#inside a moldy garbage can that’s on fire

[crownofstardustandbone]

Waking up to find out that the Republican candidate for governor in my state got elected 🤢🤮

[builder051]

Whumptober 2021 Day 3: "Who did this to you?"

Nat on Fire

Regular warnings for drugs, physical/relationship abuse

______________________________

They've finished the mission, and when Nat goes to stow her uniform back in her locker, she realizes she's forgotten to bring civilian clothes to change into. She doesn't plan to go for coffee or schwarma or whatever it is today with the group, or by herself for that matter, so all she faces is the walk of shame into the parking garage, then again up the three concrete steps into her apartment.

Nat's not going in her underwear, though. Not if she can help it.

She admits she might've still been a little toasted when she came into work this morning, and chugging water whilst applying makeup had taken priority over packing a decent go bag.

Nat's frustrated with herself, and she bites her lip as she thinks about how to rectify the situation. She wants to get home as quickly as possible, for her after-work hobby just might be creeping again back toward addiction. A drip shivers at the end of Nat's nose as if to prove the matter.

Nat ignores it and folds herself forward to paw through the layer of general detritus that's gathered at the bottom of her locker. She finds a lint-covered sports bra that might be considered a crop top. She holds it up, nods, tosses it over her shoulder, and keeps up the desperate search, hoping for shorts or shoes.

The rest of the stuff seems to be garbage. Stale packs of cigarettes. A wavy, water stained notebook. An empty panty hose wrapper. There's nothing else good, but Nat scoops it all up anyway, thinking she may as well dump it in the trash.

Once her arms are empty, Nat notices a pair of someone's moldy shower shoes beside the bin. She wrinkles her nose, shrugs, then slips them onto her feet. They're too big and definitely worn in for the wrong places on her feet, but something's better than nothing. Which is what she seems to have for pants.

Nat sighs and slips her fingers into the waistband of her boy-short underwear, pulling it down as low as she can without exposing pubic hair, then yanks at the hems until they reach their full, approximately 2-inch inseam. She walks carefully back to her locker, changes her bra and smoothes her hair. She avoids looking in the mirror as she shrinks slightly and slips out the door to the hallway, her car keys clutched between her fingers.

Nat has the door to the parking garage in her sights, and she walks as quickly as she can without tripping herself up on the flimsy, floppy shoes. The sound of a doorknob bouncing off the wall behind her and footsteps taking off in the opposite direction startles her, but Nat keeps moving.

She's got her hand on the bar to open the door to the garage when someone says loudly, "Hey, Natasha!"

Nat cringes. She thinks about ignoring them and pressing on the last few inches toward freedom. A tremor runs through her, of fear or anxiety or going too long without a needle, she doesn't know. But she's paused too long now. There's only one choice left, and she reluctantly takes it.

Nat spins on the spot and sees Steve walking toward her. He's wearing running clothes and a backpack, clearly headed to the gym or to do some sort of exercise before heading home. Nat doesn't think he has--or has chosen to--be educated on current women's clothing trends. Maybe she can convince him she's going to... hot yoga, perhaps?

"Um. Hi?" Nat has no idea what he wants, but she hopes it's quick.

"Hi," Steve says. "That mission was pretty brutal. You ok?"

"Oh, yeah," Nat replies. She leans on the door to the outside. "I'm good."

"You going home?"

"Yeah," Nat says truthfully. She tries to come up with an artful lie about what she urgently needs to do there. "I have to water my plants. I think I probably killed them, leaving them for that long mission without hiring a sitter..." It's a stupid story, and she gauges Steve's expression to see if he seems to have bought it.

“Steve pauses a moment. “Ok.” He shifts his feet a little, then squints, moving his eyes across Nat’s upper body.

She’s relatively more exposed than usual, and she’s used to catching a glance, but from him? It’s confusing. Maybe a little disappointing. She doesn’t get the vibe that he’s that kind of guy.

Nat tips her chin up and is about to ask him what the fuck he’s doing when Steve opens his mouth and asks again, “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Um--”

“You have bruises…” Steve places a hand on his chest and edges it up toward his neck as if to choke himself. Then he seems to reconsider, moving it in the direction of his shoulder.

“It’s nothing,” Nat says quickly. “Hand-to-hand. You know. I got an iron supplement, but I can’t seem to remember to take it.” She laughs artificially and moves as far back toward the door as she can.

“You’ve been in the bird’s nest the last few…” Steve trails off. He starts to close the space between them, tentatively reaching out.

“What’re you--?” Nat doesn’t care for the invasion of her personal space.

“I’m sorry. I just--” Ste’s brow furrows. “Did someone--?”

His fingers brush Nat’s collarbone.

Nat grits her teeth and tries not to cringe.

Steve hovers his palm over the curve of Nat’s shoulder and spreads his fingers behind her neck as his thumb settles downward, just inside the neckline of the sports bra.

Even though he’s barely touching her, the points on Nat’s body begin to throb. The bruises are a few days old, prime time for looking horrendous black and blue.

“Who did this to you?” Steve whispers. He raises his gaze to meet Nat’s, his eyes full of concern.

“It’s nothing,” Nat tells him quickly. She reaches up and pulls the bra in a little to cover the spots on the other side. Unfortunately, Steve notices, and his expression turns to panicked.

“Are you being abused?” Steve asks bluntly, moving his hand to lightly rest on the outside of her arm.

Nat breathes in and out, doing the best she can not to move. She can’t tell him the entire story. Nothing about her needles and rolling papers and the hoops she jumps through to fill them so as to be untrackable and anonymous. Nothing about the way she’d horrifically overspent on her last under-the-radar trip overseas, barely leaving enough for basic expenses, let alone expensive...needs.

“I’m--” Nat stops before she chokes. She isn’t sure if she wants to cry or if her eyes are just watering to keep up with her nose and overenthusiastic salivary glands.

“You’re being hurt.”

Steve’s assertion is true, technically. But when she runs out of cash and needs to let her dealer fuck her to pay out the rest of the transaction, it’s kind of the best option she’s got. She can’t get pregnant, is basically immune to rough sex, and likes to keep her debts in check. Nat switches suppliers a lot so as to keep up quality and lessen the possibility of getting caught. Some guys are gentler than others. The one she’s seeing now… isn’t.

“Nat?” Steve asks gently.

“It was my fault,” Nat says, her words fast and quiet. She maintains eye contact for a second, then can’t take it anymore and looks away.

“It can’t have been.” Steve shakes his head. “I mean. No one deserves that. To be hurt like that.”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” Nat lies.

“Do you… need help?

Nat assumes he’s read a pamphlet or two about reporting physical abuse. It’s how he uses his mind, his resources. Nat appreciates the effort. More when he uses it on the battlefield, but the care is still a positive thing.

“No,” Nat says, bringing her free arm up and scrubbing her wrist across her face to collect all the moisture and wipe it away. “I’m good.”

Steve drops his hands back to his sides. He nods, if a little unsurely. He gazes from Nat to the window set in the door to the parking garage, perhaps gauging where his is relative to hers.

“I’m fine on my own,” Nat tells him preemptively. She leans again on the bar, and the door opens a few inches.

“Ok. Well, I’m headed that way, too.” Steve points toward his vehicle. Nat’s glad it’s in the row opposite hers. She’ll catch him if he looks backward, taking in her underwear clinging to her ass cheeks.

“Ok.” Nat decides she’s finished with face-to-face. With conversation. With everything. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight…” Steve replies.

The sound of his voice sending her off resounds in Nat’s ears until she turns on the radio to drown it out. The music makes her head hurt, though, so Nat taps the button and the console largely goes dark. ‘Better,’ she thinks as she turns her black sedan onto the highway to better disappear into the night.

[doing-all-write]

don’t be a baby part 2

Pairing: Billy x Fem!Reader

Summary: After losing Billy, Reader doesn’t know what to do with herself. After receiving some news about a millionaire who’s been murdering people, she convinces Billy’s old Sky Walker crew to train her so she can take him down. But the mission doesn’t go as planned and suddenly, there’s a man offering her a position on an elite team...

Read part 1 HERE

Word Count: 14K

Warnings: Swearing, blood, fight sequences, needles, mentions of smut and talk of depression. 

A/N: HAPPY VALENTINES DAY AND HERE IT IS!!! Part two of don’t be a baby!! Thank you all so so much for your patience, I wanted to be sure this story was perfect and I hope all love it! Once again, a HUGE thank you to @itsabenthing​ who is always a wonderful source of inspiration and helps to keep me on track and to @mrhoemazzello​ for hyping me up at all times and for letting me bounce ideas off her!! And don’t worry...there will be a third part 😉

💖💖As always, likes, comments and reblogs are always appreciated! 💖💖

365 days.

That's not a long time.

A year on Neptune is the equivalent of 164 years on Earth. Bowhead whales can live up to 200 years. The Methuselah tree is 4,700 years old.

365 days is nothing.

What's one lousy year in the grand scheme of things?

Compared to one day.

24 hours to have your whole world ripped out from underneath you. To believe that up is down and down is up. To feel your feet leave the earth as you pitch forward into a tunnel where time passes both far too quickly and not quickly enough.

One 30 second phone call can feel like the longest thing in the world.

To some, 365 days may not feel all that long, but to others?

365 days is far too long.

~One Month After the Funeral~

“(Y/N)? It’s me. You doing okay?” Mark winced when he realized how dumb that question was. 

Setting the bags of food down on the kitchen table, he opened the fridge. His heart clenched when he saw the food he had put there a week ago sitting untouched. 

It had been the worst right after the funeral. When he came over on the days following the funeral she would be in the same clothes he had last seen her in, staring at the wall or ceiling. On good days her cheeks would be dry, on bad days? The tears would soak her pillow case. 

He had nicked Mary, Billy’s sister’s, number from (Y/N)’s phone. Figuring that Mary may have some professional resources she could recommend to get (Y/N) the help she desperately needed to pick herself back up. 

After a few weeks of her catatonic state, she started moving more. But it was almost worse. She was like a zombie. 

