#i ripped down the blinds and slammed open the window and yelled HOW DID YOU FIND MY HOUSE

[attractthecrows]

brooo i hate having Dreams That Piss You Off i woke up all pissed off at NOTHIIINNNNNGGGGG

[vikingstoner69]

Fandom: True Blood

Pairing: Eric Northman/reader

A/N: I may do part two if anyone may want one too.

Summary: you were tired of Eric always choosing sookie so you leave him in the day and that night he comes for you

You were done with Eric always going to Sookie. At one point he had calmed you as his but now you weren't so sure now you all he cared about was Sookie. You had lived with him for some time so you waited for the morning. you packed quickly and quietly as you went. Loading up your car you go to your old family house that was left to you.

Three hours later you are pulling into the drive. You knew Eric would be pissed but another part of you wondered if he would care or even notice. You bite your lip and push thoughts of him out of your mind. Once the car is unloaded you put your things away. This was the only place Eric had not been invited into so you knew if he did come he couldn't get in. You bite your lip harder as tears spring to your eyes and you try so hard to blink them away. Your heart hurt and you felt empty.

Changing into a shirt you grab the whiskey and glass and sit at the table. Looking out the window you see the sun has now set and your phone starts to go off walking over to the table. You see Eric's name on the screen and feel your stomach turn into knots. All you wanted to do was go running back to him but you couldn't, no matter how much you wanted to. Some time had passed before your phone finally went quiet. So you curl up on the couch with your drink and a knock at the door makes you jump. You sit up and freeze when you see Eric's outline through the blinds.

"I'm not going away (y/n)! You might as well open the door" he says loudly through the door. You sigh and stand up and slowly make your way to the door and you slowly open it.

"What do you want Eric? I'm busy" you snap trying to hide how affected you are that he is here. When you decided to leave, never actually thought he would come for you but here he was.

"Care to invite me in?" He asks his light and smooth. You cross your arms over your chest and he gives you a smirk.

"No, I'm sure you have better things to do like running after Sookie" you snap and he chuckles and you growl losing more of your temper.

"Is someone jealous?" He smirks and you stand up straight. At one point you had been but now he was not your anymore to be jealous over. Now he could do whatever he wanted without.

"You're not mine to be jealous over Eric! I'm done being your second thought! I'm done waiting for you to make good on your promise and turn me! I'm done being your problem" you yell tears breaking free with each word. You felt like your heart had been ripped from your chest. You had traveled and been by his and Pam's side for 7 years now. An along the way you and Eric finally stopped fighting your feelings and you became his.

"(Y/n) please don't do this! Invite me in!"he yells his hand slamming on the door frame. You felt a sob break free for a moment but you pushed it away.

"Why shouldn't I? You made it pretty fucking clear who you wanted!" You snap your anger coming back through the heartache, you truly loved him.

"I don't want her, she's useful! But I made you mine, not her!" He says his tone changed a bit as this went on.

"Maybe I should try showing you how it feels! Find me some hot guy and let him have me" you snap, the look on Eric's face was deadly and you felt a shiver run down your spine.

"You are mine" he growls through clenched teeth. You roll your eyes and sigh as you cross your arms.

"Not any more Eric, you should go, the sun will be up soon" you say softly, seeing the time on your watch.

"I'm not leaving so either invite me in or watch me burn" he growls, you bite your lip and feel your stomach drop. You didn't really want to find out if he was bluffing.

"Eric please come in" you whisper and Eric walks into the living room. You close the door and look up at him.

"I must go to ground and you are coming with me and then we shall continue this tomorrow night" he says he grabs your arm tightly but not painful. You try to pull your arm free but he won't let go.

"Eric let go! I won't take off, it's pretty clear you will just track me down!" You snap and he chuckles, he slowly lets you go but his hand doesn't leave your arm.

"I want you close to me" he says softly, looking down at you. You bite your lip and nod.

"Fine, follow me" you say, you walk away from Eric and start for the door that leads to the underground seller. Once you both enter the room with the only bed in it. You look back over at Eric and see him standing at the foot of the bed.

"What is this place?" He asks, watching you move around the room. There was a small fridge and drinks in the corner.

"Before I was bron my great grandfather used to run moonshine. Now it's just my little hide away when I was a kid" you tell him looking around the room. Eric comes into the room fully and closes the door behind him.

"How interesting" he chuckles, laying down on the bed. You walk to the other side and climb in bed. Eric watches as you get settled before he rolls over and throws an arm over you.

"Eric! Let me go!" You snap trying to move out of his arms only for him to pull you flush against his chest and you feel his breath on your neck and fight back a shiver.

"Good night" he says softly kissing his healed fang marks in your neck and heat flowed through your body. You bite your lip and wiggle a bit and he groans his hand goes to your hip with a tight hold.

"Trying to get comfortable" you tell him his arm goes back around you and you feel his nose run up your neck and it takes forever not to let out a moan.

"If you're not in this bed when I arise you will be punished" he growls, you bite your and nod your head.

"I won't leave, but don't think that means this changes anything" you say softly and he sighs and lays his head back down. You felt his body go slack and you knew that the sun had risen and you closed your eyes and let sleep take you.

--------

You groan and roll and stretch as you open your eyes. Eric is still holding you tightly and your legs are tangled with your head on his chest, his fingers lightly sliding up and down your arm.

"Good evening" he says softly and you sit up and look down at him.

"What time is it?" You ask your eyes to lock with him and he leans up on his elbow.

"The sun just set 10 minutes ago" he says, reaching to stroke your face. You bite your lip and sigh.

"You should go Eric" you say softly, and he sighs sitting up.

"I choose you, Sookie came to me for help but I turned her away to come for you" he says sternly making you look up at him. Your stomach was in knots and your heart was racing.

"Why? You love her" you snap a bit more harsher than you meant to. Eric growls and pins you to the bed. You gasp and look up at Eric.

"I have loved you for years! I promised to turn you! Do you really have so little faith in my feelings?" He stats hovering over you, you look up at him, his words sinking in and tears spring to your eyes.

"Then make good on your promise! Turn me!" You say looking up at him. His fang popped out with a 'click' and you felt heat rush through your body.

"Alright then" he grins and leans down to your neck and you feel your clit throb and you bite your lip to stop the moan.

"Tonight?" You ask hopeful and he chuckles.

"Tomorrow night" he says, pulling back to look down at you. Eric lets your arms go and you reach up with your hands resting on his chest and they glide up behind his neck.

"Then fuck me one last time as a human" you say, Eric's lips crash on yours and you moan your fingers tangled in his hair. You moan when he grinds into you his lips travel down your neck to your ear.

"Your mine" he says hotly in your ear and you moan. Eric leans up and pulls his shirt off. You sit up and do the same Eric helps you strip naked and he pushes you on the bed.

"Eric, don't make me wait!" You beg your back arches as his lips travel down your body. When he reached your thighs he kissed them both before nipping them.

"Oh no sweetheart I plan to take my sweet time with you" he smirks from between your legs making you bite your lip. The moan slips free when he grazes your groin and your hands tug his hair and he groans.

"Bite me Eric" you moan your breath coming out in quick pants. You look down at him, your eyes as his fang sinks into your thigh making you cry out in pleasure. Eric drinks deeply from you as you both keep eye contact. When he had his fill he lets your thigh and healed your bite marks.

"Now it's time for dessert" he growls, you cry out when you feel his mouth on you. Your head falls back as you moan for Eric. He groaned as he ate you sloppy.

"Fuck Eric I'm so close!" You cry out, your eyes close for a brief moment and he takes that second to remove his mouth making you whine at the loss.

"It's not gonna be that easy princess? You need to be punished" he growled against your skin and you bit your lip. Eric starts a hot blazing trail up your body stopping to kiss and suck at your neck.

"Punish me after you turn me, just fuck me" you beg moving your hands to undo his pants and you grab his hard cock making him groan.

"Beging so soon? My you must want me bad" he chuckles toing off his pants leaving him naked above you. You bring his mouth back to yours and you moan at the taste of yourself both blood and your juices.

"I do! I want you so bad" you cry out as he grinds into you. Your hold on him tightens. He runs his cock through your drenched folds. Eric slowly pushed slowly into you and you both moaned.

"You're so tight and warm" he groans in your neck. You whine when he starts to pull out but your whine turns into a scream of his name as he thrusts into you hard and deep.

"Eric!" You cry out your nails dig down his back. Eric snarls and picks up his pace making your toes curl. Without warning he pulls out and flips you to your hands and knees. He retenters you from behind using your hair as a lead, pulling you back into him. His hand runs from your hair to your throat he pulls you back till you are flush with him he nips your lobe.

"I'm gonna fuck you like this every night" he says huskily and you moan as thoughts of him turning you enter your mind. Eric's fangs enter your neck and you push back taking him deeper. He groans as he drinks from you, you always feel close to him like this. He lets your neck go and you cry out feeling so close to cumming.

"Please Eric!" You beg your head on his shoulder and your hand in his hair. Eric groans, his hand slips between your legs and he slowly rubs your clit.

"Please what princess? If you want something, you gotta ask" he says hotly in your ear making you moan.

"Please let me cum Eric" you beg, you felt like your body would explode if the bubble didn't pop, you were so close.

"Good girl, cum for me" he groans in your ear and you moan as you cum hard on his cock. Eric groans as you clamp down hard on him.

"Oh fuck! Eric!" You cry out your vision blurd. He groans as he pulls out and flips you back over leaning down to kiss you deeply. Eric fucks you hard and deep. He groans and cums in you deeply and you moan.

"I love you" he breathes and leans down kissing you deeply. His hands roam your body making you bite your lip.

"I love you two my viking king" you lean up and kiss him deeply before you flip him over on his back with you straddling him his hands go to your hips.

"Oh, what's this? Does my queen want more?" He grins his hands, runs up your thighs to your breasts and you moan as you start to rock your hips and he groans.

"I want to ride you" you smirk down at him and he chuckles.

"Go on then"

[ladylooch]

A Game of Chess

Timeline: this is before “when Nico saved Lucie”.

Lucie digs the toe of her Vans into the concrete floor of the jail cell below her feet. She can hear the softness of her dad's voice coming closer to the door along with heavy, boot footed steps of the Swiss policeman who caught her running from an abandoned warehouse on the outside of town. 

She fell running. Her jeans have a rips in the knees and blood has dried to both the fabric and her skin. She has chewed her fingernails down to their bed with worry. They gave her a phone call. She wishes she could call Lio, but her only option was her dad. 

He had been asleep. His tone had turned murderous when he heard where she was. 

"Lucie." He had growled exasperatedly. 

"I know." She whispers.

"I'll be there soon."

Now he is here, walking through the metal door looking as disappointed as she has ever seen him. She drops her gaze back to her Vans.

"Yep. That one is mine." Nico sighs. The policeman opens the door to the cell. Lucie wordlessly walks out. Nico's brown eyes shoot daggers into her. They do not speak to each other until they are at Nico's Mercedes outside the building.

"Paying for your bail has to be the proudest moment I’ve had as your father." He rips the car door open. “What were you thinking tonight?”

"I..." She bites her lip. It shakes beneath her teeth. She looks away, out the window, tears slipping from her brown eyes.

"I need an answer, Lucie. This is ridiculous. I have to use my name to get you out of trespassing charges? This is what we have come to with you?"

"I guess so." She snaps at him. Nico inhales loudly, muttering under his breath in rapid Swiss German that Lucie cannot keep up with.

Nico throws the car into drive. The only sound is the tires slapping the pavement as they move towards home.

“I don’t know what to say to you to make you understand how bad Marco is for you, Luc. He… doesn’t care about you.”

“He does.” Lucie juts her chin out defiantly, never mind the wet tracks of tears on her cheeks. She folds her arms across her chest.

“He doesn’t. No man leaves the girl he loves behind.”

“We don’t love each other.” Lucie rolls her eyes.

“Okay, well then it isn’t love, but he doesn’t care, Luc. Why would you want to be with someone like that?”

“He cares in his own way.” Nico shakes his head, a headache beginning to pulse in the center of his forehead. “We can’t all be perfect like you and mama.” Lucie practically sneers at him. Nico blinks away the blinding anger threatening to take over. 

“Hmm. Well, you can think about that while you’re grounded for the next few months.” Nico is kicking himself about letting her go on that trip to see Lio over break. Lexi was right. He should have kept her home to show her how serious they were about her behavior needing to change. 

“What about the ski trip next week!? All my friends are going!”

“You should have thought about that before you snuck out of my house and got arrested.” Nico seethes back as he pulls into the garage. The door to the house opens and Lexi stands in the doorway, eyes on her oldest daughter immediately. Like Nico, Lexi is torn between wanting to inspect her to make sure she is okay, and yelling at her. 

“What were you-“

“Thinking?” Lucie cuts her off. “I was thinking that jail is better than this prison.” She scoffs, then stomps by her mom to head up to her room. The slam of her door shakes the house.

“What are we going to do with her?” Lexi whispers to Nico, who clearly has no answers. 

“Send her away? I don’t know. I’m too tired to talk about this tonight.” Nico sighs.

“We need to give her consequences, Neeks. This is getting so serious. Did they charge her?” 

“No.” 

“No?” Lexi furrows her eyebrows. Then realization crosses over her face. “What did you do?”

“Saved our daughter from herself.” Nico yawns. “Let’s go to bed.” 

“Nico… I don’t think-“

“I can’t let anything bad happen to her, Lex. Not when I can still make things go away for her. Soon, I won’t be able to. She’ll be in New York and…”

“And doing all of these things still.” Lexi snaps. “Because you’ve saved her every time. What kind of example does that set for Mack and Sophie? That you’re going to save them every time they screw up?”

“I guess we are talking about this tonight.” Nico sighs, going over to sit at the dining room table. Lexi remains standing in the kitchen with her arms crossed over her pink robe.

“We need to nip this behavior once and for all.” 

“I know, babe. Let’s… take her phone away and stop giving her an allowance.”

“And the car. We are taking the car.”

“How is she supposed to get to study group?” Nico defends.

“She can ask for her friends for a ride and be humiliated about not having a car to drive. Plus, if she doesn’t have the car, she can’t go see Marco.”

“He could come here and pick her up.”

“He won’t though. We bank on him continuing to be a piece of shit. Maybe that will end this once and for all.” Nico contemplates. 

“Are we making the girls suffer because of Lucie?” Nico asks. Lucie brings Mack and Sophie to school too. Now, Nico and Lexi will have to bring the older girls to one school and Sophie to another. 

“They will be fine about it.” Lexi waves off. “Mack gets annoyed with Lucie making her late so much and Soph will go with whatever we say.”

“Alright. We can tell her tomorrow morning.” 

With the next move in their chess game planned, Nico and Lexi surrender to their exhaustion and head upstairs. They walk by Lucie's bedroom, both hearing the muffles sobs from behind the closed door. They share a look, both fully aware of how hard of a day tomorrow will bring.

[fartquen12]

(IM BACK) yandere greedler x female reader.

HEY GUYZ IM BACK AFTER A FEW MONTHS.... HOPE YALL MISSED ME UWU.... JUST.. ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF FART

TRIGGER WARNINGS: onceler being MY version of onceler, Major character death, mentions of rape/non-con, Farts, poop, dookie,eating disorders, bulimia, body dysmorphia (vice versa jhonnythin style yk what i mean) will defenitly offend you if your a mini kyle or mini ravi.

You were here... you finally made it to the shitty place with all the trees you couldnt stop laughing at how hobo this town was... You were.. happy i guess when you saw this weird GUY.. uh wtf.. you thought to your self.

you walked over to him who was fighting this little orange guy..

“No shutu-”

“AHEM.. WHO ARE YOU?”

The fatass dude stared at you for a long time before making a run for it to his shitty houuse...

“um..” you said

“BRO WHO THE FUCK ARE YOY?” the lorax asked..

you just ran to your house.. that was real. And went to bed.

your was awoken by this weird sound... *scratch* you look over and see some creep looking at you through the window.. 

“OH HELL NAH” you said as you slammed the blinds shut. You coudnt make out who that creep was.. but he continued watching you.. at night.

“GURRRR” you said as a attempted to open my laxative bottle. 

*scratch-*

“WHA- DUDAAAA!” you yelled slamming the blinds shut again.

You began making it a habit to keep the door shut and locked and the windows closed.. no matter what.

One day you were staring at yourself in the mirror while laying upside down with your head hanging off the bed. You were bored and were looking around the room. since it was 12:00pm it would be safe too go outside.. but were you gonna risk it..? no. Ever since the creep stole your laxatives while you were gone and put a fan in your bathroom you havent felt safe.. You stared at the doorframe.. when you noticed something... rather... strange. You stood up on the bed to get a better look and to be able to reach it... IT WAS A MINI CAMERA. your jaw dropped and apparently so did your asshole because in that moment a huge flow of dirhea came out of your ass in fear. you ran to the toilet and threw the camera in before shitting all over it. While you shit you thought about everything that camera saw... Every time you scratched your butt.. every time you twerked.. every time you replayed that one abigail blyg and nick furcillo edit... AND THAT ONE TIME YOU CRIED TO “taco farts by mr farts and the band” WTFFF.

You began to cry. as you ran to your bed and slept all day. You woke up at 2:00am to check your house for any other cameras..

*scratch scratch*

“NO! NOOO!.. Listen.. please dont hurt me! stop stealing my laxatives and we can all be friends..”

*silence*

You sighed and ran to the bathroom and cried on the toilet as you ate takis and laxatives and shat like crazy. 

“why me!?!?!”

you began scratching your ass s you fell asleep on the toilet.

Next day you finally went out to town to get groceries.. you kept seeing this guy called the.. onceler? He was pretty nice and you felt bad for him about the whole thneed thing. it was a good idea to you but no one else like em i guess. 

“Hey! Onceler how are you?” you said attemting to make conversation.

“good.. what about you..?”

“Uhh... ive been okay..? There is this creep who keeps recording me tough i cant tell who though..?”

“heheheeee..”

“what?”

“check your bathroom... y/n” he said smiling.

You ran home as fast as possible slamming and locking your door and seeing it..

Yes. He was the “creep” you thought as you saw the camera in the bathroom you had.

“OH SICK!” you yelled before ripping it down. You heard something knock at your doorloudly and when you didnt answer..there was a knock.. at your bedroom door from inside the house.

You began to panic as you jumped and hid under the bed slamming a hand over your mouth to mask the sound of coughing from the battle with the toilet a minute ago. 

Thats when the onceler came int your room and grabbed you straight up from out under the bed and forced a mask over your face  with a gas to make you sleep. 

You woke up in a dark room. with this weird guy.. even though he had kidnapped you.. even though he had ruined your life.. and he raped you that one time... you liked him.. in a weird way. AFter weeks of treating him like a boyfriend and finding out about his factory and what not. He let you have free access to the house when he left for work. what he didnt know... is that he was going to regret that.. 

You saw his car leave and when you did you bolted for the toilet. You began throwing up last nights dinner the dinner before that the one before that and.. the one before that.

You had gotten super skinny... what you didnt know was that the onceler was coming home early.

“oh god *cough cough*” y/n said hovered over the toilet.

“I’m home! Ho-”

oh shit.

HE stared at you before running into the bathroom. you were excited for him to see you. you knew he was going to hug and kiss yo-

“GET THE FUCK OUT OFF MY WAYYYYAAA!” he yelled shoving your head away from the toilet and pulling his pants down to shit. But when you continued trying to throw up he got really mad.. with poop dripping down his legs he stood up and began to beat the everloving shit out of you. 

“DONT *smack* BOTHER *smack* ME *smack* ON *smack* THE *smack* TOILETTTT *smack smack smack*!!!” he said as he began to break every single bone in your body.. you decided to go into the light where you saw turds with halos on their heads.. Guess moving to that hobo town wasnt so funny after all..

THE END

[michelleleewise]

Courting Disaster

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Warnings: secret relationship, mild smut (nothing graphic yet), jealousy, disastrous blind dates, swearing, miscommunication, hitting the angst in the end, vomiting, self esteem issues

Summary: You are the cousin of THE Tony Stark, so when you enter a relationship with the God of Mischief himself you are determined to keep it low-key much to his chagrin. But your lover's meddling brother has other plans......

*I'm so honored and thrilled to be writing this with the lovely and massively talented @xorpsbane !!! This is turning into something amazing and I'm having so much fun!! Thank you for doing this with me!!! 💚💚

Part two--Part Three-

Loki dragged himself to his room wanting this day to be over. He took his shirt off throwing it in the trash bin before heading to the en suite. Standing under the spray he let the hot water relax the tension in his back. "Norns, what am I going to do?" He sighed, wrapping a towel around his waist heading to the closet. He slipped on a pair of gray sweatpants and a black shirt when he heard a knock on the door. "Y/n.." he said to himself running to the door ripping it open.

"Oh....Thor. what is it I'm quite busy." Loki sneered crossing his arms. "Brother, I need to speak with you." He said pushing his way in. "I've had a very long day, so if you don't mind I would like to go to sleep." Loki growled still standing by the door. "I just got off the phone with Jane, who was not pleased." He said sitting down. "Your relationship issues are not my concern Thor, now if you will kindly leave." Loki said pointing at the door. "Brother, I must say I am disappointed, your date said that you spent the entirety of the date talking about your....penis." he whispered as Loki slammed the door.

"That woman needs her head examined! I was nothing but cordial but she insisted that my penis was going to jump out and attack her!" Loki yelled pacing the room. "I have no idea where you are finding these "dates" but I have had enough!" He yelled again flopping down in his chair "i..I don't think this is a good idea Thor, I don't know if I can keep doing this." He sighed leaning back. "Don't be discouraged Brother, as they say on Midgard third time is the charm yes? You just wait, I will not disappoint you again." Thor said smiling as he jumped up running from the room. Loki sighed looking out the window "Gods help me." He said to himself deciding to head to bed.

Loki woke to a sudden banging on his door, looking at the clock seeing it was three in the morning he sighed laying his head back on the pillow when they banging started again. "Alright I'm coming!" He yelled rubbing his eyes he opened the door seeing you stranding there, eyes puffy and red "y/n?" He said still half asleep "Loki, I just....I just need to know....did you sleep with her?" You asked shakily. He grabbed your arm pulling you inside as he shut the door. "I absolutely did not, I would never do anything like that to you." He said sternly watching you. "But..your shirt.." you started "I was walking home and some drunk woman fell on me ruining my shirt." He said watching you shake your head.

