#i took meds to stay knocked out so why now am I awake

[whimsyprinx]

:(

[usmsgutterson]

Are you Really Okay?- Kaz Brekker

I am in no way trying to romanticize depression or suicidal ideations. I’ve dealt with them my entire life and it’s been no easy feat, and I know several others who’ve dealt with them the same. I am merely basing this off my own experiences and how I’ve dealt with it when things have gotten tough in the past, this is in no way meant to put down others who’ve had different experiences to me. 

Trigger warning- talk of depression, suicidal thoughts and suicidal ideations. If you are sensitive to those topics, for your safety, I advise that this be a work of mine that you stay away from.

Fic type- angst t

Warnings- mentions of Kaz’s trauma

Kaz couldn’t understand what’d happened. A few weeks before, you’d seemed fine. You were smiling, laughing with Inej and joking with Jesper. You’d gone to every meal, ate every last bit of your food. In between bites, you indulged Jespers talk of his guns, talked to Wylan about his flute, spoke with Kaz about a plan for a heist. You were okay. 

But that’d been the weeks before. That hadn’t been the two months it took to plan the heist, or the heist itself. 

The first thing that ticked him off that day was your failure to meet everyone for breakfast. You never missed out on a good meal, especially not when good conversation came with it, and Kaz had sent Rotty up to your room to see what’d happened.

Rotty came up empty, with just a note in his hand. In the note, you’d apologized, but promised to be on time to the first rendezvous point. Kaz wouldn’t reprimand you for it. He knew you’d come and go as you pleased, whether or not you had his permission to do so, so there really was no point in reprimanding and starting a fight. 

The heist went well, as they normally did, but you didn’t go out for the victory dinner, either. He’d gone, but as the six of them walked, slowly, back to The Slat, Kaz made sure to ask Inej what the hell had been up with you, see if she knew anything.

Inej, to his delight, hadn’t come up empty. “They have depression,” she’d said. “I can’t explain it, though. I just have a baseline understanding.” 

“Tell me,” Kaz demanded. “I want to know what’s wrong. They’ve been off for weeks now.”

“Careful, Brekker,” Nina taunted. “Keep going the way that you are, it might start to sound like you actually care!” 

“He doesn’t,” Jesper quipped, and for once, Kaz found himself grateful for Jesper and his constant need to be involved in conversations. “They’re not more than an investment to him. Isn’t that right, Kaz?” He said nothing, just glanced at Inej expectantly.

“They’re sad,” Nina input before Inej got the chance. “Isn’t that what it is?”

“It’s technically defined as a severe feeling of despondency and dejection, actually,” that was Wylan. “It’s coupled with a constant feeling of sadness, emptiness and not wanting to do what might’ve once peaked their interest.”

“It goes along with suicidal thoughts, too,” Inej spoke. “And ideations. They go hand in hand. You can’t treat one without also treating the other.” Kaz felt tempted to run the rest of the way back to The Slat, all the way up to your room and demand why you’d not told him, but he resisted.

“They should’ve gotten their meds refilled a while ago, though,” Inej matched the pace when Kaz began to move just a bit quicker. “I don’t know why they haven’t, to be completely candid.”

The rest of the way back, Nina and Matthias conversed with Inej and Jesper and Wylan laughed so loud they almost woke the city up, but Kaz kept quiet, his brain overtaken with questions.

Why haven’t they told me? He thought. Why didn’t I know? I care about them, don’t I? And isn’t that a bit of a crucial detail?

It slowly began to make sense to him. The red rimmed eyes some mornings, coupled with puffy cheeks, it should’ve been clear to him that you’d cried at some point through the night while he slept. The bags under your eyes slowly becoming more pronounced as you began to stay awake later; your reluctance to tell him anything, despite how close you were. All the meals you’d missed. 

Your smile.

You’d stopped smiling so much.

Kaz missed it. The sound of your laugh circulating through the room, your smile that managed to brighten his entire day. 

He felt like an idiot for not seeing the signs when they were right there, seemingly right in front of his face. He could’ve helped you, could’ve made sure you stayed on track with the medication, he could’ve done so much, and yet, as he walked, he felt as though he’d done so little. It infuriated him.  

When the six of them had arrived back at The Slat, he turned to Inej. “I’m going to go up to their room,” he whispered. “See how they’re doing.” Inej tossed him a smile.

“You do care, don’t you?” She asked, already knowing the answer. 

“Only a little,” Kaz murmured, almost hating that he admitted it to someone other than himself. “I just want to make sure that they’re okay.”

“And if they aren’t?” Matthias’ voice almost sounded like a scold. “What will you do then, demjin? Comfort them from a doorway?” 

“Matthias!” Nina scolded. “Let Kaz do his thing, okay? You don’t know Y/N like he does. He’ll comfort them in whatever way he sees fit.” Kaz shot a grateful nod at Nina as he made his way over to the stairs and up to your room. 

After a quick break in front of your door to catch his breath, he knocked three times.

“Come in,” you called, but your voice had waivered. “Just a moment, though, okay? I have to clean some things up!” Kaz went in anyway, opening the door just enough to slide in and closing it using his back. 

“Brekker,” you whispered, pulling at the sleeves of your shirt. Kaz noticed scarring, but he decided not to say anything. “Hello.”

“Are you okay?” He asked, not at all caring that he was being so blunt. “Are you really okay, Y/N?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” you murmured as you went around the room, plucking laundry off the floor and putting trash into the small trash bin you kept beside your bed. “Why are you asking if I’m okay when I’ve done nothing to say otherwise?”

“You’ve missed meals. You’re slower than normal. You smile less,” part of him wants to reach out, take your hand in his and rub your knuckles with his thumb and be a man who can touch another human being without issue, but he knows it’s unrealistic. 

“Well, forgive me for thinking that The Bastard of The Barrel wouldn’t pick up on how many times I smiled throughout the run of a day,” you quipped. “The heist was done just fine. We all got our shares of the money, and we all returned unscathed. I fail to see why you’ve put so much effort into caring.”

“Because it’s you,” he whispered.

“I’m just another investment, Brekker. You’re welcome to stop caring now. I’m going to sleep, and I’d as soon do it without the knowledge that your back is pressed against my door.”

“You’re more than an investment,” he whispered. “I care about you. I want to know when somethings wrong. Depression isn’t the kind of thing you keep from me, Y/N.” 

“I’ve kept it from you just fine, Kaz,” you shot back, wiping at your eyes. “I’ve been able to live with it since I was a kid without issue, without you noticing, so why notice now? Is it because I’ve been slower? Because I’ve slept in and missed breakfast? Because I’ve not felt the motivation to get and up and do what we do everyday?” 

“It’s because I care, Y/N,” he took a step toward you as you set to making the small bed that you slept on. 

“How many times have you considered climbing to the roof and jumping off it?” You winced at the question, and Kaz felt his heart clench for a single moment in time. 

“Are you asking me if I’m suicidal, Brekker?”

“Yes.”

“Sometimes, I think about it. I think about going down to Fifth Harbor, jumping into the lake and swimming until the bottom is so far down that I wouldn’t be able to reach it without drowning,” Kaz moved to sit on the bed next to you, keeping a little distance.

“When I take my meds, I’m not even happy,”

“So what are you?”

“Numb. I don’t feel anything. All of the pain goes away, but so does the happiness. The joy. The smiles.” Kaz winced. He’d gone through enough days without getting a smile from you or hearing your laugh that he was almost completely sure another of them might’ve been his breaking point. 

“And without your medication?”

“Highs and lows. Mostly lows, unfortunately. Depressive episodes, no motivation. Without my meds, my emotions are a tsunami and my conscious mind is the city that it runs through.”

“How can I help?”

“This is helping,” you admit. “It’s just--I’ve talked with Wylan and Jesper about it before, but neither of them ever have anything to say about any of it. They’re understanding, but sometimes, it just...”

“Wylan says things that’d come off a motivation quote poster and Jesper cracks a joke?” Kaz questions. 

You laughed then, and Kaz, completely and utterly unsure of himself, wrapped an arm around your shoulders.

For a couple of long lasting seconds, he was there again. In the barge, with Jordies slippery, slimy body beneath him as he kicked his way back to shore, but then he glanced at you. Saw the fear in your eyes as you registered what he’d done, trying to study him and figure out if you’d crossed a boundary, but all Kaz did was nod.

“I’m okay, L/N,” he whispered. “I’m fine.” 

You two stayed like that for a long, long time, until both of your eyes fluttered closed and sleep dragged you under. 

[mercurysstars]

All That Glitters Is Not Gold (part 3)

Summary: Y/n gets hired to be the avengers chief physician and also happens to be an ex assassin.

Word count: 1.6k

Warnings: blood

𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺,

𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺.

_

Peter nods his head along to the beats of his music. He moves his hands around pretending to play the air drums. The ding of the elevator signals him to get off. He pulls out his headphones and stuffs them in his pocket. The moment his headphones are off he hears two muffled voices.

"Tony you know why I can't, we've gone over this." A feminine-sounding voice said.

"It's doesn't make sense! You're the best combat fighter I know!" A voice that sounded like Tony's exclaimed.

That sparked Peter's interest, he tiptoed closer to the med bay trying to stay quiet. He peaked only his head into the room. He watched as Tony and some girl argue.

"If you won't join will you at least move in? I just want to know that you're safe and I can't do that when you're in Hell's Kitchen." Tony pinches the bridge of his nose.

"I'll think about it." The woman says as she organized papers on the desk in front of her.

Peter clears his throat and walks into the room. Tony and the woman both looked at him and she smiled.

"Hey, Mr. Stark you asked me to come?." Peter stammers nervously.

"Oh yeah come here kid, Peter this is Y/n our new doctor, Y/n this is Peter Parker." Tony introduced them.

Y/n stands up and straightens out her pants. She walked over to Peter "Nice to meet you, Mr. Parker." She gives a friendly smile.

"It's nice to meet you too Dr. Y/n."

Peter wiped his hand on his shirt and stuck it out, Y/n grabbed his hand and shook it.

"If you ever need anything or have any questions, come talk to me anytime." She grinned.

Peter felt his phone vibrate, he grabbed it out and checked it.

"Thank you I will, I have to go tho there's a store getting robbed and people that need saving." Peter turned while waving.

Y/n waved back and chuckled. She turned back over to Tony "He's a sweet kid."

"Yeah, he is." Tony breathed.

_

Y/n twirls her pen between her fingers, she was bored out of her mind filling out paperwork. After Tony left earlier she decided to tackle the piles of forms left in the closet in her office. Bouncing her leg up and down, checking yes and no, she was sure she was going to go crazy.

Being a doctor for the Avengers was not was what she expected. Y/n expected to be running all over the place with no moment of rest, but in reality, she did PT, gave a couple of people refills for painkillers, and filled out paperwork like an underpaid secretary. Sure this was her first real physician position unless you could count stitching up your own gun wounds, or other shady people as a job.

A knock at the door startled Y/n out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Bucky leaning against the door, arms crossed with a light friendly expression on his face. Her face lit up and she dropped her pen.

"Hey doc you look busy there, we can always cancel for the day," Bucky remarked.

"We wouldn't want to do that Buck, who else would work you out?" Y/n grinned while she wiggled her eyebrows suggesting.

"I have an idea or two," Bucky smirked back.

"I don't know if Sam or Steve would particularly enjoy that."

Bucky scrunched up his face in distaste and immediately shook his head to get rid of the thought. Y/n chuckled and got up from where she once sat.

Y/n grabbed a plastic container off the shelf full of equipment labeled 'shoulder'. She also grabbed the athletic tape and her iPad. She nodded toward Bucky and they walked to the training room.

They walked into a room that was filled with treadmills, weights, mirrors, and other training equipment. Sunlight from the window bounced off the white walls that weren't filled with posters. She gestured Bucky over to a bench and pressed down on his left shoulder.

"Sit." She demanded and he was obligated.

Y/n rolled up his sleeve and began to tape his shoulder. "Why are you doing that?" He questioned.

"Since today is your last day, we are going to work with weights, and taping your shoulder should help with the pressure." Bucky gave an understanding look and she fixed his sleeve.

"Alright, we're going to start off light." She grabbed a 20lb weight and handed it to Bucky.

His eyebrow arched and he looked at Y/n  "That's starting off light?"

"Oh come on, with all the chemicals running through those veins you won't even break a sweat." She teased.

"I don't know why I come to these sessions if you're just going to bully me." Bucky huffed.

Y/n threw her hands up in mock surrender "Sorry."

She grabbed her iPad and began to type, Y/n looked up to see Bucky eyeing her. "What are you looking at big boy, start lifting."

She lifted her hand to her chest and back down as an example. He rolled his eyes but then did what he was told.

_

"I had a sister Rebecca, you would have liked her sweet girl, fiery spirit. I'm pretty sure she had a crush on Stevie at one point. She used to say we were the most intolerable boys on the planet." Bucky had a faraway look in his eyes.

"Oh yeah?" Y/n asked with a smile. She liked seeing Bucky like this, happy, playful, she had only known him for a handful of days but they have been spending a lot of time together with PT, and usually, after they spend time laughing and joking around. Tho she liked him dark and brooding nothing compares to his smile.

Nothing compares to his smil- what the hell am I thinking? She asks herself in a reprimanding tone. This is her patient, one that she's supposed to be helping. Not to mention that he's old enough to be her grandfather. Well, mentally he's probably around 29-30. Another voice says in her head.

"Yeah." He grinned fondly.

"Alright now roll your shoulder forward-"

The sound of the window opening caused her to stop mid-sentence. She gripped the metal water bottle in her hand a little tighter, ready to swing it at the intruder.

She whipped her head around to see a bloody Peter Parker swaying back and forth in a Spider-Man suit with his mask in his hand. She rushed over to him, she grabbed him by his shoulders to steady him.

"Peter are you okay? What happened?" She questioned scanning his face for other injuries.

"I'm fine, just a little light-headed." As soon as the words left his mouth he collapsed into her arms. Y/n looked over to Bucky for assistance.

Together they dragged Peter to the main part of the med-bag and laid him on a bed. She began to hook him up to an IV and heart monitor. She glanced over to Bucky to see him looking over at her helplessly.

"Can you tell Tony he's in here with me?" Y/ n asked Bucky while filling the IV with liquid. He looked back at Peter and nodded.

_

Peter groaned and sat up rubbing his head. He looked over to see Y/n scribbling something on a piece of paper.

"What happened." He asked in a groggy voice.

Y/n's eyes shot over to him, she smiled and fully turned. She clicked her pen, attached it to the clipboard, set it down, and walked over to him.

"Good you're awake, you came in through the window like a couple of hours ago and just passed out. Tony came in not too long ago to see you."

"Oh yeah sorry about that I saw you and Mr. Barnes through the window and thought that I might as well go through there." He breathed.

"Don't worry about it." That was all she said in response.

Y/n looked at his arm to see blood bleeding through the bandages. She took them off and trashed them. She cleaned them off and rewrapped them. Peter watched as she repeated those steps several times for his other cuts.

"You can ask you know." She wrapped the last stitch and rubbed her forehead with her arm.

Peter instantly flushed "ask what?"

She chuckled "I heard you out there, in the hallway." That was the truth. Y/n did hear him in the hallway, she also heard the elevator open and the music he was listening to on the way up.

"I'm sorry?" His statement sounded more as though it was a question.

She once again laughed and shook her head at the boy's antics. He was too young and too pure for this terrible world. He hands hopeful eyes, and there is nothing like a child's hope. Hope is the companion of power, mother of success, hope is seeing the light despite being surrounded by darkness. Hope is the last thing ever lost, and without hope, you can't live.

"What did Tony mean when he said the best fighter he knows." Peter hesitantly asked.

"Oh, he probably meant because I was an assassin." Y/n shrugged nonchalantly.

"WHAT?! ASSASSIN?! Why didn't you tell everyone?" He stammers over his sentence. Who knew? Did Tony know? Is she better than Natasha? Is she better than the Winter Soldier? He had so many questions running through his head.

"Don't ask don't tell." She smiled at Peter getting frustrated at her vague answers.

"That's so cool! How good of a fighter are you? Can you do a flip? Do you have any more cool deadly fighter friends? Can you speak different languages?" Words were shooting out of his mouth like rapid fire.

"Thank, I'm decent, yes, lots of them, a few." She answered his questions as they came, amused to no end. Peter looked at her as though she was a gift from the gods themselves.

Part 4

[let-me-luve-you]

Monthly Visit

Tom Holland x Sister

Summary: Tom cares for you as your period starts and causes you pain

Warnings: periods

A/N: This was shorter than planned but it’s still full of fluff and brother Tom. Also I based this off my experiences. I only have cramps the first day and then the rest of the time I just feel bloated. So no hate.

MASTERLIST

Waking up, you knew today wasn’t going to be a good day. You just had that feeling. Around 10 am the cramps started. You were 14 and you have only had your periods a few times and each time was different, but one thing stayed the same. The painful cramps. Thankfully they were only bad one day, but they always kept you in bed that day. You couldn’t move because you were in so much pain. Medicine and a heating pad helped some but it still hurt too much to really move. So you would stay in bed curled in a ball waiting for the day to pass. 

Your parents went on a vacation for a few days, so your mum couldn’t help you. You were stuck at Tom’s with all your brothers. When lunch rolled around and Tom still hadn’t seen you, he came to your room to check on you. He was extremely concerned since you were usually the first person awake and moving in the house. 

Tom gently knocked on the guest room door, “Hey Y/N. Are you okay?’ 

“Go away!” You yelled. Tom ignored you and opened the door. He could hear the pain in your voice. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked as he sat next to you and pushed some hair out of your face.

“My stomach hurts.” You replied. Almost in tears since you didn’t have medicine or a heating pad with you. Your period came early so you weren’t prepared. You knew the stash of pads you had in your backpack would run out before tomorrow, but you couldn’t move to go get more.

Tom reached out and put his hand on your forehead. “You don’t feel warm. Let me go grab some medicine.”

“Tommy.” You whispered. You looked away from him. “I’m uh.. I’m on my period.” Your face face burning bright red.

“Oh. Okay. What do you need then? I don’t have anything here for that, but I’ll start keeping some.” He smiled at you. Making you feel more comfortable, you looked at him and gave a shy smile back. “Do you want to go to the store with me so you can grab what you like?” You nodded.

“I would, but it hurts to move.” You said sadly. 

“Come with me to my room. My bed is more comfortable.” He said holding out a hand. You grabbed it and followed him to his room with a groan. “Here is this.” He said handing you a heating pad. “I like to use this after stunt days. It helps a lot. Now... I’m going to go grab you some pain meds.” 

You smiled at him. He was so calm about this and helpful. You’re friends told you their horror stories of their brothers freaking out when they started their periods. Tom came back with a glass of water and two over the counter pills. You graciously took them and turned to thank Tom.

“When you start feeling better, we can run to the store to grab what you need and get some food for dinner. Whatever you want. I’m paying.” He said as he laid on the bed next to you.

You laughed at him since he always pays when you two go out. “Thank you Tom. Usually Mum helps me since I’m still learning how to deal with this once a month.” He smiled in response. “Wait.. Why are you so calm about this? Sherri’s brother freaked out when she asked him for help.”

“Maturity and experience.” He answered smugly. “I’m kidding. Yes maturity helps with the situation, but I’ve also had girlfriends. And... Mum had the talk with me so I wouldn’t be like Sherri’s brother.” 

“Oh. Well, I’m glad you were here to help.” You started to smile and Tom looked at you confused before you continued, “I bet Harry would have freaked.” You said while laughing. Tom laughed with you, “Yeah he totally would have. Now come here.” He pulled you into his chest. Let’s take a quick nap while the meds kick in and then we can go to the store.”

You smiled as you curled yourself more into your big brother. Grateful that he is such a giving and caring person. Sam would have helped in a way but never to the extent Tom is. Harry and Paddy would have been zero help. You closed your eyes, whispering one more ‘thank you’ to Tom as you drifted off to sleep.

[notchesandbullets]

Saving Her (Ojiro Mashirao x Wolf!Reader)

Art credit: @ mudubu00 on Twitter

Part 13: After Aizawa gets hurt, you and Shinsou speed over to the hospital to make sure he’s okay and yell at him for worrying you like that. Ojiro tags along to give his support as well as check in on the four of his classmates that were hurt in the yakuza fight. A week later, Aizawa brings you in, hoping that you can connect with the little girl that they rescued and encourage her to eat something. He didn’t expect it to go so well but now he has one more little joy to look after.

Word Count: 6.7k

“Dad, are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” You asked worriedly as you two came to a halt in front of the hospital. The two of you were officially skipping school for the day. 

But this white building sure was a familiar sight.

You hadn’t been with him when he and a bunch of other pros, along with Kirishima, Asui, Uraraka and Midoriya had infiltrated the yakuza and rescued the little girl called Eri.

You had watched it on the news in the dorms, on the edge of your seat, hands clasped over your mouth fearfully with the rest of your classmates as the events unfolded right there on the screen. 

How the press was able to capture a battle of that size in person and not be shaken with fear their core was beyond you. 

But after seeing how much they went through, you couldn’t help but sprint out of the dorm along with Shinsou as the media caught a glimpse of Aizawa being dragged out by Rock Lock. 

It was far away, but he was slumped over as if he was unconscious. 

You needed to be there. He needed you.

Ojiro chased after you just in time to see you crash into two teachers just outside of the dorms who were also beside themselves with worry. 

They were already on their way to where Aizawa was getting treated, and you didn’t waste any time begging Mic to let you see him while Shinsou won over Midnight. 

It didn’t take too long to receive their permission and Ojiro tagged along with the two of you because he was equally worried about his friends who were injured in the battle as well as how you were taking it.

Upon arrival, the hospital was so busy that both boys beside you made sure not to take their eyes off of you as they steered you through the crowd, following Yamada and Kayama as they weaved in and out.

