#if only i had a better mentor who would help me with my entrance test prep...

[himejoshibutch]

i hate that i always get frustrated all the time.. im unable to enjoy my hobbies or going out with friends.. it's like im very much obliged to programming all day and i dont have any life outside it i hate it honestly

[marie-miele]

One

-Master List-

words:1887

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You sat on the ground; wiping the sweat from your forehead.  It had been almost two years since Aizawa had taken you in from the Hero Public Safety Commission. He was with you almost every day for a year, teaching you how to control your quirk. It was a difficult time for you, but you built a strong bond over that year. And now you live as happy of a life as you could, figuring yourself out in a way you couldn't before. He spent much of his time working, but when he would come home he'd spend that time training you. He believed that you could make a good hero if you were led down the right path. You doubted that, but for all he's done for you, you figured the least you could do for him was try. And that's exactly what you did. 

You were still sitting when he had gone inside. The training was becoming more intense as high school entrance exams were right around the corner. You were told that you would be getting into UA High School through Aizawa's recommendation, as he worked for the school he had a bit more influence at getting you in; which you were thankful for. But you would still have to participate in certain parts of the exams.

Sighing; you got up and headed inside, thinking about all that's happened and what could become your future. It stressed you out but you also had to keep in mind that you had a better advantage than most.

"So- What if I don't get it?" You said taking a seat at the dining table. Aizawa was setting the table with two bowls of Udon.  " You will." He said; his voice lacked belief and energy as he uttered the words "you will", sounding indifferent and unenthusiastic about the possibility of the action taking place.

"But what if I don't? I mean seriously, think about it. I'm no use except for hand-to-hand, my quirk isn't much use in a fight unless I want to scare the life out of someone. Plus, you've seen how many tries it took me to prove I could control my quirk at the HPSC! I don't want to go through that again." Picking up your chopsticks with a slight pout. Even though you were stuffing your face noodles you continued talking. 

"Since when did you give up on yourself so easily?" Aizawa said sternly, silencing your still noodle-filled mouth. "Ever since I met you, you told me how you wanted to 'prove yourself'. And lately, all I hear is you doubting yourself," You stared at the man who sat beside you now. "or is it my training you doubt?"

"no no! it's not like that!" You said frantically. "it just- Its that- I don't want to hurt anyone as it did to my family.." You had finished your food already and Aizawa was beginning to stand; grabbing your bowl.

"You're still being controlled by your fear from the past, I get that. But if you want to be able to succeed Y/N, you have to push forward. Only you can make it happen; your future is yours." He stated as he left you in the dining room. 

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Today is the day you thought nervously to yourself. You were trying to mentally prepare yourself for your entrance exam; which wasn't going well at all. It felt as if your heart was trying to escape your chest. And the awkward car ride with your mentor was not helping, he had given what he thought was a motivating lecture to you but in reality, it was horrifying to witness. 

U.A. High's recommendation entrance exam consists of a written test, a practical test, and an interview. For the practical exam, students race six at a time through a mile-long obstacle course using their quirks. Students receive numbers and their times are recorded by Present Mic, another teacher at UA. You had met him multiple times as he is a close friend of Aizawas. 

Your leg was bouncing up and down as you sat in the waiting room; your eyes were glancing at every student there with you. Thinking about all the quirks you saw made you wonder if you were meant to be there.  You knew for a fact you past the written part of the exam, you always excelled at them in school- when you were in school. But the practical exam..you weren't so sure about. 

Some students though, would pass for sure you thought as your eyes made their way to a boy with heterochromatic hair; you'd never seen someone with white and red hair. He was standing in the corner of the room, you had gotten to see his quirk in action; ice. It looked powerful as it was good for defense and offense. Oh to have a quirk like that huh, but you don't get to pick and choose what you get. 

Another student reminded you of an old friend, it was not his quirk or his looks but rather his attitude. He was talking to a group of examinees with bold and harsh words- yet, being honest.

"Suki...Has it already been three years? You wouldn't believe I would be here right now." You said thinking out loud. You haven't been able to see or talk to him all this time. You always thought of him of course but back in middle school, neither of you had phones in your first year so you had no idea how to contact him after your first year out of the Safety Commission.

Getting so caught up in your muttering you didn't even notice a boy standing right next to you; he was staring at you intensely. Feeling his eyes on you, feeling slightly intimidated by him you turned your head towards him but before you could apologize for blabbering, 

"Hey! Im Yoarashi Inasa!" He said loudly. 

"Oh! You're that boy with the wind quirk, right? I'm Y/N L/N."

During the practical exam, you accidentally merged your power with Yoarashi's. He was attacking with wind and you were attacking with your gas, you had gotten too close to each other and so your gas was blown around by him. 

After that incident, you knew you had to figure out a way to direct your gas. Regardless though, Yoarashi and you continued to chat moving the conversation from quirks to the heroes you wanted to be. 

Once everyone finished the exam you were given your scores; being told that your acceptance letter would be arriving within the next few weeks. You wished Yoarashi good luck and a farewell as you both made your way out of the building. Your nerves were on edge as the countdown for your acceptance letter began. 

As you made your way home you told Aizawa everything that happened and asked for more ways to improve.  

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You paced around the living room with your phone in one hand and a drink in the other. You knew Katsuki's family was private but damn, after finding out he didn't have any social media account you figured his parent would have one. But no, his mother didn't even have one that you could find. What a shame.

"You nervous about your acceptance letter, huh?" Aizawa said as he stepped into the room.

Replying in an informative tone of voice "Uh- Yeah, something like that". You were always honest with Aizawa, but this; you could tell him about.

Your mentor was the person you trusted the most, even though this was a fact; one thing you always you couldn't speak up about was your past.

He knew the brief information when the HPSC told him about you. But no one knew about your private life; just about the incident before sending you away.

"Well no need to be so worried about it anymore," He said pulling out an envelope from his pocket, he was still in his hero suit as he had just gotten out of work. The UA teachers had been working for the past few weeks preparing their courses. 

Cutting him off you questioned him "No need?" as your eye flicked from his face to the letter. "Is...THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?" rushing over to him, you grabbed the letter but he kept his grip on it. 

"I think you should sit down first Y/N" He explained as you took the letter from him and sat down on the couch that he was able to hand deliver it to you.

It had been a whole five minutes since you were given the envelope, that whole time you were just staring at it. Aizawa kept urging you to open it; the closer you got to fully ripping the paper open the more nervous you kept getting. Your hands were trembling as you finally opened it, reaching your hand inside you grabbed a small circular device. 

Aizawa took a seat beside you as you set the device on the coffee table in front of you it projected a video of All Might. He went on about how he was the newest addition to UA's faculty, he went over your score from the written test; 89 out of 100, not terrible you thought to yourself. Moving on to the practical part you placed 4th out of the 36 students recommended the school; also not terrible considering most of your points came from rescuing.  You sat with your face as close to the projection as you could, this was taking forever even though it had only been two minutes at most. Then; All Might's voice boomed through the projector, announcing to Y/N, to you. That you had been accepted into UA. His words were filled with pride and encouragement, causing a wave of excitement to wash over you as you processed the news. The legendary hero's endorsement was a moment you would never forget, solidifying your dreams of becoming a hero, to prove everyone wrong about you. 

"I'm..in. Aizawa I got it." You looked at him with teary eyes and a smile. Jumping up, you wrapped your arms around him "I got in!" you cried.

This was the first time you'd ever shown affection towards him, and as a result; he was shocked, to say the least. He felt his pride for you completely was over him. 

Patting your head he stated: "told you so."

- ┈┈┈┈┈┈ - -- - ┈┈┈┈┈┈ -

Standing outside of the gates to UA High, you fixed the tie on your school uniform. Seven times, that's the total number of times you had readjusted it this morning. It had been almost four years since you last went to school, at least a public one. You were scared of what your classmates would think of you but thankfully Aizawa had been reassuring your mind all morning.

"Well, this is it, a new start." 

As you made your way up to the school, you accidentally bumped into another student who was rushing up the path.

Being quick to apologize "Sorry! I didn't even see you!" You bowed you down"

"It's alright!" the male student quickly replied; waving his hands in front of himself. "I shouldn't have been going so fast!"

Wait, you recognized that voice. Slowly you raised your head and as you stood face-to-face with the boy.

"Midoriya?"

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Authors note:

Hii! Hope you're enjoying so far :p

I've added my Wattpad link to my master's list! Please feel free to check it out and support me there too, thank's!

Much love, Marie <3

[kaen-ace-of-diamonds]

How about an AU where cinder and Emerald swap places. With Emerald being the fall maiden and Cinder being the thief she found in the street.

send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts that would happen in a story

- as a young street kid, Emerald very quickly traded one abusive mother for another

not that she intended to: it was Hazel who found her, starving and alone, and couldn’t bring himself to leave her

Evernight terrified her, Salem and her harsh training even more so, but...she could survive there, if she steeled herself to, and kept herself useful. killing the Fall Maiden and returning with the powers was just a test she had to pass.

so, reaching twenty-one, she’s cold and guarded, shying away from mirrors for fear of seeing her mother’s bitter face staring back at her

- sixteen-year-old Cinder is At Her Fucking Limit

escaping Atlas and returning to Mistral had been hard enough, and for what? she’s still scrounging for scraps, still treated like dirt everywhere she goes. the only difference is, this time she’s not defenseless.

she has a good eye for who might have things worth taking, among the people passing her on the street, and the woman with the nice jacket and the green jewel around her neck looks like a prime target

she stalks her through the city until they’re alone, pulls her sword and goes for her back...and is immediately thrown back by a gust of wind and frozen to the ground

furious and struggling, she looks up and doesn’t know what’s more surprising: the fact that this woman’s eyes are lit up with red fire, or that she doesn’t look angry, just exasperated

“Really, kid? As if I don’t have enough to worry about.”

- Emerald doesn’t like it, but she understands what Hazel felt seeing her: this angry, impulsive kid is going to get herself killed if she’s left alone, so she might as well at least offer to take her in

Cinder is cautious about going with her (after all, the last time a strange woman took her away to another kingdom, she was enslaved and tortured for years), but Emerald hasn’t hurt her, wasn’t even upset by Cinder trying to kill her, so she decides she can take the risk

neither of them say very much on the trip, but Cinder does work up the nerve to ask, “What do you have to do to get those powers?”

Emerald glares back at her from the pilot’s seat. “You can’t do anything. They pass randomly. Either you get lucky, or you don’t. Not that I’d call this luck, anyway,” she adds under her breath.

when they arrive, Emerald guides Cinder into a bow before Salem, keeping a reassuring arm around her shoulders. “My lady, I wish to take on an apprentice.”

Cinder gulps, but forces herself to look the most terrifying person she’s ever met in the eyes. “I...I can fight, if that’s what you need. I learn fast...my lady.”

Salem smiles, mildly intrigued: Emerald has never asked for anything before, let alone anything like this. “Very well. She is your responsibility, Emerald. Make her strong.”

- Cinder slowly grows accustomed to living in Evernight: she is still clearly on the lowest rung of the ladder, but she has a regular training schedule instead of being forced to work, she gets plenty of food and sleep, and Emerald comes to her defense when Watts and Tyrian taunt her, even if she snaps at her to grow a thicker skin after they’ve gone

it takes her a while to get used to her new mentor: Emerald isn’t cruel to her, but she doesn’t pretend to care, either. though...after Rhodes, she thinks she prefers that.

she works more with her swords, but under Emerald’s direct training, she learns to lean more on her Semblance and Fire Dust (“I don’t usually use fire,” Emerald says, as Cinder stares entranced at the fireball in her palm, “but it should be similar enough to work for teaching you.”)

over time, she gets to see all of the Maiden powers in action, but Emerald only uses lightning in front of her once: electrocuting a Grimm to demonstrate its weak point, and stopping once she notices Cinder out of the corner of her eye suddenly pale and cringing

“...Don’t,” she orders when Cinder starts to apologize. “I don’t know what happened to you, and I don’t want to hear it. But you should know that I’m not going to hurt you.”

Cinder looks at her suspiciously, immediately on the defensive. “Yeah? Going to remember that when I make you mad?”

Emerald snorts and glances away. “Well, you’re just a kid.”

she leaves it at that, but Cinder gets the message, and it makes something twist in her stomach. she doesn’t want to trust Emerald, she knows what trust gets her. but she can’t help it. 

a few days later, Cinder starts wearing her hair in a ponytail like hers

- when the time comes for them to target Beacon directly, Cinder has tagged along with Emerald on several assignments, and even successfully pulled off a few on her own

(Emerald would not admit it with a gun to her head, but she spent a lot the time Cinder was away from the castle by herself anxiously pacing and grumbling to herself that the stupid kid better not get herself killed)

Cinder has no qualms about what they’re planning to do, is even looking forward to it, but Emerald is determinedly Not Thinking about how their plan here is going to end in more horrific deaths than she has ever been responsible for

Salem watches them as they board the airship to Vale: Emerald only looking her way to give her a cursory bow of the head and Cinder more timidly copying her, still too nervous around Salem to take her eyes off her when she’s in the room

she knows that Emerald lied to Cinder about how the Maiden powers transfer, and that Cinder’s trust in a mentor has been broken before and will break even more easily a second time. 

she will be watching them very carefully: Emerald’s only weakness is her still-soft heart, and should she ever get cold feet...well. Emerald’s spent all this time preparing a replacement Maiden for her, hasn’t she?

[jadethest0ne]

In need of Refueling, Chapter 4 - A Warning

Summary:  “You?! Why would I trust you? You have brought me nothing but failure. Time and time again; nothing but disappointment!”

His father’s words might have been a result of his possession by the White Bone Spirit, but whether or not they were his true thoughts, Red Son vows to prove them wrong. To do so he seeks to attain a power strong enough to destroy his father’s immortal enemy. After all, he’d much rather throw fire at his problems.

Word Count: 1671

Ratings/Warnings:  Teen and up; injury, burns, angst and hurt/comfort, toxic thoughts caused by toxic parents

Notes: This time with more MK! Can the author pull off POV switching?! Tune in to find out! Big thanks to @painted-arachnid and @simplyfornardo  for helping me bounce ideas off of them. And also thanks to @lemonsqueazie for providing me with “Journey to the West” lore. I don’t know much about the original novel or other iterations, but I still tried to keep some things compliant with the lore. You should check all of them out, since they’re really great content creators with neat ideas!

Read on AO3

———-

Red Son looks at the small blue flame in his hands.

A smile twitches at the corner of his mouth. Then he chuckles. The chuckles become louder until they’re an uproarious laughter that echoes around the mountaintops. He had done it! He had attained the True Fire of Samadhi!

But what exactly is this new power? It certainly feels strong. And strange. Almost... alive. As if the fire has a small heartbeat of its own, lightly pulsing in his palms.

He has to test it out.

He starts with a small blast pointed outward off the ledge he was on. But as he lets loose the flames from his palm, the small blast turns out to be not so small at all, and instead it becomes a giant fireball that reaches a neighboring mountain, glances off its side, and blasts a decently sized boulder off the edge of it.

Red Son blinks at the destruction he caused. He chuckles again, though a bit more nervously this time. I guess this will take some getting used to, he thinks.

He tries again, this time holding back a lot more than he normally would. Destruction is good, but control seems to be important here. There is something about the will of the fire that tells him so. His second attempt is much better, and more the size that he initially desired. He sets off a few more of those, then tries some medium sized flames, and a couple larger blasts, getting a hang of the pressure and power. He throws some punches and kicks, and lets the flames dance around his body and fingers.

He is having a lot of fun, but wonders what else The Fire can do.

 Extinguish the inextinguishable.

He recalls what was written on the archway in the mountain. He looks down at the sea lapping at the mountain shore in the distance. “Let’s see how ‘inextinguishable’ you really are,” he says with a smile.

Feeling confident he commands the flames to lift him up and over to the shore. His confidence is well-deserved, it seems, as the fire kicked up under his feet leads him safely over to the beach.

First, he puts a hand under the water and then commands the fire to appear in his palm. Bubbling beneath the water, it faithfully appears in his palm with the same energy as if it weren’t submerged.

He pulls his hand out of the water and with two palms outstretched thrusts fire over and onto the water itself. The entire beachside is lit ablaze. The light reflects in his eyes. They shine greedily at the pure might that is displayed in front of him. The color is cold and uncaring, but the heat is strong and hot, and presses against him in waves. His father will surely be amazed with this, and be proud of his accomplishments.

Red Son is so caught up in his revelry and thinking of his father’s reaction and how he’ll finally gain recognition, that he doesn’t realize that the flames have creeped up shore and that the edge of his left pant-leg has caught fire. He looks down and yelps in surprise. He does a bit of a jig before he reminds himself that it’s his fire, and sweeps his arms wide extinguishing the flames from the beach (and his pants) completely.

He coughs to gain composure and makes a show of casually dusting himself off, despite no one having witnessed his small error. He feels confident enough with this test run, that he thinks he can attempt to take on the Monkey King. But there's one more problem he needs to figure out.

How to find the Monkey King?

Red Son is interrupted in his musings when he hears some rocks being disturbed behind him. From the blasts he caused earlier maybe? Or perhaps someone had seen him after all���? An idea pops into Red Son’s head. He may have a way to find the Monkey King after all...

----

MK had noticed Red Son in the market while looking for ingredients for Pigsy. He ducked behind a stall, and peered out at his enemy. He heard him say something about how a “fire will be mine” and rush off. If there was one thing that MK had learned from cartoons, video games, and frequent run-ins with demons, it’s the look of a bad guy plotting something evil. So he does what a hero does - he follows him.

MK starts to get nervous when the direction that Red Son is taking begins to look familiar. And then extra nervous when he takes off beyond the sea headed towards where the Monkey King lives. He has to pull out his staff to try to fling himself in that direction over the sea. Landing in the Flaming Mountains, he misses Red Son by a good margin. But after some searching, he sees the fire demon wandering around a large volcano to the east. He is perplexed when for a moment it looks as if Red Son fazes through the wall of the mountain only to instantly appear on the ledge again.

Red Son seems really still for a moment, but then summons a flame to his hands.

A blue flame?

That’s unusual.

Then Red Son starts cackling maniacally.

That is less unusual.

MK tries to push closer to see what’s going on, only to be taken aback by a sudden burst of blue flame that blasts away a chunk of the mountain next to him. MK pulls back and holds a hand over his suddenly racing heart. That was very intense and loud. He looks back cautiously, holding his staff in front of him, expecting another blast to come his way. But it seems as though he hadn’t been discovered and that blast was not meant for him, since he sees Red Son start making some motions and stances throwing that strange blue fire around him.

MK wonders what could be going on. A training session maybe? But why come to the Flaming Mountains? Red Son wouldn’t risk being caught by the Monkey King, would he?

His thoughts are interrupted as Red Son starts propelling himself towards the beach. MK tries to follow as quickly and stealthily as he can. Despite tripping over several rocks, he makes it to the beach undetected. What greets him there sends a cold pit into his stomach - the entire beach on fire.

And not just the sand. But the water.

The water is on fire!

MK blinks. How is that even possible?! He is so taken aback that he doesn’t realize how much he is leaning forward, and in doing so a small pebble loosens where he stands and rolls down the cliff he is on. He pushes himself behind a rock and holds his breath, hoping he wasn’t seen.

After a few beats, he hears Red Song speak. Not to him, it seems, so MK tentatively peeks over the ledge to look again. What he hears isn’t good.

“Finally! The True Fire of Samadhi! With this I can destroy even the great Monkey King and deliver him to my father!!!” Red Son shouts with relish.

The pit in MK’s stomach sinks further with those words, and as Red Son envelops himself in blue flames and disappears, MK panics.

 He’s after the Monkey King!!

A bunch of thoughts run through his head at once. He only said he could destroy the Monkey King, not that he would, right? But why else would Red Son come here than to fight the Monkey King?  Maybe he was just being his normal boastful self? Surely some fire couldn’t actually hurt someone who is immortal a thousand times over, right? But if Red Son came here, he’s definitely trying something and probably wants to get to him. What was that about “delivering him to his father?” And he literally set the water on fire! That can’t be good. How much time had he spent thinking about this? How much had he been delaying if the Monkey King somehow could be in danger? Why was he stillherehehadtogoNOW!!!

MK plants his staff into the ground and launches himself towards Flower Fruit Mountain. No time to think; he had to warn his mentor! It took him only a minute or two. Hopefully, that was a minute or two that could be spared.

He rushes through the waterfall and the rocky arch that marks the entrance to the Monkey King’s home, kicking up sand and dirt in his wake. He reaches the hut and looks around. There are monkeys hanging out as normal. Everything is quiet and calm. Nothing is on fire.

MK takes a few steadying breaths. Maybe he didn’t have to panic-- “Heya, Kid!” a voice appears right next to his ear.

MK yelps and scrambles a few feet away, before turning around to see the Monkey King, very much fine and not in danger, standing next to him in a very relaxed stance. Monkey King laughs and smiles genuinely at his student. “A little jumpy today, huh, Kid?”

“Uh-- yeah, I came to uh--” MK stutters out.

“Today’s not a normal training day. Or did you want some extra pointers?” The Monkey King flashes an easy smile, and winks at MK, the embodiment of calm and cool.

MK swallows and finally gets some words out. “No! I came to warn you about---”

“--ME!” comes a maniacal voice. Fire billows out of the entrance, somehow easily passing through the waterfall. From the flames appears Red Son smiling widely and wickedly at the mentor and student.

Blue flames flow from one of his eyes, giving him an intimidating aura, and he looks evilly at MK. “Thank you, Noodle Boy, for showing me the way!”

The cold pit that had been digging into MK’s stomach dropped all the way to his toes. All words and thoughts leave him. Except for one thing that echoes endlessly in his head:

 He had led Red Son right to his teacher.

start || <– previous // next –>

[jovialyouthmusic]

A Lythikan Liaison

After the death of Jackson Walker, the young King’s Guardsman Bastien Lykel accompanies the Royal family to Lythikos in mid December. 

Word Count 3517

Absolutely NS*W and NO UNDER 18s 

Pairing; Bastein Lykel and OC

1 At a Loose End

Bastien Lykel stamped his feet to dislodge the packed snow from his boots as he entered the staff quarters at Lythikos Lodge. The Royal family was spending some time before Christmas in the duchy and taking young Olivia back to the Palace for the festivities. It meant half of the King’s guard, recently deprived of its popular captain, Jackson Walker, travelled with the King and his two sons. Bastien had been Jackson’s protege, and the new Captain had his own favourite, so his duties had diminished somewhat. Bianca, Drake and Savannah had remained at the Palace, as Bianca didn’t seem to have the will or desire to uproot the bereaved children from their home, despite the attractions of skating and building snowmen. To be truthful, it was dubious as to whether the family would stay in Cordonia, and Bastien thought it likely that they would return to Texas.

So he had leisure time that he barely knew how to spend, as his shift was over and Captain Parker had told him he wouldn’t be needed until the return journey. He wondered why he’d been brought along at all, knowing that his time would have been better spent supporting the Walker family. He suspected that Constantine wanted him to cut his ties with them in order to concentrate on his job. But if that was the case, Parker should be keeping him busy, not laying him off.

He sighed as he took his coat off and hung it where the snowflakes would evaporate in the warm air of the entrance hall. He went to the canteen and took a bowl of stew and a crust of warm bread to a table looking out over the frozen lake. A few of the Lodge staff were also eating their evening meal but left him alone, which suited him fine.  The Lythikans knew how to make good hearty food, he’d give them that. He disliked their spiced drinks and the nog turned his stomach, but the red wine was robust and strong and the beer was tolerable in moderation.

He refused the hard spiced cookies that were handed out from table to table by a dour serving woman who leered at him and winked broadly, asking if he wanted someone to warm his bed for him or if he preferred a hot water bottle. Her tone made it plain that such a device was only for weaklings and children. He glared at her and replied he was perfectly capable of making his own arrangements and made his way to the bar, where a few of his fellow guards sat drinking.  Lewis sat alone at a table at the edge of the room, able to see all that went on, as a good guard should. Bastien went over to join him, seeing his glass was almost empty.

‘Hey Bas, how are you holding up?’ Lewis asked. The two men had joined the Guard in the same intake, and had helped each other through some of the more arduous training exercises. Bastien had finished top of his year with Lewis a close second, and the two men had formed a strong bond.

‘I’d be just fine if Parker gave me more to do’ he grumbled ‘I’d far rather be working than told to go and relax.’ He eyed his companion’s glass of Skullcracker ale, making a resolution to have no more than two pints himself before he went back to his tiny room. He may not be working the next morning, but he could do without the crashing hangover Lythican alcohol gave him nonetheless.

‘Sleeping okay?’ Lewis knew that Bastien suffered flashbacks from the assassination attempt that had taken his mentor’s life. Bastien shrugged.

‘A little better’ he admitted ‘It’s too cold to get up and wander around so at least I stay in my bed until breakfast’

‘I wouldn’t admit the cold to the natives’ Lewis said in an undertone ‘They make them hardy out here. It’s only been a decade or so since they stopped putting newborns out in the snow to test how strong they are.’ Bastien snorted

‘It’s rumours like that which keep relations between Lythikos and the rest of Cordonia at an ‘us and them’ level.’ Lewis shook his head and drained his glass of ale.

‘Don’t look now, but those two over by the bar have been eyeing us up since you came in’ Lewis said with an almost imperceptible nod. As he had said, two women were looking in their direction, no subterfuge in their appraisal of the King’s men. They were both well built, one of them taller, close to Bastien’s six foot four inches and had pale skin and rich auburn hair.

‘I’ve already been offered a bed warmer, maybe I should take one of them up on it and get it over with’ Bastien mused.

‘You know what Lythicans are like, you’ll be in for a hard ride’ Lewis warned him. He handed his glass to Bastien, who stood up to go and order ale.

‘I’ve not much better to do’ he said ‘I should make the most of my down time’ He strode to the bar and put the glass down. The bartender raised his eyebrows at him.

‘Another pint of Skullcracker and whatever these two are having’ he nodded at the two women. The taller one held eye contact as she replied.

‘Are you sure you can handle that ale, King’s man?’ she asked ‘Most foreigners find just the one enough to send them to their knees’

‘Foreign? I’m Cordonian just like I presume you are’ he replied ‘Or are you claiming Lythikos is independent of the Crown?’ She frowned

‘Last I heard, Constantine insisted he’s King, and Duchess Lucretia hasn’t made a counter claim. Yet. And we call any non Lythican foreign, even if they come from the next village outside the duchy boundary.’ she replied acidly, but indicated to the barman that she’d accept Bastien’s offer. The other woman took two glasses of ale and went to join Lewis at his table.

‘So what part of Cordonia do you hail from, King’s man?’ she asked, as she took a healthy gulp of the ale that made Bastien hope he could match her without invoking the hangover.

‘My family comes from the capitol’ he said.

‘Oh yes, and what name do you go by?’

‘Lykel. Bastien Lykel’ She pursed her lips and nodded

‘A distinguished name. You might have a claim to the throne yourself if you can prove your lineage.’

‘Power doesn’t interest me’ he said, shaking his head ‘Attending banquets and balls and talking to trade delegates isn’t my idea of a fulfilling lifestyle’ He took a gulp of the thick ale. ‘I take it you’re Lythican?’

‘Naturally. The name’s Marcia. Marcia Wolfsbane’

‘That’s a fine surname too. Have you got links to the Nevrakis?’

‘Only in service, but then doesn’t most of the duchy?’

‘What do you do for a living?’ he asked curiously, and she laughed out loud, slapping her palm on the bar.

‘Can’t you tell? I’m in the same line of business as yourself. I’m part of the Lythican Guard. I saw you and your friend arrive with the Royal family’ She grinned at having bested him. Taking another swig from her glass, she nodded at him appraisingly, her gaze raking him from head to toe ‘You want to come back to my place and fuck?’ she asked. Bastien swiftly got over his chagrin at missing her occupation and gave her a slow smile. He liked directness, it left no room for misinterpretation and he was relieved that she wasn’t interested in drinking herself into a stupor. It had been a while since he’d had anything but brief encounters and wondered if this would be more than a one night stand. It wasn’t important, his job didn’t allow for romantic commitment although Lewis had a steady partner.

‘Sure, why not. Let me finish this first’ he replied.

------

Ten minutes later he found himself walking beside the tall woman along the narrow streets of the town that served the lodge and ski slopes. The Lythicans had found there was money to be made from winter sports in peace time and had spared no expense setting up resorts in the hills. Between the low log cabins the snow turned to slush underfoot and he was thankful for his good leather boots and thick socks that kept out the cold and wet.

‘You do realise that a couple of decades ago you wouldn’t have dared to be alone with the likes of me?’ she pointed out ‘Thank goodness for peacetime’

‘I like to think I’m a good judge of character’ he replied. ‘It’s my job to assess dangerous situations’ They trudged on for a while, passing other Lythicans walking to and fro in the darkening early evening.

‘Is it true you use those new tracking devices to keep tabs on each other?’ she asked curiously.

‘I wouldn’t tell you if we did.’ He said shortly. She turned down a dim side street which struck him as the sort of place that unwary travellers might be lured before being relieved of their valuables. Warily he scanned the shadows for lurkers as she strode on.

‘My home’s just down here, King’s man. I share the cabin with my friend back at the bar when we’re off the duty rotation. She’ll leave us alone for the night so you won’t have to worry about disturbing anyone.’

‘Does that depend on the willingness of my partner?’ he asked ‘He’s in a relationship, I’m not sure that he’ll bite’ Marcia shrugged as she stopped at one of the almost identical cabins and put her hand to the door. Bastien noted that it wasn’t locked, a sign either that there was no crime in the town, or that nobody would dare take anything from the occupants.

‘She’ll find someone or somewhere else’ The door swung open and she beckoned him in. ‘Boots off’ she ordered. Bastien bent to unfasten them and left them by the door next to hers and shrugged off his thick coat. The cabin was cool and smelled of spice and pine. She had already hung up her own coat and disappeared through a door off the lobby. He followed to find her kneeling by a wood burner setting a match to it. It took easily and the room was soon warming up.

‘You’ll take a hot drink?’ she asked

‘Only if it’s not spiced’ he replied ‘I prefer my drinks plain.’ She laughed

‘You’re missing out, King’s man’ she exclaimed ‘They warm the blood and heighten the senses’

‘No good if my stomach’s turned’ he said sourly ‘A nip of whiskey does the job very nicely’

‘In that case, hot chocolate with a dash of brandy. No spice’

‘That would be very welcome’ She disappeared, and he took stock of the room. He knew that the town was relatively new, extended to service the ski slopes, and the few traditional buildings were at the centre of the town, and here on the outskirts the buildings were less than five years old. The cabin walls were of dark logs that gave a sense of warmth, and the check curtains were thick and heavy. The furniture was mostly dark stained pine, modern but utilitarian. The couch and chairs were draped in woollen throws, the wooden floor augmented by thick rugs. Red was the predominant colour with accents of green and splashes of golden yellow. Shelves held books and trophies, and he went closer to examine the gleaming silver. Marcia re entered the room with two mugs. He turned to take his, nodding toward the trophies.

‘You have a lot of awards for markmanship’ he observed. She shrugged as he blew on his mug to cool the hot chocolate, plain as she had promised with no scent of spice and no cream, but an aroma of good brandy rose to his nostrils. He took a sip and felt it beginning to warm him from the inside.

‘I have plenty of time to practice, and the hunting in the woods is good’ She put her drink down and took the hem of her woollen jumper, pulling it up off and throwing it onto the couch, with a sigh that indicated that she was hot. She still wore a simple blouse and under vest and was well built, solid and muscular but with enough womanly curves to stir his desire. He knew Lythicans were hot blooded and very active in the bedroom with a casual attitude toward the number of partners they had at any one time, so he had come prepared with protection. Nonetheless, he had a question for her.

‘Are you currently in a relationship?’ he asked. She looked at him over her cup, her piercing blue eyes locking with his grey.

‘Only with my housemate. Are you?’

‘No, but I don’t want to cause any conflict’

‘You won’t’ she said ‘There’s nothing complicated about this unless you want it to be’

‘No, simple suits me just fine’ She put her cup down and moved closer.

‘You have milk on your moustache’ she said huskily, and leaned in to suck at his top lip. He groped to put his mug down on the table next to him, returning the kiss and putting his hand to the back of her neck.

‘Your hair is too long’ she said, reaching up to his forehead, but he gripped her wrist before she could touch it. She bit her lip ‘Someone could twist their fingers into it and control you’ Bastien realised with a flash why all the Lythican guard, male and female, had short cropped hair. He took a pride in his appearance, and his raven black hair was his weakness, always glossy and impeccably styled.

‘They’d have to get close enough to start with, and a good wrist lock would solve the problem even then’ He twisted her wrist to demonstrate, just until he saw her grimace, and let go. She knew her stuff, and it was refreshing to connect with someone so tuned in to his own profession. Truth be told, it was more of a lifestyle than a job. He hoped they could trade work experiences without compromising any confidential information.

But at that moment there was something more primal at hand, something basic and physical that stirred and aroused him. He was always holding himself back, keeping something in reserve, and he guessed that he could let go with her, be himself in a way he couldn’t with anyone else he’d encountered so far. She pushed him back and they stumbled to the couch. A split second decision allowed her to push him down and follow so that she was straddling him, triggering his arousal as her thighs clamped to his. Again she reached for his hair and he countered, pinning her wrists behind her back. Still she surged forward, her breasts pressing to his chest, her lips crashing to his. She lost her balance, allowing him to pivot so that she was the one sitting on the couch. He braced his knee between her thighs, letting go of her wrists. She put her palms to his chest, keeping him from leaning in to claim her lips.

‘One of us has to yield’ he panted.

‘The stronger the fight, the sweeter the surrender’ she growled, and bucked forward pushing him onto the floor. He landed on his back, the thick woollen rug cushioning his fall as she followed him down. He fought back, and they rolled around on the floor, neither giving in until they paused, both panting with exertion, Bastien on top but bracing his weight off her, elbows locked.

He straddled her, pinning her hips down and straightened up to take his sweater and shirt off, warmed through at last from their battle for supremacy. Her eyes blackened as she gazed at his broad muscled chest and flat abdomen scattered with dark hair. Again she bucked and threw him off, mirroring his effort by pinning him to the floor and stripping to the waist before falling on him and delivering scorching kisses and little nips along his neck to his shoulder. Her breasts were small and firm despite her stature, her belly soft but flat, and he was hard between her thighs. They rolled around the floor managing somehow to assist each other to strip naked and end up side by side, her thigh thrown over his hip, breathing hard. She reached down to judge his size with fingers and palm, and a slow smile spread across her face.

‘You are big in every way, Bastien Lykel.’ she murmured appreciatively. ‘I knew there was something about you worth pursuing’ Despite the woollen rugs and the heat of the wood burner the floor was hard and cold and he was grateful as she rose and pulled him to his feet, guiding him with purposeful stride to her bedroom. It was cool but she threw back the bedclothes to drag him on top of her, sinking into the firm mattress and spreading her thighs for him. She rose to sink her teeth into his shoulder and clawed at his back. With an inhuman effort he drew back from her, not quite lost yet.

‘I have – we need protection’ he panted.

