#i think you should be able to tell chen yeah its kind of an open relationship nbd like you can w daniel | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kimjongdaely · 4 years

Text

The Art of Sin [Chapter 6]

Gang!AU, Racer!AU, Tattoo Artist!AU

Pairing: Chen x Reader

Warnings: Language, violence, sexual situations, vandalism

Summary: He’s an artist. He does it all for the ‘art.’ Tattooing. Racing. Sex. All because he thinks they’re beautiful. There’s no one here that doesn’t know his name, because it’s everywhere. On every graffiti-filled wall, every tattooed skin, every cheer of the crowd. His name is there somewhere, because it’s all his—this world. And when he lays his eyes on you—well, he’s never seen anything more beautiful. And he’s going to make you his masterpiece.

Chapter 1│Chapter 2│Chapter 3 [M]│Chapter 4 [M]│Chapter 5 [M]│ Chapter 6│Chapter 7│Chapter 8 [M]

The sun beats down on you, sweat dripping down the side of your face and you try to quicken your strides, eager to get to somewhere cool. Throwing open the doors of the garage, their AC is a blessed relief. Byun hangs half-way off the reception counter, his bored grin greeting you like always. “Hey there. Here for Chen again?”

You nod while fanning yourself, the tank top you wear practically soaked with your sweat. Summer days are the worst. Byun points to the tattoo parlor, “Well, you know where to find him.”

Chen is cleaning his tools when you enter, and he greets you with his usual smile. “Hey, princess. Visiting so soon? Well, not that I mind.” There’s a sly edge to his tone now, as he leans in to give you a peck on the cheek.

You grin back at him. All you want lately is to see him, every minute feeling longer than the last when you can’t. Being with him makes you calm and excited all at once, and you savor every second with him.

As if you’ve gotten addicted to him.

As if you’ve fallen in love with him—

What a dangerous feeling to have. You know how these stories end, all too well. You’ll fall head over heels in love with this mysterious person and you’ll be ripped apart faster than you can blink. He’ll rip you apart.

He’ll trample on your heart and you’ll be abandoned.

So you have to keep this feeling a secret, no matter what. Just keep smiling like you’ve always have, and you’ll be able to stay next to him. Never take him too seriously, that way you’ll never be hurt.

“Wanna go for a drive, princess?” Chen asks, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you close. Good thing the AC is blasting, or else you would’ve turned into a puddle by now. Still, the garage is much too hot.

“You sure? What if a customer comes?” You raise a brow at him as he begins to lead you out. Chanyeol isn’t here as he usually is, you notice.

“It’s fine.” He answers casually, dismissing it with a shrug. “They’ll be back.”

For the tattoo or for him, you wonder. You wouldn’t be surprised if he gets some returning customers just because he has a pretty face. “Alright then, your call.”

He leads you outside where his white Nissan Skyline is parked. His car is always polished to perfection, several of his designs drawn across the hood and doors. It’s a perfect display of his artistic skills, the white of the car acting as a canvas.

But...wait.

Something’s wrong.

As you get closer to the familiar car, you clearly see that the windshield glass had been shattered. Not only that, but there are several long, deep scratch marks that stretch over the side of his car.

You gasp at the sight, knowing how much this car means to Chen. You glance at him, afraid of his reaction.

You feel a icy shiver roll down your spine, your skin prickling in fear. You’ve never seen Chen look that way before. His face is calm, so calm, but it’s cold. His eyes are filled with a chilling anger, the silent kind, the most deadly kind. Like a snake bidding its time before it sinks its teeth into its prey. The kind of look that insinuates the calm before a world-wrecking storm.

He doesn’t move for what feels like an eternity and a second all at once. Then he carefully fishes his phone out from his pocket, dialing a number and smiles. “Hey D.O. When you’re done with your work, could you take the white Nissan Skyline away? Yeah, you know the one...uh huh...no, I want it destroyed.”

“What?” You gasp, clutching onto his arm to stop him. “But that’s your favorite car! It’s just a scratch, it can be fixed!”

He glances at you, such an frigid look that makes you swallow thickly, your grip on him loosening. He ends the call, slipping his phone back in his pocket. “Fixed?” His voice is soft, but there’s a terrifying edge to it. He chuckles darkly. “No. Something broken can never be perfect again. I don’t need anything that’s not perfect.”

Then he walks away, hands in his pockets and humming a tune like he didn’t just destroy his most prized possession. Like nothing just happened.

You shiver—tremble—feeling your knees go weak. It’s only a matter of time before you, too, will be thrown away like that.

So you must hide these feelings.

Deeper.

“You know who did it?” Chanyeol asks taking a long drag from his cigarette.

Glancing at Kai, Chen nods. “Probably the guys from the last race.”

“Great.” Sehun sighs, rolling his neck, his dark puffy hair falling over his eyes. “I love dealing with sore losers. So what are we gonna do? Should we tell Suho?”

Chen wrinkles his nose at the thought, loathing the idea of a scolding. Hey, it’s not his fault this world works like this. You gotta live somehow, even if you break all the damn rules. “Let’s not. Suho’s been plenty busy himself. They just keyed my car, no biggie.”

“No biggie?” Chanyeol raises a skeptical brow, tapping his long fingers against his knee, the cigarette ashes falling onto the ground. “You loved that car, man.”

“Loved.” He repeats, the word quiet and heavy. A shadow passes through his eyes, a look the others know all too well to comment on.

“So what are we gonna do?” Kai asks, tilting his head at Chen. “I’m not about to let some fucker trample all over us like this.”

Chen grins, a mischievous glint appearing in his eyes. “If they want a rematch, so be it.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Kai scowls. “We don’t do rematches. Our turf, our rules and they lost.”

“Yeah, well, if they’re gonna be stirring up trouble, I’d rather you guys have a rematch rather than fucking each other up, you know?” Sehun grins. “It’ll make my job heck of a lot easier.”

“Fuck that.” Kai says, but Chen only laughs, slapping his back a few times.

“Chill man; I’ll do the rematch myself. I’ll take on a hundred of those bastards if I have to—I’ll still win, fair and square.”

“What a load of bullshit.” Chanyeol snickers. “But I’ll enjoy it for sure either way.”

“Keep it on the down-low, ‘kay? Don’t leave us any messes to clean up. Suho’ll be real fucking pissed.” Sehun says, earning an eager nod from Chen.

They’re still skeptical of this, of course. Chen’s been known to get into a lot of trouble—rather minor ones for sure, but trouble nonetheless. It’s rare to see him so excited about something when he’s usually so uncaring about anything. Still, it’s none of their business and they’re in no position to stop him.

“Alright.” Chanyeol shrugs, putting out his cigarette. “Go for it then.”

You walk into the tattoo parlor again, greeting Byun as per your usual routine now. This time though, Byun tells you that Chen isn’t here.

“What? Where is he?” Another race, perhaps? He doesn’t have his car anymore though...so did he get another one?

“Met up with some people.” Byun answers vaguely. “Don’t worry. You can wait here if you want, but it stinks like hell so I’d recommend you come back later.”

“Um,” you wring your hands against the skirt you’re wearing. “Who is he meeting?”

Byun let’s out a sly grin, looking up at you from where he’s sprawled over his counter. “What’s wrong? Scared he’s cheating on you?”

Your cheeks heat up immediately as you shoo away the very thought, appalled he would say such thing. “No! Of course not. I’m just...worried. He seemed really upset about his car, so...”

“Heh, I guess he is.” Byun shrugs. “He went to have a rematch with those jerks from the last race. He said they were probably the ones who keyed his car.”

You gasp, feeling a wave of anxiousness as you recall the faces of those racers. They didn’t seem to take their loss lightly—if keying Chen’s car is any indication. They’d probably do anything to win this rematch. “Where are they meeting?”

“Whoa there, calm down.” Byun waves his hand at you. “He’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“Please, Byun.” You grab his arm, unconsciously digging your nails into him. “I’m really, really worried. Please tell me.”

He winces, seizing your hands quickly in attempt to pry you off. You can see the boys in the garage start to take notice, stopping with whatever they were tinkling with to stare at you.

“Okay, okay! I can tell you, but it’s not where a good girl like you should go. And you can’t do anything even if you go anyways.”

“I’m really not a good girl, Byun.” You say, forcing out a tight smile. “I don’t care about anything, I just want to see him, make sure he’s okay.”

“Well,” he sighs, giving in. He rips a piece of paper from a notepad, scribbling down an address. “Here. Just...I warned you, alright? And Chen isn’t the type to change his mind easily.”

You clutch the paper tightly, thanking him.

You’re not the type to change your mind easily either.

“Well would ya lookie here.” The man from the race hollers when he gets out of his car. What was his name again? Damn, maybe Chen should’ve made an effort to remember their names before calling them up. “Who would’ve thought the cheater would want a rematch? Feelin’ guilty, boy?”

Chen smiles, swallowing the desire to laugh his ass off. Guilty? Him? It should definitely be the other way around, right? “You’re the sore loser here. Can’t take a hit and now you’re calling me a cheater?”

The man scowls, grabbing Chen by the collar. He’s as strong as he looks, but all brawn and no brain.

Chen quickly puts up his hands in a sign of surrender, the smile still on his face, unfazed. “Hey, now. Let’s just have a rematch fair and square. That’s the best solution, right?”

With a scoff, the man shoves Chen back, a confident grin growing on his face.

A red flag for trouble.

“Sure, pretty boy. Let’s have a rematch fair and square.” His friends start to giggle behind him, and Chen mentally rolls his eyes. Yeah, he knew they’d have some underhand tricks up their sleeves. He’s still confident he’ll win though and even if he doesn’t...well, he tries not to think of that right now.

“Rules?” He asks.

“None.” The man answers, gesturing towards the dusty road that stretches on into the distance. “Just get to the finish line.”

Well, his turf, his rules. Chen shrugs and begins to get into his car when he sees a taxi pull up nearby. Odd, he thinks, this place is pretty secluded.

But then the person that gets out makes him nearly choke on his own spit, and he gets out again, jogging towards you.

“Yo, where ya goin’?” His opponents yell after him, but he ignores them for now. He grabs your arm, pulling you to face him.

“What are you doing here?”

He looks shocked, and maybe even angry. It’s a stern expression you’ve never seen on his face before, but you stand firm and stare back at him. “I was worried.” You glance at the parked cars, and at the familiar men with several new faces. You turn back to him. “You gonna race him?”

“Of course.” Chen answers, scoffing. “No one messes with us and gets away scot free.”

“I’m coming too.” You say, resolute.

“No you’re not.”

“I am.” You pull your arm from his grip, storming your way towards the car you recognize from EXO’s garage. Chen follows you closely, a string of complaints that go unheard. You get into the passenger seat and slam the door closed.

“The fuck!” Chen yells, knocking on your window and tugging at the door handle to get it open. “Get out! This isn’t your race. Get the fuck out, now!”

You ignore him completely, turning away. Chen continues like that for a while longer before the opponents begin to grow impatient.

“You racin’ or what?” They snarl out, eyes narrowing on the two of you threateningly. “You makin’ fun of us?”

Chen stops, but continues to stare at you. Even without looking, even with glass between you, you can feel the heat of his glare. He takes a deep breath, perhaps to stop himself from breaking the car window, and finally slips into the driver’s seat.

“You’re going to fucking regret this.”

“I won’t.” You answer.

You see the race flag being raised, and the sound of the starting gunshot rings in your ear.

Previous Chapter [M]│Next Chapter

The Art of Sin Mini Masterlist

EXO Customs Collab Masterlist

A/N: After a bazillion years, things are finally kicking off now. And between you and me, I’d hang on real tight. :)

Tags: @ninibears-erigom @baekwell--tart @fairyyeols @suhoerections @kpop---scenarios @skjdln @yeoldontknow @kyungseokie @mint-yooxgi @loser-dot-com @writingstuffandmore @enchanting-exo @dear-fake-diary @weirdsofagirls @wongxiexie @lovebuginlove @noonaofjungkook @soondingieworks @joolsreadsfics @bluepsycopanda @sebootyforlife @yerimdaes @the-freefeather @xcharlottemikaelsonx @shxrl4747 @uminnies @mango-bear

Tell me if you want to be tagged!

©kimjongdaely

Talk to me!│Support me on Ko-fi!

72 notes · View notes

erintoknow · 5 years

Text

leave no room for anything

Spiraling - A Fallen Hero: Rebirth Fan-fiction

You need cover, you need an alibi, and you need a place to plan and work out your next criminal action. What could go wrong from combining all that? [Survival]

[Read on AO3]

Another day, another spike of adrenaline courses through you as you dive feet first through a stack of boxes, sending crates of delicate electronic equipment everywhere. You can hear alarms sound around you as the factory goes into full alert, the clanging of barring gates. You grin under the mirror sheen of your helmet. That suits you fine, keep the small fry penned up and out of the way? You’re too kind.

The wall in front of you collapses into dust thanks to the nanovores and you tear through the office, grabbing at papers at random. What you take doesn’t actually matter at this point, compromising their records is the goal here.

Damage done, you refer to your map, dissolve another wall and follow your thread out, back to the main entrance.

The woman standing in your way gives you pause. You’d been psyching yourself up for a rematch against Chen, but no, its Lady Argent, hands at her sides and poised to rush you. A half-circle of rent-a-cop security goons behind her block you in. “A factory, Puppetmaster? What, they stop inviting you out to parties?” She smirks and hunches down, fingers lengthening into sharpened claws.

Your face twitches under your helmet. “Don’t read the papers, Argent? It’s Ghost.” You hiss. Your voice, filtered through your helmet has a hollow, flat sound. You take a quick count of Lady Argent’s back-up, who’s most pliable to tying up the rest. None of the officers seem to trust Argent. Good. That makes this easier.

The woman of steel looks unimpressed. “Can’t say I care what you call yourself.”

That does it.

One of the rent-a-cop’s guns goes off ‘prematurely’, firing wide to your left, the rest follow in blind panic as you dive to the side. Argent is too focused on you, but with the Rat-King’s help you’re able to pull the rest of the goof troop into your song, pulling their attention in random directions. One of the shots dings Argent in her shoulder, bouncing off to through ground and to her credit she doesn’t look for the culprit, making straight for you.

You run your hand along the ground as you move, leaving a split in the asphalt as the Nanovores chew through material. Lady Argent tries to cut you off so you encourage two of the goons to stumble into her way as you continue your circle around them. You can’t afford to move slow enough for a deep groove, but if this works as planned, all you need is to prime the cut.

If it works.

Argent huffs, shoving one of the men the side, only for another to conveniently take position between the two of you. “Get out of the way!” It doesn’t slow her down for long, but it’s enough for you to finish the circle. Under your helmet you grin, heart pounding.

All that’s left is the magic word. You give the Rat-King the command to pull the strings and yank everyone back in.

You dash forward and slide down, just under the swipe of her claws. She turns to stab down at you as you come to halt. You roll out of the way and kick her arm aside on your way back up.

You check to make sure everyone’s inside the circle you’ve carved through the asphalt. “Heads up.” is all the warning you give before an explosion rocks the ground under everyone’s feet. A furious Argent diving towards you finds only empty space underneath her, and you leap back as the asphalt caves in.

When the dust clears you risk taking a quick check of everyone’s mental state; a lot of fear and alarm, some pain, but the headcount is still the same. You think.

Hopefully.

You shake your head. Focus. Don’t get distracted. Stay in control. You watch Argent and the rest pick themselves up, clear rubble off their buddies. You have to harden your heart against it, remember who they are, what they represent. “Next time,” you call down, “remember my fucking name!”

Admittedly, Argent makes it easier. She’s staring up at you, a single silver middle finger outstretched.

You don’t like the way she’s eyeing one of the support columns. Can she climb her way out? You don’t intend to stick around and see, it’s time to make yourself scarce.

–––

Every super villain needs a secret lair. A base of operations. Somewhere you can plan your next move, keep mission critical materials. If Ariadne is going to be stuck playing retired civilian, it’s even more important to keep her as separated as you can from Ghost’s activities.

Eventually the day will come when you have to cast off that identity completely, but two years isn’t long enough to make you eager to resume a life of being actively on the run from a government agency. You need to gather more influence – and protection – if you’re going to ever unmask without it being an immediate disaster.

To that end… Ariadne needs a cover. She needs a job, co-workers, hobbies. A new wardrobe. You need Ortega to take a breather and ease off on trying worm her way in and fix every little aspect of your life.

So you’ll combine the two.

