#i need to umm. move him to my secondaries. WHO SAID THAT | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

new-tella-us · 4 years ago

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Komahina Oneshot

Komahina ft. Trans Hajime. Another Tumblr inspired post. The tumblr account is catboymoments. Gotta give credit where credit is due.

If you didn't know that this is very gay and trans then idk how you got here but I'm happy to have ya.

But seriously, this has some pretty big trigger warnings

- Gender Dysphoria

- Complicated pregnancy

- Mentions of abortion

-PTSD

Anyways Onto the Oneshot!

Wow! I'm Pregnant! We're gunna have a happy family! Except...I'm a guy.

I feel horrible... This has been going on for about three days now. Mornings are the worst. I can't tell why. It's starting to worry Nagito and it's not like I can fake it, I tried. You can't fake puking. I can at least fake being somewhat lively.

...I need to get up. Need to get moving. Need to- Nevermind! I need to puke! Fuck... This feels disgusting. Maybe I should try and diagnose myself, or have Mikan help me. I felt a pat on my back; I knew it was Nagito but, I couldn't look at him while puking my guts out. When I finally finished desecrating the poor toilet I got up. I was sweating, pale and covered in whatever I managed to puke up on an empty stomach. I flushed the toilet and washed my face.

Nagito gave me a worried look. What was once an 'are you okay?' question turned into, "How are you feeling now?"

"I'm better," I responded. There wasn't much else to say, "I'll get this checked out soon, I'll just give it another day or two."

Nagito face turned stern, "Hajime, you need to get this thing checked out today! This has gone on for too long." He went out of the bathroom and grabbed his phone, "I'm calling Tsumiki-chan."

"Nonono! It's okay Nagito! I'll do it tomorrow! I can handle this myself!" I responded, a bit panicked. I never liked getting help from others, it didn't feel right to bother someone over something I can do myself.

"You said that yesterday. I'm calling Tsumiki-chan." He said in a more stern voice. I couldn't respond, there was no point in arguing with him when he's like this, plus; he's right. He made the call. I didn't hear Mikan's side of the call but, from what I can hear on Nagito's side, they made a time, 1 pm. He hung up and looked back at me, his glaze softened.

"Let's get you something to eat, okay?"

"Yeah," He smiles softly and gave me a small kiss on the forehead before leading me out of the house. But, while we were walking towards the cafeteria, a little voice told me something.

You know exactly what's happening.

I shook the thought away.

...

Breakfast was, mostly, fine. Only going to the bathroom once! Now, I have some time before I have to talk to Mikan. Nagito insists that I rest but I've gotten bored of doing that. I decided to just walk around the island. It was a really hot day and I was getting tired so, I couldn't walk for long. Huh, that never happens, I usually have more stamina than that... Maybe Nagito was right. Well, Nagito is usually right. Maybe I should just listen to Nagito more.

I started walking back, only taking a break to puke near a tree. Now, I'm really sweating, shaking too. I felt light-headed. Then, an unexpected helper appeared. She put my arm on her shoulder, behind her neck, her other hand supported me from my side. I didn't look up, I didn't need to. Her light orange kimono with scattered pink cherry blossoms gave away who she was.

"Hey Saionji..."

"Didn't listen to Komaeda again?" She knew it...

"Nope." I responded with as much satire I could muster.

"You're an idiot."

"Yup" Indeed I was but I could think about that a little bit more when my head wasn't spinning like crazy. Hiyoko helped me back to my cottage before leaving me to enter it myself. I opened the door and both Nagito and Mikan were sitting on the couch. I guess she came early.

"Hey guys, it seems like you were both waiting for me. Sorry about that."

"I-It's fine Hinata-san. So tell me a-about your condition. I've only seen g-glimpses of it" Mikan said.

So I explained. The morning sickness, the lack of energy and stamina. The fact that I can't even walk around the island without becoming pale and out of breath. Mikan thought about it and started checking her tablet. I assumed that she was looking up what this could mean before her eyes widen on something.

"I-I....I never knew this. Umm...I'll b-be right back." She seemed nervous as se got up and practically ran out of the house.

You know where she's going, you know what she's getting

There's that voice is again. I have no time for hallucinations or weird creepy messages.

...

Mikan returned after a few minutes with a little rectangular box in her hand.

"Welcome back, Tsumiki-chan. Now, are you going to explain why you suddenly freaked out like that and left?" Nagito said.

Mikan's gaze fell on me. Her look was almost unreadable. It's very unlike her.

"Hinata-san. Are you trans?" She asked bluntly.

"Wh-What?! What made you ask that??" I panicked. How did she know? How did she guess??

She turned her tablet to me; my profile was on it as was everyone else's. She pressed one of those special info buttons and a symbol appeared next to my profile picture.

The Female Sex Symbol...

Silence...

...Shit...

"I'm surprised that you didn't realize that this button exists. After all the creator of these tablets had a member who's entire case was solved because their sex was revealed." Mikan said. She always did have more confidence when she spoke facts. I didn't have anything to say, neither did Nagito. Mikan handed me the box; it was a pregnancy test.

"I w-won't ask. That's your b-business..." Her timidity returned. No, she won't ask because she'll get her answer depending on what I say or do. I could hand her back the test. I could lie and say I'm a virgin but, that wouldn't help me...

I got up and went to the bathroom...

...

......

...Are...Are you serious...? The test came back positive?! I...don't know how to feel about this... At least I know what's happening to me and probably why it's hitting me so hard.

...I feel too sick for this.

You knew this was coming.

'Izuru...not now. Please.'

You know you can't fully get rid of her.

'Who are you talking about?'

As if to answer my question, he materialized but not as himself. He materialized as a young girl. A girl that looks a lot like me.

'Fuck off, Izuru. You know that's not me...'

Is it not? It's who you once were.

'That was never me! She was someone else. Just a person of the past.'

And that way of thinking is what got you here. It's time for you to face the facts. You may be a boy but, you're not male. You forgetting that is why that test is positive. You took a chance, you were risky and here you are.

'We're done here.'

I was steaming. I couldn't listen to another word that fell out of that man's mouth. I needed to calm down. I took some deep breaths and left the bathroom. Mikan left but, Nagito was still there. I wasn't concerned with him knowing that I was trans, he already knew; he would have to know since he's...

"So, what happened? What did she give you? Are you okay?" he asked but, I had a feeling that he knew. I didn't want the mood to be sour. Having kids is supposed to be a good thing so, I wanted to lighten the mood with a pun.

"Well, I guess I should be invisible."

"...What? What do you mean?" He looked puzzled.

I looked at the pregnancy test. "Well, I'm a trans-parent." (Yes, I took this pun from the same tumblr user)

He looked at me, still puzzled, for a few minutes before he realized.

"...oh. Oh OH! You don't mean-" He looked happy, so happy. He gave me a hug, "Oh my god! I've always wanted to be a dad!"

He has? Great... Personally, I never wanted kids. I used to but, secondary school... changed me and showed me that really, I don't. But I can't just make a split second decision, he seem so happy...

"Yeah, but can we discuss this a bit more? I have my issues that I need to address."

His smile faded a bit "Uh sure"

We both sat on the bed of our room. I didn't know what to say. I don't know if I want to do this but, it would feel wrong just to abort with no conversation.

"So umm... Nagito. I...I don't know if I'm- we're ready to have kids. I guess I'm kind of worried?"

Tell him the actual reason, Hajime.

"I don't know what effect this might have on me and I'm scared that I might not be a great dad..."

Hajime...

"Is that the reason?" Nagito asked.

"...Yeah"

If you don't tell him, I will.

"..." I wasn't going to say anything but, Izuru kept on his threat. I lost control of my body.

"He has gender dysphoria" Izuru said, "So this pregnancy is reminding him of his uncertainty. The place he used to live in was not the most accepting of transgendered people"

Nagito fell silent, he was stunned. Damn it Izuru... did you have to be so blunt? I got control of my body back, I couldn't even look at Nagito, I felt so ashamed, I was putting my anxieties above a life. It felt...wrong. Or is it a life? It's a clump of cells but, it can become a life. I've been around too many mixed influences. I wish I knew which decision was the good decision.

Then again..

Is there truly a 'good' decision? On one hand, I'm killing a potential life and that will haunt me but, if I'm not ready to be a parent, I'm bringing a child into a world neither it nor I'm ready for and with a current war having, it's not like adoption is an option and, like Izuru said, it forces me to accept-

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nagito asked. He didn't sound mad, he sounded sad and even a bit guilty, I didn't answer, "I'm sorry if me saying that pressured you." He gave me a hug. I felt so guilty. "I can't say that I fully understand but, no matter what you choose, I'll be in your corner."

"I'm gunna give it a week or two then I'll make my decision," I said nearly in tears, "thank you for being so supportive."

...

It's been two weeks, I thought about it everyday. I was already two week pregnant so with another two weeks, the time for abortion via safe mentions was soon ending. I hesitated and swayed back and forth on my answer. I truly didn't know for a while. But, about two days before my decision I found myself sticking to an answer. I'll stick with this pregnancy. It might help me get over my gender dysphoria, maybe not fully but, somewhat? Plus, it's quite an efficient way to tell everyone that I'm trans. And who know, maybe I'm a better parent than I think I am and with Nagito, I feel like I can take it. It's sort of strange; I'm aware of all the health risks, the mental tax, the problems and possible sadness but, I feel like I can take it. I feel calmer know that I at least, have one person- well two people with Tsumiki, in my corner.

"I'm keeping it" I said with a hug.

"Really? You sure?" Nagito asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna be a family." I smiled, it wasn't fake.

But of course, like everything else in my life, it didn't come without complication. I was already pregnancy four weeks and was just feeling more exhausted. Another week had passed and I kept feeling worse. I didn't know why. I felt exhausted and cold. I was exhausted but not tired, not sleepy. I was awake and shaky. Nagito called Mikan again when he started to notice how pale I was getting. She said it was Iron Deficiency Anemia along with Hypertension. Two things that were really common in pregnancy. She gave me medication for it and it did help but not fully.

At about 8 weeks, I told the group about me being trans and about the child. Mikan recommended to do that instead of immediately because that's when the risk of a miscarriage goes down to less than 10 percent. The group was so happy to have two children born at similar times. Yes, two! Sonia and Gundham were having a kid as well. What a coincidence! Sonia insisted that we started talking more about it.

12 weeks in and everything has been going as smoothly as it can. There's still work, there's still complications, sleeping is an issue, I have been diagnosed with Insomnia, this pregnancy has also made me more dependent on Nagito and has given me more time to think and I don't know if I like that... But, everyone's been really supportive, they haven't treated me any different and because I have a bit more time, I can hangout with them more. I've learnt a lot more about Sonia. I knew a bit about her, like that she's into witchcraft and serial killer documentaries but, she was also into slice of life novels so, this was a dream of hers. How cute.

Weeks 16 - 30 can be summed up here. They all passed the same; excited conversations, preparations, fun little talks, work, insomnia, exhaustion, etc. What was really note worthy was while Nagito went out on a mission to the main lands, Makoto brought back a fluffy white dog, a Great Pyrenees puppy. We agreed to keep and so when Nagito came home, I surprised him with the dog. At first, he was silent, then he started crying; I was scared the he didn't like the dog but, that changed when he went up and hugged the dog, he was so happy. Apparently, this was the exact breed of the dog Nagito used to have. Wow, how lucky. He sat with it for hours before being willing to pry away from it and go to sleep. We decided to call her Lucy.

Fast forward to week 37, about 3 weeks before we thought I was due. I was pulling an all-nighter on this one project to have it done by tomorrow. I knew I was pushing myself but I was almost done, I wanted to free up my schedule so I can have more time with my baby. Nagito, however, was starting to get concerned.

"Hajime, it's really late. You should rest."

"I'm almost done, okay? I just need to finish this last assignment and I'll be in bed. Just give me about an hour." I said, trying to easy his concern.

"Alright.." He didn't sound too convinced but he did leave.

I continued to work on my project and the time flew by until in the middle of my assignment, my stomach really hurt, more than usual. Do you really need to kick that hard, Future Child? I tried to continues working but the pain would just come back worse every time. Maybe I should just go to bed... I tried to get up and walk back to my bedroom but the pain sent me down the floor, everything hurts...everything hurts...I couldn't even scream, I was in so much pain...I felt something wet trickle down and I knew what it was at this point. I didn't know what to do, I was crying. Was I going to die? Was I just going to have to give birth here and now? What can I do??

Then, my savior came into the room. No not Nagito, Lucy! She took one good look and me and went sprinting out the door. I could hear her barking and soon she seem back with Nagito.

"Hajime!! Are you okay!?"

I wanted to say something to something to that question; 'yes', 'no', 'shut the fuck up and call Tsumiki' but, I couldn't let out a sound. Luckily, he took the hint and called Mikan.

"Tsumiki-chan. I'm sorry to wake you but, Hajime may be going through contractions? Please help?!"

They talked for a bit, I could barely focus. I just remember Nagito carrying me to the bathroom while talking to Mikan. I don't know if she was just fast or if I blanked out for a bit but, Mikan was there before I knew it. They both briefly conversed before they got me dressed in a cheap, long white shirt and set me down in the bath. Mikan started sticking needles in me, I don't know what for and she was still talking to Nagito. She finally looked at me and told me to count my contractions and how often they happen. After each one (Because it hurts too much to talk during contractions) I would tell her, when she decided that they were regular enough, she grasped my hand a little and told me to take a deep breathe. I did. Then she told me to push.

That's when it hit me, this was happening now! Oh my god, I was not ready for this but, I don't have much of a choice. So I pushed. Oh god it hurts! I felt like my bones were breaking. She then told me to breathe again and I did, we repeated this until the water started to turn red with blood.

Blood...blood...

Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...Blood...

Blood? Did someone die? I felt like I was somewhere else. I was watching the murders of the student council again, so much blood...like a perfect quality horror movie, I saw them all murder each other clear as day, every person, every stabbing, every slicing, every shooting, all the bloodshed, clear as the day I first saw it. I never forgot any of their faces...

Then, as if it couldn't get worse...all the murders, all the executions...all the blood, clear as day. I was just watching, unable to do anything. Nagito...Chiaki... They were gone. Was my happy life all a dream? Is this the reality I'm truly in or am I hallucinating and this is the fake reality? I can't tell, I can't tell... I want out of this nightmare! I hear voices in the distance, at first I couldn't understand what they are saying but, as the voices got louder, I could slowly understand. Were they calling me? I got my answer.

"HAJIME!" Nagito shouted, dragging me back to reality. I panicked at the different scenery. My heart was pounding, threatening to rip out of my chest. I looked around to see where I was, I was in the bathroom. I couldn't keep my vision still.

Nagito cupped my cheeks, obviously trying to calm me down. "Hajime look at me, okay?"

I tried to focus my vision on him, his eyes full of panic and worry.

"You're having a panic attack. Whatever you saw, it's just an illusion. You're okay, I'm okay, everyone is okay. Please try to calm down."

My throat was dry and hoarse but, I took a deep breath. I continued to do that until I became calmer.

He smiled down at me "Good...good."

Mikan then piped up, "Komaeda-san, I'm sorry but, we do need to c-continue with this..." Then she got an idea, "If blood is a trigger to Hinata-san then can maybe he should just look at you instead. I'll still need your attention Hinata-san but, just keep l-looking at him."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Nagito agreed. I just nodded. So Mikan continued with her instruction and I kept my eyes on Nagito. It made the birthing a little easier to see his smile and soon enough I did my last push, I felt a weight leave me and while I was still sore, it didn't hurt nearly as much anymore. That's when the fatigue washed over me. I could feel myself passing out already.

"Hey hey...um, I know you're tired but, can you stay awake just a little longer please? Just until Tsumiki-chan says it's okay. Please?"

I didn't want to, the work should be over by now but, I could do it. Voices faded in and out, I was barely able to concentrate. Then, Nagito gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"You did it Hajime! It's okay now, you can rest." His voice was quiet and soothing.

"...Great.." I replied groggily before falling asleep almost immediately after.

I fell into a deep, very needed sleep. It was relaxing for once. No dreams, no nightmares just, floating in the darkness. But, I had to wake up.

The sun was shining through the curtains, not too much sun but, just enough to give the room a bright warm haze. I still felt sore but, it was much better than last night. I sat up and yawned.

"Oh good morning, Sleepyhead." Nagito said, playfully. He was sitting right next to me, looking at me with a warm smile. "I was wondering when you were going to wake up."

I felt a bit out of it, it seemed so peaceful right now, I just wanted to bask in it for a while. I took the time to notice things around me, like the fact that I was wearing something different; it was one of Nagito shirts and my boxers. I also noticed a little crib in the far corner of our bedroom with what looks to be a baby inside.

"Do you want to see your child?" Nagito asked.

I could only nod. He got up and went to the crib, picked up the small child and came back to the bed. Handing me the child he said,

"Meet your new baby son"

I held the child gently in my arms and at that moment, everything became worth it. He woke up and looked at me. I was expecting him to cry but, instead he just giggles grabbed my finger. Now I'm the one whose crying!

Nagito chuckled, "Don't cry on the baby!" He said playfully but, he was crying too.

He gave me a kiss, "I love you, Hajime"

I returned it, "I love you too, Nagito"

We both held our son and I knew, deep in my heart, this was the right decision.

We're a family now!

If I got something wrong, please tell me. I really tried and I wanna get it right.

#danganronpa #danganronpa2 #hinakoma #komahina #Hajime Hinata #SDR2 Hajime #Nagito Komaeda #sdr2 nagito #trans hajime #family au

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radioactive-synth · 4 years ago

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#FOOCtober2020 - Oct 19 - Defining Moment OR Faint

a day late but here we go, a small part from the fic i need to write about my oc Vaughn Zander

under read more:

'I don't think it's worth all the trouble for just some memory banks', Nick said, surveilling the area.

They were above the cave where the old submarine resides. DiMA suggested either sneaking in or joining the Children of Atom. Vaughn was not keen to join in, and Nick knows too well that his lover is too clumsy to sneak.

'Come on, Nick. You know we need to find out more about DiMA's plans. We just need to sneak in and-'

'Remind me last time you successfully sneaked somewhere, doll', Nick said, turning to look at his partner.

Vaughn let out a sigh and turned to look Nick in his eyes.

Yes, he was right. He was never good at sneaking. Be it in a dangerous zone, or even in their own house, he always trips over something and alerts everyone in the area.

'Don't give me that look, I'm sure this time I can do it.'

'Famous last words.'

Vaughn elbowed Nick into his shoulder.

'If you are done, let us figure it out how to get in', Vaughn said, getting a bit closer to the edge.

Down there, there were three armored people, weapons in hands, and two other people, in rags. They can't make it out what they are talking about, but it doesn't seem like a friendly meeting.

'We just wait until they are gone and th-'

Vaughn felt his left leg giving up, and slipped from the edge, landing on the platform underneath. He landed on his left side.

‘Vaughn! I’m coming!’, he heard Nick saying.

Vaughn groaned in pain, and lifted himself on his knees, and put his right hand over his left arm.

'Fuck me… I will feel this tomorrow morning', he murmured. Why does it seem that his left side is the most unlucky? Scars, bruises, even his leg was shot.

'WHO IS THERE? SHOW YOUR FACE', a man's voice is commanding.

So much for sneaking.

Vaughn reached into his waist bag and pulled out a stimpack, and implanted the needle in the left arm. It should soothe the pain for a while. He looked up, but Nick is not anywhere to be seen. Is he on his way?

'I said, reveal yourself, stranger,' the voice insisted.

'I'm coming', Vaughn said, descending the stairs.

One of the armored ones has told the other two in the rags to come with them, as the other two focused on Vaughn. One of them spoke:

‘What are you doing here?’, he asked, getting a few steps closer, ‘Did Far Harbor send you?’

‘N-no… umm, I umm… we came here on our own’, Vaughn said, unsure on what to answer.

‘We?’

‘My partner should umm… arrive in a bit’, he said, looking behind. No sign of Nick yet. ‘But what is the issue with the people of Far Harbor?’

The armored man looked at him in suspicion, but spoke: ‘Those heathens persecute our missionaries and use profane technology to steal lands that belong rightfully to the Atom. And I want to know if you are here to do their bidding… you are your imaginary partner’, he said, gripping on his weapon even more.

Vaughn felt how the panic overtook him any moment. He has no other solution but to convince them that he wants to join in.

‘Vaughn!’

He turned behind, and Nick came running to him, his pipe revolver in his hand. He made a sign to lower his weapon and to come next to him.

‘So I see that you weren’t lying about a partner. Looks alike with that damn synth from the mountain. Are you sure you aren’t from there too?’, the armored man asked, eyeing Nick.

‘What are you doin-’

‘Just trust me’, Vaughn whispered, taking Nick’s hand.

‘No. We came from the Commonwealth. We want to join the Children of Atom’, Vaughn said.

He felt how Nick squeezed his hand, but he answered by running his thumb over his partner’s.

‘The Commonwealth? That’s quite a journey. So, you think you deserve a spot among Atom’s children?’

Nick gave a glance to Vaughn, but said nothing. He knows that Nick will give him morale later, but he needs to play their game now.

‘Yes. Sign us up.’

‘The decision on who will enter our family will be left to the Atom. Prove yourself worthy, and you may enter. You need to perform a ritual first.’

‘Sure.’

‘There is a small spring not far from here. Those chosen by Atom drink and are granted something. A token. An experience. Those not chosen… rarely return.’

Vaughn glanced at Nick. He knows that look: ‘You better know what you are doing.’

‘We will do what Atom requires.’

‘Then let us hope He deems you fit. Go to the spring there’, the armored man pointed out, ‘drink, come back, then we will discuss joining us. Also, consider to give up of that mask.’

-----

'Look, I don't think you should drink from the spring. Just say whatever you think off, and pray that we are let in', Nick said, looking at the running water with an unnatural yellowish color.

'Praying is not what I do, feggari mou. And besides, how much rad-x I took, it should not affect me at all', Vaughn said in a confident tone.

'Had you forgot the old man's warning? The fog can play tricks on your mind', Nick said, the words of Longfellow still ringing in his head.

'Yea but I don't think I saw anyone on this island taking rad-x… or even hearing about it. Nicky, my love, you know I'm a doctor. I will be fine!', Vaughn said, putting his arm around Nick's shoulders.

Nick let out a sigh, and looked at him. 'For a doctor, you sure don't think of the danger you are putting yourself into.'

Vaughn let out a chuckle. He then leaned in to kiss Nick on his cheek. 'I got you if I get hurt. I taught you well, didn't I?', Vaughn said with a warm smile on his face.

'Yes. And you make a very grumpy patient.'

'Yea yea, Vinnie used to say that doctors made the worst patients. I still don't know what he meant.'

'We sure do', Nick said with a huff.

Vaughn gave him a short glance to his love, then looked at the spring.

'Well, not like that will drink itself', he said, letting go of Nick's shoulders. He put his hand over the running water. It was clearly not pure at all, and he felt it unnaturally warm, even underneath his glove. He looked back to Nick. 'Cheers', he said before taking a sip from the water.

The taste was the worst that he ever felt. It felt like rust, copper, expired medicine, all at once. He started to cough violently, his vision being blurred. He heard Nick's voice, but he can't make it out what he said.

'FOLLOOOW MEEEE', he heard a woman's voice, gravelly, yet very soothing.

Looking up, he saw a figure in the shadow. The voice seemed so familiar, yet very scary. But the figure… it also seemed familiar.

'Maná?', he asked.

But it can't be her. How can she be here? Unless…

He followed the strange figure into the woods.

'WAIT! DON'T GO! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?', he asked the figure.

Around him, it seemed like a nightmare. The sky became a dark green, with lighting coloring the clouds, and strange figures appeared. Were those radstags? Horses? Big salamanders? He can't figure it out.