"Loki, I know you've been upset with me about not wanting to tell anyone, but you have to understand." You said pacing the room. "I want to darling, but I do not believe I would be sent away." He said crossing his arms "You don't know that! You don't know Tony like I do, and I can't Loki!" You said raising your voice "Darling, I only wish to express how I feel for you for all to see, I am tired of hiding my love for you." He said grabbing your shoulders "I want that too but...." you said looking down.

"A..are you...ashamed of me y/n?" He asked nervously seeing your eyes shoot to his "no! Of course not!" You said sternly. Loki sighed "Darling, I have had the longest day I think I've ever had, can we just go to sleep and talk tomorrow?" He asked rubbing your arms "c..can I stay?" You asked as Loki wrapped his arms around you "I would love nothing more." He said squeezing you tightly. You layed down, feeling Loki press himself behind you, wrapping an arm around your middle pulling you to him "I love you y/n." He whispered into your hair. "I love you too Loki." You breathed, closing your eyes wrapped in the arms of your lover.

A few days later things between you and Loki were still tense, neither of you budging an inch on how you felt about the situation.......unstoppable force....meet immovable object. You sighed sipping your coffee when Thor bounded in the room "Hello Lady Stark, have you seen my brother?" He asked sitting next to you. "Not yet, why what's up?" You asked "Oh, I have found him another date, I am quite confident by the end of this evening his scepter will be thoroughly polished." He said smiling. "Oh...can I see?" You asked watching him pull up a picture. "Oh! Well he....umm he seems nice." You said trying not to laugh.

Suddenly an idea popped I'm your head "Don't show him the picture, let it be a surprise." You told him. "I don't think he really enjoys surprises." Thor said furrowing his eyebrows. "Oh, he'll loooove this one, trust me." You said winking "very well, it shall give the evening a bit of mystery." He said smiling. "Exaclty! Just tell him his name and nothing more." You smiled sipping your coffee, it was time for a little payback for what Loki had been putting you through. "What are you two conspiring?" You heard Loki ask walking in. "Ah brother. I have another date lined up for you." Thor smiled putting his phone away. "Well, let me see. I don't trust you anymore." Loki said holding his hand out. "Ah ah, no picture. His name is Eric, your meeting him at 7 tonight, I'll send you the address." He smiled walking out. "Enjoy your date tonight Loki." You said setting your cup in the sink walking out leaving a very confused Loki.

Loki stood outside the club checking his watch seeing it was 7:15. "Am I lucky enough they stood me up?" He asked himself when he saw a tall muscular man with....pink hair? "Heeey! Loki right?" The man asked "yes, and you are?" He asked looking him up and down "Eric. Your brother said you needed to have a little fun." He said winking holding out his hand. Loki shook it noticing the bright purple nail polish, the glitter along his eyelids. "Jeez your stiff...that's what she said right?" He said laughing. "Come on, let's have some fun." He said grabbing Loki's arm dragging him inside. They grabbed a table looking over the drink menu "Oh my God, have you ever had a jaeggerbomb?" Eric asked excitedly "no, I don't believe I have." Loki said "oh! Your having one, I'll be right back.

Loki looked around the club, watching the crowd of people on the dance floor feeling the bass vibrating his chair, the stobe lights shining In his eyes. "Gods this needs to be over." He sighed to himself as Eric came back "here you go honey, so you and thor are brothers? I wouldn't have pictured that." He smiled downing his drink. "Adopted." Loki yelled over the music, downing his drink as it burned his throat making him wince. "Oh, that explains it." Eric said smiling when the club suddenly went dark and the music stopped. Loki hoped the building might catch fire so he could leave "aahh its black light night!" He heard Eric yell next to him "what does that mean?" Loki asked as Eric grabbed his tie "come on tall dark and broody, the real funs about to begin." He said pulling him to the dancefloor as a blue glow lit up the room. "You may wanna close your eyes." Eric said looking up. "Why would i..." he started when paint sprayed down from the ceiling, covering his hair and suit.

"Mm you look good in pink." He heard Eric as he tried to wipe the paint from his face. "Shots!" He heard eveyone yell as the music started back up, suddenly surrounded by groups of people grinding on eachother "You really need to loosen up hun, here." Eric said handing him another drink. Loki looked around trying to find a way out of this when he quickly excused himself heading to the bathroom. He walked in pouring the drink down the sink and looking in the mirror seeing bright pink paint smeared into his hair and face and dripping down his suit. He took his suit jacket off loosening his tie when the door flew open. "Oooh, there you are." Eric said stumbling in. He eyed Loki up and down locking the door behind him. He sauntered towards him downing his drink "i was hoping tonight would have a happy ending." Eric said winking.

"Eric your intoxicated, i think.." he started when Eric put his finger on Loki's lips "your really pretty." He purred as his hand trailed down to Loki's chest. "Eric, I really must be going, there is an urgent matter that has come up.." he started as Eric nudged him againt the sink "I had something come up as well, if you know what i mean." He smiled winking. "Eric, i..." he started when the man's face turned an odd shade of green "are you alright?" Loki asked "yeah, I just.." Eric started before emptying the entire contents of his stomach on Loki's leather shoes. "By Odin's beard!" Loki yelled side stepping Eric as he continued to empty his stomach onto the floor "sorry hun, let me make it up to you." He said standing back up "that is quite alright, I'll be taking my leave now. Good night" He said grabbing his jacket storming out of the bathroom.

You were sat in the common room reading when Loki stormed in throwing his suit jacket on the counter. "See if I let that buffoon do anything like this again." He huffed grabbing a rag wetting it in the sink. You lowered your book seeing florescent pink paint streaked through his black hair, smeared on his face and clothes. "How was your date?" You asked smugly as Loki's eyes shot to yours. "An absolute nightmare, the man had pink hair for God's sakes!" Loki yelled trying to wipe his face off. "Oh come now, Eric couldn't have been that bad." You laughed seeing Loki freeze. He set the rag down looking at you "you knew about this, and you didn't tell me?" He asked crossing his arms. "Thor may have mentioned it, consider it Karma." You smiled getting up.

"And what pray tell have I done to deserve this? The man tried to kiss me in the bathroom and vomited on me!" Loki yelled again storming towards you. "Everything you've put me through that's what!" You yelled back "Oh, so I'm being punished because I don't want to hide how I feel about you? Because I'm not afraid of Stark." He said sternly "I'm not afraid of him Loki, you just don't understand." You said crossing your arms. "Your right, I don't understand what would make you so terrified of telling him, he can't make me go back to Asgard, only Odin can." Loki said "why can't you just admit you don't want anyone to know your courting a monster, thats what this is about is it not? What I am!?" Loki yelled "no its not!" You yelled back. Loki looked down shaking his head

"I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you y/n, I have tried to be a better man, for them....for you. But I see now I never will be." He sighed grabbing his jacket "Goodnight y/n." He said walking towards his room. "Loki...wait." you called out to him. He stopped, tuning to look at you "why don't you go find Thor, I'm sure you'll both have a good laugh about this." He sighed waving his hands. You looked into his eyes seeing them turn pink. "Loki..." you whispered "Goodnight." He said again turning and leaving. You sat in the chair holding your head in your hands "why can't I just be free to do what I want?" You asked yourself, unaware of the eavesdropper in the hall.

Tony had suspected you two were sneaking around....but now he was sure........

💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚🐍💚

Next part written by the wonderful @xorpsbane !💚

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[helpimhyperfixating]

Y/N's house has a pool in the backyard and one day, during a heavy rain, Mer! Jotaro makes his way all the way from the sea to Y/N's pool, much to their surprise when they wake up and go outside. "J...Jotaro? How did you get here?"

Surprise Visit - Mer! Jotaro x Human! Reader

Word Count: 1445

The rain was beating down hard as the Merman dragged himself across the road. The concrete scraping uncomfortably underneath his body. The water streaming over it helped a lot but it didn’t make it less annoying.

Once more, Jotaro inwardly cursed you for living so far away from him.

Of course in actuality, you lived relatively close to the ocean, but that didn’t mean Jotaro thought of it that way.

The pavement suddenly started vibrating beneath his hand and the merman realised something was coming. He attempted to hurriedly pull himself away from the road and onto the sidewalk but around the corner already came bright yellow lights as well as flashing blue and red.

Tires squealed while Jotaro had to squeeze his eyes shut, accidentally having looked directly into the light, his pupils shrinking almost painfully after having been in the dark so long.

Sounds of a car door slamming and two pairs of footsteps sounded and Jotaro attempted to peel his eyes open, holding one hand up to shield his eyes. The bright yellow light was gone but the red and blue was still flickering.

A person stepped in front of the light, blocking it and throwing a shadow over the merman on the floor.

“Hey there.” A male voice spoke and Jotaro sighed. “Long way from sea, aren’t you, buddy?”

“Fuck off.” Was his simple response as he turned forward again and started back up with the crawling.

“No, hey, hey!” The police officer hurriedly started trying to get in front of him, making the lights blind him again, to which he jolted his head a little and ‘tch’d in annoyance. “We’re here to help you!”

“Don’t need help.”

The policeman awkwardly looked to his partner who just shrugged. “Look, we don’t know how you got so far inland but we just want to help you and currently you’re going the wrong way.” He tried again, walking along at a snail’s pace while the Mer reached the sidewalk.

“I’m not.” Just to get more certain of himself, Jotaro silently sniffed the air again. Yes, this was definitely the way he needed to go.

“The ocean really is the other way though, bud-“

“Shut up! Leave me alone, you bastard!” Jotaro had had enough and yelled at the officer, baring his teeth before being blinded again when the officer shifted away warily, cursing as he had to squeeze his eyes shut again. Turning his head forward again, he once more started dragging forward, mumbling a “I’m not going to the ocean.” Before disappearing into the bushes on the side, leaving the police officers to stand a bit bewildered on the road.

- - - -

Stretching your arms over your head as you stepped from your stairs onto the floor, you sighed in content before walking over to your kitchen and making some tea. You felt as if you had some eyes on you but shrugged it off, your tea soon being done. Picking up the mug, you turned around and walked forward into the living room, large windows giving you a view of your garden which you were not paying attention to, instead walking to your dining table where you had put your book last night.

Ready to start the weekend, you turned and walked two steps forward in the direction of your couch, only for your eyes to finally land on the yard.

Your eyes connected with a pair of glaring aquamarine ones staring from your pool in the middle and your jaw fell slack.

In shock, you dropped your mug and it turned mid air, splashing all its contents over the front of your right foot before shattering, some pieces flying out and cutting your poor foot as well.

“Ah, shit, fuck!!” You called out, throwing your book behind you as you brought your right foot up and cradled it, hopping around twice before you stumbled and fell backwards onto your ass.

All of that was thrown aside however as you scrambled up to your one good foot and hopped to the glass sliding doors, unlocking it and ripping one open before half-running, half-hopping over to your pool.

“J...Jotaro?! What the hell!?” Once you reached it, you crouched down, looking down at the merman who you had come to call a friend. “How the hell are you here??”

You had a million and one questions but Jotaro was completely focused on something else. For one, he had never seen you so casually, still in loose pyjamas with a cute sea pattern on it, and for another, your foot.

Reaching out, he grabbed the ankle on your right foot and yanked, causing you to fall backwards on your ass again since one of your support beams just got ripped out from under you. You could feel the wet grass staining your pants and groaned at the feeling.

Your foot got yanked again, bringing your focus back to the merman in front of you while he seemed to be inspecting your foot up down, forwards and backwards. A chuff left him as he lowered your foot again before briefly looking up at you.

“You’re an idiot.”

Great. Of course that is the first thing he says to you after mysteriously appearing in your pool. You deadpanned as you stared at the small tree behind the pool, only to hiss when Jotaro pulled a piece of ceramic from your mug out of your foot.

He was using his sharp nails as a pincet, accurately locating every shard and starting to pull them out. Whenever he got it out, he would place it on the edge of the pool, only to then thumb down the small cut. You appreciated him pulling them out, but you liked that action less.

“Ow, Joot- don’t do that.” You said through gritted teeth when he once again was stroking his thumb over the cut.

His eyes glanced up and looked into yours but you saw him push his thumb down again all the same, gently rubbing up and down over your foot. Not only did the cut sting, but where you spilled boiling water over your foot was irritated and hurt whenever he would touch it.

Almost as if he noticed it too, he suddenly yanked your foot down into the water.

Your breath hitched and you stifled a squeal cause, “oh, that’s cold!”

“It’s not.” Jotaro remarked and you pouted at him, pulling the cuff of your pants up which were now wet due to being in the water. Just then, the merman dipped his head down to look at your foot underwater, returning to what he was previously doing, pulling your leg further and further down to which you got a bit nervous that he would maybe pull you completely into the water. You were not ready for a surprise morning soak.

Feeling another shard get picked out, that goddamn thumb rubbed over the cut again and you curled your toes at the sting. Biting your lip in held back frustration but just accepting it. Jotaro was one of the most stubborn creatures you had ever met so there would not be much you could do about it.

After what felt like forever, Jotaro finally came back up, still holding your ankle and now placing the last few shards with the others. He even picked out the smallest of the smallest ones that you probably didn’t even know were there.

“Happy now?” You asked and Jotaro swallowed. He felt a little restless, wanting so badly to groom you and take care of you that way, but if he did that you surely would be weirded out or run away. He couldn’t do that, not yet at least. So, instead, he just nodded and let go of your ankle, finally. Now that that was done, you finally felt like he would answer some questions. “What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t come yesterday.”

At this you blinked a few times. THAT was why he came all this way to your home?! “Jotaro, the sky was practically falling down yesterday, it was raining that hard. I’m not going to the beach when that is the case and neither should you, the waves could crush you onto the rocks!”

“You promised you’d come.” Jotaro glared at you, holding onto the pool edge in between where you had placed your feet.

“I-“ Stopping yourself, you sighed softly. “I did, and I’m sorry for that.” You apologised, seeing Jotaro a little more content now. “Did you drag yourself all this way?” A nod was the response and you let out a short disbelieving chuckle. “You crazy fish you. Did anyone see you?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck.”

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Only Friend

Character: Jason Todd x Fem!Reader [Robin!Jason Todd]

Summary: Gotham mourned for Robin. But who mourned for Jason Todd? Y/F/N Y/L/N wasn’t just another one of Jason Todd’s friends. She was his only friend.  

Word Count: 7,000 [One Shot]

Warnings: Violence, Death, Loss, Grief

Y/N didn’t know what time it was. She hadn’t opened the blinds in her room for days. And she didn’t plan on doing so anytime soon. In fact, she didn’t plan on getting out of bed anytime soon.

She heard a knock on her bedroom door. From the sound alone, she knew it was her mother.

“Y/N, dear. Can I come in?”

She wanted to say, ‘No.’ She wanted to say, ‘Go away.’ But Y/N didn’t even have the energy to do that. So she just laid still with the covers over her shoulders and said nothing. 

Her mom slowly opened the door.

Y/N’s family had been tiptoeing around her since it happened. They didn’t know how to handle the situation. Most parents don’t expect for their daughter’s best friend to die. No child should have to face grief like this.

But Y/N had no choice.

Because Jason Todd was dead.

“Hi, honey,” Y/N’s mother cooed as she walked into the room. Then she placed a plate of food on her nightstand. “I brought you something to eat.”

Y/N didn’t even so much as look at her mother, just continued to stare off into nothing.

“Is it alright if I open of your blinds and windows. I think you could use some fresh air.”

Y/N gave what appeared to be a half shrug, barely visible underneath the thick covers.

But her mother seemed relieved, it was starting to smell musty in the room.

Her mother sat on the edge of the bed and stroked Y/N’s face. “The funeral’s tomorrow.”

Y/N’s eyes finally looked up at her mother – desperate and scared. “Do I have to go?”

“I think you’d regret it if you didn’t, honey. You deserve your chance to say goodbye. Your father and I will be there with you.”

Then Y/N closed her eyes and burst into tears. “I had a dream about him last night. And I woke up and remembered–” she had to pause to catch her breath. “I-I-I remembered he’s g-gone.”

“Oh, honey,” her mom whispered as she pulled Y/N into her arms. “I know you miss him. I know. He was your best friend.”

Y/N pulled away and looked up at her mom. “He was my only friend,” she corrected.

———

Jason Todd was sitting at a lunch table by himself and reading when someone slammed their tray down across from him. His eyes flickered up in a glare, already expecting someone to try and pick a fight with him or something.

But instead he found a girl standing above him, smirking down at him.

No, not just any girl, the prettiest girl in their grade. No one else at this stupid school seemed to think so. But that just further proved Jason’s theory that everyone here were idiots.

“Hi,” she said confidently.

“H-Hi?” Jason stuttered back.

“I’m sitting with you,” she announced as she sat down. “I’m Y/N.”

Jason finally smirked and remained confused. “I know who you are…”

“You’ve never talked to me, so how was I supposed to know?” Y/N said back. “And you’re Jason Todd.”

“Yes?” He responded.

Y/N laughed at his confusion.

Jason Todd wasn’t popular. There was a disconnect between him and his peers. The kids at Gotham Academy were trust-fund babies and spoiled brats. They were such snobs that there were even cliques separating the kids who came from old money from those who came from new money. It all seemed ridiculous after literally starving in the slums of the city. 

Jason Todd wasn’t a rebel. He didn’t lash out or let his inability to connect to the other students make him feel down. Ask any teacher who had him and they would say he was a straight-A student and he never once caused trouble in their class. He was always polite and respectful, responsible and well-behaved.

Jason Todd wasn’t bullied. Maybe it was a vibe he gave off, but somehow the other kids knew not to mess with him. Jason came to school with a black eye once, and he always wondered if it freaked them all out enough to never try to mess with him – not that they would ever stand a chance against him.

In regards to the middle school hierarchy, Jason was nobody.

Because Jason Todd wasn’t really a kid. He just had the misfortune of also not being an adult yet.

He was just a poor punk from the Narrows, who just happened to try and steal the tires off the car of Gotham’s notorious vigilante. He didn’t belong at this snobby prep school.

But going to school was one of Bruce’s demands after making Jason his new Robin.

Jason just didn’t know how to make a convincing argument for why he didn’t need social interactions with kids his own age.

“Is this some kind of dare?” Jason asked Y/N.

She froze her eating and scoffed at him. “You’ve watched too many bad teen movies. What kind of asshole would I be to do something like that?”

But Jason still looked around the cafeteria, expecting to find a table full of people watching this interaction and trying to hide their giggles.

Y/N finally slammed down her food, sat back, and crossed her arms. “People at this school suck.”

“Uhh…OK?”

“I saw you reading Pride & Prejudice the other week. And you were wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt yesterday. You helped pick up Jill’s stuff when her backpack ripped open, while everyone else just laughed.” She paused. But Jason waited. “What I’m saying is that I’ve decided that you don’t suck.”

“Oh,” Jason blurted out.

“Do you honestly think anyone at this school even knows who Jane Austen is? And some dude in my English class tried to tell me Nickelback was his favorite band.”

Jason laughed at that. “How did you even respond to that?”

“I asked him if he was fucking with me and then the teacher yelled at me for swearing. And I told her, ‘How am I supposed to react to a Nickelback fan without using profanities?’”

Jason laughed again.

That was how Jason and Y/N became best friends. That was all it took.

Jason would soon find out that Y/N didn’t belong here just as much as him. She didn’t come from money – just your normal, middle-class suburban family. She’d won a full-ride scholarship to Gotham Academy, which was impressive since they only handed out one per grade.

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne made one 30-second call and Jason was accepted – no questions asked.

Y/N was rather mature for her age, but it wasn’t the product of being Batman’s sidekick and fighting the criminals of Gotham City.

—

Any second Jason had to be a normal kid was spent hanging out with Y/N. Jason was at Y/N’s house all the time, loving Y/N’s parents and envious of the stable home Y/N got to grow up in.

It took awhile for Jason to feel comfortable inviting Y/N to the manor, despite Alfred saying he was welcome to have friends over whenever he wished. Jason eventually got over his embarrassment. While Y/N seemed in awe of Wayne Manor, the evidence of Jason’s wealth didn’t make her treat him any different. They mostly hung out in Jason’s room anyways. Or in the kitchen when Alfred made them snacks.

While they were at school, they always ate lunch together and walked to classes shoulder-to-shoulder any chance they got. They only needed each other.

They ignored everyone else. And in return, everyone else left them alone.

For the most part.

—

Jason should’ve known something was wrong when he heard the commotion on his way to third period.

When he heard kids start chanting “Fight!” his gut somehow knew Y/N was involved.

Jason shoved his way through the thick circle that was surrounding the drama.

He reached the opening just in time to see Y/N tackle a boy named Parker to the ground. The crowd gasped, not actually expecting them to actually go through with violence. Then Y/N lifted her fist and landed a punch to Parker’s face.

But Jason quickly stepped forward and pulled Y/N off.

“He’s not worth it, Y/N.”

Recognizing the voice of her best friend, Y/N allowed him to pull her away.

“Gonna let your boyfriend pull you away?” Parker yelled out.

Y/N whipped back toward him, but Jason wrapped his arms around her and held her back. “Y/N, leave it!”

“I’m not the one with the a black eye and bloodied nose, asshole!” Y/N screamed, only half fighting Jason’s hold. “Next time, I’ll kick you so hard in your tiny dick that you won’t be able to have kids.”

Jason managed to drag her through the halls with a vice-like grip on her hand.

Y/N scoffed at his efforts, “Where are you even taking me?”

“We’re ditching class.”

She shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

Jason knew exactly what exit didn’t have an alarmed rigged to it or any video surveillance. He also grabbed a cellphone in his back pocket and started to type frantically.

“You have a cellphone! What? Since when? My parents said I can’t get one until high school,” Y/N groaned enviously.

Little did she know, Jason had set up an AI system that would call the school with Bruce’s voice and leave a recording about how Jason needed to be dismissed from school. It was perfect for Bat emergencies. 

He had added Y/N’s parents voices to the algorithm a few months ago, having a hunch it would come in handy.

As soon as they were a safe distance away from the school, Y/N let go of Jason’s hand and walked slightly ahead of him.

With their freedom secured, Jason could focus on Y/N now.

“What did he do?” He asked her gently.

Y/N was smart and calculated. If she’d picked a fight with someone, Jason knew it had to have been caused by something serious.

“Doesn’t matter,” she mumbled.

Jason rushed forward and stopped her walking. “Hey, come on. It’s me you’re talking to…”

Y/N nodded, knowing he was right. They told each other everything, or so she thought.

Her eyes went to the ground, too embarrassed to meet his gaze. “We were in health class. Today was the unfortunate lesson for learning male and female anatomy. Mrs. Martin started talking about…” Y/N hesitated. “She started talking about boobs. Said something about when girls start seeing a change.”

