#if it was the other way around and tommy had flown off the handle and physically attacked arthur you'd never hear the end of it

[deadendtracks]

"There's also the fact that in their last confrontational scene Arthur attacked Tommy physically when Tommy called him out on things."

Which episode / whenabouts was this? I'm trying to remember when a scene like that would have happened but coming up empty.

in the second episode of season 2, after arthur kills the boy in the boxing ring. when tommy goes to talk to him about it arthur gets angry that Tommy tells him to shut the door [on the war] like Tommy did. Arthur abruptly shoots up from the chair and grabbing him near the neck shoves him against the fireplace pretty violently, then grabs at his face. These aren't gifs so don't quite convey the struggle (Tommy mostly just hangs on and attempts not to escalate things) but Arthur does attack him here.

images courtesy @vertigosuite

[inkribbon796]

Egotober 2022 Day 11: Puzzle Box

Summary: Silver tags along on a patrol and gets himself involved in a trap.

A/N: Puzzle boxes count as games, there’s my excuse your honor. Plus Tommy isn’t an idiot and I want that on the record.

Prompt: Game

Characters: Tommy, Wilbur, Ethan, Silver

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

It was later in the evening. Silver had joined onto an already scheduled patrol that Ethan had set up. The patrol was only supposed to consist of him and his apprentice, but then Wilbur had invited himself along and Silver tried to get him tag along with him instead but Wilbur turned him down.

So Silver tagged along. He was pretty sure that Wilbur would peel off of the patrol. He tended to do that. Silver would leave at that point and everything would be fine.

The two of them had long since proven that they could handle themselves. Today would be no different.

Mostly Silver was talking with Wilbur, keeping a lookout as he floated after them.

Wilbur liked to ask a lot of questions, and it was hard to know if he was actually curious or fishing around for information. Wilbur was difficult for Silver to read and he didn’t exactly trust him a lot of the time.

Maybe it was because they didn’t know him. Maybe it was because everything about Wilbur seemed like an effort just to hurt his brother.

So Silver was keeping Wilbur busy while Crank and Tommy did the actual patrol.

“Crank’s doing fine, I give him shit but he’s doing alright,” Silver said.

“Yeah?” Wilbur said. “You two seemed to have a good working relationship together,” Wilbur said.

“Yeah, Crank was my apprentice back in the day,” Silver told him.

“Why yours specifically?” Wilbur asked.

Silver shrugged, “Kinda happened that way. Back when he lived with his folks, and I was at my old place I was close enough to him geographically.”

“So that’s what determines it?” Wilbur asked.

“No, we don’t really have a plan really, we kinda see who’s a good fit and we go with that and if it didn’t work we would switch it up,” Silver shrugged.

“So how were the others picked, like Bomble and Enderwalk or the other ones?” Silver asked, floating backwards a bit while keeping pace with Wilbur.

“I mean I guess, but I kinda know how the two of them got in,” Wilbur said.

“Combust-Ion was going to be Gatling’s apprentice, because he was tanky but it made him too nervous so we had to switch him for Yellow Tap,” Silver said.

Wilbur hummed to himself, thinking about that, but the top of them were distracted when Tommy called out and began racing after someone with Crank not too far behind him. Silver immediately took off, flying up a little to give them a bird’s eye view as he spotted who they were chasing. It looked like someone was running away and before Silver sped off to catch them they raced into some building and Silver shot off to follow close behind.

It wasn’t until he’d flown into a dilapidated building and watched the person grab onto an exposed electrical cord and disappear, that Silver realized he’d flown into a trap.

The roof above him creaked and Silver snapped his head up to look as Tommy raced in after him and Silver panicked as he saw the apprentice.

“Where are they?” Tommy shouted and Crank and Wilbur followed after him.

Then a barrier of aura seemed to enclose around them and the ceiling began to sink down towards them. Little runes lit up the roof and none of them looked good.

“Shit!” Silver quickly tapped on his cuffs and activated the anti-magic on them. Before he was sure they were active he flew at the ceiling and tried to use all of his strength to just keep the weight from falling.

It shifted a bit and Silver heard a crack and he could feel the sigils trying to do something to him and desperately wanted to keep them away from the others, especially Tommy.

“Door’s locked,” Ethan called out. “There’s some spell barricading it.”

“Yeah, it’s a glitch of some kind,” Silver called out as he lost some ground to the ceiling.

“Then if it’s a glitch, they can’t be that dangerous,” Wilbur said from where he was leaning against the wall. “Especially if it’s a spawnling.”

“It’s dangerous enough,” Silver called back. “We need out. Do we have comms?”

“Yes,” Crank said.

“Good, get someone over, or get the door or a window open,” Silver called out.

“The spell is held together by a puzzle box,” Tommy called out.

“Is it cursed?” Ethan called out from where he was by the door.

“No,” Wilbur called out.

“I can’t break it, it’s metal,” Tommy called up to Silver. “It’s like a box.”

“Fucking sadistic demons with this discounter riddler shit,” Silver said as he manage to keep the roof from continuing to fall but it would eventually win out. Silver was strong but he couldn’t keep this up forever. “Crank, call for backup, Big Man, get the barriers down.”

“On it!” Tommy called out.

“I’ll find a second way out,” Wilbur decided.

“Do it!” Silver stained and the roof fell another centimeter.

Silver could hear talking as Tommy began concentrating on the puzzle box. There was a little ball in the center with a powerful anti-magic sigil on it and Tommy easily recognized what the sigil was for. But the ball was locked up by a series of latches and clips and Tommy immediately began pulling and testing them to see which ones would give. He became quickly aware of the time limit and it was making him sloppy and he began yelling at Wilbur in return.

With Silver buying them some time, Tommy was able to solve it. He was undoing and redoing latches until he got to a set of springs.

Jack had gotten right outside the door with Marvin and they were trying to undo the spell on the door.

Tommy’s brain was spinning and the roof was seven feet away from his head and starting to steadily clink down.

“Fuck! Fuck!” Tommy spat. “I need a pen, I need one now!”

“For what?” Wilbur asked as he was already handing some thin pen over and Tommy snatched it before slamming it into the hole to dislodge or break the springs. He was supposed to toggle some move latches around the springs but this was his life on the line so he was going to break them.

After a second or two Tommy was able to break one and slide the ball out. He immediately handed it to Wilbur who smashed it against the closest ruin sigil which led to him jumping up to smash it on the ceiling which was getting closer to his head.

The magic cut out and Silver held the ceiling long enough for the other three to escape before he zipped out. The roof finished collapsing but they were all alright.

“The fuck happened in there?” Marvin demanded.

“That was me,” Silver said. “I flew into a trap, it was a demon.”

“Dammit, we’re seeing a hell’uva lot more of them,” Marvin said.

“Yeah,” Silver said as Marvin stepped over towards the destroyed building.

“We won,” Tommy said. “That’s what’s important.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right,” Jackie said, following Marvin.

“It’s getting late,” Crank said. “We got a lot of boring investigation stuff to do otherwise. You can head back home.”

Crank held a hand out for the box and Tommy reluctantly passed it over. “We’ll give it back after we’re done scrubbing it for information.”

“Fine, I’ll just head back to the Bee n’ Boo, see you chuckleheads laters,” Tommy smiled and turned.

“Hey Big Man,” Silver called out.

Tommy turned to look at him, stopping. A scowl was already on his face. “What?”

“You did good back there,” Silver said. “We were in a bad situation and you came through for us. Thanks.”

“Oh,” Tommy looked surprised to hear any type of compliment directed towards him. “No problem. Just another day’s work for us big heroes.”

“You can stay here with us or go home, just didn’t want you to leave without telling you that.” Silver nodded.

Tommy smiled and took off. Silver followed him from the sky until he got home to make sure he was safe, then he regrouped with Crank and Wilbur.

The two of them had started talking about stuff and when Silver landed he walked off.

“Everything good?” Silver called out.

“I’m fine,” Wilbur said. “Headed back to Phil’s.”

With Wilbur and Tommy both gone, Silver was able to turn his attention back to Ethan, Jackie, and Marvin.

“I don’t like this,” Marvin said. “Been a lot of weird shit going down, and none of it is Anti.”

“We getting a bunch of passersby?” Silver asked.

“We’ve got a lot of something,” Jackie said.

The heroes stayed at the scene until the police arrived where information was traded and then the box was taken back to the base for investigation.

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

Post A/N: Tommy needs more compliments.

[give-grian-rights]

Bets Against The Void c5

@petrichormeraki bet you forgot I even had this fic ! Thank you again for the gift that is Whitelist AU, which feels like a lifetime ago (For Tommy it was !)

Chapter 1 Here

Last Chapter Here

Next Chapter Here

and AO3 Crossposted!

Ask to tag and give me a headsup on any typos ! c!Tubbo in my interpretation is they/them and blind.

The Hobbit Hole was more than Tommy expected. Birch-and-spruce windows poked out throughout the hillside, a round entrance carefully carved from the wood. Poking his head inside, the blond’s eyes darted across the spruce-built interior skeptically.

“..Thanks.” Tommy halfhartedly grumble, pulling his hand off the entrance. He warily stepped in, his hand resting on the doorway entrance for a moment as he investigated for potential traps.

“You’re..Sure we can just- stay here?” Tubbo asked once more, their head turned back towards the dirty blond stood aside the messy front garden.

“Of course, I swear, I don’t need another place to hoard stuff! Chances are, I’ll only be out here if I finally get around to moving my villagers out of their old setup.”  The older brit confirmed once more, his tone light. “Seriously, it’s not a big deal. Promise.”

Hesitantly nodding, Tubbo offered an appreciative smile his way before they turned back towards Tommy. “How’s it looking, then, Big Man?” They hummed, tilting their head.

��Fuckin’ cool as shit-” He glanced around, apprehensively surveying the ground for any traps.

“It needs a bit of cleanin’ up,” Stress chirped, sending a lighthearted glare towards Grian as he stuck out his tongue with a snicker. “We’d all be happy to help.” She finished, with a warm smile.

Tubbo politely nodded. “I think we’ll handle it. Thank you, again.” They ran their hand over the wooden arc in the entrance.

Grian shook his head. “Really, don’t worry about it. Stay here. Get settled. Either of us may be over to check up. Across the lake’s my neighbor, Scar, who you might see. But he shouldn’t come around here.” 

With a bit of exasperation, ready to be left alone, Tommy wordlessly nodded as he bounced his leg. 

Clearing his throat, Grian nodded. “Alright, then we’ll be out. We’ll see you two soon. Cya, Stress, thanks for the help!” He dipped his head towards the short brunette, who grinned bubbly back.

“See ya! Bye, loves.” Stress cooed, before deploying her glowing skeletal wings and ascending off with a quick poof of smoke.

Instinctively when the item had come to her hand, Tommy had thrown his arms around Tubbo’s ears- an action that didn’t go unnoticed by the sandy brunett man.

Grian simply put his hands up pacifying, as Tubbo was shrunk back curled, shielded away from where the brief poof was. “They’re duds, almost all fireworks here are duds.” He had calmly spoke, his tone soft. “I’ll come back to check up on you guys soon, ‘n make sure you have the supplies you need. You have free reign of that base!” Were his parting words, before he trotted off into the woodland.

Tommy uncurled himself from Tubbo. “You good, Bigman?” The blond tilted his head.

“Yeah,” Tubbo chuckled halfheartedly. “It doesn’t really.. Scare me it just- it startles me? Hearing it? ‘Cause I don’t really have time to prepare myself for the noise..Even if it’s not the same as- the kind from. Then.” Their voice wavered for a moment, before they took a shuttering breath. “Yeah, I’m fine, Man.”

“..Mhm..Alright.  Well, this set-up is better than just ‘bout half the shit on’ the SMP.” Tommy diverted the subject, sweeping his foot over the top of the floor, watching the small streak it left beneath a thin coat of dust.

Tubbo tilted their head. “Really? It smells..Very dusty-” They sneezed into their arm, sniffling. “I.. feel like it might need a bit of work, yeah?”

The blond boy shrugged. “Yeah.. We can see ‘bout gettin’ a towel wet or something and wiping all ths shit down?”

Humming in agreement, Tubbo felt around, listening to the words their Comm robotically had been reading off.

“I’ll see ‘bout findin’ shit. They’ve gotta have wool in some of these chests,”

With a bit of digging,  the two teens had gotten to work. Not everywhere in the practically abandoned place was dusty or dirty. A small lush crevice was fresh and clean- or, relatively so. Bright feathers had littered the area around it. A path from a window seal, which had been opened, and to said crevice was nearly spotless of debris outside of such molting feathers or a few leaves.

Now without dust on the outside, the two messed with the chests, rummaging through what could be found.

..Which was a lot. Just not in the places they had expected.

Out of the chests they had searched through, they managed to find almost a doublechest full of various stacked enchanted books-

“How..How did he just leave all of this here?” “Well, he has enough he defenitely won’t notice a few gone!”

A totem of undying in a michalanious chest-

“Woah.. WHAT THE SHIT..” “Dude… This is.. A gamechanger”

A golden apple held by an item frame-

“Finders keepers! This counts, its on a chest.” “Sick!”

Bafflingly, a diamond in the food chest-

“What the actual shit. WHAT THE ACTUAL SHIT-” “What? W- WHAT? WHY?”

Two enchanted, nearly broken bows with enchants- “Better than nothing, I’ll see about combinin’ them unless you feel like pinnin’ the tail on the donkey.” “..Sounds like a good plan, yah.”

And in the middle of the room, a chest with an enchanted diamond axe-

“..Fuck. Wow- There’s just a wholeass enchanted axe! What the fuck is the point of the itemframes if theres no system here?”

“Whats it enchanted with..?” “..Fortune? What a waste. Uhh, some efficiency, too.”

There wasnt much in the main storage room, but they werent quite willing to push their luck and explore too far. At least not until they got some food and set up some sort of gameplan.

The two teens distributed some of the loot they scavanged, damaged iron armor going to Tommy, a shovel to Tubbo and a spare shovel to Tommy, The totem of undying to Tubbo, and the two diamonds they scavenged turned into a diamond sword for Tubbo as well, with the axe and golden apple going to Tommy.

They turned their focus to food. The two sat beneath the support pillars against the walls, taking the time to eat  a handful of watermelon slices.

The wall of chests ahead of them had been broken, exposing the opened window with feathers trailing from it. It was an oddly live scene in the otherwise abandoned wooden hole.

Neither of them quite enjoyed the feeling of being holed in, or the small nature of the wall-home. Nor did either teen mention it.

Tommy explained the varying entrance ways from the mainroom. They had decided on splitting up soon, letting Tubbo find a place to dig out a room for the two of them, with Tommy going off and rummaging through more chests.

Tubbo found a dead-end room beneath a spruce-log room on the second story, and had begun trying to carve it out, as the other teen worked through more and more chests.

The blond eventually worked his way outside and into yard infront of the entrance, rummaging his way through the bits and pieces- the best so far, being another golden apple which he happily held onto.

Half way through his second chest, something caught his attention- or, more like, he caught something’s attention.

A blue, yellow-cheeked bird had fluttered around him, its head quirked curiously as it stared him down. Tommy shrinked.

“What the fuck do you want?” He squinted at the parrot as it lowered itself down onto the top of the open chest, hopping along the edge.

“F⚍ᓵꖌ!” The bird cooed in responded incoherently, chirping at him.

Tommy paused, eyes lighting up in realization. “Oi! You’re the one that flies into the house, huh?” 

In response, it turned it’s head away, nodding. “Hobbit!” It shrilled.

As Tommy had opened his mouth to respond, the hobbit himself, Grian, had flown down, sweeping down with a soft thud.

“Sorry! Uh, Professor Beak has a little spot in there. He likes to go n stay there most days, its a lot cozier than the mansion,” The older Brit chuckled apologetically, putting out his hand for the parrot. 

The blond boy snorted. “‘Professor Beak?’” He’d raise a brow.

The named bird chirped, stepping onto Grian’s wrist without hesitation. “Professor Ellen Taurtis Beak!” It cooed, its voice mimicking that of Grian himself.

It was… A strange display, to be sure.

Sheepishly, Grian hummed, running his spare hand through the bird’s feathers. “They may try ‘n break back in, they’re a pesky bird like that. I’m sorry for bothering you, though. You two doing good?”

“..Hm,,Yeah, thanks. Are you..Like, fuckin’ aware of all the stuff you’re leavin’?” Tommy eyed the strange man, folding his arms.

Grian merely gave a shrug. “Not really? But that just means they’re nothing important. If they help you both get started, they’re yours.”

Huh. Well, that was easy enough.

“..Right. Cool. Bye.” Tommy watched the man, as he easily nodded, striding off with his bird held by his chest.

The blond let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

“..This place is fucking weird.”

[highonchocolate]

Take Two: The Guardian in Gotham Chapter 4

First   Previous   Next   Ao3

Note:  When italics are in quotations (“”) then Marinette is speaking French. If the italics don't have quotations, that’s people’s thoughts.

---

After patrol, Dick made his way to bed, mulling over the announcement Bruce had made at dinner. When he had seen that picture, he had wanted to join Jason on his Paris killing spree. That girl-Marinette, was it?- seemed to be in need of a better place to stay, and he was happy they could provide it to her. At the same time, he had no idea how to treat a young teenage girl! What does she like? Sports? Dresses? Both? None? He had no idea! As he lay there having a breakdown in a slight panic, he couldn’t force the image of her broken, bloody body out of his head. He wondered what kind of person that sort of assault would turn her into. He had seen greater people snap after such emotional and physical wounds. 

Meanwhile, Jason, Tim and Damian were facing similar dilemmas over the girl in question. 

Jason had no idea how to handle teenagers, especially ones that had been assaulted. Suffering through fucked-up shit like that would definitely leave you with some trauma. He thought to himself. Maybe we should ask her about her boundaries. His coping method involved wearing a red helmet and gallivanting around the rooftops of Gotham, looking for excuses to shoot people. He didn’t exactly think that was the best way to help her out. Sure, he grumbled, I’ll just walk over to her, hand her some Kevlar and a grapple before pushing her off the top of fucking Wayne Enterprises in hopes that she’ll get it right. ‘Cause that’s totally fucking healthy!