Since you were legally Aizawa’s daughter and Shinsou held a special bond with him as well, it wasn’t too hard to let you both see him first when the nurses asked who wanted to see him first as soon as he woke up from the anesthetic.

Ojiro held you the entire way there as your body racked with sobs, wrapping his tail around you in the waiting area despite the numerous odd glances that passed through even though Shinsou did a good job of fending off the nosy civilians with a sharp glare. 

You sniffled, fingers tightening on the lapels of his school-issued jacket as you fought the urge to cry. “Why won’t they let me see him?”

Brushing the hair back from your eyes, he petted you gently. Your ears were pinned flat against your head in distress and your nose was blotchy, watery eyes staring up at him with such pain that he couldn’t help but feel it too. 

“They need to check up on Aizawa-sensei first before we can see him, Y/N.” Ojiro told you, sensitive to the conflicted emotions you must be going through.

You sobbed quietly, beyond worried since the doctors haven’t let you see him yet. They wouldn’t tell you anything except that he was alive and stable. Shinsou sat quietly, apart from the two of you, unable to bring himself to make small talk with Ojiro who was holding you gently.

Things were still a little awkward between them. They hadn’t talked to each other since their encounter at the UA Sports Festival. 

Now, it would seem that they couldn’t avoid each other since they both held an important place in your life.

This would need to get resolved. And quickly. 

It felt like hours, but when the doctors finally gave you permission for the three of you to step in and see him, asking for immediate family only, you nearly sprinted into his room.

Ojiro, who already suspected that was going to be the case, reassured you prior that it was okay for you and Shinsou to visit your dad. He was going to pay a visit to Uraraka, Midoriya, Asui and Kirishima, who were also in the same hospital, and meet up with you once you were done.

“Dad!!” You cried out as you flung the door open, racing over to where he was laying on the cot. “Dad!!!”

His head was wrapped in bandages and his shoulder was in a sling. There was a single window and no other patients in the room. That was lucky for you because you were bawling your eyes out.

Aizawa groaned tiredly, turning towards you and smiled softly as you hit his rail and yelled at him for being so reckless and not telling you where he went. “You’re so noisy, kid.”

Your body racked with sobs as you cried, not even registering when Shinsou caught up to you, Yamada and Kayama stepping inside quietly before shutting the door.

“You look terrible.” Shinsou drawled nonchalantly, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he tried to appear as if he wasn’t worried.

Aizawa rolled his eyes, peering past him to find his two best friends waiting for him to notice them.

He groaned more out of feigned annoyance than pain as Mic squished him in a hug. “Not you again.”

Yamada’s cry of outrage almost caused the windows to crack as he accidentally used his quirk. “Shouta, you’re so mean!!!”

 You and Shinsou shushed him so harshly that it evoked a giggle from Kayama.

“You better listen to them.” She teased a now guilty looking Yamada. “They’re his kids after all.”

“Nemuri~” He whined.

“Mic, quit being a baby.” She snapped, before marching over to Aizawa and scolding him for being so reckless just like you had done a minute prior.

After dramatically proclaiming how his pride was wounded, Yamada calmed down. Kind of. 

Nobody in the room said it, but you could see how his fingers shook as he latched onto Aizawa’s bedside rail and the click of Kayama’s heels as she paced back and forth, giving away her anxiety.

You and Shinsou exchanged a look, then left to go outside without a word. Aizawa didn’t stop you, already suspecting what the two of you were doing.

All three adults froze as the door clicked close and Aizawa sighed heavily. 

“I didn’t mean to worry you.” He told them quietly, his voice scratchy and Kamaya was immediately fetching some water for him from the sink, ordering him to drink before he said anything else.

Yamada crossed his legs as he sank to the ground, his eyes flitting up to meet his best friend’s. His insanely stupid best friend who had landed himself in the hospital yet again. 

“You’re an idiot, worrying us like that.” He mumbled and Aizawa cracked a smile.

“Yeah, I suppose I am.”

Outside, you sank down to the ground that was honestly probably not very clean while Shinsou leaned against the opposite wall.

He exhaled forcefully, rubbing the back of his neck in subtle relief. “Close call, huh?”

Your fluffy ears twitched and you nodded, causing them to flop back and forth. “Yeah.”

Thank goodness his injuries weren’t extensive. Other than a shallow knife wound to the shoulder and back, he was okay. He would be fatigued for awhile thanks to Recovery Girl’s quirk but that was all.

You hoped.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” You asked quietly.

Battles weren’t just about physical exertion, they were also draining mentally. You didn’t know how much of a toll this one would take on him or the repercussions that would follow.

Shinsou stayed quiet for a moment, thinking it over. If it was anyone else, he would’ve brushed them off or replied in his blunt, instinctual way but this was you he was talking about. He cared more than most others. 

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.” He said slowly, choosing his words carefully. “Da— Aizawa-sensei’s strong.”

A broad, toothy grin split across your features.

“You almost said ‘dad’~” You sang merrily, a teasing light in your eye and he rolled his eyes.

“Whatever.” Shinsou muttered, ignoring you now that you had switched on your annoying side. 

“It’ll happen one day.” You stated firmly, hands balling into fists determinedly as you declared your stance. “And when it does, you can’t take it back. And I get all rights to boast about it in the future.”

Shinsou waved you off and an easier silence encompassed the two of you.

Kayama came back out to get you both after an hour approximately passed, a rare apologetic expression on her face as she apologized for taking so long. Shinsou brushed it off and you reassured her that it was okay.

You were all worried about him. Apparently, he had been dipping in and out of consciousness ever since he arrived due to the pain meds but he was going to be okay.

Yamada was slouched over Aizawa’s bedside and when Kayama came in after you and Shinsou, she planted herself down next to the unusually quiet loudmouth. 

You and Shinsou took up the other side, eyes growing heavy with how taxing today had been and it wasn’t long before you two drifted off, the adults following suit soon after.

When Aizawa came to and saw the four of you near him, he couldn’t help but smile tiredly. The sight was rare and no one was squabbling incessantly over something that wasn’t important. Instead, only the sound of silence filled his hospital room. 

Aside from the brush with death, he could get used to this.

Once he had fallen asleep again, you were being shaken away. 

Ojiro sent you a soft smile, kneeling down on the floor and rubbing comforting circles on your back. 

You bolted upright, your tail knocking into Shinsou and startling him awake as it thumped against his back.

“Mashirao?!”

He held a finger up to his mouth to shush you quickly, motioning to where Aizawa, Kayama and Yamada were all asleep. 

You followed him outside so that you didn’t disturb the three of them, Shinsou grumbling about how abruptly he had been woken up but trailed behind you begrudgingly. 

Once he closed the door behind him, you immediately burst out with endless questions on how your classmates were doing. Ojiro was quick to reassure you that aside from Kirishima, everyone else seemed to be doing okay, only sustaining minor injuries.

Seeing as how Midoriya was lumped in with that group, you were shocked that he hadn’t managed to get hurt too badly.

Grateful, but shocked.

Ojiro asked if you would like to see them and you eagerly nodded, inviting Shinsou to come along with you but he awkwardly declined.

It felt too weird still, he wasn’t used to people talking to him so easily, since his quirk was the main reason why so many people avoided him in middle school. 

Your ears drooped a little bit, having a feeling of where his head was at but gave in. You weren’t going to pressure him when he was so obviously uncomfortable. You could only hope that it faded with time because once he joined the hero course, he was going to have to deal with everyone in Class 1-A, regardless of whether or not he actually chose A over B. 

Ashido, Midoriya and Kaminari had been especially keen on getting to know him better. 

You extended your hand out to Ojiro without thinking about it, only to blush when you realized how easy that simple action was. You had gotten so used to it that you hadn’t realized how intimate the gesture actually was. 

But before you could retract your hand, his fingers wove with yours and he tucked you under his arm, making sure to keep you close while you walked down the hall filled with heavy traffic on the way to Kirishima’s room. 

Another hour and a half had passed. You had visited all four of your classmates, even meeting the Big Three for the first time since you were absent during the day that Togata laid pain on your class. 

Asui and Ururaka smiled when you entered with Ojiro by your side and you hugged them both tight, relaying how glad you were that they were okay. 

Kirishima was unconscious when you visited his room and you decided to let him rest, writing him a little note that wished him a swift recovery, leaving it on his pillow.

Midoriya was happy to see you, automatically asking if you were hurt. You had to rush to explain that you were visiting your dad and thought it would be good to check on them while you were at it. He gave you a brief rundown on what they were doing, what the news failed to cover, and your brow furrowed as he told you about the little girl that was the focus of their rescue operation.

That must have been so hard to go through.

“Are you okay?” Ojiro asked you quietly as you worked your way through the maze of the hospital, on your way back to the waiting room where Shinsou was undoubtedly waiting for you.

Ducking your head, you nodded but it was more out of instinct that actual acknowledgement. “Yeah, I just wish I could’ve been there. Maybe I could’ve done something.”

His eyes grew conflicted at the emotion in your voice and he inclined his head. He understood where you were coming from but you shouldn’t fault yourself for not being there. The four of them who were involved with work-studies were ready for this. They managed to save her.

“I know.” Ojiro finally whispered quietly, patting your head softly in reassurance. “But they’ll be okay.”

You heaved a sigh. “I hope so.”

As soon as you made it back to the waiting room, the sun was setting outside and your stomach rumbled with the need for food.  

Your hand slipped out of Ojiro’s as you left him with Shinsou, racing to the cafeteria with hopes that they would have some kind of meat for you to chow down on before it was time to leave. 

Kayama and Yamada were already waiting in the car for you three, knowing that you took a little extra time to visit your friends.

Shinsou rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and Ojiro’s tail drooped as he realized that they still weren’t able to hold a conversation.

“Erm, how’s Aizawa-sensei doing?” Ojiro asked tentatively.

Shinsou exhaled sharply. “He’s fine.”

The guarded tone he took with him made the tailed teen drop the subject, his heart twisting painfully as he realized that this wasn’t going to be as easy as he had hoped. Then again, he couldn’t necessarily say that he blamed him. 

Shinsou’s indigo hues cleared a tad when Ojiro’s tail fell limp and he closed his eyes briefly before they snapped back open.

“If you have something to say then say it before she gets back.” He grumbled.

Ojiro’s eyes widened at the opportunity handed to him before recovering quickly. Shoulders straightening, his eyes squinted a fraction, determined to follow through with what he wanted to say.

Shinsou raised an eyebrow when the other gestured for him to sit but did so without arguing. 

And without saying anything else, Ojiro began. 

When you approached them, smoothie and empty wrapper in hand from where you had inhaled the food you had bought with Uncle Hizashi’s credit card, you tilted your head curiously at the sight of the two of them engaged in a deep conversation. 

And as the day ended, the five of you headed back to UA, leaving you forever in the dark about what they were talking about.

Now, a week later, you were back at the very same hospital but for very different reasons. Nighteye had made a full recovery, thanks to some of your blood which had an advanced healing property no one was aware of before. 

After you quietly admitted to keeping it a secret due to it being one of the reasons the Quirk Traffickers took you, Aizawa told you that you didn’t need to apologize and had All Might keep the doctors who transferred the blood off the record so that it couldn’t be traced back to you. 

Even though Aizawa had been cleared and released within a day or so, thanks to Recovery Girl’s quirk, there was still something else he had to do.

He thought it would be a good idea to take you along when he visited the girl they saved. She got scared at everything that moved and was jittery all the time, which was taxing on her already exhausted little body.

He hoped that by seeing you, someone who had also been through something traumatic, you could help her by understanding what a lot of others failed to see.

Look, doctors were great, up until the point where they just couldn’t stand on the same ground as the little one. 

No one knew what Eri had gone through. Sure, they had the papers and the evidence, enough to lock Chisaki away for life, but that didn’t mean they really knew.

They didn’t know what it was like to live a day in her life. How traumatizing it must have been for her to get taken apart and put back together again, all for a drug that would only spread chaos in society.

She didn’t deserve any of that. And while they all knew that, no one could tell her that without it sounding hollow. Because they didn’t know what it was like to live in the same fear that she had felt for every single day of her life. 

Which is where you came in.

Yamada was covering his classes for the time being and you hoped no one questioned why you were also absent. 

“Yes, it’s fine.” Aizawa reassured you emotionlessly as he held open the front door for you to let you go in first. 

You stepped inside and blended in with those that milled about the hospital, following Aizawa until you came to a stop in front of a quarantined area. Inside a room, sat a little girl on the hospital bed. 

Your jaw dropped. “Is that—”

“Yes.” Aizawa answered without looking as he signed off on the agreement given to him by the police officers stationed by the door. 

After hearing from Holly when you had your playdate together and seeing how you interacted with any kids you came across, he was hoping that your energetic presence would help bring this traumatized little girl out of her shell. 

“She’s been through a lot, hasn’t she?” You asked quietly as you watched Eri fumble with the bandages on her arms and legs, your eyes shining with tears at how clearly it was stressing her out. 

Aizawa sighed under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“That would be an understatement.” He mumbled.

And that was with only having a fraction of an idea of what had happened to her.

Aiawa motioned for the nurse in the room trying to feed the reluctant girl to step out and she did so with zero hesitation.

“How is she today?” He asked her once she closed the door and you looked around both of them so that you could observe Eri. 

The nurse’s gaze was sympathetic but it was clear she was at her wit’s end. “She’s stable and her quirk has not activated once, but she still refuses to eat anything. I’m not sure how much longer we should hold out, I think we should tube feed her unless her vitals are going to drop.”

“Let me try.” You piped up, an usually serious expression stark on your normally friendly features.

You glanced to your dad for approval but Aizawa merely nodded and after the nurse confirmed that it was alright for you to go inside so long as he was with you, she ushered the two of you in while she monitored things from outside.

Careful not to startle Eri, you knocked lightly before announcing yourself and coming in. She looked terrified at an unknown face but you didn’t blame her one bit, remembering what it was like when Ojiro first rescued you. 

Your heart had been filled with fear but the hand that he stretched out was warm and inviting. And you never once regretted taking it.

“Hello.” You greeted, setting down a tray of food that had one characteristic in common all around. All the food was sealed to ensure that nothing was tampered with. “Are you hungry, Eri-chan?”

She blinked up at you, staring at the food skeptically but you weren’t offended in the slightest. While you didn’t know what it was like to be exactly in her shoes, you certainly could empathize.

However, her eyes lit up with curiosity at the sight of your fluffy ears and tail. You were different from the others that came to visit and while she wondered if perhaps that was a bad sign, she couldn’t help but be in awe.

Aizawa was leaning against the door frame, watching you both. He had been in the room quite a few times during routine check-ups from the doctor and such but he never really interacted with the little girl. He wasn’t the greatest with kids, they tended to cry whenever they saw him.

Another reason why he was an underground pro where the contact with children was limited to professional interactions only. 

You tried to offer up her portion of the meal but she scurried back, her knees tucked up frightfully and you immediately let it go, drawing back to give her some space, murmuring soft reassurances.

Now Aizawa could see how you two really were similar. Abandoned by family and forced to do things you had no awareness of or couldn’t understand, it was sickening. 

“I know it’s scary.” You said quietly as you set down the spoon when she shied away from the foreign object. “I was scared too.”

Eri looked up at you with her big eyes, not daring to hope that you could understand what she had been through. Her knees trembled as she drew them up tighter to her chest for comfort.

You smiled reassuringly and kept your distance as you explained your own story, your history with dangerous people just like Chisaki and how you were healing from your own experience.

“It’s hard to trust people when you’re scared that they’re just going to do the same things that those scary people put you through, but trusting that guy,” You pointed over your shoulder to where Aizawa was standing. “Was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

Eri blinked owlishly. “R-Really?”

Her small voice came out so fragile and shaky that you had to physically stop yourself from tackling her in a hug, knowing that it would only frighten her and not comfort her like you were intending. 

“Yes,” You nodded vigorously, your tail fluffing up the barest bit to emphasize your point. “And I know you don’t know me, Eri-chan, but I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe too.”

Bit by bit, you could see something changing inside her and hesitantly, she reached for the metal utensil, halting in place before she touched it and looked up at you for permission.

“You’re safe here.” You whispered softly, motioning that it was okay. “You can eat as much as you want.”

This time, Eri tentatively took the spoon and balancing the bowl carefully in her hands, she gazed at it curiously.

You were ecstatic at her progress. You didn’t think she would drop her walls around you so fast. While she looked at it, you picked up your own bowl. Showing her how to blow on the foot first so that it didn’t burn her tongue, you took a small bite, demonstrating that the food caused no harm.

Eri was timid at first, but she gradually grew more confident until she was eating with a gusto that not only surprised you, but also Aizawa.

You motioned him to come over after asking Eri if it was alright so that your dad didn’t spend the majority of his visit standing awkwardly by the wall. The little girl was hesitant but she nodded that it was okay and after a beat, Aizawa came closer. 

Once he was within arm’s reach, you scooted over to offer him a spot next to you on the bed. 

“Does it taste okay?” You asked her as your dad sat down beside you.

Eri halted, her cheeks bulging with food and she nodded slowly. Cupping her small hands around the bowl, she took in the heat.

“It’s… warm.” She said softly and your heart broke in two.

Sniffling, you managed a wobbly smile for her. “I’m glad.”

You were going to rip Chisaki a new one if he ever got within a ten mile radius of her again. 

Eri polished off her food in a little under an hour, her swollen stomach not quite used to taking in food so rich with nutrients and you fought to keep your tail from lashing back and forth angrily at all she had been through. 

Aizawa collected the empty bowls, placing them back on the tray and giving it back to the nurse outside monitoring Eri’s progress while you played with the little one.

Lowering your head, you let the tips of your ears brush across her cheeks, evoking a small giggle from the little girl as she latched onto them with her fingers, being gentle not to pull on them. 

Eri kicked her feet up and even though she didn’t smile, you could see it in her eyes; a light that wasn’t present before.

“They’re fuzzy...” She trailed off quietly before hastily retracting her hands, her gaze dropping down to her lap.

Your eyes softened understandingly at her reaction and you were careful not to move any closer. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Eri still flinched as you drew back slightly to give her some breathing room and you bit your lip to contain the snarl threatening to spill onto your face from where her hands trembled fearfully.

“I’m not going to hit you.” You told her gently, careful to be as soothing as you could to put her at ease. 

Aizawa was watching attentively from the doorway to give you both some space while you calmed her down, ready to erase her quirk if need be but so far so good.

“People hurt me too.” You whispered softly, rolling up your sleeves to show her the multitude of scars on your arms. “And I don’t know why or what I did wrong. But things get easier.”

You smiled encouragingly when she looked up at you, as though she was asking for permission to touch them and outstretching it slowly so you didn’t startle her, you let out a shaky breath as her fingertips barely skimmed over the marred skin.

Reminders of where you came from.

“Eri-chan.”

The little girl looked up at you as you gazed at her imploringly.

“I can’t promise that you’ll feel okay all the time, but when you’re ready, I’d like to show you what the world outside looks like.” You offered, standing up and curling your tail around your hip to beckon to her. 

Eri’s ruby-red orbs glistened and she swallowed hard. “Will... Will you be there?”

You nodded reassuringly. “For as long as you want me there.”

“I-I—” Eri looked down, struggling with what she wanted to say and you gave her a moment to collect her thoughts. 

The hospital gardens were nothing extraordinary but it would beat this room with white-washed walls everywhere you looked. A pop of color would be good for her soul and you hoped the fresh air would steady her heart.

You held out your hand, letting it be known that she didn’t have to go if she didn’t want to, the unspoken sentiment hanging in the air from where you regarded her empathetically. “What do you say, Eri-chan?”

She hesitated and for a beat, you weren’t sure what she was going to decide. But then she raised her head, her eyes shining with something that vaguely resembled determination and you smiled as her small hand slipped into yours.

“... Okay.”

Two months had passed by since then.

Eri had been moved out of the hospital and since Aizawa was the only one who could keep that quirk of hers under control until she learned how to do it herself, he was granted temporary guardianship of her. 

The authorities had entrusted her to UA but on paper, she was his foster child for the time being. 

Just like you had been, once upon a time.

Togata and Midoriya made the transition back into civilization easier for Eri, though the first week she wouldn’t leave their sides unless it was with you. You three were the ones she trusted the most. 

Though, Aizawa came really close.

You suspected it had something to do with the small cream-colored teddy bear he bought for her while walking past the hospital gift shop on your way out that first day he brought you to see her.

They always sold things to help comfort patients during their stay and while he hesitated buying it, he ended up getting it anyway and giving it to her during her last week at the hospital so that she would have something to hold at night. 

Eri had looked confused and it was almost funny how Aizawa tripped over his words trying to explain to her that he had bought this girl, who he didn’t know and wasn’t related to, a stuffed animal to bring her comfort because he was worried about her. 

You, and even Shinsou, teased that he was such a softie, earning both of you a towel to the face after training at his house. 

It was hours after school had let out and the sun was just starting to set. 

Most students had already gone back to the dormitories. You had promised Ojiro to stop by his room before you went to bed when you got back and with that, you two parted ways.

Aizawa had taken you and Shinsou to his flat for training once you sprinted into the teachers’ lounge where both of them were waiting for you, along with Eri. Even though all the teachers had their own dorm, courtesy of the principal, he had already paid off the mortgage on the flat and he was not keen on selling it for a number of reasons. 

Besides, Vlad King was allergic to cats so it wasn’t like he could just take Coffee with him.

So, while he lived in the teachers’ dorm, he went to his flat on the weekends and on their days off. 

Aizawa dodged his student’s punch with a slight smirk. “Too slow.”

You were in the corner of the training arena inside of his house, playing tea party with Eri in the corner. 

Aizawa had bought her a truckload of toys to entertain herself with so that she could bring things to keep herself busy when he was teaching at school. Luckily, she wasn’t fussy at all so it had taken barely any time to pick out what to buy.