“And?” Jason urged softly.

“Parker chimed in and said, ‘Or if you’re Y/L/N… never.’”

Embarrassed by her confession, Y/N started walking again – quicker, this time.

Jason jogged to catch up to her. “Fuck him. Only a loser asshole would say something like that.”

“Well…he’s probably right.”

Jason shrugged. “Who cares?”

This time Y/N stopped walking. “You don’t get it,” she snapped. “Every girl in our grade is growing up. And I still have the chest of a boy. My mom won’t even let me buy a bra because she says I don’t need it yet.”

Jason was speechless. 

To be honest, he had never really noticed. Y/N wore baggy band t-shirts or flannels all the time. He wasn’t exactly studying her silhouette when they hung out. But he never imagined that Y/N would be bothered by something like that.

“Sometimes I’d just like to…I don’t fucking know…feel like a girl.” She paused. “A pretty girl,” she emphasized.

Jason stared into her eyes. “You are a pretty girl.”

Y/N sighed and rolled her eyes. “J, you don’t have to say that.”

“I’m serious. You’re the prettiest girl in our grade, Y/N.”

That caught her off guard. He’d never said anything like that to her before. 

Sure, Jason said nice things to her. But it was usually him complimenting her taste in music or thanking her for showing him a new book he loved. But he’d never called her pretty before.

Jason, worried that he’d exposed himself, pulled her to him so he could give her a noogie. And the moment was broken.

“Jason! I think I’ve proved today that I will hit a bitch!”

He just laughed and playfully shoved her away. “Come on. I’ll buy you one of those embarrassing frappuccinos from Starbucks.”

“Excuse you! They’re not embarrassing. They’re delicious.”

Jason could tell Y/N didn’t want to talk about the fight anymore. So he thought distracting her was the next best thing. 

And, by some miracle, they returned to school the next day without any punishment.

But Jason wasn’t done yet.

Parker didn’t realize he was messing with Robin’s best friend.

Jason was patient. He waited for the precise moment when Parker would be alone.

A week after the fight, Parker turned the corner of an empty hallway and jumped when he nearly ran into Jason.

“What do you want, Todd?”

Jason took a step toward him and lowered his voice, “If you ever say anything like that to Y/N again – or to any girl, for that matter – I won’t hesitate to beat the shit out of you.”

Parker side eyed him. “Yeah, right.”

Without hesitating, Jason reached forward, grabbed Parkers palm, and snapped the index finger of his dominant hand.

Parker let out a screech of pain and fell to his knees.

Jason kneeled down to whisper in his ear, “No witnesses. No cameras. And I’m actually in gym class right now, running the mile. No one will believe you.”

Parker looked up at Jason like he was a madman.

Jason smiled and patted him on the head. “Remember what I said.”

After that, Parker never even so much as looked in Y/N’s direction.

—

Jason and Y/N looked out for each other, protected each other

And Jason may have kept his other life of Robin from her, but Y/N seemed to already sense that there was something Jason was hiding. It wasn’t just something, it was dark.

When Y/N started noticing bruises and cuts on Jason’s body, she grew concerned. But she wanted to observe and think of all the possibilities before she ever brought it up.

Then one day at her house, she made a joke and slapped Jason playfully on the back.

He hissed uncontrollably and his entire body froze.

“Jason?” Y/N asked with concern.

“I’m fine. You just surprised me and knocked the wind out of me,” Jason said hurriedly.

But Y/N wasn’t stupid. She quickly grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and ripped it up so she could see his back.

“JASON! What the fuck!” She gasped in horror as she saw the bruises scattered across his skin. She had never seen anything like it. 

“Shh!” Jason tried to calm her to stop her parents from coming in and then having her immediately showing them too.

“What happened?” Y/N whispered, her eyes glazed over with tears.

“Nothing. I’m fine, Y/N. I promise.”

“You’re not fine. And this isn’t the first time,” Y/N countered. “You think you do a good job of hiding them, but I see the other bruises and cuts, Jason. And don’t think I don’t notice how often you skip school because your ‘sick.’”

Jason stayed quiet. He didn’t want to lie to her. But he couldn’t tell her. It could put her in danger. And if Bruce ever found out, he’d put a stop to the whole thing. Jason would never be Robin ever again.

“He does it,” Y/N whispered.

Jason blinked. “Who?”

“Bruce,” she clarified. “He beats you, doesn’t he?”

Jason’s eyes widened in horror. He knew Y/N was weary of his adoptive father. She noticed how absent he was from Jason’s life, then took note of how cold he was when he was present. But her theory made perfect sense. And if the roles were reversed, Jason probably would’ve come to the same conclusion.

“Y/N, Bruce has never hurt me.”

She frowned. “You don’t have to protect him. And you don’t have to take his shit. I knew something was off about him ever since I met him. But I didn’t think it was this.”

“Y/N…” Jason began.

“Does Alfred know?” She couldn’t imagined him every letting something like this happen if he did. Y/N had grown to love Alfred almost as much as Jason.

“There’s nothing for him to know, Y/N.” Jason laughed. “I was trying to walk across the railing above the great hall and fell and landed on my back. I didn’t tell you because I was embarrassed, OK?”

He knew from Y/N’s face that she wasn’t convinced. But she also knew not to push someone who was in the position she thought Jason was.

But to his horror, tears started falling.

“I just…I want you know that I’d do anything for you. You can live here! My parents love you and they’d take you in! Or-or-or we can run away together – just you and me.”

Jason hated seeing her cry. She rarely ever did it. And to know he was the cause made him feel sick.

Not knowing what else to do, Jason pulled her into a hug.

“I’m OK, Y/N. Promise. You don’t have to worry about me. Please don’t cry.”

“We just have to steal some of the stupid jewelry he has laying around and we’d be set for life,” she mumbled into his shoulder.

Jason laughed and pulled away. “Bruce took me in. Gave me a better life. He’s protected me. I know you don’t believe me, but the bruises aren’t because of him.”

Y/N wiped the tears away sloppily and nodded, but they both knew that Y/N didn’t believe him.

Y/N didn’t look at Bruce the same since that day. Not that she spent a lot of time around him.

But Bruce shared a look with Jason when he received the first very harsh glare from the pre-teen girl. It ended with a very uncomfortable conversation between Bruce and Jason where the boy explained what theory Y/N had come to.

Though Bruce said very little in response, he was wracked with guilt. To learn that someone thought he had the potential to behold the evil he tried so hard to eradicate in the world? It made Bruce sick to his stomach.

———

Now Y/N stood with her head hung low, in a crowd dressed in black.

These people didn’t know Jason Todd. Maybe they played the part of mourning funeral goer well. But Y/N saw their performances still.

The only people Y/N recognized were Bruce Wayne, Alfred, and Jason’s older brother, Dick Grayson. She’d never met him before, only seen pictures of him around the manor. Jason always seemed disappointed when Y/N brought Dick up or tried to ask about him. Y/N got the impression that he wasn’t all that great of a brother to Jason. Especially when it was obvious Jason looked up to him and was desperate for some sort of fraternal relationship.

Y/N looked up at her mother when the priest was finished with whatever he was saying. His words were impersonal, sullied by religion, and did nothing to comfort Y/N. He didn’t even say one thing about what made Jason so great. 

“Can we go now?” She whispered to her mother.

She patted Y/N’s back. “There’s a gathering inside the house now. We should say our condolences to Mr. Wayne and Alfred.”

Y/N frowned at that. The last person she wished to talk to was Bruce Wayne.

She had been watching the man through the entire service. He was stoic and collected. There didn’t seem to be any sadness to be found in his eyes.

The longer Y/N watched him, the angrier she became.

“Please, let’s just go,” Y/N begged her mother.

People were making there way into the manor now and weren’t paying any attention to a girl, despite the fact that she was the best and only friend of the boy they were pretending to mourn.

Her mother gave her a sympathetic look. “Honey, don’t you want to say hi to Alfred. I’m sure it would make him happy to see you.”

Y/N knew her mother was right. She could do that for Alfred. Plus, he gave the best hugs, and Y/N could sure use one of them right now.

They waited in a sort of informal line. Y/N wanted to hit everyone in front of them as she was forced to listen to their empty and rehearsed sympathies. Bruce didn’t say much in return, simply thanking each of them.

But when Y/N and her parents were finally up, Bruce Wayne’s expression shifted.

It was the first time Y/N saw any sort of emotion from the man. He looked heartbroken at the sight of Y/N, who’s hand was tightly gripping her mothers.

Bruce, standing at 6’2, knelt down to be at Y/N’s eye level.

“Hello, Y/N.” He greeted quietly so no one lingering around them could hear.

Y/N only glared at him. 

If she were being honest, she was surprised he even remembered her name. 

But Bruce continued. “Thank you for coming today. I’m sure the past few days haven’t been easy for you.”

Then he cleared his throat. And Y/N’s brow furrowed at the sound. Was he trying to hold back tears? No, that couldn’t be possible.

“I wanted to thank you for being such a good friend to Jason. He talked about you all the time. I’m glad he had someone like you in his life.”

Y/N felt nauseous at how genuine Bruce Wayne’s words sounded. His eyes were even more sincere.

What happened to the cold and distance man she’d had little to no interaction with?

‘He has an audience now,’ Y/N told herself. ‘He knows everyone’s watching. He’s performing just like the rest of them.’

“What did you do to him?” Y/N finally whispered to him.

Where she got the courage to speak to an adult in such a way, she had no idea – especially one as powerful as Bruce Wayne.

Bruce tensed at her question. Was that hurt in his eyes?

“Y/N!” Her mother hissed down at her.

“It was you. I know it was,” Y/N muttered as her lips trembled and tears started falling. She thought she’d run out of tears, but this was her final outburst.

“Y/N, enough!” Her mother hissed again and then made eye contact with Bruce and Alfred. “I’m so sorry. She’s not…she’s not handling any of this well.”

“You did this to him!” Y/N yelled. “He always had bruises…and-and-and cuts! You used to hurt him!”

“Y/N!” Her father finally chimed in, completely stunned by his daughter’s accusations.

“I hate you!” Y/N screamed in Bruce’s face as tears flowed down her face.

With that, she ripped her hand from her mom’s grasp and made a run for it. She heard her parents yell her name, but she ignored it and kept running.

Bruce stood up, looking unfazed from Y/N’s hateful and accusatory outburst.

“We are so, so sorry,” Y/N’s mom insisted. “She’s never done anything like that before.”

Bruce held up a hand, stopping them from continuing. “It’s alright. Really.” Then he sighed. “I’ll have Alfred go find her in a bit. Perhaps she just needs to let out some steam.”

Y/N didn’t even realize where she was running until she ended up at Jason’s bedroom.

Her entire body shook with sobs as she opened up the door.

It looked exactly the same, like nothing had even happened.

Y/N walked to the other side and slide against the giant windows, curling into a ball on the floor with her arms hugging her knees to her chest.

She cried and she cried and she cried.

There was no way for her to know how long she’d been there. But her head snapped up when there was a knock on the doorframe.

Dick Grayson leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed and a sad smile on his lips.

“Hi,” he greeted softly.

Y/N sniffed and rubbed the snot from her nose with the back of her fist, “Hi.”

“I’m Dick,” he introduced as he closed the door behind him and sat on the foot of Jason’s bed, making sure to give Y/N her space.

“I know,” Y/N answered back through a stuffy nose.

“Alfred tells me you and Jason were good friends.”

“We were each other’s only friend,” Y/N corrected him.

Dick nodded slowly.

“I hate him,” Y/N mumbled.

Dick winced. “Jason?”

“Bruce.”

“Believe it or not, I know how that feels,” he sighed.

“Did he hit you, too?” Y/N asked with wide eyes.

Dick opened his mouth, but was so shocked by the question that no words escaped.

“Why didn’t you help him?” She followed up with. “Where were you?”

Dick knew she wasn’t asking what he felt like she was: Why didn’t you stop the Joker? Why was Robin all alone? Why didn’t Batman call you for help?

But that didn’t stop her interrogation from hurting him.

“I haven’t always been there for him,” Dick finally admitted. “Actually…I’ve never really been there for him.”

Y/N looked at him with bewilderment. “Umm…” she sniffed. “I should find my parents.”

When she stood up, something caught her attention on Jason’s desk.

Y/N’s hand shook as she picked up Pride & Prejudice. He was the only middle school boy she’s ever seen reading a Jane Austen book. It was one of the reasons she wanted to befriend him in the first place.

“Keep it,” Dick surprised her by saying.

She quickly turned around and gave him a questioning look.

“You should keep it,” he told her. Then he looked at the overflowing book case she was standing near. “Take whatever ones want. He’d want you to have them.”

Y/N’s eyes flickered through the bookcase. Her heart was telling her, ‘No, they’re his books. He’ll need them when he gets back.’ But Jason Todd wasn’t coming back.

So she reached up and grabbed Jane Eyre and then Frankenstein.

“That’s it?” Dick asked. Because he would’ve let her take Jason’s entire collection.

Y/N nodded shyly.

Dick escorted her through the house and back to the gathering.

When she saw Alfred, Y/N rushed forward.

Dick’s heart ached as he saw the butler immediately kneel down and pull Y/N into a hug. He wondered what the man whispered to her. Whatever it was, it seemed to comfort her in a way that apparently nothing else was.

Then Y/N’s parents returned to her side. Dick expected them to scold her for her earlier outburst, but they just seemed concerned and started making their leave.

Y/N looked behind her and searched through the crowd to find Dick again. When she did, she gave him a sad wave.

Dick returned it with a sorrowful smile.

———

8 Years Later...

Jason had been keeping tabs on her since he returned to Gotham. He kept his distance, remained out of sight. He would jump from rooftop to rooftop as she walked home from a night class. Or he would wait for the window of her apartment bedroom to go off if it was a slow night of patrolling.

He told himself it was out of curiosity. But he knew deep down he was making sure she stayed safe.

Jason was happy to see that Y/N didn’t retain her lonesome ways in her life after his death. He frequently spotted her having dinner or drinks with friends.

But Jason didn’t know how to feel when it was clear that Y/N had no romantic partner. Was he relieved? Was he irritated that someone didn’t love and care for her the way she deserved? Would he have been jealous if there was someone in his life?

Jason wanted to find her as soon as he was brought from the dead. Even when he felt like he’d gone insane, when his thoughts didn’t make sense and he was confused…her face still echoed through his mind.

But vengeance became his priority.

And with it, Jason slowly convinced himself that it was best to stay far away from the only person he still cared about.

But that didn’t mean her didn’t want answers still.

After his war with Bruce – or really, his attempted murder Batman and the Joker – Jason allowed himself to actually look back on his old life, the parts that didn’t involve being a child vigilante.

Still not on speaking terms with Bruce. Jason decided to get his info from another source.

Cue a month or so after his brush with Bruce, Jason blindsided Dick the next time he was in Gotham and slammed him against the closest brick wall.

Jason used to look up to Dick as a kid, despite his older brother rarely even giving him the time of day.

But now, Dick was quite literally looking up at Jason. 

While Jason died a 13-year-old Robin, he was now a 6’3 man who had the set of a heavyweight boxer. Dick might be more flexible and acrobatic, but Jason had brute strength.

“What? B tell all of you not to talk to me?” Jason challenged when Dick didn’t fight his hold or speak to him.

“What do you want?” Dick asked evenly.

“Why did you keep tabs on her?” Jason growled, his voice distorted through his helmet.

“Keep tabs on who?”

“Y/F/N Y/L/N.”

Dick finally had enough of being bullied and shoved Jason’s grip off him. “Why don’t you look her up yourself? I’m sure you have no issue with hacking every personal database of hers.”

“That’s not why I’m asking,” Jason growled.

In fact, Jason had already done everything Dick had suggested. Which made him see that she had made a third-party domestic violence report to the police a week or so after Jason had died. And she had kept following up with it until the police finally came clean and told her there was no evidence to support her claim and she was wasting her time.  

It seemed Y/N was the only person that fought for Jason after he was gone. She had just picked the wrong fight.

“Why did you keep tabs on her?” Jason clarified.

“I just wanted to make sure she was OK.”

That caught him off guard a bit, seeing as Dick never gave a shit about Jason when he was alive. So why would he look after his best friend?

“What? Out of the goodness of your heart?” Jason ridiculed.

“She didn’t handle your death well, Jason. She even picked a fight with Bruce at your funeral.”

Jason smirked behind the safety of his helmet at the image.

Dick sighed and finally put down his defenses. “I failed you, Jason. All of us failed you.” He shook his head as he got lost in a memory. “Y/N even asked me why I hadn’t tried harder to protect you.”

Dick’s eyes saddened. “I figured if I couldn’t be there for you, the least I could do was make sure the most important person in your life was OK.”

It wasn’t the answer Jason was suspecting, but it was all he came for.

“Will you go see her?” Dick asked as he saw that Jason was about to take his leave.

“We were kids. Things have changed,” Jason grunted.

“I don’t think any of that would matter to her,” Dick defended. “I think she’d like to see you and know you’re OK.”

“Mind your business,” was the last thing Jason snapped at him before jumping off the rooftop and disappearing.

————

Jason did what he said: he left Y/N alone. 

He watched over her when he could. But most importantly, he didn’t drop a ghost from the past back into her life.

But he also tried to find that ghost in himself.

Somedays he thought that Jason Todd was lost forever.

But other days, like today, he still seemed to live on.

Jason browsed through the books on the shelves. He missed so many of them when he was dead and then when he reinvented himself.

Now he saw books as a time to fill in the empty space.

He was lost reading the back of covers when he heard it. No, when he heard her.

Next thing Jason knew, he was walking toward it.

“I’m sorry, dear. We’re all sold out of that title. You should’ve reserved it weeks ago,” one of the clerks told her with sympathy.

Jason peered between the shelves and caught a glimpse of y/h/c.

“I know. I just totally spaced. I think I’ll just browse for something else. Thank you for your help.”

Her voice sounded mostly the same, maybe a bit more mature. But he still would recognize it anywhere.

Jason knew he shouldn’t move any closer.

But he couldn’t help himself.

He was just one aisle away from her now, only a bookshelf separating them.

He slowly edged around the corner and smiled as he saw the massive pile of books that Y/N was trying to juggle in her arms. When she tried adding one more, they broke free from her grasp and stumbled loudly to the ground.

Jason didn’t know what he was thinking as he jumped forward and bent down to help her pick them up.

He saw her blush, but keep her head dipped from the embarrassment.

“Thank you,” she quickly laughed as she tried to pile the books back together as fast as possible.

Y/N opened her mouth to say more, but the words got caught in her mouth when she finally met Jason’s eyes.

He wondered how different he looked to her. Could she even recognize him? Or was he fooling himself when he became convinced he was an entirely different person after being brought back from the dead?

But his questions were answered when Y/N looked in shock, only unfreezing when her eyes began to tear up.

“It’s not possible,” she said so quietly that it was barely a whisper.

“Everyone good? I heard a loud noise.” The clear interrupted loudly.

Y/N jumped in response.

Jason stood and faced the clerk, “We’re fine.”

But when he turned back around, Y/N had booked it.

“Fuck,” Jason hissed before carefully handing the books to the clerk and quickly following after Y/N.

She made it further than he would expect. He actually had to look around the streets outside the store for a moment before he could spot her.

As soon as he did, he ran. But he called her name before he reached her to make sure he didn’t terrify her more.

Y/N froze when she heard him and whipped around. “Who are you?” She asked roughly.

There was a moment, when she first met Jason’s blue eyes, where she allowed herself to believe that perhaps a miracle had occurred.

But now she only saw this as some sort of heinous prank.

“It’s me, Y/N.” Jason almost sounded like he was begging her. 

She then fully took him in. Yes, he had the same face. But now he was a full-grown man – and an extremely handsome one at that.

“I shouldn’t have spooked you like that. I’m sorry.”

“You’ve been dead for 8 years,” she muttered.

“I know. It’s a…” Jesus. Jason didn’t even know how to go about this. “It’s a long and complicated story.”

“Were you ever really dead?” Then Y/N’s eyes flashed with a realization. “Did you stage your death? To get away from him?”

Bruce. She meant to get away from Bruce.

Jason looked around. This was no place to have this conversation. He couldn’t believe they were having it at all.

“Fuck. OK.” He quickly shuffled through his pockets until he found an old paper receipt and a pen. He quickly wrote something down.

“I know this is…a lot.” He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture that reminded Y/N of the Jason she used to know. “If you want nothing to do with me, I understand. You’ll never have to see me again.”

He took in a deep breath and handed her the receipt.

Y/N slowly took it and looked down to see a phone number written down.

“You deserve time and space to…” he couldn’t find the right word, “process all of this.”

Y/N watched him as if she was expecting him to vanish like some sort of hallucination.

“After you do,” Jason continued. “If you’re willing to hear me out, I’ll be there,” he told her sincerely as he gestured to the number Y/N now held in her hand.

He waited for Y/N to say something, or maybe even try to make a run for her life.

But after what felt like forever, Y/N gave a short nod.

Jason gave her a shy grin as he slowly started walking backwards. He hesitated saying one last thing for her. But his mind finally told him, ‘Fuck it.’

“I’ve missed you, Y/N.”

————

Jason told himself not to get his hopes up. Y/N had every right to be horrified by him and wish to never see him again. From what Dick described, Y/N hadn’t handled Jason’s death well at all. What child could?

But when Jason got a text from Y/N’s number a week later, asking him to come to her place, he couldn’t help but beam.

Except reality then quickly settled in. And it reminded Jason that this conversation would involve talking about his past for the first time.

‘Suck it up. She deserves to know,’ he heard his past self screaming in his mind.

An hour later, Jason was knocking on Y/N’s apartment door.

“Hi,” she greeted stiffly.

“Hi.”

She led him to her bedroom. “My roommates aren’t home right now. But who knows how long that’ll last.”

Jason didn’t stop himself from looking around. Maybe it was a habit, all of his training of taking in every new environment with acute detail. But really Jason just wanted to take in Y/N and her new life.

That’s when he spotted the three books.

Jason immediately reached for one of them.

“Oh,” Y/N said sadly as she saw what he grabbed. “Umm…Dick told me I could take those. He…umm…said you’d want me to have them.”

“You kept them all this time?” He muttered, still looking at Pride & Prejudice.

“Of course.” Then a thought suddenly occurred to her. “You can have them back. I mean, they’re yours after all.”

Jason smirked at her fumbling. “No, keep ‘em.”

Then the tension from this strange reunion returned to the room.

Y/N gave him a heartbroken look and sat on the edge of her bed. “Jason,” she whispered, “what the hell happened to you?”

