him in confusion. “What happened?” Tony kicks open a door with his foot and sets you down on a couch in one of the tower’s many living rooms. He pulls over a chair and sits down next to you, head in his hands. You realize that you haven’t seen Tony look this stressed in a long time, and you sit up, touching his shoulder gently. “What happened, Tony?”

Tony sighs. “You’re not going to want to hear this. Barnes was having another one of his nightmares, and I think you went in to try and wake him up. Brave of you, of course, but you should have just woken one of us up. Basically, he was so caught up in the nightmare that he didn’t realize it was you and tried to kill you. By the time we heard something, we walked in on you, unconscious, with his hands clenched around your throat.”

You look up at Tony in horror. “That can’t be...Bucky would never…” Tony gestures to a mirror on the wall sadly. “See for yourself.” Slowly, almost nervously, you creep over to the mirror. You stare at yourself for a long time, eyes taking in the confused look in your eyes and the scrapes decorating your face. Most importantly, you see the dark necklace of bruises wrapping around your throat, lining up perfectly to form the shape of a human hand. Your hand travels unconsciously to your throat, and it’s then that you remember everything that had happened.

The tears come then, bubbling out of your eyes and sliding down your cheeks. Tony walks over to you and you let him wrap his arms around you comfortingly. “I never thought he would do that. Even when things got bad, even when he was at his worst he never hurt me. He promised he would never hurt me.” You bury your face into Tony’s t-shirt, and he pulls you close. When the rest of the team walk in a while later, they find you still holding tight to him, sobbing uncontrollably.

Later that day, after you’ve had time to recover from everything, you find you don’t want to speak to Bucky. In all the times you’d known your boyfriend, you’d always wanted to be with him, even when he was still considered ‘dangerous’ or under HYDRA’s influence. Now, you can’t even bear to look at him.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” Tony is leaning against the doorframe of your bedroom, looking at you through concerned eyes. “I have to, Tony. You know that as well as I do. I came here for Bucky but it’s just not safe for me to stay anymore.” Your friend sighs, and walks up to you to give you one last hug. “I know, Y/N, but I still don’t like seeing you go. Promise me you’ll still call?” You laugh at that. “I’ll call so often you’ll be sick of me.” Tony nods, finally letting a smile cross his face. “Then I’ll call the car. It’ll be up soon enough.” You nod, watching your friend go.

You turn back to your bags, making sure you’ve packed everything you’ll need. You think you’ve gotten everything, but you’re sure you’ll remember something in a distant corner of the tower some time tonight. A knock sounds at your door, and you call out “Come in!” without turning around. When you hear an all-to-familiar voice, though, you’re startled out of your packing.

“What are you doing, doll?”

You whirl around to see Bucky, painfully taking in the sight of your packed bags. You sigh softly, not able to look him in the eyes. “I have to go, Bucky. I think we both know that.” Bucky shakes his head. “We don’t. Look, it was just one time, and you haven’t even let me get close enough to you to apologize. Can’t we just take it slow, and maybe you could stay for just a little longer?”

You look at him now, and cross your arms in front of you. “I can’t live here knowing that I could die at any night. You promised me you would never hurt me, but that doesn’t explain this.” You gesture to the ring of bruises still lacing your throat, and Bucky winces. “I know it’s not your fault, it’s just what happens when you have to recover from HYDRA mind control. I love you Bucky, truly I do, but I can’t stay here and continue to get hurt. Just a few weeks ago, the same thing happened, just not as bad. What if the rest of the team hadn’t come, and I had died? You know this is the only thing I can do.”

Bucky runs a hand through his hair, clearly upset. “I know that, Y/N, but I need you here. You’re the only thing keeping me human.” You let out a harsh laugh, and pick up the last of your bags. “That’s not what happened a few nights ago.” With that, you do a last double-check of your room to make sure you have everything, and head on out, turning off the lights as you go. Bucky follows you down the stairs and out to the awaiting car, still trying to persuade you to stay with him.