Technically a ‘Melissa Simone’ owns the computer repair shop you’re standing in front of. Ms. Simone also interviewed and hired yourself and the middle-aged lady with greying hair now manning the front counter.

You put a hand on the front door, hesitating. You keep putting this off but… guess you better ‘officially’ meet your new co-worker.

A bell chimes as you step inside. Old computer advertisements adorn the walls while parts and models are neatly stacked into three aisles across the open front half of the room. The building itself is on the older side. Hopefully a bit more use will get it looking properly run down enough to seem like it’s always been a repair shop here.

The woman at the counter looks up with a smile, a phone pressed to her ear. She holds a finger up as you approach.

You didn’t hire Marcie for her customer service skills. You hired her because she’s a terminally incurious middle-aged woman who fully intends to spend as much of her time talking to friends on the store phone or otherwise shirking her duties as much as possible.

Leaning an arm against the counter you wait for her to finish her current conversation, drumming your fingers against the wooden countertop. Watch the clock on the wall tick the seconds by. Finally she hangs up and turns back to you with a tired expression. “Alright, what do you want?”

You put on a sickly sweet smile. “My name is Ariadne Becker? Y–your um… co-worker?”

Marcie blinks, frowns, then flushes red. “Oh!” She hurries out from behind the counter, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought you were a customer.”

“I could tell.”

She puts her hand out and you give it a quick shake. “Are you really the only repairm–person here?”

“Eh.” You shrug, glancing at the beaded doorway to the back room. “If business ever picked up maybe it’d be worth hiring more.” Glance back to her, smile again. “For now, I’m it yeah. I don’t usually bother with – with um, the front entrance.”

“Well, if you ever need something from me, sweetie, you let old Marcie know, okay?”

You blink, not sure how to respond. She wasn’t this nice to Jane– ahem ‘Melissa Simone.’ “Uh. Y–yeah, sure. Thanks.” You cough. “Um… Ms. Simone gave you the – the rundown about the back right?”

Marcie looks at you, arching a skeptical eyebrow. “To stay the hell out? Yeah.” She leans in, “So… what are we fronting here sweetheart? Drugs? It’s drugs isn’t it.” She straightens her back with a dramatic sigh. “It’s always drugs.”

“I – what???” You stare at her. “W–we’re not – not ‘fronting’ anything!?”

She frowns. Is she… disappointed…!? “Oh? Really? Well. A job’s a job, I guess.”

“I… I just have a… very particular system. Okay?” You shove your hands into your pockets, looking away from her. Stare at the posters on the wall.

“Ah. You’re one of those.” One of those what? You can’t pick it up from her thoughts, just the sliding of her changing expectations. “Well, I’ll keep out of your hair, sweetie.” She steps aside, “It was nice to meet you Ariadne, dear.”

You walk past her in a daze. Push through the bed curtain into your ‘workshop.’ A central table has a pile of half-deconstructed computer cases, their silicon guts scattered haphazardly. A tool kit hangs from the wall alongside a clear plastic cabinet of replacement parts.

Hopefully the facade holds up. You don’t have much intention of actually doing computer repair work here. It’s more than a little concerning that Marcie of all people immediately jumped to the ‘criminal front’ explanation. Was hiring her a mistake? She doesn’t seem to actually care. Maybe you should go out of your way now and then to drum up business. Put some effort into looking legit.

Aside from the bathroom and breakroom, there’s one more room. Your actual workshop. The shop technically is built onto the side of an old warehouse. You’ve walled off most of the space, installed a hidden door, just inside next to the back door out.

You didn’t use up the entire warehouse. Just walled off a decent sized chunk. The rest has been dressed up. Mostly shelves of boxes full of bricks. Something that’ll pass at least cursory inspection.

The door slides open to your touch, keyed to your fingerprint. It springs back into place as you step past. The lights flicker on at low-power. Now here is where you can finally start to get shit done. Your armor is mounted to a secondary hidden compartment recessed into the far wall, next to a bed in case you need to crash or puppeteer Jane for a bit.

You’re particularly proud of the hiding place you’ve created for the Rat-King; an oversized lava lamp sits on the bedside table, a soft blue glow filling the room. Even if anyone breaks in here, anything of value will still be hidden. You’re not completely stupid.

One corner of the room is taken up by a bank of screens and a computer terminal. A system of motion detectors, CCTV, and trip alarms have been carefully set up over the past month in a two block radius around the shop. Nothing is coming near here without you getting some kind of record of it.

And then, last but not least, against one wall a full-length table stretches underneath a pristine corkboard.

Not pristine for long… You reach back into your pocket and pull out a wad of folded up, blood stained papers. The only thing you were able to salvage from the Marconi fiasco. Could have just pinned this while you were setting everything up, you guess.

But this feels more dramatic.

You grab a pin from the cork board and smooth out the creases with your other hand. Jam the paper to the middle of the board. A bill of sale for something called a ‘Regenerator.’ You don’t recognize the name of the buyer, but the listed seller is the personal assistant to Mayor Alvarez.

You pin a scattering of related articles next to the receipt, your prize from today’s factory theft. They’re all related to the sudden government take-over and closure of the regenerator’s parent company, PharmaCore.

What exactly is going on here; you have no idea. But it’s shady as shit, and that means it’s a point of attack. If you’re going to crack the damn city open, this is your starting point. You grab a pen and paper as you sit down at the desk.

You hum a tune under your breath as you work. Time to start planning out your next moves.

#fallen hero: rebirth #fallen hero fanfic #fanfiction #fhr/Ariadne

22 notes · View notes

fallenhero-rebirth · 6 years

Text

Sticks and stones

Still sick, so here’s another snippet, me playing around with Julia Ortega and Marshal Hood, trying to iron out their relationship in the past. Blame @saturnsage as always.

-------

Running forward tap tap tap three steps, over the wall, land in a roll, leaving gravel stuck to your back, your braid a black streak behind you.

"You should cut your hair, Julia." A creak, a crack and the wall crumbles, shards a hailstorm at the spot you were a moment ago.

"Not likely," you shout back, glad for your goggles, glad for your reinforced skinsuit, glad that the Marshal isn't out to hurt you.

You know that he could. You've seen the footage, Marshal Hood is not to be trifled with, controlling dirt he calls it jokingly but you've seen him crack the ground and bring down buildings and he wasn't called Mount Hood for nothing back in the day.

"It's just begging to get grabbed," he advices, and you sprint around the corner just in time to have the shrapnel smack into it instead of you.

"Then they have to get within my reach, the idiots." You leap up, grabs the overhang, pulling yourself up on the half-ruined roof. It's as close to a training area as you have out here, ruins nobody minds being demolished.

Keep on the move, never stopping to think, keep you body going from one moment to the next because that's Hood's disadvantage, he's slow, his powers takes a moment to charge, and if you are elsewhere after that moment you can stay ahead. Stay safe. Don't think, just move, and oh boy, you love moving more than anything in the world. Feeling your heart pump, your muscles tense, everything moving with a strength and grace you didn't have before. Faster. Better. Broken and rebuilt and sure there's trademarks branded into your joints but you wore them on your chest before, sponsored equipments wanting to cash in on your guts.

You laugh as you fling yourself over the edge of the roof, too high, too fast, but there's just an open space there, dirt and gravel, no walls, and you land heavy, land hard, but close enough to bring your palm to his gut, jolting him hard enough to throw him to the ground.

"Shit, shit, are you okay?" You're leaning over him a moment later, 'cause Hood is not getting any younger, and you might have left your dad in the grave with an unresolved argument but there's nothing to do against a bad heart, bad luck, a bad call and you laugh in relief when he gives you a thumbs up. Bigger than your dad. More grizzled. Older. Whiter.

Kinder.

"That was a stupid move," he grumbles, rubbing his stomach. "If you had missed, you'd be caught right in the open."

"That's not a bad space to be against you, though." You offer him a hand up, bracing yourself, you're tall for a girl, tall enough to annoy most men but he's not small and he's heavy and his hand makes yours feel small and fragile even with the mods.

"True," he admits, brushing himself off as you push up the goggles on your forehead. "Good job anyway, Charge."

"Just fun to get a workout, I was getting bored." You stretch towards the skies, annoyingly blue, the darker blue of both your skinsuits covered in dust. You peel off your goggles entirely, wiping your sweaty forehead. "Sentinel better find something soon."

"s... he will." Marshal Hood looks up at the skies as well, still stumbling over the new pronouns. So many changes to get used to. "You should keep the goggles. Eye protection is useful. Especially with your condition."

"Not my call," you say, patting him on the shoulder, too worried, you should wear goggles and a helmet and kneepads and in the end you should be annoyed but it's hard to be. Just a different kind of feeling, a different vibe, not disapproval but caution, a way of looking at you that makes you want to be someone. Better. Smarter. Part of a team, and that is new, because you hate people bossing you around. I'm not gonna call you Sir, the first words thrown in his face, and he had chuckled and told you to call him asshole if that made you feel better.

"I know." The sigh is deep, he knows it, uniforms are picked, and you look far too good to be covered up in armor, face out in the open, no mask, bright smile for the camera. They didn't give you nice dental work for nothing.

"Don't look so grumpy," you bend down and pick up a rock, throwing it at a distant sign, leaning askew in the ruins. Bullseye. "I can move better this way, no need for heavy armor if they won't hit me."

"And if they do?" Another rock rises from the ground on its own, flying towards the same sign.

"Not gonna happen," you say, throwing yourself flat on the ground and the other rock he had levitated flies harmlessly over your head. "And I thought we were done training, cheater."

"How did you know?" He looks amused, offering you a hand this time, but you tense your body and jump back to your feet on your own, look dad, no hands and you slap your brain into shape because he's not your dad. Just your team leader. Maybe mentor, but no way you're going to tell him that.

"It fit the moment." You don't really think too much about it, there's a flow to the world around you, like the movement of your body, the effect of gravity, the friction of your limbs. You can't think too much, better to just go with it, thinking is for Chen, analyzing, planning, you don't put words to it the same way. Same results though. Still five to five in your fights, someday one of you will get the upper hand. You're two to ten with Hood, but you're getting faster. Better.

"You've got good instincts," he admits. "You just need to be able to describe them."

"Why?" You flex your hands, feeling your emitters charge and release. They still feel awkward after the last upgrade but the increased output should be worth it.

"Because you're going to need to teach someone else how to do that one day." Straight face, furrowed brow, and you look up at him with a surprised laugh.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen, I'm not a teacher." You're responsible for yourself, and only you, and maybe your team, your group, and oh boy, that's escalated. Being a Ranger. You're glad you're not the one holding the reins here, the stakes are higher. You never even ran your own group back then, you just starred in the videos, Marek did the heavy lifting when it came to planning.

"We'll see," he says, cryptically, giving you another one of those looks.

"Don't you even think about it," you mutter, starting to pace, the pace turning into a walk as he follows, because standing still hurts in ways that movement doesn't. "I'm here because Chen talked me into it, that's all." A lie, another lie, and yeah he knows it because he knows the amount of money invested in your body. More than for just a boring, normal life.

"You're born to this Julia, why not admit it?"

"Because that would mean my father was right, and he was an asshole about it so that's never gonna happen." You jump up on the wall, balancing on it as you keep walking.

"The man is dead."

"Damn right he is."

"You do know that he can't tell you what to do anymore?" The wall starts disintegrating beneath your feet, slowly, bricks torn apart, but you keep your balance, little stepping stones floating in front of you. Show-offs, both of you. Maybe that's why you like him.

"So why do I still hear his voice in my head?"

"You're the only one that can tell you that."

"You suck at this, you know?" You give him a glare, leaping to another stone, landing on one foot, as elegant as if you had done the ballet they wanted you to. "You're supposed to tell me that maybe that was because he had a point, and maybe it was time for me to listen to it. You know, be all responsible and shit."

"Hmmm..." He ponders it for a while, rubbing his chin, all covered in black scruff because there's no cameras out here. "That doesn't sound like me. I think you came up with that on your own."

"And that's because you suck." You land on the ground, giving him an exasperated smile. "I don't like being responsible. Why do you keep making me do it?"

"Because you're better at it than you know." A fond chuckle as he puts a big hand on your shoulder. Heavy. Warm. Covered in faded, black tattoos, kin to the ones that's snaking up his neck and into his hairline. "As long as nobody pushes you into it."

"Guess I have Chen for that. Fucking duty and shit."

"Chen needs to lighten up," he agrees.

"I bet you tell him that I need to be more responsible." You shoot him a suspicious glance.

"Now does that sound like something I would do?"

"You're nothing but a dirty manipulator, old man," you say the words with your brightest smile, shrugging away from his hand, pulling your goggles back on. "You're lucky I like you."

"You need another run-through?" He wipes his sweaty forehead, shaking his head.

"I'm bored," you whine, "and you keep saying I need to stay sharp."

"Fine, girl, I won't go easy on you this time."

"Good." You smile your wickedest smile, throwing yourself backwards, recklessly, stones hitting empty air and this is the life. The adrenaline. The thrill.

The companionship.

#fallen hero: rebirth #snippet #ortega #marshal hood #backstory

158 notes · View notes

echoise · 6 years

Text

the marshal’s desk is obviously the best place for... activities. (steelstep, m!sidestep, warning: not safe for any kind of work as the aunt puts it oh wow) 1,505 words

Trust Steel’s office to be as immaculate as the man himself.

Except you know that’s not quite true. You have firsthand knowledge on exactly what Wei Chen is capable of, in many areas of life, what kinds of secrets he hides under his skin.

Like now, when you’re sitting in his perfectly arranged and clean office, on his perfectly arranged and clean desk, and nothing about you two is clean or perfectly arranged as he’s pressed between your legs, leaning in with his arms on either side of you, yours wrapped behind his neck and pulling him close for kisses entirely obscene for the environment you’re in. The realization makes you laugh against his lips and he wraps an arm around you, his hand finding its way into your hair. His mind is open to you and you sense how he loves the sensation of your hair between his fingers, on his skin - synthetic as it is, the sensors are advanced enough - the feel so different from the cropped military cut he himself has, that he’s used to. The way you have let yours grow just a bit too long, how you refuse to brush it, refusing to conform.

You always knew he had a bit of rebellion in him. Like you do.

You brush your thumb along his jawline and he turns his head to kiss your palm instead of your lips, his breath hot on your skin. You smile and kiss his cheek, pulling his forehead to rest against yours for a second. He lets you and closes his eyes while you keep yours open, counting his eyelashes, committing every detail on his face to memory. Every imperfection on his skin, every pore, every wrinkle, every scar.

“I need to be working,“ Chen murmurs, and you laugh.

“You said that five minutes ago.“

“And it’s still true.“ He kisses your lips and the leans down to trace a line of kisses along your jawline, down you neck. Even with you sitting on his desk he’s slightly taller and you feel bad for his back so you lean back as you crane your neck to give him access, so at least he can lean over you instead of hunching.

You chuckle. “I see you’re very eager to get back to it.“

“Mmh.“ His breath tickles your skin and you pull him in tighter, hooking your ankles together behind him and trapping him. There’s another rumble from his chest and you sit back further, the backs of your knees resting against the edge of the desk, and slip your hands under his shirt.

You’re not shy about roaming his skin, feeling every ridge and every nook. By now, the contours of his muscles are intimately familiar to you: certainly more familiar than your own hated body, maybe even more familiar than your puppet’s body. You know exactly where plain skin becomes scar tissue, what part of him is callous and what part soft, where synthetic skin meets organic, where to find the few small moles he has.

And you know exactly how to run your fingers over him to get him to gasp, to laugh, to shudder. He is warm under your hands and his mind is flush and you’re still in disbelief that it’s all because of you - because of your hands on him, your legs around him, your breath on his skin. You’re the only thing on his mind and it’s nothing short of intoxicating, far stronger than any alcohol, any drug you’ve ever had.

I want you. You hear the words as clearly as if he had whispered them in your ear, but they’re just a thought, aimed at you, projected at you - meant for you to pick up. He’s been doing that a lot lately, saying things in thought only, and you can’t tell if it’s because he’s too shy to say them out loud or because he thinks he’s somehow making up for shunning your telepathic gifts for so long. Whatever the reason, the thought-words leave you breathless, as they always do, heat coiling in your chest and spiraling downwards.

“I want you too,“ you whisper, and he lifts a hand to cup your cheek, kissing you so hard it almost hurts. You see images drifting from his mind, of you on his desk, of him on his knees and you gasp, cheeks heating up. “Please.“

He kisses you long and hard before obliging and dropping to his knees, hands sliding to your hips. You scoot to sit closer to the edge of the desk again, biting the inside of your cheek as he palms you through your trousers. He huffs in laughter at you and you frown, swinging you leg to give him a light kick. “Shut up.“

“I didn’t say anything.“ His smile is wry and you blush harder, suddenly very self-aware.