'This is not real!,' Vaughn said to himself, but also he doesn't seem to have control over his body. He felt his left leg aching, yet he can't stop following the figure.

-----

‘THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO ASK TOO!’, Nick yelled after Vaughn, but no use.

He was running after him for two minutes into the woods. He was amazed at how fast Vaughn can be.

‘VAUGHN!’, he kept calling his partner. God knows what can hide in these woods, and if he can’t reach Vaughn in time…

He felt his fans working faster, as to keep up cooling off his body. He does not know what is more terrifying: the fog crawlers that can appear in any moment? Any feral ghouls around? Or that his lover can collapse anytime and he can’t properly help him?

He saw Vaughn stopping on the road, looking at a nearby building. He heard him asking something, but he can’t make it what. He stopped too, trying to ‘catch a breath’. His fans were working at an alarming speed, as his internal processor notified him.

But he couldn’t rest for more than a few seconds, as Vaughn collapsed on the ground.

‘Vaughn!’, he called, and walked towards him.

He heard snarls and growling around the bushes and the rusted cars nearby.

‘No, NO! VAUGHN, GET UP!’, he yelled, falling to his knees and putting his arms around Vaughn’s shoulders, lifting him a bit.

But his efforts were in no avail, his partner was out of cold. He looked around, as the ferals started to sense them and came in their direction. He could feel how fear starts to settle in. He can’t lose Vaughn… he can’t lose the one he loves the most.

He lays Vaughn easily on the ground, and pulls out his secondary weapon, a small size modified assault rifle. The pipe revolver won’t do any good now.

----------

Vaughn woke up with a headache, and a pain in his left arm. He could feel that he is somewhere inside, given the closed air he feels. As he gains more of his senses, he can feel his back against Nick, and one of his arms around him. He looked to his right, and saw their bags, alongside ‘Ares’, his power fist, and ‘Athena’, his shield. He lets out a small sound, and moves his legs a bit.

‘Don’t move yet’, he heard Nick saying. ‘There is still rad-away in the bag, so stay put.’

Nick’s voice was unusually neutral, which surprised Vaughn a bit. What really happened? All he remembers is that he followed a shadowed figure that looked very similar as his mom. Yet the voice was not really hers.

He put a hand over Nick's arm. 'My love?', he croaked, feeling his throat dry.

'What?', answered Nick in a firm tone.

'Are you… you ok?'

'You asking me if I am ok?', Nick answered, letting out a nervous laugh. 'Do you even remember what you did?'

Vaughn didn't answer. Nick rarely was angry, but when he was… it was scary.

'I told you to not drink from that water, but have you ever listened to me? No, you just think that if you have a degree in medicine, you think of yourself invincible!', Nick's voice became louder.

Vaughn felt his heart plummeting in his chest. Nick was right. But he always felt bad when a loved one sounded disappointed in him.

'I'm so sorry', Vaughn murmured to him.

'Sorry for what? For not listening to me? For almost being ripped apart by ferals? Had you forgot you have a child at home, waiting for you? How do you want me to tell Oliver that his dad drank poison and was killed by ferals?', Nick's tone was harsher than usual.

Vaughn felt his partner's arms tighter around him, and his head into his shoulder. Vaughn responded by rubbing his free hand onto Nick's arms.

'I don't want to lose you', Nick said, his voice being muffled into his lover's shoulder.

Vaughn felt his eyes with tears.

'I finally feel that I belong somewhere. That I belong with you. I can't lose you…', Nick let out a sobbing noise. 'I love you… so much', he said, now crying into Vaughn's shoulder, his own shoulders shaking.

'My love…feggari mou… '

Vaughn straightened his back up, as best as he could, careful to not rip off the needle from his left arm, and used the other arm to pull Nick into a one-arm hug. His lover put his head into the crane of his neck, his arms being tight around him. Vaughn let out his own tears to fall on his face.

'I'm ok, my love. I'm alive, and that's… that's important', Vaughn said, running his hand over Nick's back. He seemed to calm himself down.

Nick pulled out of the hug, and Vaughn could have seen that he too had tears coming out from his eyes. Well, not exactly tears, as it seemed to be coolant, but… he never thought that Nick could cry. This broke his heart even more.

Vaughn put his hand on Nick's face, wiping away a tear.

'I'm sorry, love. You were right. And I was too stubborn. I'm so sorry', he said, leaning in to kiss Nick's cheek. It tasted like coolant.

'Just… don't put yourself in danger like that. When I saw you collapsing on the ground, with all those ferals coming…', Nick said with another sob.

'Hey, I'm here now. Thanks to you', Vaughn said with a smile. 'I told you that you know what to do if I'm hurt, right?', he let out a chuckle, and gave Nick a kiss on his lips.

Nick smiled against Vaughn's lips. 'I had a good teacher', he said before kissing Vaughn again.

#fooctober2020 #fallout oc #fallout ocs #sole survivor #sole survivor x nick valentine #nick valentine #fallout 4 #fo oc #oc vaughn zander #blue.txt #not entirely happy with the vision part but whatever

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foreverfangirlalways · 4 years ago

Text

The Astronomer and The Florist (Chapter 13)

Chapter 13 Title: Michael’s Return (and ohhh, whose this?)

Summery: Patton and Roman ask Virgil and Logan something, Patton and Virgil start working on wedding planning, and some well hated people show up!

Ships: Analogical & Royality

Warning: author is not entirely sure How brunch works, mentions of strippers, teasing, MICHAEL, threats, unwanted flirting+advances, assault, weaponized tennis racket, flame thrower, cursing

-let me know if I need to add more warnings-

(Thank you to @kawaiikat54 for letting me borrow an idea or two!

And thank you to @kuroyurishion for the idea that is stared in the last few paragraphs! )

—-

It’s been two weeks since the Disney trip and proposal. Everyone loved the trip, and had so much fun, but they had to go back to work.

Roman called up both Logan and Virgil. He invited them to brunch.

After they accepted, and headed over to Roman and Patton’s house.

Logan and Virgil immediately knew something was up the moment they smelt cinnamon rolls and fries. Patton only makes cinnamon rolls when he’s nervous. And he only makes French fries to soften a blow.

Everyone sat down at the table, and grabbed their plates. After about 10 minutes of a tense, chewing filled silence, Logan spoke up.

“So, what is this about?”

“Wha- what do you mean?” Patton stuttered nervously. “Pat, you made comfort food. It’s ok, just tell us where the body is, and we’ll frame it on Roman.”

Roman made some offended princey noises at Virgil’s words. “Umm, excuse me!”

“You’re excused.” Logan replied, hiding a smirk at Romans enraged face. Patton, sensing his fiancé’s frustration, started giggling.

Soon everyone was laughing, and Roman playfully hit Logan. “And Virgil, for your information, we are not here about Patton. It’s about y’all.”

Virgil instantly stopped laughing, and looked terrified. Logan reaches over and squeezed Virgil’s hand. Patton whacked Roman.

“Common my love, you know you can’t just say things like that!”

Roman looked sheepishly at Virgil. “Sorry V, Let me rephrase, Patton and I have a question to ask y’all two.”

Patton nodded enthusiastically, and bounced over to the cabinet in the corner, and grabbed two envelopes out of the top drawer. He handed the red one to Roman, and sat back down, still holding the light blue one.

The fiancé’s smiled at eachother, then Roman handed Logan the red envelope and Patton handed Virgil the blue one.

Logan opened his and scowled at the amount of glitter that fell out of the envelope. Virgil opened his, took out the card, and started choking.

Logan looked worriedly at his shocked boyfriend. He then took his card completely out of the envelope and gasped.

It was a card that had a black bow tie on it, and said “TIME TO SUIT UP! Your service as bestman is requested.”

Logan looked up questionably, and Roman nodded. Logan smiled, looked over at Virgil’s card, and made an indescribable noise.

Virgil was staring down at a card that said “GET ME A STRIPPER”. Logan was stunned, and Virgil finally got the courage to open the card. The card unfolded, and instead of “GET ME A STRIPPER” it now said “GET out there and plan ME A bachelor party! STRIve for refined and uPPER class, fun but tame. (Will You Be My Bestman?)”

Virgil was silent for a minute before busting out laughing. He threw his arms around Patton and said, “Of course you weirdo! I would love to be your bestman, I’m honored!”

Patton smiled so very gleefully, and then Virgil continued talking. “As for the other thing, I’m sure Remy knows a place.”

Patton buried his head in his hands, and Roman wrapped Pat up in his arms. “Don’t worry dearheart, Virgil will do no such thing!”

“No, I am, the card asked me too.” Virgil said, knowing full and well that he was going to get Patton one of those singing striper bass’s and paint a blue ‘p’ on it.

Patton laughed, knowing his best friend wouldn’t do anything too drastic. Probably. Most likely. Hopefully.

Roman looked at Logan for support, and just saw a smirk. “I don’t do bow ties, but I would be honored to be your bestman.” Roman hugged Logan, and Patton hugged Virgil. Then they all merged together into one big group hug, mainly because Patton dragged Virgil over yelling “group hug!”

After everyone sat back down, Patton started talking. “We would also like y’all to help with the wedding planning!”

Upon the silence that followed, Roman started speaking. “You obviously don’t have to if you don’t want to, but we just thought that it would be fun and exciting to have y’all be the co-wedding planners.”

Logan nodded. “I think that is a reasonable conclusion. Plus, it would be smart to include us, as we can make sure that you don’t burn your entire lifesavings or be too... what’s the word?” Logan said, looking at Virgil.

“Extra.” Virgil said smiling. “And Yeah, I would love to help with the wedding. Lo is great at expenses and Ro is great at shopping, so power couples right there.” Everyone laughed, and then Roman grew serious. “Speaking of shopping, I was thinking about... going dress shopping.” Roman looked up at his friends faces. “For a wedding dress. For me.”

“Cool, are you gonna wear heels or flats?” Virgil asked. “Uhh, wedges?” Roman said and Virgil nodded. “Good idea, both.”

Logan was studying Roman, and kind of freaking him out. “I always saw you in a full skirt, but I think a ball gown type would fit you over all aesthetic better.” Romans’ mouth dropped open. Then he started crying.

Patton immediately pulled Roman into his arms, and Logan looked very alarmed. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to do the aesthetic look, it was jus-“ Roman started laughing.

“It’s not about that nerd, I’m just so glad that y’all are so accepting.” Logan and Virgil looked at eachother then at Roman. “Of course we accepted you.” Logan said. “Yeah, besides, I always knew that you would wear something dramatic, might as well take Logan with you to make sure it’s not dramatically overpriced.” Virgil joked, and they all laughed.

-_-_-_-

A few days later, Patton and Virgil were making plans for the wedding bouquet. They were discussing how the Romans favorite flowers are red roses and red carnations, but Patton still wanted to tie a bit of the secondary blue theme into the bouquet.

*DING DING DING*

The bell over the door chimed, alerting them to a new customer. They both looked up from the planning book, and Virgil swore. Patton, recognizing the guy from the video Virgil showed him, narrowed his eyes.

“What the actual FUCK are you doing here?” Virgil growled.

“Oh come now,” Michael said, smirking. “Is that any way to treat a potential costumer?”

“You,” Patton seethed, “are not a costumer. Get out now.” Michael looked Patton up and down, then rolled his eyes. “Or what? You have no grounds to kick me or my boyfriend out.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow at that last statement, and then another guy walked in. He was wearing an orange and black hoodie and an orange beanie. He smirked at Virgil then gave Patton a once over.

“The fuck?” Virgil said, not believing that the asshole was able to get someone to date him. The guy glanced at Virgil but seemed to be focusing mostly on Patton. He even leaned close to Pat over the counter.

Michael was watching Virgil observe the orange clad person. He smirked, very obviously delighted.

“Oh, what’s that look for hot stuff? Are you jealous?” Virgil looked at Michael like he was the biggest dumbass in the world.

“Of what? Your so called boyfriend is checking out my best friend! Are you honestly telling me that you are fine with that?” Virgil asked, in both shock and disgust.

“Ethan and I have an... understanding.”

As if to prove a point, Ethan leaned closer to Patton and smiled. “Hi shortie.”

Patton, who was contemplating attacking Michael, looked shocked that Ethan was so close. Pat tilted his head. “Do I know you?”

Ethan looked proud. “Nah cutie, I think I would definitely remember someone who looks like you.”

Virgil and Patton looked at eachother, then at the guys who were flirting with them. ‘Where oh where is my protective, freakishly good looking boyfriend when I need him?’ They both thought.

Michael walked closer to Virgil, and tried to reach for him before Virgil smacked his hand away. Virgil immediately regretted doing that when Michael’s face lit up.

“Oh come on baby, it’s not like Logan’s around to stop us, so why not have some fun? You can’t actually tell me that you honestly like that robot, can you?”

As Michael hoped, Virgil got pissed.

“Yes, I can honestly tell you with 100% sincerity that I like Logan. More than like, he is expressive and playful and serious and calm. He is literally almost prefect in my eyes, so you can go FUCK OFF!” Virgil shouted, and shoved Michael back.

Well, at least he attempted to. It turns out that Virgil’s outburst is what Michael was hoping for. As soon as Virgil had but his hands on Michael’s chest to shove, Michael grabbed his wrists and pinned him again a shelf.

Patton is livid and tries to go and help Virgil, but it turns out that when he was silently cheering Virgil on, Ethan made it around the counter.

So when Patton moved to help Virgil, he ended up getting shoved and pinned against said counter. Patton looked at Ethan with fury in his eyes, and Ethan just looked amused.

“So...” Ethan starts, rubbing his hands up and down Patton’s arms. “Are you single?”

Patton looks at the engagement ring that was on his left hand. Ethan was holding his wrists, so Patton wiggles his fingers to bring attention to the ring. Ethan looked at it and shrugged. “So?”

Patton was dumbfounded. “Are you serious? No, I’m obliviously engaged! Plus, aren’t y’all two,” Patton nods toward where Michael and Virgil are watching them, “a thing?”

Ethan shrugs again. “Ehh,” he said, leaning into Patton’s personal bubble.

“We have an understanding. He can play with his boy toy,” Ethan gestures to Virgil. “And I,” Ethan states while placing his hand on Patton’s cheek, despite Patton’s efforts to bite him. “And I can play with mine.”

Michael forces Virgil’s gaze to lock onto his, and rubs circles onto Virgil cheek with his thumb. “While we let them get better aquatinted, how about we finish what we started at my Party?” Michael runs his hands down Virgil and leans in closer. He Virgil tried to move away in vain. Virgil could see the twisted joy in Michael’s expression and could feel Michael’s breath on his lips, when-

*BOOM DING DING DING POP*

Michael and Ethan both whipped their heads around, allowing the Virgil and Patton to see there heroes.

Logan looks like he just finished eating some of the glass window he broke, and Roman looked like he was about to light Ethan up with the flamethrower he was holding.

Wait-

“Roman, why the HELL are caring around a FLAMETHROWER?!” Patton yelled.

“To protect my fiancé with. Also, it matches the rage and fire in my eyes and soul.” Roman says while making it very obvious that he was pointing the gun at Ethan.

Logan looked at the ground and silently picked up the baseball bat that had been left by the door earlier in the week. He didn’t say a word, but if looks could kill, Michael would less then dissolved ash.

Logan gripped the bat, and stepped closer. “May I ask just what in the ever living FUCK you doing to my boyfriend?”

Michael looked a little afraid, but tried to keep of the facade.

“Well, before you so rudely interrupted us, we were having a moment.” Then Michael caressed Virgil and ghosted his lips over Virgil’s, touching but not quite kissing.

Logan’s eyes flashed.

Virgil shook his head. “We were not having a moment! I assure, I don’t want to be here!”

Logan’s look softened when he looked at Virgil. “Don’t worry starlight, I know.”

While Logan was confronting Michael, Roman started towards Ethan.

“And just who the hell are you?” Ethan smirked and said “I’m Patty’s new boyfriend.” Then he grabbed Patton around the waist and he kissed him. “Also, Patton told me that he doesn’t want to get married to you anymore. Just thought you should know.”

Roman gripped the flamethrower, planning a murder. He stepped closer to Ethan. “Is that so? Hmmm, Pat?” If Patton said yes, then Roman would walk away. But if he said no...

Patton viciously shook his head, looking like he was about to throw up. “No! My prince, you know I only want you.”

Roman smiled softly at Patton. “I know darling.”

He looked at Ethan. “You, however, need to get the fuck away from MY fiancé, so I can beat your ass!”

Logan told Virgil to duck and swung at the same moment that Roman slapped Ethan with the butt of the flamethrower. Logan missed, mainly because he was trying not to hurt Virgil, but Ethan let go of Patton.

Patton dropped to the floor, but came back up 5 seconds later, holding something. He then started trying to hit Ethan with a barbed wire wrapped tennis racket. Ethan was so busy running from Patton that he ran straight into the punch Roman threw.

With Ethan now down for the count, Roman embraced and checked on Patton.

Logan swung and Michael ducked, resulting in Virgil being able to get free. He only made it about two steps before Michael grabbed his wrist and pulled him to where Virgil’s back was flush with Michael’s chest.

Michael yanked Virgil’s face, then kissed him hard and forcefully. He then forced Virgil to look at Logan. “How are you gonna get me without hurting your precious ‘starlight’?” Michael asked tauntingly.

Instead of answering Logan threw the bat at Michael’s head and hit him squared in the nose.

Michael released Virgil and Virgil ran into Logan’s arms. Logan wrapped Virgil tightly in his arms. He spat on a bleeding Michael.

“I hope it broke that time, bitch.”

Logan the picks up Virgil bridal style, and took him outside to where Roman was on the phone with 9-1-1. The cops arrested Michael and Ethan for three different types of assault. Roman and Logan explained how they had planned to surprise Patton and Virgil with a late lunch, and Romans flamethrower was actually a prop he was needing to repaint.

The paramedics checked everyone out, and everyone was deemed ok.

As soon as the paramedics left, Roman took Patton to their house for cuddling and affirmations of love. (Roman repeatedly told Patton that he was very brave, but Patton just wanted to know that Roman loves and still wants him after today’s events. Ethan made Patton worry that Roman would think that Patton didn’t care for Roman. But Roman knows how much Patton cares, and Roman would never not want Patton. And that night, Roman made sure that Patton knew it.)

Logan took Virgil to his house. Logan’s house was closer to Virgil’s work, Thomas’s house, and Patton and Roman’s place, so Virgil had been staying over there a lot and already had nightclothes there.

They had cuddled and watched The Black Cauldron. Virgil was still a shaken, so Logan spent the entire movie whispering sweet nothing to Virgil while kissing him on the cheek, forehead, nose, everywhere but the lips.

Virgil started to think that it was for a reason.

“Hey Logan?” Virgil asked, his voice very soft. “Yes starlight?” Virgil smiled at the nickname, but became serious once more.

“Do you think I’m disgusting because of what Michael did?”

Logan was stunned. “Of course not Virgil! If you feel nasty you can take another bath, but I don’t think that you are disgusting. If anything, Michael is disgusting because he doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.”

Virgil started crying. “When he said that we were... you just looked so mad... and then when he... I thought you hated me..”

Logan scooped his boyfriend into his lap and squeezed him tight.

“Ohhh starlight, I am so sorry that I ever made you think that! I could never hate you, you are one of the most wonderful things in my life!”

Virgil stopped crying as much, as stared at Logan. “Really?”

Logan was determined to make Virgil believe him.

“Yes. I was planning to ask after the wedding, but Virgil, will you move in with me? You are already here all the time, you already have your own drawer, and every morning when I wake up without you in my arms or night where your face is not the last I see is just a waste. So, will you formally move in with me?”

Virgil wrapped his arms around Logan’s neck and kissed him deeply. “Of course I will! I love you!” Virgil said, then slapped his hand over his mouth.

That was the first time ‘I love you’ had been said between them.

Logan smiled and kissed Virgil. “I love you too.”

They spent the rest of the night cuddling, comforting, kissing, and saying ‘I love you.’

-----

Taglist-

@dragonwithproblems

@five-falseh00ds-ph0nated

@kawaiikat54

@thefingergunsgirl

@rainbowemonightmare

@kuroyurishion

@sanders-sides-with-quinn

@007ardra

@yikesdodson

@nerdycupcake559

@softestvirgil

@teacupfulofstarshine

@impatentpending

@star-crossed-shipper

@ravenivy2079

@ladyartemisia28

@moose-boi

@resident-trash-goblin

@parx-boiiz

@ninathepancake

#The Astronomer and The Florist #Royality #Analogical #Logan #Virgil #Patton #Roman #Michael #Ethan

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theonewiththefanfics · 6 years ago

Text

The Fight Of Our Lives (one-shot)

Summary: Thanos might have succeeded, and not only erased half the universe, but hope in general. But humans are stubborn little bitches. And so are the Avengers. No matter if dead or not, the fight of their lives is coming and nothing will stop them from righting the wrong. (AKA this is me trying to cope with Endgame.)

Pairing: Peter Parker x f!Reader

but is very much so Avengers x f!Reader; Platonic!Steve x f!Reader; Dad!Tony x f!Reader; Platonic!Loki x f!Reader as well

Genre: angst, fluff

Warnings: mentions of death, blood, swearing, injuries

Word count: 10074 (THIS IS THE LONGEST FIC I’VE EVER WRITTEN, HOLY SHIT!!! STRAP IN< GUYS)

When the snap happened, everyone was in a state of shock. Even Thanos himself didn’t necessarily understand he had succeeded, glazed eyes watching the gauntlet and his surroundings. Only when Thor backed away did he realize his goal was accomplished, so he used the Space Stone to disappear in an instant. Y/N’s head turned to the side, eyes on Steve clutching his abdomen and looking at Thor with inexplicable fear. “Where’d he go? Thor… where’d he go? “Steve?” Bucky’s voice cut through the buzzing in her head, but maybe she shouldn’t have glanced at the other super soldier. Maybe then he wouldn’t have turned to ash and been swept away by the winds. People all around her either felt their hearts drop to the soles of their feet or their bodies disintegrated, and when numbness spread through Y/N’s toes, she knew what was going to happen. “Steve.” His attention was immediately on her. “Oh, no, not you too,” the Captain was already rushing to her side, but his hands wrapped around a non-existent middle. “Tell my dad, I’m sorry.” Steve was left with nothing but an empty feeling in his stomach and an even emptier field. “Oh, God.” They had lost.