He’d tell her maybe she should shower or eat and in slow robotic movements she’d do what he asked, then crawl back into bed. Eyes empty. Flat. 

The passivity broke his heart. 

There hadn’t been a time when Mark and (Y/N) had been growing up when she wasn’t passionate about something. When that familiar light in her eyes had burned bright. 

Without it, it felt like looking at a mannequin of his sister. 

Sighing, he loaded the new food into her fridge. Taking the old stuff out he figured, if it wasn’t moldy, he could feed it to Jean, who was like a human garbage disposal. He claimed grief made him starving. 

As Mark stood up, he faced the bedroom door and felt his shoulders slump forward. He knew what was waiting for him on the other side and he didn’t want to see it. He knew he was a coward but part of him just wanted to walk out the front door and pretend that his sister was on the other side, totally fine, she was just sleeping and he’d come back next week and she’d greet him with a smile and a hug. 

Something he hadn’t seen in, well, in a month. 

Feeling his shoulders creep up towards his ears as he stood outside her bedroom door, he made a conscious effort to relax them. 

“Hey, (Y/N), you awake?” 

Nudging the door open, he peered into her room, taking stock of it. It looked exactly the same as last time he had checked on her. The soft rise and fall of her side underneath her blanket the only movement. Taking a moment to capture how serene she looked, he quietly closed the door behind him, taking a minute to send up a plea that he would do anything, anything, for his sister if it just meant that one day he’d see her up and out of her bed. 

~

A buzzing by her ear woke her up. Groaning, she slapped her hand around the bed, trying in vain to stay semi-unconscious. The buzzing came faster, one right after the other, reminding her of how her phone had acted the day Billy’d died. Heart dropping through the floorboards, her eyes flew open.

Sitting up and shoving the blankets back in one quick motion only caused her to hear a loud thud. Cursing, she crawled over to the edge, allowing her top half to go limp as her bottom half stayed put on her bed. 

Pushing her hair back with one hand she turned her phone over to see what was happening. News alert after news alert was scrolling in. They all said the same thing, 

Local Billionaire Accused of Dumping Toxic Waste in Ocean. 

Her eyebrows knitted together as she read the remainder of the story. There was something tugging at her subconscious as she read. This billionaire, Chase Casewell, had a reputation for being a real prick and after using his family's money to get through business school and have his first idea fail (an app that told Influencers when the best time to post would be) he had made his millions by starting a brand that specialized in shoes, ugly beige monstrosities if she remembered correctly. 

It had just come out that he had instructed the plants that made his shoes to dump the waste into the ocean. The chemicals they’d used had poisoned the water supply, causing the fish to become infected with the chemicals. Then, the local fisherman would catch the fish, take them home to their families, eat them, then the fishermen and their families would end up in the hospital. 

Her hospital.

She sat bolt upright as she remembered the string of mysterious illnesses that had ended up in her ward a few weeks before she had met Billy that first time. If the victims were lucky, they ended up puking their guts out for a few days and, after being hooked up to an IV to re-hydrate, she’d send them on their way.

Others would linger for a few days then quietly slip away. The chemicals flowing through their bloodstream till their veins ran thick with poison, where it finally creeped up to their heart where the poisons would wrap themselves around their most vital organ. Suffocating it until it gave out entirely. 

The one that had affected her the most was Isabella, a small girl with dark braids and a love of Frozen. The only thing that’d make her smile was when (Y/N) would come in with a stuffed Olaf and have him ask her for a warm hug. She had been holding this little girl's hand, watching Frozen when her heart just...gave out. 

She had gone to the funeral but shame and guilt burned bright inside till she felt like there was a beacon surrounding her, letting everyone at the funeral know it was her fault that Isabella had passed away. 

As the pieces clicked together in her mind she felt an inferno roar to life inside her. It burned away the sadness and despair she’d been wallowing in ever since Billy left only to leave behind rage and guilt. The emotions boiled in her stomach, bile climbing up her throat as she stumbled to the bathroom

Collapsing over the toilet, heaving and retching, she knew nothing was coming up but her body worked overtime to expunge the horror she felt in any way it could. Her body spasming as waves of emotions crashed through her system. 

Several minutes passed till she finally felt the nausea start to ebb. Slumping against the wall, she hung her head over the toilet as she took steadying breaths, making sure that her body wasn’t going to rebel again. 

When she lifted her head, she had made a decision. 

~

"Alrigh', alrigh' I'm coming. Quite your bloody knocking you crazy-"

Jean's rant was cut short when he saw (Y/N) on the other side of the door decked out in black athletic gear, hair pulled back in a tight braid. Jean's eyes widened as he made contact with her own eyes. A fire could get started with the steely glint that was reflected back at him. 

"I need you to train me." 

"T-train you?" Jean's hands were instantly coated in sweat as he contemplated what she was talking about. 

"Yes. Like how you trained Billy and Mark. Train me to be a Sky Walker. I can do this." 

Jean rubbed a hand down his face, "(Y/N)...it's late. Maybe we should sleep on this-"

"NO." That one word leapt from her throat in a growl, causing Jean to step back, half shutting the door. Slamming her hand against the door she switched tactics, "Please Jean. There's this prick who's dumping toxic waste into the ocean. So many people were sick and at my hospital because of him." Swallowing thickly, her eyes grew unfocused, "They died...under my watch." 

Jean's shoulders slumped at that admission. With Billy’s death overshadowing everything, he forgot that in her line of work she saw more sickness and death than even he had seen.

But this was the first time since the funeral that he had seen her up and moving. It was the first time that her eyes held any sort of emotion. He couldn’t bear to be the one that extinguished it. He couldn’t do that to her. Or to Mark. 

Heaving a sigh he flung his hands up, "Fine. We start in the morning,” Her eyes widened and a small smile crept across her face as she stepped forward into his apartment until he held a hand out to stop her, “Now let me go back to sleep so I don't pass out on you mid training session and we both die." 

~Three Months After the Funeral~

Are you ready for it? 

The bass thumped through her headphones, as her fists made contact with the punching bag in front of her in time to the beat. Staying light on her toes, she bounded back and forth, jabbing, punching, upper cutting, swaying in and out as she danced around the bag. 

She had been here for hours. The 24-hour gym had cleared out earlier, now it was just her and other people who couldn't sleep or worked weird hours.

As the last line of the song faded she put her hands on her hips, pacing over to her backpack. 

Rooting through it, she located her water bottle, taking long pulls from it as her heart beat slowed down. 

Boxing had been one of the only things that was able to take her mind off of, well, everything. 

That and running. Everyone and their mother had told her to try yoga after they’d heard what happened, telling her it would help to "quiet her mind" but the more time she spent sitting still, the more she could feel Billy's hand slipping from hers as he walked out of her apartment for the last time. 

She gave it up when a panic attack had taken over her system in downward dog. 

Activities that let her be alone, that let her get her aggression out, were the most beneficial. 

Plus, it helped with the Sky Walker training she’d been receiving from Mark and Jean.

After she’d shown up at Jean’s door that night, she arrived on his doorstep bright and early the next morning, knowing that she’d have to knock extra loud to make sure Jean actually woke up. Which is why it shocked her that before she could even knock on the door, Jean had swung it open to reveal him and Mark standing in front of her, looking for all the world like two parents ready to scold their child for staying out past curfew. 

Smirking she shrugged, “Sorry I missed curfew.”

Mark’s mouth twitched and she knew that, with him at least, she was off the hook. 

They had sat her down, gone over basic safety information, how they practiced moves on the ground first so they could get comfortable executing them and then took them up into the air. 

Mark’s heart broke at how alert and interested she was. It was the first time in months he saw her engage with others and it killed him that this was what it was taking to bring her back from the brink. 

Ever since then, she had been training with them to prepare for this mission, to learn the necessary skills she’d need to break in, to keep herself alive. She had convinced Mark and Jean that the plan she had for Chase was a one-woman job. She told them that if she couldn’t pick up on everything in six months then she would let one of them help her on this mission. 

But she knew she wouldn’t need their help. When Mark and Jean taught her how to fight, how to dodge opponents, how to protect herself in a fight, her Nurse Brain kicked into high gear.  

When they’d break down certain tricks she was able to picture the exact muscles, ligaments and bones that would need to be strengthened, how they would need to move to be able to complete the move perfectly. 

She was even able to break down fight sequences just from observing her opponents moves. Looking at how certain muscles tensed, what foot they’d lead with, how their fist was turned, it all helped her get the upper hand in any fight. 

Knowing pressure points and which joints were the weakest were an added benefit during these training sessions. 

(After she almost dislocated Jean’s knee, he had limped away, bellowing about how she needed to seriously remember who the enemy was and it “bloody well isn’t me! I like the ocean! I’ve never even been to Sea World, that’s how much I like the ocean!” 

 All of it added up to her progressing in her training more rapidly than Mark or Jean felt comfortable with.

They couldn’t help being impressed though. She was mastering moves that had taken them years to nail down. But she took to it with a single-minded determinism that worried them, especially Jean. 

Training was all (Y/N) cared or wanted to talk about. Mark told him that she’d started working out at all hours. Lifting, running and boxing being the newest activity she had added to her repertoire and while he felt it was a smart move, he couldn’t help but be worried. Every time she was training, he’d seen a fatalistic look in her eyes. It was a look he was all too familiar with, it was a common look in Sky Walkers. But those individuals were always the highest risk cases.

Those were the Sky Walkers who didn't value their own safety. They kept pushing and pushing until mortality pushed back and said, You want to keep going? Fine. You pushed too far and now I'm going to punish you. 

The worst part was, in his experience, there was no use trying to tell those individuals to slow down. They inevitably sped up to spite the person who told them to slow down. Jean didn't want Mark to lose his sister too. 

After a particularly intense training session, he hesitantly brought it up to Mark who only snorted, 

"I already lost her."

"What do you mean?"

