#i’ve never heard it said that way anywhere but in SH

[yourheartinyourmouth]

when in doubt, read some sherlock holmes

[tulsa-trash]

Night of the Rumble

WARNING(S): Swearing, mentions of violence.

Its been four hours, four excruciating hours you waited for him to call you. He attended a rumble tonight, and he promised he’d call you after to let you know he was okay. So far there has been no phone call and your anxiety was eating you alive.

A part of you wanted to go and watch just so you could know if he was okay; but then you knew you wouldn’t be able to watch him get hurt. Plus he wouldn’t let you go anyway, he didn't want you to get hurt. You laid in your bed and stared at your ceiling, there was no way you could sleep. You looked over at your alarm clock and sighed deeply when you realized it was now two-thirty in the morning.

Your mind was racing with thoughts. Is he okay? Where is he? Why hasn’t he called me yet? You were losing your mind and on on the edge of flipping out. You ran your hands over your face roughly and groaned in frustration, you couldn’t take it anymore. The suspense was killing you and you were so damn worried about him it hurt.

Your phone began to ring loudly, making you shoot up and answer it within a millisecond.

“Hello!?” Your voice rushed out into the receiver.

You heard a quiet groan before the voice spoke, “Hey, baby girl.”

Steve's voice was dry and hoarse, he sounded like he was in pain which made the fear you already felt rise within you. Thankfully he was at least alive and breathing.

“Oh my goodness, Steve. You scared the sh*t out of me! Are you okay?” You asked.

There was silence on his end for a moment, “I’m fine. Really you don’t have to worry about me, Y/N.”

“Steve you sound horrible, I know you’re not okay. What the hell happened at that damned rumble?”

He chuckled but then groaned once more, “Don’t worry, the other guys are in way worse condition than me.”

You rolled your eye’s but a ghost of a smirk found its way to your lips. He still managed to boast to you in this dire situation.

“Babe where are you? I really want to see you.” You said softly.

“B-Believe me you really don’t.” He stuttered.

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, “What do you mean? Steve, I’ve been worried sick about you all night! I wanna see you!”

He went silent again, except this time for a while. The only thing you could  hear was him breathing and the faint sound of other voices in the background. He was definitely at the Curtis house.

“Steve?”

You could hear him hum in response.

“Why don’t you want me to see you?” You asked, hurt evident in your tone.

He sighed, “Darlin', please don’t be sad. The main reason I don’t want you seein’ me is because I don’t want you to be upset.”

You scoffed, "I’m goin’ over there right now.”

“What!?” He exclaimed.

You got up off your bed and began to look around for an outfit, but not going far since your phone cord was not long at all.

“I’m gonna see you whether you like it or not.” You stated as you picked up a pair of jeans off the floor and slipped them on.

“How do you even know where I am?” He asked.

“I can hear the gang in the background, Steve. I’m not stupid.”

“Please don’t.” He begged into the phone.

“Nope, I’m comin'.” You said sternly.

“I don’t want you out at this time of night, Y/N. Somethin’ bad can happen I don’t want ya out on your lonesome.”

“I’m taking my parents car and driving over there right now. See you in a few.”

Before he could protest any longer you hung up, quickly throwing on a decent looking shirt and a coat. You quietly snuck down stairs and grabbed your shoes along with the keys on the way out. You were going to see him no matter what.

-

You knocked hard on the Curtis’ front door, you heard the chatter die down before Sodapop answered. He had a giant bruise on his left cheek and a busted lip, but he still managed to send you his classic movie star smile.

“Jesus, Soda.” You breathed out.

“I’m fine, really. It’s not as bad as it looks.” He tried to reassure you.

“Steve is here, right?” You asked worriedly.

His best friend began to laugh, “Yeah, he’s hidin’ in the bathroom.”

He moved so he could let you by and without a word you rushed past everyone to the bathroom. The door was closed, you tried opening it but to your dismay it was locked.

You lightly knocked on the door, “Steve? It’s Y/N. Can you unlock the door?”

“No.” You heard his gruff voice mumble from the other side.

You rolled your eyes, “Steve, I came all this way at two in the mornin’ to see you and you’re just gonna hide from me?”

“Yeah…” He replied.

You were beginning to get frustrated with him, you stayed up worrying all night only for him to shut you out.

“Steve…” You whimpered. “Please, let me in.”

He was breaking your heart by refusing you like this. You didn’t understand why he was scared for you to see him. He didn’t answer you at all and soon the feeling of being unwanted was washing over you.

“Whatever.” You sniffled and began to walk towards the door.

Before you even took more than three steps the bathroom door swung open. His hand grabbed your arm, stopping you. He gently tugged you into the bathroom and closed the door behind the both of you.

He kept his gaze on the ground, not wanting to face you. You looked him up and down, his clothes were completely covered in mud and his exposed skin was covered in cuts and bruises.

“Look at me.” You pleaded.

He slowly turned his head up to reveal his beat up face, you couldn't help but literally gasp. The sight of him made big fat tears roll down your cheeks, you covered your mouth try and hold in the loud sobs that escaped past your lips.

His nose was most definitely broken, it was somewhat crooked and fresh blood was trickling down onto his lips. And just like Sodapop, he had a busted lip and a bruised cheek.

He pulled you in for a bone crushing hug, you returned the affection by tightly wrapping your arms around his neck. You cried into his neck while he gently rubbed your back up and down soothingly.

“Shh, please don’t cry.” He whispered into your hair. "See, this is exactly why I ain't want you to come by. I don't like seein' you like this."

"Me!? What about you!?" You wailed into his shoulder. "You gotta stop with the fightin' Steve. It's goin' too far. Look at you!"

He stayed silent as he continued to hold your shaking body in his arms. He felt terrible, the last thing he wanted was to make you upset.

He pulled away from the hug to hold your face with his two large hands, wiping away stray tears with the pads of his thumbs. He stood there, looking into your tear filled eyes as you looked right back into his. He had wondered how he got so lucky to have you, and he was so scared of losing you.

“You can leave me if ya want.” He whispered.

It was only then you had noticed his once crooked tooth had disappeared from his mouth.

“Why would I leave you?” You asked him skeptically.

“Because I’m hideous.” He chuckled dryly.

His calloused hands dropped from your face to grip the sink so he could lean back on it. He really did mean it, he'd understand if you wanted to run away. He's a lot of work, and on top of that he believed he was even more odd looking than before. He wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to be with him anymore.

“You didn’t want me here because you were afraid I was gonna see your beat up face and break up with you?” You asked.

He nodded, a tint of pink began to creep up onto his cheeks. Steve had never felt so embarrassed and vulnerable in his life. You on the other hand, thought it was the cutest thing ever.

“Oh, Steve.” You cooed.

You stood up on your tippy toes and gently took his face in your hands, careful not to press hard on any of his wounds. You leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his busted lip. He kept his arms at his sides and didn’t even muster up enough strength to kiss you back.

“Why would you wanna look at me when I’m like this? Or why would you wanna kiss me when I’m missin’ my front tooth lookin’ like a damn five year old. I never understood how you’d kiss me before with my snaggletooth never mind now.” He spoke against your lips.

You pulled away buy but kept your hands on his bruised cheeks, he finally wrapped his hands around your waist and pulled you against him.

“Why are you thinkin’ like this, Steve?” You questioned him.

“I-I just…” He trailed off. He seemed to be at a loss for words, unsure of how to explain himself any further.

“I just don’t wanna lose you.” He whispered.

Your heart swelled at his words, this boy really did care about you a lot. There was no way you were going to let him go. Steve on the other hand was a nervous wreck, expressing himself made him feel completely mortified.

“I guess I’m just a p*ssy, huh?” He grumbled.

“No you’re not!” You hushed him. “Steve, caring about someone doesn’t make you a p*ssy. Look, you’re not gonna lose me. Even if you wanted to I’m not goin’ anywhere, ya hear?”

He smiled widely, showing off the brand new gap in his teeth.

“And I’m not gonna lose you either, right?” You asked him.

He shook his head, “Never.”

You loved his crooked teeth and his big nose, hell you loved everything about him. He was perfectly imperfect, nothing was going to stop you from loving him with every fiber of your being.

“I’m still pretty sure you’re gonna leave me after a week of kissin’ a toothless Steve.” He said.

“Nope, I think its hot.” You winked at him, “It makes you look real tuff.”

“Of course you’d think that.” He laughed.

[oh-for-fic-sake]

The Deal Pt 2

Masterlist

Summary: Clark take you to august to finish the deal.

Warnings: Adult Situations +18, Smut, Dub Con, BDSM, Toys

A/N: second part to @wolfieash​ ask which is here

Taglist: in reblog.

Smut below the cut.

"NO IM NOT GOING ! AND YOU CAN FUCK OFF!" You yelled chasing Clark into the living room arms cross and lips pulled into a snarl.

He rolled his eyes at you, you'd been throwing a fit all day.

"Sweetheart, you made a deal, gave him your word... you cant go back on it" he insisted once more trying to convince you.

"Yes I can it was my word! Not yours, I can do what I want!" You huffed blowing some hair out of your face it was hard trying to be serious when your hair seemed to want to stick in your mouth.

"No poppet I'm not letting you break you word , now get dressed we leave in a hour" he said quickly spinning you around pressing you to the bedroom door.

"Fuck you, I'm not going anywhere!" You grunted pulling away from him.

"Tonight love I promise, now go get ready august is expecting us..." he said grinning almost sweetly at you.

"I don't give a flying fuck! I'm not going" you stomped a foot at him finally making his brow twitch, jaw tightening in irritation.

He stood taller and let his frame seem to devour the space on the hall making you shrink, shivering as you watched your sweet fiancé become a great predator. A loin or bear?

"Sweetheart enough! Now go get dressed...I laid out your outfit" he ground out severely finally having enough. A deal was a deal... and he wanted your ass!

"Out fit? What outfit-OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?" You cried entering your room seeing the shear fabric

"That? Its a little body stocking~" Clark said leaning on the door frame arms crossed wearing a huge grin.

"IM NOT WEARING A FUCKING BODYSTOCKING!"

"Well I would if I were you because if not there will be images of your naked ass being flown about on the front pages tomorrow~" he quipped with a smirk.

"Yo-you wouldn't dare!" You said voice loosing its bite as he stared at you.

"Wouldn't I? I mean come on love anal's on the line~" he teased and moved up behind you and slapped your bottom hard enough to make you yip and jerk away.

"Now hop to it... You've got 50 minuets~" he called over his shoulder as he exited the room.

In the end Clarks threat of having you mooney metropolis was too much of a threat and you'd showered and slipped into the body stocking...

But you didn't shave! If they were gonna push through with your whole sex for silence deal then they would live with the consequences! No bare pussy for either of them!

Fuck'em.... or don't? Which was preferable

It wasn't that you didn't enjoy it, it was that you did... a little more then you should have! It frightened you the way you'd enjoyed being used and fought over.

"Oh come on why the long face angel?" August hummed as he opened the glass doors on his rooftop home, the penthouse was shiny sleek and as dark as the man himself.

"Fuck off august!" you grumbled walking right passed him as soon as Clark put you down

"Oh such a foul mouth! We will have to teach you some manners~" the agent quipped as you entered the bare but masculine space, everything was harsh lines and fucked up art pieces of splotching blocky shades of black, red and deep violet.

"Yes she's very snippy today... has been all week, pouting" Clark huffed shrugging. Taking the offered crystal glass with amber liquid.

"Ah we have a brat on our hands then?" August chuckled and walked through the home quickly snagging one of your elbows and directed you to the playroom, not wasting any time.

"Yeah, she doesn't want me to fuck her ass" Clark summarized with a shrug.

"Aww Why not sweety? You loved me fucking your ass? You cried and withered moaning so beautifully~" august hummed into your ear as he pressed you over the threshold into a large windowless room, strip lighting igniting the room in a light red. The devils den so to speak.

"Sh-shut up you prick" you snarled.

Augusts reply was a tsk and he pressed you over to a padded sawhorse and looked to Clark nodding to the ankle and wrist cuffs.

Clark breezed past him quickly securing you down making you curse him, but by this point it was a formality as you had already soaked yourself through.

"Oh would you look at that? Our little brat is eager~" august said with a chuckle and a warm hand probed you lightly making you jolt and try to squirm away.

"Yes I know, she likes denying herself, its strange she knows we will win but Continues to fight?" He said coming around your side ghosting his fingers over your ribs making you shudder.

"Well lets not waste time shall we? I have a few things out ready but first lets get this fitted shall we?" August said menacingly walking around you brandishing a very large O ring gag.

"After all if she's going to throw a tantrum I don't trust her not to bite" he uttered moving towards you.

"I've never thought of using one of those before... it wont hurt her will it?"

"Only her pride Clark trust me even she needs a... dressing down every once in a while" august reassured him.

Your eyes grew wide as the agent approached with the large gag that looked both threatening and enticing, things had been kinky with august but you hadn't ever gone this far into bdsm before. You were scared and still fighting but not as hard? You were curious and being dominated by them last week had... changed you. It had been thrilling to be so out of control.

"Should we... give her a signal or something? Incase it gets to much?" Clark quizzed, he was still all for it but wanted to be mindful of you. He didn't want to hurt you.

"Trust me she's going to love it, but in the case of something going wrong" august directed his attention to you befo4e continuing.

"There is a small desk bell one the inside of the left leg on the saw horse... if thing get too much hit it three times fast and we will get you down" he said seriously.

You frowned as his gaze bored into you, for a second you believed you saw actual concern in his eyes.

It unsettled you, August couldn't really have any feelings towards you could he? I mean this was blackmail!

You nodded quickly to him letting him know you understood.

Then just like that August was haughty again and quickly fixed the gag in your mouth, setting your teeth in the small grooves that was semi comfortable.

"Shes ready when you are~" the agent hummed and stood back.

Clark darted behind you and helped himself to you and august disappeared from sight.

You moaned into the room as your fiancé roamed your folds as if exploring them for the first time.

He was rougher then usual prodding and impaling you fast and hard before slowing and drawing your own arousal over your presented ass.

You withered as Clark used you body, pressing you higher and higher making you teeter on then edge then back away letting you calm down only to work you up again.

"I thought we could... try something... a little bonus for all of us tonight~" you heard august but couldn't see him.

"I'm listening" Clark said as he plunged his fingers back into you harder throwing off your concentration making you cry out.

"I have this" you tried seeing what August had but was too preoccupied with the maddening strokes of clark's fingers as he pounded away at your g-spot forcing you to try and rock on him chasing a high he had already cruely denied you twice.

"What even is that thing?" Cark said not paying attention to you as your body twisted and pulled trying to cum like a desperate whore.

"Here ill show you~" august said and Clarks fingers disappeared from you making you cry out and moan, your pussy tried holding him but it was to drenched to actually grip him.

Then something was pressed into you, large wide and very short.

"Oh-oh fuck?!AH!" You yelped  awkwardly around the gag as the toy settled, curved forward and down pressing on your gspot without being held. There was a large flat expanse resting outside of you to, the toy curved in a large C shape.

"Does that go up her?"

"No no, we just pop her little clit in here~ and press the button!" You jerked as august moved you, thick fingers prodding your clit and sat the engorged nub into a small round dip and pressed a button.

You squealed tensing all at once as you felt a suction on your clit and roared.

"Holy shit?" Clark said in awe watching as you keened and tried throwing you weight around on the toy that was held in place by your muscles clenching to it so tightly... It was bittersweet in a way, your own body holding the sweet torturous device on your clit.

"And it gets better, press that one" you hear a small click and arched moaning out as the egg like shape inside of you came to life vibrating against your insides.

Clark watched entranced as you withered this is what he'd been missing out on? Fuck!

August darted around you and strokes you hair watching as Clark stripped behind you unable to wait any longer as you thrashed about trying to rock into the toy.

"Shh shh thats a girl, now deep breath your wonderboy may be a little too enthusiastic if your doing all that squirming~"

You froze feeling Clark poise himself at your well lubed ass then grunted as he thrust forward splitting you open.

Clark hissed and moaned loudly as the vibrating egg not only made you quiver and tense around him already threatening to flood the place but it also rubbed his cock as he rutted you.

"Oh fuck- thats amazing! I cant- I shit babe!?" Clark didn't wait he immediately began pounding in to the tight quivering body before him.

August chuckled once more before releasing his own belt buckle. Not wanting to let your wails and monas go to waste.

They would work wonders on his cock, offering the sweetest of releases as you screamed onto his cock as he lodged it into your throat.

August was never into men, but he could develop a thing for corrupting this huge perfect man.

For now August would let you and Clark think you were in control of the deal. Let this one final night play out.

But the seed was sewn and before long he knew Superman would return wanting to explore more and more of this little sex dungeon. And then he will strike another deal.

Because August wasn't opposed to making a little compromise to get decent pussy. If he had to share with Supes so be it, it looked like he could teach the kid a thing or two and he would gladly, because he had many more toys to tease you both with~

If things went to plan he'd have not one but two desperate little subs. And he couldn't wait!

[ijustwant2write]

The Last Five Years-Fred Weasley x Reader

(GIF credit to @hp-wizardingtrash-1​)

(I combined two requests which were very similar)

Both Requested by anonymous: ‘Hey! Can you do a Fred Weasley imagine where him and the reader dated in their last year but Fred broke up with her cause he was leaving and he didn’t want to hurt her. But the reader was pregnant so she leaves right after. So no one knows what happened to her. After the war maybe like 5 years later (Fred lives), something happens maybe the kid needs blood from both parents because he’s sick and they need that for surgery, so the reader goes to Fred begging for blood and Fred learns the truth.’

‘Hey! Can I request a Fred Weasley imagine where the reader was pregnant (back when they in school) but Fred dumps her when he’s leaving to start the shop. (But he still loves her) and the reader has twins, a boy and a girl, who are just like him and George. After the war (Fred lives) something happens where he finds out, (up to you). And both Fred and the reader still love each other. Happy cute family ending.‘

Characters: Fred Weasley x Reader, Molly Weasley x Reader (platonic), Arthur Weasley x Reader (platonic)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

(Y/S/N)=Your son’s name

(Y/D/N)=Your daughter’s name

Warnings: Teenage pregnancy, talk about abortions, abandonment, single parenting, separated families, mention of blood, sickness, child sickness, mention of hospitals/blood, fluff

                                    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Leaning against a stone pillar, I looked out at the view of the lake and the grounds, crossing my arms across my chest to make myself feel warmer. I resisted touching my stomach, still terrified at the thought of life growing in there. I was only seventeen, I hadn't even finished my studying at Hogwarts and this was happening. This wasn't something Fred and I could joke about, or laugh at to make the situation a little better, this was serious, and I couldn't tell how my boyfriend would react.

Feeling a tap on my shoulder, my head whipped round to look, but no one was there. As my head turned to the other side, Fred towered over me, chuckling to himself. But I couldn't bring myself to even smile, instead rolling my eyes at him.

"Hey, what's wrong? I'm sorry I'm late, George and I were speaking, I've got so much to tell you!" he rambled, not taking offence to my action.

"Something...Fred, I...I don't know what to do!" I suddenly started sobbing, which panicked my boyfriend.

He instantly put his arms around me, holding me tight into his chest. At first he let me cry, probably thinking I was stressed about exams (I definitely was on top of everything) before pushing me away and bending down to look me in the eyes.

"Hey, let's sit down yeah?" he guided me to a bench close by, keeping his arms around me as we took a seat.

I couldn't stop my tears, trying to keep quiet in case anyone heard, or before any professors could intervene.

"Here, let me tell you what George and I have been discussing. It'll take your mind off this for a bit, yeah? OK, so, you know how George and I have always said about owning a joke shop, well, something has come through. And after all this stuff going on with Umbridge, we've decided to leave-"

"I'm pregnant." I blurted out.

Unsurprisingly, his eyes widened, mouth dropping open, I could feel his body tense up. Staring up at him, I silently pleaded for him to say something.

"Fred?" I mumbled.

"(Y/N), please say you're joking."

"This isn't a fucking prank Fred!" I exclaimed, shoving him away from me."I’m serious!"

"W-what...I don't know what to say."

I stood up, not able to sit still."Fred, we're having a baby. What are we going to do? We've still got exams, and then graduation, not to mention having to tell our parents and-"

"(Y/N), I'm not doing my exams."

"What do you mean you're not doing your exams? Fred, it's literally coming to the end of our studies, why would you throw that away?"

"Because I have a plan, I was just about to tell you! George and I are leaving early and we're getting a shop in Diagon Alley."

"Are you crazy?! Fred, what if it doesn't work? You won't have any exam results, you won't be able to apply for jobs-"

"Well thanks for believing in me, that's great to hear from your girlfriend!" he leapt up from the bench.

"You know I support you through everything, but I'm thinking about our futures! If we have a baby on the way, we need to be able to support it."

"We haven't planned for this! This...this wasn't what I envisioned for us, not now!"

"Oh, and you think I did?"

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"What am I going to do? No, it should be what are we going to do? How dare you?! What, are you just going to leave me as well as Hogwarts?"

When he didn't reply, I scoffed, but it wasn't in an angry way, it was more upsetting than that. My mind went into overdrive, not recognising the man in front of me. I had expected shock, of course I had, but what I wasn't expecting was this rudeness, the bluntness coming from him.

"Fred," I was quieter now,"what are you saying right now?"

"You want to keep it?"

"I...I don't really know yet."

"So we're arguing about something that might not even effect us!"

"Even if we got rid of it, it wouldn't be a matter of 'let's just forget about it'. Do you know how hard that is for a woman? And the father?"

He hastily grabbed my hands."Then leave with me! We've always talked about living together after we finish school. What difference does this make?"

"I want to do my exams Fred! Even if I didn't, my parents wouldn't allow it. And that was easier to plan for back then. It would just be us. We could have a small space anywhere. But with a baby? We need somewhere safe, somewhere that is a good place to raise them, and we also need to feed three people, buy nappies, clothes constantly because babies grow a lot-"

"I can't do it." he interrupted.

"Fred, please, I love you. I know we can figure something out-"

"No, I...we're too young, this isn't fair." his eyes were distant, as if he was staring straight through me. 

"What you're saying isn't fair! I couldn't have done this by myself."

"I just...I don't know what else to say I..." 

He said no more as he rushed away from me, and I was too stunned to go after him. As he picked up the pace, he passed Mcgonagall, who glanced between us before she approached me. "I think we should have a word Madam Pomfrey, shouldn't we Miss (Y/L/N)?"

                                           *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Mummy!" (Y/S/N) yelled out, just like he did every day.

I sighed as I brought out the kids breakfast, setting it in front of them."Don't worry, you're not going to starve. Here you go darling."

"Thanks." he mumbled, picking up his spoon and eating. He was always more awake in the morning compared to his sister.

"Thank you mummy." (Y/D/N) quietly said, also digging into her food.

I smiled at them both, quietly laughing at their wild hair from their sleep, before grabbing myself a bowl of cereal. Quickly returning, I sat down with them, my smile faltering as I looked at (Y/D/N) pale face.

"Do we have to go hospital today?" she asked. She hated how many times we had to go, the appointments were becoming more and more regular.

I nodded."Yes darling. But (Y/S/N) is coming today, because he's not at school for a while! You can play together whilst we wait for the doctor."

"I'll play with you (Y/D/N)." her brother kindly said.

"I don't want to go." (Y/D/N) frowned.

"We have to. Remember, they're helping you get better." 

"I want to play at home." 

"I promise it won't be very long. We've got our trip soon, haven't we?" 

"How many more days mummy?" (Y/S/N) excitedly asked. 

"Only two! We need to start packing your bags." 