Jason slowly joined her on the bed.

His breathing shook as he tried to prepare.

But Y/N deserved to know the truth – the whole truth.

So he told her everything. He told her he was Robin. He told her how he died. He told her how he came back to life. He told her where he’d been.

The only thing he left out was how she was all he could think about when he watched the bomb tick down to 0 and he knew he was about to die. 

But the hardest part was explaining why returning to her wasn’t the first thing he did.

“It wasn’t Bruce. It…you…you were Robin that whole time?” Y/N couldn’t even seem to process it.

Jason just gave a curt nod.

“I reported him,” Y/N gasped. “I was convinced he had something to do with your death.”

Jason winced at that. “Well, if you asked him, I’m sure he’d take responsibility for it still.”

Y/N’s eyes glazed over as she tried to take another look at the past now that she knew the real truth that had been hidden. So many things made sense: all the injuries, Bruce’s behavior, Dick being a distant brother – all of it.

“Y/N,” Jason whispered. Her eyes whipped to his. “I’m so sorry for leaving you like that.”

Y/N finally allowed herself to cry. “Missing you is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Jason didn’t care about keeping his distance any longer. He pulled Y/N into his arms, just like he used to when they were kids.

Eventually, her crying slowed and Jason knew he needed to finally say the hardest thing about this all.

“But I can’t stay, Y/N.”

Y/N wasn’t expecting that. “What?”

“I’m not…I’m not that kid anymore. I’ve done things – terrible things – that won’t ever let me return to the person you knew.”

“I don’t care,” Y/N said surprisingly harsh.

“What?”

“I said I don’t care,” even though she knew he heard her. “You think I’m the same person after 8 years, Jason? You think that little girl didn’t face the consequences of losing the best friend she’s ever had?”

Jason didn’t know what to say to that.

Y/N wiped away her tears and her entire body shifted. “From everything you’ve told me, you don’t seem to have many friends – if any. So, sounds like you could use one.”

How could Jason have overlooked Y/N’s stubbornness when he anticipated how this would all end?

“I lost you once. I’m not losing you again. Especially not with all I know now,” she added. 

Jason didn’t even bother fighting her on it. Y/N had always been his greatest weakness. At least he knew that hadn��t changed.

“OK.” He agreed. “So what now?”

Y/N smiled at his surrender. “Now…we have a whole lot of catching up to do.”

--------------------

Wow. I did not realize how long this was going to take me. 

Please, please, please let me know what you think. Reactions and feedback and reblogs are the only thing that keep me writing on here. 

[thewidowsghost]

Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 3

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

(Y/n)'s POV

I remember feeling weightless, like I'm being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.

I sit, dazed, my head pressed against the dashboard as blood runs down my face.

"(Y/n)!" I hear Mom yell; I feel Mom's hand on my shoulder, gently shaking me.

"I - I'm okay," I croak, leaning back against my seat, trying to shake off my daze.

I notice that we had swerved into a ditch. The driver's-side doors are wedged in the mud and the roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain is pouring in.

"Percy, (Y/n)," Mom says, "we have to . . ." her voice falters.

I look back, blood dribbling down the side of my head. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-splattered rear windshield, I see a figure lumbering towards us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of whatever it is makes my skin crawl. It is a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seems to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half is bulky and fuzzy. His raised hands make it look like he had horns.

"Who is -" Percy asks.

"Percy, (Y/n)," Mom says, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."

Mom throws herself against the driver's side door. It is jammed in the mud. I try my door, but it's stuck too. I look desperately at the hole in the roof. It might be an exit, but the eyes are sizzling and smoking.

"Climb out Percy's door!" Mom tells me, Percy already having pulled the unconscious Grover from the car. "You have to run! Do you see that big tree?"

"What?" I ask, and blood drips down onto my arm.

Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I see the tree she meant: a huge, White House sized Christmas tree - sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.

"That's the property line," Mom says. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."

"Mom, you're coming too."

Mom's face is pale, her eyes as sad as when she looks at the ocean.

"You are coming with us," I argue.

The man with the blanket on his head creeps towards us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he gets closer, I realize he can't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands - his huge meaty hands - are swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. That means the bulky, fuzzy mass that is too big to be his head . . . is his head. And the points that look like horns . . .

"He doesn't want us," Mom tells me. "He wants you and Percy. Besides, I can't cross the property line."

"But . . ."

"We don't have time (Y/n)," Mom says, and I catch her watery eyes. "Go. Please."

I get mad then, mad at Mom, mad at Grover, who Percy is having to drag up the hill, and mad at the thing that is lumbering towards us slowly and deliberately like a bull.

I climb into the backseat of the car, tugging Mom's arm. "We're all going together," I say. "Come on, Mom."

"I told you -"

"Mom!" I look into Mom's sea-green eyes that match mine and Percy's. "I am not leaving you."

I scramble out of the car, pulling Mom with me, and I turn to look at the monster. He is seven feet tall, easily, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine - bulging biceps and triceps. He wears no clothes except a pair of bright white Fruit of the Looms - which would've looked funny except the top half of his body is terrifying. Coarse brown hair starts at his belly button and gets thicker as it reaches his shoulders. His neck is a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which has a snout as long at my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns - enormous black-and-white horns with points that you just can't get form one of those electric pencil sharpeners.

I recognize the monster, but he can't be real.

I blink the rain out of my eyes. "That's the -"

"Pasiphae's son," my mother says. "I wish I'd known had badly they wanted to kill you and Percy."

"But he's the Min -"

"Don't say his name," she warms. "Names have power."

The pine tree is too far away, a hundred yards uphill at least. Percy was halfway up the hill, still struggling with Grover the saytr.

I glance behind me again.

The Minotaur hunches over our car, looking in the windows - or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I'm not sure why he bothers, since we're more than fifty feet away.

I give Mom a slight push, and the two of us start up the hill towards Percy and Grover. Mom takes one of Grover's arms, and Percy takes the other, and I look back down the hill.

The Minotaur bellows with rage. He picks up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raises the car over his head and throws it down the road. It slams into the wet asphalt and skids in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank explodes.

Not a scratch! I remember Gabe saying. Oops.

"(Y/n), Percy," Mom says. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way - directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's changing. Do you understand?"

"How do you know all this?" Percy asks Mom.

"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me."

"Keeping me near you? But -" Percy falters.

Another bellow of rage, and the Minotaur starts tromping uphill.

He had smelled us.

The pine tree is only a few more yards, but the hill his getting steeper and slicker, and it doesn't look like he's getting any lighter, so I move up to help.

The bull-man closes in. Another few seconds, he'd be in front of us.

Mom and Percy must've been exhausted, but they shoulder Grover. "Go, (Y/n)! Separate! Remember what I said," Mom says. "Percy and I will go this way."

I don't want to split up, but I have the feeling that she is right.

I sprint to the left, turn, and see the creature bearing down on me, his black eyes glaring with hate.

The Minotaur lowers his head and charges, razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.

The fear in my stomach makes me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun the bull-man. I hold my ground, and at the last moment, I jump to the side. I roll instinctively, ending back on my feet.

The Minotaur storms past like a freight train, then bellows with rage. He turns, but not towards me this time, but towards Mom and Percy, who were setting Grover down in the grass.

We'd reached the crest of the hill; down the other side I can see a valley, just as mom had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that is almost half a mile away. We'd never make it.

The bull-man grunts, pawing the ground. He keeps eyeing Mom and Percy, who seem to be retreating, trying to lead the monster away from the unconscious Grover.

"Run, (Y/n)!" Mom tells me. "We can't go any farther. Run!"

I stand, frozen in fear, as the monster charges at my mother and brother. They both try to sidestep on opposite directions, as Mom had told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. Both hands shoot out and grab Mom and Percy by the necks as they try to get out of the way. The bull-man lifts them as they struggle, kicking and pummeling the air.

"Mom! Percy!" I scream.

Mom catches my eyes, manages to choke out one last word: "Go!"

Then, with an angry roar, the monster closes his fists around my mom and twin's necks. They dissolve before my eyes, melting into light, shimmering golden forms, as though they are holographic projections. A blinding flash, and they are simply . . . gone.

"No!" Anger had replaced my fear; newfound strength burns in my limbs.

The Minotaur bears down on Grover, who lies helpless in the grass. The monster hunches over, snuffling at my brother's best friend, as if he is about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.

I rip off my red rain jacket.

"Hey!" I roar, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"

"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turns toward me, shaking his meaty fists.

I have an idea - a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and wave my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd just jump out of the way at the last moment.

The Minotaur charges, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.

Time slows down.

My legs tense. I couldn't jump sideways, so I jump straight up, kicking off from the monster's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.

How did I do that? A millisecond later, the monster's head slams into the tree and the impact nearly knocks my teeth out.

The bull-man staggers around, trying to shake me off. I lock my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning are still going strong. A mix of blood and rain in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burning my nostrils.

The monster shakes himself around and bucks like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I'm starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.

Meanwhile, Grover had started groaning in the grass. I want to yell at him to shut up, but the way I'm getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.

"Food!" Grover moans.

The bull-man wheels toward him, paws the ground again, and gets ready to charge. I think about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother and brother, made them disappear in a flash of light, and rage fills me like highoctane fuel. I wrap both hands around one horn and I pull backward with all my might. The monster tenses, gives a surprised grunt, then - snap!

The Minotaur screams and flings me through the air. I land flat on my back in the grass. My head slams against a rock. When I sit up, my vision is blurry, but I have a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.

The monster charges.

Without thinking, I roll to one side and come up kneeling. As the monster barrels past, I drive the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage. The bull-man roars in agony. He flails, clawing at his chest, then begins to disintegrate—not like my mother and brother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind.

The monster was gone.

The rain had stopped. The storm is still rumbling, but only in the distance. I smell like livestock and my knees are shaking. My head feels like it's splitting in three. I'm weak, scared, and trembling with grief and pain. I'd just seen my mother and brother vanish. I want to lie down and cry, but Grover needed my help, so I manage to haul him up and stagger down into teh valley towards the lights of the farmhouse. I'm crying, calling for Mom and Percy, but I hold onto Grover. I couldn't let him go.

The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.

They both look down at me, and the girl murmurs, "She's the one. She must be."

"Silence, Annabeth," the bearded man - Percy's Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner - says. "She's still conscious. Bring her inside."

Word Count: 2101 words

[creativeashproductions]

In the Beginning // Alive!Luke Patterson

Summary: Reggie (Rhodes)’s older sister is the epitome of cool in his, and his friends, eyes with her in a band. Pushed by a hazel eyed brunette with a huge crush on the eldest Rhodes teen the boys decide to start a band. While at first the band is for Luke’s dream of landing you he finds his passion with music.

Warning: Swearing, angst, fluff, dad!Luke

Words: 4.1k

A/N: I couldn’t resist writing another alive!Luke fic with Luke crushing on his band mate’s sister. Ugh, just imagine Luke suggesting a band to impress his crush only to fall in love with music instead.  For my fics it will be Alex Mitchell and Reggie Rhodes until JATP reveals their canon names. 

Masterlist

Los Angeles, 1992

The guitar case was a familiar heaviness as you walked into the home for the first time in months after a practice. You ached from the long travel, and all you wanted was your bed. The yawn came first, then the startled yell at the living room.

Four pairs of eyes met the girl standing in the entryway, surprised at a sleepover with her brother and his full friends. Eyebrows coming together you shook your head wondering why they had come here instead of the typical Patterson home.

“Hey!” Fourteen-year-old Reggie beamed towards his older sister excited she was back from her weekend band practice. Your eyes blinked at his usual upbeat personality before switching to the brown eyes from Bobby, too shy to full meet yours.

Spread around the living room watching a movie was Reggie’s best friends; the socially awkward Alex, the shy Bobby, and the Patterson boy Luke. The young typically spent their time at Luke’s place, so seeing them in your home was strange.

“Reg, what’s up?” You asked crouching to untie your shoes confused at the sharp audible gasp coming from Luke. Standing straight up, you saw Luke awkwardly looking away with bright red cheeks.

“How was practice?” Reggie inquired with the smile he got from your mom and his dark hair from your dad.

Reggie usually wasn’t interested in your band leading you to wonder what the hell was going on with them. Being sixteen you didn’t socialize with Reggie’s friends, thanks to the two year age gap, but you were happy he had good friends. Well, less than two years between you and Luke.

“It was good. Since when are you interested in Crimson Queen?” You questioned moving more into the room with the four young teens, “You haven’t even touched your bass in years.”

One eyebrow raised you individually looked at the boys in the room all with sheets of paper around them. From a distance, you couldn’t tell what was on them, but it couldn’t be homework. They all attended the same high school while you had done correspondence with the band and a tutor.

“Luke’s parents got him a guitar,” Reggie spoke gesturing to the decent brand new acoustic guitar on the floor beside the Patterson. Luke’s hazel eyes widening as you came closer to the group.

Your hand picking up the guitar to look it over finding it was decent for a beginner, but it was definitely not tuned. The sheer sound made you wince.

“So, you guys want to be a band?” You questioned sitting on the floor beside Luke. The boy shifting nervously, you weren’t blind that he got shy around girls, “Do you guys even play instruments?”

“I got the bass, Bobby can play rhythm guitar, Alex plays dru-“

“I wouldn’t call it proper drumming. It’s just something my therapist suggested with my anxiety and frustrations.” Alex raised his hand leading to everyone in the room looking at the tall male, recently had a growth spurt, with the backward black hat.

“And Luke will learn guitar as well.” You added, looking at the quiet, “How well can you play?”

“I don’t even know how to properly tune it,” Luke admitted playing with his fingers adorned with a ring.

Luke had chosen a cutoff shirt in an attempt to gain your attention to his arms he hoped had gotten more muscled. He had a massive crush on you but with the guys your own age he had step up; he started working out. He actually enjoyed it, but he’d enjoy it more if you were checking him out.

“You’ll need a place to practice.” You mumbled glancing out the window at the ocean waves thinking. The house was on the prime real estate edge of the beach all thanks to your well off parents; Dad, a doctor and Mom, an interior designer.

Your fingers tapped on the ripped blue jeans you had chosen that day with the flannel shirt opened over the black AC/DC t-shirt. You started standing up, grabbing Luke’s hand to pull him up as well; the boy’s cheeks grew pinker, and his heart fluttered.

“What?” Luke spluttered, staring at his hand, caught in yours in sheer awe.

“You’ll need a place to practice.” You answered, dropping is head to reach in your pocket for your key chain.

The key chain had a few keys on it: one for home, one for your car, one for the band van for gigs, one for the garage, and lastly one for the house the garage belonged to. The boys piled into the car, apprehensive for where you were taking them. The only sound was the radio playing local greatest hits, your foot slammed on the brake at the house of your bassist.

“Well Marty, this song has blown up on the charts. New band Crimson-“

“Holy shit.” You breathed staring at the radio. Your door opened as you sprinted down to the steps that led to the garage. The footsteps of the boys following.

The garage was open already with your band members lounging around the space filled with instruments and amps. Their heads swivelling as you frantic turned the radio on.

“Come on.” You mumbled, turning the radio station to the right one, “Guys listen!”

“-Crimson Queen is an LA-based band making waves in the LA Nightlife and hit the top ten with their newest song Sorry Now.” The radio host spoke, “If you haven’t heard the song before, this is the band’s new single.”

The song was blasted from the radio leading to the four girls screaming the song out dancing around the room. Euphoria was the only way you could call the feeling rising in the bodies of the girls in the place. The room burst into more screams as your drummer. Faith switched the radio station.

“Today history was made, Crimson Queen is an all-female rock band fronted by Y/N Rhodes. They started as a hobby at fifteen, but a year later at sixteen they’ve made waves.” A hit radio station, the second one so far, was talking about your band. Holy shit.

“Lucy, this band is going places. My daughter is seven years old, and she’s telling me this band is the talk of her school. I can’t tell how much Lucy listens to their demo.”

Your eyes saw Reggie having a meltdown of excitement for older sister and her band, and you were so unbelievably happy you should care the moment. You rushed over to Reggie to pull him into a hug.

“Girls…and boys.” Mrs Taylor spoke furrowing her brows at the young boys in the garage her daughter had begged to use for the band. Shaking her head, the middle-aged woman turned her attention to her daughter.

“Hey, Ma.” Dawn, your bassist, spoke spreading her pink painted lips to her perfectly straight teeth too hyped up on energy, “What’s up?”

“First congratulations on the single. Secondly, we’re gonna need to get a personal line for the band because our phone is blowing up.”

A sharp gasp from Dawn before the three of the four girls rushed to the house of the Taylor’s. You hung back to look at your brother and his band.

“So? What do you think?” You inquired with the group, “This idea of yours has to be one hundred percent what you want. It won’t be easy in LA, it will come with hardships, and Reggie Mom and Dad won’t let you drop out.”

The four boys nodded their heads because the excitement they saw in your big break was something they wanted. To be able to connect with people cemented their decision.

“Feel free to hang around.” You suggested glancing around the garage that started it all, “I’ll be back in a bit.”

The Orpheum, Los Angeles, 1995

The crowd screamed as Crimson Queen, the song that started this road played with the girl crouching to grasp the hand of fans. At the beat of the chorus, you stood up eating up the energy of the last show of the tour. You went jumped on the drum riser rocking on the guitar as Faith did her magic.

Dawn on her bass made her way to rock with your rhythm guitarist Sara sharing grins with you still feeling the euphoria of this success. As the song came to an end, your entire band went to the front of the stage.

“We’d like to thank our fans for the last nine months of our world tour. We started this band in LA in 1991, so we thought it fit to end our tour at The Orpheum.” You spoke to the crowd, feeding off the energy as the concert came to an end.

The road crew would load your instruments up in the van to take home after months of travelling. You were so excited to see Reggie, who would be seventeen now, having celebrated his birthday while you had been in Europe. Too excited were shocked as Reggie backstage.

“Reggie!” You exclaimed tugging the teen into your arms, leaning back to take him in, “Damn you grew!”

Reggie grinned not giving a shit you were coated in sweat from performing your setlist, but your eyes went over his shoulder. Standing close and just as excited was Reggie’s friends. Alex was taller, Bobby looked more confident, and Luke could meet your eyes. Luke also had changed, no longer baby faced.

“Sunset Curve.” You spoke, stepping back to look them over, “I haven’t seen you guys in months, how did you change so much!”

“That’s what happens when you go on tour for almost a year.” Luke teased tugging you into his arms for a tight hug.

It was odd seeing Luke taller and more muscled than when you left for tour, and the confidence was honestly hot. You had seen Luke as anything other than your brother’s friend, who tended to stare a little too long.

“You played the fucking Orpheum!” Alex screamed, holding your shoulders with a wrinkled nose at the damp red thin flannel shirt. The girls wandered up behind you each with a grin at the guys.

“Well if it isn’t Sunset Swerve,” Sara spoke swinging her arm over your shoulder with a teasing smirk plastered on her face. Her blonde hair swept up in a bun high on her head from a recent shower.

“Sunset Curve!” The male quartet snapped at the name before they fell back into a happy demeanour. Luke and you both staring at each other with a pink-hued face.

Faith was quieter in the group leaning closer to your band to whisper in your ear, “Jay scored us some drinks. But MJ got us into a party.” Faith’s textured hair tickling your neck.

Grins split the three girls at the suggestion each excited for the party with fellow musicians and plus ones. Sure, the parties had drugs and alcohol, but they were fun and part of the scene. Half of you wanted to go, but the other wanted to spend time with your brother.

“I’ll think I’ll pass.” You spoke up to the girls motioning to the guys, “I’ll head back with them. Meet you at the house later?”

Your black vans moving backwards as you moved to be closer to be flush against Reggie’s side grinning as he bumped his hip against you. Sara, Faith and Dawn each raising an eyebrow at your response since you often dragged them to parties.

“Orrr…we could each take one of them.” Faith cajoled mocha skin gleaming in the light with her hands, tugging her hair into a thick braid.

“You want me to take my seventeen-year-old brother and his friends-“

“-I’m like two weeks from being eighteen-” Luke cut into the conversation buzzing at the possible date, but not date, with the girl he had been crushing on for years. He was pretty sure he was in love with you at this point; he did date a little, but nothing stuck.

“-To a party in Hollywood.” You finished pinning your gaze on the three girls ahead each with mischievous grins. Your cheeks puffed as you breathed out, thinking of the positives and negatives.

Bobby was bouncing on his heels with Reggie leaving Alex shifting uncomfortably in his place. His partially relaxed when Luke squeezed his forearm through the distressed black jean jacket that bought his outfit together. Luke himself was apprehensive on your decision because either way, he got to spend time with you.

“Come on.” Dawn implored, pulling out the big guns with her ocean blue eyes widening into the puppy gaze that did you in each time. Her curtain of short dyed pink hair framing her heart-shaped face.

“I’m going to pass this time. Do some shots for me! Not tequila though, that was a huge mistake.” Faith’s grin widened at having you carry you out of the house in the early morning after a wicked party.

“Did you ever find your tho-“

“Faith!” You hissed turning a bright red at her revelation that you definitely didn’t want Reggie to know. The atmosphere turned awkward as everyone realized what the sentence would end with.

Okay so maybe you had hooked up with a few people over the last three years but nothing permanent. It was fun, drunk fun, but still fun and nothing had gone wrong. Your eyes avoided looking at Luke for a reason you couldn’t decipher.

“I’ll see you later.” You spoke motioning for the guys to follow you to the dressing room you had settled in early in the day. The corner of your lips quirked at the awe on each of the boys’ faces.

“I’m in the dressing where bands become legends.” Reggie gasped circling the room with wide-eyed interest. Alex was interested in the band posters on the walls from previous performers.

Luke, however, was more interested in your curves covered by your sweaty stage clothing that stuck to your form. His Adam’s apple gulped as you grabbed your shower bag moving towards the connected bathroom.

“I’ll grab a shower, and we can head out.” You supplied, “I’ll just need to stop at Rudy’s office for our portion of the concert.”

The guys mumbled a response finding a place to wait without hushed conversations of when they would get to play. Luke’s eyes found yours at the low call of his name from the bathroom; a crack opened he walked over.

“Do you have a sweater?” You mumbled at the taller teen with widening eyes as he realized that you were naked behind the door.

Luke stumbled over his feet, retrieving the black pullover Crimson Queen merch he had had for months now. He had saved up money to buy the merch to support the band. The door closed as you tugged the sweater in the bathroom momentarily before walking out.

“Thanks Lu. I forget to pack a shirt.” Luke awed as your nose scrunched up adorably to the amusement of his friends, “So, do you wanna hit the beach? Or maybe give me a concert in the garage?”