Tim on the other hand, was completely and utterly paranoid. Sure, he was definitely worried about that girl, considering that it looked like she had lost a lot of blood; but at the same time, he was worried about exposing their identities to her. Just one slip up, and she would know exactly what the Wayne family did at night. Not to mention that if they ended up getting injured, they’d have to figure out how to hide it from her. As he hacked into her school records, he noticed that she had filed several bullying complaints that had never been acknowledged, as well as a request to transfer classrooms that had been dismissed. Just how corrupt is this school?! He thought to himself as he saw how the principal-Monsieur Damocles- had bent to one girl’s every whim, just because her father was the Mayor! Abuse of power, and ignoring bullying reports? He thought to himself. This is not going to end well for them. With that, he completely launched himself into digging up every bit of dirt he could find on that school and it’s staff; completely forgetting about his original panic over being discovered.

And as for Damian, he was completely furious that there would be another person living in the Manor with them! Not to mention she had to go to Gotham Academy as well! He hadn’t even met this Marinette, and she was already proving to be a pain. 

---

As the day of their Marinette’s arrival dawned bright and clear, four members of the family waited for the arrival of their last member and guest. Bruce was slightly nervous. He had never had a girl so young stay in the Manor before, and he didn’t know how to greet her. Did he shake her hand? Smile and wave? Shake her hand then smile? Wave then shake? 

Dick, however, was full of excitement that their new guest was arriving in a couple of hours. He wondered if she knew any gymnastics, and if she would be willing to do some flexibility-related stretches and workouts with him.

All his other children were scattered throughout the city, doing various different things. Jason was up in the Manor library, reading his latest novel. Tim was in his office at WE, finishing up some paperwork he had wanted to fill out before Marinette arrived. Damian, thankfully, was at school, and wouldn’t be returning until later in the evening.

His thoughts were cut short by Tim’s arrival. As he walked into the kitchen and came back with a large mug of coffee, Jason trudged downstairs, and they all sat around in the living room continuing to work and read as they waited for Marinette and Alfred.

Half an hour later, Bruce was alerted to the gates in front of the Manor opening. They all lined up outside the house and watched as the sleek, black limo pulled up in front of the house. 

They waited patiently as Alfred got out of the car and headed to the trunk before opening it and taking out a suitcase, and what looked like a foldable wheelchair. The four of them were confused. Why would she need a wheelchair? Surely her classmates hadn’t injured her that badly? Their thoughts were cut off by Alfred opening the back door on the opposite side of the car. He bent down and proceeded to open the wheelchair, before wheeling it around to face the family. When they caught their first glimpse of their guest, they were absolutely floored.

They had all seen many worse injuries during their nightly patrols, and several injured children years younger than her, but when they saw Marinette, they were shocked into silence at her battered appearance.

She was a decent height at around 5’ 4”, but compared to Bruce and Jason she was absolutely tiny. She had several dark purple-blue bruises that contrasted sharply with her pale skin as well as an angry gash covered in stitches on her forehead. She also sported a clunky cast and a thick brace on her leg and wrist. With her dark hair pulled into space buns, and blue eyes, as well as how small and bruised she looked, they all felt a rush of protectiveness flood through them when they saw her. 

Their silent shock was interrupted by Jason leaning over to Bruce and whispering angrily “You said her classmates did this to her?!” At his exclamation, the other three tensed in anger at the reminder that her old friends had been the ones to injure her so severely. They were snapped out of their thoughts by Marinette speaking.

“Bonjour, Monsieur Wayne! Thank you for letting me stay in your house with you! I promise I’ll do my best to not be a bother to you and your family.” Her voice was slightly rough from when she had been crying, but she spoke sweetly, and politely. At her statement, Jason jumped in “No problem Pixie Stick! The only nuisance here is the Demon Spawn, and he’s not home yet.” She blinked up at him, before her mouth twitched up into a half-smile. “Thank you, Monsieur. I’m sorry but I didn’t get your name…” she trailed off. 

“Sorry about that Sunshine, he’s Jason, I’m Dick, and the sleep deprived one is Tim.” Dick interjected. “And you don’t have to call us Monsieur, either. Just our names are fine.” 

“Oh okay. Thank you Mister Bruce, and thank you Dick! I’m Marinette, but I’m sure you knew that already. You can call me Mari if you’d like. I’m not very picky about nicknames!” She laughed. 

“Now if the young Masters are done with their introductions, I will gladly show Miss Marinette to her room.” Alfred cut in. “Thank you Monsieur Alfred, that would be wonderful.” The girl in question smiled up at him from her seat in the wheelchair before he wheeled her inside.

---

Marinette thanked Alfred as he wheeled her into her room. He mentioned that someone named “Damian” was at school, and that she would be attending school after she gets adjusted to the time difference. After he left, she opened her bag to let the Kwami out, and waited for their excited chattering to calm down. Once they had quieted, she spoke. “Hey Tikki? Do you think it was wrong to tell Alfred about the Miraculi being active in Paris?” she questioned as she fiddled with the straps on her bag. ”I was just so excited to meet another wielder that everything slipped out!” 

The Kwami was quick to reassure her. “Oh no Marinette, it's okay. SInce you are the Guardian now, you need all the help you can get. And besides, you already recognized each other’s auras, so there was no point in trying to hide it!” She flew up to her face and patted her unbruised cheek gently. 

“Oh no! I completely forgot to tell Alfred that I’m the Guardian!” She shrieked. “What if he gets mad at me for being too inexperienced?! He’ll kick me out and I’ll have to live on the streets! Then I’ll end up becoming part of the Crime Alley hierarchy, living alone in an abandoned building with a stray cat named Tommy! Tikki this is a disaster! A disaster!!” She would have continued to ramble in french, if it wasn't for the fact that Wayzz had flown up to her and reminded her that she needed to shower because she had been on an airplane and in the airport.

Several curses, near falls, and plastic cast coverings later, Marinette limped out of the shower, exhausted but clean. She quickly tied her hair onto a messy bun before changing into warm leggings (although she couldn’t fully pull one side down due to her cast) and a sweater. Gotham was cold! She let the Kwami roam around her giant room as she put her clothes into her closet. 

After settling in, she plugged in her phone and texted her friends. 

FashionableBug: Just got everything organized and took a shower. Turns out M. Wayne has four kids! I met Dick, Jason and Tim, and apparently Damian is at school. 

QueenofMean: Maribug! How dare u not text us as soon as you arrived! Ur plane landed over three hours ago! 

Snakey Boi: Chlo’s right, Mari. We were all worried bout u.

FahsionableBug: Sorry u guys. Everything was going so fast I completely 4got!

FashionableBug: Also I met a Peacock wielder!!!!!!!

You’reUnderAgreste: Really?! Buginette thats amazingggg

DragonGurl: Wonderful news indeed, Mari. They must have lots of advice for you.

QueenofMean: !!!!!! 

QueenofMean: Nettie thats awesome!!!!!!

SnakeyBoi: Thats totally great!

SnakeyBoi: Also who is it???

FashionableBug: lol Luka its Alfred their butler. Tho hes more like a grandfather

FashionableBug: Anyways, I’m going to go find the kitchen. I wanna make the Kwami some macarons!

FashionableBug: Bye!!!

DragonGurl: Bye Marinette.

You’reUnderAgreste: Bye Bugaboo!

QueenofMean: Bye Bug!

SnakeyBoi: Bye Mari!

Marinette smiled as she put her phone down. Glancing over at the Kwami flying around the room, she stretched before calling out “I’m going to see if I can bake in the kitchen. Do any of you want to join me?” Before she had even finished her sentence Tikki and Kaalki were flying over to her and nestling in her bun. Laughing at their antics, she maneuvered herself into the chair before wheeling herself down the hall. She hadn’t gone very far when she bumped into Alfred walking out of another door. "Salut, Monsieur Alfred! Would you mind showing me where the kitchen is? I was thinking of making some sweet treats for my...friends.” At her statement, Tikki and Kaalki poked their heads out of her bun to wave, before hiding again. Smiling, Alfred turned to her and spoke. “Of course Guardian. Right this way.”  Her eyes darted to meet his hesitantly. “You aren’t mad that I’m the Guardian?” Alfred paused and looked her directly in the eyes. “Miss Marinette, I am in no way questioning your capabilities as a Guardian. You are very powerful, and I have no doubt you will do an amazing job. I am simply upset over how you seem to have no Mentor or any form of Guidance to help you.” Sighing in relief, she smiled. “Well, my old Master lost his memories because he had to give up his memories after being compromised. I do have the Grimoire though, and I was also hoping you would help me as well?” She questioned, looking up at him hesitantly. As they walked into the kitchen, he bowed to her and stated “It would be my greatest honor to assist you, Great Guardian.” She laughed and thanked him before beginning to bake. 

She hummed a simple melody designed to bring about calm and peace, and soon she was happily working in her own tranquil little bubble. 

An hour later, as she was frosting the little pastries, Jason walked in, drawn by the smell of sugar and freshly baked goods. “Hey Alfred! What cooki-” he cut himself off. “Sorry Pixie Stick, I thought you were Alfred. Only he can make something worth eating in this house!” 

“Oh it’s no problem Jason, I was just making macarons. My parents own a bakery, so I’m kinda used to just baking whenever.” She laughed softly

“Damn Pixie, macarons?! You haven’t been here a day, and you’re already much nicer than all my asshole brothers!” 

“Yeah, well these are for after dinner, so no touching ‘till then!” She warned.

He sat at the counter and scrolled through his phone as she decorated the pastries. Soon enough, she had them all completed and proceeded to carefully take the tray and wheel over to the fridge. Before she could move an inch, Jason had leapt up and placed the tray in its designated spot. “Sorry Pix, but I’ll get that for ya. We don’t need you accidentally crashing or dropping these heavenly treats!” He laughed.

She crossed her arms and pouted up at him, before her mouth stretched into a wide grin. As she wheeled herself into the dining room, she swiftly turned her head and stuck her tongue out before disappearing through the door into the room beyond.

---

Dinner with the Wayne family was a rambunctious affair. Dick and Jason bantered good-naturedly over their meals as Bruce sighed tiredly in the background. Tim moved lethargically, downing giant gulps of coffee as he ate his meal. Damian apparently was studying with his friend Jon, and therefore wouldn't be eating with them. They all smiled and laughed as they talked through dinner. Marinette told them about her friends, before adding that they’d probably video call her tomorrow so they could meet the family. Bruce assured her that it was not a problem and added that he would be glad to speak with her parents. After eating, she headed up to her room to work on the outfit she had been sketching on the plane. 

She immersed herself in designing, and ended up finally going to sleep shortly after midnight. The Kwami flew over to their little nest of pillows and blankets, and she turned off the lights before drifting off to sleep. Her dreams were plagued by nightmares of looming shadows and ethereal dark butterflies destroying the world in fire. She watched in helpless terror, stuck in her Ladybug persona, unable help as the world burned. The horrific dreamscape was shattered by the sound of her phone blaring out an Akuma alarm. 

She leaped out of bed and shut off the shrill noise as she called for Tikki and Kaalki before leaping through the portal and into Paris.

She ended up in a ravaged, unrecognizable landscape covered in flames. Looks like her dream had been semi-accurate after all. The Eiffel Tower was partially melted, and fires were cropping up all over the city. The four simultaneous thuds behind her signified the arrival of her team. As one they looked upon their ravaged city and charged the Akuma.

[tack-tick]

First Crack

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31025765

Wrote an SBI Swap One-shot. Mainly becasue Phil and Techno’s relationship gets basically destroyed in this AU and this is the beginning of that. Also, this is the start of Techno’s issues down the line.

So yeah very important fic in the SBI Swap. Thanks to @sleepy-bois-incorporated for beta-reading this fic! They’ve got some good fics that I highly recommend you read!

Thanks for reading and it’s under the cut! It’s about 2.4K words!

Techno was so ready to stop taking care of this farm. Sure, he enjoyed potato farming but there’s only so long you can work on the same farm without getting bored.

He stretched as he finally loaded the last of the potatoes into a sack for him to take back to his base. Techno glanced at the clock stuck on the dirt wall and winced at the time. If he’d known, it was so late would have left earlier. He heard the mocking of Chat, with mummers of “Technolate!”

He heaved the sack of potatoes over his shoulder and started the trek from Pogtopia to his secret base. He used to just stay in his room here but he had decided he needed some space. Well, that was what he had told Phil.

He wouldn’t say him and Phil were fighting, that was a pretty strong word after all. It was more like they had been having… disagreements. Almost every day. For a couple of months. That more often than not ended in the two shouting at each other before someone, most likely Tommy, would yell at them to shut up.

So yeah, Techno could admit that things were a bit rocky between him and Phil. That was only because Phil had become a paranoid fool down here. He was working with Dream, of all people! He had been saying they were the bad guys and that he was going to blow it up and all this other nonsense. Techno has given up two whole lives for this and there was no way he was letting Phil throw it all away!

Techno stopped and took a breathe. No, he was getting worked up again and it couldn’t help that he could hear Chat started to get worked up too, causing red to spread at the edge of his vision.

Even if Phil had been acting very different than normal, Techno couldn’t just leave him behind. Phil had gotten screwed over by so many people and there was no way Techno would add another knife in his back. It was why him and Ranboo hadn’t just run off to the cabin in the woods. Far away from wars and duels, where Wilbur and Fundy were safely tucked away.

He wished he told Ranboo to go without him. He stopped in front of the hole that separated Ranboo’s room from the main area. He didn’t really know why his feet had taken him there but he might as well check on him. After all, Ranboo was his… brother? Maybe? Techno wasn’t sure but Chat was awfully protective of him after the whole fireworks in the chest thing.

Techno poked his head into the room and saw Ranboo sleeping on his bed straight ahead. His arms were still wrapped up tight with white bandages but at least he wasn’t having a bad dream tonight. Techno could see the faint glow of the purple burn scars on his face and through the bandages. Ranboo had said that was just an enderman thing.

“Looks fine to me, Chat,” Techno whispered and he left the room. Certainly better than a couple of weeks ago. Techno continued on past Phil’s room and heard the faint caws of the injured crows Phil kept in there. He hoped that they would get better soon, considering that Phil hadn’t cleaned that room for months now. As Techno was about to go around the corner, he heard whispering.

He summoned his sword from his inventory and pressed his back against the wall. He inches closer to the edge and tried to make out what the voices were.

“Come on Phil, he hardly looks in these chests!” Tommy said with a whine. Techno slumped a little in relief. He put the sword back in his inventory. While he would normally confront Tommy about stealing his stuff again, he really didn’t feel like it tonight. Besides, he could let Phil handle this one. He casually leaned against the wall. If Tommy wouldn’t budge, he’d step in and make it two against one.

“Tommy, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t piss him off,” Phil said. Techno heard the opening of a chest lid and the annoyed sigh of Phil.

“Ah, but that’s the best part Phil!” Tommy said with a small chuckle.

“Tommy, we need to keep Techno at our side,” Phil said and Techno frowned at the unfortunately familiar paranoia in his voice. Was he really paranoid of even him? Sure, he’d talked about how they couldn’t even trust Ranboo. It was what one of their bigger arguments had been about but surely Phil knew that Techno would never in a million years betray him.

It was why he hadn’t just left all of this behind when Ranboo had asked if they should run away.

“Techno? Psh, that’s about as likely as me betraying Tubbo or Wilbur,” Tommy said flippantly. He heard the chest lid close and creak as he assumed Tommy was leaning on it. “Besides, we’ve gotta stick together! We’re family!”

The silence seemed to fill the room as Techno waited for Phil to agree.

“Right, Phil?” Tommy said, his voice softer and more hesitant than it had been before.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say we need Technoblade exactly,” Phil said, slowly and thoughtfully. The chest creaked again as Tommy presumably shot to his feet.

“Let me finish,” Phil said with a small yet dark laugh. “I said we don’t need Technoblade but,”

“We do need The Blood God,”

Techno had clamped his hand over his mouth in a desperate effort to not cry out, to not scream. He slid down the wall and onto the floor, his back against the wall. Chat was ringing in his ears, their voices mixed with rage and grief.

How long? How long had Phil been thinking of him like this? When had Phil started thinking of him as just a weapon to fight for him?

Techno tried to focus back on the conversation, but everything in his head was too loud.

Sure, people had used him before but most of the time they were honest. Pay him to go fight something then separate. He was fine with that but sometimes it seemed like he had made a real friend. Then, when the fighting was done they just… left.

Not Phil though, never Phil. Phil had been the one to save him from himself when he was just a kid and Phil had been the one who had held him tight when Chat got out of control.

A sharp slam on a wall wrenched him back to reality.

“Are you fucking serious Phil?” Said Tommy. “He’s not a fucking weapon, he’s a person!”

“I don’t need a person right now!” Phil said. “People stab you in the back but weapons never do!”

Techno heard Phil chuckle at that but it wasn’t the warm laugh from the old days when him and his brothers would bicker about something stupid. No, it was darker, the one he used when he insisted that they needed to be the bad guys and blow it all to kingdom come. When Phil insisted that they couldn’t trust Ranboo, even after he got himself blown up with a damn firework because of his spying for them.

“Phil, you’re starting to freak me out a little,” said Tommy and Phil let out a bark of laughter at that.

“Oh am I?” He said, “What, you gonna run back to Wilbur? I thought you wanted excitement!”

“Phil, this isn’t you! Stop saying this shit about him!” Tommy said and Techno heard two steps on the floor. Whether it was two steps forward or two steps back he wasn’t sure.

“Stop being a naive child, Tommy,” Phil said, “I can’t afford to be too personal with anyone anymore and The Blood God is the best fighter on this entire server and you know it!” There was a sharp bang on the chest lid. “If he decides he wants to work with Manberg, we’re fucked!”

“Surely you know Techno would never do that,” Tommy said. “Surely, you know how hurt he would be if he knew what you’re saying right now!”

“I don’t care how he feels. As long as he can fight, that’s all I need,”

With that, Techno heard the flap of wings and he guessed that Phil had flown off. He heard the sound of running and then everything was quiet.

However, quiet never lasted long and Techno held his hand against his mouth even tighter as the Char roared in his head.

“Used us!” “Lied to us!” “How could he…” “We trusted him!” “Kill him!”

Techno stumbled to his feet. He was still clutching the potato sack and his knuckles had turned white. He started walking then he was running.

He had to get out of this suddenly too small ravine right now. His vision was flashing red and Chat was only getting louder and louder by the second. He bit his lip in order to keep quiet even as he tasted blood on his tongue.

He finally reached the winding stairs and ran up them, almost tripping on his cloak. He got upstairs and flung the door open. The cool, fresh air of the night hit him and he was never so grateful in his life for it.

He wasn’t in the clear yet, however. He still had to get to his base. He started walking through the woods. Chat had quieted down a bit but now he had a headache that rang through his skull.

