#ik you hate cliffhangers but hear me out

[etherealily]

ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏʟᴅᴇɴ // ​ɴ.ᴊ [2]

Hi everyone! Hope you're fine. If not, enjoy being better than Nate (you always were, but this is just confirmation)!

This is part two of a two-part fic. [Queued + not proofread]

[Part 1 here.]

Nate Jacobs x fem!reader. SFW, but discretion advised. Masochism(?), violence, delusion.

You do NOT have permission to repost and/or translate any of my fics.

Desc. : He's in way over his head.

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The shadows of cars passing by his window infuriated him. The sound of McKay's breathing on the ground below him set his teeth on edge. The thought of you getting felt up by some hot rich actor guy made him want to end it all.

"Chris."

A hum.

"McKay."

"Kill yourself, Jacobs.", he whined, turning away from the bed and burying his face in the pillow he'd laid for himself on the ground. Hangovers suck ass.

"I'm going to that fucking party, dude."

"What party?", he groaned, petulantly, eyes still squeezed shut, but he sat up to humour him.

"The one at The Golden."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

"Y/N? For real, man?"

"We know each other. She'll let me in."

"Oh, after a thirty second interaction you're homies? Chill, man."

"You know Maddy's babysitting job? Well, they hosted some party. And Maddy met Y/N. And now they're, like tight."

"Nah, you're bullshittin'."

"We went to Y/N's birthday."

McKay scoffed, muttering 'cap' under his breath as he reached in the dark for his phone, looking up your name followed by 'birthday'.

Nate rolled his eyes, getting down onto the floor to scroll past all the meaningless rich twinks to find himself and Maddy. "There."

McKay's eyes widened and he laughed in shock. "No fucking way! You could've introduced me, FUCK. She wanted me bad, too."

"You think she wanted you?'

"Fuck yeah, man, you saw how she was look- CHRIST, man, you'd have been invited to our wedding. Our billion dollar wedding."

Nate laughed, smacking McKay's arm a little too hard for it to be joking. "Not if she's out there gettin' felt up by, like, Justin-what's-his-face."

"So you think I have a shot?" Whatever got this guy out of bed and up with him.

"Yeah, man. You might dick her down tonight, if we're fast enough."

McKay leaped up. "What's in it for you, though?", he questioned, as he put on a shirt.

"She's one of Maddy's girlfriends. If she gets roofied, Maddy's gonna kill me."

Lies rolled so easily off his tongue that he had to genuinely wonder when the lessons he learnt in elementary school had eroded away to the back of his conscience.

That seemed acceptable enough for McKay.

Good. Because now he was gonna have to deal with Ray, and he couldn't do that shit alone.

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"Man, I don't even know how long it's been seein' you, dawg!"

What the fuck? What the FUCK? McKay and Ray were homies?

"Nate, man, this is my uncle, bro!"

OH. OH FUCK, YEAH!

The hug between the two lasted a little longer and then McKay turned to Ray again. "We can go in, yeah, Uncle Ray? C'mon. Y'ain't gonna ID us, are you?"

"Not you, son, but I can't let him in."

"Why not?"

"He's been banned from the club."

McKay frowned, licking his lips as he looked between Nate and Ray. Fuck. "Nah, nah, you're trippin', Uncle R. Ain't no way. He's, like, nobody, he's never even been here before."

A silent conversation happened between Ray and Nate, one spoken through their eyes, and then Ray huffed. "If anyone asks, you snuck in.", he said, unclasping the barrier so they could walk in. Clearly guilt was a useful blackmail tool.

Nate immediately found you. McKay was still searching.

"Hey, during the party, she spent a lot of time in the bathrooms with her girlfriends, man, maybe you should check there."

McKay shrugged, nodding. "Let me know if you find her here, though, alright?", he asked, patting him on the back before weaving through the crowd towards the bathrooms, aka, the opposite side of the club to where you were.

Was it a dick move? Yeah.

But did he give a shit? No.

He shouldered through the hordes of whores, trying to keep his eyes on you. And before long, he was standing in front of you.

"How the hell did you get in here?"

"Do you wanna fuck McKay?"

"Who the fuck's McKay?"

"McKay. Don't fuck with me, you know him."

"No, dude, who the fuck's McKay?"

"The guy with me in the car tonight, he's my homie, and I don't want him to get his heart broken!"

"Dude- he hasn't even asked me out yet! I'm not breaking his fuckin' heart! Chill, man! It's like you have a fucking vendetta against me, and I don't think that's righ--"

He didn't know why he thought kissing you would smooth your temper over. Okay, no, that was a lie. He knew. He definitely knew. He often used that trick with Maddy to calm her down, but he hadn't remembered that you weren't a girlfriend, and you were entirely well within your rights to-

Yup. You slapped him.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"Sorry, Jesus, I'm sorry, I'm still a bit tipsy!"

"Who the fuck even let you in? And aren't you with Maddy?"

That he wanted to answer. "NO! No, I'm not! Because someone convinced her I was 'toxic' and 'abusive'!"

"What? Who?"

"YOU!"

"I didn't say that shit! I don't know half of your guys' story, dude!"

He paused. "Bullshit."

"You think Maddy tells me all that shit? I didn't even know you guys were together until my party!"

"So, you weren't out to break us up?"

You scoffed, sipping on your vodka spritz as you glared up at him. "For what purpose?"

"I dunno, you hated me."

"I didn't hate you. I was pissed at you. There's a difference."

His eyes darted around the room for a moment before they landed back on yours. "Sorry. I… sorry."

Ew, ew, ew. He hated saying that shit.

"What the fuck are you even doing back here? Shouldn't you be at home? 'S a school night!"

"I'm in some trouble!", he yelled over the sound of the bass dropping. "I got mugged!"

No, seriously. His elementary school teacher who diligently wrote 'honesty is the best policy' on the board every morning would have an aneurysm.

"You WHAT?!"

He turned out his pockets. "No wallet, no keys, no nothing!"

"Why'd you even come back out?! Did you call the police?"

"Yeah, my buddy McKay did! They're tracking my phone but I need somewhere to crash!"

"What about where I dropped you off? Maddy's?"

Those options would be good if he was actually in that situation. He decided to ignore them.

"Your place?" His alibi was not airtight, but he knew you were too pissed to actually put two and two together right now.

"My place is in New York!"

"What? Where was your party, then?!", he shouted, watching you sip your drink.

"That's my parents' place. Y'know, the one whose floor you covered in champagne and glass?"

"Sorry about that."

You ignored him, instead huffing and taking out your phone.

"Call Henry Donovan.", you instructed, and the sound of ringing emerged.

"Hey, what's up, gorgeous?"

"I'm at The Golden, but a friend needs help, so I gotta cancel, we should reschedule!"

"You got it."

The call ended and Nate's jaw dropped. "You're fucking Henry Donovan?"

"Shut up."

"You're not denying it."

"I'm not confirming it either."

"Schrodinger's dick, then."

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Nate lost sleep that entire night.

He almost lost his mind when he heard echoes of what sounded like plates sliding over each other. Sitting up, he squinted his eyes.

"Did I wake you?", you asked, looking up from your phone.

"No."

"You want pizza?"

Your hand gripped a wine bottle, of which, like, half had been drunk already.

Fuck. He had to be extra careful. He'd never seen you drunk, and he didn't know if you'd be more mellow or more volatile. With his luck, it was the latter.

"It's three in the morning.", he scoffed, removing the blanket before standing up to join you at the island - the fucking beautiful kitchen island - while rubbing his face. "Yes."

You slid the plate of pizza over to him.

"So, how come Mr. Donovan didn't spend the night giving you mediocre sex and LV gifts?"

You snickered, incredulously. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, what?"

"What?", he asked, defensively.

"You've got some incredible stereotypes attributed to me, y'know that?"

"C'mon, you're denying it? Okay, listen, you're a total smokeshow, you know that, but the problem with that is that you get cocky about it."

"Do I?"

"Mhm. Like right now. You didn't deny the fact that you're a smokeshow. You're not even pretending to be humble."

"Should I have?"

He frowned, eyes dancing around the room for a second. "No. Would've been obvious."

Silence, a painful one.

"Dude, this is so weird.", you laughed, shaking your head and rubbing your hands over your face. "You're the last person I'd have ever let into my house." He opened his mouth to retort, so you quickly added, "For a second time."

"Okay, but… I mean." he began, swallowing before continuing, "Henry Donovan, really? Look at him, Jesus.'

"Exactly. Jesus."

Uh, no. That's not what you're supposed to be saying. "No, I mean, he's hot and all, but you were right. He's just a dick and abs. What else does he got?"

You frowned, plucking a tomato off and tossing it to the side of the pizza box. "What else do you got?"

"A personality, for one thing? Balls, for the other. Face it, the guy's a dork trapped in a frat boy body, blessed with Daddy's money and Mommy's estate."

"Why do you know so much about him?"

Why did he know so much about him? He wanted to say Maddy, that would make it better, but he knew that if he did, well, you'd definitely catch onto the lie. So he decided bending the truth would be better.

"I looked him up. For some research project for Econ, I had to go through his family's financial history." First part : true. Second part : false, but no regrets.

"Oh. What kinda weird ass Econ proj-"

He waved you off. "My teacher's a psycho. Uh, so, what movie are you shooting in Scotland?"

"We're trying to keep it under wraps, so I'm obligated to not tell you."

"That's no fun. C'mon, okay, wait, at least gimme a hint."

You licked your lips, narrowing your eyes for a moment before letting them dance around the room. "Your best friend, Mr. Donovan will be in it.'

Jesus Christ. He scoffed, leaning his forearms on the counter next to you. "And you thought that was a good investment? He can't act for shit."

"He did well in-"

"Those were all sappy romance movies where the character just had to be hot enough to impress lonely, middle aged women. But isn't this movie a serious one?"

You shrugged, popping open a coke as you sat up on the counter, looking down at him, "Yeah, but he's the popular thing this season. So he'll sell."

"What about the art, though?"

"The art?"

"You're directing this one, too, right? So, what about your artistic vision?"

You stayed silent for a while, and Nate decided that was the perfect opportunity to swoop in with the final blow. "His bad acting will fuck the entire thing up."

"You really think so?"

"This is his, what, third movie? And the first two were bought by Daddy's connections. He didn't exactly get in on his acting chops."

Yes, he was talking him down when he had never seen a single one of his movies, but no, he didn't even feel the slightest bit guilty about it, because honestly, FUCK HENRY DONOVAN.

"It's too late, though. There's no way I can just kick him off the project now."

"Then minimize his role."

The corners of your lips turned downwards. You were considering it. "Are you sure he's that shitty at acting? I mean, I've seen his movies, he isn't that-"

He nodded. "Totally."

You bit the inside of your cheek as you listened to him.

He decided moving closer wouldn't really hurt, yeah? So he did. And you glared at him so hard, he felt like it was the first time he'd ever seen you all over again. An angel staring at dirt under her gaze.

And he fucking loved it. He loved being nothing. Because him being nothing to you was so unnecessarily sexy to him, he almost got a semi because of it.

"What did you mean when you said The Golden wasn't my world?"

You frowned, looking down at him as he sat on the chair with his forearms just barely brushing the side of your knee. "You really need that one analyzed?"

"It doesn't make sense. I fit right in there."

"Nate, if you fit in, you'd have been let in, instead of having to sneak in."

"Okay, so I'm not, like, uber-rich. So what? Most people aren't. But I'm well off. My family owns half of East Highland. Past Kemper, all the apartments are mine."

"Mine owns half the city." As cold and badass of a line that might have been, it was evident to him that that was meant to be gentle, and lacking in conceit.

He sighed. "So if I had money, that would be fine? I could get into The Golden?"

"No. Y- no. It's not just money. Duncan Martin? The little stocky brunette? He's got no money, but it's… his family used to have money, so he-"

"You realize how fucking elitist you sound right now, right?"

You huffed, running your hands through your hair in frustration. "I know, trust me, but it's-"

"It's fucking discriminatory."

"Look! You can't just come to a club for celebrities and ask why they only let in celebrities! It's STUPID! Like, asking why a high school doesn't let in toddlers! It just doesn't make sense! High schoolers should be in high school, toddlers should be in preschool, celebrities should be in The Golden, and you-"

"Should be with the rest of the normie peasants. Right?"

"It's not- I'm not the enemy, Jacobs. Okay? It's just how it is. It's not an attack on you." That was the only thing you'd said the entire night that made even an iota of sense.

Okay. Acceptable.

A while later, he's back with the bullshit. "So. Henry Donovan. You're fucking?"

"What is your problem?"

"He's just not… I dunno. Doesn't seem your type."

You scoffed. "And how would you know my type?"

"I can tell.", he replied, holding your jaw and moving your head from side to side, laughing as you slapped his hand away. "I'm guessing you're not into gays."

"He's not gay!"

"Denial, Madam Celebrity, isn't just a river in Egypt, y'know?", he stated, in an accent he wished he could take back immediately.

You scoffed, rolling your eyes and he tilted his head, looking up at you.

He moved even closer, shaking his head. "Trust me. I'm a guy. We've got a radar for this thing. Look, if you put me and him in a room, you'll see I have higher levels of both talent and heterosexuality in my little finger than he has in his whole twink body."

You snickered. "You're a dick."

"And he likes dick."

"Hey, I got kind of a gay vibe from you, too."

His smile dropped momentarily. "What?"

"I dunno, like, I thought you were, at the very least, like, bi. How would you like it if I said denial isn't a river in Egypt to that?"

"I'm not.'

You narrowed your eyes, and he almost scoffed. "I'm talented."

"And gay people aren't talented?"

"They are, but I'm talented in manly shit. Shit that requires testosterone."

"In what, football?"

"Yeah, you should come to our game."

'Hm?"

"This Saturday. Show up."

"I'll try."

He smiled, genuinely, and you almost felt guilty.

You didn't have the heart to tell him that the only reason you'd be there is because the fucking tabloid rumours hadn't actually been put to rest.

People thought you were dating, and you were, like, 100% sure you'd have to have pictures of you guys together just to get people to stop saying you fucked him and then had him beat up.

You had to fake date someone who didn't even know about it.

Which is why, later that night, you texted his ex, asking both permission and advice.

Because if anyone knows how to manipulate, it's Maddy Perez.

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It did not bode well for Nate's mental health that he saw you there in the stands the day he fucked up.

God wasn't real. The universe was fucking with him. And the worst part? McKay had come to watch, too , last game of the season and shit, and he was sitting next to you.

Maybe that's why he fucked up.

Sitting in your hoodie and stupid huge sunglasses. He could kiss you and hit you at the same time. You just had to show up when he fucked up?

"Hey, man, look, I think you did fine, you just gotta--"

"Oh, fuck off, McKay, seriously."

"Hey, no, he's right. I'm pretty sure what that ginger kid over there did was a foul."

No, it wasn't. Nate was just weak. "Yeah, probably."

"'Least you still won. There's an afterparty, right?", you asked.

Thankfully, though, the universe came through in the form of getting you absolutely shitfaced.

"Remind me why you and Maddy used to be friends again?", he asked, watching you adjust the stereo.

"Used to be? We're still-"

"Not anymore.", he muttered, before his hand grabbed your throat to pull you closer to him as he kissed you for the, what, third time in his life? - more than he ever thought would be possible.

For some reason, though, you didn't immediately hit him over the head with the pizza box or knee him in the crotch.

For some reason (alcohol, but Nate liked to think you could handle your liquor, at least for his own conscience), you kissed back.

Good. Fuck Maddy, Fuck McKay, and, honestly, fuck Nate from a month ago. All losers.

He was just about ready to unbutton your shirt, but something told him to wait. And thank fuck he did, because you pulled away almost instantaneously. "Shit."

"What? What?"

"We're so drunk."

We, you'd said. You, for some reason, had thought he was drinking with you. Alright. That's fine. You can think that.

"Agreed."

This was odd, to say the least. He'd never acted drunk before. He'd acted sober, yeah. But drunk was a whole weird thing.

But then again, you weren't exactly just another hookup. You were a celebrity. A star. He'd attained the unattainable.

Anything for you.

So he counted himself lucky to be able to lie next to you and intertwine his fingers with yours after the fact.

"You still going out with Henry?"

You nodded, watching him press kisses to your knuckles.

"You still going with him for the lead of your movie?"

"Mm? Yeah, I mean, it's short notice and he isn't that bad."

He snorted softly, his lips now at your wrist and moving up your forearm. "You've seen much better actors, admit it."

"Yeah, but I can't really--"

He tsked. "Come on. I'm not sure you should alter the role to fit the actor. It's supposed to be the other way around."

"Yeah, but Nate, I really think it's going to rub people the wrong way.", you muttered.

"Fine, cast him. See if I care."

You fell asleep on his arm and he almost kissed your forehead.

Almost.

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Regret was the last thing he felt.

Who'd regret anything when in between the legs of an angel?

Of course, he couldn't expect the angel herself to understand this.

So, like a good little sycophant, he dodged everything you threw at him in the aftermath.

"You're a FUCKING predator!", you accused. He dodged the book. Okay, mildly, but-

"YOU FUCKING USED ME AS A REBOUND!" He dodged his wallet. No, but Maddy being pissed was a bonus.

"Get the fuck outta my sight, you-"

"Hey, hey, the sex was good and you know it."

"SO?! I WAS DRUNK AND YOU WERE NOT!"

"Okay, I'd say tipsy."

"You think you're getting off on a technicality?!"

He thought reminding you that he spent hours on his knees in front of you and hence, never actually 'got off' would result in him as a chalk outline.

"Look, there's something there."

You did something to him when you scoffed again this time.

Because he was suddenly under your dirt gaze again, but instead of Ray, it was you beating him up and looking down at him, you being the reason his insides were churning, you wanting him so badly, inside and out, that you couldn't help but spill his blood, just to sneak a glimpse.

You wanted him just as bad. And he could finally tell. You were mad because you liked it.

"Between us?", you asked, snorting as if you didn't feel it, too. He almost grinned at your denial. Cute. "We fucked once, and I was drunk!"

"And instead of drunkenly calling me names, you fucked me."

"Oh, my god, get out, you delusional… fuckass!"

"This is McKay's house."

You scoffed, snatching your clothes from his bedside and stepping over all the passed out kids outside his room.

Huh. Huh. He'd just fucked you. The celebrity.

He'd won the fucking bet.

But still. You'd be back.

They always came back.

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You almost laughed as you slammed your car door. Please. Like he was anything more than a deluded dick your friend had dated.

In fact, is was Maddy who told you to try to get the rumours to rest.

"He doesn't give a shit about anyone, why should you care? At least save your career. Come to the game. I'll get press there, too."

And then the press came as far as they were allowed outside his house party.

To his window.

To your back as he kissed you against it.

To your departure the next morning, face filled with rage so that they could capture it.

And 100%, he'd be named the bad guy because the world loved you.

Of course they did, you've never done anything wrong. Ever.

Except this.

But it was his fault.

You'd warned him.

The Golden isn't his world, and you try to overstep your bounds, this is what happens.

You get burned.

[f1daydreamers]

𝐀 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐨 [𝐋𝐒𝟏𝟖] 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟕

photo credits: Pinterest

Pairing: Lance Stroll x Fem!Reader

Summary: Asking the driver of the team you work for to attend a wedding with you as your fake date is possibly one of the dumbest ideas you've had ever.. but also one of the best.

Warnings: exes ugh, lots of fluff, lotta kissing, some angst but more towards the end, cliffhanger cause ik y'all hate me already :D brief mentions of alcohol, please tell me if I have missed anything!!

Word Count: 3.1k words (11 mins reading time avg)

…

"Well played," Thomas slid past you with a remark as you stood amongst a group of relatives who were mostly conversing between themselves.

You turned your head to acknowledge him, obviously knowing he was referring to the kiss he'd seen you and Lance share earlier.

As the memory resurfaced, you couldn't help but suppress a smile while recalling it.

Subconsciously, your finger gravitated towards your lips, etching into your mind the unforgettable sensation of his lips melding seamlessly with yours, akin to the completion of a long-lost puzzle.

Maybe you began to daydream a little, staring at the hardwood floor when your aunt shook your shoulder. "I called you twice, had too much to drink?" She asked, though smiling through the question.

"Sorry Aunt Mel, what did you need?" She waved you off, "nothing. Your boyfriend's looking for you, dear."

"My boy… oh my boyfriend. Um, where is he?" you stammered, your aunt studying your face with a hint of suspicion, as if contemplating the extent of your alcohol consumption tonight.

"Last I saw him, he was by the chocolate fountain. You need me to go with you?" You shook your head despite the fact it wasn't very convincing, handing her your empty wine glass and wandering off.

Maybe you were rubbing your head or the nape of your neck when you spotted a familiar tall man with a tucked in shirt.

You reached for his arm but pulled away at the last second when you realised it was somebody else. "Sorry Unc-"

Before you allowed yourself to finish the sentence, you whisked around when you felt someone's presence right on your back. They steadied you with their hands on your arms, but a warm smile encompassed your lips when you realised who it was.

"018!" You exclaimed excitedly.

He scoffed, it was a running joke between his team that the 018 number would be used when Lance was either running late or wasn't anywhere to be found minutes before an important event, which had happened a few times too many.

When he eventually showed up, usually his team of mechanics which now had extended to any personnel who so happened to be present either by accident or not, would shout it out.

He never knew the backstory to it, just always played along, dishing out a few quick slaps on his engineers' arms before running off to fulfil his contractual obligations.

"Oh so now you know about that too?" He questioned, his hands sliding down your arms to meet your hands.

You tilted your head, reducing your otherwise beaming smile to an innocent one. You glance down at your intertwining hands before responding.

"Well, it's hard not to when the entire garage shouts it out for the whole paddock to hear." You explained.

"Is that so?" You nod curtly, biting back a laugh. He leaned forward and you decide to help him out, tip-toeing to meet his lips in the middle.

His right hand gently rests on your jawline. When you broke away, you rested both of your hands on his chest.

"Technically, we have a whole weekend to make up for. You know, for the sake of acting." He says, a subtle thrill in his voice like a whisper of excitement, one barely perceptible but undeniably present.

You hum agreeingly, tucking your bottom lip in between your two rows of teeth.

...

"Okay, that is so not what happened!" You burst into laughter as Daisy makes a genuine attempt to swat your cousin's head, playfully aiming to embarrass her with his exaggerated rendition of a story that your sister insists is nowhere near the truth.

"Why do we believe anything Dais says, you said you were giving up sugar three weeks ago and today the only thing I saw you cosying up to was the dessert stand."

Your dad nearly choked on his water just as everyone laughed again, recalling the heartfelt speech your sister gave about the perils of unhealthy eating.

While you obviously agreed with her message, the notion of practicing what you preach was never one of her exemplary mottos and this was one example of many.

"Okay, leave me alone! I held that up for a whole week and then I got my period so was it really my fault?" You smiled, shaking your head.

After some time, you decided to retreat from the living room as the various relatives who had gathered after the wedding started to head home.

With a sense of anticipation for your leave tomorrow evening, you bid them your goodbyes, realising that you wouldn't have another chance to see them before your departure.

You guess Lance was being your moral support with an occasional squeeze on the shoulder. The formality of goodbyes always stirred up emotions within you, especially when the uncertainty of the next meeting loomed large.