Luke intertwined his fingers in yours as he tugged you out of the room with your bag in hand. His heart fluttered as you held on to his hand even in the little office of the Orpheum’s management for the thick envelope of money.

“Thanks, Rudy!” You called over your shoulder at the short, stout man going over the financials and upcoming performances.

The smell of Sunset Boulevard brought a smile remembering the first time you performed and the small group that had waited outside. The first night of autographs and recognition.

“So, Reg how’s my car?” You questioned the teen who impishly grinned tugging the key chain from his black jeans. You had given him the keys when you revealed Crimson Queen had a world tour.

“Right there.” Reggie pointed leading the group of five to the car that would take them to the garage. Reggie drove with Alex in the passenger while you were crammed between Bobby and Luke; Luke was delighted in your warmth against his side.

While your band members partied, you got a first-row seating to Sunset Curve’s talent in the garage where you had started out. It was amazing to see how much they had accomplished in the three years since they started.

The sudden knock on the door had you flailing off the couch onto the floor with a sheet of paper stuck to your cheek. Your spine cracked as you sat up glancing at your watch, finding it was after midnight, only an hour of sleep after inspiration for a new song.

The door was knocked on once more and coming close the sound of crying could be heard, and you wondered if it was Luke. He had been over a few days in the night following a fight with his parents and needed to crash; helped you were giving dating a chance after his well-rehearsed speech.

Imagine your shock when it was Reggie sobbing, “Reggie.”

“C-can I stay here?” Reggie whimpered cuddling himself into the leather jacket he received at Christmas from you. You had inside in your arms in moments, “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Are they fighting again?” You murmured to your younger brother content to hold him as he cried. Bringing him to the living room, you held him as he cried humming under your breath the first song you ever let him see.

“Yeah. The music doesn’t work anymore.” Reggie murmured leaning back to wipe his tears off, “Sorry for crashing. I can go stay with-“

“Here. Reginald, you can always stay here.” You soothed the seventeen-year-old boy with sad eyes and a sombre look. His sad eyes shattered your heart, knowing he had suffered the fighting for months alone, “This house is empty Reg. You can move in here.”

His lip quirked up, “Can we play country music?”

“And eat breakfast at night.” You teased him grinning as his lips pulled up into his trademark grin, “The guys can come over whenever they want. I’d actually prefer they know they can stay here, they deserve a safe place to stay.”

You knew that Alex endured living with his parents, who had gone out of their way to avoid him after he came out. Luke couch surfed at your old house, never at Alex’s home; after coming out, Alex didn’t feel comfortable bringing anyone over.

“Good, because they’re outside.” Reggie sheepishly admitted raising his thumbs-up, “Go thinking ahead!”

Snorting the human version of a golden retriever you opened the front door to the house finding two guys in strange positions. Alex was inspecting the light fixture, and Luke was leaning against the wall with his elbow, foot across the other.

“You guys need lessons in the art of pretending you weren’t eavesdropping.” The sigh fell stepping aside for the two to enter the home—each carrying a backpack and small duffle bag for wherever they would have crashed.

The male trio got comfortable in the living room curiously glancing at the mess of papers, sticky notes and pencils. While with good intentions, they didn’t follow boundaries well, even for Alex.

“Whatcha working on?” Luke inquired, leaning closer to a sheet of paper. His pout coming over his face when you quickly tidied up the papers.

“Nothing. I fell asleep on the couch. The label wants new songs.” You groaned rubbing your eyes, “I got inspired last night. Oh! Hey, I took a message for you guys.”

Jogging to your office studio for the band you quickly grabbed the envelope along with the note that you had been given.

“So, Rudy called me, and I had a meeting with him.” You started sitting on the coffee table in front of the trio. The trio leaned forward.

“Rudy?” Luke questioned, pursing his lips together at the male name. While you and Luke were dating it wasn’t official, he was just really nervous with his dream girl liking him back.

“He’s the management for a venue. He asked if our band was available for a concert, but we collectively decided to focus on songs and recording, which you can’t tell anyone about, but he’s in dire need. So, I might have given him something. Specifically a demo of yours and knowing your home situations I gave my information.”

“Okay…so?” Alex questioned, leaning forward. His eyes growing wide as you pushed the envelope in his hand.

Alex quickly opened the cream envelope finding inside a paper along with a mock-up promo poster with Sunset Curve. The squeal was shocking from the teenager as he read the letter and note out loud.

Y/N,

I gave the demo a listen, and we usually wouldn’t do this, but Crimson Queen has been gracious with us. Always mentioning where the band got its start and closing the tour here. To repay the favour, we would formally like to invite Sunset Curve to perform. In the envelope is a mock-up poster as an option for the promo. Get the Sunset Curve’s people to get in touch. I can get the word out to some friends from some labels to come for a listen. Get in touch as soon as possible.

Manager of The Orpheum in Los Angeles,

Rudy West.

 “The Orpheum?” Luke screamed, yanking the paper from Alex to re-read it in complete shock, “We don’t have people!”

“But Crimson does.” You smirked, “On a temporary basis Crimson Queen formally offer our manager’s help.”

In his excitement, Luke lunged to pull you into a kiss freezing the room in shock.

“He got the girl.” Alex breathed elbowing Reggie in the side who’s mouth was open at his best friend kissing Reggie’s older sister. The older sister who was the driving force behind Luke wanting to form a band to impress her, “We need to tell Bobby!”

1995 was the best year for Luke Patterson. He got the girl, his band made it, his parents finally saw his dream was worth it.

The sound of music hypnotized the woman as she wandered down the hall to the open door of the large home. Nothing too over the top like Bobby’s mansion, but it was a nice size in a gated area. Your neighbours being Reggie on one side and Alex on the other side with his partner Willie; Willie had skated into Alex and into a love story pretty much.

Resting against the door edge of the designated home studio you saw Luke had moved a rocking recliner in. Softly playing in the room was a soft acoustic song recorded months previous as a surprise for you.

“When are the lessons starting?” You questioned bringing Luke’s attention to your soft smile and the love in your eyes. Luke’s grin widened glancing down at the miniature version of his love-filled eyes.

“Given her legendary parents, I think at two.” Luke chuckled shuffling the baby to the crook of his arm shifting, so you could curl into his side as well. Both eyes gazing at the little baby you had welcomed what felt like yesterday.

Stevie could fall asleep only to the lullaby her father had created during the pregnancy, and he had written. Stevie had Luke’s eyes, and so far her blonde hair had yet to darken so the question of if she’d take after your hair or his hair was unanswered.

“Hey sweetheart.” You whispered to your daughter falling asleep to the sound of her father’s voice in the room. An adorable yawn pulled from her little body as she nestled into Luke’s arms.

“She’s so gorgeous.” Luke breathed tears welling up as he could understand the reasoning behind his parents’ opinions in his teens. He truly felt terrible at hurting his mom now that he felt the love for his child.

“We did good Patterson.” You murmured back to the man who had held your heart since you were nineteen and back from tour. Your finger tracing Steve’s soft cheek, “I think she has your mom’s mouth.”

Luke’s lips lingered on your cheek heart full of love for his family with you and his little girl. He had known since his eleventh birthday he would marry you even if you were a year older. A year that made the difference when he was months older than his friends, so the year felt like two for you. At eighteen when was tentatively dating you, he knew he would marry you. He never anticipated the sheer amount of adoration for the little girl he would have at twenty-one.

God, he loved his life. He made up with his parents, his best friends, had the girl of his dreams, the most beautiful daughter and it all thanks to music. Can you see why he lives and breathes music?

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[dingdongitsbees]

Hi, i was thinking of Attack on castes and i really like the idea of janitor levi, wannabe Hitch and so, would you write a one history teacher Erwin x lawyer reader, where she is friend to Frieda who is a teacher in the school asked her to pick Historia up for her and that's when Erwin sees her for the first time and immediately fell for her.... Hope you can accept it

offer up your heart

↪ WC: 3.3k ↪ Ao3 Link ↪ Genre: fluff, light-hearted, soft

Attack on Castes for those who haven’t read it! (it’s the reason some characters may seem oc)

Just send an ask to be added to the Erwin taglist!

Attack on Titan Masterlist  | Main Masterlist

You were already late and by god did you not want to be there. You were glad to leave high school behind you when you graduated, promising yourself to never set foot in one ever again. Gossip, bullies, shitty teachers, stupid drama and a mind crushing amount of work. Sure, good things too, but nothing that couldn’t be found in the adult world.

In the adult world you got adventures. You got to fight to bring people the justice they deserved, their livelihood in your hands. They offered up their hearts begging you to save them. It gave you purpose. Whether or not they shed tears of grief or joy would be for you to decide. Nothing quite came close.

Or that’s how you would have felt if your current client wasn’t being such an annoying little shit. He had lied to your face with three wildly conflicting stories about what happened, and then when he got cross-examined by the prosecutor, he decided to go completely off script and implicate himself even further for something he didn’t even do.

The evidence against him were fables and rumours at best but he had begun to make it look plausible through his shifty character. You would get the “not guilty” verdict at the end of the trial, but you were going to have ripped out most of your hair by then.

When you were busy screaming in your hands during the intermission, your friend Frieda rang you and asked you to pick up her younger sister from school because their bastard of a father surely wasn’t going to. You nearly yelled at her then.

Frieda had done favour after favour for you in the past years with your insanely busy and gruelling schedule, so refusing the one time she asked for something in return would put you up with the likes of your client. You agreed, for some reason not asking what time, and then promptly forgot about it.

So there you were, heels clicking rapidly against the school’s hallway, the oranges hues of the sunset streaming through windows and the entrance. You really should have asked for Historia’s number, though you weren’t sure if the girl would bother to reply.

Historia was the epitome of “I think I will cause problems on purpose” simply because she’s bored. To be fair, you couldn’t really blame her, you had no such positive attitude towards school either, but with her being at the top of the pecking order she had the ability to make those problems quite substantial. Freida’s hair was probably going to go grey soon.

You thanked any god that would listen that she had cheerleading practice or you might have genuinely cried. The amount of stress that blonde girl was putting you through simply because she refused to take the bus home was nearly unparalleled.

You looked around the school, each corridor breaking off into another. The same basic lockers and same ceiling lights, same everything. You were fucking lost.

You jogged down some corridors hoping to find someone, turning your head frantically, letting you slam full force into something hard, tall and…blond?

 .

Erwin may love being a teacher but my lord did it get tedious sometimes. He loved the younger ones, brimming with hopes, dreams and potential. Though nearly all of them seemed to be misusing it, putting it on the backburner or simply didn’t care. Kids were good but they certainly could be better. Of course, there’d be the standout kids like Armin and Marco who took their schooling seriously and asked questions that allowed him to gush about things that weren’t just on the set curriculum. But what he would give so all of them were that engaged…

He just wanted them to offer their hearts to him, to trust him and put faith in the information he was giving forward. History is something, that he believed at least, was unparalleled in its importance. You learn from the mistakes done by the generations before you, using the knowledge to guide the current decisions needed to be made. On top of that it just let you understand the world around you; how it came to be and your place within it. History was unparalleled in its importance.

That’s why he was still at the school, marking very obviously last-minute written essays, so he could give them back with thorough annotations and advice that he was sure most of them wouldn’t even glance at.

He had popped off to the teacher’s lounge to get a cup of tea, and was making his way back, eyes glued to the swaying liquid as not to spill it, when a smaller figure came barrelling into him. He instinctually moved the tea away, not wanting the scalding water to hit this unfortunate stranger full in the face. Some of the brown liquid dripped to the floor, Levi would surely have his head for it later, but it was better than any burns.

When he was sure the tea was steady, he looked to the stranger on the ground.

He swore he saw a deity.

Erwin peered down at you in pure awe. Albeit being a bit dishevelled and frazzled, you were clearly a force to be reckoned with. Your pant suit was tailored to fit you perfectly, your heels matching your simple jewellery and watch, your hair which was now a little ruffled, was obviously put together with precision in the morning. You were immaculately put together.

And your face, your face. Everything was right where it needed to be in the exact size and proportion to everything else. It was like you had been perfectly carved for over a millennium by only the best sculptors available.

Your aura was something else. Even if he had found you in pyjamas, the power you would exude would be to the same effect. Something in the way your face shifted as thoughts flew across your mind, the way every bit of movement seemed controlled and purposeful. Erwin had read hundreds, maybe thousands of myths all around the world, and none of the gods in them had never been as ethereal as you.

You were the definition of a muse.

You on the other hand were trying to keep down your groans about your ankles as much as possible. Heels were a mistake enough to attempt to run in let alone fall in, god could this day get any…better? Oh no. He was hot.

You swallowed harshly as he looked down at you, tilting his head and eyes wide. You noticed the tea spilt in a little puddle behind him and felt a little guilty, but he seemed to pay it no mind, his piercing blue eyes only on you.

After a silent moment he offered his empty hand. You took it with a hasty thank you under your breath and gripped on. His hand was so warm, so steady, so comfortable to hold. The moment was over quicker than either of you wanted it to be.

You looked to the ground, smoothing down the ruffles in your clothes, some that existed and some that certainly didn’t, so you could reset yourself. You were not going to be flustered by the first man you saw outside of work though to be fair he would be a good reason to let that rule lay down. He was certainly a fine specimen.

You looked back up, coughing to clear your throat. His gaze was already glued to you, it hadn’t been torn off since the moment you bumped into him. His eyes didn’t even shift now you were staring into his. His mouth was slightly agape, his cheeks dusted pink, his eyebrows raised. You were getting nervous but wanted to know what was going on in that head of his.

“Uh, hi…” you started, leaning your head to the side, “Didn’t mean to bump into you there, sorry for spilling your tea.”

He blinked.

“You’re…” he trailed off, having caught himself before he said something stupid. He coughed into his fist, finally looking away, the student poster about splitting atoms on the classroom becoming suddenly riveting. “Sorry, could I help you in anyway?”

You scratched the back of your head with a small smile and Erwin short circuited. “Yeah actually, I’m meant to be picking up a friend’s sister, but I got lost.”

“What’s the student’s name? I may be able to direct you?”

“Historia Reiss.”

“Ah.”

“Ah indeed.”

It was no question that the girl would be infamous to teachers as well, the girl tended to make quite an impression. Hopefully she wouldn’t be rolling her eyes at you more than necessary when you finally found her.

“Miss Reiss is likely at the gym.” He pointed down a corridor, the one you had come from.

You opened your mouth and closed it again, you would probably get lost again but you couldn’t convince yourself that’s why you asked the next question. “Sorry, do you think you walk me there?”

A colourful array of curses flew through your mind as he stilled, a deer in the headlights. You were about to apologise for being a bother and go on your way when his face brightened to an almost blinding degree and his eyes crinkled with his accompanying smile.

“It would be my pleasure.”

The walk started in silence for a few moments as you both scrambled for something to talk about.

“So um,” you said, “What do you teach here? You are a teacher, right? Not just some random guy taking advantage of the tea?”

He was already panicking being in the vicinity of you, so he almost didn’t pick up your teasing tone. The fact you were making fun of him just made his heart hammer even harder.

“I can confirm I’m not some stranger, to this school at least.” His added smile made your heart skip a beat; you should sue him. “I teach history here, but I won’t burden you with the specifics.”

“Do.”

“Pardon?”

“Burden me with the specifics. The teaching path wasn’t for me, but I admire those who followed it,” you sent a smile of your own back, “Plus, you seem like the kind of guy to know your stuff. You look like a passionate teacher. I wish there were more of those when I went to school.”

He took a second to compose himself, you being very cruel to him right now. He’d known you for approximately two minutes, but you were making it increasingly difficult for him to not declare his inevitable love right then and there.

“Oh well um,” he stumbled over his words, trying to string a few sentences together that would be worthy of your time. His hands were already extended, ready to add a visual focus. “War is quite an obvious favourite to go to, but I’ve always been more interested in the things that went on behind the scenes, the life of soldiers and nurses who lost their lives, the lives of those who stayed behind, anyone trying to look for peaceful solutions. Those have always interested me more. And then going far past the world and civil wars of the past three centuries, going back to when England and France were nowhere near the superpowers they became, and of course focusing all around the world. Europe has honestly been pretty lacklustre with their stories compared to everywhere else.”

He looked back to you, half-expecting you to be twiddling your thumbs, but your sight hadn’t moved. Your eyes were wide and bright like the ones he had seen in Armin and Marco except with an added adult understanding and perspective. This was quite unfair on his heart.

He turned his head down a corridor, taking the opportunity to calm down his heated cheeks. Really quite unfair.

“So what do you do?” He tried his best to make the words come out as smooth as he hoped. You didn’t seem to take notice that they didn’t.

“I’m a lawyer, so definitely a different world from yours.” Your laugh was awe-inspiring, he wished it were his morning alarm. There was no way he could come to hate it.

“It suits you,” he noted. It made perfect sense, everything about you commanded attention, thinking about you controlling a court room was easy to picture.

You sputtered out a few sounds, not sure if they were sophisticated enough to be called words and looked down a corridor as you passed, trying to figure out what the angry looking janitor was thinking about instead of what your brain was. This man was having quite the effect on you, and it wasn’t even his looks! Rude!

“Thank you, assuming that’s a compliment.”

Erwin simply nodded, not wanting to let you be privy to his thought processes right then. He would never recover.

“What area do you work in if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Currently represent for murder and manslaughter cases, anything that usually ended up with a person dead or nearly dead.”

A different world from yours indeed.

“I imagine that’s quite intense.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “The paperwork numbs a lot of it, honestly most of my clients aren’t any different from students.”

“I’d hope not.”

“You’d be surprised. Some of those annoying kids in school tend to keep being annoying, annoying enough to land themselves as a suspect for a murder case.”

Now he couldn’t stop thinking about you intimidating a client into submission and to just listen to you and let you take the reins. He would like to see that. He may possibly want to be subjected to it if he was in the right mood. He towered over you, but he would fall to his knees in a second if you told him to as a joke. He hoped that was a wild exaggeration done by his brain, but he knew most things come from a semblance of truth.

You really were something else.

You couldn’t believe you were talking to someone like him. He seemed so self-assured and at one with the flow of life, not needing to seek more to find contentment. He clearly loved his job as much as you loved yours, both acknowledging the downsides but knew it was worth it in the end.

He seemed to be taking up more and more of your brain as he continued to talk, only adding to the list of positives, there hadn’t seemed to be any negatives yet. You were concerned that there didn’t seem to be any. From his looks to his personality to the way he held himself, it was honesty too good to be true. Right?

When he looked at you, your cheeks would burn, and you’d feel like you were in high school all over again. That was one of the things you had forgotten, although small, they had been of the good parts about school. Crushes had always been a little fun.

But the way his lips pulled into an easy smile should be illegal. You could deal with murderers, not this. If he was ever on the stand in court, you would be a stuttering mess when trying to cross-examine him.

As you two kept talking, you’d take turns left and right, seemingly with no real reason. You were pretty sure you had seen those maths posters before, but you didn’t mention it. You were plenty happy to let this be dragged out a little longer. You were flattered to say the least.

Erwin knew that he couldn’t “trick” you without you noticing eventually, he couldn’t do that to save his life, but he also knew that if you had caught on to his little game, you would mention it if you wanted him to stop. That fact made his chest flutter, though perhaps it probably was time to take you where you needed to go so you didn’t have your friend yelling at you. He wasn’t that cruel.

The sound of cheers reached your eyes, your shoulders deflated. Guess this is it then. The gym doors came into sight and you could spot the cheerleaders practicing their formations through the open door. They all looked exhausted, so it was probably near the end by now.

Against the wall you could see Historia’s “friends” watching and applauding whenever Historia so as much breathed. No wonder she got bored.

Your feet came to a stop, just outside the entrance and you looked up to him. He shifted slightly, unsure of what to say.

“Thank you um…” you said before your eyes few open, “Holy- I can’t believe I didn’t get your name?”

He chuckled, deep and clear. “Erwin, Erwin Smith.”

You gave your name to his and his lips mouthed around it silently, feeling the shape of all the letters. It made you a little flustered how earnestly he was printing it into his brain.

Neither of you moved, you didn’t want to go into the gym, and he didn’t want to leave. To put it simply, you were smitten with each other and it was embarrassingly obvious to everyone including the both of you.

The cheerleaders stopped, grabbing their bags and chugging down litre water bottles. Historia would snitch on you in an instant if she saw you hitting on her teacher, so it was time to depart.

“I guess this is it then…” You dragged out the sentence, still trying to stall.

“I suppose it is.”

“Thank you, I do mean it. I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

He nodded, swallowing. “I guess I will. Have a pleasant evening, both you and Miss Reiss.”

You cracked a grin. “I can’t promise she will have one, but I know you definitely made my evening a good one. See you, Erwin.”

He smiled softly. “See you.”

He waved as he walked back through the corridors, he snuck a look over his shoulder when he had almost disappeared from view to find you still looking at him. Both of your faces burst into flames and you looked away from each other.

You took Historia home after she (mainly her friends) questioned why you were there instead of Frieda. Reiner, you believed his name was, offering to take her home as suavely as he could to be shot down so quickly by Historia you got whiplash. Her friends bid her dramatic goodbyes which she didn’t reply to, and you two made your way to the car.

“Were you talking to Mr Smith?” She didn’t even bother taking her eyes off of her phone to ask.

“I…I was. I got lots trying to find you so he helped me get to the gym.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “He didn’t need to take you all the way there though.”

“He was…he was just being nice.”

She hummed, no emotion behind to hide whether or not it was full of doubt. You really didn’t want her to tell Frieda or you’d never live it down.

“I finally get your ass out of the court room and you flirt with the first guy you see? Bold as ever.”

Though maybe, just maybe, it meant you could offer to pick up Historia more often. Maybe.

Everyone knew it wasn’t a maybe.

Erwin made his way back to his desk and he plopped himself down on his chair with a sigh. He leant his head back to look at the ceiling, projecting the past minutes on the white ceiling.

He didn’t even ask for your number.

He cursed at himself and dragged a hand over his face before getting back to his mountain of paperwork. Perhaps it was too bold to offer up his heart this quickly.

But you had said “see you”, and maybe it was too much for him to assume, but usually that meant a second meeting was anticipated. Maybe.

Everyone knew it wasn’t a maybe.

His tea had gone cold, but that was alright. He had met a goddess that evening after all.  

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a/n: to the person who sent this in sorry it took so long! this was my first time writing for Erwin so i hope it’s alright! thank you for reading :)

Just send an ask to be added to the Erwin taglist!