He got to the river and dove in. He swam down the bottom and opened the trapdoor. With that he finally landed in his base.

He sat down on the couch in the… oh.

He was in the living room. The one place that Phil had helped him decorate before he had started acting unlike himself. It was filled with potted plants and a cozy rug on the floor. It didn’t match because they had been forced to smuggle out old furniture that had been thrown out. He sighed and put his head in his hands. He sniffed when he felt a strange wetness on his cheeks. Did he have a leak on the ceiling again?

He wiped his cheek and he realized.

“Oh,” Techno quietly said. He was crying. He wiped his cheeks again.

“Who else is…” he muttered to himself. He thought he had finally found a group of people that wouldn’t use him. He had trusted all of them. He really had!

He… he had trusted Phil. What a fool he was.

He got up from the couch with a jolt and started pacing the room.

“I gave up everything for his fucking country!” He said, his vision getting redder and redder by the minute. “What else is he lying to me about?” His pacing was getting faster and faster.

“I don’t need him!” He said with a watery laugh. Chat was in his ears fully now but they were being so loud. They were being so loud, too loud. He couldn’t hear anything. His eyes were burning and why the hell was he still crying for someone who he wasn’t sure had ever cared about him.

“SHUT UP!” He yelled and slammed his fist against the stone wall. He stood there, with his fist in the wall and trying to catch his breath. Cracks spread from the fist like veins.

Suddenly, Techno felt something small on his chest. Still leaning against the wall, he used his other hand to reach down and grip it.

Oh, he’d almost forgotten he had this. He looked down at the small emerald necklace in the palm of his hand. The emerald was lined with gold.

Techno remembered this. Him and Phil had found these on one of their many adventures. They had found a village and Phil borrowed an anvil to carve something into them.

He called them Friendship Emeralds. He remembered they had laughed at the cheesiness of it, but Techno had still kept his. All this time, he had made sure the emerald necklace had stayed around his neck.

He clutched the necklace tighter. Did Phil still have his? Had he thrown it away?

He had promised Phil the world once and he gave it to him. So why was Phil going to take what he had given him and render it useless?

With an angry yet sorrowful roar, Techno ripped the necklace off and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a crack.

“Oh no,” Techno said and he immediately went to where he saw it shimmering on the ground. Chat’s laughter filled his head.

“Serves him right!” “Ha, emerald is gone!” “Technothrow!”

“Please don’t be broken, please don’t be broken,” he muttered to himself as he bent down to examine it. He sighed in relief. Despite little bits of emerald surrounding it, the core was still intact. All that was there was a long, thin crack that stretched from the top to the bottom. Techno stuffed it in his cloak’s pocket. He’d have to find a replacement gold chain later.

Techno just sat on the floor. No, he had to start thinking straight. Even if Phil said those things about him, that didn’t mean he was giving up on him. He was only messed up because of the war and being stuck in Pogtopia for such a long time. However, even Techno wasn’t sure what Phil would do in a week’s time. After the fighting was finally over and they had reclaimed their country. They would get back L’Manberg, no doubt in his mind about that. If Phil decided to do something stupid, then who could talk him out of it?

Suddenly, Techno knew exactly who he needed to write to. He could hear that Chat had the same idea and was saying his name over and over again.

Techno quickly got up and rummaged through a chest and found a pen and paper. He sat down on the couch and started writing a letter in what was probably the worst handwriting he’d ever write but that didn’t matter. He had to get this letter to him as fast as possible.

The person who was supposed to be here in the first place. Who hadn’t come becasue he had a son to take care of. Who had the charisma and charm to convince anybody to do practically anything. Who was one of the smartest people Techno knew. The one person who Phil would never think would have any reason to betray him.

“Dear Wilbur…”

[bookishbarnowl]

Stained-glass Secrets

Tommy most definitely doesn't have a secret. There is nothing Tubbo could potentially find out about him that would have a negative impact. Nope. Shove off. 

Or: the wingfic I’ve been meaning to write for months

Warnings: None

Relationships: Tommy & Tubbo (platonic)

Word Count: 1,451

Ao3 Link: Here

Tommy hurriedly yanked a shirt over his head, wincing as the fabric rubbed over the bandages on his back. His wings twitched uncomfortably under the restraints and he grimaced, wishing he could let them flutter free. They’d been trapped for over 24 hours now, he hadn’t been able to let them out since Tubbo was sleeping over at his house for the night. They were also the reason he was getting dressed in the bathroom. He ruefully ruffled his hair and twisted around as best he could to look at his back in the mirror, making sure his wings were laying flat.

His brow wrinkled. There was an odd pucker visible through his shirt. One of his bandages must’ve come untucked during the night. He tugged it off and craned his neck, examining the loose end. He wouldn’t be able to get it to lie flat without re-doing it. He heaved a sigh and grabbed the end, unwinding the wide strip of cloth and wrapping it around his wrist as he went. He arrived at the end, and his upper left wing flickered free.

He let it rest for a moment before he had to tuck it back in, admiring the way its veined panels flashed in the fluorescent lights. It was styled after a dragonfly, tinted emerald green with hints of teal around the edges. Only Phil and his brothers knew he had the mutation, and with all the prejudice Altereds faced he was going to keep it that way. Techno, whose boar tusks were impossible to hide, had given him enough lectures to make it abundantly clear that he would be treated differently if people found out about the four insect wings he had hidden under his clothes.

Above all, he wanted to keep them secret from Tubbo. He couldn’t bear it if his best friend didn’t want to be around him anymore. He sighed in resignation and reached out for the tip of his wing, pressing it flat to his back and folding it in half so the end would sit in the small of his back.

A knock sounded on the door, and he jumped, letting go in surprise as Tubbo’s voice called to him from the other side.

“Do you have my toothbrush in there?” he asked. “I didn’t get it last night.”

Tommy glanced to the side, and sure enough, the unfamiliar green-handled brush was sitting on the side of the sink. “Yeah,” he replied.

“Have you got your trousers on yet?” his friend asked.

“Yeah, but-”

Tubbo didn’t wait for him to finish, flinging the door wide. Tommy yelped and grabbed for his wing, desperately trying to shove it behind him before it was seen, but it was too late. His best friend was staring straight at it, mouth dropping agape as his eyes went wide. 

Running on pure panic, Tommy reached out and slammed the door in his face, throwing his body weight against it so it couldn’t be reopened. 

“Tommy, wait!” Tubbo yelled, jiggling the handle. 

“What the heck, man!” he shouted back. 

“I just wanted my toothbrush, I didn’t think you’d have a frickin’ wing flapping on your back!”

“You didn’t have to barge in on me like that!” Tommy knew he was being defensive and angry, but he didn’t care. His secret was out now. He’d just lost his best friend. “Go away,” he snapped.

“No,” Tubbo stubbornly insisted. “Why would you want me to leave? We’ve gotta talk about this!”

“No we don’t,” he said in reflex, then Tubbo’s words caught up with him. He wasn’t leaving right away, surely that was a promising sign? “You can say what you want from the other side of that door.”

Instead of being angry, like Tommy expected, his friend’s voice rose into a plaintive whine. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“I don’t exactly make a habit of showing people,” he snapped. “You’ve talked to Techno, you know what he deals with.”

“Exactly! Do you ever see me doing that to him?”

Tommy paused and considered this. Now that he thought about it, Tubbo had never seemed bothered by his brother like most people were. “No…” he acknowledged.

“Just come out here.”

Tommy’s anger was burning away into embarrassment. He reluctantly turned around and opened the door again, looking away when Tubbo’s face split into a bright smile. The pair sat down on his bed, Tommy’s gaze fixed on his hands clenched tightly in his lap and his friend unable to look away from the twitching dragonfly wing on his back. He reached out a careful finger.

“Can I?” he asked. 

Tommy nodded. Tubbo lightly brushed his hand over the glassy appendage, oohing and aahing over the glossy texture. After a few moments of fawning he too folded his hands in his lap.

“I haven’t told you about my biological dad, have I?” he said softly. 

Tommy shook his head. “Dream adopted you when you were three, right?”

“Yeah,” Tubbo confirmed. He grabbed his phone off of the dresser and opened his camera roll, starting to scroll. “But I met Schlatt for the first time a couple years ago, before you moved here.” 

He tilted his screen and showed Tommy a picture of him and another man, smiling and laughing over an ice cream sundae. The man was broad and scruffy, staring down at Tubbo with a brilliant grin. He had a navy baseball cap crushed over dark, wavy hair, the hat slightly pushed up by two large, curled ram horns on the side of his head. Tommy’s eyes went wide.

“That’s your dad?”

Tubbo giggled at his shock. “Yup. He lives over in the States. Dream went through paperwork hell trying to get me his phone number so we could meet.” His happy expression dulled. “Altereds have it a lot worse over there. That’s kinda why I ended up with Dream.”

“Oh.” Tommy wasn’t exactly sure what to do with that piece of information. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. He’s going to try and make another trip this summer, if he can get his passport renewed. You can meet him too! He’s awesome.” He put his phone down, eyes returning to Tommy’s back. “You can take your other wing out if you want to, now that I know.”

Tommy’s gut was swirling with beautiful relief. Tubbo honestly didn’t care if was an Altered or not. He reached behind him, tugging at the ends of the other bandages. “I have three others, actually,” he announced as his lower left wing sprang back into shape. His right pair soon followed.

“That’s so cool,” Tubbo gushed admiringly as he flapped them a few times. “Can you fly with them?”

“Of course,” Tommy scoffed, standing up and heading over to his closet. “I got going over 50 kilometers an hour once.”

“That’s incredible!”

“Yeah, I’m an awesome flyer,” he boasted, pulling out one of the shirts that Wilbur had cut a wing slit into and pulling it over his head. He arranged the fabric around his wings and did up the zipper under them, smirking at Tubbo’s awestruck expression.

“Could you carry me?” he asked next.

“Sure I could.” Probably. He’d never flown with anything very heavy before. Wilbur weighed enough to prevent him from taking off, but Tubbo was a lot lighter than his beanpole of an older brother. He could manage him.

“Where do you go flying?”

“There’s an old campsite a ways away with a lot of empty space that nobody ever goes to. Y’know when Dad takes me fishing? That’s where we go.”

“So that’s why you never wanted me to come. I thought it was just some weird paternal bonding thing.”

“Ugh, no. I hate fishing. Techno tried to take me once and I was bored out of my skull. Flying, on the other hand-” he lifted a few inches off the ground, wings beating into a buzzing blur and sending breezes scurrying through the room- “is never boring.”

Tubbo was completely starstruck. “You’ve gotta take me,” he begged. “Next time you go I’m going with you.”

Tommy dropped back to the ground, grinning fiercely. “Absolutely.” 

He was so lucky. It felt so great to have the secret off his chest at last, and he no longer had to worry that every hug he gave his best friend would end in disaster. He ran forward and grabbed his surprised friend in a tight embrace, laughing as it took him a few seconds to return the hug. 

“Thanks, Tubbo. You’re awesome,” he told his best friend, his wings fluttering joyfully behind him. Sunlight caught their edges and made them look like a glowing kaleidoscope. Everything was okay, and he couldn’t be happier.

[goatbi]

Points at the vague thoughts for my wing au. Angst angst angst

The HEV suit was not designed for comfort. It was only meant to be worn for a couple hours at a time. The box on the back was small and cramped, but slightly padded for one’s wings. Still, even after the few hours it was meant to be worn, it was nice to stretch one’s wings. 

Gordon had been in the suit for nearly three days now. He hadn’t been able to move his wings the entire time. The others didn’t seem to notice, soaring through the taller rooms to stretch out their wings, and Gordon stared from the floor, jealous and in pain, ignoring it. He moved quickly through these rooms, ignoring the complaints when they came. 

None of them seemed to realize his wings were trapped, twitching on occasion as he thought through every possible way to get his wings out, to stretch, and be free. 

Bubby and Benrey were the worst. Sure, Coomer would talk on the HEV suit sometimes, tell them how it worked, how it held the wings, and Tommy would pipe up with ideas that he had, but Benrey would joke about how Gordon was land bound, and Bubby would be the last to come down, snarking towards Gordon about being locked down in Black Mesa, never seeing the sky, and Gordon just let it happen 

When they lay down to sleep in the hole after he lost his arm, Gordon couldn’t handle it much longer. The others had flown up to this roof, but Gordon had to find a way to climb up. It didn’t seem like any of them cared that he was stuck, and down an arm, and couldn’t even get into the air. It hurt

His wings hurt

God, it felt wrong, they hadn’t moved this entire time. It hurt, it hurt so bad, everything was wrong and broken, and he started breathing heavily, trying to calm down his panic attack, as he tried to keep his heart rate down, but it wouldn’t work, and it just made his panic rise. 

“Gordon?” His head snapped towards Coomer, who was frowning at him, obviously worried. Gordon closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head slightly. He felt his blood drip down the side of his head. “Gordon, what’s wrong?” 

Gordon didn’t reply, chest heaving against the metal of the HEV suit, trying to breathe, trying to get his air quicker, trying to breathe, but it hurt. He shifted, trying to get his wings to move, but they barely shifted, and he cried out, far louder than he had meant to. His hand shifted, covering his mouth quickly. 

“Gordon!” Coomer went over, one arm wrapping around him. Gordon whimpered, curled up against his chest, sobbing. 

“Can’t, Can’t get out, can’t get out of it, hurt, it hurts Coomer, it hurts so bad-” Gordon sobbed incoherently into his chest, and Coomer frowned, looking up towards the others, who had woken up. 

“Dr. Coomer... his wings.” Tommy said softly, moving over towards them, one hand coming to the box on the back, where Gordon’s wings had been locked the entire time he’d been in the HEV suit. The group collectively looked towards the box, wings twitching as they tried to imagine what it was like. 

Gordon still couldn’t breathe, chest heaving, tears blurring his vision. It helped, a bit, with Coomer’s hand in his hair, trying to keep him calm. He heard soft singing, and began to relax further when he heard it. The pain in his arm slowly began to disappear, but his back, his wings, it hurt. The color lighting up around him didn’t matter either, but it helped calm him down. 

It wasn’t enough, though, as Gordon felt like he couldn’t get enough air, and, eventually, he passed out, tears streaking down his face. 

The group gathered around him, Coomer still holding Gordon tightly. The sweet voice was floating around them, concentrated around Gordon’s stump. Tommy glanced towards Benrey, and then Bubby. 

“Can we get this... this extra bit off?” He asked softly, tapping the box that held the wings. “It won’t help perfectly, but his wings would be able to stretch out a bit...” 

Bubby frowned at it a moment, before glancing around, finding a few pieces of metal that could be used as crowbars, as Benrey and Tommy began to search for a seam along box, determined to help Gordon out of his prison. 

[tilltheendwilliwrite]

Of Two Brothers

A/N: So, I hate all of you who fed the plot bunny because this happened. Now, this is just a little sneaky peek for those still screaming “WRITE THE THING!” 

As you can see, I’m writing the thing. 

Had he ever been so bored?

The low murmur of voices, people laughing and celebrating, did nothing to alleviate the ennui. They were all so transparent in their fluff and their finery, smiling their plastic smiles and waving around their champagne flutes. At three hundred quid a bottle, one would think they would be more careful than to slop it haphazardly over his marble floors. Still, these troglodytes and clingers-on had little respect for him or his possessions. 

They were lured here by the bright lights of his stardom, desperate to be close, cling to his coattails, and ride their way to the top. Or, in the case of some, climb over his cooling corpse to achieve his level of fame.

Such was the nature of the bottle blonde currently clinging to his Armani. The woman was too thin for his tastes usually, but her beauty looked good on his arm. She dazzled and shone in his spotlight, taking the attention onto herself when he desired a moment to breathe air that was not laced with the tones of everyone's arse kissing.

And she was an excellent blow when he wanted his cock sucked; eager and experienced. That she was twenty-four and relatively brainless didn't hurt either. More than once, he'd caught her talking to producers and directors about how she was just using him to meet the right people and that she'd do anything for a chance at whatever role she was after. 

He didn't care. They weren't in a relationship, she was just a convenient place to warm his cock when he felt the need. Like at the end of the night when this party finished and everyone and their agent left. He would pin this bimbo Barbie against the wall and fuck her till she couldn't walk, then send her on her merry way. 

He was done playing her games. 

He was tired of playing all these games.

Then, the elevator to his flat dinged and drew his attention. A late arrival? Perhaps someone with some semblance of wit he could hold an actual conversation with. 

But, when the brass panelled doors opened to reveal a tall man in a Stetson, Thomas sneered and extradited himself from the woman on his arm. 

Down the stairs and threw the crowd, he wound his way, watching as the people parted for the out of place cowboy, striding through them in boots and wranglers with that ridiculously out of place hat. When, finally, he caught the man's eye, Thomas growled, "What are you doing here, William?"

The cowboy hooked his thumb in his pockets, eyes as cold and hard as Thomas'. "I've got news."

"And you also have a telephone."

"This isn't telephone kind of news."

Already drawing stares and whispers, Thomas jerked his head. "Come along, William. You're enough of a spectacle already."

They carved an imposing path through the people, Thomas leading the way to his office where he shut out the curious faces. "Drink?"

"You know I don't." The hat came off, revealing waves of ginger locks he thrust a hand through. 

Thomas shrugged and poured three fingers of scotch. "Well?"

"Dad's dead."

His hand froze for a moment before he added another finger of scotch. "Is that so? I'm sorry for your loss."

"Our. Our loss, Tommy."

He turned and lifted the glass in salute before tossing back half the drink. "Sodding right. Not that he gave two shits about me after I left to live with Mum."

"He was still our dad, Tommy."

"Don't call me that! It's Thomas. Not Tommy. Not Tom. Thomas!" he hissed and tossed back the rest of the liquor before slamming the glass down. "You could have called me about him. You know it means nothing to me!"

"You fucking shit! He was your dad too! You've gotta have some Goddamn feelings over this, Tommy!" The Stetson landed on a chair before William wrenched the zipper down on his jacket, revealing the same ugly plaid, snap-front shirt he'd been wearing all his life. 

"He hasn't been my dad since I was seventeen and moved to London to be with mum! And you're a Goddamn git for showing up tonight of all nights to tell me the old bastard's dead!"

"Don't you talk about him that way!" William bellowed. 

"My house! I'll bloody well say what I want to!" 

"Goddamn, you're as mean as a snake now! I can see Mom in you."

Thomas sneered but didn't dispute it. "This can't be the only reason you're here. What else? You wouldn't have flown all the way to New York just to tell me Dad's dead. That never would have drawn you off your precious ranch. What else is going on?"