(Y/S/N) started to chat away about this trip he knew nothing about, listing every single item he was bringing, whereas his sister was silent as she finished her breakfast. She had been a sickly child compared to her healthy twin brother. The hospital had diagnosed her, and explained that I needed to ask family members to have blood tests, to see if they matched with her and could help in any way. My side of the family had no luck, and after much deliberation with myself (and my parents), I knew I had to see Fred again, I had to face him. But with my little girl so ill, so weak, I would face down Voldemort himself to make her well again. Though I had a feeling seeing 'He who shall not be named' would be a lot easier than seeing the father of my children. 

The day of the trip came, and the kids were excited. We had packed their tiny suitcases, and I an overnight bag, before setting off. All day I had kept a smile on my face, not wanting to worry them. They thought it was a mini holiday, something we had never been on due to money. For five years it had been the three of us, with me at work, then at school and their grandparents when I had a late shift before cuddling up in bed with a good story together. It was a simple life, but they brought me so much joy, I couldn't express how happy they made me if I tried, it was infinite. And now I was taking them to meet their father I had avoided talking about, I was worried what it would do to our bond. 

"That's a strange house mummy." (Y/D/N) said as we approached the Burrow, a place I had spent much time in. 

"This is where your other grandparents live. It's very nice here. And they are very nice people." I said as we continued walking. 

"We say, we say please and thank you, don't we mummy?" (Y/S/N) added.

I giggled."Yes, we do."

We were now stood outside of the house, right in front of the door, but I still clutched onto my children's hands. They were confused as to why I wasn't knocking, why I was standing still. It was as if I was frozen. So when (Y/S/N) boldly stepped forward and knocked, I was pulled out of my trance. Before I could say anything to him, I heard movement coming from the other side of the door, and pulled him back towards me. There was no turning back now. Molly opened the door, her jaw almost hitting the floor as she set her eyes on me, then the kids, which is when she gasped. I bravely smiled, taking a deep breath to hold back the tears.

"H-Hi Molly. I'm...I'm really S-sorry just showing up out of the b-blue-" I couldn't stop stuttering over my words,"but...but I thought it was time you met your grandchildren."

Molly had immediately ushered me inside, throwing her arms around me as soon as the door closed. Holding my face in her hands, she studied my face, seeing how much I had changed over the years.

"I can't believe you're here!" she quietly exclaimed."It's been so many years."

"I'm sorry Molly. I didn't mean to disappear." I began welling up, trying to hold it back in front of the kids.

"Dear, don't apologise for a thing. We can talk about this later." she comforted me, stepping back to look at her grandchildren."So, these are your children?"

"My twins, ironically. (Y/D/N), (Y/S/N), this is your nan, Molly."

They stayed close to me, only (Y/S/N) letting go of my hand. I gently encouraged them forwards, pushing them towards Molly. She used the table beside her to help her kneel down, slowly extending her arms out to them. I felt overwhelmed as (Y/S/N) cautiously stepped towards her, hugging Molly before leaving her embrace again. It was one of those shy hugs kids gave, when they knew it was the right/polite thing to do but weren't sure of it themselves.

Molly was the only one in the house, and we let the kids play as we sat and caught up on what happened in the last five years. For me, there was a slight awkward tension in the air, but Molly's warm smile made me forget about that. I'm sure she had tons of questions as to why I never brought the twins round, and why I only showed up when I wanted something.

"Why don't you stay the night? I can hardly get Fred to stop by now. But there's plenty of room." Molly offered.

"Oh, only if that's alright with you! That would be very helpful. Um, do you think he’ll even want to see me?”

She kindly smiled as she slowly nodded.“My son is still just as infatuated with you as he was all those years ago.”

I refrained from snapping about how he never sent a letter, checked to even see if I was alright, if I had kept the pregnancy going. But then again, I had also cut off any contact with him, so it wasn’t entirely fair for me to say that. However, I was the one carrying twins by herself, raising them as a single mother (my family helped as much as they could, though no one could replace a father figure). And although the catch up with Molly had been good, it had lifted this tension from my body, I hated how my stomach twisted at the thought of Fred showing up here. Hi reaction was completely unknown. He could have moved on, maybe Molly was just wanting us together again; what if he was seeing someone, someone without children, someone who was free to do what they wanted and more fun than I was? He could easily turn a blind eye to it all. Or perhaps he would want to be a part of the family now. But why should I let him in after all these years? He missed five years of their life, and I understood that he would have no clue where we were, though there were ways of tracking us down. My mind was conflicted, I was here to make (Y/D/N) better, that was the top priority.

When Arthur returned that evening, he wore the same expression Molly had had when I first arrived. Although he was happy to see me, he wasn’t shouting or bouncing off the walls, he was more concerned; asking me all these questions, wanting me to go in depth about (Y/D/N)’s illness and how they could help. Both of them agreed they would help, and that once I spoke with Fred, they would ask the rest of the family also. 

Molly had laid out a full breakfast the next morning, though I really didn’t feel like eating. The kids got stuck right in, eating more food than I think I’ve ever seen them eat. They weren’t used to treats like this, we weren’t extremely poor, but even a fancy cereal was out of the question for us. I shared a smile with Molly and Arthur, thanking them for their hospitality. (Y/S/N) and (Y/D/N) were more comfortable with them, sometimes talking to them, or showing their toys. As we sat at the table, our plate and bowls now empty, Arthur gestured for me to follow him to the other room.

“(Y/N), I just wanted to make sure you were ready for today. I’ve had this same talk with Fred.” he quietly said.

I looked down at my feet, my arms crossing over my chest.“I don’t think I’ll ever be fully ready to see him again.”

“You have been very brave coming here. I can see how difficult this is for you. But I understand wanting to look after your children, it’s a feeling you only ever experience once you have them. Molly and I spoke last night. Even if, for some bizarre reason, Fred doesn’t...he doesn’t....”

“He doesn’t want to be around us.”

Arthur sighed sadly.“We will still help you. And you always have a place here, you always have family here.”

I hugged him, feeling like a child again in his arms. I felt protected, like nothing could hurt me whilst I was here. When we returned to the others, Molly was already clearing everything away, (Y/D/N) and (Y/S/N) talking each others ears off. Molly denied my help as I offered, knowing that I was very nervous and wanted the kids ready, as well as myself before their father arrived. I was happy that they were in a good mood, talking amongst themselves rather than asking lots of questions. But I still needed to sit them down, tell them who they were meeting today.

“You two look amazing!” I beamed, sitting them down on the edge of the bed, me kneeling in front of them.

“Mummy looks...mummy looks like a princess.” (Y/D/N) giggled as she clutched onto her own princess doll.

“Thank you. Do you guys remember why I said we were coming here?” 

“To meet daddy.”

“Yeah.” my voice turned shaky.“So, we need to be really good today OK? You guys were so good yesterday, and I need you to be like that again please. Me and daddy might need to talk for a while, so you two can play together, or with granddad Arthur and grandmother Molly.”

“Where is daddy?” (Y/S/N) asked.

“He’s on his way.”

“No, not, not now. Where has he been? Because all my friends have daddies, they have mummies and daddies, but I don’t.”

“He’s...he’s been....” 

How was I supposed to explain this to a five year old?

“It’s a bit confusing darling. But that doesn’t matter because he’s here now.”

(Y/D/N) looked away from her doll.“Will he come home with us?”

“I don’t know. Just don’t be upset if he doesn’t. We’ve been fine, just the three of us, haven’t we?”

They nodded, and I pulled them in to hug me. Their little arms wound around me where they could, and I could feel their tiny hands grasping at me. Squeezing them tighter, I laughed when they did, exclaiming they I was holding them too hard. Pulling away, I kissed them both on the cheeks, holding their hands to take them downstairs. However, my grin fell as I heard the door open, Fred’s voice ringing out. My body stiffened, heart starting to race quickly. Instinctively, I pulled the twins closer to me, not sure if I should go to Fred or wait here.

“It’s alright dear, I’m here.” Molly calmly said beside me.

All I could do was smile. My throat turned dry, breathing shaky and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I heard Arthur speaking to his son, but it was muffled, until footsteps started approaching. And suddenly, there he was, the boy I feel deeply in love with was now a man, standing even taller than before. Although we both looked different, it was as if we were teenagers again.

“(Y/N)...I...I can’t believe...” he couldn’t form a sentence, his gaze now on the twins.

I knelt between my children, hugging them close to me.“This is (Y/S/N), and (Y/D/N). They’re my world. And...your children too.”

The kids curled into me, noticing the tension in the room. They didn’t know this big man, and they could sense that I was on edge. I put on a brave face for them. I was their mother, their protector, I would always ensure that they felt comfortable, safe, happy and loved. 

“M-my children?” he was still looking at them.

“I think you two should talk before...well before a proper meeting, yeah?” Arthur gently suggested.

“Alright.” I agreed.“You two go upstairs and play, you can come down in a bit, OK?”

“Come on you two, let’s go see what toys I’ve got for you. You can show me yours.” Molly said happily, wanting to make the kids relaxed.

They hesitantly went, but I heard them starting to talk about what toys they had and wanted as they climbed the stairs, Molly feigning surprise and interest. 

“I’ll just be in the garden, should you need me.” Arthur said before leaving.

And then there we were. Just us two again. I hadn’t seen him in five years, not since that week of our argument. Multiple emotions rushed through me; I could be angry, upset, frustrated, desperate, loving, relieved...all were pushing their way to the front of my mind, wanting to have their chance to speak.

“Five years.” Fred mumbled.

“Five years.” I repeated.

“I...I can’t speak. I can’t, I can’t think right now. I had so much I wanted to say.”

I didn’t know how to respond.

“Their names...I remember us talking about them.”

“Yeah. I always liked them.”

“Are they...well, do they know...”

“They know you’re their father. I've always avoided this kind of topic as much as I could with them. They've obviously asked in the past, but I guess since they were so used to it just being me, it was normal for them."

"How have you been?"

"Pretty good, for what it's worth. I was able to get on my feet, with the help of family, I gave birth to them with no complications, all by myself until the last minute. Mum had burst into the room, her face bright red as she rushed to my side. It was scary. And from there I managed to get us a small house, just the necessary rooms, and I try and treat them as much as I can, if the budget will allow it."

"Why didn't you contact me sooner?"

"Why didn't you contact me?" I snapped back."You had the means to do so as well. You probably had more time than I had to even think about contacting me!"

He slightly raised his hands, trying to calm me down."OK, I'm sorry. That was a stupid question."

“No, I'm sorry." I sat down at the kitchen table, head in my hands."I'm just feeling a lot of mixed things right now."

I heard him shuffle around before the chair next to mine scraped along the floor, and he sat in it."I know. So am I."

"I came here because (Y/D/N) is sick. An option we have is a transfusion of blood but we have to find the right person. They said the most likely match would come from a family member. All of mine have tried, even distant relatives. That's why I came in the first place."

His face had fallen into a sad expression, eyebrows furrowed."Wait, what does that mean?"

"She won't die, nothing like that. Even with the right treatment, she would have to go to hospital throughout her life. (Y/D/N) will be a sickly person throughout her life."

“Of course I’ll help. I know we all will.”

I smiled through my tears.“Thank you Fred. That means everything to me.”

“But...” he looked down at the table, slowly sliding his hand towards mine. He boldly placed it on top of mine,“I want to look after you too.”

“Fred-”

“No, please listen. There has not been a day where I didn’t regret what I said to you the last time we saw each other. I...I thought about you everyday, but I was too selfish, I was too much of a coward to do anything about it. My love for you, it was...it is enormous. I think as a teen, I knew I was in love, I just didn’t realise how painful it would be when I lost you. And it was all my fault.”

“We’re both to blame. Throughout my pregnancy, I tried to hate you. I convinced myself I did, though deep, deep down in my heart, the love was still there. I told myself I could do this without you, and some days it really felt like that. Others, it would have been nice to have someone else around. And not just to help with the kids. To feel...like a normal family. To have someone look after me at the end of a long day.”

“I can’t believe no one else snatched you up.” he smiled.“You’ve become more beautiful over the years, I didn’t think that was possible.”

I blushed, rolling my eyes at his compliment.“Surprisingly, no one wants a woman with two kids, especially young kids.”

“Can’t say I’m too angry about that.”

“What are we doing Fred? It can’t go back to how it used to be. Not...not straight away.”

“You think you could forgive me?”

“And me?”

“You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I kept you from your children! I could have done this years ago. They...they could have had their father in their lives, we knew how to get to each other.” I used my free hand to cover my eyes as I began crying.

“Hey,” Fred’s other arm wrapped around my shoulders,“you’re here now with me. I will apologise everyday if it means you can look me in the eyes and feel happiness. You deserve that much. And as for (Y/S/N) and (Y/D/N), I would love to get to know them. We can see where it goes, and further down the line...well, we can take baby steps.”

I sniffled.“You really want to do that?”

He smiled and nodded.“I’m going to be here for you all from now on. They’re my kids, and you’re the mother of my children. I’m going to make up for lost time.”

He tenderly embraced me, and how I had missed this feeling with him. I reacted, holding onto him as I continued to silently cry. He rocked us back and forth, but I could tell he was crying when I felt something drip onto my neck. This didn’t mean all was forgiven, it would take a while to mend everything between us, and for the kids to get used to their father again (and vice versa). Although I knew this would be a journey, I had some faith in it, and I prayed and hoped that someone from the Weasley side could help with (Y/D/N).

We were going to work through this. From what Fred had said, he was desperately wanting to reconnect. Perhaps we could be a family, and the last five years would be nothing compared to the rest of our lives.

[joyful-soul-collector]

We out here findin’ WORDS

Thank you @tracle0 for tagging me, you found good words and left good words to find, those words being:  trudge, flee, flex, brush and blight

Lets see how we did shall we?

Trudge

None, mermaids don’t have feet, they don’t trudge anywhere. Off to a great start

Flee

Also none, my characters aren’t fuckin cowards

Flex

None--okay so literally all of the fle- starting words either end with a W or an SH Trade, so you had two options and chose none of them. Good job

Blight

Trade you’re really bad at this

Brush

since this is LITERALLY THE ONLY WORD IN THE LIST I COULD FIND you get a longer snippety, and one you’ve never seen before, so good job, well done, you failed so well you got rewarded for it

“Ness--” The spear dug deeper into Tatum’s throat, cutting him off. 

“Shut up, Slicker,” the pale syreni said. 

“You’re one to talk, Sharps, you’re deep in the trench now,” said the short syreni holding Loch, who now had his wrists tied to the end of his tail. 

“I ain’t Marianas just yet, you bag of bones,” Sharps snarled. They turned back to Tatum with a wide grin. “I’m just dancing on the edge, friend. When I’m sucked down they’ll know, I’ll be bringin’ them all down with me. We can dance in the dark together.” 

“Just kill him Sharps, we’re wasting time,” Nessie said. “I want this guppy back before Aeris comes to get his fighters.” 

“You sure I can't keep this one, Nex?” said the one holding Art. She wrapped her tail around his waist, brushing her fingers down his ribs, which had a faint shadow under each one now. “I’ve been getting a bit bored with my other girl, I figure a pretty boy like him would be a nice change, don’t you think?”

Rage crawled up Tatum’s neck like bubbles in boiling water, and before he could think twice he threw his palm into the side of the spear. It dragged through his gills before shattering, slicing deep through the scars already there, but all he could feel was the feverish anger in his chest, like electricity running through his veins. 

He darted towards Art, grabbing the wrist of the woman holding a knife to his throat, and twisting hard until he heard a sharp snap. She released Art with a howl of pain, and Art ducked out of the way just in time before Tatum slammed his fist into her nose, a satisfying crunch beneath his knuckles.

I woke up at 5:30am today and then got slandered by Trade’s choice of words for me to find so instead of tagging people I’m just gonna take a nap

[mortimer-writes-sometimes]

Alrighty, so this is an idea I've been having about the bartender for a while: if you remember sans' workshop, I actually thought about the idea of sans being gone, and grillby finding the key and beginning to explore the skeletons' past.

Just a random idea, and I also love how you write your stories, I can literally imagine the scenario happening❤.

Oh, I really like this one! I hope you don’t mind that I went in the angst direction with this. It turned out to be a little long and might not have been exactly what you were looking for, but I hope you like it anyway! Also thank you so much for the compliment, I’m thrilled that you can enjoy it.

I Never Knew You. I Never Will.

Word count: 2951 Warnings: Genocide route and all that entails Summary: Grillby can’t find Sans after the evacuation. When he finds himself in Sans’s lab, his world comes crashing down around him.

Preface: This takes place near the end of a genocide run. The remaining monsters have been evacuated to the True Lab by Dr. Alphys. Determined to avenge his brother, Sans left the safety of the lab to judge Frisk.

Grillby felt like he was floating as he made his way through the crowd of monsters around him. This had to be a nightmare. It couldn’t be real. He watched from outside himself as he searched the crowd for familiar faces, stumbling as he was pushed aside by a monster rushing to greet their spouse. People were calling out for each other, sobbing as they found their family members or wailing as they realized their children hadn’t made it. It couldn’t be real.

It couldn’t be.

He couldn’t see any of the Snowdin guards. Where were they?

No, he couldn’t understand, this wasn’t real.

He couldn’t find his niece. He heard someone screaming her name above the crowd and realized it was him. Where was she? Where were Grillby’s brothers, his parents? He hadn’t seen them in so long. They had to be okay.

It wasn’t real.

It couldn’t be real.

It was.

Reality came crashing down. Grillby snapped back into awareness and choked, sickened by the lingering smell of dust as sheer panic gripped him. His friends were dead. His family was dead. They’d been fine just yesterday, how could they be dead? What kind of monster- no, what thing could do this? He struggled to breathe as he felt his whole body seizing up. It was all he could do not to puke, head spinning as he leaned against the nearest wall. He couldn’t breathe, his vision was spotty, was he dying? Was this what it felt like, for your soul to break apart?

Grillby sank to his knees, trails of steam pouring from the corners of his eyes as he sobbed. Everyone he loved was dead.

No. Wait. He was forgetting someone.

Where was Sans?

The fire elemental jerked his head up, frantically scanning the crowd. Sans had been the one to come for him and tell him to evacuate to Hotland. He’d taken Grillby’s hand and told him there was no time to explain. They’d taken a shortcut to Alphys’s lab, skipping Waterfall to be sure Grillby wouldn’t get hurt by the rivers and rain. Sans told him a human was attacking every monster in sight. He told him to stay put, then left to help with the rest of the evacuation. It had only been after the fact that Grillby realized Sans had been wearing Papyrus’s scarf, and it was covered in dust.

Alphys’s underground lab had quickly filled with frightened monsters. The remaining members of the royal guard had spread the word and were getting people out as fast as they could. Sans could only take one person at a time using his shortcuts, but he still managed to get dozens of people out. Despite it all, they weren’t fast enough. The human was destroying everything in its path. They got to Waterfall, Hotland, and the Core faster than everyone could get out. Survivors started showing up covered in lingering dust.

Grillby forced himself to his feet. Sans had to be nearby. All the survivors had been moved to safety, hidden underground. There was no reason for Sans to still be searching. There was no reason for him to be anywhere but by Grillby’s side, safe and sound. Where was he?

The bartender spotted Alphys handing out blankets and walked over, desperation gripping his soul as he stepped in front of her. “Dr. Alphys, have you seen Sans anywhere? He was helping with the evacuation. He should be back by now.”

Alphys stopped in her tracks. “H-he isn’t here?” She looked around, nearly as worried by the news as Grillby. “He s-said he was taking a- a shortcut home. He was o-o-only going to grab some- some more blankets and food.”

Dread enveloped Grillby’s soul, threatening to break it. No. No, this couldn’t be happening. “Why would you let him go back out there?!”

“The h-human is, um, in New Home,” Alphys stuttered out in her defense. “Sans c-c-can teleport. He doesn’t h-have to get, um, anywhere n-near the human. It should b-b-be safe by now. I’m sure, um, h-he’s probably safe. He’ll be back any moment now! I’m s-sure of it!”

She didn’t sound sure enough for Grillby’s taste. He pushed past her, continuing his search as he went from room to room. Sans should have been back. What if he’d exhausted himself and couldn’t teleport again? What if the human doubled back, searching for survivors, and found Sans?

A flash of red caught Grillby’s eye. A long piece of red fabric was left draped on one of the medical beds. Papyrus’s scarf.

Grillby pulled out his phone, shakily picking the dusty scarf up. Surely Sans had his phone on him, right? The phone rang… and rang… and rang… 

“Congrats, you’ve reached the voicemail of Sans the skeleton. Picking up the phone is too much work right now, so I probably won’t answer if you call me back. You can leave a message, but I probably won’t check my voicemail either. Just text me. Or call Papyrus. See ya.”

The fire monster wanted to cry. He called again and again and again. It went to voicemail every time. He tried texting him, begging Sans to answer…

But nobody came.

Grillby was moving towards the elevator of the lab before he truly comprehended what he was doing. Alphys saw him and rushed after him, grabbing his sleeve. “W-wait! Where are you going?”

“You said Sans was at home, didn’t you?” Grillby answered quietly. “I’m going to find him.”

“You c-can’t! It’s not safe-!”

Grillby turned around, his flames burning hotter as he snapped at her. “But it was safe for Sans to leave, was it?! Don’t be so hypocritical! If you’re truly concerned about the safety of monsters, let me go!”

Alphys fell quiet, trembling a bit. She let go of Grillby’s sleeve and hunched over. She hated being yelled at. Grillby immediately felt guilty, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, “I shouldn’t have raised my voice. I just-”

“N-no.” Alphys wiped at her eyes and adjusted her glasses. “You’re right. I sh-shouldn’t have let Sans go. Let, um, let me find a r-rain jacket for you. It will be dangerous for y-you to get through- through Waterfall on your own.”

Grillby was quiet for a moment, then just nodded, letting her leave. She came back moments later with a rain jacket, rubber boots, and an umbrella. The fire monster took them and thanked the scientist, heading towards the elevator. He didn’t say goodbye. In the situation they’d found themselves in, a farewell felt like a curse.

Grillby managed to make it through Waterfall mostly unscathed, folding his umbrella as he walked into Snowdin. The place felt like a ghost town, every window dark and every home abandoned. He tried not to think about it as he approached the skeleton brothers’ house. The door was standing open, filling Grillby with dread. He choked down another wave of panic as he stepped inside the dark living room. “Sans?” Grillby called out, voice feeling muffled by the oppressive, eerie silence. “Sans, are you here? ...god, please be here.” He pulled out his phone again as he walked up the stairs, dialing Sans’s number and waiting.

A default ringtone went off in Sans’s room.

The bartender should’ve felt relieved, but if anything, the sound scared him more than the silence. If Sans was here, why didn’t he answer the phone? Respond to the texts? Grillby tried the door and found it locked, struggling with the knob despite knowing it was useless. “Sans! Are you there?! Please, answer me!”

But nobody came.

The panic Grillby had been holding back consumed him. The fire that made up his body grew as he stepped back, leaning against the railing before moving forward and kicking down the door. 

The room was empty. Sans’s phone was ringing on the bed, abandoned.

For the second time that day, Grillby found himself sobbing, kneeling on the floor as he desperately tried to force himself to breathe. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t have lost Sans, too. He didn’t even say goodbye. He didn’t even get to tell him…

Dizzy with exhaustion, Grillby looked up at the phone again. On the bed next to it was a piece of paper, folded around something. Dragging himself to his feet, the bartender stumbled over, sinking to the ground again as he picked it up. A key fell into his lap. It was small and silver, and it looked old. The note it had been wrapped in had a drawing of the house, with an arrow pointing to something in the back. As Grillby’s gaze drifted down to the base of the drawing, he choked on another sob.