Mark shot him an incredulous stare, "You're kidding right? You've seen how much she's changed since Billy left. That's not my sister. I still hope like hell (Y/N)'s underneath this new exterior but...I don't know who this new woman is. And frankly, I don’t want to know who she is.”

She hadn’t told Mark but she’d heard him say that. She knew she wasn’t the same woman but this was the one thing in her life that had made her feel alive since the funeral. She didn’t want to give it up. 

They’re just going to have to get used to it. She thought as she unwrapped the bright pink wraps from her hands. Rooting through her backpack, she made sure she had everything. Slinging her bag over her shoulders, she queued up her running playlist. 

Striding toward the front door she gave the obligatory head nod to all the members still in the facility. 

Shoving the door open, the wind that had buffeted the building all night slapped her in the face. Eyes tearing up, she adjusted the straps of her backpack, hit play and started to jog back to her apartment. 

Demons!

Come on!

You've got a vision,

You're on a mission!

~~~

He almost missed her. 

The all black clothing she had taken to wearing, combined with how the last vestiges of red in the sky were quickly being overrun by the inky black of the night sky made him worried she’d left without him realizing. 

Seeing the door open, light spilling out and illuminating her form, he breathed a sigh of relief. Watching her jog off into the night, he leapt up from his crouched position on the building next door to the gym. 

Giving (Y/N) a head start, he waited a few beats before taking off after her. Keeping her in his sight but sticking close to the shadows. Every time he saw a form approaching her, he put on a fresh burst of speed; anxiety spiking through his blood at the prospect of her getting in harm's way helping him to power through. After they passed without incident, he breathed a sigh of relief. 

He had done this for a few nights now. 

One had told him they wouldn't head out to HQ for a while, something about needing to wrap things up but he didn't question it. It gave him time to check on her. 

Recently, he was getting nervous that she had started to...he hated sounding like a hippie but...she had started to sense his presence.

Like their souls burned too brightly together so the universe made it so they would never be lost in the dark as long as they were near each other’s light.   

A few weeks ago, he had been following her to her apartment after she left Mark and Jean's. He had been wearing all black, a few feet away, on the roof of a building far above her. 

She had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, tilted her head up and stared right where Billy had been standing. He’d dropped like a rock to the concrete floor of the roof, trying to stifle his breathing, which after almost passing out, realized would be insane if she could hear that. 

There had been several other times where there was no possible way (Y/N) should have been able to tell where he was and yet...

She'd look up, right in the direction of where he was and every time, he sent out a plea, See me. Please. Know that I'm here. That I love you. That I never wanted to leave you. Just, please.

Please don't think I broke my promise.

~Seven Months After the Funeral~

She thought the knuckles on her hand were going to pop out of her skin.

Clenching the steering wheel, she chastised herself for making this process so exceedingly difficult. 

Just let go of the wheel. She scolded herself, Release your finger. Just the pinky finger. It won't be too hard. C'mon, don't be a- 

She cut that thought off quickly. 

Too many memories weighed down four little words and if she wasn't careful, they would drag her into the inky blackness of depression. She couldn't risk it. Not with a mission coming up. 

The breath leaving her mouth shuddered out of her like the wind through an old house. Her chest felt too tight, like each breath made her lungs smaller, not bigger.

This isn't how he'd want to see you. 

Like a flash of lightning, the thought illuminated everything and for a second, the world was crystal clear. Her fingers slipped from the wheel only to land dully in her lap, where they curled in on themselves so they looked like dead bugs. 

Snorting, she figured it would be appropriate they looked like dead bugs considering she was in a cemetery. 

Sun shining down, the sky a cloudless blue, made it impossible to not think of his eyes and how they had looked at her in the full light of day. That one day they’d had together.

Those perfect 24 hours. 

Funny how time constricts and bends so some events pass in the blink of an eye while others pass by like a train at a train crossing when you're running late to work. 

Shaking her head, she bowed her head and closed her eyes. The darkness was a welcome reprieve. But not always.

Sleep had become the bogey man at the end of her bed. Sleeping wasn't a relaxing activity, it was prey she had to stalk and take down before it could get her. It wasn't that there were so many nightmares plaguing her, it was just one nightmare.

It was horrible enough that most nights, she didn't even fully fall asleep, it was more like a deep meditative state. The thought that that one nightmare could overwhelm her was enough to make her not want to sleep ever again. The first time the nightmare came to her was a week after his funeral:

Fog would be swirling around her, swallowing up everything in her path. Taking hesitant steps forward, Billy's form would become clearer as she moved forward. Her heart beat speeding up as she saw Billy peering over the edge of the building. 

Suddenly, realization would crash into her like a train. This wasn't just any building. This was the building that Billy had last been seen running across. Knowing that there was nothing on the other side, she would rush forward to warn him, to pull him back, to crush his body to hers and never let him go.

She needed to warn him, to save him. But no matter how fast she pumped her legs, Billy stayed the same distance away. His legs would tense and that's when she'd start screaming. Her vocal cords stretched to their breaking point as she rushed towards him. But before she could reach him, he'd leap into the air, disappear into the fog and...

That's when she'd wake up. Face wet with tears, the last of her screams dying in her throat. 

She always screamed the same thing. 

Billy! Stay!

The first few times she hadn't realized she was actually screaming those words aloud until a neighbor of hers knocked on her door, asking her if she was okay.

She never knew how to answer that question.

It was such an odd one. Mark and Jean asked her that all the time. Whenever they did, she'd grit her teeth and spit out that she was fine because how else was she supposed to answer that question? 

"Actually Mark, Jean, I'm so glad you asked because I'm not okay and I probably never will be again because the only man I ever loved and trusted, up and broke said trust! Oh, and did I also mention he's dead?"

That's how she wanted to answer their asinine question but by the time she felt like she could get those words out, most people had moved on from Billy. Because people always do.

But not her. 

Though, it hadn't taken long for her to want to sleep with someone else. She figured it would help her heal. 

At the very least provide a necessary distraction.

It was always the same. 

Normally, they'd lock eyes across the bar. Raising her glass of scotch she got every time she went to the same bar with the sticky floors, burnt out bulbs and rickety chairs, she'd lift it towards him in a kind of salute. When he'd smirk back and do the same, she'd quirk an eyebrow only to throw back the drink in one go. The thud of glass on wood signaling to the bartender to pour her another. 

Nine times out of ten, their eyes would immediately become hooded with lust (every now and again, one would take a drink at the same time and choke on his own drink at the action.) A smirk would play across his lips as he'd bring his own glass to his lips and drain it in one go.

Men. God forbid a woman out do them in anything. She always thought ruefully as she'd watch her next victim unfold themselves from the bar stool they were seated on to slip into the empty seat next to her. 

There were rules. She refused to sleep with blondes. She had one time. She had moaned out Billy's name and immediately started crying. When the man with her had tried to comfort her she had pushed him away, screaming at him to get out of her apartment.

The other rule was, no sleepovers. Having men sleep over usually meant they overstayed their welcome and she didn't want them getting comfortable anymore than she wanted to spend the night in a bed that wasn't hers. 

Once the rules had been established, it was the same shit with a slightly different dude. They'd engage in flirty banter, a well-timed arm touch, a glance up at him through her lashes, one more drink and then they'd be in the back of a Lyft, hands everywhere, and then a few hours later she'd be back in a Lyft (one time, the same Lyft driver who had dropped them off had picked her up, alone, offering a hive five as she got out of the car) to go back to her apartment.

Alone. 

Most nights she wondered why she did it. Why she was constantly hunting for that same jolt of electricity that she’d had with Billy. Every time her encounters ended, she always wondered what the point of doing this was. Why did she bother when every man she interacted with came up hilariously short? 

She had tried to make it work, to forget him, but the entire time some man would be kissing her, caressing her, touching her, there was always a part of her that was thinking of another man's tattooed, calloused hands on her body. 

A rap on the window caused her to jump, clenching her hands back into fists as Mark waved, sheepishly, at her from the other side of the glass. The flowers grasped in his fist swayed in the breeze. 

Stepping out of her car, Mark moved to hug her. Holding out her hand to stop him she growled, "I'm already on edge. Don't make it worse." Striding around him and towards the plot of land where the box that Billy was supposed to be in laid dormant under the soil.

A place holder.

Nothing more. 

Mark's shoulders sank as he watched her go. Physical contact had been difficult for her since Billy had gone. It was small, but he noticed. Every time he pulled her into a hug when she showed up at training, she'd stiffen, then it turned into her barely reciprocating until she refused them altogether. It made his heart ache, she used to hug everyone no matter if they had known each forever or four minutes. 

But then again, she'd just become more withdrawn in general. It broke his heart to see it. Watching her light fade and dim, it was like a star becoming a black hole. 

Crunching through the sun dried grass toward the plot, she kept her head down, barreling towards her destination. Figuring that if she walked faster, she could outpace her thoughts before they could catch up with her and the realization of where she was and where she was headed could crush her. 

This was the first time they were visiting Billy's grave since she’d started training to become a Sky Walker. Mark and Jean had tried to get her to go sooner but it hadn't been until Mary asked (Y/N) if she would meet her there did she finally acquiesce.  

The only memory she had of Mary was after the funeral. Watching Mary and her mother walk arm in arm back to their car, their shared grief following them like a cloud. 

At that moment, (Y/N) had envied them. They had each other. Their shared love for Billy would be a balm, it would help them try to heal. She only had herself and her memories. Neither of which were particularly warm or comforting at the moment.

"Whoa, easy." Two hands wrapped around her biceps, bringing her to an abrupt stop. 

Looking up, she was met with the same sky blue eyes that Billy had, framed by lashes that were almost as long as Billy's. Blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, Mary smiled ruefully at her, "Just trying to get this over with huh?" 

Forcing herself to swallow over the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, she nodded wordlessly. Mary's eyes took in her form, noting how her clothes seemed to hang on her, the dull, flinty look her eyes had. Mutely, she linked her arm through (Y/N)'s, pulling her into her side. 

Taking a deep breath, they both turned to look at the headstone in front of them. Seeing his name carved into stone caused her heart to speed up. Scolding herself for being so silly for getting twitter-patted over his name. What was she, fourteen? 

But she couldn't help it. 

"It's weird." 

Humming in acknowledgment, (Y/N) didn't know if Mary meant them being here together, the fact that her brother was dead or just the world in general. 

"It's weird that that little line," Mary gestured toward the line in between the numbers that marked when he had been born and when he died, "is supposed to represent his whole life. Everything he said and did. Everyone he loved."

The emotional toll of hearing those words uttered by his sister caused all of the air in (Y/N)'s lungs to leave, her heart to splinter into even tinier parts. Wobbling, she grasped Mary's arm tightly as Mary wound another arm around (Y/N)'s waist to keep her upright. 

“(Y/N!) Easy, you okay?" 

The weight of Mark's hand on her shoulder helped ground her in reality. Her twisted reality where it wasn't Billy's hand on her shoulder. And it never would be again.

Straightening up, she tugged on the end of her coat, shaking her head, "Yeah. Yes. I'm fine. Just, it's a lot." 

Mark nodded, eyes taking in his sisters appearance, trying not to seem too shocked that this was the most she had revealed her feelings to him, to anyone, in the past few weeks.  

Locking eyes with Mary's blue ones over top of (Y/N)'s head, he mouthed a quick thank you in which she inclined her head to show she understood. 

Mark had been in contact with Mary constantly. First it was getting names of counselors and support groups to help his sister heal, then it turned into them talking and developing a...something. They had developed a relationship that neither were sure what to call but seeing her here caused his heart to flutter. 

Feeling (Y/N)’s shoulders rise and fall, he lifted his arm so she could step out from underneath them, "I'll see you guys later." 

Opening his mouth, Mark tried to protest but when he felt Mary's hand land on his bicep, he closed it. (Y/N)'s all black form grew to be a small speck on the blue horizon. 

He was surprised the whole ground didn't open up to swallow her at that moment. She looked like a specter of death. But he supposed what she really was was worse. She was a casualty of death, and there was no hope for that. 

~Nine Months After the Funeral~

A few months of intense training later, after she had executed one of the most difficult tricks Jean and Mark had designed, Jean finally told her she was ready to go after Chase. 

"Fucking finally." she groaned, wiping the sweat from her face with the bottom of her shirt, “I’m going to rinse off and change, then meet me at my apartment!” she yelled over her shoulder as she raced to the locker room. 

Jean nodded and several minutes later, hair still damp, raised a fist to knock on her front door. Before he could knock, the door swung open to reveal her laptop open and her kitchen table covered with charts, maps and blueprints of Chase’s compound. 

“What took you so long?” 

Jean whistled as he took it all in, "When did you do this?" 

"When I first read that news article about Chase. So..here's what I'm thinking." Laying out her plan, Jean couldn't help feeling impressed. It was foolproof. He was also relieved that all she wanted was to bring Chase to justice, share his personal files with the government and the entire Internet so she could expose him then get the hell out of there.