‘In the bedside drawer’ she groaned ‘Hurry, I’ve not bedded a man for months’ He fumbled in the drawer and found a foil packet, tearing it open and hoping it was large enough for his girth. He was in luck, and rolled the rubber sheath over his length without discomfort. She pushed him over onto his back and mounted him like an animal, pressing her sex to him before guiding him where she needed him and he placed his hands on her hips, trusting that she knew what she was letting herself in for. She groaned as she started to lower herself onto him, alarmingly tight, but she was wet and the noises she made assured him that pain and pleasure were inseparable for her.

Soon she sat flush to him and rolled her hips, rising up above him and throwing her head back with a guttural cry before leaning forward to bury her face in his between his neck and shoulder, sucking and biting. What they did in that bed bordered on fighting as they wrestled for dominance, rolling over, tangling in the bedclothes, settling into a fierce steady rhythm that challenged the strength of the bedframe. Bastien realised that she could take anything he gave her, and savagely thrust into her willing flesh, pinning her hands above her head until she arched her back and gave out a loud ululating cry. He felt her pulse around him, and with a roar he followed her over the edge until they lay spent and panting, and he rolled off her to the side.

‘Are you sure you’re not from Lythikos?’ she panted as he cleaned himself up.

‘I may have some ancestors somewhere along the line’ he remarked. He went to the bedroom door.

‘You can stay the night if you like’ she said from the tangle of bedclothes. He paused in thought. He could remember his way back to his billet but was reluctant to dress and go out into the cold.

‘That’s generous of you. I need to get my clothes and fold them’ When he returned, she had straightened the blankets and thrown them back for him, a naked leg uncovered. He got in and lay on his back. He wasn’t a cuddler and the bed was wide. She seemed to understand, and curled into herself on her side of the bed.

‘When are you on duty?’ she asked

‘Not until we leave’ he replied ‘My superior seems to think I need down time, but I’d rather be busy’

‘I heard about Walker’ she replied, and he gritted his teeth.

‘I was there’ he said shortly, feeling himself tense at the memory.

‘He sounded like a good man. I never met him’

‘And you never will’ he turned his back to her.

‘I’m sorry for your loss’ she said quietly. ‘That was insensitive of me.’ He snorted, biting back resentful words. He felt her hand on his shoulder. ‘I’m off duty tomorrow as well. If you like, you could come hunting with me’ Her hand fell away. ‘If you look outside the back you’ll see the green and the communal cookfire. All the cabins that back onto it contribute – either with meat or vegetables, or by cooking. I need to make my donation’

‘I’ll think about it’ He was tired – tired of the flashbacks, tired of grieving, tired of worrying about the Walker family, and now from the physical exertion he had just undergone. He felt the comfortable glow of his release, and that and the brandy lured him closer to the edge of sleep. He felt his eyelids grow heavy. His companion was silent, and he surrendered to the dark comfort of slumber.

@sirbeepsalot @stopforamoment @drakesensworld @katedrakeohd​ @texaskitten30​ @be-still-my-aching-heart @hopefulmoonobject @dcbbw @classylady1234 @rainbowsinthestorm @kimmiedoo5 @bascmve01  @ibldw-main @addictedtodrakefanfic @trappedinfandoms @fluffyfirewhiskey​ @kingliam2019 @bobasheebaby​ @marshmallowsaremyfavorite​

[eleanorbloom]

When You’re Ready Ch. 09

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x f! MC (Eleanor Bloom) x Ethan Ramsey.

Word Count: 4.1k

Warning: Angst? And Ethan kinda psyco 🤣

A/N: It took me ages to finish this chapter because, to me, the plot is kind of boring and it was made just for story progression (and I just couldn’t leave it behind nor reducing it to a paragraph for the next chapter), but I have to admit that with the adjustments that I made yesterday, it’s now pretty decent. Fortunately, next chapter is way more interesting.

A/N2: Special thanks to @aylamwrites​ for helping me with some of my writing/translation issues and for her advices.  Gracias gurrrl 💜💜💜

Hope you enjoy it!

Taglist @utterlyinevitable​  @shanzay44​ @choicesficwriterscreations​ @laiba-the-person​ @starrystarrytrouble​ @lahellacute​ @lucy-268​ @aylamreads​ @binny1985​ @romewritingshop​ @cinnamonspongecake​ 

Let me know if you wanna be added to my taglist!

________________

Chapter 9. The Less I Know The Better.

Then I heard they slept together

Oh, the less I know the better.

Eleanor made her entrance into Edenbrook with confidence she never felt before. Not even last year, when she was starting the residency program of her dreams at Edenbrook, she had felt this proud of herself. It was her first day both as a second-year resident and as Junior Fellow Member in the Diagnostics Team, directed by her medical hero, Dr. Ethan Ramsey. And well, yes. The person she had feelings for.

But today was also the first day where she would leave all that in the past, to truly be over him. She would face him, talk to him, and make his presence something so usual in her life that after a few weeks he wouldn’t mean anything but a mentor, a colleague, and hopefully, one day, a friend. But not more than that.

She knew it would be difficult. The night before had been hard enough not falling into his spell again. Her lips were thirsty for his kisses, her skin aching for his touch and her mind only wanted to float into the sky of his eyes once more. But she wasn’t blind anymore. She knew it wouldn’t do her any good.

Bryce had opened her eyes. Even if Ethan had the most selfless intentions pulling away from her to not jeopardize her career, he had hurt her consciously. He had ignored her even when she was drowning. And what Bryce had done just in a few weeks? He treated her like the most precious thing in the world. Like a queen. In the way she always wanted to be treated by someone, but she thought it was just stupid ideas romantic love had put in her head. He had listened to her, respected her space, consoled her when she needed it, and even when she didn’t think she needed it. He had made her his priority. The less she could do at that moment was putting him as her priority over anything she might be feeling for Ethan.

And now, there she was, facing her first obstacle, standing outside the Department of Diagnostics. Big glass walls, and a sliding door before her. She took a deep breath and with a smile on her face entered as the doors slid softly to let her in.

The office was quiet and illuminated by the natural lighting of that summer morning. There was the faintest scent of bergamot and mandarin in the air, probably traces of Ethan’s perfume left early in the morning.

She observed the place taking short steps around. A big desk in front of the entry, a circular table on the right side with a big whiteboard behind…

“I’m here, I’m really here”

“Hey, me too.”

…And a couch between the table and the entry, where it was a man reclined, reading a medical journal.

A tanned man with tiny eyes and a grown beard stood up and approached her. He seemed familiar, but the big smile on her face made her think she might be wrong.  

“Um, Zaid? You’re on the diagnostics team?”

“Ah, I take it you’re one of my twin brother’s residents.”—He answered extending his hand to the confused resident.—“Baz Mirani’s the name, immunology’s the game. Game-slash-specialty.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even know Zaid had a twin brother.”

After a few moments talking, her mind raced to the smirk Ethan had given her the night before. That’s why he didn’t want to talk about the team members. It wasn’t about bias, he just wanted to keep it a surprise the fact that Zaid Mirani had a super friendly twin brother that made them look the personification of the yin and yang in terms of niceness and well, in term of twins. While Zaid was King of Sarcasm, Baz had no ability to perceive it. While Zaid was grumpy and serious, Baz was amicable and talkative.

Then it was the time to meet the last member of the team, June Hirata. June was a very intense-looking woman with a British accent and a self-assurance that exuded from her pores.

Eleanor felt a little intimidated by the way the attending was scrutinizing her, but she thought it was normal for a neurologist and psychologist to examine a new colleague not only on a physical level but in terms of corporal language too, just like she was doing it.

After a few minutes of chatting with her new colleagues, Ethan appeared through the sliding doors.

“Introductions done? Great. We’ve got work to do”—He said, while the three took a seat in the table.

She couldn’t help but feel a little twist of nervousness inside her stomach, but she tried hard to suppress any emotions she might feel, and just focused on trying to be just as stoic as her mentor always appears. She put her best professional face and started to observe how the team worked and took notes of all the things they were saying.

June and Baz started asking questions to Ethan, who had all the information about the new patient. Eleanor remained silent, witnessing the exchange, trying to absorb all the information possible. She was a bit intimidated because that level of confidence and questioning was really out of her league, but she tried to convince herself that it was a normal response for a first day.

The team divagated through some symptoms, theories, and diseases until June gave the final idea: Cutaneous Kikuchi disease. With that, Ethan asked her to run a biopsy on the patient's rash to confirm the diagnosis.

Once the team was dismissed, both attendings returned to their other duties, leaving Eleanor and Ethan alone.

“After you’re done with our patient, you can see Ines and Zaid for further assignments.”—He said as he was taking a seat by his desk—"You’ll be balancing your work here with your usual resident duties. Now that you’re a second-year, that will include rotations at the free clinic.”

“Yes Dr. Ramsey”— She replied standing up from the chair—“We will always diagnose patients without seeing them?”

“No, but we’re often asked for help by hospitals all over the country, so it’s a good habit to keep our blind diagnosis skills sharp.”

Eleanor was about to reach the door when she stops in her tracks, hesitating. 

“Is everything alright, Eleanor?”

“Actually, could we talk?”

Ethan gazed at her for a few moments before answering.

“About the job or about us?”

“The job. That’s why we are here.”—Eleanor replied with obviousness, but it sounded harsher than she intended. As if it would never cross her mind talking about them.  

His eyes betrayed him for a split of a second as he addressed the coldness in her response, but then he just got up from his desk and moved to the circular table. Eleanor sat beside him a moment later.

“I’m all yours”

She couldn't help but shook her head to herself, not missing the ulterior motives in Ethan’s words for the second time straight.

“I’m just surprised how well and how quickly you worked that out. How are you sure you made the right diagnosis?”

Ethan took his time to explain to Eleanor how the team proceeded, the normal way they work, and gave her some tips to be more involved next time. He assured her that it was normal that the first days she would be feeling lost and ignorant, but once she started to obtain more knowledge from medical journals and research, she would improve her involvement in the team. 

She nodded at every advice, and when he was done, she kept staring at him inquisitively.

“What is it?”

“Your glasses, I’m not used to see you with those on.”

“Oh, yes. I use them when I work on the computer. Now that you’ll come to the office frequently, you’ll see me a lot like this.”

“They make you look smart”—She teased, trying to diffuse the tension she still sensed on Ethan after her cold response.

“You've caught me. The illusion behind my status. Without these, I’m a simpering moron.”

That seemed to relax his shoulders a bit. They both laughed for the first time without the tension of their actual status, where recriminations wouldn’t be involved this time. Her eyes shined, happy for sharing that moment after so much discomfort.

“So, Zaid had a twin brother and you dared to not tell me.”

Ethan chuckled

“I wish I was there when you saw him for the first time. I can only imagine your face.”

“Haha, very funny. You’re such a trickster, Ethan.”

They had lean close to each other without noticing, their knees touching, and his fingers just an inch away from hers.  Her composure stiffed, her will power was once again being challenged.

She couldn’t give in. She had to keep playing the cold Eleanor that didn’t feel a thing about his mentor.

She swallowed hard.

“Well, I should get those test run.”—She informed, taking the notebook in her hand, and then standing up in one swift motion—"Thank you for your advice, Ethan.”

“You’re welcome, Eleanor. Anytime.”—He responded, caught off guard by the abruptness of her reaction. 

Eleanor left the office quickly, sensing how his eyes were following her as she passed through the door. She released the breath that had been holding a few steps away from the office.

She had made it.

The interactions during the day weren’t any different. She ran the tests, informed her discoveries to the team (with the help of her intern, Esme Ortega), and then she made quite an impression with the Governor by diagnosing her son was sick; which granted her an invitation to have dinner with Naveen, Harper, Ethan, the Governor, and her staff that night. She had become the best card Edenbrook had to secure important funds to keep the hospital afloat.

After dropping Harper home after the dinner, Eleanor couldn’t suppress the memories of the last time she was alone with him in that car. The night before he left. The night of their last kiss, of the last time they made love. The last time they consciously and voluntarily stared at each other as lovers.

She was in the exact same place where everything had ended and after two months it still hurt.

Eleanor turned to her left, wondering if Ethan might be thinking the same, but his face was serious, without traces of knitted brows or troubled eyes. The streetlights were framing his features in different shapes as the car moved down the streets. She fixated her eyes in his grown beard, which still felt a bit odd to her, but to some extent, it would be useful as a fresh start. He wasn’t the Ethan she knew and wanted. He was the Ethan that left for two months to start over and be the boss and colleague she needed.

Then she looked away, coming back into her senses. She clenched the silk material of her pine dress in her fists until her knuckles were white

“What. Are. You. Doing?” —She asked herself, pressing her fists into her knees harder at every word she said on her mind. 

The car stopped before the red traffic lights and she felt Ethan was turning to her, staring.

“Don’t look at him. Don’t.”—She ordered in her head, her composure tensing even more.

But after a few moments, she gives up.

Amber connects with the sky and the earth stopped spinning. She was so lost in him that didn’t notice he had brought his right hand to hers, taking it gently.

“We’ll be okay.”

His thumb caressed the knuckle of her middle finger, and that’s what it took to feel a shiver down her spine. He knew what she was thinking.  He was touching her. No. It wasn’t anything. It didn’t mean anything.

She had to look away, but if the first time had been hard, now it would be impossible while he was staring at her. She couldn’t just look away. She wasn’t that brave, at least for now.

From the corner of her eye, she perceived a change in the lights. Her way out.

“It’s… It’s green now”—She said in a tiny voice, his eyes desperate for a moment.

Ethan glanced back to the street, clearing his throat. The air returned to her lungs.

He drove the rest journey in complete silence and he barely looked at her when she got off the car outside her apartment.

“Thanks for the ride Ethan, see you tomorrow”

“Goodnight, Eleanor.”

She had made it again.

--

The next day, Ethan and Naveen were sharing their remarks about the dinner the night before when they spotted Eleanor, Bryce, and Sienna entering the hospital after their lunch break. Ethan tried to avoid looking at her, not wanting to expose his mixed feelings about her in front of Naveen, but the old had mastered at reading him after so many years.

“Rumors says Dr. Bloom has been doing good these past weeks”—Naveen said as he finds Ethan following her, reluctantly.

“Mmmh?”

“In the company of a surgical resident”

 “You mean with that scalpel jockey?”—He inquired, pointing out the resident who was walking beside Eleanor with a brief motion of his head.

“Yes, precisely”

“I doubt it. They are just friends. Besides, I don’t think she’d like someone like him.”

Naveen didn’t miss the bitterness in his last words.

“What do you mean? Just because he is a surgeon?”

“Yes.  He is arrogant and shallow.”

“Shallow? To me is quite interesting. I’ve heard plenty of praises from Harper. Very promising, bold, intelligent, and ahead of most of his fellow second-year residents, even some third-years.”

“Hmmm, well, the point is I don’t think Bloom would have that bad taste dating a jock like him.”

“Well, they have been seen pretty cozy. I, personally, have seen them while having lunch or going t-.”

“I’ve seen them too.”—Ethan interrupted—"You say cozy, I would say he’s a harasser who likes to touch women, that’s why he might have his hands all over Eleanor. I don’t know why she lets him.”

“Am I sensing jealousy in your tone, my friend?”

“Jealousy? For Christ’s sake Naveen. Why would I be jealous of a scalpel jockey? And there’s nothing between Eleanor and me to have the right to feel jealous.”

Naveen chuckled.

“Whatever you say, my friend. But to me, they make a nice couple, she looks very happy around him.”—The Chief commented with a smirk full of malice, waiting for his reaction.

“Of course she’s happy around him, he acts like a goddamn clown all the time.”

Ethan turned around and left with his head steaming with anger.

He didn’t believe Naveen’s words. He didn't want to believe his words. He was convinced that Bryce and Eleanor were just friends, or maybe they were having a fling as all resident do, but nothing more than that.

But he couldn’t ignore such information much longer and against all his self-control and dignity, he started paying attention to her interactions with the surgical resident. However, at first, he didn’t find anything extraordinary. They would have lunch with her roommates as usual, hang out at Donahue’s like always, and chat through the hallways of the hospital as all colleagues do. Maybe Bryce acted flirtily and a bit handsy with her, but it wasn’t different from what he has always been with her.

The idea of them having a fling made him feel a pit in his stomach, but at the same time, it relieved him that it was just that. She was sleeping with Lahela so she could to move on. And he couldn’t blame her. But a relationship? Love? With that jock? That was beyond his comprehension.

While he was observing him, Ethan wondered what Eleanor would see in him. He had listened, without no other option, that many residents, even nurses, found him very attractive— ‘hot” was the most used word in fact—, while other residents, mostly men, would say he was cocky and arrogant, but Ethan was sure that even when he agreed he had a cocky way to conduct himself all over the hospital—all over the world— he wasn’t arrogant without fundaments.

He indeed was an outstanding surgical resident, he had heard many praises from Harper the last few months, so he just knew his worth and how to use it, and Ethan couldn’t condemn him for that. And if he was honest about it, he also had to be honest about the fact that he was an outstanding doctor too. He was always kind and nice to patients, always on time to prep them for surgeries, and always had the time and patience to explain for the umpteenth time how would be the procedure to any patient or family who would ask to him. And that was actually an important trait. That said, Bryce Lahela wasn’t so despicable after all, but he was a scalpel jockey and probably was sleeping with Eleanor, and that was enough to Ethan to despise him.

A few days later, th attending was accompanying a patient before her heart valve replacement when Bryce came into the room to prepare her for the surgery.

“Good morning Mrs. Montero, how are you today?”—He greeted in a joyful voice and then he nodded to the attending—"Dr. Ramsey”

“Dr. Lahela”

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m scared.”

“You have nothing to be scared for.”—He assured—"Dr. Tanaka is the best doctor you could have to repair anything that involves your heart, so everything will be fine.”

“That means he could fix how broke my heart is after my husband passed away?”

Bryce stared at her with a sad smile.

“I’m afraid not. But with the new valve, you’ll get plenty of years to make new memories and adventures, so you’ll have enjoyed your time to the fullest before you left this earth to be with him."

“I like the sound of that.”

“I’m sure you do. And let me say you that you will have the best resident by his side too, so you'll be in the best hands Edenbrook can provide.—Bryce winked warmly at her.

Ethan suppressed a scoff at his words and stood up from his chair.

“I believe you, my boy.”

And then Bryce grinned. A broad smile with his nose wrinkled paralyzed Ethan in his tracks for a second.

The same grin Eleanor had done that night at Donahue’s and that he had found odd and new in Eleanor, but for some reason, it was familiar.

And it was familiar because he had seen it in Bryce Lahela many times when he prepared patients for surgery. That sincere and knowing smile.

“Dr. Ramsey, thank you so much for your company.”

“You’re welcome, Elena. You’ll be in good hands now. I’ll come to see you when you have your new valve, alright?”

“Alright.”

“Lahela”—He nodded before leaving the room with his head racing incessantly.

He had read a while ago that expressions are contagious between people, even at the moment they are displayed, as a show of empathy and to recognize other people’s feelings. He did know too that couples after some time would imitate their expressions and laughs. But it also could happen with friends, family, and whoever you share a place to live with.

Maybe it was normal and Eleanor not only had expressions from Bryce but also from Sienna, Jackie, and Elijah, as they would see each other  throughout the day and they shared an apartment. 

But there was another option that could explain the fact that Eleanor had acquired a smile from Bryce. But he was so in denial that he didn’t even want to put it into words.

That realization changed everything in Ethan. His focus was now on Eleanor. On study how different she was compared to the months before he left. And in their daily meetings or just in their encounters through hallways of the hospital, he found that she was again the same happy and sweet resident he had met last year, with a calm demeanor, her sunny smile, and firm disposition to help whoever needed it. But he also noticed that this 'start over' between them had been taken seriously by her. She was completely focused on the work and never talked about anything that wasn’t work-related with him, and he never found her looking for his eyes or his touch like she used to, but he could tell she used to grow anxious when she had to be alone with him in the office.

A few days later, Eleanor found Bryce, Rafael, and Ethan on their way to their morning gym session so she joined them in a heartbeat. When she got into the room with her workout clothes on, the three buddies were in the treadmill warming up. She went to the fourth machine and started to run beside Rafael.

“What made you want to workout with us this morning, Ellie?”—He asked

“I always try to find a moment to make any physical activity but I hadn’t had the chance these few last days so I’m taking the chance now. I want to stay healthy,”

“That's a very good reason. The body is a machine. When it goes without use, it rusts.”—Ethan conceded, at the other side of the room, in the first treadmill.

“Don’t think that’s medically accurate, Doc”—Bryce pointed out, running between Ethan and Rafael.

“I know surgeons don’t know how to read a book, but that’s called a ‘metaphor’”—Retorted Ethan. Even if there was a teasing smile on his face, the bitterness of his words was evident to everyone in the room.

“Geez, I’ll tell Jackie to send you an invitation to the hate group for scalpel jockeys, Ramsey. You would love it”—He said, not missing a bit, his confidence not even remotely shaken.

Ethan observed Eleanor, whose smile had fainted with disappointment. After a few seconds, as she observed Bryce was smiling as usual, she quickly shook it off and ignored the attending for the rest of the routine.

Ethan knew there was something there and just the fact that he might confirm the rumors made him angry. At himself and at Naveen. Why he had to tell him? It would have been so much better not to know what Eleanor was doing with her life. It was not his business and he had no right to snoop into her life like he had been doing these few weeks.

---

The unusual bitter comment the attending had said to Bryce, made Eleanor sense that maybe he was suspecting about her relationship with the surgical resident. The multiples times she caught him observing her in her lunchtime, at Donahue’s, and anywhere he would spot her with Bryce were making sense now.

Maybe there were rumors. Maybe Naveen had told him, he surely knew every gossip in the hospital—not just because he was the Chief, but because he liked hospital gossip—, and of course he would deliver this information to Ethan to wake him up. The old man had always been pretty honest about his support toward Ethan and her.  

Or maybe he just knew. He just figured it out because of her coldness towards him and because even if she and Bryce tried to keep it lowkey, there was always the chance that he could have caught them the times theye couldn’t help but holding hands or kissing when they were close.

Either way, she didn’t care.

At least not as much as she cared the day before he was back, but now she felt relieved that Ethan might have some clues of her situation. She still didn’t want to confirm it, she wanted to know if he was bold enough, if it affected him hard enough to approach her and ask her about her relationship status.

But she knew him. Ethan was never a man of facing emotions or tough conversations. He was a master at avoiding feelings and people and maybe he would wait for something or someone who would confirm the rumors. The problem was if he was emotionally prepared for that moment.

 ______

[heycallmeladytypewriter]

A Call of the Siren - Chapter Three

A/N: Hey this is a shorter chapter for now but chapter four is already in the works and much longer. We finally get more into the classes and more interactions with our favorite Lord Explosion Murder. I am also looking for a beta if anyone is interested! I don’t own My Hero Academia. I only own my own characters and the story I create within Horikoshi’s masterpiece of a world I’d love to live in.

Chapter One Chapter Two

__________________________________________________________

“Class 1-A...1-A...1-A...goddamn where is it?!” Delia whispered to herself, frustrated. She was never good with directions. She was already on edge today due to the fact she was almost caught by her mother with the wrong uniform on. She had bought her local school’s uniform and it was currently stuffed in her locker to change into before she got back home. She lightly pulled at the end of her braid while she tried to look at the school map again. 

“Oh, uhm hi! Are you looking for 1-A too?” A nervous voice said from beside her.

Looking up from the paper, she was greeted by a boy with messy green hair and a red face. 

“Hi!” She decided not to tell him she actually knew him. At least not yet. She didn’t want him to look at her like she was crazy and a stalker. “Yes! Any chance you know?” 

“I’m a little lost too but maybe two minds are better than one?” He was so flustered with his red face and jerky hand movements - it was adorable. 

They walked around the corner and found it down the hall. Walking up to the door, they both stopped.

“Why is it so big?” 

“Are there giants who go here?” He asked in response.

Before her nerves could get to her, she opened the massive door. She immediately heard two familiar voices. It was Angry boy and the guy from the entrance exam. They both stopped talking once they noticed her and Midoriya at the door. Actually, the whole class turned to look at them. She was pretty sure they both wore matching red faces at this point. The blue haired one straightened his back and marched on over to them without delay. 

“Good morning! My name is Tenya Iida-“

“Uh, hi! I know! My name is Izuku Midoriya. “ he said waving his hands. “It’s super nice to meet you.” 

“Midoriya, you realized there was something more to the practical exam, didn’t you?” 

“Huh?”

“You must be very perceptive. And YOU!” Delia was totally fine with watching the exchange before she realized Iida was gesturing to her. She blinked, “ uh, hi?” And did a small wave with a raised eyebrow.

“You also realized there was something more! I saw you as well run to the aid of that girl. You both are superior students!”

“Uhhh..well-“

“I know that messed up hair! Oh, and you too!” Another voice joined the conversation from behind her. Turning, she saw it was that small girl from the practice exam. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Angry Boy with clenched fists at his desk. His head was tilted slightly meaning he was possibly listening. 

__________________________________________________

Bakugo’s POV:

Oh course fucking Deku was here. 

The bastard ruined everything. He was supposed to be the only one from their school to make it to U.A. He was the best. It only made sense. 

His eyes slid over to the girl standing next to him. It took a moment for him to realize it was the girl from the park he kept running into every time he went to train. She had a puzzled look on her face as that Somei private school douche suddenly pointed at her.

He was used to her in baggy shirts and shorts with messy hair but today her hair was pulled back in a thick braid down her back. She wore the standard girl uniform but her tie was crooked. Her blue eyes were striking even from here.

… It annoyed the ever loving fuck out of him for some reason. 

Of course Deku and this brat would be in his class. 

_________________________________________________________

Delia’s POV: 

“If you're just here to make friends, you might as well pack up your stuff now.” A deep voice said from behind them. The class whipped their heads over to the giant yellow bag on the floor by the door. “Welcome to UA’s Hero Course.” 

What in the actual…?? Delia was just blinking while she could hear Uraraka and Midoriya were making nervous whimpers beside her. 

“It took eight seconds before you all shut up. That’s not gonna work. Time is precious.” 

This man looked so tired as he emerged from his sleeping bag but gave off such an intimidating vibe that had Delia nervous to speak. He is a Pro, of course. Who he was she didn’t know but knew she was going to find out real quick.  “Hello, I’m Shota Aizawa, your teacher.” Well that much she figured despite the class being shocked before a uniform was thrown at her face. 

Aizawa had led them out to a large practice ground rather than the orientation that everyone was itching to attend. He quickly nipped that in the bud with dictating how he will run class as he saw fit and that the Ministry of Education needed to catch up on how we are not created equal (something she was sure her family would have an opinion on..) before she heard him address a classmate. “Bakugo, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam.” Delia looked over to who he was possibly talking to and saw it was Angry Boy.

So that's his name. Bakugo. It was kind of nice to finally have an answer to that question. 

“What was your farthest distance throw with a softball when you were in Junior High?”

“Sixty-seven meters, I think.” Bakugo replied. Wow. He actually can speak in a normal tone. Delia had only ever heard him yelling at her like a psycho no matter what tone of voice she used. 

“Right. Try doing it with your Quirk.” Aizawa instructed as Bakugou stepped into place. “Anything goes, just stay in the circle.”

“All right, man you asked for it.” What a cocky way to talk to our teacher on our first day, Delia thought, Kid’s got some balls.  

“DIE!” With that, he blew up the sky. A massive explosion sent the ball flying until it was no more than a small dot in the air. Delia couldn’t believe the sheer power Angry Boy - no, Bakugo - had all this time. 

As he commented on knowing the limitations of our quirks, Aizawa turned the device towards the class: 705.2 meters. 

How was she going to compete with that?

The 50 meter dash was a bit difficult as she couldn't see how to use her quirk for that so she just full on sprinted. Thankfully, she had spent the last year running on the beach and it gave her some decent speed. 6.7 seconds. Okay, not great but she’ll take it as Uraraka ran slower than she did.  

The strength test was difficult and pathetic.

As well as the long jump. 

The side jump felt fine. 

Finally, the softball ball test. 

“Bell, your turn.” Aizawa tossed her the ball which she nearly dropped as she walked to the base. Delia was getting nervous and fed up with her performance. She made it this far only for her teacher to kick her out the very first day. 

No, not today. 

“Sometime today, Extra.” A lazy, smug voice called out. She didn’t have to turn to know who it came from. Blowing the hair out of her face, Delia squared her shoulders. Well, fine then. 

In a quick motion of her hand, she pulls all the water out of everyone’s water bottles to form her signature water whip and shoots the ball into the sky before she had lost her nerve. 

“Finally.” Her sensei mumbled while showing the number. 567.3 meters. “ Learn to apply yourself and stop acting like you don’t have a quirk.”

Delia nodded stiffly and walked back to the group as Midoriya replaced her in the circle. She felt a nudge on her arm. “ That was pretty awesome!” The boy with the spiked red hair whispered to her with a giant grin. She couldn’t help but smile back, “ Thank you. Sorry for stealing your water.” He shrugged and waved her off, “It was a worthy cause. Can’t have you getting kicked out on day one with a power like that!” Delia started to tug at her braid, not used to any positive attention for her quirk. 

“My name is Delia Bell, by the way.”

 “I’m Ejiro Kirishima.”

She smiled again before turning back to what was happening just in time to see Midoriya throw the ball with outstanding force. “Mr. Aizawa.” He curled his hand with his newly injured finger into a tight fist, “ See? I’m still standing.” 

Delia was impressed but unsurprised since she’s witnessed it before from the entrance exam. And considering who his mentor has been. 

Everyone was flipping out but she noticed one person was not a happy camper about this at all. Bakugou was hunched and practically steaming with anger as his hands started blowing off mini explosions. Then he rushed towards him, “DEKU YOU BASTARD! Tell me how you did that or you’re dead!” 

Aizawa immediately threw out his scarf and stopped Bakugou in his tracks. “Back off.” 

Delia rolled her eyes at Angry boy still fighting against their teacher over what she was sure was an over dramatic reason and reached down to her water bottle before pouting. She used up her water with everyone else’s. Frigger frick. 

Aizawa had them go through a few extra tests before finally showing their rankings. Delia clenched and unclenched her fists at her side as the projection popped up. Her eyes were scanning as quick as they could..Bell..Bell..Bell..Bell! 

Delia Bell : 21st place out of 22. 

She felt defeated but relieved all at once. She wasn’t out but she had some serious work to do. Delia sadly looked over to where Midoriya was standing. Biting her lip, she went over to him quietly and put her hand on his hunched over shoulder. She figured words weren’t the best in this scenario. 

“And I was lying, no one is going home.” He clicked the screen away along with all of our ability to blink or move for a minute. Somewhere in her head, Delia heard a record being scratched. Aizawa grinned (if you want to call it that) before continuing, “That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it you’re all in the tests.”  

You ABSOLUTE motherf- 

_______________________________________

Delia was putting her school shoes in her locker when Uraraka bounced up to her side.

“Oh. Hi?” 

“I just wanted to say thank you for helping me out in the entrance exam when I was stuck!”

Waving her hands at the smaller girl, “ Oh my god no stop that. I wanted to thank YOU for trying to talk to them into giving me points afterwards. That was so nice of you!” 

“How did you- never mind. It was no problem because you deserved it. I mean you ran to me when everyone else was running away. I could’ve been squished!”

“How about we call it even then?” Delia laughed as she saw them going back and forth over this for a while. They started to walk out of the building when Uraraka grabbed her sleeve and started running towards Midoriya and Iida. 

“Oh, it's the infinity girl!” Iida exclaimed before seeing Delia catch up next to her. “ and the girl who stole all of our water!” 

Feeling her face heat up, she laughed a bit. “I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking about the after effects.” 

“Oh, it was totally worth it! I’m Ochaco Uraraka and this is Delia Bell.” Uraraka gestured to herself and then Delia before pointing to the boys. “Let’s see. You are Tenya Iida and your name is Deku, right? Midoriya?” Midoriya damn near choked when he heard that. 

“Uh, well...My name is actually Izuku. Deku is what Kacchan calls me to make fun of me.” He anxiously explained. Delia scrunched up her nose and squeezed the books she held lightly against her chest so hard the edges of them bit into her hands. Delia promised herself to make sure to trip Angry Boy the next time she interrupted one of his runs. Maybe even drop one of his weights on his foot or maybe just a good old fashion punch. 

“Oh! I didn’t realize that. I’m sorry. But you know what? I like “Deku.” It could make a great hero name!” She threw her fist in the air before she smiled at him sweetly, “Plus, I think it's kind of cute.”

“Deku it is!” 

Delia burst out laughing and shook her head. Boys are so simple. As she listened to her new classmates bicker, she smiled at them. “This is going to be an interesting year.” Delia hooked her arm through Uraraka’s arm, who practically bounced at the gesture, and followed the boys down the hill towards home. 

Oh, how she would eat, get sick from, and violently throw up those damn words later. Baka.

[kayr0ss]

Elder Scrolls Academia: A Series of Stories

Book One: The Dragonborn’s Fire and the Lady of Ice

[Diakko, SkyrimAU LMAO, action, adventure, cute goofy fluff, and romance, and dorkiness]

Summary: Diana was unprecedented in her talent for magic, even from her home town of Daggerfall among Breton nobility. But to sharpen her skill to its most lethal, she'd have to train where the cold bit the hardest--Skyrim. Now, the College of Winterhold's foremost student is crossing the threshold from apprentice to full-fledged mage, but her arch-mage mentor had tasked her with one last act to prove herself: Guiding the Dragonborn.

Except, the Dragonborn was hardly what she expected them to be.

[A gift to PyroTato]

---

“Hey, you.”

She blinked through her bleary vision. The first thing she felt was the harsh bite of the cold. Next was the sound of horseshoes clicking against what must have been mud and stone, followed by a view of she could only describe as… white.

“You’re finally awake.”

It wasn’t just white. There were hues of gray and blue, but it was all just merged back into an endless expanse of… white.

She was jolted upwards by a bump in the road—ah, I’m on a carriage—and she tried to right herself but seems she’s been restrained by the wrists. She should have been more panicked, but it wasn’t like this was anything new. Something about her foreign features and red eyes made her an easy target for picking; what’s worse than a foreigner is Skyrim? A foreigner whose origin was a mystery. But she supposed others still had it worse, she was at the very least, as far as she could tell, from the blood of man.

She looked over to the space beside the carriage driver (an Imperial solider, looking still wet behind the ears) to find a locked chest of what must have been their belongings. It looked standard—nothing too hard to pick—made of wood like all the others, and hinges that would give if she pulled hard enough. It was secured onto the cart with two straps of thick leather. Her red eyes scanned the perimeter of the cart of for a sharp object she could use, but her observation was cut short by the thick voice of the Nord who had woken her.

“You were trying to cross the border, right?” He said. His eyes were deep-set, and the dirty blonde of his hair and beard was styled in the proud norther tradition. “Walked right into that Imperial ambush. Same as us and that thief over there.”

She mulled over the words quietly, still a bit too disoriented to engage. She was hungry, and much too focused on trying to flee. The rest of the men had fallen into conversation, with the thief bemoaning his luck while the Nords seemed to take captivity with dignity. She blinked up at the mention of Ulfric Stormclock—apparently he was the sulking large fellow to her right.