You made an internal vow to meet with them again over the summer, just as you had promised yourself in previous years. Yet, deep down, you couldn't ignore the fact that those plans often fell short of their intended course.

"You okay?" Lance asked, concern lacing his words. You gave a nod in response, avoiding his gaze and discreetly pressing your finger to the inner corner of your eye, collecting the tear that lingered, on the verge of spilling over.

After you bid goodnight to your parents, you and Lance finally retreated into your bedroom for the final time this weekend.

You flicked the light switch on as the F1 driver removed the tie hanging around his neck, having undone it the moment you left the venue anyway.

You picked at your false lashes, already feeling the weight on your eyes lighten a little when you simultaneously peeled them off and stuck them back on to their packaging.

Maybe half an hour had passed when you'd wrapped up your time in the bathroom, relieved to change out of your dress and remove the makeup that had adorned your face.

Despite not consuming much alcohol tonight, you had an inkling that tomorrow morning would greet you with a headache, or at the very least, some discomfort.

As you entered the room, you noticed Lance sitting on the air mattress, perceiving your hesitance upon seeing him there. He looked devilishly handsome even after a full night of dancing, drinking and socialising. You wanted to despise him for it, but how could you despise someone so perfect?

"What?" he inquired, breaking your momentary trance as you snapped back into reality and proceeded to hang your dress behind the door.

"Nothing," you replied, the sound of the door clicking shut marked your decision to face him. Though you attempted to dismiss the notion, Lance wasn't willing to let it go so easily.

With a faint but lopsided smile, he spoke up, "You gave me a look." You rolled your eyes, briefly glancing at the time displayed on your phone before reaching down to plug it into the charging cable.

“No. I didn’t.” You persisted.

"You tryna gaslight me right now?" You scoff, turning your head to see him beginning to stand up, you tried to ignore the rush of beats in your chest but it was his fault he had that stupid mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I'm not. I didn't give you a look. It's been a long day." You tore your eyes away from him.

"Has it?" You could sense he was moving closer but you didn’t dare look, trying to occupy yourself with the items scattered messily on your nightstand from the rush of leaving this morning.

“See, now you’re not looking at me.” You sigh unsteadily, finding his teasing intolerable for someone so attractive.

“Maybe I don’t want to look at you.” You turn your head in his general direction, emphasising your point but Lance only chuckled.

A momentary silence enveloped the room, and remnants of the wedding flooded your mind. You vividly recalled the instance when you found him near the chocolate fountain, guided by your Aunt Mel's directions.

Before, his chest only loomed behind you, but now you were certain that he was intentionally getting that much closer.

The palms of his hands feathered over your shoulders before pressing into them. His touch sent a surge of electricity through your entire being, awakening every nerve ending as if it were a cascade of fireworks illuminating the sky.

His voice barely above a whisper, emerged rather as a raspy murmur, "You don't want to look at me?"

“Maybe,” you reply, your head spinning as you attempt to make sense of his hands caressing your shoulders for any reason other than the one your heart was about to burst out of your chest for. Your fingers fiddled with the medication packet in an attempt to distract yourself.

“You sure?” You’re rendered speechless, his pelvis brushing against you. One of his hands remain atop of your shoulder, but you can feel every little tap, every little rub against your arm when he slides his other downwards.

It brushes against the fabric of your pajamas before finding its place, squeezing somewhere between the curve in your waist and your hip.

Perhaps you were being irrational or imagining a scenario beyond the realm of possibility, even in your wildest dreams. So when you start to turn towards him, Lance had already accepted your response.

Practically speeding up the process and turning you so you were facing him completely, he guides his other hand directly parallel to the other and uses the force he has over you physically, and the one you were allowing him from sheer vulnerability, to rotate your bodies.

You had your back turned towards the bed, feeling his hands firmly planted on either side of you, the intense contact driving you to the brink, yet you refused to lose yourself. You fought hard to remain grounded in the present moment, even when his head lowered to capture your lips in a kiss.

The cloud of uncertainty between you two dissipates, as if a wall had crumbled, giving way to an intense desire. Lance boldly encroaches on your personal space while you glide your hands up his chest and around his neck. With a firm press, his body collides with yours, causing both of you to stumble backward.

You find yourself collapsing onto the bed, and Lance positions himself on top of you, his body weight supported by his arm next to your head. With tenderness, you raise your hands to his face and gently cradle his cheeks in your palms, engaging him in a kiss.

The unraveling of his self-control is captivating as his hands glide over your neck, waist, and thigh with a benign caress. The kiss is fiery, possessing a rawness that contrasts with the smoothness of his lips.

As Lance's mouth leaves yours, planting softer kisses on your neck, a sharp pain shoots through your knee. You make an effort to conceal the burning sensation, but your body tenses involuntarily. His lips detach from your skin, his attention now focused on your discomfort.

“M’sorry.” You breathe out, frustrated and shut your eyes in annoyance.

"It's okay. Your knee?" Lance's concerned voice reaches your ears, and you give a single nod in response. The warmth of his body against yours lessens as he readjusts his position. Turning your head towards him, you can't help but wonder what's unfolding in his mind.

Lance exhales deeply as he pushes himself up and away from your body, running a hand through his hair. "Must've been from all that dancing," he remarks. You manage a weak chuckle, he was probably right.

You raise a hand to your forehead, realising you haven't experienced such feelings coursing through your body like this in years. The expectancy, nerves, and excitement intertwine, building up to a breaking point, like a taut spring ready to release its tension.. or snap in half.

Thoughts of self-doubt creep into your mind, wondering how pathetic and weak he might perceive you to be. As you withdraw your hand from your forehead, you notice him rising to his feet.

"Lance," you instinctively call out, though unsure of what you want to say next. Sitting up, you lock eyes with him, but a sudden pause overtakes you. Your lips part slightly, as if hoping it'll hasten your currently blank thought process.

“Yeah?” He prods you on further, but all that can leave your mouth is, “thank you.”

“For uh for this weekend. I guess you did really well.” He laughs, nodding his head.

As he makes his way around the bed to return to his air mattress, you reach up to the side of your neck where Lance left a particularly distinct kiss. Your fingers delicately graze over the tender patch of skin, feeling a lingering warmth.

Without another moment's notice, Lance switches off the light, plunging the room into darkness. A pang of sadness wells up in your chest, if only you had concealed your pain instead of openly admitting to it.

After a few minutes of silence, you lift yourself up to rest against your pillow, wincing slightly at the discomfort in your joint. Lifting the blanket, you slide beneath it, crossing your arms underneath the cover to try and warm yourself.

You search for something else to say, hesitant to fall asleep on these terms. The bed dips on the other side and you can't help but wonder what he might do next, or if he'll do anything at all. The uncertainty hangs in the air, intensifying the uneasiness inside of you.

For a brief moment, you feel a tinge of disappointment but it quickly fades when his hand slides under your top, traversing over your stomach, drawing him closer to you.

In a pleasant surprise, you turn your body to face him, and a smile spreads across your face when you catch the familiar glint in his eyes.

“You need to get it checked out,” he advises.

“I will,” you reply, sliding a touch closer to him.

Lance’s hand glides along the ridge in your hip, before moving to rest on your thigh. He presses his lips against the line where your scalp meets your forehead as you tuck your head in between the curve of his jaw and neck.

"Back home tomorrow," he whispers, and a bittersweet feeling settles in your stomach. It's ironic how, at the beginning, you wished for this weekend to be over, but now, almost 72 hours later, you find yourself yearning for the opposite.

His warmth comforts you the best it can, and you hum to assure him that you heard what he said. As the tiredness from the day weighs on you, sleep gradually takes over, and you find yourself succumbing to its embrace in the safety of his arms.

…

Your brows pull inwards when you awaken to the sound of a loud knock on your door. Lance isn't beside you, and you assume he must've already left to grab his morning coffee, considerately letting you sleep in.

"What?" you mumble, your words partially muffled by the pillow mushed into half of your face.

Your sister opens it, brushing her hair with one hand and the other waving you up. Like that was sufficient enough motivation to make you want to leave your bed.

“Dad's treating us all to this breakfast place ‘cause you’re leaving today so.. you’ve got 10 minutes to get ready.” You groan but have no option to argue when Daisy’s already gone by the time you blink both of your eyes open.

You feel like shit and you definitely look like shit when you force yourself to get up and out of bed, usually that takes you 10 minutes alone so you mentally applaud yourself for doing it so quickly.

You hurry downstairs once you’ve completed the tasks compiled from basic human hygiene, meeting only Lance in the kitchen, leaned against the counter with phone in hand.

“Where is everyone?” He looks up, rather obviously checks you out then meets your eyes with a bright smile.

Your chest warms, and maybe your face tints red a little, but you smile back at him. “They went ahead, said to meet them there.”

You hum, “I always wondered where I got my impatience from.” He chuckles as he slides past you, letting you pull your flats on before opening the door.

As soon as you catch sight of Tom across the way, a perplexed expression washes over you, causing a brief blink and a subtle parting of your lips.

“Y/N,” he looks past Lance and the F1 driver looks back at you puzzled, wondering if this was a planned meet-up. The bewilderment on your face answers the question for him.

“You need to go,” you say before the man in front of you gets a chance to.

“I just want to talk,” Tom says, watching you desperately. “Come on.”

As Lance takes a step closer to him, you swallow sceptically. You were aware that his tolerance for your ex had been dwindling throughout the entire weekend, but now wasn't the opportune moment to witness him reach his breaking point.

"What the hell do you want to talk about now?" you ask, your voice unsteady.

Tom again looks around him to meet your eyes, “five minutes of your time is too much?”

“I think it’s time for you to go,” Lance says warningly. You reach for his hand to tug him backwards which you succeed in, though not without a questionable look.

With a firm tone, you remind him, "you had your five minutes at the wedding." Despite your reminder, Tom takes a step closer, maintaining a cautious distance to avoid provoking the man fixed between the two of you.

Insisting fervently, he presses on, "you're going to want to hear this. I promise." The desperation in his eyes becomes apparent, and you hate that the urge to hear him suddenly overcomes you. Being your ex meant he was still masterfully able to draw you in somehow.

“Wait by the gate,” he nods at your instruction and you turn your body to meet Lance’s. “Just get the car started?”

"You've gotta be kidding. Why are you still bothering with him?" Lance probes, searching your face for an explanation. With a sigh, you mentally admit your inability to provide a good enough answer.

“I’m just going to hear what he has to say. It doesn’t mean anything.” You rationalise, your eyes growing soft and Lance can’t help but understand where you’re coming from.

Maybe granting him the chance to express whatever he wanted to say is a debt you feel obliged to fulfil.

“I’ll wait in the car,” you mutter a thank you in return, watching as he creaks the door open to walk through it.

He glares at Tom as he walks past, bordering on a push, and unlocks the car. He settles into the driver's seat and your ex waits for you where you told him to.

With a heavy sigh, you approach him, his face still adorned with a palpable sense of desperation that shows no signs of fading.

“What is it?”

…

Part 8

Masterlist

I am posting this at 4:47am in the morning :') The writer's block is REAL!! Thank you so much for your patience, I love you so so much! One part left :(

Taglist: @fantasticbouquetwitchsthings @topguncultleader @spicyclover @amirahart @softiecaro @alilstressyandlotdepressy @eugene-emt-roe @e-lisa-bettan @strolleclercs @jjsprobablywrong @carmelita-holland @flowerchild-96 @honethatty12 @gaslysainz @pierre-gasssllyy @lestappenloverr @chiliwhore @mentallyunstablebish @mcmuppet @xscorpioxmoon @ferrariloverr @rivivie @starkeyellow @vanillascreams @tororossoseb-blog @hiphopdancer101universe @hc-dutch @chonkybonky @natasharomanoffisbaebby @little-angel-07 @lxnceclercs @taylor-will-be-the-death-of-me @hockey-racing-fubol @honeyric3 @purplephantomwolf @mindflay3r @ttzjune @xitsyaiizax @dylylylylyly @rd14 @secretlyangrymagazine @love4lando @vildetry-06 @sharllec @aundercover @mloyer @alesainz @cinnamonroll2003 @nikki01234 @junhuilvrrr @f1-hyperfixation

[diazpatcher]

7x10 reaction time

the opening scene with Athena 😭

EDDIE CALLED BUCK AND ASKS HIM TONPPEN THE DOOR TO CHRIS 😭😭😭😭

Chris calling the Diaz' I CALLED IT!!!

hen :(

"it's a little true" "even in death she makes your life chaos" "I'm making my life chaos"

Oh Athena 😭 I can't handle it if bobby dies the fact that he has a DNR???? I'm going insane

OH IT WAS AMIR RIGHT? I CALLED IT

the 118 kids meeting each other at the hospital 😭

"he managed to get her to safety before he took a turn" 😭 bobby literally gave his last breath to his wife😭

"I understand it to well. Bc right now the only thing holding me upright is rage." OH Athena 😭 SLAY MAMA "because they last man who came into my home and tried to hurt my family begged me to put it him down"👁👁

"You're one of HIS firefighters"😭

oh god the house is ruined 😭 Athena on a revenge tour?

Polly Martin 🤨 Hmmm

"THIS IS MADDIE HAN" SLAY MAMA

Athena gone rouge btw 🫡 as she should

"I think Athena might be the danger" SLAY

she broke into his house????? omg Athena is of the rails!!!! I love her

it's so so heartbreaking how she was ready to kill for bobby, no hesitation 😭

so if it wasn't Amir who was it 🤔

"being a living testiment to a dead person hardens you" oh. this is all about grief. this entire season is all about grief about how it is more than sadness that it is also anger and denial.

The cartell!!!!! "it's me they want" oh. Amir is so self sacrificial

The 118 watching as bobby almost dies while Athena is a on basically a suicide mission

Amir is actually cool "go ahead and do what ever you plan to do or is your plan to bore me to death?"

"I'm misses Bobby Nash" She says as she sets flames to the Cartells hide out. SLAY MAMA

"This one we both walk out of" SOBBING ACTUALLY

the 133 being the one firehouse who is always there when something happens to the 118

OH GOD IS HE DEAD

OH S

BOBBY

He's.alive 😭😭😭😭 omg

wait. what's the cliffhanger.

The Hans and The Wilson's having dinner together 🫶🫶 family family 🫶 I love them

Tommy and Buck 🥰 "you guys at the 118 should have your own dedicated wing at the hospital" PFFF HE IS SO FUNNY

"BOBBY IS THE FATHER I NEVER HAD" OH BABY THEY FINALLY SAID IT.

B:"so we both have daddy issues" T:"I dont" B:"but you think I do?" T: "God hope so"

Ohh ph "fathers are human, sons don't take it that well"

OH CHRIS , Chris wants to leave 😭 the Diaz' redemption arc?

"your son is trying to tell you whay he needs don't wait 30yrs to hear him"

Athena being so panicked about they're phones 😭 mama such a mama OH MAY 😭 Harry and May being there for their parents❤️ (yes ik Michael lives but he is not here yk)

Chris is actually leaving. "There's summer and then there's Texas. " 😭 lmao buck

Buck fathering once again I love him❤️ "you realize just how messy life can be" okay still no reason to forgive the Buckley parents they suck.

Eddie looks like a kicked puppy also the fact that he keeps calling Buck over is so!!!

The way Eddie hugged Chris😭😭 I wish someone would hug me like that

"I know your angry but i love you no matter. I hate it but i love you." OH "you can always come back, you just say the word and I'll come for you" SOBBING ACTUALLY

the diaz' parents not even hugging him goodbye??? rude tbh

"is buck joining us?" "it's a different sibling"

THEY TOOK HER IN UNTIL HENREN COULD TAKE HER😭😭 THEYRE A FAMILY

oh bobby in the remains of the fire. Amir lmao. like a ghost he appears.

"were not gonna get into who deserves what, that's for a higher power to decide. " "maybe you earned it." Amir finally finally being the one who gives Bobby closure on his past. "You know you can't quit right?" "you think you do or you know you do🤨"

Amir im sorry I misjudged you he is actually the funniest man alive.

Wait is the cliffhanger the opening disaster for s8???

Oh no. "No captain Wilson" BOBBY ❤️

Gerard you whore. piss off. no no no no no.

THATS THE CLIFFHANGER? its just horrible

[ikenbar]

Mr. Love: Ike’s Choice CH4 PT11

Second to last part until Chapter four comes to a close! I’ll hate to see it go but I’ll be back on my regular schedule after this. Not to mention, Chapter five has got to be one of my favorites. It’s one I actually go back and read when I have spare time! So get excited!! :D

Warnings: Blood, fainting, setting of a dislocated arm (you more hear about it then witness it), cleaning wounds, we got fluff, we got angst (only a tiny bit tho), and we got some of that sweet farm raised and grass fed cliffhangers!! :D

(Chapter Four (Victor and Gavin) Prologue, and part one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,��nine, and ten can be found here!)

Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D

And an additional note in a previous part of chapter four part three here! (I promise these notes are important)

Chapter four:

Part ten:

“No bodyguards.” I insisted for the uptenth time as Adri and I climbed the stairs to my apartment, “I told you I’m fine. Just a minor scrape.”

“It’s not your scrape that makes me worried.” Victor’s voice had a sense of importance, “It’s how you got it. You were driven off the road, Ikamara! What if you had gotten killed?!”

“It takes a lot more than a few cars and guns to kill me, Victor.”

“Ike-”

“Victor,-” I interrupted, moving the phone to my shoulder to grab my keys from my pocket, “I’m-” I grunted. A sharp pain rushed through my chest. I gripped my side and I handed the phone to Adri. “Talk to victor for me while I grab my keys.” I groaned, trying to keep face. Adri nodded slowly then held the phone up to her ear. 

“Hey Vicky!... It’s a no to ‘Vicky?’ Alright, well, Ike blasted some holes in their tires. They aren’t going anywhere. I promise. And, if they do, you’ll be the first person we call, ok?... alright police first, and then you!” Adri paused a moment as she listened to Victor, “... You want to send a doctor?... Well...” Adri gave me a once over. I threw the keys into my door knob and yanked the phone from Adri’s ear.

“No doctors.” I deadpanned, “I’ve dealt with worse injuries than these. We’ll be fine…” I unlocked my door but didn’t open it right away.  I looked over to Adri, “... Although, one thing is strange to me.” 

“What tipped you off? Was it the fact that you were thrown off the road by a bull headed man, perhaps?” Victor asked with sourness on his tongue.

“No, My-”

“Hold on.” Adri took my phone again but, instead of putting it to her ear, tapped the speaker phone button and held it up between us, “Sorry, V. I was hearing one part of this conversation and it was getting old. Please, Ike.” She gestured for me to continue. 

“... Thanks, Adri.” I cleared my throat, “My evol makes it so I have nearly impenetrable skin. Not even bullets can get through it... if that’s the case-”

“Then what cut your arm?” Victor and Adri had caught on quickly as they asked the same question at the same time. I looked down at my arm. 

“I don’t know. The last time I remember being cut this bad was when I was younger and my evol was still developing.”

“Didn’t you get a cut on your date?” Victor asked, “Do you know what could have caused it?”

“No. I-” I paused, “... that waiter’s cufflink. It was what tore at my shirt so it must have been what cut me too.” 

“Do you remember what kind of cufflink it was?” Victor asked. I looked down and hummed in thought.

“Wait.” Adri said, snapping her fingers, “Some construction work requires them to drill or grind into hard and heavy materials so that the building can be sturdy under certain conditions such as earthquakes or thunderstorms.”

“Interesting fact.” I rolled my eyes, “What does that have to do with-”

“Some of the equipment they use had diamonds embedded in them.”

Something clicked in my head.

“The waiter’s cufflink,” I said slowly, “It must have had a diamond in it as well…”

“Exactly.” Adri nodded.

“Ike,” Victor said, gravely, “Did Montu see your injury?” I felt my blood run cold.

“I… I don’t know.” I gasped, thinking hard about the events that had just transpired, “We were talking for some time but... I don’t think he knew I was hurt… but I was covered in blood.”

“Maybe he thought it was mine.” Adri said quickly and reassuringly, “You were bleeding on me when we were hiding in the ceiling.”

“Let’s hope that’s true.” Victor seemed to have said that more to himself then to me, “... Are you two sure you’re alright being alone right now? If not I can send someone over to-”

“We’re alright.” I reassured, though a little unsure, “No need to send anyone. If I really do need someone over... I have my neighbor. He’s a cop so he’ll be able to protect us if we need it.”

“... He?” Victor asked in a strange tone.

“... Yeah? Why?”

“Nothing. I’ll let you go then. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Alright.” I said, complicated feelings rising in my chest, “Hey, send me a bill for your tires. It was my fault they were-”

“Stop.” Even over the phone, Victor’s tone was still harsh enough to silence me, “It wasn’t your fault. I’ve got it handled so don’t worry about it.”

I sighed, “... Thank you, Victor.” 

“If you feel as if you can’t go to work tomorrow-”

“I’ll be there.” I said quickly.

“... Ok. Get some sleep.”

“You too.”

“I will. Good night, Ike.”

“Good night, Victor.” 

“Good night, V!” Adri chimed.

“... Good night, Adrienne.” Victor sighed. I hung up the phone and Adri tossed it to me, a teasing smirk rising from her lips.

“For a moment it felt like you two had forgotten about me.” She taunted, wiggling her eyebrows, “Maybe I should have just left you two alone!”

“Shut it.” I rolled my eyes and twisted the doorknob to my apartment. The door creaked open revealing a quiet, empty, and dark room. I knew no one was in there but for some strange reason, I felt as if I was being watched. Images from the warehouse flashed in my mind. A room where there were photos of me sitting on the sofa or making something in the kitchen. Montu knew where I lived and had been watching me. I wasn’t afraid of them. I beat them that night. I got away from them… but now…

I looked down at Adri. I had taken the sleeve of her jacket and propped her arm up so it wasn’t hanging so loosely by her side. I grit my teeth as I brushed my side again with my hand. This time, it wasn’t just me in my apartment. It would be my sister too. A bloodied and bruised sister whom I couldn’t rightly take care of alone in my situation… 

I was going to need some help.

With a sigh, I locked eyes with Adri. “We were in a car accident.” I enunciated each word I said with precision, "Got it?"

"Uh, sure?" Adri replied, looking very confused.

I nodded and closed my door as I turned to the apartment across from mine. After a long moment of hesitation, I walked over and knocked on the door. There was a moment of silence then movement came from the other end. Instant regret flooded my body.  I frantically looked down at my bullet ridden clothes and bleeding arm. I quickly pulled off my jacket but my blazer was just as destroyed. I groaned as the door opened to reveal a casually dressed Gavin in the doorway. 

"H-Hey birdcop." I stammered, sounding even more guilty than I looked. At first Gavin looked at me confused, but his face dropped and his eyes dilated. 

“What happened to you?!” Gavin’s voice, though stern, shook slightly as he immediately grabbed for my blood soaked sleeve and inspected it. 

“Car accident.” My jaw felt tight as I spouted out my excuse. Gavin looked up at me.

“This was from a car accident?” Gavin’s voice made it clear he was unconvinced.

I nodded and kept the ball rolling, "I hit a snag in the road and fell head long into a construction site and onto some tools. I scraped up my arm pretty bad… and may have broken a couple of ribs.”

“We need to get you to the hospital.” Gavin reached inside his apartment to grab something.