Once Tony’s assigned chauffeur opens the door for you, you know at last that it’s time to go. You turn to Bucky, cutting him off mid-ramble. “I love you, Bucky. I always will. But I have to look out for myself.” With that, you get in the car, and do your best to ignore Bucky’s desperate pleas for you to stay. When the car drives off, you silently thank Tony for making sure that every one of his cars had mirrored windows, so that the love of your life cannot see the tears finally escaping you.

Life is good without the Avengers Tower. That’s what you try to tell yourself, anyway. And it is true- you have a new apartment in a bustling part of the city, one with a beautiful view and an easy walk to your work. Your new hallmates are all charming, and you’ve quickly made friends with all of them. The bruises on your neck have long since healed, and you can finally heal yourself.

At least, you should be able to heal. Yet, every time the phone rings, you find yourself wishing it wasn’t just a friend or a coworker. Every time the doorbell rings, you have to push away disappointment when you see it’s one of your hallmates instead of a dark-haired soldier. 

Tony keeps you updated on everything, of course. He has been your friend since the very beginning, and you keep true to your promise to call. Tony tells you about missions, and you give him advice on anniversary gifts for Pepper and praise for his latest laboratory experiments. Hearing his calls keeps you grounded, and yet every time he mentions Bucky’s name you feel your heart leap in your chest.

On one blustery fall evening, you’re walking back to your apartment when you feel your phone vibrate in your coat pocket. You pull it out to see that Tony’s the one calling you, and you answer the call cheerfully. “Hey, Tony! You finish that engine modification?” Tony’s voice, though, lacks its usual confident, sarcastically clever tone. Instead, he sounds worried, and he speaks quickly as if desperate to deliver his message before it was too late.

“There’s been another mission, Y/N. Bucky- he got hurt pretty bad.”

In that moment, you feel your heart drop. Voice shaking, you ask Tony for more details, and you feel your panic growing with each sentence. It was just supposed to be a simple mission- in and out- but HYDRA forces were there- he was in the line of fire- he’s in the medical wing now- they don’t know if he’ll-

Tony cuts himself off then, as if realizing that you probably won’t want to hear what he’s about to say. It doesn’t matter, anyway, as you can barely hear him over the terrified pounding of your own heart. You race home to your apartment, and rush to grab your car keys and drive to the Avengers Tower. You’re not sure how many speeding laws you broke, just that you get there in record time.

Your shoes pound furiously down the halls as you hurry to the medical wing. Tony is waiting for you at the end of one hallway, and he doesn’t seem surprised to see you. “He’s in there.” Your friend points to a closed door, and you nod in gratitude. Your hand hesitates over the doorknob for just a second, and then you open the door and fling yourself in.

The sight of the room almost takes your breath away. Bucky is lying there, looking far too still, in a white hospital bed. Beeping instruments and machines surround him, and he looks deathly pale. You race over to him, and take his hand in yours, desperately hoping for him to wake up.

“Oh, Bucky, I’m so sorry. I never should have left. This is all my fault, isn’t it? I wish I had known all those weeks ago…” You break off in a sob, and you stare at the face of the man you loved. “You’re not waking up.. Why aren’t you waking up?” You turn away, unable to look at him for any second longer. The sobs are building in your chest.

“It’s alright, doll.”

You freeze in place, then whirl around to face Bucky once more. Yes- he’s blinking tiredly at you, and he can barely take a breath before you’ve flung your arms around him. “You’re awake! Bucky, I’m so sorry. I never should have left.” He can’t help but smile. “It’s fine, Y/N. See? We’re both alright.” You choke back tears as you laugh, and hold him close once more. “Yes, it looks like it is alright after all.”

[plasticnightmaredoll]

This is an idea/scenario I’ve had for a good while now pertaining to Arkham Knight Riddler. I don’t know if it’s any good -- it may be too “fluffy” to be in character -- but I wanted to write it down and get it out there, see what people think. Ironically, the idea came from a similar one involving Telltale Riddler, and I may post that one someday, too, but this AK Riddler one is...very different. Different in regards to a lot of headcanons, imagines, drabbles, etc. about him.