Hey Grillbz,

If you’re reading this, you probably did something stupid like go to my house by yourself with a homicidal psychopath on the loose. Don’t worry, I get it. You did this last time, too. Anyway, this go around, I’m not gonna be here when you show up. 

That key you’ve got goes to a basement behind the house. Go in there. You’ll figure out for yourself where I’ve gone.

When you do, please don’t follow me.

I love you, Grillby. I’m sorry.

~Sans

Grillby read the note over and over, crying as the implications sank in. Whatever Sans was doing, it didn’t sound like he planned to come back. Well, if he thought that Grillby wasn’t going to go after him, he was dead wrong. But first… the bartender had to figure out where Sans was going.

It had taken a minute to get the door behind the house to open. The lock was old, and it stuck for a moment while Grillby jiggled the key to get it in. It finally swung open with an echoing creak, light from outside barely able to illuminate the inside of what looked to be a small home lab of some kind.

Grillby stepped inside, drawn to the large machine in the back. The damage to the odd machine and the char marks on the floor did nothing for Grillby’s anxiety, but the lack of dust around it at least assured him that it probably wasn’t the dangerous thing Sans had been alluding to. The fire monster stepped away from it, moving towards the desk and the piles of paper there. The first thing that caught his eye was a drawer slightly ajar, something inside reflecting the light that Grillby gave off. He opened it the rest of the way, immediately recognizing the badge inside as he picked it up. “This… This is the insignia of the royal scientist. Why would he have this?” Grillby mumbled out loud. Now that he was thinking about it, why would Sans have any of this? It didn’t make any sense. Sans was a sentry, and he had been the entire time Grillby knew him. The skeleton had never mentioned living in Hotland or having a scientific career. The bartender was starting to question how well he knew his best friend, setting the badge back in the drawer and turning to the papers.

The first page was written in some sort of font that Grillby couldn’t understand. Looking at it made his hurt, so he moved it to the side, skipping over it. The next page was thankfully readable. It described something called ‘DT’, and the effects it could have on a monster’s magic if infused properly. The records of the experiments had been partially burned, but most of what Grillby could read was too complicated for him to understand. He never thought Sans was dumb, but the complicated equations were far beyond anything Grillby had seen before. He hadn’t guessed Sans had that level of intelligence, or put that level of work into any one project.

The last few pages had the most burns out of all of them. Some sections were written in that headache-inducing language, with a lot of the notes Grillby could read seemingly added later. It looked like a comparison between the effectiveness of multiple attacks before and after the use of DT. The last few notes made Grillby burn lower, nearly going cold.

In conclusion, DT can be used to temporarily increase stamina and allow a monster to use their magic more effectively, summoning attacks and creating patterns like nothing seen before. However, drawing that level of magic from a monster’s soul can cause their soul to become unstable, tearing it apart. A monster could not withstand the effects of DT long-term without turning to dust.

I could handle it, just for a little while. If it came down to it, I could use the machine on myself and keep the kid from hurting anyone else.

Papyrus… Alphys… Grillby… 🕈︎✋︎☠︎☝︎👎︎✋︎☠︎☝︎💧︎… I’m so sorry.

“No,” Grillby whispered, his eyes widening in panic. “No, no no no no please tell me you didn’t- Sans-”

Sans was going to fight the human.

No matter the outcome, Sans was going to turn to dust.

Grillby ignored the sting of the rain as he sprinted through Waterfall. He didn’t have time to worry about his HP. Sans used that machine on himself. He’d managed to build it, surely he could reverse it if Grillby just reached him in time. His mind was reeling, trying to catch up with everything he learned. Sans had once been involved with the royal scientist. Was that how he knew Alphys? And what was with that strange handwriting? Why would Sans hide it from him? The rain didn’t bother Grillby this time, but he felt a sting in his soul as he realized just how little he knew about Sans. Everything he learned about him throughout their friendship… was it all a lie? Just a cover-up for whatever Sans had done in the past? It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense anymore.

Grillby’s footsteps echoed in the corridors of New Home as he sprinted down the main path. Alphys had said that the human was in New Home somewhere, undoubtedly heading towards the castle. If Sans were to face them, it would be there. He only hoped he could reach him in time.

Sans fell backward as he felt the human’s blade slice through his ribcage. Looking down, he watched in distant shock as blood started to seep from the wound. He knew the whole battle had been pointless… Frisk would just load their save file each time they died, coming back over and over until they killed him… but it still felt so surreal. The fight was over. Sans lost.

“Heh… heh heh…” The skeleton laughed breathlessly to himself as he looked up. The human was expressionless, uncaring. How? How could they have so much apathy, after everyone they hurt?

It didn’t matter. Sans forced himself to his feet, coughing as blood dripped from his mouth. It would be fine. Frisk would reset, everyone would come back, and then they’d die again. The warm golds and oranges of the hall began to blur together as the bloodloss made Sans woozy and he stumbled, leaning against one of the pillars. If he closed his eyes…

He could almost pretend he was sitting at a familiar bar, the bartender smiling at him as he cracked jokes and drank from a ketchup bottle.

“Welp. I’m going to Grillby’s,” Sans said weakly, tears filling his eyes.

“Papyrus… do you want anything?”

Footsteps echoed in the final hallway as Grillby ran, desperation gripping his soul. He almost ran right past it. He skidded to a stop as his mind processed what he’d seen. His mind went empty and numb, and he turned around, walking a few paces back the way he’d come.

At the base of one of the pillars was a blue jacket, sitting in a pile of dust.

Grillby screamed.

No. No, it couldn’t end like this. The fire elemental fell to his knees and picked up Sans’s jacket, wailing as he held it to his chest. When he did- God, he was covered in dust. Sans’s dust. The thought made him drop the jacket and turn away, gagging and throwing up until there was nothing left.

Grillby wrapped his arms around himself, the humidity in the room increasing as he sobbed. He thought of Sans’s smile, his jokes and laughter, the way he always winked at the end of a bad pun. Was any of that even real? Did Sans enjoy being around Grillby, or was it all a façade? Grief and betrayal settled heavily over the bartender, threatening to drown him. He dry-heaved again, choking as he desperately fought for air.

I love you, Grillby.

Grillby... I’m so sorry.

The words washed over him, pushing those feelings away. It didn’t matter. Whoever Sans had been before, it didn’t change what the two of them had. Grillby wouldn’t let it.

Grillby picked up Sans’s jacket as he stood, shaking the dust off and putting it on. The heat in the room became sweltering as the fire monster was filled with rage. That human... that human had taken so much from him. His friends, his family... the skeleton he loved. They couldn’t get away with it. He wouldn’t let them.

The fire monster walked towards the end of the hall, eyes burning with murderous rage. That human was going to pay for what they-

The world stuttered.

Grillby hummed to himself as he wiped down his bar, getting ready to open for the day. Hm, that was strange. Lifting the cloth, he noticed that it had quickly gotten fairly dirty. There was dust all over Grillby’s hands, coming off on the towel. He shrugged to himself as he wiped them off and got another towel.

It was probably nothing.

Thanks for reading! This one accidentally turned out kind of long. It’s pretty stream-of-consciousness, but I’m too busy to edit it today and I’m too eager to post it to wait.

Reblog or leave me a comment telling me what you think! Asks are open if you would like to leave a prompt for me, and let me know if you want to be on my Undertale fic taglist!

[harrylee94]

In the Footsteps of Luminous Beings - Chapter 8

You can also find this on AO3!

Summary: “You know, I’d heard of being fashionably late before” Cobb greeted, his blaster pointed straight at the man who had once owned him, “but I never quite got what that meant. I hope I got it right.”

Jarda gaped at him as the thugs outside shouted, no doubt responding to the shots fired.

“Now come on, Jarda,” he continued. “Don’t y’know it’s rude not to greet your guests?” He wove his way through the littered floor and waved the blaster, directing him to stand, which he did. “Good boy. I see your mama taught you some manners after all.”

Notes: Well, I've raised the rating because of this chapter. Whuf...

TW for slavery and torture/mutilation (it's at the end; to skip please stop reading after " “Sh,” Cobb hushed, grabbing the sleemo’s chin. “Hold still.” ")

Chapter 7

——————————————————————

SLAVER

Waiting was always the worst part of making plans. Cobb knew what he had to do now and how to do it, but he had to wait to act.

The Master came by every week for an inspection of the mine, making sure productivity continued at a consistent pace while their own expenditures were kept at a minimum. It also gave them the chance to gloat and flaunt a fraction of their wealth through wasting things, such as water and imported foods, for no reason other than to show the difference between them and Cobb’s people.

Cobb could see the difference alright, as could everyone else.

The visit was scheduled for the next day.

Cobb could remember the klatoonian well. Jarda had bought him almost five years ago from his previous master when they’d started to feel the bite of their gambling debts. Cobb had had no choice but to follow this new master who now held the leash to his transmitter’s collar into a place where Jarda had planned to make him a household worker.

“You’re too pretty to hide away in a cave,” he’d said, something that, at the time, Cobb had thought was a more figurative phrase. It was only after he’d pushed his luck a few too many times that he learned that it was not.

It had been almost two years since he’d seen him, but he could still remember the laugh he’d heard as he’d been dragged away, barely conscious, to the convoy heading to the mine.

He’d spent the rest of the time he’d had with Issa-Or making sure that she knew what was supposed to happen, and that she spread the word to the others once it was safe to do so, those who had been awake swearing to be prepared when the time came, but he’d had to leave hours before the suns rose, and Jarda took his time when going anywhere.

Everyone was already in the pit by the time their Master appeared, gliding over on his precious yacht with a shaded roof and air cooling system. Cobb had already hidden himself in the larger tent once it had been emptied, and so he was only a handful of steps away from one of the windows, all of which were wide open, the shutters propped up with rods and hooks.

Despite the yacht’s size, it was mostly empty, only a handful of hired muscle to accompany Jarda beyond the slaves who served him imported Alderanian wine and fruits that held enough juice in them to sustain someone for a whole day. When the Force gave him a nudge, he slipped through the window and into the overgrown speeder.

“What—?” Jarda exclaimed, but before he could so much as jump Cobb had already pulled his pistol and shot his three guards dead, leaving the klatoonian defenceless. The two others in the room screamed, but their scant clothing made it clear what and who they were.

Cobb winced as the very air seemed to shudder at the snuffing of those three lives, their lights spluttering before dissipating into the universe. The Force screamed at the loss, its voice ringing in his ears much as the ones in the yacht, but he shook the sudden shock of it away. Retuning his focus to the man before him.

“You know, I’d heard of being fashionably late before” Cobb greeted, his blaster pointed straight at the man who had once owned him, “but I never quite got what that meant. I hope I got it right.”

Jarda gaped at him as the thugs outside shouted, no doubt responding to the shots fired.

“Now come on, Jarda,” he continued. “Don’t y’know it’s rude not to greet your guests?” He wove his way through the littered floor and waved the blaster, directing him to stand, which he did. “Good boy. I see your mama taught you some manners after all.”

He grabbed Jarda by the arm and spun him around, pushing him into the wall of the yacht, the barrel of the blaster pressed into Jarda’s back. The klatoonian hissed from the lingering heat of it, and Cobb could smell his expensive clothes burning a little.

“You’re making a big mistake,” Jarda said as the shouts came closer. “You’ll never make it out of here alive.”

Cobb snorted. “There are half a dozen thugs out there, armed with whips and clubs at best,” he said, pressing the blaster deeper into his back. “I think I’ll take those chances.” He pressed closer still. “Now where’s the remote?”

It took the Lorda a few moments to understand what he was asking, but then he twisted his head in an attempt to look back at him. “The slaves? That’s what this is about?”

“It’s enough.” Cobb snarled at him. “The remote.”

“It’s my livelihood!”

“It’s your livelihood or your life,” Cobb threatened, his blaster whirring as it charged, ready to fire.

“ Vambrace! Vambrace!” He held out his hand, revealing the vambrace in question; a gaudy thing cast in a light metal with too many engravings, the sort that were entirely pointless. Cobb quickly removed it and attached it to his own arm, putting the blaster back in place before Jarda had the chance to do anything more than squirm.

“Axcess code?”

The two slaves screamed in shock as someone pounded on the door, curling up together in the corner. Cobb hated that he didn’t have the time to comfort or reassure them yet, but there would be plenty of time later.

“Come on now Jarda, we don’t have all day.”

“I-it’s one five mern four two se-senth three leth one eight peth.”

“Say it again.”

“Wh-what?”

The door shuddered.

“Again!”

“One-five-mern-four-two-senth-three-leth-one-eight-peth!”

“One more time.”

“Why—?”

Cobb pushed the blaster into his back again.

“Fifteen-mern-fourty-two-senth-three-leth-eighteen-peth! I swear! I swear that’s the code!”

Cobb certainly hoped so; he’d said the same thing three times under pressure, so it must have been something he’d used often. The door creaked with the next hit, but he took a moment to breathe, to sense if this was right, but his grip on the Force had slipped. He’d have to do this the old fashioned way then.

“It’d better be,” he said, just when someone with more than a few brain cells realised that the door wasn’t actually locked and it slipped open.

Two more bodies hit the ground, though it took three shots, and he clipped a third in the arm. Cobb almost stumbled at the sudden gaping holes that tore through the Force, the sense of it returning in a flood, but he kept a firm grip on the klatoonian’s robe. He spotted movement out of one of the windows, and with another blast the Force made him shudder again.

Why had Ben never warned him about this? If he’d known… No, he would have done the same, but perhaps he would have been better prepared.

He looked over at the slaves who had huddled together in the corner, their fear a cloud of darkness around them (when had he been able to feel that?), and sighed. They were new, meaning Cobb didn’t recognise them, and they wouldn’t know him, but he could at least offer one thing.

“Remove your robe,” he commanded of Jarda, also shaking in fear.

The Master complied with a whimper, the silk material of it slipping easily off his frame, and soon Cobb had it in his hand. The mark from his blaster had singed some of the fibres a dark brown, but the rest was still a vibrant blue, and he tossed it to the others.

“Here,” he said as they looked at it in surprise. “You deserve to wear what you please, but this will have to do for now.”

The man wrapped it around the woman, giving Cobb a nod of thanks, though they were both still wary of him. At least now the fear had become diluted around them.

“Now, I think you and I were talkin’,” he said, turning back once more to his quarry.

“Wh-what do you w-want to know?” Jarda asked, and Cobb could smell the distinctive scent of piss as the sleemo lost control of his bowels.

Cobb hummed, his ears perking at a whistle from outside. “Why don’t we ask our friends outside, hm?”

Directing Jarda was easy, so easy that it was almost scary, but stepping out into the suns to find his people had subdued the remaining thugs was perhaps the happiest moment of his life. Issa-Or was standing over one of them now, one of the clubs held over her shoulder as she grinned over at him.

“You’ve been busy!” she called, nodding to the bodies that were still partially in the doorway.

“So have you!” he replied, pushing Jarda onwards until he tripped over his own feet onto his knees. “How is everyone?”

“Mostly fine,” she replied. “Everyone’ll be out soon enough.”

Cobb hummed, watching the pit’s entrance where two of his brethren were helping people out of the basket, all of them blinking in the bright light.. “There’s two inside. I might’a scared ‘em a bit.”

Issa snorted, but waved someone towards the yacht. “Never did know how to be subtle.”

Cobb laughed, which only made the klatoonian shake.

“Who-who are you?” the Lorda stuttered.

He’d known this sleemo had forgotten him already, but hearing it so blatantly spoken… He kicked him to sand, face hitting the ground as he contemplated how to make an example of him.

“I’m no one,” he replied, “which is what you’re about to learn to be.”

“No! No no, please!” Jarda begged. “I-I have money! Jewels! Y-you can take my yacht! I’ll give you what you want! Anything! Please don’t kill me!”

Cobb rolled his eyes, sharing a look with Issa before crouching down, rolling the Master over and pressing his knees onto his arms to keep him from squirming. “Kill you? Why would I wanna kill you?” he asked. “No, you ain’t dying today.”

Jarda seemed to relax, especially when Cobb holstered his blaster, but he froze up again when Cobb drew the knife from the Lorda’s belt.

“You’re gonna send a message for me,” Cobb said, checking the sharpness of the blade against his captive’s tunic. “You’re gonna help me let everyone know what happens to slavers on this planet.”

“I-I can do that,” Jarda said, nodding his head. “I’ll let them—”

“Sh,” Cobb hushed, grabbing the sleemo’s chin. “Hold still.”

He leaned over him then, wielding the blade like a stylus, with the klatoonian’s brow as his pad.

“Senth…” he muttered as he carved the grooves into Jarda’s flesh, covering his mouth when the screams began. “Lenth… Aurek… Hold still or I’ll have t’ start again!”

Blood trickled into the sand along with the Lorda’s tears, his body bucking but quickly held down by other strong hands, until the word was written boldly, if in jagged lines, across his forehead.

‘SLAVER’

“There,” he said as he rose to his feet, Jarda sobbing quietly below. “Now everyone’ll know what you are, and you won’t ever forget.”

He stepped away then, throwing the knife into the sands as he headed towards Issa, who was giving him a proud, if concerned smile. He felt sick, his hands trembling at what he’d done, but he couldn’t break yet; he couldn’t let the Masters see his weakness.

“We’ll get everyone on the yacht,” he said. “It’ll be a tight fit, but we’ll make it work.”

“Everyone’ll be out soon,” Issa said, pushing the thug she’d subdued back into the sand when he tried to rise with the heel of her boot. “What’re we doing with this scum?”

Cobb looked down at him, then back at the quivering form of Jarda as he curled in on himself beneath the watchful gazes of those he assumed had helped hold him down. “They’re not worth their water,” he said, “but I’m done killin’ today. The Sands can pass judgement.”

Issa’s smile turned into something of more feral glee. “To the desert with them!”

A cheer rose from the victors, a tired roar, but all Cobb wanted to do was to find a quiet corner to empty his stomach. These times to come would be difficult, he knew, and he would have to harden himself for it, but for now it was almost too much. Those gaping holes where life had once been were already healing, but the echoes still lingered in his soul.

He would keep going, he had to, because this was bigger than him, this was worth every hurt he would have to go through, and he would take it all on to make Tatooine free.

——————————————————————

I say again; whuf. I mean, this whole thing was great fun to write, but still, things went off the deep end a bit there.

Cobb has his convictions now, and he's learned some more about the Force. He'll have to steel himself for the future, because this ain't the end. Not by a long shot.

Chapter 9

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

Woven Bonds chapter 7

Summary: When the Watchers return to claim Martyn's soul as punishment for failing them during Last Life, Impulse, Jimmy, and Mumbo, helped by Grian, set off to save him from eternal purgatory.

Previous Chapter

Read it on AO3

...

The Watcher grabs Jimmy’s wrist and pulls him up the stairs. Jimmy knows he should struggle or at least try to resist but he can’t quite force himself to. Maybe if he lets himself go quietly, the Watcher will go easy on him.

She pulls him into a room and closes the door behind them. Jimmy notices that the room appears to be a bedroom of some kind and he’s momentarily very confused.

“P-Please don’t turn me in!” he pleads.

The Watcher gives him a smile. “I would never turn you in, Jimmy.”

Jimmy blinks. “You… You know my name?”

“Of course I do. You don’t remember me?”

“Sh- Should I?”

“We knew each other when we were kids,” she replies. “Before Evo, before everything… happened.”

Jimmy’s heart leaps as memories of a long, LONG time ago flood back to him. “Oh my gosh, no way…! Tiegan...?! Is it really you?”

“You DO remember me!” she says delightedly. “It’s been so long, I thought you might not. What on earth are you doing here?”

“Remember my friend Martyn who used to tease me when we were kids?”

“Oh yes.”

“He’s being held captive here, and my two friends I came here with to rescue him are…” Jimmy trails off as fresh tears threaten his vision. “They… They got…”

Tiegan frowns sympathetically. “Oh… Yes, Papa’s energy blast. I heard distant screams from my room so I came down to see what was happening. I never-” Her eyes widen as she breaks off. “Wait, you said Martyn is here?”

Jimmy nods. “Yeah! He got captured by the Watchers and I’ve no idea where he is. But I-I have to find him, I can’t lose him too.”

“You can’t go out there alone; my family will be all over the place,” says Tiegan. “If they catch you, they’ll kill you too.”

“I know… but I…” Jimmy drops his gaze. “But Martyn is one of my best friends. I have to… I have to try.”

After a moment, Tiegan smiles. “I admire your love for your friend. I have decided that I will help you.”

Jimmy stares at her in shock. “Really?”

Tiegan nods. “I’ve missed you all this time. If I can help you and Martyn get out of here, I will.”

With that, Tiegan places her hands on Jimmy’s shoulders. A warm feeling spreads out from her hands, engulfing his whole body, causing it to start to softly glow gold.

“There,” says Tiegan, stepping bacl. “Now you should be sheltered from my family’s sight.”

“Wh- What do you mean?” asks Jimmy.

“I’ve shielded you. Now even if you’re right in front of one of my family, they won’t see you. And it’s also given you Watcher aura so you should be able to pass through any Watcher doors too. It won’t last long, though. And I’m sure my family is looking for you, so you’d better hurry. The stairs to the basement are in the foyer, to the left of the door; if Martyn’s being held anywhere, it’ll be down there.”

Jimmy almost starts crying again. “Tiegan, I… I can’t thank you enough for your help.”

“You and Martyn were my only friends growing up and I never got to say goodbye to either of you,” Tiegan says softly. “This is my goodbye gift to you, Jimmy. Good luck.”

She gives Jimmy a quick hug, before opening the door for him. With one last brave smile, Jimmy leaves the room.

He rushes back down the corridor and out into the foyer. As he takes the steps two at a time, he realises with a jolt that Mumbo and Impulse are still where they fell, unmoved. If the Watchers have just left them here, they really must be confident that the two are… That they’re…

Jimmy’s heart aches to, at the very least, untie his friends’ hands. But he can’t; the Watchers will know he’s been here. Tiegan has gifted him invisibility, so he can’t do anything to jeopardize that.

He forces himself to walk past them and towards the basement stairs. As he gets there, a Watcher appears coming up the stairs towards him. He freezes, automatically holding his breath.

But the Watcher passes right by him.

Jimmy waits until they disappear before letting out a quiet breath. Privately thanking Tiegan, he rushes down the stairs.

At the bottom lies a hard concrete corridor, a largely different switch in tone between it and the decor of the opulent manor upstairs. However, there are no doors all the way down the hallway, not even at the very end.

As Jimmy is trying to work this out, he happens to touch the wall with his hand. Immediately, he feels a low hum of energy coming from it. And as he runs his hand further along the wall, the humming slowly gets more intense.

Maybe he’s getting closer to Martyn.

Eventually, the buzzing turns into a vibration under his hand. Taking a deep, nervous breath, Jimmy pushes his hand against the wall.

It starts to phase right through.

Remembering what Tiegan said about Watcher-only doors, Jimmy slowly pushes himself through the wall.

On the other side of the wall is a small cell-like room containing nothing but-

“Martyn!” Jimmy gasps.

Curled up on the floor, Martyn’s eyes flicker open, though his gaze is unfocused. “Jimmy…?” he croaks.

Jimmy heaves himself all the way through the wall and drops down beside Martyn, grasping his friend’s shoulder. “It’s me, Martyn! I’m here to save you.”

“Y-You’re not real.” Martyn weakly brushes Jimmy’s hand away. “You’re just- You’re just a hallucination conjured up by my delirious brain.”