***

Steve had always been a good leader. He was Captain America, the man with the plan, always ready to jump into action and give out orders while following his own like the good soldier he was, but for the first time since he could remember himself, he didn’t know what to do. The reflection staring back at him as the remnants of his beard were washed away down the drain was unfamiliar. This was a man completely lost, let alone out of his time. What was worse, he didn’t know where Tony was. If he was alive. The thought gnawed at him, eating at his brain day and night for almost a month now. He sighed deeply, letting the air enter his lungs, holding it for a second before exhaling. With a clank against the sink, he let the razor fall out of his hands. Taking the towel that was on the counter, he observed his own features in the mirror. Steve was more than a hundred years old, yet he looked barely thirty, and despite how tired he was, mentally and physically, his counterpart looked ready to fight, if not for the exhausted look in his eyes… the eyes that were shaking. Steve’s brow furrowed when he saw the smaller mirror to his left start moving as well. A hand went to steady it, but then his razor rattled and fell into the sink, as the whole building started to tremble. Nat, Rhodey and Pepper were already rushing outside when he joined the three. What he saw in the courtyard made his knees almost buckle from relief. He didn’t care about the strange glowing woman that placed a space ship on the grass, he didn’t care about Rocket moving forward with them. All he cared about was getting to the two people stepping down from the stairs. When Steve’s arms wrapped around Tony’s shoulders, he could feel just how much skinnier the genius was, how malnourished and dehydrated he must be, but all that was a secondary thought to the one blaring in his mind – Tony was alive and on Earth. “I couldn’t stop him,” were his first words to Steve, voice laced with pain and guilt. Steve’s eyes dropped to the ground before flitting back up. He realized what he would have to inform him of, and he wished Thanos’s snap had also taken him. “Neither could I.” “I-“ Tony started, unable to find the words before gulping and getting them out, solidifying them as truth. “I lost the kid.” Fuck. “Tony, we lost.” We lost so much… “Is umm,” he struggled for a second, not wanting to ask, terrified of the answer, but he didn’t even have to. Pepper was right there pulling him in her embrace, a choked back ‘oh my God’ escaping her before both hid their faces in the crook of their loved one’s neck. “It’s okay,” Tony muttered, pressing a kiss to the soft skin of her collarbone. If only for a second, it was okay. He slowly limped back inside the compound, heavily resting against Pepper and Steve for support. Everything was pretty much the same way he’d left it in Rohdey’s care as he and Pep had gone to New York on a business trip before the whole Thanos showdown happened. Apart from the giant hologram pulling up each and every face of the people that had been dusted or were unaccounted for. With every word that Nat explained what was happening Tony felt more and more hollow. Until Peter’s face went up in the air. That took the last breath out of Iron man. “Where is he now?” he asked, rubbing at his goatee referring to Thanos, “where?” “We don’t know,” came Steve’s solemn response. “He just,” Rhodey shook his head, “opened a portal and walked through.” It was a lot to process. The same way he had disappeared from Titan with the Time Stone on the gauntlet was the same way he’d vanished from Earth after completing his insane task. As he looked behind him to where Thor was sulking, it turned out the god had had a chance at taking Thanos out. But revenge came with a cost. When Steve said Tony had fought the Mad Titan it seemed like the most ridiculous thing ever. “Who told you that? I didn’t fight him,” Tony pointed at himself. “No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the Stone. That’s what happened. There was no fight.” The cruellest thing was that they’d almost had the glove, but in the blink of an eye, it was lost once more. All that effort, and here they were – broken and beaten to a pulp. But Steve didn’t seem to give up. “Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?” Even in Tony’s nightmares, it was never this bad. He surveyed the room, the people he used to call family now with gaps in it, his new acquired Blue Meanie friend and the stranger that had saved them from aimlessly floating through space, but then it hit him. “Where’s Y/N?” Nobody dared to meet his gaze, but when Pepper squeezed his hand tighter, he didn’t need words to confirm his worst fear. “Rogers,” he seethed, “where is my daughter?” Steve’s chest rattled as he exhaled. “Tony, I’m sorry.” Unshed tears glistened in the Captain’s eyes. He was ready for an outburst, for him to stand up and pummel him to the ground, but he didn’t. Instead, Tony just turned his head to the side, looking into Pepper’s eyes where tears had been streaking down her cheeks ever since he’d returned. He clenched his jaw and nodded. “The one thing I asked of you after you broke the Avengers apart was to look out for her. Look out for my daughter, keep her safe, do not bring her into this mess,” Tony was fuming and with good reason. “It was a simple thing, Rogers,” he sneered, “so no, I got nothing for you, Cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no plan, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust,” Steve could feel each word cut through him like a knife, but the last word sliced his heart completely in half, “Liar.” Then Tony did something no one expected. “Here, take this,” he ripped off his arc reactor and slammed it in Steve’s hand. “You find him,” he pointed at the blond, “and you put that on. You hide.” He was just about to start apologizing when Tony’s legs suddenly gave out from underneath him, and he collapsed onto the floor. “I’m fine,” the genius waved everyone off like usual, “I’m…” but he didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he was enveloped by darkness. Everyone was already up and acting, Bruce setting up a makeshift hospital room, Steve taking Tony in his arms and rushing him to the bed, Pepper following everyone behind, so there was not even a second more she’d be separated from Tony. Never again. It took everyone a couple of minutes to regroup but Rhodey finally came to inform them of Tony's status. “Bruce gave him a sedative. He’s gonna be out for the rest of the day.” The Avengers nodded in relief. It was a small victory to have him back. It was something. So often they were used to loses and casualties, but this time, it was already way too much, and one more would just break whatever was left to break. Rhodey dragged a hand down his face as the holographic monitor showing who was missing flashed, and Y/N’s face now stared back at him. “God, fucking damn it,” he muttered, wiping tears away. His best friend’s kid. His goddaughter. His family. When she had strolled in the compound walking in front of Steve and the rest of ‘Rogue Avengers’, he was ready to clock her in the jaw, knowing she would never back out of a fight. Too much of her father’s genes were in her. “You know he’s going to kill me,” he groaned as Y/N smirked before pulling him in a tight hug. “Not if you don’t say anything,” she mumbled in his chest. All guilt aside, Y/N had been most likely their best chance at winning, excluding Wanda. She was probably the strongest Avenger in the group. Rhodey remembered with fear the time Tony had been kidnapped, and how ballistic the seven-year-old girl had gone seeing the ransom video the terrorists had sent. She wasn’t supposed to know, but Y/N was a master at sneaking around the house, and as Pepper and Rhodey watched, she had caught a glimpse of her father. Let’s just say the whole of California experienced some strong seismic activity as her powers rippled out of her. God, and the other one? Peter? He was gone as well. In a way there was a silver lining to it all – both of the teenagers being gone meant neither could do impulsive and rash decisions. After all, the two were in love, and Rhodey was one hundred percent sure they’d go to the ends of Earth and bring down the sky if it meant getting the other one back. “You guys take care of him,” Carol’s voice brought everyone back to the present. It seemed like Y/N’s face on the screen had shaken them all up. “And I’ll bring Xorrian Elixir when I come back.” “Where are you going?” she couldn’t be leaving them now. Not at a moment like this. “To kill Thanos.” People were up and rushing after the woman in a split second. Nat was the first one to reach her, a strong grip on Carol’s bicep pulling her back to face them. “You know, we usually work as a team around here, and between you and I, we’re also a little fragile.” That was an understatement, but the fight was not over. Not for them. “We realize this is more your territory, but this is our fight too.” On the outside, Natasha was acting like a leader, similarly as she always did by either Tony’s or Steve’s side, but on the inside, she was that broken little girl thrown into a single bedroom with a bare mattress and pillow, told she’d become the nation’s greatest weapon at the tender age of six. Build-A-Bear was the first one to ask the real questions. “Do you even know where he is?” Carol shrugged. “I know people who might.” “Don’t bother,” Nebula interrupted. The whole time apart from when Tony was rushed to the hospital room, she’d stood to the side and watched. “I can tell you where Thanos is.” The hologram was up and running again, only this time displaying the map of the universe provided by the ship log from the Milano. “Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. Then when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him,” there was such venom in her tone towards her past-self, even Rocket flinched. “I’d ask “where would we go once his plan was complete?” His answer was always the same: to the Garden.”

***

The next thing Y/N knew was jovial cheering, loud laughing and warm golden lights encasing her instead of the burning plains of Wakanda. “S-Steve?” she muttered turning around, surveying the grand ceiling and golden ornaments of the walls. “Nat?” A large mass bumped against her back, and Y/N stumbled out of the way to let a burly looking man trudge past. “ ‘M Lady, my apologies,” he slurred, bowing a bit and then continuing on his merry way. That’s when everything came rushing back – the fight against the Outriders, and how she took down Proxima Midnight with Wanda, the subsequent arrival of Thanos, and the snap. “He did it,” Y/N whispered to no one but herself. “He actually did it.” Instantly her head was high and searching the crowd which seemed to be dressed in some sort of medieval clothing, but that didn’t mean anything to her. “Dad!” she bellowed as much as she could. “Peter!” Please not them, please not them, please not them, Y/N chanted in her head as she squeezed between the crowd of people. From the corner of her eye, she saw an archway, beautiful green wines wrapped around the intricate marble, and that’s where she ran to – away from the people in what seemed like a garden outside, and into the building. She was hit by a wave of warmth and even louder chatter than before. Almost never-ending rows of tables lined the inside of the hall and benches full of people she didn’t recognize. Nothing was familiar to her apart from a certain raven-haired man sitting at the very far end of the room, a beautiful woman with hair of gold right next to him. “You!” Y/N shouted pointing at Loki. “You! I know you! Loki!” But he didn’t hear it over how loud everyone was being, so in a true Stark fashion, she jumped on one of the tables, drawing all the attention to herself and thundered a ‘Yo, Reindeer Games!’ For a moment there, the god of mischief was stunned and left speechless. He was never speechless, but when the daughter of Tony Stark calls your name, it might have that kind of effect. As it did on the rest of the people. Instantly he jumped over the table and ran to where Y/N was standing on the counter. “How are you here?” he was completely breathless. The last time they’d met, he was not the Loki everyone knew now, but he’d never had any particular distaste towards the younger Stark. In fact, he’d kind of admired how the teenager was actually a useful addition during the battle of New York. “First of all, where is here?” she motioned around the room, finally stepping off the table and out of someone’s plate. “Sorry,” she muttered to the man, but he only shrugged. “Second of all, what’s going on? And third of all, where is my dad?” “You’re in Valhalla.” “Val-what now?” “Valhalla. It’s where the fallen warriors of Asgard get to rest once their battle is done.” “But,” she stuttered blinking rapidly as if that would wash away the scene before her eyes, “but I’m not of Asgard. I’m plain human. Midgardian. Earthling. You know, an ant to your… boot.” Loki was just about to answer, he himself unable to understand how Y/N was in Valhalla when basically the most gorgeous woman she’d ever seen in her life approached the two. The same one that had been sitting to Loki's left. “We’ve been waiting for your arrival, Lady Stark.” “What now?” the question was softer than the flap of a butterfly’s wings, but the goddess, who as far as Y/N could recall her basic Norse mythology knowledge, was Frigga, had already turned to face her son. “My love,” she smiled placing her hand on his cheek, and Loki practically melted in his mother’s touch. “You did a brave thing. You’ve always been brave and good, despite what has happened. But it’s time to be brave and good one more time.” “Thanos won,” Y/N exasperated eyes flipping between the goddess and her son. “There is no fight. He snapped his fingers and did what he said he would.” “Sweet child, I was raised by witches,” Frigga smiled softly at the girl. Usually, she’d sneer towards anyone that regarded her in such a way, but there was nothing condescending in her tone. “I see more than what meets the eye. It has been five years, and a battle is brewing. Your family will need each and everyone ready to help.” “Five what now?” Y/N breathed out. “But I’ve been here barely a few minutes.” “Time moves differently here,” Frigga placed a soothing palm on her cheek. “A decade on Earth is simply an intake of breath here. But there is no more time to lose.” Loki’s green eyes widened as his eyebrows furrowed. “Mother, am I thinking right that you’re implying we should join the fight?” “You were always the quick one when things needed to be figured out.” “But… no one has ever returned from Valhalla. No one has ever come back from the… dead.” “That’s because up until now, she,” Frigga gave Y/N a pointed look, “was on Earth.” “Me? What the fuck does this have to do with me?” Sure, had the circumstances been different she’d be horrified by the language she’d used in front of an Asgardian royal, let alone a goddess, but frankly, Y/N was just about done with mystical mumbo jumbo and just wanted to get back home where she could watch cheesy B-rate horror movies with her dad while cuddling up next to Peter. “No one can enter the halls of Valhalla apart from Asgardians.” Y/N was pointing at Loki in no time. “He’s not one.” “He was raised as one.” “Well but I wasn’t. Human as a human can be,” Y/N placed her hands on her hips. “But you have Asgardian blood in you.” That made Y/N pause. There really was no other explanation as to how she could be in Valhalla. Sure, there was that time when aliens had kidnapped her from her own backyard after the whole Ultron thing went down, and she was rolling with the Guardians for a brief second before demanding to be put back on Earth cause that’s where her home was, but even her space travels were a sounder explanation as to everything going on rather than her being part of the race from Norse mythology. “You never mentioned it,” Loki glanced at Y/N whose eye roll was the best she’d ever given to anyone. “Because not knowing who my biological mother is, was the first thing, I wanted to talk about with the dude trying to invade Earth. Besides, Thor was of Asgard, and you continuously stabbed him. I kinda think it was in my favour not to, despite not even knowing it.” Loki’s lips were pressed together in a thin line, but Y/N could see how he was trying to hold off a smile. “Well, maybe you’re half-Asgardian, but without a doubt, you’re a Stark.” “You say I’m the key to getting us out of here,” Y/N was starting to get impatient. “How?” “Your powers are deeply connected to your emotions as they are to the universe and every element swirling around us.” Tentatively Y/N nodded, and Frigga whispered for her to close her eyes. “Concentrate on your heart, your soul. Each stone represents a part of the universe. Let your powers go, let them roam the realms until they grasp at the source that calls for them.” It sounded absolutely bonkers as the goddess coached Y/N on what to do, but she imagined her abilities like silvery tentacles that had a string wrapped around her heart, but the others were left free to slither their way through the galaxies and dimensions until the pull suddenly stopped, and she had a clear anchor to something. “My Queen,” a woman with long onyx hair approached the trio. She was wearing a light grey uniform and a blue cape adorned her back, a glimmering silver sword hung by her side. “We heard what has happened, and who has come to pillage the universe. The Valkyries, if you’d allow it, would be more than honoured to fight beside our Prince and everyone else defending the world.” Frigga just inclined her head, quickly glancing at Odin who up until that point had been sitting in his chair. “You need to figure this out quicker,” Y/N groaned, stumbling a bit, but Loki was there to catch her. “I’m not gonna be able to keep at it for much longer.” And then it was like a second breath had been given her. She felt her blood thrum with power as Odin, the Allfather, used every bit of Dark Magic he could summon and directed it towards Y/N. Inch by inch Y/N grabbed onto the thread and pulled herself towards where the stones were calling. It took all of her concentration and attention to do so, but with every passing moment, she could feel them closer. With a final tug at the tether, she extended her arms to her sides and opened up a portal, eyes glowing pure white, and teeth bared to the world. Like a lioness ready to attack, Y/N stepped out onto a battlefield. But they weren’t alone. All around them she saw glowing orange circles where tens of thousands of warriors emerged. And it wasn’t just humans. She saw Skrulls, who she’d met while with the Guardians, the Asgardians that had been brought to Earth by Thor, and so many other creatures with different shapes and forms ready to fight Thanos. He hadn’t just angered Earth. He’d angered the whole fucking universe. “Avengers!” Steve roared a hand extended forward, and Mjolnir flew right into his open palm. I fucking knew it, Y/N smirked. “Assemble.” It took everything in her to keep that portal open. Not only that, as a scream tore her throat apart much like she was doing with time and space, Y/N put her whole being in it and expanded the gateway, the Valkyries rushing out in a majestic formation. Thor’s scream of joy was something like an adrenaline rush, giving her more motivation. “Just so you know,” Loki said unsheathing his dagger and letting his seidr envelop his left arm, “this boot," he motioned towards himself, "has no quarrel with this ant," he pointed at her. “Good,” Y/N gritted, closing off the portal once she knew everyone was out. For a split second when she turned to look behind her, she saw Frigga’s smiling face. Whatever happened, she’d be there to welcome her warriors home. “But this ant,” Y/N motioned at herself with her thumb, “has a major quarrel… with that ugly ass boot.” “Seems like a whole universe of ants does.” That was enough of a signal for her to join the battle. Lifting herself off the ground, she rushed up to meet a Leviathan before taking it down like it was nothing. Bits of Odin’s magic were still there, and she was not about to waste them. But no matter how many troops she took down, more seemed to take their place. It was like Thanos had a never-ending supply of them. “Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?” Y/N heard Clint as he sprinted by her, and she lifted up a horde of oncoming aliens freeing his path. “Get those stones as far away as possible!” Steve’s voice was loud and clear in the comms, giving everyone the non-verbal order – protect whoever is carrying the gauntlet, and don’t let Thanos get to them. “No!” Bruce, who Y/N only just now noticed was a morph of the Hulk and Bruce, countered back. “We need to get them back where they came from.” “No way to get them back,” Clint grunted as he evaded a few aliens and resumed his mad dash. “Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel.” “Hold on!” a voice Y/N hadn’t heard in a while invaded the system, and she had to grin. She’d always liked Giant Man. “That wasn’t our only time machine.” An obnoxiously loud car horn beeped across the battlefield, making everyone’s heads whip to the side as Steve rushed up a hillside. “Anyone see an ugly brown van up there?” “Yes,” exclaimed Brunhilde from high up above leading the storm of Valkyries against the Leviathans, “but you’re not gonna like where it’s parked.” “Cap!” Y/N got his attention, taking everyone’s, who hadn’t seen her arrival, breath away. Including Steve’s. “Get that thing started, we’ll hold them back,” she motioned with her chin towards Loki, whose seidr glowed a brighter jade just at her words. “Scott, how long do you need to get that thing working?” “Maybe ten minutes,” came his rushed reply, as he heaved a few breaths in a moment of pause. “Get it started. We’ll get the stones to you.” When Frigga had said a battle was brewing, Y/N did not expect it to take the violent form of hot potato, but as Clint, and then T’Challa approached the van, her powers slowly depleted. A moment of carelessness, and she was thrown away by the huge paw of a beast. It was just about to stamp on her when the bright beam of a repulsor created a hole in its chest. Y/N barely got time to roll out of the way of the corpse, before it thudded like a sack of bricks. “Dad?” the word cracked in the middle, but Tony couldn’t move, as his daughter, the one he lost half a decade ago, was finally in front of him. After years of hopelessness, that was only regained a bit when Morgan was born, his family was finally whole again. “Baby girl?” That’s when Y/N threw all caution to the wind. She didn’t care about the battle, the screams and roars; all that mattered were her father’s arms tightly woven around her body, keeping her close to his chest – safe and sound in his embrace. “I’m so sorry, dad,” she wailed in his arms. “I’m so sorry I put you through that.” But Tony just shook his head, pulling back and pressing their foreheads together. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. You’re here... right here, and that’s what’s important.” Both of them nodded in unison, either at Tony’s words or just to reassure them the other was real. It was a tiny moment of peace before the sound of someone loudly yelling ‘Oh My God!’ brought them back to the fight. “Where’s the gauntlet?” “Last I heard Peter had it.” “Peter?” his name was a breathless whisper of hope. He was there. They both were. Tony nodded, gripping her bicep a bit tighter before letting go. “Keep him safe.” And with that both Starks separated destroying Thanos’s army bit by bit while desperately trying to find where the stones were. She was in the middle of battling against Ebony Maw, her powers ripping his heart apart from the inside out when the scarlet swirls of Wanda’s magic got her attention. “Rain fire!” Thanos grunted, and instantly Y/N whipped her head around where Wanda was pulling the Titan apart atom by atom. There was some sort of an answer that came from a troop she couldn’t hear, but when Thanos exclaimed ‘Just do it!’ she knew shit was about to get even more real than it already was. From high up above, Thanos’s ships aimed their blasters towards the ground and unleashed hell upon Earth. Wanda was thrown back, and that made her release the hold she had on the madman. Without a second to spare, the wizards created shields with their powers but people who were not under their protection were still getting obliterated until Y/N extended both palms upward and imagined a layer that separated her from the beams. Taking a deep breath, she felt sweat trickle down her forehead, and then she lifted the layer. Slowly but surely, she lifted it higher and higher, a shout of strain enveloping her in the process as she reversed the blasts and made them fly back to the ship. But that didn’t stop the oncoming array of attacks. Y/N didn’t have unlimited power. Opening the portal from Valhalla had taken out most of it, and holding off another assault didn’t seem that likely. As she stared at the guns above, the girl readied herself to take the onslaught when they suddenly turned to the sky and started firing there. No one could see anything through the plumes of smoke and ash apart from a quickly approaching ball of light, that in a matter of seconds shot through Thanos’s ship, rendering it useless, and making it crash in the nearby lake. “Y-Y/N?” Her heart had never stuttered so much as it did when Y/N heard that voice. She was frozen in place, unable to move or even blink. Her hands trembled in fear. Maybe this wasn’t real, maybe he wasn’t there in front of her, and all of that was something her mind was making up because Peter wasn’t actually back, but when she turned around she saw him holding onto the gauntlet as if it was his last lifeline hiding in the dirt behind a broken cement block. “You’re bleeding,” was her first remark as she looked him over head to toe. His lip was split, and there was a gash on his forehead, but other than that and probably some major bruising underneath the suit, he looked fine. Well, at least he was in one piece. A sob like chuckle escaped the brown-eyed boy, and she didn’t even get a second to brace herself before his arms were wrapped around her, and pulling her in his body. “We should’ve stayed on the bus,” he cried, but a smile played on his face. “Tell me about it,” her chest quivered as did her lips before she smoothed back his hair. “Dad’s so pissed about it.” “More pissed than when he walked in on us making out the first time?” “Yeah,” Y/N let out a genuine laugh, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. “I think so.” “Yes,” Tony’s voice invaded their moment as it cut through the comms. “I most definitely am, but we need to get the stones to the van before nut sack over there gets to them, so you might want to leave it for later.” “You got something for me?” Carol motioned with her eyebrow at Peter, eyes flipping to the gauntlet. Safely, Y/N took it out from his grasp and handed it to the woman. “I don’t know how you’re gonna get through all that,” his eyes roamed the oncoming army, a hand instinctively going to wrap around Y/N’s waist. He’d let go of her once before, he was not going to make that same mistake ever again. “Don’t worry,” Wanda floated from above and settled herself behind Carol, eyes blazing red. “She’s got help,” and the sight behind and in front of the two teenagers was the most marvellous one they’d ever seen and would ever see. Each and every heroine stood against Thanos’s army while the Valkyries made up the back, their winged mares neighing, swords high up in the air as a battle cry ripped through their throats. “I uh got this chemistry test coming up. By any chance, anyone of you could help me with that?” “Seriously?” Y/N snorted looking at her boyfriend. “We were dead just a few minutes ago and are fighting the biggest army in the universe. And you’re thinking about chemistry?” “I just… I’d rather focus on anything but what’s in front of us.” “We can think about chem and calculus and English after all this is done, I promise,” and for the first time in what seemed like forever, she was able to kiss Peter again. If it hadn’t been for the impending oncoming of the enemy, she’d sag into his hold and never let him go. “But first – we beat the shit out of them. And that one’s mine,” Y/N sneered looking directly into the eyes of Proxima Midnight. She had been the one that had almost killed Nat and Wanda in front of her eyes. It was payback. If only for the fact that Nat was not there. She didn’t need verbal confirmation to know that her redheaded assassin wouldn’t show up. Everything had a price, and so did the fight for survival, but they’d be damned if they didn’t make her proud. It was a terrifyingly glorious sight to see as the women stood between Thanos and the gauntlet; it was clutched safely in Carol’s arms as she flew through the enemy using her photon blasts to disintegrate them. Though not everything could go as smoothly as it had been. Right as Scott powered up the time machine in the back of the van, Carol aiming straight for the dead centre of it, in one last attempt, Thanos threw his double-edged sword, and everyone was knocked back with the explosion, Carol’s grip loosening and letting go of the stones. That’s when complete panic ensued. They couldn’t go through this again. He’d made it clear - this time it would be personal, and not half the universe but the whole fucking thing would be wiped out. One by one the closest people to the gauntlet rushed to grab it, but even through that, Thanos was able to put it on. He would’ve snapped his fingers if not for Carol grabbing onto his palm and bending his fingers backwards with her bare hands, pure rage lighting up her eyes. Y/N scrambled towards them ready to knock Thanos down when she saw him remove the Power stone, blast Carol away from it. Then her father charged at the Titan. A desperate grab at his hand, Tony’s horrified face, a punch to his side and shake, and Thanos was free as Y/N’s dad laid on the ground, struggling to get up. At that moment she didn’t even care for the stones, as she witnessed her father in pain. But then she caught the glimpse of a green glimmer. “I am…” Thanos smirked putting his middle finger against his thumb, “inevitable.” But when he clinked nothing happened. Just as Y/N expected. “And I…” she ran towards her dad, “am,” one more step, one more step, “Iron Man.” Dad’s so gonna kill me was the last thing Y/N thought before he snapped his fingers, and she grabbed onto his shoulder letting the power of the Infinity Stones course through her body alleviating the strain on Tony. She’d never felt this kind of pain and euphoria at the same time. Y/N was invincible, unstoppable, a goddess in her own right but at the same time, her heart was just about to give out when she saw the enemy horde, one by one and then at a more rapid pace succumb to the same fate she had five years ago. With a gasp she found herself approaching the edge of not coming back when someone called her and Tony’s names. “Friday,” Pepper’s voice sounded like a dimming filter had been placed over it with a tinge of a beeping noise added to it. “Release the right arm.” On command, Tony’s suit detached from the whole, and the part with the stones dropped to the ground, making Y/N’s hold let go as well. The two Stark’s crumpled to the ground, panting and trying to get as much oxygen in their lungs as possible, as they crawled a bit to the side where they could lean against the remains of the compound. “You are so grounded, you hear me?” Tony rasped bringing his daughter close to him, and holding Y/N’s head tightly against his chest. “Forever. You’re never leaving the house or ever thinking about it.” “So that means we can watch movies all day every day for the rest of our lives?” “If that means you staying safe, I’ll chain us to the movie room.” And in the midst of all that rubble and sweat and blood, Y/N and Tony finally pulled in breaths of relief. “How did you know it would work?” “I uh, remember that time when aliens sorta kinda kidnapped me?” “How can I forget the worst moments of my life… up until that point.” “Well, I and the Guardians did that. It worked then, so I assumed it would work again.” A beat passed with Tony’s face completely expressionless before engulfing Y/N in an even tighter hug. “I’ll kill Peter, I swear I’ll kill that braindead-knockoff-Kevin Bacon.” “Not before I kill you both,” Pepper’s arms were instantly around her family as if she was shielding them from the rest of the world. “God, I hate being a Stark.” They released a collective chuckle and tightened their hold on one another. “Also, that time when those aliens kidnapped me?” “Yeah?” Tony sniffled. “Turns out that's not really true. I uh can teleport." "You what?" Y/N rolled her eyes. "My powers come from somewhere, and it turns out you hooked up with an Asgardian. I now remember that night we had a huge fight, and I wished I’d be with mom instead of you... I guess they decided to show up then cause the next thing I knew, I was shooting through this weird rainbow beam, and ended up crashing on a weird spaceship. Thought I'd been abducted when instead, I had just run away from home.” Surprisingly enough, both Pepper and her dad laughed. “Really Tony?” the redhead asked him. “So human women weren’t’ enough, had to go for the extraterrestrial ones as well?” “What can I say,” he let her wipe away a tear that slid down his face before resting his head against Y/N’s. “I have impeccable taste. Just look at who I married.” “Y-You got married?” she was stunned beyond belief. That’s when it truly kicked in that it had been five years. Five years they’d lived without her, and had created a life she didn’t know anymore where she fit in. “Yeah,” Tony nodded, squeezing Y/N’s hand in reassurance. “You uh you also have a little sister.” Wave after wave after wave of emotions rampaged her body and mind. First, it was hurt they’d do that, that they’d try and move and replace her, then it was confusion as to what was her part in this whole equation now, and then it was relief and joy. She still had her family, and no matter what had happened, Y/N was happy they’d tried to make some sort of a life even after Thanos. It had been the exact thing they’d fought for. “Guess I can officially call you mom then, huh?” she looked at Pepper through a teary gaze. The feeling when she wrapped her arms around her was nothing short of coming home. “You’ve always been my daughter,” she whispered in Y/N’s hair. “Always.” “I love you 3000,” Y/N whispered back. That set her off into an absolute fit of giggles, as she shook her head, and brought her in for another embrace. “This time, you’re in the low six to nine hundreds, Tony.” “What?” Y/N asked, looking at her dad, confusion written all over her features. He just shook his head. “I’ll explain later.”