“You were thinking it,“ you mutter, a lie and you both know it. You’re just not used to this, even after all this time. To being wanted.

You glance around to escape his fond smile and a thought occurs to you. “The door...“

“It’s locked.“ He stops to look up at you, fingers on your zipper. “Or do you want to double-check?“

You quickly scan his mind, his memories. At least he thinks he locked it. He’s fairly sure. And you should be able to sense anyone getting close to the office or thinking of it. That is assuming you’ll be able to think of anything other than...

He interprets your silent embarrassment as hesitation starts to get up, brows furrowed. You lean forwards and press your hands on his shoulders, forcing him back down. “No,“ you smile and hope it comes across as reassuring. “It’s fine. I’m fine.“ You pause, wetting your lips, holding his gaze as you do and feeling the heat in his mind. “I trust you.“

His mind surges at that, with adoration and want. He presses a kiss to your knee and though you barely feel anything through your jeans, the gesture is enough to make your chest bubble. You lean back on your arms and close your eyes as he unzips you and tugs you free of both your trousers and underwear. It’s momentarily uncomfortable but then his mouth is on you and it’s anything but: you gasp a swear and press a hand to your mouth, in a futile attempt to silence your embarrassing sounds.

But Chen knows you as well as you know him and easily takes you apart, piece by piece. You lose track of everything but his mouth, his tongue, his hands - him, pleasing you and holding you and loving every second of it. It’s a marvelous thing, being able to touch his mind while he works you and oh, he’s touching himself too and you can feel it if you just dig a bit deeper, sensations mixing into one in a way that’s maddening. You push it onto him as well and hear him, feel him grunt, suddenly aware of how he’s making you feel, rewarding you for that trick in a way that makes you moan.

“Chen,“ you whimper - whimper, how does he do this to you? - and run your hands on his head, looking to grasp at his hair but finding it too short so you end up just caressing his scalp, hands trembling. You’re close, so close, your legs are shaking and you think you might be begging and you don’t even care anymore, all you care about is him and his mouth and god chen please--

You unravel with a shudder, gasping what you think might be his name. You know you bleed over because you feel him too, not long after, in a wave that’s less intense but still pleasant, breath hitching for a second time within the minute. You lean back on your arms again and try to catch your breath while Chen tucks you back in your pants and zips you up, prosthetic legs letting him get up without issue. You’re briefly jealous because your own legs are shaking and you’re not sure they could support your weight if you were to get up now, but dismiss the thought - that has nothing to do with your legs themselves. It’s all on Chen.

“Alright?” He murmurs, pulling you to his chest. You wrap your arms around him, breathing in deep. Enjoying the closeness because you can, you’re allowed to. In this moment, you’re allowed to.

“Yeah.” You pull back just a bit to tug him into a kiss. You can taste yourself on him and even though you’re sated and spent, you still feel a twitch of excitement in your gut. This is a man who wants you, in every way possible, wants you and adores you and values you, just as you are. His mind is as warm against yours as his arms are around you and you feel safe. Safe and relaxed.

And in this moment, you’re allowed to.

#fallen hero: rebirth #fallen hero: retribution #fh:r #steelstep #steel #m!sidestep #writing #mine #here it is #big steamy #thats my tag for it #i have no idea what im doing

95 notes · View notes

raywritesthings · 5 years

Text

Wrong Road to the Right Place 18/?

My Writing My Writing Fandom: Arrow Characters: Oliver Queen, Laurel Lance, John Diggle, Thea Queen, Tommy Merlyn, McKenna Hall, Quentin Lance Pairings: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen Summary: Laurel finds herself curious about the marks Oliver showed her that night in his bedroom - and the tattoo on his left shoulder stands out in particular. When she discovers its meaning, she finds herself questioning everything she knows about the man she doesn’t want to admit she still loves. *Can also be read on my AO3 page*

“Okay, that should be everything I need you for today, Thea,” Laurel said as she logged out of the computer at her desk. They’d gotten through all the case files she’d wanted to today. Still none with Edward Rasmus involved, but she knew it had to be coming. Any day now, and she’d be on the clock as to how to proceed.

She looked up and found Thea still standing there.

“Don’t you need to wait for your ride downstairs?”

“It’s not coming. I’m going over to Roy’s.”

“Roy…? Right, purse thief,” Laurel remembered. She kept meaning to tell Oliver his sister had a new beau, but perhaps it was better that she give Thea and Roy some time first. “Okay then, have fun.”

But as she moved to go around her desk towards the door, Thea stepped in front. “Can we talk?”

“We’re talking right now,” Laurel pointed out.

Thea rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but not really. I mean, for crying out loud, Laurel, you were attacked last month, the guy that hired the hit was one of my dad’s old business partners, your mom came back to town, you moved in and then you and Ollie moved out — but it’s like everyone’s acting like nothing weird is going on.” She threw her arms out to the sides. “I mean, I think that’s plenty of weird stuff, but no one’s talking about it. Or not you’re not talking to me.”

Laurel felt a tug on her heartstrings. Thea, for all her partying and dabbling in substance abuse, was in many ways still an innocent. And she knew Oliver would give everything he had to preserve that, right along with Moira. They were mother and son, after all.

But Thea was a growing woman who wasn’t blind to the things going on around her. And if she had no one to turn to, she’d be in danger of going right back to the drugs.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I have been keeping things to myself.” She took hold of Thea’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “That wasn’t fair.”

“Well, I’m kind of used to it. Ever since Ollie got home…”

Laurel nodded. “Right. Well, there are some things I won’t be able to tell you still, Thea, because they’re not just about me. But let’s take this somewhere a little more private.”

She led Thea to the stairwell to the back door. No one really used it except to head out behind the building for smoke breaks, and people were a little more focused on heading home for the day. The stairwell itself was rather ugly, the paint over the concrete steps chipping in several places.

Laurel leaned against the railing and thought over what she could talk about. It wasn’t much. “Okay, so, yes, I was attacked last month. I’m pretty much recovered, and I’ve been taking some classes to stay in shape.”

“Is that what the gym bag’s for?”

She nodded. “And, let’s see, you asked about my mother, right? She came to see me because she wanted help looking for Sara.”

Thea straightened up. “Sara’s alive?”

She shook her head. “Not so far as we can tell. My mom had what she thought was a lead, but it wasn’t her. She, um, also decided to finally tell me that she knew Sara was getting on the boat with Oliver, and she let her,” Laurel admitted, her voice getting lower and softer with the leftover pain.

Thea’s mouth hung open. “Oh my god, Laurel. I’m so sorry.”

She shrugged. “It was years ago. I guess I just would have appreciated her being honest from the start.”

“Are things with you and Ollie…?”

“Yeah, they’re fine. He actually had a talk with my mother about that. He had no idea she’d known, and it didn’t exactly sit well with him. It probably looks crazy to everyone else, but your brother’s really changed, Thea. I can really count on him.”

“Is that why you guys got your own place?”

“Yes and no.” Even if she couldn’t tell Thea everything, she didn’t like the idea of leaving the girl completely in the dark as to the danger they were in. “Because of Mr. Chen’s involvement in the attack at the award ceremony, Ollie’s a little...worried about security.”

“Because Mr. Chen was mom’s friend?” Thea snorted. “Never thought I’d see him agreeing with the Hood about something.”

Laurel bit back a laugh of her own. “Had to happen at some point. But the point is, because of his experiences on the island, he wants to be sure he knows exactly what is going on in his own space and who’s allowed there. Does that make sense?”

Thea sobered, nodding along. “Yeah. Just — am I allowed to be there?”

Laurel bit her lip. Thea couldn’t come down to the base without learning everything else. “That’s something I would have to talk to him about first. I promise I will,” she added when Thea’s shoulders drooped.

“No, it’s okay. He’s probably right about the Manor not being safe if that guy could get in anyway.”

Laurel froze. “What guy?”

Thea perked up, clearly excited to be telling her story. “Okay, you have to promise not to tell Ollie, cause mom doesn’t want him to worry or something.”

She raised an eyebrow at that. More likely, Moira didn’t want Oliver interfering. “Alright.”

“So, I was at home alone with Raisa, and I was heading for the kitchen when I noticed the light was on in mom’s office. So I opened the door, and there was this guy there at her computer.”

“Did he see you?”

“Yeah, but he just ran for it. I didn’t get a look at his face. He was wearing something that kind of made it hard to make out. Only he was dressed in like a normal business suit and one of those old-fashioned hats, you know? So I couldn’t see what color his hair was either.”

Laurel’s mind raced, trying to process this newest bit of information. If someone was looking at files from Moira’s home office, what were they after? And why?

“Do you know what he was looking for?”

Thea shrugged. “Mom wouldn’t even call the police, so there’s no way she’d talk to me about it. Like I said, she doesn’t even want Ollie to know.”

Her phone buzzed in her bag, so Laurel fished it out. “Speaking of,” she muttered upon seeing Oliver’s name on the caller I.D. She accepted the call. “Hey, I’ll be out in a minute.”

“I’m not actually there, uh, because your dad’s here. At the club,” Oliver said. “He’s pretty upset about a case, and Vertigo’s involved.”

“Great,” Laurel bit out. It would’ve been too much to hope that the Count’s incarceration in a mental hospital would’ve totally stopped the drug, but she knew it was a hot-button issue with both her father and boyfriend. “I’ll be right over to run interference. Don’t talk to him.”

“I love you,” Oliver said earnestly.

Laurel smiled to herself. “Love you, too.”

She turned back to Thea as she hung up the phone.

“Your brother and my father are getting into it again, so I am gonna have to head out if that’s okay.”

“He’s not arresting Ollie, is he?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” She mustered up a smile for Thea. “It’ll be fine. You shouldn’t keep Roy waiting.”

“Okay,” Thea agreed reluctantly.

“How are things going with him, anyway?” Laurel asked as they went down the front steps together.

“Interesting. He makes me think about things, you know? And I feel like he’s really decided to turn his life around since the Hood saved him from that crazy Savior guy.”

Laurel nodded. “Well, I’m always here for advice.”

“Thanks, but I think my brother needs it more than me right now,” Thea remarked with a grin.

They went their separate ways and soon enough Laurel was letting herself into the Verdant. She found Oliver waiting by the bar with Digg only a few feet to the side while her father paced the open space.

“Okay, let’s wrap this up so you can open,” Laurel directed to Oliver before spinning on her heels with her arms crossed to face her dad. “What is the problem?”

“A young woman turned up dead after leaving his club the other night. She OD’d on Vertigo,” her dad answered.

“And is there any evidence she obtained the Vertigo on this premises by a patron or employee of the club?”

“No.”

“Then my client — sorry, boyfriend,” she amended as Oliver smirked at her, “has no reason to be under suspicion in this case.”

“Her last text messages were to your good buddy, Merlyn,” her father said. “Asking for the drug.”

“Tommy doesn’t work for the club anymore,” Oliver pointed out. “He told me himself that I should be ready for soliciting by patrons for things the club doesn’t provide. This woman probably got ahold of his number without realizing he was no longer the manager.”

“Yeah, well let’s not forget you were seen attempting to purchase Vertigo only a couple months ago.”

“I already explained my actions to you and Detective Hall, since you seem to have forgotten, and there were no charges,” Oliver said heatedly.

“Oliver, stop talking,” Laurel said, stepping between the two of them. “Dad, I know you feel like you’re just following the evidence, but if you want to even turn over a chair in this place to look underneath it, you will have to come back with a warrant.”

He eyed her for a moment but seemed to realize she wasn’t backing down. “Fine. Shouldn’t take too long.” He squared his shoulders and left the building.

Oliver walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle. “Have I mentioned you’re a life-saver lately?”

“Don’t thank me just yet.” She turned in his embrace. “You’re going to need to give me all of your papers for the club.”

Oliver frowned. “What for?”

“If there is anything illicit going on with this building, I have to find it before he does so I can do something about it.” She tilted her head meaningfully towards the floor. “Considering what’s in your basement storage…”

“Right. I’ll get it to you.”

“There’s one more thing,” she said, gripping onto his shirt to keep him from pulling away completely. “Thea just told me about a break-in at the Manor.”

“What?”

“Nothing on the news about that,” John mentioned.

“Moira’s not letting it get out. But Thea saw the intruder. He had some kind of way to mask his face and was looking at your mother’s files. She doesn’t know which ones specifically.”

“Just what we need,” Oliver grumbled.

“Ollie, you can’t act like you know, or Thea will be in trouble.”

“Alright. We’ll keep our focus on Vertigo for now. If we hear anything new about this intruder, then we’ll act,” he decided. She followed him into the office where he pulled up the relevant information about the club. “Is this good to start with?”

“Yeah.”

Oliver left her alone after, no doubt needing to get to work on tracking down Vertigo’s new distributor. Laurel wouldn’t be much for talking at the moment anyway, since she was hoping to get through all of these papers before her session with Ted that night. So long as there wasn’t anything too odd that stuck out for her father to use as grounds for suspicion or probable cause, they would be in the clear and could focus on more important things like finding the evidence to conclude once and for all what Malcolm Merlyn was up to in the Glades.

Then, of course, she found the bribe Tommy had paid a building inspector not to look at the basement area. Ollie doesn’t let anybody down there, was the note her friend had scribbled in the margins.

Laurel groaned and placed her face in her hands. They were both idiots.

—-

McKenna wasn’t completely sure what she was looking at here, but she knew it wasn’t good.

Whoever the mysterious guy with all the questions who’d sent her that phone was, his intel had unearthed a strange curiosity. Real estate in the Glades, just like he’d said. She’d taken a look, skeptical at first, only to find something she couldn’t explain.

Through a series of shell companies and hidden accounts, it appeared that one single entity owned almost the entirety of property within the impoverished neighborhood. The closest she had been able to come to a name was the company Sagittarius.

There were some other curiosities. A number of property purchases had been made by Robert Queen the last couple of weeks before his untimely death. Odd, considering the only property he’d owned in the Glades before — the foundry that now served as Oliver’s club — had already been shut down. Slowly, these properties had either been auctioned off or sold to the various accounts that funneled back to Sagittarius. The only thing McKenna couldn’t quite understand was, what for?

The Glades properties had largely been left to depreciate and rot. Landlords that leased the properties from Sagittarius were seemingly under no supervision and could get away with murder. Sometimes literally.

“It’s like whoever owns Sagittarius wants the neighborhood to go down in value,” she told Lance over a pot of coffee in the break room. “But that would be against their interest, wouldn’t it?”

“No way to tell if you don’t know who owns the company,” said Lance. He was only half-paying attention, his head stuck in some papers pertaining to the Verdant. “Could just be some kind of speculative investment type stuff those big wigs do.”

“The only property left in the Glades that isn’t owned by Sagittarius is the Verdant,” McKenna told him, hoping to entice him. He did look up, so she counted it moderately successful. “The Rebecca Merlyn Clinic was sold off at the start of the new year, which makes no sense because it wasn’t doing any worse than before.”

“Merlyn shut down his wife’s free clinic and we still gave him Humanitarian of the Year?” Lance shook his head.

“And look at these property buys by Robert Queen before his death. None of them had anything to do with his business. Some apartments, a grocer’s, two empty storefronts — it’s like he was grabbing whatever he could that was available.” McKenna looked up from her notes. “I think he knew something about this.”

Lance’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”

“He was going on a business trip when he died, right?”

He grimaced, and she felt slightly guilty for bringing up his own daughter’s death, however indirectly. “Yeah. Yeah, Laurel said, they were supposed to stop off in China for a week or so before coming back. Actually...wonder if that had anything to do with that Frank Chen.”

“The Chen that ordered the hit at the Humanitarian Award ceremony?” She jotted that down in the margins of her notes. “Well, since I can’t talk to him or Robert Queen, I’ll have to do the next best thing. How much do you think their friends or family might know?”

He shrugged. “Could be anything, could be nothing. But listen, Hall—” Lance snagged her arm before she could make to leave the break room. “Be careful about how close you get to all this stuff, alright? Especially if you’re planning to ask Merlyn any questions.”

“Why Merlyn?”

He hesitated. “A guy I know said something, that’s all.”

A guy he knew, huh?

“Alright, I’ll be careful.” McKenna returned to her desk, staring at her notes for a while. She was missing a big piece, the why of it all, and it was driving her crazy.

