#i rewrote this. a few times LMAO

[rcsentful]

✉ @ubiquitarian said: “Who am I to you?”

      Green eyes widen for a moment, caught off guard by the question -- and boy, what a question it was. Their relationship had always, always been nothing short of complicated. ‘Friends’ is the first word that comes to mind. Before Katsuki’s quirk manifested, that would’ve been the appropriate word, but even then... Izuku was always the one following. Katsuki was always their brave leader, and Izuku -- Deku -- was always right behind him, never able to keep up, no matter how hard he tried. Always the butt of the joke, always the loser of the game... But as subtly crushing as it was sometimes, it was easy to let it slide when it came to Kacchan. He was so bold, so amazing, and Deku should try harder to be like him, right? 

      When the blonde’s quirk manifested, it was more like their dynamic intensified more than it changed. It was just an exaggerated, more vicious version of how things already were -- Katsuki kept getting further and further ahead of him, and Izuku was pushed away and ridiculed at every turn. Despite it all, though, he still considered him to be his... Friend. He still admired him, and he still chased after him, no matter how brutal he got. That’s why it hurt all the more when those harsh words came from the blonde -- he wasn’t just hearing it from a bully, but someone he cared so much about. 

      Things didn’t get any better when they got into UA together -- in the same class, no less, forced to face each other head on. For the first time, ‘useless Deku’ had caught up to him, but it didn’t make Katsuki see him as an equal -- no, he just seemed to be convinced that this was all some ploy to humiliate the blonde, that he’d been hiding his quirk all along just to trick him, that Izuku was looking down on him when that couldn’t be further from the truth... ‘Rivals’ was the word that came to mind now. More than anything, he was just frustrated -- how could Katsuki think that when he’d made it so clear time and time again how much he looked up to him? If he could just tell him about his quirk, about All Might, maybe they could work things out -- 

      But the USJ incident made sure that he wouldn't get the chance to try and smooth things over, because for the first time in their lives they were completely separated.

      Even if things between them were complicated, they had always been together, in the same classes, the same neighborhood -- but for the first time they didn’t see each other for months, changing and developing and going down their own paths without the other... And now... 

      Now what? Izuku had helped him escape the League of Villains, and he couldn't be sure if Katsuki resented him for that or not ( always hated it when he'd offered help ) -- either way, things were more complex than ever. 'Friends' simultaneously felt like too much and too little... But there was an undeniable closeness between them, wasn't there? Katsuki was the only one he could talk to about what he'd been through, why he was so paranoid... The only person that really understood. It’s almost funny, the person who had pushed him away the most became the only person he could rely on. 

      "... I don't think there's a word for it," He starts after spending far too long in his head, shrugging a bit as green eyes finally meet crimson. "But you'll always be Kacchan to me, you know?" It’s a painfully simple answer, but that’s really the only thing he can think to say. “I don’t know if that’s what you wanted to hear, but... There’s no other way to say it.” 

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

*points* you've been talking a lot about ruju lately so let's do fear, guilt, hunt, and secret for him (for that ask meme) >:)

oc asks: not-so-nice edition

Ty so much for giving me an excuse to talk about The Rat™ even if this is very, VERY late... And long. Whoops. This is going under a cut, I think all of your dashes will thank me for that later.

I'll stick to just his Commander verse for this batch!

fear: What is your OC's greatest fear? What do they do when confronted with it? Are they open with their fear, or do they hide it away?

At his core, what Ruju fears most is feeling helpless.

There aren't a lot of times in the present that he's truly cornered, but in his youth it was a lot more obvious; he learned early on just how cruel his peers could be, and how eager they were to circle even the smallest hint of blood in the water. So he stopped showing the world he was scared. He buried it all deep, deep down and put on the air of confidence and aggression worn by so many Inquest because, well, nobody dares to mess with THEM, right? Better to blend in with the sharks than wind up as chum for the real deal.

But helplessness is more complicated than just being cornered in a fight. He's afraid of so much more than that; that his choices won't matter, that everything he's done will be for nothing, that forces he can't control will steamroll it all no matter what he does, that he just plain isn't enough for the role he's trying to fill. That fear only grew more and more as each dragon fell, the next picking up more and more new powers from each one he's taken down. What if he's just making it worse? What if that monstrous version of himself from the Infinity Ball was right-- what if the future really is unavoidable?

What if the one obstacle he'll never be able to surpass is himself?

Ruju doesn't let anyone see the deeper layers of his motivation, though. He pushes harder, fights fiercer, burns brighter. He won't let anyone see him falter. At its worst, it creates a vicious cycle of intense impulsiveness and aggressive independence, rushing past everyone else to reduce the number of variables and just deal with it. His solutions are direct and violent; as long as it works, he doesn't really care what the consequences are. And more importantly, it gives an outlet to his burning need to do something.

It takes a long time and a lot of work for Ruju to start trusting and leaning on others more instead. Even then, though, his most natural instinct is still to bristle like a cornered animal-- and if you jam your hand where it shouldn't be, he might not pause long enough to consider whether you're a friend or a foe. Watch your fingers, he bites.

guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it?

While there's lots of little things-- rude remarks, losing his temper, impulsive choices, and so on-- those he usually apologizes for shortly after. He hates leaving things to fester. Ruju knows himself well enough to recognize that if he doesn't deal with it right then, he'll default to option 2 which isn't particularly great for anybody.

By far Ruju's heaviest guilt is the knowledge he bears of the future, and what he might become for reasons not even he understands. The only person who knows prior to EoD is Zojja-- and he had no more contact with her than anybody else by that point. While he wants to believe that he's fighting to make the world better, there's always a part of him that's afraid the 'Sovereign' was right and the path he's following is going to doom the entirety of Tyria. Ruju hopes that he's making better choices this time, but how can he know for sure?

What if he's just leading all these people right to their doom?

But he handles that just about as well as he handles his guilt about being a notorious college bully: avoidance. He just tries not to think about it, focusing on the future and keeping himself busy and hoping it never comes up again. It doesn't work particularly well, though, once the void finally shows itself-- and at that point he cracks.

Ruju has something that his other, doomed version didn't, though.

When he falters, he has people who care enough to catch him.

And once everything is out in the open, he does confront it; it's a complicated conversation (and one not even Taimi dares to make more than a single jab about) but it does lead to Ruju becoming much more honest moving forward. After all it's not like he can get any worse than THAT, right? 'Possibly causing the apocalypse' is a bit hard to beat.

hunt: Who or what is your OC hunted by? A person, a feeling, a past mistake? Is your OC able to let their guard down, or are they constantly alert?

The shadow looming over Ruju's shoulder has always been his own-- his past and his future. He never really felt its weight until the Infinity Ball showed him one of his potential futures in all its grisly, self-destructive glory, but knowing what he does now? Ruju is keenly aware of his own impulsiveness and is in a constant fight to choose a better path; in more ways than one he really is his own worst enemy.

And if not that, there's his unstable magic to worry about, too. His fiery disposition isn't just in personality; Ruju's power is destructive, and at times it can be a genuine challenge to keep it in check.

But as time progressed and he gained meaningful bonds of trust, learning to lean on his friends and allies... He's gradually come to realize that the best way to keep himself in check is to rely on people who can catch him when he stumbles. Ruju has found exactly the support network that his doomed timeline never had-- and together they ensure that the future he witnessed will never come to pass.

The Doomed Sovereign was wrong; there may be no delaying the future, but that doesn't mean you can't choose how it goes.

By the time the Dragon Cycle ends, he finally knows they've won.

secret: What's one secret your OC never wants anyone to know about them?

There's actually a reason Ruju's magic is so potent and unstable.

His parents worked at the Crucible of Eternity, with his mother being a high-ranking researcher working directly under Kudu. As a refresher crash course: Kudu's whole deal was controlling and weaponizing dragon corruption, with him even applying Branded corruption to HIMSELF so that he could control powerful dragon minions.

His mother wanted to be home more, but her position also required long hours-- so she took to bringing some research materials to her home lab, continuing her studies right under their roof. While she was out, Ruju got into her lab and tried to 'assist' with her research; after all, if all her work was done then she'd have more time to spend with her family, right? But, well, he didn't exactly know what any of this stuff was, or just how dangerous it could be.

The ensuing lab accident destroyed basically all the records they had so far, along with making him deathly ill from exposure to multiple heavily altered strains of dragon corruption. They didn't expect him to survive, let alone make a full recovery seemingly unscathed.

But when he did recover, while Ruju didn't show any obviously visible signs of dragon corruption... He did develop some extremely unusual qualities that they couldn't quite explain. A lot of the top secret research that the asura kept under wraps about dragon minions? They confirmed it from secretly studying him. The biggest breakthroughs were confirmations of dragon minions absorbing magic-- something they directly observed from him accidentally draining nearby power sources and reacting to ambient magic-- and being able to stabilize strains enough for Kudu to weaponize.

Ruju never knew about this until he got into the records at the Crucible of Eternity, though. Zojja saw it too, but they never really talked about it; after all, what was there to say?

And after seeing how the world felt about the sylvari... He decided that there was no way he could EVER tell anyone what he was.

If they couldn't even handle the comparatively stable liberated minions of a dragon, they definitely wouldn't be able to handle a medically inexplicable volatile freak like him. Most running theories in the present are that it has to do with being the Champion of Aurene, and he's certainly not about to tell them otherwise.

[causticsunshine]

.

[gyusimp]

°•Lord Muzan feels tired after work

⚠️ WARNINGS: NSFW | Smut content | Fem reader | Fingering | Semi-oral | Minors DNI!

Finally the one-shot I promised! I changed the initial idea so I basically rewrote the whole thing again because of a dream I had and it gave me all the inspiration I needed lmao it even gave me an idea for another longer fic with Muzan. I ended up doing it in the canon Taisho Era so enjoy!

Art credits for the creator (not mine)

It wasn't physical fatigue that he felt, after all, the progenitor of demons was tireless. He was rather fed up. Fed up with his employees, his servants, humans in general and how exhausting it was to be the only perfect and intelligent creature among them. His day had been full of problems today.

The current role he had was that of a young and rich businessman, owner of a company importing foreign products whom he murdered in order to carry out his plans and continue increasing his fortune. He forged a few papers, impersonated some people and murdered others and so the company was his now but that included all his stupid and useless employees. He was so fed up with damn humans, sometimes he avoided dismissals, it depends on their mood and how efficient they were at some point then Muzan fired them, otherwise he just called them to his office simply to kill them.

Then a few months later he met you, a young and beautiful woman in the business world with a company dedicated to natural medicine and importing medicinal plants. You were an essential piece in his plan to conquer the sun. He married you when he had the chance to but you eventually found out that he wasn't human. How come you were still alive then? You discovered it on your own, you didn't make a fuss or try to run away from him, you simply let him know that you already knew through small clues or ways of acting, like you were in charge of closing all the curtains in the house during the day but you didn't ask the servants to do it for you. Your loyalty to him remained despite knowing what he was and that was not lost on Muzan.

One night, he told you what this was all about, if you hadn't left despite knowing his condition then you had to stay alive. Muzan gave you the choice if you wanted to become a demon or not but whatever your answer was, you had to serve him for your entire life. The fact of being immortal did not tempt your human weakness but you told him that by having the ability to walk under the sun, you could be his eyes in the light of day and help him do different things so you both ended up accepting. You were legally his wife, so in front of everyone Muzan treated you as such although there were times in private where he was still a little soft on you, plus, he is an attractive looking man which led you to feel some things more for him , taking on mind his demonic nature.

Today had been a terribly long day, the fatigue in Kibutsuji's body caused the veins on his forehead to stand out strongly under his skin, his red eyes appeared and his pupils turned into vertical slits like a cat's.  He took off the black trench coat he was wearing and left it on the coat rack at the entrance, his fangs grew to normal size after having hidden them all day, as did his sharp blue nails, making one of his servants tremble who should have already gone home. The man next to him was observed with indifference, his skin was pale and he was sweating coldly having seen the small transformation of his master, then he remembered the stories of those man-eating creatures that the women of his town told the children.

"A monster! This man is not human!! MISS KIBUTSUJI, THERE IS A DEMON IN THE HOUSE!" the man shouted trying to alert you.

His shrill screams tried Muzan's patience and when the man turned to walk up the stairs towards you he was cut into pieces in less than 2 seconds. The reddish and thick liquid splashed Kibutsuji's face making him sigh and wipe it with a handkerchief as well as his hand, the drops dripped on the stairs and when he walked next to him he moved it with too much disgust using his foot and continuing his way towards your room upstairs.

Like a gentleman, he knocked on the door before entering and upon hearing your voice he entered the room. You hadn't heard anything but his murderous look told you that he wasn't in the best of moods so you didn't say anything. You went to the bathroom in the large room and put on a pearl-colored sleeveless sleeping dress with a matching silk robe. Just like your husband, you preferred to dress in a Western style, you left your hair down and went out. You found him sitting on the edge of the bed, with both hands together mumbling some things, noticing how stressed he was and without saying anything you knelt on the bed behind him and started massaging his shoulders. You were involved in the world of medicine since you were little, so you knew the points where stress usually accumulates. Feeling your hands exerting pleasant pressure on his body, Muzan couldn't help but tilt his head to the side and put aside everything he was thinking, he took off his tie and closed his eyes, sighing tiredly. You continued caressing his neck, shoulders and back until slowly his muscles relaxed and his veins stopped showing under his skin.

"Can i...?" You asked, bringing your hands to the collar of his shirt.

You unbuttoned the entire garment and got rid of it completely leaving his naked and well-worked torso exposed, you continued massaging his shoulders and back until he felt good enough to close his eyes and lay his head on your chest, feeling your breasts very close to him. Your hands were soft and light, with a sincere and warm touch making his thoughts go elsewhere. While you continued doing your thing, he got rid of his belt and unbuttoned his pants without you realizing it, then grabbed your wrist with some force and brought you in front of him so that you were sitting astride his lap. As soon as you sat down, he took it upon himself to stare at you and open the robe you were wearing to see your breasts under the thin fabric of the nightgown and how your nipples were beginning to stand out. He took off your robe and then grabbed the hem of your nightgown to pull it up and take it off as well. A few seconds passed, he lightly patted your thigh to make you lift your butt so he could get rid of your panties as well, leaving you completely naked under his gaze. He gently took your hand, still looking at you, and brought it up to his face to caress it against his cheek and kiss your palm elegantly.

"You are a rather attractive woman...worthy of bearing my last name." You felt so lucky when he took the time to compliment you since you knew his disdain for almost everything.

You melted at his touch, at his kisses, but an unusual sensation on the skin of your hand made you look in that direction. You saw how a mouth began to form in Muzan's palm with teeth, tongue and everything. You knew about all the changes and transformations that his body was capable of so it no longer surprised you at all since he also knew how to use those changes to your advantage. Muzan smiled at you with seductive malice and with his free hand he grabbed your waist while the hand with his mouth went straight between your legs, placing his palm just below your pussy. You couldn't help but moan and startled a little when you felt his warm breath hitting you, you felt his tongue come out from his palm and begin to suck and lick all your folds. You looked at Muzan with a huge blush as you grabbed his shoulders. While his palm was in charge of your center, he brought 2 of his fingers to your hole, making you arch your back as you felt him enter and arch his fingers inside you. Both sensations made you begin to moan his name and move your hips on him to increase your own pleasure as he hardened dangerously beneath you. His entire mouth sucked on your pussy, playing with it with his teeth and pressing your clit against his tongue over and over again as he moved his fingers and the mouth on his face kissed and bit your neck and collarbones. You were starting to get very wet, the saliva and your juices between your legs making you feel very hot and slippery. Muzan's free hand took you from behind to bring you closer to him and caressed your back until it went down and reached your butt, then he went to your bust and began to knead one of your breasts between his fingers, causing you endless moans.

"Aa-aah...Muzan! Aah!" You could barely speak properly.

You rubbed your center on the palm of his hand while the mouth beneath you devoured you completely, you listened to the wet sounds that leaked beneath you and imagining the dirty scene aroused you more and more. The simple act of letting the Demon King fuck you as he pleased turned you on no matter what. Muzan was going too fast and every rub on and lick on your folds was killing you, you clung tightly to his shoulders making scratches that regenerated immediately feeling your orgasm getting closer to the point of not even being able to stay upright. Your head leaned down, leaving your left hand on his shoulder while you held on to the bed with your right as if your life depended on it, never stopping moaning or moving.

Muzan watched you from above, proud of the mess he made of you, of how he was able to lower such a prestigious and elegant lady to such a level, making her beg for more as if she were a prostitute. You were close, he knew it by the way you squeezed his fingers tighter than before and he didn't want to let this moment pass him by. Muzan grabbed your chin to make you look into his eyes.

"Look at me...you're about to cum, aren't you? I want you to look at me..."

You tried to raise your face towards him but lust was stronger than your five senses, your body was heavy with pleasure and you could barely open your eyes properly. You didn't heed his request and that might make him angry so this time he held you tighter, digging his nails into your soft flesh making your cheeks sting.

"I told you I want you to look at me when you do it...it's an order." He demanded.

You clung to his shoulders without stopping moving and he increased his speed, you squeezed him again and just when you felt yourself on the edge you looked down but forced yourself to half open your eyes and look up again just as you screamed of pleasure as you feel all your whitish and slippery discharge come out from your core, wetting all of Muzan's hand under you where his mouth did not waste a single drop.

"Your taste is very pleasant, dear. I would never get tired of it." He licked his lips.

You were shaking in his lap, sweating all over your body, and a huge blush came over you again when you looked down and saw the mess you had left in his pants. Muzan smiled evilly at you and pushed you on the bed to change places and position himself over you after having completely gotten rid of all his clothes.

Your hair was a mess on the bed, your chest rose and fell trying to normalize your breathing and you could feel your sensitive folds throbbing after such a strong euphoria. You finished having your orgasm, you were wet and slippery and Muzan wasn't going to waste that.

"It's my turn, precious."

He told you, showing you his fangs in a smile and in less than you expected he opened your legs to position himself in the middle of you, he took one of your legs behind your knee and placed it on his shoulder without letting go and then entered you with a single thrust making you moan intensely. He didn't care that you had not yet adapted to his size, he began to stretch you and move repeatedly inside you until he aroused you again. You could hear his soft moans and grunts in your ear as he moved, you took him by the shoulders again and adjusted your legs so you both felt better.

Even though this was only the second round for you you felt almost dead tired, your legs and waist were starting to hurt and you envied the way your husband wasn't even sweating. A pleasurable sensation formed inside you as you felt the crashes of each of his thrusts against your clit and the pressure you felt on it again and again causing you to stretch your toes and squeeze Muzan very tightly again. He loved feeling you that way, you drove him crazy with pleasure and you noticed how the veins appeared again on his back and arms but this time it was due to the strong arousement he was feeling. He had the nerve to lift his head from your shoulder and moan heavily as he closed his eyes and increased his speed, feeling you suck him deep.

"Fuck...you're perfect nngh, you're even better than those 12 fucking idiots." He moaned, complimenting you.

You loved pleasing your husband and even more so seeing that you were doing a good job. Knowing that you could manage to put the Demon King in such a vulnerable state turned you on more, making you eagerly wait for his orgasm and the second one on your part, but on the other hand it made you nervous. Muzan's arousal was as strong as 10 men combined every time he fucked you and his release was just as intense or even more so, so when he tilted his head back after you cum again, you felt a huge amount of his falling inside you reaching the bottom of your insides, spilling the rest between your legs until forming a whitish stain on the bed, under the two of you.

The way Muzan felt his scent permeate your flesh once again made him feel powerful, it was a way of claiming you as his because no matter how many times you showered or cleaned yourself, how many days went by without him fucking you, Muzan let his cells inside you, so that any creature that knew of his existence would also know that you belonged to him.

[morgana-larkin]

Haii okay here’s my angst request! I love a good regretful jealous Mel hehehe. I was thinking you’re both teachers and she likes u but is like “I’m too cool for pining” so she does the extreme opposite and is kinda standoff-ish or blunt w u at school. When you’re alone she’s a little better but still not super lovey dovey. You “take the hint” and move on, and someone new comes into ur life (can you PLEASE for the LOVE OF GOD name this rando new person joy??). And then one day Mel’s like “let’s be official” And you’re like what? Why? I thought u didn’t like me also I have Joy now. And then Mel’s like wtf and she gets rlly jealous when she sees u w her now and then she tries to sabotage y’all’s blooming relationship. In the end maybe no happy ending pls?? If ur comfortable writing that :)

Hehe I LOVE a good heartbreak. Also I’m obsessed w joy Huerta (hence my username) and have been asking everyone to use it in fics AND PPL DONT ALFJKS. lmao anyways. I hope this is sumn ur comfortable writing!

OMG! you’re really testing me here! If I’m honest, it was hard to write. I rewrote it a few times, it hurt a little, might make a part 2. Honestly if even one person requests a part 2 with a happy ending then I will write one. As always, not edited in the slightest, I hope you like it!

On another note: keep sending prompts for one shots! I decided to write one shots about Chessy from parent trap played by our favourite redhead, Lisa Ann Walter, so you can send prompts for her too!

Part 2

Green Isn’t Your Colour

Warnings: (where do I start lol) Jealous Mel, upset Mel, a bit of toxic Mel, angst and no comfort, no happy ending , good luck lol

Words: 3.2k

You walk in through the entrance of Abbott Elementary. You’ve been here for a year already and you’re finally feeling like you’re settling in. You’re a third grade teacher, you helped Melissa out as she wouldn’t have another split class again and that made her happy from the day you got there and hearing the news.

You walk into the break room, hot chocolate in hand, you don’t like coffee that much, but nothing could beat a good hot chocolate. You go and sit on an empty table, taking some tests out and start marking them. Melissa looks over at you from her table. She looks at the way you’re flawlessly marking, glasses on and concentrating on what you’re doing.

You glance up as you feel like you’re being watched and see Melissa looking at you, but then she quickly looks away when you notice and you smile. You liked her since you first set eyes on her and it only grew from there. But lately it seems like she’s off and you’re unsure why. She was nice to you when you started but now it’s like she’s the opposite and you don’t know why. You asked everyone else if they could answer why she’s different but no one noticed the change.

You got up and picked up the tests and decided to just carry them to your classroom. You passed by Melissa on the way out. “See you later Melissa.” You told her with a smile. She just nodded her head at you and went back to her phone. You looked at Barb and she just shrugged, not noticing a difference.

During your second period prep you finished marking the tests with a breath of relief. Just then Melissa knocks on your door and you look at her and smile. “Hey Melissa.” You tell her and she just has a neutral face and you drop your smile.

“I found the book you were asking for. The little eagles liked it last year and I’m sure they’ll like it again.” She said and handed you the book.

“Oh perfect, thank you.” You told her and smiled at the book. Melissa looked at you and couldn’t help the small smile forming at your excitement of the book. And you looked up at her to see the small smile on her face. “Hey Melissa, can I ask you something?” You asked and she looked at you confused.

“You can but it doesn’t mean I’ll answer.” Melissa said.

“Um ok. Well I was just wondering why you’re acting differently around me?” You ask and she looks at you with a neutral face again.

“I don’t know what you mean?”

“Well you were nice to me last year but now you’re acting distant and I don’t know why.” You asked her. “Did I do something wrong?” You added and that took her by surprise. She doesn’t want you to think you did anything wrong because you didn’t. Melissa has a crush on you and she doesn’t want to show it or let anyone know, and her acting nicely to you last year definitely raised suspicions, so she went back to how she acts with everyone else.

“You didn’t do anything kid. This is just how I am with people.” She said.

“You’re not like that with Barb.” You said.

“Barb is my best friend, so of course I’m nice to her.”

“What about Janine? Jacob? Gregory? Or when Ava at times? You’re nice to them.” You told her, getting a little frustrated.

“That’s because they’re my friends.” She said and you were taken back by that and it definitely stung. Melissa looks at your expression and knew she shouldn’t have said that. She does think of you as a friend but it just slipped out.

“Oh ok, well glad to know where we stand then, just co workers. Thank you for the book Ms. Schemmenti, I’ll return it tomorrow.” You tell her and go back to your desk. “If that was all then if you don’t mind, I have a lesson plan to do.” You told her and she nodded her head.

“See ya around kid.” She said and left. She knew she fucked up there. She’ll have to start being a bit nicer to you to get back in your good graces.

Back in your classroom you took a big breath. You thought you and Melissa were friends but I guess you were wrong. No wonder she’s always short and blunt with you.

The next day you were at the coffee shop, receiving your hot chocolate like always, turning around to leave and bumped into someone, spilling your hot chocolate all over them and a bit on yourself.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I just wanted to talk to you and didn’t expect you to turn around.” The person said.

“Oh well I feel like I should be apologising, my hot chocolate mostly went on you. Wait, you wanted to talk to me? Why?”

“Because I see you in here everyday and I think you’re pretty.” She said with a blush and you blushed at her compliment.

“Oh uh th-thank you.” You stuttered a bit, not used to compliments.

“Can I buy you another hot chocolate? As an apology?” She said and you looked at her.

“Oh you don’t have too.”

“I want to though. Please, I insist.” She said and you smiled at her. She bought you another hot chocolate and handed it to you with a smile. “And there we go.” She said.

“Thank you.” You told her and saw the time. “Oh I gotta get to work.” You told her.

“Oh that’s alright I understand. I’ll see you again tomorrow?” She asked.

“Ya, I come here, same time every day.” You said with a smile and began to leave but turned around to her. “I never got your name btw.”

“It’s Joy.” She told you.

“I’m y/n.” You tell her and she smiles.

“You have a lovely name, it suits you.” She tells you. You blush and leave the coffee shop. You get to the school and immediately go to your classroom instead of the break room. You put your stuff done and see the book that Melissa gave you yesterday sitting on your desk. You might as well return it now, you got a few minutes before the students get here. You picked up the book and walked to the classroom next to yours and knocked on the open door. Melissa was stapling something and looked up at you and gave you a little smile.

Your heart fluttered a little at the smile and you remembered what she said yesterday. “Hi Ms Schemmenti, I came to return the book.” You told her, and held the book up.

She looked at you and remembered what happened yesterday and sighed. “Thanks y/n” she said and got up and walked over to you to take the book. “Did the little eagles like it?” She asked.

“Ya they did.” You said confused at her using your actual name

“I knew they would. You can borrow it whenever you want.” She told you and you offered her a small smile and nodded your head.

“Thanks Ms Schemmenti, I’ll keep that in mind.” You told her and left. She stared at you as you walked back to your own classroom and did a huge sigh and leaned back against her door.

A month goes by and you run into Joy everyday at the coffee shop. She took it upon herself to order you a hot chocolate and have it ready by the time you get there. You kept offering her the money for it but she always refuses, saying your company was payment enough. You exchanged numbers after a couple days and started texting for hours on end. By the second week she asked you out on a date and you said yes. By the third week she asked you to be her girlfriend to which you agreed excitedly.

At school, you noticed that Melissa has been a bit friendlier with you. You took her sudden change with caution though, you don’t want to get hurt again.

For Melissa, she wants to ask you out but she keeps getting scared. But after a month of being friendly with you, she decides to bite the bullet and just do it. She went to go see you at your classroom after the students left on Monday.

“Hey y/n, can I ask you something?” She asked you as she stepped in your classroom.

“Sure Melissa, what’s up?” You said and she smiled. You’ve been calling her by her first name again for about a week, and after you calling her Ms Schemmenti for 3 weeks, well she still smiles when you call her Melissa now.

“I wanted to ask you on a date.” She says and you look at her and freeze.

“What?” You ask, confused as hell.

“I wanted to officially ask you on a date.” She says and you look at her confused.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“I thought you didn’t like me.” You tell her and she looks a bit guilty.

“I never not liked you, when I realised I liked you near the end of the last year, I didn’t want to give away my feelings so I started acting distant towards you.” She says and looks down for a second then back up at you. “So will you go on a date with me?” She asks again.

“No.” You told her and she looked upset. “I did like you but I have a girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend? I thought you were single.” She says confused and still hurt.

“I was, until 2 weeks ago, her name is Joy.” You said with a smile. And Melissa looks at you with a bit of fire in her eyes. “If she’s real then I would like to meet her.” She tells you, crossing her arms,

“Oh ok, ya sure. I can ask if she can come meet everyone tomorrow morning if you want.” You tell her.

“Ok, I look forward to meeting her then.” Melissa says and leaves disappointed.

You asked Joy if she wanted to meet your coworkers tomorrow morning and she excitedly agreed immediately.

So the next morning, you meet Joy at the coffee shop as usual and she hands you your hot chocolate then you drive over to the school and walk in with her. You head to the break room with her and enter and all eyes look up at you and her.

“Everyone, I would like you to meet Joy, my girlfriend. Joy, this is Janine, Jacob, Gregory, Barb, Ava.” You said, pointing to everyone as you said their name. “And this is Melissa, the one who asked to meet you.”

“Hi everyone! And hi Melissa, I’m very much real as you can see.” Joy says and Melissa doesn’t look happy, she crosses her arms and the fire in her eyes come back. She thought you were lying and would have to keep being nicer to you before you agree to go on a date with her. Barb notices Melissa getting angry and puts a hand on her arm and that startles her and then just sits there, staring at you. She sees you being all happy as Jacob and Janine got up to come say hi to your girlfriend.

She wanted to be that person, be your girlfriend and she blew it. But then remembered that you said yesterday that you did have feelings for her, so maybe you still do. Then she smiles at that thought and thinks of different ways to play it. Joy would have to go of course, she ain’t gonna put a hit on her but instead she’ll try to sabotage it, and to do that, she’ll have to be nice first and get information.

So she gets up and goes over to you two. “Hi, nice to meet you. Ya I didn’t think you were real when y/n here as been single since I’ve known her.” She says to your girlfriend then proceeds to put an arm around your back as she mentions you being single and your eyes widen a bit.

“Oh that’s alright, it was a shock to y/n too when I asked her.” Joy says, and Melissa thinks it’s a shame she’ll have to sabotage it as she seems nice. But this person is getting in the way of her happiness so she gots to go.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you two meet?” Melissa asks.

“Oh we met at the coffee shop down the street, the one you told me about and I get a hot chocolate there every morning. And then I bumped into Joy about a month ago, like physically bumped into her and spilled my drink all over her.” You say with a chuckle.

“Ya she did but it was my fault, I saw her there every morning and after a couple weeks I decided to go talk to her and didn’t expect her to turn around at that very moment. So I offered to get her a replacement one and then we started talking.” Joy said with a smile.

And you noticed how Melissa’s hand got a bit lower on your back and you subtly get out of her grip and say an excuse. “Joy, do you want to go see my classroom?” You ask her and she immediately said yes. Joy waves bye to everyone and they all tell her it was nice to meet her and hope to see her again. And Melissa thinks that if it goes according to plan then she won’t be back to see them again.

At the end of the day, Melissa visits your classroom. “Hey y/n.” She says as you’re packing your things up.

“Oh hey Melissa. What’s up?” You ask her and sling your bag over your shoulders.

“Well I was wondering if I could go with you to the coffee shop tomorrow? I haven’t been there in awhile and wouldn’t mind a good store bought coffee once in awhile instead of one from the break room.” She says and you look at her confused.

“Oh I always meet Joy at the coffee shop in the morning.” You say and Melissa smiles, she knew it.

“Well that’s alright, maybe I could get to know her better then.” She says and you agree and tell her the time that you meet up with Joy.

The next morning, Melissa gets to the coffee shop first and orders a coffee for her and a hot chocolate for you. You and Joy come in a couple minutes later and see Melissa near a table with 2 drinks. “Hey Melissa.” You say and she looks over at you and smiles.

“Hey y/n and Joy. Here y/n, I got you a hot chocolate.” She says and sees the frown on Joy’s face before smiling again. Melissa smiles at that, she knew that Joy was still getting you a hot chocolate every morning. You said it yesterday to Janine and Jacob. “I would have gotten something for you but I forgot to ask y/n here what you like.” Melissa says and puts a hand on your shoulder.

Joy looks at the interaction and gives a confused look. “That’s alright, I’ll just go get a drink for myself. I’ll be right back.” She says and you and Melissa nod.

You look at Melissa a little confused. “Why are you being so much nicer all of a sudden?” You say to her and she just shrugs, feigning innocence.

“I don’t know what you mean y/n? I’m just getting to know your little girlfriend over there.” She says and hits you, Melissa is jealous.

“Melissa, are you jealous?” You asked and she scoffs. “I’m being serious, yesterday you asked me out saying you liked me. And now you’re at the coffee shop that I meet Joy at every morning and meeting nicer to me in front of her.”

“I’m just trying to make sure that she’s right for you, is all.” Trying to cover up the fact that you were right.

Before either of you can say anything else, Joy comes back with her drink. “Hey y/n, I would like to stay longer but worked called and asked if I could come in earlier. Like right now earlier. And I wouldn’t mind the extra cash.” She says and you nod.

“That’s alright, I understand, have a good day at work.” You tell her and she gives you a goodbye kiss on the lips and the fire in Melissa’s eyes return.