Though you suggested it might have been a bit unnecessary to purchase nearly half the store.

It didn’t matter. Eri had been ecstatic once she had been told that these new toys were all hers to play with. Aizawa had to reassure her over and over again that yes, they really were hers and no, he didn’t particularly care if she broke something or decided that she didn’t want it.

She was honestly so careful in handling the neat little gadgets and play sets that he couldn’t even envision her breaking something.

You ignored the grunts and taunts coming from the middle of the room as the Shinsou and your dad sparred, flicking your tail to tickle the tip of Eri’s nose and she giggled, beaming widely at you when you exaggerated an eye roll when a thump reverberated through the ground as Shinsou was knocked onto his feet.

Eri had smiled for the first time at the school festival and you roped Midoriya into teaching you how to make candied apples so you’d always be prepared if she ever got up the courage to ask you for one directly. 

For now, you were just content to have some on hand whenever she came to Heights Alliance when Aizawa needed to put out yet another fire that Bakugou set off with his explosion.

While you and Eri were playing, Shinsou was practicing his hand-to-hand combat with his mentor but every time he struck, Aizawa was always one step ahead of him. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he wiped it off with a grimace before doubling back to strike again. 

Aizawa maneuvered out of range easily, shoving him flat onto his back.

“Concentrate, Toshi.” He urged strictly and the teen slammed a fist on the ground in frustration before popping back up to his feet and coming at him again. 

It had taken a while for Eri to get comfortable watching them spar, always worried that someone would get hurt but you had explained that Aizawa was helping her unofficial brother get stronger.  

Shinsou hadn’t necessarily been taken to the idea of being someone she looked up too, it was too much pressure. He never had to be an older brother to anyone and you didn’t count since you were the same age as him. 

Eventually, he warmed up to the idea, though he never told Eri that and he always denied it whenever Aizawa asked him straight out with a knowing smirk on his face. 

Eri could be very persuasive when she wanted to, with her doe eyes and bright, blinding smiles that could disarm All Might himself.

Cute.

Shinsou huffed at his mentor’s impromptu rebuttal, redoubling his efforts to be able to land one hit on him before this round was over. Moving faster and faster until they both became a blur, he measured each strike and kick until his burning limbs were shrieking for him to stop.

“C’mon, Toshi, hit Dad where it hurts!!” You egged on from the sidelines and Eri threw her hands up excitedly. 

“You can do it, Papa!!” She cheered. 

She had gradually grown more and more comfortable calling him that, it took almost no time at all after hearing you call him that. But you all figured she deserved to have a loving father figure after all she had been through so no one teased her about it. 

Even Monoma was surprisingly docile when it came to the little girl whenever you guys ran into him in the hallways.

Aizawa smiled slightly at the little girl’s encouragement but never took his eyes off of his student. Blocking his fist, he stepped closer, sweeping his leg at his feet, which Shinsou was able to dodge just in time. 

“That won’t work on me twice!!” Shinsou shouted.

Hooking his foot around the elder’s ankle the second he landed firmly on his feet, Shinsou yanked him down to the floor and he landed hard.

His breath knocked clear out of his lungs, Aizawa coughed a couple of times before flashing his student a proud grin.

“Good job.”

The rare praise was curt but it transformed the expression on Shinsou’s face into one of unbridled happiness that was rare and far in between to see. He didn’t say anything but he couldn’t stop the smile from spreading from ear to ear as his mentor acknowledged his victory. 

“Alright, way to go, Toshi!!” You cheered alongside Eri.

“Toshi-nii, Toshi-nii, Toshi-nii!!” Eri exclaimed repeatedly in that soft voice of hers as she scrambled forward onto the training mat, raising her hands up as an indicator that she wanted to be picked up. “You won!!”

Shinsou bent down to pick her up, bouncing her on his hip a few times in the way that he knew made her laugh, poking her on the nose and grinning when she scrunched it up cutely.

“I did.” He boasted, puffing out his chest ever so slightly to make him appear manlier and you sputtered out laughing at how ridiculous he looked, to which he shot you a glare.

Eri’s eyes were shining. “You were so cool!!”

“Hey,” Aizawa frowned, feigning disappointment as he patted the back of his sweaty neck with a clean towel. “What about me?”

“Dad’s acting like a child again.” You commented as you handed him a glass of water you had previously gotten from the kitchen when you heard their fight going on. 

On the way to the training area, you had run into Eri on the way there and invited her to come along so that she wouldn’t be alone. And also so that you could play with her.

Shinsou flashed you a grin. “It’s cause I kicked his butt.”

Aizawa flicked both of your foreheads to chastise you two for such an informal tone but it was light and even though you cried out dramatically and Shinsou rolled his eyes, you knew he didn’t actually care.

Much like Asui, who you found out what happened during the USJ incident had made her have a unique understanding with her teacher, you knew when to be serious and when to push the limits of your playfulness and cause no harm to your relationship in the process. 

Eri reached out for you and you took her from Shinsou, sticking out your tongue in the process. 

“Hah!! She likes me better!!” You gloated in his face.

He rolled his eyes, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with a rag as he echoed your words from before. “You’re such a child.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am—”

“Okay, and that is the last of that.” Aizawa interrupted before you could carry on into a screaming match and then he would have to be the one to somehow get you two to stop fighting all the while calming Eri down, who would be crying cause her siblings were arguing.

Much like you, she was sensitive to loud noises and raised volumes and he couldn’t always use pats on the head with her since her interactions with Chisaki mostly consisted of—

Aizawa shook his head. He couldn’t even bring himself to say it. The things that man did to this child was horrifying. It almost made him wish he was a villain just so that he could have the satisfaction of killing him. 

But what mattered most was that Eri was out of there and that she was never going back. 

Gazing fondly as Eri petted one of your ears that you offered to her, a soft smile slipped onto his face. The two of you were damn cute. And he was so proud that he got to call you his own kids.

Sensing movement out of the corner of his eye, he quickly sidestepped Shinsou’s surprise attack, the shocked look that crossed his student’s face at his reaction time was priceless.

“C’mon kid, you can do better than that.” He smirked, balancing on his feet and drawing up his fists for another bout. “One more round before dinner.”

Shinsou nodded determinedly. “Bring it on, sensei.”

Needless to say, that one was a draw. But only because Shinsou couldn’t get out of his mentor’s headlock. 

Aizawa was too smart to fall for the brainwashing trick.

As they started to argue over who won, Aizawa clearly going to win the battle of words, you ushered Eri out of the room.

You jabbed a thumb over your shoulder as she grabbed her tea party set on the way out. “Want to help me start dinner until those two get over their ego?” 

Eri nodded eagerly even though she didn’t really understand what an ego was. All she heard was dinnertime and that meant food. 

“Yes!!” She cheered excitedly and you picked her up as she lifted her arms. 

A growl of annoyance sounded from the other room. 

“Y/N, I heard that.”

You could practically envision your dad’s glower and quickened your pace, holding in your giggles along with Eri.

It was rocky, but somehow in the midst of all the bad, you had come out with the perfect family.

[yetanotherhiddlestoner]

                            The Asgardian and his Atlantean.

  (First time writing a marvel related story and and LokiXreader one at that. So forgive the way it is. I got bored one night watching Atlantis on Disney that I came up with this mixture of a story. Hope you enjoy I own nothing of marvels or disney’s. This story is also on my Wattpad -https://www.wattpad.com/user/HatterMoon )

Life at Stark Tower was good for you. All the Avengers loved you and they treated you like family. You loved helping out Tony the most with his suits and helping him advance the technology. This morning started like any other day, you woke before the sun had started to shine in the sky, you check your pendent. A couple more days before you need to be returning home.

You prepared breakfast for everyone, despite being told numerous times that you didn't need to do it.

You made sure to brew enough coffee for everyone as they all seem to need it first thing in the morning. You preferred tea to start your day, and so they have gifted you your own tea pot and tea set at Christmas.

The first to wander in was Nat, still in his PJ's with messy hair and rubbing her eyes, you chuckle silently. "Morning Nat. Sleep well?" She mumbled a reply, followed by the words "Need Coffee" One by one all the Avengers entered the common room, some more awake then others. "Tony where is Steve and Bucky?" Wanda asks as you take in notice that you are two short. "They left on a mission last night so for the time being it will just be us." Tony answers "Good Morning Y/N." Bruce said as he come to stand beside you. "Morning Bruce. I might need the lab later today to test out some test for healing drinks is that fine with you? "Hey I only borrow the Lab myself you best ask Tony since you know, he owns it" "I know but you are the one in there most of the time. It feels like I am invading  your space" "You can use the Lab Y/N. Do I need to remind you that you live here, you do not have to ask to use something." Tony said as he had overheard the conversation. You smile at him. Tony had become like a father figure to you over the years. "Thanks Tony."

It's not long before they all go off and do their own things, Clint goes to the shooting range, Natasha and Wanda go to the training, Bruce to the lab and Tony goes to the armory, leaving you to do your own thing. It unusually quiet this day. You so used to Bucky keeping you company while you wander through various jobs that need doing.

As the day went on you made your way down to the lab for a few hours, The Avengers went on a small mission, leaving you alone. As much as you hated them going on missions you enjoyed the quiet. You took note of the potions and ingredients and the ones that needed restocking.

"Miss Y/N. They will be returning shortly. I was informed by Mr Stark" "Thank you Jarvis, will they be requiring my assistance?"

"I am unsure Miss Y/N best to be prepared in case" You nod and gather a couple of jars in your hand and take them to the Med-bay.

"Hey kid we're home" Tony called out through the building. You make your way to them to see Nat and Clint heading to the med-bay, limping.

"There is a new stock of healing potions in there for you guys to try if you want." You smile and they nod at you as you continue your way to Tony. "How did it go Tony?" "Wasn't our best, wasn't as small as we had predicted." "That bad?" "You could say ,might be a problem in the future but not right now, also kid we have a new person for you to meet. They will be staying here for a while." He said as he poured himself a glass of whiskey. "Oh?" Now you were curious. "Yeah its Thor's brother, Loki. He will be arriving later today. If you want to join us in collecting him you are more than welcomed." "I might just do that. It has been awhile since I left the tower and I will be returning home in a couple days to grab supplies, So you will have to survive without me for about a week" Tony chuckles "You mean we have to cook our own breakfast? Oh no how will we survive." You roll your eyes at the sarcasm but smile. He pats your back as he walks out of the common room.

You head to your room and rest for a while, you slowly starting to feel the drain on your body. Closing your eyes you dream of your home, your friends and family.

A knock on your door alerts you to wake up. "Hey Lady Y/N, Stark told me to come and grab you." Only one person calls you by that nickname and its Thor so its no surprise when you open the door and see him there. "Please Thor call me Y/N. No need for formalities." "No. Lady Y/N we will be leaving soon, walk with me to the landing dock?" You nod and allow Thor to lead you to the Quin-jet. "So your brother is joining the Avengers?"

"Sadly no, he will be helping out on missions but will not be a Avenger. He is barely happy about helping us. He might even be able to help you in the Lab and with the suits." "I doubt Tony will allow anyone to touch his suits, do you remember the trouble I had when I fixed his suit the first time, I was all but grounded" "I am sure you could convince Tony to allow Loki to help?" "Ah the God of Mischief and Tony Stark agreeing on something. Is this not the same Loki that attacked New York?" You joke to the god of thunder. "The same one, I would like to think that Tony will one day sort of agree with him, he has done his time on Asgard and Father thinks this will help him amend the past." You stay quiet, you had not been here when the New York attack happened, that was the week Tony had sent you home to grab supplies, but he had filled you in on some of the details.

"Lady Y/N if you may" Thor says gesturing to the seat "We will betaking off soon." You smile and get strapped in to your seat. You stay quiet for the flight, everyone around is chatting between themselves, and joking. You pick up on bits and pieces here and thereof what they discussing.

"We might as well have a party for Reindeer games arrival." Tony says loud enough for everyone to hear. "Another party Tony? Must we, you know Loki won't like it" Nat says glaring at the male beside her. "Another reason to have it. He needs to get over it and show us that he is changing. So a party is the perfect way to do it." You sometimes wondered what went though Tony's head some days. He had to host a party for everything. He even held one for you when you finally agreed to help them. FLASHBACK It took a lot of convincing and asking for you to accept Mr. Starks offer to work for him. Some how your little secret was out in the open and now you had the richest man in the area, all but begging you to join his crew. "We could use a smart woman like you on the team. You would have your own room, hell I will even give you your own floor for your technology and gear." "Mr. Stark as much as I would love to join, I am afraid I will never fit in." "Why because your Atlantean? You do know Thor is a god, Bruce is the Hulk. You would fit in fine. I do not care what you are or where you come from."

You look at him and then look away to your garage filled with old Atlantean war machines. You could use a bigger place for them to be stored while you fix them up and get them back in the air. "Could I bring all this? I have worked to hard to give up" You wave your hands round the room. "Not to the tower, but I have a compound that we can store them at and you can go there and work on them whenever you need." "Alright Mr. Stark. I will accept." "Great and call me Tony. I will start arranging the transportation of your vehicles and your personal belongings. Please excuse me" You watch him walk out, a bit stunned at how quickly he got to setting everything up.

ENDOF FLASHBACK.

You feel Thor tapping your shoulder, you glance at him "Yes?" "We will be landing soon. Are you ok? You seem to be a bit distracted?" "Oh its all good Thor, I was just thinking." "As long as you are well Lady Y/N" A few moments alter you have landed and everyone has started leaving the Quin-jet. You look around you, nothing but grasslands for miles. Next thing you see a giant beam of light land on the ground ahead of you and in a flash it is gone, leaving nothing but a raven hair man in green armor.

Loki.

"Brother it is nice to see you again." Thor approaches the man alone. "Thor. I see you bought the whole team for this arrival. Couldn't trust me enough to come alone?" "It is not like that Loki. Do not start this" You watch the interaction between the brothers as does everyone else. No-one moves to greet him. "Come now Brother, there is someone I wish for you to meet." Thor looks in your direction. They make their way over to you. "Brother is is Lady Y/N." You bow a bit to Loki, knowing of his royal title, you have no choice but to. "Your Highness, nice to meet you" "Lady Y/N you do not need to bow to him." "Best you listen to my brother Mortal" Loki said with a smugness. You raise your head and you feel his eyes trail to your neck. You see the realization kick in once he sees your pendent. "You're Atlantean?"

[strawberriestyles]

Chapter 23

(Banner made by sweet sunshine @harry-nofookingway-styles​)

Harry X OFC (AU)

Sequel to Brutality: In which Melody and Harry must relearn how to navigate one another among a flurry of changes.

Read previous parts here.

Author’s note: HELLO EVERYBODY. BIG APOLOGIES FOR THE LONG ASS WAIT BUT HERE SHE IS. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. I AM STILL WORKING ON THE NEXT CHAPTER AND I CAN’T PROMISE WHEN I WILL POST AGAIN, BUT HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE SOON. HOPE YOU’RE ALL WELL!!! (If you feel so inclined, I do have a ko-fi now, and coffee sure does help me on writing sprees. *wink wink*)

“Mel.” Harry skimmed a hand down the side of her neck to the bandage that covered her small cut, where she’d been sliced by Colton’s knife. For all intents and purposes, she appeared dead to the world, but she usually did when she slept this late into the day. “Melody, wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered open, vision blurry. And she jumped when she felt Harry’s hand shift on her throat, pushing him away with a gasp.

“‘S me,” he told her gently, crouching down beside the bed until he was at eye level with her, watching her face relax in realization. “‘S only me.”

“You’re okay?” she whispered. She hadn’t been able to speak to him at all the night before. He’d been whisked away for an MRI the moment they’d stepped foot in the hospital, and when she’d been allowed into his room, the pain meds they’d pumped into him had already knocked him unconscious. At some point in the middle of the night, he’d woken her and coaxed her out of her chair, into the hospital bed with him, but they’d both been too tired to speak more than a couple words before falling back to sleep.

“‘M fine,” he answered, nodding.

Melody sighed in relief. She watched Harry rest his chin on the edge of the mattress as she shifted onto her back, then rubbed at her tired eyes. “Did you hear what Brian said?” she whispered. It was almost too quiet to be a hospital. She wasn’t surprised when she glanced at the door and found it closed.

“Not last night,” he said. “Didn’ hear anythin’ anyone said last night. I was completely out of it.” He paused and then nodded slowly. “But he told me this mornin’.”

The air felt heavy. Melody had so many thoughts, but she didn’t know what any of them were. Her mind was a jumble of string, and she couldn’t find an end to yank and untangle.

“Are yeh okay?” Harry asked. He reached for her hand, dragging it across the bed and pressing his lips to her knuckles, gentle with the dark bruises from when she’d hit CJ. “Mel, yeh don’ feel bad, do yeh?” His voice was quiet, gentle. It was so different from everything she’d heard leave his mouth the day before—when he’d argued with CJ, when he’d snapped at her in the car, when he’d spoken so urgently to her and Colton. “He wouldn’ have felt bad if he hurt yeh. He didn’ regret almost killin’ me.”

Melody shook her head, sitting up. “No,” she muttered, pulling the strap of her tank top back up her shoulder. “No, of course not. It’s just...complicated.”

Harry agreed. None of this was simple. “Yeh wanna get dressed, love?” he asked. “Bea and Josie are here. And Sean went downstairs to grab us some breakfast.”

Melody glanced toward the door, nodding. “Is Vanessa here?”

Harry stood, dropping Melody’s hand to reach for the bag that Bea had brought for her. He dug beneath her dress—now rumpled and bloody—for the fresh clothes Bea had packed, tossing a t-shirt and leggings onto the bed. “She wanted to stay until yeh woke up,” he said, “but she worked a double yesterday. She went home to sleep. She said to have you call her when yeh feel like it.”

Melody glanced at her phone on the table beside the bed. Somehow, Bea had found it in her suitcase before leaving the apartment. But Melody hadn’t taken a moment to check her notifications. She knew that she’d have to talk to her mom. Speaking with Vanessa sounded a lot less dreadful, but despite the deep sleep Harry had woken her from, it was as if she had no energy left to explain what had happened. She barely had the energy to process it herself.

Trying not to fall into the vivid memories of the night before, Melody slipped her tank top off and switched it for the t-shirt Harry had laid out for her. When she’d changed her pants and raked her hands through her hair, she found Harry staring out the window, his arms crossed, his eyes unfocused.

“Are you okay?” she whispered, lifting a hand to touch his shoulder when he didn’t respond. “Harry?”

“Hm?” he murmured. He glanced down at her, dazed, and nodded. “Yeah, ‘m fine. Uh, Brian needs me to identify the body.”

Melody’s stomach seized up. If she had eaten anything since early yesterday afternoon, she might’ve been sick.

“Do you...” she began, sitting back down on the edge of the bed. “Uh, do you need me to come with you?”

“No.” Harry shook his head fiercely. He watched relief spread across her face. “No, you can just go home with Bea, yeah?”

Melody clasped her hands in her lap, her brows knitting together. “Are you sure?”

“Of course ‘m sure,” Harry said. “I can do it alone.”

The minutes of panic from the day before raced through Harry’s mind again—minutes that had seemed to last for hours. Despite his efforts to shake them, the memories had flashed like strobe lights since he’d woken up. Melody’s terrified face, Colton’s grin, the gleam of the knife, the feeling of sheer uselessness, of helplessness. And the apologies afterward, like Melody had expected to take Colton down single-handedly.

“Melody,” Harry said quietly, uncrossing his arms to press his palms into the mattress, “yeh know I didn’ expect yeh to turn around and knock him out, right?”

She pulled her lip between her teeth and turned her head away from him. Like she was embarrassed. He shook his head slowly, confused and exasperated.

“He had a fuckin’ knife to your throat,” he reminded her.

Melody sighed, staring at the wall before her. “But I—”

“But nothin’, okay?” Harry interrupted. He caught her chin, turning her face toward him. “If all yeh ended up with was this little cut,” he continued, running a finger down to the edge of the bandage on her neck, “then I don’ care. Yeh’re okay. Tha’s what matters to me.” Melody blinked silently, shivering as his fingers drifted over her skin. Harry drew in a deep breath. “And ‘m sorry for snappin’ at yeh in the car,” he added in a whisper.

Melody’s lips pursed. She reached up to grip his wrist, dragging his hand away from her neck, where his touch still tickled. “It’s fine.”

“No, ‘s not. It wasn’ fair,” he protested. “Yeh weren’ doin’ anythin’ wrong.”

Melody studied the tense lines of his face. Their conversation before arriving back at the apartment was the last thing she was worried about. It seemed weeks ago, rather than only a few hours. “How’s your head?” she asked.

Harry nodded softly. “Okay. Still aches a little, but ’m fine. How’s your hand?” He reached for the one in her lap when she merely shrugged, bending her fingers, gentle. “That hurt?”

Melody’s wince answered him. She pressed her lips tightly together. “Mhmm.”

Someone knocked at the door. Melody stiffened.

“Can we come in yet?” Bea asked, poking her head into the room. “Is she awake?”

“I’m awake,” Melody assured her, drawing her hand out of Harry’s and relaxing her sore fingers.

“Oh, good.” The door swung open as Bea entered the room, closely followed by Josie. Sean trailed after them, his hands full, hugging cups of coffee to his chest. They all looked just as tired as Melody felt, and the unbridled worry in their eyes had her fighting back a rush of tears.

“Hi,” Sean murmured, stepping in front of Bea and Josie to hand Melody some breakfast—a bagel and a container of fruit. She took the cup of coffee he handed her with a sigh of thanks. But it was quiet as he passed another breakfast off to Harry, like everyone was wondering where to start a conversation.

“Um,” Bea began, scratching at her temple, where a curl was tickling her, “how did the visit go?”

Melody took a sip of lukewarm, watery coffee and shook her head.