As she laid out the plan she was careful not to mention how much Chase needed to pay for all the lives he took with his negligence and selfishness. She kept emotion out of her tone, just the facts, as she walked Jean through her plan to bring Chase to justice. 

But she knew justice wouldn’t be enough. 

Justice was never enough for people like that. Because the rules of justice were skewed so men like that always got off scot free. In her heart of hearts, she knew it didn’t matter if she leaked every atrocious thing he’d ever done. He'd be back out in the public eye in a few years and no one would bat an eyelash because he had money, power and privilege. The three most essential ingredients to make any good villain. 

She wouldn't be able to live with herself if this man was able to walk away. If she didn't do right by Isabella, she didn't know how she'd be able to continue living with herself. 

"From there, I'll get the files, download them to the flash drive, hack into the mainframe, deposit them there and then get the hell out. Minimal damage, minimal casualties, maximum impact." 

"That's how most people describe having sex with me." 

"I don't have time to unpack how distressing all of that is right now but, what do you think? Is it doable? And will you and Mark help me?" 

Jean's eyes scanned the blueprints before him. He saw how her fingers were beating an erratic beat on her thighs, how her feet constantly shifted as if she wanted to take off in a million directions at once. This was the most animated he'd seen her in weeks. He knew this may be their only chance to really get her settled, let her burn off some steam with a mission and then they could get her back to her old self. 

Heaving a giant sigh, he hung his head down, "Fucking fine. We'll do it. BUT," his head snapped up and almost felt bad when he saw the smile that had slipped across her face fade. Almost. "You listen to us. Mark and I have final say in all of this. Got it? We've done this before and while you'll be the one in the field, we have markedly more experience so let us do what we do best. Got it?" 

He stuck out his hand for her to shake. Her (Y/E/C) eyes flitted over his features, seeing if he'd break or if he was just pulling her leg. When she saw nothing but sincerity looking back at her, she slipped her hand into his. "Deal." 

Jean almost started crying when a sparkle caught his eye, her thumb had a final bit of pink sparkly nail polish on it, making him wonder if he had made a terrible mistake. 

~A Week Later~

"I'm in." 

Part of her always cringed whenever she said those two words. She couldn't help but think of a shaggy haired, pre-pubescent 12-year old, huddled over their laptop, fingers clacking frantically, the glow of their computer screen the only thing illuminating the Mountain Dew bottles surrounding them.

But, it just came with the job she supposed. 

Creeping along the hall, she checked over her shoulder. Feeling the familiar flutter of adrenaline spike in her stomach, she reached for the package that was hidden in her pocket. As her fingers brushed over its cylindrical shape she felt her shoulders relax. Then, she moved her hand down further to make sure the knife she’d strapped to her thigh was still firmly in place, that really helped her to relax. 

She quickly sent up a thank you to Cassandra, wherever she was, for leaving her knife sharpening kit at Mark’s place. The linoleum underneath her feet reflected the dim red light that ran along the length of the hallway. 

"In 20 feet you're going to reach the checkpoint. Remember, there's a big ass-"

"Grid of invisible wires, yeah yeah. I know, Jean. We went over this a million times." 

"Well, with how little you pay attention during those meetings I'm surprised you can even remember the address." 

"How about you shut the fuck up and let me do my damn job?" she snarled into her comms. 

Blocks away, Jean ripped his headset off to shake his head at Mark who just sighed, eyes never leaving the computer screen where his sisters grainy form was seen lurking towards the wire netting, "I know, dude. I know."

"Fucking Billy. If only he hadn't-"

"Jean. Please. We all still wish he was here. Don't make it harder."

Huffing out a breath, Jean turned back to the keyboard, shoving his headphones back into place as he deactivated the alarms to the rooms (Y/N) needed to get in to. 

Throwing a strand of her hair into the hallway, she nodded when it settled to the floor without getting zapped. 

"You really don't trust me, do you (Y/N)?

"I trust you, I just don't trust the security protocols in this place. A fortress like this has to have backups of the backups." 

"Bitch! That's why we're here!" 

Snorting at how high Jean's tone had gotten, she continued prowling toward the door that led into Chase’s inner sanctum. He didn't let anyone but a select few into the room that was waiting for her at the end of the hallway. It was where he kept all of his documents, where he entertained foreign emissaries and got them to sign off on him dumping his toxic waste in the water because who cared about people's health when he could make a few more dollars? 

Shaking her head to straighten her brain out, she took a deep breath as she tread closer to the intimidating mahogany door that loomed before her. 

Glancing down, she saw the pad to the left of the door, they needed a retinal scan to get in. She waited as from miles away, Mark's hands were flying over the keyboard as he worked his magic. Using a close up image of Chase's eye they had captured a few weeks ago, he embedded it into the code for the lock. When it lit up green she smirked, "Thanks, big brother." 

"Don't thank me yet. Expose that fucking loser and come home safely. Then we can talk." 

Nudging the door open, she made a beeline for the imposing white desk in front of the picture window looking out over, ironically, the ocean. Rolling her eyes, she briskly walked over to his computer. Fingers gliding over the keys, fishing around in the pocket of her black athletic leggings, she cursed, "Why the FUCK do women's pockets always have to be so small."

"It's just another way for the patriarchy to keep you down. Hard on, sister."

Pausing in her actions, she raised her eyes up, fixing on a distant point as she opened and closed her mouth, ready to correct Jean when Mark's voice rang through her comms, "He's got the right spirit. Just let him have this." 

Shrugging, she bent down to the task at hand, inserting the USB, opening up files and dumping them onto the Internet and sending them to the entire UN Embassy, every government official, Greenpeace and the whole world to condemn this monster. 

As she finished uploading the last of Chase’s files to the EPA’s mainframe, she heard footsteps approaching. 

And right on time. 

"Uhh, (Y/N)? Don't mean to alarm you but Chase himself and four armed guards are barreling down on you. Get out the window NOW and meet at the rendezvous point." 

Hearing how Mark's voice shook on the last word caused her to pause for a fraction of a second, wondering if she was making the right choice. Like a flash, she shook herself from her stupor and straightened up. Pulling the USB out of the computer she dropped it into her pocket, reaching a finger up to disconnect her comms, "I know. I planned for it. Sorry boys. I’ll see you on the other side" She clicked her comms off just as she heard Jean and Mark start to protest.  

Closing her eyes, she rolled her shoulders. Reaching back into her pocket she took out the extra package she’d been carrying and set it on the desk.

Carefully, she extracted the vile and needle that was inside. 

When the door burst open, all Chase saw was a woman, silhouetted by moonlight, holding a needle up to the light, tapping it a few times. 

"Nice of you to join me, Chase. Won't you sit down?" she murmured.

"Who the fuck are you, you crazy bitch? I have the entire government on my ass, PETA has threatened with more than one lawsuit and the FBI, EPA and other three letter entities aren't far behind to pick me up and haul me off for the rest of my life. So," he stepped to the edge of the desk, slamming his palms down, "I'll ask one more time. Who.The. FUCK. Are. You?"

Watching the last air bubble pop, she smiled. She had never felt so calm in her life and when her eyes dragged from the needle to meet Chase’s, he was surprised to see a serene looking woman staring back at him. 

"You killed people. So now I'm going to kill you." 

And she lunged forward.

Her hand came down holding the needle, aiming for the largest artery in his neck. Eyes widening, he stumbled back, arms pinwheeling. Knocking the needle from her hand, she watched it twist through the air, the moon reflecting off the glass and then she lost it as it hit the plush carpet without a sound. 

She didn't have too much time to think about it because all of a sudden the four men that had come in with Chase were on her. 

Leaping onto the desk, she wrapped her thighs around the neck of the man closest to her. Thanking Mark for bullying her into never skipping leg day, she squeezed her legs around his neck as he spun wildly, trying to dislodge her. Hands scrambling at her thighs, he dropped to his knees where she unwound her legs from his shoulders, dropping to the ground and turning in one swift motion, she kneed him in the face, turning to the next man as the one on the floor tried in vain to stop the fountain of blood flowing from his nose. 

Another one was right on her as she aimed a punch right to his midsection, hearing an “OOF” leave his mouth, she kicked his legs out from underneath him. As he landed, she raced in between his legs, located his kneecap and with a twist of her wrist, dislocated it with a sharp POP. 

With a howl, he rolled around on the ground as the one with the bloody nose limped over to help. Breathing heavily she turned, only to be faced with the other two bearing down on her. 

Jesus, she thought, Star Wars always led me to believe the bad guys would come at me one at a time. Not all at once. 

It was the last thought she remembered having before she could only focus on trying to make it out alive. 

One of the men grabbed her arm, she grabbed his wrist, finding a pressure point and bore down until his fingers loosened around her wrist. Not letting up, she snapped his wrist and kicked him in the groin. 

As he slumped to the ground, the other one grabbed her ankle, yanking her leg out from underneath her causing her to face plant into the carpet. Her hands scrabbled for anything to hold onto as he dragged her body towards him. Twisting, she reached for her knife. As he reached a hand down toward her throat, she brought it up in one quick motion. 

She rolled away as the man screamed in agony as he searched for his missing finger. Scrambling to her feet, she felt something collide with the back of her head. Her vision began to swim as the carpet came up to meet her face once again. She’d forgotten about the first guard who had been attending to the second man she’d taken down. Now, he stood over her, teeth bared, blood still flowing from his nose, gun cocked and aimed right in between her eyes. 

"Wait!" 

Chase's form became clearer as he knelt down beside her, "You don't deserve to die by a bullet do you?" He cooed as he stroked a finger down her cheek. Turning her head, she tried to snap at his finger but the quick movement caused her to retch. 

Laughing softly, she heard the tap of fingernails hitting a glass vile, "You deserve to die by your own little concoction. It’s much more poetic, don't you think?" 

He leaned over her, bringing his mouth to her ear as he caressed her arm, rubbing two fingers over the crook of her elbow, "Like Romeo and Juliet but, darling Juliet" she hissed as he stabbed the needle into her arm, "This time, Romeo will live. And he'll win." He pressed the release and she felt a tear leak from her eye when suddenly, the world exploded. 

Glass fell over her form like stars falling from the sky as the bright lights of a stealth helicopter illuminated the room. The man with the bloody nose whipped his gun toward the window, firing rapidly but quickly crumpled as someone strode right up to him, and shot him point blank. 

Chase scrambled up, hands out in front of him, "What the fuck is this? Are you CIA? FBI? Listen, I have more money than God, I can set you up for the rest of your life. You'll never have to worry-"

A gunshot was the only answer Chase got. 

"More than one person can have more money than God, ass-wipe." The figure kicked Chase's body as he walked past him, his form swimming before (Y/N) as the poison leaked into her blood stream, "And besides," he knelt down by her form, fingers searching for a pulse, "I use reusable straws because baby turtles are cute as fuck."

Her head lolled to the side as she used the last bits of her strength to see who her savior was. A man with a rugged face stared back as he moved to crouch behind her, cradling her head in his hands as he yelled to someone behind him to hurry the fuck up. 

A second face looked down at her as she felt her eyelids begin to close, the hushed sounds of the man holding her head offering soothing platitudes as she made peace with the fact that she was about to die. 

As the second person rifled through the medical bag they had been carrying, hurriedly pulling out instruments, the last thing she heard was the man whispering into her ear, "Come on darling. Hold on for me. Hold on for him." 

~Three Days Later~

Bright. 

That was her first thought as her eyelids fluttered open and immediately closed upon being assaulted by blinding white light. 

For a wild second she thought she had gone to heaven. 

"I know what you're thinking. Is this heaven? No. It's not. Because if this were heaven I'd be smoking a fat blunt, drinking the finest gin while lying on a nude beach where no living person could bother me. People like you." 

The squeal of chair legs being dragged over the floor caused her to flinch. The voice that spoke was dry, making her wonder if this man ever took anything seriously. And also if he could read minds. 

"Pretty good stunts you pulled out there. You learn that shit from watching Black Widow too many times?" 

Silence. She tried to keep her breath steady so maybe he would think she was still asleep. 

"Sweetheart, I just saw your eyelids crack open a second ago. There's no way in hell you dropped back off to sleep that quickly." 

"Shouldn't I be dead?" It felt like her vocal cords were two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together. The sound that was expunged from her throat was a dry husk.  

"Should be but, like Chase, I have more money than God and a crack team of experts. One of whom happens to know exactly what was in that vial and the antidote for it. You've been stable and asleep for three days now." 

He saw her eyebrows twitch, which he figured was the most reaction he would get out of her. 

Keeping her eyes closed made it easier to digest the information he was throwing at her and to keep her poker face in tact. The voice sounded familiar to her, but she couldn't place where or when, she’d heard it before.

"Is he-?" 

"Dead? Yeah. A half dose of poison most people can come back from, but a bullet right through the skull? Much like Humpty Dumpty, we can't exactly put that back together again." 

She felt her lips twitch and scolded herself for letting any emotion show through. 

"He deserved it."

"I know. And you deserve to use your skills in a better way." Her body stilled, her breath stopped for a beat and when it resumed, the monologue continued, "I have...fuck I hate sounding like Samuel L. Jackson but I have a team. And we could use someone like you." 

Another scraping sound, the soft rustle of fabric moving as the voice sounded like it was coming over her, "Think about it. And I'll contact you. Don't worry. I always keep my promises." 

Her hands clenched, the veins popping out as those five words washed over her like a cold shower.

The clenched hands were all the reaction he needed. 

Hearing his footsteps get softer she reached a hand down and felt a piece of cardstock brush against her finger tips. When the door closed, she cracked open an eyelid to look down at it, but it was blank. 