“Alright thanks for understanding, it was nice seeing you again Melissa.”

“Ya you too.” Melissa says back to her. Melissa didn’t like that kiss, and worse is that the only issue she has with Joy is that she’s with you. Other than that, Joy seems like a nice person, and she hates that fact.

At the end of the day Melissa stops by your classroom again. “Hey y/n.”

“Should I expect this to be a daily occurrence? You stopping by my classroom at the end of the day?” You say with a laugh and she gives a small laugh at that.

“Maybe.” She says and closes your door and walks up to you. You look at her confused for closing the door, but then think she probably wants to talk to you privately. “I don’t like her. Your girlfriend.” She says and you frown.

“Why?”

“I don't know, there’s just something about her that I don’t like.”

“Well you’ve only just met her. If you see her more then you might grow to like her.” You tell her with a smile.

“No I won’t actually.” She says and you’re confused.

“And how do you know you won’t?”

She looks you dead in the eyes and walks closer to you. “Because as long as she’s with you, then I won’t like her.” She says and she got very close to you and you had to walk back and you end up backing into your desk and she puts her hands on the desk on both sides of you, effectively trapping you. You look at her with wide eyes.

“Melissa, I-” and you don’t get to say what you were about to as her lips are on yours. You begin to kiss her back and then push her off. “Melissa what the fuck? You know I’m with Joy.” You tell her and she smirks.

“Then why did you kiss me back? And don’t deny it. I know you did before you pushed me off.” And you look at her speechless since she’s right. Melissa smiles at you and goes to kiss you again but you stop her.

“No Melissa, I’m with Joy now.” You tell her and she frowns.

“You wouldn’t rather be with me?” She asks and you shake your head.

“I’m happy with who I’m with. I’m sorry.” You tell her and walk out of your classroom, leaving behind a hurt Melissa who has a tear rolling down her cheek.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms

@idonothingalldays-blog

@sexysapphicshopowner

@dvrkhcld

If you want to be added then let me know!

[chigirizzz]

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK — I. SAE

warnings/tags: angst, hurt/a little bit of comfort, gn! reader, descriptions of physical symptoms of anxiety, ooc sae??, not proofread

summary: love is confusing. a part of you knows sae loved you; another part of you makes you question that. if both parts can't coexist, was your relationship worth fighting for?

wc: 2.3k

notes: this one was difficult to write man. i literally rewrote almost every paragraph dozens of times until i thought this entire thing was worth of being posted. while writing this i was literally biting my own fist out of frustration lmao.

»»——⍟——««

being a professional football player for sure brings a lot of things in your life: fame, money, awards, fans, haters, sponsors, you name it. but one thing that no one ever seems to talk about is the painful feeling inside someone’s entire body when under the extreme pressure—the shortness of breath, the rapid beating of the heart, the big knot on the throat, the tightening of the stomach, the burning sensation in the eyes due to increased blood circulation, and so on.

sae was used to those feelings. it was part of his life as an athlete—it was part of his life ever since he was a young boy, like when he had to get ready to leave his home country to live in another one, practically alone, without his family. for days, young itoshi sae felt in panic, nauseous and was disturbed by severe headaches.

it’s funny how emotions can make you physically sick, right?

of course, anyone can feel like this—it's completely normal and it’s what makes us humans. for a singer, those symptoms of sickness might happen mostly on the stage; for a baker, those nerves might happen mostly when getting ready the perfect wedding cake; for a writer, that anxiety might happen mostly when publishing a book, afraid of what people will think of it and if it will sell well.

for football players, those sensations are, most of the time, absorbed by their bodies and minds the moment they step on the field.

sae falls into this category.

then, at the end of the day, people can still live through situations that make them feel anxious outside of their professions—perhaps they have to get ready for a date; perhaps they got lost and can't find the right path to go home.

sae does not fall into this category. he is a rational man who avoids people and feelings not related to his career. he always knows what to do and what not to do.

but today, today is different. today sae itoshi is in the second category, and he might be stuck in there for a while, who knows.

sitting on the edge of the bed you both share, he inhales deeply as his hands make their way to grab said edges. the soft material of the bedspread under his fingers helped him cool down a little bit. so soft ♡. he exhaled after holding his breath for a few seconds.

he could hear your sobs.

you were sitting on the comfy sofa placed in the small, elegant balcony connected to your shared bedroom. although the curtains were blocking the outside view, the chilly, cold wind of the night would constantly move the brownish pink curtains to give the man the perfect—and heartbroken—sight of your figure in a curled up position, crying, with no sign of stopping so soon.

(brownish pink curtains… you wanted to buy those because it reminded you of sae's hair. of your boyfriend's hair. he could still hear your laugh when you suggested buying those.)

you too were in a psychological and physical distress; you too were in the second category—the difference, however, was that you have been in that same category for a while; meanwhile sae has only entered it today.

sae didn’t like the feeling of his sunken heart, of the big knot on his throat and of the tightening of his stomach’s walls when looking at you so miserable like that. and the worst part? he was the reason you were in that state.

in case you didn't understand yet, my dear reader, itoshi sae broke your heart once again and now your relationship is at a great risk of ending. by saying that sae has officially entered the "second category", we get the idea that said man is now anxious, scared, and physically sick with the thought of losing you—the anxiety that he only felt on the field and never in his personal life? he's feeling it right now.

and it’s only now that he understands how much he disappointed you ever since you two started dating. he remembers it all now: how he didn’t show any interest in your thoughts and hobbies (which is not true, he was just devoid of emotions but it still hurt you), how cold his responses could get, how he never denied that his career was the number one priority, the dry messages he sent you when you were excited, how mean he could be to other people even if you’d tell him how much you hated that attitude of his, how he would just gave you a gift after a fight instead of properly apologizing, how he stood up on you several times on a restaurant, all ready for him to arrive for your date, only to not appear because he preferred to stay late at practice and ended up forgetting the plans you both made…

the true—although not surprising at all—is, the oldest itoshi wasn’t good with feelings; he knew what to do and what not to do during matches, but when it came to human beings, he didn’t have an idea of what he should do or what to say—and let’s be honest, he didn't care about it either. sae did love you, though. the way he looks at you proves it; the marks he would leave on your body during nights so full of lust and romance that would be capable of shedding emotional tears from aphrodite’s eyes proved it; the way he'd roll his eyes and proceed to place soft kisses on your fingers when you complained of the water being too hot after finishing washing the dishes proved it.

the engagement ring he bought for you that is hidden in a safe place where you couldn’t find it proved it.

and now there might not be a day where he could put the ring around your finger and watch you giggle like a teenager in love.

his heart weighs heavier now, almost like it’s getting ready to be swallowed by the black hole formed on his stomach. fuck. he passes his hand through his reddish brown hair, tugging a few strands.

he got out of the bed and made his way to the door of the small balcony. there you were, still in a curled up position. your sobs have stopped already but a sniff or two could be heard.

“talk to me.” the genius didn’t know exactly what his tone was. tiredness? begging? regret? i-don’t-care-at-all-stop-acting-like-this? this man sure was confusing. there was no response, the only thing that could be heard were the sounds of the leaves of the trees moving with the wind, almost mocking, not sae, but you.

the way you rolled your eyes was unknown to him.

“seriously, y/n. head inside so we can talk—”

“fuck you, itoshi, leave me alone.” your intention wasn’t to be mean to him, you didn't think before speaking—it hurt both you and him—, but sometimes harsh words were better in specific times. this is a specific time, you should have shared your thoughts a long time ago. “you wanna talk now? you usually just buy me roses without saying anything.”

“i’m trying to fix things up.”

you turned your head to look at him, a sad smile on your lips. “and i appreciate it, really, but i’m just so fucking tired, sae.” your voice broke on the word “tired”. “and you just want to talk now because i said i was thinking of breaking up with you during our fight earlier? why, sae, why…” more tears were threatening to fall, voice still breaking.

teal colored eyes darkened. you were now looking at the view in front of you. you guys lived in a really peaceful neighborhood with big, expensive houses. the view was nothing special (a few trees, a few parked cars, a park near you), but it wasn't bad either. it's not like the view mattered as long as you lived with the love of your life.

even if said love of your life could sometimes be difficult to put up with.

you remember when you started dating him and met his younger brother, who had the audacity to say with a serious face that you would regret dating your boyfriend. although you now understand the point rin was trying to make, you didn't regret being with sae; you didn't regret anything at all. and if you were to be honest, you wanted to ignore the fight and just spend the night watching a movie or something, but you had to act like a mature adult and find a better solution.

were you, though, being a mature adult by giving that response to sae when he said he wanted to talk? you were genuinely confused.

sighting and while wiping your tears, you patted the uncopied place of the sofa beside you. "ok, let's talk. sit." the man did what you told and you moved away a few centimeters to give him more space. it was… silence. a mix of comfortable and uncomfortable silence.

without looking at you, sae rested his hand on top of yours, causing you to flinch a little by surprise, but paid no mind and let him interlock his fingers with yours, your thumb now caressing his pinky finger.

"what… what do you want to say?"

"were you telling the truth earlier?"

"about me breaking up with you?" a "mhm" was his answer. "yes, i was ." by the corner of your eye you noticed he stared at you after those words. your mind couldn't decipher what his thoughts were. "i don't like being stood up on a date two times in the same month, y'know?"

the man sighted. "i was busy with practice. and i literally warned you at a good time, you just got to the place too early."

you let out a chuckle in an ironic way. "you did warn me, yes, and i wouldn't mind if it was once or twice, but enough is enough, itoshi." it was the second time of the night—scratch that, it was the second time in your entire life that you called him by his surname. even when you were only friends, you would call him by his first name or by cute, silly nicknames. the second time the word itoshi came out of your mouth, it was full of venom; venom that seemed to wrap so tightly around his heart. "i know your career is extremely important to you. i understand that and i want to support you in any way, shape and form, however, things can't keep going like this."

"i see." the reddish brown haired man looked at both your hands still together. you didn't let go of him, you didn't want to and he didn't want it either. “i understand.”

he should say something more. something more profound, more romantic, capable of making you stay, but what can the prodigy do about it? sure, he'd be lying if he said he didn't want you to stay with him, but the decision was yours and he had to take it, whether he liked it or not; whether it’d left him heartbroken or not. besides, he now understands just how much he confused you with his true feelings. you both were tired of the constant kiss and make up.

just how sae could be an egoistic on the field, he could be also one on his private life (just ask literally anybody and they will confirm).

you let go of his fingers to turn your arm so that your palm was facing upwards, in contact with his, and you interlock your fingers again. “it’s not easy for me but… i feel like it’s the best choice.”

you spent a few seconds looking into each other's eyes, until sae leaned his forehead against yours and you did the same, with your eyes closed and enjoying the cold night breeze hitting your bodies, the breeze contrasting with the bittersweet heat formed in your hearts.

“so… is it decided…”

“yes… it is.” you were glad that he respected your decision and that you discussed the matter without further discussion. “i’ll still pack my things today. in the morning i’ll call a friend and ask them to stay at their house for a few days. then i’ll see how it goes.”

“hm.”

he offered to help you pack your bags, but you refused—him helping you would only make you more emotional and rethink your decision. that night, you and your now ex-boyfriend slept on the same bed, back to back.

»»——⍟——««

"hey,” it was now the next morning and you had just gotten ready to leave the house. sae called you before you had a chance to get out the door. “do not hesitate to call me if you need anything.”

a smile formed on your lips. now that you were changing your path in life, it seemed that you just lost a heavy weight on your shoulders. sae didn't like that, but again, he was in no position to make you stay. “ thank you sae, really. the same goes for you, though. and don’t overwork yourself.”

those words and the little chuckle that followed hurt sae like a bitch. you always told him to not work himself till exhaustion, yet he always ignored you…

“well… goodbye, itoshi.” before he’d answer, you stepped out of the door, closing it behind you.

as the sound of the engine of your friend’s car starting up reached his ears, he made his way to the bedroom, to reach out for the engagement ring he bought for you. he layed on the bed, hugging the tiny ring’s box, hot tears running silently down his cheeks to the pillow.

you were gone. you were officially gone.

»»——⍟——««

tagging: @izzylovestnbhd

thank you for reading. likes, reblogs and coments are appreciated ♡

[fear8not1]

heyyy for kiss prompts may i suggest 36 with maxiel? 💖

thank you for your request ! this turned out a bit bittersweet (i rewrote it thrice and just couldn't make it happy LMAO) so feel free to ask for another kiss if it's not to your tastes.

not my best but it's a very fun exercise !

send me a ship and a number and i will write a kiss

36 (as a promise) - on the flip of a coin - maxiel, 732 words

The music is loud. Loud enough to cover Max’s voice. Not loud enough to cover Daniel’s.

“I’m leaving F1,” he yells in his ear, blue lights aggravating his eye bags when he leans back to look at him, “I’m taking a break.”

Max blinks once, twice. He looks down at his drink, mentally counts the shots he’s taken, but he’s nowhere near drunk enough to hear things wrong.

Daniel is leaving. “You’re kidding, right ?” He asks, trying to search for anything on his face that’d indicate he is — the usual amused sparkle in his eyes, the small smirk. But there’s nothing.

Daniel leans forward again, lips brushing his ear as he speaks. “No, I just- I can’t do it anymore, Max. I gotta leave, mate.”

If Max isn’t drunk, maybe Daniel is. He checks the empty glass in his hand, even though he knows he’s only had a beer and a whiskey coca. Nothing crazy. He opens his mouth to ask why and how and when and complain about the fact that it’s the first time they’ve went out in months and losing him now, when he feels like he’s finally reached him, would be unfair but…

But he gets it. Daniel’s skin looks dull, pale, his signature smile long gone. His cheeks aren’t red from laughing, the lines on his face much deeper than they once were, and, from where he is, Max can see his collarbones peeking from his shirt. He’s not wearing his team kit, not a single item reminding that he drives for McLaren. He used to wear Red Bull merch often. Even off track. “I- I can be there for you, mate. You don’t have to- we can talk about it when we’re sober, yeah ?”

Daniel shakes his head, smiles sadly and bumps their foreheads. The contact hurts, but Max’s brain replays the past few minutes so much he barely registers it. “No, Maxie. Can’t do, won’t do. I…,” he takes a shaky breath, steals a sip from Max’s glass, “I need you to know. Now. Press’ll know in a few days. You gotta be ready, mate, they’ll be all over you.”

Max nods quietly, frowning so hard he can tell he’ll have a headache soon enough. He knows why he’s doing it. He understands. It, somehow, makes it worse. He can’t be angry at him, can’t be sad for him — it feels natural, considering the last few years. “Danny, I- will you come back ?”

The Australian shrugs, looks away for a few seconds. It gives Max enough time to look at him, properly look, for the first time in years. Red Bull, Renault, McLaren, they’ve all taken their tolls on him. Like a disease, it has spread throughout the years, quietly and undiagnosed, and it was now too late to fix it easily. He had to step away. Leave for a while. Work on himself as a last chance treatment. Pray it works.

“Probably,” he ends up answering, voice so quiet Max would have missed it had he not read it on his lips, “I’ll try to come back next year. They might not want me back.” His words are carefully picked, as if he had spent his nights trying to figure out how to break the news for others.

Max doesn’t want to think about that. “They’ll do. You’ll come back,” and, as he says it, he isn’t sure if he’s trying to comfort Daniel or himself, “in a year, then. Gives you enough time to go crazy doing normal things. Then, back to us.”

Daniel stares at him for a few seconds, licks his lip clean from the sticky beer residue, and smiles. It’s nothing like his usual smile, but it’s a small victory, at least. He wonders if he’s also thinking of clumsy nights, years ago, when adrenaline would run too high and healthy outlets were needed. If he’s over it, the way Max is pretending to be.

He wonders, but Daniel puts a stop to it, leaning forward just enough to brush his lips against Max’s. With his free hand, he caresses his cheek and whispers, “I promise, Max. I’ll come back to you,” and kisses him gently. He tastes of alcohol, of beer and whiskey and toothpaste, of salty tears and disappointment, of nights Max will forever miss.

But it’s good enough, for now. It’s a promise he can cling to.

[personasintro]

Hi mimi!! Do you remember when you said you wrote a scene 4x I think - do you remember what it is and what it was supposed to be?

I think you’re referring to this tweet??

I should really make notes about stuff like this bc it took me a while to figure out which scene I meant lmao (😅)

It’s the one when they’re in Jk’s car and she decides to go after all. They have a different conversation (this scene will be posted on my ko-fi account, the one I talked about in my a/n ☺️)

I think I also rewrote the beach scene a few times (the first one where they go into the water). I struggled quite a lot during writing the second half of 58 🫠

[randomyuu]

there's a lover in the story, but the story's still the same

Ahh, don’t you love it when fear motivates your drawing mood? (not really)

That’s what I felt reading the scene that is drawn below. It’s fear for Yuuji but also feeling excited picturing an emotionless teen!Gojou so here I am. Always down bad for Vox’s Goyuu fics, aren’t I? *sighs*

Welp, here we go.

Title: there’s a lover in the story, but the story’s still the same

Author: @voxofthevoid

Second fic of the series there’s a lover in the story, but the story’s still the same

Pairing YuuGo, NSFW, please read the tags carefully before giving it a read... the usual drill ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

!!! SPOILER FOR THE FIC !!!

Highly recommend you guys to read them first. Or not, it’s up to you honestly :v

Usually I would gush about the fic but I’ve already done that under the fic itself so I just want you to know this comic is solely carried by me wanting to draw the ticking time bomb called teen!Gojou-post-discussion-with-adult!Ieiri. You could probably guess what they’re talking about :”)

The fear for Yuuji’s well-being started this, but Satoru’s cold eyes kept me going. I can’t get rid of it from my mind lmao

You can say drawing these kind of expressions is my jam   (￣▽￣)

I hope I did Satoru’s emotions justice haha

A bit of my thoughts and doodle below. Unhinged maybe, it’s midnight, I got more work to do after this, and my brain cells are barely hanging on. Haha I'm living the life-

I AM STILL REELING FROM THE FACT I MANAGED TO GET THIS DONE.

There are so many things I want to talk about in the process of making this. But after I typed it out, most of them sounded so unnecessary so I rewrote it a few times. I tried to make this as short as possible lmao

Typesetting and sketching are the roughest parts of this project. During these stages, I kept feeling everything I did wasn’t doing the scene enough justice, and it was frustrating. As I planned this project, I read a few doujins and noticed the font types scanlation teams use. There are so many of them, and each helped convey the tone of each image. Felt like crying when I realised I’m not knowledgeable enough to apply good typesetting, ngl. And then the interior design. Fuck, the frustration is so real. I am absolutely clueless about this kind of thing. Tracing lots of references because I have no perception of space makes me feel even worse. I knew first times rarely create a masterpiece, but I was not satisfied with my accomplishment and the feeling of failing to fulfil my own expectations hurt.

BUT.

Thank goodness most of the things I need to draw are Shouko, Yuuji and Satoru. Because dear g o d drawing them healed me. I found so much comfort in drawing Shouko’s long hair and Satoru’s eyes and drowning Yuuji in an oversized hoodie. The comfort zone of character drawing never feels so real lmaooo

Drawing them was so effective that I can look back at the backgrounds with acceptance. Hey, I did it! Not perfect just yet, but I did it!

Haha I feel like I’m losing my mind. I don’t know if it’s in a good way or a bad way. Guess I do have one or two screws loose.

Only for Yuuji lmao

(nah I just need sleep, or cooling down from the rush of having finished this)

It might come off as a surprise if you’ve only seen my art on Tumblr, but I’ve always preferred to draw feminine-leaning ladies. I’ve always loved drawing their curves, whether it’s the figure, the clothes, or the (long) hair. But I’ve grown to like drawing masculine gentlemen as well with their sharp edges and straight lines, and now my ladies start to look more androgynous lmao

Anyway, I was pretty stoked to be able to draw adult!Ieiri! I… I kind of miss drawing long hair so here have some more before you go on your day ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

[celestie0]

notes on kickoff ch.7

hellooo if you're here thank you for taking the interest! i just had some creative notes i wanted to get off my chest with the release of ch.7 lol i felt compelled to do so with this one i'm basically journaling here. you can read this after reading ch7 here!

I. on gojo's feelings

as for why didn't gojo just tell reader how he felt at the end of the chapter, and instead only says what he does. i think i rewrote this ending like five different times, he was never supposed to tell her at this point based on my story planning, but i did explore the idea of a dramatic confession here regardless, and it didn't fit for lots of different reasons for one, i think he's finally able to put himself in reader's shoes. it's true he's pretty dense and obviously has commitment issues/valid fears that keep him from opening up, but that still doesn't mean he hasn't hurt reader in a lot of different ways already. he realizes, whether intentionally or not, he's led her on and to do a complete turnaround within a few hours while she's already trying to process rejection as she is clearly withdrawn from him i believed would've been selfish on his part, and could possibly cause even more hurt over the fact that he could come off ingenuine. gojo is finally emotionally aware of her enough to recognize it, but he's not a perfect person so it still slips through that he's distraught at the thought of never seeing her again. in general i'm of the opinion that if someone asks for space, you respect that unless they say otherwise of note, just because he realizes that he has these feelings, doesn't necessary change his fears, as no single moment can undo years of trauma, so i think that's why he bites his tongue too. i'm not keen on making this a "woman fixes man" story but i moreso want to embrace the sentiment that you don't need to resolve every single bad thing that's ever happened to you in order to embrace love or happiness.

II. on gojo's commitment issues

i know it was brought up in the first gojo pov that he has issues committing to just one woman, but i wanted this chapter to reveal that it's really just his fear of opening up to people due to the still raw loss he feels of losing someone he loved. i aim with his pov to be more of a stream of his own consciousness rather than from an omniscient observer, which may explain the ambiguity. he's not sure if he's able to open up to a person in a way he knows is normal and healthy, so he settles on shallow connections instead. just wanted to clear this up, and say that it won't be any sort of plot point in which he struggles to be sincere or faithful when he seriously wants to commit to someone as he has no issues with that if he truly wants to be with them (unlike the whore he's been so far in the series lmao)

III. on strawberry vanilla soda

btw i've never had this flavor of soda i'm not even sure where i came up w it loool or if it even exists. i was kind of toying with the idea of gojo seeing reader's message on the can during the match, and that would maybe help him get more focused on the field (sooo sports romance cliche but i still love it haha) but i settled on him seeing it afterwards to kinda parallel the clumsiness he's had with reader so far. for some reason, the universe just doesn't want him to get his timing right with her lol

IV. on angst/conflict

i know ch7 was a bit differentttt less gojo x reader and more just gojo lmfao, it was also a bit angsty. it definitely won't stay angsty throughout the remaining chapters. this was just gojo's lore drop chapter LOL. there will still obviously be angst here and there, but i've got a lot of fun, cute, tense, silly, passionate, messy scenes still planned similar to ch5&6 because i prefer writing those kinds of scenes haha. ultimately this story was always meant to be a full-circle romance, so ch7 was to lay some of the emotional groundwork that gets brought up as the story builds to its climax

that's all i have to saayyy if you actually read this whole thing i love you?? lol. ch7 really emotionally resonated with me as i wrote it, both as someone who understands how gojo feels but also as someone who understands how reader feels, and if it resonated with you too then that makes me very happy and that's ultimately every writer's dream haha. was very cathartic to share these thoughts. i hope to see you in the next oneeee <3 have a wonderful rest of your day!

[peace-for-levi]

golden hour

{sometimes i get ideas for drabbles that aren't long enough to be chapters, or oneshots. this was going to be a side chapter/drabble of morgen, but i didn't like where it was headed so i rewrote it. pls accept my garbage, i wrote this in ~45 mins}

cw: i have projected!!!!!! my abandonment issues onto levi lmao. anxiety, trauma, very slight possessiveness (but not to the point it's unhealthy) references to smut from the night prior. so mdni! finale pt. 1/manga spoilers!!!

w/c: 1201

taglist: @levmada @poisonpeche @jayteacups @happybird16 @theferricfox @sckerman @whattheheckmidoriya @notgoodforlife @anlian-aishang @unadulteratedtreecrusade @nelapanela94 (i honestly forget who's in my taglist??)

Levi Ackerman doesn't know peace. He is a man most acquainted with strife and sacrifice.

The void left in his heart after the Rumbling is gaping and steep. It pulls him into the dark, with little hope of anything good ever happening. Maybe he doesn't deserve it; maybe he isn't meant to have nice things. That's what the cynical side of him says. But then again, cynicism was all he ever had. Negativity, doubt... As a soldier, he always had to err on the side of caution.

So the idea of you laying in his arms, flush to his bare chest, is something so foreign to him. Levi can hardly believe his eyes.

Sunlight filters through the windows, casting rays and lighting up the room. Shining on you, he finally takes you -- and all your wonder -- in and he breathes easy.

He pulls you closer. Where is the next threat? When, even?

This is too good to be true.

You stir in his embrace and he relaxes, allowing you to fidget and stretch as needed. Your dewy and damp hair from last night clings to your forehead. Dirt doesn't repulse him too much anymore, he thinks. Well, not if it's you. He flicks the stray hairs dangling in your eyes away, and blows the rest away gently. Now he sees you.

He gasps when you smile in your hazy state, snuggling closer.

"Mornin'," you sigh.

"Mm." He doesn't mean for it to come across as a grunt. "Good morning. Sleep well?"

The gravelly baritone of his morning voice sends shivers down your spine. "Ohhhhh yeah."

It would be hard not to sleep well after last night, but he will stay on alert. He had his night of fun. Now it's time to get back to business. But what business does he have left? The teashop? It's closed today. Maybe cleaning the kitchen. Oh wait, you did a spring clean of it last night.

He sighs, heavily. It's hard to go from always having a task to do, to nothing at all. He can't lose his edge, it's too soon. It's barely been a few years. If he loses his edge, what happens then? What if you slip through his fingers? What if you realize that your time could be spent elsewhere, fulfilling whatever dreams you may have?

Not that he'd stop you, it's just…

I just don't have anyone else, he thinks, selfishly.

He must stay alert and aware all the time. He gave into desire last night when he could have been doing something more productive. If you continued to see how good he was, you'd continue to need him, hopefully. He needed you to rely on him, to need him, so that way, you'd always come back to him and you'd be in his life.

"You're shaking."

He's snapped out of his toxic train of thoughts. "Hmm?"

"When you tense your muscles, though it's faint, you shake, and…" you lean in closer, ear to his chest, "well, I feel it a lot more since I'm right next to you."

He sweeps his hand to cradle your head, wanting to keep you there.

"Sorry, guess I'm just…"

You peek up at him. "Just what?"

"Tch… Just forget it."

You blink owlishly. Sheesh, you only wanted to open a line of communication with him. But even after all those years, even when (an unsteady) peace between Eldia and Marley was established, he keeps his walls up. He doesn't know that it's okay to start taking down those bricks, however slow or long it may take him to.

The birds are chirping a song outside, perched on the sill. You smile softly, listening. "Do you hear them?"

"Yeah."

You try to wiggle out of his arms. "Relax, and listen to them. They're trying to talk to us, maybe." You search for his eyes.

"Yeah, they say you need a shower."

Despite his joke, his pupils are trained on the door into the hall of your shared apartment. The poor man, is all you think; a tortured soul who's not used to reprieve and doesn't know how to accept the rest he deserves. Always on the lookout.

You shimmy out entirely of his grasp and sit up. Though faint, you don't miss the bit of resistance he put up. You purse your lips in thought. Coax him out of it. That's always been your go-to method of trying to get him to open up.

A small nudge in the right direction.

"Last night was fun."

He had started to hum with the birds up until then. He peers back and he turns fully to face you. "Good, I'm glad. I feel the same."

"So feel it," you insist. "I think you don't allow yourself to enjoy the nice things in life."

He scoffs, in denial. "I'd hardly consider this a pleasant "morning after" experience."

"Not when you keep yourself so guarded and cagey, no."

Whatever scoff or smirk he tried to force fell flat. He averts his gaze, sensing a lecture. But when you move to ruffle his slowly thinning hair, his milky and grey eyes find yours. You smile sadly at the grey hairs you spot.

"I'm fine, I'm okay, Levi. You don't need to worry about me, ever. So rest. It's just us, now."

He scoffs, again, and turns his back to you. You flop down and trace the pads of your fingers over his muscles. You trace every scar and blemish; every cut and piece of skin so torn, it can hardly repair itself back to "normal."

He's always been the most human of the lot, and the most scarred (in more ways than one.) He carries the scars with him. The anguished fallen, the courageous subordinates he never got to apologize to. He carries them with him. Like how he carries his former squad, Erwin and Hange.

"Put down your swords now, Levi, the war is over. Take off the armour, too, that shit gets heavy."

He swallows thickly. "What about you? What if you're ever in danger? With my body like this, I ca–"

"Leave the sword at your feet, then. Pick it up when you need to," you soothe. You lean down to kiss him. When his shoulders creak, you giggle. "See, you're getting old! We should resting now."

I just can't be alone. Not after everything that's happened, he thinks.

"'We'," he parrots. "What about when you get bored living with a cripple?"

What will I do when you leave me?

"Well, no one else can make Sunday morning pancakes like you!"

He smiles for the first time now, his lips curling with bliss. He has to internally fight the urge to tense. "Don't make it out that pancakes are an achievement… Then again, I have never seen someone so god-awful at flipping."

He rolls onto his back now. You lower a hand to his scarred, pallid cheek. You smooth a thumb under his milky eye. As gently as you can manage, you sink back into his arms.

"So as long as you'll have me, I won't be leaving any time soon."

You don't miss the thick swallow and the trembling lips.

"I'm staying right here, 'Vi."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ rbs and comments always appreciated!! ♡

[moonlightpetalz6]

Mark Me

Character: Toji Fushiguro x Tattoo Artist Reader

Reader: Female Reader

Warnings: NSFW, MDNI, drug use, high sex, smut, violence, unprotected sex, blood, harsh language, pet names, Praise kink, Dacryphilia, Exhibitionism kink, Daddy kink, degradation, marking kink, Age gap (Reader is in 20s, Toji is 30), brat kink

Wc: 7,293

A/N: All I have to say is I worked hard on this, and I hope you enjoy it! Please be nice I rewrote this like 5 times lmao.

______________________________________________________________

Ding! 

The sound of the front door opening, indicating that a customer walked in, filled your ears, along with the quiet buzzing of the tattoo gun in your hand. "Oh! Welcome, do you have an appointment?" You hear your person at the front desk cheer, followed by muffled voices. Your eyes, which were once solely focused on the piece of art you had been skillfully engraving into the tender flesh of your current client, drift over to the small watch that rests on your wrist. "How's it looking baby?" Your client questions his eyes, looking back at you with a slight smirk, causing you to groan in disgust. This particular client of yours had been flirting with you since the day he walked into the shop, which at first didn't bother you as you were used to those occasional clients; however, this one was super persistent about it, always giving you a hard time with his tattoo design making you change things that he was once okay with into something else the next visit so that he could keep seeing you. 

"It looks fine, however, we're gonna have to cut this session short as it's almost closing time and I have one more client for the night." The man lets out a small grunt, not finding a problem with your words as it just meant he could see you again, much to your dismay. "You got it boss!" He laughed while tossing his shirt back on, following behind your smaller form as you walked towards the front of the store. "Ya know I always found all those piercings and tattoos of yours to be." The man started his usual flirting with you, always leading with the art that covered your body. This time, you tuned him out, your eyes traveling to the two figures seated in the waiting room area, one of them being very familiar. "Ichigo set this guy up with his next session for me will ya?" You mumbled while snatching the last clipboard from the desk, your eyes scanning your next client's information. "Of course, boss right away!" Ichigo cheered brightly while quickly booking the man's next appointment. You didn't get many clients at your shop, at least not many rich ones, as you had built your place in a dangerous area where lots of criminals claimed to call their homes. 

It didn't bother you, of course, as you were already seen as a problem by many people due to your appearance, so you thought, why not make a profit when people will happily give you their money for the dumbest shit sometimes. "By the way, I see Mr. Playboy is back," Ichigo whispered into your ear, a playful smirk tugging on her lips as she went and pointed to what kind of tattoo the client wanted. You hummed, feeling your eye twitch as you read that same name. You found yourself tattooing on what seems to be hundreds of different women every few weeks. Toji. "This has to be his, what? Sixth girl this month?" Ichigo Scoffed before bidding your client goodbye as he shot you a slight wink, causing you to throw up in your mouth. "It's his seventh, actually." You sighed before pushing yourself off the counter as you called the two figures over. 

In front of you stood the familiar face of one Toji Fushiguro. Next to him was a girl not much older than you who desperately clung to the man's bicep, pressing her exposed cleavage against his bare muscle. "Okay, so who's getting the tattoo?" You questioned as if the answer wasn't as clear as day in your mind. You watch as the girl lazily raises her hand with a slight giggle as she makes goo-goo eyes up at Toji, who stares at you unimpressed with how long it had taken for you to see them. "That would be me~ I want it as a tramp stamp~" She sang, eying the tall male to see if he would give her the reaction she wanted. Toji grunts a lazy smirk, tugging at his lips as he tilts his head down at you, an all-knowing look in his eyes at what you must be thinking right now. "And this must be the lucky guy, huh?" You heard Ichigo laugh from behind the counter, earning her a slight glare from you. 