***

It took them all a couple of days to regroup and rearrange, but once that was done, once the tearful reunions and greetings were over, it was time for true celebration. Though, if someone had told Y/N that the same Loki that had stabbed his brother right in front of her eyes on the balcony of Stark Tower was the same one that practically sprinted towards Thor to embrace him, she’d tell them to fuck off. Now they were all dressed in whatever best attire they could find, with smiles on their lips as they watched Pepper and Tony renew their wows. Y/N who had met Morgan less than forty-eight hours previously, stood tall and proud to their right as Rhodey helped her father stand up from his wheelchair and give Pepper a kiss. “Come on,” Y/N whispered to Morgan, who was still unsure about the older sibling she’d met. Of course, not a day had gone by where either her dad or mom talked about her sister, but it was another thing to meet the girl. “I think Happy and Rhodes said they’re making burgers.” Together they walked behind their parents, and no one could wipe off the smiles off their faces. Even Hank Pym was there, and it was a known fact that he and the Starks had never gotten along. “Pete?” Y/N turned to her boyfriend, who instantly joined her other side, “will you take Morgan inside? I just need to quickly talk to Steve.” “Yeah, yeah, sure,” he nodded, and couldn’t help the blush that spread across his cheeks as she pecked his lips. As fast as she could she ran towards where they’d made a miniature of the time travel machine with the intention of Steve bringing the stones back to their correct place in time. “I’m coming with you,” Y/N announced pulling on the bracelet on her palm that she'd hidden in the pocket of her pants, and stepping onto the platform. “And you won’t stop me.” “Y/N, I don’t think your dad would agree to this,” Bruce remarked, his hand, much like her father’s in a sling, though where Bruce only had that and burns that would forever scar his right side, the prognosis for Tony to ever walk again on his own were slim. But that had never stopped a Stark. “Of course, not,” she snorted tapping the device twice and letting the time travel suit encase her body. “Why do you think I ran? So he wouldn’t know about i-“ but it was just her luck as the man of the hour himself appeared out from behind the woods. “Hey, hey, whoa, where do you think you’re going, young lady?” Tony exclaimed his wheelchair rolling towards the launchpad faster than Y/N thought was possible especially on the forest floor. “You are grounded!” “Oh, come on, dad!” “No,” he was surprisingly stern about this. “You zip it right now. I don’t wanna hear about it. Step off that thing right now, and get that piece of crap off of you,” he motioned towards the time travel suit and the bracelet. “Please, dad, just… just trust me on this one. I’ll be back in a second. I just… I just wanna say goodbye to Nat. She’s the reason all of us are back here...” With a sigh of defeat, because even a Stark couldn’t talk a Stark out of anything, Tony retreated. Y/N quickly skipped down the platform to give her father’s cheek a kiss, before joining Steve. “Protect her. Whatever comes her way,” Tony said looking straight into Steve’s soul. This time he wouldn’t let his friend down. “With everything I have.” “Ok, you, dramatic gramps, let’s cut the cheesiness. Bruce?” Y/N grinned at the scientist. “Ready to jump in three…” he started the countdown, “two…” “See you in a minute,” Y/N winked and was gone.

***

Putting the stones back was a whirlwind, and it made Y/N feel like a badass spy that had to infiltrate a base and then disappear unnoticed. She never really joined in on stealth missions, as that was not her forte, but fuck was it fun. Especially when Steve told her how he had to fight his old self on the first time around. “I never knew how ridiculous that line was,” he chuckled, as they stepped onto Rocket’s ship, that he’d leant to them to get to Asgard, Morag and Vormir. “I find it quite endearing. At least nowadays,” she nudged his shoulder and settled in one of the free seats as the Milano turned upwards to the sky and thrust them into space. “Y/N, I’m sorry,” Steve murmured looking at her where she was strapped in place. “For everything. I thought I was doing what was right by not signing the Accords, and instead, I ripped our team apart. And with the whole Thanos thing… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you…” That was loaded confession Steve had just put-upon Y/N, and as she was processing it, the overwhelming need to relieve him of the guilt eating away at her brain, a bright green light beeped on the panel, and they were pushed into the atmosphere of Vormir. Cautiously the two exited and started to track their way to the sole mountain on the whole plane. “You know, we’ve never been a team,” Y/N said looking up to where the two pillars reached into the sky. “Teammates fight together, follow orders, train together… that has never been us. We bicker, play pranks to the point of it walking the edge of mean, we spend our Friday nights curled up next to one another and throwing popcorn around. That’s not a team. That’s a family.” “Evenings without you were a bore,” Steve said wrapping an arm around Y/N’s shoulders and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She wistfully sighed, skipping ahead before turning around and walking backwards. “I can only imagine. I mean with just birdbrain as the funny one and entertainment – I’m surprised you didn’t grey from the boredom.” “Who knows, maybe I’ve just been dying my hair the whole time.” “Oh, I’d like to see that process. You and Bucky sharing hair secrets is something I’d pay for.” Steve snorted right as they approached what seemed to be carved out steps that lead to the top of the peak. “It’s actually Wakandan shea butter.” “Seriously?” Y/N’s eyebrows were so far up her forehead, they merged with the creases there. “Leaves everything smooth and silky.” “When we get back,” she pointed at the Captain, “you’re gonna hook me up with your supplier. “Gladly…” a small pause settled before he spoke up again. “So, why did you wanna tag along? Really?” Steve’s voice was raised so he could talk over the howling winds. “Something uh someone said to me, made me think a bit. I dunno what’s gonna happen, but I wanna know if my hunch is right.” But Steve didn’t get her to elaborate on what the fuck that meant when a floating cloak appeared before them. Y/N’s eyes were instantly white, and Steve had unsheathed the shield they’d gotten while back in the 70s. “Steve, son of Sarah, Y/N daughter of Anthony,” an accented voice spoke to them. Y/N glanced at her companion from the side of her eye, only to see his mouth open in complete disbelief. “It has been a long time, Captain.” “Son of a bitch, you’re still alive.” “Indeed. As you know, I too once sought to acquire the stones, but alas, it was not what fate had intended.” The way Steve was clenching his jaw made Y/N fear for his teeth. “And what was fate’s intention?” “I am here, to be a guide to you, and all who seek the Soul stone.” “Then lead the way,” Y/N murmured. And without any struggle, Red Skull did as told. “In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love,” the figure announced as Y/N made her way to where the cliff ended. “An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul… but you are not here to retrieve the stone, are you?” “Nope, not one bit,” she said retreating and letting Steve open the case, Y/N’s gloved hands wrapping around the tiny glowing piece. With every step she took, she started to rethink her decision, but she’d come all this way just for this, she was putting her dad through more stress than necessary just for this. Y/N was right on the edge, making Steve more nervous than ever. They’d come so far, with such high costs, he couldn’t lose her too. He wouldn’t recover, and he knew neither would Tony or the rest. She turned around her, hair whipping at her face as she looked at Red Skull. “You said soul for a soul, right?” “That is exact, my child.” The winds were harsh at the top of the mountain, and the snow was not fluttery or light as it usually was during wintertime in New York. These were harsh icicles pelleting her skin. “Y/N?” Steve cautiously asked, slowly approaching the woman, but she didn’t hear or see him. For a moment, her grip on the stone was so tight her knuckles turned translucent, and then she let go. The stone glimmered like amber as it dropped down, down, down. When it touched the ground, the two beams that created the archway started glowing before bright light shot up into the sky, and Y/N had to shield her eyes from its intensity. In that blink of an eye, she was transported away from the mountain and somewhere down below where they’d started their ascend. Her hands trembled as she opened them to see that the stone was no longer there. And she was completely alone, as a matter of fact. “No,” she looked at the expanse of water, as the light of the whole planet had dimmed leaving her alone and drenched in darkness. “No, no, no, no, no!” Y/N smashed her hands against the surface of it, anger coursing through her veins before a soft hand appeared on her shoulder. “Baby Stark, you miss me?” There, with that crooked smile of hers stood Natasha. Her hair was back to the red tone, blonde only covering the tips of the long tresses, but there she was – wearing that same ugly red and white suit as her and Steve. “No,” Y/N sniffled scrambling up from the water and into her open arms. “Not one bit, you, self-sacrificial idiot.” “That’s more of a Stark thing, isn’t it?” her whimpers could be heard all across the quiet planet, but that didn’t matter, given how both of the girls were crying. “Yes, well, it shows you’ve spent time with my dad and Steve.” The happiness pressing on the two was borderline suffocating. It was only when Natasha pulled back, bringing Y/N’s face between her palms. “I’m so sor-“ but the girl was quick to shake her head. “None of that matters,” she gripped the redhead’s forearms. “None of it. We won, and we’re back and we’re going home.” The smile on the assassin’s face was the most dazzling thing Y/N had ever seen, and her breath would’ve been taken away if not for the screams of her Captain. “Y/N!” Steve hollered as he dashed towards where he’d seen her laying in the pond, after having been knocked out by whatever the mountain did, but his panic evaporated when he saw who she was embracing. “Nat?” He couldn’t believe his eyes. She was there and just as tangible as his own skin and bones. “Hey there, you, old fossil.” He was still a few yards away, but he crossed that distance in no time, and before she could pull in a breath, Nat was up in his arms, both of their bodies shaking with tears of joy and laughter. “You ever pull a stunt like this again, Romanoff, I swear I’ll make Fury put you on desk duty.” “After all this, that sounds like a dream.” “Be careful what you wish for,” Y/N piped up from the sides, grinning as she recalibrated her bracelet and moved towards the ship. “You might just get that.” “Home?” her eyebrow raised in a sleek arch, as the other two Avengers ran up next to her and synched up. “Home,” Nat whispered before being dragged down to the quantum realm. The blink of an eye and the three of them stood back on the platform in the middle of the little forested area. Their suits retreated, and the trio’s beaming grins could’ve overpowered the brightly shining sun up above. “Tasha?” Nat’s head whipped to the side, seeing a completely stunned Clint, but she didn’t give her best friend a chance to regroup as she leapt off the podium and had her legs and arms wrapped around his middle and neck. “Ten bucks on Clint trying to kill Nat for what she did,” Y/N muttered, leaning to the side as Steve, and she removed the bracelets, giving them back to a very much so confused Bruce, but not that confused Tony and Loki who had joined their little gang. “That’s why you went back? To get Nat?” her dad asked, and Y/N shrugged. “How did you know it would work?” “I uh I didn’t. But it was something his mom said,” she replied motioning at Loki. “She said about my powers and them being connected to the stones as the stones being connected to the universe. And that my powers are connected to my soul.” Tony smirked, grabbing a hold of her hand and squeezing it. “You really are my daughter, aren’t you?” A soft fluttery feeling erupted in her stomach. “Also, the words ‘soul for a soul’ was a pretty big give away, but that I found out only when I got there.” As Pepper rushed out of the house, ready to kill her daughter for going back in time and her husband for allowing it, Bucky had slowly moved to stand next to his best friend. “What happened to that ‘Happily Ever After’ you always dreamed about?” He expected Steve to be upset about being back, blame Y/N for somehow coercing him to return, given how the two super soldiers had had a talk about him living out his life with Peggy. But instead, the blond was gnawing on his lip trying to keep a smile at bay. “I think I just might have that right here,” he finally breathed out. “I uh I had my dance, but… I knew she’d be happy with or without me.” “You sayin’ we wouldn’t be able to live without your old ass?” Sam smirked as he approached the pair, and it made Bucky snort. “Obviously. But uh…” and that’s when he finally averted his attention to the thing strapped on his back. “I actually came to give you this.” It was one thing to fight aliens, it was another to accept what Steve was offering. “I can’t do that,” Sam shook his head looking at Bucky for support, but the man just stepped back and raised his hands in a ‘don’t involve me into this’ motion. “Yeah, but I think you can,” Steve smiled at Sam. “Come on. Try it.” Tentatively, as if it was made of glass, not vibranium, Sam, strapped his arm through the leathers and put the shield in front of him. “How does it feel?” Steve asked, eyes surveying his friend from the side. “Like someone else’s.” “But it isn’t,” Steve shrugged, patting Sam’s back before the soldier pulled him in a hug. “I’ll do my best.” “And that’s why it’s yours.” As they pulled back neither was ashamed of the tears that rolled down their cheeks. “And what will you do?” Sam sniffled holding onto the shield. “Join Bingo club?” Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head, pushing at Sam’s arm and making him stumble. “Actually, something I should’ve done a while back.” Both of his friend’s faces were the epitome of confusion as Steve marched away from them with sure steps, but that all changed when he called Nat’s name making her spin away from Clint and Wanda, and directly into his arms. A split second, and Steve’s lips were on her. The cheering and whooping were just as intense as when Tony and Pepper renewed their vows by the lake. The only thing that made the two pull back was the desperate need for air, but even as they did so, their foreheads remained together. "Where did that come from, Cap?" "I've wasted too much time on dreams and 'what ifs'. It's time I act on them." The pair grinned from ear to ear before a giant shadow loomed over them, and that truly made the pair pull away. “I hope you’re okay with this,” Steve mumbled looking up at Bruce. No matter what and no matter for how long, he and Nat had had a thing, and the ex-Captain could never live with himself knowing Bruce was unhappy, but by the gentle smile on the professor’s face, he knew there was no animosity towards what was happening. “Steve, I tried to bring Nat back because we’re family, not because of a kiss we shared. Besides,” he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, “I met someone along the way.” Nat’s scarlet eyebrows shot to the middle of her forehead. There went the best spy in the world award. “Why didn’t you tell us?” “Because we didn’t wanna label anything, especially with how the world was, but uh… I think we might give this a serious shot.” “Who’s the lucky girl?” Nat’s signature smirk adorned her lips, and in all her life she would’ve never bet on the fact that the Hulk would ever blush. “It’s uh it’s actually Betty… Ross.” “Thunderbolt’s daughter?” the day had been full of surprises but even that beat everything in Clint’s book. “Well we had kinda something going on before Hulk was even around, and we just reconnected after the snap… so trust me, I have nothing against you two going at it.”

***

She could hear the laughter of everyone as Bruce told Steve and Nat to not create some sort of weird super soldier spy babies. The two of them were already a handful, and Y/N smiled at the sentiment. “You okay?” Peter whispered into Y/N’s neck. It felt wrong to speak above that level, the scenery was way too calm for that. Even the waves across the lake were muted. “For the first time in almost eighteen years, I can say, I am,” she gave him a tight smile, holding the glass case of where her dad’s first arc reactor was displayed. “He’s giving it up. The superhero life. For good now.” Peter’s lips quirked up. “How do you know? This is your dad we’re talking about.” “Yeah, but I think mom would actually commit murder if he even thought of being Iron Man…” Y/N looked over the lake. It was bittersweet to know how much her family’s life had changed in those five years she was gone. She had a little sister now, Pep and Tony lived here in the countryside, and now he was passing up the mantle of Iron Man. “I know he’ll always be there when we need him, when the real shit’s going down, but I’m happy about him not doing it anymore. He deserves a quiet life with mom and Morgan.” “And you?” Peter observed how his girlfriend chewed on the bottom of her lip before releasing it once his thumb went to pull it out from between her teeth. “You deserve that as well with your family.” “And we’ll have that,” Y/N intertwined her fingers with Peters, and pressed a kiss to them, “but first, we’ll protect the Earth. I think that’s why he gave this to me. Sort of a symbol of – now it’s your turn.” Peter’s brows furrowed. “Your turn?” “You’re looking at the one and only Iron Maiden.” “Like the band?” he smirked. “Or like the torture weapon. We’ll see what happens.” He shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips as he kissed Y/N’s exposed shoulder, but their moment was disrupted when someone lightly tapped against her back. “Dad said to come and get you,” Morgan nervously rolled back and forth on her feet. “We’re making cheeseburgers and having juice pops after that.” “Really?” Y/N smirked taking Morgan’s extended palm and standing up, the arc reactor securely held in her other hand, and Peter’s hand on the small of her back. “Sounds like the perfect combo.”

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take): @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64 @supernaturalbaesduh @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sea040561 @staryeyedgirl @deathbyarabbit @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91 @dalilx @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns @averyrogers83 @in-the-end-im-still-trash @gallifreyansass @dewy-biitch @avxgers @unlikelygalaxygiver @sweet-ladyy @magicwithaknife @ollyoxenfrees @bnhvrdy @tvwhoresblog @celebsimagines @thatkindofgurl @sj-thefan@nerissa98 @happyseagrill @asguardiansoftheavengers @crazybutconfidentaf @wishingforahome @pizzarollpatrol @desir-ae@wantingtobekorra @kylokayd @infamousmany @3blue-dreams3 @sarcasticvodka @synka-rin @3nmxnxt3r @supernatural-strangerthings-1980 @nikolett3 @eyesinconstellations @youngbloodholland @marvels-queen-bee @julierousing98 @maggiesimps @horrorx570ximagines @luluthegreatandterrible @bambamwolf87 @drakesfiance @artbysteph87 @beets1bears1battlestargalactica

A/N: I’ve been working on this the whole day, but I apologise if there are any grammar errors. Some of the dialogue taken from the actual movie script.

P.S. feedback is always appreciated

P.S.S. my tags are always open :)

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cocaine-communist · 4 years ago

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“The King and I” {Cornell Stokes x Reader}

(Gif Source @diana-prince)

Fic for: @thranduilsperkybutt

Trope #17 The post-fight, nursing back to health trope

AU #17 Sugar Daddy

Warnings: some language, blood, gore

Word Count: 2412

How could the King ever truly love you?

You… a lowly peasant in his court… a serf in need of his service.

You wake up to another day filled with hard labour, a full schedule, and a yearning heart. He occupies every crevice in your mind. When at work, all you can do is think about the few moments he’s embraced you and think about how you just want to be held. Every memory shared between him and you, whether they be happy or sad, plays through your mind on an unstoppable loop.

The money he provides for you helps, but that is not what you require the most from him. It is not the cold pay he gives to your university because paying it by yourself is impossible, it is not the distance of the relationship, it is not the sex, it is love. You need love more than all of that and he is the only one that you desire.

This emptiness, this yearning needs to end. You reached for your phone and tapped Cornell’s name bar on your contacts app. He will either reciprocate and you both can live in your happily ever after dreamscape or you could at least come to terms with the fact he might never love you.

“Hey, Y/N. How are you?” Cornell’s unexpected voice rang like a song to your ears this early in the morning.

Despite the beauty of Cornell’s voice, Anxiety shook your body. “Hey -um. I’m -um- I’m doing find-fine. I just -a- need to talk to you like -um- after work tonight. It’s -uh- really important to me.” You finally managed to get it out.

“Okay. See you then. I may be a bit busy, but it shouldn’t be too bad. Have a good day.”

“Um, okay. You too.”

You waited until he wanted to hang up to end the call.

“Damn, after three whole years, finally gonna drop the big question on him!” Your roommate Antigone mummed sleepily.

You thought about biting with an inflammatory remark, but she was right and she caught you at an early morning grogginess disadvantage. She knew you better than you knew yourself. “I can’t help my feelings. He deserves to know, at the very least.”

“We can always choose who we fall in love with. You chose him, deal with the consequences.”

Morning Antigone was always harsher than After Coffee Antigone. “Thanks, at least I can always count on your biting honesty. My one constant in life… ”

“What else am I here for?”

“Being a pain in my ass.”

“Yep. An’ I enjoy every part of it.”

Today was just one class, your Asian Religions class you took for an easy A, and work, but that’s not going to be the hardest part of your day. Asian Religions was quite easy to breeze through. Two hours of the day were gone trickling like coffee in the pot. Your job swept on by as well. Even though there was a couple of disgruntled employees that did not spoil your day. That comes later.