“No!” I quickly grabbed his arm, wincing as my side sparked in pain, “If I’m in need of any kind of sewing, they won’t be able to poke the needle through my skin and find out I am an evolver. I have the stuff we need in my bathroom. Can… you help us patch up?" 

“Us?” Gavin looked up. His eyes locked on to something. I turned and saw a red faced Adri staring blankly at Gavin, clearly at a loss for words.

“My sister was on the bike with me.” I said, guilt and regret riding on my tongue, “I protected her pretty well but she still has some injuries. Mainly her shoulder being dislocated.”

“Why didn’t you take her to a hospital?” Gavin asked, gesturing with irritation.

“They would insist on working on me if I took her.” I said, folding my arms and looking back at Gavin, “Besides, I figured I could handle it.” Gavin glared down at me. I arched my eyebrow. “If you don’t want to help I’m sure I could-”

“No.” Gavin quickly interrupted me as he walked out of his apartment, “I’ll help.” 

“Good.” I nodded and walked back to my apartment, “Thanks, Birdcop.” Gavin grunted from behind me. I rolled my eyes but a warm feeling still tickled my heart as I reached for the door to my apartment again.

“Are you alright?” Gavin’s soft words made me turn around. He was looking worriedly at Adri, who was looking down at the ground, avoiding all eye contact.

“Y-yep!” She stammered, face somehow getting even redder than before.

“Are you sure?” Gavin reached out to her, “Your face is really red. Are you cold?” The moment Gavin’s hand touched her elbow, a small yelp came from Adri’s mouth. She quickly covered it with her free hand and ran next to me.

“Open the damn door.” She whispered, pulling on my sleeve.

“I don’t know.” I cooed, arching my eyebrow as I smirked, “I kinda wanna see where this goes.” Adri cursed and forced my hand away from the doorknob. She threw the door open and ran inside, despite how dark the room still was. I bit back the comments riding on my tongue as I switched on the lights. Suddenly the apartment had become as inviting as it usually was. I sighed lightly with relief as Gavin walked in behind me. I looked up at him. Worry and confusion played on his eyes as he looked at Adri. I patted his arm lightly. "Don’t worry.” I whispered, causing him to look down at me, “She’s always like this.” 

“Really?” Gavin’s expression softened slightly. I nodded.

“Now, make yourself at home." I said in my normal tone as I walked into the apartment and towards the bathroom, "I’ll be right out with what we need.” I walked past Adri, who had fallen onto the couch, slumped over, and covered her face with her jacket. I smirked and continued walking, deciding against making fun of her. At that point, she would kill me faster then Montu would. 

Just as I got to the bathroom door, I paused to look back at the room. Gavin had made his way to the couch, sitting next to Adri delicately. He spoke to her in a tone soft enough that I couldn’t hear them. I had some idea though when Adri’s nervous expression turned into one of horror. Gavin was likely telling her how he was going to set her arm. Something he shouldn’t have to do because the whole ordeal was my fault. But there was no way I could with my ribs being the way they were. 

I tapped at the door, watching them a little longer before finally entering the bathroom. Whether or not it was my fault was not important. No matter what, Adri was still hurt and she needed help, and Gavin was going to help her… 

He was going to help us.

After I was sure I was out of everyone’s eyeline, I collapsed onto the counter in pain. I clutched at my side and gritted my teeth. When had it become so hard to breathe? I panted in short breaths as I opened my mirror. I immediately located the first aid kit.

… on the top shelf. 

Of course it was.

I cursed and tapped my finger on the counter. Would it even be worth the pain? I could just run the scratch over some water and be fine! I’ll use an old t-shirt or something to stop the blood! We’d be-

I heard a painful cry come from outside of the bathroom. I cringed as guilt rushed through my stomach. After another moment of thought, I took a deep breath and reached for the first aid kit. Pain erupted and pushed throughout my chest. Gritting my teeth to the point of breaking, I quickly grabbed the first aid kit and collapsed once more unto the counter. But, because I had used all of my energy to grab the kit, I slipped onto the floor instead. I hit the floor hard as I fell to my knees. Nausea rushed through my throat as black dots flooded my vision, threatening a blackout. I clutched my head and moaned, fighting to stay conscious as the familiar feeling of exhaustion hit me like a truck. 

Hurried footsteps approached the bathroom. I tried fixing myself to look less pathetic but the quick motion ended up making me feel even worse. A figure appeared next to me, kneeling down and surveying me closely. “Hey,” Gavin’s worried voice echoed slightly in my ears, “Are you alright?”

“Peachy.” I gasped, looking over at him. Gavin’s form seemed to be shifting slightly, making it hard for me to focus on him. I closed my eyes and rubbed them as I shoved the first aid kit into his stomach. “Here.” I groaned, “take that to Adri. She’ll…” My balance faltered. The hand on my back quickly moved to my arm, pulling me into Gavin’s chest.

“Hey,” Gavin quickly patted my cheek, “Stay with me, Ike.” I shook my head and weakly brushed away his hand.

“I’m fine.” I lied, “Just give the kit to A-” Before I could finish, I felt the first aid kit slide back onto my lap. I opened my eyes in time to see Gavin slip his arm under my knees. “W-wait-” I began, but it was too late. Gavin carefully pulled me close to him and lifted me up, making sure to take it slow so as to not make my condition worse. I fell further into his chest and gripped at his shirt, closing my eyes again as another wave of nausea crashed into my throat.

“You still here, Ike?” Gavin asked softly, rubbing his thumb over my arm.

“A warning would have been nice.” I groaned, letting my head fall onto his shoulder. Gavin held me tighter as he moved out of the room. A small gasp came from somewhere in the room. 

“Is she ok?!” Adri, through the exhaustion in her voice, sounded incredibly worried as Gavin led me further into the room.

“She’s fine.” Gavin said, his voice vibrating through his chest, “She’s just pushed herself a little farther than necessary.” I weakly flicked at Gavin’s chin. Gavin chuckled, the air from his nose teasing my bangs and cooling the cold sweat on my forehead. 

I opened my eyes as Gavin gently placed me down next to Adri on the couch. He lay my head on one of the throw pillows on the couch and raised my knees up as he tucked a pillow underneath them, keeping them from falling. Gavin took the first aid kit and placed it on the coffee table behind him. Once he was sure I was taken care of, Gavin knelt down next to me.

“Ike-” He began. I raised a hand.

“Ice packs are in the top door of the fridge.” I took my raised hand and pointed it to the kitchen, “Grab one for Adri. While you’re there you can grab me a juice box from the fridge so I don’t pass out.” Gavin nodded and quickly stood from my side. I looked over to Adri. She was watching Gavin, gripping her shoulder tightly. Though she was putting on a tough face, I could tell she was in pain. “Hey, kiddo.” I kicked her lightly, pulling her attention to me, “How are you doing?” Adri looked at me strangely for a moment, then she sighed.

“You know,” Adri elbowed me playfully, “If someone wasn’t already trying to, I would kill you right now.” She smirked. Although it was weak and obviously full of pain, I was glad to see her smile again. I smiled too, winking playfully to her.

Gavin walked back over to us, two ice packs and a grape juice box in hand. He handed me the box. I carefully moved to sit up as I reached for it. Gavin’s hand twitched. I gave him a a reassuring look as I took the box. He hesitated a moment, watching me take a few sips of the juice before moving to sit next to Adri. “Sorry.” He said, handing her an ice pack, “I wish there was a better way to get it back in.”

“It’s fine.” Adri sighed, taking the pack from him and placing it on her shoulder, “I feel like we have grown closer to each other this way.” Gavin chuckled lightly, causing a warm blush to push through Adri’s cheeks. She cleared her throat and stood up carefully from the couch. Both Gavin and I reacted, moving to help her. “I’m fine!” She said, hurriedly waving away our hands as she held her arm up, “I’m just gonna take a quick shower. Ike, you don’t mind if I borrow some clothes do you?”

“Do you think a shower is a good idea?” Gavin asked seriously, “I just set your arm.”

“Well, I’m covered in dirt and blood, so I’m gonna say yes.” She walked across the room and to my bedroom.

“Maybe a bath would be better.” I said as Adri opened my closet, “There’s less of a chance that you could accidentally hurt your arm. And you can keep that ice pack on you.” Adri paused at the door, thinking over my offer, “... I have bath salts under the sink.”

“Sold!” Adri chimed, smiling excitedly as she reached into the closet. She pulled out one of my flannels and a pair of yoga pants then shut the door. She turned to us. “Make sure she hurts like I did, Officer.” Adri said, skipping into the bathroom, “I wanna hear her scream!” I shook my head and glared at her. Adri spit out her tongue and closed the door behind her, leaving Gavin and I alone together on the couch.

Gavin cleared his throat as sat closer to me. “How’s your side?” He asked, handing me the second ice pack in his hand.

“Could be worse.” I grunted, taking the pack and swinging my legs off of the couch, finally feeling strong enough to completely sit up. Gavin reached out but I shooed his hand away. Instead I looked him seriously in the eye. “Thank you for doing that.” I said, tone matching my stare, “I know it must have been hard setting her arm on your own.”

“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t that far out of place.” Gavin replied just as seriously as he looked me over, “Besides, it was nothing compared to how it was seeing you on the floor back there.” My heart froze. Gavin reached out and touched the back of his hand to my forehead, “I heard a thud so I rushed to check on you. You were as pale as a ghost. I was scared I didn’t get there in time.” Gavin’s hand fell onto my cheek. I quickly turned my head away from him. I didn’t want him to feel how warm my cheeks were getting.

“Y-yeah. Sorry about that.” I said, swirling the juicebox in my hand absentmindedly, “You said it yourself. I just... pushed myself a little farther than necessary.” There was a soft pause. Then Gavin sighed and reached to inspect my arm once more. The moment his calloused fingers grazed my wound, shots of electricity strung up my body. After he inspected it closer, Gavin let go of my hand. His expression changed to one of determination and he reached over to grab the first aid kit. Since the kit was so far from him, Gavin had to lean over me, rubbing his chest on my arm and pushing his leg against mine. I could feel the heat emanating from his clothes as he leaned even closer to me. I felt the burn in my cheeks rise. I quickly turned from him and covered my face, coughing awkwardly to break the air.

After what had seemed like forever, Gavin finally pulled away from me, first aid kit in hand and obliviousness dripping from his aura. He moved a little further away from me and placed the kit on his lap. 

"Take your clothes off." Gavin said nonchalantly as he opened it’s lid.

My eyelids flew open. "Excuse me?" I arched my eyebrows and looked at Gavin with a smirk, "I'm flattered, Birdcop, but buy me dinner first." 

"I mean take off your jacket and shirt.” Gavin rolled his eyes, as he pulled some alcohol and cotton out of the kit, “How do you expect me to clean your wound with your clothes on?”

“Carefully.”

“Ike, just the jacket and the shirt. Stop making this harder than it has to be.” 

I rolled my eyes and moved to remove my jacket. The pain in my chest reappeared.  I hitched my breath and grabbed my side, grimacing through the pain. 

There was a moment of awkward silence. 

We both knew what had to be done.

"Can I-" Gavin started. I held up a finger to quiet him. After a moment I sighed and used that finger to point at him.

"No one tells Minor." I muttered, glaring at the image of Minor's face that popped into my mind, "Agreed?"

"Agreed." Gavin answered resoundly, a tone of dread leaking from his tongue. I nodded then moved closer to him. Gavin also slid closer and grabbed my blazer by the collar, slowly and carefully pulling it down and off my shoulders. Fragments of debris rained onto the couch as folds of fabric came undone. "Glass?" Gavin asked. 

"... I crashed through a window." I said, hesitantly.

"Where did you crash?" Gavin's voice almost had a hint of laughter.

"Just off of Aspen and Brooks." I answered honestly, "There's a new apartment being built there."

"Really?" Gavin sounded skeptical as he moved the jacket steadily past my scrape, "I just received word from a cop buddy of mine that there was gunfire coming from there."

"Really?" I asked, thinking fast.

"Yeah, multiple shots."

"My tire blew and I fell into some tools. I wonder if someone thought it was gunshots and miss called."

"Maybe." Gavin finally pulled my jacket off of me, "I was told it was a false alarm." Mixed feelings welled in my chest as Gavin came closer to me. How did Montu get out of there in time? If the police was called for gunshots, there was no way they would get those cars out of there in ti-

Gavin's hands pulled at the buttons of my shirt. Flustered, I quickly pushed him back. "Uh, I-I can do the buttons." I stammered, unbuttoning my shirt quickly and shakily. Gavin backed away quickly, holding his hand up to his mouth and nodding.

"R-right." He muttered, "Sorry." I looked up at him. His ears blossomed into a bright red as he searched frantically around the room for something to look at. I smiled slightly, both from how adorable he was acting and also from the quick distraction from the subject.

I finished undoing my shirt and Gavin helped pull it off of me. I thanked my lucky stars that I wore a tank top that day as Gavin took a better look at the damage done to my arm. He pursed his lips but didn’t say much more. Instead, he moved back to the alcohol and cotton from before and set the box back on the coffee table. Gavin took the cotton ball, coated it in alcohol, then carefully cleaned the wound. I winced as it stung my arm. Deciding to focus on something else, I kept my eyes on Gavin. He was extremely focused on the task at hand. His hands brushed over my skin with a sort of movement that proved that this wasn't his first time dealing with this type of wound. 

My thoughts seemed to drift as I looked into his eyes. They were full of determination but there was also a soft note of worry. He seemed to be detracting himself from the worry by cleaning my arm but he couldn't quite hide the fact that it was still there, bugging him obsessively.

That tone vanished as Gavin locked eyes with something on my arm. He stopped cleaning as his worry and determination were replaced with shock. Then anger. "So," Gavin said, clicking his tongue slightly, "Where did you land exactly?"

"I… already told you." My defences rose slightly to his change of attitude, "I crashed my bike into some construction tools."

"Oh really?" Gavin's grip around my arm tightened, as if prepared to stop me from running. He grabbed a pair of tweezers from the first aid kit then used them to pluck something out from the middle of my arm. I winced and looked at what he had grabbed. My blood pooled to my feet.

"I don't remember bullets being used in building construction." Gavin waved Dylan's flattened bullet in front of my face.

"...oh yeah." I shakily said, repositioning myself on the couch, "I also ran into Montu while I was there."

The bullet fell from the tweezers.

“You what?!” Gavin's tone changed dramatically as his grip tightened even further, "When were you going to tell me about this?!" Gavin spoke sharply. 

“After Adri had left.” I groaned and pawed at Gavin’s hand, trying to get him to let it go. He did so by throwing it aside and standing up.

"Why do I not believe you?!" Gavin growled, pulling out his phone and tapping it fervently.

"...what are you doing?" I asked, fear rising in my gut.

"I'm calling it in!" Gavin put the phone to his ear, "This is agent-"

"No!" I jumped at Gavin and took his phone. Pain erupted from my side but I merely grunted through it as I hung up the call and tossed the phone aside. Unable to take it anymore, I hissed and fell to my knees, catching myself on my coffee table before I completely hit the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Gavin barked, bending down to help me up, "I was jus-" I covered Gavin's mouth.

"Montu's room from the warehouse had pictures from my apartment." I spoke in a harsh whisper, "I have no idea if he is listening right now or not. Saying your emergency code right now may not be the best option.” Gavin stared at me intently for a moment. I stared back meaningfully.

Ultimately, after a long moment of silence, Gavin pulled my hand from his face and looked at me with a softened expression as he clutched it tightly. I eased my shoulders slightly, looking in his eyes for any sign of contentment. Gavin noticed this and sighed. Before I could say anything, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine. “You’re going to be the death of me.” He softly said, rubbing his thumb against the back of my hand.

“I’m pretty sure I’d be the death of me.” I said, leaning against his forehead. Gavin chuckled. Something pulled at my chest. His laugh, which was once a sound of reassurance, now sounded strained, as if he was holding something back. 

Without delaying any longer, Gavin helped me to my feet again and onto the couch. He brought the first aid kit to his lap as he grabbed my arm again. “...Gavin.” I started, “I-”

“Ike.” Gavin interrupted, cleaning my arm once more from newly formed blood, “No more excuses. Talk to me honestly. What happened?” I froze. He sounded exhausted. Likely from me hiding so much from him and my constant lies. But if I told him anything, I would be taken off of the case! And I couldn’t afford to lose the progress I was making. Not to mention, the progress I had made with him! If I told Gavin now, he would hate me and we would just go back to the way things were before. I would never forgive myself if that were to happen. I needed to keep this a secret for as long as possible. For him… for us.

I sighed, “I had just gotten back off from work…”

>>>

I traced my finger down the bandage around my arm. Gavin and I had been sitting in silence for what seemed like forever, brewing over what just been said. 

“... That’s it?” Gavin said, looking at his hands as he slumped over the couch.

“Yup.” I sighed.

“You blew holes in their tires then left.”

“Right.”

“And you are certain they said that they were going to visit another evolver tonight as well?”

I closed my eyes, “Yeah. Very certain.”

“Alright then.” Gavin stood up, “This is a good lead. And it looks like you were right about Dylan. I’m going to need his information for when we take him in for questioning.”

“Right.” I said, but my thoughts didn’t agree. If Montu meant what he said, there was no way he was going to let Dylan go after losing me again. Whether that meant through death or something else, I didn’t know. All I did know is that there was no chance we were hearing from Dylan anytime soon. 

“And Dylan said he did that on his own? No one made him go after you?” Gavin asked.

“Yes.” My voice shook slightly as I stood up as well. Gavin held out a helping hand but I brushed him off casually as I made my way to my bedroom, “Dylan told me outright that he had a vendetta against me. And that he was the one that threw the bomb.” I reached my closet and sighed, “Now, can we be done? I’ve had a long day.” I opened the closet doors and reached for a fresh set of clothes.

“One last thing.” Gavin walked up behind me. Before I could figure out what was happening, he had pinned me between himself and the closet, shutting out any way of escape. He grabbed my shoulder and spun me, locking my eyes in his. There was a flurry of emotions in his honey-like glow. Each emotion moved so fast, I couldn’t keep up with any of them. 

I moved to look away but Gavin grabbed my chin, pulling my face back onto him. “I need you to promise me that there is nothing else you are keeping from me.” Gavin spoke in a tone I had never heard him use. It was full of earnestness and determination… and worry, “And I need you to promise me you don’t have any life threatening secret that you are keeping from me. Promise me you have and will always tell me everything that pertains to this. That pertains to your safety.” I hesitated. Gavin’s grip tightened, “Please, Ike. 

“Promise me.” 

I couldn’t move. Nor could I promise him something so important. But, I knew what would happen if I didn’t...

“... I… I promise.” I said, already beating myself up for doing something so stupid. Gavin’s stare was intense as he read my face, looking for some sort of lie. Before he could find it, I pushed his hand away and reached behind me, pulling a sweater off from a hanger. “Like I can keep anything from you anyway.” I scoffed, pushing him aside as I searched for clothes, “You’ve pulled everything I’ve tried to hide from you out of me anyway. Might as well just come clean, right?”

“I hope you mean that.” Gavin practically whispered as he backed away from me. I hummed but decided not to say anything more, too afraid to let anything slip.

After I had found an outfit, I turned and looked at Gavin. He had his arms folded and was staring at the ground, lost in thought. Sensing my eyes, Gavin looked up at me. I twirled my finger in the air. Gavin blushed and quickly nodded, turning on his heel to face away from me. From this angle, I could see just how red his ears had gotten. I smirked and carefully removed my tank top, avoiding using too much effort. The last thing I needed was to be in so much pain that Gavin needed to help me undress as well.

Gavin cleared his throat, "I think it goes without saying that I'm spending the night here." 

"Oh does it?" I hummed, only half paying attention as I got dressed.

"Yes. For your and your sister's protection."

"Thank you for the offer but I think I can handle it from here."

"But you're injured." Gavin slightly turned his head, "How can you expect to protect anyone in your condition?"

"Carefully." I pushed Gavin's head back around. 

“You should copyright that phase.” Gavin grumbled. After a pause, he sighed, "Ike, I just want to make sure you’re safe. Just one night. That’s all I ask.”

I thought for a moment. I wouldn’t be able to talk to Adri about anything while he was here. Not to mention, Gavin wouldn’t have any place to sleep as Adri would be taking the couch… but he was right. If something were to happen while Adri was here, I wouldn’t be able to protect her. After all, Montu looked pretty peeved last I saw him. It would be nice to have a cop stay the night…

“Fine.” I said, buttoning the last button on my new shirt as I walked into Gavin’s view once more, “But you need to promise not to bombard Adri with any questions. The whole thing was pretty traumatic for her.”

A bang came from the bathroom door. “Alright!” Adri came walking out of the bathroom with a large flannel and loose yoga pants, “Who’s ready to get this party started?!”

Gavin folded his arms and turned back to me, “Oh yeah. She looks like she is positively shaking from trauma.”

 (Next)

[allthewrongsins]

asoue s2

ep 9.10

the last book in this season.i am sad and tired and i dont want it to end but i gotta do what i gotta do.

in this book there will be a freak show and some hungry hungry lions that will eat a certain psychic so if you cant handle that talk to mr.handler.

the past?yes please.i am interested.

fun music.larry looking fine.a party.is this the party that lemony mentioned in the books?

and OH.uncle monty.i missed you.hello.and jacky seems to be having fun.ew georgina is there.ah and gustav was fiiiine back then too.aww josephine was brave and fun and ike is there lol having children is the most dangerous thing yes and woohooo partaay

lemony you arent fun.his hair do was cute.jac is here,being the cool oni chan.

can you hear me crying?everyone was alive back then asssjfjrbtdijerjdjddhhs

yes i remember her dragonfly.

olaf knows.as in.he knows who killed his parents?

wtf

wtf

no i dont want this cut scene.i want the rest!!!!!!!!!

um.she has to go on many hardships and think lemony is dead and then find out lemony was alive but it was for naught coz she will give back the engagement ring and marry bert  also give birth to the kids so i dont think anything really happened there

lol

mad man?you dont say.

esme looks ready for coachella

#count olaf ,known murdurer and arsonist,is against drinking and driving

madam lulu is olivia???

*vision of khandsome stranger

*and her gf?

*no she is not in the vision

ooooo buuuurn

*that blond is fake

oooo 2nd buuuurn

dang she said it folk!

A series Of Unfortunate events

okay that face on olaf is new.what emotion was that again?awe?fear?humanity?

man i gotta wait till morning now?

hookman is talking about fiona and the captain.

i love drunk olaf

#uncanny representation of job interviews narrated by lemony snicket

lol i know what the white handsome guy is supposed to be.

community college!

who is lulu/olivia talking to?

omg baldie paints great

beatrice looks hot in that dress.is she alive?that cant be

i feel weird because i watched the greatest showman yesterday and now this is giving me the creeps.

my eyes!!!my eyes!!!! why is lemony dressed as a clown?i feel bad

THEY ARENT ORPHANS IF ONE OF THEIR PARENTS IS STILL ALIVE

yes watch the films.

girls be like STAY AWAY FROM MY BOYFRIENd

aww fuck this you made me care about madam lulu i hate this show

the finale here we gooooo

but who was lulu before olivia?oh!so the ex-lulu was who took the sugar bowl outta hospital!

its a wild goose chase no one is alive

oh no her hair thingy fel

that pit is not deep enough!how did he get them there?

my eeyyyeesss!!!