"Mhm! Isn't he so handsome?" She asked, squeezing him closer. You watch as Toji goes and wraps his arm around her waist, giving it a slight squeeze. "Think you can give her what she wants? Especially since you kept us for a bit?" Toji asked, giving you a smug look, knowing you hated doing these tattoos even more each time he brought in a new girl. "Follow me." You muttered, tossing the clipboard to the side. The two of them follow you towards the back, where you have all your equipment set up. "Let me just clean up really quick. My last client ran late, so it took a bit." The girl nodded in understanding; meanwhile, Toji just scoffed, scratching his head as he leaned on one leg. "You mean that scumbag was your client? Damn, how low have your standards become, Y/n?" He mocked while watching you sanitize your equipment and replace the ink. 

"Oh, shut it. He gives me money, so who am I to complain?" You muttered before glancing between Toji and the girl. "You should know what I mean after all." You added, causing the girl to frown, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Toji!" She cried, wanting the man to say something. Toji stayed silent, knowing your words were true as he did many things for many people, the girl next to him being one of his more frequent clients who paid him pretty well to go on dates and have sex. You just shrugged, taking Toji's silence as not wanting to get involved as you went and put your gloves on while carefully getting the stencil out. "Whatever, just lay down for me, cutie." You mumbled, a slight smirk forming on your lips at the girl's shocked expression, along with the tinge of pink that lightly coated her cheeks. 

Once she laid where you needed, you carefully took care of the area of skin she wanted the tattoo on as you set the stencil down. Toji hovered behind you, watching the placement, nodding in approval. "Looks good, baby~" He sang lazily, smirking, earning a giggle from the girl. You scoffed as you put your mask over your mouth and nose before turning the gun on. "Yeah, let's see how long it's gonna take." You muttered before getting to work. The sound of your tattoo gun and the girl's whines and cries fill the room as you carefully paint her lower back with the letters of Toji's name. 'Honestly, I'll never understand why so many girls get this.' You carefully wipe away some excess ink while glancing over at Toji, who stood leaning against one of your walls, eyes closed, probably thinking of other things he could be doing right now. 

'Especially when they know they're not the only girls in his life.' The girl suddenly jolts, causing you to pull away as you glance at her trembling form. You let out a small sigh, turning the gun off as you go and remove your gloves. The sudden disappearance of the buzzing causes Toji to open his eyes as he looks at you, a brow raised in curiosity. "Ya done already?" His tone sounded impressed with how your speed with these things has increased. You shake your head as you go and pull your mask down with a finger pointing to the girl who is lying on the table, still shaking. "I'm going to give her a break for about fifteen minutes, maybe twenty if she still needs time." You sighed before standing up to exit the room. 

"Ichigo, I'll be outside for a bit." You muttered to the girl, who responded with a pitched kay as you opened the front door to step outside. The nighttime breeze smacks you in the face, causing a relaxed moan to slip past your lips as you lean against your shop wall, reaching into your pocket to pull out a joint. You never smoked during your shifts or when you had clients; however, you had gotten so good at tattooing Toji's name on these girls that it didn't even matter if you were sober. You place the joint in your mouth before patting your pockets for your lighter. The bell to your shop rings, causing you to glance to see Toji standing in the doorway, lips curled up in a cocky smirk. 

"Oh? Is smoking while on the job allowed?" He teases, watching as you roll your eyes before returning to looking for your lighter. "Tch, I would be heading home right now smoking it anyways if it wasn't for you always bringing your girls to my damn shop last minute almost every fucking night." You growled, getting frustrated that you couldn't find the small device. Toji just scoffed, standing next to you as he leaned against the wall, pulling his lighter out and aiming it towards you. You hummed, nodding as you pressed the joint's tip to the flame, watching it light. "Thanks." You muttered, leaning against the wall. This wasn't the first time you and Toji had been in this position, as this happened with almost all the girls he brought over, one of them needing some break from the pain. Toji was the first to start conversing with you about who did your tattoos. He was impressed When you told him it was you or some friends of yours. Since then, the two of you found yourselves outside your shop, often talking about life and random things whenever you waited for the girls to feel better. 

You let out a puff of smoke, watching it disappear into the night sky. "How's she doing?" You asked, glancing at your watch to see how much time she still had for her break. "She'll be fine. Just give her the full twenty minutes." He muttered before going and plucking the joint from your lips, causing you to growl as you glared up at him. He just smirked, giving you a wink before hitting the joint himself. The two of you went back to saying nothing, a comfortable silence falling between the two of you as you passed the joint back and forth. You sneak a glance at Toji, taking in his well-built form, watching as the muscles in his neck slightly tense as he inhaled, how his bicep flexed every time he brought the joint to his lips. 

Yes, you found his muscular body attractive, and yes, you found Toji to be your idle type, but that wasn't what caused you to grow an interest in the man. What grabbed your heart were those piercing green eyes that held a mysterious dark hue over them as if hiding his true feelings. You don't know when you started feeling this attraction towards the man, but you knew that you would never give in or act on your lustful desires as you knew nothing would come of it. "Come on, don't take all of it, you jackass." You growled and jumped up to snatch the joint, which Toji had practically smoked all of. Toji chuckles as he leans his arm on your head, causing a vein to pop as your eye twitches in annoyance. "Oh, come on, Y/n baby~ You know I'll pay ya back." He cooed before snatching a strand of your hair between two of his calloused fingers. You ignored him, not minding that he was playing with your hair as you finished the joint before glancing at your watch. 

"Come on, lover boy." You tap Toji's chest with the palm of your hand as you walk by him to open your shop door. "Let's finish marking your latest victim." Toji just grinned at your words as he obediently followed behind you with a slight chuckle. "What? You want one too?" He joked, his eyes trailing down the back of your form, resting on your ass unbeknownst to you. You scoff, waving him off as you continue to make your way back to the girl. "As if! Keep dreaming, Toji!" You scoffed. 

Oh, he will.

__________

You stood outside your shop, a joint in your hand, as you quietly watched the night sky. It's been weeks since Toji has stopped by with another girl, making you wonder if he's finally found someone or if he's marked every single client he has. "Hey, baby~" A familiar voice calls, causing your eyes to drift over to the sound. To your dismay, it's that client you had finally finished giving the tattoo to who had been nonstop flirting with you. You internally cringe but keep your professional, laidback persona as you provide a superficial nod toward him with a half-assed smile on your lips. "Oh hey, it's you. What's up? Is there something wrong with the tattoo?" You asked, tilting your head at the man curiously. The man shakes his head with a cocky smirk as he leans his arm against the wall. His head rested in his palm as he looked down at you with a predatory gaze. 

"Oh, the tattoo is bitching, baby~ thanks again for such a good job on my body~" He cooed his body language, signaling that he was feeling pretty bold and wouldn't be taking any rejection today. You stared at him momentarily before letting out a small sigh as you carefully took the joint from your lips. 'What should I do? I sent Ichigo home cause we didn't have any more clients tonight, so no one is around to help me get out of this one.' You think a vein is popping on your temple. The man notices this and smirks, letting out a small whistle as he reaches his hand towards your face. "I noticed you've looked stressed and annoyed lately, baby~" You go to move away from his touch, which causes him to get annoyed as he suddenly grabs your chin, forcefully lifting your face to his. "Hey, now don't go being a bitch just cause you look like some trash whore always showing off so much skin. Be honest, you don't do it to show off those shit tattoos; you do it because you want men to see how easily fuckable you are." His voice was harsh, his ego probably not liking how you had tried to reject him. 

"Why don't you come home with me tonight and show me all those shit tattoos, baby~ I can paint them so pretty with my-!" The man's words abruptly cut off as you watched a fist collide with the side of his head, causing a giant dent in your shop's wall. "Toji!" A girl's voice cried out in horror. You slowly followed where the fist came from, your surprised eyes meeting Toji's enraged ones as he went and grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. "Who's tattoos are you calling shit, big guy?" He growled, face inches from the man's now bloody one. "Or better yet…" You watched as Toji's jaw shook from how tight he was clenching, its veins popping out from his neck and face as he bared his teeth at the now-crying man. 

"Who the hell do you think you're touching and calling baby you motherfucker?" Your body shivered at how bloodthirsty Toji's tone was not expecting to see such a sight from the usually calm and laid-back man. "H-hey, man! I was trying to get laid! I didn't know the whore was yours!" That did it. Whatever self-control Toji had was instantly gone as he went and smashed the guy's face in blood, splattering all over himself and you in the crossfire. The girl Toji had come with stood there horrified as she trembled, not knowing what to do. You quickly snapped out of shock as you grabbed Toji's arm. "Hey! Toji, that's enough! What's gotten into you?!" You yelled, trying to pull the bigger man away from the unconscious body. 

Toji's eyes shot at you, causing you to freeze as you felt your heart skip a beat at the feral look in his eyes as if he was a wild animal being torn away from his prey. When Toji realized it was you, he instantly calmed down, allowing you to feel the muscles in his arm relax as he went and dropped the guy to the ground. "Fuck." He hissed, running a hand through his messy hair as he looked from the guy to you to the girl he came with. "Give me that." He growled, snatching the joint you had forgotten all about. You watched him take a resounding hit off it before walking over to the girl. He appeared to be comforting her as he went and called her a cab. In the meantime, you dragged the unconscious guy into the alley next door, making sure he still had a pulse before heading back. When you got to the shop, you saw only Toji leaning up against the wall, a hand ruffling his hair as he let out a deep sigh, the joint hanging from his lips. 

"Toji." You called, getting the man's attention. You smiled as you carefully took the joint back, putting it between your lips. "I believe you still haven't paid me back for the last time I shared one with you." You joked, trying to ease the tense atmosphere. Toji looked down at you for a moment, a frown still on his face, before you saw the scar curl up as his facial features softened. "Is that any way to say thank you brat?" He scoffed. You hummed, scratching the back of your neck as you eyed the blood-stained sidewalk and the dent in your building. "Fix my wall and clean that blood. I'll call it even." Toji let out a gruff laugh, finding your response to the situation amusing. "So did you send her home?" You asked, addressing the fact the girl was no longer around. 

"Yeah, I apologized to her and said the next date was free." He sighed, annoyed that he had to waste his time for free on such an annoying girl. "How nice of you." You joked before stomping out the butt of the joint. Your eyes scanned Toji's hand, noticing the mix of his and the man's blood dripping onto the cold cement. With a sigh, you carefully take his hand, causing him to give you a confused look. "Come on, I'll clean you up." The two of you walk into the quiet shop as you go and sit Toji on one of the couches in the waiting room. He leans against the couch, spreading his legs as his arms rest on the back. "Where's your nosey assistant?" He muttered, taking note of the dramatic girl's absence. "I didn't have any more clients tonight, so I sent her home. Of course, I see you were planning on stopping by without even an appointment." You scolded while going through the first aid kit. 

"Hey, if it wasn't for me not making an appointment, who knows what that guy could've done to your dumbass." He scoffed before cursing as you went and pressed the rubbing alcohol against his cut knuckles without warning. "That's what you get. As for what happened, I could have handled it." Toji just scoffed, looking away from you with an annoyed look. Neither of you said anything as you silently treated his wounds before feeling yourself starting to get high. "Ah shit it's kicking in already." You muttered as you finished treating his hand. "They're all better. Next time don't waste your time getting hurt on a girl who does tattoos for your clients and you occasionally smoke with." You scold, standing from the couch. Toji was still looking away, causing you to sigh as you went to put the first aid kit back. 

You looked in one of the mirrors to see blood on your face. You stare at it for a moment, the look in Toji's eyes filling your mind as you bite your lip, feeling your thighs rub against each other as the effects of the weed and the memory of the fight cause your body to start heating up. 'Fuck I should head home.' You mentally cursed as you walked out of the room. 

Toji sat on the couch, his blood still boiling as he remembered walking the familiar route to your small shop. Yeah, it was small and out of his way, but he always found himself at your shop for some reason. Maybe it was because there weren't many people that stopped by when he showed up, or perhaps he was starting to find your assistant Ichigo entertaining as she would sometimes trap him in the waiting room to talk about some random shit he never cared for. Or maybe he came to the shop so much because of-! Toji's thoughts stopped when he and the girl turned the corner, his eyes landing on your familiar form, trapped by an unfamiliar, much bigger one.

 "Hey now don't go being a bitch just cause you look like some trash whore always showing off so much skin. Be honest, you don't do it to show off those shit tattoos, you do it because you want men to see how easily fuckable you are."

Toji instantly felt his body seethe with rage as he listened to the guy's words, his gaze finally falling on how the man squeezed your pretty face between his disgusting hand. Before he knew it, his body was moving alone as he angrily stormed towards the two figures. 'Who the fuck does this fucker think he is touching what's mine.' He thinks, remembering all the times he would mess with your hair or brush up against your body, pretending that it had been an accident or that he wasn't paying much attention. Toji loved it when he would poke your cheeks, feeling the squishy skin against his rough finger and how your eye would twitch each time, finding it adorable. As Toji reached the two of you, he heard the man's following words ring through his ears like a siren. 

"Why don't you come home with me tonight and show me all those shit tattoos, baby~ I can paint them so pretty with my-!" All Toji could see was red as his fist collided with the man's face. He watched as the man slid to the ground, face bleeding from Toji's fist breaking the skin. Without hesitation, Toji picked the guy up, feeling so enraged that he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. "Who the hell do you think you're touching and calling baby you motherfucker?" The words left his lips, but in his mind, there were so many things he never got to say, especially when the man went and called you a whore. Toji didn't know how many times his fist collided with the guy's face; the only thing he could hear was the loud ringing in his ears as he clenched his teeth, eyes feeling like he was about to break every blood vessel they had. 

Toji thinks back to one of the times the two of you sat outside. He had asked you about all your tattoos, questioning who did them. When you answered that it was mostly work you did, he remembers being impressed at how well the artwork came out and how proud you looked when you recalled all the time and effort you put into each one. "It's something I love to do…and I want to keep adding more and more art to my body because it's something I really love!" You cheered with the brightest smile Toji had ever seen across your face, a happy blush tinting your skin as your eyes sparkled with pure joy. Toji remembers feeling his chest flutter at the sight. 'How fucking dare this scumbag say they're shit!' Toji's blood boils as he feels his chest tighten in anger. 

 'Don't fucking touch her! She's mine…Mine. Mine. Mine!' The thoughts ran wild in Toji's head. A sudden grip on his arm causes Toji to shoot his eyes to the side, ready to kill whoever got in his way. "Hey! Toji, that's enough! What's gotten into you?!" Until it was your face that slowly cleared the red that had drenched his vision. You stood there with your small arms wrapped around his giant one, eyes filled with worry. Toji felt his entire body relax as he took in your expression, noting the tiniest glint of tears that lined your eyes, which he always wanted to see crying under him. 'Who are you making that face for, Y/n? Are you worried about this fucking scumbag? Or that useless bitch crying in the back?' After that, Toji only thought of you, not processing anything else that happened. 

'Will you worry for me? Will you cry for me again? I only want you to think of me.' 

Toji sat on the couch staring at the ceiling as he felt himself getting high from the joint, his body relaxing, allowing a small moan to leave his lips as he continued to picture your worried, tearful expression, wanting to see it again as he started to imagine you under his body eyes leaking tears as you reached your arms up for him while crying his name like you did earlier to get him off the guy. "Fuck." Toji curses, feeling himself start to get hard as he crosses his legs when he hears your footsteps approaching. "I got some of that guy's blood on my face." You grumbled as you went to the front door, carefully turning the open sign off. 

Toji watched as you tried to wipe the scumbag's dried blood off your cheek. As you stood there, blood staining your skin, Toji couldn't help himself as he bit his lip, letting out a low growl before standing up. Unknowingly to you, you continued to try and get the blood off your cheek while staring at your reflection from the door. "Hey, Toji, I'm about to head home. Are you going to be!" Your words stop as you feel rough hands gently grab your hips, pulling them back as your ass feels something poke and slide against it. You stand there stiff as a giant blush slowly makes its way to your cheeks as you slowly look up at the door's reflection. Toji stands there, his eyes narrowed, a slight frown on his face as he goes and lightly grinds against your ass, his thumbs rubbing circles on your hips. "T-Toji?!" You cried, shocked and embarrassed, as anyone who walked by the shop would be able to see the inappropriate scene unfolding. "Let me see it." Toji mumbled, his voice an octave lower, causing a shiver to run through you as you nervously looked back at him. "C-come again?" You asked, watching as Toji scowled, his brows knitting as he went and grabbed your face, turning your cheek towards him. "Fuck that scumbag's pathetic blood did get on you." He growled, his fingers twitching. 

You whined, feeling your upper body press against the cold glass as you placed your palms against it for support. Toji's hand that still held your hip tightened as he released your face, causing you to look away embarrassed as you felt the familiar warmth between your legs quickly forming from the constant grinding. "Y/n look at me." Toji commanded as he licked his thumb, ensuring it was coated in his saliva. You do as told, slightly turning your cheek towards him. You cringe when he presses the wet digit against your heated flesh, making sure to rub all that scumbag blood away. "Y/n, from now on, I want you to keep this in mind." He growled before roughly shooting his hips forward, causing a small gasp to escape your lips as you felt your chest rub up and down against the cold glass. 

'Fuck, this is bad...I didn't wear a bra today.' You thought, feeling your nipples poke out from your top, thanks to the mix of friction and the cold. "No scumbag is allowed to touch you, got that?" Toji growled as he pressed his body against yours, his giant size trapping you against the door. You can only whimper, your eyes slowly clouding with lust as you look into the reflection. Your eyes locked with Toji's as he smirked, sliding his hands up your sides and under your shirt, causing you to let out a small cry. Toji stiffens when he notices the lack of a bra before a giant smirk crosses his face as he goes and bites at your ear. "No bra today, naughty girl~?" He purred his rough hands, groping your breasts as he skillfully took your perked buds between his rough fingers, pinching and pulling them as if they were some instrument, loving each noise he pulled from your precious lips. 

"Fuck baby, that's it…come on, keep making noises for me." Toji moans as he nuzzles into the crook of your neck, feeling his erection getting more prominent as his mind becomes slightly clouded from the weed. "T-Toji, stop…what if someone comes by?" You whined in protest as you tried to push off from the glass door. Your actions cause you to grind into Toji, earning a rough grunt as he sinks his teeth into your neck. "A-ah Tojiiiii~" You whined body shivering as his teeth lightly pierce your sensitive flesh, a bit of drool escaping the corner of your mouth as you relish in the slight pain. Toji hums at this as he lightly sucks on the spot pulling away with a small pop as he grins his fingers roughly pulling at your nipples, causing your eyes to widen as you arch your back. “Is my Babygirl a fucking masochist? Do you like it when I pull on your nipples~?" Toji coos while leaving sloppy kisses up and down your neck, making sure he leaves as many marks as possible. "Sooooo sensitive, haha~" He mocked, feeling your body tremble in his grip. "I-It's cause of the weed….MMH!" You slap a hand to your mouth as Toji goes and slides his hand down to your crotch, roughly cupping it from your shorts. 

"T-Toji, please, someone will see…ah… i-i'll be ruined." You cried between moans. Toji growled, not liking that you thought of others when he was groping your body. "Tch." He clicked his tongue as he pinched your nipples as punishment, causing your knees to buckle. Thankfully, Toji had quick reflexes as he went and wrapped an arm around your midsection, making sure to hold your weak body up, his muscles flexing. "Who the fuck cares? Do you think you can think of others while I'm right here? What if I want them to see you like this, huh?" Suddenly, you feel your shorts get pulled down, exposing your wet panties to anyone who was to walk by. Toji glanced at you in the reflection, watching as tears of embarrassment filled your eyes, causing his chest to fill with pleasure as he loved seeing you so vulnerable. 

"What do you think that scumbag will return and see you like this baby? All wet and messy for the guy who beat him unconscious?" Toji's words cause you to moan as you recall the look in his eyes from the fight again, causing your eyes to roll into the back of your head. "Yeah? Does thinking about that get you turned on, baby? It's turning me on too. You can feel it. Right." He growls as he grinds into you faster while sliding his hand up your neck to tilt your head back. "Fuck Y/n, you look so fucking hot like this…" You whine, your mouth opening as you look up at him with lustful eyes, drool falling from your chin. Toji growls as his grip on your neck tightens before smashing his lips against yours in a heated, messy kiss. You whine, going and grabbing a fist full of his hair as he shoves his tongue around your wet cavern, wanting to taste every inch of your flavor. He moans into the kiss, pulling away with a few strings of saliva still connecting the two of you as he looks at you with dark eyes. 

"Open your mouth." He commands. "I wanna see you stick out that pretty tongue." You feel his fingers dance around your neck as you obediently do as you're told, making sure the wet muscle stretches out as far as possible. "That's a good fucking girl." Toji groans as he spits into your mouth, his dick twitching as he watches the glob slide down your tongue and into your mouth. "Swallow it, princess…let me see you swallow daddy's spit like a good slut." He groaned, watching you close your mouth, his hand feeling your throat expand as you swallow. "Fuck…Come on." He growled, pulling away from you roughly, picking you up as he tossed you over his shoulder. You let out a surprised squeal as you gripped the back of his shirt, causing him to chuckle as he went and smacked your ass. 

"God, you're so fucking sexy baby." He purred as he walked back to your station, carefully placing you on the chair. "You know how often I've wanted to fuck your dirty ass in this chair?" He growled, pressing his fingers against your soaked panties, causing you to moan as you tilt your head. "W-why my chair?" You sighed, finding that Toji fantasized about you sexy as you tried to rub your thighs together. Toji scowls at this as he roughly spreads your legs apart, pressing his fingers deeper against your wet panties, causing you to gasp. "Don't close your legs, princess…you better keep them spread for Daddy or else." He warns as he goes and sits himself between your legs. You watch through lidded eyes as he lifts one of your legs, pressing kisses up and down your inner thigh, leaving the occasional bite mark, shivering each time you cringe and squirm in his grasp. 

"Now be a good girl for me, Y/n." He whispers as he slides your panties off his breath, stopping as he watches a string of your slick connecting your needy hole and the useless piece of fabric. "Fucking hell, brat." He growled before ripping the material off as he wasted no time in consuming your sweet juices, a deep growl escaping his throat as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Toji mentally curses to himself as he swears, you're one of the best things he's ever tasted, wanting to eat you out for hours as he slides his thumb down over your clit, the rough pad aggressively assaulting the bundle of nerves. You let out multiple moans and curses as you arch your back, your hands gripping the armrests of the chair as Toji eats you like a starved animal. "Tojiiiiii~ mmh So fucking good~" You cry out as you weakly grab a fist full of his hair. Toji grunts his tongue, sliding up and down your folds before he plunges the slick-covered muscle into your hole. 

"Fuckfuckfuck!" You cry, your legs tensing as you push Toji's face deeper into your dripping pussy; you feel your orgasm rush through you, sending waves of pleasure throughout your entire body. Toji growls as he makes sure to lap it all up, his tongue greedily sucking it into his mouth as he gulps your sweet juices down, pulling away from your needy hole, his face dripping with your cum. "Did my baby girl cum just from my tongue~?" He purred, his fingers sliding up and down your slick folds. You watched with hooded eyes as Toji watched some of your juices drip to the ground, some landing on the chair, causing him to grunt. "Come on, baby again…you can cum for daddy again, right?" He growled, leaning over your body as he pressed rough kisses along your neck, one of his fingers sliding into your needy hole. 

"Mmmmmm!" You moan loudly, your walls clenching around the rough digit as he presses it against the squishy flesh. "That's right, baby if you can cum for me, Daddy will reward you." He chuckles, watching your pleasured expression. "So, fucking pretty." He mumbled before sucking one of your breasts into his mouth, his tongue swirling around the sensitive bud as he lightly bites and pulls, causing tears to roll down your cheeks. "T-Toji don't! H-hurts! EEEEEK!" You cried, feeling the man pull harder as he looked up at you with narrowed eyes. "That's not what I want you to call me princess." He growled before leaving a few apologetic licks to the irritated bud. You whine, looking away, too embarrassed to look him in the eye, when you feel another finger being inserted into you, causing your hips to buck up. "Fuuuuuuuck~" You moaned, earning a satisfied hum from Toji, who decided to mercilessly pump his fingers in and out of your puffy pussy, licking his lips as he stared down at you with a cocky grin. 

"Come on baby say it! Say my name and I'll make you cum~" Toji went and licked your bottom lip, gently biting the tender flesh as you whined, eyes rolling back again. “D-daddy…ah…I wanna cum please." You cried while shielding your eyes from his gaze. This didn't sit well with Toji as he went and pulled his fingers out, causing you to whimper at the loss as you felt your walls clench around nothing. You let out a loud gasp followed by a pathetic cry as Toji slapped your pussy, eyes narrowed. "Y/n, you're being such a brat." He growled, pinning your arms above your head with a tight grip. You winced, letting out more whimpers as you looked at him with a pout. "Stop being a brat and I'll reward you now instead of later~" He whispered, licking the lobe of your ear, causing you to shiver as you felt yourself needing more. 

You bite your lip, eyes wide, watching Toji free his erection from his pants. You felt yourself starting to drool as you watched his sensitive tip pulse as precum oozed. Toji smirked, his ego growing as he watched you go dumb at the sight of his cock. "That's right, baby~ If you beg me for it, I'll fill your needy pussy as much as you want~" You watched as he slid the tip up and down your folds teasingly, causing you to whine as you tried to free your wrists from his grip. "Toji!" You cry, not liking how he was teasing you so much. "Uh uh…." He tuts as he smacks your pussy twice with his rough hand, causing you to arch your back, tears falling. He chuckles, leaning to lick the tears up while nibbling on your jaw. "Come on, princess…say it. Beg me." He growls while pumping his twitching cock. 

You bite your lip as you look up at him. "P-Please fuck me D-daddy." You beg with the most pathetic look Toji has ever seen. Before anything else can happen, Toji roughly thrusts into you, causing you to arch your back as you toss your head back from the intense feeling. "That's my good girl! Fuck you're such a good girl for me Y/n! Your pussy is so tight it makes me want to ruin you." He growls as his hips press against you. "Fuck! Daddy too deep! Too deep daddy!" You cry Toji just grins as he continues to pound into your abused hole, loving how fucked out your expression is. "Fuck baby, you look so dumb on Daddy's cock." He releases your hands as he tosses your legs over his shoulders, guiding your hands to his biceps. "You wanted to know why I always wanted to fuck you in this chair, right?" He growled as he pressed his forehead against yours, scanning your every expression with those eyes of his that you loved so much. 

"It's because every time one of those fucking scumbags comes in here to get a tattoo while their filthy eyes scan your hot body…fuck… they're going to be sitting in this chair embedded with all your slutty juices from being fucked by your best customer." He laughs at the thought while relishing as he watches your eyes go back into your skull as your walls clamp down around him. "Fuck baby, are you gonna cum for me?" He growls, grabbing your wrist and bringing it to his face, kissing each tattoo that graced your skin. "So, fucking beautiful. You look so fucking sexy with these tattoos, baby. That fucking scumbag didn't know what he was saying." He moaned out, his thrusts becoming sloppy. You moan, your nails digging into the flesh of Toji's biceps. 

"Daddy~ am I really that pretty~?" You whine, wanting to hear his praise again. Toji smirks as he presses his lips to yours in a passionate kiss while cupping your cheeks in his hands, his thumbs rubbing your tear-stained cheeks. "The prettiest baby. You're so fucking sexy crying under me, covered in your art. Fuck baby, let me mark you~ I want everyone to see you, mine." He growls as he feels himself reaching his limit, gritting his teeth. You moan as you feel your orgasm quickly approaching. "Mmmh~ I won't be labeled like one of your whores." You admit causing Toji to scoff as he bites at your lip, his lustful green eyes locking with yours as he presses a deep kiss to your lips letting out a deep moan. "You're nothing like them, baby; ~ You're only mine~ I'll make you a new mark, yeah? Would you like that princess?" He leaves messy kisses across your face while gritting his teeth. "Daddy will give you a mark that only you can have~" He moans before giving you one last harsh thrust, his cum spraying all over your walls as he roughly bites into your shoulder to muffle his noises. 

The two of you stay still for a moment, both recovering from your highs as Toji caresses your body, his hands admiring each tattoo he knows you worked hard on. "Yeah…I know what I'm going to do." He cooed, slowly pulling out from you and kissing your cheek as you whined from the sudden loss, causing you to feel empty. Toji hummed as he watched his cum spill from your messy hole, pride filling him as he reached for your tattoo gun, carefully turning it on as he gave you a sadistic smirk. 

"Be a good girl for Daddy one more time tonight, baby~" 

_______

Ding! 

Your eyes slowly travel to the front door, where you see Toji standing with a new girl by his side. Ichigo giggles as she watches you lead them to the back and start tattooing the usual name onto whatever body part she's chosen. As you sit there carefully tattooing the girl, Toji stands behind you, his eyes landing on the tattoo, still healing on your shoulder. The detailed bite mark slightly starts to peel from the healing skin, causing Toji's eyes to narrow as he walks closer to you. "How's it looking Toji~?" The girl questioned with a giggle. Your body stiffens as Toji gently cups your shoulder, running his thumb across the healing tattoo. His eyes fill with lust as he licks his lips, noticing the deep blush on your cheeks. 

"Oh yeah… it's looking perfect baby~"

[bumblebeesfromvenus]

Lost and Found ♧| 2.

Leon S. Kennedy x reader (ft. my girl Ash)

A/N: This... this took me so long lmao I rewrote it like five times. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, though! I don't really write slow burn, so this might suck. I wanna apologize for how fucking wonky the events of Part one are???? They're all out of order lmao anyway, Enjoy!

~Fi 🪻

Warnings: swearing, reader is an idiot (lovingly, of course), mention of a small injury, sucky slow burn

Word count: 2.7k

Part 1 ♧ Part 2 ♧ Part 3 ♧

Please don't copy my work! I put a lot of effort and heart into the things I write.

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It had been a couple of months since Spain happened. Your life has definitely... changed. Both good and bad. You were plagued by nightmares frequently, instinctively grasping your arm every time you shot awake. A faint, pink scar had formed where the gash once sat. Tracing it absent mindedly was a common occurrence ever since the first dream. You'd stare at the blank wall in your living room, gently caressing it.

That mission took a toll on you, so you were granted a few months off to work through your night terrors and process everything. Ashley had been a great help with that. She made sure you hung out at least once a week and always stayed in contact, calling you and you calling her. The events of Spain didn't leave Ashley without any struggles either. But, she had assured you that she was save, protected at all times and getting support from professionals. Talking to her, about Spain or anything really, helped you get out of the hole you were in.

She was your best friend. Whether or not she knew it, she really was. You didn't really have friends. Not since Raccoon City. You stayed inside your dull little home the last few years, working a boring office job for the government. Your only friend had been Dave, a middle-aged man who worked in the security department. So you rotted away for years, mourning your past life. Your past you.

Honestly, you have no idea how you ended up as a special agent in the first place. Your police background increased your chances at scoring the position, but you didn't really have much experience. When you were offered the 'promotion', you didn't think too much of it. Couldn't be that hard, could it? You'd survived Raccoon City after all.

You were so wrong. You basically traded the mediocre lunch breaks you had with Dave, with running for your life from Zombies. Bad fucking trade. And the worst part, your officials didn't give a shit. They just wanted this to be dealt with as discretely as possible. End of the story, they underestimated how big this whole thing actually was, and now you were the one left with the shitty consequences. But you had Ashley! And Leon, of course, but that was a little more complicated.

You still hadn't gotten around to the promise of getting drinks together. He was going away on missions all the time, so although you kept in touch no matter what, he wasn't there. You thought, after some excruciating years, you had found your best friend again. Your person. And you did, but he was so close yet so out of reach. You couldn't take it anymore. You lost 7 whole years with him, and you finally had him back, but he was still gone.

"I don't know what to do, Ash." You sighed, playing with your shirt while you held the phone to your ear.

"Well, have you told him that? I'm sure he wants to spend more time with you too, but you need to tell him that!" She urged. Biting your lip, you hestitated.

"I just... he was my best friend. We did everything together, and now.. I know that it's him but I don't recognize him. He's.. different now. I thought he didn't change, but.. he did. That scares me. What scares me even more is the fact that he's always on my mind, I can't seem to function without him here. I only think about him. 24/7." You mumbled into the phone.

"Sounds a whole lot like you're in love with him."

"I- what? No! I mean, of course I love him, he's my best friend, but that's it. He's just my friend and you can love your friends, right? Like, everyone does, it's not something odd or anything." you rambled.

Sure, your heart lit a flame every time he smiled, and the sound of his laugh was heaven. His dumb jokes never failed to put a smile on your face but that's just how friends are. Yes. Totally. Friends feel like that. Just some regular friendly feelings.