It became dark outside, as it typically does at night, so traversing through the New York City landscape became quite a task. People were throwing trash on the ground, a guy with a suit and tie walked along with only a cigarette for company. You try not to look, try to keep your head down and focus on getting to Harlem’s Paradise to finally after three fucking years confront Cornell about your feelings.

Throughout the day, you were already deciding on what to say, what would be the best way to say it to ensure that the point comes across clearly.

“We can continue this transaction the way it is going and let me finally be at peace with the fact you will never love me, or if you do love me then we can move further on into developing something that I would very much like, which is a real relationship.” That was what stuck in your head the best after the big declaration. You repeated the phrase in your head as much as possible, to make sure that you’d never forget it.

Finally, the purple lights of Harlem’s Paradise appeared in front of you. You skirted down the alleyway to the secret backdoor entrance Cornell told you about. It had an entry door keypad with a simple four-digit code you made sure to never forget. The secondary, less-used stairway that led to Cornell’s office was adjacent to the door. You wanted your steps to be quiet so you would not attract any attention.

Halfway up the stairs, the distinct sound of bones breaking ricocheted into your ear. You rushed up to the stairs to see what was happening thinking Cornell was hurt and you see Cornell hurting someone.

“Cornell, what is this?” Your voice delaying his assault.

The red light on his skin made him look regal. The way it reflected.

“Just business, Y/N.” Cornell stated nonchalantly. “I’m done with him anyway. Can you help me with cleanup?”

Seeing as you did not have much of a choice, you dug through his office desk to the lowest drawer and retrieved the first aid kit. Meanwhile, the poor boy’s body was removed by Cornell’s king’s guard from the office, leaving splatters of blood where his head once lay.

“I need ice.” You muttered aloud to yourself, walking to the ice machine next to Cornell’s wine cooler. Cornell handed you his stained handkerchief for you to wrap the ice up nicely. “This is only enough for one hand. Let me go down to the kitchen and get another rag for your other hand. I forgot to put a rag in the kit in replacement for the last time something like this happened.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Cornell said after a long swig of Scotch, his hands struggling to keep the glass steady in his hand.

Tears swelled in your eyes as you traipsed down the stairs. Your eyes became warm. Why does he have to hurt himself like this, you thought. You wetted your sleeves with the tears that fell down like cowards.

You stormed through the crowd in the kitchen politely so you could get to the laundry storage, quickly grabbing a rag and leaving the scene as quickly as possible.

Once you arrived up in the office you wasted no time inserting the ice into the cloth. “You need to clean it up a bit first.” You murmured, getting a bottle of refrigerated water to pour over the growing wounds a bit.

You placed the ice on the table next to where Cornell was sitting. The bottle, already unscrewed, only needed a bit of tilting to get some water out.

“Why are you crying? Did someone say something to you?” Cornell winced at the exposure of the cold on his sensitive skin.

“No, it’s ‘cause you are -um- hurt.” Tears choking you up.

He let out a little chuckle, “It’s not like I’m dead.”

“You keep this up, you just might be.” You tried to keep that to yourself, but it softly escaped.

“You shouldn’t worry about me. It’s rotten work.”

His face shrivels up at the feeling of you wrapping the makeshift ice pack around his hands with self-adhesive bandages. “If you stop doing this type of stuff, you wouldn’t have to go through with that.”

“What other anecdotes do you have in store for me, Saint Mary?”

“I gave you two for free, the other ones you’ll have to pay for.” You hope your joke landed.

A light huff escaped from his nose. Relief washed over you. Good, he liked it.

“Earlier today, you said you wanted to talk to me about something… ” Cornell’s voice wavered.

The relief was only short lived. It felt as if someone had shocked you with an electrical outlet. You eyes grew wide. The red light of the room, while dim, made it easy for your emotions to be seen. Panic. You always knew this moment would come at some point today, in fact you’ve envisioned the grand expose that you would give him in your fantasies that kept you sane at work, but now that it was happening words were struggling to form. Every phrase you had memorised went out the fucking door. Every eloquent word that was to be said evolved into caveman speak. You couldn’t even think.

“Umm. I -umm…” The words choked up in your throat.

Cornell reached for your hand, gliding his thumb over the flat of it. You quickly released your hand from his grip and ran as far away from him as you could. It wasn’t right to ask it, you thought. Of course he won’t reciprocate, you daft bastard.

But what if he does? Your second voice said after closing the door, stopping you in your tracks.

You’re just being a stupid girl, of course, he’s not.

You ran the rest of your way back to the dorm.

“So? Does he love you back?” Antigone asked after you slammed your dorm room shut, not even looking up from her books.

“When the moment came, I was too scared to ask.” You said after slamming your purse down on your desk.

“That man is going to be the death of you. And wash off your hands, I can smell the blood from here.”

Cornell was left in his office dumbfounded. There was one other person in the room with him, Tone.

“What was that?” Cornell asked.

“I don’t know, boss.” Tone said.

Cornell didn’t sleep at all that night. He lied awake pondering what words you were going to say, were they about his behaviour, did you no longer need him for college, did you want to end the relationship, did you find in someone else? And the way that you left him like a scared dog. Where you really afraid of him? Tears were threatening to pour…

“Y/N, you got company.” Antigone nudged your shoulder.

She knew you were awake. Your tossing and turning kept her up.

“It’s your boyfriend. The guy you won’t stop talking about. Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”

You slowly sat up in the bed and had a mug of hot black tea was shoved into your hands.

“Okay, so get some of this tea into your system. I have my Bio lab this morning, so I’ll leave you two alone to talk about your feelings cauSE IF I HEAR YOU TWO HAVEN’T PROFESSED YOUR ABSOLUTE ADORATION AND DEVOTION TO EACH OTHER, I WILL TEAR YOUR EYEBALLS OUT!! So have a lovely day lady and gentleman.”

Antigone stormed out the room, slamming the door behind her.

After she left. A pregnant pause ruminated throughout the tiny, cramped room. Neither of you could say what you wanted to say to each other.

“Antigone doesn’t have Bio lab this morning, today’s Saturday.” You muttered through your terrible morning voice while bobbing the tea bag up and down in the mug. The effectiveness was in question, but it was a great distraction from the nervous feelings that emerged.

“Why did you run away, Y/N? And don’t deflect.” Cornell demanded although the demand is far less serious when the person making the demands has no power in his voice.

You rubbed your head with your hand. “I didn’t think it was important to say anymore.”

“That’s no need to run away, though. Something or someone scared you, what was it?” Cornell lowered himself onto your bed.

“I don’t know.” Tears again.

“You know I’m not leaving until you tell me what you wanted to say to me, important or not.”

Your throat clenched. The tea didn’t do much to help. You looked up at him, his eyes were red, bloodshot and he had the look of someone who had just got done sobbing. His hands were shaking and his leg was doing that thing where it bobs up and down and no matter how well you try to control it and make it stop, it always makes a reprise.

“Please don’t hate me.” A timber ran through your spine.

“I could never.” He placed his hands over yours that were clamped around your mug.

You cleared your throat. You might as well get it out as fast as possible. Rip the bandaid off.

“I love you.” You said in a barely audible voice.

“Come again.”

“I love you.” A little louder this time, and there is no way that he couldn’t have heard that in this tiny dorm.

“Come again.”

In annoyance that he was making you repeat that again, “I LOVE YOU, CORNELL STOKES. I love you. I love you. I love you.”

“I know.” Cornell said. “I love you, too.” His eye contact with you broke.

“So why didn’t you say anything!? I was miserable thinking that you could not love me back. I woke up every day thinking that our relationship was never going to be anything more than what it was. My heart sank after I woke up from every dream that I had with you knowing that they were just going to be dreams. Every dream that I’ve had was of you except that one when Spongebob Squarepants and Walter White from Breaking Bad were my parents and that’s only because I was Netflix and VPN hopping that night, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...”

“I’m sorry. I was not aware of that. I thought to keep our relationship transactional would help you more, so you could find a better person for you. I thought I was helping you.”

“But I want you. I need you and nobody else is ever going to do. I wanted to tell you that, but I backed out thinking you would never feel the same way about me as I do you. Thinking that I was just being a stupid lovesick little girl.”

Cornell was at a loss for words. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to say. He needed to do or say something fast though, or else his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

“Do you have any classes or work today?”

“No. Why?”

“Because I’m taking you on a date. A proper date. Of your choosing. I’ll pay, but you choose the place. I have tons of making up to do.”

“I’d like that. There’s this new Cajun place, I’m really excited seein’ about it.”

“It’s a date then, love.”

#Cornell Stokes x Reader #Luke Cage #Fanfiction #imagine #thranduilsperkybutt #megs11kchallenge #I hope you like it #i do take constructive criticism

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sherlolly-siya · 5 years ago

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Magnum P.I. S02xE18-20 spoilers and tidbits

I thought i’ll give a prologue first 😅 Remember i pet project where i was trying to decipher the episode names? yea i didn’t get very far on that.. but i have come to a conclusion, that each title is a convention for what the clients in that episode, and/or our P.I. is going through. Eg. S02xE16 : Farewell To Love

Episode starts with Gladys and Bert who had given up on love but eventually found it in one another. The fact that Gladys narrated this part makes it poetic in a sense that she was the one who had to say bid farewell to Bert.Then TC and Teresa, they found the one that they always loved. The one who made them happier, but TC had to let her go go, he bid farewell to his love, instead of ruining 3 lives.In the beginning of the episode, we see magnum all in for online dating, but after what happened with Dylan, we see him coming to an abrupt conclusion that online dating is just isn’t the thing for him, also adding to the fact, the girl who met through an app (Abby) had just recently broken off with him. So magnum kind of bid a metaphorical farewell to finding love online.

Spoilers for S02x18, S02x19 and S02x20 under the cut if you wish to continue. Warning: My rant got hella long, longer than i planned and there are lots of pics and links below. Thanks @maggiesoa and @lizzysfavs for providing some food for my thoughts 😊

So.. lets begin with S02x18 : A world of trouble I’m just grouping together the pics that I’ve found so far which seem to be related to episode 18: Perdy and Bobby discussed about having a scene together ignore jay’s comment here, I’m all for #TeamJin and I will riot if they ever kill him. I believe the episode starts with Jin, showing up at Robin’s nest, where he ends up in a situation where he has to change in magnum’s clothes (note the t-shirt magnum is ironing... (Edit: DIDN'T HAPPEN!!?? I MEAN!! This could have been cute.. didn't have to be a total BTS for once!!) Where we get this scene, All i can guess right now is that is a tab in Jin’s had, and he’s being a fair judge for miggy while they prepare for their visa interview, or he could be here with today’s case

Which takes us to to the primary promo for 2x18, where they solve the case at hand. Now my guess is that the case doesnt take up entire 47 minutes, because this promo also exists. What this secondary promo also shows is them at a office(?) guessing visa or may be its a school where the current client works? where magnum/higgy blurts out that they’re marrying and some lady says that they don’t look like a couple. We also see Katsumoto warning Higgy about the consequences of marrying their business partner. (Edit: this did happen and fueled Higgy’s resolve to back out.. nothing wrong there..but as Jin said.. may it be with Magnum or TC, u’re still breaking the law Mrs. I can figure out how pretending with TC is going to get good results? if anything.. it only comes out of nowhere) I’m sensing a connection here again with the title of the episode: A world of trouble: - The current client, the case was definitely given to them by some one else because they approach the lady coz Higgy says “You’re in trouble, we just want to help you.”, which means she might have refused help at one point. - Literally 2 people in a 2 min worth promo have commented on their wedding, does this not sound like trouble to you?

When magnum is possibly heading out to go to La Mariana, (Edit: DING! DING! DING! This was indeed before the bar scene.. which kinda broke my heart.. but we’ll talk about that in detail later) she tells him that she’s reconsidered her decision that she will be marrying TC instead (which is weird, but for the sake of it, OK). Which also implies that she’s going to have a heart to heart with TC how she had one with Rick before in 2x13. (Edit: Umm.. i would have liked to hear the entire convo here.. but i guess its going to come back a flashback some day?) Magnum than heads to the bar, with Jin where he meets up with his friends and we get this, going by past experiences, this is going to be the last scene where he’s with his friends. Now what leaves me confused is this guy below, the one that magnum rescued and now has a food truck (Rem S1x01, they got him all the way from there now). He’s not listed for 2x18, but the actors caption says 2x18? So is he like the caterer for the wedding? (i thought kamekona was doing that?) or he’s there for entirely other reason?

Now this all leads up to S02x19 : May The Best One Win Again the title is the synopsis here,

Magnum and Higgins are each hired by a different spouse who are in the middle of a contentious divorce to dig up dirt on the other, and Thomas and Higgins soon find themselves competing over resources.

But i don’t think them competing again each other is the only thing here, remember this gem from TV guide magazine? - Jay mentions there being an odd jealousy there, and there is something percolating between the duo which magnum doesn’t want to address just yet. I think the competition is not just between Magnum and Higgy, for magnum it is also between him and TC. May be he’ll be still trying to show her that he is the one she should be marrying, even if that’s fake. - And for the implied element we also have this garage fight, where they’re up against “just one guy, but a very big guy”. This again i don’t think takes forever to solve since, there’s an upcoming wedding everyone has to attend, we’ve all seen the famous pics, but this:

Him again!! And looks like he is in fact catering the event. Now since S02x19 and S02x20 are to be merged into one mega episode, lets slip into: S02x20 : A Leopard on the Prowl

Magnum and Higgins help Rick when his father figure, Icepick , just out of prison and battling terminal cancer, gets double crossed on one last score. Also, Magnum makes one last bold move to help Higgins stay in the country.

This is the rick centric episode the viewers were promised, Adding pics of Zac coz he looks great here:

But do you see anything missing here? My sleep deprived brain does. Icepick seems to be have fallen pray to something on the run, nothing pre-planned, the guy has terminal cancer, he’s dying any day now, why would someone spend any time to plan something against him? (He’s probably going to die in this epi..he only had few months.. the article says “reluctantly try to help him” seriously guys why do you have to be reluctant? And below pic is probably of the same related fight scene Jay talked about in the TV guide snippet:

And if the video Jay uploaded is even close to the actual scene, it could be because the guy hit Rick/Higgy and Magnum picked up another fight with him.. or that’s just for insta.. I’ll leave it open. There’s a fight scene with TC as well i suppose. Now what does the title have to do with the episode? Here’s my theory: - Remember Dr. Kim i already mentioned twice above. He’s gotta be here for more than just “catering the wedding”, magnum said he was a code breaker, he was mentioned in one of Robin’s books, he instantly identified the co-ordinates which Nuzzo left for Magnum, (which is duh! u’re telling me that magnum was a navy SEAL and can read waves but cant piece together actual co-ordinates?!!). Magnum was kidnapped by Ivan’s people coz he needed something from him which was in the books, later Ivan had magnum delivered to himself on a secret mission of retrieving Hayek, who was a weapons dealer but he got away with drones instead.. I think this is all related somehow, there has to be something in this episode that points to this.. I thought may be its in Robin’s books.. but they have never mentioned the same book twice.. I’m still looking for answers though.. But going ahead, see this ,

“ Magnum makes one last bold move to help Higgins stay in the country.” “You see Higgins in a unexpected position, which magnum is very uncomfortable with and where he is not sure about his place”

Soo.. the wedding didn’t happen? So that’s not helping her stay in the country?

It didn’t bother me much before.. but think about this, what if since the wedding plan backfired, she has to go back to London until her visa is renewed/reapplied for : an unexpected position since she has found something in Hawaii she doesn’t want to loose. Which leaves magnum as the in-charge of Robin’s nest and Zeus and Apollo and part of the deal [I can almost see my HC at the horizon]. An uncomfortable position where he has to manage the estate and the hounds of hell without his “professional better half”. I think there is a beach good-bye scene on this day, may be an actual hug between miggy? Supporting evidence as follows:

Now the last attempt Magnum makes, does he offer her a job? Does he confess? But that wouldn’t automatically land her in an unexpected situation , that would be magnum putting her in that situation while being full aware of his position. I bet lenkov has got pretty good plan for this to play out. Now this doesn’t back up my crack where Higgins leaves, because

This story was posted along with the one where magnum is boating.. so they’re probably from the same episode.. where the last ditch effort has paid off but Magnum and Higgins roles have now been shifted a little and lenkov’s quote makes sense “Nothing really changes”.. has anyone ne noticed that there are no Juliet pics from 2x20 yet?

I cant wait to see that though.. and for a 100% i know there is a season 3, its a gut feeling i have. Thank you for stopping by.. sorry it was too long 😘

#magnum pi spoilers #magnum pi #my crack #deductions #miggy #lenkov-verse #thomas magnum #uliet higgins #orville wright #theodore calvin #the ohana thread

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thehonestmommy · 4 years ago

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My Birth Story (Baby #2) - Part 1

2020 brought and withheld a lot of things for everyone across the globe. But for us, quarantined to our home, it brought new life. And as the year winds down, I’m ready to reflect upon the biggest event of the year, Welcoming Galen Angus O’Neill to the world.

On the morning of September 3rd, I was 4 days overdue and feeing impatient for the arrival of our new baby. I woke around 4 am, and could feel some gentle cramps in my belly. This was not new. Throughout the pregnancy I was fooled over and over again by prodromal labour which I had been enduring for months. I even experienced gallstones during the beginning of my 2nd trimester, so I was no stranger to pains and pangs that lead nowhere.

I did my best to get back to sleep but to no avail. I laid awake and tried not to pay attention to the feelings. Unable to get back to sleep, I listened to some hypnobirthing meditations for about an hour and a half (which I did often in the early mornings/late nights) and although I didn’t sleep again, I rested and relaxed and practiced my mindful isometric breathing.

At about 5:30 I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the real deal. The pains were not different, but my instinct told me this was it. The slow start to the big show. I shook Ryan awake and said “I think this is it!” to witch he responded “oh..yeah? okay” dismissing what he thought was another false alarm. But I didn’t feel any doubt this time.

He got up and got ready for work, and reminded me to call him if things get real and he will come home. Our morning went on as usual.

I got up, got myself and my son Lauchlan dressed and took him to daycare. Admittedly, I don’t remember doing this, perhaps because I was distracted, or maybe because I didnt yet realize what was happening during an otherwise normal and mundane morning routine. Whatever the case, I dont remember taking him there….but he spent the day at daycare.

When I returned home I attempted to sleep but again wasn’t able to. Excitement was keeping me awake and alert. I knew rest of any kind was important, made myself breakfast and lounged in bed with the dog (who stayed close with me), while I watched a few movies. A completely chill morning, but as the morning went on, my cramps were becoming regular, and more noticeable. I began timing them, and although the timing was a little off, I knew this was it. It’s go time!

At 9:00 I texted Ryan:

“Umm….Soon. Contractions are closer together now, about 6-8 mins apart but they are short, only 30 seconds and I can still talk and walk through them.”

He decided to come home as soon as he could, with a brief stop to get get me some gatorade and grapes (both staples in my last birth).

At 9:30 I texted my Doula to let her know I was quite certain I was in early labour. Of all my birth team, I wanted to call upon her first since she would come to help keep me comfortable if I requested it no mater what stage of labour I was in (Midwives typically wait till signs of active labour). I knew I didn’t need her quite yet so she asked me to keep her posted in case the intensity picks up.

At 10:30, I paged my midwife:

Good morning!

I m officially in (at least early) labour. I ve been having surges since 4:15am, and they are getting more intense but are a bit irregular. Most are 40 seconds to a minute long, but are anywhere from 5-9 minutes apart. It’s getting close! (My water did not break and I have no blood or mucus show)

My midwife had a team meeting at noon, so said she could be there by 1pm. That sounded perfect to me, so I laid back down, snacked, sipped water and watched some of my favourite funny moves to help keep my mind distracted; Anchorman (twice!) Step Brothers and Talledaga Nights. (Special shoutout to Will Farrell and John C. Reilly for attending my birth as humour doulas. You boys keep it real) In the meantime I chatted with my bestie Andrea who agreed to come over and take some photos. Her plan was to come by at 2pm. Intermittently I listened to some of my hypnobirthing tracks and walked around the house to help gauge how I was feeling. I was still doing okay. 100% comfortable between surges, and still able to talk during them. I used my home-made mala during my surges to remind myself to breathe and relax my face and shoulders (where I hold most of my tension).

Ryan arrived home and got me some grapes and water, making sure I ate and stayed hydrated. He laid next to me and held my hand while the surges came, and reminded me how strong I am, and that we were soon going to meet our newest baby! I was glad to have him at my side, keeping me calm, comfortable, focused, fed and hydrated.

Andrea arrived shortly after and began photographing the goings-on as I laboured in my room. She kept me company and sat on the bed and observed what my contractions looked like while I was cuddled in my bed in my nest of pillows. I was at this time, doing my best to stop talking, turn inward, and breathe slowly as deeply while in a surge, as they were becoming longer and stronger. They would come mid-conversation with Andrea, and I would pause, breathe, and then continue the conversation. I knew trying to talk through them was still possible, but wouldn’t be as beneficial as breathing.

Soon, My Midwife arrived and confirmed I was absolutely in early labour. At 2:15 I consented to a cervical check. I was 4cm and 50% effaced, my heart rate and blood pressure were normal, and fetal movement was normal. All green checkmarks. I felt very positive about my progress, and confident that things were progressing well and safely.

As my surges continued to gain strength, I began moving around. Laying in bed was just not feeling right any longer. I followed my instincts and shifted from the bed to the floor. My midwifes assistant offered to squeeze my hips during surges to help relieve them, and it was helping so much. During a surge I leaned on her, I leaned on Ryan, and relaxed on a yoga ball in between. No position was better than the other but changing it up helped keep it fresh.

Sadly, around this time I heard from my Doula that she was not able to make it. She was attending another birth that was not going well and that mom needed extra support. I felt like things were going very smoothly for us, so although I was let down, it didn’t send me into a panic. Thankfully she had a backup that was available to attend. Id never met her before, but if my doula recommended her, then I trust that she’s excellent! So she was dispatched to our house.

at 4pm I VERY suddenly began to feel nauseous. Last time that meant I was in transition and the baby was about to come, but i was sure that couldn’t be happening already. My midwife took it as a cue, and offered another cervical check which I would have declined if it weren’t for the nausea. I wanted to know so I consented and found that I was 6cm and 100% effaced. It was time to get in the birth pool! Ryan realized time was getting close so he stepped out to pick up Lauchlan from Daycare.

We made our way downstairs and my secondary doula Victoria arrived and introduced herself. She helped me into the pool at 4:30. The water was hot hot hot and so relaxing! I could do nothing but smile as I eased into the water. I could feel all my muscles let go, and like magic my labour picked up. In the first few moments in the pool, observed my surroundings and was filled with an overwhelming joy. I was surrounding by a caring team; my midwives and doula, one of my best friends and my husband and son (who were still on their way back from daycare), safely in my home and during a pandemic no less, when I would otherwise be birthing alone in a hospital. I was so thankful to be experiencing a smooth birth, in the comfort of my own home. The oxytocin wave washed over me, I very soon needed breathing coaching during my surges. They were becoming powerful enough that I needed to make a low guttural hum to stop myself from gasping. I was entering into the primal stage of birth.

Ryan arrived back home with Lauchlan. I wondered what his response would be like, but he was completely adorable and kept me smiling. He didn’t seem phased at all by what was going on. In fact, he was a sweet help; he fed me water and grapes, and gave me kisses over the side of the pool. He was not too pleased however, that he was not allowed to get in it the birth pool with me, but it didn’t stop him from sticking around for the whole show in innocent presence.