William thrust his hand through his mess of hair, inches longer than Thomas's own. "SueAnn Clement, you remember her?"

"Fondly," Thomas muttered, lacing his voice with sarcasm.

"She's dead too."

"So?" What did that have to do with them?

"You remember what happened the night of our seventeenth birthday?"

Thomas smirked. "Oh, yes, brother. I remember that."

William paced across the room to stare out the window of his downtown apartment. "Her cousin contacted me. I guess SueAnn left a note behind when she died. Laid a few things out for this cousin. SueAnn moved not long after that night. Guess she had a kid."

He stiffened. "No."

William glanced at him. "Yeah. She's fifteen now."

"Fuck!" Thomas snapped. 

"Was my sentiments too."

"She's not mine. I want nothing to do with it," he denied vehemently. 

"You motherfucking dumbass," William sighed. "We're identical fucking twins! There's no way to know who she belongs to! She could be either one of ours, and we'll never know whose 'cause we've got the same damn DNA!"

"So? She's yours then." He waved a dismissive hand.

"No." William pointed his finger at him. "I'm tired of takin' on all the responsibilities here. She's our damn daughter! Yours and mine, and after readin' Dad's will, I come to find out he left the ranch to both of us, equal shares, so now I've got to run everything through my partner to make any decisions! So you, Tommy, are gonna come home and help out and meet your damn daughter. The cousin's arriving in a week."

"Kiss my dick, Will! Like hell, I will! This is my life," he snapped, waving at the apartment. "I'll just sell you my half, and we can be done with it!"

William sighed and went for his hat. "I can't buy your half right now, even if I wanted to."

"If it's the money, I'll sell you the entire thing for a dollar. What do I need your money for when I have more than enough of my own."

"It's not the fucking money! Dad left contingencies! He wanted you home. Made it clear if you don't come back, give it three months, I lose everything. The ranch goes up for sale, and we get nothing." He slammed the hat down on his head and looked at Thomas from the shadows beneath the brim. "I haven't asked you for anything our whole lives, Thomas. Not a damn thing. I'm asking for this. Three months. You come home. You meet our kid. You help me save our inheritance. Then, if you want out, you can have out, and we can be done with each other for good." He looked disdainfully around the room. "Cause that's clearly what you want."

William turned on his heels and made for the door, pausing with his hand on the handle. "Happy thirty-third birthday, brother." 

The door shut deceptively quietly behind him.

Thomas sank into a chair and lowered his head to his hands. "And you, brother," he whispered, a single tear dripping to the tile between his feet.  

[stareyedplanet]

Sarge’s Girl || 01

• Chapter One •

“Mama, I’m an adult now. I’m going dancin’ with Madeline and Ruth, whether you say I can or not,” Anabelle pursed her lips as she spoke to her mother. She was 24 years old. She wasn’t a child anymore. Yet her parents didn’t seem to see that.

“You wanna take a different tone with me?” Her mother suggested, raising an eyebrow in warning.

Anabelle sighed and backed down. The last thing she wanted was to get herself grounded. That would certainly put a damper of her evening plans.

“Mama, all I’m sayin’ is that I wanna go out and have some fun. Just for tonight.” Anabelle said, her hands clasping together over her chest. She was practically begging.

It was Ruth’s 26th birthday, and she wanted to celebrate, even if there was a war going on. Her boyfriend was going off to war soon, and she needed an excuse to see him. Ruth’s parents were extremely strict, and her boy, Tommy, wasn’t exactly up to par with their standards.

So the plan was devised, and Anabelle and Madeline were more than happy to go along with it, just to see Ruth happy.

“Madeline, Ruth and you are gonna be together? All night?” Her mom asked, hands on her hips.

“Yes, mama,” Anabelle answered dutifully.

“And there will be no boys there?”

“Yes, mama,” Anabelle lied, keeping her gaze on her mother. “Even if there were I’d never even think of talkin’ to them.”

Anabelle’s mother nodded. She considered the idea a moment longer before sighing.

“Alright, you can go.” She relented, causing an excited shriek to leave her daughter’s mouth. “But, you are to be home no later than ten, understood?”

“Completely, mama,” Anabelle nodded and smiled. She hugged her mother. “I’m gonna go get ready at Madeline’s house!”

“Anabelle, I mean it,” her mother warned. “No later than ten. And no boys.”

She couldn’t have her eldest getting pregnant. The family was already one of six. They couldn’t afford another mouth to feed. And until the point in time that Anabelle got married, which was the only option in her parents eyes, she would still live with them. It was a funny sort of irony. She wasn’t to meet boys, yet she was to be married. To a man. Sometimes her parents completely confused her, yet she didn’t argue.

She moved over and kissed her mother’s cheek swiftly.

“Yes, mama, I know.” She assured the older woman.

Her mother nodded and waved her away, returning to the dishes in the kitchen.

Anabelle darted to her room, grabbing a few things and dropping them into her purse. She would borrow one of Madeline’s dresses, as she had the best ones, and was the only one of the three girls who could really afford nice clothes. Ruth and Anabelle’s families were less well-off, but they never complained. And Madeline never hesitated to share.

It took Anabelle nearly an hour before she found herself outside Madeline’s house, in the wealthier part of Brooklyn. She knocked on the door, being greeted by Madeline’s mother and let into the home. Madeline and Ruth squealed, hugging her when she entered the home. The girls laughed and talked as they got ready.

“My Ma says we have to be home by eleven.” Ruth tells the other girls, pinning her blonde hair up.

“Mama says I have to be home by ten. No exceptions.” Anabelle frowned, putting an earring in her ear.

“Awe, that’s okay sugar. Worst case we just spend the night here, yeah? Ma won’t mind, and if my Ma tells yours it’s okay, you’ll be fine.” Madeline assured, running some lip gloss along her lips.

“You girls ready? I told Tommy we’d get there round eight.” Ruth piped up, smoothing the front of her dress with shaky hands.

She was nervous, and upset. This was the last time she would get to see Tommy before he was shipped off to fight in this war. There was a chance it was the last time she would ever see him. So naturally, she was a little anxious.

Both the other girls shared a glance, standing up and gathering around Ruth, who looked close to tears. The pulled her into a hug.

“He’s gonna be okay, Ruthie,” Anabelle assured, wiping her tears away.

“Yeah. He’s goin’ to protect you, sugar. And he’ll come back to you cause of it.” Madeline said. “Now come on, let’s not keep your man waitin’. That way you two can spend as much time together as possible.”

Anabelle nodded encouragingly, coaxing a small smile out of their friend.

“Yeah, you two are right. Let’s get goin’.” Ruth agreed.

The two arrived at the club at top speed, wanting to have the best evening they could. As soon as they arrived, Ruth completely vanished into Tommy’s arms, already pulled to the dance floor, her fears forgotten and a laugh bubbling around.

Madeline and Anabelle grabbed themselves some drinks and secured a place to sit. It wasn’t long before Madeline was whisked away into a man’s arms.

So Anabelle sat alone. She didn’t entirely mind as she sipped on her drink. It was how it normally went. Anabelle kept an eye on her two friends, and whatever man was with Madeline that night, just to make sure she was safe. Sometimes she danced, most of the time she just people watched.

It was exactly what she was doing now when her eyes landed on a man, who was in fact staring at her. There was a skinny boy beside him, talking, though the taller man didn’t seem to be listening.

He waved his friend away, saying something Anabelle had no hope of understanding. She averted her gaze, hoping to avoid an interaction. Tonight, she had no desire to dance.

Fate was against her.

The handsome stranger sauntered on over to their table, leaning his forearms on it. He flicked his eyes over her momentarily, subtly, admiring her beauty.

“What’s a dame like you doin’ sittin’ all alone?” He asked, a sultry smirk on his face.

“What’s a guy like you doin’ disturbing the peace?” Anabelle shot back, eyeing him.

He was a nice piece of eye, with short brown hair and piercing eyes. However, she could tell he was a player, and Anabelle wanted nothing to do with him.

He placed a hand over his heart, feigning a hurt expression.

“You wound me,” he told her, but his smirk returned soon enough. “Name’s Bucky.”

“I don’t care what your name is, you’ll never be hearing it from my lips.”

“I think you’ll be changing your tune after a dance, doll,” Bucky told her, confidence oozing off of him in waves.

He was frustratingly persistent already, and Anabelle had only been talking to him for mere minutes. She could only imagine how much more insufferable he would get if she agreed to dance with him.

“Sorry, sugar, but I don’t dance with men like you.” She told him, mocking the nickname he called her. “Oh, wait, never mind. I just won’t dance with you.”

Bucky grinned, pushing a hand through his short strands. He had picked the prettiest girl in the joint and it turned out she was feisty. It only made her more endearing. After all, he was getting sick of all the giggly girls, who were admittedly a fun evening, but otherwise too much for him to handle.

“One dance. I’m on my knees here begging, doll,” Bucky pleaded, his blue eyes shining. He bit his lower lip, the action drawing Anabelle’s eye. She found herself staring at his lips, only breaking her gaze when Bucky chuckled.

Her eyes snapped up to his eyes and her parted mouth snapped shut. She couldn’t say his eyes weren’t just as easy to get distracted by, but then, she was gently being tugged to the dance floor.

“Hey!” She exclaimed, but she didn’t try to pull away, even though she could. Bucky’s grip on her wrist was hardly tight, and it was obvious he would let her go if she pulled away.

“So, you ever gonna tell me your name, doll?” Bucky asked her, pulling her into a dance. His hands rested on her waist, a signature smirk resting on his lips.

Anabelle shook her head, a playful glint in her eye. If he could have fun, so could she. But she refused to let herself fall for Bucky in any capacity. She didn’t want her heart to get broken.

Bucky kept Anabelle on the dance floor all night. She had slowly relaxed into him and begun to let loose, laughing in enjoyment. He loved her laugh. The way her eyes lit up and her bright smile that accompanied the angelic noise.

“Anabelle, oh thank goodness I found you!” Ruth said, tugging her away from Bucky. The girl momentarily got distracted by the tall man before her. She shook her head and got back on topic. “We have to go! Now.”

“What? Why?” Anabelle asked, furrowing her brow.

“Darlin’, it’s late! Our curfew was ten, eleven at latest. It’s nearly midnight. We gotta go.” Ruth said, tugging on her arm.

Anabelle’s eyes widened. How could she have lost track of time so easily? It had been eight not to long ago, hadn’t it? She couldn’t understand how time had flown so quickly.

She glanced at blue eyes and quickly understood. It had been him. He was the reason she lost track of time. Nothing good came from dancing with strangers. She should have listened to her mother.

He gave her a boyish grin, tilting his head to the side.

“Looks like you have to go doll,” he said, a frown on his face, paired with disappointment in his tone. “At least I know your name now.”

“Bya, Buck,” she told him, Ruth still tugging her away.

Just like that, the smile snapped back into place.

“I told ya I’d be hearing my name from your pretty lips,” he called after her.

Anabelle blushed, ignoring the onslaught of questions that ensued directly after the interaction. Madeline caught up to the pair, and after hearing the news that Anabelle had found herself a man, even she was in on the interrogation.

She shook off their questions, not wanting to have to talk about a man she would never meet again. He was a charmer, should would give him that, but she wasn’t about to get hung up on a man she had danced with for one night.

Her life moved on, as did her heart. She had hardly gotten attached. It had been only one night after all. There was no use in shedding some tears over a guy.

“Mama here are the tomatoes you wanted,” Anabelle said, putting the two tomatoes into her mother’s basket. It was a special occasion in the Burton which called for a special meal.

Anabelle’s little brother, Charlie was turning ten. The age of ten was the last time any of the Burton children got to celebrate their birthdays, so Bonnie, Anabelle’s mother, did her best to make it special.

“Thank you, honey. Could you go get me a loaf of bread from the bakery next door while I wait in this line?” Bonnie asked, handing her daughter some money.

“Of course mama, I’ll be right back.” Anabelle nodded, slipping the coins into her pocket.

She hummed as she crossed the street to the bakery. When she entered the sweet smelling store, Anabelle stopped dead in her tracks. It had been four months. Why was she seeing him now?

Of course, he was with a girl, and they were smiling and laughing. Anabelle’s thought grew bitter as she realized that he was indeed a player, a man who could never stick with one girl for too long.

She kept her gaze on the ground, but once again, fate seemed to be against her.

“Anabelle?” Bucky asked her.

He had glanced over his shoulder only to see the girl that had been in his dreams all these months.

Despite how often he went on dates, solely for the reason of forgetting her, Anabelle stayed stuck in his mind like glue.

She defiantly ignored him, but her was persistent, just as he had been that night, and eventually she glared at him.

“I wouldn’t think you’d be talking to me instead of your date,” she spit out, her face neutral.

Bucky’s face contorted between happiness, confusion, and finally, pure utter amusement. He bursted out laughing, wiping away tears. Anabelle simply stood shell-shocked as he laughed. She wasn’t sure what was so extremely funny.

“I didn’t take you for the jealous type doll,” he said, his laughing calming down.

“I’m not.” Anabelle insisted. “And I’m not your doll, so stop calling me it.”

“Fine then, Annie. You should know you have nothing to worry about. That’s my sister, Becca.” He said simply, crossing his arms over his chest.

Annie was even worse than ‘doll.’ She wasn’t sure why, but it just riled her up. Anabelle wasn’t sure what Bucky’s plan was here, but if it was to annoy her till the ends of the Earth, it was working.

“Don’t call me Annie, either. I’d appreciate if you left me alone.”

“Can’t do that, Annie,” Bucky shook his head with a grin. “I’m glad I’ve found you. I wanted to ask you on a proper date that night but you had to go. So whaddya say?”

“No.” Anabelle answered quickly, and Bucky seemed momentarily stunned, but he was quick to recover.

“Well why not?” He asked. “C’mon, just one date. Please?”

“No.” Anabelle repeated, sending him a look. “I’ll just keep asking until you say yes,” he warned.

“And my answer will always be no.”

“You also said you’d never say my name, but we both remember how that ended.” Bucky smirked.

“Goodbye, Bucky,” she sighed, groaning as his face turned smug.

“See, you just said it again. I’ll get you to change your mind.” He promised her, backing away when his sister joined him. “See you again, Annie.”

Bucky and Becca left the bakery, and Anabelle realized she was in for a ride. He wasn’t going to give up, but Anabelle was no longer sure she wanted him to.

[cycat4077]

Changes: Chapter 7

There’s two chapters left and I’m excited!

Title: Changes Ship: Sonny x Reader (OC female character)

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch.6 | AO3 | Chapter List |

Chapter 7: Absence - Sonny is missing from work one day and his absence hits you harder than you expected. 

The summer is winding down and you’re near to having the backlog of SVU casefiles expertly organized and sorted. You’ve made a lot of progress, with only a few more boxes left to go. Time has flown by it seems and you realise that Sonny has actually been instrumental in making your days a little brighter. The two of you often find yourselves taking the same lunch break, perhaps coincidental or maybe secretly intentional. Regardless, it allows you both to simply enjoy each other’s company. That’s why you always get a little jolt of excitement when Sonny walks into the precinct in the mornings. You know you’ll at least have a reason to smile.

Today however, is different. Sonny hasn’t shown up for work. You take note of the other squad members as they arrive and begin their shift. You try to subtly keep one eye on the door, but person after person files in and there’s still no sign of Carisi. Your heart sinks a little further.

Eventually you tell yourself to accept that he won’t be at work today and you’re too ashamed to dare ask anyone why. It’s not that big of a deal. He owes you no explanation. Still, disappointment stems from his absence. You enjoy seeing him everyday. The way he never fails to dress slick, from his perfectly gelled hair to the crisp three-piece suits he adorns. He is the definition of handsomely presentable. Not to mention that he always makes sure to acknowledge you. If he’s busy, it may only be a smile and a nod. But, it’s enough. Looking back, you find it remarkable how in just a couple months, your attitudes towards one another have turned completely around. You’ve really gotten to know Sonny and he you. That’s why his absence hits you so hard. You miss him.

The morning continues to tick by slowly until you hear Fin pipe up as Sgt. Benson emerges from her office. “Hey Liv, where’s Carisi?” he questions.

Detective Rollins answers instead: “He took the day off. The Carisis are putting on a baby shower for Bella and Tommy.” Amanda waves her hand dismissively like this is a common reason for Sonny to miss work.

“That family and their big parties,” Fin utters to no one in particular, before taking a sip of his coffee.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the squad, you’re smiling. That sinking feeling you previously had is overcome by the comfort of knowing that Sonny is with his family. You feel somehow even more connected to the detective because of it. You imagine the delight in his smile as he laughs with his kin. He’s probably talking to his sister’s belly right now, telling the baby how much ‘uncle Sonny’ already loves them. Your heart aches, but in the best way possible.

The next morning you once again find yourself keeping watch in the direction of the elevator. Finally Sonny shows up, a smile on his face and looking rather rejuvenated. You let out a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding in. You raise your head in his direction, ready to greet him when he walks by, but instead Sgt. Benson is already calling for him. Rollins is to join him and head out on a call asap. You observe Sonny’s focus switch immediately. His posture straightens and his brow knits with concern almost as if he’s entered ‘detective-mode’. You sigh defeatedly. There goes any chance of saying ‘hi’ today. But as Sonny is flying past your station, he makes sure to turn to you with a smile and a wink before disappearing out the door.

You carry that image with you throughout the morning and into lunch. You hate to admit that such a simple, friendly gesture can make you feel so giddy. You decide a cup of coffee is just what you need to distract yourself and ready the machine.

Your stomach growls and you feel a little disheartened that it will end up being a day where you eat alone. So, you scroll through your phone while you munch on your food. After a while the coffee maker beeps, signalling you to down the final bites and fill your mug.

As you begin to attend to it, the breakroom door whooshes open and Sonny plops himself down in a chair. “Hey!” he tries to say casually, though it’s clear he’s out of breath.

“Hey, you’re back!” you reply before quickly turning towards the counter in an attempt to hide the smile that's spreading across your face.

“Busy mornin’!” he trills, unpacking his own lunch. He begins to wolf it down noisily.

“You want a cup?” you offer, pouring yourself a mug of coffee.

“Sure! Thanks, doll,” he responds through a mouthful of food.

You freeze. Doll? You’ve heard of that term of endearment before…but did he mean anything by it? You decide to shove the thought away and resume filling a mug for Sonny. You turn and set it in front of him with a smile. As you do, there seems to be a hint of anxiousness in Sonny’s eyes, almost as if he’s waiting to see if you’ll react to his phrase.