She glanced at the phone sitting on the corner of her desk. It hadn’t rang yet, and she hadn’t touched it beyond getting it dusted for prints that came back negative. The techs hadn’t been able to trace the purchase of it either.

With a furtive glance around the bullpen, she stood with the phone in her hand and went around to the back. This time when she dialed the pre-programmed number, it rang several times before being picked up.

“Detective Hall?” The altered voice almost sounded surprised, if she could even pick up tone from it.

“Listen, I looked into the Glades and the properties and I think I found what you wanted me to. Sagittarius. But what am I supposed to do about it?”

“Not sure yet. I’m still working on it.”

“Do you have more information? Because you need to give it to me. This is not a game.”

“I’m well aware of that, Detective. It’s why I can’t give you everything just yet. People’s lives are at stake.” There was a brief pause. “I have a number of files. Once I’ve figured out what’s safe to share, you’ll hear from me.”

“That is not how this — works,” she finished on a grumble as the line cut off. She had a feeling if she tried calling back she would be sent straight to voicemail. If the guy even had one set up.

This was ridiculous. Having to rely on vigilantes for intel wasn’t anywhere in the police academy training. If she’d wanted to deal with Deep Throat, she’d have become a journalist.

But someone — and she was betting her badge it was the Hood — had warned Lance off of tangling with Malcolm Merlyn. What did the Hood know about a shell company named for a symbol of archery?

Since she wouldn’t be likely to get in touch with him any time soon, she could start with Merlyn and his ilk. It was her best and only lead, since her contact wasn’t giving her anything better.

—-

Tommy had hit a wall. He’d have thought obtaining the files would be the tricky part, but Mrs. Queen had one more trick up her sleeve.

He couldn’t read any of them. They were all encrypted. Tommy wouldn’t even dream of being the expert on that. And he was loath to try and become self-taught.

For one thing, this information was too valuable to lose from a botched attempt at deciphering it. For another, his laptop was company-issued from Merlyn Global itself, and even someone of fairly average intelligence such as himself knew that would be as good as declaring his intentions to his father of dismantling his criminal enterprises.

He wasn’t willing to hire somebody to look over this information, and he couldn’t turn it over to the police without being cut off from learning the answers he was seeking. McKenna already seemed ready to bite his head off soon as look at him, not that she knew who to look for. He needed a way around the encryption that he could access.

If anybody had some kind of decryption programs on their computers, it would be Ollie. The Hood was always getting into this or that place or finding dirt on corrupt CEOs that was otherwise hidden from the general public. If he could get in and out without Oliver asking any questions — better yet, Oliver even knowing, all the better.

Night would be no good. Mr. Diggle or Laurel would be down there to keep in contact with Oliver while he was out there beating up and potentially killing people. Though admittedly it had been some time since he’d heard about that happening.

Middle of the day was usually when his old friend was down there training. But evening, perhaps, when they all needed to get something to eat. That would be his best bet.

Tommy left his office in Merlyn Global and went back to his apartment, putting on the suit he’d worn as his disguise to Queen Manor. He didn’t put it past Oliver to have cameras in his own base, and Tommy knew there were ones outside the Verdant.

He drove to the Glades, parking in an abandoned lot two plots down from the Verdant and out of range of its surveillance. Then, with a grimace, he pulled the pantyhose back over his face and jammed the hat on his head.

Tommy walked with his shoulders hunched and head down. It seemed most anyone in the area was already in the club, so he didn’t run into anyone going around the back of the club to the basement door. He let himself in with the keys he hadn’t quite gotten around to returning to Oliver yet and slipped down the stairs.

To his confusion, he didn’t immediately spot the computer that had sat near the middle of the floor of Oliver’s base. In fact, there didn’t seem to be much of anything down here of what he remembered. No arrows, no trunk holding the Hood suit. It looked more like an open-concept apartment.

As he passed the refrigerator that definitely hadn’t been there last time, he was caught in the stomach with a wooden stick. He staggered back as the air whooshed out of him, totally unprepared for the right hook that followed.

His attacker whirled him around and delivered a jab to the back of his knees that sent him crashing into a table. But not before he caught sight of her brown hair and green eyes.

Laurel.

He scrambled onto his feet, heart racing. She didn’t know it was him. She was going to hurt him, and he had no way to stop her.

“Wait. Wait!”

Laurel froze, the stick raised as her eyes went wide. “Tommy?”

He’d lost his hat at some point, so it was easy enough to pull off the rudimentary mask. “Oh, God, I thought I was gonna die. Oliver been teaching you some things?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” She demanded rather than reply. “I thought the base was under attack, I would have injured you.”

“Pretty sure you did injure my ribs.” He rubbed at them, wincing. “And what exactly happened to said base?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s temporary, at least until my father arrives with his warrant to search the place. Now stop dodging, Tommy. What were you doing down here?”

“I…” Now that he was stood here, with someone in his life knowing, he found himself incredibly embarrassed.

“Thea told me about the break-in, so you may as well answer that, too, while you’re at it.”

“The files I got from Mrs. Queen’s computer,” Tommy admitted. “I needed to borrow Oliver’s tech to decrypt them.”

Laurel kept her arms crossed, but she looked less pissed when she asked, “What files?”

“I don’t know specifically what’s on them yet, but I know they’re about something called the Undertaking. And they have to do with the Glades.”

“And how did you know to look for them, Tommy? How did you decide to be a vigilante when you made it pretty clear you disapproved of what Oliver was doing?”

“That’s not what I — I’m not interested in being part of this, okay?” He said, waving an arm around to encompass what would’ve been the base on any other evening. “I just want to know what my father is up to. And Mrs. Queen, because she- she—” He couldn’t bring himself to say it. He still didn’t want to believe it.

Laurel finished for him. “She was in on the hit.”

Tommy stared at her. “You know? Oliver knows?” He didn’t know how Queen Manor could still be standing.

“Yes. And he’s not quite ready to address that with her. But that still doesn’t explain why you’ve been going around in a cheap-looking suit and...are those pantyhose?”

He shoved them into his pocket. “I made do.”

Laurel rolled her eyes. “I hope you washed them.”

“What am I, sixteen?”

The corner of her mouth quirked up, threatening a yes, but instead she said, “I don’t know why you thought you needed to sneak in here to use Oliver’s computers when you could’ve just asked him.”

“Because,” Tommy said. He looked down at the ground, knowing Laurel wasn’t going to like this. “Whatever information is on here probably isn’t gonna put his mom or my dad in a good light. And I was worried about — he could go all crazy murderer on them, Laurel. And how could any of us stop him?”

It was so quiet, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d simply vanished into thin air. When at last she spoke, her tone was clipped. “Ollie isn’t crazy, Tommy.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t. Has he done bad things? Things that go against legality, against your and my sense of morals? Yes. But for so long he has had only himself to rely on in order to survive out on that island. That changes a person.”

“But he’s not on the island, Laurel! He’s in civilization.”

“And it’s not just a switch he can turn on and off! That is not remotely how trauma works.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, breathing in and out for a few moments. “How do you live with it, though? You know it’s wrong.”

When he looked up, her expression was completely sincere. Gone was the bitter, hardened woman of the last five years. “Because the only way he’s going to move past all of that is if we can help him, Tommy. If we help him see how.”

Somehow, impossibly, because a killer had come to their city, Laurel had found her hope again.

“He’s stopped since you joined up with the two of them, hasn’t he?” Tommy didn’t wait for her answer before asking, “What happens when you being there isn’t enough to keep him from resorting to his old methods?”

“It could happen. It probably will happen. But he won’t be alone.”

His eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’re going out there.”

“Can you really judge, Tommy? Or what should I call your masked persona?”

“It’s not a — look, as soon as this thing with my father is settled, I’m hanging it up, alright? But you’re not gonna do that.”

She shook her head. “There’s a lot more wrong with this city than just Malcolm Merlyn.”

“And a lot more wrong with the world, I’ll bet.” Once she got going, Laurel never just quit, after all. He sighed. “Well, we can at least get started on saving it from this Undertaking.” Tommy withdrew the flash drive and held it out. “Where does this get plugged in?”

“Actually, if it’s encrypted, that’s going to need to go to someone else. A friend of sorts Oliver made at his family’s company.”

Tommy looked at her flatly. “You want a Queen Consolidated employee to look over some files I stole from their CEO.”

Laurel shrugged. “Well, she hasn’t turned Oliver in yet.”

Maybe he should’ve just turned the damn thing over to McKenna. As soon as he thought that, he dismissed it. He still wanted to know what was on here, and this was his only way of making sure that happened.

Tommy placed the flash drive in Laurel’s palm. “I guess I’ll let you get back to your redecorating.”

“Oliver should be back soon. He only went to check on a lead for the Vertigo case,” Laurel told him. “I think you two should really talk.”

“No, I...I still have a lot to think about before I do that.” He hesitated before making his next request. “Actually — can you not tell Ollie this came from me? At least not yet.”

She frowned. “Why not?”

“I just want things to go back to normal once all of this is over, Laurel. If Oliver knows I’m getting involved in all this, he might think I want to be down here strategizing how to do a B&E on the next corporate mogul. That’s just not me.” He managed a grin, a little more wobbly than roguish. “I’m just Tommy Merlyn, the trust fund brat and childhood buddy. You know?”

“I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit,” she told him. “But if I can’t say this flash drive came from Tommy, what can I say?”

“I don’t know. I told McKenna I was just a guy with a lot of questions. Feel free to use that.”

He turned and started walking towards the back door. Laurel’s voice gave him pause.

“You should really invest in some self defense classes, you know. I’m not even an official vigilante, and I can already kick your ass.”

“Only if this became my night job.” And he doubted that would happen.

—-

Oliver felt sick to his stomach yet couldn’t be happier. He’d been saved by a hero tonight. A hero in a motorcycle helmet.

Not exactly the mask they’d discussed, but it was a start. He was sure the three of them could make some kind of compromise out of this, one that allowed Digg his anonymity while letting him feel comfortable and safe at the same time.

Without his timely interference, Oliver would have surely been killed by Dr. Webb and his orderly cohort. As it was, the pair of them were no more, and their supply of Vertigo would be off the streets.

Laurel rushed to his side the minute they got down to the base. “What happened?”

“They tried to force an overdose on him, but he got the antidote in time,” John explained for him, as Oliver was rather content to simply rest his forehead on Laurel’s shoulder.

“They?”

“It’s not a problem anymore,” Oliver groaned. He felt Laurel’s hand skimming his back pause for just the slightest second and winced. “I- I wasn’t trying to.”

“They saw his face after they got the drop on him,” Digg added quietly.

“Then next time we don’t send you out alone. Buddy system the whole time.”

He felt himself being moved and had to shut his eyes to keep the world from spinning violently. Then it tipped over as he was placed onto the bed in the base.

“—not sure how they spotted him.”

“Probably all the green. The new suits will be black, okay, Ollie?”

“I’m keeping my hood,” he protested. He couldn’t imagine giving up Shado and Yao Fei’s hood after everything they’d taught him.

A cool hand pressed to his forehead before combing through his hair in a very soothing gesture. “Alright. You can be the target to draw out all the criminals. But John and I want black.”

“Yes, dear,” he mumbled, already halfway to sleep.

“—there’s something...tell him tomorrow,” someone was saying, and then it was tomorrow and Oliver was blinking himself awake.

His stomach had mostly settled though his throat still felt raw from when he’d had to expel the Vertigo from his system.

The sounds of fists hitting the punching bag had him rising and pushing back the curtain Laurel had hung up around their bed. He found John taking a turn at the mat which had miraculously returned to its proper place overnight. His friend looked up.

“Morning.”

“Morning. Laurel go to work?”

John nodded. “You had a visitor last night.”

“I did?”

“Her father with the warrant. He bought that you’ve been using this space as a secret apartment, though he’s not exactly happy about his daughter living in the Glades.”

Oliver absorbed this quietly for a few minutes. It didn’t used to be considered shameful to live in this neighborhood. It had been a place to raise a family same as anywhere else. Why had that changed?

“He didn’t think it was strange I was passed out during his inspection?”

“We told him you’d had a bit too much to drink and Laurel had sent you to bed,” John admitted. Oliver grimaced. He really was going to get nowhere as far as his reputation went with Lance. But he’d known that was a lost cause ages ago.

“John, I don’t remember if I said last night, but thank you.”

His friend looked rather pleased with himself, though Oliver doubted he would admit it out loud, and then schooled his features again. “We gotta pay the IT Department at Queen Consolidated another visit.”

Oliver raised both eyebrows. “Oh?”

John left the mat and picked up a flash drive Oliver hadn’t noticed before sitting by the computer. “Laurel was given this yesterday while we were out.”

“By who?”

“Laurel said he didn’t want to be identified. But he’s the same guy who stole what’s on here from your mother.”

Oliver’s gaze zeroed in on the drive. If that was true, they could have all the answers they’d been looking for sitting right in their laps.

“It’s encrypted?”

Digg nodded.

“Give me five minutes to get ready.”

In three, they were in the car and on their way to Queen Consolidated. Oliver’s leg kept bouncing as he sat watching the scenery go by. This was it. His father’s mission. The whole reason his life and the lives of everyone he cared about had changed so drastically five years ago.

They found Felicity at her desk the same as usual, though she gave a visible start when she caught sight of them. “Oh! Sorry, it’s been a while, and after I told your girlfriend I knew I wasn’t sure if—”

“I need your help,” Oliver said, cutting right to the chase. It was rude, but time was of the essence. “Can you decrypt what’s on this flash drive?”

She looked at it. “Should be simple enough. What did you need it for? Or should I not know? Plausible deniability and all that — although if I read the files after decrypting them then I’ll probably know so that’s kind of not an option.”

“The truth is we’re not entirely sure what’s on there,” John answered. “But it’s important.”

“Okay,” Felicity said, drawing out the word. “I will get right on that.”

“Not on a company computer,” Oliver cautioned, as it looked like she was about to plug it right in. “Just trust me.”

“Right. Then I will have it for you by tonight.”

“Great. Thank you, Felicity.”

They left the office, and Oliver spent the next several hours training. He couldn’t think about much of anything, so the routine of muscle memory was all he could follow.

Somehow a part of him just didn’t feel ready. After being in the dark for so long it was startling to know the answer was within his reach.

“And this guy wants to know what’s on the drive, too?” Oliver asked Digg not for the first time. “Why? What does he stand to gain?”

John shrugged. “All Laurel told me was he said he had questions.”

“Well, this guy can keep his questions as long as he stays anonymous.” Something about it was bugging him, like he should know who this was — but one question at a time.

“Laurel told me some more about that talk she had with Thea the other day,” John said, probably in an effort to distract him while they waited. “Your sister misses you, Oliver.”

He frowned, having no real comeback. His estrangement from his mother was unfairly punishing Thea as well, he knew that. But he knew maintaining an act for his sister would be harder than before. She’d have to realize something was wrong, and a part of him didn’t want to do that to her. She’d already had so much taken away at such a young age.

Then again, depending on what was found on their mother’s files, was he only delaying the inevitable?

He was startled early in the afternoon when his phone rang, and even more startled by the caller ID.

“Felicity?” Had something happened to the flash drive? Had someone found out?

“Oliver, hi. And sorry. It was just really bothering me, so I peeked. On my tablet, at lunch across the street, so don’t worry.”

“Felicity, just tell me what you found on it.”

“Okay, it’s just — it’s a lot,” she said before drawing a shaky breath. “And I think it’s why Walter was abducted.”

—-

Taylor wasn’t sure why he was here. Usually if his parents really had to go somewhere together, they hired him a babysitter so he could stay home. But there hadn’t been a babysitter in a while.

He could tell his mom and dad were upset about something. His dad spent a lot of time at their kitchen table looking over papers with lots of lines and numbers, and his mom didn’t let him have as many treats when they went out to the stores anymore. They always told him things were going to be fine, but Taylor didn’t know whether to believe them.

Today, they got off a bus and walked up the steps of a red brick building Taylor had never seen before. There were lots of people moving around desks piled high with papers, and his mom and dad led him back to a desk where a pretty lady with brown hair sat.

“Miss Lance?” His dad asked.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“We phoned you earlier about meeting to discuss our case?” His mom had her hands on his shoulders, so Taylor couldn’t hide behind her. The lady seemed nice, though.

But there was something sad in the corners of her smile. “Against Edward Rasmus, yes.” She looked at him, then, her eyes softening. “Are you Taylor?”

He nodded shyly.

The lady got up and shook hands with both his parents and bent down to shake Taylor’s hand, too. “I’m Laurel, and I will be very happy to represent your family.”