"You're so oblivious! That's NOT how friends feel about eachother. Like ever. I've seen the way you look at him!" She argued. "What look? I don't look at him differently... do I?"

"Yes, you do. Everytime he's near you, that lovesick smile on your face kinda gives it away. Or the blush when he asks if you're okay. Not to mention how you panic when he gets hurt. Just admit it!" Ashley whined.

"I'm not in love with him, Ashley! He's my best friend, that's it!" You argued. She groaned into the phone. "I can't believe you're so smart yet so stupid." She said, clearly annoyed. "Rude." you mumbled.

"I have to go now, Miss Denial. Seriously though, you're not doing yourself a favor by denying your feelings." She said softly. You rolled your eyes and huffed.

"Would it make you feel better if I told you I'll think about it?"

"Definitely. Love you!" She beamed.

"Love you too." You chuckled as she hung up. Maybe you would think about it. If not for yourself, then for her. She was right about suppressing your feelings but about you being in love with Leon... you weren't sure.

Eh, that was a problem for the future you. For now, all you wanted to do was enjoy some drinks with him.

Your teeth gnawed at your lip, trying to decided how to go about this situation. Do you call Leon now? Tomorrow, maybe? Should you call him at all? You hadn't talked to eachother in a while... would it be awkward? Before you can lend any more attention to those thoughts, your phone rang and it was none other than Leon. Speak of the devil. You picked up, your heart racing.

"Hey... look, I'm sorry for not calling more, work s'just been busy. I.. Do you want to go for those drinks I promised tonight?" He sounded nervous. Unsure. He sounded so much like the Leon you knew. Your Leon. Maybe he hadn't changed that much after all. "Y-yeah, I'd love that. Um-  how does eight sound?" You responded, a little more nervous than you wanted to. "Sounds good. See you." And with that, he hung up.

Something's up with him. Your brows furrowed. Maybe he worked more to get his mind off Spain? He was a workaholic, trying to do more and more and not realizing how much it actually affected him. He was hurting himself by trying to protect others from harm. Maybe it's just the stress. You had plenty of time to question him at the bar, supported by a few Piña Coladas.

A couple of hours before, the anxiety hit you like a truck. It was safe to say that you were scared out of your mind right now. How the fuck were you supposed to talk to Leon like nothing was going on? Like nothing happened? You couldn't. And after that conversation with Ashley? Nope. No chance. Panic was bubbling up your throat. You felt like you could never face him again. Everytime you looked at him, or even thought of him, it was just pain. The pain of the building collapsing on top of you. Your pained cries when you realized he hadn't come back for you. The pain when you thought he was dead. The pain that if Ashley was right and you really were in love with him, you could lose him again.

He made your world bright and vibrant and when he was ripped from your grasp, you were lost in a sea of grey. Drowning. Desperately gasping for air, refusing to let the water in. Now, he had brought the color back to your life but all the vibrant hues made your head spin and your eyes hurt. You grew comfortable in your sea of grey. Embracing the cold kiss of the water filling your lungs, making you float peacefully.

Could you let the color back into your world? Could you pull yourself from the tide and cough up the water? Did you even want to? You didn't know. It was all too much. You were pulled out of your head when you dropped your glass of water. You were so consumed in your thoughts and anxieties that it had just slipped out of your hand. Carefully cleaning it up, you felt a sharp sting in your finger.

You had accidentally cut yourself on the broken glass shards. A small stream of blood was running down your finger and along your palm. A drop of blood hit the puddle of water, and it bloomed in red. You haven't felt like this in years. You could actually feel something. It's not like you didn't you feel the last seven years, but your soul was too numb to care. You actually felt something. Not like those times when you hit your head or nicked yourself while cooking. You would react relatively neutral to those incidents, but now... you could feel the burn of the cut, a searing sting in your skin. A small smile tugged at your lips.

It's because of him. Because you had him back, and he made you feel alive again. He had just stumbled into your life and turned it upside down. Like he always does. But you wouldn't want to have it any other way. God, how you had missed feeling like this. So vulnerable. So sensitive. So human.

You cleaned up the glass but hung on to the feeling of the cut. You didn't like it per se, but it made you feel like something inside you had been fixed. A missing puzzle piece that slotted right into place. It just felt so right.

Just like he did. You shook your thoughts, having the habit of spiraling, wether it may be good or bad, and continued on with your afternoon. Your nerves about spending time with Leon calmed, it was just Leon! Your best friend. You had nothing to worry about. Well, with Leon, usually there was at least a little something to be worried about.

You were out the door, into the night, on your way to Leon. You had decided to just walk there since parking was an absolute nightmare in this city. Besides, the fresh air in your lungs and cooling breeze on your face was something you hadn't felt in a while. Fumbling with a small box in your pocket, you continued to the bar you two had agreed to meet up at. It wasn't really a present, more something you wanted to return. You never thought you could.

You took a deep breath before stepping into the warmth of the bar. Your eyes were searching for Leon, looking for that familiar blonde head of hair. Spotting him in the back, an inevitable smile crept onto your face. When Leon noticed you, his face lit up, a hand reaching up to signal you over to him. He stood up when you approached and immediately pulled you into a tight hug.

"Hey." He mumbled, muffled by your hair. "Hi." You said, the joy in your voice evident. The first real hug in seven years. You could've melted on the spot. It felt so good. So right.

You reluctantly pulled away, smiling at him. "Wow... It's been a while, huh?" He said with a small laugh. "Yeah.." you responded with a chuckle. You sat down and ordered your drinks. "So.. what have you been up to? How have you been?" You asked. He pondered for a moment. "Not a lot to be honest. Worked a lot, you know, saved the world once or twice." He joked at which you just playfully rolled your eyes.

"What about you?"

"I uh... I adopted a dog. Her name is Lady, she's a Bernese mountain dog. I couldn't stand being alone anymore so I got Lady and yeah... that's about it when it comes to major life events." You laughed, a little nervous but the tension was fading by the minute.

"You gave in, huh? You used to talk my ear off about wanting a dog back then, remember?" He smiled. You did talk about wanting a dog all throughout your time at the police academy and it seemed like you had finally fulfilled that dream.

"Yeah, I did. She's so sweet, you'll love her." you said with a smile. Leon let out a laugh. "I'm more worried about her liking me." He joked.

You two continued to talk and drink, just laughing and having a good time. The night got closer and closer to ending when you remembered the box in your pocket.

"I have something for you." You mumbled, nervous to how he would react. He piped up at that and raised his eyebrows. "Aw, for me?" He teased. You just gave him a shy smile. Now or never. You pulled out the small box and slid it over to him. "I wanted to return this." you said quietly. His brows furrowed and a confused look fell on his face. "Return? Alright."

Leon carefully undid the bow and opened the lid. Not in a million years had he expected this. His jaw hit the fucking floor. It was his goddamn RPD badge. What the fuck? How did you even get this? It was tattered and faded. He gently ran his fingers across his barely legible name.

You chewed on the inside of your cheek. You had no idea how he would react. Leon looked at you completely bewildered. "I.. How?" He asked, still shocked. You shifted in your chair and fiddled with your fingers. "When... when I got out, I found it on the ground. It was the only thing I had left of you." You mumbled, avoiding eye contact. By 'got out' you meant fighting and clawing your way through infected residents and escaping the ruins of the collapsed building.

You could see the pain in his eyes. Whether it was his own for the pain he felt for you, you weren't sure. You spoke before he could. "I made a promise to myself that I would get it back to you one day, but.. at some point, I gave up and just kept it for myself. I thought you were dead and that this," you gestured to the badge," was the only thing I had left of you. My best friend. But it's yours, I want you to have it back." You said, your voice cracking, trying not to cry.

You could see the tears glistening in his eyes, his knuckles turning white as he tightly gripped his badge. "Thank you..." was all he managed to get out. You quickly wiped the tears that were threatening to fall and let out a sad laugh.

"God... I'm sorry for ruining the mood like that. It probably would've burned a hole in my pocket if I kept it any longer, though..."

Leon placed his badge on the table and took your hands in his. "You didn't. Well, a little maybe, but I'm really grateful for this. Thank you." He assured you, sqeezing your hands.  Your skin lit on fire. His touch was so addicting. And so comforting. A blush made its way onto your face. Oh, fuck. Was Ashley right? No. No way, it's just a little hot in here. That's all. But you couldn't deny the way your heart twisted and turned when he touched you, the butterflies in your stomach were having a fucking rave right now. Jesus, it's just Leon. Get it together You thought to yourself.

Shaking off all those annoying feelings, you returned a smile. "How about I make it up to you with a Movie Night, hm? Ice cream and cuddles from Lady included." You proposed. He grinned and leaned in a little closer. "What about cuddles from you?" He asked, a teasing smirk on his face. It didn't come off nearly was confident as he wanted it to. His voice shook a little, making him sound nervous.

Leon Kennedy? Nervous? Something was definitely up. His nervousness didn't stop the bubbling feeling in your stomach, though. There go the butterflies again. Stupid bugs. This is normal, though. Right? You always cuddled. Friends cuddle. No big deal. He's always been like that. No sweat. Just a little friendly cuddle session. That. Is. It. Is it bad that you wanted it to be more than that? The idea of being in love with him suddenly didn't feel as scary anymore.

🧡▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎🌙▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎🧡

Part three is coming soon~

[fadingdaggerr]

Hey can I request a melissa schemmenti x femreader based on season two episode 1.where maybe the reader is rlly stressed out and maybe she can’t park bc Ava is using her parking spot to celebrate the eagles game and maybe mr Johnson comes into to tell the reader her is getting toed away so her,Melissa and the other teachers run outside and maybe the reader is getting angry and shouting at the man,melissa is begging her to calm down.and then she does what Janine did in the actual episode and she gets in the car and try’s to drive off and everyone is telling her to stop and Melissa try’s to get her out the car and out of rage she kicks the car and hurts her foot and then maybe the reader storms back into the school and melissa goes to find her when the school day is over and the reader has a panic attack and Melissa comforts her. Tysm ❤️

delphinium blooms

pairing: melissa schemmenti x gn!reader

summary: request above! i made little changes, mostly just so i wasn’t just rewriting janine’s scene but with r and mel but i hope you still like it :)

warnings: hurt/comfort, r has a morning of unfortunate events, r is kinda mean (to a man so it’s fine), stress/anxiety crying

note: i rewrote so much of this because i kept thinking of things and creating nonsense lmao but i had a lot of fun writing

development week has always been the calm before the storm. you had everything planned already: each month’s separate decor to keep a lively room, the giant drawing paper for the wall so students could doodle during free time (and you could proudly display their art), and even the seating chart was done. everything was perfect and in order, everything just needed to be set up.

but sometimes the storm comes before the calm, or the calm packs its things and jumps out of the moving car.

the coffee maker in your apartment died on you, only about half a cup of watery coffee in the bottom of the pot. you didn’t have the money, nor the time, to stop that the cafe one block over. rent’s more important, we can get coffee at work, you tell yourself. you soon found that it was nearly unbearable to eat breakfast without your coffee and splash of oat milk creamer. coffee and maybe breakfast at work, i guess.

at nine in the morning, there is a full-on barbecue in the parking lot of abbott elementary. janine’s parking spot was a grill station. your spot, which was two down from janine’s, was currently being used as a blow-up pool splash zone. you roll down your window when you see ava close by.

“ava! what the hell is this?” you yelled out your window.

“it’s a development day party!” the principal responded with a big, happy grin.

you sighed, “your party’s in my parking spot.”

“pay valet or park somewhere else, i have a party to host,” she waves you off as she turns to talk to whoever approached her. after a, give-or-take, nine hundred point turn, you parked your car on the street. you prayed to the meter-maid goddesses that you’d have time to move it before someone came and ticketed you.

you pulled box after box out of the backseat, stacking them in your arms, creating the leaning tower of heavy-as-shit. as you slowly walk towards the fourth grade classrooms, you top few boxes get lifted away, easing the load significantly. you look to see who it was, expecting gregory, but instead you’re met with jade green eyes and fiery hair.

“trynna show off carrying all these?” she says with a laugh.

you laugh with her, “oh, of course. how else am i going to impress the ladies?” melissa snorts a laugh at this, opening the door to your classroom and letting you in ahead of her.

“and who are these ladies?” she jests.

you look at her, taking in the smirk on her face before answering, “we both know it’s just the one.”

she helps you spread out the boxes and get everything open before asking, “ready to head to the opening meeting?”

“you mean the ava show?”

she laughs, “yeah, come on.”

—

you half-listen to ava’s little speech and flirts to gregory, your eyes trained on melissa’s rings instead of ava’s vacation photos. you only perked your head up when janine mentioned donuts at her little mixer.

“and why would i wanna go to that?” melissa answered janine, barbara nodding in agreement beside her.

“you said donuts?” you ask janine, she nods eagerly, “then count me in teagues, but if there’s no strawberry frosted i’m leaving.”

there was no strawberry frosted. you dropped into a seat next to melissa, who was happily eating a chocolate frosted donut. she sees your pout and offers you a bite, which you accept with a smile. she wiped a blue sprinkle that managed to land on your cheek, the action is enough to make you smile a bit, warmth spreading through your cheeks.

just when you think the worst part of the morning is over, the tried and true mr. johnson walks into the library.

“anyone drive a beat up sedan?” all the hands in the room rise up. “who drives a silver one?” less hands, but still a good amount. “one with a sticker that says ‘if you see this, thank a teacher’ on the bumper?”

janine pipes up, “oh that’s mine!”

“you’re getting boot on your car, young lady,” he answers, and janine immediately is running out with jacob, gregory, and barbara behind her.

“oh and anyone got a green sedan? little cat bobble head on the dash?” mr. johnson speaks up.

melissa turns to look at you before you say, “don’t tell me it’s being booted.”

“course not,” you sigh in minor relief, “you’re about to get towed.”

you’re immediately running out to your car, melissa hot on your trail. you get outside to see a boot placed on janine’s car and the tow guy is rigging your car to the truck.

“aye, back off the car! what are you doing?” you yell, getting close to the tow operator, eric.

“no parking zone, can you read? it’s for the buses. we’re pulling ya,” he says as he continues his work. you groan in anger, walking closer to the car where he had already hooked it up.

“what fucking buses? school hasn’t started yet,” you counter.

“it’s still a bus zone, and you’re still getting towed,” eric says.

before you start throwing hands with the guy, melissa steps in, “how much to not tow the car?”

he laughs, “you can get it back at the lot, should be two hundred. might be three for wasting my time. you’re not getting it back now, it’s parked illegally.”

you see red when he mentions raising the cost, you couldn’t even afford the original one, “wasting your time? your time?! i’m supposed to be in that building making lesson plans for children who will be here next week, and i’m wasting your time?”

“yeah, you are. now move your ass or i’ll move you,” the man answers angrily.

you bravely taunt him, “try then.”

“sweetheart…” melissa tries to reach for your arm, but you step just out of reach.

barbara and gregory say your name at the same time, both of their tones advising caution. melissa is stuck between wanting to help and letting you just handle it. she wearily watches as you squat down and start undoing clasps and hooks, taking the chains off the car. you’re movements are fast, getting two wheels free from the rigs.

“hey! you can’t be touching that!” eric yells once he hears the disconnect. he stomps over to you and grabs your arm, harshly yanking you away from the car with a tight grip. “stupid little shit,” he mutters.

“touch me again and i’ll break your fingers,” you threaten, and by the look on your face, melissa knows you’re serious. now is when she has to step in, she knows that much.

“twenty bucks says our scrappy-doo over here wins!” ava yells over, holding her phone up, ready to record if you followed through.

“not helping ava!” barbara and melissa shout at the same time.

melissa moves to gently wrap her arms around you from behind, pulling you away from your car and away from the tow guy. when you try to pull away, she tightens her hold, muttering to you to calm down and slow your breathing. you’re irritated, and melissa can feel you shaking against her. she knows you’re using your anger to coverup how much you want to cry.

once the car is all set, the man speaks to melissa only, “here’s the address of where to pick it up. and thanks for keeping your dog,” he pointedly looks at you, “on its leash.”

once he drives off with your car, melissa releases you slowly. your chest rises and drops with every unsteady breath, and you groan loudly. immediately, and without much thought, you repeatedly kick the stone wall around the entrance, even when pain strikes after the first one.

“sweetheart. baby, stop…” melissa grabs you again, “you’re going to hurt yourself.” barbara ushers away everyone else, giving the the redhead space to calm you.

it took a few moments for your breathing to slow, but when it stuttered, melissa turned you in her arms and hugged you tightly. your face instinctively tucked itself away in the junction of her neck and shoulder, your arms firm around her waist. you could feel her arm around your shoulders, the other rubbing soothing circles on your back and she swayed from side to side, in hopes the motion would help you focus your breathing.

“baby?” melissa asks with a hushed tone.

you pull away from her to sniffle but tuck back into her skin before answering, “i can’t afford a cup of coffee. i can’t afford a new coffee maker. i haven’t eaten since we had dinner last night. and this half-wit just stole my car and put it up for ransom, because there was a pool in my parking spot.”

the accumulation of everything from today being said aloud made fresh tears fall from your eyes. melissa held you tighter, whispering soothing words to you even if they fell on deaf ears. after you’ve calmed down again, she coaxes you back so you can see your face. her hands hold your face delicately, thumbs stroking away left behind tears.

“i will hand deliver you coffee every morning until you find a new coffee maker,” she says making you huff through your nose, “and i’ll buy you lunch, maybe make you dinner too, if you want,” she sees you perk up at the offer, “and i’ll stab a hole in the pool.” you laugh for real this time, making melissa smile. these days, she found that making you laugh was her favorite thing to do.

“what abo-” you start, but melissa cuts you off.

“oh, you’re not paying a dime,” you go to tell her not to pay it, but she’s ahead of you. “and neither am i, trust me. i could pull a uncle carlo and get them to give me three hundred bucks, for my time.”

you shake your head, “you bringing the bat or just that cute face?”

melissa cheeks grew rosy at your words, “you were crying five minutes ago and now you’re flirting?” you nod, biting your lip, but still waiting for an answer. she gives in, “the bat will be stay in the car unless they really deserve it. scout’s honor.”

you laugh and press a kiss to her cheek, mumbling against her skin, “thank you.”

she turns her face, pressing her forehead against yours with her eyes closed. she leans in and presses a sound, loving kiss to your lips, then your cheek, then the other, a final one placed on your forehead. she holds your face once more, “you needed me, and i was there. you don’t have to thank me, i love you. it’s what i’m supposed to do.”

you kiss her again, very quickly, then say, “i love you, too.”

—

after she bought you lunch, she didn’t drive you straight back to abbott. no, melissa was parked in front of market street towing company. she wordlessly got out of the car, but motioned for you to stay when you went to undo your seatbelt. you just watched her walk away nervously until she disappeared inside.

two songs and one radio ad later, you see your car pulling out of the fenced lot, melissa behind the wheel. you jumped out of the car as she got out of yours, grabbing her tightly.

“oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you,” you say excitedly, only hearing her laugh a bit.

“no one was harmed, except maybe a couple egos,” she says before pulling back to drop your keys in your hands. “we still on for dinner?”

you grab her chin between your forefinger and thumb, bringing her lips to yours in a slow kiss. when you pull away, you revel in her stunned look, and it’s just too tempting to kiss her again, but she beats you to do. she breaks the kiss for air, and you speak quietly in the small space between you, “dessert, too.”

i hope u like this anon and i hope i did ur vision justice <3 feedback appreciated as always

[niki-phoria]

pairing: leon x male!reader (he/him pronouns) genre: fluff/slight angst/comfort word count: 18.0k

warnings: canon typical violence, blood, mentions of needles/stitches, leon gets shot, cursing

includes: re2 leon, i rewrote the entire re2 game with a self insert lmao, maybe slightly ooc ada (she's nicer to leon and reader than in canon), not 100% canon compliant but i did my best, thinking about making a ver of this for re4 skdldns, this is barely proofread apologies for any mistakes, PLS NOTICE THE TLOU REFERENCE

a/n: someone wrote a poly aeon x reader fic and i'm obsessed with that idea now

requests open !! read my rules first

you shove your body underneath the door, desperately trying to escape the oncoming hoard of zombies running at you. the sliding door slams down just after you make it through. you aren’t given any time to catch your breath when a man’s voice catches your attention. 

despite nearly being crushed just seconds before, you force yourself up on shaky knees and run towards the sound. “god damnit!” 

“watch out!” another man yells. you recognize him - lieutenant marvin branagh. 

you turn the corner just in time to watch marvin bring the door down on the zombie’s head. you flinch a little at the noise of the man’s skull cracking before the door shuts with a final slam. 

the man marvin saved pants as he sits up, moving to lean back against the wall. marvin has a hand pressed against a wound in his abdomen. he braces himself against the metal of the door as you rush over to him. “lieutenant!” 

“y/n,” he sighs. “you shouldn’t be here. it’s not safe.”

“what happened?” marvin simply waves you off as you turn your attention back to the man he saved. messy blonde hair frames his sharp features. his breathing has evened out as his eyes continuously switch between you and marvin. 

“thanks…” the man says. 

“marvin branagh.”

“leon kennedy,” he sighs. “there was another officer; i… i couldn’t…”

marvin shakes his head. “i’m sure you did what you could, leon.” he glances back at you before gesturing to leon with a shake of his head. “let y/n check you out. he’s a doctor.”

you breathe in a shaky sigh as you nod. “come on,” you reach your hand out for leon to help him up. “that bite on your neck looks bad. let me see if i can help.”

leon accepts your hand with a nod. marvin limps over to a nearby bench, grunting as he leans back against the seat. despite your growing concern over his condition you focus your attention on the man in front of you. 

he sits down on a gurney you had previously helped set up during the first few days of the outbreak when you didn’t know exactly how bad it would become. “here,” he whispers, handing you his flashlight. 

“thanks,” you reply, using the light to search through the mess of medical supplies lying around. most of what you brought was forgotten in the chaos - hundreds of helpless people begging for help, thousands of zombies attempting to break into the precinct, watching officers you had come to know as friends die in the most horrific ways you could have ever imagined. 

you gather up just enough gauze, bandages, and antibiotics to treat leon’s neck as quickly as you can. blood has spread into the fabric of his shirt underneath his jacket. the wound is deep - deep enough to need stitches. you let out a small sigh at the realization. 

“is something wrong?” leon asks. 

you nearly flinch at how gentle his voice sounds. after weeks of screaming and crying being the only real interactions you had with people, the mundaneness of his question is a welcome change. “yeah, it’s just… you need stitches. the bite goes from your neck to your shoulder. i need you to take your shirt off.”

leon’s face flushes a deep red immediately. it’s almost cute how he immediately blushes at the prospect of having to strip in front of you. you set the flashlight down to illuminate the room around you as you turn your back to search for a suture kit. 

you wait until the sound of rustling clothing stops before turning back to face leon. the way his blush has extended from just his neck and cheeks to spread fully across his cheeks makes you stifle a small chuckle under your breath. he looks up at you with a questioning glance as you shake your head. “sorry. it’s been a while since i’ve flustered someone this much.”

you pull a glove onto your hand before tilting leon’s face away so you have full access to his neck. he winces a little when you press the gauze against it. “have you ever gotten stitches before?”

“no,” he whispers. his voice is slightly strained, likely from the harsh pressure you’re applying. 

“okay,” you nod. “i’ll try to be as quick as i can.”

you pause when leon reaches up to grab your hand. his touch is gentle as he wraps it around your wrist. icy blue eyes stare up at you. “can you… talk me through it? it helps.”

“of course,” you nod. leon smiles slightly at you as you turn your attention back to the bite in his neck. “right now i’m holding gauze to stop the bleeding. then, i’ll disinfect the area to prepare it for stitches. after i finish the stitches, i’ll wrap it with a bandage. you’ll need to take antibiotics for at least a few days. besides the… zombies, you were bitten by a person. you can’t let this get infected out here. we don’t have enough supplies to treat it right now.”

leon takes a shaky breath as he nods. “easy enough, right?”

despite his thinly veiled sarcasm, you can immediately tell how nervous he is. you reach over to grab his trembling hand before gently squeezing it. “you’ll be just fine, leon. i promise.”

“okay,” he whispers. he squeezes your hand back before softly smiling at you. 

you shift to get a better angle of the wound, gently pulling the gauze away from his neck. leon watches you open the suture kit and prepare the needle. “it’s gonna be okay.” he nods, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as you start. your hands are gentle against his skin as you carefully weave the needle through his skin to carefully patch up the wound. the tension in his shoulders slowly relaxes the farther along you stitch until you finally tie it off.

“okay,” your voice cuts through the silence as leon’s eyes flutter back open. you press a bandage against his skin to cover the fresh wound before moving to throw the needle away and take your gloves off. “we’re done.”

“that’s it?” 

you chuckle at how surprised he sounds as you move to sit beside him on the gurney. “that’s it. just be careful for a few weeks until the stitches heal and try not to move your shoulder with any quick movements.”

“thank you,” leon smiles. something about the simple gesture flusters you despite him being a stranger you’ve only had a few interactions with. he silently reaches over, taking your hand into his once again. “do you know any way to get out of here?”

“this place is a repurposed museum. eliot said there are some tunnels underneath it that should lead outside.”

“eliot,” leon repeats the name. he turns to reach into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small, bloodied journal. he opens it to the bookmarked page before handing it over to you. “there was another officer. he said this would get us out of here.”

inside are messy sketches spread across two pages. on the first is the goddess statue in the middle of the station is drawn on the left side, complete with a view of the tunnels leading down to the basement and the parking garage. on the next page were three different statues with little symbols drawn underneath them. blood coats the edges of the pages. “well, unless you have another plan, let's hope this works.”

“let’s go then.”

leon is careful as he tugs his shirt back over his head, followed by his jacket. you do your best to remain silent as you follow behind him. his gun remains raised as you carefully search through each room, picking up handgun ammo and other spare parts whenever possible. “do you know where the medallions might be?”

“no,” you sigh as you shut the door of an office behind yourself. a fake plant sits in the corner, next to a cheap, beige couch and a large mahogany desk; likely belonging to a senior officer. “the city told people to come here if they needed help when the outbreak first began. they sent a group of doctors out here just before people started showing up in hoards. i’ve spent the past few weeks patching up officers with bites or scratches and praying the zombies don’t find me.”

you both jump when there’s a loud crash against the window. leon is quick to grab his gun, raising it in front of his body as he steps closer to it. “stay behind me,” he whispers. you nod as you step back away from the cracked glass, hand reaching into your pocket to tightly grip the combat knife eliot had given you when the zombies first began invading the precinct. “use it wisely,” he had said. “save who you can save.”

the snarling becomes louder as the bangs against the window increase in volume. leon cocks his gun when the glass shatters before firing two shots into what used to be a woman. her body slumps forwards against the remains of the wood as you let out a shaky sigh of relief. 

“it’s okay,” leon whispers. you nod, following him further into the hallway. the only light comes from the moonlight breaking through the windows and the flashlight leon has. it’s not much, but it’s better than stumbling around in the darkness. 

“hey,” leon’s voice interrupts the silence. he uses his flashlight to gesture to a lion statue in front of you. it’s sitting in the middle of the main hallway, facing towards the entrance. it’s paw holds a shield up with a golden slide in the center, contrasting against the bronze it was made of. in front of its base is a puzzle with three slides. “this is where the first medallion is, right?”

you step closer to lean over leon’s shoulder. the first symbol in eliot’s notebook is a crude drawing of the same lion statue and three symbols drawn underneath it. “it looks like it.”

leon shines the light on the journal page as you step forwards to slide the puzzle into place. he chuckles when you grimace at the grime coating the metal. 

the statue moves once you input the correct code. a red medallion is pushed out from the golden slide. it feels heavy in your hand when you carefully pull it out from its resting place. “one down, two to go,” leon remarks. you follow him down the steps to the goddess statue, placing the medallion into the first circle at the statue’s base. the concrete shifts in response, opening to reveal the beginnings of a railing. 

“huh,” a cough interrupts your awe. 

“lieutenant,” leon gasps. you’re quick to rush to marvin’s side, though he pushes your hands away when you attempt to help him. 

“don’t, y/n,” he rasps. “i’m a dead man walking. have been for a long time.” you purse your lips as you step back, giving him space. leon kneels down next to him; eyes occasionally drifting from the blood on his side to his face. marvin pulls out a combat knife - a similar one to the knife eliot gave you - before pushing it into the man’s hands. “take this. use it.”

“lieutenant, i can’t-” 

“that’s an order, rookie!” marvin cuts him off with finality. he lets out a shaky breath as he lays back down against the wooden bench. “save yourself. don’t make my mistake.” 

your eyes remain fixated on the slow rise and fall of marvin’s chest until it eventually comes to a stop. your shoulders fall as you step forwards, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “leon,” you whisper. “i’m sorry. he’s gone.”

leon glances back at you with teary eyes before turning back to marvin. you kneel down beside him as you reach over to close marvin’s eyes. you wrap your arm around leon’s shoulders, gently coaxing his body closer. “i’m so sorry,” you repeat. leon lets out a shaky sigh before he throws himself into your arms. he buries his head into the crook of your neck; his hands clinging onto your shoulders as if you’ll disappear the second he dares to let go. you wrap your arms around his waist as you rub a gentle hand against his back. tears sting against the skin of your neck, soaking into the fabric of your t-shirt. 

“i’m sorry,” leon chokes out. he pulls away from you, furiously wiping the tears away from his cheeks. “we need to keep moving - there are more medallions we need to find-”

“don’t be sorry,” you whisper. his breath hitches when you raise a hand to gently wipe away the tears that continue rolling down his cheeks. you pull him back into a hug as leon cries against your chest. “it’s all gonna be okay. i promise.”

time seems to stall as you sit there with leon in your arms. the ground beneath you is cold and uncomfortable and you’re keenly aware of marvin’s body behind you, but you let yourself forget everything as you hold him. the zombies, eliot’s death, marvin’s death; none of it matters as you feel leon slowly relaxing in your arms. his sobs turn to sniffles and his hands stop trembling. 

leon takes a deep breath as he pulls away, wiping his hands against the dried tears on his cheeks. a part of you is saddened by the loss of warmth, though you push that feeling away as soon as it arrives. “let’s get out of here,” he whispers. 

you nod, reaching over to grab leon’s hand. he gives it a reassuring squeeze as you walk along the balcony before making your way into the library. the dust nearly makes you sneeze, though you suppress the urge as you search through it. the staircase in the corner is broken. fragments of wood are scattered on the floor. it cracks with each step you take. “those bookshelves are on wheels,” you gesture. “we can push them together and use that ladder to make it up to the second floor.”

“alright,” leon whispers. he holsters his gun once again before grabbing the edge of the first bookcase. it shakes under the weight as you use your body weight to force it to move. it slams against the rest of the cases, causing a flurry of dust to fly out. you cough, waving your hand in front of your face in an attempt to clear the air. 

“guess they didn’t read much,” you mutter under your breath. leon chuckles, reaching over to pat your shoulder. you’re nearly embarrassed at how such a simple gesture causes a mess of butterflies to erupt in your stomach. you turn away in an attempt to hide just how flustered you are, focusing on the next bookshelf in the line. 

“it was nice of them to leave a ladder,” leon remarks as you set it against the cases. it’s old and doesn’t feel sturdy when you put your weight on it, but you don’t have any other option. it creaks a little underneath your weight. 

“don’t worry,” leon says as he moves to hold it steady. “i’ve got you.” you nod, carefully climbing up until you reach the top. the wood is even dustier; though you ignore it in favor of holding the ladder still for leon to climb up after you. 

you stumble slightly when you stand up, though you’re swiftly caught by a gentle hand against your waist. “careful,” he whispers. 

“thanks,” you chuckle. leon’s light blush is visible even in the darkness as you follow him across the unsteady surface until you make it across to the top. his hand ghosts against your hips longer than necessary, though neither of you mention it. 

the unicorn statue is in the lounge right next to the library. the already grand room looks even bigger in the darkness, complete with ornate wall details and arches lining the ceiling. the statue itself is similar to the lion - the unicorn stands tall on a rock with a hoof resting over a shield. the same slider puzzle remains at the bottom. 

leon slides eliot’s journal back over to you as you repeat the same process of inputting the code. you wipe the grime off on your jeans as the statue slides open to reveal the second medallion. “nice job,” he smiles. 

you bite back your flustered smile as you pocket it. “thank you.” leon reaches over to grab your hand as you make your way back down the stairs to the goddess statue in the main hallway. the second medallion exposes more of the underground staircase when the concrete shifts around even more. 

“there’s a clocktower on the third floor of the building,” you say. “eliot told me they use it for storage; something about old pieces in the museum they couldn’t get rid of. i think the last statue is up there.”

“okay,” leon smiles. “let’s go find the clock tower, then.”

you retrace your steps up the grand staircases to the second floor. he guides you through the winding hallways of the station until you find the armory. lockers line the room filled with miscellaneous boxes of ammo and spare hip pads. leon uses a spare part to fix the keypad before using it to type in the codes to a few lockers. you take the time to look around, searching through the room for anything else that could be considered useful until a shotgun on the wall catches your attention. “leon,” you call. he wanders over from where he was standing. you pull the shotgun down from the wall before handing it over to him. 