And—oh—they were going to be executed?

No thank you, she tested the strength of her bindings. She’d like to live to eat another sweetroll.

The solider called out that they were arriving soon, and that this was a small town called Helgen. Their reception was less than spectacular and a little mixed—some came out to watch like bored spectators, others screamed, “murder!”, and a handful of parents rushed to drag their children back home; hopefully sparing them the trauma of heads casually lopped off in the name of the Emperor. It was a pity. It seemed like a quiet town with people who weren’t nearly as aggressive as farther up north. There weren’t too many buildings, although all of them were imposing with their stone walls and high beams. Not to mention the Imperial fort at the center, which didn’t look tolerant of any kind of trouble.

And she was trouble in every way that counted.

But also so, so hungry!

They were ushered out of the cart with no small amount of roughhousing, thrown into the ground and yelled-at to fall in line and present themselves to a young officer holding a list. There were several soliders on standby, with a woman donning the helmet of a senior Imperial officer barking out orders for the block to be readied. There rattling of chains mixed in with some commotion—the thief had tried to escape.

Mistake.

He fell limp on the ground, not given a second thought after the arrow sniped him square in the back, through where the heart must have been. She gave a low whistle and looked over at the archer, thoroughly impressed.

“You.” The young soldier called, and suddenly she was shoved forward—closer to that damned execution block—and asked to present herself. “Who are… you?”

She stared back at him, red eyes determined and stomach grumbling persistently.

“You don’t look like anyone I’ve ever seen on the continent.”

That was probably because as far as the stories have said, she wasn’t. She had to live through a rough life of never belonging with anyone for it—and so she sized him up and for the first time, spoke her name:

“Atsuko Kagari. Who is seriously very hungry.”

 ---

The mage took a deep, chilling breath. Her blues eyes were fixated on the flute glass of water that sat at the center of her desk. She was tucked away in her study, happy to wait out the winter storm with some semblance of warmth within the tower. But it was always cold in Winterhold, and by now it didn’t bother her one bit.

Slowly, the water began frosting over, solidifying under the sheer force of her will and the careful turning of her hands and fingers.

Gentle movements—no fancy gestures. The water froze and slowly crystalized upwards and towards the center into a haphazard cylinder, but then it twisted into itself, the ice moving in shards forming a frozen whirlpool that began to splinter along the top—branching out it as though it were alive, taking the shape of the dead tree in the middle of Whiterun that she had seen while coming to visit Farengar for advice.

It was a near-perfect replica.

She sat back, satisfied with her work. Shooting out a crass bolt of ice was easy. But this? This was control—and with the way the branches had curved in all the right places, the control was absolute.

Back in High Rock, among the Bretons of high society, she was Lady Diana Cavendish of Daggerfall, whose noble house held property in the Duchy of Cumberland where they grew the most potent plants for medicine.

Her person was synonymous with her name and where she had come from. Even on the years of her life spent travelling between Wayrest and Daggerfall for study, she had been measured by the weight of her name and not her magic.

But she excelled quite handsomely at both. It served her well—Bretons were made of diplomacy and trade in one hand, and magic in the other.

But it wasn’t real enough for her.

Not anymore—not in a country where the most a mage could be was the advisor of a king in court, or a glorified cannon on the battlefield.

She left the warm rolling hills of High Rock for the unforgiving cold in the far, far North.

---

Atsuko was just contemplating the effectivity of rolling out of the way of the very big sword meant to take her head when a giant dragon had swooped in and rudely interrupted her untimely demise.

Alright. Perhaps it wasn’t all that rude.

She knew to take an opportunity when it was handed to her, and she bolted straight for the fort where all the soldiers were taking cover.

It was chaos. Utter chaos. There was a roaring overhead that her blood seemed to recognize, but Shor’s bones, she wasn’t going to take the chance and look. The young officer was yelling instructions to protect the citizenry. The ground was shaking! Stone toppled over as the buildings gave in to the monstrous black claws that swatted them away like brittle clay pots.

But the worst of it all was the fire.

The air was scalding even when a few feet away from the plumes of hellish flame raining down from the dragon’s maw. She cursed her luck, wondering if she really escaped death a moment ago only to die as pile of ashes in the next.

“These goddamned bindings!” She hissed, her breath shaky while she pressed her back against the wall. A shadow shaped like wings blocked out the dreary sunlight and she closed her eyes—praying to every single one of the nine, Azura, and anyone who would listen in between.

There was a guttural rumbling coming up from above and—no. She still wasn’t going to look.

Staying close to the wall was a good idea. The dragon shot down a pillar of fire hotter than anything she’d ever felt burning down the buildings opposite her hiding spot. Just because she was expecting it doesn’t mean she was prepared—her hands shot up to cover her face, and though the heat was overbearing; her skin didn’t burn.

It was over, and the dragon flew back up to douse another part of town in an inferno.

“Foreigner!” A loud, clear voice called out. It was—it was the young officer? He held a dagger, beckoning her to hold out her arms. She thought he’d finish the job that the executioner and the dragon seemed to have left undone, but to her surprise he cut the bindings off and dragged her into the fort though a small entrance at the back.

“Follow me if you want live.” He commanded.

They barged into the relative safety of the fort—Atsuko saw the chest of their belongings from the corner of her eyes. She scrambled towards it, eager to retrieve the only belonging she had carried through the years, but the young officer held out his arm in front of it before she could reach it.

“I’ll unlock it.” He reassured. “Take what’s yours—there should also be some armor along the racks.”

“Why are you helping me?” Atsuko looked over warily, helping herself to the now-opened chest. The axes and shields didn’t interest her, neither did the potions, but—ah. There it is.

“Two can survive the dungeons and the caverns down below better than one.” He looked over towards her. “My name’s Hadvar. I think I—” His eyes widened at the sight of the old, worn sword that she held near her.

This reaction was nothing new, and she’s had her fair share of fending off thugs who thought it was theirs for the taking. They had another thing coming. She knew how to use this, at the very least. The blade was curved and slender, a stark contrast to the heavy, wide swords of Skyrim. The grip was wrapped in dark leather, crisscrossed with finely-embroidered cloth of a deep red, making a pattern of diamonds. The guard was simple, and so was the pommel, and the worn blade itself was dotted with seven, in-laid stars. It seemed the sheath was missing—Atsuko would later scavenge for cloth to wrap it with.

“That’s an Akaviri blade.” Hadvar looked in poorly-concealed surprise. “Where did you truly come from?”

Atsuko rolled her eyes—feeling annoyed despite the threat of a rampaging dragon outside. “I’ve asked myself that question more times that you can ever imagine.”

--

Atsuko had woken up in the house of a blacksmith in Riverwood. With a bit of a headache, she sat down with her head in her palms trying to remember it all. She was hungry. Oh, and about to get executed. The—dragon? Hadvar was leading her through the caverns.

He brought her to his uncle and aunt, and they were kind enough to open their home to her and feed her. They only favor they asked in return was for her to ask Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun for help.

Of course she’d help! She crossed her arms at how tentatively they asked. Did these wonderful people really think she’d turn them down after feeding her the best venison stew her taste buds had ever been graced with?

And so she found herself hiking to the capital of Whiterun Hold. Addvar fashioned her a scabbard out of wood and leather, and her sword hung snugly across her back. The travel was easy, save for the pestering of some wolves, and soon she found herself past Honningbrew Meadery, just about to cross the bridge that led to the slope coming up towards Whiterun Stables.

For the second time in a few days—the world around her was suddenly shaking.

There were… voices. Wailing. Calling. Pounding into her eardrums and her head so strongly that she had lost her balance and nearly fell over. She caught herself on the wooden railing of the bridge that ran over a small stream. Her breathing became erratic, and she clawed at her chest, feeling her knees give in.

Dohvakiin!

Her eyes snapped up, looking around for its source. Her soul felt like it knew that voice but—how?

And why did it sound like a call into battle?

---

She was summed for a meeting by no less than her mentor, the arch-mage, herself.

"Did you hear it?"

Holbrooke looked out from atop the bannisters of the College of Winterhold. Her hands were folded neatly at her back, holding her staff across it, while the wind whipped at their cloaks; cold and merciless from the Sea of Ghosts. The view was always white. One could barely see through the thickness of snow and slat, which would have cut deep into Diana's bones if she hadn't learned the art of befriending the cold from the moment she could cast a spell.

"Somehow." She replied curtly. It was an honest answer; she didn't so much as hear than she felt it.

"The Greybeards call." The arch-mage looked towards her. "The Dragonborn has been summoned."

Diana nodded silently. She looked out into the Horizon, across the dying town at the base of their castle, towards the peaks which she knew was the Throat of the World. It was barely visible on most days, but it seemed the howling winds and frost would reign themselves in to make way for a pronouncement which struck fear as much as it did hope: there is a god amongst men in Skyrim.

It was no longer a legend.

"Did you hear?" Holbrooke began. "Or did you feel?"

Diana turned sharply towards her mentor.

"Because the rest of us could hear, but I reckon you're a little bit different."

"I'm not quite sure I understand—"

"Lady Cavendish of Daggerfall," Holbrooke looked up to her with a burning intensity. "Within the bounds of Skyrim, you will be Diana of the Frost—A proper mage. A proper master. But first—"

The smaller woman stomped the base of her staff into the cold, icy stone of the castle. The action was weak in its physicality, but the waves of magic it had sent cackled like lightning.

Diana's foot inched back a little to keep herself steady against the pulse.

"—you will seek out the Dragonborn and guide them."

---

The arch-mage had sent out word of their search for the Dragonborn of legend, and many responded with cynicism or outright disinterest. Thankfully, there was still brotherhood amongst the College’s alumna and they had agreed to keep their search a secret.

Farengar was the first to respond with any promise. The magical letter he sent was a rather enthusiastic one—of no surprise to Diana. He always spoke… so much.

She rode gracefully on her steed, intent to make up for the few days she spent fixing her affairs with the College before riding out towards Winterhold. It would take more than a half-a-day on horseback, and she had started early, hoping to arrive in the afternoon for some rest before presenting herself to the Jarl, and in turn, her colleague. The icy crags of Winterhold slowly melted away the closer she got to the Pale, and the sight of mud and greenery was more welcome than she thought it would be.

Wolves stalked the roads, but they were a nuisance at best. It was the frost trolls she had to watch out for—her area of expertise in magic was painfully ineffective against them, but she could hold her own if push came to shove. Ice wasn’t the only thing she knew how to weaponize.

She pulled on her hood, her breathing coming out in puffs of thick, misty vapor while she took a moment of respite. She’d been going at it for a few hours now. The land was beginning to turn into an expanse of green and yellow—she was at the border of Whiterun Hold. She could see spires at the top of a walled city on a mountain. Dragonsreach was clearly within view. It reminded her a little bit of High Rock, and riding through Rivenspire and Glenumbra when her mother visited for political affairs.

She bit at her lip, pulling on the reins of her horse as it began to whinny and buck. She didn’t actually know what guiding the Dragonborn meant. How did one guide a human with the soul of a dragon? What wisdom could you impart the mortal incarnation of no less than Akatosh himself?

She had studied many things in the world—more than just magic. She’s seen statue upon statue and endless sketches of Tiber Septim. The conqueror—always standing coldly in stone, uncompromising in his just crusade to unify all nations of Tamriel.

Diana was never one to doubt herself but—what guidance can a mage possibly impart on someone with such power?

She surveyed the land ahead of her, noting there wasn’t much left to cover. Something caught her eye.

It was smoke. And… fire?

She prodded her horse forward and into an urgent gallop, riding straight into the fray of what looked a small skirmish happening on the outskirts of the city walls, near the watch towers.

She was a little bit closer now but then—she gasped. It took everything in her power not to choke up and pull her horse into a full stop as a large, reptilian figure shot upwards from the ground with the beating of wide, leathery wings.

It was horrifying.

Her throat had constricted into tightness—but she grit her teeth and rode on. The closer she came, the more horrible the scene had become. Nameless guards had been gobbled into the drake’s hungry mouth, their helmets falling off and into the dirt, disappearing in a cloud of dust where once a whole man was standing. It looked like the fighting had been going on for some time. She whipped her rains, pressing her feet into the sides of her horse to push him onwards—faster. She could hear their voices now. Screams. There was a dark-elf woman who seemed to be in-command, along with a handful of what must have been the Jarl’s elite guard.

There was also a… a woman with brown hair, whipping around ferociously in tattered imperial leather armor. It looked like it was too large for her, but she wore it masterfully. She was brandishing a curved sword that looked vaguely familiar—but the dragon’s claw was coming down onto her fast and Diana was too far away to stop it and—

“Look out!”

She yelled, the exertion making her lungs burn. The woman was cued in by her shout and had rolled to the side, taking the opportunity of the dragon sinking its claw into the ground to land a clean slice at the underside of its arm.

It roared. That made it angry.

She hopped off her horse now—throwing self-preservation away with reckless abandon. She vaulted into a run, her hands growing cold, ice at her fingertips buzzing with power and anticipation. A cold shot of death waiting to be unleashed.

When the dragon pulled itself upwards to fly back into the air, Diana sent a sharp bolt of ice towards the exposed underside of its torso. Reptiles tended to have soft hides on the underside—and if memory served, dragons were reptiles all the same, albeit overpowered.

All it managed was a small gash, but the creature staggered, losing the momentum it needed to take to the skies. An arrow from the dark-elf general got it straight in the eye. There was hack from a solider at one of its hindlegs. It reared, smoke billowing from its nostrils, and Diana eyes widened—the next thing that would come was fire!

And it was going straight for the brown-haired woman.

On instinct, she reached out, a wall of ice encasing the stranger protectively. It would give her enough time dodge out of harm’s way but—

“By the eight divines, what are you doing?!” Diana yelled. She wasn’t moving at all! She was standing there, biding her time behind the wall of ice while flames engulfed her at every other direction. The dragon was getting frustrated, inching by nearer, and by the gods Diana was good but she wasn’t that good—not yet. That wall was going to melt very soon—it was already starting—but the woman kept steady while the it began to give way. Her left hand was splayed between herself and the dragon and—she had flames.

Flames of her own.

There was a pause where Diana caught a glimpse of red eyes.

Who is she?

The woman made the slightest opening with what she recognized as the gesture for the fireball spell, but how could it—? Against a dragon?

It seemed like it was more of a distraction than it was a hit for damage—it soared through the plume and straight into the dragon’s mouth. In the split second that the fire sputtered out, she lunged forward with her sword, stabbing it straight through the dragon’s throat, gruesomely forcing the sword down, and down, and down to cut an incision all the way through.

The strangled yelping didn’t last very long—the creature soon after collapsed on top of the woman.

Diana’s instinct was to hold the dragon’s body upright with pillars of ice lest it crush the woman completely. She was already falling unconscious. Diana strode forward, noticing that the armor was singed, but she was otherwise unburnt. She was covered in sweat, her breathing was ragged and uneven.

Her hand glowed in the warm light of restoration, holding it flush against the woman’s forehead.

She pulled her gently away from the giant carcass as the soldiers began to gather around them.

“I don’t believe it.” One of them muttered.

She couldn’t either, to be honest. That was a dragon. A full, proper dragon.

And she was alive.

Then the woman began to… glow.

“What’s going on?” Diana muttered to herself, eyebrows knit in confusion at the sight she was seeing. The dragon—it was also glowing. There was something similar to a link in-between them and—

“She’s…”

Diana’s stared in utter disbelief.

“…the Dragonborn.”

---

She’s the Dragonborn.

Diana told herself for the tenth time that evening, watching the woman (Atsuko with remarkable recovery) gouge herself with her third platter of sweetrolls within fifteen minutes of waking up from unconsciousness.

“You’re going to give yourself a stomachache.” The mage carefully offered.

She had frosted butter at the edge of her lip, and those red eyes were round and… charming.

There was no sign of authority.

Not even of ferocity.

She wouldn’t believe this was the same woman from that fight if she hadn’t brought her back into Dragonsreach herself.

“Nah!” Atsuko mumbled through a mouthful of food. A servant came by with a platter of roasted deer—Atsuko’s eyes glazed over. “I can like… eat. A lot. I love food.”

“I’ve noticed.” Diana said evenly.

“So who’re you supposed to be?” Atsuko said absent-mindedly, reaching for the platter which was next-in-line for devouring.

“I’m Diana Cavendish, from the College of Winterhold.”

“Oh.” Atusko blinked. “Okay, awesome.”

Awesome? Diana blinked. She shook her head, clearing her throat and speaking with every ounce of professionalism the life of diplomacy and schooling offered: “Dragonborn—”

“Akko.” She waved her hand.

“—you and I are… going to be stuck together, for a little while.”

--

fin

--

A/N: Pyro - we did it buddy. We did it. This is for you. And all your memes.

Hey guys - no one asked, but I'm writing it anyway, if only because of how much fun and joy this AU has given me. This first chapter is as serious as it gets, unfortunately, because this is gonna be a one-shot dump of SkyrimAU Diakko where they kind of goof around like dorks, except they're overpowered, and sometimes Akko sneezes but shouts 'FUS!' by accident and Diana has to clean it up. The format I'm looking for is each chapter is a separate story about their adventures, much like the books scattered around in Skyrim (because I have no commitment and will focus on Appointments I'm sorry huhuuuhu). You could probably read them on their own - save for chapter 1 which is for context of the rest of the tales of the Dragonborn and her Ice Lady girlfriend.

But if you read it anyway - I hope y'all enjoy and if you wanna share headcanons, by all means, let's make it happen!

[marmolady]

Livita: Part Two

Book/Series: Endless Summer

Main Pairings: Estela x MC/Taylor (f)

Summary: Post-ending. Freed from Vaanu, Taylor has been building a life with her soulmate… but their family remains not quite complete. Read PART ONE and PART THREE.

Word Count: 3545

Reviews and reblogs are hugely appreciated!

Tagging: @sceptilemasterr​ @saivilo​ @greengroove 

San Trobida, March 2023

 The months initially dragged by; the nervous wait for those vital early milestones agonising. Life had taught Estela that nothing good ever came easily; at any moment this could all turn to tragedy-- she woke up each morning with no expectation that she wouldn’t have lost the baby by the next. Taylor was far more secure in her optimism, though at times it did threaten to crumble. Some five weeks in, the pair were married, officially, in the grounds of Catalyst International’s new San Trobidan resort, surrounded, of course, by their extended family. At the end of the night, Estela had said ‘screw you’ to fate, and confided her condition to her tio, who had wept with joy. His belief in her, the support unyielding as always, did wonders to help her through those most vulnerable days.

After the twelve week scan, there was a joint exhale of relief, and the reality that this was happening at last began to set in. Through those early months, home was San Trobida with Tio Nicolas. In time, Estela and Taylor would return to La Huerta, where they had always planned to raise their child, close to Aleister and Grace’s own little family, and to Diego and Varyyn. Estela would not be fit to travel for a whole lot longer, though, so the time spent with her uncle was precious.  While in San Trobida, Taylor was faced with a rush to establish her youth programmes during the brief window in which she’d be available with her full attention. The country was in the midst of a great rebirth, its people boldly stepping out from the shadows left by the cruel dictatorship that the revolutionaries had brought to its knees. To be able to play her own part in that story was, to Taylor, an immense honour, and a responsibility she took very seriously. Those fleeting months were intense, with meetings on top of meetings and enough networking to test even her people skills. Once the baby arrived, everything else would take a back seat, and her role would be as a part-time counsellor specialising in LGBTQ+ youth, and a mentor to students-- all of which she could carry out from their La Huerta home.

Estela had slowly dialed back her role with Catalyst International-- with both herself and Aleister on parental duties, delegation had become increasingly necessary. She kept up with the few bits and pieces that interested her, primarily assistance and scholarships for San Trobidan students, which allowed her to work nicely in tandem with Taylor, but anything else could be someone else’s problem. Staying with her uncle, a sense of peace had descended upon Estela. Her body gradually changed-- and morning sickness had plagued her-- but she took it in her stride.

The front door creaked as Taylor strode through. “Honey, I’m home!” She found Estela sitting cross-legged on the couch, leafing through a collection of baby sewing patterns. “Hey, are you feeling better?”

“Better. You didn’t have to come home….”

“As if I need an excuse to be with you.” Taylor crossed the room, and sat herself beside her wife. “I finished what I needed to get done. So, I got myself back to where I needed to be.”

Estela huffed happily. “I won’t complain. Maybe we could work on that blanket some more. You know how much of a kick Tio gets out of the sight of me knitting.”

“Yeah,” Taylor giggled. “He laughs, but I’m pretty sure he knows you are more than capable of disemboweling someone with those needles if a threat came up.”

“Of course. A spear could never be so subtle.”

They laughed together, then Estela took Taylor’s hands. “Actually, I wanted to share something with you, in my room. We can knit at the same time.”

Estela’s old room had changed little since she was a teenager; it was a cramped but cosy space, decked out with just a few shelves of childhood possessions and faded photographs upon a narrow dresser. Nowadays, alongside the charred-edged photo of a young Estela on the beach with her mother and uncle, was another of Estela-- now older, far more battle-scarred and world-weary-- on the very same beach, her arms around a smiling Taylor. Sat on that worn single bed, Estela could enjoy the comfort of familiarity as she carried on her journey toward a great unknown… and with her wife beside her, she found the courage to face the shadows that crept in along with those memories.

“Gordita, I made you up some of your horrible patacones,” Nicolas announced, pushing open the bedroom door with a shoulder as he presented a large plate. Since the pregnancy had been announced, Estela had been his gorda, with no care paid to how small her bump might actually be. At six months along, though, the belly was living up to that new nickname. “I despair. You get rid of one dictator, and suddenly we have jumped-up young people thinking they can eat peanut butter and jelly with their patacones. Is this the terrible price of freedom? Have I made a grave error?”

Estela snorted with laughter, taking the plate as her uncle kissed her forehead. “And yet you made these up for me; I must be very loved.”

“Always, mija. But you should notice there are some with mango salsa for your poor wife. I won’t have her suffer for your insanity.”

Taylor smiled, gratefully taking a patacone.Nicolas has been doting on the both of them relentlessly since the news had been broken-- Taylor didn’t think she’d ever seen him quite so happy. When the time finally came for them to leave for La Huerta, it would be a great wrench. “Cheers! You’re the best.”

“I’ll have that in writing, Taylita.” Nicolas’ eyes twinkled as he looked over his nieces. The time was fast approaching that they would be on their way again, ready to start the greatest of adventures. He would miss them so. La Huerta had never been a draw to him-- he’d not visited once-- but there was no doubt in his mind that even his stubbornness would have to concede once Estela had that baby in her arms. There was not a force on heaven or earth that could keep him away. “Okay, gorda. I will leave you to it. I’m sure you’ll let me know if you have any other culinary abominations you want me to whip up.”

“Thanks, Tio.”

Alone together in their small sanctuary, Estela and Taylor cuddled close. Taylor braved a nibble of one of Estela’s controversial patacones and admitted that Nicolas had a point. Those things just weren’t right.

“I’m with Tio,” she said. “Our little nene has played havoc on your taste buds.”

Estela chuckled, more forced than she’d have liked. There was something else on her mind. And it hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Hey. Are you okay? You had something you wanted to show me?”

For a moment, Estela considered changing her mind. It had been over a decade that she’d avoided this, what was to say that now was suddenly the right time? The bump of a little foot up against her ribs gave her clarity. She wanted to show this to her baby someday; that meant she had to brave it. She pulled up her laptop and placed it on the bedside table, then rummaged in a drawer, taking out a disc.

“It’s… it’s our old home videos.” She took a deep breath. “Tio put it on a DVD ages back to make sure we didn’t lose it, and he had an extra copy made for me. You know, just in case I ever….” Her cheeks became pink. “I… I haven’t watched this for a long time.” How long, she didn’t say, but she didn’t doubt that Taylor would know, understand.

Taylor squeezed her wife, her own pulse quickening. She knew this was huge. “I would love to watch with you. So much. But only if you’re really ready.”

“I think sometimes, the closest thing you’re ever going to get to being ready is wanting to be.” Estela offered a wobbly smile as she picked up on Taylor’s concern. “Mi amor, I’m okay. I’m doing this with you.”

She leaned into Taylor as the DVD began to play. Then came a voice that made her heartbeat quicken.

“Hola Nicolas!” Olivia said, waving with one hand, while she supported the small infant Estela with the other. “Here she is! This is your niece. This is Estela.”

Taylor felt Estela’s hand clench around the bottom of her shirt, clinging on for comfort. She placed her own hand on top and gently squeezed. I’m here.

They watched as Olivia placed the infant in a bassinet, then picked up the camera to give a tour of her home.

“So, this is the first place I lived; my mom’s apartment in Colombia,” Estela explained, her voice shaking at first, then steadying. This… didn’t hurt as much as she’d anticipated. If anything, it was a comfort. The last pieces of film she’d seen of her mother had been that horrifying footage in the Elysian, and the VR warning message from Olivia’s office in the MASADA complex. This was Estela’s mother as she knew her, the person she’d been missing so painfully. There was the inevitable pang of longing as she looked at that face, but the wash of memories made her seem closer than she’d been for so many years. “It was a few months before she had everything sorted so we could move to Tio Nicolas’ place, so Mom made a videotape to send him. A friend at the lab she worked at gave her the camera; it was so Tio could see the new baby, but we used it a long time after that.”

With the apartment tour complete, the camera was placed down on some unseen table or stand, and Olivia came back into the frame, picking up baby Estela and cradling her in her arms.

“If you’re lucky, you might get a smile out of her,” Olivia said, grinning as she gently tickled Estela under her chin. “The twentieth of July was her first real smile. You’re going to laugh at me, but I cried. Maybe you’ll get it when you meet her. She’s just so, so beautiful. I swear I’m addicted to this girl.”

Taylor snuggled under Estela’s arm, and watched, entranced, as the baby on the screen grew and changed under the loving care of her mother, and then uncle as well.

“Wow, Tio Nicolas looks different!” she commented, to Estela’s chuckle. Time, unimaginable stress, and facial hair could do that to a person. It was impossible not to smile as she watched the young Nicolas bouncing his little niece on his foot. That he’d be utterly, totally smitten with Estela’s own child had to be the surest thing in the world. Taylor saw on that screen an image of a dream come true, a future that now lay before her and Estela. God, could I be any more clucky right now?

“That’s going to be us, Taylor. Our own little family.”

Instinctively, Taylor put her hand to Estela’s bump, stroking it. Her family with her soulmate; it wasn’t what she’d been made for, but she was certain it was what she was meant for.

“I’m going to be someone’s mom. When I think about it, it’s just… incredible.” She cuddled in close, and gently kissed Estela’s cheek and forehead. “It means so much that you shared this with me.” She gestured to the screen. That had taken a whole lot of bravery. “Watching this… I see so much of you when I see your mom.”

“She would have been an amazing abuelita,” Estela said softly. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply. Her mother’s sacrifice had brought her to Taylor. This new family would carry a great deal of Olivia Montoya’s influence, though she’d never know. “Thank you. I know it’s silly for me to say this, but I really appreciate you saying that. I’m gonna do her proud.”

The child on the screen was older now, toddling around the so-familiar house on stumpy legs. She held in her arms a soft doll.

“Oh-- that’s Babydoll. I was… creative at naming things when I was two. Mami gave him to me on my birthday, and I just took him everywhere. It always made sense to me; there was no way in hell Mami would ever leave me it home, so how could I ever leave my baby?”

“So, when you say you always wanted to be a mom?”

“Yeah, it goes back a long way.” Estela stroked her belly, meeting Taylor’s hand there. “I’m glad I had no idea just how rough the path would be… how that dream just burned and died. But we’re going to get there.”

She could see it. A lot of what had made her childhood had been lost in a wash of pain and trauma, but it couldn’t be taken away completely. Those memories, there before her, they were still a part of her. Those warm family moments were hers to pass on to her own child.

“Actually, I think Mom kept Babydoll. Maybe as a souvenir of my brief period of childhood innocence. I should dig him out--” She faltered, and her cheeks flushed. This shouldn’t still be a problem….

Catching on in an instant, Taylor squeezed Estela’s knee, and met her eye with a warm and loving gaze. “We have time. And if we need to enlist Tio Nicolas to do most of the necessary rummaging, that’s fine too. It would be really nice for nene to have something of yours.” Memories were powerful. They made up so much of who each person was. Lacking her own childhood, Taylor had found herself gain a great deal from Estela’s, something that had always been generously shared with no hesitation, in spite of the pain that came with those memories. That family history was important, and it bonded them together.

With a small, appreciative smile, Estela nodded. “Yes… we have time.”

  La Huerta, May 2023

 “Right; tell me. Which end am I kissing?” Taylor scooched forward in the sand, reveling in the gentle heat of the lowering sun upon her back and shoulders.

“That’ll be nene’s back.” Estela gestured to her lower belly, then the top. “Head. Butt. Right where they should be.”

Taylor smiled warmly, and went back to lay another kiss against her wife’s swollen abdomen. “Bub’s got it all worked out. Ready to high-tail it outta there and start lapping up the cuddles.”

“It’s come around fast,” Estela stated. It had. Almost too fast. Pregnancy had been an adjustment for sure, but she’d become comfortable with sharing her body with the small passenger. She could take care of herself, and that meant that baby’s needs were met too. What came next was a great unknown. Estela knew better than most how good intentions of keeping a beloved child out of harm’s way could go up in flames. What her life had been… grateful though she was for the person it had made her, she didn’t want a life like that for her baby. She could tell herself that it would be different, that the fight was over, but she’d seen too much to not be protective. The person she might have gone to for reassurance, the person who’d truly have understood, was long lost to her. Rarely had Estela missed her own mother more than in these days leading up to the big event. It made her all the more grateful for Taylor; already completely besotted with the tiny person they were waiting to meet. In Taylor, her loving hero, she had all the faith in the world.

“Yeah...” Taylor put on a forlorn gaze as she looked up into Estela’s shining eyes. “Just a few more days, and I won’t be able to outrun you anymore. I’m pretty devastated.”

“You’re a beautiful dork, Taylor. But don’t worry. You’ll be able to keep ahead of nene for a few years, if you’re lucky.”

Taylor snuggled into Estela’s lap, and together, they watched the sun journey towards the horizon. The rising tide licked at their bodies. All was peaceful, tranquil; the only sounds were the rolling of the waves, the calls of tropical birds, and the distant laughter of children in Elyys’tel, voices carried upon the wind. Taylor quietly studied Estela from head to toes, taking in everything. The pregnancy had added further lines to Estela’s scar-painted body; marks of something happy at last. Her carriage gave off a quiet confidence; the baby was safe in its strong, resilient vessel. And in Estela’s face, once the vision of heavy burdens, so great that it might might have been those of the whole world… quiet, happy serenity. Taylor felt a wave of affection wash over her. It happened to her a lot. Goodness knew how she’d ever get anything done when she had Estela and the baby to love on all day.

“Estela?”

“Mi amor?”

“You know, I think a part of me is going to miss this. Being able to put my arms around you and hold the two people I love most in the world at the same time.”

Estela’s lips quirked into a smile. “You’ll still be able to do that. Soon enough, baby will be hugging you back.”

“It’s… got to be normal to be a little scared, right? I’ve got nothing, nothing at all to look back and remember as a reference for how the hell to raise a kid. What if I--”

“Taylor.” Estela took Taylor’s face in her hands; gentle but firm. God, Taylor… no one could ask for more than to be loved by you. “I’m scared too. But I’d be a hundred times more scared if I wasn’t doing this with you. It’s a whole actual person depending on us. A whole person we could screw up in a million different ways. But we won’t. Taylor, look at me. You won’t. Just… be scared with me. And all of us… we’ll be okay.”

Taylor pulled herself up and put both arms around Estela. Holding the two people she loved most at the same time. To be scared with Estela was almost to not be afraid at all. “You’re right. Wise Mama Estela.”

“Because of you. Don’t forget that.” And Estela kissed the tip of her beloved’s nose, growing cold with the retreat of the sun. She gave a little wink. “Mama Taylor.”

Her eyes glazing dreamily as she stared out to the sunset over the sparkling sea, Taylor felt a little kick against the arm that she had around Estela’s middle. She didn’t even need to look to know that there would be the most beautiful of smiles across her wife’s face. Pure elation. Mama Taylor? She could get used to that.

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Most Powerful Magic - Chapter One

Summary:  Set a few months after the end of the events of Family Fights, Hilda and the librarian’s sister are tired of seeing Johanna and Maven dancing around each other and decide to take matters into their own hands

Notes: Heyo! Okay, for a better understanding of this fic, I’d recommend reading Family Fights first. However it’s kinda long so if you want to read this before season 2 comes out and you haven read FF yet, you just need to know that the librarian has a teenage sister named Myra, and that the librarian trains Hilda in witchcraft. You should probably be fine with this info. Oh, also please forgive the typos and low quality of the writing. I really rushed with this because I wanted to post it before season two came and ruined my headcanons :’)

Read it on ao3: (chpt1)

”Go on.” Her mother encouraged her gently, the hand on her shoulder nudging her forward. “She won’t mind.”

Myra took one look at her mother’s smiling face before entering the living room. She knew her sister didn’t like being disturbed while she was studying, but she was having a sleepover at a friend’s house that night and so she wouldn’t be with Maven when she went to sleep, which would mean missing her bedtime story. She really didn’t want to miss her bedtime story. So now Myra approached her sister, who was taking notes on their living room table, with a book at hands.

“Mavey?” She called when she got closer, which got Maven to look at her. “Can you read to me now?”

Looking slightly irritated, the teenager glanced at the book she was using, thinking about how far she was from finishing her notes. “Does it have to be now?”

“I won’t be home at night.” Myra nodded, trying to put on a pleading face. Maven bit her lip and then sighed, resigning to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to tell her no.

“All right.” She reached for her sister's book. “Let me take a look at that.”

As soon as she read the title, she frowned. After skimming through some of the first pages, an eyebrow was lifted at Myra.

“Are you sure you want this one?”

“Yeah! It’s one of my favourites! I love how the knight saves his prince through the magic of love.”

Saying that, the little girl twirled to make her skirt flair around her, nearly tripping on her feet when she tried to face her sister again.

“Myra, this is stupid.” Maven chuckled, running her eyes through a picture of the two protagonists hugging. “Love isn’t magic.”

“Yes it is!” She stomped her foot on the ground. “It’s the most powerful magic of all!”

That only made Maven laugh even more, both at her sister’s innocence and at the angry face she was making at her. It was always hilarious when Myra got angry, like being threatened by a baby kitten.

“You evil sorceress!” Myra exclaimed at her. “One day you’ll see I’m right. Someone will kiss you and you’ll transform into a beautiful princess”

Out of one of her discarded drafting sheets, Maven made a small paper ball.

“Not happening, sweetie. I’d just rather be a witch.”

She threw the ball at her sister, who gave a dramatized gasp of betrayal before beginning to laugh along. Even though she appreciated Myra’s bright eyed way of seeing the world, she knew for sure that love was not, in any way, magic. No matter what the legends and fairytales said. After all, she was a witch. If love was magic, surely it wouldn’t feel so impossible.

_#_#_#_

Myra did not feel comfortable at all being in that place.

Before those two years when she had been… away, this had been the place she would come to every day. While it had been so familiar, now the school was full of faces she’d never seen, and some she had but for all the wrong reasons.