~~~

Closing the door, One leaned up against the hallway, letting his head knock against the wall of the hospital. 

Four had warned him. 

But this made things incredibly interesting. 

Or difficult. It all depended on how he wanted to view the situation. 

And what she wanted. 

After the funeral, One’d kept a close eye on Four. He knew what kind of pull love could have over a man. And Four was young. The youngest on the team in age, sure, but he let his feelings get the better of him a lot of the time which made him seem even younger. 

Which could be dangerous. And they were already in way too much danger as it was on a daily basis so he needed to nip it in the bud. 

Closing his eyes, he thought about the first time he caught Four. 

~Two Months Ago~

It had been quiet. 

The wind whistled through the various holes that littered the planes, causing sand to get whipped up along with it, tornadoes forming and quickly collapsing. 

One had been awake. He rarely slept but he had been in the Case Room, going over some files. Trying to decide what their next mission needed to be when he heard a noise. 

Keeping his body still, he strained his ears to see if he would hear it again. When he heard the floor creak, he crept to the door, peering out to see who or what it could possibly be. 

Seeing the familiar shape of Four's hoodie, he rolled his eyes. When he saw him creep into the control room, he became suspicious. He knew how tempting the draw was to check on the ones you cared about. But with how emotionally fragile Four had been since he'd joined, he didn't think this was the best idea, but he needed to confirm that’s what he was doing before he blew up on the kid. 

Pushing the door open, he walked down the hallway, being careful to tread lightly so as not to alert Four to his presence till he absolutely needed to. 

Using his years of training, he placed his body precisely so he could look into the room but Four wouldn't be able to see him should he look around. Which, he didn't think would be an issue. Four was engrossed by the screen in front of him, One didn't think a nuclear explosion would cause him to look up. 

Taking his chances, he slunk into the room. Four had footage of an apartment pulled up on the screens. Three people, two guys, one girl, standing around a table. Four had headphones on so One couldn't hear the audio but it looked like the individuals on screen were in the middle of an intense argument. 

Nibbling his thumbnail, Four's eyes were laser focused on the woman as she gesticulated wildly. Blueprints, computer screens and maps littered every available surface of the apartment and One recognized the planning stages of a mission. He got a little closer and recognized the girl on screen as the same one who had been at Four's funeral. 

Four had told him his background on the trip over to HQ. One figured the other two were the ones that were left over from his original Sky Walker crew. 

(He’d roasted Four about that dumbass name for weeks afterward.)

Shaking his head, One heaved a sigh and reached forward to snatch the headphones off Four's head. 

"HEY! Who the bloody hell-" Four's frame twisted up and out of the chair only to come to an immediate stop when he saw who had his headphones dangling from their fingertips. 

"Didn't know The Bachelorette had a new season running! Are they in the hometown segment?"

Four blinked at him, "It's really distressing you know that much about The Bachelorette." 

"What's really distressing is the fact that you're checking up on her. What the fuck do you think you're doing Four?" 

"Look, I'm sorry but-"

"No. There are no buts here. Even if her butt is really nice, you gotta put it behind you dude. Especially her."

"I know that, One but-"

One had started pacing back and forth as he warmed to the topic before him, "Do you know how much money is on the line here? How much is at stake? Our lives, our very existence, this could all blow up at any point and we could die. For real. Or, even worse, the government comes in, blows up our spot and we get sentenced to death. Or worse, jail.  And you yourself have such fond feelings of, what did you call them? The pigs?" One shot Four a disgruntled look at that statement, noting how Four's hands were clenching and unclenching in an attempt to stay cool. 