“w-870,” he murmurs. he pumps the gun once before flipping it in his hands. “nice.”

“do you have any shotgun shells?”

“there are some in here,” he says. “start saving anything you find.” 

you nod, pocketing a few more boxes of handgun ammo just in case as you follow him out of the armory. you walk back into the stars office, searching around for a few minutes. 

the room is filled with a few desks sitting back to back. papers lay on the floor, likely thrown around in the chaos. a board in the middle of the far wall catches your attention. a bulletin board and a few group photos surround it. 

“stars?” leon reads. you jump slightly at the sound of his voice from beside you. “sorry,” he whispers. you shake your head, turning your attention back to the group photo on the wall.

“special tactics and rescue service,” you elaborate. “they were the first people sent out when the virus first hit. i know someone on this team.”

leon hesitantly brings a hand up before resting it on your shoulder. you take a breath to calm yourself, letting the fearless persona you’d been forced to create falter for a second. “i’m sorry,” he whispers. you bite your lip, willing the tears in your eyes to disappear. 

leon reaches over, pulling you into a hug. the warmth of his body against your own feels comforting. you let yourself relax against him. the weight of everything you’ve been through hits all at once. you wrap your arms around his shoulders, letting out a shaky breath as he rubs a gentle hand against your back. 

it feels like you spend hours standing there, clinging to a man who was a stranger yesterday. leon brings a hand up to rest against your cheek when you pull away. he rubs his thumb against your skin as he tilts your head up to look at him. his piercing blue eyes seem to lure you in - daring you to step closer and make the first move. your breath hitches when his hand falls to wrap around your neck, pulling you back into his chest. he presses a kiss against your forehead before you pull away completely. 

“thank you,” you whisper. leon simply nods, though he doesn’t move away at all. you softly smile at him before turning to the door. “there’s a staircase just outside the armory. it should go up to the third floor.”

he reaches over to grab your hand, gently squeezing it in his. you intertwine your fingers together as he returns your smile. “let’s go, then.” 

you nod, following leon through the seemingly never ending hallways. the staircase leads back to another hallway and a storage room. the dust makes you cough when you push the door open, making him chuckle beside you. “shut up,” you mutter. “i have allergies.” 

“just don’t sneeze on me, okay?”

“well now i have to because you’re being so snarky,” you tease. 

leon playfully gasps, placing a hand over his heart. “you wouldn’t dare!”

“the punishment fits the crime, rookie.” you squeeze his hand before you let go, letting the moonlight illuminate the stuffy room as you look around. 

“hey!” leon calls as he follows you inside. “who are you calling ‘rookie?’”

you stifle a laugh as he walks in behind you. the final statue stands surrounded by debris. thick, iron bars block your access to it. “there it is.”

“there has to be a way to break into there,” leon says. 

you nod, using your foot to kick some of the debris out of the way. “there’s a detonator,” you murmur, kneeling down to pick it up. “do you have a battery?”

“yeah,” he whispers, searching through a few pouches until he finds it. “here.”

you pause before fully inserting the battery, turning to look at him. “leon.”

“yeah?” 

“it’s a bomb. you should step back.”

“oh, right,” he whispers. you stifle a chuckle as he steps back until he’s standing against the wall. you push the battery into place before pressing a button to start the timer. it lights up, starting the countdown at 10 seconds. 

you set the bomb down on the debris before rushing over to where leon is standing behind the wall. he angles his body so it’s just barely in front of yours as the bomb clicks until finally exploding with a loud boom. dust fills the room once again, rising into the air in big clouds before it slowly settles on the ground. you turn away to cough as leon waves a hand in front of you to clear some of it away. “what happened to our deal?” he jokes.

“we agreed that i’d sneeze on you. this doesn’t count.”

“i’ll keep that in mind, then.” you chuckle as you follow leon forwards. you help him push the rocks out of the way, exposing a small, open area in the bars. “careful,” he whispers as you crawl through the gap. 

the maiden statue is similar to all of the others. she has one hand raised, the other resting against her hip near the medallion. the puzzle is even dirtier than the others - a layer of dust and grime coat each of the symbols until they’re nearly incomprehensible. “read the symbols out to me?” 

“it’s… a woman’s face, the bow and arrow, and the snake,” leon lists. you slide each one until the concrete slides to expose the final medallion before stepping onto the base to take it, flipping it in your hands. 

leon reaches out to help you stand after you crawl back through the hole. “thanks,” you whisper. he simply nods, intertwining your fingers together once again. 

“let’s get the hell out of here.” leon refuses to let go of your hand as you make your way back down to the main hall of the station. you follow him down the grand staircase until you reach the goddess statue. he gives you a nod of confirmation before you slide the medallion into place. 

the concrete slides for the final time as the statue twists to reveal an old metal door leading to tunnels below. the paint has chipped and rust coats the bars. darkness seeps up from the basement below. it looks ominous, even when leon shines his flashlight down the staircase. he squeezes your hand as you slowly begin creeping down the steps. 

the staircase leads into a large, somewhat cozy room. a large desk sits in the middle of the room surrounded by bookshelves on all sides. leon looks around for any spare ammo as you look around the tunnel. the small hallway leads to an old elevator. “leon,” you call. “there’s an elevator.” 

“it must go down to the basement,” he hums. “i saw a map in one of the storage rooms. there are a few holding cells down here.”

“lead the way,” you gesture. 

you follow leon down another set of staircases farther into the basement. pipes and old wiring line the ceiling as you walk along the unsteady metal grates. it’s eerily silent as you continue on; the only sound is your footsteps echoing along the concrete walls. 

“y/n,” leon’s voice cuts through the silence. he gestures to a shelf blocking your way, moving to the side to make room for you. “help me out with this.” 

you lean against the doorframe on the other side, using your body weight to push the shelf out of the way. it slams against the wall with a loud crash. “good work,” leon pants. 

your response is cut off when something else hits against the side of the wall. you flinch back as a monster barrels through. it reaches out with a sharp claw, pushing against your chest and shoving you down onto the floor. 

“y/n!” leon yells. from your position pinned underneath it you can see more of it’s body structure. it’s a man - or the remains of one. his torso has been taken over by the virus, leaving exposed muscle and bone in the place of skin. it shoves your body back against the grates until they fall apart. your body hits the ground hard as the zombie tumbles down beside you. 

you scramble to your feet as leon jumps down, shooting it away from you. “leon,” you rasp out. every part of your body aches as you flip onto your knees. your chest heaves as you attempt to catch your breath. 

“don’t worry!” leon yells. his voice sounds distant. gunshots continue to ring out, accompanied by howls from the zombie. “i’ll lead it away! just stay there!”

you grit your teeth, forcing yourself to stand. the world spins around you but you force yourself anyway. your hand tightens around the handle of the combat knife eliot gave you as you follow the noise of the scuffle. metal scrapes against metal as the zombie swings a piece of broken pipe towards leon. an eyeball poking through the muscle catches your attention. “the eye!” leon yells, shooting at its iris. “aim for the eye!”

he grunts when the zombie reaches out and grabs him. you take the opportunity to run towards it, digging your knife into the creature’s eye as far as it will go. the zombie howls as its body shakes. you jump down off of its back as it collapses against the ground - finally dead.

“y/n,” leon rushes over to you. you let him pull you to your feet. his arm wraps around your waist as you lean against his body, grateful for the support. “god, are you okay?”

“i’m fine.” your attempt to wave him off fails as he guides you over to rest against the wall. leon brings a hand up to cup your face, tilting your head back and forth to check you over. “i’m a doctor,” you chuckle. “i’m okay. i promise.”

leon stares into your eyes for a few seconds before he sighs. you wrap your arms around him as he brushes a hand against the dirt on your cheek once again. “don’t ever do that to me again,” he whispers. 

“as long as you don’t either.” he chuckles dryly as you reach out to take his hand into yours once again. you intertwine your fingers together as you stand back up. his arm remains firmly around your waist as you continue on. it’s a comforting feeling: despite all you’ve been through, you’ve done it all together. 

you let the world around you fade away until leon’s voice catches your attention. “that must lead to the parking garage,” he says. a metal ladder is bolted against the wall. he uses his flashlight to expose a sewer grate just barely visible at the top, blocking your view from seeing outward. “are you gonna be okay climbing up there?”

“leon,” you chuckle. 

“right,” he smiles. the metal feels cold against your hands as you grab onto the first bars, carefully making your way up. you push up against the metal sewer cover, pushing it out of the way and exposing more light from above. 

“it’s safe!” you call down to leon, pushing your body fully out of the tunnel. he nods, quick to follow you out of the tunnels. 

leon’s face flushes slightly when you hold a hand out to help him stand. “thanks,” he whispers. you simply nod, intertwining your fingers together once again. “there’s a gate over there.”

“let’s go then.” 

the machine has an empty space for a keycard. he sighs, cursing under his breath. “we need to find a keycard somewhere.” you jump when a low growl echoes from behind you. leon is quick to grab his gun as you turn, now face to face with a rabid dog. 

“leon!” you yell when it jumps out. it pins him to the ground as it barks, teeth gnashing as he tries to fight it off. his gun scrapes against the floor in the chaos. 

“y/n!” your hands tremble slightly as you move on instinct, reaching over to grab his gun and firing at the beast once. the shot is enough to knock it off of leon as he scrambles to his feet. you flinch when another gunshot rings out, echoing along the parking garage walls. 

“nice shot,” a woman calls. her heels click along the ground as you stand on shaky legs to face her. her tan trench coat has been tied around her waist to accentuate her strong silhouette. a big pair of black sunglasses hide her eyes as she circles around to face you. 

leon moves to stand in front of you, keeping his gun fixed on her. “who are you?”

“fbi,” she says, nonchalantly raising a badge. leon relaxes slightly, nodding at you before holstering his gun. he reaches over to grab your hand as you follow after her. 

“leon kennedy,” he introduces. “raccooon city police department.”

“ada wong.” she pauses to remove her sunglasses, looking at you. “and him?”

“y/n l/n.” 

she simply hums in acknowledgement, turning on her heel. “surprised you made it this far.”

“hey! what’s going on here?” leon yells after her. 

“do yourself a favor: stop asking questions and get the hell out of here.”

“wait!” leon’s questions fall on deaf ears as you watch the woman disappear into the darkness behind a few abandoned cars. 

you place a gentle hand on his shoulder, gently pulling him closer. “are you okay?”

“i’m fine,” leon sighs, reaching over to grab your hand once again. he falters slightly under your unrelenting gaze. his icy eyes meet yours once again as he softly smiles. “i promise.”

“okay,” you nod, squeezing his hand. 

“the holding cells should be near here,” leon says, gesturing to the other side of the parking garage. “hopefully we can find a keycard somewhere in there.”

“lead the way.”

leon chuckles as you follow him around the corner and down yet another hallway. you pass through a heavy door into a room filled with various areas that are marked off with thick, iron bars. you bite back the bile in your throat when you step over the corpse of an officer and continue further into the jail. 

“at least there’s power down here,” you murmur. leon chuckles beside you as you continue searching through the different cell blocks. 

you jump when a zombie bangs against the bars next to you. leon is quick to react, raising his gun and stepping in front of you. you both let out a small sigh of relief when the bars hold. though the zombie’s attempts to grab at you are futile, leon turns back to check on you anyways. “are you okay?”

“yeah,” you whisper. “i’m fine. just a little startled.”

“hello?” a voice echoing through the hall catches your attention. you follow leon as you run towards the sound. you find a man sitting alone in the cell. he’s wearing a jean jacket and a parking keycard badge hangs from a lanyard around his neck. “you’re human.”

“how long have you been in here?”

“long enough. are we… the last ones alive?”

leon steps a little closer to the bars. the man’s face is illuminated by the moonlight shining through the window behind him. “no, there are a few more of us.”

“oh, thank god,” he sighs in relief. “that’s good news. unless irons sent you, of course,” he sarcastically chuckles.

“chief irons?” 

leon glances at you as you furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “is he still around?”

“who cares! hopefully he’s somebody’s dinner by now. he’s the bastard that locked me in here!” the man pauses to take a drag from his cigarette before throwing it to the side. “i was about to blow the whistle on his dirty ass. i guess i would’ve done the same thing.”

footsteps echo from down the hallway catch your attention. “leon,” you whisper. 

“listen! i’ll make you a deal,” the man pleads. “there’s no other way out of the parking garage! believe me!” 

“i… i should talk to the chief first-”

“come on! don’t be an asshole, okay?” the footsteps slowly grow closer as you reach over to grab leon’s hand, pulling him farther back away from the bars. the man raises the keycard. “just get me the fuck out of-”

you jump when the man screams as something breaks through the brick walls behind him. you watch in horror as the man is lifted into the air and dragged along the side of the wall until his skull cracks against the brick. his body falls to the floor limp. dead. 

“oh my god,” leon whispers. 

you both jump at the familiar sound of heels clicking along the hallway. leon raises his gun towards the darkness before ada steps back into view. “put that away. it’s just me,” she says. 

“i don’t even know what happened, he just… it was all so quick.”

ada curses, crossing her arms over her chest. “i told you to get out of here. you wouldn’t want to end up like him, would you?”

“wait, you knew him?”

“he was an informant to my investigation.”

“so it’s true? chief irons is dirty?”

ada simply rolls her eyes, turning on her heel once again. “find a way out of here. then we’ll talk.”

“ada!” she ignores leon as she continues walking away, back up to the parking garage. 

you walk over to the panel on the wall, opening the hatch to inspect it. the wiring inside has nearly been completely fried; the jail must have been forgotten in the chaos. when the power went down in the rest of the building, the wiring failed. leon sighs as ada disappears down the hallway before he turns back to you. he steps over next to you to look at the panel over your shoulder. “what are you thinking?”

“the cells must be electronically controlled. if we can figure out how to turn the power back on, we can open the doors and grab the keycard.”

“okay,” he nods. “do you know how to fix it?”

“no, but i’m sure i can figure it out. i’ve done a lot of things i’ve never done before tonight,” you let out a bitter laugh as leon raises his flashlight to illuminate the wires. he reaches over to squeeze your hand into his once again as you carefully begin to weave them around each other until they’re connected around each other correctly. 

the cell door opens with a loud shriek of metal scraping against metal as it slides open. “good job,” leon smiles. 

“thanks,” you whisper, following him into the cell. leon pauses when he goes to grab the parking pass from around the man’s neck. “what is it?”

“there’s a recording device,” he says, pulling it out of the man’s pocket. he clicks it on as he raises it so you can both hear the words clearly. 

“...i just find it way too coincidental that umbrella’s one of the benefactors.” you recognize the reporter’s voice, even through the grainy recording device. 

“you told me this interview was about the new scholarship umbrella set up,” a woman replies.

“come on, annette, nobody cares about that! they wanna hear about the g-virus and-”

“where did you hear about that?”

“-and that big fucking sinkhole in the city! which, by the way, rumor has it, it goes straight into your underground lab!”

“lab?” leon murmurs. 

“this interview is over.” the tape ends with the sound of annette slamming her hands against the table and a door slamming shut. the reporter lets out an aggravated sigh before it ends with a small click.

“maybe that’s why the fbi is looking into this,” you say. leon pockets the recorder quickly before handing the parking pass to you. “umbrella is a pharmaceutical company. i remember there being a big controversy about them dumping chemical waste into the ocean or something.”

“sounds like something the government would be interested in,” he hums in agreement. “let’s get out of here.”

you retrace your steps out of the jail and back into the parking garage. you pause when the ground below your feet shakes before the wall beside you crumbles. you both gasp when a giant man easily breaks through the wall. his skin is an unnatural gray color. he towers over you as he silently knocks you back into the wall before grabbing leon. 

“leon!” you scramble back to your feet when the headlights of a swat car light up. the engine revs once before the car begins picking up speed, slamming head on into the man and knocking him back into the wall. 

you run over to leon’s side as he coughs in an attempt to catch his breath. slowly, his gasping relaxes until his lungs are no longer heaving for air. he  lets you help him back up to his feet as ada steps out of the car. 

“this is getting old. saving your asses - that’s twice now!” 

“i didn’t realize we were keeping score,” leon rasps. 

“this isn’t a game!” leon pulls you behind him when something moves from underneath the rubble. he curses under his breath as he raises his gun in the direction of the noise. ada nonchalantly takes a remote out of her pocket, pressing a button that makes the car explode into flames. “nothing dies down here. i take it you have the keycard?”

“i do. and this,” leon says, tossing the recorder to her. “would you happen to know anything about that?”

ada barely glances at it before pocketing it herself. “maybe… after i hear it. now, come on. let’s get out of here.”

you shrug when leon gives you a questioning glance. ada’s heels echo along the road of the parking garage as you follow her. you insert the pass into the card reader of the machine until it shines a bright green. the shutter creaks as it slowly begins moving upwards. 

the parking garage opens to a small hill that takes you back into the city. a light drizzle of rain makes you shiver as you follow ada across the empty street. “what are you doing out here, anyway?” leon asks. 

“getting more info on the people responsible for this mess. and what about you? trying to save the world?”

“i told lieutenant branagh i’d bring help.”

ada scoffs. “good luck getting that.” she sighs when you reach the edge of the sinkhole. the ground has opened to reveal part of umbrella’s lab the reporter mentioned on the recording. ada turns on her heel once again, turning to look at the store behind you. “going through that gun shop looks like the only way.”

a neon red sign shines brightly in the otherwise dark city street. ada kneels down to pick the lock before pushing the door open. leon catches it, holding it open for you as you follow her inside. the shelves have been knocked over and rubble is all over the floor. you follow leon as you search through the mostly empty store. 

“don’t move!” a man yells as he shoves the barrel of a shotgun in your face. you carefully back away, holding your hands up. “i said don’t fucking move!” 

“okay,” you whisper. leon follows your lead, holstering his own gun. “okay. we’re not gonna hurt you. just put the gun down.”

the silhouette of a young girl catches your attention from the corner of your eye. her breathing is raspy. “sir, i think your daughter needs help,” leon begins.

“don’t tell me how to deal with my daughter!” the man yells, pumping his shotgun. 

“drop it!” ada yells as she steps out of the shadows. 

leon is quick to pull you behind him before raising his own gun once again. “y/n, back up,” he orders. you glance at the man’s daughter once again before obeying, slinking back behind a shelf. 

“step aside. we need to terminate her before she turns,” ada says. 

“‘terminate?’ that’s my fucking daughter!” 

“ada,” leon whispers. “just let them be.” he glances back at you, nodding as a gesture to return to his side. 

“emmie, i told you to stay put,” the man whispers. he kneels down to wrap his arms around her, though she doesn’t react at all. instead she stares straight ahead, still raspily breathing. the man sniffles as he looks over his shoulder at leon. “you’re a cop; how did this happen?” 

“mommy?” the girl whispers. 

“mommy’s sleeping,” the man reaches over to pat her back. he kneels down, lifting her up into his arms. “and i’m gonna put you to bed too, okay?”

you let out a shaky sigh as they disappear behind the door. leon reaches over to grab your hand, squeezing it when a single gunshot echoes out. “you okay?” he whispers. 

“yeah,” you nod. you let the comfort of leon’s hand in yours calm you down. “i’m fine. let’s go.”

leon intertwines your fingers together as ada silently leads the way out of the shop. “ever heard of umbrella? they’re a pharmaceutical company secretly making bioweapons. they made a virus - it turns people into indestructible monsters.”

“that explains the zombies,” leon murmurs. 

“that’s why i’m looking for annette birkin,” ada continues. “she’s responsible for unleashing the virus. i’m going to bring her down.” she leads you down a set of metal staircases until you reach the opening of a sewer. 

“you don’t have to be here,” leon leans over to whisper to you. “i know this has been… a lot.”

you squeeze his hand in yours - a silent promise. “i’m not leaving you. not now.”

“okay,” he whispers with a soft smile. 

“after you,” ada gestures to the sewer opening. 

“thanks,” leon replies sarcastically. you do your best not to grimace at the smell as you follow after him. “at least there are lights in here.”

the sewers are a large, dark, seemingly never ending tunnel. your shoes do little to protect your feet from the water lining the bottom. they make you feel stuffy and claustrophobic despite the space around you. leon’s hand still remains tightly in yours. he occasionally glances back to look at you; to check on you, you suppose.

“i can’t imagine a lab being down here,” leon remarks.

“according to hq, this should lead right to umbrella’s secret facility,” ada replies. 

“but the sewers are owned by the city. how could they have an entire working operation without anyone knowing?” he asks. 

“welcome to corporate america.”

“umbrella’s controlled the city for years,” you say. “i’m sure it wasn’t that difficult.”

“he’s right,” ada sighs. “let’s just get this done.”

you follow leon through the winding tunnels until a stream of light catches your attention. the shadow is broken up by the bars of a gate. 

you freeze when something passes by. it almost looks like a giant lizard or an alligator. it’s steps shake the ground and splash water in its path. “what the hell…” leon whispers. 

“stay sharp,” ada says, looking over your shoulder. you carefully back away from the bars as its footsteps slowly grow further away. “god only knows what else is down here.”

“she’s right,” leon whispers, squeezing your hand. “stay close to me.” you nod, continuing to walk through the tunnels. 

“this way,” ada instructs. she leads you down a set of stairs to a new part of the sewers. your steps echo against the metal grates you walk on until you reach the edge. “it’s not too late to turn back, you know.”

“no chance,” leon says. “i’ve got to see this through.”

leon grunts as you both jump down into the water below. its ice cold temperature makes you shiver slightly as you wade through it. the water nearly reaches up to your knees, soaking completely through your shoes and staining your jeans. 

you wave off leon’s concerned glance with a small nod as he looks up at ada. “you sure this is the right way?”

“unfortunately.” she pauses when the ground begins to shake underneath you. the water splashes up as the footsteps of the beast grow closer. the noise echoes lowly as the monster slowly grows closer. 

you jump back when something emerges out of the water with a loud snarl. “jesus christ!” leon yells. the water drenches you as giant jaws snap in your direction, pushing you further back. it’s teeth glisten, even in the dim light.

“get out of there!” ada yells from above. “now!” 

you reach over to grab leon’s arm, pulling him along with you as you start running. the monster is quick on your heels as it uses its head to push trash out of the way in its pursuit of you. the water continues to rise the further you run. it soaks through the thin fabric of your t-shirt as you do your best to wade through it. 

the monster snarls as it lunges forwards at you. you push trash out of your way with your right hand as you tug leon alongside you with your left. he curses when he nearly trips, clinging onto you a little more. 

“get down!” you yell. your voice cuts through the chaos. you shove leon down with you as you duck underneath a pipe blocking your path. he’s quick to follow your lead as the beast runs into it mouth-first. flames erupt when its teeth puncture the metal. 

leon only lets go of your hand long enough to raise his gun. “duck!” he yells out before firing a single shot at the pipe. you brace yourself for the explosion, hiding your face behind your hands as the force of the blast ricochets through the tunnel at you. 

it’s strong enough to knock you off your feet as you hit the water below. the world feels like it’s spinning and your ears ring as leon reaches out to help you up. “are you okay?” he asks. 

you cough violently as if it’ll be enough to ring the water out of your lungs. leon supports you as he gently pats your back until you manage to catch your breath. as soon as it feels like you can breathe again you wrap your arms around him, pulling him into a hug. he’s quick to react, rubbing a hand against your back to help calm you down. “it’s okay,” he whispers. “i’m here. i’ve got you.”

you stifle a small laugh when he presses a kiss against your forehead. despite the less-than-ideal circumstances, it makes butterflies swarm all throughout your chest and stomach regardless. “leon! y/n!” ada calls down from above. she kicks a metal ladder down to allow you to climb up. “get up here.”

you’re quick to obey, following leon up. the metal feels cold against your skin, though you bite back your complaints. ada leads you into an elevator, silently leaning against the wall. “so, let me get this straight: umbrella sells monsters like that to… who? the military? somebody else’s?”

“they don’t sell the monsters, they sell the viruses that make them. scary as that alligator was… annette is far more dangerous.” the elevator leads into another small, stuffy room. a few tanks and wiring line the walls. 

leon pushes the door open, leading into umbrella’s underground lab.

a blonde woman is kneeling on the ground, inspecting the remains of a human corpse. the sleeves of her white lab coat have been pushed up over her elbows. “this is definitely william’s handiwork,” she whispers. 

you hang back as leon raises his gun at her. “hands where i can see them!” he instructs. 

“annette birkin!” ada is quick to follow, stepping even closer as she raises her pistol. 

“she’s who we’re looking for?” 

“not much time…” annette mutters to herself as she stands. 

“we’re here for the g-virus!” ada interrupts. 

annette dryly chuckles. “that’s not gonna happen.”

“i’m warning you, doctor!”

“oh, yeah?” annette raises an eyebrow as she pulls something out of her pocket. she lights the corpse beside her on fire before turning on her heel and running away.

“stop!” ada yells after her. 

“ada!” leon pushes her out of the way when annette fires in her direction a few times. he grunts when he hits the ground. the metal grates clatter underneath the weight. you’re quick to rush over to leon’s side, kneeling down beside him. 

“you’ll never get the g-virus!” annette yells as a concrete door slides shut behind her. 

“didn’t expect that from a scientist,” ada whispers. 

“don’t worry about me,” he rasps. “stop her before she gets away.” 

you curse as you press your hands against the wound on his shoulder. “go,” you say. “i’ll take care of him.”

she purses her lips, glancing back down at leon before nodding. “here,” she whispers, taking off her trenchcoat. “take this.”

“thanks.” she simply nods in acknowledgement before rushing off in search of annette. 

leon coughs when you press down on his shoulder harder. “i’m sorry,” you whisper. “i need to stop the bleeding.”

he forces his eyes open as he looks up at you. “y/n,” he whispers. he brings a hand up to gently wrap around your wrist. “you should go.”

“we’ve made it this far,” you whisper. tears sting at the edges of your eyes, threatening to fall until you force them away. “i’m not leaving you now.” you bring a hand up to cup his cheek, brushing your thumb against his soft skin. icy blue eyes stare back up into your own as you softly smile down at him. “just let me take care of you.”

leon relents with a small nod, finally letting go of your wrist. he grunts when you rip the fabric of his uniform to expose the wound. “it’s not deep,” you whisper - more to yourself than leon. “you won’t need stitches.”

“that’s good,” leon grunts. his eyes flutter closed as a shaky breath escapes him. you reach over to grab ada’s trenchcoat, digging through the pockets in hopes of finding anything useful. to your relief, you find a wad of bandages. you move quickly as you wrap them around leon’s shoulder. he winces with every movement you make as you mutter continuous apologies each time his eyes squeeze shut or he twitches. 

“okay,” you whisper, tucking the edge of the bandage underneath itself to tie it in place. “i’m done. you’re okay.”

leon wraps his arm around your shoulders as you move to help him sit up against the wall. his hand wraps gently around your wrist, tugging you back to his side when you try to pull away. “y/n,” he whispers. he softly smiles when his eyes meet yours. his face is flushed a light pink. it makes you smile slightly when you notice it. “thank you.”

“of course,” you nod. an unspoken tension falls between you as leon’s hand moves up to cup your cheek. he rubs his thumb against your skin before gently pulling you in a little closer. your breath hitches when his eyes fall from looking into your own down to your lips. 

you lean in even further until your foreheads are just about to rest against each other. leon’s hand falls from your cheek down to your jaw, pulling you in even closer. “y/n,” he whispers. you can barely hear him over the sound of your own heart racing. he glances back up at your eyes. “can i kiss you?”

you subconsciously lip your lips in lieu of a verbal response. leon’s ears burn a deep red as you lean down to pull him into a sweet kiss. 

leon brings his hands up to wrap around your shoulders. you move in sync together until you finally pull away for air. you stare down at him with a soft smile as you catch your breath. “i think i have feelings for you,” you whisper. 

leon simply smiles, pulling you back down into another kiss. his thumb traces along your jawline when he pulls away. “i think i have feelings for you too.”

he pulls you down so your forehead is resting against his. you’re careful not to touch his shoulder as you shift even closer, leaning further into leon’s touch. his arms wrap around your waist, keeping you close against his chest. 

you fall into a content silence together for a few minutes. the only noise you can hear is occasional splashing water from what you assume is another giant alligator and leon’s breathing just above your ear. you can hear his steady heartbeat against your ear. his hand slips underneath your t-shirt to rub random little shapes against your skin. his touch sends shivers all along your spine, though it’s a welcome change from the frigid air.

“leon?” your voice is quiet when you break the silence. he simply hums in acknowledgement, shifting slightly to look down at you. “we should go look for ada.”

“yeah,” he agrees, though neither of you make any attempt to move. neither of you are willing to give up the momentary peace. not yet.

it’s only when you force yourself to sit up, pulling away from leon’s arms that he reacts. his grip around you tightens slightly as he whines. “kiss me before you go?”

“why don’t you come with me? besides, you’re the one with the gun.” leon chuckles as he takes your hand, letting you pull him to his feet. “just watch the shoulder. and neck.”

“of course,” he nods. “now come on. let’s go find the lab.”

the hallways feel as never ending as ever as you begin searching through them. miscellaneous pipes crawl all along the wall as you make your way through. leon sighs when you come to a dead end. the concrete stops off, leading back into the tunnels of the sewer. “guess the only way from here is down.”

“i guess so.” leon jumps down first, splashing into the water below. he grimaces as the disgusting smell and feeling of cold water spreading up the fabric of his pants.

he turns, holding his arms out to you. “come on. jump.”

you raise a questioning eyebrow at him. “jump? seriously?” 

“of course i’m serious,” he says. “i’ve got you.” 

with one final glance down at the water below you take a sharp breath and take the leap. leon catches you in a bridal hold easily; his arms supporting your weight under your knees and against your back. once the fear of falling wears off you wrap your arms around his shoulders, smiling at him. “thanks,” you whisper. 

leon simply shakes his head, leaning in to pull you into a quick kiss. “anytime.”

he carefully lowers you into the freezing water, taking your hand into his once again. the tunnels break off into two separate areas, each leading further into the maze. “well, left or right?”

“let’s go right. it looks more promising.” 

the tunnel leads back into yet another concrete staircase that finally leads into umbrella’s lab. you silently pocket a cassette tape from the ground as leon uses a spare part he found to bring part of an elevated walkway down. it moves smoothly as it lowers to where you are before clicking into place. 

it leads into yet another small room, this time somewhere within umbrella’s lab. files are scattered across the floor. a desk sits against a panel-covered wall. a small table sits in front of a lone chair. on the other side of the room is a thin metal railing that blocks you off from an area below that stretches along the entire wall. 

the sound of groaning echoing throughout the room catches your attention. you follow leon as you rush over to look over the railing, squinting to see into the darkness. just barely visible amidst a pile of rubble is a woman - ada. “we need to find a way down there.” 

“let’s make it quick,” leon agrees. 

a small brown table resting against a different wall catches your attention. an old tv sits beside a seemingly abandoned vcr. “hey,” you whisper, gesturing to the tv. you insert the cassette into its opening before pressing play. 

the tv immediately lights up with static for a few seconds before the video plays. the camera shows the tilted view of an opened briefcase as a man pleads in the background. it glitches even more as you watch his hand come into frame, reaching for the briefcase before someone steps in and kicks it away from him. “please… stop,” the man recording whispers.

“over here, you freak!” a different voice screams. the standing man leans down to grab the briefcase, knocking its contents onto the floor before something pushes him against the wall. you barely recognize it as one of the zombies through the grainy recording. “don’t hurt him… don’t hurt him!” the first man pleads. you squeeze your eyes shut when the zombie effortlessly kills the pinned man. the camera tilts as a small rat comes into frame before the zombie’s foot comes into view and the cassette ends with even more static and a click.

“the virus,” leon begins. “i’ll bet those rats spread it.” 

“let’s worry about helping ada for now.” he hums in acknowledgement as you continue searching through the lab. 

the first room leads into another dull, similarly sized room. it’s just as messy as the first, though there’s no equipment inside. a bulletin board hangs on the wall, coated in different flyers and reminders for staff meetings, passive-aggressive complaints, and messily scribbled notes for various different experiments jotted on post-it notes. 

“y/n,” leon calls, pulling your attention away from the wall. you silently follow after him as you make your way to yet another moving walkway. the metal creaks loudly as it lowers down before finally clicking into place. 

you jog across the platform until you reach a cable car entry. the machine beeps with denial as an automated message plays. “id wristband required for cable car entry.” 

“where the hell are we gonna get one of those?” leon mumbles.

“we could always… steal one.”

he stifles a chuckle as he turns to look at you. “you’re gonna steal in front of a cop?”

“that depends,” you step closer to him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. “are you gonna arrest me?”

leon smiles as he leans in to pull you into a quick kiss. “not if you keep kissing me like that.”