She could only hope none of those children remembered her from their nightmares.

Of course, once she had begun attending school again, it was not Trolberg’s Elementary School she went to (neither was it their local high school - they couldn’t risk her studying with people from before her marra period and having them question where she’d been at and how she hadn’t aged a day.) but it was still unpleasant to be there. She felt out of place.

Luckily for her, the person she was there to talk to was just coming out of the building, so she wouldn’t need to be there for much longer. Upon noticing Myra by the school’s grades, Hilda stopped on her tracks for a second, surprised to see her there, but she recovered quickly and told her two friends to stay close to the main building while she talked to Myra. Although she’d never been anything less than kind and welcoming to her, Hilda didn’t completely trust Myra yet. She couldn’t say she blamed her.

“Good afternoon!” The girl greeted when she walked closer. “ I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yeah, sorry for the surprise.” Myra straightened herself up, no longer leaning against the grades. “But I needed to talk to you at some time when neither your mother nor my sister could hear us.”

Hilda narrowed her eyes with suspicion even as she tried not to let her face show any distrust.

“And why would that be?”

“Hilda, I can not be the only one who is tired of this.” Myra exclaimed, gesticulating with her hands. “It’s becoming ridiculous!”

“What is?”

“The two of them! You are a smart girl, you must have realized at this point that they like each other a lot.”

Finally understanding what the conversation was about, Hilda let her guard drop and nodded.

“They definitely do. Have… have they not noticed?”

“No!” Groaning, she ran a hand through her hair. Her lilac strand was there again, but she still kept it mostly black. “Well, I can’t say about your mother, but I know my sister and she definitely thinks it’s unrequited, and the two of them are driving me mad! I caught my sister singing girl in red, for crying out loud!”

“Things are a little complicated in this aspect, I’ll admit it.” Hilda said, remembering the times she’d found her mother absent mindedly drawing her mentor. “But there’s hardly anything we can do about it, is there? shouldn’t they figure this out on their own?”

“Should they figure it out on their own? Yes. Will they figure it out on their own?” Myra looked at her nails, making a disinterested face which reminded Hilda of her older sister. “Eh, not looking likely. Is there anything we can do, though? Definetly.”

Hilda blinked. “And what is it?”

After giving the girl a mischievous grin, Myra took a step back to start on her way home.

“Meet me in the library at seven this evening.”

_#_#_#_

“I don’t really get it.” Hilda whispered as she followed Myra, who was climbing the stairs to the top floor of the library. “Wasn’t the point being somewhere where they couldn’t hear us? Maven will certainly notice us in her workplace, you know.”

There were few people in the library that evening, mostly students who had work due the next day. None of them were paying the slightest attention to the two girls making their way through the bookshelves, but Hilda felt like she should be trying to go unnoticed at the same time. Whatever Myra’s plan was, she was sure it’d be better if no one else knew.

“Already taken care of. This is the time the Trolberg Book Club comes here, and she needs to give them some attention. Besides, what I need to show you is right here.”

Myra stopped near a bookshelf that Hilda recognized, and her brow furrowed as she realized what she wanted.

“Are we supposed to be here?”

“Nope.” Myra answered as she tried to push the bookshelf. “But in for a penny, in for a pound right? I’m gonna need your help with this.”

Figuring that if she had agreed to go behind her mother and teacher’s backs already, she might as well go through with it, Hilda pressed her side body against the bookshelf and they both grunted as it began to move. As soon as there was a passage big enough for them to squeeze through, they stopped, panting.

“Honestly, you’d think that a magical room would have a better entrance.” Myra mumbled under her breath as she stepped inside and flicked the light switch up, turning the old lamps on.

Hilda came in after her. That room had become familiar to her, not only did Maven take her there for lessons often enough, but it was her first pick when she wanted to research a certain topic. She’d always been advised to be careful, however, as not only there was beautiful knowledge stored in there, but also dangerous information. She didn’t know if Maven had made that up just to scare her into being careful, but she’d even gone so far as to mention the existence of a soul stealing spell that hid itself under the guise of being a good luck charm.

Due to having been taught to act like so, Hilda treated the library’s hidden room with reverence. Meanwhile, Myra looked like she was right at home, skipping down the stairs two steps at a time and going straight to the shelf she wanted. Hilda supposed you saw things in a much more different way when witchcraft had always been a natural part of your life.

“Aha! It is still here.” Taking a book with leather binding out of its place, Myra put it on the table at the corner so that Hilda could see it too.

The first thing to call the young witch’s attention in the page she was shown was a romanticized drawing of a cupid right at the center. Though the ink in any other spot she looked was already faded, the cupid’s colours had resisted the test of time, and Hilda could only imagine there was some magic in the engraving.

When she brought her focus to the actual spell she was being shown, however, she felt like any understanding she thought she’d had of Myra’s plan went down the drain.

“A love spell?” She gasped. “What do we want to make them fall in love for? Is the whole point of us doing this not already believing that they like each other?”

The teenager waited a few moments to speak, letting Hilda take a closer look at the spell first. At the same time that the casting ritual looked simple, Hilda noticed, the potential for that spell to go wrong energy-wise was gigantic, and her brow was furrowed when she lifted her gaze from the book to Myra.

“First of all, no spell can make you fall in love. Magic can’t create love, only the illusion of it. Also, relax! We’re not actually casting it.”

“Huh?” Though Myra was talking as if this all made a lot of sense to her, Hilda still felt like she was missing something.

“Listen.” She said, nearly losing her balance when she squatted down to be closer to Hilda’s height. “We are going to pretend we cast this spell on your mother. There are a bunch of similar spells, but it has to be this one, because it’s the only one that has this completely ridiculous breaking condition.”

Hilda lifted an eyebrow, content to at last be getting an explanation. “Which would be?”

“A kiss from the person the spell made them fall for. Sure, it’s very cute when it’s in curses, but you’ve got to agree that for a spell with the objective of getting the two people together, it’s pretty dumb.” Myra said, picking up the book and showing her the note in one of the corners warning about how the effects would only last until both parties kissed. Hilda had to agree, it did not sound intelligent at all. “So yeah, we’re going to pretend we accidently cast it on your mother, with my sister on the receiving end. And then we’ll tell this to Maven, who naturally will freak out and want to break it, but she knows about this one spell and how to break it. This should give her the motivation to kiss your mother and if we’re lucky enough, they’ll actually talk for a change.”

Rubbing her chin, Hilda looked at the book, then up at Myra, then at the book again. The plan was coming together on her mind, the thoughts organizing themselves in her head like a puzzle. in a way that allowed her to see the parts that didn’t fit.

“I see what you mean.” She hummed. “But how are going to pretend to have accidentally cast a spell? That doesn’t sound very believable at all.”

As she finished her question, she glanced at the entrance at the top of the stairs anxiously. The library was better lit than this secret room, making it so light came in even though the lamps were on. Talking about doing something behind Maven’s back, even if with good intent, made her skittish, and she almost expected to see the older witch at the entrance ready to ground her for a week.

“Obviously.” Leaning her hip against the table, Myra scoffed, though there was no meanness behind it. In fact, she seemed to be amused by Hilda’s clever thinking. “So… that’s the part that might make you give up on the plan. We’re kind of going to have to throw ourselves under the bus.”

“What do you mean?”

Showing the first sign of nervousness since Hilda had met her, Myra looked away from her and around the room, suddenly very interested in the runes in the tapestries. It didn’t look like she was expecting to be caught like Hilda had, however, but like she was trying to gather strength.

“I don’t suppose you have a crush on anybody, do you?”

“What?! No!” Hilda gasped, bringing her hands in front of herself. Remembering that she was in a library, and hidden on top of it, she lowered her voice. “No, I don’t.”

Myra sighed, biting her lower lip in the same way Hilda had sometimes seen Maven do when she was anxious. “Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t have. You’re just a kid.”

As she said nothing else, silence hung over them heavily, making the girl figure it was up to her to push Myra a bit further, even if it looked like she would rather not be pushed.

“Well?” She said softly. “Do you?”

As Myra nodded, Hilda could see the glimpse of a smile on her face even as she gazed down.

“Yeah. Their name is Nyx. And they’re… pretty amazing. My sister knows I like them, so she won’t be surprised. If we orchestrate it well enough, it should be very easy for her to fall for it.”

When the teenager looked up again, the nervousness was gone, and her smile had shifted from smitten to mischievous.

“You see it now, don’t you? We’ll pretend I asked you to cast this spell so they’d fall for me, and we’ll pretend it went wrong in a way that serves us. Maven will see that your mother under a love spell does not act at all differently from your mother normally, they’ll kiss and admit their feelings. Sure, we may make ourselves look bad, but it’s for their own good. What do you say?”

Despite the nerves and the part of her that said she shouldn’t meddle with her mother and mentor’s personal lives, Hilda felt herself suddenly buzzing with excitement. A chance at an adventure and a way to finally stop having to deal with their mutual pining? Looking bad was the least of her worries. Squaring her shoulders, she smiled.

“I’m in.”

[brindlestorm]

My Truth or Yours?

CH1 | CH2 | CH3

______________________________________________________________

It hadn’t stopped.

For two moons, every border patrol was on high alert for the ‘fox’ that was scented at the Shadowclan border, but Tigerclaw knew that the only fox hanging around there was none other than their own deputy. When each patrol came back empty-pawed and more confused than ever, suddenly the scent became that of a badger’s.

How convenient, that when Tigerclaw had just chased off a badger from it’s den in the direction of Riverclan, one would show up at the Shadowclan border.

And speaking of Shadowclan, troubling news had occurred at the last gathering. Every clan knew of Brokentail, Raggedstar’s only son, and how proud the leader was of the bloodthirsty creature he had named deputy. Shadowclan and Windclan had been at each other’s throats for almost five moons over supposed prey-stealing, and at the last gathering, Brokenstar had accused Windclan of cowardly attacking and killing Raggedstar when he was on a lone border patrol.

The way Redtail had flinched at the news told Tigerclaw all he needed to know.

At this point, Tigerclaw wasn’t sure whether or not to do more paired sessions with Redtail to keep an eye on him or to keep Ravenpaw as far away from the Thunderclan deputy as possible. The sessions they did have together went seemingly well so long as Tigerclaw was the one coaching Ravenpaw. The poor apprentice jumped more when Redtail talked than himself now, Tigerclaw couldn’t blame him though, not after what they both witnessed.

It was mostly at night now that he caught Redtail sneaking out of camp to meet with the Shadowclan warriors. He always came back smelling strongly of ferns, but now that Tigerclaw knew what to look for, there was always a lingering scent of pines and marshes on the deputy’s pelt.

Tigerclaw had just returned from a hunting patrol with Mousefur and Runningwind when he was summoned to Bluestar’s den.

“Tigerclaw, a word? I need to speak with you and Redtail.”

Tigerclaw’s hackles began to rise, Had Bluestar began to notice the growing animosity he had for the deputy? What did she want to talk to them about?

“It's about your apprentices, I’d like to hear about their progress.” Bluestar continued, paying no mind to Tigerclaw’s unease.

“Of course, Bluestar. Shall I fetch us some prey to share while we speak? Runningwind managed to catch a rabbit on our patrol, that should be enough for the three of us.” Tigerclaw replied smoothly, forcing his fur flat again before Bluestar could notice it.

“A rabbit would be good, thank you Tigerclaw. Grab the rabbit and then come to my den.” Bluestar said, flicking her tail as she headed back to her den where Redtail was waiting for them.

Tigerclaw snatched the rabbit just as Runningwind let it fall from his jaws onto the freshkill pile, leaving a rather confused pair of siblings to watch as he trekked his way up to Bluestar’s den.

The three cats settled down, taking turns eating the prey before Bluestar finally asked about their apprentices.

“Dustpaw is turning into a fierce fighter, he was able to catch me off guard not too long ago, I think he’s getting impatient with the rate I’m teaching him new moves at.” Redtail reported confidently.

“I’m still working with Ravenpaw on his confidence, it's been a little slow going but he’s stopped flinching during battle training. I had intended to test his stealth and tracking two moons ago but I ended up sending him hunting for the queens. Not only did he do that, but he followed me from above from sunset to nightfall. He told me exactly what I had done from the moment he found me to when he got back to where he had buried his prey.”

Not entirely a lie, Ravenpaw was certainly silent when he returned to the Shadowclan border to surprise his mentor. Had it not been for what they caught Redtail doing, Tigerclaw would have been sufficiently impressed by the timid apprentice’s stealth.

Bluestar nodded, “Sounds like Ravenpaw is shaping up to be a good hunter, and how is Dustpaw coming along in that aspect? 

“Dustpaw has been... growing rather quickly.” Redtail said slowly, as if he was unsure how to word it properly. “I think he’s become frustrated with hunting these days, he only wants to focus on his battle techniques. It's been a challenge, though I can’t blame him. It's like every time he adjusts to his paws something else gets bigger. I swear, that tom is growing one leg at a time!”

Bluestar purred in amusement, “Well, it's still a little early to test them on their battle training, but I believe it's about time they had a hunting assessment!”

Tigerclaw nodded, “With all those predators our patrols have been scenting, shall we take them to hunt near the Great Sycamore or the Owl Tree?”

Bluestar shook her head, “No, Redtail can assess them by the Owl Tree tomorrow morning. You and I are taking a patrol, I think Longtail and Runningwind should come as well. We need to check Snakerocks to make sure the rocks blocking the adder-holes haven’t been shifted.”

Tigerclaw bristled slightly, “Shouldn’t I be there to assess my apprentice?”

“I’m sure Redtail can handle those two. I need you on this patrol Tigerclaw, Longtail and Runningwind may be fast enough to catch the adders, but I need your help to shift the rocks with me. Are you up for it?”

Tigerclaw took a breath, yes. Redtail may be a problem, possibly a traitor. But surely he could trust the deputy for a day, his leader was asking him to make sure that Snakerocks would be safe for hunting, an important task with Leafbare creeping up in a moon.

He dipped his head, “Of course I’ll come Bluestar, you can count on me.”

“Good, you can both go and inform your apprentices. Tigerclaw, we’ll wait until after you’ve seen off Ravenpaw before we head to Snakerocks, alright?”

“Yes, thank you Bluestar, I'd like to tell Ravenpaw now if I can, I'd imagine he'll want to fit in some hunting practice before sundown and I ought to be there with him."

Bluestar purred, "At least he's a dedicated one! Redtail, perhaps you should do the same with Dustpaw if your concerns are anything to go by."

Tigerclaw opted to leave first, not pausing to see if Bluestar had anything else to say to him or Redtail. He hurried to the apprentices den, nosing his way through the small entrance. Instead it was Sandpaw who greeted him from where she was resting next to Dustpaw.

“Looking for Ravenpaw?” She rasped, Tigerclaw took a second to pity the molly.

Not even a moon ago yet, Sandpaw had been out training with her mentor when they had a surprise run-in with a fox cub. Whitestorm had tried to order her back to camp but she refused to listen, they were able to drive it off easily enough, but the fox bite Sandpaw had received became infected, only now was she recovered enough to help entertain kits while she was still being confined to the camp.

Continuing on as if she hadn’t expected him to answer anyway, “You just missed him, he went to Spottedleaf’s den, said something about getting me coltsfoot because I was coughing in my sleep last night. If you ask me, he ought to just move his nest in there with how often he spends running back and forth!”

“Thank you, Sandpaw. I’ll go see if Spottedleaf can bear parting with my apprentice. I want to make sure he’s ready for his hunting assessment tomorrow morning.”

Sandpaw’s ears flattened when she heard that and glared down at her leg. 

“I’m sure you’ll get your assessment soon Sandpaw, as soon as your leg has healed I’ll go to Bluestar myself. It won’t take long for you to catch up to your denmates.” Tigerclaw added, kindly.

Sandpaw just sighed and rested her chin on her paws, stifling a cough as Tigerclaw left the den. It only got worse as he left, Tigerclaw didn’t know if coltsfoot would help her, but he hoped to Starclan it would, Thunderclan couldn’t afford to lose any apprentices this season.

Redtail flicked his tail in greeting as he brushed past him into the apprentices' den to collect Dustpaw, Tigerclaw felt his heart clench again at the thought of leaving either apprentice alone with the deputy. Oh how he wished he could stay for the assessment, but the danger of Snakerocks was more important than Redtail at the moment. At the very least, whatever plans Redtail had wouldn’t be able to include the adders, it would be too suspicious to move them so soon after the rocks were checked by the leader herself.

Tigerclaw ducked down low to enter the medicine den, immediately picking up on the conversation between the pair.

“-that could work, but why not just give her tansy then?”

“Because tansy should only be eaten in small doses,” Ravenpaw replied confidently. “Coltsfoot would be better because she can chew on the stalks throughout the night if her coughing wakes her up.”

“You learn quickly!” Spottedleaf purred with amusement. “Take her the three stalks of coltsfoot and a few juniper berries. She can have two berries now with one stalk of coltsfoot, the last berry should be saved for when she wakes up tomorrow.”

“Putting my apprentice to work, are you Spottedleaf?” Tigerclaw rumbled good-naturedly as he entered the den.

“Only because he wants to be!” Spottedleaf replied cheekily. “What can I do for you, Tigerclaw?”

“I’m here to collect Ravenpaw, but I’ll let him see to Sandpaw first seeing as he already came all the way here to do it.

Ravenpaw nodded hurriedly and rushed out of the den with the herbs wrapped carefully in a leaf.

“He visits me a lot you know, pretty interested in herbs.” Spottedleaf began, turning to sort the already neatly stacked pile of herbs in her stores. “Has he ever mentioned it to you?”

“He didn’t have to, I’ve seen it for myself enough times.” Tigerclaw replied flatly, “Everytime we try to go hunting or patrolling, he’s always sniffing around your herb patches or lagging behind to watch the clouds cover the sun.”

Spottedleaf flinched slightly, “Well, it's nice to have an apprentice interested in herbs, I’m not trying to take him from you Tigerclaw, I was just making  conversation.”

The slight hitch in her voice told Tigerclaw that she was worried she may have overstepped, so he did the only thing he knew how to do in situations like this.

Tigerclaw placed his massive paw gently on Spottedleaf’s face, effectively silencing whatever else she was going to say.

“Ravenpaw and I have already talked about it. His trip to the moonstone will be coming up soon, when he shares dreams with Starclan, his path will be revealed to him then. But until that day comes, I will continue to train him as a warrior. I won’t stand in his way, but I won’t let him slack off on his battle training either. No offense to you of course, Spottedleaf, but I want him to be able to hold his own in a fight no matter what he ends up as.”

Spottedleaf playfully batted Tigerclaw’s paw off of her face, “Excuse you, but I can hold my own in a fight, thank you very much! Thrushpelt taught me more than just hunting!”

“In that case, perhaps you’d like to sit in during a training session? Not that you have anything to prove, I’d just like to see you in action for myself.”

Just before Spottedleaf could make a retort, Ravenpaw made a reappearance.

“Tigerclaw? You said you needed me for something?”

“Ah yes, we’re going to do some training. I’ll tell you about it as we walk.”

Tigerclaw left the den with Ravenpaw trotting along at his heels, and untrue to his word, Tigerclaw didn’t speak a word the entire walk until he found the abandoned den he talked to Ravenpaw in a few moons ago.

“Tigerclaw? What’s going on-?” 

“Quiet!” Tigerclaw hissed as he shoved Ravenpaw down the hole, with a squeak, Ravenpaw tumbled in.

He scrambled to his paws, spitting out dirt and glared at his mentor. “Hey! What was that for?”

“You and Dustpaw have a hunting assessment tomorrow morning at dawn.” Tigerclaw told him.

Ravenpaw’s ears pricked up, “Really? Wow, it's so soon! You really think we’re ready?”

But then his brow furrowed. “But what does that have to do with you pushing me down a hole?”

“I won’t be there to assess you. Bluestar wants me to go with her to Snakerocks to make sure the adder-holes are still blocked.”

Ravenpaw looked confused still, but Tigerclaw just sat back and waited for it to sink in for his apprentice. 

“....... No.”

“No, what?” Tigerclaw rumbled.

“No, I... I’ll refuse to take the assessment! I’ll... I’ll tell Spottedleaf I’m sick so that she’ll keep me in camp! A... a bad piece of prey or something!” 

Ravenpaw was shaking now, eyes darting around. “Tigerclaw please don’t make me do this! I don’t want to be anywhere near him, I can barely keep quiet even with you there, I just... I can’t!”

Tigerclaw moved to sit next to Ravenpaw, placing his chin on the apprentice’s head to offer comfort. 

“I know Ravenpaw, I don’t want you to be near him either, but there’s nothing we can do about this. Besides, who’ll protect Dustpaw if you aren’t there?” Ravenpaw shuffled his paws dejectedly, “Dustpaw has always been the better fighter, he doesn’t need me.”

“He doesn’t know about Redtail though, and we can’t tell him because it would put him into more danger. He needs you Ravenpaw, he just doesn’t know it.”

Ravenpaw flicked his tail thoughtfully, “I... I could keep an eye on Redtail for you? Where’s the assessment supposed to be? Maybe I could stray near the border, see what happens?”

“You will do no such thing!” Tigerclaw thundered, jumping to his feet to glare down at the apprentice. “Don’t do anything that could put yourself in danger, do you hear me? I... I can’t lose you Ravenpaw, as your mentor I’m supposed to keep you safe, but when I can’t I expect you not to do anything stupid!”

His apprentice nodded mutely, gaze downcast. Tigerclaw sighed and rested his chin back on Ravenpaw’s head.

“Your assessment will be by the Owl Tree, promise me you’ll stay safe?”

“I promise.”

Ravenpaw didn’t get any sleep that night, not even his sore muscles from training could convince him to close his eyes for some rest. He just watched as his brother slept on his side of the den with Sandpaw.

Tigerclaw had drilled him until sundown, not on hunting, but the best to avoid being followed or throw a cat off his scent. Ravenpaw did get his chance that night to show off his tree stalking skills. Despite the danger, Ravenpaw couldn’t help but be a little smug about the look on his mentor’s face when he dropped down on top of him.

Both mentor and apprentice returned to camp satisfied with their progress, and Ravenpaw swore to himself he would do whatever it took to keep his brother safe. Dustpaw didn’t talk to him as much as littermates usually did, Ravenpaw often wondered why. It wasn’t that his brother avoided him, he just didn’t... talk to him.

Maybe Dustpaw still saw him as the weak, sickly kit everyone had to dote on just so he could live to see his apprentice ceremony, or maybe Dustpaw wished his mentor was Tigerclaw instead of Redtail.

Five moons ago, Ravenpaw would have happily swapped mentors with his brother when he saw how kindly Redtail treated his brother, a harsh contrast to Tigerclaw’s gruff commands and tendency to start training before the sun could even warm the training hollow.

But now.....

He would still trade mentors if it were possible, anything to keep his brother away from their traitorous deputy.

At least he and Tigerclaw had the upper paw in all this. Redtail still didn’t know that the mentor and apprentice were onto him, and as long as Redtail didn’t know then they were safe.

But how long could they allow this to continue? For every meeting Redtail had with the Shadowclan cats, he would do something heroic for the clan. Be it fighting off the mother fox of the cub Sandpaw fought by himself, to staying out all night to to restock half of the prey pile during Leaf-fall to feed the elders and queens in the morning. 

There was no way to cast the deputy into doubt at this point, which left Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw to helplessly watch as Redtail betrayed their clan in secret.

Ravenpaw tiredly got to his paws. He could hear Redtail giving orders to the dawn patrol, may as well wake up his brother so they have time to wash themselves before leaving.

Ravenpaw prodded at his brother, who was snoring so loud he was amazed that Sandpaw could stand it. Dustpaw snorted and rolled over, sleepily kicking at his brother. 

When the next few tries were met with the same reaction, Ravenpaw instead decided to wake up Sandpaw instead. Her coughing had went down some during the night, it wouldn’t hurt to wake her up to remind her to eat the rest of her herbs.

It also came with the added bonus of not accidentally waking her up while waking up Dustpaw, she’d have his pelt if she was woken up rudely for no reason.

Sandpaw had always been an early riser, which made Ravenpaw’s job much easier.

Gently, Ravenpaw poked his denmate’s shoulder, jostling her awake as subtly as possible. “Sandpaw? You need to wake up and eat some more coltsfoot and juniper berries, remember? Spottedleaf told me to wake you up at dawn to remind you.”

Sandpaw blearily opened her eyes and blinked up at him, for a moment Ravenpaw thought she was going to snark at him, but instead she just sighed and pulled the stalk and berry closer.

As she munched on the coltsfoot, Sandpaw eyed Ravenpaw. “Shouldn’t you be leaving for your assessment?”

“I will be, as soon as I wake up that sleepy slug over there.” Ravenpaw snorted, flicking his tail towards his brother, who was now sleeping on his back with his tongue hanging out slightly.

Sandpaw stifled a laugh, “Want me to wake him up? I could screech in his ear for you.” she offered.

“Thank you, but I can get him up myself. Mind standing back? I think Dustpaw ought to learn how it feels to be woken up the way he would wake me up when we were kits.”

Sandpaw purred as she stood up to give Ravenpaw more room, Ravenpaw backed up a bit, then took a flying leap at his brother, pushing him out of his nest and all the way through the entrance of the apprentice’s den.

That... wasn’t what he had meant to do, but at least his brother was awake now!

In the clearing, Ravenpaw could hear laughter from the warriors about to leave on patrol, as well as his brother hissing and spitting while struggling to get the dirt out from his pelt, still disoriented from being woken up.

“Who did that?!” He heard Dustpaw shriek.

Ravenpaw looked to Sandpaw nervously, hoping she would at least offer to face Dustpaw’s wrath with him.

“Nope, not today.” Sandpaw snickered, curling back up in her nest. “I’ve had my herbs, watched you make the biggest mistake of your life, I think I’ll go back to sleep now! Good luck on your assessment, Ravenpaw. Hope you make it out alive, Dustpaw’s going to be on your tail all day.”

Ravenpaw sighed and squared his shoulders, taking a deep breath before he stepped out of the den, immediately the clearing fell silent.

Dustpaw turned to glare at him, “Why. In Starclan’s name. Did you do that?!”

Ravenpaw licked his paw innocently. “We have an assessment this morning, remember?”

“Then next time, wake me up the way any other normal cat would!” Dustpaw hissed crossly.

“I tried though,” Ravenpaw protested. “You almost kicked me halfway out the den in your sleep!”

“Not my fault you can’t stand your ground against a sleeping enemy.” 

“The only dangerous thing about you was your snoring, you’ve probably scared away all the prey in the forest in your sleep alone! And if you don’t believe me, feel free to ask Sandpaw how bad it was. You were sleeping next to her after all.”

Dustpaw spluttered, and Ravenpaw honestly wasn’t sure what Dustpaw was more upset about. How he woke his brother up, or teasing him about his closeness with the injured molly.

Fortunately for Ravenpaw, Bluestar and their mentors padded over.

“Ravenpaw, did you attack Dustpaw?” His leader asked.

Ravenpaw flattened his ears and looked away, “I didn’t mean to push him out of the den, I figured I’d just jump on him the way he used to do to me in the nursery!”

Bluestar just stared at him passively, waiting patiently for him to continue.

“I swear! Besides, he always beats me in battle training, I didn’t think I’d even be able to push him out of his nest! I just wanted to wake him up... And he was sleeping pretty soundly, nothing else I was doing would wake him up.”

Redtail took the chance to speak up, “Normally Ravenpaw, I would ask you to leave waking my apprentice up to me for an assessment, but Dustpaw... You should have been up by dawn, Tigerclaw and Ravenpaw stayed out later than we did for training and Ravenpaw woke up just fine on his own. What’s your excuse?”

Dustpaw gaped at his mentor, his brother attacked him, and he was the one getting in trouble?!

“I.... well, I was up with Sandpaw! I heard her coughing so I stayed up in case she needed something!”

“Nice try, Dustpaw!” Came a shout from the apprentice’s den, “I woke up four times and the only one awake was Ravenpaw, not you!”

“So what I’m hearing is that Ravenpaw stayed out later than we did, stayed up later to help my daughter through the night, and still managed to be up before you?”

Dustpaw scowled at the ground, tail lashing hard enough to stir up the dust. Ravenpaw immediately felt bad for his brother, it wasn’t his fault he slept in, so what if he was a little tired? Ravenpaw hoped that neither of them would get in trouble over this.

When it became clear that Dustpaw wasn’t going to respond, Redtail just sighed. “You’re lucky this is an informal assessment Dustpaw, rather than your final. Let's get a move on you two, we’re wasting daylight just standing around out here”

Redtail headed for the entrance while Bluestar and Tigerclaw stayed with the apprentices for a moment.

“Neither of you are in trouble; Dustpaw, you aren’t the first apprentice to oversleep and you won’t be the last. And Ravenpaw, don’t feel bad about this, Patchpelt overslept once as an apprentice and it took me and his sister dragging him over to the freshkill pile to wake him up!” Bluestar reassured them.

Ravenpaw purred in amusement, trying to imagine the good-natured senior warrior as a young apprentice, what was funnier was imaging his leader dragging the old cat around camp while he slept.

Pressure on his shoulder pushed him out of his thoughts, Tigerclaw had bent his head to nudge Ravenpaw in greeting. “Good luck out there Ravenpaw, make me proud and stay safe.”

“I will, Tigerclaw, I promise!”

“Can we get going now?” Dustpaw asked sullenly, glancing at the entrance where Redtail was waiting, tail twitching impatiently.

“Go on you two, I expect to see the freshkill pile refilled when we return!” Bluestar called after them.

The apprentices nodded and hurried off to follow Redtail up and out of the ravine.

As they walked, Ravenpaw found his thoughts turning back to the real problem at the moment. What could be done about Redtail?

Tigerclaw made him swear not to do anything that would put him in danger, but how long could they just sit around while Redtail makes friends with their enemies? How long did they have before Redtail led Shadowclan into the heart of their camp?

Glancing at Redtail, Ravenpaw almost dismissed that thought entirely. Maybe once, Ravenpaw would trust the deputy without question, but even before that day at the thunderpath, he had noticed Redtail acting.... Well, acting not normal. 

He had noticed Redtail’s coming and going in the night, returning just before dawn looking exhausted but still doing his duties for the clan and organizing patrols. The deputy looked half dead most of the time, it was a wonder he was still awake, even if it only happened once or twice a quarter moon.

Ravenpaw wished he could go back to the times when he was blissfully ignorant of the true nature of their deputy and able to walk alongside him without flinching. Now he found himself on high alert whenever the deputy disappeared from sight.

It just didn’t make sense! How could their deputy, the cat Bluestar clearly trusted above all, betray them like that?

“Ravenpaw, are you listening?” Came the annoyed mew of the deputy.

“Aahh! Sorry Redtail, I guess I’m more tired than I thought.” Ravenpaw stuttered out.

Redtail snorted, “Dustpaw, why don’t you share some of that extra sleep you got with your brother? Looks like he needs it more.”

“How about I give him a good nick on the ear? That’ll wake him up plenty.” Dustpaw muttered.

“Sure, but I get to give you one if you try.” Redtail retorted. “I don’t want any more attitude from you today Dustpaw, you’re lucky Bluestar didn’t send you to clean the elder’s den instead of doing your assessment.”

“Dustpaw, from the Owl tree you will go downstream for your hunting assessment. Ravenpaw, you can go upstream. Bring all of your catches back here by Sunhigh, whoever catches the most gets first pick of the freshkill pile when we return. Are you ready?”

The apprentices leapt to their paws, even Dustpaw managed to look a little excited.

“Go!” 

And with that, the apprentices took off, one throwing up leaves as he hurtled downstream while the other flung himself at the nearest tree, disappearing into the branches above.

_______________________________________________________________

Ravenpaw was trying to focus on his assessment, really, he was. He caught a few birds while stalking along the branches, as well as a small squirrel. Leafbare would be here soon so he had to be careful he didn’t over hunt or catch prey that was too young.

Idly, Ravenpaw wondered if he ought to do some hunting on the ground soon. He had already returned to the holly bush by the Owl Tree with his catches a few times now so that he wouldn’t have to dig up his prey twice. Redtail probably couldn’t see him from where he was so high up, and he hadn’t heard the tell-tale signs of a cat following him from above.

Redtail... couldn’t see him?

Maybe this was the chance he needed!

He could deal with Redtail on his own, all he needed to do was get Redtail to follow him as far as the thunderpath! From there he could confront the deputy about his alliance with Shadowclan and then....

Shadowclan would be welcome to take him if it came to that.

Ravenpaw glanced down and saw Redtail sniffing the base of a tree a few fox-lengths away. Purposely, he pushed his weight onto a thinner branch, making it bounce and drop leaves onto the ground.

Redtail glanced up and Ravenpaw made sure to turn quickly, letting the deputy catch a glimpse of him before bounding away along the branches, leaving a careful trail for the deputy to follow.

Ravenpaw was going to get to the bottom of this, he would not let Redtail destroy his clan! ________________________________________________________________

Oh no, Ravenpaw... What are you planning? Would you believe me if I said that this came to twelve pages? Man this took awhile! I hope you all enjoyed it!

[lildevyl]

Hearts and Heroes

Summary:  Fans and YouTubers from all around the world come together to help fight against a great evil that invades everyone’s dreams, known as the Terrorlings.  Join Brandy and her team as they team up to help fight the Leader of the Terrorlings and help save their friend and mentor, Markiplier.

This is based on the fan-made game in the Markiplier Community known as Hearts and Heroes.

TW:  Mild Gore, Violence, Fran Bow Game, Hospital, Asylum, Nightmares, Anxiety, Mention of depression

Guest Staring:  @weirdmixofweirdness as Nora Weird

                              Chapter 1: Dream Warrior

(Brandy’s House)

Brandy sat at her computer wiping tears from her face from laughing so hard, as the video of Markiplier Makes Pancakes wrapped up.  She was so glad the Markiplier Makes video ended up in her Recommended.  After a busy weekend like this, it was nice to sit back and just relax a bit.  That and Brandy really needed the laugh.  Her lacrosse practice didn’t go so well, but she was starting to feel a bit better now.  After getting ready for the night and turning off her computer.  Brandy headed off to bed ready for some goodnight sleep.  Not knowing the adventure that awaits her.

(The Manson):

When Brandy woke up, she found herself lying on a - couch?  That didn’t make any sense.  Why would she be on a couch?  Looking around, Brandy realized that she wasn’t’ in her house anymore.  She was in someone else’s home, but where?  Brandy got up and decided to explore, maybe she can find someone and get to the bottom of this.

The more Brandy explored the house the more it seemed familiar to her somehow.  She just couldn’t put her finger on it, but Brandy knew this place looked familiar to her.  It wasn’t until she came across a hallway full of portraits but the faces looked like a giant ex was painted on them.

A portrait of a Chef.  “I thought I told you to stay outta my Kitchen!” A portrait of a Butler.  “The Master will be so displeased!” A portrait of a Woman in a Fortune-teller Room.  “I won’t force this on you.  You have a choice.” A portrait of a Mayor.  “Life is our’s to choose.” A portrait of a Colonel.  “Life needs a bit of madness.” And a portrait of an Actor.  “Life is to live it to the fullest.”