THIS!this is why jealeous girls are dangerous

*regular healthcare is important

who the hell is the newspaper delivery guy?always on my nerves!!

#when half of your otp is dead

*is this legal?

ladies and genTAdjeksks

#unfolding

math teachers are evil

lol olaf jumpscared

fuck this show.never trust "im right behind you"crying.

#when your otp is dead

oh i remember this .they will pretend to hire all the freaks but then take sunny and leave klause and violet get carried away to their deaths coz they knew all along

so olaf failed to push beatrice

starting your career as arsonists is such a moral dillema.

imagine getting the "talk" from olaf ew

that must be kit

CLIFFHANGER

[teenwolffan-with-nolife]

The Witch and The Wolf Pt.7

Word Count: 2,778

Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale (brief), Scott McCall, Lydia Martin, Allison Argent, Jackson Whittemore, Reader

Pairings: Eventual Derek Hale x Reader, Stiles Stilinski x Platonic!Reader, Scott McCall x Platonic!Reader

Warnings: some angst, cliffhanger, death

A/N: ik this chapter is very poorly written

Masterlist

You drove to the school, parking your car on the side. You texted Scott that you were here. After there was no reply, you sighed and decided to go into the school. You walked to the front door, spotting some bolt cutters holding the door open. You rolled your eyes, realizing they did something stupid. 

“What did you do now?” you muttered to yourself. You turned on your flashlight, looking around.

----

You called for Stiles and Scott, for so long, not able to find them.

“Stiles? Scott?” you called again.

Instead of hearing them respond, you heard Allison’s voice.

“Allison?” you looked down the hallway.

“O-Oh, (Y/N)! Hey. What happened to your face?” she asked.

“It was an accident. Uhm, what are you doing here?” you asked her.

“Scott texted me to pick him up from the school. We had a double date with Lydia and Jackson,” she explained.

“Weird. Scott texted me and said Stiles’ car broke down,” you said.

“Those idiots,” you groaned.

Allison just laughed awkwardly.

“Well, we might as well look together?” you offered.

“Y-Yeah,” she nodded her head.

The two of you walked around the school together, looking for Stiles and Scott.

----

As you two headed to the pool, Allison’s phone rang.

She jumped slightly before laughing softly.

“Hey. No, I didn’t find them, but (Y/N)’s here too. Okay, yeah, we’ll meet you there,” she hung up the phone.

“Lydia and Jackson?” you asked.

“Yeah, they want to meet us at the front,” she nodded.

“Well then let’s go, I guess,” started to leave when Allison got another call.

“I-It’s Scott,” she answered her phone.

“Where are you?” she put the phone on speaker.

“At the school. We’re looking for you,” you said.

“(Y/N)? You’re here too?” Scott said.

“Yeah. What’s going on?” you asked.

“I’ll explain everything. Just come to the lobby, now!” he exclaimed.

“Okay, we’re coming,” Allison nodded. She hung up the phone as you two ran to the lobby.

----

“What the hell are you doing here?” you said to Scott and Stiles, giving them a look.

‘What are you doing here?” Scott asked.

“We both got texts from you saying you needed us to come here,” Allison said.

“What? I didn’t send any texts,” Scott said, looking worried.

Allison froze.

“Okay, fine. Did you drive here?” Stiles asked.

“Allison came with Jackson and Lydia and I came by myself,” you said.

“W-?! Jackson’s here too?! And Lydia!?” Scott exclaimed.

Just then, Allison got a call. She picked it up.

“Where are you?” she asked.

Jackson opened the door, with Lydia behind them.

“Finally! Can we go now?” Lydia asked.

You looked up, hearing the ceiling creak.

“Run!” Scott yelled.

The six of you ran up the stairs. You looked back, spotting the alpha break through the ceiling.

You ran into a classroom, Scott and Jackson began to barricade the door.

“Oh crap,” Stiles looked at the windows.

“Guys? Hey? Stiles talking?” he tried to get their attention.

“Guys!” you yelled, causing them all to freeze.

“Great job everyone! Beautiful! Now, what are we gonna do about the 20-foot wall of windows?!” Stiles exclaimed sarcastically.

“Okay, can someone please explain what the hell is going on?! B-Because I am freaking out here!” Allison exclaimed.

Instead of replying, Scott looked away from all of them.

“Someone killed the janitor,” Stiles started.

“What?” Lydia said.

Stiles began explaining some stuff as you walked to Scott.

“Why is the alpha here? What did you do?” you asked him softly, making sure no one could hear.

“I-I don’t know. I thought it was… I don’t know,” he stuttered, clearly frustrated.

“Scott! Who killed the janitor?” Allison yelled.

“I-It was Derek,” he lied.

You looked at him, giving a death glare.

“What?” you said, your jaw clenched.

He avoided eye contact with you.

“It was Derek Hale. I saw him!” Scott exclaimed.

“Scott, what are you doing?” you whisper yelled at him.

“B-But the mountain lion…” Lydia stuttered.

“There was no mountain lion! Derek Hale killed them all! Starting with his own sister,” he exhaled shakily.

“Okay, stop. Excuse us a moment, I need to talk to Stiles and Scott,” you grabbed them both by their ears, pulling them aside.

“Ow, ow, ow! (Y/N) that hurts!” they both exclaimed.

“You idiots! Why did you blame Derek? He’s innocent!” you exclaimed.

“I-I don’t know,” Scott started.

“He’s gonna kill you two now. Okay, look, last time I saw him, he said he knew who the alpha was,” you started.

“He thought it was Deaton. But, we were trying to prove him wrong,” Scott explained.

“Was it worth this? Wait a minute, where’s Derek then?” you asked.

Before Stiles and Scott said anything, you took out your phone, dialing his number. It was ringing until you heard his ringtone outside the school. You looked out the window, seeing him on the ground.

“W-What?” you froze.

“Don’t worry. He’s not dead… I think,” Stiles said.

“Oh my god I hate you guys.” you closed your eyes, holding in your tears.

----

“Okay, we need to get out, clearly,” Jackson said.

“How about we call the cops?” Lydia suggested.

“No,” you and Stiles said at the same time.

“What? What do you mean ‘no’?”, Jackson said, raising an eyebrow.

“Look, Derek killed three people,” Stiles started.

“Okay, I’m calling,” Lydia got out her phone, dialing the police department.

“Lydia, wait,” Stiles walked to Lydia, only to get shoved by Jackson.

“Hey, stop,” you put your arm between them.

“Yes, we’re at Beacon Hills High School, and….. But…..” Lydia put her phone down.

“She hung up on me,” Lydia said shakily.

“W-What?” you asked.

“She said they got a tip saying that there was gonna be a prank call from the school tonight. She said if we call again, she’ll have it traced and have us arrested,” Lydia stuttered.

“Okay, then call again!” Allison exclaimed.

“No, they won’t trace it to here. They’ll send a car to our houses first,” you groaned.

“What is this?! W-What’s going on?! Why does Derek wanna kill us?” Allison said, still panicking.

Keep it together, (Y/N). He’s probably still alive 

“Yeah, why does Derek wanna kill us?” you crossed your arms, turning to Scott.

“Why’s everyone looking at me?!” he exclaimed.

“Did he text Allison?” Lydia asked.

“I don’t know,” Scott said.

“Did he call the police?” Lydia asked.

“I-I don’t know! I don’t know!” Scott exclaimed.

“Okay, just, give us a minute,” Stiles pulled you and Scott aside.

“If my best friend, i-is dead,” you started.

“I thought we were your best friends,” Stiles gave you a pouty face.

“Stiles, I will rip your neck out with my bare hands,” you gave him a death glare.

“So much for lightening the mood,” Stiles muttered.

“God,” you said softly, wiping your tears.

“Okay, new plan. Stiles calls his useless dad and tells him to send someone with a gun and a decent aim. We cool with that?” Jackson said.

You and Stiles both disagreed. Sheriff Stilinski was like a father to you, and you couldn’t lose him. 

“He’s right. Tell him the truth if you have to, just call him!” Scott exclaimed.

“No. I’m not watching my dad get eaten alive,” Stiles said softly.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Jackson grabbed Stiles, causing Stiles to punch him in the face.

Lydia and Allison gasped.

Stiles took a breath before taking his phone out, calling Sheriff Stilinski.

“Hey, Dad. It’s me….. And this is your voicemail,” he groaned.

You heard the alpha press on the door, trying to open it.

“D-Dad, I’m at the school. I need you to call me back,” Stiles said, before hanging up.

“The door, come on,” you said, looking to the back door.

“But that only goes up!” Scott exclaimed.

“Up is better than here,” Stiles said.

Once again, the six of you ran out the side door, and up the stairs.

----

You heard the alpha walk past the door, as everyone held their breaths.

You tried to hold in your anger, as your eyes glew purple.

“(Y/N), eyes,” Scott said softly.

You took a deep breath, making them disappear.

“Okay, Jackson, (Y/N)? How many people can fit in your cars?” Scott asked.

“Five, but all six of us can squeeze,” he said.

“Five?! I could barely fit in the back!” Allison exclaimed.

“Okay, my car can fit all of us,” you said.

“Doesn’t matter. There’s no way we can get out without drawing attention,” Stiles said, he seemed down about this whole thing.

“Okay, maybe we can make a distraction. Look, the door leads to the roof, and then has a staircase leading right to the parking lot,” Scott said.

“We need a key,” Stiles said.

“The janitor has a key. Tell me where his body is and I’ll go get it,” you said.

“What? That’s a terrible idea,” Stiles said.

“Well, I don’t see you giving any better ones,” you raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, if anyone should be going out there, it’s me,” Scott said.

“No, it should be me,” you whispered to Scott.

“But, I’m the wolf,” he said.

“And I’m the witch. I’ve mastered my powers, better than you have, Scott. I’m going to get that key,” you said.

“Okay, we’ll go together,” Scott said.

“Fine,” you nodded.

“No, you’re both crazy!” Stiles whispered.

“We’re going,” you started walking to the door with Scott.

“Wait, you can’t go there unarmed,” Allison whispered to Scott.

“We can make one,” Lydia suggested, motioning to the cabinet.

“Wait, that’s smart,” you realized.

“What? Throw acid at him?” Stiles said sarcastically.

“No, you dumbass,” you said.

“We can build a self-igniting molotov cocktail,” Lydia said.

“How are we gonna open it? It’s locked too,” Scott said.

You rolled your eyes, punching the glass as it shattered.

“That could work too,” Scott shrugged.

----

“Here,” Lydia handed you the finished bottle.

“No. Y-You can’t do this,” Allison said shakily to Scott.

Wow, I need a boyfriend

 Maybe it was the wrong time to think about that, but that didn’t make it any less true.

Allison cried, begging Scott to stay. You did agree with her.

“Scott, maybe you should stay,” you said to him.

“What? And let you go out there alone?” Scott said.

“Yeah,” you started.

“(Y/N), you’re our best friend. We can’t lose you too,” Scott said.

“I’m gonna be fine,” you said.

“I don’t think any of us should go,” Lydia said.

“If Scott can’t do it, what makes you think you can?” Jackson asked, giving you a look.

“Uhm, what?” you crossed your arms, walking to him.

“I’m just saying,” you started.

“No, what it sounds like you’re saying, is that I’m not strong enough to do this,” you said.

“No offense, (Y/N), but you’re about as helpful as Stiles,” he said.

“Okay, if he doesn’t kill you, then I will,” you rolled your eyes.

“(Y/N), let’s go,” Scott said to you.

Allison grabbed Scott, kissing him. You smiled softly.

He broke the kiss, looking at Allison for a moment before you two left.

----

“Okay, here’s the plan. I’ll distract the alpha, and you go get the key,” you said.

“(Y/N)...” Scott said softly.

“Look, this alpha just killed my best friend. I’m not letting him get away with this,” you said softly.

“Fine. But how are you gonna distract him?” he asked.

“Just like this,” you ran down the hall.

“Hey! You big stupid alpha!” you screamed.

“(Y/N)!” Scott exclaimed.

“Go!” you motioned to him, as you continued running.

“You son of a bitch! You were too weak to kill me! What makes you think you can kill six of us?! What makes you think you can hurt people I love and get away with it!?” you yelled.

----

“What’s that? Is that (Y/N)’s voice?” Stiles asked, listening to your yells.

“Oh my god,” Allison gasped.

“This idiot. What is she doing?” Jackson groaned.

“Don’t call her an idiot. She’s doing more than you,” Stiles defended you.

----

You ran to the gym, leading the alpha there. He stood across from you.

“I know you,” you said.

He growled.

“You killed Laura. You killed Derek!” you yelled at him.

“And I’m gonna kill you!” you first threw Lydia’s bomb at him, before seeing that it didn’t work.

“Ugh,” you groaned.

Your eyes glew purple as you started to recite spells.

“Impetus,” you chanted, holding your arms up.

You heard the alpha groan in pain.

“Impetus,” you repeated, as the alpha let out a growl.

“(Y/N)!” Scott exclaimed, running to you.

You looked at him, breaking the spell. 

“Shit!” the alpha charged at you, grabbing you by your neck and throwing you across the gym.

“(Y/N)!” Scott yelled to you.

You groaned, pushing yourself up.

“I-I’m okay,” you said.

It ran to you again, grabbing you by your throat.

“Scott... Run!” you yelled out.

The alpha growled.

“(Y/N),” a distorted voice said.

Your eyes closed as you lost consciousness, as the alpha tossed you aside.

----

“Ma’am? Can you hear me?” you heard a voice say.

“What?” you groaned, opening your eyes. 

“Ow,” you shut your eyes again.

“(Y/N),” Sheriff Stilinski ran to you.

“Mr.Stilinski,” you stuttered.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” you sat up.

“You’re going to the hospital,” he said.

“Really, Noah, I’m okay. I just want to see my mom,” you said, getting up.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you looked at Scott and Stiles talking.

“Okay. Your mother hasn’t answered any of my calls,” Sheriff Stilinski said,

“What? Okay, I’m gonna go home,” he nodded as you walked to Stiles and Scott.

“Derek’s gone. I think he’s still alive,” Scott said.

“Oh, thank god,” you exhaled shakily.

“Not thank god. He’s gonna kill us for saying it was him,” Stiles groaned.

“Look, I’ll talk to you guys later. I wanna go home,” you said. Your body still ached, and you felt weaker.

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow,” you gave both of them a tight hug before going to your car.

You heard your phone ring.

“Derek,” you said shakily.

“(Y/N), are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine. I thought you were dead,” you said shakily.

“I’m okay. That son of a bitch...” he said.

“Derek, I’m tired. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” you said.

He paused for a moment.

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

----

You parked your car in the driveway, hopping out of your car.

“Mom?” you called, entering your house. There was no answer.

“Mom?” you called again, walking to the living room.

All the lights were dimmed, you looked up. You saw a broken light, while you squinted, looking for your mom. You saw her standing in the corner of the room, while you tensed.

“Mom, what’s going on?” you asked, panicking slightly.

“Baby, I love you so much,” she cried.

“Mom, what’s going on?” you walked towards her slowly, watching as she looked behind you, tensing up.

You turned around, jumping as you faced the alpha towering above you.

“Not again,” you groaned.

“Mom, run,” your eyes glew purple, before feeling the alpha put its hand on your head, shoving you harshly against the wall. Your head was aching as you groaned, sitting up.

Your vision blurred before you heard something shatter, feeling your heart drop.

“Mom?” you called out.

You could immediately feel the heat on your face, realizing what he did. 

“Mom, come on. Come on!” you ran to her, stumbling slightly, before pulling her with you.

You ran to your front door, trying to pull it open. It was locked.

“Mom!” you yelled, holding in your coughs. The fire spread to a big part of your house. There was smoke everywhere.

You inhaled too much smoke, as you coughed, falling to the ground. Your eyes watered, you could barely see.

“Mom!” you yelled between coughs.

“I love you, (Y/N),” you heard her cry.

“Where are you? I can’t see, there’s too much smoke,” you yelled.

“(Y/N)!” you heard Derek’s voice.

“Derek!” you screamed, pounding on the door.

You felt something hit your head, falling unconscious. Your breath was quiet, before Derek pushed open the door, eyes widening as he saw your body on the floor.

“Derek, you promise me that you will never let anyone or anything hurt her,” your mom cried to him.

“I will. I promise,” his eyes watered as he lifted you up.

“Goodbye, Derek. I love you, kiddo,” your mom sniffled.

“I love you too,” Derek said shakily.

He ran out of your house with you, as flames enveloped your house.

[ikenbar]

Mr. Love: Ike’s Choice CH4 PT2

Warnings: tips for the swear jar, fluff, and angst. like a lot of it. from almost all the boys. Lucien’s out. Sorry Lucy stans. also cliffhangers. not as epic as the Chapter three but cliffhangers nonetheless

(Chapter Four (Victor and Gavin) Prologue, and part one, and part three coming soon!)

Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D

Chapter four:

Part two:

“Hello?” Kiro’s agent, Savin, answered in a business-like tone.

“Hey Savin. It’s… uh… Super Stranger.” I cringed, avoiding eye contact with the curious Adri.

“Say no more.” Savin’s smile shone through the phone. Music played as he put the call on hold. Savin held on to Kiro’s phone when he was filming. I prayed I wasn’t interrupting anything, but I also couldn’t wait to hear Kiro’s voice again. 

After a few long and agonizing seconds, the call was picked up again.

“Hello?” Kiro’s voice sounded both panicked and expectant. I kept Adri in my peripherals as took a deep breath.

“Hey Kiro. It’s me.” 

Adri’s head snapped to attention.

“Super Stranger!?” Kiro exclaimed happily over the phone, “Oh thank goodness you’re alright! Are you ok? You weren’t hurt were you?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.” I reassured, “Just... a slight cough. From the smoke.” Kiro sighed deeply.

“I’m so glad.” His voice was devoid of the obvious tenseness that it had before. I cringed and tapped my leg nervously.

 “I’m sorry I worried you.”

“Don’t be. I’m just relieved to hear you’re doing alright.” Kiro sounded earnest. I felt the tension in my shoulders ease slightly. “Where are you? Let me come visit you!” Kiro giddly added. My heart jumped. The tension was back.

“A-aren’t you in the middle of a shoot? Wouldn’t Savin get mad that you’re leaving?”

“I’m sure Savin would understand if I cut a little early to visit you! Especially if I use my patented Kiro puppy dog eyes!”

“I would hate for you to get into trouble because of me.” I cringed slightly. I had raised my voice and the burning in my throat returned. I cleared my throat softly and continued, “Besides, I need to keep my secret identity, right?”

“I think there is an exception when it comes to explosions.” Kiro laughed but I could tell it was forced, “...Stranger, I want to make sure you’re ok. Can I please come see you?” My stomach turned. Who could say no to that man?

...

 I could.

“You will see me. In two weeks.” I said in my usual tactless tone. “As much as I want you here, it’s just not safe. People will find you and end up causing a riot at the hospital. We could be putting the lives of the patients here at risk. I’m sorry, Kiro, but my answer is no.” After a moment of silence Kiro sighed again.

“There you go again. Thinking of others’ well being before your own.” Kiro sounded as if he were smiling but his tone made it obvious that he was disappointed in my response, “Alright. I’ll stay. But you need to promise me you will call me everyday you’re in the hospital. And then everyday after that!!” I sighed, relaxing my shoulders once again.

“Ok. You have my word.”

“Good! Then I will be a faithful sidekick and answer!” There was some distant noise on Kiro’s end of the phone, “My break’s over so I’ll have to talk to you later. Make sure you call me, ok?” 

“Alright. Talk to you soon.”

“Drink lots of fluids and stay down, ok?”

“I will!” I rolled my eyes. Those words were getting old, “Goodbye, Kiro.”

“Bye, Super Stranger!”

I put the phone back onto the keypad and cleared my throat. I needed some water... 

After a moment of stalling, I finally looked over to Adri. Her eyes were huge and her mouth hung open. “Close your mouth please, Adri, we are not a codfish.” I casually returned my voice to whisper as I plucked the cup from her hands and took a drink.

“YOU KNOW KIRO?!” Adri shouted. I winced.

“Not so loud!” I hissed, covering her mouth and looking at the door. She pulled my hand from her face and spoke in a quieter tone.

“When?! How?! Where?! Wait, why didn’t you want him to come here? Is it because I’m here because I can leave as long as you take pictures-”

“Adri,” I held my hand up, cutting her off, “I met him a few weeks ago. I saved him from a car accident so he agreed to play a role in one of my upcoming shows as compensation. We are meeting in a couple of weeks to start filming. As for the reason why I don’t want him here, it isn’t because of you.” I avoided continuing the topic as I reached for the phone again. Adri stopped me.

“Then why?” She pressed. I paused.

“... He doesn’t know I was the one who saved him.” I said, looking down at my cup and avoiding Adri’s eyes, “In the office, I'm ruthless. I treat my employees with a little more harshness then Bart because that’s how I receive good results. But, because of that, it has tarnished my reputation as a person. People outside of the office think I am some sort of soul sucking tyrant. Hell, Victor thought I was a man at first. When I saved Kiro, I had my motorcycle helmet on. It masked my face and thus, my identity. If Kiro knew it was me, he no doubt would have refused my offer to have him on the show…" I paused a moment, thinking over that day, "... He called me his hero. I would do anything to keep that title.” 

Silence fell between Adri and me. I cleared my throat and reached for the phone again, but, before I could life it, I was stopped once again by Adri. I looked eyes with her. Her expression was soft and earnest.

“I don’t think you’re a soul sucking tyrant.” She said honestly. "And I'm sure if Kiro gave you the time then he will see it too. In fact, I'm sure that he will see you are the same hero that saved him that day. Even through your steel exterior, you can't hide that you're a good person." My heart skipped, stalling all of my movements momentarily.

“...You know,” I said, tilting my head slightly, “I have spent my whole life waiting to hear those words. Who knew it would come from some bratty teenager?”

"Hey!" Adri slapped my arm. I smirked and reached over to her, patting her head softly.

"Thanks, kid." I said earnestly, "It means a lot."

"Yeah, well, I mean it." Adri said, pulling my hand from her head, "You can talk to me about anything you know! Like, boys, your job, the reason why your company fucking exploded-"

"Woah! Swear jar, young lady!" I exclaimed, causing my throat to burn.

"I'll listen. After all, that’s what sisters do, right?"

I paused, "... you know, I've had tons of sisters before you but none of them have been so cool."

"Yeah, well," Adri leaned back in her chair, "I'm a rare breed."

I rolled my eyes and grinned. She sure was a keeper. Before I could be stopped a third time, I picked up the phone again and dialed the number I had dialed so many times before. I held the phone up to my ear, but didn't have to wait long as the line was picked up almost immediately.

“How is she?” Gavin’s voice was serious and resolute. He sounded as if he didn’t pick up the phone for small talk.

“...is this a bad time?” I asked warily, “I can call back later.”

“... I’m on my way.” And with that, Gavin hung up. I sat in shock for a moment, unable to fully grasp what had just happened. Nonetheless, I put the phone back down on the pad.

“He sounds like a hoot.” Adri said, her sarcastic tone returning. I hummed in mutual sarcasm and picked the phone up one last time. I dialed the number I had seen play on my screen numerous times in the rain. I prepared for a dial tone but was instead immediately met with the sharp voice of a machine. 