“let’s go break the law, then.” you chuckle as you pull away, tugging leon behind you as you walk back down the steps.

the inside of the lab doesn’t feel any less winding and endless than the sewer tunnels. thin metal railings block off various areas as you continue on. 

a metal door slams shut behind you as you enter yet another room. various papers and broken glass crinkle underneath your feet as you step closer to look around. what would normally be just another part of your routine process quickly changes when sparks ignite from something nearby, lighting a fire on the ground below. you cover your face with your hands as the flames burn brightly, threatening you if you dare to get too close. you freeze when the ceiling above you shakes. pieces of the drywall begin to crumble, raining down on you. “y/n,” leon whispers. his hand reaches to grab his gun almost instinctively. “run!”

you flinch when something breaks through the ceiling. a claw glimmers in the light of the flames. it effortlessly tears through the drywall, piercing another hole downwards. 

“leon!” you yell. he grunts when the flames grow, ducking down to avoid yet another attack from the monster above. you force your way through the smoke to reach out and grab leon’s arm, pulling him with you out of the room and towards safety. 

your lungs burn and your legs ache as you force yourself to keep running. the monster slashes at the metal railings behind you, though you don’t dare to turn around. “it’s still alive?” leon yells. you flinch when a particularly close swipe from its claws nearly hits you. 

the hallways eventually lead to a large, orange storage container. you’re quick to jump down onto the lower platform, ignoring the way the metal rattles underneath your feet. a big metal controller catches your attention. random pipes and wires are connected to the back, leading to yet another cable car. it’s controlled by two big buttons on either side of a few miscellaneous smaller ones in between. 

leon pushes down on the left button, bringing the machinery to life. the monster chasing you snarls, undeterred by leon’s bullets or the container slowly swinging out of the way. the same singular eyeball you saw on the other monsters blinks open on the zombie’s shoulder blade. 

“y/n, the button!” leon yells over the gunfire. the zombie lets out a high pitched squeal of pain when he lands another shot directly into it’s eyeball. you’re quick to rush over, pushing down on the second button. it lights up a bright green as more machinery starts moving. 

“leon!” you yell, reaching over to pull him back away from the metal container slamming into the zombie’s side. it’s claw scrapes against the metal grate you’re standing on in an attempt to hold on. leon rushes to your side, tugging you back behind him as the container finally knocks it off of the edge. 

it hits the ground below with a loud crack that echoes for a few seconds afterwards. after a few seconds of silence, you let out a small sigh of relief. “are you okay?” leon asks. 

you glance over the edge into the darkness. slowly, the adrenaline coursing through your veins relaxes, leaving a horrible fear in its place. it spreads across your chest, holding your lungs hostage. “i’m fine.”

“no you’re not.” leon steps closer to place a gentle hand against your cheek. “hey,” he whispers, tilting your face so you’re looking at him. you long for the way everything about him feels so confident. strong. fearless. 

“breathe, y/n,” he whispers. you nod, slowly forcing the air into your lungs at a steady rate. you do your best to follow leon’s exaggerated demonstration until the sinking feeling goes away. there are no monsters hiding in the dark. it’s just you and leon. 

he pulls you into a hug, letting you lean your body weight against him. he presses a kiss against your forehead, rubbing a gentle hand against your back. you let yourself fall into a comfortable silence just until your hands stop trembling and your heart rate returns back to a steady beating. 

“thank you,” you whisper, finally pulling away. 

leon simply shakes his head, reaching over to grab your hand once again. “ready to go?” 

“yeah,” you nod. 

you step over the destruction left in the zombie’s wake, making your way to yet another metal door. it unlocks with a small click before opening into another larger room. a large lever is flipped upwards next to a giant sliding door. you walk over, flipping it down so the light shines a bright green instead of the previous red. 

you slip underneath the metal, finding yourself in what looks like a trash chute. “ada?” you call out as you begin to search through the rubble.

“over here!” you quickly run in the direction of the sound. you find her sitting on the ground with a piece of metal lodged in the center of her thigh. you kneel down beside her, hands ghosting against her thigh. “i can’t get it out,” she sighs.

“it’s not in too deep and it didn’t hit the bone,” you mumble. “you won’t be able to run or fight on it but you should be okay.” 

ada’s eyes remain fixated on the metal as you hesitantly wrap your hand around it. “y/n,” she smiles softly when you look up to meet her gaze. “just do it. i’ll be fine.”

“okay,” you whisper. “try to relax. it’ll hurt less.” ada nods, looking away when you gently hold her leg in place with your hand before pulling the metal out in one smooth movement. she winces before letting out a small sigh as she relaxes. you toss the metal aside as leon reaches into his pocket. 

“here,” he says, reaching over and pressing a bandage against the bleeding wound. your hands are gentle as you wrap it around her leg a few times before holding a hand out to help her up. “you did great. get someone to prescribe you some antibiotics as soon as we get out of here.”

“thanks y/n,” she whispers. “you should go. both of you.”

leon furrows his eyebrows before shaking his head. “i’m not leaving you. not like this.”

“you don’t understand. the situation is worse than i thought. we might not make it out of here.”

you give a slight nod of confirmation when leon glances at you before you turn back to ada. “you’re not getting rid of us that easily.”

she scoffs but relents, pushing off of the wall. her first few steps are unsteady but you resist the urge to reach out and help her, simply following her lead instead. “let’s go then. we have to get to the nest.”

“nest?”

“umbrella’s lab. right beneath us. annette let it slip. that’s where the virus samples are.” ada glances at leon before turning back to you. “you’re sure you’re up for this?”

“we’ve made it this far,” you dryly chuckle. “no turning back now.”

“come on. we’ve got work to do.” leon’s hand slips back into yours as you follow ada up a flight of stairs. “the cable car will take us down to nest. this wristband’s our ticket to ride.”

true to her word, you follow the path up directly to a small, white cable car. ada sits down on the uncomfortable metal seat at the edge of the car as leon pushes a few buttons on the control panel. it jolts slightly when it begins moving as an automated message begins playing through the speakers. “this train is designated for nest. do not exit until you have reached the final destination.”

“i was thinking, i’m glad you’ve been investigating this,” leon says as he begins pacing around the moving car. “i can’t wait for the fbi to raid umbrella’s headquarters and bring those bastards to justice.”

“i agree, but, to be clear, you’re not working on official capacity here. this is a federal case. once we get the g-virus i’ll be back on my own.” ada sighs. “look, i’m a liability now. the only way i’ll be able to finish this case is with your help. both of you.” she pauses to slip the bracelet off of her wrist before wrapping it around yours. “here. you’ll need this.”

leon gives you a slight nod when you turn back to glance at him. “okay.” his hand slips back into yours before you pause, turning back to ada. “stay safe.”

she stifles a chuckle before nodding. “you too.”

the cable car exits off into yet another hallway. you step off onto a platform in between two flights of stairs. the only visible lighting comes from small led lights installed in the floor along the path. a giant umbrella logo is on the wall beside the car.

“are you ready for this?” leon asks. 

“yeah,” you squeeze his hand. “let’s go.” 

the stairs lead to yet another door; this one blocked off by a scanner in the middle. a blue screen in the center is marked with a single line that matches the bracelet on your wrist. it chimes with a small confirmation when you approach. a banner reading “access granted” lights up across the screen as an automated message plays: “for your safety, stand clear until the doors are fully open.”

it slides upwards, just slightly ahead of another door behind it to reveal what looks like the reception area of umbrella’s lab. the light above flickers as soon as you enter. the same umbrella logo is on the wall behind a curved reception desk lit up with strips of led lights and complete with a fake plant on the edge. “welcome to nest,” the same automated message plays. “enjoy your visit.”

you push a metal door open before hanging back just enough to let leon use his flashlight to lead the way. boxes are stacked up against one of the walls. blood smeared against another wall catches your attention. a messy handprint stains the white metal, complete with a pool of blood on the floor. it slowly descends down the wall until stopping completely. 

an uncomfortable feeling of dread begins to nestle itself in your chest, though you’re quick to push it down. you turn into another smaller room. it’s filled with what looks like the remains of an office. a table has been flipped over, leaning against a nearby wall. blood coats the floor just in front of two bodies. 

leon glances back at you, watching as you silently slip out of the room. you lean back against the wall as the snarls of zombies are swiftly cut off by gunshots. 

“y/n,” leon calls. when you reenter the room even more blood and bodies cover the floor. you swallow the bile in your throat down as he gestures to a corner of the room. the only thing visible in the darkness is a fake plant in the shadows. “there’s a ladder over there.”

“do you want to climb up first or should i?”

leon glances up into the darkness for a few seconds before letting out a small sigh. “i’ll go. do you mind holding the light up?”

“yeah, of course.” the flashlight feels heavy in your hand when you take it. it’s bright enough that you can see splotches of water damage on the ceiling above. 

leon pauses for a second once he reaches the top - waiting for something to jump out at him that doesn’t come. once he’s determined that the coast is clear, he leans over to look at you. “it’s clear,” he calls down. “be careful. it’s a little tight up here.” 

“okay,” you whisper to yourself. the metal is cold against your hands; clanking against the wall it’s attached to with each movement. 

the ladder leads up to a vent. cables covered in a thick layer of dust surround you. it’s stuffy and claustrophobic as you shift onto your knees. the metal grates that make up the floor dig into the exposed skin of your hands. your knees ache. each rustle of clothing and every movement echoes throughout the vents as you crawl through. 

the vents lead into yet another hidden part of the lab. leon jumps down first, setting the flashlight down before he reaches his hands out to you. “i’ve got you,” he smiles. 

you stifle a small laugh as you maneuver your body before jumping down. leon’s hands ghost against your waist as you reach out to steady yourself against his shoulders. “thanks,” you whisper. he simply nods with a small hum. 

the room is a small kitchen. an unclean stove rests against the wall complete with a freezer next to it. leon takes the flashlight once again, raising his gun as you slowly begin searching through the rest of the lab. it illuminates another smear of blood against yet another curved wall. he effortlessly shoots down another zombie in your path before you continue on. 

the hallway splits off into two different paths: an area restricted to people with level two clearance and an area with level one clearance. the door slides open as soon as you approach. there are a few panels on the walls with exposed wiring. leon walks over to check one while you gravitate towards a window near the side. a small, glowing chip is stuck between two of the destroyed blinds. 

you hold it in your fingers, flipping it to check it over. it’s thin - only a few millimeters in size. you tug the bracelet off of your wrist, removing the blue chip and replacing it with the new green one. it slips into the band of your bracelet with a small click. “you find something?” leon asks. 

“i think i just got us area two clearance.” you flip your hand out to show him, exposing the glowing microchip. 

“nice job,” he smiles, leaning over to press a quick kiss against your cheek. “there’s an area two door back there. we should be able to get in with this.”

the area two door slides open with the same small hiss as soon as you approach. it leads into yet another set of hallways, each blocked off with its own set of doors. you circle back around through the winding hallways until you reach the reception area once again. the lights flicker on when you enter and the same automated message plays. 

“okay,” leon sighs, pushing open yet another door. “i wonder where the g-virus is.”

“if i was hiding a super secret virus that turns people into indestructible zombies i would put it somewhere confidential. you know, behind one of those doors deep in the facility.”

“you’re probably right,” he hums. you exit the reception area back into the central area of the lab. you step up onto a small platform. a machine is at the edge, shining with a small, green led screen that reads area two. leon steps back as you reach your hand out to press the button. it emits a low whir as it begins moving; a platform rises up to meet where you’re standing. 

leon kneels down beside a corpse laying against the railing. he’s sitting in a pool of blood wearing what looks like a military uniform. he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small voice recording. “y/n,” he calls. you lean back against the railing as he clicks play letting a grainy recording play. 

a man’s voice is the first to come through. “alpha to ghost. target moving to the west area. must be going to retrieve the g-virus and arrival agent.”

“this is ghost. understood. rendezvous at point w-3.” the second man’s voice is deeper and raspier than the first man’s. 

“roger.”

there’s a small lull before their voices come through again. “this is alpha. arrived at destination.”

“understood. stand by for target.”

the recording skips for a second before continuing. “this is alpha. got eyes on the target. he’s going to open the safe.”

“roger. awaiting the signal.”

“got eyes on the g-virus.”

“we’re going in…”

the tape becomes even grainier for a few seconds. something rustles in the background before someone speaks again. “doctor birkin, you’ll come along with us quietly.”

it skips once before it ends with a small click. leon pockets the device quickly before glancing back at you. “the g-virus is in the west area… got it.” 

you jog across the raised platform until you reach a structure in the center. it almost looks like an elevator. white led lights surround you to just barely illuminate the area around you. the same id reader stands in front of it shining a light magenta. 

“access restricted,” the monitor beeps when you approach. a red banner spreads across the screen with the same message. the center area leads to a few set of stairs leading up to another elevated platform. you press the button, spurring the machines to life once again. 

it leads to yet another area of the lab. rubble blocks off a portion of the hallway, forcing you to go left. a thick blue line on the floor guides you through the various parts of the building. 

another door slides open to another reception-like area. various bottles and papers lay sprawled across counters and cover the floor. a lab coat lays haphazardly thrown on a chair beside a computer. 

you venture even farther, passing by yet another sliding door. a giant plant and the overwhelming smell of flowers greets you immediately. vines coat the inside of a room hidden behind a thick, glass panel. bile raises in your throat when you approach. a man’s corpse is wedged in the middle of it. he’s wearing a yellow hazmat suit - likely to protect himself from whatever resides inside of the room. 

“jesus… what happened here?” leon whispers. his question goes unanswered as you continue searching through the lab. the door slides open with a small hiss. fog seeps out as you hesitantly follow him inside. vines coat the ceilings and crawl up on the wall. 

you duck underneath a body hanging from the ceiling. thick ropes of thorns stretch across it’s body like veins. it almost doesn’t look human - not anymore. 

an empty metal shelf rests back against the wall. you resist the urge to sneeze, pushing another set of vines out of the way. you freeze when a low clicking sound echoes from the hallway. leon is quick to raise his gun, aiming into the fog. a creature stumbles out of the darkness, screeching when leon fires a few shots into its body. 

leon keeps his gun trained on it for a few seconds as it collapses to the ground in a heap. he nods when you hesitantly approach, watching as the creature remains motionless on the floor. you’re quick to walk past it, entering yet another room. 

the door slams shut behind you as soon as you do with finality. you’re almost grateful for the way the sound echoes. the room appears to be another observation area in between the glass. screens are illuminated on the wall full of various diagrams and blueprints. a desk sits in front of the glass looking into the area. computers and a few chairs sit beside it. various papers are scattered across it, decorating the area. 

a machine stands beside the desk with a small led screen and a button in the middle. leon pushes down on it, causing an automated message to play. the lights turn on to illuminate the various thorns and plants in front of the panel. “dispensing solution now,” the message says. 

the machine clicks as a small vial is pushed out. the liquid inside is an orangey copper color. it moves fluidly when you turn it in your hands. “maybe you should hold onto this,” leon says, handing it over. 

“are you sure? you have more pockets than i do.”

“i also get kicked around more than you do,” he chuckles. 

you playfully roll your eyes as you take the vial before pocketing it. a different door leads into the second area filled with thorns and overgrown plants. a small pathway is partly illuminated by another set of led lights. another creature springs to life with the same clicks. its body collapses against the floor as it jumps down in front of you before it stands upright. leon is quick to shoot it down. the bullets pierce its chest a few times, causing an orange mist to emit from where it gets hit. it dies with a screech, falling motionless to the ground. 

you force your way through another door. it opens into another lab area. the desk is covered with a variety of paperwork and various different chemicals. a machine in the corner catches your attention. it has three small tubes connected to a larger machine. three buttons are at the bottom - green, red, and blue. right next to the first machine is a small opening where you insert the vial. 

the machine accepts it with a small click before whirring to life. the first button lights up as it begins working. “manual mode engaged,” an automated message plays as it begins to scan the vial. it flips after a few seconds. the button blinks before the liquid drains, mixing with something else within the machine. leon takes the new cartridge when it’s pushed back out of the same opening in a different container before handing it back to you. 

“that was… surprisingly simple.” leon chuckles as you pocket the vial, following him out of the lab. 

“it doesn’t look like there’s anything else in here,” leon sighs. “except monsters.”

“the last time i see one of these things will be too soon,” you whisper, following him back out of the room. 

you retrace your steps back out until you find yourself in the lab’s winding hallways once again. the same thick blue line on the floor leads you throughout the facility until you find a set of lockers. abandoned phone chargers, binders filled with notes, and forgotten water bottles are left until you find a signal modulator. it’s a handheld device with two buttons on the side, four different diagrams on the front, and various antennas at the top. “looks useful,” leon quips. you hum, handing it over to him to take. 

you continue through the winding hallways together in a comfortable silence. leon occasionally glances over his shoulder to check that you’re still following him. an unfamiliar feeling of butterflies swarms in your stomach each time his eyes meet yours or he lets his hand brush against your own. it’s too dangerous for him to risk being unarmed - you both know that - but a selfish part of you wishes that you could hold reach over and grab his hand like you did in the precinct. 

“hey,” you tug leon back to your side before he can walk down another hallway. he shines his flashlight towards you before you tilt it down to face a panel in the wall. 

“nice catch,” he smiles. he hands you the signal modulator as you slip it into the empty space. it whines as you turn the knobs to adjust the signal until it clicks into place, confirmed with a small beep.

“man, this place is a maze,” leon murmurs. 

you hum in agreement as you turn to go down a different hallway. you force yet another door open, shivering when a rush of cold air greets you. a white fog blows throughout the room; a result of the subzero temperatures, you suppose. “who left the freezer open?” leon remarks as the door slams shut behind you. you rub your hands against your exposed forearms in a poor attempt to maintain at least some of your body heat as you explore.

a large machine sits in the center of the room. windows allow you to see into a machine. there’s a small cylindrical opening at the bottom of the machine next to a small led screen that reads “standing by.” you pull out the vial, slowly inserting it into the opening. it accepts it with a click as the machine whirs to life. the arm moves down to grab the cartridge, moving it into one of the various containers within the machine. “cooling sequence in progress,” a message plays. 

a small gust of white fog is blown out after a few seconds before the machine’s arm reaches down to return the cartridge through the first opening. the orange liquid has turned blue when you pull the vial out once again. it feels cool to the touch. “think we’re almost done here?” 

“hopefully,” you sigh as you pocket it. “i can’t wait to get out of here.”

“let’s go then,” leon chuckles. 

after what feels like hours of wandering around the lab, you finally make your way back to the greenhouse area. you insert the cartridge into yet another machine, watching as it disappears before a small mist blows over the plants. the once shriveled up leaves spring back to life almost instantaneously.

beside you, the man’s corpse is knocked against the glass. you kneel down to pick up the small, purple chip as it falls to the ground, quickly inserting it into your id wristband. “looks like that did the trick,” leon says. 

the lights remain on as you follow him into the area. most of the hanging vines have pulled back, exposing more of the path and railways in front of you. “warning: you have dispensed a dangerous solution without authorization. your actions have been logged and you may be subject to disciplinary measures.” 

the message goes ignored as you circle back through the lab once again until you make your way back to the large platform in the center.

you step up to the button, pressing on the “area three” button. the machine whirs to life, raising up to meet your feet before clicking into place. “hopefully the g-virus sample’s up here…” leon sighs. you follow him as you jog across the platform to another sliding door. he kneels down to grab another cassette tape off the ground. he pockets it quickly before you continue on.

“there’s another panel over there.”

“here,” leon says, passing you the signal modulator. 

“thanks,” you whisper. it slides into place against the wall before you turn the knobs a few times, adjusting them until the signal lines up perfectly. it clicks for a second before the lights flicker on above you. a vcr sits on a table nearby, coated in a thick layer of dust. leon pulls out the tape, sliding it into place quickly. 

the monitor beside it glitches as it springs to life. the grainy footage shows a doctor frantically searching through a few cabinets before a man’s voice comes plays. “got eyes on the g-virus.”

the footage glitches once again, this time showing a top-down view from a vent above. the man’s arms come into frame as he pushes the vent out of the way before jumping down onto the ground below. the doctor flinches, grabbing the briefcase in his hands and hiding it behind his chest. “doctor birkin, place your hands on your head and get on your knees!”

“you think i didn’t know you were coming?” doctor birkin scoffs. “this is my life’s work!”

“we have our orders, doctor birkin. i’ll ask you one more time…” 

another man comes into frame before multiple gunshots ring out. “stop!” a man yells. doctor birkin falls to the ground - umoving. blood seeps through his lab coat and pools on the floor next to him. “hold your fire!” 

the chaos momentarily stops as another man kneels down to check his pulse. he curses under his breath before turning back to the men. “what the fuck were you thinking? our orders were to bring him in alive!” he sighs, raising a hand up to touch an earpiece. “we’re in, sir, but we had a bit of a… situation. target resisted; we had to take him out. … that’s correct, sir. … roger that. just the samples, then.” the man kneels down to grab the briefcase before turning back to the group. “let’s move!” the camera focuses on doctor birkin’s corpse for another few seconds before it comes to an end in another glitch. 

“so those were the g-virus samples?” 

“i guess so,” you sigh. 

the hallways loop back around to yet another restricted area. you run across the platform to a separate area. the doors hiss when you approach before sliding open. it leads into another runway illuminated by led lights on the floor. sitting on a pillar at the end of the runway is a small cartridge filled with the g-virus. “leon,” you call, gesturing to it. he steps up beside you before reaching over to grab it. it’s so small that it just barely fits in his hand. 

“huh. that was easy,” he quips. you stifle a chuckle as he quickly pockets it. “alright, now back to ada.”

“attention: unauthorized removal of a level 04 virus detected,” an automated message plays over the loudspeakers. “facility lockdown initiated. self-destruct sequence will begin when lockdown is complete.”

“we better get moving,” you murmur. 

“you don’t say,” leon chuckles. you just barely make it back across the platform when the ceiling cracks from above you. rubble begins to crumble down before a monster jumps down. it’s claws scrape against the platform as it stands. 

“you again,” he says, raising his gun. you jump when the doors behind you open up. 

annette pushes past you before shoving leon out of the way. “move! he’s mine,” she says. she raises a gun before shooting at the monster. it howls in pain when a spray of liquid nitrogen hits it. “this has to end,” annette whispers.“what the hell is going on?” leon yells over the chaos. 

“sorry, william,” annette sighs. “you left me no choice.” she shoots the monster once again, hitting it directly in the face. its body writhes for a second before it collapses onto the ground, unmoving.

leon gestures for you to stay back before slowly approaching it. he kneels down next to it beside annette. “you called this thing ‘william.’ why?”

she shakes her head, still focused on the beast in front of you. “it shouldn’t have been like this…” she whispers. “it’s umbrella’s fault - this whole mess.”

“you’re umbrella too,” leon’s eyebrows furrow as he stands up. “you’re telling me you weren’t involved in this?”

“yes…” annette sighs. “but we never meant for this to happen!” 

“tell me everything - right from the start,” leon demands. 

annette takes a shaky breath before she begins. “i found william on the ground. he had been shot. he had a sample of the virus in his hands. he said they ‘wouldn’t get away that easily’ before he…” she looks away, squeezing her eyes shut for a few seconds. “he infected himself with the virus.”

“so you made this monster?”

“we made the g-virus, but we never intended to-”

“you can spell it any way you want. you’re still responsible.”

the monster’s body twitches for a second before an eye emerges and starts blinking. “leon!” you yell. “it’s moving!” 

you both flinch when it springs back to life, grabbing annette with its claw. she struggles in its grasp as it effortlessly lifts her body before throwing her at a nearby wall. her back slams into it first before she collapses against the floor in a heap. 

you rush to her aid as the monster stands up again. it slashes in leon’s direction, claw scraping against the metal. “leon, watch out!” he ducks just in time to avoid another attack from the monster as annette scrambles to her feet. she pushes down on a button making the room light up with flashing red lights. a siren blares through the loudspeakers. 

“what are you doing?” leon yells over the noise. 

“we can’t let him get away!” 

he jumps over the edge of another moving platform to jump down back onto steady ground. “alright,” he whispers. “let’s end this here.” 

“class a breach detected,” an automated message plays over the siren. “lab quarantined until target is neutralized.”

you watch anxiously from above as the sound of gunshots mixes with the clash of the monster’s claws against metal. sparks ignite with each slash against metal wiring. leon grunts as he avoids yet another attack, leading the monster away from where you’re standing on the balcony above. he grabs a grenade from his waistband, pulling the pin out before throwing it at the monster. your ears ring when it explodes. more rubble crumbles down from above as the lab around you continues to fall. you let out a small sigh of relief when the beast finally collapses against the ground - dead. 

“target has been neutralized,” the message plays. “ending quarantine.” 

“leon?”

“i’m okay!” he yells. “stay put. i’ll be right there!”

a service lift clicks into place before leon rushes to your side. annette’s breathing is shaky and blood stains her shirt. “jesus, that looks bad,” he whispers, kneeling down beside you. 

“feels worse, believe me,: she heaves.

“look, about what you said… i don’t know how much i believe it, but i’m willing to-”

“just tell me you’ll destroy damn g-virus sample,” annette rasps. 

“no, it’s evidence. it’s going to the fbi.”

“you trust that bitch?” she bitterly laughs. 

leon pulls away, furrowing his eyebrows. “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“she’s not fbi. she’s a mercenary. she’s gonna sell it - the g-virus is going to the highest bidder.”

“that’s bullshit,” leon says as he stands. you follow him, reaching over to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. he takes a breath before turning back to annette. 

“i hope you’re right,” she says, shifting to lay on her side. “but if the g-virus… gets into the wrong hands…” her words taper off as she collapses against the floor. you kneel down beside her, reaching over to place two fingers against her wrist. you can feel the beating slow to an eventual stop before her body relaxes. 

you glance back up at leon, shaking your head. he lets out a small sigh as you reach over to close annette’s eyes before you stand up to rejoin his side. you can see some of the tension relaxing from his shoulders when you reach over to grab his hand, intertwining your fingers together. 

“come on,” you whisper. “let’s go.”

you both jump at the sudden sound of another automated message in place of the sirens. “attention: self destruct sequence initiated,” leon squeezes your hand as you both start running back through the lab. “use the central elevator to evacuate immediately to the bottom level train platform.”

you pass through various sliding doors out of “area three” until you find the central platform once again. you’re surprised to see ada limping her way towards one of the machines that controls how the runways move. “ada!” you call out. she presses a handheld device against it making it shift until a platform rises up, giving you a clear way to her. 

“i was just thinking about you,” leon says as you walk towards her. 

the ground beneath you shifts as the lab begins to shake. “that makes two of us. i was getting worried.”

“you know, we make a good team, but i need to ask you something.”

“this way’s clear. please, tell me you got it.”

“oh, i got it.”

“leon,” you whisper. the platform beneath your feet continues to vibrate beneath your feet. 

he waves you off, turning back to ada. “let me verify the g-virus sample and we’ll get the hell out of here.”

“before we do that… i ran into annette. she said you’re not fbi.”

ada sighs, glancing back at you for a second. “oh, leon…” you flinch back when she pulls out a pistol, aiming it at him. “why couldn’t you just hand over the sample?”

“ada, wait-”

“back up y/n!” she says, refocusing back on leon. “i don’t want to hurt you.”

“y/n, listen to her.” you don’t move, staring between the two people you’ve grown to trust more than you thought was possible over the course of a single night. leon turns back to ada, pulling out his own gun. “i realized, as much as i wanted to trust you… i didn’t.”

“i really hoped it wouldn’t end up like this.”

“so that’s all this was… we were just pawns to you?”

ada scoffs, cocking her head. “i’m just doing my job.”

“and i’m doing mine, so drop that damn gun! i’m taking you in.” 

ada remains unfazed by his determination and the gun pointed at her chest. “hand over the sample, leon. i don’t want to hurt you.”

the runway you’re standing on shakes once again. it begins to fall apart beneath your feet, breaking away from where it’s attached to the platform. you stumble slightly under the unsteadiness. finally, leon lowers his gun. he drops his hands back to his sides as he sighs. “fine. then you shoot me, but i don’t think you can.”

“y/n!” you flinch when the ground beneath your feet fully collapses. 

“ada!” leon grabs your waist before you fully slide off the platform as you reach down to grab ada’s hand. you’re just barely able to catch her wrist, letting leon hold your body up. you watch as the sample falls; glass cartridge clinking against a metal railing as it tumbles down into the abyss below. 

“y/n…”  

“hold on… i’m not gonna let you go.”

“forget it,” ada says. 

“shut up! we’ve got you!” leon yells over the chaos. 

you tighten your grip around her hand when it starts to slip, willing yourself to hold on tighter. “it’s not worth it!” 

“don’t do this…” leon begs. 

ada glances down into the darkness below before turning back to you with a small smile. “take care of yourself. both of you.”

“no!” you scream when her hand slips out of yours; her body tumbling down into the void. 

you’re biting back tears as leon tugs you up away from the edge of the platform, forcing you to run with him towards more stable ground. his arm snakes around your waist as he pulls you along with him. “come on. we need to go.” 

you forcefully wipe your eyes as you scramble to your feet. you glance down into the dark one final time before you start running. alarms continue to blare around you. the sound rattles your bones and pushes you to go faster - push yourself harder. 

“nine minutes until detonation,” the announcement plays. you run into the elevator at the center of the platform just before the ground falls apart underneath your feet. the elevator hisses as it shuts around you, slowly beginning the descent. 

“i’m sorry,” leon whispers. you glance over at him as he squeezes your hand. “about ada.”

there are millions of thoughts swirling around in your head, though you can’t make sense of any of them. instead you refocus on the doors in front of you, watching as you slowly pass by the various different floors. “yeah,” you finally reply. “i am too.”

the elevator comes to a stop with a small jolt before the doors slide open. you run past a hallway filled with computers until something catches leon’s attention on one of the monitors. through the staticy footage you can just barely make out the figure of a woman. 

“claire?” he yells. “claire!”

“leon? you’re down here too?”

“yeah, but the whole place is coming down,” he pulls back to glance at the monitor. a giant warning signal flashes across it. “listen to me, you need to get out. fast!” 

“yeah, there’s a way out. we can make it. where are you now?”

“claire? are you still there?”

“leon?” the static increases and the audio begins cutting out. you anxiously glance back at the timer as leon leans in even closer. “hey, leon, you’re breaking up.”

“forget about me! just get out of here!” the only response comes in the form of static. “damn it,” he cusses to himself. 

“leon, come on,” you yell, tugging him through the hallway. an explosion goes off just as you exit the building, lighting the nearby area up in flames. you push your anxiety down as you run to the cable car. 

it feels like an excruciatingly slow descent until you finally make it back onto steady ground. leon shoots down a few stray creatures that lunge at you from the shadows as you maneuver through the back alleyways of umbrella’s lab. you jump when a large figure catches your attention; a man - the same man that attacked you in the police station’s parking garage. 

“is this a fucking joke?” leon yells. a rush of hot air greets you as you push yet another door open. various pipes and tanks are set on fire, burning behind metal railings. you bring your arms up to cover your face as you push your way through. another explosion blocks off the area you were running through before the same man jumps down behind you. the metal grate you’re standing on falters when another explosion lights before it knocks you down completely. 

you wince as your shoulder slams into the ground below. you’re quick to scramble to your feet before pulling leon up with you. “we need to keep moving!” you yell. he grunts as he forces himself up as you start running once again. you rush through another set of doors, going further into the alleyways. 

leon wraps his arms around you, pulling you down to the ground with him as a nearby fuel tank explodes. pieces of shrapnel go flying all around you. a beam falls down, causing even more flames to erupt nearby. you cough violently as the chaos settles down. “are you okay?” he asks, patting your shoulder. 

“yeah,” you rasp. “i’m fine.” 

your momentary bliss is broken when the ground underneath you begins shaking once again. “what the hell…” leon mutters. the giant emerges from the shadows - now shirtless but still intimidating as ever. “oh shit.” the man is unfazed by the flames ignited against his shoulder as he jumps down in front of you. “y/n, get out of here!” he yells. 

“i’m not leaving you!” you reply. his rebuttals are cut off by the man effortlessly tossing a metal beam in your direction. you’re quick to react; pulling leon out of the way to momentary safety. he gives you a small nod as a form of saying thanks before raising his gun. 

“alright, come on!” 

“six minutes until detonation,” the message plays. it’s just barely audible amidst the chaos. you jump out of the way when the man swings a clawed arm at you, doing your best to dodge his attacks. despite hitting him numerous times in areas that should be fatal, leon’s bullets don’t faze the man at all. it charges at you, using the flaming clawed arm to break a concrete wall apart. 

the man knocks another metal beam down, making even more of the ground crumble around you. an opened case sliding towards you catches your attention. a rocket launcher lays inside, neatly tucked inside two thick pieces of black styrofoam. “leon!” you yell, pushing it over to him. 

“nice,” he chuckles, reaching down to grab it. it sits heavily against his shoulder as he aims it towards the man, hitting him directly in the chest. you use your hands to block the explosion. you squeeze your eyes shut as your ears ring. you cough a few times as the smoke slowly clears. 

leon rushes over to your side once again, helping you up with a gentle arm around your waist to support your body against his. the lower half of the man’s body lays on the ground. blood pools on the floor around it. “are you okay?”