Jimmy gently takes hold of Martyn and pulls him into a sitting position. “Could a hallucination do that?” he chuckles through the tears filling his eyes. “Martyn, it’s really me. I’m saving you.”

Martyn slowly reaches out with his hand and places it on Jimmy’s shoulder, as if afraid Jimmy will break under his touch. Clearly satisfied a few seconds later that Jimmy is in fact real and tangible, Martyn dissolves into tears and grabs Jimmy in a hug, clutching him like his life depends on it.

Jimmy hugs him back, all his fear melting away just for a moment. All he cares about right now is that Martyn is here, Martyn is alive.

“I th- I thought they’d gotten you too,” Martyn croaks through his tears. “Th- They showed me Mumbo and Impulse and it was awful and- J-Jimmy, is it… is it real…? Did they actually…?”

“Y-Yes.” Jimmy closes his eyes, the image of his friends’ deaths still seared in the forefront of his memory. “It- It happened. It was real.”

Martyn knew deep down that it was real. He just never wanted to believe it. The Watchers play tricks all the time; it’s what they do.

But this is the first time Martyn was actually hoping it WAS a trick.

Hoping that two of his greatest friends weren’t gone for good.

(btw if you've made it this far, just lettin you guys know Tiegan is an OC, completely made up for this story :))

[fictionalabyss]

Protector : Despair.

Pairing : Dean x Reader, Sam, Brady, Alex (oc), Abby (oc)

Word count :    2,233

Warnings : Panic/fear,  stalking/following (mentioned), nightmares, protective Sam, scared Alex. Series TW : Domestic Abuse is a constant topic- be it mentioned, or actually happening.

Continuation of this series was commissioned by : @iflostreturntosteverogers

Part 20 of Protector.

Masterlist • Patreon • Ko-fi.

You sat licking your lips and looking down at your phone. Today had been a day from hell. Scariest day of your life since the day your ex husband had shown up at your door and beat the shit out of you. And this time, there was no Dean to make it stop. You’d been home for a bit now, unable to relax, unable to stop your mind from coming up with the worst possible scenarios.

Alex had left school when he spotted Ash outside doing a walk of the perimeter, stood up mid lecture, grabbed his books, his bag and walked out. He knew if a patched member was at the school, it meant trouble. He’d burst into the house almost in a panic, making sure you and Abby were okay, telling you Ash had given him a quick rundown.

Now he was with his sister in the kitchen, keeping her occupied while Sam started on an early supper to distract everyone.

Looking down at your phone, you sighed and scrolled through your contacts before selecting one and hitting call.

“Sullivan and Rothman, how can I help you?”

“I’m calling for Tyson Brady.”

“Name?”

“Y/N Winchester.”

“Hold please.”

It took a few minutes, but then the elevator style hold music shut off and you could almost hear the smile in Brady’s voice when he picked up with a “And what can I do for the biker princess?”

“Hopefully help.”

“What’s wrong?” his tone had changed completely and you could almost picture his lawyerly frown.

You licked your lips before filling him in. “Remember when Dean was arrested?”

“Yeah, Bakers bullshit stunt to buy time, what about it?”

“Baker told some guy who I was, that I was Dean’s wife. He was a guy from a rival MC or gang or something, I don’t know… but-”

“But?”

“He’s following me.”

“You’re sure?” You nodded even though he couldn’t see you, and it was almost like he just knew before he asked “How?”

“Someone sent Dean pictures of me and Sam in the front yard yesterday. He said the only thing other than the pictures was a PObox. There was no name, no nothing-”

“So you don’t know it was him.”

“Not for sure, no..”

“You got the PO number?”

“Uh, no. Dean didn’t tell me.”

“I’ll call him for that..” you heard rummaging and then quiet. “That can’t be it, though..”

“No.. today, I saw him.”

“The guy? Where?”

“Grocery store. He was following me, watching me.” you swallowed, looking down again as tears filled your eyes once more. “I’m scared, Brady.. It was just me and Abby, and he was there, he- he just stood there and watched us.”

“When?”

“About an hour ago? I called Sam crying, he ran to the store and the guy was just gone. What if it’s him who sent the pictures to Dean? It means he knows where I live. Dean’s flipping out, I’m scared he’s going to do something stupid in there and I’m scared this asshole is going to get me out here, and- I- I didn’t know who else to call but you..”

“Hey, relax, okay? Look, you did good calling me. I’m going to officially represent you, okay? I’m not just Alex’s lawyer anymore, I’m yours now. Look, I’m gonna grab the next flight in, okay? Might be a few days, but I’ll come down, I’ll meet up with Dean's lawyer and see what we can find out about these pictures, and I’ll file another report against Baker.”

“I’m so fucking scared…”

“I know. I know. You’re not alone, are you?”

“No. Dean made Sam move in a few days ago.” You glanced up as Brutus padded into the room. Patting your thigh, he came over and rested his head on it, head tilting to encourage you to scratch behind his ear. You were happy to obliged.

“Okay. That’s good. How’s Alex?”

“Freaked out too. I sent some MC guys to make sure he was safe at school, it freaked him out and he rushed home.”

“Look, I’m about to check for a flight. I see you when I get to town. I’m also going to reach out to Dean’s lawyer. If I find out anything before I see you, I’ll call.”

“Thanks, Brady. I don’t know where we’d be without you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. See you soon.”

As you hung up, you ran your thumb along the side of your phone. You wished Dean would call again, just so you knew he was okay, that he hadn’t done something stupid. “Please..” you whispered while staring at your screen. “Please please please..”

“You okay?” You looked up at Sam standing in the doorway, and he sighed. “Of course you're not. Did you call Dean’s lawyer?”

You shook your head. “Brady. He’s uh- he’s gonna come down. Get up Bakers ass again, talk to Dean’s lawyer for me..” you bit your bottom lip and started to chew on it. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“Being here. That day. Today. Brady. Take your pick.”

“You’re family.” he gave you a soft smile. “Go on up and take a warm shower. Dinner won't be ready for about an hour, so you’ve got time. I know it’s hard for you to relax, but-”

“I’m pregnant, so I need to try. I know.” Sighing, you dropped your phone onto the coffee table before making your way to the stairs, Brutus following behind you at first but he stopped to sit next to his master. “Sam?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you.” without another word from either of you, you made your way up the stairs and into your bedroom. Once the door shut behind you, you leaned on it and looked around. Pictures on the dressers, his clothes, his things, this was the hardest that it had hit you that Dean wasn’t here, he couldn’t protect you. Letting yourself slide to the floor, you gave yourself a few minutes to cry.

You were running, running, always running. Running from something, something you could feel more than see. A feeling, one of dread. Terror. The kind of terror that left a pit in your stomach and made you want to throw up, but you couldn’t, you had to keep running. Running through the streets, running through trees, through houses, the scenery always changed but you weren’t getting anywhere, you weren’t getting any farther away from it. You were running with something hot on your tail and no end in sight.

Tears streamed down your face, sweat clung to your skin as you pushed yourself harder, faster, frantically looking as you ran, looking for your safe place. Looking for Dean.

You skidded to a halt in the endless aisles of a supermarket when you came face to face with a man you’d only ever seen. He was massive, giant, built like a tank that could never be taken down. He took up the whole aisle, you couldn’t see anything, not even light beyond him. He was darkness and dread that swallowed it all up, and he had his eyes set on you.

You turned and ran, back down the way you’d come. A glance behind you showed you that he was following. Not running, but keeping up all the same.

And then you slammed into something. A hard body that sent a chill of terror down your spine.

You were shaking as you looked up at him, a face you’d hadn’t seen in years, not even in your worst nightmares. “No..” you shook your head frantically trying to get some distance from him. “No.. no.”

“Where’s my son?”

“Please…” you begged, stumbling as you stepped back and fell to the ground. You tried to scurry away only to bump your back against legs. Dread and terror now towered over you. The man who tried to kill you once, and the man who wanted to do it now. “Please.. This isn’t real.” you  sobbed, backing against a shelf and curling up as small as you could. “You’re not real. You’re not real. You’re not real..” the words on repeat as all light was blocked out and your world got dark. It suddenly felt like you were falling.

Despair.

There was no help, no one was coming to save you this time. They had you trapped and cornered and it would hurt even more than the last time, you knew that. You were surrounded by darkness and pain that wouldn’t relent and no one was coming to save you this time.

This was it.

He’d finally kill you.

“Please..” you sobbed before letting out a pained cry.

You hear a crash and barking, then feel someone grabbing at you. It puts you in a panic, you start screaming, louder and louder, pushing, fighting as you get pulled up to sit.

“Hey! Hey, relax, it’s me, it’s Sam.” You keep fighting, eyes now open and darting around in fear. It’s your room, you’re in your room but is it real this time? Is this really Sam holding your shoulders. “Hey. It was just a bad dream, I’m here, I’ve got you.”

You looked at him, searching his face for truth. “Are you-”

“I’m real, I’m here.” A large hand cupped your cheek, his attempt at grounding you again, proving to you that he’s in fact right there to save you from whatever had put so much fear in you. Your hand went to his chest. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and feeling the warmth of his skin under your fingers proved to you he was real. He was real. He was here, and he had saved you. You didn’t say a word, the tears started pouring out again and you let him wrap his arms around you. You sobbed against his shoulder. “It was just a bad dream.” he soothed, hand smoothing down your hair and down your back before coming up and repeating the movement. “It was just a bad dream. I’ve got you.”

Hearing the creak of the floor boards, your eyes opened again to see Alex in the doorway, his eyes full of worry. “Mom?”

Sam lets you go, even though you’re still shaking, even though the tears haven’t stopped yet, he lets you go. “Alex.” you breath on a sob, and he’s rushing in to you, all but throwing himself against you as you wrap your arms around your son, clinging to the back of his shirt as you cry.

“You scared me, mom. I heard you screaming and I-” You duck your head, burying it against his shoulder. “I haven’t heard you scream like that in so long. Not since dad.”

“He was there.” you whisper against him. “He was there, him and that guy.. They- they had me trapped and no one would help me.” you were shaking with sobs again. “I couldn’t get away. I couldn’t get away.”

Alex started to rock you, side to side like you had done to him when he was small. “Yeah.” Alex nodded. “I remember those dreams.” Alex sighs now before whispering. “I have them too.”

It's a few minutes of quiet between you, Alex gently rocking you while Sam quietly watched, his brow still furrowed with a worried frown. “I know you’re probably too old, but-”

“I’ll stay, mom.” He pulls away now, still holding you, but now he’s looking in your eyes. “If you need me, I’ll stay. Just like Dean always did for me.”

You sniffle, hand now cupping his cheek as you smile at him and nod. You’re so proud of him, proud of this brave and strong man he’s growing up to be. “I love you.”

“I love you too, mom.” he smiled. “Let’s try and get back to sleep, okay?”  You nodded, both of you letting each other go as you laid back, letting yourself get comfortable again, as Alex got in next to you.

“How about I get Abby.” Sam says quietly from where you find him standing by the door. “You need your family right now.”

“Thanks, Sam.”

He gives you a smile before he walks out. A moment later, you hear him coming back up the hall with a sleeping Abby in his arms. You pull the blanket down, and Sam lays her between you and Alex so she’s nestled right in the middle. Pulling the blanket up, Abby just shifts and rolls so she’s facing Alex, making him smile at her before he closes his eyes.

When Sam pulls away from the bed, you look over at him. You don’t realize you’re afraid he’ll leave until he speaks in a soothing tone and promises “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here, I promise.” You watch him as he walks around to the foot of the bed and gets comfortable in Dean’s armchair by the closet. “Get some sleep.” he says as he tries getting comfortable.

Once you’re sure he means it, that he isn’t leaving, you wrap your arms around Abby and duck your head so your nose is in her hair and breath in the scent of her watermelon shampoo.

You’re not alone.

You’re not alone.

You’re not alone.

He can’t get you.

He’s not real and you’re not alone.

Finally, you close your eyes again and pray for better dreams as you feel the weight of Brutus jumping onto your bed and curling up on top of your feet.

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[levis-hazelnut]

Summary: when you and your best friend, Hanji, were younger, you had made up stories about your dream guys - what they would look like and how you would meet. What happens when the one you had made up appears to be real?

Warning(s): I don’t think there are any in this chapter. But, please do tell me if there are any.

Taglist (closed): @castellandiangelo @fandom-addict19​ @20coldhearts​

Status: completed!

part 8 > part 9 > part 10

series masterlist

"Why in the fucking hell have you been avoiding me?" Levi snapped, but it wasn't too angrily. I fidgeted with my fingers as my gaze stayed on the carpet of the room as if it would talk for me.

"... I don't know," I murmured, feeling awkward like I predicted it to be. "I guess I'm just... scared." I heard a sigh emanate from his lips and he unfolded his arms, taking a step closer to me as he realised he may have been too harsh on me. I caught the action but didn't do anything about it. I mean, what would I do? "Scared of what?" he asked in a more gentle tone, but it was still laced with slight annoyance. "Scared that I would be annoyed with you for no reason whatsoever? Scared that Petra is going to hate you? Scared that I'm going to be like your previous dickhead boyfriend? What are you scared of?"

"All of that, actually," I confessed, looking up at him to see his beautiful face that I was deprived of for nearly three weeks. "After finding out about... everything, I just wasn't certain that everything is going to work out like a fairytale. There was a chance of you being annoyed with me, but that was just idiot me being stupid. Petra assured me many times that she won't hate me for anything. And you... you have proved that you aren't going to be like my jerk of an ex. Now that I really think about it, I have nothing to be afraid of," I said with a soft smile touching my lips. "You're damn right, you idiot." He rolled his eyes, taking another step closer. "I don't know what goes on in that brain of yours, so I don't know where you get these shitty thoughts from. But you better get rid of them, there's no reason for you to be scared of anything. Stop being a coward and do what you want without your thoughts stopping you." My smile widened at his words, but I was still waiting for certain words that I want to come out of his mouth. Not all this sh*t about me being stupid. I mean, it's helpful, but it's not what I want right now. "... Sorry for sounding so harsh, but you needed to hear that so you can change for the future." "It wasn't that harsh. You should hear the scoldings I get from Hanji." "Whatever. I didn't exactly drag you here just to talk about you being dumb..." he pointed out, taking two more steps and he was right in front of me, close enough to touch me. And he did just that - he cupped my face with one hand, a soft and tender expression conquering his visage. I reluctantly leaned into his touch, gazing at his features that just happened to look so much more attractive in this moment as he leaned in closer to my face, both of our eyes lidding.

Then, his lips came in contact with mine. If my heart was beating rapidly before, I have no idea how fast it was going now but it did feel like it was going to jump out of my chest. I just know that it could probably be heard in this empty room, and Levi probably felt it when he snaked an arm around my waist, drawing me closer to him. My fingers nonchalantly reached up to tangle in his ebony locks that were oh so silky. I have always wanted to tangle my fingers in his hair and tug on it to get a reaction. That's what I did, and in return, I got a faint moan. His voice is so soft and the best thing ever? Bitch, please, that sound just now was ethereal and I needed to hear it again. Levi asked for an entrance to my mouth and I decided to tease him (as always), however, he sharply nipped on my lower lip which caused me to gasp softly. He took the chance and his tongue slipped into my wet cavern, where we battled. It's like we can never stop challenging each other, we have to annoy each other for no reason, argue for no reason, and now we have a tongue battle for no reason. He won (as always) the tongue battle and instead of his tongue exploring me, his hand travelled over my figure, making me shiver under his touch. Unfortunately, we needed to pull away from the passionate kiss for that damn thing called oxygen. My eyes were still closed as I lightly panted, taking in what just happened. A smirk edged onto my lips once it sunk in and I unlidded my eyes to find Levi staring at me as our faces were still in close proximity. Why is he so damn sexy? Please, whatever god is up there, I need to ask why you gave this man to me. I seriously don't deserve him, no matter what anyone says. "(Y/N)," he uttered softly after licking his lips, and I hummed to show I was listening. He barely says my name, and in that husky, low and gentle tone he just said it in now was something I never want to forget. "Tomorrow, at six o'clock, you better be ready." "Okay," I grinned, kissing his nose as I've always wanted to do. "Also, I'm pretty sure some people just saw us kiss," he stated, using his head to gesture to behind me where the door was. There was a small window in the door and there were many eyes watching. When I turned around, I noticed Jean, Hanji, Farlan, Isabel, Connie, Sasha, Armin, Historia and Lucius grinning at us (well, not Lucius). There were also some of Levi's fangirls (and maybe my fanboys since Levi claims I'm a celebrity like him).

I giggled softly and shook my head, removing my hands from Levi and taking a small step back as he walked towards the door. I followed after him and got ready to glare at Jean, knowing he was the one who brought everyone here. As soon as the door opened, squeals sounded as they all exclaimed different things we could barely apprehend. "(Y/N)!!!!" Hanji pushed through everyone that had crowded around and brought me into a tight embrace. I groaned and rolled my eyes, hesitantly putting my arms around her. "I'm so happy! You've waited so long for this to happen!" I nervously laughed, not wanting Levi to know that I've liked him since he appeared. He lifted an eyebrow in my direction and I mouthed the words: 'help me' when Hanji still had me in her life-threatening hold. "Oi, Shitty Glasses, you're going to kill her." "Awwww, Shorty!!!" she screeched, pulling him into a hug now. "You're so cute!!" I laughed at his face and he shot me a glare, which seemed to have no effect on me as I continued to chuckle. He was finally able to shove the brunette lunatic off of him and took my hand, deciding to just barge past every idiot. We were able to make it out of there without them chasing after us like some predators. "... So you've waited for a long time for this? How long is a 'long time'?" "Uh, maybe... eight months?" I muttered, refusing to meet his eyes because I knew he would be smirking and he would just want to annoy the hell out of me. "So since we met?" he inquired, and I nodded. "You're telling me all this fucking time when I wondered who you like, it was me?" "Yes." "And is that why you didn't want to date Lucius?" "Yes." "I'm surprised you didn't expose yourself. Apart from that time when you were about to say it but stopped yourself. And you thought it was wrong in a way because I was with Petra?" "Yes." "And I heard from Petra that you helped her to get into a relationship with me even though you liked me at the time. Is that true?" "Yes." He smirked, seeing me act shy, which is something he rarely sees. "You're quiet now that I've found out who you like." "Where are we going, by the way? We're just walking," I said, brushing his statement to the side and regaining my confidence. "I don't know. I just wanted to get away from everyone," he replied, realising that he was still holding my hand, which was sweating. "Hey, why are you nervous? You don't need to be so tense." "I'm not nervous," I retorted. "Explain that to your drenched hand, darlin'," he snorted and I clicked my tongue, yanking my hand from his hold to flick his forehead, which caused him to briefly frown before he got hold of my hand again. "Shut up, prick." "Good. Now, you're back to normal." "Where are we actually going?" "I still don't know. But we're like a minute away from your apartment." "Don't you want to go home?" "You're finally speaking to me after like three weeks, I'm not going anywhere." "Aw, I never knew you would be the kind of person that always wants love and attention." "I'm not." "Whatever you say, Mr Moody. Hm. I'm going to love annoying you even more now." "Why do I even like you?" "Because I'm the best person ever who is very lovable and amazing." "Not one word you just said is true." "Shut it, Ackerman. You're not exactly--" I cut myself off, thinking what Levi wasn't since he's seriously the best fucking person to live. "Are you lost for words because I'm amazing in every way possible?" "No... I just didn't want to hurt your feelings." "Say what you want, darlin'." I rolled my eyes and fished my keys out of my bag to unlock the door. Once it was open, both of us stepped in, slipping our shoes off before I locked the door. We strolled to the living room and Levi sat down on the sofa. I was about to walk away but he grabbed my hand, pulling me onto him and I ended up on his lap, straddling him. He smirked, taking hold of my chin to tilt my head before moulding his lips with mine.

If dating Levi Ackerman meant getting kisses like these every ten minutes, I'm going to be living in heaven. I wonder if he was like this with Petra, or am I special? I sighed in delight when I felt his fingers sneak up my shirt and trace over my bare torso as his other hand travelled up my back to tangle in my tresses. My hands cupped either side of his face with my thumbs resting on his cheekbones. "AWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" My eyes snapped open at the sudden outburst and my lips parted from Levi's as my forehead rested against his. I huffed before getting off of his lap, looking at Hanji, Jean and Eren who decided to walk into the apartment without saying anything. "What the hell are you guys doing?" I snapped at them, meeting all of their eyes. My eyes lingered on Eren's for a bit longer than the other two before I frowned and didn't focus on any of them. "You could've at least said something instead of letting that kettle over there explode," I scolded them, motioning to Hanji, who was the aforementioned kettle. "Sorry, sorry!! Both of you are just so adorable!" Both of us clicked our tongues and I rolled my eyes.  "We came here to get away from people. So get the hell out." "Darlin', calm down," Levi said quietly before smirking. "You have a bedroom, don't you?" My eyes widened and I lifted my hand to slap him. "Hey, hey, hey, I was joking, you idiot. That's taking things too fast." "I bet you didn't say that to the many girls you--" "Oi, don't talk about that," he told me with a scowl. I guess it was a sensitive topic since he was probably annoyed at himself for being like that. Everything was now silent in the room. The three that were standing had no idea about what was going on, the raven next to me seemed to be thinking about his past, and I felt bad for bringing it up. No words were needed since there was nothing to ask about (other than what me and Levi were talking about but it's not like they were going to find out). "... Stop looking at me like that. You don't need to feel pity for me," he spoke in a light tone and tousled my hair, showing that he wasn't annoyed. "What are you guys talking about?" "Nothing, Shitty Glasses. Anyway, I think I'm going to go home," Levi announced as he stood up. "Oh, we can go if you want," Hanji suggested. "No, I didn't plan on staying long. I just wanted to get away from everyone that decided to snoop on us." "Sorry, that was my fault," Jean confessed. "It's fine. I'll see all of you later." Levi left the room and I followed after him, walking him to the door. I opened the door for him and he stepped out, turning around to face me. "You're being rather calm and kind today," I stated, leaning against the door as I held it open. "Well," he began, leaning towards me to peck my lips. "Your lips seem to put me in a good mood." "I doubt that but whatever you say, Ackerman... I'll see you tomorrow." "Six o'clock. Don't forget." "Okay." "You better not give me some shitty excuse about falling asleep." I laughed lightly. "I won't. Now, get your ass out of here." "Bye, darlin'." I smiled at him before he left, closing and locking the door behind him. Once I turned around, I saw three heads poking out from behind a wall. I giggled and ran towards them, jumping into them. "Ahh, I'm so happy!" I squealed as I clung onto Eren, who chuckled softly. "I never knew you liked Levi," Jean said with a frown. "Since when?" "Since we were--" I cut Hanji off since only Eren is allowed to know that we made him up.