*Same snake, different skin.*

Brandy entered the Kitchen and didn’t find anyone, but wait?  Is that?  Brandy goes over to the Island where a tiny box is sitting and smiling at her.  “Huh?  No way!  Tiny Box Tim!”

“Hiya!”  Tiny Box Time greeted.

Then there was a flash of light and someone else was standing in front of Brandy but was behind Tiny Box Tim.  “Well, hey there, Tiny Box Tim.  How’s my little biscuit doing?  Thanks for notifying me that she’s here!”

“Huh?  Whoa!  You’re Markiplier!”

“Hi.  Listen, I know you have a lot of questions and I’ll try to explain everything as best as I can.  But right now, we need to get someplace safe.”

“Someplace safe?  I don’t understand.  Aren’t I just dreaming?”

“You are.  I am too.  It’s a bit complicated and I promise that I’ll explain everything, as best as I can.”  Mark held out his hand, palm up, gesturing for Brandy to take the first step.

“Um, okay.”

(Markiplier Hub)

Brandy stepped forward next to Mark and the next thing that Brandy knew.  She, Mark and Tiny Box Tim was all being teleported somewhere.  “Whoa.  Okay, feeling a little dizzy.  Okay, now can I know where I am?”

“Yeah, it takes a little getting used too.  And to answer your question, this is basically, home base for people like us.  You, me, and many others were chosen to fight against the Terrorlings.”  Mark started to explain.

“The what?”  Brandy asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Hear me out on this, alright?  I’ll try to explain as best as I can.  Terrorlings are basically dream-like demons that feed off negative emotions.  Anger, jealousy, grief, sadness, anxiety, uncertainty, and fear.  They can only affect people’s dreams as of right now, but the damage they can cause is very real.  And if they grow strong enough, I'm afraid their darkness will begin to seep into the awaking world.”

“That doesn’t sound good!”  Brandy said getting a little on edge.  She can only imagine what that might be like.

“Yeah, it’s definitely not good.  But that’s why we’re here to help.  This is the Hub or as some people like to call it the Markihub.”

Brandy gave one of her, “Yeah, right” looks at that.  “So, what do we do here?”

“Well, people here train for battling the Terrorlings.  They can also gather supplies and meet up with their teammates before missions.  Then, when the third shift bell rings, a portal will open to take you to the person that needs to be saved.  Speaking of, there’s the first bell!  You’ve still got a lot to do, but I’ll help you get up to speed.  Follow me to the training room.”

Brandy followed Mark to the Training Room, and her mouth fell open.  The Training Room looked more like a dojo!  Training Dummies were set up, different training weapons, and protections when using real weapons during training.  And so many other people were also training as well.  Brandy partnered up with Mark and he showed Brandy the ropes that will be her in her first mission.  After some time, Mark said that Brandy wasn’t too bad for the first in training and showed her the Army.  Mark stayed outside, claiming that the guy in there made him a bit uneasy.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, reader and all other configurations of being, my name is Wilford Warfstache and this is my weapon shop!  I’m in charge of very sharp objects.  Ready to choose your class?  Wilford Warfstache takes no crap from anybody!”  Wilford told Brandy.

“My class?”  Brandy asked, confused.

Wilford then went on to explain the different classes that people here in the dream world can take.  The different weapons they will have and the different training opportunities as well.  But Brandy had to choose carefully.  It was first to come first serve and all sales final after that!  Brandy decided on Warrior since that’s what she would normally choose if this was an RPG Game.

After exploring the Markihub a bit more, trying to figure out where everything is, and the layout of the place.  Brandy decided to find Mark.  She’s still very confused about a lot of things, and Mark did promise that he would explain everything.  Here’s hoping.

“You ready?”  Mark asked.

“I think so,” Brandy said.

“Great.  Now I’ll try to explain things more, especially since I promised to explain everything as best as I can.  Every person has their own Terrorlings.  In the dreams, they can manifest themselves into entities that are familiar to the victim. They invade the person’s head, causing the victim’s dreams to become nightmares, attacking them, and slowly eating away at their sanity.  Our job is to go into their dreams and save them before the Terrorlings do too much damage.” Mark explains.

Bong.

“There isn’t much time left before the portal opens.  And there’s a couple of things you need to do before heading out.  Sometimes, I like to do a quick send-off before the start of a shift.  It can get tough out there, so a few words of encouragement are always good.  What you want to do and I’ll help show you, is to equip before you head on out.  That way you’re fully prepared and have a better chance at fighting the Terrorlings.”

Brandy quickly equipped her armor and Mark showed her how to secure her sword when not in use.  “Okay, I think I’m ready to go, but I still don’t know exactly what I’m going to be doing out there.  I mean, I’ve hit people with a lacrosse stick before, but I never really been in a fight before.”  Brandy confessed.  She was really nervous about botching her first mission and completely messing it up.

“Don’t worry, new recruits face easier enemies on their first missions.  Even though everyone’s dreams are different, we try to make sure no one is going in facing enemies that they can’t handle.  Tonight you’re going to help a college student who’s been going through a tough time.  Their adopted father has been put in jail and their classmates have been really laying it on them.  They're starting to feel like a burden and their anxiety has been going through the roof, even having a few depression episodes.  Here, things like anxiety can take form as Terrorlings.  They start out small, but they can pile up over time and can cause some major harm.  Along, with the depression episodes.  The Terrorlings can probably do a lot of damage if we don’t try to help them out.”

“So, I go into someone’s dream and fight these  .   .   .  Terrorlings?”  Brandy asked.  Now, she was getting really nervous about this.

“Yep, and once they’ve been rescued, the exit portal will appear to take you back to the hub.”

“And  .   .   .   What if I  .   .   .   fail?”  That was one of Brandy’s biggest fears. Failing.  Not just failing a test or something, but actually failing someone.  Failing at helping someone.  Failing at something in life.  Brandy prides herself at being a really good student and yes, she has a lot of sass and tries her best to be a good friend.  But failing, at being a good friend, a good daughter.  It always made Brandy nervous that she might not be good enough.

“You’ll do great.  I know you can do it.  You were chosen for a reason.”

“If you say so,” Brady says, feeling a little confident now.  “Then, is it about time to start?”

“Yeah!  Let’s get going!”

As the third bell was about to toll, everyone gathered at the entrance where the portal will appear.  And as usual, everyone started talking among themselves, while Mark tried to get everyone’s attention.  A lot of people just did this knowing that, it would annoy Mark, it was kinda a thing that everyone did every now and then.

“Okay, now that I have your attention!”  Mark starts off awkwardly.  “We all know why we’re here.  There are dark things out there threatening the well-being of good people.  But we’re here to stop them.  Each and every one of us has something in your heart that can shine through that darkness and let you reach out to others.  Some of you were saved, others were chosen.  Chosen by what? 

Well to be honest  .   .   .  I have no freaking idea.  I’ve been doing this for a few years now and I still haven’t been able to figure it out.  But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop fighting.  Every night the darkness attacks, but our numbers continue to grow with every person saved.  Helping people is what I’m all about.  So, I’m taking this chance to do just that.  I want you all to know that even though things will get rough out there, I believe in you and I know you can do it!  And if it gets too much for you, just know that we’re all here for you and you can always ask for help.”

Bong.

“One more thing for the new people.  You, see that heart everyone has on their sleeves?  It’s the mark of a hero.  Not everyone you save will have one, but if they do, it means they’ll be joining our ranks in the fight against the Terrorlings. Alright, everyone!  Good Luck out there!”

The portal opened and everyone went through.  Talking to themselves or giving each other a last-minute pep talk.  Mark came to where Brandy was standing. “Let’s go!”

“Hang on second,” Brandy said.  “You said that each person had to be saved from the Terrorlings, right?”  Mark gave her a nod.  “Then what about me?  I wasn’t being attacked when you came and got me.  I was literally in a   .   .   . House?  Mansion?”

“Well like I said, sometimes people get chosen.  That’s what happened to me too.  I don’t know how this works, but it’s just one of those things where you get the chance to do some good and you’ve just gotta take it.”

“I guess that makes sense.  It’s kinda like donating to a charity or tutoring someone right?”

“Well, sorta.  If that helps you understand a bit better.”

“Hey, man.  I got enough sass on my own.  I don’t need any more from you.” Brandy said, crossing her arms.  “Anyway, I guess we should get going.  Here goes nothing!”

“You’ve got this!”

(Oswald Asylum)

“Whoa!  So, we’re in someone else’s dream right?”  Brandy asked looking around.  Oh, damn.  Where the hell are they?  Is this some kind of hospital?  Great, she hated hospitals!

“Yep!  We should hurry and try to find them before the Terrorlings do.”

“Are you going to stick with me through my whole shift?”

“Ah, sick of me already?  I’ll stay with you for as long as I can, but I have to eventually get back to my own objectives.”  Mark then looked around and suddenly his expression changed upon recognizing their surroundings.  “Oh, great I know where we are.”

“Wait, you do?  Where are we then?”

“This will certainly be an interesting first mission for ya.”  Both Mark and Brandy suddenly heard someone scream and came, barreling down the hall.  With what looked to be zombie-like skeletons chasing them.  “Looks like they need our help.  Let’s go!”

The person ran right by them and locked themselves in a room.  The Terrorlings start to taunt and scratch at the door.  Laughing and calling out to the person that was trapped in this nightmare.

“You’re Dad’s a criminal!” “He could have killed so many people just using his talent!” “He’s Dark’s puppet!  And you’ll be next!  You’ll be serving him, and no one will take you seriously.” “Not even the writer of this fanfic!”

=========

“Huh?!  How did -  Wait, are these guys breaking the fourth wall here?”  The writer of this fanfic says to absolutely no one.  “Okay, that must have been a typo!  Come on, I’m not even writing Wilford, the Host, the Author, or Darkiplier in this story yet and you guys are breaking character and the fourth wall already?!”

The writer of this story goes back to what she was writing and hopes to whatever Creator Power that is out there, that there won’t be any more breaking character or the fourth wall.

I guess she doesn’t know us, characters from the Markiplier Community, too well, do she?

“I’m going to pretend that I don’t see that and will continue to write this story the way I intended on writing it”

Okay. 👼

“Thank You!  Now, where was I?  Oh yes.  The person runs into a room locking the door behind them.”

========

(Oswald Asylum)

The person ran right by them and quickly locked themselves in a room.  The Terrorlings start to taunt and scratch at the door.  Laughing and calling out to the person that was trapped in this nightmare.

“Hey, jerks!  Over here!”

The Terrorlings turned around and their smiles grew to an ear to ear grin.  They came over to where Brandy and Mark were standing and were ready to fight. Brandy quickly grabs her sword and swings it around.  It was a bit heavy but it fit her perfectly as far as her body type.  Mark brought his staff and was ready to kick some ass.  The Terrorlings went after Brandy and Mark and the fight was on!  It was three against two.  Two of the Terrorlings, Brandy guests were the stronger ones, went after Mark and the Terrorling that Brandy got either wasn’t as skilled, as strong as the others or this Terrorling thought that Brandy would be slim pickings.

Brandy would be the first to admit to that she was by far any kind of fighter, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t going down without a fight.  As the fight went on, it was clear that Brandy was a newbie, but holding her own.  The Terrorling did manage to get some good shots on Brandy but Brandy was able to block a lot of the Terrorling’s attacks and was able to get some shots in as well.  Brandy briefly saw Mark successfully battling two Terrorlings at once, and hoped that she would be able to get to that level.

Right now, that got someone they need to save.  Brandy blocked the Terrorling’s attacks and was able to get one final blow.  What shocked Brandy the most was, one point the Terrorling was standing right there, then the next moment, Brandy was staring at a pile of ash.  Brandy quickly went to check on Mark only to see that he as well had two piles of ash.

“The Terrorlings become ashes when defeated.  Then they regenerate and go after other people here in the dream world,” Mar explained upon seeing Brandy’s shocked and confused look.

“I guess that makes sense.  We should get to the person we’re trying to save.”  Brandy headed to the room where they saw the person ran into.

Mark tried the door.  “Locked.  Hello?  Anyone in there?  You can come out now! We’re here to help you.”  Mark tried calling out to them and even lightly, knocked on the door.  No one answered.

“I think I can help with this,” Brandy said.  She then pulls out a few bobby pins from her hair and quickly put them together.  Then she goes over to the locked door and tries to pick the lock.  It takes Brandy a few tries and luckily it’s an old fashion lock.  “Walla!  The door is now open!”  Brandy opened the door, letting Mark go first, with a small bow.  Mark just smiled and shook his head fondly.

When Mark and Brandy entered the room, both of them found the room to be completely empty besides the bare essentials.  A bed, a window with the currents on the floor, and a dresser, that was it.  The person who ran in here was gone.  They must have ran, off somewhere, but where is the question?

Beep, beep, beep.

“Oh, sorry.  I have to go now.  But as I was about to say earlier I know which this is,” Mark explained after looking at his watch.  “This is Fran Bow.  I think once you find the person we’re looking for, and head to the end of the maze you should be good.  Just be careful, and whatever you do, don’t take the red pills!”

“Will do Mark!”  Brandy assured.

After Mark disappeared through the portal, Brandy decided to look around.  What better way to figure out who she needs to find then look around the room she’s in.  Plus, Brandy didn’t remember watching the playthrough of Fran Bow so this is completely new to her.  Looking around the room (didn’t take that long) Brandy found a file of the person she was looking for.

Patient’s Name:  Nora Weird

Parent/Parental Guardian:  Adopted Father Author Fischbach

Case:  Patient Nora Weird is the adopted daughter of the Author, one of the oldest Egos of Mark Fischbach (YouTuber Markiplier) and one of the deadliest ones.  After her adopted father had been arrested and taken in by Jackieboy Man, Nora has been severally bullied.  And started to show signs of possibly having the same powers as her adopted father. Patient believes that she is not “real” and is trying to find a “Creator” to use their powers to become “real.”   If not treated and suppress these powers, then it is theorized that she too, will be as powerful and insane as her adopted father. Powers:  Being able to write things down in a story and then narrates the story.  The story and/or characters become real.

‘Oh, wow!’  That was the first thing that Brandy thought when she read that.  Wait, did they just say that one of Mark’s Ego’s is her “Adopted Father?”  Okay, this nightmare is more confusing than anything else.  How can one of Mark’s older Egos be Nora’s adopted father?  The Author isn’t real.  Brandy was here in Nora’s nightmare to help her, so Nora’s a real person like her.  Like Mark.  Alright, so this file must be made up and is mixing things up, to try and drive Nora over.

‘Hang in there Nora.  Help is on the way.’  Brandy thought to herself as she headed out of the room.  Time to explore the hospital, maybe someone will be able to help her find Nora.

======

Tagging:  @weirdmixofweirdness, @isa-ghost, @septic-dr-schneep, @nightfuryobsessed, @fischyplier, @dezzydynamite, @kangaroo-roux, @shadowsinyoursoul, @marshmallowmischief, @juju-on-that-yeet, @m4delin, @stained-puppet, @10th-no-name-person

[the-melting-world]

C-can we have sexy time with the magician with an mc who’s bratty but not overly bratty and pompous like lucio pls ;~;” I just found out my bf cheated on me for three different women, tysm for opening up requests ;~;”

Okay, first off, whoever your bf is, fuck that pig. He doesn’t deserve you.

Secondly, I hope this mc is bratty enough. She’s sort of the naive kind of bratty if that helps. 

I had fun with this one! I hope it makes you feel better, hon. Thanks for the request.

[🍋] 

******

You made it. You’re inside the Magician’s realm.

It’s nothing like how you expected. Like Asra’s dimension, you predicted wild neon growth and sweet sprite-like creatures floating on the breeze. But there’s none of that here.

You walk through a desert of indigo dunes and a magenta sun.

There were no landmarks. No signs of civilization. No sounds of life. Just sand. 

Miles and miles of sand.

You wander, for gods know how long. You wander and wander and wander through this strange purplish hell until you feel something. An invisible thread linked to your sternum. It suddenly pulls taut like a wire.

You follow the phantom thread all the way to an oasis.

You collapse to your knees and dunk your face in the turquoise pool. You hadn’t realized how thirsty you were until now. How close to death had you come since arriving here?

Behind you, someone speaks.

“Showing up here without your mentor’s permission. I must say, that is bold.”

You turn to see lounging on an ornate rug under the shade of a bowed palm, was Asra Alnazar.

You shake your head. No wait. You notice the vulpine ears, the elongated canines, and how their pupils seem a bit too large for their eyes.

“The Magician,” you whisper.

They regard you with unchecked amusement. You find it a little unsettling how they can manage to seem both lazy and completely alert. 

“What are you doing here, apprentice?” The suspicion in their voice does not match their deceptive grin.

You try not to let their canines intimidate you. “I have a name. It’s Kipling.” You turn away from the pool to face them properly. “And I’m here because I wanted to test my magic. I wanted to see if I could find you on my own.”

With their index finger, the Magician traces the intricate designs in the rug. 

“What? Is this some sort of rebellious stage? Asra doesn’t think you’re ready for the big league magic spells, so you decide to prove him wrong by tossing yourself into dangerous, mercurial realms?”

You don’t like how accurate the Magician’s reading is on you.

You lift your chin and look down your nose at them. “Something like that.”

The Magician’s sharp grin fades a little. “Think you’re a full fledged magician like your master then?”

You bristle. “He’s not my master.”

The Magician sits up a little straighter. “Mmm. A spunky one, aren’t you?” Propping their leg up and patting a spot on the carpet, they purr, “Come sit next to me.”

You know that in order to get anything out of the Magician, you’ll have to play along. So you join them on the rug and try to remind yourself that as much as they look like Asra, they weren’t. No matter how many times your insides flutter whenever they gaze in your direction.

As if sensing your discomfort, the Magician says, “I’m not going to bite you, Kipling.”

You stop wasting time. “Can you teach me something stronger than what I already know?”

You notice how their large ears, as white as their hair, twitch at your direct question. Reaching over and dusting some sand off of your shoulder, they say, “I don’t teach. That’s Asra’s job. I grant powers.”

You fight the urge to shrug their hand away. This close in, you realize that the Magician does not smell exactly like Asra, who carries the scent of sandalwood and sage. By comparison, the Magician’s scent was older, deeper. Like cedar wood and ash . . . or perhaps blood.

“What powers will you grant me then?” You ask, remembering why you are here.

The Magician withdraws their hand and chuckles. “By now you know that everything comes at a price.”

You narrow your eyes. “What do you want?”

Asra – no, the Magician, arches a snowy eyebrow. “That depends. Is there something that you want, Kipling? Something that Asra hasn’t been able to give?”

You hesitate. 

The Magician leans in close to your ear and whispers, “Whatever it is, will be no one’s business but ours. I may be Asra’s patron, but I have my code that I live by. You can trust me with your secrets.”

You can’t take this anymore. Save for a few details, the Magician looks exactly like Asra. And with them being so close to you like this . . . it makes you ache all over.

You confess, “Asra and I haven’t done anything.” You lower your eyes. “Not even kiss.”

The Magician waits a beat. Then they tsk at you, but not unkindly.

“A shame.”

You feel pressure under your chin. You respond to it, lifting up your head only to meet the Magician’s lips. Their kiss is light and comforting. Their heady pheromones rattle your skull.

They pull back. “What else do you want?”

You feel yourself blushing while your mouth fumbles and trips over what feels like a useless vocabulary.

That’s when the Magician takes your hand and places it on their chest. Like Asra, they wear a shirt that shows off their lean musculature and sunkissed skin.

“While you’re thinking it over,” they say, “let me tell you what I haven’t done.”

You are frozen, entranced by the way they drag your hand down their torso.

“No one from your realm has offered to undress me before. And I would . . . very much like if you did, Kipling.”

You swallow. “That’s all?” It seemed a bit too tame of a request for the Magician.

Their face glows with embarrassment and their ears flatten against their head. “Don’t tease me. We Arcana are rather old fashioned beings.”

You stifle a laugh and apologize as you unbutton their shirt and help them shrug out of it. Slowly, their ears return to a more relaxed state. As soon as they do, you lean in and connect with the side of their neck. The Magician’s breath catches as you walk your lips along their warm skin. You can’t help but lose your hand in their fluffy mop of alabaster curls.

“Kipling,” the Magician purrs, “we still haven’t discussed what sort of power you want. Go on, tell me.”

You pull back to face them. “Can we, uh . . . discuss that later?”

Their ears swivel forward and their pupils expand further. “Of course. If . . . that’s what you want.”

You close your eyes and seek the Magician’s lips again. This time you kiss them with purpose. They kiss you back, their curiosity and excitement building the longer you go on. 

You begin the slow, restless dance of entangling yourselves and rolling into a horizontal position. You touch them. They touch you. The sensations you experience with the Magician are sometimes strange, sometimes purely sublime. 

You are straddling them, grinding your hips in a way that prompts them to keep flashing their sharp teeth, when they say, “How long do you intend to stay here, Kipling? I’m going to miss you when you’re gone.”

You slow down the roll of your hips and bend over them. Kissing their soft lips, you ask, “How far do you want to take this?”

They chuckle, “I’m a celestial phenomena. I can go for eternity if I so desire.” 

In one swift maneuver, they sweep you until the roles are reversed. Now they are the one pressing deep into you, making you want to bare your teeth.

You feel yourself grinning.

Eternity with the Magician?

That wasn’t starting to seem like such an awful idea . . .

[falconedreams]

Heroics Law @ UA

Yet another BNHA dream! If only the canon was as chill as these.

This was one of those long form dreams where I lived out every day for years like an actual life, so I’m just going to skip to all the plot-relevant parts. So I was hired by UA to teach Heroics Law. Don’t you need a pro license to teach at UA, regardless of the subject? Yup. Did I have a pro license? Yup. So what was my Quirk? I didn’t have one (at least so far as I or anyone else knew). 

This fact came to light during the Quirk Apprehension Test, which I was helping Eraser facilitate. As per canon, Bakugou blew a fuse when Midoriya unleased OfA to throw the baseball, and called him a “shitty Quirkless good-for-nothing” or words to that effect while attempting to attack him, which was Not Cool, but instead of Eraser stepping in as per canon, I did, dumped all my support equipment on the ground, and informed him coolly that I had no Quirk either. At the revelation of this fact both Bakugou and Midoriya burst a blood vessel, for the same reasons but with very different inflections. Bakugou was like “YOU BECAME A PRO HERO WITHOUT A QUIRK?!” in the “aren’t Quirkless people basically useless” way, and Midoriya was like “YOU BECAME A PRO HERO WITHOUT A QUIRK?!” in the “so I basically took OfA from All Might and crippled him for NOTHING!?” way. And of course everyone else was like HOW CAN THAT EVEN BE POSSIBLE HOW DID YOU PASS THE ENTRANCE EXAMS?! And I had to be like, hey now, you don’t have to go to UA to be a hero! Heck, you don’t even have to go to a hero high school! Mt Lady went to an agricultural school. All you have to do is get your license. Besides, you just need a pro license, not to be ranked in the top 10 or whatever. (I was actually ranked in the low triple digits, which sounds horribly pathetic, but given that Todoroki got over 4k sponsors in the Sports Festival Arc and Bakugou got over 3k, not to mention the several hundreds each for a handful of others, triple digits is in the top 12.5% and pretty darn impressive for a Quirkless person.)

Actually, I did attend UA, but the truth of the whole matter wasn’t something to be telling impressionable 15 year olds. What actually happened was that, being completely suicidal, as per IRL, I signed up for the entrance exams to commit suicide via robot. But the problem is that when you no longer care whether you live or die, you end up not having any of the reservations that normally stop people from overexerting themselves, e.g. fear of pain/death. And I do enjoy a good punch-up. It’s a lot more satisfying than jogging laps. So what happened was that I just. fucking. flung myself at the robots heedlessly in a Death or Glory charge, fully expecting it to be Death, but somehow when the buzzer sounded it was Glory instead, and I was still alive. After that I went to Power Loader sobbing and told him the entire story, and begged him to help me conceal my Quirklessness from everyone else, and after chewing me out for the suicide attempt, he made me fight him. If I was still standing after 15 minutes he would help me keep my secret. And I was, and gave him a nice set of scratches over one shoulder to boot (wear a fucking shirt, my friend! Who goes into battle bare-chested?!), and so the plan we devised was that my Quirk was registered as being something like Monoma’s Copy, and then he would make me support items that would produce effects that I could conceivably claim were the effect of a borrowed Quirk (i.e., I had wristbands that would shoot out something like Blackwhip, but I’d claim they were just to redirect the energybeams, instead of producing them, like Aoyama’s Navel Laser belt. Or I had jetpack boots with holes in the bottom to shoot out air for me to fly, but I just claimed that the holes were for the benefit of say, borrowing Gran Torino’s Jet.) But I’d have to fight him every time I wanted something new. Because, according to him, “Support items break and malfunction and run out of battery, but only you decide when you will fall. All these things are meant to be a front, and only that. In battle, the only thing you can really count on is yourself.” So he made me fight. For every item I asked of him. Which, to be fair, makes logical sense, and I totally agreed with him. It certainly helped to impress on Bakugou that Quirkless people were NOT useless, when I was able to hold him down with no Quirk, and no support items.

After that Bakugou came to see me outside of class, having this total existential crisis, then I ended up having to be his mentor, like All Might is Midoriya’s mentor, and Eraserhead is Shinsou’s mentor. And might I add, I did a fuck of a lot better than Best Jeanist, because I had quite a similar personality (no I do NOT condone bullying, that is BAD, I just mean that I do enjoy getting into punchups and I also understand what it’s like to want to be the best, but yo, being a decent person is much more important, first)

On a side note, my hero name was Gawaine.

[drkcnry67]

title: Do Not Stand At My Grave And Cry, Just Know That I Love You!

kink- grinding

Dark- Murder

Heaven & Hell- Silver/Salt/holy Water

Pairing: Jensen x Reader/Dick Grayson x Reader/ back to Jensen(R** H***) x Reader

rating: 14+

word count (if Applicable): 25,167

tags:  MURDER, MAIN CHARACTER DEATH, RESURRECTION, LEAGUE OF SHADOWS, TATTOOS, MENTIONS OF GRINDING IN A JACUZZI, MAKE OUT SESSIONS, LAZARUS PIT

created for  @spndarkbingo @spnkinkbingo @heavenandhellbingo​

~in training we find our strengths, weaknesses and let our minds wander. In times of solace we learn what it means to be human.~

 Your name is YN. your street name is Batwoman. Your city is Gotham. Your mentor is the very thing criminals in your city fear, Batman. His sidekick was Robin, but Batman had another sidekick through the years that became your best friend and overall badass patrol partner, Batgirl. 

The robin that was there when you joined up decided a new persona of his own, Nightwing. The Robin who stepped into the light was named Jensen and he would soon become the love of your life. 

2 years later after many nights of crime fighting, going on dates, making out, etc. you and Jensen were out on a nice walk through the Gotham central park, the sun was setting and it was your night.

~in ourselves is an alternate persona, one that comes out with our actions or emotions. In times of anger we find that persona is present more than normal.~

Tonight was the eve of the first snowfall, this happened every year but it was a special night for you and Jensen this was the night 2 years to the day that you guys became an official item. Bruce & Barb had taken the patrol for the evening, you and Jensen went for a stroll. 

Jensen: “YN, lets never stop doing this!”

YN: “what, walking through the cold on the eve of the first snow? Or kicking ass as crime fighters?”

Jensen Laughed holding you closer to keep you warm.

Jensen: “both. Being with you has really opened my eyes to the beauty around me & taught me to believe in all i can be with or without the mask. Thank you for being my everything. Come lets take a seat…”

Jensen brought you to a bench over looking the fountain which was just starting to glow. You take a seat by the fountains glow as Jensen gets down on one knee.

Jensen: “YN, my love, my life, my crime fighting partner dont ever underestimate how deeply i love you. But it is time to take the next step in our relationship… YN, will you do the incredible honor of marrying me?”

Jensen watched your eyes go wide at the sight of a 14k white gold petite twist diamond ring.

YN: “yes… Jensen Yes!”

You both got up and were about to share a passionate kiss but immediately felt a strange presence. You were being watched. 

This was Gotham city after all, the wackos only came out at night and crime was apart of the normality. 

Jensen: “you have made me the happiest man on earth.”

You both  now standing still ready for anything still happy, still enjoying the moment decided to move more into the light away from the fountain. You now did what you knew would be right.

YN (over coms): “batgirl, where are you guys right now?”

Barbara (over coms): “near Wayne Tower. Are you guys alright?”

YN (over coms): “we are being hunted…”

Bruce (over coms): “dont do anything stupid make your way to the edge of the park we will be there in 5.”

The coms cut. You and Jensen linked hands and minded your surroundings as you made your way towards the edge of the park. But at that moment coming from near the water, you guys were unaware of the danger that would soon befall you that night.

~for it is in the darkest of times when we realize that the way we live our lives now, is not how we should live them. Sometimes its better to give into the darkness than to just let it simmer on the surface.~

About halfway from the entrance you guys noticed a shadow lurking behind you. You & Jensen were testing out the new weapons bracelets that Wayne Tech was developing with your help. 

Jensen: “this night wouldnt be complete without someone or something trying to kill us…”

YN: “its totally fine at least it didnt happen during the proposal… now lets kick some ass.”

Jensen: “dont worry love, soon Bruce & Barb will be here and we will all be home before sunrise for some much needed S & R! How do…”

Thats when the same laugh that struck nerves within you so many times before, the same laugh that sent your mind into a nervous frenzy every single damn time. You guys were now interrupted indefinitely & un-be-knownst to both of you this would be the last time both of you would see eachother.

Joker: “look at this Batwoman & Robin now engaged how sweet. Taste my new Joker knockout gas…”

He shot the gas your way but both of you were up in the tree near by before it could even be near you. You threw down a smoke pellet and both of you made a run for the gate but it was too late. You were gassed but you stayed awake long enough to watch Jensen being dragged away. 

YN (before passing out): “Jensen…”

You lost consciousness about 5 seconds not even later.

~your best friend is someone you can always count on, someone who will always be there for you, but if you have more than one best friend there is a chance that one of them could be your soulmate in more ways than one.~

Barb & Bruce arrive on scene they enter the park, its not a ¼ way inside the park Barb was the one to notice you laying on the ground.

Barb: “Batman over here…”

Within seconds they were at your side… 

Bruce: “she is under the influence of Jokers knockout gas we have to get her back to the cave before she wakes up and freaks. Joker must have Jensen, we cannot make a scene. We have to get her out of here.”

Bruce used his remote to call the batmobile closer, he then pick you up and had Barb sit in the front seat before he placed you gently on her lap crossing your form cross both his and Barbs laps. He then sped off towards the cave, upon arrival and parking the batmobile he got out going round to the other side taking you out of Barb’s lap he made sure to bring you to the observation table.

Both Dick and Alfred hooked up IV and started checking your vitals, bandaging any wounds. But it was Barb who noticed the way Dick was staring at you. 

Barb and Bruce went to de-suit while Dick just sat by your side…

Dick: “dont worry YN we will find him, we will bring him home to you. I promise…”

Barb and Bruce came out of the de-suiting chamber, Dick was now making sure you were comfortable and finishing patching up one of your wounds. 

Bruce: “how is she?”

Dick: “she is cold, her body has gone into some sort of shocked state. She is also a bit dehydrated, she needs to gain rest and relaxation. We need to find Joker asap! He needs to pay for what he has done.”

For as much as Bruce agreed with Dick’s statement, he knew that there was a very very high chance that as soon as you woke up you would be going after Joker yourself. 

Barb: “uh guys we may want to rethink any hope of keeping YN out of the hunt for Joker!”

She ran her finger over the ring on your left hand this drew the looks of Bruce and Dick from Barb to the ring on your left hand. 

Bruce: “oh my word.”

Dick: “what do you know Jensen did it!”

Barb: “wait a minute wait wait you all knew about this? Why did i not know?”

Bruce: “cause Jensen wanted it to be a surprise. He came to me about a month ago asking for some money so he could quote get YN the best christmas present ever! I did give him what he asked for at the feeling of what he was gonna do but i know that she is gonna try to leave the cave when she wakes we cannot let her do that. Not after what she has just been through.”

No one was surprised by this but they all went to do their own thing, Bruce started scanning the city for Joker so he would be able to tell you that he was already on it. 

Dick was punching a bag, he was angry and upset he was not sure what would happen. 

Barb however had not left your side, she knew you would need her there when and if you woke soon. 

It was a few moments later that you woke up, you sat straight up screaming, Barbara pulled you into her embrace, this made you calm down alot. barb sat there holding you close for a while before you were only sobbing softly into her shirt.

Barb: “shhh girl hey its okay, take some deep breaths. You can speak when your ready we are not gonna push you to tell us anything right now.”

You laxed more into Barbs embrace you had flashbacks of the events that unfolded just a few hours before.

YN: “Jensen proposed. Joker knocked me out and then his goons dragged Jensen off. That clown is gonna die painfully for taking my fiance. I have to go and sweep the city, i have to find them, i have to save Jensen.”

You attempt to get up to leave but are immediately stopped by hands holding you in place. 

Bruce: “let me deal with that clown. He isn’t going to do anything to Jensen. He isn’t gonna have the chance to do anything else to anyone ever again. I’ll personally see to it that you are the one who gets to play executioner for that clown.”

Now being stuck still in Barb’s arms, you were fine, but being told that you weren’t going on this mission to find your fiance’s kidnapper was at the top of the list of things you were not okay with.

YN: “Bruce i dont just wanna sit here and do nothing. You cant bar me from going on mission. Leave me alone bruce, if i cant go on the mission then Barb take me to the penthouse. I refuse to stay here. Dick please do what you can to keep me informed on the progress.”

Barb helped you off the table, leading you guys to the elevator reaching the top you both exit at your own pace. 

Alfred: “what can i help you ladies with?”

Barb: “can you go to our rooms and grab our backpacks. Please then pull the car around. We aren’t staying here tonight.”

Alfred: “did something happen…”

Barb and you just turned away from the elevator walking towards the entry way.

Barb: “ask Bruce.”

Alfred stayed where he was he figured that if you and Barb had come up that Bruce and Dick might follow. Sure enough a few moments later the elevator opened again to reveal Dick and Bruce coming out of the elevator. Thats when Alfred went to go quickly grab yours and Barbs Backpacks.

Bruce: “girls wait, YN your an essential part of this team. Joker took Jensen to get back at me. To take revenge against batman. I swear i’ll get him back whatever it takes. You have my word.”

Dick chimed in also…

Dick: “dont worry YN we will get him back, nothing is gonna stop us from doing that.”

Barbara: “dont do anything we wouldnt do. Just be careful. Alfred we are ready to go when you are.”

You and Barb waited a few more moments before alfred came fully into view again. He was holding both of your packs as he ushered both of you to the car. Upon exiting the manor the cool night air hit you like nothing. 

All you felt emotionaly was nothing, your emotions were not cooerating. Your physical form was still shaken from the events of earlier. But was comforted by the gentle touch of your best friend you felt that she cared for your wellbeing. 

Barb: “dont worry girl, Jensen is tough he wont let Joker break him not knowing that he has you waiting for him.”

YN: “what if they cant find him in time?”