“never been better,” you quip. he simply rolls his eyes, tugging your arm over his shoulders to support you. the approaching sound of a train horn blowing is an unusually comforting sound. “let’s get the hell out of here.”

“yeah,” he nods. you run towards the train, jumping to catch onto one of the open carts before tugging leon up with you. you leave explosions and falling rubble behind as the train blows past into a tunnel, leading you far away from umbrella and it’s lab. 

leon glances back at the rubble before turning back to face you. he reaches over to pull you into a sweet kiss as you let out a small sigh, leaning your head against his shoulder. he intertwines his fingers with yours as you force yourself to stand despite your growing exhaustion. 

the door slides open as soon as you approach, exposing a different train cart. a tall, perky, brunette woman stands next to a young blonde girl. “leon,” she smiles as you approach. 

“claire.” your eyes flick to the girl as she smiles up at you. “who’s this?”

“oh, this is sherry,” claire smiles, wrapping her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “and…” 

“y/n,” you introduce. 

“i met him in the precinct,” leon explains. his arm snakes around your waist as you sit down against the wall, finally letting yourself relax. he coaxes you to lean against his chest, leaning down to whisper in your ear. “sleep,” he murmurs. “i’ll be here when you wake up.”

-

true to his word, leon wakes you in the morning with a small kiss pressed against your forehead and a gentle hand stroking against your cheek. “morning sunshine,” he smiles when your eyes flutter open. you groan as you stretch your sore joints before dramatically collapsing against the floor. 

“come on,” leon chuckles. “get up. the train stopped moving a few hours after you fell asleep. we need to get moving.” 

“fine,” you sigh, letting him pull you to your feet. you brush the dirt off of your jeans as you meet back up with claire and sherry. 

“ready?” she smiles. 

“yeah,” leon nods. “let’s go.”

the summer heat glares down at you as you start to trudge through the desert. leon reaches over to grab your hand into his - a habit you’ve both seemed to pick up - before you intertwine your fingers together. “so…” sherry begins as she breaks the silence. she glances from claire to leon before continuing. “are you guys, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“no,” claire chuckles as leon’s face flushes a light pink. “we actually just met last night.”

“oh. well then, what about you two?” she asks, looking over at you and leon. 

you glance from down at her to up at him, stifling a chuckle. “yeah,” he smiles. “we’re dating.” you look away, doing your best to ignore the way butterflies immediately swarm in your stomach. 

leon squeezes your hand as he stifles a laugh of his own before sherry gasps. she points at something approaching ahead, just barely visible in the distance. “look!” 

you pull sherry to the side of the road, standing beside her with claire. leon walks to the center, hand resting over his gun holster. the gentle roar of an engine slowly approaches. you watch as a semi truck drives by, completely ignoring you as it does. the tires blow dust up at you as it fades away into the distance. 

leon sighs as he walks back over to you. “well, he was friendly.”

“so… is it over?” claire asks. 

“i don’t know. but if it’s not, we’ll stop it. whatever it takes.”

“come on,” you smile, reaching over to grab sherry’s hand. claire laughs as sherry happily skips along between your arms as you slowly make your way out of raccoon city.

[jasntodds]

Petrichor [9]

Pairing: Jason Todd x Fem!Powered!Reader (little bit of fwb)

Words: 13,975

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, angst, mentions of canon violence, canon drug use, mentions of death, canon grave digging??

Summary:❝Pylades: I’ll take care of you. Orestes: It’s rotten work. Pylades: Not to me. Not if it’s you.❞

Gotham is home, not just for Jason but for you, too. And now that you’re both finally back home, together, you’re ready to see where this next chapter brings the two of you. He’s your best friend and you’re his. And you both might want a little something more with being back home, the place you both feel most comfortable. Surely, nothing could possibly go wrong now.

A/N: The way I rewrote the beginning of this like 4 times skjdhfsjk Again, I'm really sorry I left you guys on a cliffhanger lmao I really thought I'd have it done and then did not lol You can add yourself to the tag list below, ask me to be tagged, or you can follow my library blog @jasntoddslibrary  and turn on notifications if you prefer that!! I love feedback, I swear it keeps me posting on a weekly basis 😭

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“Please, don’t be mad.”

His voice. You would know that voice anywhere and you freeze. Your heart feels like it’s just plummented to streets below you because it can’t be him. It’s your mind playing tricks on you. It has to be because he’s dead. You know for a fact he’s dead. This is some cruel joke he’s playing, somehow.

Maybe you really did piss him off. If he has your phone number and knew you’d meet him here, in uniform, maybe he knows more. Maybe he knows Jason was Robin and you were together. Your social media feeds were consumed with each other. It was obvious. Maybe that’s what this is. Some mind game as payback for going after someone he wanted to kill himself or someone he wanted to recruit for his new crime family. It has to be. Because Jason Todd is dead.

You look over at him slowly, seeing the green eyes that haunt you in your dreams now. There’s the mark near his left eye he’s had since you met. You memorized where the few freckles are and they match on Red Hood. He’s the same height as Jason. His brows are knitted together in the same way Jason always did when he was thinking and pleading with you for something. The only difference is his hair. Jason doesn’t have a white streak. So, it can’t be him. He’s dead.

You move away from him quickly, putting your hand out in front of you as it glows neon green. You gain a scowl as you clench your jaw. Not him.

“Tell me who the fuck you are before I melt your sorry ass!” You yell at him. You don’t care what he’s capable of. If Red Hood wants to play this game, you’ll play right back and you’ll go down swinging. It’s not a joke and it’s just cruel.

Jason faces you, eyeing you carefully. He knew you wouldn’t believe him. You're smart. You're going to make sure he’s real. But it hurts anyway.

“It’s me.” Jason states holding the helmet on his hip. “I swear, alright? It’s me.”

You shake your head as you feel your eyes grow warm and the tip of your nose warm. Your eyes start to water and it’s actually embarrassing. You can’t actually stand here ready to kill him while crying. Whatever his endgame is, he has to be winning because your hand starts to shake and you swear it’s not him.

“No…because I-I…no.” Your words are rugged and breathy. “I found him.” You mutter through gritted teeth. “He’s dead.” You suck in a breath, keeping your stare on him. “You’re. Not. Him.”

You know it can’t be him because that’s not possible. It’s not possible that someone can die and come back to life. Bruce had an autopsy performed even. Even if there was a way, there was an autopsy. How can someone come back from that? You read the report, you saw the pictures. That is real. Can he survive being bludgeoned with a crowbar and then being embalmed? That doesn’t make any fucking sense. And if he were really Jason, why wouldn’t he come to you as soon as he comes back to life? Why would he become Red Hood first? Why would he go to Molly first? You saw him, cold and pale and lifeless with autopsy scars on a slab. This isn’t Jason.

Jason’s heart drops because you never should have been the one to find him. He knew you would. Jason remembers every thought he had before everything went black and he remembers knowing you’d come because you’d always come to find him. But, he was really, really hoping he was wrong and it was anyone else. It just had to be you. Jason doesn’t know what the damage was but he has a pretty good guess it was pretty ugly and mortifying. It wasn’t enough that he literally died, but it had to be you to fucking find him.

And his heart breaks with the look you're giving him because you've always trusted him. But right now, just by the scowl and vibrancy of the green of your hand, he knows you don’t. You have to believe him. You have to.

“I gave you a necklace.” Jason states, looking to your neck that’s covered with the suit. “Infinity symbol, because it’s you and me. There’s a tracking device in it because you have a habit of getting kidnapped.” Jason nods at you once as he manages his signature smirk. “You’re probably still wearing it because you never took it off since the night of the gala.” Jason gestures a hand towards you lazily and you swear the necklace starts burning your neck. “You picked out the hood for your suit. And you were always afraid of heights but grappling around the city has apparently helped you get over it. I have a favorite gargoyle. You and Bruce are the only two who know that.” Jason tries to think of other things only him and you would know. He remembers everything but it has to be specific because just anything is never going to fly with you.

You pause and you think Jason has to be the only one who would know all of that. Anyone would know about the necklace but not the reason or the tracking device. You never even told Molly why he gave it to you. You always said it was just something nice he did. No one would know you picked out your hood besides Bruce and Gar. And the gargoyle thing is so damn odd that no one would even think of that. But he did. But it can’t be him. How can it be him?

“My favorite meal is pot roast which I taught you to make the same day you taught me scrapbooking stuff. My page was about Robin, of course, it was, right?” Jason shakes his head as he scoffs. The name of Robin is almost sour on his lips now. “Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book and I really like West Side Story, it was our second date that you planned.” Jason takes a step forward with a sigh and you keep your footing as your hand lowers just a little. “Krypto is your best friend even though he’s a dog. You like Excellent Gothsm which I think you like going to because you suck at making friends but you think Tim is cool.” Jason grins at you as you glare at him in the way you always did when he was saying something just to get under your skin. “Hey, you said that yourself.” Jason chuckles softly, looking to the ground and your face softens just slightly. He always did that. “I dumped a bucket of ice water on you once, back in San Francisco.” Jason lets out this laugh and he can’t see it, but it gets you to smile under your mask. That’s definitely his laugh because it’s booming and it echoes over the roof.

“Asshole.” You mutter as Jason watches the glowing start to fade.

“You ate the rest of my food! On purpose!” He laughs and there’s this light in his eyes as he gives you this teasing grin. The one he always gave you right before you caved.

“I thought it would be funny.” You lower your hand. “And it was.” The venom in your voice is gone.

“Yeah, sure it was.” Jason sucks in a breath.

Your face softens as you take off your mask and Jason sucks in a deep breath. He waits, nearly wanting to jump out of his own skin. He knows you're running every possibility through your head, just to be sure. He has to wait for you to land on this to be real and true. But it’s agonizing and he can’t breathe as he waits. But as he waits, he can see the disbelieve and what he swears was hatred, dissolve from the lines on your face. Your brows knit together as your eyes start to water.

“Jay?” Your voice trembles through the space between you.

Jason nods softly. “Yeah, it’s me.”

You suck in a breath and run the distance between you. You slam into him with a force as your arms wrap around his neck and this time, without hesitation, Jason’s arms wrap around your middle. He holds you as close to him as possible as his eyes close. You smell like his body wash and shampoo and he can’t help but smile. Of course, you do.

It’s unbelievable. You have no idea how it’s possible but it has to be him. No one else would be able to know all of that. You and Jason always kept so much close to your chests when it came to the two of you, you know he didn’t tell anyone. He wouldn’t. It has to be him and you're relieved. You're wrapped in his arms again and it’s like you've been sucked back home in an instant.

It's relief that hits Jason like a freight train. It's firm and hard but comforting. An easy breath of air leaves his lungs and it's as if he hasn't been able to take a full breath since coming back, not until now. Your arms are wrapped around his neck so right he thinks you might strangle him and it feels good. He was so scared you'd punch him and tell him off and leave. He died and a really big part of him, thinks you should do all of those things. But, you don't and Jason is just happy to have you with him, if just for this moment.

Jason pulls down your hood to get you to look at him and the second you do, one of his hands comes up the back of your head and he brings your lips to his. His hand tangles in your hair and he keeps his other wrapped as tightly as he can as if he were to let go for even a second, he'd wake up to relive another nightmare. 

Your mouths move together almost carefully at first before it grows sloppy and almost desperate. You slide your hands into the curls at the nape of his neck and you think nothing, right now matters. You can exist right here on this rooftop just like this with him. If you stay like this, nothing can happen. Nothing bad can happen again if you can just stay like this. You beg and plead with the universe to just freeze time but the universe never seems to listen to your pleas.

"I'm so sorry." Jason mutters against your lips, his breath heaving but he keeps his lips just hovering above yours as if he's terrified to move.

You're the one that pulls away to get a good look at him. "W-what...I--" You shake your head and Jason's heart sinks as he feels your arms loosen around his neck. "You died." You chew the inside of your cheek. "H-how?"

“Lazarus Pit.” Jason states. “I don’t know how it works but I was put in it and came out alive.”

Jason knows he can’t tell you much. If he tells you what’s going on, it’ll complicate things a little. Crane already doesn’t trust you. And Jason knows that. Jason also knows you’ll lose your mind if you find out what he’s doing, the whole story. He knows he can’t tell you. Not until the time is right but you, at the very fucking least, deserve to know he’s alive and how. The Titans will find out eventually anyway and none of them could go back and tell you. You’d never forgive him.

If this were any other city, you would say that were a load of shit. But this is Gotham where the impossible always seems possible in the most fucked up ways. It’s just a normal thing here. Acid creating whatever fuck the Joker was. That same acid turning Harley Quinn into whatever she is now that’s actually nothing like the Joker. Poison Ivy accidentally spilling a chemical and turning into what she is now. Insane scientists that torment the city with magic tricks and fear gas. Maybe Lazuaus Pit makes sense.

“Lazarus Pit.” You nod your head once. “That tracks.” You let out a sigh.

“Yeah.” A forced chuckle leaves Jason’s lips as he drops his hand from your hair and moves it to your waist.

“Who put you in it then?” You ask as your hands find their way to his biceps and there's a trickling of anger starting to drip into your stomach.

You're thrilled and relieved he's alive and he's real. But, you're also smack in the middle of grieving him. Now, he's suddenly alive and it's not like he just walked into the manor one day. He's been out here being Red Hood for days and you're just now finding out about it. The relief of him being alive is still throbbing with your heart but there's an anger that's there, moving in slowly. It's as if your body is so used to being mad at the entire world or absolutely miserable that it doesn't know what to do right now. And you think you might be getting whiplash from the emotions. It’s like you go numb as your body sorts through which emotion it wants to land on like some sick arcade game.

Jason shakes his head, knowing this is about to go south. “I can’t tell you.” Jason answers honestly.

That simple sentence of keeping you in the dark, lets your brain settle on anger. He died and you don't even get an explanation as to who brought him back? 

You let out this hollowed version of a laugh as you nod your head and you take a step back from him. Jason's hands nearly linger in the air and he swears this is going to be bad. “Oh, okay.” You quip. “So, you get to come back from the fucking dead and just not tell me shit!? That’s how is going to go?” You yell at him. Anger seems to be the easy default emotion lately. But, this time, it gets to be at the person causing it even if it’s not his fault.

There were several reasons Jason didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want you involved being high up on that list. He knows you better than anyone and he knows you're gonna dig. You're going to dig until you get answers and he knows Crane won’t like that. You’ll figure it out. If you figure it out, you’ll be in danger. He doesn’t know what Crane is going to do or want him to do if you figure it out. There’s also the guilt of it all that’s chewing at him.

He feels guilty now. Now that he isn’t high. He feels guilty that he left you alone. And he knew you would probably yell at him. He deserves it but that doesn’t mean he wants to hear it. It hurts him to see you like this. To see you clearly wanting to walk away from this. To walk away from him. He wanted to avoid it all. But that’s not fair and he misses you. And he feels guilty that he’s been lying to you and has to keep lying. None of it is fair to you and you've always been the one person he can trust. You've always been the one person who offers him understanding even when you shouldn’t. But, it’ll keep you safe and at arm’s length and he knows that. It has to be like that until it’s safe. Your safety is still one of his priorities, even when he’s high. That doesn’t change.

“Look, there’s a plan, okay?” Jason sucks in a shaky breath. “I just can’t—“

“Do you think I give a flying fuck about a plan right now!?” You scream back and you know you're angry and that’s not fair either.

But it fucking hurts. It hurts so bad that you just need to scream. You need to scream at the one person who has caused you to hurt this badly and that's him. He died. He died and left you here alone to deal with it all alone. He made a stupid decision and it got him killed. He fucking knew better and he died anyway. And you're pissed about it. But, you stop yourself there because everything you want to say seems cruel. It all seems too cruel to say and it's just the emotions getting in the way because you know you don't mean any of it. And what if it's enough to get him to leave and he dies permanently? You can't say what you're thinking out of fear he won't come back again. You have to bite it down as tears brim your eyes.

"It's fucking dangerous, alright?" Jason pleads with you as he watches the tears wet your cheeks. He never meant to hurt you. Not you. "I don't want you involved."

"And I just have to accept that?" Your voice cracks.

"Yeah." Jason nods softly.

Jason is begging for that to be enough. It should be. It should be enough and it would have been had he not died. You would have blindly trusted everything that came out of his mouth but then he died. And you don't anymore. That changed things.

He says this is dangerous and expects you to just trust him with something dangerous again. The last time he did something dangerous, he got a crowbar to the face by a maniac. It's as if that doesn't matter to him. That it doesn't matter to him that it matters to you. You can't handle being in the dark. Not again.

"Well, that's bullshit!" You yell so loudly it echoes over the rooftop. "You died!" You let out a cry. "You died and you're back! I deserve an explanation!" You throw your arm out to the side.

Jason steps forward, trying to close the distance between you again, wanting so desperately to pull you into him. "I know." He nods and the only reason he doesn't grab you is because he's worried you might lose it entirely. "You have to believe me, okay? I told you when I could."

"That's not fucking fair, Jason!" You bark, your hands balling at your sides as they start to shake with some lethal combination of anger and heartbreak. "You get to come back and be Red Hood and I just have to be okay!? You went to fucking Molly before you came to me! You fucking left me!" Your voice cracks as your heart thunders desperately against your ribcage.

He knew. He always knew one of you wouldn't come home and it would destroy whoever was left in the wake of your death. And he always figured it would be him because of his recklessness. But a part of him wondered if it would be you since the universe loves to torture him. But of course, it would be him because dying broke you. And you breaking breaks him.

"I know it fucking sucks, alright?" Jason raises his voice swallowing the lump in his throat. "I know! I'm cleaning up Gotham, alright? That's what's going on. I found Diego and had to bring him to her, that's all! I'm so fucking sorry." There's desperation in his voice.

"Sorry doesn't fucking fix it, Jason!" You suck in a shaky breath as your heart breaks further. Why does it hurt so bad when he's alive? It shouldn't still hurt but it does. "It doesn't fucking fix it!" You let out a cry as your nose scrunches.

Sorry doesn't make the last six days suddenly disappear from your memory. Sorry doesn't make it feel any better. Sorry fixes nothing because you still found his dead body. Sorry fixes nothing because it's just a fucking word and your heart hurts and everything hurts.

"I know." Jason lowers his voice. "I know, alright? Just--"

"No, you don't!" You step forward and push his chest, every emotion flooding your system to the point it just needs somewhere to go. "You died!" You let out a wail as you shove him again, harder this time as he takes a step back. "It destroyed me!" You shove him again but it's weaker this time. "It destroyed me." Your voice lowers as you rest your fists on his chest. "You died and it destroyed me and I had to fucking find you and I tried! I tried to save you!" You hit your fist on his chest. "I tried and it didn't fucking do anything because you were already dead! It's been fucking hell! It hurts and I can't sleep and I can't eat and I can't stop fucking crying and Gar will get me to laugh and I feel guilty. And I feel fucking guilty I missed it! Because you had this stupid fucking idea to go after the fucking Joker on your own! If you wanted to prove something, fuck! Take me with you, Jason!" You hit his chest again as you look up at him. "I would have gone with you!" You shake your head as tears fall down your cheeks. " You shove him again. "You fucking left me!" You shove him again but this time, he grabs your wrists as you let out a sob. "You left me." You let out a weak whine.

Jason's eyes glass over and he is so sorry. There should be another word stronger than sorry because even that doesn't feel right. He feels so guilty and he doesn't think he'll ever not feel guilty over it. He swears he'll always feel this heaviness in his chest, a burning pain where your name is still stitched into the flesh. The Joker murdered him brutally and he's the one that feels guilty and at fault because you're right. He shouldn't have gone and he should have told you. But, that wasn't the plan and this was his to prove, not yours. It was always about him with that one. It should have been his. And he's so fucking sorry.

"I know." Jason nods as he feels your arms relax in his hands. "I fucking know and I-I don't know." Jason shrugs as he drops your wrists. "I'm fucking sorry."

Your body shakes slightly as a silent cry escapes your lips. Jason knows he'll never be able to forgive himself for this one. He doesn't think either of you will come back from this. How could you? He might be alive but that doesn't change what it did to you. It doesn't change that he lied and is still lying to you. He always swore you deserved better and that thought has never been more true.

"I know." You nod softly and you're tired.

You rest your head against him sucking in a breath and you hate that you're even mad at him. You know it's not his fault. It's not his fault he was murdered. It was stupid, it was dumb. It got him killed but it's not his fault. The Joker was a maniac who took an opportunity. Jason got killed and that is not his fault and you know that. It's not fair to put the blame on him because you're mad but you just couldn't help it. It all just came out like a volcano long overdue for an eruption. You're just...hurt. By all of it. But, yelling at him, kind of helped a little bit and you can't stay mad. It was always something you were bad at and something Jasn was always really good at. You can't stay mad at him ever but especially now when he's alive. He's alive and you're happy he is. So, you bite down the hurt of everything as you look back up to him.

"I'm so sorry." Jason's voice cracks. "I never meant to....to die." Jason grits his teeth and that's part of why he likes the drug. He isn't haunted by that night when he takes it. He remembers everything.

"I know." Your voice is broken as you nod. "It's just...it's...it's so fucking hard, Jay." The use of his nickname fills this void in his heart. "And nothing helps." You put a hand to his face and he almost pulls away. "I really fucking miss you." Your thumb traces over his cheek and he misses you, too.

Jason places a hesitant hand over yours. "I'm alive, alright? I never meant for that shit to happen and I'm sorry I didn't fucking tell you. Please, believe me."

"Why didn't you?" You ask as you search his face for any answers while you drop your hand.

"I'm just fucking tired of the nightmares and shaky hands and being fucking scared." Jason lets out an annoyed scoff. "Robin isn't scared so I....I got some help." Jason shakes his head as you raise a brow. You hate the sound of that sentence. "And...I didn't want your help. I didn't want you to get dragged into it, alright?"

"I would have helped, Jay." You plead with him. "You could have told me. You know, you can tell me anything. I'm always on your side."

Jason knows. He knows but he also knew the risk all of this would take. If he told you he went to Crane for help, he thinks you'd leave, even now you'd probably leave. You're understanding but you have lines and Jason thinks Crane would be your line. Jason working with him. You would blame Crane for him dying and Jason is protecting him. At the end of the day, Crane is helping him with the drug and the city. Crane brought him back to life. Maybe he's not so bad but he can't tell you that. He knows he if tells you anything more, you'll probably leave and he can't lose you. And the idea of you being out there with him that night, nearly sends him into cardiac arrest. You'd be dead, too but Crane probably wouldn't have brought you back.

"I didn't want your help." Jason urges. "It wasn't your fucking problem, alright? I wanted to do it on my own."

You offer him a subtle nod as you sniffle. "We're supposed to be a team. Your problems are my problems, Jay. I know you're thinking it, you're not a burden to me." You plead with him to believe you. "But, I get it." You nod softly, chewing the inside of your cheek because you do understand him wanting to do it by himself. You get it. "Why can't you tell me now?"

Jason's heart skips with you saying he's not a burden because he swears if you only knew, you'd think differently. It's all too much. You say it's not a burden but your eyes are sunken in and there are dark bags under your eyes. Your eyes aren't crinkling at the edges and you lack the fire across your expression Jason always adored so much. This has been a burden. He hasn't even been around and he's been a burden anyway. But, he doesn't want to stand here and go back and forth about that. He can't stand here and do that.

Jason cautiously moves his hands to your hips and a part of him thinks you'll push him away but you don't. "I can't lose you." Jason states quietly.

Your brows knit together as if you're trying to hold back more tears. A shakey breath leaves your lungs and somehow, your chest feels heavier. "Yeah, but I lost you." You plead with him. "You're not gonna lose me, Jay." You shake your head. He wants to believe that so badly but if you only knew, you wouldn't be saying that.

"I won't risk it." Jason keeps his stance firm but his voice is still quiet and soft.

You still mean more to him than he'll ever be able to say out loud. He won't risk losing you, not to all of the shit that's going on. He doesn't know what he would do if he did.

You let out a sigh and decide to settle for the answer, seeing the look of desperation clouding his eyes. "Okay." You nod softly. "Then, what the fuck were you doing making a drug?" You ask him with exasperation but you watch him carefully. Jason isn't stupid, he knows how to cover his tracks if he wants to. If didn't want someone finding that formula, no one would have found it.

Jason's eyes dodge to the ground before coming to back yours. He left it out on purpose. He knew, despite the drug's false sense of confidence, there was a chance he wouldn't come back. Jason wanted you to know if he didn't make it back but by how you're asking, he can tell you didn't figure it out yet which is a relief.

"If you fucking tell me you can't tell me, I'm going to lose my shit." You blink at him.

"You found it?" Jason asks.

"No, Dick did. I was a little busy ya know, grieving you to be searching your room for clues. Dick was a detective, he wants answers, too. So, you wanna explain that or?"

Jason shakes his head and he can see you at the end of your rope. "I can't tell you." Jason scoffs.

"Fuck you." You huff back as Jason swears his heart is actively bleeding right through his ribs.

"It's to do with the plan." Jason states. "I can't tell you anything more--"

"Bullshit. You can and you're choosing not to. You can always trust me so it's bullshit. I don't--"

"No!" Jason yells back. "Because if I fucking tell you, you're going back to Dick and you're gonna tell him because you'll be fucking worried. You always worried too damn much! It'll ruin everything and I don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to do if they fucking find out you know!"

"Gee, I wonder why I worry so much, Jay." You quip. "Who the fuck is they?"

Jason's eyes go glossy and he can't do this. He can't do it. "Please, I can't fucking tell you."

"We're supposed to be a team. You and me."

"I know. I'm fucking sorry. I just can't. Please. You say you trust me so trust me." Jason's fingers dig into your hips with the plea.

You nod and you know he's sorry. He feels guilty and it's going to eat him. He doesn't deserve it and you think, the best thing you can do right now, is try to drop it a little bit for right now. You can come back to this.

"I forgive you, okay?" You roll your eyes. "And I'll drop it right now but we're definitely circling back to it. But, you have to tell me something, okay? I deserve that." You ask with hope in your eyes for the first time since he died.

He can give you that. He can give you something else to hold you off for a little while. That's fair. You forgive him for right now and it's him and you.

"I'm working with someone who has the same vision for the city. They got me into the pit and brought me back." Jason explains. "Ya know, taking out the big players and shit. They don't want anyone to know."

"So, you decided to be the face because?" You question with a raised brow. This is weird. Someone else wants to run the crime of the city, but it's too big of a risk for them to show their face but not for Jason to be handling all of it?

"I've got the training." Jason shrugs casually. "You trust me, right?" Jason asks.

"Of course." You nod as your words are slow. "But, it's weird and I think you know that."

"It is." Jason chuckles. "Just...trust me, babe. I got this, promise." Jason offers you his troubled grin as he squeezes your hips.

"That really is not as reassuring as you think it is, Jay." You offer him a grin but you decide to take it. You have to take what he's willing to give you right now but you're definitely digging into this one and you're gonna let Jason think you're letting it go. You don't want him to go off the deep end trying to cover more of his tracks. "Fine." You widen your eyes at him as Jason gives you a smirk. "Still mad at you."

Going back and forth isn't going to do either of you any good, especially since Jason is clearly going to keep everything a secret anyway. So, you decide, you'll dig later and you'll just let you both exist in this moment back together. You don't want him to have to go and it leave like this.

"Good." Jason nods quickly as you give him a fake scowl.

"Yeah, fuck you." You nearly laugh as you say it and the cold feeling in your chest starts to dethaw.

"Time and place, babe." Jason quips back and he has missed you so much.

"Fuck off." You shake your head as you look down and then back to him, looking at the streak of hair. "Are you okay? Ya know, ya died."

Jason nods. "Yeah, all good." Jason clears his throat. He watches you start to chew your cheek as your eyes scan over his face. The soft smile starts to fall short as he sees the distress start to take over and he knows. "I remember it, I know you want to ask."

"Yeah..." You nod and you swear you just swallowed your own heartbeat. "That's....fucked." You nod with wide eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, not your fucking fault. I'll be fine." Jason shakes his head and he desperately cannot talk about it. Not like this. He can already feel his hands start to grow clammy and cold. They're nearly vibrating against your suit. "Can we not..."

"Yeah." You smile softly as you run your fingers through his hair. You change the subject more light-hearted. "What's up with the hair?" You laugh softly as the white strands fall through your fingers.

Jason's eyes look up as the strands fall onto his forehead. "Fucking stupid, right?"

"I like it, actually. It looks good on you." You drop your hand, a smile splitting your face.

Jason's heart thunders against his ribs and he hasn't felt happy since coming back, not really. He's been a little busy getting things in motion for him and Crane. There was of course a weird relief and happiness of being alive but that was just immediately followed by guilt and anxiety, like he distrubed the forces of nature by coming back. The drug helps that fear, too. And it helps the guilt, a lot more than Jason really realized it would. But, he hasn't felt happy and he finds himself looking down at you and he feels a sense of happiness. It's different than before, but it's there like a small light hidden in the back of his heart.

"You think so?" Jason raises a brow at you.

"Yeah, of course." You laugh softly.

You know you need to have a longer discussion about everything. But, this small exchange about his hair feels normal. Maybe, instead of the back and forth about everything that's too heavy, shelving those things is better. For right now. It always worked that way with both of you anyway. Shelf it for a little bit and circle back. You always made more progress when you did that.

"I really missed you, Jay." Your smile starts to fall.

"I missed you, too, princess." Jason smirks and you roll your eyes. "How have you been holding up?" Jason asks cautionly and he's not really sure why he asked. He knows the answer.

You shake your head. "Gar told me he was worried Dick would have me committed. So, there was that. I told Bruce off finally. Babs did, too. Told off the Titans again. Burned down Jerry's old house."

Jason lets out a laugh. "I was being fucking sarcastic." Jason shakes his head. "Flame thrower?"

"I told Gar that's what you would say!" You laugh. "No, just acid and a few matches."

"Fuck." Jason lets out a sigh through a smile. "Wish I could've seen it."

"You would have loved it. It, uh, it burned to the ground. Gar wasn't too happy about it but uh, ya know, he let me do it."

"Why did you have Gar with you anyway?" Jason questions knowing damn well that would not have been your first choice to have him with you as you commit arson.

"Oh, he's my babysitter now." You roll your eyes.

"Why? What did you do?"

"I may have killed a guy yesterday and another one this morning, not sure if Dick knows about that one yet."

Jason's brows furrow before he quirks one up. "The fuck are you killing people for?" Jason's heart sinks and he didn't want her to have blood on her hands.

"Uh," You raise a brow. "You decapitated six people." You stare up at him and Jason nods his head. "Exactly. Which, by the fucking way, what the fuck? Don't tell me just...what the fuck?" You scrunch your face before shaking your head quickly. "Because they fucking suck. Guys like Pete Hawkins who you beat me to, by the way."

Jason laughs as his nose scrunches. "Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't know you were gonna start killing dickweeds."

"Good, you should be." You grin back. "Yeah, so, uh, Dick's mad about it and made Gar come with me and it was a whole thing. But, you have the Titans busy tonight so I didn't have to lose him like I did this morning."

Jason shakes his head and he has to ask. Jason knows where your moral compass was. You would have killed Jerry had he not stopped you and a part of him thinks you would have tried to kill Dr. Light if you were on your own. He knows you killed some of the men from CADMUS, in self-defense. But, you decided, after he died, to actually start killing so he has to ask.

"Are you doing that because of me?"

"Yes and no." You shrug. "You, me, Molly, Dick, Diego, all the others. For all of us. Like we talked about but uh, I'm just taking it a step further into permanent. What about you? Is that why you're going after who you are?"

As much as he didn't want you to have blood on your hands, he can't very well disagree. He gets it. He's still somehow surprised and not. And a part of him almost finds it a little amusing. He dies and comes back to clean up the city as Red Hood and from the top. Meanwhile, he dies and you decide to start killing the guys that don't make it to Bruce's radar.

"Kind of yeah." Jason nods. "Organized crime. Can't stop it completely but you can run it, control it from the top."

You let out a laugh. "Yeah, that's smart." You shake your head. "Better than nothing."

"Exactly." Jason chuckles.

"I'm really happy you're alive, Jay." You nod your head up at him before you brush his hands off of you and close the remaining distance between you, wrapping your arms around his middle.

You can feel him relax under you again and it's like it was before. He pauses for a few seconds and then wraps his arms around you. He presses a kiss to the top of your head as you squeeze him and it feels like it's supposed to. It's not supposed to hurt. It's not supposed to be sad and heartbreaking and bitter and sour. It's supposed to be just him and you. The two of you together. And that's how you are on this rooftop. And Jason wants to be relieved because you're hugging him but he knows you shouldn't and he knows he needs to ask about sides. Titans are on his list. You're a Titan.

"Hey, uh," Jason clears his throat. "Are you working with the Titans?"

You pull away looking up at him with confusion. "No? Moral dispute situation and you're keeping them busy. Why?"

He can't tell you but he thinks if he tells you that one more time, you might punch him.