Taylor didn’t know whether to believe her either.

#lauriver #laurel x oliver #laurel lance #oliver queen #arrow #thea queen #john diggle #tommy merlyn #quentin lance #mckenna hall #green arrow #black canary #my writing

5 notes · View notes

orangesungie · 6 years

Text

Whisper Challenge | Park Jisung (NCT)

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: mild cursing (calm yo tits its casual manner u know how teenies are)

NOT PROOF-READ!

"I... La...La? Love! ..you...? Wait, what-?"

Best Friends.

Sure, nothing against that. But what if I see him in another way? What if I want us to look different from what other people see us as.

"Oh wow, you two are so close! It’s fascinating, really."

"Your bond is stronger than iron haha, I wish I had friends like that."

"You two stick together like chewing gum, man."

Haha, yes I know right?

It was one cozy summer night, when Jisung and you spend your time together in your gloomy living room yet again. Just like you always do when Jisung’s boredom gets the best of him as he sprints over to your place without any warning. On this particular night, it seemed as if it couldn't have been any more boring than it ever has. The only difference being… that you’re internally not as calm as you seem on the outside, dangling your arms over the side of the couch while Jisung out of the blue decides to rest his head on your lap. You were thanking god that he had his eyes closed while your cheeks flushed red, otherwise there could have been a huge confusion between you two best friends.

“(Y/N).”

“Yeah?” You looked down at him, barely biting back your smile of adoration. But his eyes are closed anyway, so why bother?

“I know this sounds childish but-“

“Jisung you are a child.”

“- shut up, asshead.”, lovely, “No, but what I planned to say was, how about we play something?” Your eyebrows knitted together in confusion, as Jisung slowly flattered his eyes open to stare up at your questioning expression. He somehow manages to get back up into a sitting position again, purposefully ignoring his cracking bones that put quiete a toll on him after dance practise this morning. You felt bad for Jisung but yet at the same time you really admired his hard work and how he puts all of his power and determination into what he truly loves.

"Like, come on something like those games those youtubers used to hype up a few years ago. You know that whisper challenge thing don't you?" The longer he talked, the higher raised your eyebrows at this oddly specific idea that popped into his head out of the blue. You definetely knew which game he was talking about, one person puts on headphones and plays almost deffening loud music, while trying to figure out what the other person was trying to say by reading it off of their lips. Wow, staring at Jisungs lips definetely wasn't planned in your schedule today, but were you complaining? The rapid beat of your heart speaks for itself.

"That's stupid."

"We literally have nothing else to do, (Y/N)"

"Well I mean... I guess." Jisungs face lit up as he jumped up to get his headphones from his jacket, which he carelessly threw across the floor after he arrived. Well damn, puppy is more exited than expected,,, wait, did I just call him puppy in my head-

"Alright!", Jisung exclaimed exitedly as he plopped down right next to you, plugging the headphones into his phone and already plopping one of them in, "I'll try to guess first, alright?" You nodded at him, making him plop the other headphone in as you awkwardly shifted to sit directly across from him. Shit. What. To do. Now?

You watched him bounce around a little to Taeyeon's song why, as he waited for your cue that you're starting. How you knew which song he was listening to? First of all, this fanboy is really obvious. Second of all, he was literally blasting it so loud that the music leaked out of his ears and he didn't even seem phased by it. However, not wantig him to wait for too long you literally tried to tell him the first thing that came to mind.

"Chenle stinks like fish." Jisung obviously didn't get that at first try, ending up with him looking at you with huge eyes in confusion, with his mouth hanging slightly open. He looked so cute just now that you were struggling not to coo at him and blush out of pure joy and embarrasment.

"Chen-Le.", you waited for his nod, "stinks."

"king?!" Jisung seemed visibly disgusted at what he thought you were trying to say, as you broke down laughing, quickly waving off his idea as he was trying to recover from his shock.

"S t i n k s." You exaggerated your movements and added a little fanning gesture to try to bring the message across properly. Jisung seemed to have understood, his confusion quickly turning into a little grin.

"Like. Fish!" Jisung broke into a small laughter and pulled his headphones out as he rolled his eyes at you.

"I mean, you're not wrong. Your turn now!" You hesitantly took his headphones while he tried to look for a good song to play while you're trying to guess what he's saying. You were kinda scared of embarrassing yourself infront of him, taking too long to guess the answer which is so ridiculous, but you just didn't know why Jisung was making you feel all kinds of ways, making your palms sweaty and shaky. You were disappointed in yourself. This is not how you should be thinking of your best friend.

Wordless, you plopped in the headphones and tried to relax into the song, as Jisung slowly turned up the volume, scared of scaring you or seriously hurt your ears. Once you thought you reached your limit, you nodded and he put his phone aside, softly smiling at you. Your heart almost stopped at the sight and you felt butterflies being happier than ever flying around in your stomach. Stop this shit. I am not supposed to feel like that, you are such a fucking idiot.

You shook off your thoughts and looked at Jisung, he already seemed to have thought of something, so you tried to pay attention without being distracted by the fuzzy feeling in your tummy.

As expected, you didn't get what he was saying on first try. It seemed to be a really short sentence, or he just spoke to fast. Blinking your confusion away, you shook your head to tell him that you didn't get it and unconsiously leaned in a little further, to really focus on what he was saying.

"...I?" you asked, pointing at yourself and looking at him with big, confused deer eyes. He nodded and repeated himself yet again.

"I... La...La? Love! ..you...? Wait, what-?" You immediately ripped out the headphones, not just confused, completely bewildered even. You must have interpreted it wrong.

"Did you say 'I love you'?!" You stared at Jisung, he however looked down at his fidgeting hands, clearing his throat, his face progressively heating up.

"If that's what you understood... you're better at this game than I thought." Silence. Your mouth dropped open in shook, all sorts of emotions running you over, almost making you teary eyed. Jisung just confessed to you. Jisung, the boy you started to develope feelings for which you never thought he would return, now sits infront of you not even being able to look into your eyes because he liked you back all along.

The longer the silence spread through the room, the more embarrassed Jisung got and misinterprets your silence as a rejection. I had seen this coming, he thought.

"...I'm... i'm sorry I just shouldn't have-" you cut him off by throwing your arms around him and pulling him into a heartful hug, a tear almost rolling down your cheeks out of relieve. He froze into shook.

"Jisung, you have no idea..", you almost whispered into the crook of his neck, "I've liked you for so long, I always have."

You heard his breath hitch, slowly breaking out of shock. He almost couldn't believe what you were saying and you were still hugging him tightly. As he realised reality and played your words back and forth through his mind, a huge smile spread across his face and he wraps his arms around your waist, hugging you back just as tight.

"(Y/N)?" You muffeled a quiet 'yes', still not wanting to let go.

"Be mine."

#nct #jisung #park jisung fluff #nct dream scenario #fluff #nct dream fluff #nct scenario #nct u #nct 127 #renjun #mark #chenle #haechan #jeno #jaemin #scenario #kpop #memes #park jisung

63 notes · View notes

michaelmyersmalewife · 5 years

Text

LEVIATHAN | 10. A Light in the Dark | MASTERLIST

words: 6k+

A/N: nothing to say other that there’s a lot of little nuggets here !!

you can also support this fic on wattpad & ao3

As they departed from the Argo, Jodie and the rest of the team were met with both military and government officials alike. Admiral Stenz was at the forefront of the welcoming party, and he didn't look too happy.

"Colonel," Admiral Stenz said to Foster. "I'd like a moment with you and your men."

Foster's eyes flickered to the floor with resentment before nodding to the rest of G-Team. As they followed the admiral out of the hangar, Stenz regarded the rest of them. "I'll see you momentarily."

"What's the deal with that?" Mark said as soon as they were a distance away. "I thought they were with Monarch."

"Yes and no," Coleman answered. "They're sort of on a loan. Until now, we've never really had to test the chain of command."

Jodie's mind flashed back to Emma's speech back in Isla de Mara. Would G-Team really be willing to carry out the government's impending command to kill all titans? Despite everything, she hoped not.

Back in Castle Bravo's situation room, scenes straight out of a sci-fi movie played out on the monitors that hung on one of the room's walls. What had once been cities were now smoking ruins, each filled with military units combating nearly a dozen different titans to no avail. Everyone was aghast - especially Mark - but Jodie found herself feeling numb-er than ever. She knew that every one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people were suffering and dying at the hands of the titans, but she couldn't find the energy within her to allow herself to grieve. She felt that if she did, she'd lose her mind. But that didn't mean she would let it continue to rage on.

But then the meeting began, Stenz walking to the front of the room.

"Moscow, London, Washington D.C. All under attack. On every continent, the titans are triggering earthquakes, wildfires, tsunamis, and disasters we don't even have names for yet."

As he spoke, more images appeared. Ghidorah's storm was now a whole system of hurricanes, from super-cells to immense squalls sweeping through inland areas, spawning thunderstorms and tornadoes by the hundreds. With every passing minute, severe flash floods were already washing away cities and the people within them.

And Ghidorah wasn't the only one causing chaos, Rodan was out there too. Feedback from planes and bases showed volcanoes erupting as he flew past them, and satellite data presented a string of eruptions that coincided with his flight path, sending tons of volcanic ash and gases into the atmosphere. He also seemed to be following Ghidorah's same path, like they were working in tandem instead of ripping each other to shreds. Jodie could only watch in horror. It was almost like they were trying to tear the earth apart, stripping its ecosystems down to the bone and starting anew.

Or maybe Ghidorah just hated everything that much, that the malice she had seen in his eyes extended to the planet that kept him trapped for eons. And the needless destruction was just a process, a goal for him to meet. He truly felt like a god, an angry god ready to smite anything and everything that opposed him. She wanted to believe that that was the case, to give it meaning somehow. But what scared her the most was the possibility that Ghidorah was causing all of this simply because he was bored.

Whatever his reasons, Ghidorah had undoubtedly tried this before and was able to be stopped. And if Chen was right, humans had been a part of his defeat.

"As before, we've been trying to lure the creatures with nuclear materials." Stenz went on. "But they're not taking the bait this time. Their behavior has become random. Erratic. And with our forces spread desperately thin - and these things roaming the globe unimpeded - we're running out of options. And time."

"Not random." Mark muttered.

The admiral noticed, turning his steely gaze toward him.

"Something to add?"

"Their behavior - it's not random or erratic." Mark said as he pointed to a map across the room. It detailed the movements of the various titans since their release.

"If I may," he said, walking toward the map. "As amazing as this sounds, they're moving like a pack. They're hunting. And like all packs from wolves to killer whales they all respond directly to an alpha. Grid..Gheedar -"

"Ghidorah?" Jodie said.

"Yeah. Him." he said. "And with Godzilla gone, he's the one calling the shots. They're acting like an extension of him. If we stop him, we stop them all."

Stenz only stared at him. Jodie could almost hear the gears turning in his head.

"Is there another creature that might stand a chance against him?" Foster asked.

"No," Serizawa answered. "Ghidorah and Godzilla's rivalry was ancient, unique."

"We believe it was their last battle that trapped Ghidorah in the ice, ages ago." Graham interjected.

"So you're telling me we just killed our best shot at beating this thing?" Jodie said.

"Outside of a miracle, yes." Chen said, sounding a little somber.

She was right, though. It was more than clear that the military didn't stand a chance against him, and that was including the Oxygen Destroyer. And since Godzilla's passing, none of the other titans had even attempted to stand up to the three-headed monstrosity. And that included Rodan, who seemed to be acting like his right-hand despite nearly being beaten to ashes by him not too long ago.

Jodie looked around at all the hopeless expressions that engulfed everyone present. It was suffocating. Suddenly, Mark left the room.

"Where are you going?" Jodie asked.

"To look for a miracle."

She sighed, rubbing her tired eyes.

_____

"If you even think about -"

The Regulator shushed her, carefully walking closer to them as they were backed against the control panel.

"Listen, I'm not.." her brows furrowed in frustration. It was an odd sight to see. "You're safe with me."

Elena scoffed. "Safe? You honestly expect me to believe that?"

"I know how ridiculous it sounds - and I can't quite believe it myself - but we're currently headed towards the city you call Boston. And if you wish to remain unharmed, you'll listen to me."

She was silent for a moment, considering the situation before speaking up. "I'm giving you five minutes to explain yourself before I call that monster of yours over."

The Regulator smiled. "That may have fooled my superior but you can drop the act, Elena."

She stiffened, crossing her arms. "Fine, just..you better give me a good reason."

With a quiet sigh, the Regulator stepped past Elena and toward the control panel. After a quick swipe, the same intercom turned on, a voice in the middle of conversation filling the room. It was Emma's.

"- idn't hit the reset, we hit the detonator."

"Madison is a child." the Controller's voice cut in. "This is what you were fighting for, remember? You came to us."

"You're avoiding the question -"

"Listen."

Emma's voice continued. "No, I won't. And I didn't. It was dumb luck that you managed to even pick up the ORCA's signal." she said. "And I thought we were fighting to restore the natural order, that you had come here to help the planet. So excuse me for seriously starting to think otherwise."

There was a short bout of silence before Emma started again. "Humans and titans coexisting in balance - that was the goal. But with Godzilla gone, Monster Zero isn't restoring anything - he's destroying it. This isn't coexistence, it's extinction."

Madison sucked in a sharp breath as she turned away from the control panel. Elena had suspected that death was inevitable in whatever plot she had been thrown in. Death was something natural, a fact of nature. Something she was all too familiar with. And sometimes there was a little more of it than usual but life found a way. She found a way.

But at the rate things were going, Ghidorah wouldn't leave anything left to grow back. It was worse than any mass extinction the world had witnessed, worse than the damage humanity itself had been steadily causing. Looking at the nearly endless destruction, Ghidorah and the titans under his control had done as much damage as humanity had in the last century in the span of a day.

"But not for us." the Controller said.

"Excuse me?"

"I've seen human nature firsthand, we've observed your kind for centuries. It doesn't change. It just gets worse." he said as calmly as one would in a conversation about the weather. "But you've already opened Pandora's box, and there's no closing it now."

Elena bristled at that comment. It was almost too accurate. But she thought back to that old myth, how the one thing that remained in the box was something small, but something powerful. Hope. Almost as if Emma had heard her thoughts, she responded.

"Maybe there is." she mused.

"Oh, don't be stupid. You broadcast that toy of yours again and you'll ruin your own plan."

"No, it'll ruin yours."

Emma's voice became slightly more distant, as though she was leaving the room.

"This was never about taking back your property, wasn't it. You wanted this to happen."

"And what do you expect to do about it, hm?" Elena could practically hear the smugness in his voice. "Tell Monarch? I'm sure your friends will be very happy to hear from you again."

"This isn't the world I wanted, the one you promised."

"You once said that the world always belonged to them, so maybe it's time you gave it back."

"No. Not like this."

The sound of her footsteps was interrupted by the sound of the Controller's gun whirring to life. Madison leaped for the panel. "Mom -!" Elena held her back.

"The things I've seen..humanity is a disease, and the fewer of them there are the better. I suppose I should thank you, doctor. You've made our job much easier."

After a beat, the Controller spoke to another person in the room. "Enforcer?"

"Sir?"

"If Dr. Russell goes anywhere near the ORCA, throw her daughter out of the airlock."

The Regulator shut off the feed. She looked stricken with fear, but was quickly trying to calm herself down.

Madison, however, felt nauseous. The relief she had felt at her mother possibly coming to her senses had been ripped from her mind at the Controller's comment. She knew that if not for her ability, she would've been disposed of a long time ago. And she suspected that her mother knew that too. Despite the countless lives sacrificed for the 'greater good', Madison knew that that line was drawn when it came to her family.

"Was all that necessary?" Elena asked, trying to process the conversation they had just eavesdropped.

"I'm afraid it was." the Regulator replied. "You see, I too wish to atone."

Touching the screen, she pulled up an image of a planet. It definitely wasn't Earth, in fact it didn't look like any planet within the solar system.

"My kind has been working alongside the creature you call Monster Zero for ages, bound in a sort of pact. On my world he's known as the Golden Demise - King Ghidorah. In exchange for keeping our own planet safe from his reach, we lead him to planets bearing life, allowing him to shape it to his liking."

"Jesus.."

"But this world...it's been uncharacteristically resistant. Almost to the point we were just about ready to move on to the next target. But my superior, after seeing your planet's natural defense system, he wants to use it for his own gain. And he can be...persistent."

Persistent was an understatement.

"For years I'd never thought I'd see the day where there'd be a chance to break free of this cycle - until now."