Instead, you switch to lightening the mood. “It was pretty quiet ‘round here yesterday without you,” you tease, sitting back down in your seat.

Sonny eases. “Yeah?” he lets out a chuckle and smirks. “Glad to know I was missed.”

“Didn’t say that,” you counter, blowing nonchalantly on your steaming beverage while gazing up at him through your long lashes.

His grin grows wider before he purses his lips to disguise it. Sonny then slides back in his chair to lean his elbows on the table. “Well, my ma sure did. It was good to go home for the day.” You smile sweetly in response, taking a sip of your drink. “I just can’t believe I’m gonna be an uncle again! Talk about make a person feel old,” Sonny’s brows raise as the realization hits him.

“I know what you mean,” you agree. “Seems like everyone I went to school with is already on baby number three!”

“Right?!” he exclaims with a gesture of his hand. “Ma keeps giving me hints about grandchildren, but you gotta walk before you run, y’know. Find someone, settle down, spend some time together, then you can talk babies. Besides, how the hell could I take care of a kid with my schedule right now?” Sonny rubs at his temple stressfully.

Your heart rises to your throat. He’s got the same values as I do.

He looks up to you with one eye open, “What? You think I’m nuts too?” he jibes lightheartedly. You didn’t realise that you were staring.

“No, no!” you blurt, feeling a little embarrassed. “It’s just I…think the same way about all that stuff. It’s nice to hear it coming from another person.”

Sonny’s eyes narrow while he drinks you in. A small smile forms on his lips and he nods in agreement.

“I just can’t believe it’s already August,” you say timidly, tracing your fingers absentmindedly along the handle of your coffee mug. “I’ve only got a couple weeks left.”

Sonny’s figure slumps as he stretches back in his seat. “Only a couple weeks? Seems like you just got here,” he says sympathetically. “You’re doing amazing work though. Savin’ all our asses, really. We’d be lost without you.” To Sonny’s delight, his words make you snicker. “I’ve enjoyed chatting with you. Turns out, you’re pretty cool,” he compliments.

“So are you,” you return and find that Sonny’s baby blues are kinder and gentler than you’ve ever noticed before.

“Hey, we should try to keep in touch after you leave. You know, in case one of us here can’t understand the filing system or, uh, in case I need to know how to dissect an eyeball for whatever reason.”

You scrunch your nose in laughter. “Or in case I need a legal-dictionary. Will you be on call?”

“Ab-so-lutely!” he reciprocates with a toothy grin. Sonny then pulls out his phone, flicks through it and turns it over to you. He wants my number! you think dumbfound. You quickly fumble with your own cell and do the same.

He stands up when you both are finished and smooths out his shirt. He tells you he’ll catch you later before heading back into the squad room.

Lunch is over, but you have a feeling of beginning rather than an end. 

Chapter 8 here

[tomnhaz]

Saved My Life: H.O. x reader

Request: Hey! Can I get an imagine where Y/N is an emergency room doctor (she’s american) and she is visiting her boyfriend (either Tom or Haz) on set and another cast member gets seriously injured while their watching them film and she runs in and handles everything and gets everything stable before EMT’s get there. She is just an all-around badass. You can decide how it ends and how everyone reacts. Sorry for it being so descriptive, it just popped into my head and thought it was a cool idea. Thanks :)

Word Count: ~2.3k whoops

Notes: Hey lovelies, requests are still open !! FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED !! :)))

Warnings: None ? Maybe a few swears, and like medical stuff but not like gory so idk ?

You were visiting your boyfriend Harrison while he was away with Tom filming for Spiderman: Far From Home. You were an emergency room doctor in a hospital in New York, and although your schedule is super demanding, you were able to get some time off to come out and see your boyfriend. You had flown into town a few days ago, and were really looking forward to spending the rest of the week exploring the city with your boyfriend of 2 years.

Currently, you were standing with Harrison off to the side of the set for the scene that Tom was currently filming. It was a stunt scene, but stunts were something Tom was used to, and you were impressed each and every time you watched him pull off a flip. Except, I guess sometimes he didn’t pull them off.

Harrison was in the middle of telling you about his adventure into the city with Harry last week, when the two of you heard a loud crash, followed by Tom yelping. The two of you quickly rush over to check and see if he is okay, and you begin to feel your medical training instinct kick in.

Your friends back in America always told you that whenever you were working, you were a completely different person. Medicine had always been something you were extremely passionate about, and whenever you were at the hospital, or on call, you were in your zone. Nothing could hold you back, and every shy or reserved tendencies you had before, were completely erased.

When you got to Tom’s side you assessed his injuries quickly before taking over the situation. When you arrived, Tom had been knocked unconscious after hitting his head against one of the props, which also gave his a pretty nasty cut on his forehead. Upon further examination you found that he had also injured his shoulder, most likely in an attempt to break his fall.

You quickly turned and saw Jacob standing next to you, ‘Jacob I need you to call the paramedics, and tell them to bring an ambulance. Quickly.’ Jacob nodded, his eyes still wide and obviously shaken up at Tom’s condition before running off and doing as you asked.

You knelt down next to Tom in order to treat his wounds when you felt the swarm of people huddle in around you in an attempt to see what was going on. Nothing ever bothered you more while you were working than masses of people gawking at you while you worked. You needed them to back up and give you space. You turned around faced them, ‘Okay everyone, I’m a doctor and I’m gonna need you all to back up. I need to help Tom, but I can’t do it with all of you breathing down my neck, so everyone take at least 10, hey why not 15, steps back.’ you shouted, quickly falling into your work persona.

‘Harrison, Zendaya,’ you said, turning your attention to your two friends who were standing behind you. ‘I want you guys to stay here. I’m gonna need your help.’ Both of them nodded hesitantly before coming to stand behind you.

You looked around set and found the first aid kit against the wall, you grabbed it along with a wooden block from the floor before returning to kneel at Tom’s side.

You decided that you needed to address the cut on Tom’s forehead and check to make sure the blow to his head didn’t cause any brain damage. You checked his pupils and his responsiveness and everything was perfect so you started to clean the wound. The cut was pretty deep, and blood kept spilling out as you attempted to clean it. You pulled gauze from the med kit and beckoned Zendaya over to your side. ‘Z, I need you to hold this gauze against his cut. You need to apply a lot of pressure in order to try and control his bleeding. Can you do that?’ Zendaya nodded and grabbed the gauze before moving to rest Tom’s head in her lap and apply pressure to his cut. It’s at this point that Tom regains consciousness.

‘Yikes, what happened? All this fuss over little old me?’, Tom joked before wincing at the pain in his shoulder, ‘oh fuck me that hurts’ he moaned as Zendaya pulled his head back to rest in her lap so she could continue to apply pressure to his cut. ‘Fuck, my arm hurts a lot, y/n, I’m gonna die. Am i gonna die?’ Tom asked, starting to panic slightly as the shock began to set in.

‘No, Tom, you’re not going to die’ you smiled down at him before turning to shout over your shoulder ‘Jacob! Where the hell are the paramedics?’. You were beginning to get nervous, Tom was your friend, and your tough persona was starting to fade. You didn’t want to make a mistake, granted you very, very rarely made mistakes, but you didn’t want to have to be the one to hurt Tom.

‘They said they’d be here in 15 minutes’ you heard Jacob answer from the crowd of people still standing way to close behind you. You cursed under your breath and sweat began to appear on your forehead. You felt a hand on your shoulder and turned to see Harrison.

‘Love, what’s wrong’, he asked, concerned laced in his voice.

Seeing the fear etched onto your boyfriend’s face snapped you back to reality. You looked nervously over your shoulder before shouting again, ‘Okay everyone back another 5 feet. Yup, back it up people’, you looked back at Harrison once you were sure everyone was out of hearing distance. ‘Harrison, it’s dislocated.’

Harrison looked down at his best friend lying on the ground and then back up at you, confusion replacing the fear in his expression. ‘And what does that mean?’ he asked.

You took a breath in, ‘It means that the paramedics aren’t gonna be here quick enough and I have to put it back in place or Tom could suffer long term nerve damage in his arm’, you exhaled and turned to face your boyfriend.

Harrison sat back, ran his hands through his curls, and took a few deep breaths in. ‘Okay’ he finally muttered, unsure whether he wanted to cry or pass out from nerves.

You continued looking at Harrison, trying to interpret what he was feeling, ‘It’s going to hurt him. A lot’ You could tell that Harrison was nervous, but you couldn’t have his emotions getting in the way of your work. ‘Haz, I need you to pull yourself together and help me’ you said grabbing Harrison’s face and forcing him to look away from his friend on the floor and into your Y/E/C eyes. You could see the pain replace the usual brightness in his eyes, at seeing his best friend in so much pain. ‘Harrison, can you do that for me?’

Harrison glanced quickly down at Tom before looking back at you and nodding his head, ‘yes, yes I can. What do you need me to do?’

‘I need you to hold him still. Put your hands here, and here’ you directed one of Harrison’s hand to Tom’s uninjured shoulder and the other on his chest. ‘I need you to push down and keep him from squirming. If he moves, there’s a chance that I could make the pain worse than it already is, and I don’t want to do that. I need you to hold him as still as you can. Can you do that?’

‘Yes’ Harrison stammered, beginning to push down where you told him to. Tom continued to groan and you tapped his chin, drawing his attention back to you.

‘Tom, you dislocated your shoulder. I’m gonna put it back’ he nodded along, grimacing, ‘it’s gonna hurt, love. A lot. But then I promise it will feel better.’ You saw fear flash across Tom’s face again, but it vanished quickly as he nodded once more. You smiled slightly realizing how strong your friend was even when he was in so much pain.

You looked around for the block you had grabbed earlier and guided it into Tom’s mouth. ‘Here, Tommy, bite down on this. I promise this will all be over soon. Okay, love?’ Tom nodded once again and bit down on the block, squeezing his eyes shut. His free hand reached up to grab at Harrison’s hand that was on his shoulder. Harrison looked down at his friend and gave a reassuring nod, ‘It’ll be okay, mate. Y/N knows what she’s doing. She’s gonna help you’, Tom smiled slightly, the block still between his teeth, and looked at you before nodding again, signaling for you to go.

You grabbed Tom’s right arm carefully, taking his hand from its resting position on his stomach and moving it towards you so that his arm was at a 90 degree angle with his elbow pinned against the side of his chest and his hand reaching up. You then continued rotating his forearm towards you, being careful to keep his elbow pinned to his chest, until his hand and wrist were almost touching the ground. You waited until you felt the resistance and then the pop followed, as his shoulder slid back into place.

You smirked slightly at your success and glanced at Harrison, taking note of the look of awe in his face and something else in his eyes that you couldn’t quite read. You rotated Tom’s arm back to rest against his chest and fastened it there with a bit of cloth. You looked back down at your friend, who had tears in his eyes; he spit the block out of his mouth and looked up at you. ‘My hero’, he said with a smile and a wink. You laughed and shot him a reassuring smile before gazing out at the crowd around you, who were all still standing there, shocked.

Suddenly, they all began to applaud and cheer. You felt heat rise in your cheeks at the attention, your work persona falling and being replaced by your usual, reserved self. You stood up before walking over to the paramedics who had, conveniently, just arrived. You explained to them that you were a trauma doctor from America and detailed to them what had happened, the treatment you had administered, and what your suggested course of treatment was. They thank you before rushing over to Tom and placed him in a proper sling.

You felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist from behind, and a smile crept onto your face as you recognized the watch you had given your boyfriend last year for his birthday. ‘Hello’ you whispered before turning around in his arms and bring your hands up to wrap around his neck.

Harrison didn’t say anything, instead he pressed his lips firmly onto yours. It wasn’t a heated kiss, by definition, but there was definitely plenty of emotion poured into it. It was needy, but not in a sexual way. You struggled to describe it, but it was the way he kissed you before he boarded the plane to leave you for filming in London. A kiss that was filled with so many emotions that you just couldn’t name them all even if you tried.

You were quick to respond to the kiss, bringing your hands up to run them through Harrison’s blonde curls, which were all over the place from him running his hand through them.

You were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat, and when you pulled away from Harrison, your lips swollen and one of his arms still wrapped around your waist, you were met with Tom’s grinning face.

He was put on a stretcher, bandage wrapped around his forehead, and a sling on his arm to keep his shoulder in place. Zendaya was standing next to him, one of her hands resting on the handle on the stretcher. ‘I just wanted to express my deepest gratitude to the doctor that saved my life’ Tom started with a smirk, ‘but I see she’s already busy saving someone else’s…’

You scoffed and responded ‘Don’t be a div about it Tom or I won’t do it next time’

Zendaya was quick to butt in, ‘Tom, this badass chick here is more of a superhero than you will ever be’ she stated, sass dripping off her every word and her lips forming a devilish smirk.

‘Hey!’ Tom shouted in protest, playing mock offended and placing his good hand over his chest, ‘That hurts z, that hurts deep’. You laughed at the both of them before wishing them well and watching them load Tom into the back of the ambulance and her climb in after.

Once the ambulance pulled away you turned back around and faced your boyfriend. Harrison once again wrapped his arms around your waist and you reached up to wrap your arms around his neck. You rested your head against his chest, and you hummed approvingly when you felt him press a kiss to the top of your head.

‘He’s right you know’ Harrison broke the silence. You pulled away slightly to look up at him and gaze into his ocean blue eyes, a look of confusion painted on your face. ‘You have saved me, Y/N. I love you’ he finished, smiling down at you.

A wide smile slowly formed on your lips as you stared up at him, your eyes filled with love at the beautiful boy in front of you that you were fortunate enough to call yours. ‘I love you too, Haz’ you answered as you pulled his lips down to meet yours.

[smkkbert]

Time for a story - Oliver’s but

Once she had directed the car into the garage and turned off the engine, Felicity shot a look at her watch. Ten-thirty.

“Damn it!”

She had left work at five already, so there would be enough time to play with the kids before they would have dinner together and she would put them in bed. Thanks to some complete closure of the arterial road into and out of downtown, she had been stuck in traffic for more than five hours. Now the kids would already be in bed. She hadn’t seen them all day since she had been forced to leave early this morning for some stupid video conference. She hated days that she didn’t see the kids or rather the kids didn’t see her since she’d definitely go to their rooms and kiss them goodnight now.

With a low groan, Felicity grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and hurried to the front door. She hadn’t even put a foot over the doorstep when Oliver already came from the kitchen, only dressed in sweatpants that were hanging low on his hips. Felicity’s mouth watered at the sight of him. Well, or maybe it was because of the fantastic smell of food coming from the kitchen. She wasn’t sure.

“Hey,” Oliver whispered, a sympathetic smile on his lips. “I am so sorry.”

Felicity chuckled exhaustedly, stepping out of her shoes and dropping her purse to the floor. She approached him, put her arms around his waist and straightened up onto the tip of her toes to capture his lips in a gentle kiss. Oliver’s hands cupped her cheeks in the meantime, stroking his thumbs over her cheeks as he responded to the kiss with all the love he had to give.

When their lips parted, Felicity rested her head back and smiled at him adoringly, saying, “It wasn’t your fault there has been a complete closure, right?”

Oliver chuckled. “No, it wasn’t.”

“I thought so,” Felicity replied, patting his chest, “unless you had discovered a love for destroying old water pipes and flooding the entire city. How do things like that even happen?”

“The mayor is overcharged,” Oliver replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Starling City has more problems than he can handle all at once and he might have put too much focus on trying to make homes affordable and forgot to keep an eye on other things. Speaking of homes, I think we accidentally scared our new neighbors away.”

“The Queenstons moved out?” Felicity asked, her eyes widening.

Oliver puckered his lips and nodded. “Yep. I think getting caught in the act and inviting their neighbors to a swinger party though they are not in an open marriage was just too much. I saw the moving van this afternoon and went over to talk to them. Marc said they decided it was better to start somewhere new.”

“But we have told them it wasn’t that bad,” Felicity said. “I mean it wasn’t that bad, was it? Things like that happen and we would have gotten over it. I am already over it.”

Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “I think it was too much embarrassment for a first month in a home where you are supposed to spend the rest of your life.”

Felicity sighed, nodding her head. Oliver was probably right. She doubted she had felt comfortable living here if people knew details about her marriage.

“They said repairing the damage at the street will take weeks,” she said eventually. “Traffic is going to be horror until they took care of that.”

Oliver nodded and rubbed his hands up and down her back. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Felicity replied.

“I am already heating up the pasta.”

“Best husband ever,” Felicity told him. She pecked his lips shortly. “I’ll change into some more comfortable clothes and kiss our kids goodnight.”

Oliver pecked her lips once more and Felicity straightened back up onto her tiptoes to deepen the kiss for a moment. She stroked her tongue into his and scraped her teeth over his bottom lip before she broke the kiss. Oliver nuzzled her nose and brushed his lips against hers one last time. Only then Felicity stepped out of his embrace and headed upstairs.

She tiptoed into Emmy’s room, smiling at the way her oldest daughter was lying in bed upside down, her arms spread apart like she was hugging the mattress. Felicity stroked a few strands of her daughter’s hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. Emmy only released a tired sigh and moved her head forward, causing the blonde curls to fall back into her face.

Felicity went into Tommy’s room next. He was snuggled under his blanket despite the heat in the room. He held Emmy’s pink giraffe that she borrowed him often in his arm. Felicity sat down on the edge of his bed and stroked her fingers through his short dark hair fore a moment. When she kissed his temple, he stirred.

“Mommy?” he whispered, still asleep.

“Yes, mommy’s home,” she whispered and kissed his temple once more, “Sleep tight, Buddy.”

Tommy just released another deep sigh, snuggling closer to the giraffe in his arms. Felicity watched him for another moment before she opened the window to let in some cool night air and left his room.

Felicity stepped into Millie’s nursery and couldn’t keep herself from chuckling when, immediately, Millie got up on her feet and smiled, calling out, “Mama!”

“Have you been awake the entire time, Baby?” Felicity asked her, lifting her out of her crib and kissing her cheek. “And you didn’t tell daddy to come upstairs?”

Millie smiled, snuggling her face to Felicity’s shoulder. She stroked her fingers through her daughter’s dark hair and sat down in the rocking chair, Millie on her lap. The little girl was almost seventeen months old which was crazy because times had just flown by these last two years it seemed. She kissed Millie’s lips and cradled her in her arms like she wanted to sing her to sleep. Millie giggled.

“Did you have a great day?”

“Yes,” Millie replied.