"Look, One, I just-"

Rounding on him, pointing a finger in his face One roared, "No, Four, you just. You clearly don't want to be part of this team. Clearly I made a mistake in asking you to be part of this if you can't get over the little school girl crush you have on this girl you slept with once and she sucked your dick so well that you mistook it for love-"

His air supply was cut off as Four slammed One up against the wall. The tattoos decorating his hand popped against his skin as he gripped One’s windpipe in a steel trap. For the first time since bringing Four onto the team, One was truly afraid of him and understood why he was so good at what he did. 

The look in Four's eyes cowed One immediately as Four growled out the next few sentences, "You listen up right here, right now you fucking prick," Slamming his head back into the wall One saw stars, "Her name is (Y/N) and she is worth more than any person on this damn planet. She's the best person I’ve ever been with and I’m damn lucky she even deigned to give me the time of day. She’s the reason I even joined this bloody insane operation, so show some fucking respect or I'll have no problem slitting your throat and moving on with my life." 

One's vision was getting black around the edges as he frantically nodded his head at Four’s words. Four let him go where he collapsed to the floor on hands and knees, coughing as Four paced around the room, scrubbing at the shaved sides of his head with his fists. 

After a few seconds of coughing, One rubbed at his throat as he pushed himself up, "You're fucking crazy, dude. Really glad I recruited you. That's the kind of attitude we need out in the field." 

Four shook his head as he let out a humorless laugh as One brushed his hands off, "You don't understand One. You never will." 

"Cut the emo bullshit. We're not in Twilight. We're adults, just tell me what-" He stopped as Four  swiftly turned to face him, eyes pleading,

"She became a Sky Walker, One. She's doing what I used to do because she doesn't think her life has any meaning and that's bullshit. She's my everything, okay? She's the reason I get up in the morning. She's the reason I do this damn job. She's the reason I keep myself alive out there. She's my guiding light. She's the sunshine on a cloudy day and-and” he waved his hands around uselessly as he tried desperately to pull another cliche from thin air, “I don’t know, man. She’s every other cliche you know about how someone makes your world better and she's putting herself at risk because of me" 

One stood stock still as Four took another deep breath in, the fire in his eyes going from an inferno to embers as he stared at the screen where it showed her bending over the blueprints, tracing a line with her finger, "She's the love of my life and-" taking a shuddery breath in One felt his own eyes start to get misty, "Her light is the one thing that keeps me going in this miserable world. And if she's gone, I don't know if I'll make it." A tear made its way down One’s cheek as Four admitted this last part on a whisper. 

One wasn't sure he was supposed to hear that last part but there was stillness as the room held its breath as it waited for what One would have to say, 

"Alright. What do you need from me?" 

Four's eyes snapped to One's. Stepping closer to One, his eyes roved over his face, trying to tell if he meant it, "You're not messing with me are you?" 

"Not in this regard. Probably over something else I will but, what would make you feel better?"

Four took a second to contemplate it, "If she does seem like she's in trouble with this mission, we rescue her.” His eyes widened as he took another step closer to One, “AND, you offer her a spot on the team."

"Four-"

"One it's this or you lose me for good if she-she- '' Four's voice cracked as he turned his head away. Not even able to finish that horrible thought. 

One’s heart squeezed in his chest. Christ, he thought, I’m more invested in their relationship than any bystander should be.  

Groaning, One rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Fucking fine. I'm so going to regret this but...fuck it. If it seems like things are going sideways, we'll step in. I'll offer her a place on the team." Four started to smile but One stepped forward, pointing a finger in his face, "You have to meet with her before she makes her final decision though. I can offer it to her but she gets the final call if she wants to do this thing with us. With you. Got it?"

Nodding frantically, Four closed the gap between the two of them and wrapped One in a hug, "Oh, so we talk about our feelings for two minutes and all of a sudden we're into hugs? Weird."

Four let him go and with one last look at the screens, bade One goodnight. 