At 5:00 I felt like I needed to pee. Of course, I was in the birth pool. My birth team suggested that if i wanted to stay in the pool I could just pee in there since urine is sterile, but I was 100% not into that! Lord knows how much longer I would be in that water, and the thought just grossed me out. So they helped me out of the tub and I waddled my way through my living room towards the bathroom. I noted to myself how thankful I was that I collected about 20 old towels as I tracked water through my living room (this, by the way, was the only ‘mess’ from the whole birth!) Right at the bathroom door another surge hit and it nearly knocked me off my feet. Thankfully Ryan was there to support me. As soon as it ended, it was like it never happened and I took a moment in the washroom and then quickly went back to the pool.

Once I was back in the pool, I felt incredibly hot and nauseous. Thankfully I did not throw up (I am emetophobic) but this time I knew that wave of nausea meant I was in transition. My surges were less than a minute apart. I complained of the water being too hot a few times, and we realized it actually was! Ryan began adding cold water to the tub and a cold cloth to my head, neck and back to help cool me down. Things picked up. Ryan started my birth playlist and I found focus again with the music. My doula coached me through the surges and told me I should stop doing the low guttural sounds because I was going to risk losing my voice. She said yell if I need to! It’s time to get primal! During my surges I leaned my forearms and shoulders on the edge of the pool and grasped her index fingers like handle bars. I felt like I couldn’t go on, like I would perish if I had to endure any more…. And I knew this meant a miracle was about to happen. I knew I could do it and could keep going, bit the feeling of it becoming too much was so strong. I tried to not say it but the words slipped out “I can’t, I can’t do this” and everyone…Ryan my midwives, my doula, my best friend all let out a chorus of “Yes you can. You already are!” I nodded and kept on.

My next surge at approximately 5:30 my water broke (in the pool). The pressure of it breaking was so strong that It felt like a gunshot in the water. It was so strong that I actually thought for a minute that it was the baby! I was so glad it happened, because I knew it meant the baby was very close. Vitals showed we were both doing well, but there was one issue: meconium in the water. When the water broke, meconium came with it which can be a danger to the baby’s breathing. My midwife leaned in close and looked me in the eye and said “Sarah, there’s meconium in the water. If you want to have this baby at home, we have to do it now. It’s time to push.”

Pushing was not part of my birth plan. I wanted to let the FER (fetal ejection reflex) take over. But hearing that my home birth was at risk of coming to an end and transferring to a hospital pushed me into a new zone of strength. With the next surge, I pushed as hard as I could. And when it was finished I knew I could do better. The following surge I pushed harder and longer and it brought the babies head down. But something felt wrong… I felt like I was being ripped in half and my hips were being violently pulled apart. At that moment I flashed back to Lauchlans birth, and how pushing felt so relieving, and I never once felt like it was ‘too much.’ This was different… Like he was coming out sideways. But before my midwife could even check to see what was happening, another surge came and I gave every inch of my life in that final push, and the baby arrived! 5:43 pm September 3rd, 2020. Our quarantine baby, born at home.

I reached down and lifted my baby out of the water and held my wiggling squishy new baby to my chest. The baby was warm and soft and so alert. The midwives immediately began attending to the baby to make sure all was well, and it was. I leaned the baby back on my forearms and gazed at this beautiful creature. I observed the baby head to toe, and was taken with how beautiful this child was. And this time (unlike last time) I remembered to check and see what gender we had. It was a boy! I announced it to the room with a slightly disheartened tone because I was SURE it was going to be a girl. I was shocked that my intuition mislead me so much, but I chuckled thinking that ‘Sarah and the boys’ has always been my way of life. Being a boy-mom is my calling.

I leaned back in the pool and snuggled my new bundle of joy. I spoke gently to him, “hello baby, welcome to the world! I love you already” Ryan asked me “What is his name?” “I’m not sure” I said. We hadn’t decided which of our chosen boy’s names to use. “Alec, or Galen?” I asked “I’m completely okay with both.” “Galen” Ryan said. “Galen Angus O’Neill.”

After some bonding time in the pool, the midwives cut his cord and handed Galen to Ryan for some skin-to-skin snuggles. They helped me out of the water and on to the couch where my vitals were taken and my midwives reminded me that we needed to deliver the placenta (oh, right! it’s not over!) I relaxed and observed Ryan with our second son in his arms for the first time. He snuggled him and remarked that his mouth was open and looking for food! Once the placenta was delivered and I was stitched from a very mild 1st degree tear, he placed our boy back on my chest where he latched and nursed without any struggle at all. It was perfect. He was perfect.

After some time with me, he was laid on some blankets on our coffee table and his APGAR test began. Amusing to likely only us, Ryan asked “does he have a bum hole?” and thankfully he did, and pooped right away to prove it! He passed everything on the test… a healthy boy! We were ultimately blessed.

We each made guesses at his weight and were shocked to find he was a whopping 9 pounds! Much bigger than I expected!

The rest of my evening was mostly a blur of happy comments and realizing how short my active labour had been… just 1.5 hours! Incredible! the entire labour was about 13.5 hours, roughly the same as my previous labour with Lauchlan (but the active stage was WAY faster with Galen!)

My doula had fed me toasted english muffins and gatorade while I lounged with the baby. Shortly after she helped me upstairs to shower, and tucked me in bed with the baby. I remarked again how incredible home birthing can be, and how lucky I was to do it.

Andrea’s husband Nate came to pick her up and popped in to say hello and congratulations, and brought me a hamburger which I straight up devoured! The midwives took care of cleaning up and put our linens in the laundry while Ryan emptied the pool. Our house swiftly went back to normal and it was as if nothing happened. The only evidence was the new life in my arms. So strange that the miracle of life had happened in my living room just hours before.

Even though I would consider this a successful and beautiful birth, it still took me some time to process it. I Think it’s normal to need to put some distance between you and an even so life altering in oder to see it clearly. I can say now, 3.5 months later, that it was a wholly positive birth experience and I am overjoyed that I was able to successfully birth at home. I would do it again in a heartbeat (although I don’t plan on it!!) and I can’t think of anything that I would change. I am so grateful that this happened for us, especially knowing that not everyone is this lucky. A true blessing of an uneventful birth.

Home births, when safe, are such a gift to the whole family. After the birth I was able to enjoy my baby without him being whisked away for test or baths. My husband and son and friend were able to be by my side to witness the miracle. I was able to labour in comfort, privacy, and with dignity and autonomy, able to make decisions that fit my needs. I was able to shower in my own bathroom, sleep in my own bed, and maintain my chosen level of privacy. I ate my own chosen foods, Wear my comfiest PJs. I was in complete control of the environment. and best of all, I was able to snuggle with my baby and toddler to my hearts content, with no one to interrupt me.

The following week was much of the same. Lounging at home in comfort with intermittent home-visits from the midwives to check on our progress. But one week in, our little paradise got turned upside down and we headed off to CHEO once again. But that is a story for part 2.

Special thanks to Andrea for photographing and witnessing the birth of our baby boy. You did a beautiful job and i’m so glad I got to share the experience with you! xo

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hyperion-moonbabe · 5 years ago

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Caught In Between: 02. New Wolf, Same Problems

IMPORTANT!!! TO ANYONE FOLLOWING OR READING MY TVD SERIES: This blog is currently my secondary blog. I have wanted to change it to primary for a while and since Tumblr does not allow it. I have created a new blog: @hyperion-moonbabe-new

I will be porting everything over to this blog including my series and possibly eventually delete it so I can use this name without the “-new” on the end. If you would like to continue to read my series, please know that it will be continued on my new blog. Thank you!

Edit: Update

Summary: Athena Dumont has finally found a place to call home after many years of foster homes and traveling. She had finally tamed her supernatural side and just wanted to live a normal teenage life. She quickly discovers that there is nothing normal about her hometown, Mystic Falls and gets sucked right back into the supernatural world.

Post Date: 03.27.20

Word count: 4.1k

Based off: 02x07 “Masquerade”

00. | 01.

The next morning I wake up next to a half-naked Damon Salvatore clutching my body as I lay my head on his chest. I look up at him, realizing that he wasn’t really asleep, “How long have you been awake?” I ask.

“I just woke up” He responds.

“Mmmhmm… How long have you been just lying here, letting me sleep?” I say.

“Maybe an hour or two.” He replies with a sheepish smile.

I get up, but he pulls me back down, pressing his lips to mine. I pull away and look at him, “ You know you are so darn cute with bed head” I say slightly sarcastic and get up from the bed.

“Why thank you,” Damon says from behind me as I make my way to my bag of clothes.

Damon vamp speeds behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, kissing my neck. “If you bite, I bite,” I tell him.

“I won’t, promise. I just kinda missed this.” Damon says softly. I turn around.

“Look. I...I missed this too. But you’re the one that left and I don’t really think I could continue with this...Us. It’s been two years, I moved on. It was honestly a mistake to stay the night here.” I say as I put on some clothes and start to walk to the door before I feel Damon’s hand grab my arm.

“I’m sorry that I put you through that. But just think about it, please. I miss you.” He responds. I sigh before I continue to walk out of the room.

I head down the stairs and grab an apple from the kitchen before I hear a knock at the door. I open the door, to find Caroline standing in the doorway, looking like she saw a ghost.

“Oh. Hi, umm… Are Damon and Stefan here?” She asks.

“Yeh, I’ll go get them. You can just... wait in here.” I say gesturing to the great room as she steps into the house.

I head back upstairs and into Damon’s bedroom. “Hey, Caroline is here. It seems like she wants to talk to you and Stefan.” I say only popping my head in.

“I’ll be down in a sec. You good?” He says with concern in his voice. Which is very unlike him.

“I’m fine,” I say confused and walk out to go down the hall to get Stefan.

I knock on Stefan’s door, “Hey, Caroline is here. I think she needs to talk to you guys.”

“Alright, I’ll be down in a few.” He responds.

I head back down and sit next to Caroline on the couch. We sit in awkward silence until Damon comes in with a glass full of red liquid, blood I assume. He hands it to Caroline and she takes a sip. “I’m still shaking,” She says.

I look over to the sound of Stefan walking into the room, “ What happened?” He asks.

“Go ahead, tell him. You’re gonna love this.” I could hear the annoyance in his voice, probably from the conversation we had or what Caroline is about to say, “I saw Katherine today.”

“Where?” Stefan asks in response.

“At the grill. I just stopped by to gawk and… quasi-stalk Matt” She replies

“Sorry to interrupt, but who is this Katherine girl?” I ask confused and raise my hand like I’m asking a question in class.

“Long story short. She’s the doppelganger of Elena. And an old lover of baby bro and I’s” Damon says with even more annoyance. I just roll my eyes at him. Caroline then goes on to explain what happened at The Grill and that Katherine wants the moonstone tonight at the masquerade ball or she’ll go on a murder spree.

“She wants to do it in public huh?” I say.

“Killing Mason threw her off guard,” Stefan says following my comment.

“She's running scared. What she did to Jenna was desperate. She's out of tricks.” Damon says.

“We can't underestimate her. We have to play this smarter than her.” Stefan replies.

“Can we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?” Caroline questions.

“No, Katherine's not getting dick. I've had it. I'm gonna go to the masquerade ball and I'm gonna kill her, tonight.” Damon says annoyed at Caroline’s question.

“You're not gonna kill her,” Stefan says sternly

“Don't give me that goody-goody crap.” I just roll my eyes at Damon.

“You're not gonna kill her.”

“Really?”

“Because I am, ” Stefan says and Damon smiles at his decision. We all just stand there surprised at Stefan’s response, I know I barely know him but he doesn’t seem like the type of guy to kill in cold blood.

“Hey, do you think we could talk for a bit? Away from prying eyes. And ears.” Damon says pulling me away from the group into the hall.

“About what? Plus, there are more pressing matters right now, Damon,” I say and walk back towards the group, leaving him alone. He soon followed after me.

“What was that about?” Stefan says curiously after I start to shuffle through a book.

“Nothing, just your brother being his typical asshole self,” I say trying to brush off the question. I continue to look at the book trying to find answers about the moonstone and the curse.

“It didn’t seem like nothing, I can tell he cares about you but…” Stefan starts to say before we’re interrupted by the front door opening. It was the witch, Bonnie.

Stefan walked towards the front of the house, “Hey, you brought the grimoire, thank you,” He says to her. She looks around and takes in the activity going on.

“What’s going on?” She asks, confused.

“We’re gonna kill Katherine,” Jeremy replies coming from the hall. I follow Jeremy to the table where Damon and Alaric were.

Alaric starts to explain how the weapons he had laid out works. He first describes the crossbows and then looks between Caroline and me explaining the smaller weapon that fits on the wrist. Alaric pulls the trigger and fake jabs like he’s taking a shot at a vampire, Damon just looks at him with a slightly concerned look.

“You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire,” Alaric responds to the looks.

“Can we talk now?” Damon whispers into my ear. I see Stefan looking me out of the corner of my eye, knowing that he heard Damon. I walk into the hall and upstairs, to make sure we’re away from all ears. I walk into Damon’s room, he follows soon after.

“Athena, let me just start…”

“No, Damon. Look, I care for you. I really do. But I can’t just forget about the fact that you just left me,” I start.

“I mean I could,” Damon says under his breath, knowing that he was hinting at compulsion, even though I can’t because I’m a werewolf. I just give him a stern look.

“Last night was nice, but I’ve had my heart broken enough and I’m not letting you again, I moved on a long time ago. I can see the way you look whenever you see or hear Elena’s name. She looks exactly like Katherine, I’m sure that brings up a lot of memories and feelings. And I just don’t want to get caught in that. But I don’t want to ruin our friendship. I’ll still always be here for you” I finish, pick up my bag and start to walk out. Until Damon catches my arm and turns me to him, putting us face to face, close enough for our lips to touch.

“Athena, I understand. But just know I’ll always care for you and I’ll always be here for you too.” Damon says. I stand there facing him for a bit and then turn away.

I walk back down to the great room. Once everyone is gathered together, we finalize our plan. “Are you sure you guys don’t want me there tonight?” Alaric asks Stefan and Damon.

“No, I need you to stay with Elena. I don’t want her to know about this.” Stefan explains.

“Ok. Well, I’ll make sure she doesn’t leave my sight.” Alaric says.

“Alright, if anybody wants to back out, I’ll understand.” Stefan states.

“Yeh. Cold feet speak now. I don’t want this going wrong if someone chicken’s out. Caroline.” Damon says back to being his dickish self.

“I won’t. Look, she killed me. Fair’s fair. As long as there’s no werewolf running around. I mean besides you Athena, of course.” Caroline responds.

“Oh, I took care of Mason,” Damon says sheepishly.

“As long as Tyler doesn’t kill anyone, he won’t turn,” I restate about triggering the curse.

“Bonnie? Are you with us?” Stefan asks looking at her.

“But no one gets hurt.” She says after a few moments of silence.

“Except Katherine. Tonight Katherine gets a stake through her heart.” Damon says coldly.

I walk back upstairs into one of the many other rooms that I picked to stay in. When I walk in, I see a rack of dresses in the middle of the room and a display of masks on the bed.

“Assumed you didn’t have anything for the ball. So I took the liberty to find some dresses and masks for you, with Caroline’s help.” Damon says from the doorway of the room.

“Thank you,” I say and then he walks away to go to his own room to get ready.

I look at the many dresses lined up, feeling overwhelmed at the choices. After looking at each and every one of them, I chose a tight red dress and a lace black mask.

I walk back down to the great room waiting for Damon and Stefan to leave. Once we were all ready, we headed over to the Lockwood Mansion. We walk into the mansion, Damon and Stefan walk towards the backyard, but I notice Matt so I go up to him. Leaving the two Salvatore brothers to do what they need to do.

“Hey, Matt,” I said tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Hey, you look great,” He says turning to me.

“Thanks, you do too.”

“I’m heading to get Tyler and some other friends. Care to join?”

“Didn’t think I was good enough friends with you to be invited”

“Well, you’ve made an impression,” He says. I chuckle and look down.

I follow him to Tyler and two other girls. We go into another room, what I assume is like an office. We talk a bit while the other girls dance with each other as Matt pours some shots.

“We’re really not supposed to be in here,” Tyler says to us.

“Yeah, I know but we really need to turn this party up. Another shot?” Matt says handing Tyler and I shots.

“Hey, I want a shot,” The girl named Aimee says.

“Me too and then we have to dance,” The other girl, Sarah, says.

“You know, usually it’s me corrupting you. I like this.” Tyler says looking at Matt as we drink our shots. We leave the room to go back to the party. The two girls wander off somewhere, as well as Matt, Leaving just Tyler and me.

“So what’s your deal? You just kinda showed up out of nowhere,” Tyler says turning to me.

“You really want to know a damaged girl’s story?” I respond questioningly.

“Humor me”

“Ok, well, long story short. I moved from here when I was about 4 years old, my parents died at 5, Became emancipated at 15, traveled a bit and now I’m here.” I explain briefly.

“Wow. You’ve had an eventful life.” He responds.

“Yeh, you don’t understand,” I say. I notice Jeremy and Bonnie walking back down, “Excuse me,” I say and walk towards them, they find a table outside to wait. I walk around a bit to see if there’s anything else to be taken care of before I make it over to the table.

“Everything in place?” I say and sit across from them.

“Yeh. Just waiting for the signal.” Jeremy replies back.

We sit in silence for a bit until Jeremy receives a text. He gets up to go approach Katherine, I follow behind him at a distance to keep him from any trouble. Even though I know he’d want to go alone. He approaches Katherine and delivers his message, they chat for a bit until I notice Katherine look at me, so I walk up to them.

“So is this your little bodyguard, Gilbert? Because she doesn’t look like much” She says giving me a devilish look.

Jeremy starts to speak before I interrupt him, “ Athena Dumont, and you must be Katherine Pierce. I may not look like much but I could tear you from the inside out,” I say, flashing my amber wolf eyes. She only chuckles and walks away.

“You don’t have to be like my sister and hover over me, you know that, right?” Jeremy says and turns to me.

“Oh, I wasn’t trying to hover. I just wanted to meet who we’re killing tonight.” I say but Jeremy only looks at me with disbelief before walking away.

He just seems to abandon me so I decided to wander around some more while I wait for them to finish killing Katherine. I hear screams coming from behind a bush near where Bonnie and Jeremy were. I rush over only to find Elena leaning over in pain with blood all over her shirt but no rips.

“She has to be linked to Katherine, guys,” I say looking between them.

“We have to stop them, Jeremy get them to stop! Now!” Bonnie says frustratingly. I chase after Jeremy after he starts running towards the house.

We get to the room where they have her, “Stop! You’re hurting Elena! Everything you’re doing is hurting Elena!” Jeremy says out of breath.

“They’re linked,” I contribute out of breath.

“You think you two are the only ones with a witch on your side? Wrong and something tells me that my witch is better than your witch.” Katherine says menacingly as we all exchange looks.

“Jeremy, go check on Elena. Make sure she’s okay. Go!” Stefan says as Jeremy leaves the hall.

“Let’s all make sure poor Elena is okay. And your little wolf friend, here, is nothing against me, I’ve got 500 years on her. Just a little bit more pressure.” Katherine says cutting her hand with the stake. Stefan quickly hits it away from her.

“I’m right here you know,” I say waving my fingers, as Katherine gives me a fake smile and vamp speeds to pick up the stake, “This is really gonna hurt.” She starts to plunge the stake towards her stomach.

“Wait!” Damon yells and Katherine sits on the couch playing with the stake. “We’ve got this, Athena, just go check on everyone,” Damon says looking concerningly at me, but I don’t budge. Stefan just gives me a nod, telling me it’s fine, and I start to walk away.

“Okay. So, how about that moonstone?” I hear Katherine’s voice slowly get quieter as I continue downstairs.

I bump into Matt, who looks like he’s on a mission, “Sorry,” I quickly reply.

“You good?” He asks me slightly slurring his words.

“Yeh could use a drink, to be honest. Too many people talking to me and asking about my family.” I lie to him.

“Lucky for you I’m on my way to drink some more, wanna join?” He asks giving me a charming smile.

“Why not,” I reply and follow him as he leads me back to the office we were in earlier. I come in to see the girl Sarah and Tyler waiting.

“I hope you guys don’t mind Athena joining us,” Matt says picking up a glass and the bottle of alcohol and pouring me some.

“The more the merrier. So, what happened to Aimee, anyways?” Sarah asks after getting her glass poured.

“She’s probably drunk somewhere” Tyler responds.

“Like me,” Matt says and starts to pour the alcohol on the floor.

“Woah, don’t do that,” Tyler says with a slight tinge of irritation.

“What man? It’s a party.” Matt says and picks up the photo of Tyler and his family from the desk, “Right dad? You know, looks like your dad wants a drink” He says and pours the alcohol on top of the photo.

“Hey, that’s not cool. What’s wrong with you?” Tyler asks more hostile than before. I can sense that Tyler’s dad seems to be out of the picture and that this is just gonna get worse.

“Come on, the guy was a dick,” Matt says smiling and not having a care in the world.

“Come on, you’re being mean. His dad’s dead,” Sarah says quietly from the couch.

“Give me the picture!” Tyler says. He tries to snatch it out of Matts’s hand but he quickly pulls away, spraying alcohol from the movement.

“Matt, that’s enough. Just put the photo down and let it go,” I say from behind him and seeing where this could head. Tyler activating his curse. But Matt doesn’t wavier from my words.

“Remember how your dad used to slap you around?” Matt says and brings his hand up to slap Tyler on the left side of his face.

“Matt!” I say louder from the other side of the desk, but neither of them acknowledges me.

“Are you kidding?” Tyler says getting even more annoyed.

“Just having fun” He responds with an even bigger smile.

“Put the picture down, man,” Tyler says trying to keep his cool. I try to slip my hand near the photo to grab it, but Matt slams it onto the desk sending shards of glass flying in all directions.

I run over to Tyler’s side and put myself between them, “Okay, you need to calm down right now!” I say to his face before he pushes me into the side of the desk and then pushed Tyler who is right behind me.

“I’m not gonna fight you,” Tyler says attempting to keep his cool.

I help Sarah up and gesture for her to move away from them. Matt wrestles Tyler to the floor, Tyler tries to push Matt off but gives an opening to allow Matt to punch him in the face a few times. I try to intervene by pulling Matt off but he just elbows me in my face, leading to me knocking my head on the corner of the desk, and passing out.

I wake up to see Caroline standing in between them, with a confused look on her face, “I have to finish!” Matt says and it clicks, he’s compelled to make Tyler trigger his curse. I scoot out from under them and punch Matt in the face, knocking him out. Caroline walks over to Matt to check to see if he’s okay. Tyler looks over to me confused and I just sigh as I catch my breath.

“How did you…?” Tyler says looking at Caroline and me before being cut off.

“Matt failed. If Matt fails, I can’t” We hear Sarah say from behind us.

“Tyler, look out!” I say trying to push him out of the way. But Sarah was able to stab the knife into his shoulder, which led him to push Sarah and hit her head on the corner of the desk. I rush over to check on her and Tyler does as well.

“No, no, no! Come on, wake up! Sarah, open your eyes, wake up! This can't happen, oh no, this can't happen. This can't be happening! Sarah! Sarah, get up! Sarah! Open your eyes! This can't be happening! Not like this!” Tyler says frustratingly.

Caroline comes over and I check Sarah’s pulse, but I don’t find one. I look up to see Tyler gripping his head and grunting in pain. I slowly get up and so does Caroline, “Get away!” Tyler struggles to get out.

“What’s happening?!” Caroline questions. I just keep her back because I don’t want to see either of them hurt. Tyler looks up at us and his eyes turn amber.

After the pain from the activation was over I rushed over to Tyler, “Are you ok?” I ask crouching at his level and start to help him up.