“Oh, no.” Bea glanced at Harry, her eyes narrowed in accusation. “What’d he do?”

Josie barked out a laugh and then clapped a hand over her mouth, turning toward the door. But the damage had already been done. Harry cocked his head at both of them, raising an eyebrow in offense.

“It was me, actually,” Melody said. She watched Bea shoot Harry a short, apologetic look and then avoid his gaze. “CJ showed up.”

“Yikes,” Bea hissed. Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “I thought he wasn’t going. Didn’t he have a tennis match or something?”

Maybe it shouldn’t have bothered him, but hearing Bea talk about CJ so casually rubbed Harry the wrong way. When had she and Melody talked about him? How did Bea know that CJ had a tennis match? And if CJ’s presence or absence was so important, why did Harry feel so out of the loop? But instead of wondering aloud, he only muttered, “Of course he plays fuckin’ tennis.”

Josie gave a dry snort, side-eyeing him. “What’s wrong with tennis?”

“Do yeh play?”

“No.”

“Then, why does it matter?”

Josie rolled her eyes and turned toward Melody. “Well, we’re kind of having the same issue,” she said, tipping her head in Bea’s direction. “My parents won’t even let me in the house.” When Harry looked blankly at her, she added, “Very religious family.”

Harry frowned, raising a brow. “Yeh work in a bar.”

Josie scoffed. “And you’re unemployed,” she snapped back. “See how rude it sounds?”

Melody set her coffee to the side and pressed a hand to her forehead when Harry opened his mouth to speak again. She was relieved that everyone was avoiding the topic of Colton, of the entire reason they were in the hospital to begin with, but this was not the sort of conversation she wanted to hear instead. “Can you both stop, please?” she muttered.

Bea sighed. “Do you wanna go home?” she asked Melody. “You’re ready?”

A swift nod later, Harry was stuffing her dirty clothes back into her bag, zipping it up and handing it over to Bea. Josie reached for Melody’s coffee.

“I’m gonna stick with Harry,” Sean said as Melody climbed off of the bed.

For the first time since she woke, she let her hand drift to her neck, to her bandaged wound. She could feel the slightest sting when she applied pressure. It was a small cut—insignificant, really—but that didn’t stop her mind from wandering. What if Colton had kept a better grip? What if she hadn’t slipped so perfectly from the circle of his arm? And what if Harry hadn’t been so lucky? What if he’d suffered more than that skull-splitting headache?

“Melody,” Harry whispered. She blinked and he was standing in front of her, rubbing his chin, the skin smooth and shaven so neatly for meeting her parents. He lifted his other hand and his fingers circled her wrist, drawing her arm back to her side. She hadn’t realized she’d still been touching the bandage. “Are yeh still here?”

“What?” she murmured back.

He drew in a slow breath and shrugged. “Yeh space out when yeh’re stressed,” he explained. “Sure yeh’re okay?”

Melody glanced down at his hand, still looped around her wrist, his thumb dancing across the thin bones. “Yeah,” she said. “I’m fine.”

He nodded briefly, though he didn’t believe her in the slightest. “I’ll go right back to the apartment when ‘m done here, okay?” He waited for a nod or a hum, some form of acknowledgment, but it didn’t come. “Mel.”

She shook her head, as if waking from a daze, and looked up to meet his eyes. “Okay.”

Harry pressed his palm to the side of her face, thumbing over her cheekbone. The skin beneath her eyes was dark and swollen, her lips raw from all of her constant chewing, the bruise at her chin only just beginning to yellow. She looked like she’d been dragged through hell, and maybe she had. Maybe this was her personal hell.

“See yeh soon,” Harry breathed, ducking to press a swift kiss to her forehead. He stepped aside so that Bea and Josie could usher her out of the room, and he watched until they disappeared around the edge of the doorway.

“Are you ready?” Sean asked when they were alone, clapping Harry’s shoulder with a firm hand. “Might as well get it over with, right?”

“Right,” Harry muttered. He dragged a palm down his face, setting his shoulders. Even if he wasn’t ready, time wasn’t going to pause until he could collect himself, so he would fake it. The same way Melody faked that calm stolidity.

“Let’s go.”

***

The following days were uncomfortable. Melody’s apartment, the place she’d made her own, the space she’d spent so much time occupying, no longer seemed to belong to her. There was a dull spot in the floor where Bea had scrubbed at Colton’s dried blood. And no matter how hard she tried to remember that he’d only spent minutes inside, whereas she’d lived there for years, Melody couldn’t stop picturing him in the kitchen, imagining him stepping through the door behind her while she was letting her suitcase topple over, unaware. Somehow, he seemed so much more present when his actual presence was impossible. He was no longer a distant figure standing in the shadows, but he’d already come and gone, and forgetting how it had felt to be pressed against him, his clammy hand tangled in her dress, was not going to happen overnight. He was a ghost, lurking in the corners, breathing down the back of her neck.

Harry was at a loss. When he’d helped ease Melody’s nightmares those months ago, he’d felt purposeful, useful, maybe even needed. But nothing he did now seemed to lessen the strain. He could comfort her when she woke in a fit, but he couldn’t keep Melody’s bad dreams at bay. And it was eating at him. He wished she could share with him, that he could press his forehead to hers and lighten the load she carried, or that he could at least understand the terror that still gripped her while she slept. That same agonizing helplessness that he’d felt when Colton had tried pulling her out of the apartment—Harry felt it spark in his gut each time Melody awoke in tears.

And to add to it, Colton’s face seemed permanently etched into the backs of Harry’s eyelids. Not his sneer or his chafing laughter, not that sharp smirk that he liked to wear—the cold, lifeless face he wore in death. It was the calm face that had appeared when the coroner had unzipped that black body bag in the morgue. Harry had never seen Colton look so peaceful and still. He’d always been moving. Even in sleep he mumbled and twitched. Seeing him so utterly devoid of noise and movement made the finality of it all almost palpable.

Harry’s mind was constantly churning now. The length of time for which he could focus seemed to wane as his thoughts flitted by like frames in a film reel. He was somewhere else entirely when he felt the electric force of Melody’s right-handed swing through the mitt she aimed for.

Her next punch came harder.

His eyes, which had been passively following her form—watching her muscles twist and her limbs stretch in order to gauge where to position his mitts—snapped to her face. Her skin was sheeted in sweat, strands of hair plastered to her temples. The red in her cheeks only highlighted the raw, torn skin of her chewed lips.

“Mel,” Harry tried. She wasn’t looking at him. He wasn’t sure if she was even registering that he was behind those mitts or if she’d simply clocked out. Her torso twisted back and forth with the brutal speed of her alternating hits. “Melody,” he tried again, raising his voice to cut through her stupor, “tha’s enough.”

Melody redirected her arm mid-swing. The change in course threw her off-balance and she stumbled sideways, toward the boxing ring beside them. Harry caught her with an arm around her waist before she fell completely. The two of them froze for a moment. Then Melody’s head swung, her eyes darting about the gym until she was satisfied that nobody was watching them.

A strangled whimper passed her lips. Harry’s arm tightened on her sweaty torso, pressing her into his chest. “Shh,” he murmured softly, batting the mitts from his hands with a couple of impatient flicks, “shh.” He stepped backward, lifting her off her feet and swinging her into the hallway that led to the locker rooms. It was quieter here.

Harry set Melody down, propping her against the closest wall. He took a short step back and leaned down until he could see her face clearly, brushing hair away from her cheeks, noting the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“Yeh’re fine, love. Wha’s wrong?”

Melody swallowed, then blinked, and in the next second she was tearing at the velcro of her right glove and flinging it to the floor, then closing the space which separated her from Harry, grasping the back of his neck as he began to draw away. She pulled at him until she could reach his lips and kissed him with a firm mouth. His palms tightened on her jaw for a moment, his lips stilled with surprise. There was a moment before he kissed her back, and then it only lasted for a heartbeat. He reached behind him for her wrist, withdrawing her fingers from his hair, his other hand slipping over her side.

“Melody,” he breathed, pushing against her hip to add space between them. “Mel, hey.”

Melody relented, flattening against the wall, squeezing her eyes shut. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she tipped her head back, peeling her eyes open to look up at the ceiling. The tears that had collected began to drip down her face, one by one.

Harry shook his head in confusion. “Wha’s goin’ on?” he asked gently, reaching for her face again. He drew his thumbs through the wet tracks streaking her cheeks. “I thought yeh’d feel better.”

Melody let out a garbled sob, twisting her head until she could see out into the rest of the gym. Everyone else continued on, oblivious.

“Melody,” Harry pressed.

“It’s not fair!” she cried, dipping her chin for a moment and finally freeing her other hand from its glove. When she looked up again, she met his gaze head-on. “It’s not fair that he almost killed you and now he’s just gone. And I still close my eyes and see his face like he’s right in front of me. And what he did to you and what he did to me, we have to live with that for the rest of our lives and he just gets to—” She cut herself off with a hiccuped gasp. Her eyes dropped to the collar of Harry’s shirt. She could see the pulse in his neck before his face lowered into her line of sight.

“Die?” Harry finished, a deep, troubled divot between his brows. “He’s dead,” he said slowly. “Yeh’d rather be dead?”

Melody deflated beneath his stare, shaking her head.  “No,” she whispered.

“No,” he repeated. His fingers traced her cheekbone. “Yeh’re safe, love.”

“I don’t feel like it.”

The words felt like a wicked blow. It was merely weeks ago that she’d said differently. You make me feel safe, Harry. But he schooled his features and nodded curtly.

“Maybe yeh don’ feel like it yet, but yeh are.”

Melody shut her eyes, collecting herself. She felt Harry’s lips at her temple, but then his phone rang, loud and shrill, and both of them jumped. She wiped her lingering tears with the back of her wrist as Harry stepped back, glancing down at the screen. She met his pause with a frown.

“Who is it?”

Harry cleared his throat, flashing her a brief, vague look. “‘S my mum.”

Melody drew in a breath, nodding. “Answer it.” She waited for him to move, but he seemed frozen, still as a wax sculpture. “Harry,” she said, “answer the phone.”

He gave a sharp nod and then spun around, bringing the phone to his ear. Melody watched him move further down the hall, his voice a low murmur, and then she stepped back into the main area of the gym to offer him a modicum of privacy. His mitts lay abandoned on the floor. She pressed her shoulders into the wall and slid down to sit, stretching her legs out before her.

It seemed like only minutes had passed before Harry stepped around the corner. Melody glanced up at him, but he was staring across the room, his expression drawn, impassive. He slid down the wall beside her, settling on the floor, and threw his arms over his crooked-up knees.

“What’s wrong?” Melody asked. She reached for his hand when he didn’t respond, her heart pounding so hard that her chest ached. “Harry?”

“She’s in remission.”

Melody froze, her fingers partly intertwined with his. “What?”

He nodded, confirming that she’d heard him correctly.

“That’s great,” she said. She studied his profile—the hard set of his jaw, the troubling, cool stare. “That’s incredible. Why don’t you look happy?”

Harry let out a dry laugh, his fingers closing around Melody’s, still avoiding her eyes. “She called to tell me good news, and then we had to talk about how her son is dead.”

Melody licked her dry lips. She hadn’t even considered that Harry might not have spoken to his mother since everything had happened. And she certainly hadn’t thought about his mom’s heartache. She’d been consumed by her own fear and the lack of good sleep she’d been getting. And now she felt guilt gnaw at her.

“What did she say?” she whispered.

“Not much.” Harry’s jaw tightened. He reached up to rake a hand through his hair. “I don’ think she really has any words.”

As she watched him, Harry’s stone face cracked. It was small, just a rapid blink and a twitch of his mouth, and anyone else probably wouldn’t have noticed, but Melody reached for him. She turned her body, pressing a kiss to his cheek, sliding an arm around his neck and stroking his hair. Harry closed his eyes, effectively blocking out everyone around them.

“Just—‘m not upset that he’s gone. ‘M relieved.” He sighed, shivering at the tickle of Melody’s hair on his neck. “‘M so fuckin’ relieved. And that feels wrong when my mum has to grieve for him.”

A wave of frustrated anger swept through Melody. The same feeling that had her swinging mindlessly at Harry’s mitts. It wasn’t fair.

“It’s not wrong, Harry,” she said firmly. She pulled back enough to look at him, but his eyes remained closed. “He was her son but he wasn’t your brother. You experienced a different person from the one that she knew. You’re allowed to feel whatever you’re feeling, okay? But what you don’t need to feel is guilty.”

His eyes opened again. He watched the men in the boxing ring, one backing the other into a corner, a rapid duck as a fist swung, just missing its mark. He could feel Melody’s gaze.

“You never say anything back,” she muttered. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yeah.” Harry nodded. He turned to look at her. “Yeah, I do.”

Her deep frown softened, her brow relaxing. “Good,” she said.

“‘M not—” Harry’s gaze swept over the room once more. Melody watched his jaw shift. “I don’ wanna be here.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, drawing in a loud breath and climbing to her feet. “Let’s go.”

Harry pulled himself up to stand beside her, and together they collected their equipment, stuffing their gym bags, and trailed through the city back to Melody’s apartment.

[queenrose730]

Reckless

Part Twelve 

Master List

“You’re here doll.” Bucky reached out and grabbed your hand. You looked between his face and your hands. Suddenly the words he said to you before cause your anger boiled over. You yanked your hand out of his.

“Yep. Steve wanted me to be here when you woke up. So here I am.” You pressed the button to the Shuri know Bucky was awake, then turned toward the door.

“Yn please. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.” He was trying to get out of bed but was getting tangled in the cords.

“That’s fine.” You turned back to him once you reached the door. Shuri had just come in the room. “Steve said he wished he could be here. He hopes to stop through soon.” Before Bucky could say anything else you were out the door. Walking quickly to the elevator and back to your apartment.

The streets outside were busy as you rushed home. People going about their day unaware of the battle going on in your head. Part of you wanted nothing more than to crawl in that bed with him and just lay there. The other part wants to punch him right in the face. It felt like the last three months hadn’t even happened. Just as you reached your door, the kimoyo beads on your wrist chirped.

“Well that was dramatic.” She didn’t even give you a chance to say hello.

“Shuri. Please don’t.” You flopped down on the couch.

“You weren’t the one trying to keep a super solider from tearing out every lead and chasing after you.”

“I’m sorry.” He tried to chase after you? Shit.

“You can make it up to me tonight.”

“Oh?”

“Nakia is coming home and we haven’t been to a club in a while.”

“Shuri, it’s been like one week.”

“And that’s too long! We will be at your place about 8. Wear something hot!” She gave you a wink and hung up. Maybe going out was just what you needed. Keep yourself distracted.  

You sent a text off to Steve that Bucky was awake and everything went smoothly. You then switched your phone off and set it at your desk. Spending the rest of the day puttering around your apartment cleaning and reorganizing things.

Finally, it was time to get ready for the club. You choose a deep red satin dress. It was strapless and came to rest just above your knees. It also had a slit up the right side to your hip. This dress was probably the most daring one you had bought. One that Natasha was proud of when you sent her a picture of you in it for the first time. You kept your makeup light. Doing your brows, mascara and a clear gloss. Your favorite necklace to wear with it was a black snake choker. Nat said it made you look sexy and scary at the same time. That is exactly what you wanted to feel tonight. Your hair was in a loose bun at the nape of your neck and you let pieces fall around your face. You were getting your shoes from the hall closest when there was a knock at your door.

“Come on in!” You shouted at the door from the hall.

“Yn?” You froze. What the hell was Bucky doing here? You shut the hall closest and walked to the living room.

“What are you doing here Bucky?” You didn’t even look at him as you walked through the room to the kitchen. Tossing your shoes down, you grabbed one of the liquor bottle from the counter.

“I was told to pick you up.” You looked up at him. He was dressed all in black. His dress shirt was unbuttoned just enough to tease his body underneath it. His left sleeve was tucked in on itself.

“What do you mean pick me up?” You forced yourself to keep your eye on his but you noticed his wondering.

“Shuri invited me out with you guys.” His eyes were still everywhere but where they should be.

“Wonderful.” You poured yourself a shot and then another. All the while Bucky was just staring at you and you let him. Thanking yourself for choosing the outfit you did. Your kimoyo beads chirped.

“Shuri mind telling me why Bucky is in my apartment.” She gave you a big smile.

“I thought it would be good for him. Now get over here!” She hung up.

“Well let’s go then.” Bucky held his arm out for you to take but you just brushed past him out the door.

“Well ok then.” You heard him mumble behind you. You were not about to let some 100-year-old super solider dampen your night.

  One of the perks of being friends with the princess is that you never had to wait in the lines at clubs. The music greeted you as you walked through the door. Bucky’s hand came to rest on your lower back protectively. You groaned to yourself as you scanned the room quickly. Finding Shuri and Nakia at the bar. You danced your way to them trying to stay just far enough from Bucky so he couldn’t touch you. Once at the bar you chose to wedge yourself between Shuri and a man, not allowing any room for Bucky who reluctantly took a place one the other side of Nakia.

“Yn!” She shouted and came around Shuri to give you a big hug. “You look sexy as always girl!”

“You look great to Nakia. How was the mission?” The bar tender had made her way over to you. You ordered a round of shots for the group.

“You know no work talk on girls’ night!”

“Well it’s not really girls’ night is it?” You raised your eye brows and looked at Shuri.

“You’re right.” Nakia turned to also look at Shuri.

“Oh come on!” She raised her hands and took the shot placed in front of her. The two of you followed.

After a few more drinks the three of you made your way to the dance floor. Bucky thankfully stayed at the bar but you could feel his eyes on you all night.  

“He really does stare a lot.” Nakia whispered to you under the loud music.

“You have no idea.”

“It probably doesn’t help you wore THAT outfit.” She gestured at your dress.

“Well I had no idea until he just showed up at my house.” Just then a man grabbed your waist and spun you to him.

“Hello.” He gave you a flirty smirk.

“Hello.” You returned it and danced against him. You ignored Nakia’s protest that you were dancing with her. Instead you just focused on his hands. They found their way across your body in an intoxicating way. The liquor that flowed though you gave you the courage to dance even closer.

“You look stunning in that dress.” He whispered in your ear. His voice sent goosebumps racing down your body.

“Thank-” A strong hand on your upper arm cut you off. You looked at your arm only to be jerked away from the man you had been dancing with.

“What the hell Bucky.” You tried your best to shake his grip.

“It’s time to go.” He spoke low and was staring now at the man. He opened his mouth to say something but just shook his head and walked away.

“Fuck you. I’m not going anywhere.” You tried and failed again to break free. This time though you lost your balance a bit thanks to the alcohol. Bucky just held on tighter. You looked around for Shuri and Nakia, they were both standing at the door. The lights in the club had started to filter on.

“I said it’s time to go.” He nearly growled it out between his clenched teeth. He started to pull you toward the door.

“Let me go you fucking ass.” You struggled the whole way to the door. Trying everything short of starting a full fight with him. He didn’t let you go until everyone was outside.

“What the hell was that?!” Bucky shouted at you.

“I could ask you the same fucking this ass hole!” You shouted back. “I was dancing and having fun.” You bent down and started taking off your shoes to make it easier to walk home. “You’re the one that got all possessive.”

“Is that what you call what you were doing?” Bucky was still seething with anger but help to keep you steady while you worked at your shoes. “And I was not being possessive.”

“Dancing isn’t like it was in the 40s buck. Get over it.” You walked back over to the girls. “Thanks for a great night ladies see you.”

“Yn are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine Shuri. I’ll see you tomorrow.” As much as you wanted to be mad at her you couldn’t. You knew she meant well inviting Bucky out. You gave her and Nakia a hug then headed off to your apartment. Bucky was following close behind you.

“Bucky what are you doing?”

“I’m making sure you get home safe.” You stopped but didn’t turn around. You hung your head and sighed.

“Whatever.” You started walking again. “But that’s kind of possessive.”

“It is not. Now come on.” He caught up to you pace and placed his hand back on your lower back.

A few minutes later you both stood at the door to your apartment. Bucky insisted on walking you all the way to your door not just the door of the building.

“Home safe.” You said as you turned you key and the door opened. Bucky gently grabbed your arm and turned you to face him. You gave a slight wince as he grabbed the same spot he had a death grip on not too long ago. When he saw that he dropped his hand and head.

“I’m sorry about that Yn. I’m sorry about a lot.”

“I’ll forget it if you spar with me. I owe you a few punches.”

“Deal.” He lifted his head and smiled at you. It was genuine. It showed in his eyes too. They were brighter than you had ever seen before. Shit. That was the alcohol.

“Right. Good night Bucky.”

“Good night doll.”

Before you could think his hand was on your face and he placed a kiss on your forehead. It was simple but it was probably the most Intimate moment you had with a man in almost a year. It damn near made you knees buckle. If Bucky noticed he didn’t let on, just give you another smile and watched as you went into your apartment.

 Once in your apartment, you made your way back to the bedroom. Struggling with the zipper on you dress as you went. Finally getting it of you changed into you pj’s and head to your desk. Even though you were fairly drunk you had a nightly routine of checking all your sources for Steve. Before sitting down you grabbed a glass of water and took some meds for the headache you knew would be coming in soon. You mind wasn’t quite focused on the screen in front of you. Your computer was running a facial recognition program. Instead you were thinking about what happened at the club.

Part of you knew exactly why you did what you did. You made Bucky jealous. But why did you want to make him jealous? Sure you liked to dance with men at the club but you never got that bold with how you danced. Mindlessly you rub the spot on your arm where Bucky grabbed you. It was still tender. For sure there would be bruises there by morning. In the back of your mind that excited you a bit. Bucky marked you.

What the FUCK Yn. You propped you elbows up on your desk and rested your head in your hands. Your computer chimed letting you know that the program was done running. Trying to pull your mind from Bucky, you clicked though any possible hits. There was only one that was even close. It was of Wanda. She was spotted in Finland. You decided to check you phone. Only to realize that you had turned it off earlier in the day. Once it was on, there was a title wave of notifications. A few calls from Steve, even more text messages, even some calls from Nat and Sam. You didn’t bother to read all the messages and called Steve back.