“I’m sorry but the person you have dialed has their phone off. Please leave a message and try again later.”

Lucien must be in a meeting. I moved to hang up...

 But I paused. 

I moved the phone back up to my ear and waited for the machine to finish it’s instructions. Once a sharp beep played, I spoke again, “Hey Lucien. It’s Ike. I don't know what you’ve heard but Ike ‘n Bar Productions… burned down. I’m fine. Bart’s fine. The company is ok. I’m just calling to let you know I’m-we are ok. I’m in the hospital but not for long. I know you would be telling me to rest and drink lots of fluids... but if you could give me some advice to speed up my time here, I’m all ears. You’re probably very busy with your trip so I won’t call you again until you call me. Goodbye.” I hung up the phone and sighed, then I grimaced and clutched my neck. My throat felt like it was going to catch flame.

“You should stop talking and rest.” Adri said, her voice noticeably softer than before as she handed me the cup, “But when you wake up, I expect more details on Kiro and the other boy you just called.” I smirked and nodded. Taking a drink, I layed down and closed my eyes. I didn’t sleep though. Thousands of thoughts plagued my mind. Ones on my employees and their well being, my company and where to go next, my family and how they’d be effected, Minor and the last I had seen him, Gavin’s serious tone, Lucien’s absence, Kiro’s disappointed voice,... Victor’s worried brow...

I must have been lost in my thoughts for quite a while before a knock came to the door. I opened my eyes and sat up. I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by Adri. “Come in!” She called.  I flashed a frown at her, but she was quick to combat it with a snarky smirk. 

The door opened and a heavily armored police officer walked through it. He supported a bullet proof vest with various tools attached to the front of it. One of which being a radio playing the sound of static and an unfamiliar voice. The officer turned his radio off and approached my bed. His helmet blocked his face and made the sense of danger that he radiated even more intense. 

“Officer,”  I straightened myself in the bed, “How may I help you?” The officer froze. After a moment, he seemed to realize something then took off his helmet. I coughed slightly as I gasped, “Holy crud, Birdcop!? I almost didn’t recognize you!” 

Gavin looked around the room then locked eyes with Adri. Her face suddenly burned a bright red. “Would you mind giving us a second?” He asked Adri seriously. Adri swallowed and nodded quickly as she stood up.

“I sh-should r-refill her water anyway.” Adri chuckled nervously. She looked over to me, eyes wide and lips thin, “I’ll be outside if you need me.” Adri took my cup and walked briskly out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Woah,” I grinned slightly, “That is the first time I’ve seen her that flustered! You must have a way with teenage girls.” Gavin stalled by the end of my bed. I looked up, locking onto his eyes. He cleared his throat and took a pad and pencil from one of the pockets in his vest. He walked around the bed and took a seat in Adri’s chair. Gavin started writing something down, avoiding my eyes. For some reason, I had felt a strange presence from him. The same presence I would feel in an interrogation room. But, for some reason I felt like the suspect instead of the victim. 

“You look pretty heavily suited up for a hospital visit.’’ I joked, trying to lighten the tense air.

“I was in the middle of a mission when you called.” Gavin deadpanned, eyes still on the paper.

“Oh,” Guilt crushed my chest, “I’m sorry. If you need to leave-”

“What can you tell me about the bombing?” Gavin interrupted, finally looking up and locking eyes with me. His tone was serious, making me feel even more uneasy.

“Which one?” I teased, fidgeting under his stare.

“Both.” Gavin squinted his eyes slightly. My stomach dropped. Gavin studied my face for a moment, then continued, “Back at the warehouse, in the room where the bomb was hidden, there was something there, wasn’t there? Something that you’re keeping from me.” My body tensed and my expression fell. Gavin’s stare deepened.

“Why are you bringing up the warehouse now?” I asked, voice deeper then I intended. My throat burned slightly, “I’m in the hospital for a different reason.”

“You were in two explosions within the span of a week.” Gavin snapped, “That is no coincidence.”

I hurriedly searched for excuses. “The one in the warehouse was a demolition bomb. The bomb that hit me a couple of days ago was an incendiary bomb.”

“That doesn’t change a thing.” Gavin was getting impatient.

“On the contrary.” I adjusted myself in the bed confidently, “The incendiary bomb was thrown into my office. Whoever threw it had to know it was my office.”

“Yeah, and?”

“I fired a man a couple of weeks ago. He threatened me just before he left.”

“What?! Why didn’t you say anything to me about this?”

“Because, genius, a couple of weeks ago I hated you. In fact, it was that very day that we ran into Hickman.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“The man I fired couldn’t have known that I would fire him weeks prior to setting up the attack with Hickman. Not even I knew I was going to fire him then. They aren’t connected but my old employee has motive to throw a ‘fire’ bomb at my office. Because I ‘fired’ him.” Gavin’s expression didn’t change. I pushed further, “And besides, how was the man who made the bomb in the warehouse supposed to know that I was the one who was going to find that hidden room first?”

“There could have been a camera.” Gavin finally said.

“Why would he have a camera if he was planning to blow the place up anyway?” I retorted. Gavin thought for a moment longer, then sighed.

I was trapped.

“All of those points are purely speculation unless you can find proof for it. But you still haven’t answered my question.” Gavin leaned closer to me, “What was behind that wall, Ikamara?” Gavin’s eyes had locked on to mine. There was no way he would let the question slide this time. 

“...Pictures.” I almost couldn’t get the words out.

“Pictures?” Gavin pried, clicking his pen in preparation.

“Pictures of… evolvers. Taken in precarious places as if the photographer was unwilling to be seen.”

“Was there anything else?” Gavin returned his eyes to his notepad, scribbling a few notes and making it easy for me to twist the truth even farther.

“There was a map of Loveland… and… something else.” I sighed and tapped at my leg, “The words, ‘Operation Montu’ were hung on a banner on top of the wall. As if to say whomever had put all that stuff there has more planned.” Gavin finished writing and looked up to me, the once serious face now held anger.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

I looked back and forth between his eyes, holding back my tongue. Gavin’s expression shifted slightly. Eventually, I just sighed resignedly and pulled my eyes away from him.

“... there were pictures of me on the wall. I didn’t want to tell you and then be taken off of the case. You risked your life at The Wall when evolvers’ lives were put on the line. You left without me having a say in anything.. I know what it’s like to not want to be talked down from something. I just… didn’t want you to do it again on your own.” 

A pregnant pause weighed heavily on the room. I clenched my fists in response and tried to calm my beating heart enough to stop Gavin from hearing it.

“... I didn’t put my life at risk for the sake of evolvers at that night.” Gavin’s voice was gentle. I looked up at him. His expression had dramatically softened. His shoulders also looked as if they had relaxed and he seemed to have gotten a little closer to me. 

His eyes immediately locked onto mine, causing my heart to skip a beat and for me to involuntarily avert my eyes from his and back onto my bed. After slight movement from next to me, Gavin reached over and tugged at my face. His fingers were warm from being in his gloves for so long. The warmth made me lean into his movements and bring my eyes back onto his, settling like they had before.

“Ike,” His voice had become an octave lower, “I’m a cop. I put my life at risk everyday for the sake of the city. But that night… you were the only one I was thinking about.” My heart leaped to my throat. Gavin looked me seriously in the eyes. Much too seriously. 

“You’re going to get yourself killed by doing that.” I smirked slightly and pulled his hand from my face. Gavin chuckled and slid his fingers into the palm of my hand.

“It would have been worth it.” He said, squeezing his hand in mine. My smile raised slightly as I directed my eyes back down to our hands. I could feel the warmth of Gavin’s calloused fingers tingle through my hand and up my arm… 

I had missed that warmth.

The last time I had felt it was-...

 An image of Gavin’s lifeless body flashed in my mind. Suddenly the hand in mine felt foregin. 

“Welp,” I cleared my throat and straightened myself, letting go of Gavin’s fingers, “I don’t want to hold you from your work any longer.” Gavin cleared his throat as well and nodded.

“Right.” He said, standing up, “I’ll let you know when I am back so we can discuss this case further.” 

“Right.” I leaned back onto the bed, lost in thought, “Thanks.”

“No problem. And don’t worry about being kicked from the case.” Gavin said reassuringly, “As long as it wasn’t just your picture on the wall, you’ll be ok.”

“Cool.” I said, avoiding his eyes and nodding, “Good to know.” Gavin popped opened back up the pouch for his notepad... then paused.

“...One more thing.” Gavin sat back down and pulled my arm towards him. He reached into his pouch and pulled something from it. Before I could get a good look at it, he set it in my hand. In the middle of my palm was a silver chain with a small dove sitting on it. Memories of when I was thirteen came flooding back to me. Memories of sitting at the park, bandaging my new scars and shoving away tears from my eyes. A flourish of wind and flower pedals greeted my face as a group of beautiful doves flew in front of me, beautifully…  freely…

“Ike,” Gavin broke the memory I found myself lost in, “Are you ok?”

I slowly nodded and pulled my gaze back to him, “Why are you giving me this?”

“I put a tracker in it.” Gavin took back the bracelet, “The next time you are in danger, I’ll be able to respond instantly.”

“Next time?” I asked as he wrapped the bracelet around my wrist, “Are you making plans that I should know about?” Gavin flashed me a raised eyebrow and a smirk as he messed with the clasp. After a bit of fumbling, he finished clipping on the bracelet, allowing it to dangle from my wrist nicely. I pulled it closer to me, touching the charm delicately.

“It’s beautiful.” I found myself saying without realizing it.

“I’m glad you like it.” I looked up and caught Gavin staring at me. His eyes were just as gentle as they were before. I held on to them a moment longer before pulling myself from them.

Gavin stood back up. “I should get going.” I hummed in response, admiring the charm once more. Gavin walked to the door.

As Gavin watched Ike struggle to maintain her tough image, memories from before flashed in his mind. It was hard to think that just a little while ago, they were at each other’s throats. But now, 

“Be safe.” I said quietly. Gavin stopped in his steps. Realizing what I had just said, I added, “Or don’t. You know. Do whatever you want. It’s your life. Don’t listen to me...” My voice trailed off. I shoved my hands together as my face burned. 

>

“I will.” Gavin reassured, redirecting my attention to him, “I promise.” A soft smile rose on my lips. I moved to cover it up but it was too late. Gavin’s ears burned as his smile grew as well. What had happened to us? We went from anger, to bickering, to teasing, to...

He hadn’t remembered the last time he had felt this drawn to someone.

>

“You’re one to talk, Mr. Two-Meters-Too-Thick-Vest!” I scoffed.

Gavin cleared his throat and turned back to the door. “That hospital gown makes you look fat by the way.” My smile dropped.

And we are back to teasing.

“I’m just saying that you should try to get out of it as soon as you can!” Gavin held his hands up as he opened the door, “I’ll let your sister back in.”

“Thanks,” I rolled my eyes then paused a moment, “...hey.” I called to him. Gavin paused at the door, “...Your vest doesn’t really make you look fat.” Gavin turned back to me, his eyebrow raise handsomely. “You do a good enough job of that on your own.” I added. Gavin’s smile fell as mine raised. He sighed and rolled his eyes as he left the room,  closing the door behind him.

That man… 

Footsteps came from the door. I looked over and watched as Adri walked into the room, red faced and holding my newly refilled water carefully.

 “What’s with the face?” I asked, knowing full well what the answer was. Adri dazily looked up to me, eyes dreamy and smile soft.

“Who was that?” She asked, dazed.

“My neighbor, Gavin." I said, struggling to suppress an ever increasing grin, "He’s the police officer working my bombing case. Why?” 

“If you don’t invite him over for dinner, I will.” Adri sat back in her seat and held her face in the palm of her hand.

“Oh really?” I finally released a grin and folded my arms, “I’ll tell him you said that.”

“Don’t!!” Adri lunged at me to stop me from picking the phone up.

>>>

It had gotten dark outside by the time Maria had come to pick up Adri. I was left alone in the hospital room with nothing but the tv to keep me company. Even then, I wasn’t paying attention to it. My mind was still all over the place. More specifically, it was on the black mask with a green scarab. 

Montu’s mask. 

Something about it was familiar. Why was it familiar? Where had I seen that before? And the name Montu. Where was that from? Where had I heard that name?

"The Ike 'n Bar company's fire has finally gone out."

Hearing my name come from the tv, I snapped out of my thoughts and focused my eyes on the screen. It was a news story about my company's building. I cringed as they showed the footage from what had happened before. I grabbed the remote to turn off the channel when my eyes locked onto a figure behind the reporter. He was tall and in a black suit… and strangely familiar. He seemed to be running around, helping people in the street. I squinted at the screen, trying to make out the face from the bed I was bound to. Before I could finally focus on him, his attention snapped to the front of the burning building. An aerial shot revealed a blooded, soot covered, feminine figure coming from the building. She stumbled and leaned on the front door for support. The man moved to her but the footage seemed to glitch as he was suddenly by her side, helping her up and off of the ground.  The man scooped up the woman and carried her away. Not to an ambulance or to a police officer but to a nearby car. 

I furrowed my eyebrows and kept my eyes on the screen, unsure of what to make of what I had just seen. From the blood stains on the girl’s shirt and the matted brown hair, it could have only really been one person. And from the suit to the raven colored hair...

“Penny for your thoughts?” A voice snapped me back to the attention of the room. I looked over to the door.

(Next)

[ikenbar]

Mr. Love: Ike’s Choice CH3 PT 9

Warnings: Mentions of child abuse (just stories and old scars), Fluffff, also some angst but it’s like the last few paragraphs so don’t get your hopes up, ewwy googy baby high fives, and cliffhangers that will make you beg for more >:D

(Chapter Three (Victor and Lucien) prologue and part one, and parts two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight here~)

((Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D))

Chapter three:

Part nine:

I crashed the moment I hit my bed. When I woke up I called Maria and told her everything that had happened. She was silent through most of the call, partially out of exhaustion from how early it was, and partially because of how angry she had been with me the night before. After hearing the story, she seemed to have eased up a bit but made me promise to call her right away if anything like that were to happen again. I also promised to try extra hard to welcome the new foster child, Adrienne, to the family that night. Maria accepted the proposal without hesitation.

Throughout the entire conversation, Bart hadn't uttered a word to me. I could tell he was angry, so I made it a point to call him later that day. But no matter how many times I had tried to call him, he never picked up.

I also made sure to tell Sam what happened that night when I picked him up from school. “I never trusted Lucien.” Sam growled over the phone, “If he ever tries to bug you again just let me know! I’ll teach him a lesson!” Sam’s adolescent voice made the threats adorable but I accepted his offer nonetheless. It was nice to know he would be by my side no matter what. Now I just had to convince the other members of the family to do the same...

>>>

I tugged lightly at the tie around my neck as I approached the foster house. I had decided to dress semi casually that evening with a white button-up shirt, nice black jeans, and a loose red tie. I had also bought some pies for dessert that night. Hopefully, that would make Bart happy enough to talk to me again.

I rapped on the door. Hurried footsteps sounded from the living room then the door swung open. I was greeted by a wide-eyed and grinning Sam. He was carrying a giggly Lola.

“Look, Lola!” He bounced the baby and pointed at me, “It’s Sissy Ike!” Lola screeched and reached out for me happily. I took her up from Sam’s arms and held her close with my free hand. Sam took the opportunity to take my bags and peer inside of them.

“Hey!” I reached to take them back but Sam dodged my grasp.

“Pies!” Sam cheered, “I hope you got pumpkin!”

“What kind of a fool doesn’t get pumpkin pie in the fall?” I huffed, “Those were supposed to be a surprise.”

“Welp, you shouldn’t have taken Lola, leaving me free to be nosy.” Sam stuck out his tongue. I looked over to Lola who was sucking happily on her fist.

“I can’t believe I trusted you.” I booped the little baby on the nose. Lola giggled and booped me right back with her slimy, saliva ridden hand.

“Come in.” Sam said through a fit of laughter, “I’ll put these in the kitchen for Dad to warm up.”

“Is the newbie here yet?” I asked, walking into the house and closing the door behind me, “Have you met her?” Sam stopped walking.

“Yeah.” Sam laughed nervously, “She’s… a character.” With that, he sped off into the dining room.

“How reassuring.” I said to Lola, who cooed in response. Doors shut from upstairs and footsteps retreated from the bedrooms. Maria appeared at the foot of the stairs, obviously at a loss for words. As she descended, she looked to be lost in thought, completely oblivious of my presence. “Wow.” I said, making Maria jump, “I think I can see smoke coming out of your ears.”

“Evie!” She said sweetly, quickly bouncing down the last steps and into my arms. I moved to complete the hug but Maria had already pulled away. She reached up and held my face in her hands, “How are you feeling, Evie? Any better?”

“I’m ok, really.” I pulled her hands away and gave her a soft smile, “Our talk this morning helped a lot.” Maria gave me a look of shock. My smile dropped. “What?”

“I don’t know.” Her shock melted into curiosity, “You seem… different today. Softer almost.”

“Perhaps the leaky baby in my arms makes it look that way.” Annoyance trailed from my words as another slimy slap hit my face. Maria laughed and took Lola from my arms.

“Come here, you!” She cooed, rubbing her face into the giggling baby’s, “Sister Ike has to go greet Sister Adri and hopefully put her in a better mood!”

“She isn’t in a good mood?” I asked looking up the stairs.

“Nope!” Maria kept up her playful tone for Lola, “In fact, I think I made it worse! Hey, Lola. Can you say ‘good luck, Evie!’?” Maria waved Lola’s hand to me, wordlessly pushing me upstairs. I sighed and accepted her challenge, walking to the bedrooms carefully.

I approached the pink bedroom door quietly. Scuffling came from inside the room, guaranteeing the existence of the new occupant living there. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Come in.” An annoyed, high pitched voice welcomed me. I pushed open the door and looked around. The room was fairly simple but had a clear aesthetic.

Neon lights in spring.

Pale pink based every furniture in the room and neon displays outlined them with various colors. My eyes landed on a teenage girl sitting on a comfy looking bed. She was tall and lean, legs splayed out and body contorted uncomfortably as she hunched over the phone in her hands. She wore black leggings, red converse, a large band tee shirt, and an even bigger tan jacket that poofed nicely around her arms. Her hair was black, bobbed, and straight, framing her heavily makeup ridden face. Her style seemed sharp enough to cut anyone who approached her and it was clear that was what she intended.

Adrienne pulled her attention from the phone as I walked in. She let out an annoyed huff as she eyed me up and down. “You must be Ike.” Adrienne said in a disgruntled tone.

“I take it you’ve heard about me?” I asked, shutting the door behind me.

“The old man wouldn’t stop talking about you.” Adrienne rolled her eyes, “It was ‘Ike this’ and ‘Ike that’ with him. I’m surprised you didn’t walk in with a halo and wings.”

“So they didn’t say anything bad about me?” I sighed and shoved my hands in my pockets.

“No.” Adrienne deadpanned, looking back at her phone.

"They didn’t mention anything about me being an emotionally distant adrenaline hog?"

Adrienne looked back at me, eyeing me in a way that made it clear that she was waiting for me to tell her it was a joke. Once she saw I really wasn't kidding, she straightened herself slightly, ".… I think one of the twins might have touched on it." She said cautiously. Ah, good ol Ashton. "The other twin made me a macaroni picture." Adrienne gestured to her vanity. I approached it to find a macaroni picture of a smiling dog that read, Welcome to your new home, A-Dog!!

"Sam and his macaroni pictures." I shook my head and picked up the picture, "I threw out the first one I got from him. When he saw it in my trash, he didn't get angry. He simply made me another one. I stopped trashing them after the tenth try. It's still hanging in my apartment as we speak." I had two of his works actually. The one he made me at the foster home and the other one he had made me when I moved out. They were proudly framed and placed by my bed.

Some macaroni started sliding down the picture. He must have just made it. I placed down the picture carefully and walked back over to Adrienne. I pulled her desk chair out and swung it in front of her bed. Straddling it, I leaned forward, placing my head on the palm of my hand. “Ashton would be the other twin. He tends to be blunt about things. Bart and Maria could learn a thing or two from him. Now, allow me to introduce myself correctly.” I held out my hand, “Hi, I’m Ikamara Bikira. But you can call me Ike. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” Adrienne hesitated a moment but eventually took my hand. She shook it limply, making my grasp seem like that of a giant’s.

“Adri.” She murmured slightly, withdrawing her hand rather quickly from mine, “So.. you aren’t the super prissy heiress they make you out to be?”

“Nope.” I deadpanned, “In fact, most of the people I work with hate me. Say I don’t have any human decency or manners. They’re right, of course, but it still hurts.”

“But, the folks made you out to be this super caring person who only thinks for the people around her and never herself.”

“They tend to do that for the people they care about.” I sighed somewhat happily, “They only talk about the redeeming qualities so you seem so much better than you are. In fact, Maria did it for you.”

“She just barely met me.” Adri huffed, trying to catch me in a lie.

“You’ve seen Maria. Do you really think time will stop her from deciding whether or not to love and adore you?”

Adri seemed to be at a loss for words. She huffed and looked down at her phone. I took the opportunity to admire the poster hanging over her bed.

“You like Kiro?” I asked, staring into those familiar eyes on the poster. He was singing into a microphone and smiling charmingly at the camera.

“Who doesn’t?” Adri scoffed, keeping her eyes on her phone, “I have all of his albums on my phone.”

“Me too.” I found myself saying, as I got lost in his eyes.

“What?!” Adri laughed, snapping me back to reality, “Really?! I didn’t take you for the type!”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” I eyed Adri.

“I mean, Kiro’s music is full of emotion! You’re,” Adri looked me up and down again, “Not.”

“I’ll have you know Kiro’s music got me through highschool.” I said, redirecting my eyes to that dazzling smile, “He also connected me with this family.”

“How so?”

“Sam and I would listen to his music together all the time. I even used Kiro to communicate to Ashton while I was mute.”

“You… were mute?” Adri asked, hesitantly. My eyes unfocused from the poster and became large. Dang it, Victor. I thought to myself, Now you’ve got me spilling my guts to a seventeen-year-old. I hope you’re happy.

“Yeah.” I replied slowly, unsure about what to say, “For three years.”

“So it was selective.” Adri crossed her legs and sat in front of me, making me straighten my posture in response, “Why did you choose to be mute?”

“Since when did you become so interested in me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Since you stopped being a prick and actually became interesting.” Adri answered eagerly, gesturing to me to start talking. I looked blankly into her eyes. Victor’s words swam through my head.

“...I don’t blame you for needing time to ready yourself for the world, but you can’t stay in your head forever.”

Maybe talking to Adri about this stuff could be the step forward I needed to take.