Attack on Titan Masterlist  | Main Masterlist

Ko-fi

[thefatedthoughtofyou]

Oh hey it’s me again!

I was thinking a fic where Bucky and Sam are arguing cause Sam did something reckless on a mission and Bucky freaks out but oblivious Sam genuinely has no idea why. And then Bucky accidentally yells ‘because I love you’

Pls and thank you!

{{ HELLO WELCOME BACK!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!!! I...LOVE prompts like this. And like... i know you just sent this but i saw it and had to write it immediately. It also got way longer than i expected, and there is some spicy stuff at the end, so there's that! Hopefully that's okay! I had no control! Haha! Thank so much again!!!!! I hope you like it!!!! }}

Ao3

Word Count: 4,031

Warnings: Some light angst, love confessions, and some implied sexual things at the end!

Reckless Idiots Tend to Fall

Sam wakes up in the hospital,  his head fuzzy, pain shooting through his ribs like lightning when he takes a deep breath. He squeezes his eyes shut tight, trying to relax back into the bed without causing any more pain.

"Sam? Hey you good?" Torres.  That's the voice Sam hears. He's still grimacing through pain, he relaxes his body at once, making a noise like he'd been punched. He opens his eyes, keeping his breathing shallow.

"Do I look good?" He grumbles, looking at Torres. The kid gives him this look, a worried look that makes him look like a fucking puppy.

"Honestly you probably look better than you feel." He says, fingers drumming on his knee.

"Yeah. Well you look nervous." Sam watches the kid flinch and glance at the door.

"I'm not nervous. I'm just on edge. Totally different." He says, eyes moving to the door and back again. Sam looks to the door slowly, expecting to see someone standing there, maybe someone watching them, there's no one there.

"Why are you on edge?" Sam asks, his palms pressing flat agaisnt the bed, he wants to move desperately, but he knows it'll hurt.

"Nothing it's just... Bucky." Torres says, quietly, like he doesn't want to be over heard, like he doesn't want to be saying it at all. Sam's stomach drops.

"What about Bucky? Is he okay?" Sam asked, keeping his voice impressively level for the amount fear turing his blood to ice at the moment. Torres' eyes widen and he raises his hands.

"Oh he's fine! Oh my god I'm sorry, no. He's- he's good he's fine, he's just... grumpy." Torres says, his voice going low again, like he might be heard through the walls. Sam blinks hard, his head still fuzzy from the meds, and looks around the room slowly, finally realizing that Bucky is nowhere to be seen.

"Is he here?" Sam asks, praying that he doesn't sound as hopeful as he feels. But Torres gives him those puppy dog eyes again and he knows he failed.

"Yeah. He just went to get some air I think. And maybe some water. He said he was thristy, kinda mumbled it. I asked him to bring me one, but I don't think he will. I don't think he likes me very much." The kid was rambling, if Sam's chest wasn't full of fire he'd have laughed at him.

"He likes you fine. He's just... like that." Sam says, moving his shoulders slowly, shrugging. Torres smiles at him and nods.

"That's fair. He's been through a lot." Sam smiles, Torres was mainly talking to himself now.

"Yes. He has." Sam sighs, resting his head back on his pillow. He tires to do some mental calculations, of his pain, but also of what had happened. He couldn't remember it very clearly. He remembers catching the little kid that had almost fallen, remembers nearly throwing them back up onto the building. And he remembers falling. The wind rushing in his ears as he fell through the dark. His wings had stopped working.

"I fell." Sam whispers, looking at Torres.

"Yeah. You did. For a little bit. You don't remember what happened?" His brow was furrowed with concern. Sam shook his head and almost yelled, pain stabbed at his head when he moved. Sam moved his hand up, feeling the bandage wrapped there.

"Jesus." He breathed, moving his hand down, and turning his head, slowly, to look at his friend.

"Tell me what happened." Sam said. Torres nodded and wiggled his chair forward a bit, the metal legs scraping on the tile making them both wince. Torres talked, and Sam listened. His heart pounding in his chest as he recounted the details.

Sam had fallen, hitting his head on the way down. And Bucky had jumped after him. No wings, no way to catch him really, but he'd jumped. And he'd caught him. He'd slammed into him mid air, wrapped one arm around Sam's middle, and he'd reached out with the other. His metal hand finding purchase on the building they'd been on top of seconds before. Torres had watched as Bucky's metal fingers had ripped into the side of the building, sliding down it, sending sparks flying, Sam held close to him as the ground approached. Torres had dove, and made it to them just in time to slow them down, lifting them both just enough to set them gently... ish, on the ground.

Sam stared at Torres. His heart pounding, his ears ringing, not knowing what to say. Torres looked back, that sad look on his face.

"He broke three of your ribs, but he saved you." Torres finally said, offering something else for Sam to react to.

"He jumped off the building." Sam said, not sure if it was a question or not. Torres nodded at him.

"He dove off. Like a swan dive. He has good form." Torres said, smiling. His face dropped into one of contemplation.

"Hey isn't he afraid of heights?" Torres asked as the door to Sam's room opened, and Bucky walked in, freezing in place when he sees Sam is awake.

"Yes, yes he is." Sam says, no longer looking at Torres.

"Yes who is what?" Bucky mumbled, his brow furrowed as he stared at Sam.

"Nothing." They both responded. Bucky's eyes moved to look at Torres, who looked at the floor immediately, his cheeks flushing, looking like a child who's just been caught causing trouble. And then his eyes were on Sam again. He stared for a moment and then narrowed his eyes.

"How do you feel?" He asked, his voice low, and there was something else there too, in his voice, Sam wasn't completely sure but he thought he sounded... mad?

"Okay I guess. My chest hurts. And my head. But I'm sure I'll live." Sam huffed, trying a small laugh and a smile. Bucky nodded once, his jaw clenching.

"This time." He says, his voice cold, and Sam watches him turn on his heel and walk out of the room again. The door slams closed and Sam flinches, grimacing from the pain it invites. He stares at the door for a long time before moving his eyes back to Torres. And fuck, he's got that sad fucking look again.

"Told you he was grumpy." Torres says, giving Sam an awkward smile, his lips pressed together.

"Yeah." Sam sighs, not knowing what else to say. Bucky hadn't looked at him like in a long time, and he definitely hadn't spoken to him that way. Sam wasn't sure he'd ever spoken to him like that. His voice had been so cold. And his eyes, they'd been dark. But despite those things, there had been some deep emotion behind his eyes, something he was holding back. Sam groaned and closed his own eyes. Knowing Torres was watching over him, he let himself fall into the dark once more.

~

He was in the hospital for a week. His doctors monitoring his head wound with care, and making sure his ribs didn't shift to any dangerous positions. Bucky didn't come back.

His room was always bustling though, doctors and nurses and Torres and Sarah and his nephews, but never Bucky. Not once.

Sarah picked him up on friday evening, asking if he'd come by. She accepted Sam's silence as an answer and didn't ask him again. They pulled up in front of her house and Sam frowned.

"There's someone in the kitchen. The boys aren't allowed to cook by themselves anymore." Sam mused, side eyeing his sister. She sighed and looked at him, her hand going to his shoulder.

"Don't be mad. And be nice. There's no fighting over dinner in this house. You remember that." She slapped his shoulder playfully and got out. Sam followed her slowly, his ribs aching, his heart pounding in his chest as he peeked in the window, the blinds were drawn but it didn't matter. He knew that silhouette. Knew those shoulders.

Sarah opened the door for him and the sounds of laughter hit him, spreading warmth further in his chest. The boys were clearly laughing at something Bucky had said. Sam breathed in heavily and almost stumbled, something smelled delicious.

"We're home! Be gentle." Sarah called and then admonished as the boys began to run to him, Bucky caught Cass around the middle easily and held him up. AJ had stopped rushing forward on his own. Bucky set the boy back down, not looking at Sam.

"Go wash your hands before dinner." He said, patting the boy's back twice, smiling at them as they both moved toward the sink.

"Smells good." Sarah said, moving to the table to look over the food that was already set out there. Sam's head was swimming, Bucky had a towel thrown over his shoulder, and he looked, comfortable. Or he did, until Sam took a step toward him. His eyes moved to Sam finally and they still had that look. Sam hadn't see him in a week and he was still glaring at him. He could feel Sarah's eyes on them, so he took a deep breath and moved a step back.

He felt, odd. Out of sorts. In his sisters kitchen. He just wanted to talk to Bucky, alone, figured out what the hell was going on. But the boys ran to the table, bumping into each other as they went, and the moment was over. Sam shook his head gently and watched Bucky peek into the over before grabbing the towel from his shoulder. He wiped at his hands and sighed.

"This needs about ten more minutes Sarah." He said.

"You leaving?" She asked, but Sam knew that voice, she'd known he would leave, but she sounded disappointed anyway. The boys settled into their chairs with a chorus of boo's, Bucky nodded, walking past Sam with a glance and a tight lipped smile.

"Yeah. Don't think I'll be very good company tonight." He mumbled into her shoulder as she pulled him close.

"Okay well," she paused, giving him a squeeze before letting him go.

"Thanks for watchin the boys, and makin dinner." She said, patting his cheek.

"Boys what do say?" She prompted, turning to look at them.

"Thank you Bucky!"

"Thanks for dinner!" They chimed at the same time, talking over each other.

"Hey anytime." He said with a laugh, walking past them and dodging a few punches, he paused at the door, looking at all of them

"Welcome back. Enjoy your dinner." He said, his smile much warmer now, and there was, sadness, in his eyes.

"Thanks." Sam mumbled, stilling feeling lost in his sisters kitchen. Sarah waved and closed the door behind Bucky. She moved her eyes to Sam. And stared at him. She moved her hand back to the door knob.

"You're going after-"

"I'm gonna go after him." Sam finsihed,  walking out the door she opened for him. He rolled his eyes at her smug smile and cheeky whispered "Good luck."

~

"Hey." Sam said to Bucky retreating figure. Bucky didn't stop.

"Hey!" Sam called louder, starting after him, not moving very quickly as nearly every step sent pain shooting through him. Bucky kept walking.

"Would you wait a damn minute man!?" He yelled, grimacing in pain as he kept going. Bucky stopped. But didn't turn around.

"Go back inside Sam. Just go eat." He said over his shoulder.

"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on." Sam said, hobbling closer still, he could see the tention making Bucky's shoulders bunch.

"Nothins goin on man. I'm just tired. Those kids got a lotta energy ya know." He was aiming for nonchalant and noncommittal. He missed by a mile.

"Bucky." Sam said, no answer.

"Just," Sam swallowed hard, the lump in his throat starting to burn.

"Just tell me what I did wrong man. Cuz clearly it was something." Sam said, his voice pleading. And had he done something wrong? He wasn't sure. Bucky was... touchy,  about a lot of things. Sam took a startled step back as Bucky rounded on him, his eyes shining.

"What you did wrong?" He asked, incredulous. Sam nodded, not trusting any words to make it past the fire in his throat.

"Jumped off a goddamn building. When you knew, you knew, your wings weren't working." Bucky growled, Sam heard his metal arm hum and saw his fists clenched at his sides.

"You caught me." Sam said, a bit dumbly. Bucky's jaw clenched and he took a step forward.

"Barely." Bucky breathed, his voice low.

"And that went well. You're fuckin ribs are broken. And what if i hadn't? Huh? If I hadn't caught you, where the fuck would you be then?" He asked, his lips curled in a snarl. Sam had never seen him this angry. He swallowed, his heart pounding in his ears.

"Torres was there. He'd have caught me." He reasoned, finding it hard to look away from Bucky's intense stare.

"Yeah? Maybe not. I slowed you down and he just barley made it to us. He was too fucking far away. And you shouldn't have fucking jumped." He said, his finger poking into Sam's shoulder.

"Alright look, I see what you're gettin at man, but that's the job. And he did catch us." Sam said, trying to reach out to Bucky, to put his hand on his shoulder, try to bring him back down. Bucky pushed his hand away.

"That's not the fucking point." He spat, rolling his eyes and turning away from Sam.

"Then what is the point? Help me understand." Sam said, doing his best to keep the tremor in his voice at bay.

"The point? You," he turned back toward Sam quickly,

"Need to stop being so goddamn reckless." Bucky said, his chest was rising and falling quickly now, like he'd just been running. Sam was so fucking confused. Recklessness was basically half of their job.

"I need to stop being reckless? You jumped of that roof too Buck. Just dove right off." Sam said, his arms flailing at his sides. What the fuck was Bucky talking about?

"I can heal!" Bucky yelled, his eyes blazing.

"I fall off a building, out of car, fuck I can jump out of a fucking airplane. I can fall off a goddamn train! But I heal!" He was still yelling, his voice breaking off an on, Sam's chest was aching, he wasn't sure what was happening but he wanted Bucky to stop worrying so much.

"Bu-"

"You fall off a building? And I'm not there to catch you? You die. You're gone. And then where the fuck would I be?" He asked, his voice was quiet now, he sounded almost as lost as Sam felt. Sam took a step forward. Bucky took a step back.

"I understand you're upset. It was a close call." Sam started, his voice soft, like he was comforting a scared animal. And hell, maybe he was.

"But man, that's the job. It's literally, one close call, after another. Every. Damn. Time. I just-" Sam sighed, squeezing his eyes shut hard and then looking at Bucky again.

"I'm still here. I'm right here. I'm okay. I just don't understand why your so pissed at me." Sam said, shrugging, trying to plead with Bucky, not sure what he was even asking for. Bucky stared at him. And then sighed.

"Just forget it man. Alright? It's nothing. Just forget it." Bucky said, sounding exhausted, he turned away again.

"Maybe I don't wanna forget it!" Sam yelled at his back, making him stop, he looked over his shoulder.

"I don't wanna forget it. You're upset. And I want you to tell me why." Sam said, crossing his arms carefully over his chest.

"It doesn't matter." Bucky said, his jaw clenched again, his voice fighting to get past his teeth.

"No?" Sam asked, walking forward, closing the space Bucky had put between them.

"It doesn't matter so much you didn't visit me for a week?" Sam pressed. Bucky's lip twitched, he looked like he was going to growl at Sam.

"Sam." A warning.

"It doesn't matter so much that you didn't even call? It's doesn't matter," he paused, poking Bucky in the shoudler like he'd done to him.

"So much that won't even have dinner with me and my family? But no I see it. I see how much it doesn't matter to you." He pushed on Bucky's shoulder until he took a step back, the fire burning in his icy blue eyes sending a shiver across Sam's skin.

"What the fuck do you want from me Sam?" Bucky did growl now, his voice rising again.

"Just tell me why the fuck you're so goddamn upset!" Sam shouted.

"Because I love you! And you almost died! Because you're a reckless fucking idiot!" Bucky shouted back. His face doing something complicated as he looked at Sam. His eyes darting around Sam's face, realizing what he'd said.

Sam couldn't breathe. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his finger tips. They stood in the dark, Bucky nearly panting in front of him. Something fluttered in Sam's chest and he reached out, to touch Bucky, to grab him and pull him close, he wasn't sure. But he needed to touch him. Bucky slapped his hand away and started walking away. His boots scuffing on the asphalt.

"Bucky?" Sam called, begged, after him. He didn't turn around. Sam was frozen in place. He watched Bucky kick a cinderblock as he passed it, sending it flying into the air, it landed a few feet away, shattering agaisnt the ground.

"Goddamn it!" Sam heard him scream, his voice cracking as he walked into the dark. Sam let him go, watching him disappear into the shadows as it began to rain.

~

Sam waited four days. Four days of laying on Sarah's couch, nursing his ribs, his skin itching. He wanted to call him. To talk to him. So see him. He wanted to tell him that he wasn't alone. Sam knew how he was feeling. Every time he watched Bucky charge into danger he felt like his knees would give out. He just wanted him safe.

And Bucky had been feeling the same way. Only... deeper? Sam didn't know if that was the right word. But he did know Bucky didn't have a lot of people left. He had his sister, somewhere, he'd been too scared to go see her so far. Sam offered to go with him, when he was ready. And he had Sarah and the boys. And he had Sam. But losing family, and losing someone you love, are different things entirely.

Sam's chest ached as he stared out the window. It was still raining. It had been raining since Sam let Bucky leave. Bucky's face flashed through his mind, how open his face had been after he'd said it. His eyes moving over Sam's feature with haste. And it hit Sam suddenly. He had looked scared. Terrified. Of Sam? Of how he'd react? Of Sam not loving him back?

Sam grabbed his keys and ran out the door into the rain, the pain in his ribs completely forgotten.

~

He knocks on Bucky's door for almost twenty minutes. He knows Bucky is inside. He'd heard him turn his tv off when Sam had first knocked. It almost made him laugh. But there wasn't time for laughing. They could laugh later.

"Buck please." Sam begged, for what felt like the millionth time.

"Don't make me do this through the door." He pressed his forehead to the door for a moment, just resting there. He moved back when he heard the locks on the other side slide and click open. There was a long pause, and Sam could practically see Bucky steeling himself, setting his shoulders.

The door swung open slowly, and sure enough, Bucky's back was straight as a board. He looked tense, but his eyes were much softer than they had been the other night, though the fear still lingered. Before Sam had a chance to say his peace Bucky spoke.

"I'm sorry. I was an asshole. I was just- I was scared. I saw you fall and I thought I lost you." His voice was shaking, and Sam could see his eyes shining.

"I ca- I can't lose you too. Not you." He choked, tears falling and catching in his lashes. Sam sighed, his heart swelling in his chest as he moved forward, grabbing at Bucky finally, his hands on Bucky's neck.

"You're not gonna lose me. I'm here. I'm here and I love you too." Sam breathed, crashing their lips together. Bucky made a small noise, suprise making him gasp into the kiss, and then his hands where on Sam, pulling him closer. Bucky pulled back, looking at Sam, his eyes wide.

"Say it again." He said, breathless. Sam smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

"I love you."

A kiss pressed to his temple.

"I love you."

A kiss pressed to his nose.

"I love you i love you i love you."

He pressed kisses into Bucky's skin as he smiled brightly, his hands moving up under Sam's soaking wet shirt, fingers pressing into his back.

"I love you too." Bucky whispered, pressing closer, kissing up Sam's neck, and then pulling his earlobe between his teeth. Sam melted agaisnt him and felt Bucky smile into his shoulder. He pulled back, hands settled on Sam's hips, still under his shirt. He stared at Sam and Sam stared right back. Both of them breathless.

"Get in here." Bucky huffed, yanking on the waist of Sam's pants, pulling him through the door and closing it behind them with a kick.

He was pressed against the wall in seconds, his stomach flipping as Bucky lifted him easily off his feet, his strong hands lifting him up by the thighs. Sam wrapped his legs around Bucky's waist and moaned when Bucky rolled his hips. His teeth finding purchase on Sam's neck.

"You're all wet." Bucky breathed into his neck. Sam shivered.

"Fuckin raining." Was all Sam seemed able to manage at the moment. Bucky hummed agaisnt the mark he'd left and then shifted back, his hands shoving at Sam's shirt.

"Get this off." Bucky breathed as Sam helped him pull the shirt over his head. It was then lost somewhere behind Bucky, Sam didn't care if he ever saw it again. Bucky pressed forward, his fingers digging into Sam's back, pulling him closer as he mouthed at Sam's neck again.

"Fuck." Sam graoned, rolling his own hips in time with Bucky's. He could feel Bucky nodding against him.

"Mhm." Was the hummed response he got before Bucky was lifting him again, Sam clung to him, his heart pounding as he pulled at the hem of Bucky's shirt, letting Bucky carry him, and then lower him to the floor. Bucky knelt between his legs, staring down at Sam, his eyes fluttering as his chest rose and fell. Sam almost groaned again when Bucky pulled his shirt over his head, Sam could have sworn he hear fabric tearing but didn't have time to think anything about it before Bucky was on him. Pressing himself between Sam's legs like he was meant to be there.

Sam pulled Bucky's face to his, kissing him again, their teeth clicking as they licked into each others mouths. He felt Bucky smile against his lips and let him go. Let Bucky do what he pleased. His mouth was hot on Sam's rain wet skin and Sam thought he might die. Just like this. It'd be a nice way to go.

Bucky nipped at Sam's neck again, hands moving oh so carefully over Sam's ribs as he touched as much of Sam as he could.

Sam clung to him, let Bucky have him. All of him. The push and pull of their bodies dizzying.

He clung to Bucky, listening to him breath Sam's name like a prayer against his skin.

He clung to Bucky, and let him take him apart, let him love him, as the sun began to break through the clouds outside.

[jawritter]

Miracle On 37th Street

Summary: Time doesn’t heal all wounds, sometimes it just drives them into our bones and festers there, until forgiveness is a four letter word, and it’s to late for second chances. 

Part two of: Merry Christmas Sweetheart

Warnings: Language, fluff, mentions of past heartbreak, multiple viewpoints, I think that’s about everything for this one. It’s pretty much flooff lol. 

Written for: @spnchristmasbingo and also for @deanwanddamons 2k celebration! Congrats again hun!

Square Field: Coming Home For Christmas

Prompte: You had me at hello

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Word Count: 2802

A/N: This fic was beta’d by the lovely @miss-nerd95! Thanks again love!! Also fun fact. There really is a 37th street they deck out in Austin, Texas every year for Christmas. It’s pretty awesome, look it up. Please don’t copy my work! I hope you all enjoy this one! 

**MASTERLIST**   **BECOME A PATREON**

Jensen’s POV: 

To say that sleep had evaded Jensen was an understatement. All he could think about was you and the hurt in your eyes when you turned away from him for the very last time, and stepped out into the cold. It haunted him. Seeping into his subconscious, and turning into nightmares of blinding snow, and him calling your name, but never being able to find you, you were always just out of reach. 

At around three in the morning he’d given up on sleeping all together and decided it was time to revisit the bottle of perfectly aged Royal Salute he kept for nights just like this. He did note that he’d been seeing this particular friend a lot more since him and Danneel decided it was time to stop fooling themselves and move on to at least try and be happy; but he was way too stressed and heartbroken to worry about his drinking habits right now. 

A quick glance outside his bedroom window told him that there was no way in hell you were flying out to New York before Christmas. It had to be the biggest snow storm Austin had seen in years, and he knew for sure all flights were probably gonna be grounded well after next year began. 

He didn’t know what the hell he expected of you. Why did he think that you'd just fall at his feet after over 10 years of him being a dick and rubbing his marriage directly on your wounds? Fat chance. You were stronger than that, always were stronger than he was. He was a coward when he ran from his feelings all those years ago, and he was still a coward now, hiding three glasses deep in his whiskey and alone. 