“Yn, where the hell have you been?”

“Well hi to you too Steve.”

“Sorry. We have just been trying to reach you all day. I was getting worried.”

“I mean same Steve. But I’m ok. Just had my phone off and got busy. Shuri took us out to the club.”

“Ok. Well how is Bucky doing? Did he do ok coming out of cryo?”

“Bucky is fine. Shuri drug him out to the club with us. So that was fun.” You tried to make your tone light. You really didn’t want to tell Steve everything that happened tonight.

“Bucky went to a club?” You could hear Sam say something and Steve laughed.

“Yea. It was interesting to say the least. But he came out of cryo just fine.”

“Good. Any other updates?”

“Not really. I haven’t really talked to Shuri about what’s next. All I know is that whenever he is ready they will get the rest of that old metal arm removed. Shuri has a whole plan for a new arm if he wants it.”

“That’s awesome. I’m glad.”

“Yea.” You couldn’t help but let you voice slip.

“What else Yn?” Steve always knew when something was wrong.

“Uh, I got a new tac suit ready to go. It’s got all kinds of goodies. So whenever you need me I am more than ready.”

“Sweetheart, I know you want to be out here, but please just stay there.”

“Right.” Both of you paused in conversation.

“Oh, also, you might want to let Wanda know to be a little more careful.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I run a facial recognition program every now and then. She popped up tonight. It may not be her but it was a pretty high match.”

“Where was it?” He sounded concerned.

“Central Finland. Is that where you guys are at now?”

“Yea it is. I’ll let her know. Thanks Yn.”

“Anytime Steve. Also if you need anything tech wise you can still use me. I’ve been helping Nakia.”

“I know. We are just kind of laying low right now.” You heard more voices over the phone. “I got to go Yn.”

“Alright. Tell everyone I said hi and that I miss them.”

“I will sweetheart. Stay out of trouble.”

“Always.”

Tags- @ginger-swag-rapunzel

[baronessblixen]

Hi, do you take prompts for Fictober? ;) I would love to read something set during Per Manum, maybe right after the embryo transfer, when a woman needs to rest and inject her medicine...

I always take prompts! Sometimes it just takes me years to write them ;) I hope you like this one! It was fun to write. Tagging @today-in-fic and @xffictober

Fictober Day 21

“Mulder,” she says, suppressing a giggle, “I’m not made of glass.”

But she’s wrong there, he thinks, as he keeps his arms around, leading her inside her apartment by taking tiny steps as if he’d just learned to walk. In many ways, he feels like he has. There’s precious cargo between them. Right now, at this very moment, her egg and his sperm are getting to know each other, deciding whether or not there’s a future for them. Mulder, always the believer, hopes there is.

“Osteogenesis imperfecta is a serious condition, Scully.”

“I know that, Mulder,” she says. “However, it’s not a condition I have. I’m just…”

“Trying to grow a baby,” he finishes for her, biting his bottom lip. Before Scully asked him, children never crossed his mind. Well, once. A small girl with a winning smile, so much like her mother’s, took his heart hostage. She would have convinced him, too, that this was a life he wanted. Just by smiling. But that story wasn’t to be. This one, though, is still being written.

“Yes. That.” She moves away from him with a blush on her face. She let him drive her to her appointment and pick her up from the procedure. He’d offered to stay with her but she’d declined. So he’d waited in the car, pretending to read a magazine, when in reality he was itching to be in the room with her, to see the procedure first hand. But he’s prepared for the After. He’s read all the books and brochures.

“You know you need rest. That’s why I’m here.” Her raised eyebrows amuse him but he keeps talking. “Let me pamper you. Please. Just for the weekend.” She’s still skeptical. Not that he would have expected anything different from her.

“Just this weekend,” she says, almost warningly.

“Thank you.” He grabs her shoulders and steers her towards the couch. “Keep your feet up, Scully, and relax.”

“You know that the embryo is not going to fall out, right?”

“I know that. Still. It can’t harm to keep your legs up.” She giggles again and he cherishes the sound, hoping he gets to hear it all weekend.

“So, Mulder, what fun things have you planned for us? Did you bring any X-Files to look through?”

He shakes his head. “No work this weekend. Just good food, lots of rest, and movies.”

“You’re serious,” she says, slightly shaking her head.

“Of course I am. So, what are you in the mood for?”

She just smiles at him.

A few hours later, Scully’s feet are in Mulder’s lap, his arm casually resting on her legs. Both are pleasantly full and Mulder keeps stealing glances at Scully, wondering how much longer she can stay awake. He knows her too well. He deliberately picked movies that would lull her into a peaceful slumber without her trying – and eventually failing – to keep awake to see the ending.

Mulder checks the time. As much as he wants to let her rest, he knows she won’t forgive him if he lets her sleep before she’s taken her meds. He squeezes her ankle and she glares at him.

“I thought I was supposed to rest,” she mumbles.

“Yes, and you can, but you need to take your meds first. Come on.” Like a child, she lets herself be led to the bathroom. Mulder can’t stop himself and puts his arm around her shoulders. He wants to be close. He needs to feel like his part isn’t over yet.

He watches her take her pills and wash them down with water. She’s been doing this for weeks. Sometimes, while on a case, or even at the office, he’s witnessed it. Before today, she always tried to hide it, keep it away from him, and not discuss it. He keeps quiet, stands stock still in case she’s merely forgotten him here with her. That is until she unwraps a new syringe.

“I can help you with that,” he says and hopes his voice isn’t as shaky as he feels.

Scully turns to him. “Mulder, I appreciate the help, I really do. I can do this by myself. I’ve done it before.”

“I just- is it okay if I stay?”

Her eyes grow wide for a moment before she relaxes, a soft smile appearing on her face. “You can stay. But I thought you didn’t like needles.” With perfect precision, she lifts her top, uncaps the syringe, and grabs her belly. Mulder watches in amazement. The needle goes in and it’s him who winces.

“Does it hurt?” he asks, grimacing.

“Yes,” she says and he is surprised by her honesty. “But it’s okay. You get used to it.”

He simply nods, wishing she didn’t have to get used to it. He wishes she could have done this the easy way. Don’t they deserve a break?

“I’m done,” she says sheepishly, touching his hand.

“Back to the couch or bed?” he asks.

“Bed.”

Mulder turns off the TV in the living room while Scully changes in the bedroom. He takes his time. He glances at the couch, knows that it’s much too small for his frame. But there’s no way he’s leaving her alone this weekend. Her bedroom door is ajar and he knocks softly, hoping she’s decent.

“Come in.” She is sitting up in bed and for a second he has a flashback to her in the hospital during her cancer treatment. He swallows his emotions and his memories.

“Um, I’ll be out on the couch,” he says. “In case you need anything.”

“Thank you, Mulder. For everything you’ve done today. And well, before today.”

“My pleasure,” he replies. “Both times. Good night, Scully.”

“Good night, Mulder.”

At the door, he turns to her one more time. “Can you promise me something?” he asks.

“Yes,” she says immediately as if she doesn’t even need to think about it. “What is it?”

“I read that, um- if you experience any abdominal pain, any nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, please wake me? Don’t… don’t think you have to do this alone, please.”

“I promise,” she says, her voice sounding choked. “Mulder? Why don’t you… my bed is big enough for the both of us and I don’t want you out there worrying.”

It’s just like that. She knows him as well as he knows her. Two halves of a whole. He can’t hide his smile or his giddiness. Dear diary, he thinks as he takes off his jeans, today Agent Scully offered to share her bed.

When he falls asleep, to the lullaby of Scully’s even breathing, he thinks of babies, cherub-cheeked and red-headed, with a mouth like his, and eyes like hers. 

[mostly-marvel-musings]

Hi doll! Can I ask for a Tom Hiddleston x reader. Tom’s girlfriend takes a seizure at work, he gets called to tell him about it and what happened to her, but its fluffy please🧡🧡🧡

A/N: I’m so sorry I took forever to write this. Hope you find this okay 🙈

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Tom/Loki Taglist: @delightfulheartdream  @what-a-flammable-heart

...

8:05 am

“No fucking way!” You scrambled awake, cursing as you hunted for your phone which was nowhere to be found even after you threw the sheets around, almost knocking your sleeping boyfriend off the bed in the process.

“Shit shit shit!!” You repeated, your muttering stirring Tom awake.

Needless to say the alarm hadn’t gone off, making you awfully late for work. Tom on the other hand, had the day off and now you were upset that your little ruckus awoke him too.

“Do you need help finding something darling?” He asked, voice laced with sleep.

“No no. Please go back to sleep. I’m sorry!” Apologizing profusely, you ran into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

“I’ll make you some coffee.” He called out as you slammed the door shut.

11:30 am

Should’ve accepted that cup of coffee, now my head hurts. Great job (Y/N).

The late start to your day had cascading effects - you had to skip breakfast, run to work which thankfully wasn’t too far from your apartment, and you forgot to pack your medications in the process which worried you.

That worry soon turned into anxiety because you knew what happened next, you knew just too well. It happened almost all the time, it always did when you’d have days like today. The hypoglycemia making your mouth dry and lips tingly.

“(Y/N)! Are you even listening?” Your friend, Janet waved her hands in front of your face in attempts to break you from your trance.

“Huh? Y-yeah sorry. What were you saying?” Giving yourself a mental shake, you willed your body to cooperate.

“We have a presentation in five. Now come on.”

Sadly not for long though.

As soon as you got up, grabbing the report files, your vision went black and the last thing you remembered was trying to grab onto the chair you sat in and the alarmed look of your colleague.

1:00 pm

Tom ran through the hospital lobby as fast as his legs would take him, looking for your colleague who had called him from your in case of emergency contacts after you collapsed from a particularly bad epileptic episode in your office.

A string of emotions ran through him as he received the call - panic, worry, anger for being kept in the dark about your tendencies, everything.

“Hi. Are you Tom?” A voice asked, making him turn his head in the direction. The woman matched the description you had given long ago while narrating a story once.

“Yes! You must be Janet?”

“How is she? What happened?” Tom enquired as they shook hands.

“She had a seizure at around twelve in the office, she wasn’t looking all that well plus she said she didn’t each much. I got her here because she didn’t have the meds either.”

“I had no idea...”

“The doctors said missing the medications and work stress may have triggered it. She’s awake if you’d like to see her.”

“Thank you for bringing her here, and for calling me.” He offered her a grateful smile before going in the direction of your room.

A wave of relief washed through him as Tom saw you lying on the bed looking smaller than he remembered, but at least you were fine now. Opening of the door brought your attention to the intruder as you craned your neck to see who it was.

“Oh hi.” Your voice quiet as your fingers messed with the edges of the blanket they had insisted you have. Embarrassed and afraid, you waited for Tom to begin first.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, closing the door behind him, expression unreadable.

“I’m okay now. The doctors insist I stay the night for some routine tests and changes in my medication.” Keeping your eyes on the IV drip attached to your hand, you mumbled.

He walked over to your bed and kneeled, taking your hand in his.

“I’m glad you’re okay love. You had me worried.” Tom whispered, kissing the back of your hand softly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t apologize. I feel terrible for not having known your condition previously. Why didn’t you mention anything?”

“I-I don’t know, I just—” tears already gathering as you tried to blink them away.

“Hey, look at me, I’m not mad.” Gently he cupped your face to make you look at him, as you did, you felt 100 times terrible. He seemed so sad and concerned. 

“I care about you, a lot. And it would be good if I knew what the emergency was you know, as the contact chosen in case of one.” Tom attempted to make you smile, which worked because you gave him a teary one, sniffling.

“I know I know. I promise to be more open henceforth.” you nodded, leaning into his touch as he placed a kiss to your forehead.

“Good. I love you, (Y/N).” Tom whispered, his eyes full of love and adoration.

“I love you too.”

PS: To the sweet anon who requested this, I hope you’re doing well and in case you suffer from seizures, I hope you’re taking the required treatment. Sending hugs your way!

[rachel-goth]

Two birds of a feather...

Just some Damirae angst I wrote in a day. I literally woke up with this idea this morning, so yeah -

Rating: General audiences, SFW

Warnings: a n g s t, Rae’s badly hurt but not dead

Summary: Raven decides to take the blow of a bomb to save the team during a mission and Damian has never felt so guilty in his life 

Word count: around 1k

Enjoy! <3

You better wake up soon, Raven” Damian whispered under his breath.

He was holding her hand ever so gently, rubbing the pad of his thumb on her palm. He held his head low, dark circles under his emerald green eyes.

The room was filled with sounds that were starting to give him a headache. The incessant beeping of the monitors felt almost oppressing, as if they were trying to hammer their way through his brain. 

The sounds were annoying, to say the least, but the sight was even worse. Raven was laying on the small hospital bed, her body straight and almost stiff. Tubes, wires and patches snaked everywhere on her body; nose, mouth, under her gown, arms, hands… everywhere. Sometimes, Damian just wanted to pull on them until none remained, until he could look at her face without being blocked by all of this medical paraphernalia. He wanted to be able to caress her hand without touching the medical tape that held everything in place. The tape that held her in place. 

But despite everything around her, despite the noise, the tubes and the tape, Raven almost looked… peaceful. She looked a bit paler than usual, and her face and body was covered in bruises and bandages, but she still gave off that calm aura. Her hair was resting on the pillow under her head, laid out in something that almost looked like a purple halo. 

It had been a whole week since the incident, and Damian had rarely left Raven’s side during the week. He had stopped going to patrol, he had stopped training. It wasn’t rare for him to sleep sporadically, in a very uncomfortable position, in the chair beside Raven’s bed. He tried to stay awake, to make sure she was safe. To make sure he wouldn’t make the mistake of letting her get hurt again. 

Damian felt guilty. So guilty. Guilt was like a parasite. It found your weakness, the one thing that could destroy you, and it latched on it. It latched on it and only became bigger and bigger, stronger and stronger, heavier and heavier, until you only felt that. Until all you could feel was that parasite, that guilt, sapping all your energy. 

He could have protected her. He could have taken the blow for her. But he had been too slow. He had not seen it coming, and she had been too selfless.

Before the incident, Damian already did not have the most soundless nights. Nightmares came and went, but they were manageable. But now, whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was that scene. Dick trying to stop that bomb from blowing up, Raven’s shield protecting him and her from outside blows. The numbers on the timer getting lower and lower, Dick struggling. Raven gritting her teeth, suddenly pushing him out of her force field, leaving her inside when the bomb hit zero.

Boom.

Damian could have sworn that time had stopped when the detonation went off. The sound, so loud in his ears, had resonated, leaving his eardrums vibrating. Damian hadn’t even been the first one to scream. Dick was.

“RAVEN!”

That’s when Damian realized. Dick was out of the purple shield, yet the bomb had gone off and no one had felt the blow. No one has been hurt because of it. The boy’s eyes widened, and he pushed away the goon he was fighting, turning around in one swift motion and sprinting to where the shield had been. 

Damian had never hoped so hard for someone not to be hurt. It was usually the other way around with him. Maybe that was why when he arrived, Raven was more than hurt. It was a miracle she was even alive after bearing the impact of the blow. Maybe the bigger force up above got so confused about Damian wishing someone well that this was why his wish had not been granted. Whatever the reason was, the boy started feeling the guilt when he saw Raven. His sword slipped out of his grasp and he dropped to his knees, not even feeling the impact. His hand was almost shaking when he checked her pulse, having to try a couple different spots before he finally felt it. It was weak, so weak he felt a very heavy weight drop in his stomach. He had no idea guilt was so hefty. 

What had happened next was almost a blurr. Dick asking everyone to retreat, Raven being lifted off the ground and quickly taken back to the Tower’s med bay, all of her wounds being taken care of, the team’s nervousness and sorrow as all unfolded, Kori trying to make everyone feel better by praising how strong Raven was, even though the same worry could be heard in her voice. 

Damian had stared at the ceiling in his room all night, until Dick had softly knocked on his door and said that Raven’s condition was stable. It had taken some time for the boy to process the words, but he had slipped on a vest and had silently made his way to the room the demoness was being kept in. 

The first night, he had sat in the chair and buried his face in his hands, the 1000 pounds guilt in his stomach keeping him from moving. He had apologized quietly about a hundred times, secretly hoping Raven would have heard him and said something along the lines of “Damian Wayne apologizing, am I hearing things?” but nothing had happened. The machines kept beeping and the girl’s eyes had stayed closed. She hadn’t even twitched a little bit. 

It took two weeks for Raven to stir a bit. And of course, Damian was there. Half asleep on his chair, but there nonetheless. He had been holding her hand, and he had felt a squeeze. He jolted awake, blinking two or three times before he looked at her face, where two amethyst eyes were looking at him. 

He had never been so happy to see eyes until that exact moment. 

“Hey, Demon boy” Raven whispered, her voice a bit hoarse. She grinned weakly at the expression on Damian’s face. “Did I scare you?”

Damian kept a hold of her hand and slowly brought it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the back of her hand, then her palm.

He finally answered after a good minute of silence. “No,” he muttered. “You frightened me,” he added under his breath.

[snelbz]

Lost Time {15}

A/N: As always, co-written with my better half, @tacmc​.

Elain awoke to steady beeping and dim light. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, for her memories of the day to be recollected.

Lucien had come to her work.

They fought.

He left.

She didn’t remember anything after that. 

Now, she was hooked up to a heart monitor, a blood pressure band around her arm, and IV just below it. The night sky sparkled outside of the window, and she found herself wondering how long she’d been out. She looked around, thankful to find that she wasn’t alone. 

Azriel was asleep in a chair, his chin propped on his fist, his mouth hanging wide open. His feet were propped up on a rolling stool, one ankle crossed over the other.

As if sensing her eyes on him, he stirred and his eyes opened. He was up before she ever had a chance to try and speak, cradling her face.

“It’s okay,” he breathed, “I’m right here, Lainey. I’m right here.”

Voice a rasp, she asked, “What happened?”

He chuckled, but tears were filling his eyes. “I was really hoping you could tell us that. You went into shock.”

She blinked.

Her ring. Lucien had pawned her ring.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. That ring was the most beautiful thing he’d ever given her, before she’d had Novan, but she couldn’t tell him it was gone. Better for him to assume it’d been gone for years.

“Lucien came by with some of my stuff,” she said, not a lie, but also not the full truth. “We just...got into it.”

Azriel tensed. “Got into it?”

“We fought,” she said, and he frowned.

She was fully aware by the look in his eye that he wanted an answer that held a little more of an explanation, but he didn’t push, whether it was because of her current state or because he didn’t feel it was his business, she didn’t know. She was grateful for it, though, whatever it was, because it meant she didn’t have to go into her and Lucien’s fight. “Water?”

He was instantly up on his feet, going to fill up a little paper cup with water. She was reaching out for it, but he never took his hand off of it as it touched her lips.

She tried speaking again. “Where is Donovan?”

“He’s at my mom’s,” he said, shaking his head.

She laughed softly. “Silly of me to ask.”

Azriel smiled and said, “I wondered why you didn’t just assume,” and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She smiled softly but he tilted her chin towards him when she tried to look away. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I am, I just-.” A shuddering breath. “I learned something unexpected today and it just was...tough to process. I’m okay, I promise.”

Elain leaned forward and softly pressed her lips against his. When she pulled away, he looked uncertain. “Elain-.”

“Please don’t ask questions,” she whispered. “We can talk about it later, okay?” 

He nodded, slowly, and kissed her, once again to save him from asking any more questions. A nurse came in, smiling brightly once she saw Elain awake.

“Hello, my dear!” she said, closing the door behind her. “I’m glad to find you sitting up. How are you feeling?”

“Weak,” she admitted.

The nurse nodded. “Well, that’s to be expected. Keep resting, try to sleep a little more. While you’re awake, I’d like to take a few samples so we can run some tests, make sure there are no other underlying reasons as to why you fainted.”

Elain nodded, nibbling on her bottom lip. “That’s fine.” She rolled up her sleeve and held out her arm, turning to Azriel. “What time is it?”

He yawned, glancing at his watch. “Just a bit before four.”

“Four?” She repeated, looking from him to the nurse currently prepping her. “I’ve been out for…” she paused and did some mental math. “Nearly seventeen hours?”

“You hit your head when you fell,” she explained.

It was then that Elain realized that, yes, she did have a pretty solid headache, and she reached up to touch her forehead. There was a band of gauze wrapped around her forehead.

“It’s not bad,” Azriel whispered. “You hit a corner of one of the tables on the way down, though.”

Elain hesitated. “I have stitches?”

“Only a few,” the nurse said. “You should be able to get them out next week.”

Elain nodded, slowly, letting all the little details register fully. 

“I’m going to take these samples back,” the nurse said, holding up three little vials of blood - Azriel had to look away. “There’s a cup for a urine sample in the bathroom. Do it when you can, then let me know. I’ll come back soon to check your vitals.”

Elain smiled. “Thank you.”

The nurse smiled in return before hurrying off.

Azriel was looking at her. She was looking anywhere but him, because she knew he wouldn’t let this go. She breathed, “Az…”

“I need you to tell me what happened today, Elain,” he said, voice hard.

She shook her head. “It was nothing, Az, he was lashing out because he was hurt. And I- I reacted. He was trying to get a rise out of me and it worked.”

His hazel eyes were hard. “Did he touch you?”

“What?” Her eyes widened, shocked that he’d even assume that.

“Did he hurt you?” He asked, standing up and beginning to pace. “Did he come onto you? Did he say something rude? What happened, Elain?”

She couldn’t tell him about the ring, but she also couldn’t handle him being mad at her.

“I-.” She hesitated, a thousand different lies running through her mind. “Yes, he came onto me, told me I was making a big mistake, and I got pissed. But, no, he didn’t touch me, and he left, Az. Okay? Drop it, please.”