I unbuttoned and rolled up the sleeves to my shirt. “My mother left me and my dad when I was a baby, and my dad had important business to attend to… business that didn’t involve me. So, my dad put me in the foster program when I was just a child. Since then I was admitted to six different homes, counting this one. The first home sent me to a sort of Bootcamp, the second home neglected me, the third home gave me too much of the wrong kind of attention, the fourth home made me lose parts of myself; Including the feeling in my left arm... and my voice; and the fifth home… was featured on the news.” The scars on my arms radiated strangely in the neon lights, “By then I was discouraged. It had been ten years since my father had promised to come back for me and I was still in the system, bouncing from house to house. From one family who didn’t want me to the next. When I had arrived at this home, I was ready for it to be the same way…

“But it wasn’t. I was greeted with a macaroni picture, a hug from a large friendly man, a bright smile from a kind lady, the cold shoulder from a strange little boy, and a large welcoming meal. It still took me a month until I was sure I could trust them, but that was thirty-one days I wish I could take back. I wish I had started speaking to them right away. I wish I told them everything I felt and exactly how thankful I was that they didn’t hate me. That they wanted me around to love and welcome me as their own. Their love means more to me then they will ever know… which is why I want to ask one thing of you.” Adri had been transfixed on my arms as I spoke. I took her chin and pulled it up so she would match my gaze, “Give them a chance. Before you know it you will be out of here and reunited with your family. Let them love you the way you deserve because, whether you like it or not, they are going to do it anyway. And they aren’t ever going to stop doing it. No matter how badly you mess up. Trust me, I know. They…” I paused, “...we are your family now. We’ve got your back. So there’s no need to fight us.” Adri stayed silent, staring blankly at my face. I let go of Adri’s chin and stood up from her chair. I held out my hand, “Now, why don’t we head downstairs? Bart normally likes it when we set the table for dinner.”

Adri ignored my hand as she looked up at me. She had a clear sparkle in her eyes. Many emotions filled them. Sympathy, sadness, regret…

... but also realization, adoration, and above all, respect. Adri raised a shaky hand to mine.

Before she could take it though, the door swung open. Sam stomped in, worry and anger brimmed on his face. Those emotions morphed into awkwardness as he realized what he had interrupted. “S-sorry!” He said sweetly, “Did I ruin a moment?”

“I’m sure there will be more to come.” I smiled at Adri. She smiled back meaningfully, “What’s up, kiddo?” Sam’s face returned to the state it was in before as the topic returned to him.

“N-Now, don’t kill the messenger.” Sam spoke slowly and shakily, “But we have a visitor.”

“Who is it?” I asked, bracing myself. One knowing look from Sam made the answer clear. “No.” I wined slightly, “Please be joking.” A familiar laugh came from downstairs. Anxiety rushed into my stomach as I groaned. I hid my face in my hand.

“Who is it?” Adri asked warily.

“Oh! He is just delightful! Super fun!” Sam smiled sarcastically. Then his smile dropped, “and also a son of a-” I held a hand up to Sam to stop him from contributing to the swear jar.

“Why don’t we go meet him.” I groaned, moving towards the door, “There could be a chance he got amnesia within the few hours we last saw each other and he could have completely forgotten about me.”

“What, hold on, tea?!” Adri jumped up from the bed and grabbed onto my arm, “Spill it! Is this guy an ex??”

“He wishes!!” Sam spoke up again and jumped in front of Adri, “Go on down, Ike. I’ll be the one to catch Adri up to speed.”

“What, so I can go face him alone?!” I scoffed, “No way! I’ll stay here. You go.”

“How about we all stay?” A low melodious voice came from the doorway, “I would like to hear what happened as well.”

(Next)

[ikenbar]

Mr Love: Ike’s Choice Ch2 Pt11 (end)

Warnings: The conclusion to a thrilling chapter, ANGST, FLUFF, death(?), slight cursing, slight spoilers for Chapter eight of the game? but it really isn’t anything. Just me throwing names around, fire, tension, pain, guilt, adorable moments with officer Gavin, sadness, Minor being a cock block, AaAnaaANd cliffhangers for chapter three!!

AS A HEADS UP: As I said, last part of chapter two. Since I am already finished with chapter three, there will be a post next Wednesday. bUuUt! To keep you guys on your toes (and bring more background to my lovely OC) I will be posting a couple of one shots before beginning the third chapter. It will bring light to things from Ike’s past and make more sense of her story. Those one shots will just be of my OCs. Nothing pertaining to the game. It’ll just make the experience of reading my fanfic more understanding and enjoyable. Ok, I’ll stop wasting your time. Enjoy the thrilling conclusion to Chapter Two!! :D

(Chapter two’s prologue, parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten here :))

((Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D))

Chapter two (end):

Part eleven:

The moon’s light warped above me as I came to. The world’s sound seemed to have been deafened as I seemingly floated in thin air. Muffled thudding came from all around me, threatening to burst my eardrums with the pressure it exerted. I took in a deep breath. 

Water filled my mouth. 

I struggled and held my throat. Finally getting a grasp of the situation, I quickly swam towards the light, pulling the water around me with great force. Skyrocketing out of the lake, I sucked in as much oxygen as I could. Coughing as sputtering as I did so. As the water in my ears drained the world around me gained its sound again. A roaring fire came from the warehouse in front of the lake. Large chunks of debris fell from the building and hit the water, causing waves that made it hard to stay afloat. What was I doing in the lake? Wasn’t I just… 

I gasped, dragging a wave of water into my lungs. 

Gavin. 

Where was Gavin?

 “Gavin?!” I choked, whipping my head around to look for him. He wasn’t at the other end of the lake or on any of the floating debris. He wasn’t anywhere… 

Above land. 

I took a deep breath and dove back under the water. I opened my eyes and searched even harder. Everything was dark and murky. It was nearly impossible to make anything out. Until I caught sight of a large piece of debris slowly drifting to the bottom of the lake. 

Under it was Gavin. He was unconscious and his mouth was open but no bubbles came from it. 

The moment I saw him I propelled myself through the water, kicking and moving my arms wildly. Gavin had hit the bottom of the lake when I finally reached him. The debris was a piece of the wall that had been used as a door to that small, awful room. I grabbed the corner of the door, planted my feet at the bottom of the lake, and pulled. The debris was waterlogged, making it impossible to lift or move at all. I weakly let go and looked around. There was no other way to get him out of this.

I needed to lift the door.

I needed to save him.

Unwilling to leave him like this, I grabbed the door again. Using all of my power against the door, I grit my teeth and pulled again. The door snapped and broke into pieces, finally freeing Gavin from his watery grave. I threw the piece in my hands aside and held the freed Gavin in my arms. I pulled him close to my chest as I launched off the bottom of the lake and back to the surface.

I hit fresh air once more with Gavin securely held in my arms. With no time to delay, I slumped him over my shoulder and swam to the end of the lake. I calmed myself as I prepared to listen for his faith inducing heart beat… 

but there wasn’t one. 

I felt my heart stop. 

No. No no no. He can’t… I sped my pace in the water. He can’t. Not because of me. Please.

I finally reached the land and raced to place him safely down in the grass. I held my head next to his heart. 

Nothing.

I felt his mouth for air. 

Still nothing.

I cursed and positioned myself on top of his chest. I started compressing. One hit after the other, I’d pray that the next one would be the one. The one that would bring him back. Tears flooded my eyes as I stopped to hold his nose and pushed air into his mouth. Seeing that did nothing as well, I quickly got back up and started compressing again. The task was harder this time as the growing lump in my throat made it impossible to breathe.

Apologies flooded my head. Apologies for getting him roped into this. Apologies for the years we wasted fighting. Apologies for not recognizing him from the year book. Apologies for nearly killing him in the ring. I realized though that those apologies were confetti compared to the thing I needed him to hear the most.

“I forgive you.” I gasped as I held back my sobs into each compression, “I forgive you, Gavin. Please. I forgive you. I’m ready to be your partner again. To hear your nickname for me. To hear you make fun of me. To fly together again. To give you the second chance you wanted. Please, Gavin, let me give you a second chance. Come back. Pl-” 

Gavin coughed. 

Water came gushing from his mouth. He gasped for air. My breath hitched in my throat as I turned him over. I watched him take another breath. And another. And another. He opened his eyes. Tears of relief replaced the ones of grief I had as I closed my eyes and listened to him breathe.

“Bastard.” My voice cracked as I hit his arm weakly, “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.” I ducked my head down and closed my eyes, struggling to compose myself as wave after wave of tears came flooding to me. Gavin did nothing at first, letting what just happened sink in. Then he moved to sit up. I pushed him back down. “Don’t.” I choked, finally wiping the tears from my eyes and straightening myself, “Rest... Please.” Before I could say anything more, Gavin gripped my hand and pulled at it weakly. I let him guide me to his side. I lay down next to him as he pulled me into a weak embrace.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered hoarsely, causing him to have to cough more.

“... I forgive you.” I squeaked as I clung to his drenched jacket. 

The sound of the burning warehouse behind me soon flooded back to my senses without me realizing it had gone away at all. Sounds of debris popping up from the lake came over the roar of the fire every now and then, and even police sirens could also be heard in the distance. Coming closer each minute Gavin and I lay there together. I didn’t care for any of that noise. I had my eyes closed and focused on the one sound that mattered to me the most. The sound of Gavin’s heart. Proof of him being alive. Proof that he was with me and only me. Proof of our second chance.

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

I clutched the bouquet of flowers and a shopping bag in my hand tightly as I raised my other hand over the door, hesitantly. It had been a week since the explosion of the warehouse had happened. Paramedics had arrived soon after Gavin and I had pulled ourselves together. The chief was there and pried for answers about the explosion. I was the one who gave him the story. I told him nearly everything on the ambulance, leaving out any information about my Evol and the other incriminating details. I decided against telling Gavin or the Chief what was on the wall in the room. If they had known, they would have kicked me off the case that had just barely lifted off of the ground. If I was the one being targeted I needed to know why, and I was going to be the one finding out.

When we got to the hospital they inspected me closely and told me I had gotten away with a sprained ankle, a few bruises, and scratches on my back and face, leaving an obvious scar on my cheek. Yet another to add to my collection. But it was nothing compared to what Gavin was prescribed with. 

He was forced to stay bed ridden in the hospital for two weeks, despite his objections to the idea. Despite his pleads to go back onto the field. Despite his begging eyes as he turned to me for help. I couldn’t meet them. I only insisted he followed orders. I’ll never forget the tone of dejection in his voice as he finally caved. 

I didn’t visit Gavin while he was there. I needed to work on building my walls back up again. I had almost lost Gavin because I was being reckless. I shouldn’t have let it happen and I couldn’t let it happen again. I also didn’t want to see him in the state of pain that I had left him in... that I had been at fault for. And I was terrified that he would hate me for how reckless I had been. And that he blamed me for almost killing him... that he didn’t want to see me anymore.... that our second chance as partners was left behind in that lake...

 I couldn’t avoid him forever though. My phone would ring nonstop from Gavin and, after I didn’t pick up, he would leave messages. A lot of messages. I tried ignoring it all but eventually, the calls were becoming bothersome. But it wasn’t the constant calling that made it troubling. It was when I spent my time waiting for the next one. Waiting for the voicemail. Waiting to hear his voice again. Soon, waiting for the calls from Gavin started affecting how I would work. Making me miss obvious mistakes in my reports and work slower than I ever had before. I tried convincing myself that I just needed a personal assistant, but then I realized I couldn’t keep putting off the get the inevitable. It was time I made a move.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the hospital room door. “Come in.” Gavin’s voice made my heart race wildly in my chest. The voice I had only heard from over the phone for a week seemed almost foreign to me in person. I shook my head and focused back to the matter at hand as I opened the door.

The room was quiet. The large window swept the back of the room was open and illuminated the white walls with a natural light. There were two beds. One was empty and the other was covered by a pink curtain that draped from the ceiling. A small television, that was mounted in the very back corner of the room, played the news quietly for the room’s occupant. 

It was talking about that story again. The story of the strange explosion at an old warehouse. The chief didn’t tell anyone we were involved. Just that the investigation was still underway. It gave Gavin and I the privacy we needed to heal both physically and mentally. I greatly appreciated the Chief’s consideration of us but still wondered how long he would be able to hide the truth, and how it would affect his reputation when the media finds out that not only was a civilian involved, but the head of an up and coming television company.

I closed the door carefully behind me and approached the curtain cautiously. My phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw it was from Gavin. I quickly ignored it. No use surprising him if he could hear me coming. 

My head spun with things I should say as I approached his bed. But my mind went blank when I saw Gavin for the first time in a week. The last I had left him, he could scarcely move without help or support from the paramedics. Now, he was sitting up, eyes glued to the phone in his hands. They were sharp, letting me know he got the rest he needed. And, though covered in bandages, it was obvious his attitude hadn’t changed. His expression was full of annoyance and tediosity. He was still the same Gavin I had always known. Though I wished he would just relax and let himself heal. I knew he wanted to get out of that bed and back on the case. I did too. But I would sooner strangle twelve orphans then to let Gavin get hurt again because of me. 

I opened my mouth to greet him, but I was quickly and rudely interrupted. “Unless you’re here to tell me I can be let off a week early, I don’t care.” Gavin grumbled, picking up the remote to turn off the television. Any amount of compassion I held for him flew out the window. My eyebrow twitched as I held my mouth open. Insults hung at the tip of my tongue. Oh how I could embarrass him right in that moment...

“... why won’t she answer?” Gavin asked, his tone shifting dramatically to one of desperation. I closed my mouth quickly. “Did I do something wrong? Were the calls too much? Maybe I should just go see her mysel-”

“Or maybe you can stay in bed and stop threatening to make your condition worse.” I snapped with vex on my tongue, “You know, just a thought.” Gavin’s eyes widened as he whipped his head to face me. His expression was one of pure shock as we locked eyes.

“Ike!” He gasped, dropping his phone onto the bed, “I thought-... You never-... Are you-...?”

“Are you going to finish any of those sentences or do you want me to?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and walking closer to his bedside. Though I had no intention of showing it, watching Gavin speechless to see me made me feel euphoric.

“I thought you weren’t going to visit.” Gavin finally settled on a sentence, “You never answered my calls.”

“They got increasingly harder to ignore.” I sat on the doctor’s stool by Gavin’s bedside.

“Why didn’t you answer them?”

“I… was busy.” I held back the guilt ridden expression threatening to push itself onto my face, “The funding got through from LFG so we are starting the production of our show.”

“Are you ok?” Gavin’s words seemed to be racing their way out of his mouth, as if he had been wanting to ask me these things for a long time.

“I’m fine. Nothing but a sprained ankle and… some cuts.” I bit my tongue. There he was, covered in bandages, and I got away scott free.

“You took most of the explosion.” Gavin said seriously, obviously not convinced by my words, “The chief told me you said were fine but you have a habit of hiding the truth.” I gulped, “I was worried sick.” His eyes drifted to something under my eye. He raised a hand to my face.

“Welp, no need to worry any more.” I rushed to say, dodging his hand, “I’m perfectly fine.” Gavin gave me a intense stare. “Really.” I emphasized. 

“... Good.” Gavin breathed and lowered his hand. I opened my mouth to ask him if he was ok but his eyes drifted to my hand, distracting me. “What’s that?” He asked.

“Oh.” I looked down at the flowers and the shopping bag, “I… got you flowers.” Gavin raised a teasing eyebrow. “Don’t give me that!” I rolled my eyes, “I wanted to make your room less… dreary.” My eyes fell at his bedside table where a batch of flowers already sat with a vase of water. They were large and extravagant and made my flowers look cheap. “I guess it wasn’t an original idea.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Gavin sighed and took my flowers from me, “That is from a buddy of mine. He tends to go over the top with these things. Your flowers are perfect. Thank you.”

“That’s just a nicer way of saying ‘not as cool.’” I murmured as Gavin replaced the flowers in the vase with my own. Gavin gave me an annoyed look and opened his mouth to lie again. I shoved the shopping bag in his face before he could say anything. “I also brought some soup.” I quickly said, pulling out a Tupperware bowl full of soup and a spoon, “It’s Bart’s cooking. I did promise I’d have you try it after all. It’s cold but-” Gavin took the soup and the spoon and opened it immediately.

“I’ll take it.” He sighed smelling the soup, “Anything other than the hospital food.”

“Wow.” I judged, folding my arms, “I didn’t know you could be so picky with food.”

“Normally I’m not. But after eating the same bland food for a week, you learn to appreciate what you had.” Gavin started digging in.It was obvious from the look on his face that he enjoyed every bite he took. A smile spread caross his cheeks. Unable to hold it back any more, I smiled as well. I was so glad to see he had been doing better… After... After all that pain I had caused him. 

My smile fell as I remembered the events of the week before. The shooting, the harsh words, the mistrust, the fight, the bomb, it all led back to me. He had gotten so hurt... he had died... and it was all my fault.

“I’m sorry.” The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them. Gavin stopped eating.

“For what?” His mouth was full of soup and obliviousness. I ducked my head and started playing with my hands in my lap, hoping to distract myself from the nervousness rising in my chest.

“For everything. I’m the reason you got hurt so badly. I’m the one who was reckless and set off the bomb. I’m the one who nearly beat you to death in the ring. I’m the whole reason this case exists in the first place.” The tears that I had been all too familiar with from the past week resurfaced, but this time, there was no alcohol to send them back. “I’m sorry… so so sorr-”

Gavin placed one of his big hands onto both of mine, making me look up at him, “Were you the one who called the hitman?”

“...No.”

“Were you the one who made the bomb?”

“No.” I was slowly catching on to him.

“Were you the one who blew up the warehouse?”

“... well kinda-”

“Ike.” Gavin looked at me earnestly, “None of this was your fault. You shouldn’t have been roped into this the way you have been, and I’m sorry that you were. But now is not the time to blame yourself. Now is the time to stop the person behind this from doing anymore damage, ok?” I nodded, feeling slightly better. “Besides, if not you, the hitman would have just found another Evolver to target.” I felt my heart jump. Images of what I had seen in that small room flashed across my mind.

“Right.” I looked down again. There was a moment of awkward silence. Gavin shifted slightly on the bed. I felt his calloused fingers scratch my skin slightly as he pulled both of my hands into both of his. 

“I’m ok.” He smiled reassuringly, “I’m healing quickly. I’ll be out in less than a week. There is no need to worry.” I nodded timidly. I went to remove my hands from his but our eyes locked. I felt the whole hospital room disappear from my peripherals as his amber eyes took in every last bit of my focus. I was the only thing reflected in Gavin’s eyes, as he was the only thing in mine. Deep in our stare, I could see the emotions that he had held that night we had alone together in my apartment. My heart beat sped up as that familiar sense of melting entered my chest. I was quick to shove it down but stopped as I saw Gavin lean toward me. I flinched slightly but Gavin had already rested his forehead onto mine. I watched as he started inspecting my hands.

“I was really worried about you.” His voice had dropped an octave, sending chills up my spine.

I sighed, slightly annoyed, “I-” I locked eyes on to Gavin’s. My annoyance vanished and was replaced with another emotion. One that I scarcely ever felt. “I… was worried about you too.” Emotions flew past Gavin’s eyes. He placed one of his hands onto my cheek. I closed my eyes and inadvertently leaned into his touch. I had missed that warmth. That gentle reminder that he was living and breathing. But, more importantly, he was living and breathing with me. I found myself wanting more of his touch. Craving it’s warmth. After a long moment, Gavin’s hand drifted to my chin, pulling it to bring my head to face him.

“You don’t have to worry anymore.” He nearly whispered, “I will always be by your side.” The air around us grew heavy with anticipation as I watched Gavin’s face inch closer to mine, his hand pulling at my chin to match his movements. I could feel his hot breath against my face as our noses nearly touched…

A loud bag came from the door, making Gavin and I fly apart. “Gavin!” A young male voice called from the other side of the room, “I’m back! And I brought you some quality food!” As his footsteps neared us, I jumped from the stool and away from Gavin. I saw Gavin's hand slightly hesitate to grab me but he stopped with a sigh. 

“What the hell, Minor?” Gavin said through gritted teeth. A young man with strawberry blonde hair appeared from around the curtain. He was tall, slim, and muscley challenged. He wore a coker, a purple shirt, black jeans, and a casual light gray blazer which brought out the glimmer in his brown eyes as he looked around the room expectantly. In his hands were a couple of bags of take out food and a drink holder with two portable drinks inside. 

We made eye contact. “Oh!” he exclaimed sheepishly, “I didn’t know you had company.”

“A knock would have been nice.” Gavin said harshly, causing the young man to cower slightly.

“Sorry, bro.” the young man muttered. He set down the take out bags on Gavin’s bed side and held out his hand to me, “My name is Minor. Nice to meet you, Miss...?”

“Bikira.” I said, taking his hand in mine and shaking it firmly. All the while trying to shove away what awkward feelings I had left. “Ikamara Bikira. You can call me Ike.” Minor smiled but that was slowly replaced by a look of confusion. 

“Wait.” he said slowly, coming closer to me and inspecting my face, “Ikamara?”

“...Yes?” I answered just as slowly, eyeing him suspiciously. Minor snapped his fingers and withdrew himself from me.

“I knew you looked familiar!” Minor smiled widely, “You used to go to Loveland High!”

“Am I the only one who remembers no one from that school?” I huffed and turned to look at Gavin. He shrugged. 

“Of course I remember you! Gavin used to… uh.” Minor’s eyes were locked on Gavin’s as he glared intensively at him, “Used to… share a class with you!”

“Gavin and I were two years apar-”

 “But hold on, the Ikamara I knew wore clothes twice the size of her. That suit looks almost too expensive to be yours… unless-”

“I didn’t steal it.” I derailed Minor’s train of thought before it took off, “This is just what happens when you grow up.”

“But-”

“Would you quit interrogating her.” Gavin punched Minor’s arm, “She has her life together. Unlike some people…”

“Hey, I’m trying!” Minor pouted as he rubbed his arm, “Searching for a new job is harder than you think.”

“You’re... looking for a new job?” I asked, getting an idea.

“Yeah. To no avail.” Minor sighed.

“Well, today may be your lucky day.” I folded my arms as my professional side kicked in. “I may have a position for you at my company”

“You have a company?!” Minor’s words received another punch from Gavin.

“Yes.” I said, ignoring the scene that was being made, “The Ike ‘n Bar Production Company. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?”

Minor’s jaw dropped. So did the drinks in his hands. Gavin caught them swiftly, causing only a couple drops from the contents from within to escape and hit the bed. “No way.” Minor gasped, completely unaware of his surroundings, “You’re the Ike in Ike ‘n Bar Productions?!”

“Yes.”

“No way!” Minor repeated, his tone becoming high pitched and squirrly, “I have been a fan of yours since your first episode of ‘Show Me the Honey.’ I even stuck around after the cliffhanger in season three! I don’t care what the forums say, that episode was brilliantly done.” 

“Thanks.” I muttered, beginning to regret bringing up the open position.

“What kind of job would I be applying for?! Props carrier? Script writer? Make up-”

“Personal assistant.” I stopped Minor before he could get his hopes up too high, “More specifically my personal assistant. I work in the office and could use some help with getting the small tasks done. It will be boring but-”

“I’ll take it!” Minor cut me off, still holding his large grin from the beginning of the conversation, “Anything I can do to help make the work of Ike from Ike ‘n Bar Productions easier, I’ll do it!”

“Then the job is yours.” I held out my hand again, “You can start tomorrow. Welcome to the team.” Minor eagerly shook my hand. He looked over at Gavin expectantly, face shining like the sun.

“You’re just lucky Ike was here.” Gavin rolled his eyes and looked back at his soup. Minor cherrily looked back at me.

“You won’t regret this.”

“I’d better not.” I said retrieving my arm to fold it again, “I fired a man last week for being neglectant in his work. Don’t go thinking being friends with Gavin will make me treat you any differently.” Minor gulped and nodded, still maintaining a somewhat confident smile. I looked down at the food Minor had brought. There were only two bags of food. As well as two drinks. I took this as a sign.