"Since he joined our uni, I guess..." I told him, pulling away from Eren. "What?! Why did you never tell me?!" "Because I only trust Eren and Hanji, no matter how much of a big mouth she has." "And you call me your friend..." the teenager shook his head in disappointment and I smiled at him. "Oh, shut up, you know I love you." "(Y/N)! You haven't told me what happened!" Hanji demanded. "All we saw was you two kiss but we couldn't hear what you said." "I don't know if I will," I smirked, walking away from them and entering my bedroom, however, I left the door open so they all followed me. "Tell meeeeee!! Why was Shorty in such a good mood?" "I don't know~" I sang teasingly, enjoying Hanji's reaction. "Also, Eren, you haven't said anything. Are you annoyed?" "No." "Don't tell me you're still suspicious of him." "I'm not. I don't know. I'm happy for you, of course, but I just don't feel right." "Well, you said you don't think Levi was a good person at the start and you were clearly proved wrong. What's wrong now?" "He's jealous~!" Hanji exclaimed, hugging Eren's arm, and he frowned, attempting to shake her off as he felt his face heat up. "N-No, I'm not. Why would I be?" "Hanji, what idiocy are you talking about now?" I spat. "It's not idiocy, it's the truth!" she insisted. "People always point out how you have many fans. So how can the male closest to you not develop feelings for you?" I have to admit, she was making sense. But, this was Eren we were talking about. He wouldn't let himself fall for his best friend... Right? I flitted my eyes to Eren to see he was staring at the carpet in my room. I could see the pink hue on his cheeks and the way he avoided to look at me so I decided to question him. "Eren...?" I spoke, gaining his attention as Hanji led Jean out of my room, giving both of us some privacy. "Was Hanji saying the truth?" "... No..." he muttered before sighing and locking his eyes with mine that expressed disbelief. "... Fine. I did have feelings for you. But that was a few months ago, I don't anymore. I mean, there may have been other times when I think differently of you but I get over it every time. Don't worry, I'm not jealous. I honestly just feel like something's not right." "Well, thank you for being honest with me. And whatever's bothering you, I'm sure it's nothing. Just let me be happy because I'm finally dating my dream guy." "Yeah, I'm not going to ruin that for you. I'm not going to lie, you and Levi are actually cute together. I haven't seen you this happy in so long. And I know Levi will treat you right and I'm glad you met him." I gave him a soft smile and neared him, draping my arms around him and pressing my cheek against his chest as I closed my eyes, feeling his arms reciprocate the hug. "... I love you so much, Eren," I uttered quietly. "Love you, too," he replied, resting his chin at the top of my head. "Am I talking to the Eren that has feelings for me, or the one that's my best friend?" I asked jokingly, parting from the embrace. "Your best friend," he spoke with a small laugh. "Come on. Let's go to Jean and Hanji." I walked out of my room with Eren following me as we entered the living room where the two sat on the sofa, glancing at us. They saw the smile on my face and knew everything was okay.  The rest of the day, we just hung out like we would in secondary school, laughing, talking about shit no one would understand. However, seeing as how we all had lectures tomorrow (in the morning as well *eye roll*), we decided not to stay up too late (they ended up leaving at midnight). That night, I was able to sleep peacefully with a smile and nothing to worry about. ~/~ 17:38 That was the time. Twenty minutes until the time I had to be ready, and I'm guessing Levi, being the punctual asshole he is, will be outside the apartment at exactly six. However, as he predicted, I may or may have not fallen asleep and only had less than half an hour to get ready. I quickly sat up in my bed, chucking the covers off of my form as I ran my fingers through my hair, thinking what to wear. Ugh, why didn't I think about this earlier?

"(Y/N)! Wake-- Oh, you're awake. Isn't Levi coming in like twenty minutes?" Hanji said as she swung my door open. "Yes. I need clothes. Hanji, please help." "Of course! What kind of bestie would I be if I didn't help you get ready for your first date?" "Thank you so much," I sighed, getting out of my bed and opening the doors to my wardrobe. So many clothes to choose from. What outfit is the right one? "What kind of clothes do you want to wear? Girly, casual, comfy, sophisticated, etcetera..." "Um... Casual, I guess." She nodded, looking through my clothes with narrowed eyes and a thoughtful expression. Damn, she was serious about finding me the perfect clothes. After about two minutes, her whole face beamed up as she chucked some clothing at me. I blinked a couple of times, holding it up. It was a simple, white crop top hoodie and a pair of dark grey skinny jeans. I don't know if I felt like it so I stared at it for a moment, thinking if I wanted to wear it. "(Y/N), you have less than twenty minutes. Hurry up." "... Okay," I responded after concluding that this was the outfit I wanted. I shooed Hanji out of my room and changed into the clothes she chose for me. I looked in the mirror, feeling content with it until I glanced at my hair. It was a lost cause. Since I had only woken up about ten minutes ago, my hair looked like a nest and I still looked like I just woke up. I decided to go freshen up and brush my teeth since I'm certain my breath wasn't pleasant after sleeping. I came out of the bathroom and went to my bedroom, seeing I had exactly eight minutes left until six. Now was the time to rush. I did my hair and makeup to my liking, and when I was ready, I stuffed all the things I needed into a small purse. I sprayed myself with perfume and left my room, turning the light off as I padded through the corridor, slipping on my converses. Hanji spotted me in the corridor when she came out of the living room and grinned at me as I stared at my phone, checking the time and seeing Levi's messages, telling me he was outside. 18:02 Only two minutes. I'm proud of myself. "Have fun~!" "I'll tell you about it when I come back," I told her, seeing her grin widen. I left, shutting the door behind me and locking it before going down the stairs. Just before I stepped out of the building, I took a deep breath then stepped out, letting the warm, evening air engulf me as I spotted Levi's car parked in front of me and he leaned on it, scrolling through his phone until he locked it and looked up at me. I gave him a small smile, suddenly feeling nervousness spreading throughout my body. As I stood there, I took in his attire, which was a maroon dress shirt over a black t-shirt that was exposed because of the buttons that weren't done up. With that, he wore black jeans. "... You done staring, darlin'?" I slightly widened my eyes and realised I was gaping for too long. But seriously, the black shirt he wore underneath the dress shirt showed his perfectly, sculptured abs. I playfully rolled my eyes and approached him as he stepped away from the car, opening the passenger's door for me. I thanked him as I sat down and he shut the door before rounding the car and sitting in the driver's seat. I didn't know what to say so I quietly sat there as he began to drive, hoping that the raven would speak up instead. "I'm surprised you weren't asleep." "Haha, I actually was. I woke up about twenty minutes before you came." "I don't get how you can sleep so much even if you had a good amount of sleep." "Well, I didn't get enough sleep last night." "Were you too busy thinking of me?" "Don't flatter yourself," I retorted with a cocked eyebrow. "Jean and Eren stayed until late, so I wasn't able to sleep until they left, which was midnight." "Idiot," he whispered under his breath, and I glared at him. Though, his eyes were on the road.

"Shut up. It's not my fault," I scowled before silence took over again. "... What are we doing, by the way?" "Mini-golf. Grab takeaway. Chill at mine." "Hm. I like that idea," I smiled. "How did you know I would like what you planned?" "You were the one that claimed that I know everything about you. I guess I do." My smile widened. There's so much to remember about me and my life, it's impressive that he remembered small details. I guess he chose mini golf because he knew that I always used to go with my dad when I was younger. Getting takeaway and relaxing at home was something I loved to do, so it was probably obvious that I would like that. "Ackerman?" "Hm?" "Since when did you... like me?" "Why do you want to know?" "You know how long I have." "... To be honest, about two months after we met. But then that was around the time you introduced me to Petra and we started to hang out less. Unlike you, a weirdo, Petra was normal and a kind-hearted person, and I don't know, I just liked being around her. But, after a while, I realised that I didn't want normal, I wanted... you," he muttered the last word, and even though it was dark, I could see the tip of his ears burning. "You're so adorable when you're shy," I blurted out. "Also, 'I wanted you'... Why do you have to be so--?" I cut myself off, not wanting to boost his ego so he could annoy me. There was just something about that sentence that made me fall for him even more (if that was possible). "So...?" "Nothing. Continue.” "Okay... It was my fault for initiating anything, and even though she says she's fine with us, she's obviously still hurt. I don't know how she found out that I like you, but it was about halfway through our relationship when I realised that even though you're a weirdo and perv, it's more fun than someone normal. Don't get me wrong, Petra is a really sweet girl, but she was too normal for me... Feelings and relationships are confusing as hell." "I know," I said as I stared out of the window, taking in everything Levi said. "I don't understand why my two relationships lasted four or five months. I mean, I guess I do get it - I felt like I was forcing things with Jean, and Reiner was a dickhead. But why can't I have a long-lasting relationship?" Levi was silent, thinking about my words. Maybe we'll have a long-lasting relationship. Unlike her two previous relationships, there's nothing wrong with us dating. And unlike mine, I don't have feelings for anyone else. It was another five minutes until we reached the mini-golf site, and those five minutes were spent in a comfortable silence as both of us were drowned in our thoughts. "Hey? Darlin'?" "Sorry?" I spoke, turning my head away from the window to look at the male beside me. "We're here," he told me with a microscopic smile. "Oh, right." I grabbed my purse and opened the door, stepping out of the car before shutting the door. Levi locked his car and approached me with a certain glint in his eyes. I mentally smiled and reluctantly reached for his hand, my small fingers intertwining with his and he tightened the hold on my hand. Without my permission, a full-on grin sprung onto my lips as I mused on the fact that I was going on an actual date with Levi Ackerman. "What are you smiling about?" the short male inquired. "..." "Oi. You look like a creep now," he said when I didn't say anything, and only kept on grinning. "Hey, are you okay?" A frown wandered its way onto his face and he poked my cheek. Well, I always seem to love to just zone out so maybe he shouldn't be too concerned. I blinked twice, not realising I had just zoned out. "... I'm fine." "Are you sure?" "Yep," I assured him with a nod. He raised an eyebrow and I smiled up at him, causing a smile of his own to appear since he found mine adorable as fuck. ~/~ A light chuckle emanated from his lips when I attempted to hit the golf ball, but failed miserably. I may have gotten rusty over the years because years ago, I was remarkable. The raven came behind me, his torso barely brushing my back and I tried to fight back the blush. Since when did I act like a flustered schoolgirl around boys I liked?

His arms looped around me to hold the golf club my fingers were wrapped around. He then spoke, his breath caressing my neck and ear, "I swear, if you miss this, it's going to be hard for me to believe that you used to win tournaments. It's literally a millimetre away from the pocket and I'm helping you, so you better not fuck this up." I scoffed, lightly pushing him away from me but that didn't stop him from invading my personal space. "I do not need help, thank you very much. And that is not a millimetre, idiot, it's like a foot." "Shut up and take the shot; this is the last one." "If I get it in, what do I get in return?" "Another date." "Really? So you had fun?" "... Yes. Just hurry up." "Okay," I grinned. I took the shot and it went in. Obviously. Because I'm amazing. "Well done, darlin'. And before you say anything - yes, we are getting food now." I giggled and walked beside him as we went back to his car, deciding on what to eat. "I honestly don't mind. Pick whatever," I stated. "You better not complain about what I pick." "I won't. You know I'm not fussy with food, I'll literally eat anything." After some additional thinking, Levi asked if I felt like Chinese. Of course, no one could ever say no to that, so we got takeaway from the best Chinese restaurant I've been to before we drove to his apartment. "Isabel and Farlan aren't here, by the way," Levi informed me as he parked a short distance away. Both of us got out of the car and the male with steel orbs held the bag of our food. "Where did they go?" "I have no idea. But they both immediately decided to go out when I told them about our date." I smiled at the gesture. "Aw, they're so cute. I guess I'll need to thank them."

Levi unlocked the door and let me go inside first as he followed me, locking the door before taking his shoes off. I strolled towards the living room and flicked the light switch, illuminating the room. "You better not make a mess, brat." "Clean freak," I mumbled as I sat down next to him on the sofa. "What'd you say?" his inquired, narrowing his eyes. "Nothing, Shorty," I grinned with a wink. "Tch. Do you want to watch anything?" he asked, giving me my food and a fork. He stood up and went to the kitchen before coming back with two glasses and a bottle of soda. "I don't mind." "Are there any other words in your dictionary, other than 'I don't mind'?" "Well, I'll be happy with whatever which is why I say that most of the time." "Why are you so... not fussy?" "Why is that a bad thing?" I laughed. “And you only say that because you haven’t spent a specific day with me.” "What day?" "You'll know when it comes," I smiled, causing him to feel a bit uneasy. "You're making it sound like you become some beast or something." "Haha, you're not wrong." "You're scaring the hell out of me. Just tell me what and when it is." "I'm only going to tell you when it is. It might be next week." "Okay... I'm avoiding you for the next week." "Oi! You're so rude-- Hey, wait, I swear next week is our last week of the year." "Yeah." "So we have holidays. Oh my god. We're going to be in our second year of uni in a few months. Damn, time goes too fast. I don't even have plans." "Well, we have another date to plan. But I'm doing that after next week because I don't want to see you in beast mode." "Oh, yeah, I was meant to be shouting at you for being rude... You're so rude, you prick!" "I know, darlin'." "You know, if you add a 'g' at the end, you'll sound less like an asshole and more like a sweetheart." "Which is exactly why I won't add the 'g'."

"Jerk," I murmured before drinking the cool beverage in my glass.  We continued to eat while conversing about random shit that before we both cleared the coffee table that resided in front of the sofa.

I plopped down next to him on the sofa and rested my head on his shoulder, tucking my legs in on the sofa as an unexpected yawn left my mouth. "Why do I suddenly feel so tired?" I muttered, closing my eyes. "Do you want to go home?" Levi inquired softly. I shook my head, wanting to spend more time with him. "Are you sure?" "Yep. I'm just going to close my eyes for two minutes." Two minutes turned into twenty and I fell asleep without meaning to. "Hey?" Levi whispered, nudging me ever so lightly but I didn't open my eyes. "Darlin'?" he said quietly again, poking my cheek and I didn't awaken. "Two minutes, my ass," he murmured. The short raven found it difficult to move since my whole body was now leaning against his. About ten minutes later, Levi heard the opening of the front door which meant that Isabel and Farlan were home. The blonde male came into sight with the female trailing behind him. They both stared at the view in front of them, grinning and mouthing 'aw's, causing the raven to roll his eyes. "Farlan, can you pick her up without waking her up?" "Yeah. Where should I lay her down?" "... Put her in my bed. I'll sleep here on the sofa." "Are you sure?" Levi nodded as Farlan scooped me up and carried me to Levi's bed. Levi and Farlan shared a room as Isabel had her own, which made Isabel question if Levi was okay with Farlan sleeping in the same room as me. "Farlan won't do anything to anger me, it's fine." "Okay, then. Also, you seem different with (Y/N). Like, you treat her differently to Petra. Not in a bad way, though, you're more... caring and cute!" "Tch. Whatever. I just don't get how she fell asleep when it's only ten o'clock and she had a nap earlier." "Leave her alone. She's a sweetheart and there's nothing wrong with sleeping," Isabel told her friend with a frown, seeming to take a strong liking to me. Farlan came back into the room, sitting down next to Levi. "Anyway, I'm tired because of uni so I'm going to head to bed." "Okay." "Night, Isabel," Farlan smiled and the hyper female left the room. "... You are more caring towards (Y/N)." "I'm not." "Why are you denying it? It's not necessarily a bad thing. I guess you like her a lot more than Petra." "... Yeah, I do. She's not like other girls," Levi admitted as he leaned back against the cushion of the sofa, staring up at the ceiling as his best friend smiled. "I never knew that someone like her would be my type. She's nothing like me." "You two are a kind of similar, she's just more happy and smiley. However, she acts tough, loves to tease and annoy people she values, gets annoyed at things but still isn't as bothered as she seems to be. Both of you are just big softies on the inside." "Tch. We aren't similar. She would never purposefully hurt someone, she does selfless acts even if it will hurt her, and she's just a--..." "What? Why did you pause?" "I sound like an idiot. Thinking about a girl I went on one date with." "But you've known her for longer, it's not anything weird." "I don't like it. I sound cheesy and not like me." Farlan chuckled under his breath, shaking his head. "Soon enough, you'll be all lovey-dovey with her." Levi snorted. "Never." The taller male smiled and stood up. "I'm going to have a shower and go to bed. Night, Levi." "Touch her and you'll be sorry," the raven threatened, half-serious, half-joking. He then sighed, getting up to grab a pillow and blanket before settling back onto the sofa. He turned the TV on, seeing as how he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

~/~ Blinking a few times, my vision cleared as my gaze bounced around the room I was in. I then sat up, confused since I remember falling asleep in the living room, beside Levi. I glanced at the bed on the other side of the room and saw Farlan's sleeping face. I tilted my head in question before laying back down, knowing Levi or Farlan must have moved me here. That meant Levi was probably on the sofa. A small huff left my lips as I searched the bed for my phone that must have fallen out of my pocket during my slumber. I soon found it and lifted it to my face, seeing six missed calls from Hanji, along with several messages from her and one from Levi. Of course, Hanji would be worried about me since she wasn't informed that I fell asleep and hadn't heard from me since I left for my date. I decided to respond to her troubled texts and put her mind at ease, telling her what happened. Once I did that, I checked what Levi sent me. 'Did Farlan do anything to you?’ I rolled my eyes at this before responding with a simple 'no'. I soon got out of bed and left the room quietly, so Farlan doesn't wake up. Entering the living room, I saw Levi lying down on the sofa, covered with a blanket as he was on his phone until he heard my small 'hey'. He turned his head to look at me and discarded his phone. "Sorry about falling asleep and making you sleep on the sofa." "I don't care. Go freshen up while I make breakfast." Why does it feel as if this is a normal morning routine? Like I've lived here for a long time. I guess I treated him the same when he stayed over at my apartment. I did as he said and realised how bad my bed hair was so I tugged my fingers through it as an attempt to fix it. But they decided to be stubborn and I gave up, walking out of the bathroom to meet Levi in the kitchen. I peeked over his shoulder to see what he was making and he glanced at me from the side, quickly pecking my temple. "How does everything you make always smell so good?" "Because I'm an amazing cook." I playfully rolled my eyes as he continued to make breakfast. We spoke as he did that before we migrated to the dining table to eat, where we carried on our conversation. Once we finished the food, Levi stood up and took our plates, placing it in the kitchen before coming back to me. "Let's go out. The weather's nice,” he proposed. "But I don't have any clothes to change into." "You can borrow Isabel's." "She's smaller than me." "Tch. Just try something of her's on. She's already awake." "Should I borrow that unicorn shirt?" I smirked, reminding him of the incident that happened months ago. He glared at me before leaving to take me to Isabel's room. He knocked a couple of time before she gave permission for us to come in. "Oh, hi, (Y/N)!" she grinned, shooting up into a sitting position. "Hey," I greeted with a smile. "Isabel, can (Y/N) borrow one of your clothes, something that will fit her?" "Of course! What do you want to wear?" "Maybe a dress?" "Sure. Give me a few minutes." "Thank you so much." Levi and I wandered out of her room and waited for Isabel in the living room. It was quiet until the male opposite me spoke up, "... You can count this as a second date." "Already?" I inquired. "Yeah. Because... you're an adorable shit."

[highfunctioningflailgirl]

Whumptober 2021

Prompt #8: “Definitely just a cold”

Aramis knew something wasn’t right when Porthos pushed his supper plate away from him, still half full.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked his friend.

“Not hungry.” The big Musketeer pulled a face.

Aramis frowned. “You aren’t sick, are you?”

“Nah, just a headache,” Porthos mumbled. “And a bit of a sore throat. I’m fine.”

Alarm bells sounded in Aramis’ head. Porthos never got ill. They all had their weak spots: d’Artagnan spiked a fever with every little infection he caught, Aramis himself was unfortunately prone to developing earaches and Athos, like clockwork, grumbled his way through a chest cold every year at the start of spring. All of them except for Porthos. Whether it was due to a natural, unusually healthy disposition or, as Aramis sometimes wondered, due to spending his childhood years in an environment swarming with diseases that had hardened his body - illness avoided Porthos like the plague.

“Are you certain?” he therefore asked. “I could take a look. Make sure it’s nothing serious.”

Porthos shook his head. “Nah, it’s definitely just a cold. I’ll be fine in the morning.”

Still worried, but accepting his brother’s dismissal, Aramis didn’t insist - and would regret his mistake for the rest of his life.

He didn’t see Porthos again until the next morning. The big Musketeer went to bed early and Aramis, assuming sleep would do him good, refrained from checking on him, trusting his brother would be wise enough to fetch him if something was amiss. It was d’Artagnan who roused Aramis, before sunrise, knocking urgently on the door of his room in the barracks.

“Aramis!” The young Gascon looked wide-eyed and worried, fidgeting in the doorframe. “You need to come. There’s something wrong with Porthos!”

Hastily slipping into his clothes, Aramis hurried to the chamber next to d’Artagnan’s.

“I heard him moan and cough and went to look,” d’Artagnan explained. “I think he’s really ill.”

The lad wasn’t exaggerating: Barely inside the room, Aramis caught the stale, unpleasant smell of someone who’d sweat through the night, and when he reached the bed, he found his friend glassy-eyed and shivering under the covers.

“Porthos!” Aramis exclaimed, and he startled when he touched his brother’s forehead: it was hot as burning coal.

“I need light in here! Open the blinds!”

D’Artagnan hurried to comply, opening the windows to let the pale morning sun stream in. The light exposed the complete misery: Porthos looked like death warmed over, his body rocking with fever chills.

“Aramis…” he chattered miserably. “I’ve re-c-considered. I d-don’t think it’s just a c-cold.”

“No, my friend.” Aramis smiled sadly. “I don’t think so either. Will you let me take a look?”

Porthos nodded, fear in his eyes.

“M-my throat hurts b-badly, and I’ve got a rash.”

Aramis saw it now, too. It was difficult to see on Porthos dark skin: a fine rash, like sunburn, was visible on his neck and traveling down his chest. Porthos’ face, too, was unnaturally flushed, with the odd exception of a paler circle around his mouth.

Aramis’ spine tingled.

“Can you stick your tongue out for me?”

When Porthos did, Aramis found his suspicion confirmed: Porthos’ whole tongue was a bright, strawberry red.

“D’Artagnan.” He turned around to the Gascon, hovering by the bed, aware that his voice sounded glum. “Have you had Scarlet Fever?”

The lad’s eyes bulged.

“Uh… no! Not as far as I can remember.”

“Then get out of here. Now! And stay as far away as you can. Wash your hands! Let Treville know, and send word to Athos! Go!”

Fear stood in Porthos glazed eyes when Aramis turned back to him.

“You sh-should go too,” the big man said, voice trembling.

Aramis sat down on the bed and put his hand on Porthos’ arm, calm and reassuring.

“I had it when I was a child. I’m not at risk.* And I’m not going anywhere.”

xxx

Aramis stayed true to his word, although he moved Porthos to the infirmary with the help of two fellow Musketeers who - as Aramis made sure - had also had the childhood illness before. As soon as they had Porthos settled in a fresh bed, Aramis locked the door, ordering everyone to stay away from the infirmary unless they were sick. He also asked for Treville to investigate who else in the regiment had had the disease and who - like d’Artagnan - hadn’t. Since Porthos had trained with the regiment the day he came down with the fever and also had his quarters in the barracks, living in close proximity to his comrades, there was a real risk the fever might spread.

Aramis blamed himself.

“I should have seen it coming,” he said to Athos who’d shown up at the infirmary barely an hour later, snarling through the door that he’d break it down if Aramis didn’t let him inside, in that hard, diamond-edged voice he reserved for situations that were beyond any kind of debate.

Still, Aramis had only let him enter after Athos had convincingly recounted his own battle with Scarlet Fever as a youth. Through the thick wood of the door, Aramis had demanded details, convinced that Athos would lie to him only to be able to be by his and Porthos’ side, hell and Scarlet Fever be damned.

“How is he?” he asked, eyes flashing below the rim of his hat.

Aramis looked at the bed he’d shoved away from the windows, to the far side of the room, and at the restlessly moving figure in it. Then he looked back at Athos.

“His fever’s still climbing, and his throat’s so raw he can barely talk, let alone eat. The rash is spreading. I’m afraid the worst is yet to come.”

He raked a hand through his hair.

“This is not your fault, Aramis.”

Athos knew him well.