"Keep it that way." Jason states.

"Are you really going to target them? They're....they're your friends. Your family."

"They're gonna keep coming after me." Jason keeps it short and it's not a full lie.

"And if you told Dick you're alive, you know, he might actually understand, right? Like, he might fuck off. You're the reason the Titans are back. Red Hood."

"No." Jason scoffs as he shakes his head. "You know how Dick is with me."

"He's had your back since you died, Jay. And...he's been there for me, too. I mean, he's actually doing kind of a job at the whole leader thing right now. You should talk to him." You press softly.

"No." Jason shakes his head as his jaw squares and you find this to be weird. Jason doesn't talk about his feelings but he doesn't even have to. He should just show up. That's all it'll take. He has to know that. Doesn't he? "It'll be all about him being fucking right and doing better or whatever. It's not fucking worth it and I'm not going back to before."

"What does that mean?" You ask as your brows knit together in confusion. All you want to know is where the hell this is even coming from. They were fine before he died.

"Nothing. Just...don't work with them, alright?"

"You're not gonna tell them you're alive?" You question him as the pieces start to connect.

Jason shakes his head. "No and can you not tell them? Please."

"Jason, how the hell can you ask me to do that? Gar is your best friend. And you want me to go back to the manor, look your best friend and your bother in the eyes and not tell them you're alive?"

"Yeah." Jason nods once. "Look, it fucking sucks but if you tell Gar then you gotta tell everyone because Gar's face will give it away. Dick will tell everyone, too. This has to stay between us."

"But why? You're alive and that's a good thing in case you forgot? Like...Jay..."

"No, I know." Jason nods.

"You can't tell me?"

"No." Jason nods his head.

"You fucking suck." You let out a sigh. "Fine, but you better come clean with Gar and Molly soon. I can't lie to them for weeks. They'll hate me."

"I know." Jason nods quickly. "I'll tell them but not right now."

"Okay, Jay." You roll your eyes. "So, you're telling me not to work with the Titans. Can you give me some sort of a reason not to? I know, you can't tell me. But, come on, Jay. Give me something."

Jason pauses for a second, bouncing ideas in his head before he settles on one. "Think about it, if you work with them you have to go against me. And if you don't, they'll come after you, too. Don't want you in the middle of it." Jason explains and it's not a lie.

He really, truly, does not want you in the middle of it. You're the one who'd get hurt in all of it. But, it's also because Jason knows Crane is going to want more information on you. He didn't tell him nearly enough before he died and Jason doesn't want to. Instead, he'd rather assure Crane that you're not an issue because you're not working with the Titans, as loyalty to him.

"Alright." You let out a sigh. "That's...a good point." You know if it came down to it, if you really really needed to pick a side, it would be Jason's. And you do not want to do that. His reasoning is good enough for you. "Okay." You nod softly.

"Thank you."

"Mhm, ya owe me, Jaybird." You flash a grin at him.

"Anything for you." Jason's voice drops as his brows knit together and he offers you a sarcastic nod.

"Oh, is that so? Anything?" You give him a wild grin as you look at his lips.

"Anything, babe." Jason teases, dipping his head down slightly.

Your lips brush over his. "I'd really like Excellent Gotham right now actually."

Jason's head tilts back with a laugh. "It's not even that good!"

"It's the best! You have bad taste!" You laugh back.

"Shut up." Jason groans, cupping your face with one hand and bringing your lips to his.

Jason feels you smile against his lips and he gets this sense of home again. Your mouth moves with his and he feels like he's been sucked right back home. It's a warming feeling but then thoughts of the manor come back and Bruce and Robin and the Joker. Home doesn't feel the same anymore because he died and he let you and Bruce down. Home doesn't feel the same anymore because it's not safe there. Home isn't the same because Bruce didn't kill the Joker, not even for him. That's what Crane said and Jason knows Bruce's morals. Home isn't home because he's lying to you and he feels guilty. It all feels a little too heavy again. And he can't do it right now. So, he pulls away.

"I'm sorry." Jason shuts his eyes for a second and you feel your heart stop. Not again. "I-I gotta go." Jason swallows thickly.

"W-what? W-why?" You ask.

"I just do." Jason nods down at you and he's begging for you to forgive him. Jason presses a kiss to your forehead and backs away. Your entire body erupts in chills and he can't leave. Not again. "I'll call you." Jason pulls out a burner phone from his pocket and hands it over. His hands are shaking again and you're thrown into a worrying spin.

"Jay--"

Jason shakes his head. "I'm fine, alright? Take it and I'll call you. I promise." Jason urges as you take the phone from him.

"You're....you're gonna leave?" You ask as your eyes start to water. "B-but uh, I don't want you to." You look down and try to tug at the ends of the sleeves of your suit and Jason hates himself for doing this. You'll understand later. You have to.

"I have to. I have some shit I gotta get to. But, look, I'll be fine." Jason kisses your cheek and takes a step back. "You and me?"

You watch him with a breaking heart. You knew he wouldn't come back with you because he wants this to be a secret but you were really hoping you'd have more time. There's never enough time.

"You and me." You nod and Jason offers you a sad smile as he goes to walk away and you don't want him to. "Please, don't leave me again, Jay."

Jason freezes in his stance, his jaw clenching. Your voice shatters his heart. It's desperate and soft and weak as if you're clawing at all of your self-control to keep it together again. If it were just you and him, he would never. He'd go back with you. And maybe there is a tiny part of him that questions the whole plan. But, he can't do that because he knows Crane is right.

This is the way to get the city back because Bruce was wrong. This is the only way. And Jason wants his own revenge. He can't do that if he goes back. Jason swears he deserves his own revenge for everything that happened to him. Crane is right about mostly everyone. But, it is agonizing hearing you ask him not to leave and knowing he has to. This is the hardest thing he's ever done.

"I'm so sorry." Jason turns around. "I'll be fine, trust me. I'll call you."

"I love you." You state, chewing the inside of your cheek as you desperately try not to burst into tears again.

There's the smallest bit of relief that comes over him. He was hoping you still did.

"Love you, too. Don't do anything fucking stupid, alright? And don't worry so much. Get some damn sleep and go back to the manor and eat something. I'm fine."

"You don't do anything fucking stupid. And you should get some sleep and eat." You quip back weakly.

"Yeah, alright." Jason chuckles. "I'll call you, swear." Jason turns back around and heads back inside.

A few tears leak from your eyes as you quickly wipe them away. You have no idea what to make of this whole thing. None of it makes any sense. But he has to be real now. It all has to be real. He's alive and he seems...well given the circumstances. And you have no choice but to trust him, it's just really hard.

The burner starts ringing just as you put your mask back on.

"Hello...?"

"Told you'd I'd call you." Jason says through the helmet.

A smile tugs at your lips. He's still a shithead. "Yeah, okay." You roll your eyes.

"Just wanted you to know I mean it. I'm not leaving you like that again, alright? Trust me."

This small gesture does ease some of your worry. Not all of them, not even close but enough. Maybe you have a little bit of hope it'll be okay this time. It has to be. "Okay, Jay. Please, be safe out there."

"I will. You, too. Don't do anything fucking stupid." Jason chuckles.

"Of course not." You laugh back as you make your way back into the building. "I only do stupid shit when I'm with you."

Jason laughs on the other end. "Sure, babe." Jason quips. "Love you." Jason says.

"I love you, too." You smile softly as Jason hangs up.

As you walk back into the building and head out to your bike, you think about everything Jason said. Jason is usually very careful with his words, when he needs to be anyway. Which makes you think that's what he was doing, being careful not to reveal too much but just enough. He's working with someone but he can't tell you who. Of all people, Jason knows he can trust you. He's trusting you not to tell your best friends he's alive, but he can't tell you that? That's odd. He said he got help with being scared and the shaking and nightmares. What in the fuck is that even supposed to mean? Sure, it's great he's back and he's alive and you're relieved but those things are worrisome.

You're not supposed to dig but you like to dig. You like to have all of the answers especially when it comes to Jason so you get back to the manor and head to the Batcave. You hang up your suit before you sit at the Batcomputer. You tap the keys as you think.

If anyone knows Jason, it's going to be you. If anyone can figure it out, it's going to be you. And while he told you not to, you have to. He came back from the dead, literally woke up, and decided to be a crime lord. There is something off about that and you need an answer. You need to know he is actually safe with everything that's going on. Though, you will give him the fact everyone else seems to be scared of him now. That's at least nice.

Jason, on the other hand, does not feel relieved. This is for the best. Crane is right. The city doesn't need Batman. It needs someone new, someone willing to do all of this shit Bruce was too cowardly to do. His ways don't work here. They never have. It's Jaosn's turn to take over. Control the crime instead of trying to get rid of it. Organized crime is better than whatever the hell is going on in Gotham today. But, he feels guilty anyway.

He went out behind your back and he died. He never got to say goodbye. You never got to say goodbye and you found him. It was so wrong of him to think you wouldn't. It happened to him and he has the privilege of not seeing the aftermath of what the Joker did to him. He has to deal with the trauma that comes with it and he lives through it, which is its own hell but he put you through a different hell by you being the one to find him. He can only imagine what you saw. And he hates that thought.

And he hates the way you looked at him. Torn between disbelief and what he swears was hatred. He never meant for any of this to happen and yet, you're the one that got hurt in the crossfire. It was selfish, he tells himself. It was selfish not to just tell you. He remembers thinking that before he blacked out. He remembers wishing he would have told you and he still won't. He has the opportunity now to tell you and he just can't. He knows Crane has good intentions but there's something pecking at the back of his head that says to keep you out of it. It's Jonathan Crane. He trusts him but Crane might not trust you and that's a problem. He knows it. So, he has to deal with it.

By taking out the inhaler and inhaling a deep breath as his pupils glow a bright yellow. The fear and guilt and pain and worry fade away from his veins. The pecking goes dark and he feels nothing. He feels nothing at all anymore, not even the relief of feeling nothing. He's just numb and it's so much better than the alternative as he heads back to the basement in Arkham to prepare for the next step.

You search the Batcomputer for the night Jason died. You've avoided it. You saw him that night and that was enough for you. You don't need to see it actually take place but you look for the footage anyway. Some part of you thinks maybe if you can find it, you'll figure out what's really going on. Jason is back from the dead and that's great, but something lead him to the Joker that night. And he did not offer you a good enough explanation. Maybe the answer is in the footage. Someone had to know he was going to go out there and likely die. You want an answer as to who that is and why they would do it to him. It had to be some sort of setup somehow. So, you find the footage because of course Bruce didn't delete it and you press play as you hold your breath.

You watch Jason enter the amusement park. Your heart starts to race and you swear you're not going to watch the whole thing. You don't need to. So, you have your hand ready to pause it. Jason looks around at the closed-down games but The Joker appears on camera but Jason's not turning around. Your brows furrow, fully expecting Jason to realize the Joker is right there but he doesn't.

You don't get why he's not turning around. He has to know the Joker is there, he has to know. Jason has really good instincts with being on the streets and Robin training. How is he missing this? And then one of the games goes off and Jason turns around, a look of fear on his face before the Joker smacks him with the crowbar.

You pause the video as quickly as your reflexes will allow you. You clench your jaw as you remember what he looked like that night. It'll be forever burned into your eyes. Your hands start to shake as your eyes start to burn. You chew your cheek hard enough to draw blood, trying to keep it together. He's alive. He's alive. He's alive. You repeat it over and over and over again. Trying to convince your own memories they're wrong.

You shake your head, fast-forwarding, barely looking at the screen until the Joker walks off with a pep in his step, proud of the job he's just done. You sniffle as you swallow the lump in your throat, your eyes trained on the screen as you watch Jason's lifeless body. A part of you thinks this was dumb because you're not getting any more answers. Instead, you're just retraumatizing yourself and getting more questions. It's not really helping but you had hope, it would show something. And it doesn't. You watch yourself appear on screen and that's enough. You pause it and run a hand over your face.

You take a few minutes to breathe and gather yourself before you play it back. You watch it over and over again, always stopping the second Jason jumps and then you rewind. There has to be a clue. There has to be because Jason left a fucking formula for a drug lying around. He got sloppy at some point so there has to be some sort of clue. So, you play it back so many times you lose count until you hear someone come in behind you.

You're quick to exit out of the video before you spin around to see Dick still in his Nightwing suit.

"Hey." You let out a shakey breath, eyeing Dick carefully.

"What are you doing?" Dick crosses his arms over his chest, looking at the blank screen behind you. He saw you exit out of something.

"Nothing." You shrug, brushing it off. If he knows, he'll definitely have you committed. "How'd it go?" You switch it back to him. "Nightwing."

"It was a setup." Dick scoffs but he's still watching you. You're up to something and Dick is really growing to dislike when you're up to something. Nothing good ever comes from it. "What were you looking at?" He presses.

"What do you mean a set-up?" You ask. "Just some stuff. It's nothing." You push. Dick narrows his eyes at you, holding his stance on withholding what happened tonight. You roll your eyes, thinking of a quick lie. "Ya know, it bothers me. Jason going after the Joker. If he wanted to prove himself, to you and Bruce, why the Joker? There are so many others that would have done that job and Jason was reckless, not stupid. The Joker was stupid. So...Bruce is a sick fuck and kept the footage. Thought maybe I'd find something, a why. Did not."

"Excuse me." Dick shakes his head, his eyes widening and the worry he felt before for you intensifies. "You watched--"

"No, I stopped it. I didn't watch the whole thing go down. I just watched until Joker showed up. Jason...he never saw him coming. I don't know. It's whatever, ya know? So, now ya know." You shrug your shoulders. "I'm fine, ya know, all things considered. So, it was a setup?"

"You really don't need to be watching that." Dick scolds.

"I know. I won't again." You nod your head softly, looking to your lap and then back to him.

"He lured us to the bank using the kidnappings as a ploy. They were never in danger. Gar and Conner found them in a few vans, safe. The bank was a set up to blow it up with us." Dick explains.

Now that you know Red Hood is Jason, most of that isn't surprising. Him targeting the Titans though, that's still weird.

"Shit." You nod your head. "I mean, at least the kids and parents are okay." You states. "Still no idea who he is?"

"No. We'll catch him though."

"Why? He's not doing anything worse than Penguin. Is he really a Titan problem?" You questions, more so worried for Jason's sake. And maybe you're worried for the safety of the Titans.

You wonder if being resurrected changes someone. Jason's messing with fate in a way. Fate took him, killed him and now he's back. It's a betrayal. Maybe fate decides to keep a part of his soul as a warning that it'll come back for him. Maybe that's why he's doing this. A part of him died and stayed dead. But, you think maybe that's not it because of how he was with her. All things considered, he seemed normal. Maybe it's the trauma of dying that changes someone. Jason says he remembers it, maybe that changed him, changed how he saw the Titans in a way. You aren't sure but it pecks at you anyway.

"Yes, he's getting people killed, kidnapping people, robbing banks. That's bad. This is a problem. And he's targeting us." Dick states with the raise of his brows. "The Robin clue was not a coincidence. He asked for me specifically." Dick's eyes narrow and he's growing suspicious. "Do you know something?"

"Why the fuck would I know anything? I'm just saying. He's not that fucking bad. I mean, it terms of Gotham freaks go." You defend. "Maybe that mother did do something but you missed it. I don't know."

"What were you doing tonight?" Dick questions and you can tell he's spinning this on you.

"Patrolling." You shrug. "You can check, I didn't kill anyone. Didn't even attack anyone tonight. You should be proud." You quip as you get up.

You feel bad about it. Jason is alive and you can't say a damn word. A big part of you believes that if Jason were to just come home, they could work it out. Whatever the hell is up with Jason and Dick now, they could work it out. It's not fair to withhold it and it's not fair Jason asked you to do that. So, you aren't going to tell Dick, but you're gonna ask a few questions. This is going to get messy when he finds out and you're going to be lodged in the middle of it. That's not what you want so when Dick finds out, you want to make sure you drop enough questions that he'll know you knew. And wanted to tell him. It's not technically betrayal if Dick doesn't figure it out.

"Do you think it's weird the new guy is targeting you guys?" You ask carefully. "I mean...you were in San Francisco. You didn't go on patrol at all until he asked for you. Don't you think that's weird?"

Dick nods his head and he is really getting the feeling you've figured something out and maybe you're willing to share for once. "Yes, of course, I think that's weird. That's one of the reasons it's important we find out who this guy is and bring him in."

"Right." You nod your head. "Well, you said Robin wasn't a coincidence so who knows you're Nightwing and Robin?"

"What makes you think he knows I was Robin? Maybe it was about Jason." Dick offers, gesturing out a hand before crossing it back with his other arm.

"Maybe, yeah. But, that would mean it would have to be someone who knows Nightwing also knew Robin. Either way, it has to be someone you know, right?"

"And you're telling me you don't know anything?" Dick's voice is a accusatory.

"I don't know anything, just thinking about that, too."

Dick lets out a sigh. "You could come along and help." Dick offers. "It might be good for you."

"Pretty sure you just don't want me to keep up with my hit list."

Dick holds the bridge of his nose, resting a hand on his hip. "You have a hit list?"

"Yes." You answer casually. "Uh," You furrow your brows because to be fair, maybe if this was some random guy you would take up the offer to run from the grief you're supposed to be in. But, it's Jason. You can't cross the line between the Titans and him. You won't pick between the two of them. Keeping his secret is bad enough. If you go with when they fight him eventually, that means you have to pick a side. You will not pick between them. "It's just...I know it might help but, uh, I just...I don't know. Can I think about it?" You ask.

Dick nods softly. "Yeah, of course." He offers a soft smile. "Just...let me know. We could use all the help we could get."

"Yeah." You nod letting out a soft sigh. He has no idea. And you feel horrible about it.

Jason is already making you pick between them and you'd be lying if you said there's a part of you that isn't already a little resentful. You aren't very good at making friends. It's always been you and Molly, Tim as an acquaintance. That's it. But, the Titans, most of them, feel like such a family to you. Gar is your best friend, Conner is really nice, Kory is protective and you look at her like an older sister. Dick is like an older brother, somehow. How can you keep lying to them?

"Seriously, are you okay?" Dick asks.

You nod. "As okay as someone can be, I guess." Your smile never meets your eyes as you look to the ground. "Just...uh, trying to figure out how to carry everything okay." You chew the inside of your cheek.

"You'll figure it out." Dick assures you. "You have us." He nods his head once.

"You're getting a lot better at this shit. It's kind of weird." You offer him a genuine smile. "Thanks. I'm, uh, I'm gonna go to bed. I'll hang around with discussions and stuff with Red Hood but I don't think I wanna go out with the team just yet." You nod softly, figuring knowing what's going on is better than just avoiding it entirely.

"Okay, you're always welcome to change your mind."

"Thanks, Dickolas." You laugh softly before you walk past him and head out of the Batcave.

The next day, you find yourself in the Batcave with Gar, Kory, and Conner. Gar and Kory are playing chess while you and Conner are seated at the Batcomputer. Gar caught you up on everything that happened yesterday, including Dick going to Crane for help which is what has lead them to a game of chess. You think it's insane that Crane is even on the GCPD payroll. He's a master manipulator, but sure, they can definitely trust him.

There's a guilt pulling at the bottom of your stomach as you watch Gar and Kory play. Jason was his best friend and you can't say anything. Gar is understanding. He'll find out Jason's alive and you knew and he'll understand why you didn't tell him. That's just how Gar is but, you also know he's still going to be mad and he should be. You would be pissed if the roles were reversed but you have to try not to focus on that because at the end of the day, Jason is targeting them and they're targeting Jason.

You're seated on the floor, petting Krypto. "Can you guys even trust Crane on this one?" You look over to Gar and Kory.

"Is he that bad?" Kory asks, glancing over to you.

"Yeah, he made a fear gas and poisoned the city. It makes people live out their worst fears as if it's all real. It's insane and he's a master manipulator. I can't believe he's actually on the GCPD payroll." You roll your eyes.

"Dick said we can trust this. He's helped solve other cases." Gar assures you, still studying the board.

"Right..." You nod. "What's your plan then? Crack this and hunt him down? Send him to Arkham?"

Kory, Gar, and Conner look over at you confused. Gar knows when something is up. You're a lot better today than you were yesterday. You're not as snippy. He's glad, of course, but he's getting the feeling something is off anyway. You wanted nothing to do with this but Dick says you could help and suddenly you're on board. That's weird, even for you.

"Why? You said were going to help." Gar questions but he's not as good at digging for answers.

"Yeah, I mean...I said I'm fine with helping from here." You correct. You're definitely not actually helping, but they don't know that. "I'm just saying, it's Jonathan Crane, Scarecrow. And I don't know. Maybe Red Hood has a point or two. That's all." You shrug your shoulders.

"He decapitated six men." Kory states, a slight snip in her voice as she watches you.

"I'm not saying I agree with the decapitation." You defend and you definitely do not want to know what lead Jason to that method of murder. "Just saying I don't disagree with who he's killing."

"Whats going on with you?" Gar asks as Kory takes her turn.

"My boyfriend was brutally murdered by the Joker?" You quip. "Kind of don't care much anymore about how shit is stopped as long as it is stopped." You chew the inside of your cheek and it's not a lie. It's just...Jason is the one doing it.

"Right." Gar nods, unconvinced as he looks back to the board as him and Kory continue their game of chess.

Kory and Gar continue their game while Conner reads over a book on different chess moves. You actually find this to be quite nice. You get to know what they're planning before anything happens and you can warn Jason. And you aren't actually sabotaging anything. You don't know how to play chess, and Conner has the reading covered. You're really no help right now and that's fine with you. You're pretty content listening and petting Krypto.

"Do you always get this way when you get competitive?" Kory asks, pulling your attention to Kory and Gar. Gar has a grin on his face as he holds his head up with one hand, his other arm holding up his elbow. "By this way, I mean insane."

Gar chuckles softly. "I'm problem-solving." He states as he moves a chess piece.

"Yes, he does." You add in, earning a fake glare from Gar. You offer a wide-tooth grin in response.

"Birds opening. The answer's right in front of us. It's hidden in plain sight." Gar explains.

You roll your eyes. Jason loves to play games so it's not surprising he's literally using bird examples as clues. Though, you do wonder what is making him do it. It reminds you of the Riddler in a way.

"Speaking of Russians," Conner chimes in, pointing a finger at the book with a chuckle. "This guy, uh, this guy Bobby Fisher had the fillings removed from his mouth because he thought the Russians were using it as a radio channel--"

"Stop." Gar cuts him off suddenly, looking over at Conner.

"It's a fact." Conner says, his voice now depleted.

"Hold on. Fisher took out his own fillings?" Gar questions.

"Uh..." Conner stutters, his brows knitting together in confusion. "Not sure if I should talk or not."

"He did it because he thought the Russians were trying to beat him." Gar states, his attention back on the board. You look to Conner with just as much confusion. Gar lets out a chuckle as he gains a grin. "It was a defensive move. We're looking at this the wrong way." Gar sighs. "The answer isn't figuring out more of birds opening moves. It's how we beat it." Gar turns the board around so Kory's pieces are in front of him. You can't help but smile softly. There's just something about the way he gets when he figures something out. "Conner, top five defensive moves against Birds opening." Gar states.

You grab the book and hand it over to Conner. Dick walks in just then with furrowed brows as he watches Gar scramble to place the chess pieces while Conner flips through the book.

"I wouldn't." Kory states quickly, gesturing a hand to Dick. "He's on a roll."

"From's Gambit." Conner starts listing. "Uh, the modern defense. Fiancheto. Hobbs Gambit."

"Hobbs?" Dick questions, his attention pulling to Conner. Conner nods quickly and reads off what the play is.

You recognize the name from something Batman and Robin shut down years ago. You have to withhold your eye roll at the thought of it. Jason is just out there planning games with the codes and it's all coming back to Robin. Of course, it is.

"It's a group. They made explosives, right?" You look to Dick.

"Yeah," Dick says quickly as he rushes over to the Batcomputer. "Batman and I shut them down for street dealing." Dick pulls up the building and it shows a 911 call had just come in a few minutes ago.

Everyone gathers around, listening to the call. The other Titans don't know it, but it's Jason who made the call. You recognize the way the modulator sounds with his voice and your stomach sinks. He's really targeting them. Why? It doesn't make any sense. You know there has to be some sort of reason, but it's a little bothersome anyway.

"It's a bogus call." Dick states as he starts walking off. "He's leading them into a trap."

"Call Barbara." Kory states.

"I don't think she's taking my calls."

"We have to stop those cops." Gar says quickly, following after Dick and Conner and Kory follow him.

"You coming?" Gar looks back at you with hope in his eyes.

"Uh...no." You shake your head. "Gonna stay behind but good luck and be careful." You nod your head as you watch the rest of the Titans take off out of the Batcave, likely to get Hank and Dawn. Gar offers a sad but understanding smile before he heads off, too.

You watch until they're completely out of the Batcave. Once you're certain, they're out of the Batcave, you take out the burner Jason gave you yesterday. You hit redial and wait as the line rings. They're coming for him and while you have no fucking idea what he's up to, and you know he likely knows they're coming. It's a setup again. You have to warn him anyway, just in case. You can't lose him again.

"The Titans are on their way." You state as Jason answers the phone.

He cackles on the other end. The drug courses through his veins but something about you betraying the Titans makes him laugh. Something about it is a bit amusing. He knew you wouldn't side with them.

"Thanks." He states but he sounds different.

"You're welcome." You state and you would love to pry and find out what is actually going on. The laugh was odd, to say the least.

"Didn't think you'd betray them." It's almost like he's taunting you. His voice is casual but has some sort of bite of mixed amusement and snark.

You shake your head, brows knitting together. "Well, I just want you to be prepared."

"I'm always prepared." Jason quips back.

You don't like the way he sounds. Something is off. You think back to the footage before he died, how he should have known the Joker was there. You think about the fidgeting yesterday and how desperate he looked. Today, it's like he's a different person on this call. It's something you'd say you don't like very much.

"Okay, Jay." You let out a soft sigh.

"You going?" Jason asks but he's digging. You say you're not working with them which means you should stay back. He hopes you stay back.

"No." You let out a scoff. "Not working with them, you're good. Don't fucking kill any of them, Jason."

"They should stay out of the way." Jason warns.

"Uh-huh, right." You roll your eyes. "I'm serious. Don't kill them." You shake your head. "Good luck though."

"Thanks." Jason lets out a breath. "Won't need it." Confidence radiates through the phone.

"I know." You huff. "Call me after so I know you're okay, please."

"I will." Jason promises. "Thanks for staying back."

"You're welcome. You owe me." You smile softly.

"All you gotta do is ask, babe."

He laughs on the other end. He knew he could trust you. And he still loves you through the haziness of the drug. He does still feel that part. It's not nearly as strong with the drug flowing through his veins but it's there. He doesn't want you there because of it. But, you can handle yourself and you're clearly still on the same team. You're on his side.

"Okay, Jay." You laugh softly. "Love you."

"Love you, too." Jason responds back before he hangs up.

A part of you actually doesn't want to know. The more you know, the worse it'll be with you not telling the Titans anything. At least if the only thing you know is that he's alive, that's all you know. That's not that bad. But, he's acting weird and that's the part that you do want an answer for. You're not sure how you're supposed to get it.

The Titans come back a few hours later, defeated. They did not get Red Hood, they just took down his men. You do your best to hide your relief. But, you intentionally avoid all of them until they're off into their separate rooms for the night. At that point, you find it safe to wind up in the kitchen for a small snack and to think.

You hop up on the kitchen island with a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee. You keep going over how Jason was yesterday, how he seemed mostly normal. You keep falling back on his working with someone. You want to believe Jason wouldn't work with someone bad but if he were working with someone who had good intentions, he would tell you. Time and time again, you have proven you can keep your word to Jason. He would tell you which then brings you to wondering why the hell he would work with someone who isn't good? And you go back to the drug because he avoided an answer to that question. You start to worry that maybe he is taking something and that's why he's doing this whole Red Hood thing but you've known addicts and none of them decided to be a crime lord overnight.

Your head starts to ache from going in circles as footsteps echo into the kitchen before coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of you. You look up, eyeing Dick with a raised brow.

"Oh, you're awake..." Dick states, looking behind him and then back to you.

"Yeah?" You question. "Do any of us sleep normally?" You quip. "What're you doing?" You raise a brow at him, noticing he looks like he's on some type of mission. The winter coat being a dead giveaway.

"Nothing." Dick rolls his shoulders.

"You know, that's how the conversation went with Jason when I went after Jerry? What're you doing? Nothing. What're you doing?" You narrow your eyes at him. "You look like you're...on a mission?"

Dick lets out a sigh. "It's nothing."

You nod once. "Heard you guys didn't get 'im tonight. Anything to do with that?" You're digging and Dick can tell. Maybe you know.

Dick figures you have to know. You've been acting almost normal all day long. That's weird. Jason was just brutally murdered and you found his body. You snapped on everyone and started killing people but now you're fine? Dick is almost positive you have to know. If Jason were going to tell someone, it would be you.

Dick closes the distance between you and lowers his voice. "Did you know?"

"Could you possibly get any more vague, Dickolas?" You quip as your heart sinks.

He can't know. How the hell would Dick know?

"Jason." His jaw is squared.

You swallow thickly. Jason told you you couldn't tell anyone. How the fuck did Dick figure it out? But, you're not just going to fold.

"Fucking know what, dude? Spit it the fuck out." You snap.

"Did you know he's alive?" Dick's voice is stern, a warning hint to it not to lie to him.

"W-what?" You ask shortly, digging to find out exactly what he knows.

"Don't bullshit me." Dick warns. "Did you know? I broke his helmet tonight, saw him, and I talked to him."

You hang your head as you scrunch your nose. "Yeah." You look up at him with apologetic eyes. "Yeah, I found out yesterday." You admit and if Dick knows, you don't have to keep it a secret. Jason did not say anything about that.

"Unbelievable." Dick backs away. "You knew and you didn't tell any of us?"

"He asked me not." You shake your head and Dick can see the guilt washing over your face. "I wanted to tell you guys. At least you and Gar but he asked me not to." You shrug softly. "I, uh, just been trying to figure out how the fuck he's real."

"You're not sure?" If anyone would know if Jason is really alive, it would be you.

"I-I don't know." You answer. "I mean...I mean yeah like...it has to be him but...resurrection is kind of insane. So...I don't know."

Dick hangs his head for a second and he feels bad for you. You're caught in the middle of the Titans and Jason. He gets why you didn't tell them even if he's pissed about it. But, you're over here trying to figure out if he's really alive just like Dick is. There is one way you can find out.

"Come on." Dick gestures for you to follow him as he heads for the door leading to the courtyard.

You put your bowl down quickly before hopping off of the counter and following Dick quickly.

The two of you start your walk through the courtyard and to a shed. Dick unlocks it and opens it while you stand outside in the dark, holding your phone for a flashlight. Dick hasn't said a single word on your walk and you're kind of afraid to say anything back. He is surely on a mission. At this point, you're thinking you've all lost your minds. Gotham is taking everyone's sanity.

"Here." Dick pops out a minute later holding two shovels and offering you one.

You take it slowly. "Why the fuck are you handing me a shovel?" You look down at it before you look back at Dick.

"Only one way to find out if it's really him." Dick's face is hard while yours falls.

"You want us to go dig up his fucking grave?! Have you lost your fucking mind?!" You yell.

The last thing you want to do is go digging into Jason's grave. First of all, that's just...that's wrong. That's supposed to be his resting place and you're going to disturb it. You've seen that horror movie a time or two and you do not want to be haunted. And you're thinking of the decomp process and what a body would look like after a week. You already saw him the night he died, you don't need to see him decomposing if Jason is actually still dead.

"How else are we going to know?" Dick asks.

"I-I don't know! But what if we're wrong? We'll be...that's....ya know? Like...he's buried there." You say with hesitance.

"You don't have to help if you don't want to. I just thought you'd want the same answer." Dick lets out a breath. "And if I'm gonna do this, I thought it'd be right if you knew."

"Since I caught you." You correct him.

"Yeah." Dick nods. "Do you have a better idea?"

"No." You huff. "Fine but this is fucking ridiculous."

"You're telling me." Dick scoffs as the two of you make your way to the family cemetery.

You still think it's weird Bruce has this on his property to begin with but in the grand scheme of grave robbing, you're pretty happy about it right about now. Even if digging up Jason's grave feels wrong.

The two of you start digging as lightning strikes from above you. You dig and dig in complete silence, almost worried about saying something into existence. On the one hand, you're worried he's dead and he's under you right now. You're going to disturb him and that's not right. But, on the other hand, what if he's alive? What if he really is? You need to know.

"All you." You let out a sigh, hopping out of the grave as you and Dick hit the casket.

Dick looks over to you and the two of you nod before Dick opens the casket.

It's empty.

"Fuck." Dick lets out a sigh.

"Fucking Gotham." You shake your head even if relief fills your chest.

Jason Todd is alive.

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A/n: I promise I'm going somewhere with Jason not knowing Bruce killed the Joker because of who I am as a person lol

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