Barb turned to stand in front of you… 

Barb: “we cant afford to think like that. We have to stay strong. Hey i know we should’ve been celebrating your engagement already but we can still do that. Alfred Gotham Royal hotel please.”

Your mind only worked as well can could be expected after the nights traumatic events. Upon reaching the car Alfred held the door open as you slid in beside barb. Alfred handing you both your backpacks. 

He then went to start the car and begin the drive. He turned back to slightly look at you and Barb, your blank expression staring out the window, your thoughts swimming, your fear swirling, your tear ducts ready to spill, your body quivering. 

Apart from the fact that you were traumatized to every single extent, your only comfort was in the fact that Barb’s hand hadn’t left yours. You turned your attention to her and immediately was overwhelmed by the feeling of her overwhelming care for your wellbeing. 

Barb: “hey are you okay?”

You shook your head, your tear ducts now flowing freely, the street light reflecting the tears in your eyes. Barb only saw the sorrow in your eyes. You scooted closer to Barb and leaned your head on her shoulder. Your head nestled into the crook of her neck, your feeling of sorrow desimated a bit. 

You began feeling a bit better, a bit better than you had for hours. Within a few moments later of that you guys felt the car stop. 

Alfred: “alright ladies before we get out of the car will you be needing a ride home tonight.?”

Barb: “not tonight, possibly not for a while Alfred. But we will keep you informed.”

Alfred: “Lady YN may i ask how you are doing?”

YN: “im worried Alfred, i havent been away from Jensen this long before. Alfred, i have a bad feeling about this.”

Alfred: “not to worry, I’m sure once Master Bruce and Master Dick have found even the slightest trace of Joker they will do the right thing and inform you both immediately.”

You both watched as Alfred got out of the car and come round to the door on the passenger side and opened it letting both you and Barb out. Carrying your backpacks you both strolled away from the car. 

YN: “thanks Alfred.”

With a smile Alfred gets back in the car and drives away. You both walked into the hotel and were stopped by a concierge.

Concierge: “can i help you ladies?”

YN: “we are the ladies of the owner of this hotel. Call him and ask but we are headed to the penthouse.”

The concierge immediately had his head in a bowing kind of embarrassed look.

Concierge: “i’m so sorry ladies, Mister Wayne didnt inform me that people would be coming.”

Barb: “its quite alright now can you send up some of your finest jello shots, 2x 2L of pepsi and a platter of pigs in a blanket, as well as a bottle of tequila and a few fluffy housecoats with some nice blue shades of nail polish. Please.”

Concierge: “of course miss, i’ll send your order in straight away. If you ladies need anything else please do not hesitate to ask.”

Barb nodded her head in gratitude as you both walked away towards the elevator, the entire way up your head was on Barb’s shoulder, coming out of the elevator you both made you way to the couch where you set your bags down.

Barb’s eyes never left your form as you proceeded to strip off your shirt and walk out onto the balcony, she didnt question it either for she knew you were still shaken over the events of the evening. 

YN (in a whisper carried off by the wind): “Jay i hope your okay.”

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

Meanwhile Joker was hiding in what he percieved to be plainish sight, he had taken up hiding in an abandoned warehouse just on the outskirts of Diamond District Gotham. 

Joker: “okay pumpkin lets clear something up…” 

He said smiling darkly as he approached Jensen with a crowbar.

Joker: “whats wrong.?. nothing to say?.?”

Jensen immediately spat in Jokers face before speaking once more.

Jensen: “do your worst clown, but when they find me and yes they will find me, you are gonna wish you were dead… the pain and torture you put me through tonight is nothing compared to what ive endured in the past.”

Joker: “i see i’m gonna have to teach you some manners. Now tell me what hurts more when i hit you with this crowbar.” 

Jensen’s only thoughts were of you, were of what he assumed may be your last moments together. He was okay dying if it meant he would not have anything to regret. Joker began to hit Jensen with the crowbar swinging it left, right, up, down, there was blood and pain to be seen and felt. 

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

This went on for several days.  Bruce & Dick finally one night got an annonymous tip from the league of shadows that Joker was spotted around the warehouses on the out skirts of Diamond District. 

Bruce was on the road and out the door faster than Dick who decided to patch through coms to both you and barb so you both could be filled in. but one other person showed up in the hotel room but a few moments before. 

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

That went something like this:

Talia: “YN, Barbara…”

Barb was the only one to get off of the couch at that moment, you stayed where you were. You had nothing going for you. You and Barb had just been sitting there relaxing. You hadnt even thought about anything else not even the incident in the past few days. 

Barbara: “what do you want Talia?”

Talia: “take it down a notch Barbara, im here as a personal favor to YN. i heard what happened im just making sure she is okay.”

Barbara looked from you to Talia and back to you.

Barbara: “am i missing something? Besides Bruce how do you guys know eachother?”

You were the one to answer that question… 

YN: "I met Talia years ago in Europe. She is the one that helped me recover after my first run in with Joker. That's why I went to Europe was to get out of the city for a while. I couldn't bring myself to do anything in Gotham so I ended up going on a European tour of my ancestral grounds. I also went to Romania and toured transylvania. Draculas castle was certainly one of the most beautiful places I had seen on my European experience. Though they said that the site where Dracula had supposedly been buried was reported to no longer be in transylvania. But somewhere unknown. Whoever were to find it would be named the soul owner of his castle. For me that was a quest of a lifetime but before I could make it too far back through the French Swiss side I was on the border of Nanda Parbat when Talia and her guard found me they stopped me at the border..."

Talia cleared her throat and proceeded to speak from where you left off.

Talia: “when i found her entering Nanda Parbat i brought her to my garrison on the eastern side of the Leagues base. When i knew it was time and i had gotten some information out of her i brought her to stand before my father. This was before he betrayed me… this was before Nyssa my sister filled his head with lies, blaming me for a betrayal against the demons head that she orchestrated in her own right. She knows im seen as fathers strongest warrior, she wants to rule the league after my father decides he wants to surrender the throne. But enough of that i heard about the engagement YN congratulations.”

The engagement, the ring that was on your finger, the ring that meant so much to you in those first few moments of having it on, that day still silent in the back of you mind. That day that you dreaded so much was the day that your happiness seemed to have been taken away from you.

YN: “thank you for the congratulations but i dont feel much like celebrating…”

Talia: “i know thats the other reason why im here, by now my guard would have tipped off the Bat. you need to know that he will probably already be on his way to the location. My guard has spotted the clown with your robin. You need not give up just yet, you would be surprised at how fast the detective can move when the ones he cares deeply about are in peril.!.”

YN: “i just hope Jensen is okay… please tell me your guard found out how he is?”

Talia: “he is hurt very badly. The clown has not been kind on him. My guard heard screams however small yet muffled they were.”

Barb was skeptical but yet was very concerned for her best friend as it turned out had not been as honest about everything concerning her trip as she had thought…

Barb: “so why come to us directly… what do you want out of this?”

Talia: “ive spent a better part over the last few years silently training with YN without the knowledge of the dark knight. YN i know that you upset, i know your not in a good place right now but i want you to know how deeply proud of you i am for how  well you have done by handling yourself with these recent events. If things go badly ill take you away on a elite guard retreat, where i will help you grieve in every way possible. Now kneel with me “Siru Alnnari” till we recieve news of how Jensen is recovered.”

You got off the couch and knelt in the shorts and sports bra you had on beneath the house coat. This made you more aware of your surroundings than you had been prior to Talia’s arrival as you honed your senses further. Barb now was texting with Dick. she was updating him on you and how your healing process was going.

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

Dick decided then to call Barb… he knew she would not mind hearing from him. Their conversation went something like this:

Dick: “hey Barb, look i know we didnt leave off on the best terms. But i want you to know i wasnt choosing sides it was cause of my genuine care for you and YN that i do  wanna say that the mansion is not the same without you beautiful ladies! Speaking of YN how is she?”

Barb had to breathe for a moment before giving her answer.

Barb: “not good, Dick did you know that YN has been secretly training with Talia?”

Dick had to step out of the room, he had been sitting in the cave with Bruce, Dick had to leave the area before giving his answer so Bruce would not find out.

Dick: “yes i know about that. I promised to keep it from everyone especially Bruce.”

Barb: “Talia & Yn are meditating, i havent seen YN relax a lick since that dreaded day a week ago. But now she is in some sort of relaxation state. Dick i am worried about her, she also hasnt eaten very much since being here.”

Dick had to breathe now having heard that now having heard how you were, what you were doing. He now thought about his time with the league, when he had been there with Bruce, how he had become apart of the league through that, through being Bruce’s ward. 

Dick: “i guess if anyone else should know about this its you but YN isnt the only one whose been training secretly with Talia… Bruce had his training years before i came into his life, i went with him once to do some more training and so he could retake his league oath. When they met me they made me one of them too. Talia has been training with me as much as she has YN. but hey dont worry so much about this, YN is a tough one she will be fine. But how bout you, how are you doing with all this?”

Barb had to answer very very carefully she felt herself beginning to break. She knew what would happen if she said too much of what her brain was trying to comprehend.

Barb: “honestly i am about as alright as can be with everything thats going on. Hows Bruce doing with his retrieval?”

Dick: “he is just coming up to the location… stand by for further updates. And Barb we both are really sorry for how we acted…”

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

Barb could only smile on her end of the conversation as she now through the rest of the conversation that she and Dick were having, was hearing the league chanting that you and Talia were giving off. She felt a wave of peace wash over her as if she were being drawn into your state of mind. 

Over the next little while Barb watched as you and Talia continued to meditate… Dick was communicating with Bruce about his skulking around, scoping out the warehouse. But then thats when the conversation that would soon end your hopes of getting to formally announce your engagement to Jensen… 

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

Bruce: “Dick patch me through to the girls they will want to listen as i go in for extraction.”

Dick: “i dont know if thats a good idea, when i spoke to Barb she said that YN has barely eaten and if this doesnt end well, she thinks YN might not come back to the mansion for a while. You know as well as i that worry is part of this line of work. I know we have been a family since we all joined up with you and none of us regret doing that. We regret nothing, but YN is the glue that keeps our broken family together and i dont think we want to loose that…. So be gentle when you speak… she is still a little frazzled according to Barb.”

Bruce: “dont worry about me i can handle anything that those 2 can throw at me…”

Bruce waited patiently on his perch to be connected to Barb.. 

Barb: “Bruce…”

Bruce: “i wanted to let you know that no one blames you for what has happened. I want you to know that i am doing everything in my ability to bring Jensen Home but I wanted someone over there to be able to know how the progress is going… "

Barb: "Bruce we shouldn't have left how we did… It was wrong of us to leave in the first place.. But I wouldn't have let her leave on her own. I had to go with her… No matter how things go I'm sure we will all have a normal ish Christmas at the manor. Like we do every year."

Bruce had gone silent, for now he was placing a sound device good for listening closer to enclosed buildings on the path hidden but still close enough to hear what was going on inside. 

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

Meanwhile this is what he heard… 

Along with more blood curling screams, he heard the following being spoken.. 

Joker: "okay Daddy’s gotta go, be a good boy, do all your homework, dont stay up late and hey please tell the big man i say Hello!”

Joker walked out of the door laughing his way down the path. Jensen wiggled himself upright making it to the locked door, but the pain was too much his ribs were beyond broken. Thats when Jensen looked to the left of the door and saw the beginning of a line of bombs. The place was rigged to explode.

He sent his last thoughts out to you, not wondering if you would ever marry anyone else, not more wondering if he would ever live long enough to marry you himself, his last muffled words were, “I Love You, YN.”

The building exploded 5 seconds later, Batman was caught in a cloud of dust & debris. Batman a while later crawled out of the debris & went onto coms…

~when we think we are immune to the bad and the ugly, that's when they usually find us… Trouble waits till we are vulnerable before it strikes. In any situation we don't want to panic for that won't help anyone.~

Barb: “Bruce i heard an explosion what happened?”

Bruce had to compose himself before answering… 

Bruce: "Barb, I'm sorry that explosion was the building that Jensen was in… He didn't make it… I just found his… What the hell… Patch me through to Talia her father's up to no good again." 

Barb did her thing and patched Bruce through to Talia, who was not surprised to hear from Bruce. 

--------—------------------

Talia: "detective." 

Bruce: "Talia what would your father want with Jensen's body?" 

Talias sudden gasp, brought you out of stasis.. 

Talia: "my father wants to use the Lazarus pit to bring him back…. Get close to the guards if possible and let me talk to them…" 

Bruce goes up to the guards, he rerouted his come to his gauntlet to allow communication between Talia and the guards. 

Talia: "this is Talia daughter of the demons head which guards are you?" 

One of the guards now spoke… 

Guard: "Carter and guards 456 and 747… we are here behalf of your father mi'lady… He wants the body of this young man…" 

Talia: “why does he want the body of this particular young man?”

Carter: “cause.. He wants to use the pits to bring him back to train a male assassin whose been trained by the dark knight…”

This made Bruce’s rage level amidst his grief steam up inside him… he then had an anger burst that made you jump through hearing it on Talia’s end…

Bruce: “NO NO ABSOLUTELY NOT, JENSEN PROPOSED TO ONE OF MY OTHER WARDS, I HAVE TO ALLOW FOR A PROPER FUNERAL A PROPER SAYING GOOD BYE. I CANT BEGIN TO IMAGINE…”

Talia: “Batman… enough she can hear us… she can hear this conversation.. Please calm down detective…”

Bruce was shocked… for he had not seen you or barb since you both left the mansion… now he feared what this news, this bomb that he had just dropped on you… thats when he stepped back from the guards.

Bruce: “thank you talia… is there anything else you would like to say to these guards.”

Talia breathed as her eyes flitted quickly to your every wavering form, now breaking into a thousand pieces.

Talia: “Carter you and the other guards shall not take the body of this man till after the funeral and the proper goodbye for we shall not deprive a fellow league member the chance to say good bye to the love of her life. Now leave the body alone and return to whereever you are staying till you guys get the body… now we need to have the detective do his thing… alerting the police dept annonymously and do what he needs to… ill contact you guys when you can come and do what you will to swap the body with an identical look alike...”

Carter: “yes Mi’lady… detective dont forget to do what you have to very quickly… for us to be able to appease the anger from the demons head… you know how bad his rage can get…”

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

As fast as the guards had appeared they were gone. Now as far as you were concerned the worst had happened… you were now going into a catatonic state… luckily for you, your savior was now appearing on the balcony in the form of Nightwing.

Barb let him in and you broke… you were now fully broken.. Now Talia was off the coms with Bruce.. Bruce had called an annonymous tip to GCPD about the explosion and Jensen’s body.  There was a moment of brief relief that fell upon you when Dick pulled back from you and handed you a letter written in Jensen’s hand writing with your name on the envelope.

Dick: “i was to give this to you if ever upon this situation… by that of jensen’s death… YN you dont have to read it now but you can read it when your ready…”

Barb: “girl we are all here for you… to support you.. This is a difficult time and right now you need all the support you can get…”

Talia: “if sometime in the near future you feel like you cant feel anything anymore than you need league help… the detective knows those signs… as should you Dick...you were the one that wanted to train with me as much as you felt necessary… besides when you got your name from my father it was a proud moment in the detectives eyes i didnt know how close the wards of Bruce Wayne actually were… Bruce i’m sure didnt want this to happen any more than the rest of us… he is just as devistated about loosing Jensen as we are…”

~it is our friends and the ones that feel like family that help us through the toughest of times, our hearts are fragile but if it breaks someone close to you will help pick up all the pieces… it might be the one person in your life who comes along to pick up the broken pieces the one to pick up the pieces will be the one person whose been there when you havent realized how they truly felt.~

Talia had gone out of the room into the other room with Barb.. this left you alone in the embrace of Dick… you were not sure how to express how you were feeling… Dick wasnt pressuring you to speak, he knew what you were going through he had just lost a friend… you lost a fiance… Dick didnt know what Jensen had put in the envelope but he knew what Jensen had asked hi when he was doing his will...

Talia: “as for YN with some training & definate familiarity if my father brought Jensen Back he could be the same Jensen eventually. But chances are he will want revenge for all that’s happened by the clown’s hand… now onto more pressing issues, Lady YN needs to go away from Gotham immediately following the funeral or else the trauma could land her a one way express trip to Arkham.”

Barb: “i know and thats what im afraid of… but i dont know what else i can do to help her coop…”

Bruce walked up to them off the balcony at that moment…

Bruce: “well i wanna know why Joker would take Jensen and not YN… it doesnt make any sense…”

Barb could only step back towards the wall and lean against it…

Barb: “Cause Joker knew their identities… there was one night when my dad wanted to hae dinner with me, Jensen and YN went out on patrol.. Bruce you were at an event of some kind and Dick was doing whatever he does when he isnt patrolling or what not… anyway Jensen and YN still went out on patrol knowing that Arkham had a new escapee… Joker got out… Jensen & YN had found a silent spot to make out, they had a small session, after so Jensen & YN were re-adjusting their masks when Joker came out of the shadows and jumped them… Joker told them that one day they would both pay in an unlikely way for all the pain and turmoil he had been put through…  when i heard about the events they went through with Joker finding out who they actually were, i knew he would keep good with his threats… i had Arkham staff made annonymously aware of joker’s “civilian threats”.. Till now i have been unsure if Joker would remember, but he did and now my best friend is paying the price for it…”

Talia placed a caring hand on Barb’s shoulder, then taking it upon herself to remember about her and Bruce… she then turned to Bruce walking out of that room and into another awaiting the word from you on whether or not you were gonna read the letter or whatever was inside the envelope you got from Dick who got it from Jensen.

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

~its times like these where people take charge of their lives, under the guidence and support of their friends and family…~

You were laying across Dicks lap, you were still in grieving… when Talia, Barb and Bruce re entered the room you had stopped crying and Dick was petting your hair… you ran your fingers over the envelope…  the lettering, tracing each one with your finger. 

Dick: “i know you are probably not ready for whats in that envelope but you should open it sooner rather than later.”

You nod your head, but feel the warmth coming off of Dick, Barb, Talia, Bruce you felt more at home than you had before…

YN: "I'm sorry for putting you through all this worry… I just wanted this vision of a happy life amidst the long nights of crime fighting to be real… Jensen wanted it to be real… I can't believe joker killed him… if we find joker I'm gonna kill him for this… League rules a life for a life… I can't let this go unpunished… But Talia I don't want to know anything more about what your father's guards want with Jensen's body can you make me forget that forget that I heard that plan… I Can't know about it… I don't want to know about it…"

~sometimes life hands you something that you dont want to know about… so your brain wants to forget it but everytime you try to forget it, it comes back and never leaves… what we try to forget is never really forgotten, its just temporarily misplaced... ~

Talia came up to you and placed her hand on your forehead and basically blurred out that memory… Made every word of the rest of that conversation between Talia and Bruce none exist ant in your mind. Made it so the blur ended when you were caught in Dicks embrace… 

Everyone around you minus Dick and yourself dipped into the whiskey and the scotch… you finally kinda sat up and flipped over the envelope… Dick was still kinda holding onto you for support as everyone else gathered around for what they assumed to be the reading of whatever was inside the envelope… 

Bruce: “look i can’t make it so this didnt happen… YN i know i said i was gonna bring Jensen home but sadly not every hero makes it home… believe me there have been a few times where i was almost one of those… but i hope in due time you can forgive me…”

You got up off the floor within seconds if that of Bruce finishing that sentance, something inside you came out like a crouching tiger, you lunged at Bruce the letter fallen to the floor. Dick Barb and Talia backed up… Dick went into the other room to de suit and get into something a little less nightwing and a little more Dick Grayson… 

You continued to fight with Bruce… your anger in all that meditation had come to the surface… you were attacking the man who had been there for you since you came out of the league and back into Bruce’s life… 

Bruce (out of breath): “YN please stop this you need to fight your emotions… you have to calm down…”

YN: “calm down MY FIANCE IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU…”

Talia at that moment came behind you and flipped you to the ground…

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

Talia: “Siru Alnnari listen to me… Its not Bruce’s fault nor your own that Jensen’s dead… its the fault of the clown who calls himself the Clown Prince Of Gotham City… listen to me now Siru Alnnari, you have to settle down… Dick is gonna take you to a different area of the penthouse but you have to read to us the letter first…”

YN: “talia i swear i dont want to hurt you and i believe you but i dont want to open that letter and read it for it will make the reality of the entire situation all too real… Talia im just a big ol chicken… i fear i may ne’r wear the suit again…”

Thats when Talia got off of you, thats when Barb came over to you and helped you off the ground… you then looked at Bruce, whose look was one of sorrow and pain, mostly from realizing that you have a strong right hook.

Bruce: “get into these arms YN, you need to grieve… we can worry bout that letter in a while…”

You went into Bruce’s caring embrace… his embrace tender and loving as ever. Your mind went into immediate remorse and sorrow… 

You had attacked the man who had trained you, taken you in after your parents had been murdered (clayface went away for that again)... Bruce had known what you had been going through… he knew what you had to become so he trained you to be apart of his team… 

Bruce: “its okay YN, its okay… we will always be here for you… dont worry about the letter right now, we can find out its contents in the morning…”

Thats when Bruce pulled back to wipe away the tears… you were then not in control of your own tears… 

Bruce: “we should all sleep… its been a long day… Dick can you take YN upstairs and stay there… Barb wanna sleep down here on your favorite sofa bed… Talia if you want you can stay with me in my quarters..”

Barb went to the sofa and made her bed after giving you a hug… Talia and Bruce walked into the far master suite and shut the door behind them… you and Dick went upstairs to the upper room… 

Dick: “i know this wont make up for it but i hope you can find your happiness again… no matter what this letter says… i know your scared but i am seriously worried about you… Barb is worried as hell.. She was texting me updates about you how you were doing and she honestly sounded scared… i know you are still in mourning but right now its gonna be easiest to sleep if you have me right here with you… okay so if your okay with it we can cuddle up on the bed and eventually we will both pass out…”

You nod already sitting on the bed… mean sure you were exhausted but you were not sure what would happen when and or if you were to close your eyes…

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

~alone is good sometimes, but not when you are in mourning… if your in grieving or mourning being alone is far from the best thing you should do… its not gonna help you heal as good as being with the ones that love you…~

Dick removed his sweater and his shoes and socks making his way onto the bed… he waited for you to do the same thing… when he saw you shaking he decided to help you… he came round and helped you remove your socks, and your housecoat… 

You placed your phone and the letter on the nightstand, you then fluffed the pillow that would be somewhat beneath your head and laid back… Dick’s arms pulled you against his chest… turned out you wouldnt need the pillow at all… 

After Dick closed his lamp and pulled the covers up suddenly you felt okay… you felt comfort, you felt warmth… you felt calm.. A peace swept over you making you drift off into a calm peaceful sleep…

Dick soon followed but first he made sure that he had you in his full embrace, made sure you were nice and safe and happily snoring… the next morning you woke to your phone ringing… you turned over and answered it trying to sound as awake as possible…

YN: “hello.”

James: “YN, its Jim, Barbara’s father… i hope i didnt wake you…”

YN: “no not at all… what can i do for you?”

Jim: “my men and i were alerted by a mutual friend last night to a warehouse that had exploded… we found a body… im sory YN but Jensen was in that warehouse…”

You felt Dick’s arm tighten around you and both of you went through the rest of the call… but you were shocked once more you forgot how to use words… Dick took the phone and began to speak to Gordon…

Dick: “commissioner its Dick Grayson… i was tasked by Bruce to stay with her till we heard anything about Jensen’s disappearance… it seems YN has gone into a state of shock… i have no idea what to say except thank you for letting us know about this…”

Jim: “mr Grayson i hope you realize this is a very delicate situation… i know this puts a strain on things but could i trouble a moment to speak with Bruce if he is near by…”

Dick: “hold on let me get him…”

Dick pulled the phone away from his ear he went down the stairs and knocked on the door to the master suite…

Dick: “Bruce its gordon he wants to talk to you…”

Dick heard Bruce’s footsteps from where he stood… Bruce emerged from the bedroom to meet Dick to grab the phone and follow him back upstairs…

Bruce: “hey jim what can i do for you?”

Jim: “bruce i wanted you to hear this too but my men and i got a tip from our mutual friend who alerted us to a warehouse explosion, not only was the warehouse one that belonged to Wayne Tech but one of your wards Jensen was inside… his body was discovered amidst the rubble… i fear that my telling this to YN may have shocked her, i apologize for disrupting your mornings… but i had to make this call personally… again my deepest condolances…”

Bruce: “thank you Jim… as soon as we know when the funeral is we would be delighted to have you there… i know it would mean the world to Barb and YN…”

Jim: “thank you Bruce… ill be in touch with an autopsy…”

The call ended, bruce handed the phone back to Dick who placed it on the nightstand and went back to comforting you… 

Bruce then went back downstairs… he then called his secretary and had her draw up a damage report and send out clean up and retrieval crews to the scene of the explosion to see if any of the warehouse contents could be salvaged… 

Dick: “might be a good idea to take a shower relax and untense… you might want to loosen up…”

YN: “im not sure i could relax right now its not been a easy few weeks…”

Dick: “why dont you put on a swim suit or at least a bikini and go sit in the jacuzzi thats in the room up here and ill come in and massage your shoulders to help with the relaxation…”

You shrug slightly intrigued at the idea… you get up and go to the dresser and pull out your bikini… Dick watches as you grab it slunking towards the changing cover while Dick goes to start the jacuzzi get it all warmed up and bubbly… throwing in your favorite scent of Vanilla.. 

Dick finished in there and came out to find you sitting on the bed in your bikini… it was a sight he had not seen in a while… 

Dick: “its ready when you are… how are you feeling right now?”

YN: “honestly i dont know… i havent felt anything like this since my parents but honestly if i didnt have people in my life who truly cared for me i would have probably wound up in arkham years ago…”

Dick: “well technically you probably wouldnt have wound up in Arkham, probably in Jail for sure but not straight in the loony bin… thats a little harsh dont you think…”

YN: “its the truth… im gonna go get into the jacuzzi… you might want to consider getting into something that you wouldnt mind if it got wet…”

Dick only laughed as he watched you walk towards the jacuzzi… he then got into a pair of his trunks that he too kept in that room… and got into those… he stretched and made sure to have his muscles flexed and ready to help de tense and un stress you…

YN: "this feels so nice…" 

Those words caught dicks ears as he finished getting stretched out making sure he was gonna be able to help you in the best way possible… 

Dick entered the bathroom, he came up and sat right behind you, his knees were at your head and his feet on either side of you… Your body felt like a twisted pretzel… It was only then that your body felt relaxation the same relaxation it had felt like years since this type of relaxation had been upon you… 

Dick: “you only need say anything if something is tender like worse than having your shoulder dislocated tender… just feel the tension and stress leave your body…”

You felt his hands work their way into your shoulders the tension strong and over bearing… your only comfort was knowing that all you had to do was relax and push all the stress and tension from your mind as well as your body.

YN: “thank you!”

You let out in a slurr of small sighs leaving your lips. Thats when Barb knocked on the bathroom frame making you and Dick turn to face her…

Barb: “sorry am i interrupting?”

YN: “not at all B! In fact im glad your here… im so sorry for worrying you girl! I didnt mean to go as therapists would say catatonic on you… i was just fearful, i was scared…”

Barb comes over to you and leans over the side of the Jacuzzi just to hug you… you broke once more for the first time in a few moments. Barb didnt care that you were sitting in a jacuzzi she knew that you were in a rough time right then… 

Barb: “you have nothing to apologize for… i know you are going through a rough patch… you need to find a way to heal…”

When your ears heard that a feeling hit you, it was right in front of you the entire time… Or rather right beside you… Dick was the one who originally knew about what happened to you with the league, Bruce hadn't know till recently neither Barb nor anyone… Dick had been the one you trusted with that part of you… 

YN: "do not worry I think whatever is inside of the letter from Jensen is gonna be helpful in helping me move on…" 

You hoped that No one caught on to your meaning…  Dicks foot was grazing your side… His hands were still on your upper back/shoulders…

~for many of us our friends are our balance. If we dont keep an open mind we might never see the bigger picture~

Dick: "Barb was there another reason why you interrupted my de-stressing of our best friend?" 

Barb: "Bruce says he has a tattoo buddy who is available if any of us want tattoos of any kind.. I came up here to ask if you guys wanted any?" 

Dick and you looked at eachother, you smiled slightly knowing that you possibly now had a way to heal… 

YN: "put me down for one…I'll get the league symbol on my arm!" 

Dick smiled he was slightly new to the whole let your feelings show thing… 

Dick: "I'll get the same thing, Talia did say when I was inducted to get one as soon as possible so I could come and…"

YN: “come and go through the border whenever not needing to wait for the escort to arrive… ya she told me the same thing… she told me to get it on my bicep as my league outfit is a one shoulder so have it on the exposed shoulder.”

Barb was shocked, but she now knew why you started wearing one shoulders so it was exposed only on one side… Dick found that description that you gave very alluring! 

Dick: "Barb can I finish relaxing our best friend now?" 

Barb: "of course I'll yell when the tattoo artist gets here…"

You ran instantly into the back side corner of your mind… You knew Dicks hands hadn't left your body, you knew dicks feet had been making circles into your thighs beneath the bubbles. But there are many things that life will throw your way before we realize that what we need is sometimes right in front of or beside us… 

YN: "I heard that small sigh leave your lips a few moments ago… Is everything alright?" 

Dick had you reposition back to how you were… 

Dick: "I've been fooling myself this entire time… Before you and Jensen got together I wasn't sure what I was feeling… But now seeing you sad and heart broken I know what I have felt this entire time…" 

You were sure that you knew what he meant but then he moved from directly behind you and went round the other side of the jacuzzi to get into the jacuzzi…

Dick: "I got an email yesterday just after the warehouse exploded… ItIt was from Jensen he sent me my part of the will, or he had it sent by someone else in the event of his death… TheThe email said that he wants me to take his place in your life in the event of his death… I have been in love with you from the first moment I met you… I love you YN!"

Your hand felt his beneath the water entangling fingers was one thing but the emotion you had been feeling coming off of him made you realize you did have a bit less control right then… Dicks hands pulled you close to his body, so you were straddling him… his hands on your hips, your body didnt tremble for you knew now that it was Jensen’s wish that you and Dick be together…

YN: “im gonna grind you, kiss me like you keep licking your lips seductively to do please dont be afraid to do so…”

Dick at that moment kissed you, the movement in your hips made him and you moan into the kiss, deeper into the kiss you guys went the more your hips grinded against his cock, that you could feel was getting harder beneath you… 

Dick: “keep grinding me like this and ill be cumming sooner rather than later… now keep going baby… lets make the water shake…”

You continued to grind, you had orgasmed several times now… your only thought was the fact that you were basically having clothed grind with the man who now was to be your lover by request of your dead fiance… 

The water went everywhere it was like waves on a shore, but more confined and alot more sexy… You and Dick were so close to finishing that session… But you still had to orgasm for the final time… 

YN: "I'm gonna cum, Dick I'm gonna cum…"

Dick: "do it baby do it and let the stress leave your body…" 

You grind your new love a while longer before your release is brought… Sweet bliss came over you, left you breathless… You kissed Dick once more before speaking again… 

YN: "I can't remember the last time I felt this calm… Or happy… I Never thought that I would be happy again…" 

Dick: "I love you YN. Now what you say we get out of here get into something comfy go downstairs and read that letter, you don't have to go through this alone anymore…" 

You kissed him again before getting out of the tub.. You then looked at the floor round the tub… 

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

Dick: "what's that look for?" 

YN:  "we may need to clean up the floor… It looks like we tried to flood the place…" 

Dick now stands up and looks around… He brings himself out of the jacuzzi first laying down a few towels so you guys can get out without falling.. Then he returns to the side of the jacuzzi extending his hand to help you out of the tub. 

YN:   "can you pass me my towel?"

Dick grabs your towel off the counter and wraps it round your shoulders. Then both of you walk out of the bathroom, you went to your clothing pile and picked out something comfortable a pair of pj shorts and a top with a built in bra. You take your clothing to the change cover and begin getting changed leaving the rest of the space for dick to use… 

Dick:  "I know you aren't looking forward to reading the letter, but part of being a hero is being able to withstand the harshest of pain. Over time it will get better, it will become easier… And I hope one day we can be happy together…" 

YN: "I'm so sorry for not telling you how I felt after Nanda Parbat… I Didn't want to hide my feelings but I never thought I would loose my hope of love… i somehow always knew that you would be right there if i ever lost my hope of love.”

You got right into your shorts and spun round to put on your tank top but felt a set of eyes on your back… you knew who it was but lets say you were very heated still from the make out grind in the jacuzzi. 

You came out of the change cover to find dick in his sweats and no shirt… he was facing the bed… you went up behind him and slowly wrapped your arms around him from behind… you felt him sigh, his muscles tensed beneath your touch… it was a few moments later when your feelings started to show…

Your fingers were tracing his abs, he turned around and embraced you equally… Both of you found grieving in each other's arms rather comforting… 

Yn: "we should probably go downstairs to read the letter to everyone. For the first time in these last few weeks I finally feel like I'm starting to heal.." 

Dick smiled as he kissed your forehead, he had a muscle shirt and the letter then he held now your hand as well to make facing people easier…  as you both walked down the stairs, all eyes were on you… 

Dick: “attention everyone… i know what this looks like and yes it is what it looks like Jensen had someone else send me an email from his account in the event of his death… the email stated that i was to take his place in YN’s heart, life and give her the love she deserves… he said that no matter what i did, he wants her happiness to come first.. So we did have a bit of fun in the jacuzzi.. We made out and basically left more water outside the jacuzzi than not… thank god for the heated floors. The water will be evaporated in a while… now if everyone wants to take a seat, YN will open and read the letter…”

You walked with Dick to the bean bag chair that was facing everyone… the eyes around the room made your tear ducts start to fill… but you opened the small seal and pulled the letter out of the envelope… 

YN (reading the letter): “my dearest YN, i know this is not how wills are done but i didnt want to go through the proper channels and risk you being locked out of everything… i had a lawyer put all my accounts in your name… you have had my heart as i have had yours, everything i have is yours… Dick you take care of my girl… i hope you will make her as happy as i have… Barb, i leave you all my old tech its in a box in my closet, i know you will use it to better the tech usage in our little family. Bruce thank you for everything you did for me, taking me in, helping me cope with my circumstances… if it wasnt for you i would not be here… to my dearest angel, dont be sad, i know that you are gonna do great things and i am so sorry for leaving you alone in this world… but i know you will find your strength again… it saddens me to write this here but i have a bad feeling about this, why did Joker not tell anyone about me and YN… he knew our identities, he knew who we were… but yet he choose not to tell anyone… anyway… Bruce i know you will find another amazing robin who too will do you proud, Dick take care of my angel, make sure her happiness comes first. Barb you take care of yourself and dont let my angel do anything stupid… all my love Jensen!”