The way his jaw locked told Elain he definitely was not going to drop it. “I’ve got to go.”

He had only taken one step before Elain said, “No, you will stay here with me, and if you leave me here to find Lucien at four in the morning, I will never forgive you.”

Azriel froze, but he didn’t like that response. “He can’t treat you like that.”

“He left when I asked him to,” she said. “He said his piece, we screamed at each other, he tried to tell me he knew what was best for me, I told him to get out and he left. I passed out after he left.”

He had turned back to her. “Right after he left?”

She shook her head. “Not immediately after, maybe a minute or so. I remember calling you, telling you to hurry and then...nothing.”

“Nothing?” He asked.

Closing her eyes, she repeated, “Nothing.”

Azriel took a deep breath and sighed, walking back towards the bed and pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek, careful of the tender spot above her brow. “Okay.”

After calming down, Elain did as the nurse he instructed and filled and left the sample cup in the bathroom. They called her back and checked her vitals, seeing that everything was reading mostly normal, save for an increased heart rate. Once they received her tests back, she’d be allowed to go home, but until then, they wanted her to try and rest.

It took very little convincing for Azriel to climb up in the uncomfortable hospital bed with Elain, to let her lay her head on his chest, tucking her in close. She drifted off to sleep almost immediately, the meds knocking her out cold, but Azriel laid there, his cheek pressed against the top of her head as he watched the sun come up.

He wasn’t going to push her. He wouldn’t press her. He’d let her come to him with whatever took place with Lucien today, but he knew she’d lied to him, at least about one thing.

She hadn’t passed out after she called him.

No, she’d made one more phone call before that, after they’d spoken.

He knew who it had been with. He just didn’t know what it had been about.

————————————————————————

Azriel sat at his mother’s kitchen table and stared at the sheet of paper in his hand, declaring that his paternity test concluded that he was, in fact, Donovan’s father. Rhysand had brought it to him an hour before, and Azriel had hardly taken his eyes off of it. He was going to be added to Novan’s birth certificate. It was becoming official.

He couldn’t help the tears that lined his eyes. 

“Everyone’s coming over for dinner,” Miryam said, stepping into the kitchen. “We’re going to celebrate. It’s a good day.”

Azriel nodded, hearing Novan’s laughter from the living room, where he was relaxing on the couch with Elain, watching a movie. He cleared his throat, “When will they be showing up?”

“Soon,” Miryam said, smiling fondly. “You’re crying.” 

He looked up at her, smiling broadly. “I know.”

She sat down in the chair next to him and took his hand. He rubbed his thumb over the back of hers. “Your father knew you’d come back one day.”

He blinked. “What?”

“He always knew you’d find your way back here. He just didn’t know how long it’d take.” She cleared her throat and for the first time since he’d been home, he heard her voice wavering as she said, “I just wish he could have seen what an amazing father you’re becoming.”

Azriel’s eyes closed, but not in any attempt to stop the tears. He knew there was no hope of that. So he leaned over and wrapped his arms around his mother, wishing he had been around to do it more in the past few years.

“Meme, may I have some juice, please?” Azriel and Miryam turned toward where Novan’shead peeked over the couch. When he saw Azriel’s tears, he hopped off the couch and ran over to him. He crawled up in his lap and asked, “You still crying happy tears, daddy?”

Azriel laughed, quietly. “Yeah, I can’t seem to stop.”

His little fingers reached up and brushed along Azriel’s tanned cheeks, wiping the tears away. “Don’t cry, daddy.”

Daddy. It wasn’t long ago that he didn’t even know he was a dad, and now he couldn’t imagine life any differently. He brushed Novan’s hair back off his forehead as he chuckled. “I’ll try my best. You know, your uncles will be here soon, you should probably go warn your mom.”

Novan grinned. “Yes! Okay. What about my juice?” 

“Meme will get you juice,” Miryam said, rising to her feet after she kissed Novan’s forehead. “Not too much, though, we’re having a big dinner tonight.” 

“And cake?” Novan asked.

Azriel laughed, “Yes, bud. And cake.”

“Yes!” He hopped off of Azriel’s lap and hurried back into the living room. He chuckled as his eyes followed him and heard Elain’s Oof! as he jumped onto her lap from over the arm of the couch.

It had been three days since they’d come home from the hospital. It was Azriel’s first chance to see Nesta, to ask what their phone call was about, but Elain was almost back to her cheerful self. She was still tired, but he knew she didn’t want to worry Novan. The sweet woman who owned the antique store had come by the house last night and brought them a plate of fresh baked cookies - which Novan has his eyes on all night - and told Elain to take a week or two off. She’d protested, but had ultimately accepted the kindness from her boss.

Azriel was grateful that Elain had such great people in her life.

Miryam began fluttering about the kitchen, after giving Novan his precious juice, and Azriel kept trying to help, but she just kept chuckling. “I love you, honey, but you are hazardous to have in the kitchen.”

Azriel scoffed, pouring himself a glass of bourbon. “That’s not true.”

“You burnt spaghetti once, sweetheart.”

Azriel screwed the lid back on the bottle and took a sip before he said, “I was seventeen, that’s not fair.”

He was kicked out of the kitchen soon after. It was okay, though, because it meant that he got to go snuggle on the couch with Elain and Novan before their family began to arrive. Nesta and Cassian were the first, Nesta plopping down in the armchair in the living room as their movie finished up.

“Aunt Nes,” Novan began, propping his little chin on his fists. “Your tummy is getting big.”

“That’s because your baby cousin is growing in here,” she explained, lovingly rubbing her hand down it. “Just like you grew in your mommy’s tummy.”

Novan turned to Elain. “I was in your tummy? How’d I get in there?” His eyes grew even wider. “How’d I get out?”

Elain and Azriel both froze and Nesta, realizing the likely incoming conversation she’d caused, was about to get out of the chair, when Cassian entered the room and said, “It’s a boy!”

Elain and Az were on their feet, looking from Nesta and Cassian. Elain asked, “You found out? When?! And you didn’t tell me?”

Nesta, with a look of genuine confusion, said, “We haven’t found out, I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

“I’m talking about Az,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Because he’s officially a dad.”

Azriel rolled his eyes as Cassian pulled him in close for a hug, and Nesta groaned. “Oh, no, it’s too early for the dad-jokes to start.” 

“It’s never too early.” Cassian winked at his fiancée as he ruffled Azriel’s hair, which earned him a scowl.

“Uncle Cass!” Novan said, jumping up on the couch. “Meme got me a new train, wanna see?”

“Of course I do,” Cassian answered, as if the tiny toy train was the most majestic thing on the planet. With a wide grin, Novan hurried away to get it. 

Feyre and Rhysand came in a minute later, the latter holding a cake. “Close your eyes! I’ve been instructed to get this to the kitchen without anyone seeing. Little did I know you all would be standing directly in front of the door.” 

“The one time we don’t walk through the back door,” Feyre muttered, and Elain chuckled.

Rhysand hurried through the house with the cake as Feyre hugged Azriel, then Elain, just as Novan came running back through the house with a little toy train.

He took a tumble right as he came around the corner and everyone froze, waiting to see if the fall would result in a meltdown or if he’d hop right back up and keep going. It seemed Novan was having a rough day, too.

He sat back on his bottom and looked at the carpet burn on his knee and then the tears began. He forgot the train on the floor and was up and running towards his family. Miryam and Elain were both ready to scoop him up and dry his tears, but he passed them and stood in front of Azriel. He wailed, “Da- Daddy, I hurt my knee.”

There was no hesitation as he picked his son up and said, “Let me see, bud.”

Novan moved his hand, where it was holding his knee, and the smallest of carpet burns made its appearance. 

“Ouch,” Azriel agreed, kissing Novan’s forehead. “How about a Bandaid? Bandaids always help.” 

Novan nodded, his bottom lip still wobbling as Azriel carried him into the kitchen and sat him down on the counter. 

“You gotta remember to walk,” Azriel sang as he dug through the medicine cabinet. 

“I was excited,” Novan replied, wiping at his eyes.

“I know,” Azriel said, laughing softly as he found the box of Bandaids and took one out that had Spiderman on it. He carefully put it over the carpet burn. “Even when we’re excited, though, we have to walk when we’re inside. Right?”

Novan nodded, and then his eyes caught something over Azriel’s shoulder. Azriel took Novan off the counter and turned around to see that Novan had found the cake, and remembering Rhysand’s earlier warning, he quickly hurried out of the kitchen. “Don’t tell Meme we saw the cake,” Azriel mumbled.

Novan’s hands flew over his mouth as he giggled.

They rejoined the family in the living room, Azriel sitting next to Elain, and Donovan took off, walking quickly, to retrieve his forgotten train and show his uncle. Before they knew it, it was time to eat and Cassian and Azriel carried in plates full of fresh from the grill burgers and hot dogs.

Azriel had been attempting to catch Nesta’s eye all afternoon, but whether it was intentional or not, he could never seem to find a moment to pull her to the side. He’d find a moment at some point, he was sure, but he didn’t want to let his curiosity ruin a perfect day.

Novan was eating a hamburger that was the size of his head when he asked, “Mommy, does this mean I get a second birthday every year?”

Everyone laughed as Elain said, “Not quite, buddy.”

“But, it’s a special day,” Azriel said, eyeing Novan next to him at the table. 

“Because we eat cake?” he asked. “Thank you for cake, Meme.”

Miryam laughed. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

“Cake is good,” Azriel agreed. “But, it’s special because now I get to legally be your daddy.” Novan’s brows scrunched together, and Azriel realized that such a concept would be confusing to a four-year-old. “Nevermind,” he went on, chuckling. “Today is special because I love you, yeah? This will forever be our special day, bud.” 

His hazel eyes lit up. “Just for us?”

Azriel couldn’t help but smile. “Just for us, but don’t you think we should let everyone celebrate?”

His eyes narrowed. “We share the cake?”

Azriel chuckled and kissed his head. “You’d have to share the cake regardless.”

Donovan sighed dramatically. “Fine. As long as it’s our day though. I’m glad you’re my daddy”

He dove back into his burger, not noticing that almost everyone else around the table had tears in their eyes.

Especially Rhys and Feyre.

————————————————————————

Once the cake had been cut and Donovan crashed from sugar, Rhys and Az took a minute to step out onto the back porch.

“So…” Azriel awkwardly began. How exactly was he supposed to pick back up the conversation about his brother’s infertility?

“You’re wondering about the results from Yrene?” Rhysand guessed. A small smile had appeared on his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. 

Azriel nodded. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, I was just-.”

The door opened again and Cassian stepped out, a beer in his hand. “What’d I miss?”

Azriel frowned as Rhysand ran a hand through his hair. “I, uh, met with Yrene. Feyre and I have been struggling to have kids for a while, so we had some tests run.”

Cassian’s face fell as he stood by his brothers. “I didn’t even know you guys were trying.” 

Rhysand nodded. “Yeah… And, it turns out, Feyre’s fine. It’s me.” His voice went so quiet that the words could hardly be heard.

“Is there...nothing you can do?” Azriel asked.

Rhys shook his head. “Not really, because as of right now, we’re doing everything right. I just have a, uh.” He shook his head and laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “I have a low sperm count.”

“What exactly does that mean?” Cass asked, leaning against the wooden rail. “You can cum but there’s no swimmers?”

Az rolled his eyes and said, “It means he has less than you and I.” He looked back to Rhys. “Which that’s not a definitive no, right? It could still happen at some point, in some way?”

Rhys was shaking his head. “Yes, but it’s not likely to happen in the traditional way.” He sighed. “They’re suggesting we try implanting it directly into Feyre’s uterus, but it’s expensive. Money isn’t a problem, I just don’t want to put Feyre through that for nothing if it doesn’t take.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Have you talked about a surrogate anymore?”

“I’d fuck her for you,” Cass interjected.

Rhys said, “Dude, no,” at the same time Azriel said, “Cassian,”‘and shook his head.

“What?” He asked. “It’s cheaper than paying someone else to do it with a big ass syringe, it would feel good for Feyre, and the kid would still look like the rest of the family.”

Rhysand rolled his eyes, completely ignoring Cassian, and said, “We’ve discussed it. She doesn’t want to use a surrogate. She wants to try the intrauterine implant method if we try anything.” He sighed and said, “And please don’t ever tell Feyre that you offered to fuck her.”

“Do you want my kid?” Cass asked.

“No, Cass, I don’t want your kid.”

“Cause you can have this one,” Cassian went on, sipping from his bottle. “Nesta and I will just make another.”

Azriel gawked, but Rhysand was shoving Cassian in the chest, unable to stop the genuine, little smile that had formed. “Fuck you.”

Cassian laughed, and pulled Rhysand in for a hug by the back of his head. “I’m sorry, man. Something will work out though, you know? You two were meant to be parents.”

He nodded his head, and smiled sadly, though Az could tell it was genuine. “I know we will. We just...never thought that it would be us, you know? You hear all of these stories about people having trouble conceiving, but you also hear about so many accidental pregnancies,” Azriel’s cheeks heated,  though he knew it was unnecessary. Rhys went on, “So when you find out that you are the reason you can’t make a kid…” He shook his head. “Makes me feel like a piece of shit. Like I’m not that man I promised her I’d be.”

“Feyre loves you whether you can or can’t, just the same,” Azriel said, quietly. “And just because you can’t make a kid the traditional way won’t make it any less special. We all find different routes to parenthood, it seems. Some routes are harder than others. Never doubt yourself, though. You’re a good man, Rhys, and you’ll be a great husband.”

Rhysand nodded, and clapped Azriel on the shoulder. For a moment, they all stood there in a comfortable silence, dwelling on all that had been said, fully aware there was not much else that could be said to comfort him, but hoping their presence would be enough. 

————————————————————————

After Donovan went down for late nap, he didn’t wake up for the rest of the night. A little after eight, everyone had packed up and left, and when they got back to their house, Azriel took Novan to his room and tucked him. He wasn’t sure how long he sat on the floor by his bed, gently brushing his hair off his face, watching him sleep. But he just wanted to be there. To bask in the peaceful moment of loving his son.

His heart was aching for Rhys. He was doing everything he could to fulfill their dream for Feyre but sometimes, there was only so much that could be done.

With a sigh, Az got to his feet and pressed a soft kiss to Novan’s forehead, before cracking the door shut and stepping into the hall. The sound of water had him heading into their bedroom, and the adjoining bathroom, where he found Elain soaking in the tub.

“Well, someone looks relaxed,” he said, pulling the small stool stashed under the vanity to the edge of the tub and resting his arms on the edge. He propped his chin on his arms and glanced down into the water, where Elain was blissfully naked. He glanced up at her and wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed quietly and said, “Down, boy.”

He smiled broadly and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Well. It’s official. You have yourself a certified baby daddy.”

She laughed as she reached a wet hand out of the tub and brushed back his hair. “Sure do.”

“We’re a family now,” he breathed. “I mean, we’ve always been a family, but...now we can laminate it.”

Elain’s head fell back as she laughed. “You want to laminate our son’s birth certificate? I was just going to put it in the filing cabinet along with everything else.”

He grinned. “Fair enough. I’m just...excited.”

“Good,” she said, quietly. “Me too, for life with you. Our family.”

“Yeah,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. “You look happy.”

“I am happy.”

“You’re beautiful when you’re happy,” he breathed, greeting her with the softest of kisses.

“Hush,” she breathed, blushing, kissing him back, unable to pull the smile from her face. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he smiled, and looked down into the water again. Thanks to the oils, salts, bath bomb and whatever else she’d put in the water, he could make out her form, but couldn’t explicitly see her body. “You know, it’s been a long day, I was thinking about taking a bath, too.”

Elain chuckled and asked, “Really?”

Azriel shook his head, “No, not really, but I’ll never pass up an opportunity to be naked and wet with you.” She laughed and he kissed her cheek, heading for the bedroom. “I’ll be back with a bottle of wine and two glasses.”

She sank down into the water a little bit lower and said “Just one glass.”

He turned back, unable to read her expression, and said, “Why just one?”

His face made her chuckle and she said, “Pregnant women can’t drink, Az.”

“Well, I know, but what does that-.” His words broke off as the realization of her words hit him, as her grin spread wide. His voice was just a whisper as he asked, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

She shook her head, excitedly, unable to stop the melodic laughter that fell from her lips. “I’m pregnant, Az.” 

His mouth fell open, and for a moment he was frozen in place, but then he was running toward the bathtub and throwing himself into the water, clothes and all. Tears were running down his face as he cupped Elain's cheeks, his knees on both sides of her waist, and kissed her lips. 

“You’re serious?” He breathed, lips still on hers.

She nodded and Azriel noticed her tears as well. “They ran it with all of my tests when I was in the hospital. And it came up positive.” She reached down to the floor outside the tub and held up the little plastic stick. “I’m ten and a half weeks.”

“Ten and a half weeks,” he repeated, his heart completely full. “A baby.”

She nodded, laughing as he pressed his forehead against hers. “Don’t go running off this time.”

“Not a chance,” he whispered, and kissed her, showing her just how deep his loyalty ran.

[creepycatboyz]

"Scary Monsters" Marble Hornets Tim/Brian Fanfiction

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33361528/chapters/83235640

Chapter 2: Reunited at once

Ever since he was free from the grasp of the Operator, he could properly breathe out and not having the feeling of being watched. He yearned for this feeling for years. Medication helped, but he could never shrug off the slight feeling of being watched. He absolutely hated it, as he loved to keep his privacy. He had gotten sick and tired of Jay coming back to dig through the stuff of Marble Hornets, he just wanted to forget that, especially after his best friend has gone missing after Alex and him went to film a scene.

After everything had progressively gotten worse, the lack of medication he had to fend off the Operator with, he had enough. Someone in a beige-yellow hoodie, with a badly sewed on frowny face, has been stealing his medication, and that pissed him off so bad. Tim needs them, not this random person. Eventually he confronted the person, ran after them and surely accidently killed them. He's still not over this, he goddamn killed someone! Was it technically self-defense? Probably not. At least he could've called an ambulance, but he just left with the stolen pills they left in their pocket.

It's been a month, since he packed up the little things he had and left as far as he could. A relative of his offered him a relatively big cabin, where he can stay so he can settle down and calmly search for a job. He told this member the least amount of information, as he didn't want to freak them out or call him crazy.

Smoking a cigarette, this habit having never left his mind, he calmy gazed at the surrounding trees of his cabin. He's not completely engulfed in the woods, but it would be slightly hard to find the way if you don't know it. Which Tim appreciates, as he doesn't really want to talk to people, or be disturbed while he's doing his own thing. He likes his privacy, especially after he had no feeling of being watched. Usually he would be staying as far as possible from forests, as it always reminds him of the operator, but now he grew quite fond of the nature around him. He loves to watch birds pick berries from the nearby berry bushes, sometimes other small animals run around in the evening trying to find something to eat. At times he leaves out some food, a little bit further away from his cabin so they won't come back, to feed the animals around here. If he can't currently take care of a dog, he can at least fed the wild animals around here. He still kept his old phone number, as first off, he only gave it to Brian and Jessica, but never the others. He rarely talked to them outside of filming anyways, and honestly, he doesn't want them to contact him. He's done with the Operator, done with these scary monsters that should stay childhood fears.

The calm moments that were just now, were interrupted by a loud ring from his quite old phone. It looks a bit broken, but it still does his job! He lazily threw the cigarette he was smoking on the floor and crushed it with his shoe. Curiously he walked over to his phone and answered the call.

"Hello?", his voice a bit hoarse, due to smoking just a moment ago. "This is Dove's care hospital, am I speaking to Timothy Wright?", a female voice from the other end came. He grimaced at hearing his first name but soon thought to himself: 'A hospital? Why would a hospital call me from all the other possbilities?' "Yeah, this is Tim, is there something wrong?", he asked, confused on why he was even called in the first place. "A certain Brian Thomas had you on his contacts, in case something happened to him. His family was also on the list, but we couldn't reach them." Hearing his best friends' name his heart dropped, he couldn't even believe it. His lips let out a small whimper before he tried to compose himself. "I- Uh.. I will get there. It'll take some hours 'til I get there though. Around 5 hours", as he was saying that he already began to pack up some money, pills, snacks and spare clothes. The receptionist noted that down and told him Brian is in a stable situation, but has no memory on what had happened. As soon as he heard which room he was in he said goodbye and immediately hung up. He rushed to lock his door leaving immediately.

Right as he got in his car he couldn't even properly focus on the road, due to him being so overwhelmed with emotions. He for real thought his friend was gone! He hasn't heard from him for ages and he only noticed it was off ever since he moved out after Jay tried to dig through the old recordings. He secretely saved the old tapes, Jay posted, of him and Brian, those are the only recent memories he even had of him. Childhood memories of course stayed, but with those memories he also has to look back to the Operator, who tormented him since he was little. While he was driving, he was trying so hard not to cry, mostly due to happiness, he missed him so much. He wished he noticed sooner, but he was completely trying to forget everything, anything to get away from the monster. The amount of happiness overshadowed the dread he was feeling driving closer to Tuscaloosa, his hometown, where all the trouble happened.

Arriving in Tuscaloosa gave him this familiar feeling of being watched. If the Operator felt any joy, he would be feeling it right now, seeing his victim return once again. He won't give him the satisfaction, as he swallowed the pills he had taken with him. The closer he drove to the hospital, the gaze of the Operator started to fade away and he let out a sigh of relief. He wants to get Brian out of this hellhole, where both of them can be safe, from the monster and Alex. He didn't mind Alex if he's honest, he seemed pretty neat, but after the filming of Marble Hornets, he just started acting weird. The Operator can sure do a lot of damage to people, Tim himself is a example for that, but he's slowly getting better. He hopes Alex can also get the help, but he doubts it, as Alex went as far as to attempt murder.