“So what are we gonna do? I mean we have to tell someone, we can’t just leave her here.” Caroline sputters.

“Is there anyone we can tell? Are you guys good at telling lies?” I ask looking between them.

“We could just say that she was drunk dancing and tripped and then just wasn’t like alive anymore,” Tyler suggests questingly.

“That’ll work, I’ll go get Mayor Lockwood,” Caroline says and walks out of the room.

Caroline and Carol Lockwood enter back into the office. She explains what happened as I walk out to Tyler who’s waiting for the sheriff in the entryway.

“Here, are you good?” He asks handing me a towel. I’m guessing for my forehead.

“Thanks, I’m fine. It’ll heal.” I respond.

“Mom, the sheriffs here,” Tyler says as we walk back into the office.

“I’ll go prepare her, just don’t leave. Just stay here okay? She’s going to want to hear the story from you.” Carol says looking right at Caroline before she walks out to talk to the sheriff, who I learned is Caroline’s mom.

Tyler walks over to look at Sarah’s body once again, “Matt’s in the car, sleeping it off. I’ll deal with him. I don’t want him involved in any of this.” Caroline says with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“What are you doing?” Tyler asks walking right up to Caroline’s face.

“Why? I did this. I killed her.” Tyler states.

“You didn’t mean to Tyl--” I start walking up to them.

“But she’s dead. You guys don’t know what that means.” Tyler scoffs.

“Actually, Tyler, I think we do,” Caroline says quieter.

“No, you guys don’t,” Tyler says thinking that we don’t know about the curse.

“Has your wound healed?” I ask gesturing to his shoulder. Tyler unbuttons his shirt and feels where the knife was stabbed into him and makes a questioningly look at us.

“How did you guys…?” He questions. I pull my hair back a bit to reveal where my head was hit, showing him that my wound is gone. The sheriff and Mayor Lockwood walk back in and Caroline explains the fake story again.

Everyone had left the party except a few of us and they took care of Sarah’s body. “ Do you have a ride home?” Mayor Lockwood asks walking up to me.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to stay over at Elena’s, Mrs. Lockwood,” I respond knowing that Damon and Stefan had abandoned me here as I saw them walk out before I could catch them.

“Please call me Carol. Ok, be safe.” She says.

“Thank you, Mrs.--, Carol,” I say and give her a small smile.

“You’re welcome,” She says and walks away.

Tyler walks up to me to waits until Elena is ready to go. “So, are you uh, werewolf?” Tyler asks me.

“Yeah,” I respond as he opens the door.

“How long?” He asks.

“About two years now,” I tell him. He gives me a slight nod before Elena walks up.

Elena and I head to her house, get ready to go to bed and are about to fall asleep, but I get interrupted by a phone call. “Damon Salvatore” lights up on the screen, but I ignore it. He calls two more times, I decide to pick up the third call.

“Ugh, I think I have to take this,” I say looking over at Elena and getting up to go into the bathroom.

“Yes” I answer annoyed.

“I’m sorry I left you. We had to deal with Katherine. I can come to get you now, wherever you are.” He said and actually sounded like he felt bad.

“I’m fine, I’m staying at Elena’s tonight. No need to worry. Now I’m going to sleep” I say annoyed and hang up.

“What was that about?” Elena asks as I emerge from the bathroom.

“Just Damon trying to be my protective, not boyfriend,” I say and roll my eyes.

“So you guys were a thing?” She asks me.

“If you count being his personal blood bag two years, that he seems to really care about, a thing. Then yes.” I chuckle.

“I am going to have to hear more about this, but we’ll save it. It’s been a long night. Good night.” She says.

“Night,” I say and pass out faster than I have in a long time.

A/N: Here is the second chapter of the story, based on 02x07 "Masquerade". Sorry that it took a month for this part! I got engulfed in school and then with everything going on. My classes ended up being moved online so, I came back home, and I’m also in the process of moving houses. Please let me know what you guys think, any feedback is greatly appreciated. I hoped you enjoyed and Thank you for reading! Stay safe and healthy everyone!

#the vampire diaries #the originals #the vampire diaries imagine #the originals imagine #Legacies #legacies imagine #bonnie bennett #caroline forbes #matt donovan #elena gilbert #Jeremy Gilbert #tyler lockwood #Stefan Salvatore #damon salvatore #elijah mikaelson #niklaus mikaelson #katherine pierce #mystic falls

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readbeneaththelines · 5 years ago

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Giving Him Control Pt.1

and here we begin! THis is a smutty kinky series! Dom!Ravi is my favorite to write!

Characters: Ravi x Reader, ofcs

Genre: Dom/sub!AU, Smut, angst fluff

Warnings will go up for each chapter

Word Count: 2287

How did you end up with him? Even if you tried to explain it to someone, they would find it hard to believe. You couldn’t quite believe it yourself, but here you were, with him, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

It all started several months ago after the worst week of your life. You had found, your now ex-roommate sleeping with your now ex-boyfriend, in your apartment. You kicked them out, only to come back to a nearly empty apartment. To top that off, you were moved to a position at your work, in which you had no idea whatsoever what you were doing. You were exhausted, mentally spent by the time Friday arrived.

“C’mon Y/N! You need a night out! After your shit week, you need to unwind and just forget everything.” your best friend, Haeri, whined.

“Hae, after this week, I just want to curl up on this bare floor and watch Youtube videos on my phone.” you whined back in response.

“No way in hell am I letting you do that! Now, hold your pretty little head up and get ready.”

You tried arguing with her, finally giving in when she grabbed your hand and half drug you to the bathroom. You had to admit, the steaming hot water eased your tensed muscles. You showered while Haeri sat atop the commode explaining what she had planned for tonight.

“First off, I am treating you to dinner, then we are going to Octagon and get plastered and dance our cares away. Chenyeol and Minhee are coming too.”, her voice filled with excitement.

“I don’t know if I am going to be much company.” you sighed.

“I will make sure you have a blast. Now, finish your shower so we can get you dressed.”

Once you dried off and wrapped your hair in a towel, both of you headed to the closet. You held up different clothes, Haeri either nodding or shaking her head to your selections. At last, you settled on black skinny jeans and a silky purple cropped top. To complete the outfit you wore your thin-strapped silver heels, bringing your short stature up a few inches. Once you had put makeup on and styled your Y/H/C, putting it up in a loose bun with a few strands framing your face, you both headed out the door.

Octagon was one of the most famous clubs in South Korea, always having a line outside waiting to get in. Luckily, you were friends with the bouncers and were able to get in with Haeri promising to get him a table at her restaurant. She was the owner and head chef at a popular Ramen restaurant in town. Once inside, the music attacked your ears, the lights distorting your vision with reds, greens and blues swirling around the building. You settled at a table to the back of the club, far enough from the dance floor so everyone didn’t have to scream at each other to converse. Chen and Minhee came about thirty minutes later, of course matching each other.

You had to admit that you were a tad jealous of their relationship. They had met in Secondary school and had been together ever since. He treated her like a queen, looked at her like she was the only person on the planet. In turn, she adored him, all the time finding ways to compliment him or make him smile. They were set to be married early next year, and you knew if any couple would stand the test of time, they were that couple.

Hugs went around the table, the couple saying how sorry they were about your crappy week. Haeri order the first round of drinks, making sure to tell the server discreetly to make yours a double. By the time it came around for you to order the round, you were quite inebriated. Your friends headed to the dance floor, leaving you behind to wait on the drinks. You were glad too, not wanting to get crushed by a mass of sweaty bodies. Scanning the club, your eyes settled on the front doors.

When he stepped in, you froze. Silvery-blonde hair, styled in the perfect messy look, long legs carrying him across the floor. His holey black jeans appeared to be painted on his lower half, holes placed strategically. His white shirt was half-tucked, accentuating his narrow hips. Buttons undone just enough to show his smooth caramel chocolate skin. He headed straight for the bar, stopping momentarily to greet a few people. You were brought back to reality as the server brought your drinks over. Thanking her, you quickly looked back at the bar, immediately disappointed that he was now gone. You looked around, searching for the distinct hair color amidst the crowd. Turning in your chair, you came face to face with him.

“Were you looking for someone?” he asked, voice deep and dripping with honey.

“I-I, uh, um, no. I was just looking for my friends.” you were a terrible liar.

“Really? Cause I am pretty sure you were staring at me a few minutes ago.”

Man he’s is one confidently brazen man, you thought to yourself. You didn’t notice him looking your way when you were checking him out.

“No I wasn’t. Like I said, I was looking for my friends.”you replied in a shy soft voice.

“Okay, if that’s the story your sticking to.” he smirked as he watched your cheeks get redder by the second.

At that moment, your friends returned from the dance floor, stopping to look at the man standing in front of you.

“Hello, there handsome.” Haeri winked as she addressed him.

“Hey.” was all he said as he grabbed your wrist. Pulling you from the chair, he led you through the crowd, everybody moving as he passed by. Once he had you at the center, he spun around, pulling you into his body. A hand wrapped around your waist, holding you against him. You could feel his muscles through the thin material of his shirt. His eyes never left yours as you swayed in synch to the music. Everyone and everything disappeared around you, the two of you the only ones dancing. When the music stopped, he took your wrist once more leading you away from the floor.

All eyes were on you as you approached the table. Before stepping away, he leaned down to whisper in your ear.

“You do not leave here tonight unless it’s with me. Understand?”,the tone, one of command.

You simply looked up at him through your lashes, nodding slowly. He placed a chaste kiss to the top of your head, then turned to walk away.

“Oh my god, Y/N! Who in the hell was that greek god?” Haeri screamed over the music.

“I don’t know, I never got his name. One minute, I’m sitting here, then next I am on the dance floor. Next thing I know, I’m back here at the table.” your confusion had you a tad unsettled.

“You mean to tell me you never got his name? Yet you danced with him like nobody’s business. You should have seen how you two moved together. Like you knew each other’s body so well.”

“We did? I guess I kind of zoned out. He kept looking at me and, I don’t know.”, you were blushing again recalling the way his eyes pierced to your very soul. When he looked at you, you were entranced.

You grabbed your waiting drink, downing it in a quick gulp. Your hand shot up to order another, much stiffer, drink. When it arrived, you once again downed it in a hurry. Feeling your nerves relax a little, you joined in on the conversation your friends were having. They even convinced you to join them in dancing. As you made your way to the center of the crowd, you felt eyes on you, the hairs on your arms standing on end. You glanced quickly around, but you were unable to see him anywhere. You shook your head, clearing any thoughts and just let the music take you over. Not once did anyone try to dance with you, bump into you, or lay any hands on your body.

When you had danced through three more songs, you motioned to Minhee that you were heading to the table for a drink. She nodded then told the others who were next to her. You weaved your way out, slumping into your seat at the table. You were way over the drunk level and you were beginning to get tired. You decided to send Haeri a text, telling her you were leaving and you would talk to her later. After sending the message, you grabbed you purse from the coat-check room and was about to head out. Suddenly you remembered his command about not leaving without him. You did agree, even if you didn’t see him again after he left.

That’s when you felt a familiar grasp on your wrist. Spinning your head around to quickly, you began to stumble, your body landing firmly along his tall frame. Arms were instantly engulfing you to keep you upright and steady.

“I thought I told you not to leave unless I was taking you out of here. So, where were you going?” again the deep voice carried it’s controlling tone.

“I-I just didn’t, didn’t see you around. I’m way past my drinking limit and was going home to sleep it off.” you were suddenly sounding guilty, for what though, you didn’t know.

“Well then, I guess I’m leaving too. Stay right here, I’ll be back in a minute.’ then he was off again.

The lady at the door to the coat-check was glaring at you, making you lower your head and avert your eyes away.

In barely a minute, he was back, keys in hand. This time instead of grabbing your wrist, he wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you beside him. Blindly, you walked with him, noticing many women staring at you as you walked past them. Other men were greeting him as he passed, he returned every greeting with a nod. Finally you both stepped out into the cool nighttime air. The crisp breeze brought your senses back to you. You looked to your side, staring at him as you stood still at the street.

“Umm, can I ask you something?” you tugged at his arm, noticing the hint of a tattoo under the rolled up sleeve.

“Go ahead.” he said without looking at you.

“What’s your name? If I am leaving here with you, I think I should at least know your name.”

“It’s Wonsik, but everyone calls me Ravi. I already know yours Y/N.” he said looking down at you.

“How? Who told you?” you looked shocked, but weren’t really surprised.

“I have my ways.” was his only answer.

He started walking again, crossing the street to a parking garage. Taking the keys he held, he pressed a button on a key fob, causing a large metal door to rise up. Behind the door was a black Audi R8. Clicking another button, the doors unlocked. He led you to the passenger side, opening the door so you could slide in. Then he was quickly around to the drivers door. As he settled into his seat, the engine purred to life. The top was down, the radio playing some popular song. Looking over at you, he suddenly reached across your body, his eyes rolling as he took hold of the seatbelt to buckle you in.

“Are you taking me home?” you asked simply.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

“Then where else would we be going?” you retorted, sounding braver than you were feeling.

“I’m not sure yet. I thought about taking you back to my place, but evidently you are in no shape to continue a private drinking party for two.”

“I said I was past my drinking limit, never said I was too drunk to have more drinks!” you raised your voice slightly, then lowered your head when he stared back at you.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

“That’s better. Now, shall we go to my place or yours?”

“I live alone, but my place is kind of empty right now. Long story.”

“Then your place it is.”

He put the car in drive, heading out of the garage. After a few turns, you realized you hadn’t told him where you lived. But, here he was, taking every turn as if he had taken them a hundred times. You just looked at him, wondering how he knew who you were, let alone where you live. You were just about to ask when he pulled into the parking lot of your complex. Turning the car off, he got out and came around to open the door for you.

“How-” you started.

“I told you, I have my ways.”

“But this is stalker level knowing.” you chuckled when you realized what you had said.

He walked beside you this time, not taking a wrist or holding your waist. He followed you up the stairs, waiting as you fumbled for your keys.

Once inside, you were suddenly ashamed of how bare your place was, as you watched him look around.

“So, you said it was a long story, wanna tell me?” it was more of a statement than a question.

You proceeded to spill your story out to him, he would simply nod or raise an eyebrow as you spoke. When you finished, you took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

“And that’s how I ended up at the club tonight.” you ended the story.

@yoongiiii-af @hakyummy @beautifulseoulliar

#vixx ravi #ravi x reader #vixx smut #vixx angst

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stressedasalways · 6 years ago

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Not Like The Movies (1/8)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Words: 4.3K

Summary: Today was just a bad day. The simple mission had gone south. What started as an easy data extraction ended with you clutching your side trying not to bleed out. And who should come to your rescue but the reclusive Avenger himself.

Warning(s): swearing, mentions of blood. All the Fluff

A/N: just had an idea I couldn’t get out of my head. There is a possibility for more but I made sure it ends well regardless.

A/N 2 - so umm you guys are amazing and now more parts are coming

AO3 Link

Tumblr Links: Masterlist Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Fuck

That was the first thought that crossed your mind as the reality of the situation became clear. Firstly, movies and TV lied. Being shot wasn’t some dramatic touch your side, oh no I’m bleeding. Your entire side was on fire. It took all your willpower to just keep pressure on it with your left hand and not just crumple to the floor in the fetal position.

Your eyes raked over the room. The asshole that had surprised you was down, your gun still surprisingly unmoving in your right hand. You took steadying breaths as you quickly took the few steps to the door he entered from. A quick scan of either side cleared the hallway.

You hobbled backwards to the corner of the room, keeping your sights set on the door. When your back hit the wall you finally allowed yourself to slide down. A hiss pushed through your lips as you tried to keep the pressure on the wound that was quickly soaking your entire left side.

“Command come in.”

“Agent. What's your status?”

“I’ve been hit. “ As if on cue the next breath you take causes the pain to flare up more. “I don't want to be dramatic here, but I could use some help.”

You could hear the command team talking over each other, trying to figure out what the hell had happened as well as who was closest to your position.

Honestly, you were pretty curious about the what the hell happened part too. You knew how to take care if yourself. You were an Agent of Shield after all. But this was not in the mission parameters. Some of the Avengers came in before the secondary team. They cleared the whole building. Your team was just going through to gain any data that could be grabbed from any computers and servers. It’s a mission you had done more times than you could count. Usually these old Hydra holdouts were empty, and the few that had some stragglers were always taken out long before your team did their sweep. You should have paid more attention, but you weren’t even thinking you were in any danger.

“AGENT!” Someone screamed in your comms.

“Sorry. Sorry. Zoned out for a second there.”

“I need you stay with us, we have help on the way.”

“Yep. Yep. I’ll just be here. Bleeding out.”

You tried to keep the levity in your voice, but damn getting shot was just not part of your plan today. When you woke up this morning you were tired as hell, and had promised yourself you would go to bed early tonight to make up for it. And now? Now you were bleeding out. Clearly, even though before you had hurt like a bitch, the adrenaline was now wearing off and the pain was coming in harder waves.

You made out the sound of footsteps just as they were at the door. You cursed yourself for not paying better attention as you tried your best to keep your gun trained true to the entrance.

“Agent L/N?” The voice was familiar but you still kept your gun trained on the figure that was now coming through the doorway.

You saw him do a full sweep of the room, taking an extra few seconds to make sure the hydra goon on the floor was not breathing. You lowered your gun, but you know he noticed how bad your arm had been shaking.

“Well I’ll be damned, they sent an Avenger for me?” the shock clear in your voice. His lips gave a small twitch. Clearly unsure what to make of your attitude. He made it to you in a few large strides, crouching down to get to your level. “What the hell happened? The squints aren’t supposed to be in danger” you tried to ask casually. As if you had a paper cut rather than a gunshot wound.

“Squints?” he asked, the word sounding completely foreign through his lips.

“Us? You know the second entry team. The computer specialists. The neeeerds.”

“Nerds?” he said the word like an insult, “you took out a Hydra agent.”

“Since when does nerd mean I can’t handle a weapon?” His head quirked up at your response. Amusement flashed through his eyes.

“Speaking of weapons. How about we take the death grip off this one?” as his head nodded in the direction of your gun.

You looked down and saw the knuckles on your right hand ghostly white. A hardened grip on the weapon lowered to the ground beside it. His hand covered yours and felt like a furnace as he removed the gun from your grip, flicking on the safety and tucking it away.

“Shit doll your freezing.”

“Nah, I always run a little cold.” you tried to counter.

“Or it could be the massive blood loss?”

“Or it could be the massive blood loss.” you repeated.

He spoke quickly into his comms, probably letting them know your condition was a bit more dire then you let on.

When you noticed the quiet again you saw he had a large tensor bandage.

“I need you to push away from the wall. Just a little bit. And then we are going to remove your hand and I am going to wrap this around you a few times. It’s gonna hurt like a bitch, and I’m really sorry.”

And his eyes truly were sorry. It's not like you hadn’t seen Bucky Barnes around the compound. In fact all of the Avengers were pretty common sightings. A few of them would be around during mission briefings and debriefings. You’d see them in the common areas and working out in the gym. They were all nice people. But it all felt very…. high school. They were the cool kids. They tried their best, but at the end of the day they were ‘The Avengers’ Their rooms were on a higher more restricted level of the compound. And you were sure they were much more impressive than the pretty nice room you yourself had at the compound.

For the most part they all kept to themselves. They would make efforts to seem approachable of course. Some way more than others. You were pretty sure Steve Rogers had memorized everyone's name who lived and worked at the compound. You remembered gossiping to your fellow co workers that he probably had F.R.I.D.A.Y test him. Sam Wilson was most likely to be found with the more normal workers. Laughing and joking as he joined in on drink nights and BBQ’s. You always got the feeling he felt torn between the two worlds.

Tony Stark was all flash. Although you knew it was never with any malice, it always felt like his appearances were more a checkbox on his to do list. But he was nothing if not pleasant the few times you had spoken to him.

Natasha Romanoff usually just gave a nod if you made eye contact with her as you passed her in the hall. Which given her reputation was probably a pretty big deal.

But Barnes? You couldn’t remember ever seeing him outside of work related tasks. Meetings, briefings, that was the only time he was seen. It seemed clear he chose to keep his distance. Rumours swirled that he only worked out at night when no one was awake, or that he stayed in the Avengers area with the smaller gym to not be seen. So to suddenly have the Winter Soldier on his knees tending to your gunshot wound felt odd to say the least.

You managed with his help and your right hand to scoot your butt away from the wall. Without the support behind your back to hold you up, you really felt how weak you were.

“Stay with me now.” He must have seen you falter as his voice was hard, a command.

You nodded your head as you looked down to your left side. Your hand was camouflaged with all the red it was tangled in. There was also a nice little puddle with a huge drag mark from your movement. Your fingers wiggle involuntarily and you could feel the stickiness.

“Shit. That’s a lot of blood.” you whispered. Your mouth went dry with the words. You could feel the dizziness start to envelop you.

His hands were on your face, fully wrapped in flesh and metal. His metal hand was warmer than you expected it to be.

“Stay with me .” his words were softer. No longer feeling like a military command, “I have seen worse.”

You chuckled. “Of course you’ve seen worse. You’re the Winter Soldier. I could be cut into 17 pieces and you could still say you’ve seen worse.”

At that his lips quirked into a small smile. “See? There's the strong nerd I came here to help.”

This time you actually laughed, but he could see your body sway again.

“Lean into me.”

And you did. Without question. Dropping your head to just below his shoulder. Feeling like all your weight was pushing through him.

“Now I’m going to count to three and you are going to move your hand. And I am going to wrap this as quickly and as tightly as I can. Looks like the bullet went right through. Which is good. But we gotta get this bleeding under control.”

You nodded into him. Trying to focus on the odd smell of leather and gun smoke and something else that was distinctly him hitting your nose.

“One” you took a deep breath.

“Two”, and another.

“Three.”

As soon as you moved your hand off you were hit with all the sensations. You could feel pain ten-fold at your wound, as well as the quick tightness that followed as Barnes quickly wrapped the cloth around your waist several times.

You tried to muffle your scream but there was no use as the tears started to fall.

“Okay. Okay. It’s done. Breathe. It may be harder with this so tight, but I tried to find a good balance. “ His hand was on your cheek, his thumb rubbing up and down.

He easily picked you up under your arms sliding you back against the wall. You blinked trying to clear your eyes back into focus.

His gorgeous? Wow were his eyes memorizing - were steely focused on you. And suddenly you wished you had had the chance to notice this before. And not on the floor of some dirty grungy Hydra warehouse, while you were bleeding out and feeling like you could die.

“Fuck, getting shot sucks.” you whined.

“Yeah, gotta say I agree with you there. But don’t worry help is on the way. They should be here any minute.”

“Barnes, I’m gonna need you to distract me. Cause I feel like I wanna sleep, and I’m assuming that's the thing I don’t want to be doing in this situation.” Some of your words slurred as you tried to get them out.

“Bucky. Call me Bucky. And no doll, you gotta keep those eyes open.”

“Okay. So distract away Bucky.” You could see his face go blank. No idea what to do or say, “How about I start. So had I not ruined your mission and got shot, and inevitably added hours of paperwork to your night when I die -”

“you are not dying -”

“the night is still young -”

“You are NOT dying” You rolled your eyes at him so he continued, “And besides, the paperwork is actually easier when someone dies. It’s when someone gets injured that you have to write in all the detail. Death,” He waves his hand. “I can do that paperwork quick. Hell I could do it in my sleep.” And he breaks into a smile that only grows wider as it mirrors your own.

“So your saying to really ruin your night I gotta pull through?” you ask with pure mockery.

“Nothing would ruin my night more than being stuck in debriefings and report hell detailing how I got the… squint? was it? injured.”

“Well I know we only just met officially, but I like the idea of being a pain in your ass.”

“Ha! I’m sure you do!” his whole face was lit up. And somewhere deep in your brain you realized you were flirting with the winter soldier.