“Well,” I said, patting Minor on the back to move past him, “I should get going.”

“You’re leaving so soon?” Gavin asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

“I’ve got work I need to get back to. Besides,” I looked back, giving Gavin a teasing look, “You two have a lunch date and I would hate to be a third whee-”

“Stay!” Minor happily shouted, quickly grabbing my arm, “I can help make up for the lost work tomorrow! Besides, I’m not hungry! You can have my burger!”

“No, she can have mine.” Gavin said, shaking the bowl of soup in the air, “I owe her a meal.”

“You owe me nothing.” I said defiantly, “That meal was promised.”

“I can also get more!” Minor chimed, pushing me back to the stool, “Anything for my new boss! And a friend of Gavin’s, of course!” Minor’s words took me aback. I looked to Gavin to see if he was going to correct him. Gavin was already looking at me, smiling softly. He handed me one of the drinks.

“Friend?” I asked Gavin softly.

“Yeah.” He answered wearily, “... Is there something else that would better describe this?” I paused.

“I’d prefer ‘partner.’” I joked, taking the cup from his hand.

“Same thing.” Gavin insisted, his smile becoming wider. I rolled my eyes and felt the corners of my mouth rise. Gavin gasped. “So you can smile! I thought that was just a legend!” He teased. My smile fell and I playfully karate chopped the top of his head. “Hey, don’t get angry at me because you dropped your guard.” He chuckled as he gave me a soft punch on the shoulder.

“You’re one to talk.” I smirked as I took a sip of the drink in my hand. Gavin dropped his smile, his ears slowly reddening.

“...I feel like I’m missing something.” Minor spoke up, causing both of our attention to go back to him. Gavin grabbed a pillow from behind him and threw it at Minor’s face. He started yelling at Minor for interrupting our conversation, but I didn’t catch a word of it. The only thing that was going through my head was one word. 

Friend. 

Gavin was my friend.

Epilogue:

Ares trudged down the empty hallway and to the conference room, face blank and stare empty. When he entered, the room of people became silent and watched him at the door. Ares didn’t address them. Instead, he took one of the empty seats silently. He looked around to the room expectantly. The man one end of the table cleared his throat.

“Now that we are all here, we might as well get started. As you know, a man, who declares himself as Montu has targeted Ikamara Bikira. We have information that Montu unleashed an attack on her last week with a bomb in an abandoned warehouse.” Murmurs circled around the table. “As you know Ikamara is essential to our plan. As the Rook to our Queen. Our plan revolves around the Queen’s survival. Without the Rook to protect her, our plans for the advanced evolution of humankind will come to a screeching halt. It is crucial that we keep Ikamara alive. We must find this Montu and put a stop to his plans before he ends up killing our Rook.” As the man spoke, Ares’ attention shifted to the man that sat directly across from him. His eyes were down and his brows were ever so slightly furrowed. “Ares, you have been keeping a close eye on the Queen, correct?”

“That is correct.” Ares’ voice was emotionless and plain as he dragged his attention back to the speaker.

"Is there anything that points to her life being endangered by this 'Montu.'"

"None that I am aware of. The Queen and our Rook have yet to meet so the danger that Montu brings is minimal to none."

“And what of the Rook? Is there anything you can tell us about her life that could help us find Montu?”

“No. Ms. Bikira, though stagnant in emotions, has a close connection to the people in her life. Everyone she associates herself with respects her.” The man in the corner tensed as Ares spoke, “Rest assured, Black Swan’s plans with the Queen will not waver. I  also have plans for the Queen, and her Rook, of my own. I will personally see to it that this ‘Montu’ is taken care of.” The air of the room ran thick as Ares spoke. It was obvious how much power that man really held over everyone there.

When the meeting adjourned, the man across from Ares briskly stood up and left without making conversation with anyone around him. Ares watched as something fell from the man’s back pocket. Instead of stopping the man, Ares walked over to the object and picked it up. It was a slip of black, metallic paper that had calligraphic words written in a bright green ink.

 “Meet me if you want revenge. Hills, Warehouse, Wall.”

Ares turned the paper over in his hand. A flash of emotion brushed his eyes. Etched into the paper, was a shining, green scarab.

Chapter Two End :D

(Next)

(Chapter Three to be posted soon!)

[ikenbar]

Mr. Love: Ike’s Choice Ch2 Pt 5

Warnings: G A V I N  F L U F F CITY! ALL ABOARD THE GAVIN FLUFF TRAIN!! TOOT TOOOT, slight angst? Honestly mostly fluff though lol, also sassy Ike. Sassy Ike for the win. Oh, and cliffhangers :D

(Chapter two’s prologue, parts one, two, three, and four here :))

((Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D))

Chapter two:

Part five:

The ride back to the bus stop was practically silent. All that could be heard was the car's motor and our steady breathing as we sat in silence. I was staring blankly out the open window in the front seat of the car. To my dismay, all of the traffic lights were against me as we hit every red light to the bus stop. I had scooted myself as far as I could to the door and away from Gavin and tried distracting myself with the scenery outside, but all I could think about were Gavin's harsh words. Do you know who you are mimicking when you act that way? Your father! The lump in my throat was back. He wasn't talking about Bart. He was talking about my fourth foster father.  The foster parent who gave me all the scars I struggled to hide everyday. Both the mental ones and the physical ones. Gavin didn’t know all that though. All Gavin knew was what the police had on file. That one day, I had brought in my abusive foster father to the police department to be arrested and tried for domestic abuse. I rubbed my arm slightly as I remembered what happened that day. The movement was enough to stir Gavin into starting a conversation.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, "We, uh, are almost there."

"Yeah," I mumbled, leaning on the palm of my hand as I watched the buildings go by us, “I hope my bike wasn’t stolen while you held me hostage in the break room.”

 “...is that your only mode of transportation?” Gavin’s tone made it seem like he wanted to make peace. I wasn't having it.

“I’m more concerned that I’d have to go back to the police station to make a report.” 

“Oh come on, Ike.” Gavin gave an exasperated sigh, “You aren’t the only one bothered by this partnership, you know?” I looked over at Gavin. Did he really think I was angry at him because we were working together? What is it with him?!

“I’m surprised you heard him," I growled through my teeth, "from how much you were kissing his-”

"And we are here!” Gavin raised his voice and interrupted me, “I assume this is your bike?” Indeed it was. It was parked in the same place I had left it. It looked fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Thank goodness. I moved to unbuckle my seatbelt but Gavin stopped me by placing his hand over mine. I snapped my head towards him and flicked his hand away.

"Listen." His voice was soft again. The sound made me want to punch him in his gentle face, "I know how you feel about the police, but I also know you have a good moral compass. Though it may need some readjustment… you know that this guy needs to be taken down. Especially, If he is targeting Evolvers. We need to work together for this. So, at least this once, can we make a truce?" I stared at Gavin. This man. Who does he think he is fooling!? With the serious tone and the empty words… and the gentle look… and the soft voice… I sighed.

"Be at my place by six o'clock." I said, pushing open the door, "and bring the files. We can study there." Gavin nodded gratefully. 

“Right.” He said seriously but there was a slight tone of relief, “Thank you Ike.” I felt my cheeks burn slightly. Whether it was from embarrassment or from anger, I didn’t know. I turned away quickly and got out of the car

 "And don't eat dinner.” I huffed, “I've been simmering bone broth since yesterday and I don't want it to go to waste."

"You… cook?" Gavin asked, surprised.

"I do have a life you know." I shut the door and leaned on the open window, "Just because I like getting on your nerves, it doesn’t mean it’s my only pass time. Don't be late." Gavin nodded again.

"Don’t worry. I can't pass up the chance to eat a free home cooked meal made by the Ikamara Bikira.” Gavin smirked, “Especially after eating nothing but 'Cup 'O Sodium’ for the past week." 

"Who said it was free?" I teased, "Later."

"Goodbye." Gavin pulled the car out of park. I stepped back and allowed him to drive away, watching him as he left. Mixed feelings overlapped my mind in a way they never had before. I shook my head and tried composing myself. He was still the rotten cop that hated me and I him. That gentleness about him was just an illusion he set up to try to get me to drop my guard. That wasn't happening. He wasn't going to get me with that stupid smile. I wasn't having it.

I put on a tough face as I walked to my bike. I had work I needed to get done. I wasn't going to spend my time thinking about Gavin.

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

I stirred the soup anxiously.  I couldn't pay attention to work at all that day. All I could think about was Gavin the case. And how to solve the case. And the lives in danger because of the case. And how the case insulted me and almost got me in trouble with the chief. And how the case was challenging and impossibly irritating… why did I feel so drawn to hi- It… the case.

I sighed as I looked down at my watch. 6:20. He should have been here by now. What was keeping him? If this was some ploy to get me irritated, it was working. I contemplated pulling out my phone to call the police station when I heard a knock at the door. I quickly walked out of the kitchen and reached for the door knob, but I stopped myself. If he made me wait, I can make him wait too.

"Who is it?" I asked innocently.

"... it's Gavin." The guilty party answered.

"Gavin?" I leaned against the door casually and looked at my nails, which were filled with flour from the noodles I had made, "It can't be Gavin. Gavin was supposed to be here by six."

"I know." Gavin sighed, "The line at the store was longer than expected."

"A likely story." I responded angrily, masking my obvious confusion, "... what were you doing at the store?"

"If you open the door, I'll show you."

I rolled my eyes but complied. Gavin was standing there, still dressed in his uniform, but he also had a satchel across his chest and was holding a bottle of scotch. I arched an eyebrow.

"I, uh," Gavin started, rubbing his neck with his free hand as a redness blossomed through his ears, "I didn't want to come over empty handed." Watching him struggling with awkwardness erased my anger towards his tardiness immediately. 

I sighed and took the bottle from him. I walked into the apartment, leaving the door open behind me. "Make yourself at home." I waved casually behind me to welcome him in, “The bathroom is up the stair and to the right. Dinner will be done soon."

"It smells great." Gavin said politely as he walked into the room and shut the door behind him. I stalled as I opened the cupboard above me. Man, it was weird to hear him compliment me. And so sincerely too.

"Thanks." I responded slowly, as I reached for a couple of glasses, “It’s a… family recipe.” There was a moment of quiet in the room. I could hear Gavin shucking off his bag and shoes as he made himself at home. The floorboards creaked as he slowly walked further into my apartment. I opened the bottle of scotch and poured it into the glasses. The air in the room had gotten tense and slightly awkward. Half of me wanted to retreat in the bathroom and never come out. The other half wanted to prove to Gavin that I wasn’t afraid of working with him… because I definitely wasn’t afraid of working with him. It had seemed like forever before Gavin’s voice finally cut through the air.

“You… kept the yearbook.” Gavin said this quietly, almost as if it was to himself. I turned around and saw that he was standing in front of the entertainment center with my old high school yearbook in his hands. 

“Uh, yeah.” I picked up the glasses and walked over to him, “Loveland high. I spent my freshman year there. I had to leave early because… of... my dad.” Gavin looked up and caught my eyes in his. His eyes were traced with a complicated expression. He and I were thinking about the same thing. About what happened in the police station earlier that day. The air around us got even more tense. 

To stop him from bringing up the topic, I handed him one of the glasses. He pulled his eyes away from me and to the glass, which he gladly accepted. I brought my attention to the yearbook in his hands, reminiscing about the school as I did. “I never really liked my time there. The kids were so judgemental because I couldn’t afford to have a nice closet like them… and I secluded myself a lot…” I looked closely at the faces on the pages, “Geez I don’t remember a single one of these kids.”

“Then… why did you keep the yearbook?”

“Because,” I placed my glass down on the entertainment center and took the book from Gavin. I started flipping through the pages, “Word had gotten around about what happened with my foster father. The school gave me the first copy of the year book and got as many students to sign it as they could. Most of the things written was stuff like, ‘I’m sorry to see you go!’ and ‘I wish I had gotten to know you better!’ What a bunch of frauds.” Gavin shifted his feet slightly next to me. “But, there was one response that seemed genuine.” The book opened to the page I continuously looked back on. It was the sophomore class’s group photo page. Handwritten notes had been scribbled all over but my eyes were set on the only one written in blue ink. I handed the book back to Gavin and pointed it out.

“‘I know you are more than what they say you are.’” Gavin read out loud, “‘Don’t let their words keep you from flying.’”

“I could only bring myself to read the notes when I was in my senior year.” I found myself saying this without realizing it, “This one was the one that convinced me that it didn’t matter who said what about me. If that one person, out of the hundreds in that whole school, really cared about me, the others were faceless. The times they had bullied me for being different were just... confetti. Meaningless decoration at the world’s best party.” I looked fondly at the blue ink on the page.

“That’s beautiful.” Gavin’s voice snapped me back to reality. I looked up at him and saw that his complicated gaze had never left me. I looked down and cleared my throat as warmth spread through my cheeks.

“Yeah, well,” I said as I reached for my glass again, “That’s all in the past now.” I turned and walked back to the kitchen, “It is a bummer that I can’t thank whoever wrote that, though.”

“Why not?”

“Cause they didn’t sign their name.” I turned into the kitchen and placed my glass on the bar. I took a spoon to the soup and stirred it slightly. “Dinner’s do-” I looked up from the pot and to Gavin. His face was twisted into a disgruntled emotion as he stared intently at the yearbook. “You alright there, Birdcop?” I asked. Gavin snapped his attention to me.

“Yeah.” He dismissively said, closing the book and placing it back on the shelf, “It’s just… nothing. It’s nothing" Gavin clapped his hands and walked over to the bar, “So, Birdcop is sticking, huh?"

"Yup!" I deadpanned, "You're not getting out of this one, Birdcop."

Gavin hummed his retort as he leaned against the bar. He was quiet for a moment, then he spoke timidly, "So, you don’t remember anyone from that school? Not a single person?”

“Not really.” I simply said, turning the stove off and pulling a couple of bowls out from the cupboard next to me, “There was no one really worth remembering.”

“Ah. I see.” Gavin sounded almost disappointed. I looked up at him. He had his head resting on the palm of his hand, looking down at the bar in thought. A question popped into my mind.

“Gavin, were you a student at Loveland high?” I asked slowly. Gavin looked up at me.

“What?” Gavin nervously chuckled, his posture straightening slightly. 

“You heard me.” I arched my eyebrow.

“Well…” Gavin struggled with the frog in his throat, unintentionally answering my question. I walked briskly back to the entertainment center and pulled the yearbook back out.

“No, don’t!” Gavin pleaded as he stood up from the bar and followed me to the living space. I flipped back through the pictures quickly until I landed on a familiar face. It was Gavin alright but he looked much younger and childish in the photo. His hair was messy and his face was a lot more rounded. He had a bandage on his cheek, as well as a soft smile on his lips. His outfit donned a casual hoodie that had a very sporadic design on it.

“Here you are!,” I teased Gavin as he grew closer, “I don't know why I didn't recognize you before! Aw, you look adorable!” Gavin grabbed for the yearbook but I skillfully dodged him.

“Ike, come on.” He pleaded as he went to grab it again. I held out my hand, pushed against his chest, and turned my body away from him so his arms couldn’t reach the book.

“Lookit you! That is such a stylish hoodie you've got on! Who knew Birdcop had a sense of style!" I read the top of the page, "It says here you were a sophomore when the year I was there. Hey! Maybe you could-” 

I felt a hand close around my wrist. Before I knew it, I was pulled into Gavin’s chest. My arm was pulled up and away from me, being tightly held so I couldn’t pull it away. A second hand was placed around my waist, stopping me from pushing away from him. The yearbook was shoved uncomfortably between us, though I paid no mind to it. 

Gavin gave me a playful glare… but soon it melted from his face as our eyes locked. The air around us got tense again but it wasn’t the tenseness I was used to with him. It was almost as gentle as it was captivating. The ambient noises of the apartment faded out and the only thing that could be heard was a strong heartbeat, though it was unclear who it belonged to. We were so close I could feel his short and warm breath on my forehead. As well as his body warmth through his clothes. It was then when I finally noticed his loosened tie and the undone button on his shirt, showing part is collarbone and an old scar that he wore proudly. I felt his grasp on my wrist loosen as he slowly lowered my arm. His hand fell from mine as he placed it onto my back, pulling us even closer. The only thing reflected in his eyes was me, as was the only thing in my eyes was him. The heat from Gavin’s hand slowly started melting something within my heart. Something that had been frozen over for so long. A warm feeling started making its way through my body and pushed past the barrier which I had put up such a long time ago...

“Ike.” Gavin’s voice was the softest I have ever heard it, making me become aware of the situation we were in. “I-” 

I forced Gavin away from me. 

“What’s wrong?” Gavin’s voice was still soft. It made me cringe slightly. 

“N-nothing.” I backed further away, avoiding eye contact with him. I held the yearbook close to my chest. This is all just a ploy for him to get under my skin. I assured myself as I tapped at the yearbook, To get my hopes up, only to demolish them at their peak. To use me then leave me. Just like everyone else did. Just like every man did. Just like any cop would. I racked my mind for an excuse to get away from him. “I… don’t want the soup to burn.” I managed to find the professional tone that I held before as I quickly turned from Gavin. I threw the yearbook onto the couch. I’m not going to let Gavin be the one to break down my well built walls. We are here on business. That is all. Not to reminisce of the past. Not to joke around. Not to be that close. Not to feel that warmth... The warmth that felt so nice... No, Just to find the man who ordered the hit on me. That was all. I straightened my posture into one of defiance as I felt my heart freeze over again. I put back up the barriers I had almost dropped as I entered the kitchen. 

(Next)

[ikenbar]

Mr. Love: Ike’s Choice Ch2 Pt 6

Warnings: Literally none. Unless you have something against fluff. Oh and spoilers for Stage 2-16 in the game. And Cliffhangers

(Chapter two’s prologue, parts one, two, three, four, and five here :))

((Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D))

Chapter two:

Part six:

I placed a bowl of soup in front of Gavin and sat in the stool next to his. Noticing how close we were, I scooted my seat slightly to the left. There was an awkward tension in the air as we picked at our food. After a moment, I broke the silence.

"So, you got the files?"

"Yeah." Gavin gestured to the bag he had brought with him, "In there." He moved to get the bag but I moved faster. 

"Stay." I jumped from the stool, "Eat.” I grabbed the bag and moved to go back to my seat. I stopped. Gavin was staring into his bowl with a strange expression. He obviously had something on his mind. Something that was bugging him. I fidgeted with the bag slightly. We were almost having fun with each other. Then he had to go and ruin it by getting so close to me. Maybe I could fix it. “I promise I haven't poisoned it." I said, walking back to the bar, “At least, not enough for you to taste.”

"Har har." Gavin sarcastically laughed, rolling his eyes. Still, he looked back down at the soup questionably, "... I'm gonna let you take the first bite." 

I rolled my eyes and gave Gavin the bag. I sat back down as he took out the files and took a bite from the soup. I had eaten this soup plenty of times so it was nothing new. In fact, I could tell there was room to improve. I hope Gavin wouldn’t notice.

"This is what we have on the 'Hill's Warehouse, Wall' address that Hickman gave us." Gavin handed me a folder.

"What do we have on Hickman himself?" I asked, taking the folder and opening it.

“We just have a few things.” Gavin took his spoon to the soup, “Some shoplifting charges but nothing too major.” I hummed quietly as I looked through the folder Gavin gave me. 

“These are all warehouses that belong to a Gregory Hill, correct?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the folder, “As in the man behind ‘Hill’s Wheels?’ The bike stores?” Gavin was silent. I looked up at him. He was staring at the soup bowl in front of him, placidly. “Earth to Birdcop.” I said waving my hand slightly to get his attention.

“You made this?” Gavin kept his eyes on the bowl.

“Was the messy kitchen not convincing enough?” I sarcastically asked, masking the worry that had started building in my stomach, “Why? Is there... something wrong with it?”

“No!” Gavin finally looked over to me, “This is amazing! You’ve really got a talent!” I felt my cheeks burn slightly. 

“I’d call it more of a skill.” I said as I hid my face back in the folder, “Besides, Bart’s soup is so much better than this.”

“I find that hard to believe.” Gavin said this with a mouth full of soup.

“I’ll have to prove it to you next time he makes it.” I rolled my eyes and suppressed a smile, “Anyway, did you hear what I said?”

“Yes, those are all warehouses that belong to Gregory Hill.”

“Well, you’ve got the wrong places.” I threw the folder onto the bar.

“What makes you say that?”

“What you are looking for is a bar on Hills street. It’s inside an old warehouse. They call the bar ‘The Wall.’”

“Hills, Warehouse, Wall…” Gavin murmured to himself in thought, “But how are you so certain that that is the place?”

“That bar is a dedicated place for people in hiding. Criminals, hitmen, etc. I found a lot of the people I was after there. The bar has a passcode to get in.”

“How do you have this passcode if you go in to arrest people?”

“...I’m a regular.”

“...excuse me?”

“I told them I hate cops. They saw it as relatable. Some of them actually came willingly if it meant I made you look like a fool. And given my arrest rate compared to yours, I’d say it worked.” Gavin glared at me.

“Fine.” Gavin sighed, “Are you sure about this?”

“Positive.”

“Alright. I’ll go undercover and scope the place out. What’s the passcode?”

“You don’t need it.” I said this casually but I prepared for an argument, “I’m coming too.”

“Ike.” Gavin’s tone showed that he was prepared for this too, “The man we are looking for knows who you are. He also paid to have you shot. I can’t-”

“The guy we are looking for isn’t man enough to do it himself.” I deadpanned, “Listen, if you want intel from that place you need to know the right people. I just so happen to be tight with the owner. You need me. Besides,” I stood up from the bar, “I have my Evol to protect me. I’ll be just fine.”

“... And if not?”

I looked over to Gavin. He held a poker face but his eyes showed concern. 

“Aw, do you care about me?” I teased.

“I am a police officer.” Gavin’s tone was resolute, “It’s my job to be concerned about the citizens of Loveland.” I hummed as I took up our empty bowls. 

“You don’t need to worry.” I said, “I’m bulletproof, remember? I’ll be ok… speaking of which. There is something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“What is it?” Gavin sounded hesitant. I walked into the kitchen and put the bowls in the full sink. 

“Well, remember when I told you how I knew that Hickman was lying due to his eyes?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, when I told you that I was an Evolver, you weren’t very surprised. I mean, you looked surprised but not for the right reason. It was almost like you knew what the term ‘Evolver’ was.” I leaned on the sink and locked eyes with Gavin, “Care to explain?” 

Gavin’s eyes flashed uncertainty and surprise, further confirming my accusation. He searched my eyes for a way out of answering. I arched my eyebrow. Gavin sighed and stood up.

“Come with me.” He said, extending his hand.

“Where are we going?” I asked, moving to take his hand.

“To the window.”

I instantly retracted my hand. “Excuse me?”

“Oh come on. I thought we were bonding!”

“And by bonding you mean insulting and fighting with each other?”

Gavin rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen, “I thought you said you’d trust me!”

“Yeah sure, with a few files. Not through a window that you are definitely going to push me out of!”

“I promise I won’t push you.” Gavin rolled his eyes and held out his hand again. I hesitated. How could I trust Gavin? Heck, how could I trust a cop?! I opened my mouth to refuse him but a voice echoed in my mind

“... how long are you going to use it as an excuse?”