"But, Godzilla.." Madison said before finding a frog in her throat.

The Regulator nodded. Elena sighed, frustrated.

"I know you wish to stop him, but I'm afraid now there may not be another way." the Regulator said, pulling up a map on the screen. Madison and Elena looked at it for a minute before the girl spoke up.

"Hey, we're not that far from Boston."

"...That is correct."

She opened her mouth only to close it, face twisting in thought. "But the ORCA's under that creep's watch."

"What are you thinking?" Elena asked.

"The titans talk to each other like whales, right? If we can get the ORCA, we can broadcast it from Fenway. It's not too far from where we're at now." Madison said, looking at the beeping dot that moved across the map.

"I'm not sure about this." Elena thought out loud. "That thing's done nothing but piss them off."

"Exactly. It could distract him long enough to break off the attacks. Maybe give Monarch some time to figure something out."

"Our scanners indicate the city is nearing the end of its evacuation. In an hour or so, it should be safe." the Regulator chimed in. "But we are running out of time. Soon, we will land and settle in one of Monarch's bunkers. But before then, there's still time to exit the ship before we're trapped underground. There, it'll only be harder to escape."

It was a long shot, one that could get them all killed. And with the Regulator, that chance only increased. But there just wasn't the time to think. They could turn the tables, but only if they acted quick enough. Elena's hands tightened into fists.

"We've got one shot at this." Turning to the Regulator, Elena looked desperate. "I'm trusting you. Okay?"

The Regulator nodded.

_____

On Castle Bravo's deck, the fuming clouds above pelted everything with rain. Ghidorah's storm had nearly doubled in size, bigger than any storm system ever recorded. They weren't sure how long he could keep it up, but it didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. If he blanketed the earth - or even a quarter of it - for weeks, months, it could send the planet into what was essentially a nuclear winter. Plants would die, followed by practically everything else. And that was if there was anything that survived the floods.

Jodie wanted to cry. They had murdered the only thing that might have stopped him. Of course, if Monarch hadn't kept Monster Zero alive in the first place none of this would've happened. But they couldn't have known, could they? Even then, it wasn't easy to kill a titan. Any attempt to euthanize Ghidorah could very well have ended in him waking up. Maybe, despite anything they could've done, Ghidorah was inevitable.

And none of that even mattered anymore. Jodie still found herself standing out there in rain, feeling as hopeless as ever.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she called over the deluge.

Mark kept walking.

"So you're just gonna walk away? What about the ORCA? You haven't even -"

"I can't just sit down there, kid. I gotta do something." he said, boarding an Osprey. Jodie rolled her eyes.

"Like what?"

"Like go find my daughter."

"How? Where are you gonna go, there's no -"

"She's the only thing I got left, Jodie." he said, yelling over the thunder. "I wasn't there for her, I'm not gonna let it happen again."

They both hung there for a moment, the two of them enduring the curtains of stinging rain. She had felt something strike her in the heart. She hadn't been there for Gill, and she wished with all her power that she could take that experience away from her. She found herself nodding at him.

"Good luck." she said, genuine understanding gleaming in her eyes.

Mark nodded back, hauling the two duffle bags in his hand on board the Osprey.

"And sorry about punching you in the face!" she shouted just before he closed the doors behind him.

He chuckled at that, shaking his head. "I was asking for that, wasn't I?" he shouted back.

And with that he disappeared. She was understanding, sure, but even if he managed to get airborne where could he go? It was anyone's guess as to where Emma and Madison actually were, and she doubted he knew the locations of any of Monarch's shelters. And even then, there were dozens of titans to keep an eye out for. It'd take a miracle for anyone to survive out there based on a couple of hunches.

But suddenly, unbelievably, the rain slackened.

The wind had dropped to nothing but a loud whistle, the smell of the first rays of sunlight hitting the damp earth after a summer shower filling the air. Petrichor. Jodie paused. They were out at sea, far from the mainland - how in the hell is that even possible, she thought. And then there was a sound. No - a song.

Looking up at the sky, brilliant rays of light filtered through the dark clouds. They were warm, comforting. And the song, almost like a whale call but somehow far more beautiful, descended from the steadily emerging sun. Mark stepped out of the Osprey as everyone else on the deck stopped in their tracks to witness the strange sight. Jodie shielded her eyes as the sun became brighter - closer?

Her eyes widened.

With an operatic cry, the clouds parted. Mothra, descending from the heavens as if she were an angel, hovered above the base. In spite of all that was happening, this didn't feel like an attack. She was just revealing herself, like she wanted them to know something. Jodie flashed back to the larva in the Yunnan footage, how different the titan had felt just a short time ago. In fact, calling her a titan felt like a disservice, as it didn't quite capture the ethereal presence Jodie was seeing before her eyes. She certainly didn't look like your stereotypical angel, all carapace and pointed limbs. But she felt like one, like an answer to a prayer. A miracle.

And as if to drive that fact home, Mothra's shorter forelimbs found purchase on the rim of the base, bending low as if she were bowing. But she wasn't. Squinting through the light, she could barely make out two humanoid figures climbing off of the giant moth's back. Wait.

The figures ran toward her, and she nearly felt herself want to faint as Gill rapidly approached her. She all but collapsed in her embrace as soon as she felt her arms around her.

"Gill?!"

Looking above her shoulder, a familiar face walked toward them - Dr. Ling.

"Gill, what are you - wh..?"

She was interrupted by the sound of Mothra's wings flapping, sending herself into the air once more as she hovered not too far away from the base. With each flap of her wings, the light shone brightly off of its gossamer surface. Ghidorah's storm seemed to continue receding, as if it could not stand Mothra's light.

That was new. Even with Godzilla gone, Ghidorah didn't seem to have as much control as they thought. In that moment, something clicked within her mind. Those cave paintings Chen had shown them, they had all depicted the same thing. Godzilla and humans, fighting side by side with her.

For the first time in a while, Jodie felt hope.

She cupped Gill's cheeks, trying her best not to burst into tears.

"What are you - how are you here?"

She nodded to Mothra. "She knows how to help."

____

Jodie, Gill, Mark, and Ling were soaked by the time they reached the base's control room. But they found that everyone else's attention was glued to the display outside.

"Beautiful.." Serizawa murmured to himself.

Mothra was, in more ways than one, a light in the dark. Thinking back to all of his talk about balance, Jodie could see how anyone would deify a being such as her. But she was still the only one fighting against Ghidorah's influence. With all the other titans still under his control, what chances would she have against them?

"Mothra, queen of the monsters." Chen whispered, pride and reverence evident in her voice. She reached for her sister's hand as they both stared out the window.

Jodie's eyes flickered over to them. She knew that their family's involvement with Monarch dated back generations, but after all of this, she suspected that maybe the twins knew more about the titan than they let on.

"Are you recording this, Stanton?" Mark asked.

"I record everything, man." he said. "Everything."

Turning up the sound on the bioacoustics monitor, the room was filled with what sounded like a whale call mixed with crickets or cicadas. But somehow more musical than that. It sounded desperate, yearning.

"It's like a song." Jodie mused.

"You have no idea." Gill said under her breath, a small grin appearing on her face.

"Could she be trying to communicate with..?" Graham whispered to Serizawa.

"There's more," Stanton said, looking at his screen. "It's just outside our hearing range."

"I'll bet there's only one thing that can understand this." Mark commented.

"Gojira.." Serizawa said.

Typing away at his keyboard, Stanton pulled up a faint but visible reading. "Yeah, I got it," he confirmed. "I'm picking up a reply. Bringing it up."

Another sound joined Mothra's chorus, a familiar rumble, a pained moan.

"He's still alive." Jodie said in disbelieving relief.

Serizawa sucked in a breath, Graham letting out a breathless laugh as she shook his shoulder. Others, however, were not so reverent.

"So her and Godzilla, they like.." Barnes gestured to the goddess outside. "They got a thing going on?"

"Symbiotic relationships between different species aren't all that uncommon." Graham said.

"I think it's kinda cute." Gill commented.

"It's been this way since the beginning," Chen said. "A Titanus Gojira and a Titanus Mosura, working together to keep the balance."

"They are bound together by a sense of duty, and sometimes even compassion." Ling finished with a wistful smile.

"Still weird, if you ask me." Barnes muttered.

"Can you track him?" Serizawa asked Stanton.

As much as she'd rather debate the giant lizard's relationship status, there was no time to waste. The world was spiraling into chaos, and if there was a chance of stopping it, they'd have to act fast.

"No, signal's too weak."

"But she can." Chen said, still gazing out the window with her sister. She placed a hand against the glass.

"You wanted a miracle," Jodie said, glancing toward Mark. "I think we just got one."

"She knows where he is, but she can't get to him on her own." Ling said, hand closing around the space over her heart.

Thinking for a moment, Mark stepped toward Stenz. "How many nukes do you have?"

"Why?" Serizawa asked.

"I think I know how we can help him."

For the first time in a while, Serizawa smiled. Realizing what he was implying, Stenz turned to Colonel Foster.

"Contact Captain Brody."

_____

The plan had come together quickly.

Stenz' fleet was fueled, provisioned, and ready for anything Ghidorah could throw at them. Or as ready as they could possibly be. Ships, aircraft carriers, jets, and at least a dozen subs were all following Mothra's lead. She was their best shot - their only shot - at finding Godzilla.

It was odd, seeing Monarch and the government finally working together. But none of that would matter without Godzilla. Everything rested on a hacked-together plan and a good feeling.

Jodie studied the thermal map Foster pulled up, tracing Ghidorah's path as he tore his way through the east coast. It was the biggest storm in recent history, but that wasn't what made it creepy. Somewhere in the eye of the storm, she could barely make out a blob of electromagnetic and radioactive energy. Ghidorah.

"This Category six hurricane over D.C. is where Ghidorah is nesting," Foster briefed. "Working with all four branches of the military, this will be a joint operation to lure it away from the mainland so that we can continue the evacuations long enough for our submersible team to complete their mission."

"Uh, what do those nerds think they're gonna do down there with a bunch of nukes?" Griffin asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Barnes said. "They wanna bring Godzilla back from the dead."

Coleman, Foster, and Ling were staying with the Argo, keeping an eye on Mothra and coordinating the action against Ghidorah. Just outside, the titan had stopped in her tracks, hovering above a specific area of the ocean. As she flapped her wings, light still gleaming from her body like a beacon, dust-like particles spilled into the ocean. As they sunk to the bottom, it almost seemed like she was giving them a trail to follow. Looks like they arrived at their destination.

Sam looked scared out of his mind, and Jodie could practically feel his anxiety shooting through the roof. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"See you soon, man." she said, pulling him in for a quick hug.

"Just don't be gone long, okay?"

She nodded, giving him a half-assured smile.

Jodie, Gill, Serizawa, Graham, Chen, Mark and Stanton walked through the docking bay to the sub.

"This plan," Stanton spoke nervously. "It's what you call a long shot, right?"

"No," Serizawa said, as serious as ever. "It's our only shot."

"Alright," he said, pulling a flask from his pocket. "Cool."

She had been in subs before, the depths of the ocean were no problem for her. Hell, she spent most of her time within Castle Bravo's walls, and that was more than enough to acclimate even the most thalassophobic of folks. But this felt different from all the other expeditions she had tagged along with. There was a sliver a dread that was slowly but surely creeping its way into her mind. She did her best to shake off the feeling. At the very least, it was reassuring that she had Gill with her.

As the hatches closed, engines coming to life, she already found herself feeling more than a little anxious. And they weren't even underwater yet. She grabbed Gill's hand.

In her whole life, she never would've thought they'd come all this way. To think that she was helping to revive Godzilla - that he was even real to begin with - was still hard to wrap her mind around. And that wasn't even scratching the surface.

Then, the sub began to move, nosing toward Mothra, who almost seemed to be beckoning them toward the space she hovered over. It was a hunch, but Jodie found that she trusted the titan. Something about her was just different from the others. Gill seemed to have the same thought in mind, and she'd trust her judgement more than anyone else in that room. Serizawa being the only exception.

Suddenly, the video feed from the Argo snapped on the sub's main screen.

"We'll be out of range while you're down there." Foster told them. "But a squadron will stay behind to keep an eye out for you."

"We appreciate it." Serizawa said.

"And Mark," Coleman said. "We'll keep listening out for Emma and Madison. Good luck."

"Thanks," he said. "We'll need it."

Ling shot them a thumbs up before returning to her post.

Finally, they dove, her ears popping from the sudden change in pressure.

Everyone around her was in motion. The sub's commander was busy plotting a course with Serizawa. Stanton and Graham were mapping Godzilla's vitals, trying to get just a sliver of an idea as to where the lizard was resting. Gill and Chen were looking over historical documents and folkloric artifacts. Mark was analyzing Godzilla's bioacoustics, comparing them to Mothra's, trying to decode the ORCA.

For once, Jodie felt like the odd one out, but for once that was okay. It seemed like forever since she was allowed to just do nothing. To just sit in comfortable silence, finally letting herself process the events from the past two days - soon to be three.

An hour had passed, and everything was quiet, the only sound coming from the water outside and the beeping of the sub's countless instruments.

Jodie was roused from her nap as she heard something clink on the desk in front of her. It was Mark, back from the mess hall and holding two cups of coffee. Handing one to Graham, he offered the other to her. Sitting up from her previous position on Gill's shoulder, Jodie happily took it.

Across the room, Serizawa was messing around with his pocket watch again. He looked nervous, or maybe thoughtful? Probably both, as the man wasn't exactly known for being able to relax.

"What time is it?" Mark asked.

A barely noticeable nostalgic smile drew across Serizawa's face. "Time to get a new watch."

Jodie observed the exchange, sipping her coffee.

"Andrew's favorite joke." Serizawa said, staring off at nothing in particular.

"You could never take that thing out without him asking.." Mark's voice trailed off. Suddenly he took a deep, shaky breath. "If you told me five years ago that I'd be trying to save the thing that took my son, that it'd be the only way to save the family I have left..."

"Sometimes," Serizawa said, considering the words in his mind. "The only way to heal our wounds is to make peace with the demons who created them."

"You really believe that?"

"Don't you?" Serizawa replied, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt. "Isn't that why you're here?"

Mark looked like he was at a loss for words.

"There are some things beyond our control, Mark." Serizawa continued. "The laws of nature are cruel, unfair. But they can also be beautiful. We cannot control these things or run from them. We must accept them and learn from them - because these moments of crisis are also potential moments of faith. A time when we either come together or fall apart. And nature always has a way of balancing itself. The only question is..what part will we play?"

Jodie, Gill and Graham sat in stunned silence. Even Mark looked a little floored. Serizawa was known for his wise quips, laconic though they were, but this was by far the longest she had ever heard.

"I'll drink to that." Jodie said, taking a long swig of her coffee.

She nearly found herself choking just a second later as the sub lurched violently, rocking like they were stuck in a whirlpool. Ear-splitting alarms blared throughout the sub. It couldn't be Ghidorah, could it? Jodie ran the names of all the other possible aquatic titans that could've been set loose. Leviathan? Ebirah? Titanosaurus? Surely they would've seen them in the tracking data, right?

But they weren't being rammed by a sea monster, or eaten. Since the initial bump it almost felt like they were spinning, twisting in some powerful current.

"Bowman, status of the ship?" the commander said.

"Some sort of vortex." he replied. "It's dragging us down."

Everyone clung for dear life as the hull of the ship groaned, metal straining against the pressure. Spiraling further downward into ever deeper water, Jodie felt ready to pass out.

"Still descending." Bowman said, counting down toward the sea floor. "Four hundred feet. One hundred. Fifty."

"Brace for impact!" the commander shouted.

_____

The bridge of the ship was nearly empty as all personnel was preparing to land.

They weren't even doing a whole lot of guarding or patrolling, and with the Regulator guiding them down the hall, nothing about it seemed out of place. But that didn't stop Madison's heart from hammering in her chest. She gripped her backpack.

Despite hearing that comforting voice not too long ago, Godzilla's vacancy had left her feeling different. Like a part of her was missing.

Worry not, young Speaker. He is old but he is strong, and you are smart. Just keep moving forward, the voice said. Madison could do nothing more than trust it.

Stopping in front of what looked like a supplies closet, the Regulator punched in a code. Inside were scores of rations and what she assumed were medical supplies, albeit strange-looking. And in the back of the space were rows of the small handguns everyone carried around. The Regulator loaded her backpack with the supplies.

In spite of their advantages, they had to work fast. Once the Controller realized they weren't anywhere on the ship, things would definitely heat up. And she didn't want to be around for that.