So, the scenario is like this: Someone wants to fuck with this poor guy -- not Batman, not one of the Bat family, not even one of the Gotham Rogues. It could be some random new villain, someone who is maybe more sadistic than any of the Rogues (save for Joker). I thought about this antagonist kidnapping AK Eddie’s s/o and holding them hostage …

But with a twist.

Catwoman has nothing to do with this because she’s not evil, but I thought about the explosive collar Riddler put on her in Arkham Knight, and what if this antagonist -- to really mess with Eddie -- decides to put such a collar on his s/o? And Riddler has to show up and complete some tasks (dangerous puzzles and riddle-based traps most likely), or else, his s/o loses their head.

Of course, Eddie shows up because he’s panicking. This was never supposed to happen! Nothing was supposed to happen to his s/o. This is beyond anything Batman had ever done. This is so sinister, so vile, so abhorrent, Eddie can’t even begin to comprehend it. At first, he bargains, offering money, tech, robots, his hacking skills -- even offers himself up to wear the collar instead because he can’t take the sight of his beloved wearing something that could blow their head right off, right in front of him, and leave him emotionally and mentally broken for life.

But the antagonist doesn’t want to bargain, even when Eddie begs -- like, really begs to the point of tears, asking for mercy and pleading with the antagonist to let his s/o go free. They have nothing to do with any of Eddie’s work. They’re innocent, and they’re too important to him! He can’t let this happen!

The begging amuses the antagonist but once again, it’s not enough. Eddie has to do the challenges, and if he completes them all correctly, the collar comes off. If he messes up, then his s/o dies. Eddie reassures his s/o that everything will be just fine, he’s got this under control, they’ll be out of trouble in no time so don’t be afraid.

It’s difficult to not be afraid when you have a bomb around your neck and a sadistic psychopath with the trigger. As bad as Eddie can be, he’s not THIS malevolent. He has some humanity left in him. But this person, they’re just out there to make him suffer because it’s “entertaining” to watch him squirm. 

As you know, by this point in his life, Eddie is very mentally unstable and could have a mental breakdown if pushed even just a little too far. His s/o is the only thing keeping him grounded, the only reason he has to keep his sanity (or what’s left of it), and this is the only person who has ever cared for him despite the fact he knows he’s not worth it. If he loses his beloved, then what would he have left? There would be no recovery from such a thing.

So, Eddie completes the challenges, although he is internally freaking out the entire time, partly because he doubts himself and partly because he has no idea if the antagonist will just press the trigger and kill Eddie’s s/o without warning. By the time Eddie is done, he’s a nervous wreck and on the verge of a breakdown, but he hopes that, by enduring all this, by letting this person watch him squirm, sweat, beg, cry, and panic, that maybe it’s enough to end this madness without his s/o dying.

But the antagonist doesn’t care that Eddie completed all the tasks. In the end, it’s about making Eddie suffer horribly because watching a nearly broken man finally break -- shatter -- is the point of all this. So, the collar has a 30 second timer set, and as it counts down, Eddie obviously freaks out, hyperventilating as he tries to plead once again for his s/o’s life, offering himself up again in their place, and yet, it’s not enough (kind of reminding him how he was never enough for his father, even if he agonized over pleasing him). The antagonist just laughs at Eddie’s mental breakdown and tells him he better use the remaining time to say goodbye. And no funny business. If Eddie or his s/o attempt to remove or disarm the collar, then it will detonate. 

Eddie’s s/o, despite being terrified does their best to put on a brave face and they tell him it’s ok, it’s not his fault, just don’t look, look away, it will all be over soon, he has to keep going for them...Eddie doesn’t know what to do, and seeing as he now has 10 seconds left, he does the only thing he feels he can and should do, and he grabs his s/o despite their protests and holds them tight, crying and saying over and over how sorry he is, he’s so sorry. 

And the timer reaches zero on the collar.

There’s a soft click.

Then nothing.

No explosion. 

The antagonist bursts out laughing, confessing that the “bomb” is a dud, was never going to explode, and since both Eddie and his s/o were too distressed to think all this through, they never even considered this as a possibility. The collar has been unlocked and Eddie’s s/o just kind of sinks to their knees in complete shock, and he can’t believe what he’s seeing. At first, he’s confused, wondering if this is all some sort of twisted dream, then he’s relieved because his s/o is safe, then he’s angry because what the hell was this?! He vows to get revenge on the antagonist and throws the collar away as he all but screams in rage.