“I like the idea of you hunched over paperwork instead of I dunno….taking a nice relaxing jacuzzi tub.” You meant it as a joke but saw his eye twitch in response. “Oh my god! The Avengers rooms have jacuzzis? I thought that was just a rumour.”

“Yeah. Not so much a rumour I guess. But admittedly I have never used it.”

“Bucky! You must! I mean. Geez. I’m not saying my suite isn’t nice. Much better than anything I could afford on the outside. But come on now. You can’t let the little people know you have all these amazing things that you aren’t even using.”

“Tell you what. When your all healed up I’ll bring you on up to take advantage.”

You couldn’t help the twitch of your lips at the suggestion of taking advantage of Bucky Barnes and his jacuzzi.

“So I get the joy of knowing you’re gonna be in paperwork hell and a relaxing jacuzzi night?”

“Well you did get shot.” He deadpanned, fully invested in your flirting distraction.

“True. I may need to bargain for more.” You said with a smirk.

Before he could even think about his response footsteps were racing to your position. Soon the room was filled with people and you felt yourself being placed on a stretcher. You tried to look for Bucky but soon felt the small stab and burning of an injection in the crook of your arm before the world blissfully turned to black.

-----------------***************************------------------------

Bucky Barnes had been right. The work involved after getting hurt was tedious. No sooner were you awake from surgery, you had superiors in your hospital room trying to get you to tell them what happened

“Do we really have to go over this again?” you were clearly annoyed as you played with your hand around the IV.

“We’re sorry but we have to make sure we have all the details while they are fresh.”

You signed loudly and dramatically before going through the whole event again.

You were in and out of it for a few days. Once you had been debriefed fully they seemed to up your pain meds and you became a sleeping blob.

A few coworkers and friends had stopped by. Giving well wishes and dropping off magazines and flowers. Even a few Avengers had popped their heads in. Which had been very...surprising?

Sam had been first. Doing his best to make you smile and joking how getting shot was a weird right of passage. Clint and Natasha also stopped by, they had been part of the first team and wanted to apologise for somehow missing the guy that got you. You told them not to worry, and couldn't help but feel you were part of the cool kids when Natasha returned later leaving a very nice and expensive bottle of Russian vodka with a wink.

But one Mr. Bucky Barnes never stopped by. You started to realize maybe his flirting was just his way to keep you distracted. But damn if it hadn't felt like there was something there.

Shield was nothing but 100% accommodating. You were on paid leave, and they offered to transport you anywhere offsite to recover. But honestly, you really didn’t have anywhere else to go. Your job had become your life, and at least at the compound you had a steady stream of friends to keep you busy. Besides, telling your mother you had been shot had been hard enough, you couldn't imagine being in her guest room while she panicked and thought what else could have happened.

So after a week in the medbay they were going to release you back to your room. Strict rest. And the nurses and doctor would still be checking in on you everyday.

Captain Rogers himself had visited you that day, thanking you for your brave service and apologising profusely for the mistake that allowed you to get shot. He was in full Captain America mode and it reminded you of the videos you had seen.

You had to bite your tongue at the snappy responses that wanted to leave your lips. Something told you Rogers wouldn't take it as well as Barnes had. So you thanked him for his concern and babbled something about being a team.

Once you were settled back in your own room you felt like you could finally breathe. The fridge was stocked with food and snacks, a huge gift basket was on your counter with a note from Tony Stark himself. It said that during your leave all groceries and incidentals would be paid for. All you had to to was let F.R.I.D.A.Y know and the AI would make sure anything you needed would be there ASAP. Well that felt like something you could and would abuse.

Just as you began to open the basket and discover all its goodies you heard a knock on your door.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y can you open the door.”

You continued to dig into the basket when you were interrupted.

“So I guess the ‘little people’ aren’t big on security? They just open their doors to anyone?” Bucky Barnes stood in your entryway. His smile the same flirty one you had convinced yourself was not real.

“Well maybe us ‘little people’ trust our friends and compound mates?”

“You’ve clearly never been pranked by Wilson.”

You broke into a huge smile, and his eyes lit up at your response.

“You know I was beginning to think I had hallucinated the whole being saved by you thing. I expected a visit when I was in the medbay.”

“I told you, the paperwork you made me have to do was intense. In fact I still haven't finished it yet.”

“Sorry Buck, but I did keep my word to be a pain in your ass.” and you winked at him.

He came over to you at the counter, “What are you doing up, can you at least not be on your feet.” he asked as he pulled out one of the chairs. You flopped down pretty ungraciously as you continued to pull things out.

“Well Stark sent me this very lovely basket and I was just going through it to see what getting shot gets you from Iron Man.”

He picked up the card and read it over, giving you a pointed look.

“I plan on pushing the limits on that.” you said proudly.

“I have no doubts about that doll. Stark never gets me anything when I get shot.”

“Well clearly I am just more liked than you. Plus I’m no Avenger-slash-super soldier. My wound is still here a week later.”

“Semantics.” Bucky waved his hand, “I’m going to be sure to bring this up at the next HR meeting.”

“Says the guy whose room is probably ten times the size of mine. Are you feeling claustrophobic in here? Should I open a window?”

Bucky began to scope your modest apartment out from his seat beside you. He purposely made a show of it. “I mean, if I just pretend I’m in my walk in closet I’ll be okay.”

Your mouth went agape and you playfully pushed his shoulder. He was nice enough to sway his body rather than easily stop the push without trying.

“I’m glad you’re doing better. I am also glad to see your kick butt attitude was not just due to thinking you were going to die.”

“Well to be fair I only thought I was going to die for...90% of the time we were together.”

“What about the other 10%?”

“I thought I must already be dead cause there was no way Bucky ‘The Winter Soldier’ Barnes was helping me.” You could sense he was about to give some witty remark back but you quickly cut him off. “But in all seriousness. Thank you. I know we are all one team, and you would have done it for anyone blah blah blah. But you really helped me down there. Not just in the physically helping me from not bleeding out, but you were great about keeping my mind off of it.”

It took everything in your power to not shift your hand over his in thanks. Bucky opened and closed his mouth a few times. A bit thrown off from your usual banter to switch to such sincerity. But finally his thoughts seemed to catch up to his mouth.

“Of course, I was glad I could help….and if I am being serious I’m sorry I didn’t visit you in the medbay. Me and hospitals….we don’t really mesh all that well. Bad history and all.”

“Oh, don’t even worry. You didn’t miss much other than hours and hours of debrief. Like you were not joking about that at all. Then there was the few days where I was high as a kite and sleeping. I’m sure I drooled and said some silly stuff, so maybe you should be a bit upset you missed out on that fine entertainment.”

He chuckled, “I think I may just be.”

“But you did miss some of the other cool kids coming down to visit me.”

He quickly caught on that you meant some of the Avengers and his face actually looked surprised.

“Who visited you?”

“Well Wilson was first. But he wasn't all that surprising. He’s a pretty normal face in the common areas. But then Clint and Natasha came down. Natasha even came back and brought me a bottle of vodka!” You looked around seeing it on the counter beside the fridge.

Bucky hummed. He seemed surprised by that as well but tried to keep his reactions minimal.

“And Captain America!” you beamed.

“Steve? Steve visited you?” Now his shock was harder for him to hide.

“Well he was most certainly in full Captain America mode when he visited me. He reminded me of the videos shown in schools.”

You could see in his face he was hiding something.

“What?”

“I think some of their visits may have been because of me.”

“Because of you?” your curiosity was peaked.

“I mean. God this is really embarrassing. I mean the group obviously heard I had been the one to go back to rescue the shot agent. And I had talked to Steve about how kick ass you were and brave and funny.”

You couldn't stop the huge grin that was taking over your whole face.

“And they knew I wasn't going to go to the medbay so I guess some of them took it upon themselves to go down.”

You were hit with the sudden realization that Bucky had been talking to the other Avengers about you. And that some of them wanted to see who you were.

“You've been talking about me?” you couldn't help but mock.

You could see him squirming in his seat. Usually you would relish in it. But the thought of making him feel uncomfortable around you was the last thing you wanted.

“Don't worry about it Bucky. I would have been telling people too but I know how gossipy everyone can be. Good to know that's the same even in the golden floors of the Avengers.”

“Should we get you something to eat?” Bucky asked clearly relieved to have an out from the awkwardness.

“Absolutely! Let's see if this Stark card gets us access to some pizza from Manhattan.”

45 min later you were both on your couch with the fresh pies that had been delivered by drone. The TV was playing the lasted Rock action movie. Still in theaters.

“I don't think Stark had this in mind for your incidental recovery fund.” Bucky snickered while grabbing a slice.

“Well Mr Stark is a businessman. He should know that these things should have contracts and stipulations. If not it's really easy for me to convince that anything is for me to get better. But if your feeling guilty you do not have to be my accomplice. I can take that slice back…”

You went to grab for it but he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. Pulling away from your reaching arms.

As you reached over you automatically tried to follow his retreating form which caused you to overstretch your still healing side.

“Dammit!” you hissed grabbing at your wounds.

“Shit I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Did you open any stitches? “ Bucky's voice was laced with guilt.

You lifted up the side of your shirt. The bandages were all still bright white.

“No no. I'm good. Just forgot about the hole in my body.”

“What can I do?”

“If you could grab me a slice.” Bucky was on it before the words fully left your lips. In fact he put two slices on your plate. Then grabbed your drink and held it in his hand so he could give it to you whenever you needed it.

He was so remarkably sweet, and you couldn't believe there was a very large part of you that was happy you had been shot.

“Anything else?”

“For now I'm good. But we will just make sure to add this to our bargaining list for later.” you said smugly while taking a big bite and turning your attention back to the movie.

Had you seen his face you would have seen him glowing as he looked at you. Frozen staring at you for a good thirty seconds before an explosion on the TV caught his attention. He quickly grabbed another slice for himself with his other hand and tried his best to eat one handed.

PART 2

#Bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes imagines #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes x reader fluff #mcu imagines #bucky barnes x you

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thelostcatpodcast · 5 years ago

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THE LOST CAT PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS: SEASON 3: EPISODE 05: FIREBALLS

SEASON 3: EPISODE 05: FIREBALLS

Episode released 26th March 2017

I met a real magician once. He said that magic was real. He said what we call 'magic' was the conscious mind's means of influencing the probability matrices of the quantum plane in order to positively impact the future of that organism. But he did not throw any fireballs, and I left.

THE LOST CAT SEASON 3 BY A P CLARKE, EPISODE 5: FIREBALLS

There have been new arrivals in our neighbourhood. Not ordinary hipsters – they left a long time ago. No: a new kind. Young, and undeniably beautiful, they drifted through the streets wearing seemingly random assortments of clothing that suggested they dressed by having people throw underwear at them until some stuck. Great booming bass would echo about the buildings late at night from secret clubs holding secret parties where these new arrivals would go and do who knows what to who knows what. They would engage people in conversation on the street, often with opening gambits like 'do you more fear death or birth?' and 'what stops you from eating me?'. They walked as if on feathers, and they did not leave dents in cushions. A lot of the local population was deeply suspicious of them, and I saw an aggressiveness in the rhetoric towards these new arrivals I had never witnessed before, and found deeply fascinating. There was one in the pub last Wednesday. He was wearing, as far as I could tell, neon tubing and feathers. He was drinking an iced water, so I went up to talk to him. He said his name was Sparkles. I looked back at the bar, where there staff were giving him dirty looks, and then engaged with him. He said, "Cats? Cats have great ritual power. They contain a strong liminality that connects them to the many layers of our realities." "I can back that up," I said. "We use them in our rituals." "You wait what now?" I said. "Look, we're not just partying. That would be a nihilism. We are practicing our beliefs." "Oh? And what are your beliefs?" "Weeeeell," he said. "Technically we're satanists." "Oh," I said. "Look," he said. "It's not what you think. Try this: what are witches but powerful women the church needed destroyed? What are ghosts but the lessons of the past our leaders need us to ignore? The myths of many cultures are filled with figures of rebellion and truth, villified and tortured to preserve existing power structures. Consider Prometheus, who stole fire from the Gods to help humanity, and consider his vile punishment. What is the devil but a creature who defied God to help humanity? Again and again he tempted Jesus with comfort and again and again Jesus chose pain, so that we would consider pain good, as those in charge inflict hardship upon hardship on us. Comfort is the truth. Joy is the way." "It still sounds a little dangerous to me." "Oh," he said. "It's mostly about sex." "Oh well, that’s OK then." "Look, we’re having a party tonight. Come along, it'll be fun. You'll love it." "And you say you have cats?" "Oh, hundreds of them." "I think I may just do that." And I left Sparkles to his iced water and the huddled stares of the bar staff, and set off to plan. I had the location from Sparkles but I needed to do more than just attend. If I was to investigate their cat-activities I would need to infiltrate them. If I was to infiltrate their group I had to pass as one of them. Now this was not a group that functioned on dusty initiations such as passwords, handshakes, and obscurantist ritual. No, this was a group that identified its members in body language and pheromone. Non-verbal, animalistic, biological. They, who did not tremendously believe in reality, treated altering it in much the same way they approached getting dressed. I was going to have to take Lots Of Drugs. If I was on the same drugs as them, they would simply see me as one of them, and all the doors would open. The drugs would serve the secondary purpose of numbing me enough to be able to stand being in a club. Oh lord the idea of all that noise, and all those people, and all that activity, all bouncing around inside some dark space I could not get out of – the very idea filled me with dread. But I had to do this, I had to do this for my cat, and so I girded myself and set out to acquire some drugs. Which I did by asking my housemate Maupin, who always had loads. She gave me an almighty smirk as I gave her my shopping list. "Are you actually going to try having fun tonight?" "I’m doing this for my cat." "Yes, dear," she said, and handed the pills and powders over. Uppers to get my metabolism going, some MDMA for the emotions and something herbal to take the edge off my rational faculties. I should be fine, and kept a selection of miscies in my pocket just in case I needed to do some fine tuning later. "Umm," I said. "Also could I borrow that sequined blouse of yours?" And she laughed out loud. Well after dark, way after my bedtime, after even the shadows stopped moving, I headed out. Dear listener: do not take drugs, do not worship Satan, and do not own a cat. No good can come from any of them. Nevertheless: I, on drugs and heading off to party with satanists in order to find my cat, followed the bass as it flowed around the buildings, using the tingling in my fingers as much as my ears. It filled up the hollows of my bones and warmed my cold skin from within, as the city melted away and left only light. I followed the brightest and I found a door. As I approached, I was joined by a couple with vertical hair, who waved at a lady who had hooves and the door opened and heat poured out and we all went in and that was that. And I thought to myself 'maybe this will work'. But inside was way more intense than I had anticipated. The noise was like a wall, the crowds moved like paper, they talked like boiling water. I lost the couple. The great hollow of the dance floor was filled with smoke and steam and light and everything bounced. I was not prepared for this. How could anyone survive in such an atmosphere? I made for the back of the room and found the bar. I grabbed on to it like a drowning man grabbing some driftwood, only with a slightly different aim. “A large glass of wine,” I said. But the man behind the bar just stared at me quizzically. He genuinely did not understand what I had said. “Red or white?” I proffered. He reached behind the bar and produced a bottle of water and a caffeine drink, then waited patiently for my decision. I took the water and nodded sheepishly. He smiled wide and bopped along to the beat, as I went back to the main room and the great void of the dancefloor. And there the music boomed and hissed and everyone gave up their bodies to the great cloud of throbbing steam above them. I staggered and I fell. I bumped in to people who moved with no rhythm I could discern. Already I could see their ecstatic faces turn to concern and confusion as I blundered past. It was not good. It was not right, my body’s metabolism was still massively out of step with theirs. But I could not give in. I would have to do something drastic. I would have to go onto the dancefloor. Horrifying though that was, it had to happen. And so, desperately wishing I had a glass of wine in my hand, and feeling incredibly jealous of anyone, anywhere, who had, I went down on to the floor, and started to dance.

Turn, and then kick, and then burn, then turn around again to the beat, in this heat, I don't think I can go on.

In the black, in the hole, and i'm gone, without a trace a boot beating down forever into my face

Don't dance in my space i'm out of my zone Don't crowd in my face i'll dance my own Get me out of here.

Dead orange lights beat down on me I know that I Can not breathe, i'm a thousand miles away from home

Don't dance in my space i'm out of my zone Don't crowd in my face i'll dance my own Get me out of here.

I danced and I danced and I danced some more. And the crowd changed around me. No longer was I bouncing off everyone, but everyone flowed around me and I around them in perfect syncronicity. I heard flutters in the music that turned in to words that turned in to stories that lasted for hours. I began to see shapes, swirls of movement, eddies of excitement, and whirlpools of concentration, and the cloud of steam above us was like a galaxy that rained warm stardust down upon us all. I danced and I danced, and it was great. Some unknown hours later, I retreated to have a rest. I was sat with a lady wearing handkerchiefs who was leaning on me while she got her breath back. "It is like all the people are moving as one," I said. "Joined as if by a singular consciousness." "Yeah sure, I guess." "It’s incredible." "Oh," she said, sighing. "It’s mostly about sex." And then I saw a new tide in the crowd. A sweep of movement crossed the dancefloor as the crowd parted perfectly around a man with straight, dark hair down to his waist, and wearing a silk slip and hobnail boots, floating through the space and in to a non-descript door off to the side. As I looked at this current, I could see it begin to glow, as if a red mist were rising from where the man had passed. I could see others start to follow the glowing red path as they picked up his energy. And all these red glows converged on that door off to the side. The lady leaning on me sighed, once more. "I’m going to get some air," she said. "Are you OK?" And she laughed. "I am beyond fine, sweetie. Hey, you try and have some fun." "I’ll try," I replied. I stood up and headed back to the dancefloor, slipping in to the wake of the red glow and feeling a warmth that dissapated if I stepped outside of the main current. I looked down at my hands and I swore I could see a red mist rising up. I walked right through the mob of the dancefloor as if through an empty field, the door was unlocked, and I walked in. On the other side was a long corridor, stretching in to darkness, obscured by curtains of dust that hung in the gloom. And everything felt different. Immediately I was hit with a smell coming up from that darkness. Strong, and musty. And there was a hint of something underneath that smell too, dull and bitter, I could taste it on my tongue. A smell like decay and old blood. And then the curtains of dust began moving towards me as a pale form appeared in the darkness and grew larger and larger. I fell against a wall, and could only feel the cold earth solid all around me. And then I saw the red mist, and the man with the long brown hair emerged out of it and put his arm around me and said “hey man, are you feeling it?” I said “it’s pretty intense down here.” "Oh I hear you, take these." "What are they?" "I’ve been on them for two days." "Oh hey, great," I said, and I took them. He helped me along the corridor. "You got here just in time," he said, sounding excited. "The ceremony is just beginning." The corridor grew narrower. I could not remember if we had made a turn. I did not know how to get out. As I put my hand out to the wall, I swear I could feel smooth rounded shapes embedded. The red mist turned to fog and then we walked through a door in to a candle lit chamber. Wide eyed figures sat all around the edge, a stone altar stood in the middle. To its side a lady in a white gown and lying on its top, a cat. It was asleep, and had heavy gold chain draped over it. It wasn’t my cat, but it was still a cat. The man, bobbing with excitement, gently led me to a space on the floor and sat me down. I swear I could feel those smooth shapes on the ground too. Behind the congregation I could see small, smooth round shapes embedded in the walls. The candles were held on stands made from small, white bones. Hanging from the ceiling were scultpures of small, white bones. The lady was wearing necklaces made of small, white bones and held in her hand a large, golden knife. And the man could barely contain himself as the lady said, "let the ceremony begin!" "Why are you using a cat?" And she stopped, and looked at me from several angles, trying to see me while her eyes changed dilation. She raised her arms again and intoned: "Good friends! And new friends! Language is accident. Reason coincidence. There is no truth, only meaning. And the physical manifestation of meaning is Symbol." And she gestured to the cat as she turned to the room: "The figure of a cat is our most powerful symbol, for its meaning stretches from this world to the next!" The congregation all murmured together. "What are you going to do with that cat?" I continued. With only almost entirely imperceptible dip of her head, she continued. "And by reaching in to this symbol we will bring the next world to us. By taking of this symbol we ourselves will reach into that next world where we will take what we will. For comfort is the truth and joy is the way. The devil is our guide and they will provide." "Are you going to kill it?" And she turned to me, looking me right up and down. She came to some decision and she moved towards me. But back to the congregation she intoned: "The Devil is our guide!" And they repeated this, over and over. "The Devil is our guide! The Devil is our guide! And they will provide!" And then she gave me her full attention. "Who are you?" she said. "I’m just looking for my cat." "Yes, I can see you have a special connection. There is power in you." As she came closer, her eyes got wider apart and then she turned in to a snake, and then turned inside out and became a being of light, and then a butterfly. I blinked and she had not moved. "Are you real?" She beamed: "what is real?" I looked around desperately. I saw the cat begin to stir. She smiled sympathetically “Look: a symbol is an object, and action or an idea that is both understandable to us, here in the reasonable world we inhabit here, and to the pre-conscious usses in the world of pure physical, biological being. Thus through these rituals, and this joining with the symbol, we can communicate with that world." "OK, but what’s the whole 'Devil' business?" The congregation was still intoning its mantra of ‘the Devil is our guide’ "Oh one god is as good as another. And he plays really well with this crowd. Look, I do the best with what I can get. This is all a means to an end. Maybe don’t call them 'symbols'. Perhaps 'forces' is a better term. 'Things that can affect'. Yes? They make a difference.” "A difference?" "With them we can influence the future." My eyes went wide. And she leaned in really close. "We can get you whatever you want. If you let the ritual carry on. Whatever you desire." "Really?" "What is it that you most want?" "Can it help me find my cat?" She sighed, "you know, this is mostly about sex, right?" The cat on the alter, with the attention distracted towards me, took its opportunity to escape. It bit and clawed at its bindings. And to my eyes the chains burst in to flames as they flew apart. The cat sprang up and bared its teeth and arched its back and every hair stood on end and burnt like fireworks. It looked like the devil and it was the devil and the crowd recoiled from its presence. The lady stood and ran towards it. The cat raised its burning tail and slashed it across the air, cutting great swathes in reality itself. Reality tore and flapped open as the tail lashed like whips upon our world. I could see nothing behind those rends but from within came screams. I looked in to the dimensions beyond and they were made of eyes. A great streak of energy hit the man with the long brown hair fell over on to his hands and knees and his limbs thinned and his spine stretched out beyond his hips and his skull stretched out and his hair was all over his body until he was the shape of a dog, he was a dog. The cat hissed and scratched at him he yelped and ran out on fleshy, uneven legs. And the priestess reared up over the cat and yelled: "no! I am in control! I am the mistress of the ceremony!" And she went for the cat. The cat did not like this and went up on its back legs as its clawed front-paws went for the lady. They met above the altar and the impact tore the remaining tatters of our reality, opening up the dimension beyond as like a great well and the lady and the cat were sucked in. The lady hung on to the altar for a moment, but her body was stretching deep in to the void beyond. As she passed in to that dimension of infinite power, already I could see her eyes light up with an immense growing energy within. She intoned: “I shall return, and rule you all!” And then she was gone After a moment’s silence, the rends in our world sucked themselves shut and the energy expended was like a sun directly in my face. And then it was all dark. I did not move for a while. And then a sputtering flame appeared, faint and far in the distance before me. My eyes began to centre on it. It formed in to a ball, and it rushed towards me. It grew and it grew until it was right before my face. And my eyes suddenly focused, and I was in an empty room, and Sparkles was helping me up, holding a cigarette lighter up for illumination. He was beaming from ear to ear. "Some party, huh?" he said. I said, "it was magic."

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