Watching him leave, One turned to the screens, watching her analyze the blueprints, writing notes on them occasionally. Leaning on the back of the rolling chair One sighed, "Oh (Y/N), you have no idea what you've done."

~~~

Reaching into his pocket, One slide his phone out, shooting a quick text to Four, 

She’s awake. And alive. Now we wait. 

Heaving a sigh, he glanced down the hallway to see Seven approaching. Making eye contact with One, he raised his arms up as if to say, Well? What's happening?

"Fuck if I know. She's insane.” At Seven’s bug eyed look he quickly backpedaled, “In a good way. I don't think she's insane in, like, a psychological way. Just grieving."

"Oh good because grief is such a good emotion to grapple with in this line of work. Oh, and by the way did we mention that the man she’s grieving is actually alive and well?" 

"You know, sarcasm is really ugly on you. Luckily, I'm not ugly so I can wear sarcasm well." 

Snorting, Seven slumped against the wall next to One, letting his own head thud softly against the wall. Crossing his arms they both stared ahead at an unknowable future.

Seven broke the silence, "What really happens now, One. I mean, I know she's good, we all saw her in action. Taking out all four of those guards? Her entire plan was foolproof. It was impressive, no doubt but this is a tricky situation, one that none of us has ever had to deal with before." 

"I know, I know." One let those four words out on a single huff of breath. Groaning he squeezed his eyes closed, "Why did I have to pick the one man on this earth who's desperately in love with a girl who so happened to be desperately in love with him and then they both went full Batman when they lost each other?"

"Because you see yourself in Four. That's why."

One's eyes slid over to Seven, "That doesn't leave this hallway."

Nodding once to show he understood, Seven pressed himself up. Twisting his body so he was facing One, his posture the only remnant to remind everyone he was once the perfect soldier, "But seriously One, what now. What can I do?"

Pressing his hands against the wall, One heaved himself up with a grunt, "Solve this for me?" The single eyebrow raise was the only answer he got, "Alright, alright. Come on. We need to go back and debrief everyone on this crazy shit. Don't know how I'm going to use small enough words to explain this to Three." 

"You're on your own for that one dude." Seven laughed as they ambled down the hall, laughter dying on his lips his face fell into a serious mask, "How do you think Four's going to handle it?" 

"If I knew I wouldn't be having this charming heart-to-heart with you." 

"Seriously man, you're not even a little bit worried?"

"I'm freaking out dude!" Seven was brought up short as One rounded on him, gesticulating wildly, "This is no man's land! Even more so than this original idea! Four's so deep in his feelings with this girl and she's clearly heartbroken about him being gone and is on a one-woman train toward self-destruction that she's determined to meet him in death and” One’s eyes widened comically, “Ooooh my god I've Romeo and Juliet-ed them. Holy shit, I'm the Nurse. I'm too beautiful to be The Nurse!" 

Gently prying One's hands from his collar, Seven looked him dead in the eye, "You have got to get a grip. You're spiraling and it's making your eyes go in two different directions."

Crushing his eyes closed, One took a deep breath in, "You're right. You're right. I need to get it together. We can handle this." Stepping back One hopped up and down on the balls of his feet, punching the air, "I need you to slap me." 

The crack of Seven's palm making contact with his cheek sent One staggering back several steps. 

"OW! What the fuck? No hesitation? No asking if I was sure?"

"I've been wanting to do that since the day you broke into my apartment." Seven shrugged as One glared at him, cupping his pink cheek.

"Fine, but it did help clear my head. So. Thanks. I guess."

Seven smirked.

"Alright, the plan. Let's talk to Four first. He needs to understand that for this to work, he needs to talk to her one on one. And it has to be her call. We can't influence her. If she wants in, fine but they need to work through their shit. And if she says no? Then we let her walk back to her life. And Four needs to respect that. He has to let her go." 

"Easier said than done. I've seen his face when he looks at pictures of her on his phone." 

"Yeah well, bet you didn't know he's also been following her? Keeping watch over her via surveillance tapes? And tracking her home?”

That brought Seven up short, "No? What the fuck?"

"I know. If it was anybody else's story I would have called the cops ages ago. As it is, it’s kind of romantic"  

~A Week Later~

"We're all ghosts down here. Except, we don't float. One because gravity's intact and two because I'm not a cannibalistic clown." 

"Could've fooled me." 

"Didn't know I recruited fucking Tina Fey over here. Anyway, here's headquarters. Or home sweet home." One said in that same drole way he had of phrasing everything.  

Walking through the punishing desert to get to the graveyard of felled planes had caused a shiver to pass through her. She did her best to suppress it but it was difficult. Passing through the giant hulking masses of steel caused her to feel like she was encroaching on the territory of ancient deities. The area felt loaded with their silence, the carnage keeping a silent watch as their footfalls disrupted the grains of sand that were being buffeted by the wind that swirled through the gaping openings in the bellies of the planes.  

It had been a week since she’d been discharged from the hospital, well, not hospital, but the private sanctuary One had kept her at while she healed.

He had come into her room the day after he had left his card, shock on his face at seeing her sitting up, arms crossed. 

"What the hell do you do and how do I fit into it?" 

The single eyebrow she raised at One prompted him to explain, in detail, everything they did and what it would entail. 

She’d been silent, eyes focused on his face, not making any sounds or moving until he finished his spiel. Then nodding, she asked one question, 

"When do I start?" 

He explained that her death would be easy to fake since she had technically almost died anyway. What he he hadn't told her was he hadn’t made it public just yet, he didn't want to make her brother and friend worry too much. Or give them a false alarm only for her to waltz back from the dead if she couldn’t handle being with Four. 

So, here she was, following One up the stairs of the largest plane carcass. Pushing aside the plastic curtains that did their best to keep sunlight, sand and bugs out, he extended an arm in an exaggerated bow. 

"I do hope it's to your liking Princess." 

"Don't call me that you prick." She murmured as she breezed past him, pausing in the doorway to let her eyes adjust to the dim interior of the plane after being out in the searing sunlight. 

The main room held more computer monitors than she had ever seen. She thought Mark's setup of four monitors had been impressive but the wall of screens staring back at her made her realize how rookie their operation had been. 

A large silver table in the middle held a commanding presence and she knew, instinctively, that One felt most comfortable at the head of it, barking orders while still being able to hit the group in front of him with a sarcastic jab or two. 

Taking a few hesitant steps forward she peered at the weapons lining the back wall. Snorting, she gestured to it lazily, turning her head to pierce One with a gaze, "You preparing for the apocalypse or do I require this much of a security detail?" 

One's face broke into a fake smile as he leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees as he wheezed a few times, "Oh my god, sweetheart, oh god, please, stop, my stomach, it can't take the hilarity anymore, please, god." With that last word the smile dropped from his face and he stood up straight, crossing his arms over his chest, 

"We're a group of vigilantes that have a specific subset of skills that makes us some of the most dangerous people on the planet. We go after the people that are even more dangerous than us. You think we just talk about our feelings and politely ask them to stop committing human rights atrocities?" 

Brushing past her he shook his head, "Unbelievable." Muttering about new blood while he started down the hallway. 

Eyes dancing over the various boards lighting up, she had the unmistakable sense that someone was watching her. One had told her there were five more that she would meet so she wondered if one of them was about to jump her as a weird sort of initiation. 

But when she turned her head to the entrance, there was nothing. 

Just the wind, blowing the plastic flaps back and forth. Scanning over the area she could have sworn the darkest corners contained something that was intrigued with her. Taking a hesitant step forward, One's voice jolted her out of her paranoia, "Hey, Amy Poehler, you coming to share more of your classic wit with the whole class or are you just going to dilly dick around all day? C'mon, I'm a busy man." 

"Coming!" She yelled back, turning on her heel to jog down the hallway after him, turning her head one last time to make sure no ghosts were following. 

~

Billy breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that today was the day he’d have to face her. He and One had discussed it extensively last night. One had been adamant, don't get attached to her being on the team before she explicitly says she wants to stick around, you know the rules, I know Seven changed things a little but this is getting into a whole new territory of softness and on and on while Billy had just sat there, taking it. 

One finally ran out of steam (Billy wondered, not for the first time, if One had a coke addiction to get all the energy he needed) and Billy nodded his head, chewing over everything One had just said. He opened his mouth, preparing to show One how much he understood, how this was him only looking out for the team and adding a valuable asset. What came out of his mouth surprised him and One, 

"I love her. I need her or else I won't make it through this life alive." He lifted his eyes to One and One took a sharp intake of breath. He had never seen Billy so open, so vulnerable. Even when he had been on the brink of dying, twice. 

Searching his blue eyes, One sighed, dragging a hand over his face, squeezing his eyes shut as he scrubbed at his hair, groaning, "Fuck me, I must be getting soft in my old age. FINE. But remember. You have to talk to her. If you two can't work through your shit, she's gone. Poof. Vamoose. Got that? This is her choice. She gets to make the call if she stays, if she wants to work with you and if she leaves. Not you. Capisce?"

Billy nodded, trying his hardest to mask the eagerness he felt at the possibility of being with (Y/N) again. Being around her light, feeling that same pull into her warmth. 

So, how could anyone blame him for wanting to see her as soon as she stepped foot into headquarters? 

He had lurked in the shadows, pulling his hood over his hair, making sure his eyes were concealed. His eyes were her favorite part of him, she had told him during those amazing 24 hours they had shared together. 

Billy couldn't believe it had been 365 days since they had seen each other. It felt like it had gone by so fast. But then again, he’d been all over the world, fighting bad guys and overthrowing dictators, (Y/N) had been living her life. 

And started Sky Walker training which he was going to have to talk to her about that. 

When she walked in, Billy had shrank even farther into the shadows, biting his tongue till he tasted blood, so he wouldn’t scream out her name. 

It was still the same (Y/N) he’d fallen in love with, longer hair, more muscles but what really threw him was her eyes. They were the same color but the warmth that he had come to love was extinguished. Replaced with a flinty resolve that if anyone talked or looked at her, they would get their ass kicked. 

It was the first time that he started to wonder if maybe this was the best idea. And let himself ponder the idea that she could potentially say no. That she wouldn't want to see him. That she would never be able to forgive him.

But he needed to know. He needed to try, he needed to show up for himself and for her. To show her that he still loved her, that he had always loved her. 

Stepping out of the shadows, he pulled his hood down, making his way to the meeting room where they’d be waiting for him.  

It wasn't till he brought his hand down from his hood that he realized his hands were shaking.

~

"Hola, Papi. Who's this lovely lady sitting here? My birthday isn't until next week." Three smirked as he pulled a chair out for himself, aiming a lazy wink at (Y/N). Her months of seducing men just like him in bars kicked in and she winked back, letting a slow smile crawl across her face. 

An intimidating blonde woman kicked his chair as she sank into her own, "I meet your mother and this is the thanks I get?" 

"You know I didn't mean it mi amor. I've only got eyes for you."

"And apparently any other attractive woman in a six mile radius." She extended her hand to (Y/N), "I'm Two. Nice to meet you."

Grasping Two’s hand in her own, she shook it, impressed with the strength of the woman's grip. 

"Well, since you and Two are so happy together, this is my time to shine. I'm Seven." Seven grabbed her hand, pulling it up to his lips and pressed a kiss to it, holding her prone in his stare. He pulled back, winking at her and she felt a blush climb into her cheeks, "(Y/N). You have a much better chance than Three does at getting into these Nike leggings." 

Seven's jaw dropped as One made a retching noise and Five stepped forward, extending her hand "I don't want to get into your leggings but I’m glad there's someone else here who's trained to keep these idiots alive." 

(Y/N) shook her hand, smiling back at her, "Surprised they've lasted this long with just one doctor."

"You and me both." Rolling her eyes she turned to One, "This the one we picked up from Casewell’s joint?” 

��The very same” was One’s reply as he flicked through the folder in his hands. 

Five’s eyebrows rose up as a low whistle escaped her lips, “Shit. Well, I’m definitely glad you came around then. I’m assuming you’re the one who brought the vile of polonium?” 

(Y/N) nodded, very aware of every eye in the room assessing her, sizing her up. It was like being in a room with Cassandra but multiplied by five.

“We saw you in action. Very impressive.” Two chimed in, crossing her arms over her chest. 

Everyone else nodded as she tried her best to tamp out the flush of appreciation building in her cheeks. Snorting, she deflected, “Thanks. I guess you guys couldn’t have stepped in earlier to help, huh?” 

“Sweetheart that’s not really our style. And in case you missed the chopper outside the building, we’re very particular about our style.” Flinging the folder down on the table, One braced his hands on the back of a chair, “So, now you’ve met everyone. The whole Brady Bunch of chucklefucks before you.” 

(Y/N) had been mentally going over everyone's names in her head, when she furrowed her brow, "Hold on, either I’m dumber than I thought or your numbers are all out of whack. Where are Six and Four?"

Seven flicked his eyes to Two. Five shifted in her seat, opening her mouth when One cut her off, "Six is no longer with us and Four will be in shortly. I wanted you to meet the whole team first, get a feel for us, then meet Four and make your decision if you'd want to stay with us."

Cocking her head she flicked her eyes to One, "Why? Is Four like a 4Chan meninist who hates women? Why would he be the catalyst for whether I stay or go?" 

Since meeting him, this was the first time she had seen One at a loss for words. It made her pulse speed up, clenching her hands into fists she tried to ignore the moisture that had started to accumulate on her palms. 

One opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, only to sigh and rub the bridge of his nose as he moved to the door of the meeting room they had been in, "It's probably easier if we just get this over with. Alright. Everyone out. C'mon hurry up." He waved his hands impatiently at the rest of the team standing around. Reluctantly they all started to move, Seven and Three grumbling about how they didn't want to miss any of the drama. Everyone stopped when her chair clattered to the floor, hands clenched at her sides as she took a step toward the door. 

"What drama? One? What's going on?" She hated how shaky her voice came out but she couldn't help it. What did they mean? Was Four their muscle? Was it a weird hazing thing? Would she have to try to kill this person? Try to make it out of this room alive? 

One was standing half in and half out of the doorway, hand closed over the door knob. Turning back, he locked eyes with her (Y/E/C) ones.  

Her blood ran cold. He looked, sorry. Almost like he pitied her. She was pretty sure One didn't  have feelings so to see this much emotion directed at her? 

She was terrified. 

"It'll all make sense. Just...do what you think is right. Okay? You seem like a smart kid. Trust your gut."

And with those cryptic words he left, shutting the door. Sealing her in to wait for this new threat to emerge. 

~

One walked out of the conference room and ran right into Billy. 

"Jesus, kid. Any closer to me and you'd need to buy me dinner and drinks before that shit."

Billy's eyes looked right through One, "Is she in there? What did you tell her? What's she like? What did she say?" 

One held up his hands to cut off the avalanche of questions, "Yes. The bare minimum by introducing her to everyone. She's like how she was a few minutes ago when you were spying on her, don't think I didn't see you, and she hasn't said anything that I would write home to my own mother about. Oh, except she did tell Seven he could get into her Nike leggings." 

Billy's eye widened and he twisted his body to where the sounds of the team were filtering back to the two of them, "I'll kill him myself if he even laid a fucking hand on her, I swear to god."

"Woah, hey kid. Easy. It was just some harmless flirting and besides, (Y/N)'s a grown ass woman who can make her own decisions. You don't get to dictate who she does and doesn't sleep with."

Billy's eyes were unfocused as he clenched and unclenched his hands. One took stock of the bundle of nerves before him and felt his shoulders droop a little. 

It was times like this that really drove home young Four was. He was the most vulnerable (in terms of emotions and in how little protection he had during missions) and after hearing how he really felt about (Y/N), well, it caused One's own shriveled heart to grow two sizes too big after hearing it. 

Even though sometimes when he heard her name, he could still feel Billy’s hand clamping down around his windpipe. 

He didn't fault Four for it. Seeing how she reacted at the sight of Four's grave almost made him cave and push Four forward, yelling at her to stop crying.

It ripped his heart apart, especially because it made him think about the family he still had out there.   

Sighing, he placed his hands on Billy's tense shoulders, feeling the muscles and sinews so tight he was surprised they didn't snap, "Hey. Hey. Look at me." Billy dragged his eyes away from the door and to One's face, "Don't go in there all freaked out. I think I already stressed her out a little bit so...be cool, okay? And remember, respect her decision. I'll give you all the space you need if she leaves but...respect her choice. That's top priority. Got it?" One gave Four's shoulders a gentle shake so he knew that Four had heard what he’d said. 

Feeling Four's joints loosen as he took stock of his words, One slapped him on the back as he walked back down the hallway, "Also, just a heads up, we will be watching this whole interaction over the feeds so just keep that in mind if you two decide to start fucking." 

~

(Y/N) had been pacing the perimeter of the room, checking for cracks, a hidden door, something so she could get out of here alive. She didn't have any weapons on her. Well, except a Swiss Army knife but that barely counted. 

Running her finger tips over the walls she felt her heart clench as she looked at her busted fingernails. They were cropped short and bare. She missed her pink sparkly nail polish. She carried it with her everywhere though. She always figured that when she started feeling better she'd paint her nails again. So far, it was still unopened. 

Hearing the door knob turn she inhaled sharply, whipping around so her back was pressed into the farthest corner of the room. Her fists clenched and her thighs prepared to pounce or run, whichever came first. Hearing her heart pounding in her chest she took a deep steadying breath as the door opened wider, allowing light to come spilling in, illuminating a silhouette in the doorway. 

She couldn't make out any features under the hood they were wearing. The light in the room was dim and compared to the fluorescent lighting in the hallway, she had to squint to try to make out any features this individual had. Her heart beat sped up the tiniest bit when she realized the figure was built like Billy. 

Then the figure cleared their throat and closed the door behind them. Taking cautious steps into the light. She opened her mouth, "Are-are you Four?" The figure stopped abruptly and nodded in response to her question. She wondered briefly if they were a mute as she ran a hand through her hair. 

Billy's heart almost fell out of his chest when he saw that her hand was shaking as she pushed her hair out of her face. He so badly wanted to be the one to do that he had to plant his feet more firmly on the floor so he wouldn’t race to her.

"They, uh, they haven't assigned me a number yet and I know you all don't do names here so, I guess we gotta wait for me to really introduce myself but I'm the new recruit. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand, stepping forward. 

After a tense moment, Billy extended his. 

She cocked her head to the side when she noticed Four's hand was shaking. She looked up at him but she still couldn't make out his face with the lighting and his hood. She could just see his bottom lip and she was surprised when she felt her stomach clench at the sight of how full and pink it was. 

Looking down, she clasped her hand in his and felt her blood run cold. 

Running along Four's fingers were tattoos.

Tattoos that were identical to the kind that Billy had.  

Lifting her head up seemed to take an eternity to Billy. 

He held his breath as her other hand reached up, index finger extended, shaking like a leaf in a storm as she brought it within millimeters of making contact with the tattoos she had traced so lovingly during those 24 hours. 

"You bastard." 