“Not Porthos, no,” Aramis replied, fidgeting in place. “But he’d told me he wasn’t feeling well, and I didn’t take it seriously enough. I should have paid better attention. Looked at him properly. If I had, I could have isolated him right away. Instead, I let him spend the night at the barracks. He may have spread it to others. Dear God, what if d’Artagnan caught it from him?”

Dismayed, Aramis covered his face with his hands. Athos grabbed him by the shoulders.

“You isolated him as soon as you saw what was going on. If it wasn’t for you, we would have had to send for a doctor. Porthos would have been at the barracks much longer. And the doctor might have taken the disease with him, spreading it all over Paris.”

Aramis shook his head. “That may still happen.”

“Treville ordered the whole regiment to stay at the garrison. We will contain it.”

A flutter of hope rose in Aramis’ chest. Perhaps Athos was right? Perhaps they’d acted quickly enough? Perhaps Porthos would sail through and no one else got sick?

Seeing Aramis rally, Athos slapped him on the shoulder and started unbuttoning his doublet. “What can I do?”

“Uh…” Aramis looked around. He needed to focus! “Keep him cool and make him drink. Get some sustenance into him.”

He pointed to a bowl of soup he’d ordered from the kitchen and accepted through a small window.

Athos nodded. “Good. I will do that. And I want you to sit down and take a break. It’s going to be a long few days, and Porthos needs you at your best capacity.”

xxx

Athos was right about the long few days but, unfortunately he wasn’t right about no one else falling ill. One day after Porthos had come down with it, two more Musketeers showed up at the infirmary with symptoms and another one on the next day.

By that point, Porthos was teetering on the edge between life and death.

In spite of all their efforts to cool him down, his fever was so high, he was hallucinating. They had trouble keeping him in bed when, eyes wide with fright, he’d fought them, talking nonsense, while the three new patients looked at the scene in horror. Athos was the only one able to coax Porthos into drinking, soothing him through the agony of swallowing with encouraging words spoken in a soft, regal lilt. Aramis tried everything in his arsenal of tinctures and teas to help him, but this disease was untouchable by anything other than God’s hand.

So, between wiping feverish brows, changing sweat-soaked bed-sheets and holding their brothers’ hands, Aramis and Athos prayed. Aramis, because his faith was the one firm ground to stand on when the world around him crumbled and faltered. And Athos, because he did not want Aramis to have to pray alone.

On the fifth day, after four harrowing nights, one of their prayers was answered. Porthos’ fever broke, and Aramis had to hide his tears well when, hours later, he opened his eyes and asked for something to drink. Aramis asked Athos to put the cup of water to Porthos’ lips, not sure his own hands would be steady enough. Athos, cool as a March breeze, had sat down by Porthos’ bed, helped him drink and talked as if nothing had happened. But later, when Porthos had gone back to sleep - the deep, restful sleep of recovery - Aramis had seen Athos down a cup of wine and breathe through a bout of nerves that seemed to have been shaken loose.

D’Artagnan, to their immense relief, did not fall ill. Whether it was pure luck or the Gascon’s strength and youth or Aramis’ prayers - it didn’t matter. Athos and Aramis missed his uplifting spirits sorely during their harrowing days and nights in the infirmary, and d’Artagnan was surely being a handful somewhere, having to be kept away from his struggling brothers, but it was a price worth paying.

But God had a way of giving that was rarely without taking, and in the two weeks that the Scarlet Fever held the garrison hostage, seven more Musketeers fell ill, and only five recovered. Athos and Aramis worked themselves ragged, eventually accepting the help of two seasoned comrades who could not get the disease and were ready to share the load of being locked in with the sick and dying. In spite of their efforts, they lost Matthieu and Severin to the disease, and Aramis was devastated.

“This isn’t your fault,” Athos repeated his words of the first day of the epidemic to a thinner- and paler-looking Aramis.

“I know you keep telling me that,” Aramis answered, subdued. “I wish I could believe you.”

They were standing by the freshly filled graves of their two deceased brothers. Their swords, thrusts into the mounds, were swaying in a rough wind and would soon begin to collect rust, now beyond the diligent care of their former owners.

Porthos, standing beside Aramis, his uniform still a little loose about him after his illness, threw one arm across his best friend’s shoulders and squeezed him roughly.

“Look at the lives you’ve saved, Aramis. Not at the ones you’ve lost.” He huffed. “Bloody hell, look at me!”

Aramis did, dragging his gaze up to Porthos’ height to look into his dark, warm eyes.

“I wouldn’t still be here if it wasn’t for you an’ Athos takin’ such good care of me,” he said in his deep, comforting rumble. “An’ that’s gotta count for somethin’!”

Grateful and sad at the same time, Aramis attempted a smile. It did count for something, he thought, looking at Porthos, towering over him, here and alive.

In fact, it counted for a lot.

(You can also read and comment on this fic on AO3:)

[spookyboywhump]

Literally every piece I write with Eli and Ev always ends up being 2000 words damn

Here’s smth I started a little while back but only just now finished

CW: Absent/Neglectful parent, self loathing and self deprecating thoughts, brief mention of death and self harm, minor character (17 years old)

***

It was 7:38 p.m. Everett sat there staring at the time on his phone, his leg bouncing anxiously. He knew that Eli got out of school at 4:00. He knew he was usually home by 4:45, closer to 5:00 p.m. if he stopped at the store down the street. He was never home later than 5:30, not without calling or texting anyway, but it was now 7:40 p.m. and he wasn’t home and Everett hadn’t heard from him and he didn’t know why.

He tried calling him again, for the fifth time now, and he listened to the dial tone, his heart sinking when it went to his voicemail again. He instantly sent him another text, all of them unread and unresponded to as of right now. So far he’d gone over every possible terrible situation at least twice, worried he’d been hurt, kidnapped, worried he’d run away or worried that he’d hurt himself. It didn’t matter how far fetched the conclusion was, it all sounded horribly probable to him right now.

“You know, you used to do the same thing when you were his age.” Their mom said casually, grabbing her jacket from the hook near the front door. “He’ll probably be back in the morning, just give him some time.”

“But he’s never done this.” He said, trying to keep the agitation out of his voice. He knew she wasn’t leaving to go look for him, the fact she wasn’t anywhere near worried like he was got on his nerves. “He- He should’ve at least called or just, something if he was okay!”

“I’m sure he’s fine.” She tried to assure him, but it didn’t really mean much coming from her. “I’ll be back later, okay?” She told him, and though he knew it was rude he chose to ignore her, worried he’d snap if he tried to respond right now. The last thing he needed while his brother was missing was to have their mom upset too, that sounded like a complete nightmare. He listened to the door shut as she finally left, sitting there as silence settled over the apartment. He considered going out to look for him himself but he wanted to be there if he got back, he needed to make sure he was okay.

With nothing left to do but wait, he took a deep breath, and he tried to call his brother again.

***

In the back of his mind, he knew he was being overdramatic. He kept telling himself that anyway as he sat on the park bench, his knees pulled up to his chest. He could hear his phone vibrating in his backpack beside him but he didn’t bother to try and answer it. He knew it was Everett, and though ignoring him just made him feel even more guilty, he couldn’t bring himself to even try to respond to him. He worried that if he tried, he’d just break down crying.

I could just… not go home at all, He thought, only to immediately argue with himself, It’s not that fucking bad, get over it and just go home.

He’d been having that argument with himself all day, every small thing piling up. It had been a hard week, he’d felt worse than usual, everything had been harder than usual, each day he was receiving more and more assignments with failing or barely passing grades. It wasn’t like him, he knew that, and each one felt like a knife in his heart, each failure weighing on him heavily.

Stupid stupid stupid- can’t do one fucking thing right

He buried his head in his arms, fighting back tears. A small part of him knew he was being unreasonable, just an overemotional stupid brat, but a bigger part of him was hanging onto the idea that his supposed intelligence was all he had- any mistake would be too big, any mistake would ruin his already miserable life, and one mistake after another was a death sentence.

He knew he should go home. He knew that when he got home, Everett would comfort him, he’d assure him that everything was okay, he’d assure him that this wasn’t the end of the world and that in the long run, it really didn’t matter. He didn’t want to go home. He knew he was overreacting and he was so scared that Everett would be angry if he knew what stupid thing Elias was so upset over- even more scared that their mom would be angry at him for disappearing. The more he thought about it the worse he felt, the more he didn’t want to leave from that spot, so he didn’t.

He sat there in the dark, in the cold, hugging his knees close to his chest and listening to his phone buzz.

He should’ve gone home.

***

Eli hadn’t realized how much time had passed. He’d never been great at keeping track of time, he knew it was late but he didn’t realize how late. He refused to check his phone as he finally wandered home, he didn’t want to see just how many missed calls and messages there were. He already felt sick when he got to the apartment complex, even worse as he climbed the stairs to the second floor. He found himself desperately hoping that Everett and their mom were asleep already, that they’d gotten sick of waiting for him and just stopped caring. He’d never wanted so badly to be forgotten.

He knew he was fucked when he found the door already unlocked, they always made sure the door was locked when they went to bed. He pushed the door open slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible but it creaked as always, the lights were on so he already knew he was caught. He hadn’t even gotten the door shut before Everett was rushing out of the living room, and Eli realized that in seventeen years, he’d never seen his brother mad at him.

“Where the fuck have you been?!” He snapped, and instinctively Elias pressed his back against the door, knowing he couldn’t get back to their room without getting past him.

“Just… out…” He murmured, his eyes glued to the floor, even as Everett approached him. He wondered if he’d be able to get the door open enough to get out and run- he’d never wanted to run from his brother before. He swore his heart stopped when Everett suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, not roughly but enough to startle him, finally forcing him to meet his eye.

“I’ve been calling you all fucking night! Do you even know how long you’ve been gone?! It’s fucking midnight Elias, where the fuck were you?!” He all but shouted at him. Elias tried to speak, he opened his mouth but no words came out, only a soft whimper. “I thought you were hurt or missing or fucking dead, I was so fucking worried about you, you can’t just disappear like that!” He said seriously, and Eli finally broke down in tears.

“I-I’m sorry- I’m sorry…” He whimpered, he was shaking as tears streamed down his face. This seemed to finally break Everett, he pulled him into a rib crushing hug, holding him as if his life depended on it.

“Please, don’t scare me like that again…” He said, finally calming down himself. He pulled back enough that he could look at him, and Eli could see now he wasn’t really angry, he was scared, and that just made him feel worse.

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t-I didn’t mean to I j-just…” He let Everett lead him into the living room, sliding his backpack off his shoulder before they collapsed onto the couch, Everett holding him close. “I didn’t… didn’t want to come back… thought about not coming back at all…” He murmured.

“What?” Everett pulled back just a bit, staring at him with wide eyes.

“I thought-thought about leaving… I don’t know where to, I wasn’t thinking clearly I j-just… wanted to leave…”

“Eli, why…?” He asked softly.

“I-I don’t- I don’t know, I-I felt like I sh-shouldn’t, like I-I… didn’t deserve to…” It didn’t make sense to him until he said it out loud, but he realized that’s what it was. He failed the only thing he was good at, he was going to lose the one redeeming quality he felt he had, and somehow to him, that meant he didn’t deserve to go home, it was the only thing he had that he could deprive himself of. Coming to terms with it just made him more upset, he let out a sob as he clung to Everett.

“I don’t know what happened, or why you felt that way, but you can always come home…” He told him, rubbing his back as he cried. “I’ll always be here for you kid, you know that…”

“I’m sorry…” He whimpered. “I-I was being stupid, a stupid stupid brat…”

“Don’t say that, you’re not stupid and you’re not a brat.” He told him. “I don’t want you scaring me like that again though, please, at least tell me you’re okay if you’re going to stay out that long…” He said, and Elias nodded, still crying as he held on to him. He was starting to feel better though, safe and comforted with his brother now, even if he had scared him when he first got home. He was so comfortable with him he didn’t even ask about their mom, if she was worried, if she even knew. A part of him would feel bad for worrying her, but a bigger part hoped she was worried, hope that she felt something over himself being missing. He didn’t ask though, he was content with Everett, who held him close until he finally exhausted himself, crying himself to sleep.

***

Everett ended up falling asleep on the couch with Eli, not ready to let him go right away. He’d been terrified while he was gone, even more scared after what he’d told him. He knew despite his best efforts, Elias wasn’t happy, and he couldn’t blame him for that. Still, the thought of losing him, the thought of him running away was too much for him, and the fact he felt he didn’t deserve to come home was horrifying. He held him close as though he’d run away when he let go, and he eventually fell asleep with him.

He was woken up only a couple hours later when the front door opened, though Eli seemed to sleep through it. He could hear their mom coming into the apartment, closing the door and locking it before passing through the living room, stopping to see them as Everett looked up at her.

“You baby him too much, you know that?” She sighed, looking almost disappointed. She’d been saying that since Eli was born though, he didn’t think too much of it.

“No I don’t… he had a rough night, he needed this…” He said, gently rubbing his back as he spoke, and she just rolled her eyes.

“I told you he’d come back though, I’m sure he’s fine.” She said dismissively, reaching up and affectionately ruffling his hair. “I’ll see you two in the morning, okay?” She said, and he nodded as she walked off down the hall, back to her room. He waited until he heard the door close to move, getting up and picking up Elias, carrying him back to their room, the same way he would when he was a little kid who’d fallen asleep watching tv. Sometimes he still felt like he was a little kid despite the fact he was quickly getting closer and closer to being an adult. He knew he was intelligent and capable of taking care of himself, but he still wanted to take care of him, he just wanted to keep him safe.

He laid him down on his bed, taking the time to take his shoes off for him before pulling the blankets up over him. Almost immediately he shifted in his sleep, easily finding and grabbing ahold of his stuffed shark. Now that he was in bed Everett felt like he could finally relax, going and collapsing into his own bed, burying his face in his pillow.

He hated to know that Eli was suffering, hated even more that he didn’t know how to help. There were some things he couldn’t fix, he knew that, and this was certainly more than he knew what to do with. He knew that he could be there for him though, he could comfort him, and he’d do anything and everything he could to keep him safe, because even the thought of losing him brought back all the fear and nausea he’d been feeling all night.

[katherinewilliams221b]

For A Greater Good 16/18

Not my gif. Before It’s Too Late

Summary: Kate Williams, young healer and member of the Order,  joins Durmstrang’s staff at Dumbledore’s request. Her mission? Find a Death Eater and survive long enough to tell the story. Set in 1996.

Pairing: Charlie Weasley x ofc/mc

Masterlist

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5]

[Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10]

[Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13] [Part 14]

[Part 15]

--

Warnings: mentions of blood and wounds

Classes were over, grades had been hung in the corridor, and Durmstrang celebrated that another year was over. 

Kate was forcing a comb through her brown waves when she heard laughter and hasty footsteps outside her dorm. Returning her attention to her hair, she pressed more insistently on the knot that was refusing to untangle and contemplated the day ahead of her; the Annual Exposition of Dark Arts had arrived and with it, the crushing fear of not leaving Durmstrang anytime soon.

She had told Dumbledore and Rhode she was no auror; she didn’t have training in catching criminals, if that’s what one of these people were.

“Well, it’s not like someone will raise their hand and say ‘it’s me, Kate, take me to Azkaban.’” She murmured to her reflection in the rusty mirror next to the door.

Why? Why had Dumbledore put her there? What was she supposed to do? Almost six months had passed; she had heard from Dumbledore only once, and Rhode was so busy with the school’s events that had practically forgotten why she was there.

But Kate still remembered. She still remembered what happened to Flavia Hodges.

Having abused her locks enough, she attempted to shape them into curls, twirling some hairs around her finger. When she finished, she traced her dragon necklace before securing it under her robes.

Who would be willing to join a Dark Wizard? And why? For a greater good, as Corentin had said? Or maybe for more personal reasons? No one was exempt from guilt, no one was good or bad; Cassandra Steiner was rude and disagreeable, but she was a mediwizard and cared for others; Flavia Hodges was almost murdered and Kent Jorgensen would have protected the man he thought was guilty, but he wasn’t ill-intended and seemed to be a clever man; Leron Angelov was sick and violent with his son, but he had enough problems to be a criminal; Libor Marek was intolerant and prejudiced, adequate characteristics for a Death Eater, but that didn’t make him one; and the only thing that Kate knew about Mer Yankelevich was that she was a liar.

She let out a heavy sigh and made her way to the desk. After grabbing her cloak from her chair and fastening it around her neck, she grabbed the several items she intended to carry with her at all times: her wand, her diary, the list and the trick wand that the Weasley twins had sent her.

The night before, tidying up her belongings, she had found the box that Fred and George had sent her and thought it could be a good farewell gift to Vivien, in case she wanted to give a lesson to Jon Hopkins.

She felt uncomfortable with everything she was carrying on her. The list and her notebook were inside her improvised pockets, and both wands were safely tucked in each sleeve. Impractical for the occasion, but with everyone distracted with the AEDA, it was very easy for someone to slip out of there unseen, and she had no intention of anyone walking into her room and finding those items. After fastening her ankle boots, she headed outside.

 Rhode had not been exaggerating when she described the AEDA as the biggest event of the year; the corridors were ostentatiously decorated with garlands and lights; countless carriages arrived on the castle grounds one after another and the doors to the dining hall were open all day, held up by pillars from which people could grab pamphlets describing the event’s activities.

Tables had been rearranged to form the various displays, and the students were dressed in their finest robes to honour the occasion.

The hustle and bustle of the day made the place unrecognisable, characterised by its usual gloom and darkness.

She advanced through the hall, pausing from time to time to watch project demonstrations and congratulate those taking part in the competition. Her eyes fell on a familiar face next to her; Leron Angelov sat behind a table where a seventh-grade girl explained her work to three wizards who, judging by their golden robes, were the judges.

“The potion lets you transfigure into whatever animal or object at will, only for a few minutes…” she exposed. Kate approached Angelov and leaned in to whisper, “Don’t do that.” Leron stared at her and stopped scratching his arms.

After wandering around for a while, she finally reached her own table, greeted her students and settled wizards and witches filed in and out of the room, delighting in the students’ magnificent works.

She wished with all her might that she could share their enthusiasm.

She gave several forced smiles, for Rhode’s sake, as the organiser of the event she wanted everything to go smoothly, but deep inside she was overwhelmed by a deep worry that she didn’t know how much longer she could bear.

“It’s really ugly.” She overheard one of her students, Greta, referring to her umbrella flower. Several of her children were standing behind a table, presenting their work to the audience.

A single umbrella flower, magically modified to remain a medium size, floated above the table; its vibrant red colour stood out among the sober tones of the place. The top of the plant, usually hollow to do justice to its name, now was decorated with thirty-seven fangs all around the base, giving it the appearance of a weird-looking lamp.

“You should be proud,” she reminded them, “You’ve managed to do something wonderful.”

“It’s still horrendous.” Jon Hopkins commented, wrinkling his nose.

“We’ve done next to nothing...” lamented Micael. Kate raised her eyebrows.

“What do you mean, you haven’t? We needed every single one of your plants, remember they didn’t all germinate, and only one of them got these results. And these posters explaining the whole process? They are priceless...”

They were still not convinced, so she kept insisting “In a few years, someone will want to do the same as you and they will be grateful to have your work as a reference”.

A man and a woman approached their table and after reading a few paragraphs of their report, left without comment. Everyone visibly deflated.

“By the way, where is Vivien? I have something for her...” asked Kate. Micael shrugged.

She looked around, but it was impossible to find anyone among the crowd. She saw a few familiar faces; like Jorgensen chatting animatedly with some seventh year students or Sheyi Mawut, who was making his way through the wizards towards her. There was no sign of any other teacher.

“Well, well! This is the first time in a long time I’ve seen first-year students exhibiting. What have we got here?” Mawut looked at Kate with a smile and she touched two fingers to Micael’s elbow. The boy looked at her and Kate nodded.

“We have created the first umbrella flower with teeth, Professor! It’s one of a kind because the species itself is unique. It floats like an umbrella flower and has teeth like a fanged geranium...”

Kate watched proudly as Micael’s other classmates came up to support him in his rehearsed explanation, some interrupting the speech out of excitement at being able to contribute something.

“And you did this on your own?” Suddenly the children fell silent and looked at the ground or anywhere but Mawut’s face.

“They’ve done all the hard work,” Kate interjected, “Finding the plant, germinating it, growing the geraniums, crossing the two species...”

“How wonderful... can I read your notes?” Mawut let out a laugh as a mountain of notebooks were at his disposal in a matter of seconds. “Maybe just one will be enough.”

The teacher’s kindness managed to relax Kate just a little.

“I’ve got better at my flying practice, Coach Mawut!” Greta commented, “Do you think I’ll ever be as good as Lena?” Kate raised her head at the familiar name.

“I’m sure you will.”

“Who?” she asked to extend that conversation.

“Lena?” Mawut pointed to some drawings and nodded, smiling, “Lena Yankelevich, she was an impressive seeker. Several top teams like the Vratsa Vultures or Heidelberg Harriers wanted to make contracts with her.”

“What happened?” Mawut closed the notebook and thanked Micael for his explanation. Greta tugged at Kate’s sleeve, causing the fake wand to brush against her skin.

“She died, Professor Williams...” she lamented.

“In the middle of a match… She disappeared into the mountains and never came back. Some Muggle climbers were in the area and saw her, and we found her surrounded by three men who had stolen her broom. But we shouldn’t have gone...” He paused and in a quieter voice added, “The climbers got scared when they saw us. There was a lot of commotion and they pushed Lena... down the cliff. No one knew how Lena had come to that situation.”

A witch casually approached the table and wrote something down on a piece of paper. Everyone around her watched in silence as she looked at the plant and then nodded before turning away.

Mawut went to add something else, but Libor Marek joined them.

“This is an unfair competition.... and what is this? A plant?” He grimaced, and Kate glanced at Mawut before averting her eyes to the rest of the room.

Astrid Rhode had stepped on the pallet where her lectern stood. After rearranging her papers, the witch cleared her throat and drew everyone’s attention to her.

“I can’t begin to express how wonderful it is to have all of you here on this special occasion. To honour this event, let me introduce you to Lazar Berović, a former winner of the AEDA thanks to his system to identify and capture chameleon ghouls.” Kate joined the round of applause with little interest. The man in question took Astrid’s place and started his speech.

Her mind drifted to the single hair that had fallen on her sleeve, and she dully grabbed it between two fingers as slowly as she could, making an effort of not listening the ghoul-hunting narrative they were being ‘gifted’.

She had a document whose content had expanded over the last month, completing a full page and a successfully finished project. There was nothing to keep her at that school any longer. Nothing, except the original reason she was there: to find a supposed Death Eater.

But I want to leave.

Would Dumbledore be angry if she returned early? But how much longer would she have to stay?

I want to go home. I want to go to Charlie.

Then come home.

Charlie’s voice again, echoing in her head as if he were talking to her right next to her. This time she didn’t panic, it was the push she needed to make her decision. Dumbledore would have to settle for the list.

But she would be leaving a bunch of children in the hands of a murderer. No, she’d figure it out when she was safe. If anyone wanted the scroll Kate had in her possession, she’d have to flee before it was too late.

The speech was over, and the room filled with the previous murmur of happiness and excitement.

“Excuse me...” Kate stepped away from the group, leaving Micael in charge of defending the front, and made her way to the door.

She hadn’t realised how much she’d become accustomed to the noise until she’d walked a few corridors away from the dining room. With everyone partying in the middle, Kate and the silence went hand in hand all the way to the library. Or at least, that was where she was headed, had she not come face to face with Corentin.

“Ah, Katherine, I was just on my way to the exhibition...” The librarian’s smile crumbled at the sight of her expression.