“That’s great.”

Felicity smiled. Millie had always been the easiest of the children, the one who was always content and never demanded much. Felicity had always joked that Millie was her reward for putting up with Emmy and Tommy, who had been the complete opposite of their younger sister. Millie had been exactly what Felicity and Oliver had needed with the surprise of Addie, though.

She had often wondered if Millie had gone short because of that. She hadn’t had the bonus of being the baby and nestling for long since Felicity had been pregnant again so soon after her birth. Then she had never demanded the attention her older siblings had gotten at her age since she had always been the uncomplicated one.

“Mama. Sleep,” Millie said after a while. She sighed and snuggled more into Felicity’s embrace before she repeated it once more. “Mama. Sleep.”

“You want to sleep, Baby?” Felicity asked.

“Millie sleep,” Millie agreed.

“Okay, I am putting you back in your crib, okay?” Felicity suggested and already got up from the rocking chair. She kissed Millie’s temple and the little girl had fallen asleep before she had put her back into the crib. Felicity smiled at her, stroking her fingers over her stomach soothingly. “Sleep tight, Baby.”

From Millie’s nursery, Felicity went over to Addie’s. Unlike her older sister, the five-month-old was fast asleep. Felicity put her hand to her baby’s chest and felt her fast heartbeat under her hand. With how well Addie had caught up on other baby’s her age, sometimes it was hard to believe how much she had struggled when she had just been born. In quiet moment like this, when it was just Addie and her, Felicity remembered the fear of losing her daughter quite vividly, though.

“Sweet dreams, Sweetie-Pie,” Felicity whispered and kissed Addie’s temple before leaving her baby.

She went over to her bedroom, sighing at the sight of the wide, comfortable bed. It was tempting to just let herself fall into it and sleep. She knew she’d be awake in an hour or two and be even hungrier, though. That was why she pushed away her tiredness and went over to the bathroom. She dropped her clothes to the floor carelessly, washed her face and changed into something comfier.

Downstairs in the living room, Oliver was already waiting for her with a plate of wonderful Pasta Spinaci and glass of homemade ice tea. Sitting down between his spread legs on the couch and snuggling her back to his chest, she let him hand her the food and started eating.

“You are spoiling me, you know that?” Felicity asked, pushing another fork with the wonderful pasta into her mouth.

Oliver smiled. “I can’t help myself. I love spoiling you.”

“Well, I love being spoilt, so we are the perfect match.”

“I hope you found that out before today already.”

Felicity chuckled. “Since you have always spoilt me, you can bet your ass I knew before.”

“I am sure my ass is already yours and I can’t bet it anymore.”

Again, Felicity chuckled. “That’s actually true.”

They chatted some more while Felicity was eating dinner. Evenings like this, when they would just enjoy some proper time as a couple and chat lightly about nothing too serious, was something she really loved. Their life was serious enough. It never hurt letting go of all the pain and damage in the world and just pretend there was only the two of them.

Felicity had just eaten the last of her dinner when Oliver dipped his head forward and whispered into her ear, “We are getting a visitor.”

Only a moment later, Tommy came running in. “Mommy!”

“Hi, Buddy,” Felicity said, wrapping his arms around him as he climbed on her lap. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I’m not tired,” he simply replied. “Can we play a game?”

Oliver chuckled, tapping the tip of Tommy’s nose with his fingertip. “Mommy can play the Tommy-goes-back-to-bed-game with you.”

Tommy laughed. “Daddy, no!”

“Tommy, yes,” Oliver and Felicity both replied.

For a moment, Felicity rested her head against Oliver’s shoulder. He kissed her forehead in response. They watched Tommy as he snuggled back closer to Felicity. He pulled the pink giraffe closer to his chest and sighed. His eyes were fluttering shut soon, his breathing evening out.

“I will get him back to bed,” Felicity suggested with a sigh.

Oliver nodded. He kissed her temple, stroked his hand over Tommy’s hair and kissed the crown of his head. Leaning his cheek against his son’s head he whispered, “Sleep tight, Buddy.”

Adjusting Tommy’s position on her arms, Felicity got up from the couch and carried Tommy upstairs. She lay him down in bed and tugged him under the blanket, knowing he liked it safe and warm even in the middle of summer. She kissed his forehead once more and was about to get up when he clenched his hand to a fist in the fabric of her shirt. Smiling, Felicity lay down in bed with him for a moment.

She was tempted to just fall asleep here now. She had had dinner, so she wouldn’t wake up from hunger in a few hours. It was probably better to sleep in her own bed though since Tommy’s bed wasn’t really wide enough for an adult and a kid to sleep in together for long. That was why Felicity kept her head propped up onto her hand, stroking her fingers over his hair and back, until his hand slowly loosened around her shirt. She didn’t know how much time had passed since she had taken him upstairs and it didn’t really matter. She just kissed Tommy’s temple once more and crawled out of bed.

As she closed the door behind her with a sigh, Felicity smiled quietly. Sometimes, she had no idea how she and Oliver handled all their duties. Five kids, a company with thousands of employees and the responsibility for the safety of this city were a lot. Yet, somehow, they always managed to balance theses things. There were times it was harder and times it was easier. Felicity was almost a hundred percent sure that the support of their family and friends and even more so the love and support they offered each other was the main reason for that. Sometimes it really felt like together they could achieve everything they wanted.

Smiling at that thought, Felicity went back downstairs. When she stepped into the living room and saw the brooding expression on Oliver’s face, she frowned. It had been a while since she had seen that expression on him the last time, she figured. She went over to him slowly and loosely put her arms around his throat from behind. Her lips found his temple while Oliver was lifting his fingers to gently stroked over her tender skin.

“Wouldn’t Tommy fall back asleep?” Oliver asked.

“He didn’t want to let go,” Felicity replied, “so I stayed with him for a little bit.”

Oliver just hummed in response, leaning his head back. He captured her lips in a short kiss. When they broke the kiss, Felicity moved her fingertips over the frown on his forehead, smoothing the wrinkles out until Oliver chuckled.

“What are you doing?”

“I make you stop brooding,” Felicity told him. She kissed his cheek and climbed over the backrest of the couch into Oliver’s lap. “Did I leave you alone for too long that you had time to start brooding?”

“Yes,” Oliver replied, pulling her closer. “How dare you?”

Felicity chuckled and kissed him gently. Her fingers moved into his hair, angling his head back to deepen the kiss. Oliver’s fingers stayed on her hips, holding her close. Though he was responding to the kiss, Felicity could feel that he wasn’t completely in it. He seemed absentminded, responding to the kiss without initiating more or even anything different. Brushing her lips against his one last time, she pulled back.

Her fingers stayed on his face, stroking over the stubble on his cheeks the way she knew he liked so much. She scrutinized him, trying to find out what was going on by just looking at him. Their connection was so strong that sometimes she could read in his eyes what as bothering him. Oliver had never been one to talk much. He had become a lot more open to talking, telling her when something bothered him even if he didn’t always know how to tell her what he was feeling. Somewhere along the way, Felicity had learned reading his body posture and facial expressions instead.

When that didn’t seem to work today, she whispered, “Talk to me.”

“Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

Felicity was taken aback by the question. Yet, she smiled. “Of course, I do. If it’s just half as much as I love you, then it’s still a lot.”

“I love you so much,” Oliver continued. He kissed the soft spot under her ear, sucking at it gently before letting go. “Being with you, having this family with you, it all gives me a real sense of peace. I have never been more content in my entire life. Before the island, I was restless, chasing pleasures and fun. On the island and in Hongkong and Russia I was fighting for my life. Coming back, I was restless to follow my father’s request. Then you stepped into my life and so many things changed. Then the kids came and even more things changed, everything for the better of course. I am content now. I can sleep. I don’t need to chase after criminals or anything even more because I already have all I need. For the rest of my life, I could do nothing more, but be here for you and our kids – cook for you, spend time with you and support you in everything you are doing.”

“That sounds like a but,” Felicity replied. She grinned, cocking her head. “But the Queenstons’ idea of an open marriage and swinging is just so tempting that you can’t resist and you need to have that too now.”

Oliver chuckled. “Yeah, no. We both know I have a very particular type. I doubt I would find someone who meets my criterions, so…”

“Really?” Felicity asked. “Tell me more.”

“Hm… She should be small with a beautiful body. She should have full lips and blue eyes. She should wear glasses. Her dyed blonde hair should be often tied into a high ponytail and turn to cute little curls when she doesn’t straighten it after a shower,” Oliver explained with a smile. “She should be into IT. She should have graduated from MIT in 2009 when she was only nineteen and she should lead her own company now. That’s very important to me. She should be smart, good-hearted, funny and just wonderful in everything she does. She should have an undying love for unhealthy food and a slight reluctance regarding any sports that doesn’t include two sweating bodies moving together on a mattress or against a wall or wherever else she feels like it. It would also be cool if she did a cringy thing with her eyebrow when she is thinking too much and bite down on her bottom lip when she is excited or turned on. When she feels embarrassed, which happens often because sometimes she babbles and doesn’t realize what she is saying until she said it, she blushes. The blush spreads from her cheeks over her neck to her chest and it’s one of the most beautiful things to watch. Oh, and, of course should be the mother of at least four of my children. A woman who even fails one of these criterions won’t even be looked at.”

Felicity smiled and cocked her head. “The mother of at least four of your children? Do you already have tabs on someone who wants to give you more than four children?”

Oliver chuckled. “I am just keeping my mind open in case life hands us some more surprises. I don’t want to be deadlocked on one specific type. Just in case… you know…”

“Hon, if you knock me up again which really shouldn’t happen since Little Oliver is supposed to only shoot with rubber bullets from now on, you won’t need any type anymore because I will hurt you so much that you will be scared of women and run around in the city killing people because of it.”

“Sounds like me ten years ago.”

Felicity took in a breath, already about to correct her words when Oliver gently pushed her off his lap. With a sigh, he got up and started pacing up and down in the living room. Felicity bit down on her bottom lip, watching him for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” she said eventually. “That was not what I meant and-“

“I know that,” Oliver told her. He stopped pacing, putting his hands to his hips and looked at her for a moment. With a sigh, he approached the couch, sat down on the backrest and took Felicity’s hands into his. He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them, first the right and then the left. “I know that.”

Felicity nodded slowly, but narrowed her eyes at him a little. “Does this have anything to do with the brooding expression on your face when I came back downstairs?”

Oliver nodded. “It does.”

“So, tell me,” Felicity prompted him gently, stroking her thumb over the knuckles of his hand. “What’s you but?”

“I watched the local news show while you have been upstairs with Tommy.”

Felicity nodded slowly, perking up her eyebrows. “And?”

“Rogers lays down his office.”

Felicity frowned. “Why? He always seemed to get along as the mayor. I mean he survived three years in the position which is a lot for Starling City standards. The water pipe wasn’t his fault. Things like that happen and-“

“He was told it would happen and told to remediate pipes and canals in the city, but the city is struggling in so many ways that Rogers preferred other projects.”

“So, it is his fault?” Felicity asked.

Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “It’s probably arguable. Fact is he was told what could have happened and he did nothing to prevent it. According to his publicist, maybe Starling’s condition isn’t as good as Rogers made it out to be.”

“Which means?”

“Serious deficit in the field of urban planning,” Oliver started. “Problems with educational establishments, childcare offers and playgrounds. Pollution of the bay that is barely to get under control. There have been mischiefs in all areas of local politics and, apparently, that lawless madmen with partly archaic weapons and dressed in leather dedicated themselves to take care of the criminals in the city is not seen as positively by everyone as Rogers tried to make it believe.”

The last words were said with so much bitterness that Felicity could feel Oliver’s anger and pain in her chest. She knew he was giving so much of himself for their mission to help this city. He didn’t need anyone to thank him, but being hated for what he did still burdened him sometimes, especially because he knew how hard it was on Emmy and Tommy. They knew who their dad was and hearing other kids repeating their parents’ words about the Arrow and his companions being criminals was hard for them to swallow. Emmy could be quite feisty when she felt she had to protect her daddy.

“This is the city where my entire family is living,” Oliver continued. “My parents have been living here. My sister and I have been born here. Our kids have been born here, and so will Thea’s kids. We are all living here. I want the city my family lives in to be a good and safe place, though.”

“Of course you do.” Felicity nodded and bit down on her bottom lip, cocking her head slightly. “Do you want to move away from here?”

“No,” Oliver replied quickly, shaking his head.

“We could do so if you needed it,” Felicity told him honestly. “It would be hard to move away from here, from our home and our friends. It would take a lot of planning to make it work, especially with the kids and QI. If you need that to be happier or to come to rest, we will certainly find a way, though.”

“You’d really move away from here?” Oliver asked.

Felicity shrugged her shoulders, shooting him a smile. “I’d go anywhere with you. I mean I would prefer moving to Bali if we had to move away, but, yeah, I’d go with you to other places too.”

Oliver stroked the knuckles of his hands against her cheek gently, touching her bottom lip with his thumb. He was looking at her intently. “Do you really think we could do that? Leave everything behind and start somewhere new?”

“It would be hard,” Felicity whispered, nodding to herself. “Starling has been my home for so long now, my first and only real home actually. I love it here for so many more reasons than I can tell. I think it’s important we are feeling really at home in our home. When Starling doesn’t give you this feeling anymore, then maybe we have to try find it somewhere. I think together we can do everything, so I guess finding a new home in a different is definitely in our possibilities.”

“It would be hard,” Oliver repeated her words.

“Incredibly hard.” Felicity nodded. “Unless it’s Bali because moving to Bali would be so easy.”

Oliver chuckled. “I am going to remember that in case I ever think we should move away from here. Maybe when we are a hundred years old and want to enjoy the last of our days, that would be the right place for us.”

“But not yet?”

“Not yet,” Oliver replied. He leaned down and kissed her lips. “I love this city and I know how much you love this city. “We can’t give up on it just yet, can we?”

“No, we can’t,” Felicity replied and squeezed his hands. “So, what do you suggest?”

Oliver hesitated for a moment. He lowered his gaze to their linked fingers for a moment. Felicity didn’t speak. She waited patiently for him to speak, giving him the time he needed to say what he wanted to say.

“Did you mean what you said before?” Oliver asked, eventually lifting his gaze again and locking eyes with her. “That together we can do everything?”

Felicity smiled. “With all of my heart.”

Oliver smiled at her for a long moment. He took in her face, looking for any doubt. Felicity held his gaze, making him know that she didn’t have any doubts because she didn’t have any. She had meant what she had said. She trusted her gut as much as she trusted their marriage.

“Felicity?”

She perked up her eyebrows and smiled, making him know that she was listening. Her thumbs stroked over the knuckles of his hands, assuring him that he had his full support no matter what he would say. Oliver lifted his gaze, looking at her without speaking for a long moment.

“I’m going to run for mayor.”

Teaser for the next chapter (an easy one really), taken from the Spoiler post: Oliver and Felicity discuss Oliver’s idea of XXXXXXX XXX XXXXX.

Author’s note:

Hi, my Lovelies!

Since this was the 250th chapter, I wanted to take the time and thank all of you for still sticking with this story. I couldn’t be more amazed by the response this fic still receives. 250 chapters and some of you still want more. I can’t even put into words how I feel about that. It makes me so happy.

The past months have been hard on me with the thesis and the oral exam and some other things. I am very grateful you all understood that I couldn’t write that much during that time and never urged. The fact you still participated in the surverys I did to maintain the little excitement I had about writing made me very, very happy. 

I will have to go back to university by tomorrow, so four chapters a week will probably be an exception, but I hope I will get to post at least two each week. Three chapters for the next week are already safe. ;)

I figured I should say a few words about the upcoming chapters. With Oliver’s idea, the focus will shift a little. That doesn’t mean that this story will be political. It just means that we will see Oliver taking this way and explore how he and his family are getting along with it. It also allows to introduct the angst storyline that will come. That being said, there will be some themes that will be addressed a couple of times - Oliver’s candidacy, Thea’s pregnancy, XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX - but I think the one-shot-like character will still be maintained I think.

There were a couple of reasons to introduce this storyline:  a) more gifs available b) addition of a role-reveral with Felicity supporting Oliver’s carreer c) new storylines & adventures.

We will see how it goes I guess. Let’s see where the next 50 chapters take us. If we get through them, I actually have another angst storyline in mind that would toally shake up dynamics and everything. It would be so much fun (at least for me)! Anyway, let’s focus on the next fifty chapters first.

If you have prompts, ideas, headcanons, always feel free to share them with me. I will do my best to make them happen. A lot of the ideas you submitted in the surverys have already been added to the story.