He parked near the hospital and as soon as he stepped out of the car, he felt nervous. What should he even say to Brian? Oh hi, I didn't realize you were missing, because my brain was in constant fear due to some tall thin monster with no face? Yeah, that sure will be believable. He shook his head and made his way towards the hospital. As he entered he went to the reception and told them he's visiting Brian Thomas as he was on his contacts if something ever happened to him. Tim already knew which room he was in as he kept repeating it on the way there in his head, but he wanted to make sure and let the receptionist know that he arrived.

Room 52. He anxiously glanced in the direction of the hall where the numbers from 50 til 60 were. He composed himself and made his way to number 52. He can do this, it's just his best friend, well he hopes they still are. Oh god, what if they aren't anymore? He still cares about him so much. As he stood in front of the door, it took him some moments to gain the courage to knock twice.

A faint 'yeah' could be heard from inside the room and he immediately started to panic. He tried to shake off the feeling, which took a bit longer than he wanted. After having his usual calm expression, he opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind him quietly. What he saw beforehim, was a Brian bandaged up everywhere where he could see him and a cast on his left arm. Confused on how he even got hurt that badly, he was speechless. His friend had a tired expression, but still the warm smile he always had. "Hey Tim, how's it goin'?", Brian spoke, his voice clear, yet a bit quiet and hoarse.

Tim walked closer to him and took a seat on the chair on Brian's right side. "Quite good actually unlike you", he teased and glanced at his bandaged up body and arm. The light haired male rolled his eyes, but still had a grin on his face. "Yeah, no clue what happened. One day I was filming with Alex for Marble Hornets, which is still a stupid name, and ta-da next thing I know I woke up in a hospital. Amnesia I guess?", he chuckled, resting his head on the hospital pillow. "Probably the meds, or you hit your head bad", the darker haired man suggested. Brian shrugged with his right shoulder, as he couldn't with his other.

"I was actually in a coma for around a month, just woke up 2 days ago, I was barely awake though. They tried to call my family, but that didn't work, so today they called you", he explained and he sounded happy about the fact that they called Tim. "I'm glad you came" The smile his best friend gave him, made his heart simply melt, he had a slight tooth gap, which he always thought was pretty adorable. "I missed you dude, I had no clue that something had happened, I wish I knew sooner", that made Tim frown, as he wished he could've been there for his friend, but he just moved away, leaving everything behind, even his best friend.

Brian chuckled and shook his head. "It's alright, you showing up is enough for me" That made Tim smile, and he leaned back into the chair. For a few moments there was an awkward silence between the two, just being in eachother's presence was enough for both of them. The thought of the Operator crept up in the dark haired man and he had to break the silence. "So, when are they going to release you?", he asked, looking at his friend. Brian thought for a moment and scratched his chin, which had a unkept beard. "Uh, maybe two weeks? At most, I would have to do check-ups at the doc though", with that he just shrugged with his one shoulder.

Okay Tim, now you have to ask him if he wants to live with you, that doesn't sound weird, but how will he explain the reason why? Brian doesn't believe in this Operator nonsense, he hasn't been affected by it, at least he couldn't tell.

"I- This is gonna sound weird and it will probably make no sense to you, but do you want to move together with me?", the best way for Tim to ask Brian is just talking to him directly. Brian stared at him for a moment and furrowed his brows, but then grinned. "I mean, it would be refreshing to finally live outside Tuscaloosa, so I wouldn't mind, I'd have to get my old stuff though" He stopped and his eyes widen, he immediately tried to sit right up, making him only groan in pain. Even that didn't stop his panicked talking. "Oh god, I hope they didn't kick me out! I haven't paid rent, in like what? 2 months!"

Oh shoot, Brian has been missing for more than 2 months, at least 6 months? Hell, he himself can't even remember. Trying to calm him down he placed his hand on his healthy shoulder rubbing it gently "Slow down, tiger, how about I check your place out and discuss it with your landlord?" The light brown haired man took calm breaths and nodded. "I should probably call them too, seems more personal" Tim thought for a moment if this was a good idea, probably? Then they would get the amount of months he had been missing... Brian would be hella confused though. "My phone's over there", while he said that he pointed towards a table with his belongings they found him with.

Tim nodded, standing up and walking towards the phone only to realize it has been completely thrashed, as if it fallen out of his pocket as he tripped or something. He inspected the phone and awkwardly turned to Brian, who was watching him in anticipation. "Your phone is completely thrashed man", that's the only thing he could say, holding up the phone that doesn't even turn on, with a completely shattered screen. Brian's face immediately became a frown. "Uhh, well. Shit, I also don't know her phone number. My brain is a complete mess..." Tim smiled and walked over to him ruffling his already messy hair, which made the other man pount slightly. "I'll just drive by there and tell the situation, m'kay? And what if I bring you some good lunch after I am done, so you can finally eat some proper food?" At the mention of food, Brian immediately got excited. "I've only been awake for a few days, but these meals are a real pain. You're the best, dude", he grinned widely.

With that, Tim made his way towards Brian's old apartment, trying to find his landlady. Brian mentioned her name being Margaret something and she was really sweet. He walked around the complex and saw her name on one of the name cards on where to ring. What he didn't expect is for an old lady to open the door, huh, the worst she could do to Brian is pinch his cheeks to death he guessed. He always hated his cheeks getting pinched when they visited his grandparents, he would get very annoyed and his cheeks would be red. "Hello, are you Margaret, the landlady?", he asked, looking at her. She nodded and smiled. "Ah, yes, I am the owner of this apartment complex. Is there something you need?" Her smile was warm and welcoming, she looked like a kind soul. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah, it's about a friend of mine, he rented an apartment here? Brian Thomas, tall, lanky, brown blondish hair?" he asked. At the mention of his name and then the further description her eyebrows raised. "Mr Thomas... I haven't seen him quite a while. He also hasn't been paying rent for the last... eight months or so? Is he alright?" He expected her to be angy, but he was only met with a look of concern.

Tim scratched the back of his neck. "Well, he was in a coma for a month or so and I came to visit him today, because family couldn't. I have no clue what happened to him, but he's very sorry for not being able to pay rent" The old lady scoffed and shook her head. "Tell that boy he shouldn't worry. His furniture is still in his apartment and he can still live here, but with rent. He doesn't have to pay it back, but he should properly take care of himself!" he nodded, paying close attention to every word she's saying. "I'll take care of him, as me and him will move together out of state..." As soon as those lips left his mouth, she started to talk. "Do you want me to call a move truck? My son has one, and he would be glad to help"

The dark haired man just blinked for a few moments and nodded. "Uh, sure? How much would that be, I have some spare money", he chuckled slightly. "Oh, you could fetch me some groceries from the store that is all" Well, he really struck gold with this lady, she's so nice even though, Brian hasn't paid rent in a long time. Surely they had a really good friendship, if she's so worried about him. Tim nodded and asked for the shopping list, which he got. She even wanted to give him the money for the groceries, but he avoided that, persisting that he will pay that out of his own pocket as it isn't too much. He thanked her and told her he will be back soon enough and left to get the groceries and some good food for Brian and him, as he hasn't eaten anything since he came to Tuscaloosa.

Back at the hospital, after delivering the groceries to the old lady, he handed over Brian a turkey sandwich with a sunkist soda. "You still remember my favorite sandwich and drink?", his eyes shined as he unpacked the sandwich with his one hand, immediately munching on it. He opened the can for him, which gained him a grin from his best friend. He also sat down on the chair on his right side, eating his own sandwich, which had tuna. How fast Brian was able to eat, still baffled Tim, he devoured the sandwich in less than one minute. "That was good", was the only thing Brian said, sipping on his sunkist. For the rest of the afternoon, they talked about various things, but mostly enjoyed eachothers presence. After it started to become slightly dark, Tim said goodbye, going to arrange the moving truck and all the other stuff, so everything is ready, when he's released from the hospital

[stolen-kisses-a]

The Night Ali Disappeared ~ A PLL Night of Terror ~

In other words, the night Ali had too many people against and after her and she almost got murdered for it. 

 *most info comes from a PLL site if I can’t remember every little detail so I rewrote the majority of my version of events and copy and pasted some parts along with some of the pictures, so credit goes to them for putting it altogether for us.

Link:  https://prettylittleliars.fandom.com/wiki/Sequence_of_Events_-_Alison%27s_Disappearance#The_Day_Alison_Went_Missing_-_September_1 

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

Lets take a trip down memory lane shall we??? This is gonna be a long one. Read it if you want to or read it from the link as well :)

1. The morning of: Alison went to Hilton Head to meet up and be with Ian to get her mind off of - A. And at the same time Melissa was there with Ian but in separate rooms. Melissa showed up in Ian’s room and was angry with Ian for knowing Ali is there with him and he tells her that Alison means nothing to him, that’s when Alison finds Ian’s creepy pedo videos and it happens to be one of Toby and Jenna. She gets a copy of the video and then leaves.

2. Alison checks into the Lost Woods Resort under her Alias Vivian. Sparia also found out she checked in another time. But the dates are confusing. This will be explained later on (#23).

3. Alison then dressed up as Vivian Darkbloom and had Duncan fly her from Hilton Head to a field near Philadelphia 6-7 hours before the girls believed her to arrive (I’m not sure if it’s true or not). She then was going to meet A face to face finally after having a newspaper convo back and forth with them, but supposedly that never happened. They were supposed to meet nearby of what looks like a creepy doll hospital (cuz Mona loves dolls), supposedly Alison called the police that same day near the street where the hospital was - not sure what for if this was true as Alison never confirmed it.

4. Alison then goes visits Jenna in the hospital, to show her the video of Jenna and Toby together as blackmail, because she thought Jenna was A. Turns out to be false as A sends her a death threat right after leaving Jenna’s room. 

5. That afternoon: Alison then “returns home” from Georgia with bags looking very tan and saying her arms are sore. One bag had a tag on it from Hilton Head, Spencer obviously questions it and Alison asks her “why so many questions?” and reiterates she can’t spill every detail and tells the girls to “wait for it” repeatedly.

6. Alison returns home and finds a gift from her mom with the infamous yellow top and she turns around after changing in her room and sees a threatening message from A on her mirror.

7.  That same day, Alison bought a storage locker to hide Ian’s videos before stopping by to see Emily and flirt with her some to then give her a snow globe with the storage locker key inside the bottom of it. Alison then leaves for a “prior engagement” although it was never revealed who she went to see next before coming to Spencer’s barn for the sleep over.

8. Before heading over to the sleepover. Alison returns home again and runs into her mom (on the phone with Radley because Bethany escaped and Charlotte escaped as well to go after her). Her mom wanted to Ali to stay in for obvious reasons even though the excuse that she just didn’t want to her going out. Alison then fights back by saying she planned this ages ago and was told it was ok to do. Then she mentions about Spencer being a bully and that she took care of it (really, Spencer a bully?). Then Ali’s mom remarks to Ali “She knows things about  that family Ali doesn’t know” and Ali asked curiously “Really, like what?” Ali’s Mom responds that she’s seen what they are capable of and reminds Ali’s that she can never turn her back on a Hastings. -Which is exactly what Ali did after her and Spencer fought again #12). Alison then pretends to go to her room and sneaks back down to go into her moms purse to grab some sleeping pills while her mom was distracted on the phone again- what does Ali need those for? Oh, we’ll find out soon.

9. That Night: Alison arrives at Spencer's barn and pranks and jumps to the barn doors and scares the girls. Heading inside, she gets a text from Toby to meet her. The girls hang for a bit and gossip about Beyonce’s new song and then Ali throws some shade at Emily for liking it too much (totally not homophobic am i right??). She then spikes the girls drink with her moms medicine to knock them out. Aria drinks first and Spencer jokes to Aria to not drink to much or she’ll tell them all her secrets. The Ali ironically says “Friends shares secrets, that’s what keeps us close. Drink up”.;)  We can only assumed Emily, Hanna and Spencer drank afterwards. After the girls fell asleep, she then meets Toby outside of the barn doors so he can thank her for getting Jenna to leave him alone. Toby then gives her his sweater because she was cold.

10. After speaking with Toby, Alison leaves Spencer’s backyard to meet up with Ezra. *cringe*.Toby also saw this as well (Although this was never even mentioned by Toby either -plot hole-).Ezra is clearly mad at Ali since she lied to him about her age and then he ends things with Alison in a not so nice way..

11. *Spencer wakes up and notices Ali was missing, so she waits for her to return.*  

Alison then goes to meet Ian at the kissing rock after speaking with Ezra. (flashback moment: (I know you wanna kiss me”). this is where they fake Ian hurting Ali in the video later discovered. Alison then threatens him with his videos to make him leave her alone, Ian then says not tell anyone or else people will get hurt and then ironically “storms” off.

12. Alison returns to the barn to find Spencer awake waiting for her. Also she didn’t have Toby’s sweater anymore. Where did it go? (plot hole - only to be planted in Toby’s room to frame Toby for Alison’s murder at some point.)

They go inside Spencer’s house and have a fight about Spencer telling Melissa about her and Ian again. It gets heated and Spencer tells Alison she is sick of her games and told her, "You are dead to me already. “ Alison leaves and then Spencer runs after her. (Charlotte and Alison’s mom witness the fight and pays Charlotte off not to say anything - which is weird to pay off your own daughter). Spencer wants to continue the confrontation with Alison and Spencer grabs a shovel acting as if she was going to hit Alison with it and Spencer collapses to the ground in the midst of Alison trying to stop Spencer. Alison then discovers Spencer had been taking ADHD meds (not to mention the sleeping pills mixed in her system from Ali already) and Spencer begs Ali not to tell anyone and she agreed and then sends Spencer back to the barn with the shovel in head and Ali  then waits for her to fall back asleep. (Melissa also sees the fight and sees Spencer walking away with the shovel)

13. Meanwhile, Ian, Garrett and Jenna all meet up in Alison’s bedroom to look for the videos she stole. Melissa comes in furious looking for Alison in hopes to confront her about Ian and Ali hooking up. Garrett and Jenna leave Melissa and Ian alone to talk it out and go outside in the backyard. Alison comes up to them and then Ali reminds Jenna of the promise she made to her earlier that morning,(”If you ever come back to Rosewood, I’ll bury you”) so Jenna and Ali get into a cat fight, Ali knocks Jenna to the ground and she comes back up with the infamous now burned in Spencer’s fireplace (thanks to Mr. Hastings) field hockey stick in attempt to defend herself. Garrett takes the hockey stick from Jenna and proceeds to attack Ali with it and hits the tree next to Ali, she then falls to the ground next to the tree telling Garrett to hush with her finger. Garrett and Jenna flee the scene, with Jenna thinking Garrett killed or hurt Ali badly.

14. Garrett comes back to check on Ali to see if she’s ok (even though she wasn’t even hurt), but then notices she was talking to someone and proceeds to listen and watch to see who it was. Byron (Aria’s dad) came to speak to her about not exposing his affair to Ella because he didn’t have anymore money to give her to keep her quiet. Alison says "If you don't pay for your mistakes, how do you become a better person?" Byron replies back "You say all these grown-up things, yet you're still a child." Alison smirks and says "You know what I'm capable of." After Garrett makes some noise, Byron starts to leave and Alison threatens him again saying it's his last chance to save himself. Byron turns while he is leaving and replies, "Yes it is," presumably meaning he was going to tell Ella himself (which he obviously doesn’t). Alison then screams to him "You made your bed Mr. Montgomery,"  

15.  While Byron was leaving, Byron turns back when Alison spoke about his bed (LOL) and sees Melissa coming out from Alison’s back door on the phone with someone and says to them, "What do I have to do, call 911 to get your attention?" This is the part where we never found out who she was talking to, but it was important enough to show it to us.

16. Jason (out of nowhere) came outside to grab a drink of water from the watering hose since he was drunk and high and notices Melissa and presumably Alison talking to each other and calls out Ali’s name and then he sees Charlotte talking with Melissa instead, although this is false and never really confirmed who it actually was. As Alison and Bethany were wearing the same outfit that night, not Charlotte. It wouldn’t make sense for it to be Bethany talking to Melissa since she arrived much later, and Alison never confirmed this information either. So who knows what Jason really saw. So right after seeing them, he passes out on a lawn chair. Sometime after this, Garrett or Jenna, or both, slipped a note to Jason that says "I know what you did", in order to make him believe he hurt Alison, since Jenna thought Garrett had killed her.

 17.  Alison returns to the barn watching the girls sleep some more and waiting to get another text from A, in order to rule them out. As some time passes, Alison decides to head home thinking she won since A didn’t try to kill her. As she was walking back to her house, she sees her mom obviously angry at her through the window for sneaking out and then all of sudden. BAM!! Charlotte hits Alison over the head with a rock only because she presumed it was Bethany since she was wearing the same outfit. Her mom then proceeds to bury Alison where the gazebo spot would be (pilot episode).  She is screaming to Charlotte, "What have you done?! What have you done?!" Alison attempts to tell her mom she is alive, but cannot move or speak due to temporary paralysis. After Ali’s mom buries her, she then calls Detective Wilden and pays him off to give Charlotte an alibi and sends her back to Radley.

17. Not long after, Alison dug her way up reaching out of the ground for help/to get free, and who was there to grab her hand? Mrs. Grunwald of course, as she sensed something was wrong with Alison and had to come see what was going on and found her hand reaching for life. She then takes Ali to the hospital to get help, but then Ali runs away.

18. Meanwhile, Bethany finally shows up at Ali’s backyard, and so does Mona who was finally ready to confront and to kill Ali. But just like Charlotte’s mistake, Mona only saw the back of Bethany and presumed it was Alison and hit her over the head with the same shovel Spencer had earlier. This is when Bethany’s head gets hit so hard that it makes an indentation on her skull and she falls unconscious next to where Ali was previously buried. Mona then flees the scene.

19. Shortly after, Melissa shows up and sees Alison (obviously presuming it was her without checking) and assumed Spencer killed her based on the fight she witnessed they had earlier that night. She then proceeds to bury Bethany who was still alive in order to protect Spencer (”this whole time”)

20. And then we come back to the Pilot opening scene where the girls wake up to find Spencer and Ali missing from the barn. Spencer comes back to them and says that she looked everywhere for her and she thinks she heard her scream - which we know was probably from Bethany.

21. Later on that night, we see Alison walking on a random street after leaving Mrs. Grunwald’s aide. She is dazed and confused, hurt and traumatized by what she just went through. And who to pull up beside her? Mona. (I wonder what Mona’s plan was since she thought she killed her). 

So Mona takes Ali to the Lost Woods Resort and checks in under Vivian Darkbloom’s name for Alison. Mona proceeds to clean Ali up and Ali tells Mona what  happened and about A who tried to kill her. So smart and cunning Mona persuades Ali to fake her death so A could leave her alone for good.

22. The next day: Mona helps disguise Alison in a Vivian like wig so she can disappear. She then gives Mona tips on how to become popular and then Ali takes a car and leaves showing Mona with a eerier grin as she drives away, thinking she finally won.

23. Which comes back to the last bit of information involving Alison checking in again on 9/6 at the Lost Woods Resort 5 days later as she already checked in the night she went missing and she left the next day. So this had to be Mona checking in as her again or a plot hole in plotting clues in the storyline of Alison’s disappearance that ended up not making sense.

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

It’s crazy how many people Ali saw the night/day she went missing and was almost killed. Like this girl clearly attracts trouble and drama and shit she shouldn’t be into at 15 years old.

Well, I hope you had fun reading this tale of terrors with me (if you made it to the end and didn’t go to the link lol) as much as I had fun putting it altogether and reminiscing on how it took the show 4 seasons to tell Alison’s disappearance story.

[annewritesfic]

Happy Endings Don’t Exist

hey so i don’t really feel like making this like a full, normal, multichapter au but i really am attached to the tlc au (which @anythingbutwallflower helped a ton with because she’s amazing) and i kinda wanna post some of it so um yeah, here’s some

based off chapter 44 of scarlet by marissa meyer

(brief explanation of context at the end)

word count: 2660

triggers: mentions of guns, blood, scalpels, sleeping drugs, death, sacrifice, and murder

As the ship finally made it to neutral orbit, Chess sat back in the chair, rubbing her eyes and releasing a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. She gave herself just one moment to sit there, eyes closed, all the aches and pains of the last few days catching up to her, before turning around to face the others.

Kate Dalton was sitting cross-legged against a crate, eyes closed and both hands splayed against the floor, like she was bracing themself. Cairo was still unconscious, spread-eagle on her back, a smear of blood leading to the edge of the ramp. The strange woman was off to the side, also unconscious, laying on her side with her back to Chess, both braids messy and coming undone.

“I’m really glad you’re a pilot,” Kate said, eyes still closed. “Thank you.”

“Your ship does pretty good on its own,” Chess said awkwardly, hands in her lap.

“Thanks!” said the voice from before over the speaker. “I’m Reese. It’s great to meet you!”

Chess glanced up curiously.

Kate stood up and stretched, wincing a little. “Reese is an old friend of mine. She’s… she was an android, but now she’s the ship’s auto-control system until I can find a replacement body for her and a new system for the ship.”

Chess couldn’t think of an answer, so she said nothing. She stood up and limped over to Cairo, sinking to her knees at her side and settling a hand on Cairo’s head.

“She should be all right,” Kate said from behind her. “I think. I’ve never, um, stuck around long enough to see the after-effects of those darts, but…”

Chess bit her lip. “You said you had bandages?”

“Right, in the med bay. I’ll, um… I’ll go get them.” Kate left the room, leaving Chess alone with Cairo and the stranger, both of them unconscious.

Not for long, apparently, though, because the stranger began to stir, then sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes. “Ugh… whererewe?” she mumbled.