“Corentin...” she whispered, “I think... I need to get out of here.” They both looked around, but they were alone.

“And how do you plan to do that? With a carriage? They don’t leave until the 20th.”

“I have to go get my trunk and apparate. I don’t know... I’ll jump to Romania and... then to England.” Corentin shook his head.

“I’d recommend three jumps at least.”

“I don’t know that many places! I don’t know where we are!”

“Keep your voice down.” They dissimulated again as two wizards passed in front of them. They greeted each other cordially, and when they were out of range, Corentin grabbed Kate’s elbow. “Everyone is in the Dining Hall. In fifteen minutes the band Rhode has brought will start playing so everyone will be paying attention. Go to your room and stay there until I let you know.”

“What are you planning?”

“We’ll apparate together. We’ll do Sweden, Germany, France and you go to England alone.”

“Corentin...”

“You go. I’ll pick you up in half an hour.” The librarian didn’t give Kate a chance to question him, and she watched him march in his bat form down the corridor.

She turned and broke into a jog towards the side staircase on the ground floor, a shortcut that would take her to her bedroom. She slowed when she felt a presence around her. She sensed desperation by legilimency, and it wasn’t her own. Anger too, even fear.

She turned a corner, but someone was waiting for her. Strong but elegant hands clamped over her mouth and grabbed her robe, pinning her against a chest.. Her pulse quickened, as did her breathing. She tried to free herself from the arm that held her, but it was too strong.

Slowly, the hand covering her mouth slid to the side and reached her neck. Kate couldn’t breathe. She felt the hand tighten around her neck and Mer Yankelevich’s needle-like nails made contact with her skin.

“Give me your wand.” Kate made a movement too sharp for the teacher’s liking and she gripped her tighter. “Slowly.” She tried to take a deep breath, but she had begun to shake in such a way she couldn’t concentrate on her breathing. “Give me your wand, now.”

With an idea half-formed in her head, she moved her left arm to release the wand. Seeing her, Mer snatched it from her hand and jabbed it into her back. “Let’s go for a walk. Don’t even think about running or screaming” They strolled to the other end of the ground floor. They passed by several wizards and in the eyes of the world everything was normal.

Just as the teacher muttered “Incarcerous” the Weasley twins’ wand trap rose into the air and began to hit Mer in the head. Taking advantage of her absent-mindedness, Kate broke free of her grip and ran off in search of the front door. She pulled her real wand out of her other sleeve, knowing Mer was very close behind her.

Just a little closer.

She ran through the sea of people in front of the door, hoping to get lost in the crowd. She glanced back as she went, but there was no sign of the teacher.

She left the castle with bated breath, and hastily pulled her diary from her pocket, muttered ‘Reducto’ turning it into a tiny, almost unrecognisable object, and continued running towards the bridge.

Maybe she could take refuge in the forest, go to the coordinates Dumbledore had given her, maybe the stranger would find her if it was an emergency. She cursed when she remembered she had burned the map.

She was about to reach the other side of the bridge when something hit her from behind, causing her to fall to the ground.

With a scream she hit the stone, and from the ground she saw Mer Yankelevich striding towards her. She looked around frantically, searching for her wand. She reached out and drew the weapon towards her before pointing it at the teacher.

Yankelevich paused, pointing her wand at Kate, and waited for her to rise from the ground. Both witches stared down at each other in a duelling stance, and the spells soon began to explode. Kate fought back as best she could, trying to remember some of Marek’s tricks, but Mer was the Charms teacher and she knew that at any moment she would tire herself out until she lost.

“You’ve got something that’s mine!” shouted Mer between curses.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Kate started to walk backwards, trying to go around Mer and turn her back on the castle, but the teacher was quicker and cornered her against the bridge wall.

“The stone! Where is it?”

“I don’t have any stone!” Kate peeled away from the bridge wall, dodging spells with little grace. One in particular made her ears pop, and she could barely hear Mer accusing her of lying repeatedly.

“How did you get in the room?” shouted Yankelevich, “The column broke!” Kate gasped as a stunning spell hit her leg and she staggered backwards. Focused on not falling to the floor, she didn’t notice the parchment flying out of her robes.

“You broke it?” Kate asked as she tried to catch her breath, “Why?”

“It wasn’t on purpose. That’s the entrance to Grindelwald’s room, and I was trying to open it.” She took a few steps towards Kate, pointing her wand at her. “So tell me; how did you get in?” her accusatory tone made the young witch flinch. Kate bit her tongue, physically, to avoid revealing how wrong she was. In case she didn’t make it out of this situation alive, the teacher must not know her way into the room.

With Charlie in mind, she lowered her wand, hoping to give Yankelevich a sense of security. Band music began to play from inside the castle, conveniently deafening those inside and isolating them from the catastrophe that may or may not be occurring on the bridge.

In only an instant, Kate noticed how the teacher got distracted by the sound of the instruments and took advantage of her glance over her head to begin a duelling offensive. Mer defended herself gracefully, dodging and occasionally returning her opponent’s attacks. Kate’s chances diminished with each spell.

Yankelevich turned her back on the castle, and it was at that moment Kate realised her previous oversight. There, at the feet of the person who might be her executioner, the list of Death Eaters’ names lay within her grasp.

“Mer,” she began cautiously, “all this is for your sister? None of this is worth it.”

“What do you know! Do you have a dead sibling? You have no idea...” It was a stab in the heart without knowing it. The internal debate in Kate’s stomach was making her dizzy, and as she considered whether to tell her story, the teacher crouched at the sight of the document. “We all lose loved ones. Angelov, Jorgensen, Marek, myself.” Mer ignored her.

“So this is how Karkarov intended to communicate with the Ministry...” The parchment flew through the air as Kate’s spell impacted against the teacher’s hand. Both witches began a dance of lights and explosions again, swirling around unknowingly gravitating towards each other.

The castle doors burst open and a third wave of spells shot towards them. Libor Marek was almost galloping in their direction furiously airing his wand.

“Mer!”

Kate let out a choked cry as Yankelevich twisted her arm backwards. She had managed to physically reach her and after pulling at her forearm, one hand with threatening nails anchored her neck against the teacher’s chest; with the other, she pointed her wand at Kate’s temple.

Both witches looked at Marek with completely opposite expressions.

“Mer... Let go of the girl.” He warned, holding up a hand.

“Look, your guardian angel has arrived. Day after day, that man has been preventing you and I from having a friendly chat, always sitting outside your classroom, hovering in the corridors without letting you out of his sight,” she turned to Marek, “tell me Libor, what has this girl done for you?”

“This is not about her. You think I don’t know you were seeing Karkarov on the sly? You think I don’t know that you threatened to turn him in to the Ministry? You think I don’t know that you’re the one who’s been trying to get to that imaginary room?”

“It’s real! She got in with the help of the bat she has as a friend. And now she’s going to tell me how.”

Kate couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You knew?” The accusation was drowned out when the grip around her neck tightened. “She tried to kill Flavia! She practically couldn’t speak!”

“And who do you think stopped her from going to the hospital wing to finish the job, huh?”

“Enough.” Mer finished. She forced Kate to walk to the bridge wall and bent her over the stone. She stared straight into the eyes of the abyss; the fog prevented her from seeing the end, if the cliff had one, and she knew that if she didn’t act soon all that would be left of her would be her memory. “I’m only going to ask you one more time. You found the resurrection stone, where is it?”

“There was no stone!”

She felt the needle stick as if it had happened in slow motion. She brought her hand to her neck as Mer released her and managed to drop to the ground just before the barrage of spells between her and Marek reached her. If she was dizzy before, now she was convinced she was going to throw up.

She slid down the stone to the ground as her vision blurred. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, trying to maintain some control over her body. Spotting her wand near her, she awkwardly crawled towards it, avoiding a violet light that flew treacherously close to her.

She tried to get to her feet, but instantly collapsed again. The nausea was increasing, her vision was blurring more and more, her pulse was throbbing. She pushed her hair out of her face as best she could and rubbed her eyes, but she couldn’t quite focus on the dancing figures circling before her.

Corentin was waiting for her somewhere, probably by the door of her room to take her to a safer place. But she couldn’t reach him, not without the list.

Kate frantically searched for the paper somewhere on the bridge, hoping with all her might that the wind wouldn’t suddenly pick up. Moving her head like that did not help her condition, and the migraines she had been experiencing made their appearance to reinforce her misfortune.

Where were the cavalry? Why was no one from the castle coming to the rescue?

A bitter taste rose in her throat, forcing her to spit out some saliva, which to her horror was whitish. 

No one would come to help her. She would have to save herself.

With what little energy she had left, she stumbled to her feet and took a few steps towards the other side of the bridge. The list was at her fingertips, but the world was spinning and twisting, and now both hands were trembling.

The moment her hand made contact with the paper, a spell exploded against the stone above her head. But she couldn’t back out now. She reached out and caught the parchment between her fingers. She pointed her wand at herself, still shaking, and felt the familiar tug in her stomach that would pull her out. Yankelevich looked with terrified eyes at what was about to happen and pointed her wand at Kate.

The green light of the unforgivable curse never grazed her.

  Kate collapsed to the floor of the grimy Grimmauld Place street with a sob. Corentin had warned her about this; I recommend at least three jumps, the librarian had said.

Lying on the floor with her arms stretched out on her sides, she looked to her right; her eyes were full of tears and her arm full of blood. 

I recommend at least three jumps.

She felt herself choked up again. This time, some foam adorned the corners of her lips, while trying to reach her wand with her left hand.

Three weary taps against the ground caused the building in front of her to awaken, revealing the door of the Black family home. Breathing was getting harder and harder, and with her ears increasingly clogged, Kate tried, to no avail, to stop her splinching from bleeding. Without dittany, it would be impossible.

She raised her wand towards the building with a groan. Unable to utter a word, she concentrated on firing several red lights into the windows. Some bounced off the walls and others off the glass, and she prayed it would be enough, for keeping her arm up was draining her strength.

As the convulsions became more violent, her hand fell to the floor with the rest of her body.

Attempting to keep her eyes open, she made out figures coming out of the house; one was a lanky, black blob she likened to a Dementor by the way his cloak moved; the other was much shorter and rounder with a hint of red hair. The rest of the people who rushed at her were indistinguishable.

Severus Snape forced her eyes open with his fingers, wearing a worried expression. Recognising him, Kate screamed, or at least she thought she did. The only sound that came out of her mouth was a painful sob.

“Darling, darling, look at me, it’s going to be alright,” Molly reassured. Kate wanted to shout that nothing was right, that she was in danger, that the man who was pouring the contents of a potion down her throat was a traitor.

The convulsions hadn’t stopped yet, but the unbearable burning in her arm did. She wanted to watch her wound heal, but Molly clutched her tear-soaked cheek preventing her from seeing the amount of blood that had gushed out from her arm.

“You’ll be fine, sweetheart, you’ll be fine.”

She choked on her saliva and Molly tilted her head to help her spit out the remnants of foam. Several conversations sprang up around her; all seemed distant, like an echo in a cavern.

When the shaking stopped, the relief was almost immediate. Snape forced her jaw open, emptying a vial into her mouth again. The commotion didn’t seem to end; several wizards and witches combed the street for any Muggle witnesses, and others were busy inspecting windows and doors.

Intense pain engulfed her head and mind. Attributing it to migraines, Kate missed the long, silver strand that shot from her temple in the direction of an unknown wand. She closed her eyes, and with one last deep breath everything went black.

--

[Part 17]

--

A/N: Oooooooooof I dont know how did you react to this I’m so nervous

Tag List: @eldritchscreech​

@meteora-fc​

@cazreadsstuff 

@the-navistar-carol​

@am-i-space​

[saltlampsasuke]

Unfortunately, You Are Experiencing Symptoms of Falling in Love

Having your long-term boyfriend cheat on you is pretty bad, but you're lucky enough to have a rich, pro-hero best friend who lets you move in with him until you get a new apartment. Except lockdown happens. And you can't look for a new apartment anymore, and you can't go anywhere anymore, and neither can your best friend, and you think you might be falling a little bit in love with him. Or maybe you've been in love with him all along.

The story of how it takes a nationwide lockdown for you and Bakugou Katsuki to finally get together, part 2!

warnings: Coronavirus mentions

wordcount: 2,009

Here comes part two of my story! Please enjoy it!

The moment Bakugou hung up the phone, you collapsed on your couch. He had told you to pack whatever you wanted to take, but you couldn’t even begin to think about doing that right now. Yes, you had helped pay for the furniture, but you couldn’t bear to look at it now. What had Takumi done on your counter, your chairs, your desk? You had been so full of rage beforehand that the reality of your situation hadn’t truly sunk in yet. Calling Bakugou had used up all of your strength, and now, the emotions that had been stirring inside you finally boiled over as you began to sob.

You laid sprawled across your couch for what seemed like hours, soaking the cushions with your messy sobs as you mourned the wasted time, effort, and love that you had poured into your relationship. You cried until you began to feel drowsy, your eyelids starting to flutter closed, only to spring open when you heard your door slam shut. Had Takumi come back already.

“Oi, dumbass.” Bakugou had arrived. “Where the hell are you?” Realizing he couldn’t see you lying on the couch, you threw up a weak hand in greeting. You could hear the angry stomp of his boots as he walked over to you and sat on the arm of the couch, your body occupying the rest of the space.

“Hey, Bakugou,” you said quietly, your voice still trembling. He looked down at you from his seat, his eyes appearing softer than you had ever seen them.

“Hey, Shitty woman,” he replied cautiously. “You ready to go?” You slowly pushed yourself up off the couch, eyes red and puffy, hair a mess. You could feel Bakugou watching you carefully. He was uncharacteristically quiet, which you appreciated. There wasn’t anything to be said. Your eyes widened slightly as you processed his question. You hadn’t packed anything to take to the apartment. Would he be mad? Would he be willing to wait? Were you even capable of packing anything right now? You shook your head.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t pack anything. I didn’t do anything after I called you. I just sat here,” you confessed nervously. Bakugou moved so he was standing in front of you, with an unchanging tight frown on his face. The change in position did nothing to calm your nerves. If anything, you were more nervous than you were before. Which was ridiculous. This was Bakugou. Your best friend since high school. He had driven here, to your apartment, calling out of patrol and surely abandoning some fun nighttime plans. He was literally letting you move in with him. He wasn’t going to be mad about your failure to pack. Right? He wasn’t going to change his mind. Right? He put a heavy hand on your shoulder.

“Listen up, because I’m not going to repeat myself. You know I’m bad at this type of shit. Fuck. I mean stuff. You know, the comforting and the making people feel better sh- stuff. I’ve never been good at it. Probably never will be. Honestly, I’m sort of surprised you called me instead of Round Face or someone like that. But I’ll show up. I’ll help you with whatever you need. Hell, if you want to take some time off work that’s fine.” You tried to interrupt him.

“Bakugou, I-“

“Let me finish. I don’t know exactly how you feel right now. Probably not good. And I know I can’t make this better for you. Even heroes can’t fix this shit. Mess. But I’ll help you pick up the pieces. If you need something, I’ll make it happen. So take your time.” Bakugou took a step towards you, and pulled you into his chest for a rare hug. You allowed yourself to relax into him, and for the first time since you walked into your apartment, you felt like you could finally breathe again. How had he known just the right thing to say? You cracked a small smile, and mumbled into his jacket.

“Thank you.” He let go of you gently, a small smile on his face as well.

“C’mon, let’s get in the car. I’ll just give you some stuff from my place. I don’t want to be in this shitty apartment anymore.” You were in complete agreement. There was nothing more you wanted than to leave.

You locked the door easily, and followed Bakugou out to his car. It was sleek and black on the outside, and the inside was full of fancy little dials and gadgets you had never been able to figure out. And you called yourself a support technician. Still, the seats were comfortable, heated and plush, and that was all that mattered. Bakugou had escorted you into the passenger seat, and the sigh of relief you had breathed once the doors had been locked and you had left the parking lot was audible even over the roar of the engine.

“You good?” Bakugou asked quietly. You nodded, then spoke, realizing he was focused on the road and not on you like he had been earlier.

“Better now that we’ve left the building. I don’t ever want to go back there again. I don’t ever want to see him again,” you replied. At the mention of “him”, you saw Bakugou’s hands tighten ever-so-slightly on the steering wheel. He spoke, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Well I can’t promise the first thing, but I’ll see about the second. We are going to have to go back, though. Unless you want to leave all of your stuff behind.” You didn’t want that. Most of the stuff you were more than willing to abandon, too reminiscent of Takumi for your taste, but there were many things back in your former apartment that you loved, and couldn’t bear to part with.

“How long is that bastard supposed to be gone for?”

“He said a few days. That could be anything from two days to two weeks. I couldn’t honestly say.” That was a problem. Running into Takumi again was your worst nightmare. You had said all that you had wanted to say, and now you just wanted a clean break.

“Alright, so we go back tomorrow. You don’t have to do anything tonight, just get used to the place, but tomorrow we’ll grab all of your stuff out of that shithole.” Bakugou turned towards you at a red light. “Is it ok if we ask Shitty hair and everybody to help out?” You nodded.

“Yeah. I’ll have to tell everyone sometime. But just Kirishima, and Sero. Midoriya too, maybe?” You asked carefully, knowing that Bakugou was still sometimes sensitive to mentions of the man blocking his way to the number one spot. Bakugou and Midoriya had made up a long time ago, in high school, and they didn’t fight at all like they used to. Still, you had spent too many nights back at UA in Bakugou’s room, sitting on his bed as he cried quietly over some small perceived mistake, after which he threatened to kill you if you ever told anyone, to not be careful. He had always been, and still sometimes was, afraid that he was a failure. Afraid he wasn’t good enough. He still had a hard time whenever he couldn’t save someone. You had never been able to convince him that you can’t save everyone.

“Why the hell do you want dumbass Deku to help you move stuff? And fucking tape elbows?” You smiled involuntarily again.

“Midoriya is strong, he’ll be helpful. Bakugou. His quirk is tape. I’m moving. He can help seal all the boxes.” You heard a sharp laugh.

“Damn, finally a real use for that dumbass quirk of his. We can call him the fucking moving van hero.” You shook your head, smiling wider.

“You’re terrible, Bakugou. I have no idea why everyone stays friends with you,” you said teasingly. Bakugou’s head turned sharply at your comment.

“The hell do you mean? I’m literally moving you in to my fucking house. And it was your idea to use him for his stupid tape. The real question is why I put up with you!” You knew he wasn’t serious. “And another thing! Isn’t it about time you started calling me Katsuki?” That was a shocker. Bakugou rarely ever let anyone call him by his first name. He would yell at anyone who tried. Yet here he was, all of a sudden demanding you switch, after so long.

“What?” you asked, bewildered and trying to make sense of this sudden demand.

“You’re going to live in my goddamn house, shitty woman! And I’ve known you since high school, it’s fucking weird that you still call me by my last name,” he replied angrily.

“Are you sure it’s ok? You hate when people call you by your first name!”

“I wouldn’t tell you to do it if I didn’t want you to! Just fucking do it!” Bakugou slammed his hands on the steering wheel. Clearly asking this of you had taken him a lot of strength. He was really going to let you use his first name. True, you had always been his closest friend but for some reason that was a line you had never crossed. It was fine for Kirishima to use Bakugou, no, Katsuki’s given name but for some reason it had never seemed right for you to do the same. You showed your bond in other ways. But he was right, you were going to live together. It only made sense.

“Alright.” You paused for a moment, afraid to speak the name. “Katsuki.”

“That’s more fucking like it, shitty woman” Katsuki parked the car outside of his apartment building, after passing through a security checkpoint. His building was so much nicer than yours, befitting the number two hero. You rarely hung out at his house, he wasn’t the type to have friends over that much, more so the type to go over to others or be in public, so you had only actually been inside less than ten times. It was exciting, but you still had questions about the sudden name change policy.

“Wait, if I have to call you Katsuki, you should have to call me something else too,” you stated as you followed behind Katsuki as he walked up to the main doors. He paused, and turned around to face you.

“The fuck you mean? I already use your first name.” You snorted.

“Only when you’re talking about me to someone else. I can’t remember the last time you actually called me by my name. It’s always dumbass, or shitty woman. I want a fun nickname like the ones you give everyone else, like Icy-hot or something! You can’t make me call you Katsuki and not call me something new as well” Your mouth almost slipped into a slight pout.

“Oh, so first I let you move into my house, and now you want a new nickname. What’s next, the fucking moon?” Katsuki grumbled. “I should let you live on the streets for being such a picky brat. You’re just like that dumbass story about that princess who couldn’t fall asleep on all those mattresses because there was a tiny little pea underneath. Maybe I’ll call you princess now, because of how fucking demanding you are.” He opened up the lobby door, letting you inside. You smiled. There was that trademark Bakugou Katsuki bluster. Translation: I’m glad you’re feeling good enough to joke around. You could tell that he was relieved that you were joking around with him again. You knew it would take time to get past Takumi. You had given that man so much, it would take a while. It had been less than two hours since the end of your relationship, and you had barely begun to process your emotions. But maybe it would eventually be ok. But you had Katsuki, your best friend, and the best man you knew. You had time.

“Princess is ok, actually,” you replied.

“Jesus fucking Christ.

[blue-mood-blue]

Your Toby liveblogging was super fun to follow! Thank you for sharing your toughts, it was a little like getting to read it again for the first time. I am exited to se any Toby writing you will produce, I'm sure it's gonna be amazing! I'm not sure if this counts as a prompt, but I would love to see your take on Liudaleg offering Toby her chaengling choice and consequentally rasing her.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, I enjoyed it too! There's something really, really nice about sharing the experience and all of the discoveries with people who love these books as much as I do!

And that is an excellent prompt :3 I had fun with this one!

~~~

She could have stayed out of it. She could have called the Torquills, reminded them who that little girl's father was in the eyes of Faerie law and made clear that the sea witch of legend and nightmares would hold them accountable for their kin. She could have reminded them of where they came from and asked them frankly if they could stand by while precious, thoughtless, heartless Amy did that to her own child…

But she didn't. She didn't stop to think when she saw her opportunity; she acted with the kind of impulsivity that, in future years, she would become convinced had leaked into her niece like an inkstain reminder of the moment. The Luidaeg saw her chance, and she took it.

October Christine Daye disappeared from a park one evening at dusk, just when the light of sunset was fading and her father had turned away, distracted by a noise. Her last act as a part of the human world was to look up at the woman leaning against the swingset and answer her question. There were only the two of them, and the woman - young and friendly, smiling kindly in a way that put little October at ease immediately - promised her that there was no right answer, only the answer that felt right. With no sense of the gravity of the moment, she made her choice, and by the time her father looked up the park was empty. There was only an instant of alarm before he shook his head and wondered what he'd been looking for. A changeling story just the way the humans would tell it, but a mercy left behind instead of a child.

The Luidaeg wondered if mercy was a fair price for the future. She didn't have an answer, and the not knowing didn't change her mind.

~~~

Amy was furious. Of course she was, and the Luidaeg might even have decided not to hold it against her if more of that fury had its roots in the abduction of her daughter than the obliteration of her faerie bride life. She wouldn't have stood aside if Amandine snatched October away from the temporary bed set up on the couch, but she would have understood.

"You had no right," her little sister hissed, and the Luidaeg chuckled.

"No right? You've had your taste of freedom, sister, you've played your little game and left your responsibilities behind. Did you think that choice wouldn't have consequences? They all do."

The Luidaeg didn't miss the glance towards the couch, the reminder of the choice that had been made only that evening. "You had no right." Her voice was weaker, now, less venomous. Perhaps even sad.