As they quick-walked toward the control room, the Regulator stopped them. The halls were clear, but if anyone saw them enter the room - with her backpack no less - it would raise more than a couple eyebrows.

"Wait here." the Regulator said in a low whisper, entering the room.

Suddenly, Elena pulled Madison to the side, flattening themselves against the corner of the wall. The Controller and one of his men came out, walking down the opposite side of the corridor. The Regulator stuck her head out of the room, waving them inside.

In the center of the room was the ORCA. Madison was worried they might've hid it someplace, maybe even destroyed it, but that didn't seem to be the Controller's style. She was starting to think he enjoyed mocking them like this, that he thought making her mother able to look at her creation but never being able to touch it was funny. A triumphant smirk grew on her face as she stepped forward to unplug the ORCA from its place. But she suddenly froze, feeling eyes on the back of her head.

The faint scuff of shoes and a shadow casting itself over them made her turn around. She had hoped it was her mother, but instead came face to face with one of the Controller's men looming over them. She had seen him around before, and she didn't know his designation but in her mind she had been referring to him as "The Mountain" due to his size. Madison gulped.

He wasn't given the chance to so much as take a breath before the Regulator's hand flew to her side, drawing her gun and shooting him square in the chest. It seemed to stun him, as he jerked on the floor like a fish before settling with a thud. A satisfied, mildly amused grin appeared on the Regulator's face.

As the Regulator grabbed the same pair of headsets from Antarctica, Elena grabbed the ORCA, tucking it under one arm as they moved on to the next phase of their plan. Walking a short ways out into the hall, the Regulator bent to the ground, fingers searching the fine seams in the floor before lifting up a thin panel. Gesturing for them to hop inside, Madison jumped in first, and then Elena. The Regulator climbed in afterward, shifting the panel back to its place. She and Elena followed her lead.

It was stuffy, and Madison could already feel herself start to sweat through her jacket, but she continued walking through the narrow, cramped space. Every now and then they would stop, hearing footsteps above them, and after a beat, they continued walking. The only light in the tunnel came from the dull glow of the pipes around them, running with a noxious yellow, odorless substance she hoped wouldn't kill her. She wasn't sure how long it would take to get to their destination, but it almost felt like they were spiraling downward. She felt a bit like Orpheus, but Madison didn't look back, knowing that if she really wanted to turn the tables, it was do or die.

We're gonna be fine, she reassured herself. By the time they figure it out we'll be out and away.

Every now and then they would pass in front of a grate, filtering light from above. They'd pause before then, the Regulator peeking through the slits and gesturing for them to scurry past when all was clear. Madison wasn't sure where they had ended up when she stopped them, peering up.

Next to the grate was someone sitting down at what looked like a table. Did these people even have a mess hall? If so, the room seemed to resemble one. Seeing that whoever the person was wasn't paying attention, she waved them through. But looking up, Madison caught a glimpse of the person there. It was her mother. Her breath caught in her throat, momentarily paralyzed.

She was just sitting there, and it looked like the events of the past day were finally catching up with her. She knew her mother could push her feelings pretty far down, so far that it was hard to gauge whether or not she could feel anything at all. But she couldn't erase them, and now they were finally coming back up like a geyser.

She knew her mother wasn't a bad person. She had definitely made some bad choices, some of which Madison thought she might never forgive, but it all came from a good place.

"Madison, come on." Elena whispered, impatient.

"Sorry." she muttered.

But as she turned away from the grate, something on her backpack snagged on one of the wires in the already crowded tunnel.

"Shit," she hissed, trying to get it unstuck as quietly as she could.

Elena helped her, the Regulator stopping in her tracks.

"What are you doing?" she murmured.

With every rattle of the pipes, Madison felt her stomach lurch with anxiety, hoping that the sound wouldn't carry to the floor above. At last, she wrenched the backpack free from the wires, sighing quietly.

"Madison?"

She jumped, swallowing a yelp. Blocking the view from the grate was her mother, staring down at all three of them with a quizzical gaze.

"I-I can -" she muttered, suddenly stopping to grab the Regulator's arm as she heard the whirring of her stun gun. "I can explain."

"What do you think you're doing?" she whispered harshly, seeing the ORCA in Elena's arms.

Madison breathed for a moment, her mind scrambled but finally finding a response. "Closing Pandora's box."

She said nothing. Gently nudging her to the side, Elena stepped forward. "Emma, you can still help stop Ghidorah..undo your mistakes."

Emma thought for a moment, eyes flickering to the side. She let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm not going."

"Mom -"

"Maddie, if I leave they'll find us. Just..Just let me buy you some time."

Madison felt tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. "I'll be fine." Emma continued. "Once we're in the bunker, I'll come find you."

After a moment, Madison replied. "Fenway Park. Stay safe, okay?"

Emma smiled sadly. "I think I should be the one saying that to you."

Her gaze lingered on her mother for another heartbeat before moving on, continuing on their path for just a little while longer. With each second, Madison expected to hear some sort of alarm or shouting from above. Surely the person the Regulator had stunned had recovered by now, or someone had found him. Either way, their time was as limited as ever.

Finally, the Regulator stopped, popping open a panel in the floor above them and looking around. Eventually, she climbed out, helping her and Elena out of the tunnel.

They were in the hangar, the banged up Osprey from Antarctica sitting in its center. They weren't planning on taking that, were they?

The Regulator approached a series of panels in the wall, accompanied by five separate tubes that connected to circular spaces on the floor. She punched in a code on three of the tubes, motioning for Elena and Madison to each step into one.

"Uh, that won't drop us in midair, right?" she spoke, hanging onto her backpack a little tighter.

"Well, yes, but not in the way you're thinking."

The Regulator stepped inside, shutting the tube's sliding door behind her. "Just press this button," she pointed to the one in the top right corner of the keypad. "And try not to breathe. I'll meet you on the ground."

Closing her eyes, she was engulfed in a thousand beams of light, her particles seeming to disintegrate before them. When the light disappeared, the Regulator was gone altogether. It was like something straight out of Star Trek. Shrugging, Elena stepped in. Madison was nervous, but she was trying her best to hide it. As she walked into the chute, she could feel her heart crowding up into her throat. And when the door closed, her lungs felt like they were growing smaller and smaller. Out of the corner of her eye, Elena was already gone. Pressing the button, she closed her eyes.

Madison couldn't quite explain how she felt.

It didn't burn, but it had happened so fast she couldn't really register what happened. When she opened her eyes, there were no tubes or wires or sterile-white walls. She was surrounded by trees and underbrush. Looking next to her, also slightly disoriented, was Elena and the Regulator, looking off into the distance. They seemed to be in a patch of woods, but as she followed the Regulator's gaze she saw swarms of aircraft flitting above a familiar skyline.

Boston. Home.

Without hesitation, the three began their trek. Madison hefted the backpack further up her shoulders as Elena hauled the ORCA.

It was going to be a long walk.

#godzilla #godzilla king of the monsters #king of the monsters #kotm #godzilla fanfic #leviathanfic

1 note · View note

autumn-become-human · 6 years

Text

Detroit: Become Human ST300

I’m new to the DBH fandom... I have a couple projects in the works but this pre-deviant OC came to me while I was at work today and pretty much inspired this whole blog -- Please let me know what you think. I may or may not elaborate on this. <3

"Hello, what can I help you with today?" They approach the desk, eyes darting from my serial number back to my face. I see them glance towards the entry behind me, and I pull the corners of my mouth up to show my teeth. They relax and take another step toward me. "I'm here to see Mr. Oliver." Question One: "Did you have an appointment?" I pull up Mr. Oliver's schedule without breaking eye contact, but they hesitate. I stop searching the schedule. "No... but..." Question Two: "Is Mr. Oliver expecting you?" I search my memory for previous personal visitors, Mr. Oliver's extended family, and his friends. "Well...No, but..." I stop searching. Question Three: "May I ask what you needed to see him in regards to?" They frown and don't hesitate this time, "Why do you need to know that?" I change my smile — it should look apologetic now, "I'm sorry, but Mr. Oliver does not meet with people without appointments. If you would like to set up an appointment I can—" "I won't take long," They interrupt me before I can finish, "If I could just have a moment of his time?" "I'm sorry, but he won't be able to see you without an appointment. May I take your card and have him contact you at a later date?" Their frown deepens as they lean towards me over the desk. I don't move. They look back at my model and serial number on my dress, before digging in their pocket. "You do that," They slap a business card on the desk, "I'll make sure to let him know why he had to wait so long to see his next big client." They stare at me for a moment longer, then walk back out of the lobby. I reach out and flip over the business card. VP Sales. I cross-reference the company name: Growing Tech Company. Then their phone number: Conference call with Mr. Oliver yesterday lasting 30 minutes. I put the card back down and compile a report for the supervisor. Just as I finish, someone else approaches the desk. "Hello, what can I help you with today?" "I have an appointment with Mr. Oliver," He says, setting their briefcase against the desk. "May I see your ID?" He passes me his identification. I check his name against Mr. Oliver's schedule: 2:00pm-3:00pm meeting in west conference room. "Thank you, Sir," I smile as I hand his ID back, "Please follow me." His shoes clack behind me as I lead him down the hall — I open the large glass door and see him inside. "Please sit wherever you like," I gesture to the numerous chairs surrounding the table, "Would you care for a drink while you wait?" His briefcase drops onto the table with a loud clunk, "Yeah uh... I'll have some water, please." "Right away sir." I smile again as I close the huge doors behind me and walk to the kitchenette. There are small glass cups for guests — I take one and fill it with five ice cubes and eight ounces of water. "Here you are, sir," I place a coaster and then the glass on the table next to his briefcase, "Mr. Oliver will be in to see you shortly." He doesn't say anything more, so I leave the west conference room and return to the reception desk just as the phone rings. "Hello, this is Mr. Oliver's reception android, what can I help you with today?" A sigh sounds from the other end before he speaks, "Connect me to Luke Oliver please." Question One: "May I please have your name, sir?" "Tell him it's Robert." 16 "Robert"s found in recent call logs... "And your last name, sir?" Another sigh, "Hamilton." No "Robert Hamilton" found in recent call logs, "And the company you are calling with?" "Jesus Christ, is this 20 questions?" "No Mr. Hamilton, I simply need to know who is calling." "Just put me through to Luke Oliver." "I'm sorry, but I need to identify the nature of your call." The line goes silent for a moment as I wait for Mr. Hamilton's response, "Do you do this to every person who calls?" "It's policy for me to check the name and business of callers for Mr. Oliver, sir." "I don't have time for this." There's a beep, and the connection dies. That was... strange. There's a service android waiting for me when the call ends. "Hello, what can I help you with today?" It places a large box on the desk, "I have a package to deliver. Please confirm receipt." Its LED flashes yellow, and it blinks at me. Tracking number 1ZQA12_56JN. Cyberlife fulfillment center. Addressed to Mr. Luke Oliver. Received by reception android #698 279 300...Confirming receipt... Confirmed. The android leaves and I move the package to the side. A human steps forward to take the android's place. "Hello, What can I help you with today?" She fidgets, glancing behind me before stepping up to the desk, "I'm not sure if I'm in the right place... I have an interview at 2?" "May I see your ID?" I ask, pulling up the hiring manager's schedule. After digging in her purse for a couple seconds, she passes me her ID. I pick it up and check it against the schedule: Lynn Chen. Interview candidate for marketing assistant position. 2:15 pm. I hand it back to her, and update the calendar: Candidate arrived. "Please take a seat and feel free to help yourself to any refreshments," I gesture to the lobby chairs, "I've informed them of your arrival." She nods and goes to sit in the closest chair just as the phone rings again. "Hello, this is Mr. Oliver's reception android, what can I help you with today?" Checking phone number... phone number match: Julie Oliver. "Can I talk to Luke, please?" Voice confirmed: Julie Oliver. Checking Mr. Oliver's Schedule... 2:00pm-3:00pm meeting in west conference room. "He's in a meeting right now, Mrs. Oliver — I can let him know that you called as soon as he's finished." "It's, um... Kind of important. Could you let him know I need to speak with him now?" "I can do that. Please give me one moment, Mrs. Oliver." With the call on hold, I leave the desk and walk to the west conference room. Mr. Oliver stops talking as soon as I open the glass door. "What are you doing in here?" "Sir, your wife called." His eyes widen for a brief moment before he narrows them at me, "What the hell — Take a message, then. I'm in a meeting!" "But Sir, she says—" "I said I'm in a meeting. You're dismissed!" He points at the door. I nod and leave the room — I can hear the talking resume as the door slowly shuts behind me. "I'm so sorry about that," Mr. Oliver apologizes, "Dang thing should know better... now, where were we?" The call connection resumes when I return to the reception desk. "I'm sorry Mrs. Oliver, he does not want to be disturbed right now." She huffs, "You told him it's important, right?" Replay... Mr. Oliver cut me off before I could say 'important,' "I tried to ma'am, but he instructed me to leave before I got the chance." "Well, tell him!" "I'm sorry, Mrs. Oliver — My instructions are to not disturb him during this meeting again." "...Oh my God," She pauses, "Okay. Tell him to call me back, it's about Kayla." Connection lost.

#Detroit become human #DBH #Detroit: Become Human #OC #ST300 #well... it's out there.#I thought about how she'll deviate but I'm not too sure if I should continue #all these names are made up #richard's phone call is real tho

9 notes · View notes

your-fantasy-alive · 7 years

Text

We Are One-Pt 2.

Re Cap

**“You know, I’m disappointed in you all.” He says, tone saddened and heavy.

“What the hell are you…” says Chen but pauses as he sees me remove my gloves.

They now see, the burn of their emblem, embedded into his right hand. Black as day, for all to see.

“Boss…..” says Lay, shocked.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What... but... how…” says Sehun, lost for words.

“Pick his big mouth ass up and go get a table, now.” He says, turning to go and order for them at the counter.

“Yes sir” they say, synchronized as Suho and Lay go and pick the hurt Chanyeol off the floor.

As he walks away, he hears his men whispering to each other as they walk to find a table.

This should be fun

As they all sit at the round table waiting for their boss, they start firing blame left and right.

“How did you not know that was the boss?! You knew him first!” Baekhyun whisper shouted at Lay

“Its been a fucking year! What was I supposed to do?! When we met, he had on all black and it was in a dark ass alley! Tell me you would have remembered him” lay, frustrated, says back. “Chanyeol big mouth ass had to go and try to rough him up! I told your goofy ass to stop throwing the gang around like that. Now look where it has gotten you, a broken arm given to you by the boss.” Says Lay

“I mean, he kind of deserved that one though” says Chen, laughing.

“Then here goes Sehun lispy ass trying to defend him from the boss. He probably would have gotten laid on his ass.” Blurts out Xiumin, looking over at the maknae.

“Hyung, don’t bring up his lisp, you know how he is about it.” Says Suho, putting one arm over Sehuns’ shoulder.

“Of course, you would defend him at a time like this. What we need to be figuring out is how we’re about to get out of this one” say Kai, sitting in the middle of the blame game.

“I think we should just see what the boss says then go from there” says Sehun, finally speaking.

As soon as he says that, Kyungsoo makes his way back to the table and sit in front of his men. His gaze is strong but wandering. He remembers his men, but they seem to have changed.

That’s not good… or is it?

“Hello boys, how are you?” he asks, gazing into each pair of eyes.

At first no one responded but then Kyungsoo cocks his right eyebrow and responses were shouted from all different directions.

“Good”

“Alright”

“Fine”

“I have to use the restroom badly”

“You broke my arm”

However, one question stood out the most.

“Where have you been for the past year?” ask Kai.

He looks over and gazes at him and holds eye contact as he responds,

“Watching”

“Watching what?” asked Sehun.

“Things”

The members all looked at each other wondering how they were going to get through to the boss. They know they made him made but he’s basically giving them the silent treatment.

“Look boss…. I know that we made you angry, but could you kindly actually talk to us. We haven’t seen you in a year and yet you’re acting like you aren’t happy to see us. Give us something.” Says Xiumin flatly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, am I supposed to be happy because of a group of men who can’t remember the morals I set forth before them? Am I supposed to be happy because of a group of men who can’t respect me? You tell me, what exactly am I supposed to be happy about?” Kyungsoo says lowly, gaze turning harder with each question.

They all sat there, slowly freezing up remembering the trouble they’re probably in.