...Dang it, Sam.

“Alright.” I sighed, taking Gavin’s hand, “But if you push me out that window-”

“I won’t push you out the window!” Gavin’s tone was playfully exasperated as he took me to the back of the room. He pulled open the window and stepped out of it and onto the fire escape, tugging me along as he did so. He helped me up the stairs and to the roof where he walked to the edge. I hesitated slightly but still joined his side. He let go of my hand and held my shoulders.

“Isn’t the view beautiful?” He whispered in my ear. He was right. From there you could see the whole city. The shining lights, the glistening river, the beautiful view of the hills, it was all so-

Gavin pushed me. I struggled to maintain my hold to the ground but it was useless. I tumbled off the roof. I watched as the lights I had gloried over streamed past me in a blur. I tried screaming but the wind flying past me caught every sound in my throat. The lights disappeared as the buildings flew in front of me. The pavement in the alley way below me grew closer and closer. 

The wind around my body suddenly felt stronger than it ever had before. I felt as if I were in a tight hold by it, secured by an invisible force. Before I knew it, I was no longer falling down but, rather, falling up! The pavement started pulling away from me as I was launched back up into the sky. The city lights came back into view as well as the roof to my apartment complex. I moved to look at Gavin but he wasn’t there. I searched for him frantically but was stopped by the sound of laughter. I quickly looked behind me. I was mere inches from the roof pushing maniac. He reached out and held on to my waist, pulling me close to him, all while laughing hardily. His hold on me was tight, allowing the wind around me to calm down. His grip around my waist was the only thing keeping me up.

“You-!” I finally caught my breath as I slapped his chest.

“Hey!” Gavin chuckled and held on to my wrist, “Do you want me to drop you?” I slapped him with my free hand.

“You promised you wouldn’t push me!!” Each syllable ended with a thud to his chest. 

“I promised not to push you out the window.” Gavin pulled me closer so I wouldn’t have a good angle to hit him again, “I didn’t say anything about the roof.” I glared at him menacingly. “Alright! Alright!” Gavin chuckled, “I shouldn’t have scared you like that. I’m sorry.” I huffed. This man. He does this on purpose. I loosened my glare and tightened my grip on his body as I looked down. The view was astonishing. I had never seen the city this high up.

“So,” I called through the wind, looking around us as we continued to fly through the clouds, “You’re an Evolver. That makes sense… My Birdcop nickname really clicks now.” I felt Gavin’s laugh vibrate through his chest. My heart started melting again. I stiffened slightly and tightened my grip to Gavin’s clothes as I struggled to freeze it again.

“Scared?” Gavin’s voice was soft as he whispered into my ear. I felt my ears burn slightly as I moved away from his head.

“Not in the slightest.” I said defiantly, locking eyes with him. What I said was meant to be a challenge but, after meeting his eyes, it meant something else entirely. I pulled my eyes from his and back to the world underneath us. “Do you fly often?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah. Everyday”

“You get to see the world like this everyday?” My voice slowly became a little softer, “I would kill for a view like this.”

“You don’t have to.” Gavin twisted me so my body was facing the world instead of him, “All you have to do is knock on my door.” I turned and looked at him. His attention was directed at the world below us but expression was earnest. What happened to the cop that would drive me nuts? The cop who would scoff and roll his eyes every time he saw me come into the station? Who would call me names and wish me away from him? Who would groan at the very sound of my voice? Where did he go? and what happened to me to actually miss that? Gavin’s gaze flickered for a second onto me then stayed when he realized I was staring.

“What?” Gavin chuckled, “Would you rather kill someone?”

“What did Sam tell you?” I finally asked the question I had on my mind for a while now, “When you took him home, what did Sam say to you to make you act differently?”

“How did you know he talked to me?”

“You just told me.” My tone had become tactless again. Sometimes Sam did things that he thought was helping but it never really was. Sam is a sweet kid but what relationship Gavin and I had was just fine. I didn’t need Gavin to be as close to me as he was that night. In fact, I’d prefer what we had before. No one would get hurt that way… still though, being that close to him had made that night one of the most memorable nights in my life. Not to mention, that view was breathtaking. “Spill.”

Gavin sighed. He supported my body with one hand and pulled my chin away from him and to the city with the other.

“He told me,” Gavin held me closer, “That despite your hard exterior, you’ve got a soft side. And that it would be worth my time to break through to find it.” My heart stopped. Why would Sam say that? And to a person I visibly distained? What is it with my family and not leaving me alone?! Why do they think I’m unhappy when I’m on my own? How could Sam stab me in the back like this?

“It really isn’t.” I mumbled slightly shifting my head away from him.

“I’d beg to differ.” Gavin rested his head on my shoulder with the space I gave him. My shoulder tensed at the new weight and warmth that he gave me, “We spent the night together and I only wanted to leave twice.”

“It was the soup, wasn’t it?” I asked, suppressing the nervous cracks I had in my throat.

“Well, yeah. But so did hearing about your past and just talking to you in general. You’re a lot less awful then I remember.”

“Wish I could say the same to you.” I flicked Gavin’s forehead.

“My point is,” Gavin pulled my hand down and held it, restraining it from anymore attacks, “we only spent one night together but… I am… grateful to be partnered with you.”

I felt my shoulders relax slightly. “Really?”

“Really. Normally, I would be against having a partner. I… they would just hold me down.” Gavin’s voice sounded like it was holding something back. His grip slightly tightened around me.

“Well,” I said breaking the small silence, “I can’t wait to be the one to hold you down.” Gavin chuckled slightly and playfully pinched my side. We used the rest of our time to float in silence as we admired the city together. Holding on tightly to each other, scared to lose what we had.

(Next)

[ikenbar]

Mr. Love: Ike’s Choice CH5 PT 4

Warnings: Spoilers for Chapter 8 of the game!! Words have been taken directly from Stage 8-14 and 8-21 of the game as well! If you’re interested in which ones, message me and I can tell you! (I don’t want to spoil anything in the chapter :P)

Also! There are some harsh themes! Such as ptsd, amnesia, feelings of being trapped, actually being trapped! 

Along with all that though, we have adventure! Fluffy time with Kiro! Some angsty time with Kiro! (only like a line of it tho. You’ll get wAY more of that next week ;P) Plot uncovering! and more! Including cliffhangers galore!... ok there is only one but still!! :D

(Chapter Five (Kiro and Youran) Prologue and part one, two, and three can be found here~)

((Please read the author’s note (and the beginning of the story) on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D))

Chapter Five:

Part four:

As Kiro and I continued down the hall, I kept my defenses up high. Kiro almost got killed because of me. I wasn’t going to let it happen again. Especially if it was me that Montu was after, I couldn’t let Kiro get mixed up in it. Although, as I walked down that hall, I couldn’t help but admire the work that Montu had put into destroying me. From the lights to the dark metallic sheen of the walls, everything looked particularly upscale. If we were under any other circumstance, I would feel honored to have so much money spent on me. 

We had walked for a good amount of time before either of us spoke up. “So!” Kiro snapped and clapped his hand on his fist, “When are you taking off the helmet?”

“Never.” I deadpanned.

“Oh come on! Please?”

“Nope.”

“Well what if I guess who you are? Would you take it off then?”

I felt my palms start sweating.  “How could you guess? I came to the studio when you were on stage. You haven’t met me yet.”

“Hm, I guess you’re right.” Kiro paused for a moment, “... Then how about we play 20 questions! Ya, know, so I can get to know you better?” 

“Um…”  I bit my lip. I guess there was no way I could keep stuff from my Song Bird now. 

I sighed, “Sure. Why not?”

“Awesome!” I heard Kiro excitedly clap from next to me, “Ok, uh,... What do you like to do for fun?”

“... Joyride on my bike.” Even though Victor took that from me...

“Makes sense! Do you have any siblings?”

“Two brothers and two sisters.”

“Names?”

“Nope. Too personal.”

“Ah, dang.” Kiro laughed, “I thought I had you there. Uh, what do you do for a living?”

I paused, “...I help the police with consulting investigations.” 

“Really??” Kiro giddily asked, “What kind of investigations??”

“I’m afraid that’s classified.”

“Ah, I see... So, what is your job at Ike ‘n Bar Productions?”

“... I assist Bart.”

“Like his personal assistant, assistant?”

“Sure.”

“I can’t imagine you being a personal assistant.” Kiro scoffed.

I stopped and turned to look at Kiro with a raised eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

Kiro waved his hands defensively, “I mean-” The floor underneath us lit up. The same blue light that outlined Kiro's hand, outlined a square around my feet. The ground underneath me started shaking, making the both of us lose our balance. The light got brighter and brighter as the ground became more and more unstable. I closed my eyes and threw my hands in front of my face.

“What the hell?!” I yelled, still struggling to find my feet.

“Ike!” Kiro’s voice was coming from above me. I looked up and saw that the ground Kiro was on had started rising while I was descending. He reached his hand out to mine, “Give me your hand!” I stood on my tippy toes and reached for his hand, but I couldn’t quite close the distance. The gap between us slowly grew.

“Almost…” Kiro muttered, “Just a bit more.” He leaned forward as much as he could. Eyes brimming with concern and urgency. (Stage 8-14) I looked below me. 

“Ah, screw it.” I stepped back, “Brace yourself!” I called to Kiro. The ground stopped shaking. I took a step and leaped into the air. Kiro’s hand wrapped around my forearm and held tight as I slammed right into the side of the wall, breaking the strap to the helmet on my head and causing it to fly off of me. I looked down to see the helmet plummet down the endless chasm below me. I quickly turned to look up at Kiro.

“Don’t. Let. Go.” I spoke through my teeth as I tightened my grip on his forearm.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Kiro grinned through a pained expression. Kiro and I worked with each other to pull myself out of the hole. I took a step onto the rising wall, then a strong force pulled me upwards. I landed onto the ground and right into Kiro’s chest, where I could hear Kiro’s rapid breathing in my ear. “Are you all right?” he asked urgently, “Are you hurt?” I looked up and into Kiro’s starry eyes. The eyes that were such a beautiful ocean blue, I could almost swim in them from how close I was to him.

“Kiro.” I breathed, leaning closer to his face.

“Yeah?” Kiro said just as softly, a blush starting to form on his cheeks. I leaned in closer, further increasing the blush on Kiro’s cheeks. We were mere inches apart when I punched his arm. 

“Ow!” He scoffed, rubbing his arm, “Why did you-”

“You jerk!” I hit him again, “You knew it was me the whole time?!”

“Wh-”

“You called me ‘Ike’ just then! Don’t you dare try to get out of this!”

Kiro paused, then he laughed, “Of course I knew it was you Super Stranger! I knew it the moment you yelled at that poor director!”

“And yet you still asked me that stupid question?!” Each syllable ended with a hit to his chest, “You made me think you hated me!” Kiro grabbed my hands.

“Would you quit it?!” He laughed. I glared at him. His smile gradually fell. “I thought we were still playing our little game… which I guess wouldn’t have been so fun from how bad of a mood you were in.” Kiro looked me sincerely in the eyes, “Ike, I’m really sorry if I hurt your feelings. I really didn’t mean it. Please don’t be mad at me.” I huffed, struggling to find an excuse to keep my anger towards him. Then I sighed. I backed away from Kiro and sat on the ground. Kiro sat up, the worried expression he wore further deepening. He opened his mouth.

“I’m not angry at you.” I interrupted, holding up a hand, “We’re cool.”

“Thank goodness.” Kiro sighed heavily, “I don’t know what I’d do if The Super Stranger hated me.”

“Haven’t I already said no one can hate Kiro?” I arched my eyebrow, “Besides, you’re my sidekick. What was I going to do? Wait for your redemption arch?” Kiro laughed heartily, bringing a warm feeling to my heart. I looked down and the warm feeling vanished. Blood dripped down his forearm. Kiro followed my eyes and looked down.

“Oops!” He held his arm up to reveal a cut running down his forearm, “I must have cut it when I caught you.” Kiro smiled at me, “We need to find a better way of saving each other. One of us keeps getting hurt!” I glared at Kiro and took his arm. 

“Yeah, but I don’t have anything to patch you up with.” I mumbled, looking around the small room. 

“Wait! You do!” Kiro reached inside his pocket and pulled out a small white handkerchief. He handed it to me, “The one you had given me the day we had met was stained. So I got you another one! Too bad this one will be stained too.” I took the handkerchief and dressed Kiro’s wound.

“I don’t care about a handkerchief.” I said, “Just as long as you’re healthy.” I could feel Kiro’s stare bore a hole in my eyes but I didn’t dare meet them, keeping my focus on the handkerchief.

“Thank you, Ike.” His voice was so soft that I nearly missed his words. I looked up at him.

The floor we had been riding passed through a dark room then to an opening to a new room. This one was much bigger than the last, looking to be about the size of a basketball court. It was windowless and had the same dark metallic panelling and blue lighting as the previous hallway. 

Kiro and I stood up and looked around the room. The room was seemingly empty except for a long, dark, metallic door standing on the far wall. I nudged Kiro and walked over to it. There was another keypad beside the door but this time it had a QWERTY keyboard.

“What do you think it could be?” Asked Kiro. I hummed and drummed my fingers on my arm. 

“Well, with the last one, I put in a random code to see how many numbers were needed for the code. Maybe we could start there?” I bent down and started typing in random letters. The keyboard stopped typing after four letters then flashed red. A grinding noise came from behind us. Kiro and I turned and saw a panel from the floor slowly opening. The sound of metallic buzzing filled the air as drones flew out one by one from the hole. They formed a line in the air and flashed red lasers right towards us. Their laser zeroed in, pointing directly at my forehead. 

“Watch out!” Kiro lunged at me just in time for the drones to start shooting. The bullets whizzed over us to the control panel for the room, completely destroying it. A loud click came from the door as it swung open. The drones stopped shooting as their lasers came back on to look for their target.

“Go!” I shoved Kiro off of me and to the door, “I’ll distract them!”

“Are you nuts?” Kiro scoffed, “You’ll be-”

“They are after me, not you!” I looked up just in time for the drones to spot me with their lights again, “Go! I’ll follow!” I pushed off of the ground just as the drones started firing again. But, instead of stopping this time, the drones followed my movements. Keeping close to my tail as I ran around the room to lose them. I looked back and caught a glimpse of Kiro running into the room. Satisfied with the fact that he was safe, I started looking around the room for a way out of the predicament I was in. I spotted the opening on the floor.

An idea in mind, I made my way to it. The bullets rained relentlessly around me as I slid to the flooring. I grabbed an edge from the paneling and pulled it up. From the force of my Evol, I was able to peel it away easily, holding it in front of my face and blocking the bullets as they pelted the paneling. The bullets stopped and red lights lit up the ground around me. Taking advantage of the pause. I quickly bent the panel in my hand into an arch and threw it at the drones. The panel flew in a curve, crashing into the drones in their perfect line.

More drones came from the flooring. With no time to waste, I booked it to the door. Kiro stood there with an outstretched hand. I took it and, with help from his pull, I flew into the room. Kiro raced to the door and shut it. I ran over to it as well, offering extra support. 

We waited for what seemed like forever for any sign that the drones would come back. Eventually, Kiro sighed. “I think… we’re good.” He said, a hint of uncertainty playing at his tongue. I let go of the breath I was unaware that I was holding and panted heavily, falling to my knees and resting my head on the door. Kiro slid down next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Are you alright?” He asked urgently, “Are you hurt?” I shook my head, answering both of the questions honestly. Kiro sighed and removed his hand. “Man.” He laughed, “They’ve got some weak defenses if that flimsy flooring could take them down.”

“Right.” I sighed, turning to sit next to Kiro. I looked around the dark room. It was nothing like the others. It was an average size, the walls and floor a dark grey, making the room seem dreary and uninviting. The carpet under us was hard, likely flattened after years of being walked on. At the back of the room was a metal desk with a keyboard and mouse. Six flat screen monitors hung from the wall and pointed to the singular wheely chair that sat in front of them. A computer sat under the desk, buzzing slightly.

I groaned as I slowly stood up. Kiro grabbed my arm quickly. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.” He whispered to me. I looked over to the computer.

“I’m sure we could take it.” I winked at Kiro. He smiled slightly but still kept a firm hold of my arm. I motioned for him to stand up. He did so, sliding his hand down into mine, stopping my heart in the process. I looked up at Kiro. 

His focus was locked on the computer. He had a strange look in his eyes. As if he had some idea what the computer might hold. But that would be impossible. Unless Kiro knew Montu in some way…

I shook my head. No. He couldn't. Kiro's life was just as at risk here as mine. 

Kiro’s eyes finally fell from the computer and onto me, catching my eyes in his. “Everything ok?” He asked, tightening his grip around my hand. I slowly nodded, turning from him and looking at the computer. 

“Let’s get a closer look.” I walked to the computer, releasing my hand from Kiro's to take the lead. Kiro stalled a moment but eventually joined my side. 

I inspected the monitors. Nothing seems off about them. I looked down at the desk.  A keyboard and mouse sat in the middle of it. I tapped the enter key. The screen in the middle of the six turned on. Another password needed to be typed in. “Ok, we get it.” I groaned, “You’re hiding something. Can we just get on with this stupid gambit?” I moved the keyboard to me. Kiro moved the keyboard back before I could start typing. 

“I don’t think we should just type something willy nilly into the computer.” He said seriously, “This isn’t the same as the others. If we don’t do this carefully, we’ll get kicked out.”

“That’s very inquisitive of you, Kiro, but what other choice do we have?” I reached my hand out to him, “Do you see a sign or a post-it note in here that tells us the password?”

“But-”

“Kiro, the only other way out of here is through the killer drones behind that door. If you’d rather deal with them then be my guest.” Without wasting any more time, I moved the keyboard back to me and typed in random letters. The screen went black again. I braced myself… but nothing happened.

“Did I really guess it right the first-” My words were cut off by a loud siren. The screen glowed red as bright red text flashed on the screen.

“System Wipe commencing in 3:00”

The time started counting down from three minutes. I cursed and tried hitting the escape button. Then, when that didn’t work, every other button on the keyboard. In a flash, Kiro whipped the keyboard from me and took a seat in the chair. He pulled something from his vest pocket and bent down to the computer. When he sat back up he was holding a phone with a wire connecting it to the computer. I froze. He had a phone all along? Why didn’t he tell me? Why didn’t he use it? Why was he using it now…?

Kiro’s phone suddenly filled with small, green text, appearing and disappearing quickly. Kiro tapped at his screen quickly, eyes skimming the screen quickly as he did so. I looked back up at the time on the monitors. 

1:30 

and counting. 

I clenched my teeth and looked down at Kiro, helpless. With nothing else I could do, I placed my hand on Kiro’s shoulder, clenching it tightly, hoping for it to be comforting in some way. 

Soon the time had gotten to 10... 

9...

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

3...

With one theatrical flourish, Kiro tapped a sting of letters into the keyboard in front of him. Everything went black. Then text appeared across the six monitors.

“Welcome, Key.”

I whipped my head to Kiro. He met my eyes. A look of worry and surprise splayed across his face.

“You’re Key?!” My voice became loud and uneven.

“I can explain.” He said, holding his hands up. I grabbed a bundle of his shirt and lifted him up and off of the chair. I held him close to my face.

“Then you’d better start talking.” I said through my teeth. 

Before he had the chance to talk, the chair under Kiro spun in place. One of the hand rests caught Kiro in the side and pulled him from my grasp. Kiro roughly fell back into the chair as it turned and pointed away from me. The chair extended forward, launching Kiro out of it. He fell to the floor harshly and with a grunt. The chair spun back around. The hand rest hit my knee, making it buckle just enough for it to scoop me into the seat. The chair pushed itself into the desk, locking me in place. I moved to push away but bars shot up from the sides of the handrests, locking my arms down onto it. 

I was stuck.

I cursed and struggled against the straps. “Ike!” Kiro called from beside me. I turned to look just as Kiro reached out to me. The floor rumbled from underneath us. With no warning, walls shot up from each side of me, cutting me completely off from Kiro and the rest of the room. I pulled at the arm rests. The chair seemed so dainty! It was just a casual chair a moment ago! With my evol, I should be able to just bust out of-

The monitors went completely black. 

They were soon replaced by more text:

The Black Swan Collective.

I stopped struggling.

We come from the future, with the sole purpose to accelerate Human evolution. We possess Evol. We create all.

I hitched my breath. A group of Evolvers? Here? What were they planning? What did it have to do with me?

No one can stop us, for we hold the world in our hands. The Queen will soon awake. As will her Rook.

A strange feeling overcame my chest. What does that mean? I didn’t know a queen or a black swan collective… then why did I feel so strangely at that statement? Why did it almost seem… familiar?

Together, they will reform this world into one that will be worthy of our existence.

We look forward to marching together into a new world.

Pictures began to flash on the screen, one after another, the scenes depicted all not quite clear. A sealed room with no light, an empty experiment table with several beakers of chemical compounds next to it. A wall full of cabinets. People in white gathering under a surgical lamp.

I heard blood rushing to my temples. I struggled to find composure, something to pull me back into reality, But I couldn’t. My mind was focused solely on the pictures on the screens as more pictures overwhelmed my senses. One picture made my breath hitch.

There, on an experiment table, lying peacefully, was a familiar looking brown haired girl. 

The next picture came on the screen. The girl was lying next to a boy. One with bright blonde hair and a dazzling aura. Another picture came. This time that small brown haired girl was in a room, sitting on a bed next to another girl. The other girl’s hair was also brown but her hair was different. It was bushy and a mess of rats and tangles. And her eyes were a bright blue. They shone as she spoke to the little girl next to her. They were holding hands. 

My own hands started shaking.

The next picture showed a lab but things had gone awry. Tables were flipped and broken glass scattered the floor. Strange substances laced through the floor tiles and coated the bushy haired little girl as she stood in the corner of the room. She was protectively standing over the first girl, who was curled in a ball against the corner. The bushy haired girl’s eyes showed no fear as she protected the girl. Not only that, 

but they were now crimson red.

My hands shook even harder as hidden memories came crashing to my senses. Sounds of glass smashing, people yelling, sirens going off, and screaming.

The next picture made all of the sounds disappear. Men in lab coats were separating the girls. The little brown haired girl was protectively blocked by the men while several men struggled to hold down the bushy brown haired girl. Her mouth was open as if she was screaming as tears streamed down her face. 

My hands stopped shaking.

Don’t take her away, I found myself thinking, She’s hurting. Leave her alone! She doesn’t want to be hurt any more! I told her I would protect her! I promised I would! Get away from-

Unable to take the noise in my head any longer, I screamed. A power like I had felt only once before flooded my body. I closed my eyes, finally regaining my composure and remembering the state I was in.

 I was trapped.

 I needed to move.

 Now! 

With my new found power, I ripped my arms from the restraints. Bands snapped at my strength, clanking to the floor loudly.  I stood up and threw the chair aside. Avoiding any more eye contact with the pictures, I raised my fist and threw it into the monitors. Electricity sparked from them with every hit I threw. I didn’t stop until the only thing that was left was rubble. I panted heavily, looking down at the mess I had just made. My eyes skimmed over the computer under the table. I picked it up. Without hesitation. I crushed it between my hands, letting sparks fly and enjoying the screams it gave off. They can’t hurt her anymore. They won’t hurt her again. 

I won't let them.

(Next)