"Tell me the truth, Amy, because I can't lie to you - do you still want her now?" There was a weary sort of ache building in the Luidaeg's chest, as familiar as it was inescapable. "Would you be happy to have her follow you around in Faerie, live in your tower... be your changeling daughter?"

Amy frowned, and she wouldn't meet her eyes. "She shouldn't be a part of this world."

"That's her decision to make. And that's not what I asked you."

"Am I supposed to just leave my daughter here?" She was back to fury, but there was something different about it, now - less power behind it, less biting. As if she was playacting the part of the enraged mother of a kidnapped daughter, and the Luidaeg would feel fury of her own if she wasn't so endlessly, deeply tired. "I'm meant to leave her with you, because you thought you could reach out and take what's mine?"

Would you care at all, except that I've taken your toy and you never learned to share, she wondered, but didn't ask. "I'm prepared to bargain with you," she said instead.

It pulled Amy up short. "What could you possibly have to offer me?" There was genuine curiosity mixed in with the skepticism of her question.

"Besides freedom from the task that is rightfully yours by your ability, that you refuse to accept?" There was no change in Amy's face - she was, as always, difficult to sway on things that didn't directly impact her. "Besides willingly housing and feeding the child you were willing to lose to mortality? How about not releasing that neat little piece of magic on your husband and sparing you the embarrassment and headache of a mortal making too much noise?"

Fury - true fury, the anger of a Firstborn - flashed in Amy's eyes. For just an instant, the Luidaeg wondered if Amy would actually try fighting her, the idea just possible enough to have her bracing herself to move in front of the couch if she needed to. But Amy didn't move. For a long moment, Amy didn't do anything at all, standing frozen in the middle of her sister's living room.

"Fine," she spit out finally, and left her daughter behind, peacefully asleep.

~~~

This was the world as October Daye knew it.

She lived with her aunt, in a small and well-hidden apartment. Everyone else called her aunt "Luidaeg" which was hard to pronounce, or "sea witch" which Toby told her, solemnly, wasn't much of a name.

"Oh?" Her aunt sounded amused, only glancing at Toby while her hands were occupied with something important on the kitchen counter. "And you're the expert, huh, October?"

Toby scowled. "It's Toby," she reminded her, and her aunt nodded.

"Yeah yeah, you've mentioned. So what're you planning to call me if my names aren't up to your standards?"

"Your real name. You must have one, everyone does."

Her aunt wasn't mean, but sometimes unexpected things made her upset. Toby started to think this was one of those times, her aunt strangely quiet, but before Toby could talk about something else she spoke up again. "Annie," she finally said. "You can call me Annie, I guess."

And then it was Annie and Toby, almost always just the two of them, and never with any visitors who stayed very long.

~~~

Annie sold her magic for favors. "Like a true sea witch," she'd said once in an explanation that didn't explain a thing, a wry smile on her face.

"What if they can't pay?" Toby didn't watch the transactions; she wasn't allowed, waved off to her room before the desperate of Faerie ever darkened the doorway. It was for her own safety to be out of the way when a bargaining tool is exactly what some lost souls would be looking for, there in their worst moments.

"Then they don't get what they came for. They can't shoplift a sea witch's magic - they could try, I guess, and give me a minute or two of entertainment - but it wouldn't help them."

Toby was still young, but not so young that she didn't know the world sometimes didn't work the way it was supposed to. If it did, she could visit her dad. If it did, she would see her mother sometimes, and Annie wouldn't seem so sad, and the problems people brought to her aunt that she heard sometimes when she listened at the door wouldn't exist.

The world wasn't perfect. But was it really too much to hope for, that they could make things a little better for each other?

"Just like that? You don't do anything at all to help them?"

There must have been something in her voice that caught her aunt's attention, because Annie looked at her with eyes so knowing and so sad that Toby shrunk back a little from the expression. "Spoken like a true hero," she muttered under her breath, before sitting down next to Toby at the kitchen table - all warm wood and welcoming to her, a place she knew and trusted where outsiders only saw rot and filth. "October, if I gave you everything you ever wanted, do you think that would make you happy?"

Everything she ever wanted seemed like a lot. Toby shrugged, and Annie smiled.

"I think it might, for a little while. But then you would think of new things to want. If I fixed your every problem for you, what would you do the next time you had a problem?"

"Ask you to fix it?"

Annie nodded. "And if you reached out to grab a lit candle, do you think I would let you? Just because you wanted the flame?"

Toby shook her head.

"I answer every request because I have to, but giving a person their wish can hurt as often as it helps. Sometimes, the world is just unfair because it is. Even if we fixed everything wrong, it would find new ways to hurt."

Toby could accept that; she could accept that no one ever got everything they wanted just because, that problems could not always be handed over, that some choices were wrong. To accept the unfairness of the world, though, seemed too much to ask.

"Shouldn't we still help, when we can?"

Annie was quiet for a very long time. Toby wondered if she was angry; when Toby looked up at her face, though, Annie just seemed terribly tired. "Maybe we should. And maybe you're better than me, because you think so - you're a kind soul, October Daye, and even if it gets you in trouble it's nothing to be ashamed of. But please, for my sake if not for anyone else's... don't let the world bleed you dry while you try to save it. You're worth too much for that."

~~~

Toby wasn't sure if Annie actually liked Devin or not.

She let him into the house, even after the first time Toby met him, when he smiled down wolfishly at her and promised he'd carry her off to his home eventually. She'd retaliated by hitting him with a pan. Annie laughed and laughed, telling him that was what he got for trying to mess with the niece of the Luidaeg, a tiny hero in her own right.

"Yeah, okay," he relented eventually; Toby was still too young to notice the dangerous glint in Annie's eyes as she rested a hand on Toby's shoulder, to see the way Devin shrank in on himself as if in the presence of something dangerous. "The princess doesn't go anywhere she doesn't want to. Got it."

Most of the time, they got along. Devin taught her to pick locks and make marshwater charms, told her stories about the way changelings lived out there in the wider world of Faerie, where fairness was even harder to find than it was in her aunt's home with its strange rules about favors. "No place for changelings on either side of the blood," he'd said, more than once during the years she knew him. "You'll see one of these days." Whether it was by design or just the way it was always meant to go, she ached and grew restless; a little seed of heroism, as yet mostly unnoticed.

Most of the time, Annie put up with him. She seemed to enjoy his biting commentary on the local gentry, and he never asked her for anything at all. He was very, very careful about that. It was those stories - steeped in gossip and judgement - that were Toby's first introduction to the knowes she'd never had reason to see, and the strange people who lived in them.

Annie answered all of her questions about those people, because Annie never told lies and never hid things from Toby. There were only "things Toby could know now" and "things Toby would know later, if she stopped pestering her aunt and showed a little patience." The secrets of Faerie were hers for the taking, if she could wait for them.

Devin always made the same offer when he left - a home, if the home she had now didn't seem to fit right anymore. Toby always turned him down, and Devin never seemed surprised.

~~~

Toby remembered her mother, her real one, the one who was so beautiful that for a while Toby almost thought she must have gotten it wrong. Almost - Annie had told her things about Faerie. They lived on the outskirts of any and all worlds, but Toby had learned enough to know that her mother's beauty wasn't something unrealistic, just overwhelming. She missed her. She missed her, and she stopped saying so because it always made Annie frown. She missed her, and she tried to stop missing her because it didn't take much effort to realize Amandine wasn't coming back.

Sometimes her Annie was very quiet and still, late in the evenings when Toby should probably have already gone to bed. She stared at something Toby could never see, one of those things that she would have to wait to hear about later - but if Toby had to guess, she would guess that Annie's eyes looked lonely and lost, that she was missing someone, too. So Toby would crawl into her lap, and even though her aunt wouldn't say anything, she would open her arms to give Toby room and then hold her tight for a very long time.

She only ever spoke once, when Toby was almost asleep and wasn't sure whether she remembered it or dreamed it in the morning: "I hope you never have to leave me."

~~~

“There’s no one else to teach you how to use your magic,” Annie told her. “We’ll just have to figure it out.”

“Figuring it out” might have been an overly-generous description for what their magic lessons were, mostly blind groping through the dark with the hope that Toby wouldn’t reach too far and no sense of where “too far” might be. Annie tried to guide her with her own magic, but it felt like trying to tie a delicate knot with tidal waves instead of hands - her power was too immense, too completely unsuited for the shape of what Toby’s magic could do, and even gentle attempts left Toby overwhelmed and confused.

But she needed to learn. She needed to know - Annie needed her talent, and Toby wanted desperately to be needed in a way that meant she would never be left again - and she wandered the dark with nothing more than intuition and her aunt’s voice to lead her.

Her own blood was the first blood she changed; not all the way, out of fear that she wouldn’t recognize herself anymore, but enough that she could stand firm with her magic. If Annie was surprised that Toby clung to her changeling heritage, she didn’t say. She didn’t seem to disapprove, either, though Toby couldn’t quite work up the nerve to ask her opinion directly.

Devin stopped in the doorway the first time he saw her with a slightly different face, hair just a few shades lighter. He asked her if she’d done this to herself, and when Toby nodded, he asked her if she would do this for anyone else.

Annie told her once that if she was good at something, she should never do it for free. Toby didn’t think she could live that way.

The changelings brought to the Luidaeg’s door were not given a price beyond silence and secrecy, and not every changeling was brought. But there were some - the desperate and the hopeless, the ones who missed their human families or who suffered under the unfairness of having blood that wasn’t quite good enough. The ones who suffered because Faerie had never considered their safety, and the ones who suffered because Faerie had never considered what blood shouldn’t be mixed. Those were Toby’s customers at the door - her practice runs, Annie muttered once under her breath, and Devin hadn’t disagreed - and they came to see her. They came for the whispers of the sea witch’s daughter, and the favor she might grant those who truly needed her help.

~~~

When she left the house - because she was not a princess locked away in a tower in need of rescue, just a little girl growing up and eventually in need of more space and more faces - people whispered. They called her “October” and “daughter of the sea witch” and “omen” but none of them asked what she would rather be called, and certainly none of them called her “Toby.”

It was silly to be afraid, she thought the first time she stood at the entrance of Shadowed Hills, instructed that she might as well meet her family. Silly and childish to fear anyone in that knowe, when they were her family and would almost definitely be afraid of her. The knight at the door froze at the sound of her name, but he didn’t turn her away. Duke Sylvester Torquill accepted her into his hall, his wife at his side and sitting very still while she walked closer to see him.

Like a fox, Toby thought as she approached. But he seemed to have kind eyes, even if their kindness didn’t seem meant for her. He was too nervous for his polite smile to reach them.

“Hello, Uncle Sylvester,” she said, and she smiled at him with all the warmth she could manage for a relative who had never showed up on Annie’s doorstep looking for her. “I’m October. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

The duke tried to smile; the expression wasn’t very genuine. But his voice, when he finally found it, was friendly enough. “Hello, my dear. It has been a long time - come, tell me about your adventures.”

Toby didn’t think she really belonged anyplace besides her Annie’s home, but the world was big and filled with interesting people; in time, she brought her own stories of the local courts back with her, to a warm and comfortable place where she would always only be Toby.

~~~

Sometimes they visited the Selkies.

As a child, Toby reveled in the chance to play with the other children, splashing at ocean waters that could only be like home when she lived with the feared Luidaeg, unconcerned with the balance of her blood or what she could do with it.

When she grew older, as she understood, she stood apart and next to Annie. They were still warmly embraced, greeted happily. It was the closest Toby ever saw her aunt come to telling a lie.

Sometimes the world was not fair. Sometimes even the enormous magic of a sea witch was not enough to make it so.

~~~

The King of Cats called her “little omen” and seemed to delight in the way it made her bristle. She didn’t know why he enjoyed her company - maybe it was because she made the Divided Courts nervous, and it was entertaining to him to see them caught off-guard and scrambling. And it was entertaining; Toby didn’t push her luck with their hospitality, but it was funny to see the guards at the gate hesitate, their instinct to keep anyone associated with the sea witch away from their door. Only Etienne had the benefit of no longer fearing her. Long exposure had changed the fear to exasperation as he attempted to teach her the proper rules of entering a knowe and presenting herself before nobility.

Tybalt had witnessed some of those lessons. Perhaps that was part of the entertainment.

Toby didn’t ask him for his reasons; she knew cats and the Cait Sidhe well enough to know that he wouldn’t give them, and direct questioning would only shut him up faster with a coy, knowing smile. He kept showing up, and she kept tolerating his presence, and in time there was almost an uneasy kind of friendship between them. “We are outcasts of the Divided Courts,” he’d told her, walking her home from Shadowed Hills a little closer to dawn than Annie would have preferred. “They don’t care for either of us, not with those manufactured manners of theirs; they would sooner have us out here, away from them and by ourselves, so why not indulge them?”

“I’m related to some of them,” Toby replied, a small smile on her face in spite of herself. “I think I’m a part of their courts whether they like it or not.”

“An absolutely delightful tangle for them to deal with, true,” Tybalt chuckled. “And yet you’re still here with me.”

“Only because you won’t leave me alone,” she said, and he laughed.

~~~

Duke Sylvester Torquill had no authority over her, but he begged a favor from her anyway. Maybe he thought she knew the Luideag’s secrets, or maybe he just knew that she was good at rooting out secrets - the gentry politely referred to it as a healthy curiosity, while Annie just snorted and told her she was too damn nosy for her own good.

Whatever the case, she was still Dochas Sidhe. She was as easy to transform as she would always be. And when Toby didn’t come home, Shadowed Hills earned the wrath of the Luidaeg.

It took too long to find her, but she was found. Found changed, and transformed, and haunted. A tabby led a teenager in overalls with electrical tape in her hair to a pond, and when no one was looking, they left with a single calico koi. In the safety of her own home, Toby was herself again and wasn’t.

There were days of silence, days when no one could manage a word from her even though Annie and Devin and Tybalt all tried. There were days when Toby had to be convinced to stand, to eat, to rest. Finally, so softly that anyone but Annie might not have heard, Toby asked: “Why are you doing this?”

“Because trauma means you need the extra help.” She was mixing something, releasing smells that were both strange and familiar into the air, and Toby could pick out every piece that came from her magic.

“No, I mean… why any of this? Why did you take me?” Why did you keep me, she didn’t ask, and she thought she knew the answer - because she was useful. Because there was something that Toby could do for her, that would pay for the time spent raising her.

Annie was quiet, focused on the ingredients of future favors yet to be asked. “Because you’re my family,” she said at last. “Whatever my reasons used to be, that’s my reason now.”

[im-bakugous-bitch]

Shoto Todoroki - Heartbreak

**A/N Hey guys!  I know it’s been a long time since I wrote anything, and I wanted to post something since I haven’t in a while.  I have finals this week, and then I’ll be free for the summer and be back to writing for you guys!  In the meantime, I originally wrote this as a TodoDeku piece, but changed it to x reader so I could post it here.  I hope you guys enjoy!

Shoto had been distant lately.

It was all you could think about.  For some reason it felt like Shoto had given up, but he couldn’t have.  You still walked that path that brought you close to both your houses and kissed when you parted ways.  He was still saying “I love you”.  Just because he was distant and busy didn’t mean it was over.

That’s what you told yourself, at least.  Deep down, you knew it was all lies.  You just preferred to live in ignorance, even only so you could call him yours.  You were unhappy with how Shoto brushed you off on a daily basis, but you were willing to put up with it.  You loved Shoto, you’d seen the good times and believed you could get back there if Shoto would just put in some effort.  He didn’t even have to do much, just show up.  You loved enough for the both of you.

When Shoto announced that he was going on a trip for recommendation students, your heart broke. Shoto would be out of the country for nearly three weeks.  But the more you thought about it, the better you felt.

Maybe time apart was what you needed.  Maybe Shoto just needed some time to himself in order to see just how important you were to him.  Then he’d come back and things would be good again, right?

You couldn’t have been more wrong.

Shoto had been gone seven days, and you were feeling good.  Shoto was having an awesome time on his trip, which made you happy.  One day you had sent Shoto a photo that made you laugh, to which Shoto responded with many funny photos of his own.

That small action alone reassured you more than words ever could.  Just like it used to be.  Everything was going to be okay.

Turns out, you could have been more wrong.

You were talking with Ochako when it happened.  “I think it’ll be okay,” you said.  “I think when he comes back, we’ll go out to dinner somewhere, then cuddle on the couch and watch a movie.  Just like we used to.”  As you finished your sentence, your phone chimed.  You checked who was messaging you and smiled when you saw Shoto’s contact photo. “It’s from Shoto!”

Look, I’ve been feeling this way for a few weeks and I really just need to do this now. I’m breaking up with you and I’m sorry I’m doing this over text, I feel like an asshole.  I just wanted to do this sooner or later because I didn’t wanna give you false hope.  I just haven’t been feeling the spark between us from when we first started going out. I’m really sorry, I hope we can still be friends and things can stay mutual between us.

You screamed.  You didn’t know what else to do, so you just let out a loud wail.  Your stomach dropped as your eyes immediately began to water.  

What had happened? Things were going to be okay!  It was all going to be okay!  Why did he have to quit?  You threw your phone down as Ochako moved to sit beside you.  

“Shh,” she said in an attempt to soothe you.  She rubbed your back gently, watching you scream and shout for the next minute as you came to terms with what was happening.  She didn’t even need to read the text to know that you had just been dumped.

After your moment, you wiped your eyes and looked down at your phone.  You reread the message again and again, just to make sure you were seeing it clearly.  Maybe you were imagining it.  Or better yet – maybe this was all some horrible nightmare.  You weren’t sure what you’d do if it was real.

You wanted to yell at Shoto.  You wanted to scream and cry and hold him close and beg him to stay.  Why had he done this?  Why were you only worth a text?  After nearly nine months together, you had given him your all and Shoto had given nothing.  You’d done so much for Shoto to make him happy.  Why didn’t you even get a face-to-face breakup?

You’d known it was coming.  You said it was going to be okay and tried to trick yourself into really believing it, but deep down you knew the truth.  

Shoto had fallen out of love with you.

Not tying and sending the million pleading things you wanted to say was one of the hardest things you ever had to do.  You sat there, phone in hand, trying to come up with something to say.  You couldn’t just leave that on open.  But what does one say to something like that?

It’s okay, I understand.  Don’t ever hesitate if you change your mind.

You regretted the message as soon as you hit send.  You shouldn’t have said it was okay, because it sure as hell was not. Shoto had become this central figure in your life, the only person you could be around without ever getting tired. He’d become your everything and he just left.  He just gave up.  He didn’t even try.

Actually, it isn’t okay.  I wasn’t expecting this.  I’ll be honest, I knew you were going to leave me, but I thought I meant enough to you to at least be worth a face to face – or phone call at least!  Video chat!  Anything besides a TEXT MESSAGE!  Guess I overestimated my importance to you.  

You stared at the typed-out message on your phone for three whole minutes.  Your finger remained close to the send button, but never came close enough to send it.  Eventually, you backed down and erased the message.  You were hoping maybe in a day or two, Shoto would change his mind. Maybe he’d realize what an awful mistake he’d made.  If you sent that message, you knew there’d be no going back.

You stood up, causing Ochako’s hand to fall off your back.  “I’m going for a walk,” you said plainly.  You walked away without waiting for a response.  It was cold out, but you didn’t bother to grab a jacket.  It was getting dark, but you didn’t bother to grab a flashlight.

You walked around the UA campus for what felt like hours.  Every passing second felt like its own forever.  You’d started crying again at one point, but you weren’t sure exactly when that was.  It wasn’t until you heard a voice call out to you that you wiped away your tears.

“Young l/n?”  You’d recognize that voice anywhere.  All Might, your favorite person in the world. Well, second favorite to Shoto. “What are you doing out here?”

For once, you didn’t want to talk to All Might.  You just wanted to be alone.  You pushed past your hero’s fragile figure, not giving an answer as you ran off.  You could apologize later.

All Might chased after you, grabbing onto your shoulder.  “What’s wrong?”

You felt weak.  You were supposed to be training to be a Hero, and instead you were acting like some heartbroken teenager.  Even though you were a heartbroken teenager, you shouldn’t have been acting that way.  But you couldn’t help it.  It was all you could think about.  You wiped your eyes and sniffled as you looked up into All Might’s blazing blue eyes. “Sh-Sh-Shoto d-d-d-dumped m-me…”

All Might’s gaze softened as he let out a sigh.  “I’m sorry, Young l/n.”  He put a hand on your shoulder, but to his surprise it was just brushed off.

You didn’t want to see anyone.  You just wanted to be alone so you could cry.  For the last couple of weeks, people had been telling you the relationship was coming to an end.  Whenever you’d confide in your friends about your relationship problems, you’d always hear the same thing: “It’s only a matter of time, y/n.”

All Might gently reached out to you again, pulling you close into an embrace.  All Might was the closest figure you had ever had to a father, and you was basically All Might’s child.  It killed him to see you in pain.

Once pulled into the hug, you lost control.  You gripped onto All Might’s white t-shirt tightly as tears streamed down your cheeks and incoherent sobs left your lips.

The rest of the night after that was just a blur.

Next thing you knew, you were waking up in your bed.  Not your dorm bed – your home bed.  You’d forgotten UA was getting a week-long break and you were going home for the week.  Your head was pounding, you could hardly recall the previous day’s events.  You opened your phone and typed in your passcode, 74686, spelling out Shoto.  When it didn’t work, everything came flooding back.  You’d changed your password.  You’d changed your lock screen.

With a simple text, Shoto had changed your life.

Fresh tears welled in your eyes, and you buried your face in your pillow.  You were determined not to let them fall this time.  You had to be strong.

After only a few minutes, your mother knocked on your door.  “y/n?” she asked as she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.  When she saw you sitting up in your bed, hugging a tear-stained pillow, her eyes filled with sorrow as she rushed to you. “I’m so sorry, honey,” she said gently as she held you close, and you cried into her shoulder.

The week carried on just like that.  Late Sunday night, you returned to UA.  You immediately ran into your dorm and laid face-down on your pillow until you fell asleep.

The following morning was the hardest yet.

You were waking up early to meet Shoto before class.  You’d sent Shoto a message; you had some things you wanted back, plus you wanted answers.  You planned to ask why he’d done it.  Why you hadn’t been good enough.  Why you didn’t get a face-to-face conversation.  You had a million questions flooding through your mind, and you planned to ask all of them.

But when you saw Shoto approaching, they all disappeared.

You stood up from the bench you were sitting on with Ochako and Tsuyu.  You followed as Shoto led you around a corner before leaning against a wall.  In his one outstretched hand he held your requested belongings, and once they were taken he crossed his arms over his chest.

You studied him. He looked fine.  No bloodshot or swollen eyes, no tear-stains, nothing.  He looked totally unaffected by the whole thing, and that hurt more than the initial break-up.  Not only did Shoto not care enough to break up with you in person, he didn’t care at all.  He looked like he was already over it.  Just a week shy of nine months together, and Shoto felt nothing.

Shoto raised his eyebrows expectantly at you, as you were just standing there and staring at him. You had your million questions you wanted to ask, dozens of ways to ask them, but you could only get one word out:

“Why?”

Shoto shrugged his shoulders so nonchalantly that you wanted to punch him.  “I just…didn’t feel it anymore.”

The billions of pieces your heart had shattered into even more.  Your heart was beating so fast, your eyes were already beginning to water.  You couldn’t cry in front of Shoto, but you couldn’t think of any of your other questions. You opened your mouth to speak, but no words came out.  What could you even say to that?

Shoto pursed his lips as he looked you up and down.  “I’ll see you around.”  With that he walked away, leaving you shattered and broken, standing there with your retrieved objects fallen to the ground and forgotten, as tears raced down your cheeks.