Chess almost answered, but then Kate came back, clutching some salve and gauze. “Oh, you’re awake,” Kate said. “I was hoping you’d stay knocked out for awhile. It was kinda nice without you running your mouth.” Despite their words, Chess could see from her expression that Kate was glad the stranger was okay. Kate tossed one tube of salve to the stranger, then handed Chess the other supplies and sat on one of the crates. Chess realized there was a scalpel in the mix and gave Kate a questioning look. “We need to cut out your ID chips, before someone realizes you’re with us and tracks them.”

Right. Of course. Chess pushed away the memory of finding her grandmother’s ID chip, neatly wrapped in cheesecloth, on the dresser, and picked up the scalpel, glad she was right-handed. Neither Kate, nor the stranger, offered to help.

The stranger pulled herself to her feet, but quickly stumbled onto another crate, eyeing Chess and Cairo suspiciously. “Got the wolf on board? You sure she won’t kill us in our sleep?”

Chess glared at her, beginning to clean and bandage the wounds on one of Cairo’s arms. “She’s not an animal.”

“You sure? ‘Cause I definitely heard her pack buddies howling.”

“I hate to agree with Farrah,” Kate put in, “I mean, really hate to agree with Farrah, but she’s right. How do we know she’s on our side?”

Chess started to answer, then hesitated. “You’ll see when she wakes up.”

“Now I feel much better,” Farrah muttered, dabbing a little bit of ointment on the spot where Kate’s tranquilizer dart had hit her.

Chess grit her teeth and kept bandaging Cairo’s wounds.

“Screen, on,” Kate said. The volume was off, but a news anchor appeared, eyes full of fear. The screen behind the anchor showed a man with a crazy grin, face streaked with blood, before the image was replaced with static. Chess tore her gaze away and bent to cut out Cairo’s ID chip, noticing a scar there - almost like it hadn’t been long since she’d received the chip in the first place.

“These attacks are happening in a ton of major cities,” Kate said softly.

Cairo groaned, drawing everyone’s attention to her. Out of the corner of her eye, Chess saw Farrah pick up her abandoned gun and cock it at Cairo’s head, but ignored her.

Chess set both of their ID chips aside and cupped Cairo’s face with one hand. “Are you okay?”

Cairo’s eyes took a moment to focus on her. “Chess?” The name was barely past her lips when she jerked away from Chess’s hand, turning away and vomiting.

“Aces, I’m glad that didn’t happen to me,” Farrah commented.

“Sorry,” Kate said. “I think that might be a side effect of the drugs in those darts.”

Cairo collapsed on her back, one hand over her eyes, then looked at Chess. The wildness from Paris was gone, and there was something familiar, even comforting in the way she looked at Chess. “You’re alive.”

Chess fidgeted with the zipper on her jacket, suddenly nervous. “Yeah, thanks to you.”

Farrah scoffed. “Thanks to her? I’m sorry, whose ship are you on again?”

“Shut up, Farrah,” Kate said shortly.

Cairo turned to look at Kate. “Where are we?”

“A cargo ship orbiting Earth.” Kate stared at a point on the wall behind Cairo, like they couldn’t meet her eyes. “I shot you with a tranquilizer dart. Sorry about that, but I kinda thought you were gonna kill her, so…”

“I sort of thought I was, too,” Cairo said, her voice hoarse. She studied Kate, her gaze catching on her metal hand. “I think my queen is looking for you.”

“And that's supposed to make me feel better?” Farrah demanded.

Chess put a hand on Cairo’s shoulder. “She’s better now. Aren’t you?”

Cairo shrugged Chess’s hand off. “You shouldn’t have brought me here. I’m only going to put you all in danger.”

Farrah released the safety on the gun.

“Don’t be stupid,” Chess said. “It’s not your fault.”

“Chess, if anything happened to you because of me-”

“Do you intend to harm anyone on this ship?” Kate interrupted.

Cairo blinked at her. “No, of course not.”

Nobody moved for three seconds, but then Kate relaxed. “She’s telling the truth.”

“Are you sure?” Farrah asked skeptically.

“Guys!” Reese interrupted. “Eva is going to make an announcement!”

The volume on the net screen turned on, and all four of them turned to face it as the image cut to the empress of the Eastern Commonwealth, onstage in the EC’s press room. She stood at the podium, her dress shirt a little rumpled, eyes red and tired. Kate anxiously started chewing the thumbnail on their human hand, eyes fixed to the screen.

“Kate has a bit of a crush on the empress,” Farrah stage-whispered.

“Don’t we all?” Reese sighed over the speakers. Man, what a personality… Chess didn’t know androids were ever like that.

"I've called this press conference on such short notice to address the attack on Earth that began three and a half hours ago," she said, her voice clear. "I am sure many of Earth's people are begging to know the answer to why this is happening." Eva paused and took a deep breath. "It was my fault."

Kate began to shake a bit. Cairo reached for Chess’s hand and squeezed.

"Many of you are aware that Queen Levana has been threatening war on our planet for nearly her entire rule. She chose to initiate these attacks now, because I have been unable to meet her clear expectations to adhere to a treaty between Luna and Earth. It is my responsibility to end these attacks and prevent a full-scale war as long as it is in my power to do so." Eva didn't look at any of the reporters, instead focusing her gaze on the back wall like she was ashamed of herself. "I have accepted a marriage alliance with Queen Levana of Luna."

"No!" Kate said, launching to their feet. "No!"

"In return," Eva continued, unaware of the effect her words had on the crewmembers of the Rampion, "Luna will withhold further attacks. The wedding will take place on the next full moon, the twenty fifth of September, and will be followed immediately by Queen Levana's coronation as empress of the Eastern Commonwealth. The removal of all Lunar soldiers from Earth will begin the following day, the twenty sixth of September."

"You fucking idiot!" Kate screamed at the screen. She grabbed the bandages sitting on a crate and hurled them at the screen. “No! You can’t fucking do that!”

"My cabinet will provide further updates in the coming days. I will be taking no questions tonight. Thank you." Despite Eva's words, the room filled with the reporters' incessant questions, but Eva ignored them and walked off the stage, holding her head high but looking like a defeated general.

"I fucking told her not to do it," Kate spat. “Levana murdered thousands of innocent people and now she's going to be the fucking empress?" They stepped on the two ID chips on the floor, grinding them to pieces among the blood. "And that won't satisfy her for long. She's going to use the Commonwealth as just a stepping stone to get to the rest of the world, and I told her that would happen, and she's still going through with the fucking marriage alliance! She's going to take control of the goddamn solar system and it'll be Eva's fault!” They sat back down on the crate, head in her hands, shaking.

Chess dropped Cairo’s hand and crossed her arms. “I think this seems more like your fault.”

Kate looked up at Chess with an unreadable expression. Farrah settled her chin on her hand, like she was watching an entertaining TV show, but her other hand kept the gun pointed at Cairo’s head.

“You know why she ordered those attacks,” Chess continued, standing up. “Because of you.”

Kate’s lips parted a little in surprise. “Your grandmother told you, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, she did, and it’s sickening that you let this happen in the first place!” Chess said, raising her voice just a little bit.

Kate jumped off the crate, both hands curled into fists, but didn’t make a move towards Chess. “What would you like me to do, then? Hand myself over? Sacrifice myself and cross my fingers it’ll satisfy her? If that’s what I had done, we would’ve ended up here anyway.”

“I don’t mean when you were arrested at the ball,” Chess spat. “I mean before that. Why haven’t you done anything to stop her? People are depending on you! And you did nothing for years!” She threw her hands in the air. “My grandmother sacrificed herself for you, and you’re running away and hiding like a goddamn coward.”

Farrah raised her hand. “Uh, I’m confused. What are we talking about?”

Chess turned on her. “Stop pointing that gun at her!”

Farrah tossed the gun aside and crossed her arms.

Chess looked back at Kate. “She doesn’t know, does she? You put her life in danger - all of our lives in danger - and she doesn’t know why!”

“It’s not that simple-”

“Isn’t it?”

“I haven’t even known for a week!” Kate shouted. “I found out when I was sitting in prison, waiting to be shipped off to Luna to be executed. So between breaking out of prison, running from the entire Commonwealth military, and saving your goddamn life, there hasn’t been a whole lot of time to overthrow an entire regime! So I’m sorry to disappoint you!” They leaned against the crate, head in her hands, breathing hard.

Chess’s mind whirling, trying to fit this new information into something that made sense. “How did you not know?”

“Because your grandmother shipped me off to New Beijing five years ago without bothering to tell me.”

“But-but that’s why you were at the ball, wasn’t it?”

Kate laughed bitterly, a sharp, angry sound, and looked up at Chess. “You really think I would’ve been stupid enough to face Levana if I’d known?” She paused. “Well, maybe… maybe for Eva. I don’t know. I didn’t know.”

“Oh.” Chess sank back to the floor, feeling oddly guilty.

Farrah waved her hand a little. “Um, I’m still confused.”

Kate sighed and looked at the ceiling. “I’m Princess Selene.”

Silence for a beat.

Farrah laughed, but nobody else did, and slowly the realization dawned on her face. “Really?”

“Really.”

Farrah’s eyes widened. “You’re Princess Selene. The crazy cyborg is Princess Selene.”

Kate glared at her. “Are you done?”

“I don’t compute,” Reese said slowly. Chess hid her surprise - she kept forgetting Reese was there.

“Yeah, me neither,” Farrah agreed. “Since when?”

“I should’ve told you,” Kate said. “But… but it was all so new, and I thought… maybe, if I could find Michelle Benoit, get some questions answered… I’m sorry.”

It was quiet for a moment.

“Is your gift intact?” Cairo asked.

“Yeah, but I’m still… still learning how to use it.” Kate sank to the floor and sat against the crate, and suddenly it hit Chess just how young they were - at sixteen, Kate was the youngest in this room by several years. Just a kid, really. And yet there was so much weight on her shoulders…

“She controlled one of the special ops,” Chess offered. “I saw them do it.”

Kate scoffed. “Yeah, barely.”

Cairo’s eyes widened. “You controlled one of the soldiers? While Jael was there?”

Kate fidgeted nervously. “Well, yeah, but it was awful. I barely got to him, and then I nearly passed out-”

“That’s why Levana wants you,” Cairo said, her expression amazed. “You are stronger than she is. Or at least you could be, with a little practice.”

Kate shook their head, hugging her knees. “That thaumaturge had seven soldiers under his control, and I could barely handle one. I’m not even close to being as strong as Levana.”

“You don’t understand,” Cairo said. “Each pack is controlled by a thaumaturge, who controls when the animal instincts the genetic manipulation gave us take control. We’ve all had the physical modifications, but really, it all comes back to a thaumaturge. A normal Lunar citizen couldn’t hope of controlling us, and even the thaumaturges, who could control hundreds of people at once, can only handle up to fifteen. That’s why the special op packs are kept so small.” She grinned. “And you took one away from a thaumaturge on your first try? With no training or anything? Her Majesty might have cause to be afraid of you, Princess.”

Kate glared at Cairo. “Don’t call me that.”

Cairo raised an eyebrow. “Assuming, of course, that you do want to fight her. Which I think you do, judging by your response to your empress’s announcement.”

Kate automatically glanced at the screen, which was now replaying Eva’s announcement, although Reese had muted the volume. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to be a leader, or-”

“But you can stop her,” Chess interrupted. “So many people think you can. My grandmother sacrificed herself for this, and I won’t let that be wasted.”

“And if you really are who you claim to be, that makes you my true queen,” Cairo added. “So you have my loyalty.”

“I don’t want your fucking loyalty.”

“Then what do you want?” Chess asked, trying and probably failing to be gentle.

Kate squeezed their eyes shut, then opened them and glared at the both of them. “I want some time alone to think, without you guys chattering in my ear!” They kicked off her boots and stormed out of the room, her metal foot clanging against the floor with every other step.

Farrah sighed. “I know, I know. They seem a bit…” She crossed her eyes and twirled her fingers around her ears. “But I promise, once you get to know her, it’s all part of their charm.”

~

ok so a bit of context:

after the fourth world war, there are six nations at peace on earth, plus a kingdom on the moon, called luna. luna has had rocky relations with earth for hundreds of years. the heir to the throne was supposed to be princess selene, but in order to keep her hold on the throne, queen levana tried to kill the princess at just three years old. selene survived and was brought to earth to be kept safe, and is kate dalton, a cyborg mechanic from new beijing. the eastern commonwealth is ruled by the young empress eva, who very recently took the throne after the death of her mother. farrah thorne is an escaped convict who helped kate break out of prison after the ball, when kate tried to stop eva from entering the marriage alliance with levana but failed and was arrested. selene was sheltered for eight years by chess’s grandmother, michelle benoit. and cairo is one of levana’s special ops, and her genetics were split with those of a wolf, giving her special abilities. all lunars have what they call their “gift,” their ability to manipulate biolectricity and control people/make them see something that’s not there/make their appearances different, but the gift only works face to face. and... yeah, feel free to shoot me an ask on my main, @i-don-t-even-care, if you have any other questions!!!!!!!

[hiswhiteknight]

Always - Jamie Reagan

Always - Jamie Reagan One Shot

Here is my first request from @lclb13​ - hope you like it! It was my best interpretation! 

(I don’t own the characters or gifs)

Warning: Cursing, Woman being attacked

Gif** I got from Tenor, but I couldn’t find the username. 

Gif** LauraDunn1 from Tenor app

You hopped out of the shower, drying your hair, before wrapping the towel around your body. With the smile on Jamie’s face, you could tell he was awake, “You should be sleeping,” you sing to him.

He sat up, his hair all messy, “Come here,” he said trying to reach for you.

Taking a few steps, you shake your head, “Oh no, I’m not being late to work again, I know that face.”

Giving you a pouty face, he says, “Please.”  You roll your eyes, letting him take your hand, “I can’t sleep when you are being so distracting.” You see the look in his eye and shake your head knowing what he is going to do. He pulled you into the bed, laying on top of you, “What will being a little late hurt?”

He tried to kiss you and you put a finger to his mouth stopping him, “Oh, I don’t know I’m a doctor, so you know death, plague, the works.” Now he is the one shaking his head, “But you sure are cute with your bed head.”

This time he just took the time just to stare at you, love gushing from his eyes, “I’m so lucky to have you,” he murmured, “I’m married to a rock star doctor.”

You put your head to his, “Yeah, I am pretty amazing,” you grin, “But it doesn’t matter how much you butter me up, I am not being late to work today.” You lean down to give him a deep kiss before bolting out from underneath him, “You need to sleep, you can’t protect this great city if you are dead on your feet.”

“Save some lives babe,” he lays back down, watching you finish grabbing your things.

You send him a grin, “Always.”

 You loved being an ER doctor, it was fast pace and you had to use your head. There was a fire at a group home, so you were helping triage the victims. Burns were some of the hardest cases to handle. You were sitting with a young man with burns down his forearm, but not much damage like the others, “How’d you get these burns,” you said, trying to peel the fabric from the flesh.

You were getting the feeling something was off, he was fidgety, and you could tell he didn’t want to be there, “I don’t know, the house was on fire, maybe running away.”

“Odd,” you say out loud. You should have just finished your job. You learned in med school, it wasn’t your job to investigate, but being married to a cop and his cop family, it got even harder not to try to connect the dots. “Where these burns are, they-,” before you could finish your sentence the guy cold socked you right in the face. It took your breath away and before you could call for help, he kneed you, and tackled you to the ground. You tried to block your body and fight back, but it only took a few seconds before a guard and nurse saw the commotion and yanked him off you.

 You were sitting on a gurney, trying not to be inpatient, “Come on Roxy,” you urged, “Can I be cleared to do my job now?”

“Y/N, you were attacked. Shit, you have a black eye, busted lip, and some bruised ribs. Stop being wonder woman and go home,” she fused over you.

“I’m staying in principle, nurses deal with this crap all the time and are expected to stay,” She continued to monitor your charts, trying to ignore your self-righteous speech, “You get knocked down, you get back up. I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Y/N,” she said, not looking up from the chart she was scanning. This got your attention, something was up, “Did you know you are pregnant?”

Your eyebrows shot up, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Blood work just came back, do you mind if I do an ultrasound,” she worked quickly, not really waiting for a response. She was one of your best friends, nearly like sisters. She didn’t need your words to know your wishes. Suddenly there was a heartbeat sound, “About 11 weeks,” she said to you, “Babe don’t you monitor your period?”

A hiccup laugh left you mouth, a shot of happiness spiked up your spine, “I’ve just been so busy, make sense with the weight gain. I just assumed it’s was the Reagan Sunday dinner.”

She pointed something out which took your breath away again, “Twins, Y/N, you’re having twins,” she pulled up the ultrasound, “It’s shitty timing for your first ultrasound, but here it is,” she gushed.

She printed out the picture and you just stared at it.

“Two,” you question again.

She wiped off your belly and smiled, “Damn right, go big or go home lovely,” your friend said. Everything was blank, you didn’t know what to say, you were so happy and yet so intimidated, “You’re going to be a great mom,” she said.

You nod, “Thanks, hey do me a favor don’t call Jai-,” you tried to finish before you heard his voice.

“Damn right she called me,” he shouted, “You should have called me,” cupped your cheek examining your face. You hid the picture behind you, shaking off Roxy. You didn’t want Jamie to find out this way, under these circumstances, “I’m going to ignore the fact that I’m freaking pissed for the moment, are you okay?”

You take Jamie’s hand away from you face and hold it tight, “I swear, I’m fine. I just want to get back to work.”

“Look at your face babe,” he whispered.

Everything was interrupted by the yelling voice of Danny from the hall, “You told the family,” you roll your eyes. You look at Roxy, “You are a tattle tale, you know that,” you point at her.

“Hey, I like them to remember times like this when I need help with a speeding ticket,” she smirked.

You saw Frank first, then Pop, and then Erin, “How you are doing Y/N,” Frank asked, “Need anything?”

“Yeah,” you point to the door, “Tell Danny to leave the young man alone, he has a mental illness and needs help. He’ll do his time for his crimes. And Danny is disrupting my hospital.”

“Y/N,” Jamie whines acting annoyed.

“What,” you shoot back. “If this was you, you’d be back on the street within an hour.”

“Okay,” Pop interrupts the argument about to start, “How about we all just focus on Y/N, she doesn’t need any fights or drama right now.”

Roxy stepped in again, “Boss just got back, he says you have to take a few days off and he’ll have to be the one to clear you for duty.”

“Alright, the verdicts in, Y/N your coming with us. We can continue this conversation after we are all calm down,” Erin shared, putting her hand on your knee, “We’ll leave you to get dressed and meet you out by the cars.”

Jamie looked at you, you could tell he felt pretty helpless. And you weren’t ready to break the news to him, not like this.

 It’s been two days of laying around the house and having a Reagan take care of you at all time. You and Jamie haven’t spoken much because it usually ends up in an argument. It was a mixture of being treated like you were glass and the fact that you haven’t told Jamie about being pregnant.

It was Sunday evening and you were trying to help with dinner. Danny and Pop were trying to teach you some self-defense moves, but you didn’t pay much attention. You were stuffing your mouth with mashed potatoes when the conversation of your safety became the topic, “Y/N, it can’t hurt to take some self-defense classes.”

“It was one time,” you shoot back.

Jamie looked down at his food, “You tell me all the time that nurses and doctors get attacked, bit, and spit on. It’s not one-time thing.”

You clink your fork down, “If I was a man, would you be having this same conversation with me.”

“Yes,” all the men shout.

Slamming back your chair, you stomp, “Fine, let me go find some defense classes to make the poor men in this group feel better,” and you rush to the study.

Rather than stall, you remember a few of your friends take self defense classes. Within ten minutes, you are talking to the head of the hospital and having them offer a free six-week training for all staff for appropriate self-defense training. You rush back and sliding your chair back, “Happy, the hospital will be offering a six-week self-defense class to all staff who’d like to participate?”

You continue to eat, ignoring the amazement from the people around the room, “You were gone fifteen minutes,” Danny questioned, his tone shocked, “I’d hate to see what you can do in a day.”

“Ya’ll need peace and mind, I’m here to offer you solace in regards to my own safety,” you continue to eat a slice of cake you stole from the kitchen, “But know, I can only do it for so long.”

“Why,” one of the kids asked, “Don’t you want to do it until your good at it.”

“Well Sean, I’ve got another timeline to consider.”

It hit Frank and Erin first, a smile growing on their faces, “A timeline,” Jamie asked, “What haven’t you told me, I don’t know anything about a timeline?”

Sighing, you drop your fork full of cake to reach behind you to your purse. You were acknowledging this was not how you wanted to tell Jamie and the family, but you let your frustrations get the best of you and let you slip out the news. At this point, Danny and Pops were catching on, “I didn’t want to tell you like this, but family dinner makes sense.”

You pass him the picture, Erin is in near tears, “Really,” she asked stepping out of her seat. Nicky rushed around the table and hugged you tight.

“Watch the cake, pregnant lady and dessert will cause real pain and damage if someone gets between them,” you tried to watch Jamie’s reaction.

He continued to stare at the picture. Everyone was waiting for his reaction, “Is this,” he looked up at you, nearly looking like he was going to cry, “Is this, are there two,” he questioned.

“Twins,” Danny yelled, “Nice.”

Suddenly everyone was getting up, trying to congratulate us. But Jamie and you were sharing this moment together, “Yeah, I’m 11 weeks with twins.”

He jumped up, scooping you in his arms and twirling you around, “I love you so much.”

He put you down, staring at you and only you, “I love you too.”

Pops slapped him on the back and we finally acknowledged the rest of the family. There was a giant congratulations and a billion questions, but you didn’t expect anything different from the Reagans. Jamie held you hand tightly, “You know what this means,” Danny asked out loud to the group. “You got to start learning now before you-.”

Erin stepped in, “If you like breathing, I’d recommend you keep those thoughts in your head.”

“Smart woman,” you say to her, pointing your finger at Danny.

Jamie looked down at you again, “Just promise you’ll be careful,” he said.

“Always,” you kiss him, before reaching for more cake.