He couldn’t let you go back to New York without telling how he really felt for what felt like the millionth time in a row, it would kill him. He had hoped placing the little box on Steve’s door step would be enough. That you’d find it, and maybe you’d see how serious he was. Sitting here without anyone around, now he knew that was just a shot in the dark, so he picked up his phone and tried to call Steve to retrieve it for him, but his phone just went to voicemail. 

That started a whole new set of worries for Jensen. What if you were with Steve? What if you had gone to bed with him? Seeking comfort from a long standing friend that you were never able to get from him?

“Goddammit!” Jensen yelled to the echoing and empty room around him, throwing his phone across the room before running his fingers through his hair harshly, trying to literally pull the cruel images his mind had placed there of you and his best friend together out by the roots. 

He had to go get that ring. If you saw it, it would only make things worse either with you and him or for you and Steve. It was a heartbroken and desperate move that he shouldn’t have made, he should've known better than that. He wasn’t drunk, and it wasn't like anyone would be on the streets in this weather. It was very unlikely for whatever the reason that the two of you were awake still, and it wasn’t like Steve lived that far from him. 

Grabbing his coat and boats Jensen raced to the car through the cold, still steadily falling snow, scrapping the window as quickly as he could, and sliding inside to start the heater so that he could defrost the window enough to back out onto the ice and snow covered road. 

Once he was inside the safety of the car with the heater and defrost going full blast he saw something as he backed out onto the street that made him halt his movements. The small star christmas lights that were hanging on the pole that the town workers placed every year twinkled at him like a small little beacon of hope against the falling snow. It hit him then, the perfect plan to get you talk to him. The time he couldn't mess this up. This was his last chance. Step one was to go get those rings before either Steve or your found them. Then he’d set the rest up in the morning. 

Readers POV: 

“Steve, it’s cold out here. Why the sudden interest in Christmas lights?” you whined at your friend as he pulled you from the warmth of the car, and started to walk down the crowded street through the mass of people heading towards Austin’s main Christmas attraction. The lights on 34th street. 

You couldn’t deny it was beautiful, and something you hadn’t seen in person in a decade or so, but right now you just weren’t in the mood. You’d spent most of last night pissed at Steve for letting Jensen pick you up from the airport when he damn well knew why you left for New York in the first place, and two-seeing hurt you caused in the green eyes you loved as you slammed the car door in his face before going into Steve’s house had not given you the feelings of acceptance, revenge and that you could finally move on that you had hoped for. 

After you had ripped Steve a new one and drank enough alcohol between the two of you to numb you broken and bleeding heart a little, you had decided to just fly home and cancel your interview with the client that had yet to return your calls since you landed in Austin; only to find out that there would be no flights out of any of the local airports until after the New Year. Texas just wasn’t used to this kind of weather, and it had effectively put you home for Christmas for the first time in years, whether you wanted to be here or not.

“Come on, it’s the first year you’ve been actually home for Christmas in over a decade Y/N, it will be fun, you used to love going to look at the Christmas lights on 37th Street.”

You grumbled under your breath as Steve lead you to the little street booth that was set up to sell hot chocolate and cookies, letting him buy you a warm drink to help fight against the bitter cold before leading you to sit down at one of the little tables a little further away from everyone else on the street. 

“Wait here, I’ve got to go to the restroom. I’ll be right back,” he said once you were settled, disappearing before you could argue about being left here alone amongst the bustling crowd of strangers. You glare at his retreating back and curse his bladder before looking down into your steaming cup of hot chocolate, taking a sip of the warm liquid and humming at the hot, sweetness as it hits your taste buds.  

The street was beautiful. There were twinkling lights and decorations everywhere, it looked a little bit like a little piece of the North Pole had dropped itself right down in the middle of Texas. You had forgotten how nice it was this time of year around here. The little shops on full decorated display, and everyone seemed to just about know everyone by name, almost like in the movies that play on those crappy hallmark channels. It was sweet, and even if you were hell bent on avoiding it due to a certain someone, it was still home. This was the first time you’d missed the simpler, slower pace in a long time. You didn’t know if it was the nostalgia in the air or if it was the season itself, but this was the closest you had felt to at home in years. 

“This seat taken?” A deep, smooth baritone voice asked from across the table, and your eyes met the green gaze that had been haunting you like an old ghost of your past all night long, that  wounded look which tugged at your heart strings buried not so deep under the surface of his soft gaze. 

“No,” you answer shortly, afraid to see those pathetic eyes that he’d given you when you left him last night.

Jensen gave you a stiff smile and slid into the seat across the small table. Looking around at the passing people who seemed to all but ignore their local celebrity like seeing him was just another Tuesday for them. 

“It’s beautiful down here this time of year isn’t it?” he asked, eyes shifting over the glittering sparkling decorations that were still hung with a small bit of snow that lingered on them, only making them shine brighter against the night sky. 

“What do you want Jensen,” you asked him, cutting right to the point. “I was pretty sure we said all we had to say to each other yesterday.”

Jensen sat up a little straighter in his seat, and looked down at his hands that were folded on the table in front of him before meeting your gaze again. 

“That’s just it, Y/N,” he said, his voice soft but scared all the same, letting all his emotions be out on full display for you to see. Not hiding anything at all. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it open and honest for the first time in his life, no matter how much that scared him. “You said a lot, and what you said was valid, but sweetheart I still have a lot I need you to hear.”

You swallowed around the lump of nothing in your throat, but didn’t trust your voice to work, so you just stared at him and waited. Not getting a response out of you, Jensen sat up a little straighter and dug around in his pocket, pulling out a small, neatly wrapped box and sliding it across the table at you. 

You stared at it suspiciously before meeting his gaze wearily. 

“You wanted to give me a present?” you ask him a little dumbfounded and he chuckled darkly before sitting back and shoving his hands into his pockets, his eyes never leaving yours. 

“Yeah, you can say that,” he said, guestering for you to open it with a nod of his head. 

Slowly, hesitatingly you picked up the box with shaking hands and began to unwrap it by pulling the little ribbon on top carefully before removing the lid. Inside lay two wedding rings, a broader and bigger one which was definitely for a man and another a gorgeous feminine wedding ring. 

You looked up at him in confusion before taking the small, golden band in your hand and turning it, reflections of the twinkling lights above you making it shine. 

“Jensen, I don’t understand,” you tell him honestly, and this time when you met his gaze there were tears there, burning his eyes a little redder just below the surface that he wouldn’t allow to fall. You swore your heart broke all over again. 

“I’m so fucking sorry, Y/N,” he said, his voice deeper and rougher than you were used to. You just sat there in silence sensing there was a lot more to this story.

“I hurt you. I did you as wrong as I could go, and I’m really sorry. I used you as a safety net, knowing damn good and well what you felt for me, but I was to afraid of the way you made me feel to ever act on what I should have and instead listen to people that didn’t know shit; people that said she’d be a better fit than you for me.”

Realization hit you, along with a flood of tears that seemed to fall of their own free will as you dropped Jensen’s wedding band into the box and sat it down in the middle of the table as if it were on fire. “Jensen I…”

“Baby please let me finish. Then you can tell me to go to hell, or fuck off for good, but let me do this,” he cut you and you bit down hard on your lip as his own tears started to fall down his perfect face. “Before you even say it, no, you were not the reason I left Danneel. She and I were not good for each other, we were both unhappy, and we both deserved to have something better. She didn’t do anything wrong, and neither did I.” 

You nod to show him that you understood, even if your head was reeling like you were drunk . You could just sense he needed the encouragement to keep going, and you saw him breath a small sigh of relief before he continued. 

“I tried to love her, I swear I did, but no matter what I did or how hard I tried it always came back to you. You may not realize it, maybe I hid it too well, but sweetheart you had me at hello. You asked me last night if I missed you at the altar, and through all these years of milestones I shared with someone else, or even when I was with her. Baby girl, you were always my first thought in the morning and the last one I had before I went to sleep at night.” 

Jensen moved his chair a bit closer to you, taking your hand in his and holding your gaze. 

“The night you left I damn near drank myself to death, and I couldn’t even tell Danneel why. She deserves someone who could give her their whole heart. Mine always belonged to you sweetheart. I know I'm asking for a lot, but if you’d let me, I want to try and make up for all these years I’ve wasted. Years I should have given to you. I loved you then, Y/N, and I still do. Now if you can look at me and tell me you feel nothing for me anymore and walk away I wont try and contact you again, but baby please, please let me do now what I should have done all those years ago. I wanna be yours, if you'll have me.”

You stared at him in complete disbelief for a moment as your mind tried to wrap around his confession. You were numb, but this time not from heartbreak, but shock. You never knew. He’d hidden it all so well. You never knew he had feelings for you at all, and now here he was, asking for a chance. Something you had never even let yourself dream that would happen, and all you could do was cry and he made his way to his knees in the cold snow in front of you, tears of his own falling freely down his wretchedly beautiful face. 

“Please sweetheart, I know this is overwhelming. I know it’s a lot to process, but baby, I’m not above begging, not when it comes to you. Say something. I was the client you were supposed to meet. I was trying to get you down here to me so I could ask for another chance with you. I’m putting everything I have on the line for you here, and it’s all for you. Please”

His eyes showed years of hurt that you were all so familiar with, and all you could do was shake your head and say, “okay.” 

It was all he seemed to need, standing to his feet in front of you, he pulled you up to him, lips meeting yours for the very first time in all the years you had known each other. It was deep, and held so much feeling that it knocked you breathless for a moment. When he pulled away from you, Steve was standing next to you two with a smirk on his face and his arms folded across his chest.

“About goddamn time,” he said, smiling at the two of you, you still nestled in Jensen’s strong embrace as snow started to flurry around you again. This time though it didn’t feel quite as cold. 

“He’s got a lot of making up to do,” you tell Steve, looking up to meet Jensen's soft stare. He looked as if a weight had been removed from his shoulders, and you could have sworn he looked years younger standing there in front of you. 

“Baby, I look forward to it, won't let you down now” he told you, brushing his lips against your own once more, sealing a promise of forever, and renewing your faith that miracles did happen, even in the most unexpected place, and even when we think that they never will. 

You just have to keep your eyes, ears and heart open.

Forever Tags: 

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Jensen and Dean’s Babe’s

@msmarvelouswinchester​

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[cxplqnce]

Theo Raeken - Sorry

Word Count: 1,156

Based on Sorry by Bonnie Anderson

Masterlist

Tongue-tied, tryin' to give your reasons

Spit it out, say it like you mean it

Forgiveness broken into pieces

Hey now, sorry won't turn back time

“How could you?” You spat, your voice barely above a whisper as tears flooded down your cheeks. “How could you?” You screamed, anger getting the better of you as you pulled at the handcuffs clipped around your right wrist.

Theo stood in front of you, you could see that he didn’t regret anything he had done – almost killing Scott and Lydia, manipulating the pack and almost tearing it apart, not even lying to you for weeks. “I’m sorry, Y/N... I did what I had to.”

“You’re a lying, manipulative coward!” You yelled, trying to hold back your tears. You had fallen for Theo since he had returned to Beacon Hills and had defended his innocence to the pack more than once – something you were now regretting. “I can’t believe I ever fell for you, you’re disgusting.” You spat, watching his blood boil.

“I did what I had to do.” He spoke, before he knelt down to look you in the eyes. You flinched as he brought his hand to your cheek, “I never meant to hurt you… I love you, Y/N.”

You sobbed once more, gathering as much strength as you could before looking him right in the eyes, “I hate you, Theo.”

Heartbeat beaten 'till we flatlined

Crash, burn, speeding through the stop signs

No more fear, running from a past life

Hey now, sorry won't turn back time

Later that night, at least you thought it was night. You had no idea of what time it was. You were sat in a basement, handcuffed to the wall and being watched by one of Theo’s goonies – Josh.

“I can help you.” Deucalion said, once Josh had left the room. He was hooked up to some kind of machine and had been there for longer than you had.

You sighed, “Why would you help me? You hate us.”

Deucalion just tapped his nose before his blind eyes turned normal and he pulled his arm away easily. You were in shock as he ripped the handcuffs off of the bar behind you and told you the directions out of the basement.

“Thank you.” You muttered, “Why don’t you come with me?”

“It’s all part of the plan, my dear.” He replied, hooking his arm back up and changing his eyes to seem like he had never moved at all. You smiled at him before you ran out of the basement and finally made it outside.

You immediately headed towards Scott’s house, even though you weren’t exactly sure where you were going – you had a faint idea. It took you almost three hours but you finally turned up on his doorstep, slamming on the front door.

It was Stiles who opened the door and caught you as you fainted.

-

“What happened?” Scott asked, once you had woken up. “Did he hurt you?”

You shook your head, “Not physically… I can’t believe I fell for it; I got sucked in like an idiot. I should’ve seen it – I should’ve known.” You muttered, your hands covering your face.

Scott sat own next to you on the couch, “It wasn’t your fault, Y/N.”

“Feels like it.”

I'm not giving into you

'Cause the truth still hurts

Lost the man I used to know

When the truth came out now where did it go?

You were sat behind a wall with Stiles, you both watched as Theo placed his claws against Lydia’s neck as his pack fought Parrish. You watched as Valack drilled into Theo’s leg and grabbed Lydia. You and Stiles stood up to face him but Parrish threw a burning Corey at you both, knocking you down.

Valack got away with Lydia as Theo threw a bar into Parrish’s chest. You pushed Corey off of Stiles, both of you scrambling to follow Valack but the door locked behind him. “Lydia!” You both yelled, hitting and kicking the door.

“Let me try.” You heard Theo say as he moved Stiles out of the way and kicked the door down. You and Stiles looked at Theo, anger and disgust present in your stares before you ran through the door, “You’re not gonna find her without me!” He yelled behind you, following you as you ran through the hallways.

You got to an open door but Theo caught up with you, “Guys! Look, I want her out of here too. I’ve got her scent.”

“What do you want?” Stiles replied, acknowledging his existence – which was something you had yet to do.

“What’s the difference?” Theo asked, “I can find her, you can’t.”

Before you or Stiles could reply, smoke started to come out of a window to your right. The three of you found the door to the room and barged in, seeing that it was a shower room filled with patients that were cowering in fear. You found where the smoke was coming from – a vent on the floor and leant down to look into it.

“It leads to the tunnels doesn’t it?” Theo asked.

Stiles nodded, realisation and frustration making their way onto his expression, “There are miles of them. They could be anywhere by now.”

“We’re gonna find her.” You said, placing your hand on Stiles’ shoulder.

No, I don't need you anymore

Don't tell me I'm insane

I'm not coming back to you

'Cause the truth came out of the liar's grave

You walked around the tunnels for ages, finally finding Lydia after having to break up about twenty arguments between Theo and Stiles – without actually speaking directly to Theo. You didn’t even know if you could look him in the eye but you had to when he grabbed your arm to stop you following Stiles and Lydia out of the tunnels.

“Let go.” You said, without turning around, as you tried to pull your arm away. “Theo, let go.”

“Look at me.” He said, pulling your arm as gently as he could, “Please, Y/N. Just look at me.”

You took a deep breath and turned around the face him, “What? What do you want? Are you gonna kidnap me again? Cause it was so enjoyable the first time.”

“I’m not… I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry for hurting you.”

You scoffed, “Really? Are you kidding me?” You yelled, yanking your arm out of his grasp. “You think that ‘sorry’ is going to make any difference! You almost killed Lydia, you killed Scott, you hurt – oh, I don’t know – everyone… and you smashed my heart to pieces. You did unforgiveable things and if you think that I’m going to forgive you and come back – you are wrong… because I hate you and I’m done letting you walk all over me!” You spat, tears welling up his eyes as you turned your back and left.

Sorry won't turn back time

A/N: Hope you enjoy! Follow my instagram @cxplqnce :) also I take requests if you have any - for any of the fandoms on my masterlist and some others! :)

[euryalex]

WIP Day

I was tagged by the kind @shellibisshe a while back, tysm!

Due to my laptop acting up, I don't have any art wips right now. I do, however, have a WandaTola AoU excerpt I'd like to share from the un-edited chapter of their story.

Tagging @xbaebsae @smithandrogers @ziorre @unclefungusthegoat@jamesbvchanans and anyone else who wants to!

A cyborg flew down right in front of me, but was stopped in its tracks by Tola’s metal whip tied around its throat, giving Clint the opportunity to land a quick headshot. But that wasn’t enough. More and more bots kept flying in, trying to hit us from above, no matter how many I tried to blast away.

“Shit!” I heard Tola yell loudly, muffled by the sounds of the bots’ jets. “In here!” She shouted, followed by the sound of wood breaking. Before I knew it, Clint pulled me along and through a now broken window as a bot exploded next to us. But we were safe. I was safe, thanks to Tola and Clint.

“How could I let this happen?” I whimpered, crawling out of the light cast by the open window. Tola engulfed me, holding my shaking form to console me. “It’s fine, we’re fine,” she whispered, her hands brushing through my curly hair.

“Hey, hey,” Clint whispered, leaning closer, shielding us from the blinding light, “You okay?”

“This is all our fault,” I cried as Clint took hold of my shoulder, “Hey, look at me.”

I looked over Tola’s muscular arms, my eyes meeting Clints. “It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares?” he breathed out, “Are you up for this? Are you? Look, I just need to know. Because the city is flying.”

“Okay. Look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense,” he grunted, “But I'm going back out there because it's my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit. Neither can Nowak.”

At the mention of her name, I could feel Tola pressing her forehead against mine, as I kept my gaze locked on Clint.

“It doesn't matter what you did or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill,” Clint said, “Stay in here, you're good. I'll send your brother to come find you. But if you step out that door, you are an Avenger.”

“All right, good chat,” he nodded, standing up while Tola stayed with me. He picked up a stack of arrows, clinging to his boots, before kicking open the door.

“Are you alright?” Tola asked, pulling away so she could get a good look at me, “Hurt?”

“I-I’m fine,” I stammered, blinking rapidly.

“He’s right, you know,” she said after a brief moment of silence, “You can stay here, if you want, but I need to get out there. And I think we both know you don’t want to stay here either. This may be all our fault, but we’re trying to fix it, and you can help us. If you want to.”

Tola stood up, looking at me one final time. She wanted to say something, and so did I. But neither of us spoke as she left the house we were in. She closed the door behind her.

For me, it seemed like only seconds had passed as several explosions went off outside, mixed with the sounds of bots and Tola and Clint. I finally stood up, opening the double doors. Using my magic, I ripped bots apart, throwing them into one another, slamming them down on the ground. When there was a brief moment of reprieve, I looked at Tola and Clint. The latter nodded at me, whilst Tola smiled at me. I was caught off guard by her eyes.

So full of kindness, and hope. I couldn’t help but smile back.

She was the first to look away, putting a finger on her earpiece, “We’re all clear here.”

Steve’s response came swiftly and rushed, “We are not clear! We are very not clear!”

[taylorlynn-art]

⭐️ Underneath It All ⭐️

by Strawberry Moon Rose

🍓🌙🌹

This is a one-shot I conjured poking fun at how based on appearance, Sailor Moon characters can really confuse a person. Taking place in the anime world, but with the Starlights cross-dressing like in the manga instead of using a physical disguise.

Also, it got me thinking, what if the Sailor Starlights came to Earth at the end of SuperS? It had to have taken a while to establish their idol group before debuting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi.

🍸

Soft jazz music drifts lazily around the bar. The flashy neon light of orange and green illuminates the Amazon Trio as they sip from their drinks in hand. Ice cubes slosh and clink as Tigers-Eye slams his glass down on the table in frustration.

"Man, we got scolded again," he complains. "And we're doing our best too..."

"She doesn't have to yell at us like that," Hawks-Eye agrees. "If catching Pegasus were that easy, we would have found him by now!"

Fish-Eye tips his head back daintily, sipping from his cocktail glass. "There are just so many targets, how are we supposed to know which one he's hiding in? It's like finding a needle in a haystack."

Hawks-Eye brushes through the photographs scattered across the bar top. "Hmm... None of these women are really catching my eye." He plucks a snapshot of a girl with braids and waves it in Tigers-Eye's face, knowing he has a thing for younger chicks. "What about this one? You interested?" he inquires.

Tigers-Eye yawns. "Too plain."

"How 'bout this?" Hawks-Eye tries again. If Tigers-Eye doesn't do something, he'll have to do something, and he isn't in the mood for another failure and reprimanding from the old hag, Zirconia.

"Too old."

"And this one?"

Tigers-Eye makes a face and waves his hand dismissively. "Ugh, not another guy. See if Fish-Eye wants him," he says.

"What? Where? Lemme see!" Fish-Eye slides off his stool and squeezes between his cronies. Hearts form in his blue eyes when he catches a glimpse of the target. "Oh my gosh! You're kidding!" He snatches the photograph out of Hawks-Eye's hand so fast it's nothing but a blur.

"What're you getting so excited about? He's not nearly as handsome as I am," Tigers-Eye says, unable to conceal the tinge of jealousy in his voice.

"He's right," Hawks-Eye boasts. "We're much more good-looking."

"You two don't know who this is?" Fish-Eye asks incredulously.

Tigers-Eye and Hawks-Eye stare at their friend.

"It's Seiya Kou from the Three Lights!" Fisheye kisses the picture and twirls around. "I'm so lucky!"

"Never heard of him," Hawks-Eye comments in a voice as flat as cardboard.

"Me neither." Tigers-Eye tosses his orange hair. "He must not be that popular."

But Fish-Eye isn't listening to them. "Oh my, I wonder what kind of girls he likes? How should I approach him?

Tigers-Eye and Hawks-Eye swivel around in their seats and reach for their drinks. By now they know it's useless trying to talk to him when he goes gaga over a target.

"Cross-dressing again?" Hawks-Eye sounds bored.

"Why, of course!" Fisheye gazes dreamily at the glossy portrait. The celeb is clad in a red suit and yellow tie. A bright rose is stuffed in the breast pocket. Ebony bangs fall messily above spunky blue eyes, accompanied by a microphone and crooked smile.

Fish-Eye giggles. Seiya Kou... Even your name is beautiful! I'll seduce you for sure!

🎸

"Thank you! Goodnight everybody!" The lead singer gives a final wave into the sea of faces. The crowd erupts into applause as the Three Lights exit the stage. It's a warm Saturday night and they just wrapped up their second concert at the venue.

"Great job tonight, guys. They absolutely loved you." Their manager gives each member a pat on the back.

"Thank you, sir," Taiki replies politely. "We did our best."

Seiya accepts a towel from a stage worker and dabs the sweat off her forehead. She cranes her head up to the night sky, breathing heavily. Princess... Where are you now? Can you hear our message? They have only been on Earth for two months, but she and the others are already used to cross-dressing as a boy band.