“Don’t freeze up now, it’s time to talk. Chanyeol, since you like to talk so much about the gang so much, you tell me what’s been going on in the past year.” He says

“Uhm… Well…. the was this time that…. Or maybe when we… you see we kind of...” He says, stuttering over his words.

“Exactly, because you can’t. Do you want to know why you can’t?” he asked, voice dropping even lower.

“You can’t because you guys have been fucking off all of your responsibilities. I left a year ago on this very day and the gang is still the way I left it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to know that I still have all my members. It’s nice to see your faces after so long but the fact that my gang is still a gang and not an empire makes me upset. I gave you all the foundation and wanted you to build while I was gone. I gave you all a year to create something, anything and I don’t see it. So, this time, Lay, tell me what happened in the last year.”

“Well… while you were away, we have been trying to figure out ways to expand and what we should expand to. Since all you said when you left was ‘when I come back, it’ll be time to run our empire’ I thought that meant that when you came back, you would lead us. I’m sorry boss.”

“Rule number 29 Yixing”

“Right….. Alright.”

The other boys looked between Lay and Kyungsoo, lost in what that meant.

“Rule number 29? What does that mean?” asked Chen

“Never say you’re sorry” blurts out Sehun

“ How did you know that? “Asked Baekhyun

“That doesn’t matter Baek. Right now, what I want to do is have us eat and then take me back to HQ. I want to see for myself what’s been going on. Alright? Right now, eat” says Kyungsoo, for the first time, cracking a smile.

At that moment, their food is being brought towards them

“How did you...” says Suho started to ask “, never mind.”

“Eat up and then when we’re done, let’s begin”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heading to HQ was a silent and Kyungsoo didn’t know if he should be happy or sad with that fact. He knows that they are all scared by the fact that they made him mad but that didn’t mean that he didn’t care for them any less. Maybe he was going too hard on them the first day back?

“Alright boss, let’s go and we can show you what we’ve been doing.” Says Suho as they all make their way into the building.

As soon as he walks in, he sees a giant Chandelier with blood diamonds all around, creating a dark yet welcoming entrance to the building.

“Who chose the chandelier?” he asked, as he continues to look around

“Chanyeol” they all said at the same time, thinking that they dodged another bullet

Kyungsoo turns towards him and say, “Nice choice Yeol” and continue to rake his eye around the floor until he reaches the elevator.

When it opens, Kyungsoo is faced with a 6’0 something giant with puffy lips and dark eyes. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s shorter but he can smell the strong cologne coming from the mans chest, making his eyes water.

“What the hell are you wearing?” he asked, wiping his eyes

“Huh? Cologne of course, what else would smell this good?” He said with a smirk

“A dead rat” Chanyeol says, walking into the elevator with the men following behind. The last to walk onto the elevator being Kyungsoo, putting himself in front of all the others, at the entrance with his back turned towards them.

“Ha Ha , very funny Chanyeol.” He says

“I’m just saying, it does kind of smell. Maybe you should pick a different type Kris”

“Yeah, I’ll think about it. Besides, who is the shortcake you have with you?” Kris says, turning his head towards the mans back.

“Woah…. Wait,”

“Kris watch what you’re saying”

“Oh hell…”

“Kris is it?” Kyungsoo says, stopping everyone from trying to save him.

“Yeah, Kris is right… Once again… you are……looking good boss” he says, trailing off when he sees 7 pair of heads shake and eyes get larger, fixing his mistake immediately.

“Ah, I see my boys are helping you out” he says with his back still turned, making everyone whip their heads back towards the front.

“Of course not, I was just joking around boss. I’d remember that face from anywhere” He said, ending with a chuckle.

His response had multiple eye rolls and Chen face palming.

“Hmm, funny. I don’t remember you and I remember every member that I left.” He said, turning his head to the side to side eye Kris.

“Boss, Kris is someone we added just after you left, he is very important to us. So, if you could kindly not break his arm maybe? Lay says, with a hopeful voice.

“Yeah, but his legs are free boss, take your pick. Left, or right?” jokes Chen

Kris then starts to turn paler then he already is and shuffles even further to the back.

“If you guys added him then that means he’s here for a reason, he’s fine. Next time Kris, manners will be necessary. Got it?” Kyungsoo says, turning back around as the floor dings.

“Got it” he says.

They then get off the elevator and make their way into the basement. One of the members then go and switch on the lights and one by one the lights above flick on to show them the first room on the tour,

“The armory boss”

Kyungsoo then slowly makes his way around and looks at all the weapons that the group has accumulated since he has left. It’s a nice size for such a small group. However, something isn’t right

“Boys, how often are these used?” Kyungsoo asked, continuing his walk

“Not very often, we actually barely come down here. No one really bothers us so, we just keep them here. “says Baekhyun

Kyungsoo turns around and looks at his men.

Don’t tell me they haven’t at least trained properly?!

“How many of you know how to use the weapons that are in this room, at this very moment?” he asks

Baekhyun, Xiumin, Chen, Suho and Lay raise their hands.

“hmm, we’re going to have to fix this because If someone were to come in here and try to take over, only you 5 would be able to protect the entire building. Forget everything else, protecting yourself is always the important thing. Knowing how to protect yourself is a vital thing to have while in a gang. It’s time for a little meeting boys, take a seat based upon rank at the round table.” He says, sighing at the end.

He watches them sit and realize how confused and unorganized they are.

This is going to be some work

He then goes and sits at the head of the table.

“Let me make some things clear before we get started. I understand the I have been gone for a year and that can be hard for any gang to withstand. No leader means that no one can help the gang move forward. I left someone in charge while I was gone,” he says, turning to give an eye to Lay, then turns to continue to look at them all. “however, I can tell that things haven’t progressed the way that I’d hoped. I want my gang, my empire to be strong, undefeated, and prepared. I recruited you all for different reasons, but I can see that you all don’t know why you’re here, so over the next two weeks, I’m going to train you guys, individually and in pairs, to show you why you’re here, why you are needed, and where you belong. We’ll get to every part of the building but right now, if someone attacked, we’d all die. That means it’s time to fix some things. It’s not going to be easy guys. Its going to be hard work, dedication, pain, but to grow, this is what must happen. My question is, will you guys, my eight men, let me train and lead you? If so stay seated, if not, please stand now because once we start, there is no backing out.” He finishes, looking at each member.

Each member has a look of confusion yet dedication; no one stood up.

“Boss, you have been gone for a year, but we have all stayed. If we wanted to leave, we had a year to do so. I think this is all the proof you need to know that we are here to stay, no matter what.” Said Kai

“Yeah boss, Kai is right. There is nowhere any of us would rather be, this is our home. We could only depend on each other while you were away, we’ve grown closer. We’re brothers and nothing, but death will take us away from each other.” Says Suho, with steely eyes.

As Kyungsoo looks around, he sees his men, the men he recruited a year ago sitting before him,ready to take on whatever is thrown at them, together, with his lead. His men, his brothers.

“Then lets begin” he said

All they waited on were the words that Kyungsoo uttered in this very moment to seal their fates in one.

Lets create an empire

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was supposed to post this yesterday but i got sleepy, so I’m posting it now! From this point on out, the boys are going to get a wake up call and I hope that you guys enjoy it and actually read it!

xM3x

24 notes · View notes

pledis-17-trash · 8 years

Text

Unexpected [ Part 5 (final) ] || Mingyu

✦genre: angst ✦blurb: mingyu finds out you used to be engaged to someone else a while ago. [ requested ] ✦word count: 2059 ✦author’s note: i’ll be writing two specials to this, one that talks about how eunbi and y/n’s conversation went, and the other that outlines what happened when mingyu was drunk, so don’t feel too “?!?!” : )

[ part 1 ] [ part 2 ] [ part 3 ] [ part 4 ] [ part 5 (final) ]

Mingyu expelled a breath of air. It had been a week since the incident had occurred, and he still hadn’t gained the courage to take a step into the apartment he shared with you. Instead, he had decided to crash at Wonwoo’s place for the time being, afraid of meeting you face-to-face and telling you what he had done to you. Being the childish man he could be, he thought that if he hadn’t seen you yet, he wouldn’t have to tell you until he did see you, right? And if he continued to avoid your presence, then....

Of course, when he admitted this, he got a long, nagging lecture from his older friend about how he was being irresponsible and if he had done something wrong (since Mingyu was too ashamed to tell Wonwoo what had happened, and also because he wasn’t one hundred percent himself what had taken place that night), he should just man up and face the consequences. Assuming that he was simply upset about the blow-up, Wonwoo had assured him that both of you bore some fault and it wasn’t solely his fault. Though he was trying to help him feel better, it had only made him feel worse.

Then Wonwoo kicked him out of the house in order to force Mingyu to offer some sort of reconciliation with you.

“He didn’t have to be so harsh,” Mingyu muttered angrily as he wandered the streets, letting his feet lead him to wherever. He continued to grumble about his poor situation and people around him shot him confused looks, but he brushed them off. Soon, he arrived at a small cafe that he went to often, though it was with you, and slipped inside as he usually did. He waved a greeting to the owner, who asked, “Where’s your pretty girlfriend?” He gave the owner a weak smile, not wanting to be rude since it was a sensitive topic, but they had done nothing wrong after all. “She’s… busy today,” he explained, then sat down in his regular spot beside the window, where he could look at the people walking around. It was interesting to guess what kind of lives they led.

After he ordered a drink, he took his phone out of his pocket and began to scroll through his photo album unconsciously. A smile made its way onto his face when he saw the dozens of selfies that you had forced him to retake over and over again. You had insisted you looked horrifying in the pictures despite his protests, and demanded that he become a better photographer, then had outright given up. He hadn’t realized how many photos he had actually taken, too concentrated on the moment. He supposed he had always been that type of person who only noticed the present.

Are you really going to throw your entire relationship away? Wonwoo’s earlier statement echoed in Mingyu’s mind, and he couldn’t shake his uneasiness off. He had let his anger get to the best of him and was in this mess now - but in his defense, it was your fault as well for never telling him about Chen or whatever your fiance’s name was. Just the thought of another person-your ex-fiance, even worse- holding you the way Mingyu had once done made his fists ball into anger. But the longer he sat in the cafe, the hollower his chest felt and his eyes that once always reflected you grew distant until he realized they were filled with tears.

He swallowed the lump in his throat that had formed since the fight that day and to stop it from growing, Mingyu studied the customers walking in and out of the cafe. They came in and while some stayed for longer and some shorter, it was inevitable that in the end, they’d leave. Was that how relationships were too? Was it time for you to leave Mingyu’s life? His hands trembled at the thought of you just walking right out of his life, and without thinking, he switched to the text app and created a new message. He could think of so many things he wanted to tell you right now. I miss you. I want to see you. How have you been doing? Have you been a mess just like me these past days? When you told me ‘I love you’, did you mean it? Instead, Mingyu typed three simple words, his mouth dry. Can we meet?

You smoothed your shirt down, hands slightly shaking, anxious as to what would be waiting for you inside the cafe. When you had first received Mingyu’s text message, you had been tempted to refuse. You didn’t want to see Mingyu, didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes and hear the words come out of his mouth, the words that made your heartbeat race even when you thought about it, the words, “Let’s break up.” The more you thought about it, the more antsy you got, and the more you thought that it would be better not to see him. You turned and took a step away, then shook your head. No, no, that’s immature Y/N, face your fear! You encouraged yourself, and started towards the front entrance again.

At the very last second, you froze due to fear. You slapped your cheeks lightly, trying to bring your hand up to pull open the door, but couldn’t. You were about to bolt from where you were standing, but someone exited the cafe before you could. They opened the door and nodded politely to you, gesturing for you to enter. Well. It would be rude to run away now, wouldn’t it? You managed a small smile through the butterflies in your stomach and slowly stepped in.

Even in the midst of the sea of the people that were standing, you were able to find Mingyu in the crowd immediately. It had always been a knack of yours since you were introduced to him, but it also helped that he was so tall. You spotted him before he spotted you, so you took the opportunity to check on how he was doing through how he looked.

His tousled head was pointed down and his eyes were focused on the phone screen in front of him. Even from this distance, you were able to see the heavy bags under his eyes and guilt flooded you. He must have not gotten much sleep, you knew well that he could never under stress - and you were the cause of stress this time around. He had casual clothing on that looked like it hadn’t been changed in a while. Your mouth began to form into a grimace, but you stopped yourself just in time, reminding yourself that you probably looked just like him if not more a mess.

You weren’t sure if Mingyu noticed you and was only pretending to continuously look at his device, but the people around you were beginning to grow aggravated and were shoving past you, so you supposed that you should get out of the way. Plus, someone had pushed you in his direction - you swore that the back of the person’s head looked like Seungkwan and that the person who scolded him afterwards sounded like Seungcheol, but it was probably an illusion - and it seemed as though everything in the universe was telling you to talk to him.

You caught yourself on the edge of the table that he was sitting at and gave him a sheepish smile when he glanced up, alarmed. “Hi,” you squeaked out, and proceeded to apologize halfheartedly. “Sorry,” you took a seat opposite of him, and your eyes darted around, too scared to meet his gaze. “Listen, I-”

“You don’t-” he started at the same time, your voices clashing together.

“You go first-” “You can go first-” The two of you continued to jumble words, while a voice yelled out, “Oh for goodness’ sake!” Both of you turned towards the source of the noise, who was dressed in a long trench coat, head covered in a hat and eyes covered with dark sunglasses. The person’s figure suspiciously looked like Seungkwan, but there were a few people with him, tugging the person away before either of you could say a word to them.

“Okay…” Mingyu turned back and took a deep breath. “I need to tell you something,” he blurted out, his hands covering his face. “It’s about Eunbi, and I-”

“Oh, I already know,” you interrupted him, and he paled at your words. “You do?”

“Yeah, she called me yesterday looking for you because you wouldn’t answer your own phone so I went over and settled the mess you caused,” you scoffed playfully, “but I don’t really blame you for anything because you’re an idiot,” you continued, “but you’re my idiot.” you added, your tone weak. “You know I never wanted to hurt you,” you spoke up quickly, not wanting to lose the nerve. “I didn’t mean to hide anything from you, I just-” you choked up, tears already filling your eyes. “The topic never came up, I guess.”

“I overreacted too,” Mingyu said softly. “I just… I can’t stand the idea of anyone coming to take you away from me,” he muttered, clenching his fists to keep his own tears from pouring out. The last thing he needed was to break down in front of you again and not solve anything. “I love you so much, and I planned that night out for ages. It was the finishing blow when not only it was ruined, but ruined by your ex-fiance.” His head hung low, his voice growing even quieter. “I know this last week has been hell for me, and maybe you too, but I think… I think the pain would be worse if we were to break up. I don’t know if you want to solve everything with me or if you’re even willing, but-” This time he was the one be overcome with emotion, and he stopped. He didn’t continue, but you knew what he was saying, because that was exactly how you felt.

I don’t want to lose you. The words were unsaid by the two of you, but they were hanging in the air above you. You both knew that the past couldn’t be changed- you couldn’t just brush off the problem that had been present even before you two began dating. You had never really gotten over Chanyeol, just pushed him out of your heart as you made room for Mingyu. But now, even though you were over your ex-fiance, you knew Mingyu and you couldn’t simply forget. You two couldn’t just drop everything, forget and forgive, because at the end of the day, the problem would still remain unsolved. You squeezed the hem of your shirt, unsure of what to say, unsure of what you wanted Mingyu to say. If you two got back together, would you be able to continue and make progress in your relationship? You had reached a barrier in your relationship, but would it be worth it to continue? Did you want it to be worth it?

“Do you… Do you want to try again with me?” Mingyu forced the words out of his mouth, bringing his eye level up to yours. There was a hopeful light in them, and he sucked in a breath, not wanting to pressure you into making any decision that you weren’t committed to. The last few days had been terrible for him, and to be quite honest, he really wasn’t sure what would be worse - losing you or staying together. But hell, he loved you too much to simply let go, and that was why… he was willing to try again, especially if it was for you. He could simply wish that you felt the same.

You bit your lip. You could tell that the information the two of you gained these few days - both separately and together - had helped you to grow as people. It had taught you a thing or two about relationships and how they worked. You finally looked back into that pair of brown eyes that you adored; they were staring at you intently waiting for you to say something - anything. You opened your mouth, a shaky smile lacing your features while you uttered one word: “Okay.”

Admin Emi

#mingyu scenario #mingyu imagine #seventeen scenario #seventeen imagine #seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines #mingyu #kim mingyu #mingyu scenarios #mingyu imagines #angst #seventeen angst #mingyu angst #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #kpop blog #kpop #pledis17trash

56 notes · View notes