Once again, thank you for all of your support. I hope I will be able to excite you for the next fifty chapters too. :)

xoxo Kathi

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[fionnfanatics]

Request: Hii, I was wondering if you could do a jack lowden imagine where the reader is a cast member, I’ll leave it up to you just anything to do with jack lowden as I bloody love him, btw live your writings A/N: thank you so much, I'm glad you like them! ------------------- "Hey Y/N, Chris needs you to help out over on set 2." Your assistant said, barging into your make-up tent. "I still need to finish up on Fionn, what do they need me over there for?" You questioned, gesturing to the boy sitting in front of you. "Apparently Max got drunk last night. The waves didn't settle well with his hangover and he ended up getting seasick. Chris sent him home." "Bloody great. Who's gonna finish Fionn? He's got a photo shoot in 10 minutes." You complained, looking down at Fionns unfinished makeup. "I can finish for you. Besides you already did the hardest parts. They really need you over there, you're the best artist we've got." The assistant pleaded, making you sigh. "Wait, Max is usually on set 3, why would I need to go to set 2?" You questioned suddenly, looking at your assistant in confusion. "One of his guys is on the boats today, I'm not really sure why." You still hesitated, looking down at the 19 year old. "Oh go on Y/N, they obviously need you more than I do." Fionn said, shooing you from the tent. "Fine." You told the two of them, grabbing your jacket and portable makeup bag, heading into the cold. You had been a makeup and hair stylist on the set of Dunkirk for 6 months now. Chris absolutely loved that you were able to do both, so you mainly stayed on the beach with the bulk of his cast. You worked a lot with Fionn, Harry, Kenneth, and Aneurin, even working on Cillian and Tom for their land scenes. Chris had never sent you to set 2, the civilian ships, because Annie was able to handle the four men, Mark, Tom, Barry and Cillian just fine. Those four didn't really get much makeup, just slight touch ups. Max was in charge of Tom Hardy and Jack Lowden, the two pilots in the movie. If what your assistant said was true, one of these men must be on the boats now. Maybe one of their Spitfires had gone down in the script. Based on the fact that you had already seen how Tom's plane went down, you could only assume you'd be working on Jack Lowden. Jack Lowden was actually the only member of the main cast that you hadn't met yet. You'd met Tom, Barry and Mark at a dinner party. Jack had flown home that weekend to visit family, so you hadn't met him. You were actually kind of excited to meet him. You'd seen his work in 'War & Peace', instantly becoming a fan of his. There was a car waiting for you outside, which then brought you to a small boat. You were on the boat for 15 minutes before you arrived to where the sea filming was taking place. Chris sighed in relief once he saw you, taking your hand and helping you onto the Moonstone. "Thank god you're here. That other idiot was spending all his time hunched over the side of the boat, and this one can't do hair to save her life." Chris sighed, gesturing over to Annie who was currently working on Barry. "S'alright I suppose, Fionn was pretty much done. But I'm warning you, if I get sea sick I'm gonna throw you in the water." You joked, smiling up at the man. Laughing, Chris led you into the cabin of the ship. There was a blonde man standing there chatting with Mark, both of whom looked over at your arrival. "Bout time you got here." Mark joked, smiling over at you. "Yeah, well I can't just walk over here can I?" You asked sarcastically, sharing a laugh with the older man. "No, I s'pose not." Came the reply. "Well, this is Jack. Jack, this is Y/N." Chris spoke, introducing you to the blonde. You both made eye contact, sending shivers down your spine. Seeing him on a TV did not give this man justice. He was absolutely stunning in person. His blue eyes were electric as he looked at you, a crooked smile lighting up his face. "She's the best stylist we've got. I'm just glad she was able to get over here." Chris said, smiling down at you again. "Anyway, we just had Jack filming a scene in the water, so his makeup is off. I need you to redo it, and make sure his hair isn't just sticking to his face." He told you, before heading back out of the cabin. Mark followed, giving you a smile and a pat on the shoulder as he went. Turning to Jack, you saw he was already staring at you. Flushing slightly at his intense look, you quickly got to work to try and distract yourself. "Chris told me he was sendin' ov'r a woman, he forgot te mention how beautiful you were." Jack spoke from behind you, making you jump. Turning around, you noticed he was right in front of you. "Alright hot shot." You laughed, trying to force down another blush. "Flattery will get you nowhere. Take a seat over there." You demanded, pulling out the items you needed. "Yes ma'am!" He smirked, taking a seat like you asked him to. Rolling your eyes playfully, you moved over towards him to begin his make up. "You've got beautiful eyes, you know tha?" He smiled as he stared up at you, allowing you to rub on some foundation. Your eyes flickered to his briefly, a smile on your lips, before focusing back on your work. "A pretty smile too." "My Jack, you're quite the charmer, aren't you?" You teased, reaching for a different brush and toner. "Only when I fin' myself in the presence of a woman as perfect as you." He winked, his eyes trailing down your body as he checked you out. When his eyes were back on yours, he was biting his lip in appreciation. 'Mother of god' you thought to yourself, heart racing in your chest 'he's gonna kill me with those damn eyes.' "I'm sure you say that to all the ladies." You laughed, finishing up on his makeup. "Alright, one thing down, one to go. I just have to fix your hair." You told him, walking back to your bag and pulling out your comb and gel. For the next 5 minutes, Jack stayed silent as he stared at you. Every once in a while you would squirm slightly under his gaze, but for the most part managed to ignore him. "Wha's a gorgeous lass like yourself doin' working on a film set?" Jack suddenly asked, breaking your concentration slightly. "A lass like myself?" You asked, confusion coloring your tone. "Ya. You're much too pretty to be hidin' yourself behin' the camera. They should be hangin' your photographs in museums." He said seriously, nearly making you pass out. "Oh, uh, I... um." You were stammering, an absolute mess in front of him. His smile suddenly grew devilish, leaning towards you in his seat. "Am I makin' you flustered darlin'?" He questioned, one hand coming up to rest on your cheek. His thumb brushed against your red cheeks, leaving you speechless. "No, of course not." You responded once you found your voice, looking away from his eyes. The hand on your cheek moved to your chin then, turning your head to face him once more. "I think I am. And I think you're just as attracted te me as I am te you." He spoke huskily, his eyes dilating slightly. You swallowed harshly, a sudden wave of confidence overcoming you. After all, he had just admitted he was attracted to you. "And what if I am?" You questioned boldly, maintaining eye contact with the Scottish man as you set down the comb and gel. He suddenly stood up, making you stumble back slightly. His arms were then wrapping around your waist, pulling you into him. "This." You had one more fleeting glance of his blue eyes, before his lips were on yours. For a few seconds, your body froze and your eyes remained wide open in shock. A moment later, your body finally responded. Closing your eyes, your hands found their way to his muscular chest, holding onto his Air Force costume tightly. Smiling against your lips, Jack pulled you even closer as he kissed you senseless. His teeth were suddenly nibbling gently at your bottom lip, forcing you to let out an involuntary moan. He made an appreciative groan in response, gliding his tongue into your mouth. His tongue fought against yours for a few moments, before pulling back breathlessly. The two of you just stood there staring at one another, small smiles on both of your faces. Unbeknownst to the two of you, five pairs of eyes were watching you from the deck. "You owe me $20 bucks Tommy boy." "Shut up Barry."

[onceuponanolicity]

Sara confronts Oliver. Oliver gets to see Felicity one last time, despite avoiding her, before he leaves on the Gambit.

                                                  Oliver was ready for the longest summer of his life to end. He never would have thought that spending time with Laurel and Tommy, practically twenty-four seven, would be tedious but it was. Maybe it wasn’t so much the company but the way he spent it. Or did not spend it. While parties had been plentiful they always seemed lackluster because one element was constantly missing. His heart. Somewhere along that video conference with Felicity he lost it.

           Oh, he still loved Laurel. It was a different kind of love. One that he could hardly explain. Something beyond friendship, but nowhere near the depth of feeling that hit Oliver hard during those rare instances when Tommy did not censure himself and mentioned Felicity’s name.

           Swearing softly, Oliver entered his bedroom for the rest of his luggage. His driver was downstairs awaiting his arrival to head to the airstrip for his trip to his newest college. One that Oliver was determined to stay in all year because Stanford was as far from Felicity as he could get and still be out of Starling.

           “Ollie.”

           Turning sharply with his hand still on the handle of his door, Oliver discovered Sara sitting on his desk. “What are you doing here?”

           Sara studied him as she swung her legs. However her casual pose was deceptive if her face was any indicator of her feelings. “I know it was you.”

           “What?” Oliver could not be any more confused. He had hardly seen Sara all summer. It came part and parcel of avoiding her best friend. “What are you talking about?” He had no idea where she was going with her question.

           “Laurel’s computer. You did it. You called Felicity.”

           There was no way to stop the holy shit expression from landing on his face. After all this time with no one saying anything, Oliver had thought the whole thing dead and buried everywhere but his subconscious. And his dreams. Oh, the dreams. Stop it, he reprimanded himself. He could not go there.

           Sara jumped off the desk and stalked over to where Oliver was still rooted to the spot. The only thing he had managed since seeing Sara sitting there was close his door. She crossed her arms as her eyes narrowed and her brow furled. “Felicity tracked the IP address. It was definitely Laurel’s laptop.” Sara circled around him. “Only one problem. Laurel cannot remember ever calling Felicity on Skype during your trip to France.”

           Sara snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “But funny thing is, when I happened to say something in regard to why you guys never called except for those couple of times to Tommy he laughed and asked about that time when you were supposed to call Felicity to tell us that you were heading home. He even said that you called him to specifically get her account.” Sara rubbed her chin. “But you supposedly never called Felicity.” Her eyes shot up to his. Blue flames licked up at him from their depths. “Unless you did.”

           Oliver swallowed hard and tried to joke it off. “Are you sure you’re not the one becoming a lawyer?” He tried to laugh, but even to himself it seemed stilted. “You’d be damn good at interrogations.”

           “Stop trying to be cute, you pervert.” Sara shoved at him and he stumbled slightly. “That call lasted over twenty minutes. Do you even know how devastated Felicity is knowing someone saw her doing that? She’s still waiting for the consequences to bite her.” Oliver groaned. Biting and Felicity should never be in the same sentence after what he saw. “She said she was never going to show her face back in Starling again.”

           “I…” Oliver swallowed hard. There were no words he could give her. And any that he may have thought of deserved to be said to Felicity.

           “I seriously thought about going to my father with this,” Sara told him. “Felicity would be devastated and Laurel might get in trouble because it was her computer you used. Those are the only reasons that I haven’t. Not for you.”

           Sara’s glare pierced through Oliver. It hurt. More than anything else did. Oliver ducked his head. He had caused so much chaos by not being able to look away. By not turning off the computer when he should have. “I can’t…”

           “God! There is something seriously wrong with you.” Sara threw her hands up in the air. “I cannot believe I even crushed on you. Even for a minute.”

           Oliver bit back a smile, even though the situation was anything but humorous.

           “What?” Sara’s glare was practically murderous.

           “For a second you sounded just like her.”

           “She’s my best friend,” Sara said shaking her head. “I’m sure she sometimes sounds like me, too.” With her hands on her hips and her chest heaving, she stood in front of him. When she closed her eyes and shook her head, Oliver suspected the conversation was almost over. He was right, because Sara chose that moment to stomp around him.

           Oliver caught her arm. “I don’t plan on seeing her again. Even though I should apologize.”

           “Damn straight,” Sara said over her shoulder. “You’re not worthy of her.” Sara’s head turned so she could glare at him then down at his hand which still held her arm. “Stay out of her life, Ollie. Let her find someone else.”

           Just the thought of Felicity with someone else almost made Oliver break out in hives. Someone who would caress her, love her, hold her when she needed to be touched. That person could never be him. Dropping his hand from Sara’s arm, Oliver scrubbed his hands over his face. Nothing was resolved in that movement, other than the knowledge that he needed a shave, so they fell back down to his sides.

           Oliver had screwed up too many times. Stood back so often allowing any other guy to step into the place he coveted. And Felicity deserved so much more than what he was willing, or able, to give her. “She should.”

           “She should?” Sara blinked up at him in disbelief.

           Oliver nodded at her before his eyes raised up at the ceiling that he fully expected to fall on top of his head. “Yes. She should find a great guy and be happy.”

           Sara shoved his arm drawing his attention back down to her. “One day you’re going to wake up, Ollie, and she’s going to be gone forever.”

           “I know.”

           “You’re an idiot.” Sara grabbed the door yanking it open so she could exit and slammed it behind her.

           Oliver leaned forward with one arm propping him up while he let the deep gaping breaths invade his body. It was not enough. Slipping to the ground, Oliver turned to lean against the door, his head buried in his hands. He let the best thing that his life may ever know go. Gift wrapping her for some other guy. Oliver could only hope the guy knew what kind of gift he was receiving.

OQFSOQFSOQFS

           Felicity was content. Maybe not completely happy, but comfortable. She and Cooper were finally dating and it was nice. Cooper was a great guy who completely understood her and supported her work and hobbies. He was the one who encouraged her daily. But he would never be Oliver.

           Shaking her head, Felicity dismissed that destructive thought. Her life was in a great place. There wasn’t much more she could ask for other than more visits from her best friend. Sara’s last visit had been around her birthday. A wild weekend where Donna and Sara had flown up to Massachusetts to celebrate Sara’s twentieth birthday and the holidays at the same time.

           Now it was almost Spring break and Felicity sat there at her computer debating her options. The last conversation Felicity had with Sara, she had just met a great guy at this dive bar she snuck into with some friends and was going with him down to Florida for the week. Cooper had suggested she head with him up to Iowa to spend the time with his family. And Donna had only just called a few minutes ago to beg Felicity to come home and spend the week with her. Then there was always the option of staying at school and working on paper she needed to begin her Master’s. Iowa or Starling or here? There was not much of a choice to make. Starling was a pitfall. It contained someone that Felicity never needed to see again and that person was not her mother. Iowa seemed nice. Different. But was she ready to take the leap and meet Cooper’s family? Probably not.

           Felicity sighed and opened the file folder on her computer. That left her starting on the proposal for her Master’s thesis.

OQFSOQFSOQFS

           It had been over a year since Oliver had seen Felicity on Laurel’s computer screen. Yet, his finger hovered over her name on his phone. He did not know why but she was the first one he thought of when confronted with his latest college pitfall. Oliver needed to hear her voice. For her to tell him it was going to be okay.

           Tossing the phone on the bed next to him, Oliver buried his face in his hands. God. What was wrong with him? It had been so long and yet he still wondered what she was doing and with who. There was something seriously wrong with that.

           “Ollie?”

           Looking up, Oliver noticed his little sister peeking around the corner of his door. “Speedy, what are you doing here? I thought you were getting dressed?”

           Thea was having a Halloween party in thirty minutes. One that Oliver had agreed to help supervise with his father out of town. Then his mom had sprung the fact that she also needed to head out for an emergency meeting and that he’d be the one left in charge of the kids.

           He had been on his way in when his mom had greeted him at the door. She kissed him and told him about her new plans. Ones that she regretfully could not get out of.

           His mom had admired his new suit and told him how handsome he looked. She kissed his cheek and assured him that she had requested backup in the form of Sara. The two of them would be looking after the kids together. Oliver assured her things would be fine and that he and Sara could handle things.

           “I was,” Thea said. She scurried in and plopped down on the bed next to him, jumping slightly. “Sara called.”

           Oliver had thought he had heard the phone ring. “And?”

           “She’s not coming.” At Oliver’s look of disappointment, his sister grabbed a hold of his arm and hugged him. “It’s okay. She said she’s sending her friend over in her place because she had to go into work.”

           “That’s fine,” Oliver replied, though he did wonder which of Sara’s friends was coming. He knew most of them even if he wasn’t exactly friends with them himself.

           “Great.” Thea jumped up off the bed and smiled at him. “Felicity should be here any time now. I haven’t seen her in years, I’m so excited.”

           The door shut behind her leaving Oliver alone as his mouth gaped open. Felicity? Here? Oliver could feel his brain short circuiting. The rest of him was fully functional however. On autopilot, he made his way over to his closet where Raisa had laid out his costume. Thea was having a party where everyone had to dress up in some sort of costume that matched her own mermaid attire. So there would be mermaids and pirates a plenty. Oliver’s mind went on a tangent as it pictured Felicity dressed up in a long tail and nothing else. Her long black hair draped artfully over her shoulders while her pink nipples peeked out from behind the strands.

           Stripping quickly, Oliver pulled on the pirate costume with a renewed vigor that he had not felt since he had arrived back in Starling City a week ago. A smile played across his face as he stood in front of the full length mirror and adjusted the dreadlocks on his head. Oliver was a perfect Jack Sparrow, complete with the eyeliner. A cocky pirate was right up his alley.

           Oliver was ready. Taking a couple of deep breaths, Oliver reached for the door. His hands shook as he turned the knob. He was not quite sure if he was ready to confront Felicity all of a sudden. Oliver did not know what his reaction would be when he finally saw the seventeen year old in front of him. What he could not do was push her against a nearby wall and ravish her mouth. He’d leave that for his dreams later that night.

           “Ollie, c’mon. People are here,” he heard Thea call out from the other side of his door as she ran past.

           Speedy was always on the run. That’s how she earned her nickname in the first place. If she wasn’t chasing after him and Tommy, then she was following some great adventure of her own. She wanted to be in the middle of everything. God, he loved his little sister.

           It was that love that made him shore up his nerves. He could not make a wrong step tonight. He did not want to ruin this night for her. She meant so much to him. Thea was the only other person he missed daily in his life. Which was part of the reason he had agreed so readily, even a month ago before he was kicked out of Stanford, to help host the party.

           Heading out his door, Oliver followed the path that would take him downstairs. However, he stopped dead on the landing when he spotted the lithe form of Felicity Smoak. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. He was beyond thankful that the bannister hid majority of his lower half from the view of anyone down below. Oliver might be wearing loose pirate pants, but even those were being challenged by the erection that was beginning to form.

           Felicity was down at the door jumping up and down in excitement along with his sister as they greeted some of the other kids who were arriving. The short skirt Felicity had on bounced up past the curve of her ass. Sure she had some sort of skin colored leotard on underneath, but that didn’t detract in any way. In fact, it only allowed Oliver’s imagination to run even more rampant. The brown leather dress she wore barely covered the roundest part of her even when she stood still. It made her legs look like they went on for days.

           The outfit was meant to draw a man’s attention for sure. It was only long enough to cover her major assets. And even then it held two slits up either side right up to her hips. At her slim waist was a blue stitched belt that held a bunch of turquoise stones in an intricate pattern. Her black hair, which before held traces of purple, was now streaked blue to match that belt. It was braided together allowing that blue to shine through. Some sort of headband wrapped around her forehead with a jaunty feather poking out.

           When she turned slightly, he finally saw the front. The dress was cut low in a V pattern that went straight down to her waist. Luckily, that nude leotard was there to preserve her modesty because Oliver was sure just about any guy who hit past the age of puberty would be wondering if he could slip his hand inside otherwise. And Oliver was damn sure past puberty. So it was no surprise that he was already thinking that if that leotard wasn’t there his own hands would be there molding and shaping her pert breasts readying them for the onslaught of his tongue.

           Yelling at himself to stop, Oliver griped the bannister hard. He was hard enough to be driving nails into the wood in front of him. Not exactly the best look when you had to go downstairs and greet a bunch of pre-pubescent children and their parents. Taking a deep breath, Oliver tried his best to think of the least sexy things he could to relax his body. When he had a chance he’d sneak off and grab a drink from his dad’s liquor cabinet. That should settle him down.

           Satisfied he was decent enough, Oliver descended the stairs. “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.” Well, the rum was a good idea at least. Maybe he could run around with an entire bottle and claim it was part of his costume. If he had to look at Felicity dressed like that all night and not touch her, he might just need it. “Happy Halloween.”  

          “Ollie!” Thea threw herself into his arms. “You look great.”

           “Thanks, Speedy.” Oliver set his little sister back on the ground carefully so he would not mess up the crepe tail that she wore. He gave her his best pirate leer causing her to laugh. He nodded at Felicity. “And who be yer friend?”

           “Ollie,” Thea scolded as she pulled Felicity over by her arm. “It’s Felicity.”

           Oliver bowed carefully so he would not lose his hat or hair. “And who are ye dressed as, me lady?”