The tears fell freely they soaked the paper, Dicks arms around you tightened… he knew what you were feeling after reading that… he knew that wasnt gonna be easy for you to do in the first place but having you do that right then he knew you were not happy…

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

~the life we lead is the life we sometimes dont choose how to live it, but instead it chooses for us~

Barb: “woohoo i get more stuff… yay more upgrades for everyone…”

Bruce: “i dont know what to say…”

Dick: “its okay love… its okay… your gonna heal… your gonna be okay…”

Thats when talia pipped up… she had been so quiet, everyone minus Bruce hadnt noticed that she was still there…

Talia: “now that we have established this… Dick and YN as members of the League we require that all couples in the league new or not have to appear before my father and he will bestow blessing and then you both have to basically consummate your union in some form or another while the league fights in a combat circle round you… also to divorce within the league is punishable by death… but getting your league tattoos today will be a good show of faith when you appear before my father…”

You looked at Dick and knew what he was gonna say but you didnt want to say anything you were still in shock…

Dick: “Talia i dont think now is the best time for this talk… look when we are ready for that we will do that but right now we need to get used to this new life that we now shall lead… now i believe that we need to comfort YN… how do we figure a way to do that?”

Barb: “theres still tequila.. How bout a round of shots?”

Thats when your computer went off the skype thing was sounding, you got up and went to see who was calling… it was the r&d department… you wiped your tears away and answered the call… 

YN: “sean whats up?”

Sean: “YN sorry to bother you i hope im not interrupting anything important…”

YN: “no not at all… what can i do for you?”

Sean: “there is an issue with the development of project 53277… the construction of the project was haulted the workers have gone on strike…”

You looked out from behind the computer and waved Bruce over…

Bruce: “sean i heard what you told YN who told the workers to go on strike?”

Sean: “i dont know sir, but i can tell you that we are working as fast as we can to figure out who gave the order and why… as soon as we do i will tell you both immediately… but i figured i would let you both know what was happening… i have also told the arkham staff to contact you regarding the construction… they should be contacting you any time now… im sorry to disrupt both your days…”

Bruce: “no trouble at all thank you for informing us… call us if anything else happens or if we need to come down…”

Sean: “will do Mr. Wayne… YN hope you feel better soon…”

You nod and end the call…

YN: “you might want to call arkham or shall we just go down and talk to sharp ourselves…”

Bruce: “we will go down after you and Dick get your tattoos… it might be a good idea to get you out for a while… focus on your other work… my artist buddy will be here soon…  he is the one who has done many favors for me and he is also one of the best legal tattoo artists in town… at the expos he is always the one giving charity tats…”

Thats when the elevator opened to a voice…

Frank: “thats because you dont really give me a choice… you always flash your dashing smile and always i say yes… cause i know you about as well as you know me it seems…”

Bruce went to give Frank a firm handshake and a bro hug… you feel Dick’s hands come to rest on your shoulders… you reach over and take hold of one of his hands… your heart beating so quickly…

Bruce: “Frank its been too long… set up shop anywhere you want… so far you have 3 people.. But i hope you brought a partner…”

Then another man appeared out of the staircase…

Harry: “sorry dudes i took the long way…”

Bruce and Frank engaged in a 3 way bro hug with Harry… who proceeded to also set up tattoo equipment…. 

Bruce: “alright i guess some introductions are in order… Barb, Talia, YN and Dick meet the 2 buddies of mine that i stayed in contact with after prep school… as you all can see we all have led very different lives… but Frank and Harry meet my small but yet fantastic family…”

The greetings were short and sweet as frank and Harry continued to set up… you and Dick became cuddly… you were still shaken over the letter… Dick knew what to do he knew what you must have been going through… but as he held you close he was trying to figure out how to give you comfort about all of this…

Dick: “how bout this, after we get our tattoos and you deal with the problem at that wayne tech project we take a trip to bludhaven and pick up some more of my shit from my apartment in bludhaven… it would be a nice break from the city… we would be able to make our own little way for ourselves in this crazy city we call home. I cant imagine living anywhere but here with you… what do you say YN ready to make this penthouse our home?”

You turned immediately to face him… you were shocked that he would say that… but then Bruce spoke next…

Bruce: “YN i figured you and Dick might want to have a second home away from the manor for a while. these next few months are gonna be tough on you… i just want you to be happy… but know that your rooms will still be yours at the manor forever. I release you both into the arms of eachother to grieve and mourn…”

You and Dick sat in the tattoo stations and got the league symbols on your biceps… this ensured that you guys would be able to enter and exit nanda parbat when and or if you both go back…

You went to the mirror and stood there admiring the tattoo that now was on your arm… it was a wonder and it felt so weird to see it on your bicep… Dick came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist…

Dick: “when do you want to leave for bludhaven?”

YN: “in a while… we arent in any rush are we?”

Dick: “nope…”

YN: “plus i want to talk to Talia… see if i can make another arrangement with her concerning the whole league right of blessing for couples thing get us out of it… i really dont want to appear before Ra’s at all…”

Dick held you tighter both of you now admiring your tattoos. 

Dick: “me either… go talk to Talia im gonna see where we are at with the whole find Joker thing…”

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

You went away from Dick and towards Talia…

YN: “can we speak Talia in private?”

Talia: “lead the way Lady YN…”

You lead her upstairs and you both stand facing eachother.

Talia: “what does this concern?”

YN: “you brought up earlier that me and Dick would need to appear before your father and get blessing for being together… i am here to speak to you about coming up with another arrangement…”

Talia: “YN i know my father is intimidating…”

YN: “thats one way to put it, scary is the word that Dick and i used… we discussed it and we dont want to apear before your father, we dont want to consummate in front of the entire league, we want a different option that will still get us the blessing from your father and doesnt involve us going back to Nanda Parbat…”

Talia thought about this, she knew her father scared you, she knew you wouldnt want to go back to stand before him… 

Talia: “i thought you may say that so i have already spoken with father, he has given an alternative… you and Dick after the funeral for Jensen have to deliver his body to the gates of our league stronghold just outside of Gotham city where my father said he will be to have you both sign a statement of blessing… this will be considered the alternative to the consummation and such thing… do we have an accords.?.”

YN: “we do… i assume we will know the stronghold when we see it…”

Talia: “of course… and YN once more im so sorry for your loss, but im happy that your happy…”

You and Talia hugged, you were still torn, but you felt the love that Talia was giving off.. You found it oddly comforting… you both went back downstairs and rejoined the others.

Dick: “no sign of Joker but we will have the word from the league when and if anything does show up on Joker… now bruce is the car in the garage?”

Bruce: “yep just let the valet know when your on your way down and they will bring it out for you… YN you are a great help to the company and a valuable asset i hope to see you back at work soon… speaking of which we still need to go deal with the issue on project 53277… Dick can i borrow your girl for a bit and you meet us there when your ready to go? Cause we need to deal with this…”

Dick: “sure thing ill get a bag of things together for the trip to bludhaven… ill text when im on my way to the asylum…”

You go and get into something comfy yet presentable to show up and do business… you arrive back downstairs and prepare to leave…

Dick: “ill see you in a while dont worry about anything the drive to bludhaven isnt gonna take that long, we will be back before you know it…”

YN: “i love you…”

Dick kisses you for a few moments before pulling back to stare into your eyes.

Dick: “i love you too… now go do what you have to do… ill see you later.”

You walk into the elevator and head out with Bruce you guys made your way to one of Bruce’s vehicles and made your way to arkham…

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

Upon arrival at Arkham you got out of the car and saw the workers just standing there in portest with their signs and such…

You and Bruce walked through them and went into the asylum and headed straight for Sharps office… the conversation took place like this:

Sharp: “Bruce, YN welcome to Arkham… what brings you both here this afternoon?”

Bruce: “we got a call from one of our staff, they said that the workers haulted… we came down as soon as we could to figure out why that is…”

Sharp: "mr. Wayne, miss YLN the workers feel like the project is a waste of time… so they went on strike to get the attention of you guys to make their point…"

Bruce: "what the hell would… wait.. do we have count of all the inmates in prisoner here right now… have any been near the workers?"

Sharp: "come to think of it scarecrow was rolled into his new home cause that was the first room finished and he unleashed a bit of fear toxin, maybe he planted an idea with that.."

YN: "if it is scarecrows toxin why does he have any of that on him."

Sharp: "we have a new psychologist in arkham he believes to let the inmates a small quantity of what their fixations are."

YN: "well let me speak to this person who clearly is in need to understand how dangerous these people are…"

Sharp put out a pager over the arkham radio and a few moments later a knock was on the door.. 

Sharp: "come in dr… miss YN would like to understand about your practices…"

Dr. Gregory: "of course she is welcome to tag along while I go on some rounds if she likes."

YN: “i would love too… i have seen first hand what these criminals can do doctor… i dont know how you think letting them have their fixations is a good idea… its a bad idea especially for the ones like scarecrow who use toxins and such types of things… Bruce will you go and talk to the workers while i observe this docs methods…”

Bruce nods as you walk away with the doc following him as he explains what he does and why he does it you look at the asylum and then you are given your chance to speak…

YN: “if i may though your methods sound unique, i dont see how they are effective even in small doses look what cranes toxin and his influence did to those workers… if anything you might only be making the problem worse… you need to be listening to them, you need to record the sessions you have with each patient, you need to document them… Arkham Asylum runs so criminals can be kept off the streets and away from the public, but by giving the villans a bit of what each one craves your making them that much more dangerous. the next time they escape they could go on a killing spree or worse kill you and everyone in this asylum that isnt with them. what im saying is change your practices so you aren’t the reason that more people in this city suffer at the hands of these inmates.”

You stepped back a bit as he took a peak in on a few of the inmates… then you both arrived back at the entrance to the asylum… shaking hands he agreed to stop giving the inmates what they want and focusing more on helping them psychologically…

Meanwhile Bruce was having a heated argument with the building instructor…

Bob: “so mr fancy pants here thinks he can just waltz on to this construction site and demand that we get back to work… thats rediculous…”

YN: “hey dudes, listen up your all under the influence of Scarecrows fear toxin and suggestive thinking… go dunk your heads in some cold water and clear your heads… ill go inside as the owner of this project and inspect… when you come back i expect you all to get to work.. Is that clear…”

Those guys went to the vats of cold water immediately, you had never seen anyone move so quickly… you strightened out and made your final approach to Bruce…

Bruce: “thank you for saving my face…”

YN: “i think you could have handled it but i wanted to save you as payment for all the times you saved me…”

Bruce: “dont worry about it, i am just happy that the project will be able to be completed… they were working on crocs cell…”

YN: “good the sooner we get him out of those dank sewer cell the better the less chance he will stay as cruel and mean… at least if he is in a proper cell he will be able to rehabilitate a bit easier…”

Bruce: “you mean to try to get Croc somewhat human again…”

YN: “yes of course… thats the goal. Now let me know what happens when those workers return… and make sure they work and if they dont deduct their pay… my ride has arrived… see you in a bit…”

Bruce: “drive safe let me know when you guys get to Bludhaven.”

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

You nod as Dick honks the horn and you approach the car in a hastey speed removing your cardigan as you enter the vehicle… 

Dick: “everything okay here?”

YN: “yep, the workers had a small influential run in with Scarecrow when he was being transferred into his new secure cell… i told them to go dunk their heads in cold water and get back to work. I also had a chat with the psychologist and told him to not adhere to what they crave but instead get more into the psychological aspect of helping the patients… I kinda established dominance in that speech i gave him now thinking about it…"

Dick: "i would have loved to see that… shall we hit the road it's at least 2 hours to bludhaven?"

You nod as Dick starts the drive… the sound of the tires on the pavement was all you cared about …  that and having Dick beside you… the car was small, but not too small, it wasnt a smart car… about an hour into the drive you turned to gaze at your new boux. 

YN: “Dick, can i ask you a question?”

Dick: “of course you can…”

YN: “when we get back to gotham and move into the penthouse, can we get rid of those icky beige walls in the penthouse? Please i mean it would look less boring… plus i want to get some more linens. I find that Bruce doesnt keep enough in there… i mean there are the ones for swimming… which yay!!! Pool… and we dont have to clean it… but yay its private so we dont have to share it with anyone but eachother… anyway what do you say to redecorating the penthouse.?”

Dick: “i think thats a lovely idea… honestly i was kinda thinking the same thing… we can do some massive art designs.”

As you and dick talked further about design plans for the penthouse, you felt like something was wrong in the air. But signs for BludHaven started becoming more and more frequent. Then there it was, no where near the size of Gotham city but about the size of maybe the narrows, diamond district and crime alley combined… 

It was then that you saw it, saw the fantastic building at the center of this small city… the wayne building… you should probably stop by and check on the r&d make sure everything is on schedule.

You texted Bruce and told him you were stopping there and asked if he wanted anything, he simply said the reports printed and signed by the overseer in charge… 

You agreed and you were just trying to figure out how to bring it… 

Dick: "you want to stop by Wayne tech don't you?" 

YN: "yes and Bruce wants the regular reports and I want the R&D reports… do you mind if we stop there?" 

Dick: "my place is near there… Its on the way to my building…" 

YN: "wanna come inside with me?" 

Dick: "I would love to see what my lady is developing for us." 

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

~honesty is a trait held in the upmost highest of respects in any relationship~

You and Dick now making your way to the underground parkade using your key card to get inside you put your parking pass on the mirror. Getting out of the car you look at the parkade and smile lightly as Dick takes your hand and you both enter the elevator with ease.

Dick: “well same-ish architecture for this building as the home office… but lets go inside and see whats what.”

You guys reach the top floor, you both get off the elevator. But you are instantly surprised when the staff is not there… no admin staff anyway… you head off towards the offices… you handed Dick your bag which he didnt mind holding on to, while you didnt knock before entering the doorway… this made the Woman sitting in that office jump out of her seat…

YN: “you know Mr Wayne and i expect all of our company locations to have office personal that greet the guests and people that enter…”

The lady wore a badge that said, ‘Karen, Management of location #4763389’... 

Karen: “i am so sorry miss YN, no one informed us that the head people would be coming… the office personal are on lunch… its their break. They finish their work before even considering a break. What can i assist you with?”

YN: “3 things: a tour of the R&D department, the R&D reports printed & the general reports printed. I am not gonna ask twice for any of these things.”

Karen: "of course miss, straight away… please wait here while I send the general reports to the printer… then we shall begin our tour…"

She goes to her computer and begins pressing buttons and doing things on the screen. You and Dick look around the office.  Seeing almost every wall covered in some sort of design or such… your only happy feeling was when Dick’s hand found the small of your back.

Dick: “i know that look, what are you thinking?”

YN: “this location seems different… i feel something very wrong here…”

*after several moments there a tour was had, you and Dick discovered a plot within the company you instantly acted and fired that person… you gathered your wits and the reports and left Dick following your tail, finishing your time in bludhaven gathering some more of Dick’s stuff from his apartment. the drive back to gotham was long and irritable… the trip to wayne tech was not what you had expected but it was not dull or boring. arriving back at the penthouse you both got help to bring up all the bags and boxes. the bellboy even unloaded it all against the wall by the elevator. he left leaving you both alone. You took a seat on the couch and leaned your head back in a low sigh...*

Dick: “i know you are thinking… do you want to talk about it?”

YN: “i just cant believe what the fuck has happened in the last few weeks. I certainly never imagined i would ever become engaged, then single, then instantly dating my other best friend, living in the penthouse where i have spent many nights away from the manor… ugh my head is spinning.”

Dick: “its okay… you know what we have all the time in the world to figure out what we want to be. Now lets strip the art off the walls and start designing.”

You got up off the couch and instantly began to help take art off walls and put up the painters tape… Dick watched as you absent mindedly did that… you did not want to do anything that might compromise the happiness you were kinda feeling right then. You had no idea how to even react, for you had agreed to deliver the body of your dead fiance to the league stronghold after the funeral. 

YN: "I dont… i cant… i wish i had never made out with jay in that park during patrol… none of this would have happened if joker hadnt caught us with our masks off… if that hadnt happened Jay would still be alive, i should have distanced myself from him after that night...  it was my own stupidity that got him killed…”

Dick: “its not your fault… you were just following your heart… no need to beat yourself up like this… Jay is not suffering right now… he is at peace… dont worry, when we bring him to the league stronghold i am sure that Talia will let you have a proper moment alone before they wisk him away… for now lets focus on us and making this place more us… come on love, my art skills compare nothing to yours…”

You looked into Dick’s eyes and immediately felt calm and peace wash over you… you got up and embraced him, his arms welcoming you close to his own form, the sence of peace and calm was upon you. All your fears washed away, and you felt instantly better. 

Dick: “now lets finish taking all this stuff off the walls and then go for a swim…”

Thats when the alert came in… Joker had been spotted… you went to the suit panel in the master bedroom and saw both yours and Dick’s suits sitting there along with your arsenals… 

YN: “dick i know that you are on my side but i want to go after Joker he needs to know he made a huge mistake for his crimes against us and our family…”

Dick: “lets suit up..”

You  both did just that, suiting up in anyplace other than the cave felt strange but at the same time not… when Dick came up to you after he had his suit on he wrapped his arms around your waist and for a moment you both stared in the mirror and wondered if you would ever get through this period of mourning… 

~its always the revenge that keeps us within the darkness, but when the darkness is plagued by the light from another it doesnt triumph, the light will always triumph.~

Dick: “the bikes are downstairs but obviously we cant go down looking like this… so i have a different idea…”

YN: “we can actually the elevator is private remember… the elevator is only for us… it can take us to the bikes… i know where they are too… right by the elevator exit in the garage…”

Dick: “where is joker?”

YN: “gotham central museum… he was seen entering there about an hour ago…”

Dick: “lets go then…”

You and Dick down the elevator went into the parking garage got on the bikes and rode off… not alerting the others, not caring bout anything else… just taking off towards what you hoped would be justice for what made you miserable.

Arriving at the museum you both got off the bikes setting them on remote control and alarmed to prevent thieves… you both make your way inside the front door…

Dick: “thermal scans show multiple goons patroling the next few areas…”

YN: “Joker must be trying to make a deal with Penguin… or else why would he be here… he has to be in the iceberg lounge…”

Dick: “ready to take out his goons…”

YN: “ill go high, you go low…”

Dick: “hope we can do more of that when we get back…”

You smile as you grapple up top, Dick goes under the floor grates… the sounds started to cease almost immediately… you waited a few moments before grappling down to the stand behind the 2 guards in front of the exit of the room… standing in the shadows you waited a few more seconds before dropping a smoke pellet, letting out a low whistle and having both you and Dick double takedown those 2 goons. High fiving you both head into the next room… 

Room by room you both went taking down all the goons you saw… then you guys appeared at the entrance of the iceberg lounge… you stopped in your tracks…

Dick: "batwoman you okay?"

YN: "no I feel weird nightwing… I cant move…"

Dick: "neither can i…"

The laughter that you hated so much, the laughter that made you cringe, the voice that now made the anger boil in your blood. 

Joker: “greetings party crashers, hey Batwoman hows the fiance? Were they able to pull his corpse out of the building?”

You had a look to kill in your eyes, Joker just laughed he knew you couldnt move…

Dick: “let us go Joker… or i swear you wont like what comes next..”

Joker: “oooo boy wonder all grown out of your leotards… how quaint maybe ill kill you and take away another person that this batwench loves…”

YN: “leave him the fuck alone Joker.. Release me… ill fight in penguins ring against your goons, but ill take you down ill beat you and everyone who works for you…”

Joker just laughs, he didnt think you were serious that is until he heard this little convo between you and Nightwing…

Nightwing: “what do you think you are doing? Batwoman are you nuts?”

Batwoman: “maybe but i am deadly serious. Unless he is too chicken to face me alone in combat… too scared to be beaten by a little girl...”

Joker: “Harley will face you little girl… she will face you on my behalf… if you defeat her then i will jump in the ring and fight with you… but you alone in the ring… your little friend here is gonna stay with my good friend penguin in the ministers box watching the fight…”

In seconds you could move again, you were seperated from Nightwing and knocked out… when you came too you were on the ground in the center of the iceberg lounge fight ring… you stood up and the first thing you saw was Dick in the dangerous care of Penguins goons. 

Penguin: “lookie here the little bat is awake…”

YN: “Nightwing… hold on love just hold on…”

Harley: “hes not the one you have to worry bout right no sugar…”

You turned around and took a defensive stance…

YN: “Harley, you know its not nice to sneak up on another female…”

Harley: “you know its not nice to threaten anothers love…”

YN: “you know that goes for you as well… now are we gonna talk or fight?”

You had your dual batarangs in each hand… you both were using dual wield weapons… the fight went on for what felt like years… 

Nightwing: "you know penguin, joker is probably gonna just debunk your entire operation as soon as he is through with us…"

Penguin: "shut up nightfart.. your girl has some spunk… but she wont last against both joker and harley…"

Within moments you were being held back by harley while joker jumped into the ring and began pumbling you… throwing punches ,left right and center… nightwing struggled against his bindings, he struggled against what was holding him back from getting to you… 

Joker: "I dont know what to tell you but when Robin was being tortured by men i was not in a playful mood… we had rather a one sided conversation, i did most of the talking after i shattered his lung… now I think I'll do the same to you… except maybe not as dramatic.. how bout I break a rib instead… tonight the most gracious of nights… the eve of christmas… the night where promises are made where gifts are given and where the spirit of good prevails… I bestow to you not the fate of your dead fiance, but the fate that shall be your own…"

Batwoman: "nightwing I…"

Nightwing: "I know but helps on the way just stall as long as you can…"

No sooner had that been said than the sound of bodies hitting the ground and the familiar grunts alerting you and nightwing to get your asses in gear… you elbowed harley in the stomach her grip on you loosened, you kicked Joker away he landed hard against the ground, then you grabbed harleys hands and flipped her to the ground… 

batman: “back off Joker, dont you or harley lay another hand on my ward… batgirl free nightwing, I'm gonna save batwoman…"

You were on bended knee grasping your side.. you knew something was either broken or at the very least bruised.. batman was in front of you in seconds… 

Batman: "coming here alone with nightwing was very very stupid, but also incredibly brave… now I've already alerted Gcpd to what's happening here, but let's get you back up top then I'll deal with…"

That's when joker and Harley were blocking the exit that you and batman had… you were now trying to stand by the support that batman was giving you… 

Batman: "can you fight?"

YN: "ill withstand… nightwing batgirl get down here and help…"

You were pursued by harley, she knocked you down… started beating you with her bat… your body twitched and squirmed, till batgirl was in front of you blocking you from harleys attack… 

Batgirl: "girl I'm gonna swap with nightwing then he will get you out of here…"

Batgirl and nightwing swapped places… nightwing came over to your side…

Nightwing: "hows it going doll?"

You cringed but laughed anyway…

YN: "can we get out of this hellhole?"

Nightwing using his grapple gun launched both of you into the air through the hole in the ceiling… you both landed on the roof… you were so sore, you would have bruising for days… your only savior was the fact that nightwing was able to get you out of there while batman and batgirl finished with joker and harley… for in that moment his arms were the only thing keeping you from collapsing…

Nightwing: "we just have to wait for batman and batgirl… we will all leave together… just keep awake babe… dont let the pain overtake you… I love you and i look forward to many more nights fighting crime with you.. course that's once your healed…"

Batman and batgirl came up onto the roof a mere 5 minutes later, you were leaning against the ledge supported also by dick… your thoughts trying to distract from the pain you were feeling..

Batman: "we have to get her out of here… I'll contact lucius and have him meet us at the penthouse so he can assess her injuries… dick can you still ride?" 

Dick: "yes I can…"

YN: "for the record I cant… i dont think anything is broken but something is definately out of place and very very bruised…"

Batgirl: "I'll take her bike back to the garage… unless we want to store them in the underground underground garage…"

Batman nods and then gently helps dick attach you to his front and then attaches you both to the zipline… which he sends barb down first… then he sends you and dick.. barb helps you and dick get out of the zipline attachment and then to the bike… 

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

~what happened next: everyone arrives back at the penthouse, your medically examined by lucius, determined nothings broken but merely dislocated told that you would heal soon… joker was put behind bars, penguin and harley too… the funeral went off as well as could be expected …  the league was very honored that you both kept your word and delivered the body…  you got the blessing of the league to be together… you and dick finish moving into the penthouse…  you celebrate christmas like normal luckily barb and bruce had gotten you both extra gifts and talkee it over with each of you individually on which one you wanted to put from eachother… you finish decorating, then beginning the new journey together not realizing that it would not last long.. for now we skip to the week before halloween… where our story continues with you making the final preparations and plans for the wayne tech halloween fundraiser... little did you guys know that the worst was yet to come ~

YN: "no no no…."

Dick comes over to you upon hearing your shouts of dis-pleasement…

Dick: "babe what's wrong…?"

YN: "the venue for the wayne tech Halloween fundraiser just cancelled… now what do we do… there is no way we are cancelling this event but where are we gonna find a venue this late in the game…"

Bruce who was on the Skype call with you both of you going over and finalizing the plans for the fundraiser, now spoke up…

Bruce: "why dont we host at wayne manor… this wouldnt be the first time we have hosted a huge fundraiser, hell my father did that all the time…  we can utilize both ballrooms…"

YN: "bruce are you sure? Its alot to prepare in such a short amount of time… I mean it's a week away we cant possibly get ready in time… plus we have to let the guests know that the venue has changed… and the caterer, the musicians, the wayne tech board, everyone else…"

Bruce: "dont worry, my secretary is already on that don't worry… she and sean are gonna send emails and call every guest personally… they will even do overtime as a favor to us… I'm meeting with the board this afternoon I'll tell them then… have you spoken to vicki vale I know you had chosen her to cover the event…"

YN: "I'll speak to vicki… bruce I cant believe what I've been through… it's almost been a year… does it ever get easier… knowing what happened, knowing that a part of me died when Jensen died… knowing that even though joker is behind bars I still cant get through my fear that one day he will come for me… that he will escape arkham and find his way to me and he will finish what he started all those months ago…"

Bruce and dick both starred at you, dick was behind you now his hands on your shoulders, bruce starring at you, your eyes sparkling from the light of the lamp…

Bruce: "dont worry about anything YN, if anyone needs to contact you for any reason they will go through me first… you just relax… but call vicki first… let her know about the venue change… then dick take YN and go shopping she needs a day away…"

Dick: "on it bruce… also YN and I will take patrol these next few nights… we need to get back in the saddle…"

Bruce: "very well… but if you guys need help all you have to do is call…"

YN: "thank you bruce… let me know if anything else by me need doing!"

Bruce: "go enjoy yourselves, you deserve it… it's all on me… I'll keep in touch about the party…"

The call ended, you stretched getting off the chair and turning to face your boyfriend… 

Dick: "you know as sexy as those sweats are on you, going shopping in them is gonna send a bad rep… babe come on let's go get dressed, and get out of here for a while…"

YN: "what do you have in mind?"

Dick brings you to the closet… opening it he shows you the outfit he has chosen for you to wear out on that day…

YN: "that is perfect, my fave skinny jeans and my tank top… yes totally!!!"

While you and dick were getting dressed, you had bluetooth called vicki… conversation went like this:

Vicki(over the phone): "vicki vale…"

YN(over the phone): "hey vicki is YN… hows it going?"

Vicki (over the phone): "not bad how bout you?"

YN(over the phone): "not bad… your still good to cover the fundraiser right?"

Vicki(over the phone): "of course… why does it sound like somethings changed…"

YN(over the phone): "it's just a location change… it will still be on halloween night but it will be held at Wayne manor…"

Vicki(over the phone): "that's a relief.. I enjoy these fundraisers I love hearing more about what the future of wayne tech holds…"

YN(over the phone): "see you then vick, I hope we can catch up…"

Vicki(over the phone): "count on it girl!"

As soon as you hung up the call, you got this chill up your spine… but you and dick walked out the door and began your shopping spree, not knowing what lay ahead for you…

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

~this next section is gonna be the death point… I'm very sorry for everything that's in this next small section but this is crucial… cause this is what happened a while after the league took Jensen's body back to nanda parbat, ra`s had the body prepared and readied to go in the Lazarus pit…~

Ra's: "has the boys body been prepared…"

Nyssa: "yes and my sister has returned to gotham city to be with her beloved…"

Ra's: "whatever the boy wants to do after he is resurrected no one is to stop him… especial li y if he wants to leave but he will need a day probably to get back into the swing of things…"

Nyssa: "we really gonna bring him back, father what is his use to us and our mission?"

Ra's: "let's bring the boy back to life…"

Nyssa snapped her fingers and several people dragged Jensen's body into the pit… after 5 minutes the pit bubbled and glowed… 2 minutes later Jensen bursted out of the pit… 

Jensen(newly resurrected): "nyssa you slimy skank, what the hell happened to… wait a moment you put me in the pit… I died… I remember now joker blew up a warehouse…I was dead… why did you bring me back?"

Ra's: "to tell you the truth about your fiance… she has been apart of the league since before you met her… she and your friend dick grayson are the ones who delivered your body to us at my request, as part of their league blessing… yes dick is apart of the league too… they have been together for a few weeks now… yes it's been a little over a month since the dreaded event that killed you…"

Jensen(newly resurrected): "so they are together… they followed my instructions… I want some more training before I go back to gotham… the pit changes people who are brought back from the dead… I want to learn to use the new training right before I go back… I'm Robin no more…"

Ra's: "indeed, nyssa my daughter will train you… she has a room prepared for you… when your ready to begin your training she will start… henceforth your *Ghita``Ahmar* to be rivaling the dark knight himself, as well as that of your fiance and best friend… Robin died in that warehouse, you are now the Red Hood…"

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

~from then to about 2 weeks before present setting Jensen spent every waking moment he could training with nyssa, wishing and hoping that you had not completely forgotten him… till 2 weeks before present day when he made his return to gotham… he returned the same night you and dick happened to be the ones patrolling… jensen sat in watch silently making sure he didnt jump the gun… that however also happened to the night when he stepped up his game as the red hood and gathered a meeting of the badies…  sending notices to all the worst of Gotham's badies… his only goal was to make alliances amongst the baddest of the bad… and that's where we head to now the meeting of the bads..~

Everyone showed up at the warehouse from bane to scarecrow to black mask to penguin to two face to poison ivy etc, even riddler showed up as well as carmine falcone, rupert Thorne & salvatore maroni… but all of them were really confused as to who called the meet…

Black mask: "so whose gonna fess up to calling this meet…"

Falcone: "if no one fesses up in 5 seconds I'm gonna take my boys and get ou…"

A gun shot echoed through the warehouse at that moment… 

Red hood: "sorry I'm late boys this meet is mine…"

Black mask: "and who are you tough guy?"

Red hood: "call me the red hood… I am so delighted to see so many of you here tonight… but I suppose you guys want me to explain why I called you all here?"

Bane spoke next for he was trying so hard not to get very very angry at this guy…

Bane: "listen up senor hood… I will break every single damn bone in your tiny body if you do not start explaining now…"

Red hood back flipped off the balcony and landed on the ground… 

Red hood: "it's quite easy I'm placing a bounty on the bat family… anyone who brings me ALIVE batwoman, batman, nightwing & batgirl will get a handsome reward paid to them by a powerful adversari…"

Sionis at that moment turns to face his henchmen...

Black Mask: "you hear that you pea brains go begin your search for the bats… bring them to the steel mill alive… and alert me once you have one… I'll alert sir hood…"

All the henchmen seemed to disperse the room, leaving the main badies only in the room… poison ivy got up at that moment and began to leave the room…

Ivy: "later boys theres too much testosterone in this room right now… ta ta…"

Ivy left and went back to the botanical garden… everyone else left in that room slowly one by one dispursed… off to do the deed that has been asked… 

Red hood once alone into the warehouse made it apparent to look up and stare at the moon high in the sky… he knew if any chance of seeing you it would be that night… he waited on a rooftop, he watched and waited, it was then that he saw you… he knew it was you he could tell… but you were with nightwing… then he remembered the request he had made of dick… he stayed where he was but watched he could then tell you were happy… 

Red hood: "I'll make myself known soon… soon my love soon we shall reign supreme…"

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

~present day you had heard a week ago from poison ivy that there waas a new player in Gotham… she told you the rundown telling you about the meeting and the collection of people who had been called in… but she didnt want war or money she just wanted to see the guy who trampled her plants on his vault off the balcony… she decided that she didnt need to get into business with that pee-brain… she would rather stick to being the in between gal… but with that warning now in play you and the rest of the team including the new robin Tim Drake who fancies barb now on high alert looking out for the first time they would all meet the red hood… that day was today…~

While out shopping you and dick had collected accessories, and partial parts to outfits… but you were now hunting your dress… every year you got a new one for this event… sure you could use one you already own but it wouldnt be fun if you did that… 

You wanted something unique but sexy and floor length possibly sparkly… then you saw it, the one gold off the shoulder sequined lace dress that you had not seen before must have been new… you got an attendant to grab your size and opena fitting room.. dick waited outside obviously… the attendant was very curtious…  

A few moments later once in the dress you took a moment to revel yourself in it.. you twirled in the mirror then heard the voice that had comforted you so many nights…

Dick: "hows it going in there?"

YN: "I love it… do you want to see it?"

Dick: "I would love to see what my hot sexy woman has chosen..."

You let out a shrill of giggles, you loved it when you and dick would go shopping, he loved watching you put on a fashion show… you opened the fitting room door and stepped out dick dropped the bags on the ground and came close to your form.

Dick: "this is so sexy… you will be so hot on my arm…"

That moment looking at you and dick in the mirror side by side your mind was at peace once more… dick let you go back into the dressing room as the attendant came back to help you out of the dress… you then told the attendant that you would take the dress… you and dick followed her back to the counter… checking out and charging it to the joint wayne tech account you both walked out… 

Making stops at the lingerie store and the book store you both had arms full of bags… leaving and going back to the car it was apparent that you had not only done the grocery shopping but enough of a shopping spree to last a while… 

Back to the penthouse you both travelled, not knowing what may lie ahead… but then your pagers rang high… letting them echo through the car speakers… you both answered the call..

Bruce: "sorry bout this but we have a report… joker and penguin have escaped from arkham… we need to go out and patrol as a family tonight… how soon can you both be here?"

YN: "be there in 15min meet you in the cave…"

Dick put the petal to the metal, both of you racing to the manor.. hearing that joker escaped was not what you needed to hear… but hearing it was smethng that you were not gonna let define your week… you wanted this taken care off now… arriving at the manor, parking the car, walking inside and heading straight to the cave.. you went straight to get ready before acknowledging anyone else.. 

Dick did the opposite, he went to see everyone they all knew that you were getting ready to fight to go out and look for the 2 escapees… you came back round to find everyone standing by your bike blocking your path..

YN: "out of my way guys… i dont want to hurt you but i need to go out there and start searching for this bastard he took my happiness from me once im not gonna let him do it again… so get out of my way… now!"

Dick and barb moved out of the way, but bruce stayed where he was, tim was by the computer he was the smart one, bruce however was the one who didnt seem to understand the concept of get out of your way… 

barb: "bruce why do you not move?"

Bruce: "cause she is not thinking clearly, she is thinking with her head instead of her heart, revenge is never the answer… believe me i know how this works…"

YN: "dont make me do this bruce… dont make me stop you…"

Bruce got into a stance as you back up a few paces and then vault yourself onto your bike… you kick bruce away when you land and then you take off out of the cave…

Bruce: "we have to go after her!"