"Seiya, we are heading back to change," Taiki calls over her shoulder.

"You coming or what?" Yaten taps her foot impatiently.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Seiya shakes her head and follows them down the corridor to their dressing rooms. The high from performing hasn't worn off yet, and she hums the whole way, a bounce in her step.

Once she reaches her assigned room, Seiya shuts the door and starts collecting her things. The open window allows a humid breeze to drift in, carrying the sweet fragrance of a beautiful spring night - cherry blossoms and rain. She can still hear the murmurs of the crowd in the distance.

Knock. Knock.

"Come in!" the Starlight calls absentmindedly, figuring it's Taiki or Yaten.

Creak... The door creeps open. When Seiya glances up, she catches her breath.

Standing against the door frame appears to be one of the most gorgeous women Seiya's ever seen before. The beauty's pale-blue hair is tied in a high ponytail that cascades in lustrous waves to her hips. She wears a flowing white dress and strappy sandals.

It's like she forgot how to speak. "Can I help you?" Seiya clears her throat and quickly fluffs her hair.

Fish-Eye smiles and brushes a stray curl out of his face. "Actually, you can," he says in a high, silky voice.

"Oh? How so?" Whenever a cute girl is in sight, she can't help it - she's always been a flirt.

Fish-Eye giggles and casually eases the door shut behind him. "I really enjoyed the concert, Seiya. You shine like a true star out there. I was wondering if I could get a souvenir of some sort to make the experience all the more memorable..."

"I'm flattered," Seiya replies smoothly. She closes the distance between them in a few swift steps, drinking in Fish-Eye's sparkly perfume. "What do you have in mind?"

"An autograph would be wonderful." Fish-Eye bats his mascara-coated lashes. "But anything from a superstar like you would make me the happiest fan in the world."

A grin spreads across Seiya's face. They gaze at each other for a few seconds, holding a teasing conversation with their eyes. Seiya reaches for a blank notebook resting on the nearby table and pulls a marker out of her pocket. Gliding close to the pretty stranger, she says, "And to whom shall I make this autograph out to?"

"To 'Sakana'," Fish-Eye says breezily.

"Sakana, huh?" Seiya smiles quizzically at him. "That's a cute name you have."

"You think so?"

Squeak, squeak, goes the marker as Seiya scribbles out the autograph. She signs her name with a flourish, tears the paper out of the notebook, and hands it to Fish-Eye. "There you are," she declares.

"Oh, thank you so much! An autograph from my favorite male idol! I'll treasure it forever!"

Still smiling, Seiya puts her hands in her pockets. "Anything else I can help you with...?"

Fish-Eye carefully folds the autograph into his purse. "Oh, perhaps there is..." he purrs.

"Yeah?"

"But it's a bit of a secret..." Fish-Eye fingers Seiya's collar, pulling playfully on her tie.

"I'm intrigued," she whispers.

Fish-Eye stands on his tiptoes and whispers enticingly into Seiya's ear, "I'd like to get to know you better..."

"Is that so?"

He outlines the buttons on Seiya's jacket. "These ties can be tricky, can't they? Let me assist you in taking it off..."

Seiya chuckles. "That sounds quite tempting, but you see, I have to go soon... The others are waiting for me," she answers honestly, regretfully.

"Oh, they can wait, can't they?" If Fish-Eye gets any closer, they'll be a grilled cheese sandwich.

"I'm sorry." Unwillingly, Seiya gently pushes him off her. "You're extremely attractive, Sakana, but... I can't. I wish I could, but I can't."

Fish-Eye draws back as if he'd been slapped across the face. He widens his eyes innocently. "Why not?"

'Because you'd find out I'm a woman and then our image would be ruined', Seiya wants to say, but responds, "I'm not who you think I am."

"What do you mean? I know who you are. You're just making an excuse, aren't you?"

"No, I-"

"Fine." Fish-Eye steps back. The corners of his mouth crumple into a scowl. "I see how it is. I guess it's goodbye to you then, isn't it?"

Before Seiya can respond, a blue curtain appears out of the air and drops over Fish-Eye with a whoosh. It raises to reveal his true self - bubbly blue outfit, scaly hands, and black Amazon marking on his forehead.

"Who are-?!" Seiya stumbles back.

"ONE!" A red board rises from under the floorboards, slamming into the Starlight's back.

"TWO!" Cold, metal clamps bind Seiya's wrists and ankles.

"THREE!"

Seiya screams as her dream mirror emerges, taking shape bit by bit. Harsh light blinds her, and wind whips her hair all over. It feels like someone is reaching into her chest and ripping out her insides. What's going on? What is this?!

Once it stops, she slumps forward in exhaustion, supported only by the painful cuffs pinning her to the plank.

"Now to take a look inside your beautiful dream mirror!" Fish-Eye saunters towards the trapped idol. He grabs hold of the glowing mirror on both sides. It's shining brighter than any one he's seen before! His eyes glimmer in hope. Could this be the home of Pegasus after all?

"Y-You lied to me! Who are you really?" Seiya shouts, raising her head. It's obvious by the flat chest and deep voice that this monster is male, and on top of that, the enemy! How could she fall into his trap? Anger and humiliation course through her veins. She thrashes harder, but cannot break free.

Fish-Eye chuckles, but doesn't reply. He stretches the mirror on both sides like putty and dives his head inside her dream mirror. Seiya shrieks in agony.

"Where is Pegasus?" he says aloud, looking all over. But instead of finding a winged horse with a golden horn, he sees flowing images of a beautiful, red-haired princess catered by three female guardians in black uniforms.

Fish-Eye throws his head out of the mirror in horror. "H-H-How dare you deceive me! That's my job!" he cries, his voice wavering. I fell for a woman in disguise? Impossible! This can't be right...

Skin crawling and cheeks burning, Fish-Eye stands back. How humiliating! "What a waste of a trip. Well, either way, I suppose you'll have to die now, Seiya. Come out, my Remless! Superstar Daistuaa!"

A creature climbs out of his shadow - a skinny girl with a guitar as a torso and a microphone as a tail. She snaps the cord like a whip and says in a mouse-like voice, "It's showtime!"

"I'm leaving this up to you, Daisutaa," Fish-Eye barks.

"Of course!”

A black hole rimmed with water appears in the air. Fish-Eye does a backwards somersault into it and vanishes.

The dream mirror returns to Seiya's body and the board and restraints disappear. She falls to her knees, feeling dizzy and weak.

"Hello, everybody!" Daisutaa sings. "I'm so happy to be here! I've got a super great show for you!"

Seiya glares up at the Remless. A phage? No, it's different... She reaches into her pocket for her transformation brooch.

"Uh-uh! Please turn off all cell phones and electronic devices during the show!" Daisutaa lunges at Seiya. They crash into the wooden table which breaks into jagged pieces beneath them. Seiya groans, her back throbbing, and tries to throw the Remless off her. Daisutaa's three-inch nails are like knives, poised at her throat.

"Get...off...me!" she grunts, turning her head to the side in a feeble attempt to avoid the monster slicing her jugular.

"You want an encore, you say?" Daisutaa crows. "Alrighty then!"

Bam! The dressing room door slams open, nearly flying off its hinges.

"Star Sensitive Inferno!"

"Star Gentle Uterus!"

The Remless snaps her head up, frozen like a deer in the headlights as the two combined attacks hit her head on. "What? Aghhh! STAGE OUT!" she wails, crumbling to glass. The shadow on the floor fades, and a billow of smoke dissipates in an upright spiral circle. The Dead Moon magic is gone.

"Seiya!" Maker cries, hurrying over to her.

"What happened? We heard you screaming." Healer kneels beside Seiya. "What was that thing? A phage?"

"So they have invaded here too?" Maker murmurs gravely.

Seiya coughs and shakes her head. Grunting, she pulls herself into a sitting position. "No, it was something else..."

Healer helps Seiya to her feet. "Well, either way, it's gone now. Let's hope we never see anything like it again."

"Yeah. Just forget it happened," Seiya mutters, flushing as she recalls Sakana.

She knew she wanted to.

✨

"Back so soon, Fish-Eye?" Tigers-Eye swings around in his chair at the bar.

Ignoring him, Fish-Eye plops down in his usual spot and pours himself a drink. In one sip, he downs the entire thing and reaches to refill the glass.

"Whoa, easy!" Hawks-Eye jokes. "Did it go that bad?"

Tigers-Eye's green eyes dance. "That Seiya dude rejected you, didn't he?" he says gaily.

"Can it, you two," Fish-Eye grumbles, studying his red nail polish. "You don't know the half of it."

"So what happened?" Hawks-Eye asks.

A bloom of red appears in Fish-Eye's cheeks. "Let's just say that underneath it all, Seiya Kou wasn't who I thought he was."

Tigers-Eye smirks. "I could have told you all those boy bands are bogus."

"Shut up, Tigers-Eye. Just shut up."

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “My Beautiful Sun.”

And end to another arc. And yes I know I am better at writing angst than fluff, so if you guys want some fluff, I am going to need some recommendations or ideas . I hope you like it and I hope you have a great Thursday!

The space above fiery A136 was quiet, a marble of glass hung in a vacuum of darkness. Fire licked silently across the planet’s surface as rain clouds gathered along the border of light and dark. 

The star sone with increased intensity, white hot through the darkness. A myriad of satellites, space stations and the occasional abandoned mining ship orbited the planet systems of light blinking in the darkness.

One of these ships, a luxury civilian transport was on the bright side of its orbit, silhouetted against the fiery star=, the lines of white where the sun hit and pools of black where it did not, making a sharp contrast upon the face of the ship between light and dark.

It seemed a peaceful thing, hanging there in the darkness unsuspecting of thwart was to come.

ON the far edge of the planet’s orbit, there was a sudden whirling and a sharp flash of light as another ship appeared from the darkness.

It was hulking, massive, and painted black against the stars, only its blue highlight strips gave any indication there was a ship there at al. She crawled from the darkness stealthily slithering through the starry expanse until her shadow bore down on the unsuspecting ship.

***

Fiery starlight spilled in through the front window, tinted just enough that they were not completely blinded by its awful magnitude. A figure stood against the burning light, unmoving, arms crossed over his chest.

On his shoulder there sat a smaller figure all colorful fluff and impossibly large eyes.

“Lord Avex….”

“Yes, Admiral.”

Deploy the grapples… and don’t bother to be gentle about it.

***

Sunny sagged against her chains, her legs dumbed from the increased drugs. The dosage they had given her far outweigh any of the other doses that had come before, insuring that she would not move during the procedure. As limp as she was, she worried about her joints dislocating, as her shoulders were the only thing holding her up.

“Hold it steady.” The man ordered, and she could feel the cool, clammy tough of the man’s hand on her lower left arm as the last bit of her forearm carapace was stripped away. The cold was immediate and unpleasant, and the feel of the air against her bare skin made her want to scratch it off. It was a horrible sensation that she detested immediately.

Looking down at her arm, the only thing left there was the grey, gore stained skin cut with abrasions and pale from never having seen the light . The  sight made her sick, as hideous as it was, and she used the last of her strength to turn her head away.

The man held up what was left of the carapace, “Ah, that should be enough for three vials, don’t you think? He walked across the room, and Sunny watched in hopeless anger as he fed her shining armor into the machine, grinding it into powder right there before her eyes. From there it dripped down into three bottles, and held them up to the light, “A little less than I thought we would get, But it should be enough.”

He walked back over the the fancy woman and handed her the vials, which she looked down at with distaste.”

“Is something wrong ma’am.”

She turned to look up at him as if that had been a stupid question, “Not as much as you were expecting? That sounds like you are short changing me. When I came here for three vials.I wanted three vials of the promised size, not a little less than what we were hoping for.”

The man held up his hands in a defensive way, “Ok ok, my apologies. We will get you some more.”

He turned to look at Sunny, and she knew what was coming next.

The circular saw blade began to spin slowly as his partner held it at the ready, lowering his goggles down over his face.

And then the ship jolted violentl.

The man pitched forward, nearly imbedding the circular saw tool in his own face, but catching himself at the last minute. The fancy woman keeled over backwards and hit the floor hard as her shoes unbalanced her, and the third man slammed sideways into the chains, releasing the mechanism that held her up, and causing her to fall to the floor. She didn’t really feel much when she hit, she hadn’t been all that high up anyway.

Out of all of them, her descent to the floor had been the least violent.

One of the men stood, “What the hell was that!”

The massive clatter of metal, was accompanied by the groaning of the ships hull which deflected and popped against the weight of something. Sirens began to go off overhead as the two men leaped to their feet, while the fancy woman struggled just to make it to her knees.

One of them raced over to the coms and slammed their fist against it, “What’s going on up there.”

There was no answer for a long moment before, “We are being boarded, sir!” The voice was frantic, and on the other end of the line Sunny could hear more metallic screeching.

The ship continued to vibrate and scream as the group of men staggered their way across the floor.

Sunny tried to lift her head, but didn’t have the strength.

Her mind moved slowly.

Being boarded.

Could it be?

But no…. That was too much to hope for…. Wasn’t it?

Next to her the other Drev shifted and lifted their heads.

The man pressed the comm again, “Someone do SOMETHING.”

“We can’t, sir they have shielding.”

“Than get rid of their shielding!”

The man on the other end of the line went quiet, “We aren’t going to win this one boss.

“Get the escape pods ready then.” She snarled.

“I can’t sir, its a magnetic grapple field, so nothing is getting out of this.

 THe man howled in frustration.

There was a sharp thud on the outside.

“How could they even get in?” one of the men wondered, “There is no outside access to the airlock.”

Just then another voice came over the line, “Sir, sir something has taken over out internal computer systems…. I I don’t know what it is but I….”

There was a loud THUD from somewhere below them.

“The airlock!” someone yelled 

And that was when Sunny began to laugh. It was so startling, that the entire room went quiet as they turned to look at her. She wasn’t really amused, but there was a part of her, one that was very smug about what she was sure was soon to happen.

“What are you laughing about, scarab.”

She continued to laugh for a long moment, “You’re fucked.”

“What is she talking about.” The woman demanded.

Sunny laughed again, “I know whose ship that is.” 

More laughter

The men looked concerned. One of them pointed the circular saw blade at her, “Tell us!”

She giggled manically, “That’s the Omen.”

“What do you mean the Omen.” The man said nervously, shuffling his feet, “I mean you dim bastard THE omen. The pride of the UNSC fleet…. Captained b Admiral vir and a crew of a thousand men and aliens. Celzex weapons, Vrul shields…. And GRAVITY enabled grappling fields.” She began to laugh again.

“He’s coming…. Hes coming.”

Her manic laughter had clearly unsettled then, and her warning made it all the worse.

“Someone…..I, give me the damn blowtorch.” 

Once given his prize, he thrust it at one of the other men and pointed towards the door. Outside Sunny was just beginning to hear the sounds of distant carnage, “Weld it shut!”

WHen the man didn’t move at first he nearly went ballistic, “DO IT NOW.”

Sunny began to laugh again.

The man still holding the saw blade turned to look at her, viciously kicking her in the side, “Shut up scarab.”

The man at the door was having a tough time getting the idea to work, and with everyone screaming at  him and his hands shaking, it was doing no real good. 

That was probably why the door didn’t last more than a few microseconds. With a loud screech and thunderous bang the door was ripped off its tracks. The six inch thick metal door, not just dented open or blown inward, but kicked out of its brackets and completely detached from the wall all together, with such a powerful force, it slammed into the first man and sent him back gnarly three feet, slamming into the floor, unmoving.

When the sparks settled, and the room quiet, Sunny heard the hydraulic whirr and hiss as two feet clattered against the floor.

Smoke from out in the hallway filtered in through the floor as the figure stood at the door.

The first human, the one at the intercom, raced forward, a steel pipe having appeared in his hands some minutes ago. He swung it at the newcomers head, but it was useless, he cot the steel pipe with the queal of metal against metal, forearm to pipe, and then ripped it backwards out of the man’s hands , sending him flailing to the floor.

The second man came at him with the only weapon left available: the whirring circular saw.

He caught that too on the metal of the exo skeleton and then droe it hard downward, sending the circular saw blade cutting right into the man’s foot and sticking him to the floor. The man screamed long and loud, but his attacker did not heed him, spinning once with a backhanded swing that sent the pipe careening into the other man’s head, with a violent THWACK.

The second man wrenched the saw blade from his foot with a roar of pain, but it was knocked aside and went clattering across the floor as he was punched in the sternum.

There was a sharp crunch as he went staggering backwards and hit the floor very still.

Behind him, a group of other figures poured into the room.

One figure, big and red, grabbed two humans by the backs of their coats and threw them into the nearby wall with a sharp clatter.

The original figure knelt on the floor fist drawn back, ready to send his fist through the man’s head.

“ADAM! HELP HER!”

His fist stopped and grew still. For a moment the man below him looked relieved, but with a sharp blow to the face he was knocked unconscious. 

Adam stood, blurry in her vision as he raced over to her side.

She heard the soft hissing of the Iron eye suit as he knelt next to her.

Strong hands and warm arms grasped around her chest and middle, hauling her partially upright where her head leaned against his chest. He held her tight, tight enough that it should have hurt but she didn’t care.

“Sunny…. Sunny can you hear me?” 

It echoed around and around inside her head.

Carnage nearly drowned him out.

A hand pressed against her cheek, “Sunny, Sunny please say something.”

Her head lolled against his chest as the light overhead faded in and out…

Her body, tense from a month of perpetual fear and anger slowly relaxed and she felt her body sliding downward before he caught her, holding her upright to sag against him.

For the first time in over a month, she was safe.

Her mind knew it.

And her body knew it.

So, it shut her off, allowed her some peace, in the arms of a person who wasn’t about to let anything more happen to her.

***

She didn’t feel the movement, wasn’t aware of the strong arms that carried her from the ship all on his own, wasn’t aware of the hushed voices and the quiet whispering. Wasn’t aware of the days that went by with her stillness and the waiting concern of those around her.

When she finally opened her eyes and awoke it was to soft beeping, and dim blue light. White curtains hung about her, over her head, and for a moment she wasn’t really sure where she was.

It wasn’t the sound at first but the sensations.

Something warm gripping her hand, and gripping it tight, and a soft caress over the skin of her exposed stomach, repeating circles, up the side down to the side and back.

She turned her head very slowly and groggily to the side.

At first she didn’t recognize the face of the man who sat next to her but as her slow brain caught up with her eyes she hummed in confusion and worry.

“Adam?”

The man lifted his head, turning to look at her. Scruffy, gaunt, and supporting about two weeks of growth on his chin and face, but when he smiled at her she knew for sure it was him, brighter than any light in this place. He rested a hand against the side of her face, “I…. i was worried…. You scared me.”

“Sorry” She muttered softly.

He brought his other hand up to the other side of her face leaning down to gently touch foreheads with her for a quiet moment, “I’m sorry I didn’t make it sooner.”

The pain in his eyes made her hurt just to watch and she shook her head, “An entire universe, and you still found me, considering you did it in a month is pretty impressive.”

He gave a weak smile. “If… If i had just been safer during the storm.”

She raised a hand, “Shh…. none of that.”

He trailed off and nodded sheepishly. He leaned forward, “I’m sorry, this… this isn’t about me…. How are you feeling?”

She shifted, and despite lethargy, she was at least able to move, “A bit…. Drugged.”

“Yeah, there were massive amount of paralysis in your system when we found you. Krill has been pulling the drugs out, but he says it may take a few weeks to get back to normal.”

Below her on the bed  She flex and unflexed her lower left hand. She wasn’t sure if she was brave enough to look, but she knew she had to. WHen she turned her head down she grew sick to her stomach. The hideous grey expanse of scarred up tissue and  disgusting pale skin. She turned her head away, but he caught her, hands to the side of her face again.

She let out a shaky breath

“Hey, hey, none of that…. Don’t even start.” One hand still on her cheek, he lowered the other and took her lower left hand in his, “This doesn’t change anything you hear me, nothing at all. Not about the way I feel, and certainly not about the way you should feel about  yourself ok….”

She struggled internally for a moment.

He squeezed her hand tighter, “No matter what, ok.:

She felt as he slid his hand down the inside of her wrist, resting his hand along the strange exposed skin of her forearm. It felt strange, unusual, tingly. It made her cringe thinking about touching it, but he didn’t flinch once, “Don’t you think for one minute that this makes you any less.” She stared into his face and he stared back with a conviction so strong she felt herself starting to believe.

His serious face was broken by a sudden smile, “Besides…. I…. I have something for you.”

The bright smile and excitement filtered over to her and she sat up against her pillows.

“I made it myself!” he announced with pleasure, pausing as he turned around with a box between his two hands.

“I….” He looked down a bit sheepishly, “Don’t laugh alright….. It was my first go but I… I wanted to make something….”

Sunny didn’t even have to see it to know she would love it anyway.

Slowly he handed to box over to her, and she lifted the lid.

Inside, was a polished metal vambrace made of shimmering blue metal flecked with little golden bits on the inside.

She stared.

“Do you like it…. I…. well I made it while you were sleeping,... i mean i would have stayed here if krill had let me, but he sort of forced me to leave and get some rest, of course I couldn’t sleep so I ended up down in your workshop instead, and I wasn’t really sure what to do, but I made this and I thought maybe it would help, and since I remembered that  there was a little bit of your dad’s carapace in my leg, I removed a little piece and used that inside the metal, and I’m sorry if that’s a bad thing or….” She gripped his hand to stop him from rambling.

“Can you, help me put it on.”

The relief on his face was so visible it was almost a sound, and he gently took the metal bracer from the box. He looked nervous as it snapped open and he situated her arm inside.

She had trouble looking at it, but his expression didn’t change once as his fingers brushed over the exposed skin.

The metal was cold against her arm.

He took a deep breath, and snapped the brase close with a sharp snap. 

The strange feeling of the room was now gone, and she was left only with the slowly warming underside of the metal, and the beautiful glittering of the Crude metalwork inlaid with pieces of her father’s carapace.

“Does it fit?”

She lifted her arm and turned it this way and that, admiring the shine of the metal.

She looked up at him, “Not bad…. Not bad at all.” 

He grinned, the relief still evident there. He pressed his forehead against hers for another quick moment before sitting back, “Now rest, or I’ll knock you out myself, you hear.”

She snorted but yawned, “I’d like to see you try.”

“If i can find one Drev in an entire universe, I’m pretty sure I could knock that same Drev unconscious, but whatever makes you feel better, Zhak, hijan chal.”

She closed her eyes.

And fell

Fast

Asleep