           Felicity, who seemed hesitant at first, smiled at him and curtsied. “Princess Tiger Lily.”

           “Who?” Oliver really had no idea who Felicity was supposed to be, but by the expressions on both of the girls’ faces he should have.

           Thea smacked at his arm. “From Peter Pan. She was the Indian princess.”

           “Right. Of course.” Oliver apparently needed to brush up on his Disney. He do that with Thea over the coming month or two.

           Another knock sounded on the front door. When Thea went to reach for the door, Oliver stopped her. “Why don’t you and Felicity join your other guests? I’ll get the door.”

           Thea graced him with a brilliant smile. “Thank you, Ollie.” She latched onto Felicity who he had hoped to escape from for a moment while he recovered from her being so close after so long. “C’mon, Felicity.”

           Watching his immediate problem walk away, Oliver let out a sigh. He pulled open the door and began to greet the guests.

           About the time Oliver wished he had not agreed to the party because there were so many screaming kids, the last guest arrived. Chrissy Farriday and her mother, Tina. Chrissy barely waved as she ran past him to join in on the fray that was happening under Felicity’s supervision in the other room. That left him alone with one of the youngest moms. Her brown eyes ate him up. Every inch of him, especially the part of his shirt that lay open. Oliver felt like a lollipop that had been denied from a child.

           “Hello, Oliver.”

           “Tina.” He touched the brim of his hat refusing to bend in any way while she stood there.

           “Nice costume.”

           Oliver scanned Tina from head to toe. It was only fair considering how she had already catalogued every detail of him. The short black sheath dress should have been too cold to wear considering the temperature outside. However she looked more than warm enough. “Nice dress.”

           Tina stepped up to him on her sky high heels. She ran a finger across the part of his chest that was exposed. “Looks better off.”

           Oliver swallowed hard. Ever since her divorce six months ago, she had not been pulling punches about what she wanted. And what she wanted was him in her bed. Okay, so technically a bed was not exactly necessary. “Would you like to stay?”

           And that’s when Oliver knew he had lost his damn mind. As if having Felicity around in such an erotic outfit was not enough, Oliver had now encouraged a thirty year old single mother to stay with the implication something could happen between them. All during his little sister’s Halloween party. Fuck! Oliver rubbed at his face. He had gotten in too far the second Tina agreed to his proposal and shut the door behind her.

           She followed him into the room filled with laughter and screams. Clapping, Oliver drew everyone’s attention. “There are games set up outside.” There were groans because of the cold chill that had invaded the air over the last few days. “Heaters have been put out there, along with tents to keep everyone warm.” This brought cheers. “Let’s have a party.”

           The girls, and a few boys, ran toward the back doors. Felicity stood by the doors encouraging them to slow down and file out so no one would be run over. A small girl with glasses tripped and Felicity reached down and helped her up and brushed off her pirate princess costume. Oliver could almost picture Felicity doing the same thing in about ten years with her own daughter. Their daughter.

           Oliver shook the dangerous thought away and continued to watch Felicity with his hungry gaze as she set the girl’s hat back on at a jaunty angle. Oliver could not have stopped smiling if he was threatened with death.

           “She’s cute,” Tina said from next to him.

           “Yes. She is.”

           Tina laughed. “I have a feeling we are talking about two different girls.” Oliver turned to look at her. “That’s okay,” Tina told him with a shrug. “I can see the appeal.” Tina waited until Felicity followed the last kid out and ran a hand up his arm. “Have you fucked her yet?”

           Oliver stepped away from her, slightly turned off by her bold statement. “No.”

           “But you want to. I can see it on your face.” She brushed her long ash blonde hair from her face and tapped a long painted nail to her lips. “What’s her name?”

           “Felicity.”

           Tina scanned the room making Oliver do the same. Everyone had definitely left, leaving them alone. Tina walked up to him and gripped his hips pulling them so that they connected with her gyrating ones. “Fuck me and picture her. Call me Felicity.” Tina pointed out the glass doors to where Felicity was organizing a game of tag. Tina circled around him and pressed herself to his back. “Watch her. Don’t take your eyes off her and use me to fuck her like you want to.”

           Oliver walked away. Tina was crazy. Making his way to the liquor cabinet, Oliver unlocked it and grabbed the bottle of rum that he had already planned on drinking. Cracking open the new bottle, Oliver took a deep drag of the amber liquid, relishing the burn. Tina extracted the bottle from his hand and took a sip of her own before handing it back. Her suggestion was nuts. So, why was his body responding to the thought as if it was the best idea he had heard yet?

           After drinking deep, Oliver set the bottle down and grasped Tina by the hair harshly. He slashed his mouth over hers. Tina panted into his mouth as her tongue warred with his. Oliver had never treated a woman like this, but he was pissed off. Maybe if he scared her away, this would all end. But Tina only seemed to enjoy it and so did he if he was honest.

           He walked her backwards while their mouths fought for dominance. When he reached the wall next to the glass doors, he tugged her up so her hips would match up with his. Her wetness permeated his own slacks. She pulled her dress up and Oliver realized she did not even have on underwear. Fuck. Oliver groaned. That was hot.

           “Oliver,” Tina groaned against his lips.

           “Shh.” He could not hear her voice right now. It was too far from the softness of Felicity’s. “Turn around.”

           She slid down and leaned against the wall. Her ass popped up invitingly. Oliver glanced out the glass door and his eyes found Felicity in an instant. She was bending down helping a little boy with his shoe. Her braid fell over her shoulder and the boy played with it, snaking it through his fingers. Felicity laughed at whatever the boy said.

           Oliver grasped Tina’s hair and jerked her back sharply so he could suck at her neck while he released his erection from his pants. “How hard do you want to do this?”

           “Hard.”

           Spreading the cheeks of her ass, Oliver slid his length through the globes, stroking himself between the plump flesh. “I need to fuck you, Felicity. I’ve been dying to do it for a year now.”

           “Then fuck me.”

           Oliver was about to push inside when he paused. “I don’t have a condom.”

           “In my purse,” Tina told him. She nodded to a black bag nearby.

           Oliver grabbed the purse and brought it to her while his hand stroked his length. He wanted so badly for it to be Felicity’s hand. He wanted Tina’s body to be hers. If he could just pretend for just a little longer…

           Tina pulled out a condom and slid to her knees. She placed the plastic around him. “Think of her,” she told him right before her mouth closed around his bobbing erection.

           Closing his eyes, Oliver pictured Felicity with her mouth around him. He’d be clenching that braid in his hand ready to pull her up before he came. Oliver reached out and grasped the strands of Tina’s hair and shoved farther and deeper into her mouth. She gripped his ass and rode with him. Right when he thought he was about to topple over the edge she eased him out and stood up.

           Curses escaped his lips thinking she was going to leave him like this. But Tina went back to her original spot with her ass in the air. “Eat her, Oliver.”

           It was Oliver’s turn to fall to his knees. And damn if he didn’t think of Felicity spread across that bed in Vegas as she pleasured herself while he ate Tina out. Oliver pictured Felicity’s juices coating his tongue. Her wetness dripping over his fingers. His thumb plugging Felicity’s ass as she screamed out his name.

           Rising, Oliver was about to enter Tina when his eyes locked with Felicity’s. He saw the blush stain her cheeks even from the distance that separated them. She knew exactly what he was doing. It should have shamed him, but it only excited him further. Because she had no idea that in his mind she was the one here in front of him.

           Slamming into Tina hard, Oliver had to hold onto the wall to remain upwards, while his other bit into her hips. “You feel so good. So fucking tight.”

           “Say my name.”

           “Felicity.” A few more pumps and he shot over the edge. “FE-LI-CITY!”

           Oliver rested his head on the sweaty back of his partner. Her hair stuck to his face but he did not even care. It was the release he did not know he needed. The one he craved for far too long.

           Tina shimmied down her dress after nudging him off. She smiled at him and patted his cheek. “Felicity is one lucky girl when she decides to take you up on that offer.” Tina glanced out the window and Oliver almost wanted to tell her not to look at Felicity at all. “Honestly, she doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.”

           “She might have an idea,” Oliver mumbled more to himself than to her. Going over to the liquor cabinet, he grabbed a towel and cleaned himself up the best he could.

           Tina pinched his ass when she came to stand by his side. “Next time, Felicity wants that up her ass.”

           Oliver’s head swiveled sharply. “There is no next time.”

           Her eyes narrowed. If possible her face grew almost ugly with the way her face screwed up in her anger. “I’m probably the only woman who would ever let you think you’re fucking your love interest while fucking me without issue. I doubt your Laurel is so cooperative.”

           “Leave Laurel out of this.”

           “Apparently, you already have,” Tina said with a snarky chuckle and a pat to his cheek. “See you around, Mr. Queen.”

           No sooner had the woman left than Oliver grabbed for the liquor bottle he discarded earlier. The party was long forgotten as he swilled down the hard liquor like water. He needed it to cleanse himself of what he just did.

           Felicity found him there about an hour later. He smiled up at her from the chair he settled in. He saw her note the empty bottle at his feet and the new one that lay between his legs. He smiled up at her. “If it isn’t Princess Lily.”

           “Tiger Lily,” she corrected him with a frown on her face. “Are you drunk? You were supposed to be helping with the party.”

           Oliver shrugged. “You could help me.”

           “Sure.” Felicity looked around. “Do you need a glass of water?”

           Oliver shook his head and eyed her slowly from head to foot. Felicity was so fucking hot in that outfit. Rising from the chair, Oliver stumbled slightly, clenching hard to the bottle in his hand so he would not drop it. She grabbed onto his arm so he wouldn’t fall. Taking advantage of her hand on him, he pulled it between his legs to the semi-erection he had. “Wanna scratch my itch? It’s only fair since you put it there.”

           Felicity flinched and tried to yank her hand out of his, but Oliver kept a tight grip on her and coaxed it to stroke him. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the feeling of her small palm over his trembling flesh. He could come in her hand here and now and be content.

           Opening his eyes, Oliver licked his dry lips and studied the small woman in front of him. It was nice to finally think of her that way instead of feeling weird lusting after a child. “Are your panties as wet as I am hard?”

           “Oliver!” Felicity’s voice seemed to echo, but then he realized that it had actually been another voice that had screamed his name at the same time.

           He turned and discovered his mother standing in the doorway. Reluctantly, Oliver released his hold on Felicity. He smiled sloppily at Moira. “Mother. You’re back.”

           “Are you drunk?”

           Out of the corner of his eye, Oliver saw Felicity nod before running toward the back doors with wide blue eyes. That left him alone with the visible disapproval of his mother.

           She sighed. “Let me guess. You decided to get into character.”

           “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum,” Oliver chanted while swinging the bottle that still sat in his hand.

           Moira walked over to him and snagged the bottle from his hand. “Go sleep it off. I’ll take over.”

           Next thing Oliver remembered he was waking up in the middle of the night, hungry. Stripping off the costume except for the loose slacks, Oliver made his way down to the kitchen. Spotting a beer and a half-eaten vegetable plate, Oliver pulled them from the fridge and meandered his way outside to the hot tub. Turning on the heat and the jets, Oliver relished the cold on his skin as he sipped his beer.

           He had been a jerk with Felicity. A complete asshole. One that, had it been someone else, Oliver would have gladly beaten the shit out of. He really should find some way to apologize the next time he saw her. If he saw her. So, far it had been easier to avoid her.

           Testing the water, Oliver noticed it was ready. He set his stuff by the edge and went to the nearby closet and grabbed a towel. Stripping off the pants, he stepped into the hot tub naked. Oliver rested his head back and closed his eyes. His earlier humiliation ran through his brain. The very organ that had decided to abandon all logical thought earlier in the evening.

           When he opened his eyes again, he tilted his head up. Oliver spotted a figure in the shadows on the balcony of one of the guest rooms. A bit of light flashed that way and it reflected off the glasses that the small person wore. Oliver knew it had to be Felicity. There was no one else staying in the house other than his family and none of them wore glasses.

           How long had she been there? Did she see him get in the tub? She was too far away to be able to call out to, especially at this time of night.

           Picking up a carrot, Oliver bit into it thoughtfully. He had to contemplate his next move. Unconsciously, his other hand slipped down under the water and began to stroke his length. Hell, it would only be fair for her to see him get himself off after he watched her.

           He gasped at the strength of his hand as he continued to stroke up and down. It caused a small reaction from her as she edged closer on her small balcony. When he screamed out his completion, she looked like she could have jumped over the railing. Her body was tense as her hands clenched at the metal in front of her. Oliver would give anything to get up there and relieve that tension for her.

           But any thought of that was taken from him the second she ran back inside. Oliver had no idea why but he felt his heart plummet. It felt like an end of something. Like he might not ever see her again after this moment. It was a disheartening thought. One that Oliver could never seem to shake.

@almondblossomme @1106angel @lovethishealthylife @sunshine0977 @miriam1779

[thejustinmarshall]

The 80s Cruise Omnibus: Tommy Heath, Jessie’s Girl, Trial by Fire, and DJ Christopher J

This is a part of our full coverage of the 2018 80s Cruise. Read more about the floating music festival here. 

Jenna O’Gara of Jessie’s Girl on the 80s Cruise by LJ Moskowitz

It’s possible that no one enjoyed their time onboard as much as Tommy Heath, lead singer of Tommy Tutone. He was spotted all over the ship chatting up fans, standing for selfies, and knocking back the occasional drink. He was all smiles interacting with the audience during a poolside show where he played a mix of covers and original material, including the ubiquitous, “867-5309 (Jenny).”

The set out at the pool was a curious combination of songs. Tommy Tutone put out three albums in the 80s, but Heath performed a total of four tracks from those records. Like Rick Springfield, the songs he chose to cover were all from the 1960’s. He might have performed different songs during his other sets, but it was a challenge catching his performances. Overlapping schedules made it next to impossible to watch a full set from Heath, Thomas Dolby, or Katrina Leskanich.

Many passengers complained about missing events because of scheduling. As Minnesota businessman, David Drill, put it, “(There is) so much going on that you end up missing stuff that you really wanted to see.” Dolby, Leskanich, and Heath performed in the smaller venues at times that almost always conflicted with one or both of the main stage shows. Fans were left with the choice of missing part of their sets or missing them all together.

Chris Hall and Jenna O’Gara of Jessie’s Girl perform for passengers on the 80s Cruise by LJ Moskowitz

This was particularly frustrating considering ECP scheduled the two cover bands to perform each night without any conflicts. As much as fans loved Jessie’s Girl and Trial by Fire, it was an odd choice to have one or both of them perform every day while fans had to choose between the big-name acts. The maiden voyage of The 80s Cruise had few of these types of conflicts. In 2016, Modern English played the daytime t-shirt party, while Wang Chung played the pool on Neon Night. This year, ECP had Jessie’s Girl play both, leaving fewer slots for celebrity guests.

It was easy to see why ECP had scheduled the band to perform so often. Jessie’s Girl has been featured on the Cruise from the first sailing with some people listing them as the main reason for going year after year. More than a mere cover band, the group featured  three different vocalists each trading off leads while going through more costume changes than the finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”.

Mark Rinzel of Jessie’s Girl on the 80s Cruise by LJ Moskowitz

Fronting Jessie’s Girl were Jenna O’Gara, Chris Hall, and Mark Rinzel. O’Gara graduated from the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. Hall and Rinzel have both worked in professional theater. This made all of them more than qualified to handle, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “(Don’t You) Forget About Me”.

The band faced more than its fair share of challenges on the 2018 sailing as keyboardist and Musical Director, Paul “Sky” Armento, had to be rushed back to New York because of a medical emergency just before sailing. Armento founded the band with Eric Presti, guitarist and Technical Director. The two holed up in a hotel room for hours the morning of departure because even though Armento was still in pain after a night in the ER, they were determined to lay down keyboard tracks so the band could perform that week.

The band’s first performance at the Sail Away party was a bit rough. Their tour manager had flown back with Armento making their time on board more challenging. They recruited Brian Wilk, half of the Dueling Pianos show, to fill in on keys, but the pianist needed more than a quick rehearsal before mastering “The Final Countdown” by Europe. There were one or two glitches with the backing track during the second performance, but after that, the audience would never have known the band was working without two key members of their touring operation.

DJ Christopher J on the 80s Cruise by Chuck Coverly

When news got out that Armento had to miss the sailing because of a health concern, the response from passengers was striking. Many asked each other for updates and passed around information garnered from other band members. Houston native, Mina Credeur, repurposed the Kevin Bacon poster she had taped to her cabin door to make a “get well soon” card that hundreds signed. Armento eventually recovered and posted a “thank you” message on Facebook. The ordeal made it obvious that Jessie’s Girl was no longer just a name on a list of entertainers; many of the passengers considered them a part of their 80s Cruise family.

Another important member of that Cruise family was Berlin drummer Christopher Olivas. Passengers were excited to discover Olivas was scheduled to perform under the alias, DJ Christopher J. There wasn’t always a good variety of music being played around the ship as Mina Credeur of Spring, TX explained. “(There was) so much more in the 80s, especially for dancing.” The overreliance on pop songs made the late night parties feel more like a bachelorette party at a generic 80s bar than an actual club night.

Olivas deviated from “The Big 80s” brand by mixing new wave, classic alternative, and rap and won rave reviews from passengers. Chuck Coverly said, “I loved that Chris DJ’s by dipping deep into the alternative bucket.” Myley Rosenbaum agreed, “Love Christopher Olivas! More from him, please!”

Trial by Fire hosted the 80s Prom. Photo by TuKe Photography

Trial by Fire were initially billed as a Journey cover band on last year’s sailing, but the band from Los Angeles has been much more accomplished than many passengers realized. Billy and Eric Mondragon are two-thirds of DW3, a jazz band that has seen chart success in the US and UK. Rod Pantoja, Johnny Reyes, and Whit Petrell perform all over Los Angeles under the name, Steel Rod. A sort of super group, Trial by Fire had no problems handling the entire spectrum of arena rock.

The band pulled double and triple duty by performing several times, hosting live band karaoke, and participating in a bar hop with guests. They donned suits for Prom and dressed up in karate uniforms for Cobra Kai karaoke. They were the life of the party at all of their events and like Jessie’s Girl, will be back for the 2019 Cruise.

  LJ Moskowitz is a photographer and writer based out of New Jersey specializing in concert, product and fine art photography. She is a member of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) and Professional Photographers of America (PPA). You can find her at Shutterchick Photography, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

All photos appearing on this page are the property of LJ Moskowitz. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of LJ Moskowitz. Copyright 2018 LJ Moskowitz. All Rights Reserved.

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