Dick: "ive learned its best to give her some space when she gets like this… we will follow after  giving her a 10 minute head start… dont worry she will be fine…"

Everyone waited patiently… that is till one of the security cams near the river underpass spotted penguin… everyone else suited up as the following conversation took place no one was overly concerned about penguin… 

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

Penguin spots something under the bridge, he stands there at the other end as a crack of thunder rolls through the sky… 

Penguin: "tweet tweet…"

Joker: "penguin you old feather brain, what brings you out of arkham?"

Penguin: "same thing as you clowny…"

Joker: “what do you say we let bigons be bigons and split the treasure 50/50… you know the  location about as well as i… lets shake on it…”

Joker shocked penguins hand and then took off… you happened to spot this from afar… penguin ran after him… but penguin actually knew where he was going alot more than joker did… lets just say Penguin has a few more screws available than Joker ever did… 

Penguin enters the gotham city cemetary and begins walking through looking for something specific…

Penguin: “a tisket a tasket which crypt holds the money casket…”

Then penguin spots the crypt with the giant cross… it kinda looks secluded and different from the others… he goes inside and down the stairs to see one lone casket bound in chains surrounded by candles… 

Penguin: “a little too much security for a casket full of money…"

Penguin breaks the chains and opens the casket but notices a skeleton in there, the rust on the side of the casket cuts penguins skin… 

~to sum this up penguin woke dracula… taking him out on a tour of gotham this is your run in with dracula… the prince of darkness himself… you watch from a distance before deciding to introduce yourself…~

Batwoman: "hey didnt anyone ever tell you not to bite people its rude to do that especially on defenseless innocents…"

Penguin: "master this is one of those pesky bats that i told you about… this is also the one who locked me in prison… do not let her escape she could be very useful…"

Batwoman: "penguin whose the crusty old guy i thought you were a solo bird…"

The man who didnt look entirely alive stepping closer he bowed slightly...

Dracula: "i am count dracula… i have been awakened in this new land away from my beautiful transylvania… you are a very captivating creature, come to me let me see you in a new light…"

Little did you know that you were being watched by someone, who was being watched by the rest of your family. You were now in draculas trance, you were not sure what was happening… but you lost all control of your entire body… dracula now was holding you close to him sstroking your cheek moving his nails to tear a hole by your neck in the suit… 

Red hood watching this happen jumped down into the alley, he picked up the vile of holy water he had collected from the church, he was now loading up into the water gun he had found… 

Red hood(jensen): "hey fang face let the lady go…"

Penguin: "and who are you supposed to be bitch…" 

Red hood stepped out of the shadows into the light still holding that water gun steady…

Red hood(jensen): "i am the Red Hood and for the last time ill say this let her go…"

You were still under a trance, red hood threw down a circle of holy water on the ground surrounding dracula… then he set down a silver ionized smoke pellet, then as fast as he had appeared he now was taking you back onto the rooftop away from them...

Batman, nightwing, robin & batgirl watched this act from the rooftop, then they watched as the sun began to come up dracula penguin and every other damn person that was with them vanished into the shadows. Their only concern right then was to find you before anyone else got their chance to as well as to find out who that dude was that whisked you away…

Batman: "did anyone see where they went?"

Batgirl: "maybe towards a rooftop or something.."

Nightwing: "im tracking her genetic markers… she is near the penthouse… like right across from it…"

Nightwing and batgirl went by rooftop, Bruce and Tim took the car… You were not fully aware of what had happened but you opened your eyes a while later to see someone leaning against the ledge… 

Red hood(Jensen): "move slowly your just coming out of a hypnotic trance… any idea who that was?”

You sat up slowly but could only muster getting up on your elbow before feeling the whole room start spinning again…

YN: “that was count dracula and a normal bad guy around here one whose name is penguin… to be truthful with you i dont think ive ever seen you round here before…”

Red Hood (jensen): “thats cause im new in town.. Im called red hood and who might you be?”

YN: “batwoman… i suppose i owe you my thanks for saving my life…”

Red Hood(jensen): “it was my pleasure i wasnt about to let a slimy vampire destroy a beautiful woman…”

The familiar sound of something wooshing through the air, you ducked but red hood was smart he caught the batarang… you turned to see Nightwing, Batgirl, Batman and Robin standing there… 

Red Hood(jensen): “ah so your the famous batman… your the ones who were trailing me all night… now you come here cause you think i would ever hurt your darling batwoman… i would never hurt such a magnificent creature… i saved her from being vampire chow by the way… take it from me deal with him before anyone else gets turned into the undead… YN remember who i am, remember me for i am all i am and all i was…”

At that moment a train zoomed by, he started to say something else but the sound was cut… by the time the train had finished he was gone… you were still on the ground, you let out a groan of pain… yes its true you were in pain, and alot of it… 

Nightwing: “bruce set up a zipline, make sure that it heads straight for the balcony… im gonna carry her on my back if she can hold on for that long…”

YN: “course i can, just mind the zipline and my ribs… again with the bruising… fuck i mean red hood didnt hurt me… but yet ive never seen him here before tonight… yet he knew who i was…”

Nightwing: “dont worry about that now… we will run voice rec once back at the penthouse… for now love we need to get you standing so you can get on my back…”

With the help of your family, you were now attempting to stand up… once on your feet you latched your arms around Dicks neck, you planted a kiss to his cheek as he carried you over to the zipline… bruce had just finished locking it down and bringing down the bar… he was gonna send you and Dick first…

Dick: "hold on babe we are home bound…"

You hold on tight as dick takes a running start at the zipline.. he grabs hold and away you both went, bruce and barb would surely follow… arriving at the bottom, the zipline stops for a moment to let you and dick off, then it retracts its way back up to take down the next person.

Dick: "come on babe lets get you into the master and lets get out of uniform…"

You let dick carry you into the master, you went to the panel and activated the hiding place, you then tried to bend over to unzip your boots but the bruising however much there actually is, was extremely painful… 

Dick: "hold on babe let me de-suit first then ill help you…"

Dick de suited his muscles rippling, his hair was a mess, he came back no shirt in sweats to see you still trying to figure out how to get your boot off without straining your brusied muscles… you were concerned with what Dick was gonna say when he turned back to face you…

Sure enough Dick turns around and shakes his head coming close to you he watches as you attempt to take your boot off while laying on your back… 

Dick: “need help babe?”

YN: “ugh these stupid bruises… it makes it really hard to bend and move and and and… babe can you please help me?”

Dick comes over to you and helps you de suit, then sitting you up leaning you against his form he brings over the medical rub… he starts rubbing your bruises… neither of you hear Barb, Tim or Bruce walk in neither of you cared… you were both decent enough it was nothing new and neither of you wanted to be anything less than what you were…

YN: “thank you all of you for coming after me… it must not have been easy for any of you to let me go like that… i also should not have taken off in the first place… it wasnt smart… but we have 2 new things to investigate… can we dig up anything and everything we can find on dracula and can we pull any voice  rec off the red hood… we have to deal with all of this before the halloween fundraiser… i certainly do not want dracula anywhere near there… trust me his trance is crazy strong… but i have a bad feeling about this red hood character, he spoke like we knew eachother, whoever he is knew exactly who i was and how i was gonna be when i woke up… he was very very strange. I want voice rec asap… and i want to learn all we can about our mysterious transylvanian visitor… and lace all our weapons and our suits with holy water and garlic… we cant risk any of us going under his influence… we also need to keep holy water on us at all times… if we are in civilian form at night… until we know where penguin and dracula are we will need every ounce of advantage we can muster…”

Bruce: “ill let you take point on the voice rec YN, ill handle the party planning till its done… dont worry… we will figure this out before the party… Barb see what you can dig up on Dracula… as for everyone right now take some rest… Barb, Tim lets leave Dick and YN we will all get together soon for results and patrolling… no one goes alone, we all stick together, we dont let them defeat us…”

In moments you and Dick were alone again… you set the laptop to scan the voice rec on the red hood from your data, from the nearby camera audio of him and from what Bruce had collected… 

Barb once back at the mansion went on her computer and searched for all the lore on vampires and Dracula… 

Bruce, Tim and Alfred laced every single weapon with garlic as well as the suits with Holy Water and changed some of the batarangs with the silver ones… it was not till they did that, did they realize that everything was alot more real…

--------‐--------

~TIME SKIP… the next 4 days before the fundraiser included the following events: 1. The voice rec scan takes forever to get started... 2. The red hood corners you while your walking in civilian form while on the way back to the penthouse from a short stroll to the grocery store… after a somewhat tantalizing conversation you collected more vocal data that might be useful in the voice callibration… 3. Joker follows penguin to the crypt where he gets turned into a vampire by Dracula… 4. Joker goes to rob the blood bank for a “free” meal and gets stopped by Batman… 5. Batman knocks joker unconcious and puts him in the lower lower holding cells in the cave… beginning to synthesis an antedoite to vampirism and using joker as the Guinea pig..  6. You begin to feel alot stronger as your bruising begins to heal… this brings us 1 day before the fundraiser, to when you and Dick are awoken by the voice rec scan being completed…~

Dick: "babe, wake up what is that noise?"

You awaken at the feeling of your boyfriend shaking you awake… you listened again and then got up and went to get your laptop and bring it back to bed… you sit up leaning against the headboard, Dick begins to run his fingers over your forearms as you continue to look at the laptop… 

Dick: "are the results in?"

YN: "i think so but its weird its telling me to analyze them further at the cave… but we arent gonna be there till later… so ill just save this to my server or just leave it open on my laptop, put my laptop to sleep, so we can go back to sleep…"

Dick: "its only 3am, babe i wanna go back to sleep with cuddling you in my arms!"

You finish placing your laptop back on its charger and placing it on the nightstand you dim the lamp again, laying back in bad and cuddling up with Dick… you both once more fall asleep held close in eachothers arms… 

Meanwhile the red hood was standing watch on the rooftop nearby he could hear everything, he didnt want to but he knew his sub concious would never let him allow anything bad happen to you… 

Several hours later, you and dick were awoken by the elevator dinging… you both got up to see who was possibly paying you a visit standing there in your housecoats you both await the elevator doors to open.

Dick: "were you Expecting anyone babe?"

YN: "nope, you?

Dick shakes his head as the doors open to see Talia standing there… you and Dick take a few steps back to sit on the couch… 

YN: “talia i hope you have a good reason for showing up unannounced…”

Talia: “Bruce asked me to be his date for the fundraiser but i quickly realized that i have nothing to wear, YN do you possibly have something that would well suit me…”

You get up from the couch but not before giving dick a kiss and going through your morning routine…

Dick: “morning babe.”

YN: “morning babe, can you make breakfast while i take Talia through my closet?”

Dick: “bacon, scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes with gravy coming right up along with Pepsi to drink.”

YN: “ill be right back babe.”

You take talia to your walk in closet… her eyes widen at the sight of your closet and how much is in there…

Talia: “what the hell YN your closet is spectacular…”

You let her look around… she came back out of the closet with your purple spaghetti strap notch dress with a low ruched back… you were surprised, but you smiled as she went and stood infront of the mirror… holding the dress against her form, she was sure that she would not make a very good impression on society… but she was willing to make things work wiht Bruce… 

YN: “ill even help you do your hair before the party tomorrow… just meet me at the mansion about an hour before it starts and ill do your hair up in the same fashion that i had Barb do mine before i went to a party in that particular dress… Bruce wont be able to resist you…”

Talia smiled as she lay the dress on the chair and walked out of the room with you…

Talia: “i shall see you both tomorrow… i hope things are well otherwise…”

YN: “yes they are, kinda we have a bit of a vampire problem and a new commer into the city but nothing we cant handle…”

Talia: “till tomorrow…”

She leaves back through the elevator… you head to the kitchen to see how Dick was fairing with cooking… you find him in the ktichen cooking the bacon… his back is turned he cant see you softly coming up behind him… you wrap your arms around his waist and lean into his muscular body… 

Dick: “did talia find something to wear?”

YN: “yes and what are you thinking so deeply about?”

Dick: “well i have something i have been wanting to give you, think of it as just a small something that symbolizes strength and unity… that symbolizes everything that we have been through in the almost year we have been together…”

You loosened your grip as Dick turned around to face you. The light in the kitchen making his blue eyes sparkle… your own body betraying your mind… on one hand you wanted Dick to lift you up onto the counter and just make out with you till whenever… on the other hand you wanted to allow Dick to finish what he was saying…

YN: “what are you saying Dick?”

Dick: “im saying that i should have brought these out months ago…”

Dick goes into the drawer behind you and pulls out 2 bracelets… he holds them in front of you and smiles as you read them… 

YN: “his beauty, Her beast… based off my favorite disney movie…”

Dick: “thank you for being the beauty to my beast… i love you…”

You kiss Dick knowing that you guys were almost finished your first year together… you were one of the few people that Dick trusted in general… dick placed the bracelet on you as you did him… there was nothing you wanted more than to stay in the penthouse all day but eventually you guys would have to get ready to leave for the manor… it was imperitive that things went smoothly.. 

Dick: “man you are amazing i just hope that patroling tonight we can find and stop Dracula and find out more about this red hood character before the fundraiser…”

YN: “i wish we could stay in this penthouse till patrolling tonight… but we did tell them that we would be there…”

~the following events are being short formed to hasten our way to the end of the story… 1. You and Dick finish getting stuff together to drop off at the mansion for the fundraiser… 2. You and Dick get ready yourselves to leave the penthouse making sure you have everything before you leave… 3. You find a note left on your car in whats supposed to be a secure parking garage… it was from the red hood and it was address to you… asking you to meet alone away from the rest of the family… saying he wanted to talk… you werent concerned… you knew the others may have different opinions… 4. You notice strange sights going to the manor, you noticed not as many homelss people on the streets, and not alot of normal people on the streets… you kinda figured that Dracula might have something to do with that but the only way to know that forsure was to most likely find Dracula's layer and administer the antidote if bruce has it ready… this brings us to your arrival at the manor… this is where the end of our story begins!~

Arriving at the manor Alfred was waiting on the stairs to greet you and help bring stuff inside.

Alfred: "welcome miss YN and Master Dick is everything in the car?"

YN: "most of it is in the back seat… in the trunk is a few wardrobe items that should be placed in our room as soon as possible please.. is everyone inside?"

Alfred: "yes they are all training… thought just between us i think miss gordon is winning… she had master Drake pinned and master Wayne on the ropes when i last saw…"

Dick: "do you mind alfred if we go down or would you like some help?"

Alfred: "ill be quite alright master Dick.. no need to worry… go enjoy your time…"

You and dick go inside and down into the cave… you see the sight of bruce fighting with barb… you look at dick and you throw off your cardigan and give your laptop bag to dick as you back flip onto the training matt… you low kick bruce…

Bruce: "now this is really not a fair fight…"

YN: "us together against you, yes it is a fair fight… we dont get our asses handed to us and you dont completely annihilate barb in a humiliating defeat… now are you man enough to take us both on or do you need to even up the fight and make this a doubles match…”

bruce smiled darkly… you and barb kept up your guard not knowing when he may strike…

bruce: “im not gonna ask fo help but if dick wants to jump in on the action we can make it like old times!”

dick puts everything he was holding on the couch, he then back flips over beside bruce… you sent a wink his way, you knew he wouldnt hurt you as you wouldnt him… the match started you went straight for Bruce… this was to be the greatest fight of your entire time training with the 3 of them…

bruce: “give it up YN you cant win…”

YN: “wanna bet, what was it you always told me… never take your eyes off of your opponant or you’ll land on your ass…”

thats when you pulled a daring feat… you enabled what was to be your final move of the match, to be your greatest move ever… you placed bruce in a choke hold, then tripped him so his knees bent and he kinda went into a submission move… twas not even five moments later that Bruce tripped off one of your legs you fell onto one knee bent… 

YN: “surrender Bruce you cant win…”

bruce: “wanna bet…”

thats when he knocked you on your ass, revearsing what you did to him to you… you were winning at first but now it was a matter of who could hold out longer… dick and barb were already done of course barb had won… teaching Dick a bit of girl power… 

you and Bruce however were trying to race against the clock, the timer had started a while ago… during doubles training fights  as soon as one pair has finished their fight a timer set for 1 minute starts… there was 20 seconds left on the clock… neither you nor Bruce were surrendering anytime soon.. the timer went which meant you go into overtime…

you and Bruce released eachother, standing up you both go to opposite ends of the mat… Dick came up to the center between you and bruce beginning his announcer speal..

Dick: “in this corner she is lethal and deadly and we all love her to bits, she makes the best pancakes and holds the record for most training sessions won.. heres YN…”

thats when Barb had helped you dry off the sweat and get into something more breathable…

Dick: “ and in this corner he has a dark past, he is the knight, he is the bat of gotham… he holds the record for the most bad guys locked away in Arkham, he owns his own company and takes orphans as wards under his care… Heres Bruce… and now contestants to the center mat…”

you and bruce stepped into the center mat… 

DIck: “alright guys you know the drill this is the sudden death round… the first person to get knocked to the ground in a submission hold for a total of 15 seconds will sound the buzzer and the person not in submission will be the winner… contestants are you ready…”

Bruce: “yes…”

YN: “stop talking and let us fight…”

you were determined to win, usually that was your blood lust from being set in the pit once and only once before… Dick knew not to take any offense to anything that you said while training… he knew you loved him, but the fight got underway… 

you jumped, flipped, dodged and weeved… neither of you had landed a single hit yet… till you backflipped over Bruce’s head and tackled him to the ground… you pinned him to the ground and leaned in to whisper in his ear…

YN(in a whisper): “i win!”

the buzzer went and you jumped up victorious… you were so happy… you did back flips all the way around the mat perimeter… then stopping back at Bruce who had rolled over now helping him up..

Bruce: “congratulations YN your skills have greatly improved… i am honored by that fight… it was amazing… but how did you know to catch me off guard by going behind me…”

YN: “because you had done the same thing when i first became part of your family… so i spent my nights of patrolling and beating up bad guys perfecting that maneuver… that way the next time we would end up in this sudden death situation i would use it and win… you fought with all your strength bruce but…"

The alarm sounded it was red hood he was on the roof top of wayne enterprises he was calling you out.. then a police alert came in reports of strange people on the streets looking like "vampires" everyone decided that you would go talk to Red hood while everyone else went to investigate the vamps well almost everyone… 

Bruce stayed behind to finish the antidote… it was gonna be a long night as it was, but now you guys didnt have to go looking for the bad guys, cause they were coming to you… before leaving you went to the server and plugged the voice rec files to the main server and listened to them… this is what you heard:

Red Hood: “YN remember who i am, remember me for i am all i am and all i was all the good times we had together kicking ass and taking names, throwing every ass we could into arkham… i promised you always and forever but it seems you took my will too much to heart… Babe i love you!”

That is what did you in, you now knew who he was, you swipped your laptop right off the table and in an agry huff you suited up and got on your bike and zoomed out of the cave… no one questioned why, no one knew why… they were focused on the vampire problem.. 

Arriving at wayne tower, you shoot yourself straight to the top… landing you look at the red hood and start trying to place it, the voice, the name, the body language, the way he dressed, the way he fought… the symbol on his chest… 

You disabled the rooftop security footage looping it round before removing your mask… 

YN: “Jay… Jay is that you?”

The red hood comes around from the other side of the vent system or whatever that huge metal box is… and removed his helmet… and once more you were staring into the eyes of the man who once made your heart soar… 

Jensen: “hey doll…”

You were kinda cautious to approach… you didnt know whether or not to trust him… you didnt know what to do, or say… but you knew that if Barb was smart she would recover the files and everyone would know… 

YN: “your alive, but i saw your body, the warehouse… what happened?”

Jensen: “after joker kidnapped me, he tortured me, babe i was hurt real badly… but then he said he had to leave that i was to be a good boy, finish all my homework and that i was to tell the big man he said hello… course i wasnt concerned with that… but it wasnt till i reached the locked door that i realized the place was rigged to explode… my last thoughts were truly of you… YN i know your with Dick and whats Dead should stay dead but i Jensen take you YN to be my wife to have and to hold in sickness and in health forever and ever for as long as we both shall live…”

You smile and you walk a little bit closer… 

YN: “Jay you wrote a letter that tore my heart in 2, you told your best friend to date me in your place… i spent 2 weeks in hell… i YN take you Jensen to be my husband to have and to hold in sickness and in health forever and ever for as long as we both shall live…”

Jensen dropped his helmet and held his arms open wide.

Jensen: “get into these arms doll!”

You ran into his arms, you both just stood there, he knew you were with Dick he wasnt gonna compromise what you and Dick had but you also knew there had to be a way to do both… thats when the coms came through connecting and leaving the arms of your beloved… 

YN: “whats…”

Nightwing: “batwoman, Batman is hurt i repeat batman is hurt… he is hurt really bad… Batgirl is still good… robin stayed back at the cave but we need your brains and quick thinking girl!!!”

YN: “sit tight love… im bringing some back up… the red hood is on our side…”

You went back into silent mode knowing that Jensen would have questions and that you were running out of time… 

Jensen: "are you sure that me coming with you is a good idea…?”

YN: “yes if i wasnt sure before, im hella sure now… i should warn you though dracula has apparently hurt bruce badly… we need to be very very careful…”

jensen: “when your ready dear lead the way!”

you put your mask back on, he puts his helmet back on… you both then start running along rooftops, doing back flips and testing all the skills seeing if anything might tip off the others as to who he was… 

Arriving at the cemetary you both enter the crypt…   weapon ready incase of attack… after a bit of walking you both heard the sounds of battle… you decide to join in… you both peak around the corner and making your way to the rock you pull out a garlic smoke pellet tossing it into the room, you both plug your noses as the pellet explodes… 

you both sneak through the smoke, helping Bruce up you both make your way through the caverns winging below… you had no idea where you were… 

Bruce: “hold on… let me breathe a moment…”

You pull off into this sewered corridor… you were not sure what to do… but you leaned Bruce against the wall… 

Bruce: “that was quick thinking on your part YN… thank you Red Hood… i hear your on our side…”

Red Hood: “i am indeed… YN and i had a chat, she trusts me… and once we get away from here away from these vampires ill happily explain why she trusts me…”

Bruce: “then lets follow this tunnel system back to the cave… then we will talk…”

You smile as Dick and Barb rush up behind you… you turn around and run into Dick’s embrace… to which he returns your embrace breathing a huge sigh of relief…

Dick: “are you alright?”

YN: “im fine… im so sorry for taking off again…”

He didnt let you finish talking instead he kissed you… for a few moments there was peace… thats when you all heard it… the sound of a sharp but low hiss echoing throughout the tunnels… 

Dracula: “you cant hide from me, you all will pay dearly for disrupting the raising of my bride…”

You all continue running… none of you really caring at the moment about what was with eachother, the only thing that you all wantdd to do was make ur back to the cave before Dracula found you… 

Making it to the entrance you all open the door but only 4 of you make it inside before Dracula draws closer… you stay behind both nightwing and red hood call your name but you tell them to just keep going and to have the solar generator ready… 

Batwoman: "hey ugly pants… fight me, no abilities, no biting, no mind control no specialities of any kind… or does count dracula not have any honor in a fair fight?"

Dracula appears at that moment and bows…

Dracula: "of course i have honor… the challenge is what you say it shall be when you are ready…"

You step down so you are blocking the way and you make stance… you then lunge at him.. this fight lasts several moments till you make one wrong move and dracula takes you and knocks you out… he then grabs you by the neck and carries you like that through the cave entry… 

The shadow appears through the foggy entrance to the others like only one figure till dracula steps through holding you by the neck…  thats when alfred turns on the solar generator and the conc3ntrated sunlight makes dracula burst into flames… 

You fall to the ground not unconcious but badly hurt… it was nightwing who went up to get you and bring you back down… 

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

~for this last part im gonna lump in the big reveal and a few other things that will make sense and tie up a few loose ends… so here begins the end…~

Barb: "okay before anything else gets done or said i need to take YN and de suit her so she can be properly medically treated…"

No one objected further as barb wheeled the medical table which now had you on it into the chamber where the suits go… you tried to do it yourself but decided that it wasnt a good idea.. knowing that your best friend was  there with you made things alot easier… but you still felt bad… you felt like something wasnt right… 

Barb: "would you hold still girl… dont make this harder than it needs to be…"

YN: "B im fine hone…"

You cringed as you were about to speak on account of you moved.. your body didnt like that… barb helped you de suit, she then went around and helped you into some shorts to go with your tank top and then brought you back out into the main area of the cave…

YN: "its time for you all to learn why i trust the red hood… why he is on our side… but first you all should know i found out bout who he is before i left earlier thats why i left in such a rush and fuss… im so sorry for not telling any of you before but i couldnt brign myself to say anything about this untill i had processed it myself… red hood when your ready…"

Thats when it happen thats when red hood took off his mask and the gasps from everyone came immediately pouring out… mostly the words "this isnt possible" "this isnt happening" "that explains alot" but dick was the one who was most shocked…

Dick: "what does this mean for us YN?"

Jensen: "you both are still gonna be together… you both need to realize that i am legally dead to show my face in public would not be good… it would tarnish the wayne name… but you guys look good together… i have watched you guys since dracula rolled into town… i know that being revealed to you guys again feels right… i wanted to tell you guys when i saw you all earlier in the week but i didnt want to spoil the good thing you guys had going.. dick you and YN belong together now and forever…"

Dick goes over to Jensen and smiles like he has a fiendish plot… 

Dick: "how bout you  become married to YN through the league since im assuming that it was ra's who brought you back… then ill be with her every other time and outside of the league..."

Jensen's eyes go wide at that idea… 

Jensen: "what would talia say to this outrageous suggestion?"

Talia at that moment enters the cave and into the room…

Talia: "i would say that if you guys want to do that it can be done and this way no one feels guilty and no one lives without what they want…"

You were watching this little conversation take place you had to make sure that you were not missing any of the key points before you jumped in with your own opinions… 

YN: “let me see if i understand this correctly if i marry Jensen through the league i can be with both of these wonderful men in 2 very different ways of life?”

Talia: “that is correct, i know that everything right now seems like its moving at high speeds and not making much sense but its not gonna get any easier with my father still thinkin he has Jensen under his belt… it will have to be something that you 3 will have to adjust to…"

You look at both Dick and Jensen, you have that look in your eyes… you await for them both to say something…

Dick: “as long as YN is happy she has the power to control her own destiny…. That means that we need to work a schedule out so we know who will be by her side and when…”

Jensen: “plenty of time for that buddy… right now the most important thing i have to ask is: YN how do you feel about this entire thing?”

You had to take a few deep breaths you couldnt make sense of any of this, you were still processing… you were not sure what to make of this situation…

YN: “when do we begin?”

Talia: “by celebrating the start of all hallows eve with the league ceremony… midnight at the league stronghold just outside of gotham… this will connect all 3 of you together but only Jensen and YN will be the main participants of the ceremony… Dick you will be there as the third party play to the other side of YN’s emotions… everyone else yes can be there too but im gonna tell you this, it will be hard to witness…”

Bruce: “alright everyone lets make preparations for this to go smoothly… Jensen, Dick, YN why dont you all stay here for now, at least try to relax, maybe talk…”

You nod watching everyone else walk away and out of the cave leaving you, Dick and Jensen alone… discussion rolled out between Dick and Jensen trying to make a schedule on when you would be with who was getting a little annoying… 

You occupied your mind into a state of relax, knowing that what lay in store for you was your destiny of being with 2 of the greatest men you have ever had the pleasure of knowing… this was your destiny, this was to be your eternity...

[komcrebi-moved]

        UA  KIDS  GO  HARD!                   There is NO denying that. Imai Kazane is no exception!

      Please, allow me to go off this time about how Kazane, holder of a CONDUIT type quirk.. can-- and with growth-- WILL go fucking HAM.  Her quirk, briefly described: The ability to ABSORB, (& utilize for her own benefit), and PASS ON energy.   Hence.. Conduit.;;  Energy seems to be drawn to her in some fashion, at times without her even realizing her quirk has activated-- and as such, she sometimes has difficulty controlling her quirk due to it’s somewhat volatile nature. She’s practicing control and restraint everyday.

      Below, I will be talking about how, with proper training and patience (& with help from the one and only one lunged, puppy dog of a teacher-- ahem. Andi Williamson--) Kazane will learn how to not only control, but use and expand on the power that has ruined her life up until now, and caused others to fear her, and write her off as not only dangerous, but as an undesirable.        Kazane has a terrifying power. One capable of true Devastation at it’s peak potential, and only in due time, will she realize  just  how  strong  she  truly  can  be.  And with the expansion of her abilities and potential,  she will... in time.. come to be able to harness the even the very energy from the sun itself.

   Let me preface this by stating... Kazane has been mistreated, without exaggeration, ALL of her life. This is a general CONTENT WARNING for this muse to those who may read it. There will be mention of abuse, of bad home life, and of bullying and mental illness throughout her writing and interactions.  That is part of her, forever.   

   I hold so much love for all of my characters, but let me talk about IMAI KAZANE for a hot second.  My .. little,  precious child.  Who deserves... so much better.  And so,  is going to work to have so much better than she has had.  She can be dark, and frightening, but there’s no mistaking that light in her heart that tells her that SHE CAN BE GOOD. She can be MORE than what others have told her she will be.  More than a destroyer, or a force that only can TAKE.   She’s going to GIVE it her best shot, here at UA, with the help of her friends, and her mentor, VEGAS, a young, mostly retired hero who too, is trying to be better.

   In the past, her quirk has given her a lot of trouble, and it has forced her to become a loner, for fear she may accidentally hurt someone... again.  And out of distrust for others due to her long-time mistreatment and the fear others hold for her ability to turn living things into a husk of what it formerly was. She has never killed anyone,   but she has seriously harmed others on several occasions.  Always by accident.  mostly. 

   Something inside of her flipped like a light switch at the end of middle school.  She found out her quirk was not simply VAMPIRIC, as it was originally assumed. With the discovery that she could, with some effort, RETURN energy she has leeched, she was determined to enter UA high, and to learn how to better understand her quirk as well as how to use it safely, and in a way that is useful.

              ‘ A vampiric quirk like that, where you only steal from                      others--   is something only a villain could have...’

    She is determined to show that she too, someone with a frightening quirk,  can be more than what the world expects of her, or assumes she can and cannot be.   When she discovered by accident one day that her quirk was not what she thought it was (nor what everyone ELSE thought it was)... It opened doors she never even knew existed for her. She was terrified and overjoyed at the same time.  For the first time in her life,                                 . . .   SHE  HAD  HOPE.

   She started on her training, relentlessly practicing,  overworking herself,  overusing her quirk to the point she’s made herself sick on more than one occasion.  Kazane was determined to change how things were for her... Because, she realized, no one else was going to do it for her. So she would not settle for less any longer. And that included her living situation with her current foster family.  Overall,   she will have made a momentous overhaul to her life after passing the entrance exams for UA.  She passed, though just barely. Everyone was much quicker, much stronger, and knew how to use their quirk in creative ways. She wouldn’t be able to show her true strengths until the sports festival, where she will have had much more time and practice with her newfound abilities.

__            *     Kazane is a troubled individual. She has been since childhood--  where most of her problems began.  She has a darkness inside of her heart from her experiences in life, and it comes out most when she’s, of course, having a bad day... Or when she’s fighting.          Given an enemy or opponent,  Kazane has shown that she can be quite ruthless and cruel.  Her hatred and anger is something she will forever carry in her heart, and she uses that to her advantage.  RAGE is her motivation.  Rage at her mistreatment,  abuse,  neglect,  and the general state of the world and the suffering of herself,  and other people.  When she grows,   it  will  evolve  into  OUTRAGE.   Despite her overall quiet,  calm, though melancholy  demeanor--  she holds this anger in her heart like a burning coal, and stokes it to flames when necessary.

     If, say, during a situation like the attack on UA-- she’s faced with a genuine enemy who wishes to do harm to her or her classmates.. She’ll go all out, and won’t hold back. If someone wants to truly hurt others,  and she is faced with them,  she will treat them as they treat others.    She wouldn’t kill them (if she continues down the Hero route)  But if she allows herself,  she will become.. a rather frightening person to them,  and to anyone unfortunate enough to witness her using them to lash out on.    She believes that those who mistreat or hurt others for their own gain, or simply because... They Can... are truly despicable.  And are deserving of punishment and any justice that may be brought upon them.   She does not... and will not stand for these kinds of people-- some of the same kinds who have made her life a living hell-- to be allowed to continue to ruin the lives of others, or to cause further suffering.

    Despite her frightening anger and self troubles and darkness and all... Kazane, at her core... Is Light.  She has difficulty expressing herself and often sounds cold, or seems shy... But beneath it,  she is kind.  Or... she wants to be.   She’s trying her best to be the best version of herself that she possibly can. She’s angry,  and hurt,  and troubled, yes. But she’s passionate and feels deeply for those who have, or are suffering.  She wants to do good in the world, and to be a source of HOPE to those who need it most. Above all,   she wants to be the hero she wished she had growing up. _     Kazane, while working with Andi, has improved DRASTICALLY. He encourages and supports her in ways that she has never experienced with another person. She gets angry and tired sometimes, and becomes frustrated when she doesn’t improve or understand how she could possibly do something.  But with much patience, and a little help... And a little hard love, when needed...   She’s able to overcome these obstacles.  Andi has helped to teach Kazane to improve her overall abilities, in her quirk and in herself. He has helped improve her critical thinking,  and to see through her emotions when they threaten to cloud her judgement.         He uses his own experiences as examples when needed,  wishing for her not to repeat any mistake that left him with life-altering consequences. 

      AND THEN,  came the discussion that would change everything for her.  It’s been discussed,  analyzed,  and thought through.  And deemed dangerous,  but worth the try... if it can be controlled.  Any signs that it could possibly go haywire and bring their student to harm,  and it would be stopped immediately.     Though some may find it fantastical or ridiculous... The topic of discussion being...                 That the sun,  is sometimes thought of...as a living thing.

Who’s to say that she COULDN’T harness the energy from the sun?  She doesn’t need to TOUCH anything to absorb energy...  So why would solar energy be any different? It’s all molecules, isn’t it?       THIS will be the ultimate test for Kazane, and the ULTIMATE show of the true extent of her power.  She has to meditate, build her tolerance, endurance, and concentration-- and push to the very limits of the CONTROL she holds over her own powers. And then push even beyond that.     Andi has made it very clear to her,  that the sun is an endless well of power she could potentially tap into.  And be that as it may,   it also means that it could endlessly fill her,  and destroy her  if her control slips for even a second.  

     Having too much energy, or more energy than she’s used to carrying in her body causes her great pain.  Extended use of her quirk, and hoarding of excess energy if continued will eventually degrade her soft tissue, and in turn, will cause joint, tendon, and issues related to her internal organs.       Having too much energy, and continuing to fill her cells with it far beyond her limits will essentially turn her into a walking atomic bomb... if she can even walk at that point.    This is her OVERCHARGED state.  And her most dangerous / powerful one,  where if she is still conscious and capable of fighting, she can unleash powerful and devastating attacks that she otherwise would not be able to use.  The downside, aside from.. you know. the sensation of every cell in her body burning,  is the Uncontrolled Damage.  

      Because of her quirk,  she actually suffers from chronic pain.  She has tested her limits more than once,  and it in turn, caused herself lasting damage to her joints.  The issues she has are minimal at this point in her life,  but if she were to continue without the use of any support items, it’s likely she may very well be through with her career by the time she’s forty.. if she can push herself that far.