Now alone, Eddie remembers his s/o is still on the floor, pale as a sheet and unresponsive. Kneeling down, he asks if they’re ok, tells them they’re ok, that this was all some sort of sick joke. When his s/o snaps out of their daze, they get mad and push him away, yelling at him for being so foolish

“You were just going to let yourself die with me?!” they demand.

“Yes!” Eddie responds, too overwhelmed to even know how to respond to this. 

“Why? Why would you do that?”

“Because!”

“WHY?”

“Because I can’t go back to my old life! Not having known you! You think that I would just sink back into my old routine without a hitch? You think I would forget you? You think I’d just move on and live life normally? How could I do that? How? If I lost you, I’d have nothing, do you understand? Nothing. My life would be empty, more so than it’s ever been, and nothing could fill that void, not the way you do. No one has ever loved me, not even those who were supposed to! But you, you love me! I didn’t ask for it, and I don’t even deserve it, but you love me anyway. You make me feel valid, you make me feel like...like I exist, like I actually matter.”

His s/o is crying, and he’s crying, and they’re both going to be emotionally traumatized for a while. Sure, Eddie will get revenge but he’s also going to be having night terrors -- nightmares would be much better than what he experiences at night -- about his s/o dying in gruesome ways while is helpless to do anything. Sometimes, he won’t even be able to sleep because he doesn’t want those ghastly images in his head, and he’ll stay up holding his s/o as they (try) to sleep (they have nightmares of their own after this experience). 

He has to come to terms with his first real encounter with the threat of loss, a real loss. He never cared about anyone before because no one ever cared for him. He was used to being ignored, bullied and belittled, and he always had trouble trusting others because of how he was raised. He never had friends, never thought he would need friends because, well, he never had any. Forming emotional attachments was beyond him, as he never had such a relationship with his parents, and that is the first time children are supposed to experience attachment. If your parents don’t love you, you grow up feeling unloved, alone, and don’t understand what it’s like to be close to people, so you just push everyone away and look out for yourself. It makes you selfish just as much as it makes you feel lonely.

But now, Eddie has his s/o, someone who just kind of barged into his life and stole his heart despite his best efforts to not feel anything sentimental because being vulnerable meant he could get hurt, and he didn’t like the idea of forming an attachment only to have it ripped away from him due to the other person’s betrayal. In his eyes, love equals abuse, since that’s the only kind of “love” this Eddie seems to have ever experienced. 

It’s going to take a lot of time -- and patience -- for Eddie to deal with this, and he’s going to be watching his s/o like a hawk. They won’t be allowed to go anywhere alone, and definitely not at night. He’ll be very clingy, protective, maybe a little possessive but mostly protective. When he does eventually find a way to calm down, it will actually make him a stronger person emotionally, I think, because he will understand himself better, and he’ll understand the relationship he has with his s/o better. This experience has taught him -- in the most insane and unwelcomed way -- why his s/o is so vital to him, and while attachment like that is almost frightening because of the risk of loss, he doesn’t want to go back to his old life and be alone, being seen as some sort of joke by everyone in Gotham. He doesn’t want to go back to being isolated, left with only his thoughts to comfort him despite his dwindling sanity and self-esteem. He needs to have a reason to press on, and trying to be better than everyone just won’t do it anymore. He needs to be loved, loves to be loved, but is also thrilled to be able to give it in return, whatever the risks may be.

And you know the antagonist is going to be utterly destroyed by Riddlerbots. Or something. Something awful will happen to that person. We know that much.

-------------

Ugh, so let me know what you guys think! This is way out there in left field in terms of portrayal of Arkham Knight Eddie (or just Arkhamverse Eddie in general) but this idea has been stuck in my mind for so long now. Feedback is definitely encouraged and appreciated here because this is such an epic and crazy h/c. Constructive criticism is welcome. Just don’t be mean, please.