~~~

Tag List: @itsabenthing @vroboat @mrhoemazzello @gwendolyns-stacy @alliwantfromyouistomakelovetome @desperatelytryingtosavemyself​ @jonesyaddiction​ @xtrashmammalstefx​ @radiob-l-a-hblah​ @fairestkillerqueenofall​

[gwaciechang]

Stars, Hide Your Fires (1/5)

“Roll away your stone I will roll away mine Together we can see what we will find Don’t leave me alone at this time For I am afraid of what I will discover inside”

There’s dubcon kissing and touching in this because Dixie’s a prostitute and Laurie doesn’t actually want to sleep with him when they pay him. Specifically, when the elevator door closes, and after they’ve eaten pasta.

I’ve never hired a sex worker before, so I don’t know whether the prices here are correct or not. I’ve also never actually watched Murder on the Home Front, just gifs, nor do I actually want to, so if somebody could link me to a compilation of just Dixie’s scenes, that’d be great.

If you want to be tagged in future installments for this, please let me know by either commenting or replying to it. Thanks!

Somewhere, a person falls from an iron maiden into the arms of a scared stage manager. Elsewhere, a person is driving the man they don’t know they’ve married to a methadone clinic. And in a different place entirely, someone is playing guitar to their neighbor.

Meanwhile, you’re taking a garbage bag full of moldy cakes to the dumpster.

“You going to be okay?” Shelley asks.

“It’s five steps from the door, what's going to happen? The cakes become sentient and try to eat me back?” you offer him your most reassuring smile. “Go home, Shelley. Let me close up today.”

“Drive safe,” Shelley says as he walks to his car. You have no doubt that he’s actually going to sit in his car until he sees you leave. Well, this shouldn’t take you more than five minutes.

It does, because you almost step on a person about to go down on someone.

You let out a little shriek, which makes the man look up. You forgive him immediately, because he’s really, really attractive. He’s not really dressed for the night chill, and you can see suppressed shivers. The warmest thing on him is the old-fashioned cap you think you’ve seen in a museum somewhere, beneath which shone perceptive eyes in a sharp, elfin face.

“Hey!” you croak out. “Not here!”

“I paid good money for this,” the woman above him snarls

You hold your ground. “I don’t care, you still can’t fuck at the back of this restaurant. Just be glad my manager isn’t the one who caught you.”

The woman opens her mouth to yell at you, but the man in the old-timey hat gives you both a swollen-lipped, charming smile. “I won’t charge you while we find better accommodations,” he runs a finger down her cheek.

“Alright, dearest,” the woman smiles back cloyingly, and then they’re gone. You breathe a sigh of relief as you go inside and hang up your apron.

The day had been terrible. One of the cooks had burned a steak that Shelley had to remake while trying to keep them from crying. A waitress had spilled watermelon juice on a customer, so then Shelley had to sweet-talk them from yelling at her. And that brought you to now, hours and possibly days after someone had knocked the plug for the dessert freezer, turning all the cakes moldy. You end up having to take another fifteen minutes to drop all the cakes into the dumpster, mourning the time the newbie baker spent making them, and ignoring the grunts coming from far too closely.

By the time you finally get to your car, even Shelley has clearly decided to leave, but the man in the old-timey hat is still in the street corner, leaning against the wall of the building that always smells like burning chemicals of some sort. You walk up to him, intending to thank him for saving your ass earlier.

He looks you up and down before licking his lips lasciviously. “Looking for a good time?” he walks closer.

You're not stupid, you know prostitutes frequent this area, but it’s never been your business. Everybody has to make money, and as long as nobody gets hurt-

And now he’s close enough that you can see the swelling around his eye. You have to squint to see the bruise, meaning it’s been covered up by a practiced hand.

“Who hurt you?” you step closer to him.

“No one,” his smile doesn’t fade, but he visibly tenses.

“Then who punched you in the face?” god, you need to stop being as frank as your roommate. Blunt might serve Alex well, but you’re not a journalist, you’re waitstaff. “Never mind, what’s your name?”

“Matt,” he lies.

“Okay, ‘Matt,’ How much do you charge?”

Just like that, the Cheshire grin is back. “A hundred an hour, double if you want to do weird shit.” He looks you up and down again, slower this time, deliberate, like he’s undressing you. “But for you, I think we could negotiate.”

“How much for a whole night?”

“Matt” scoffs, “No offense, but I don’t think you can afford a whole night.”

You think about how much food you have left in your apartment, how long it’s been since Alex has had an article, how there’s the outline of another bruise below “Matt’s” collar, and your mind’s made up. “How much?”

“Matt” looks surprised, and it takes a while for the smile to return. “Five hundred,” he says finally, “half up front, half in the morning.”

“I’m guessing you need it in cash?” your last roommate was a meth addict, you learned how this works. “I have to hit the ATM. My car’s this way,” you wave him along.

“Wow, hot, rich, and smart,” he falls into step with you. “You’re going to be fun.”

You blush, even though you know it’s his job to pretend to be attracted to people. “Not rich, just financially savvy.”

“Except when you hire a prostitute for the whole night,” “Matt” points out.

“You’ve got a point,” you shake your head at yourself.

The moment the elevator doors close, “Matt” gets into your space, pushing you up against the wall and sliding a hand down to squeeze your ass.

You push him off you with a yelp. “What the hell?”

“It’s what you’re paying for, gorgeous,” his whisper is hot, but his lips and hands are cold. “Calm down, let me take care of you,” he keeps his grip on your ass when he presses his hips forward, and, okay, this has to stop before you lose your mind.

Thankfully, the elevator dings right then, and “Matt” straightens out, wiping his kiss-swollen lips and walking out like a normal person. He stays silent until you both enter your apartment, where Alex is sitting in front of their computer munching on a block of cheddar cheese like some sort of heathen. Their eyes narrow as they take in you, then “Matt.” Too late, you remember the “investigative” part of “investigative journalist.”

“A threesome is extra,” “Matt’s” eyes go wide as he looks between the two of you.

Alex’s jaw drops, as does the piece of cheddar in their mouth. “Laurie, what did you do?”

“Matt” covers his face with his hands and groans. “You’re not going to try to peddle the Bible to me, are you?”

Alex snorts. “As if either of us are in a position to preach.”

“Sinners, both of us,” you agree, grabbing your handtowel out of the bathroom and running warm water over it. “Come, sit on the toilet,” you motion.

“Matt’s” eyes squeeze shut as you wipe the makeup off his face, even though you’re going as gently as you can, to reveal the purple ring around his eye.

“Put some ice on that,” Alex says at the door, holding a bag of frozen peas out to you.

“Matt” says nothing, but judging from the unhappy tilt to his mouth, he’s probably only letting this happen because he’s getting paid.

“Thanks,” you take it from them gratefully and have “Matt” press it against his face. “So, you hungry?” you ask, walking out to the kitchen.

“What do you want?” “Matt” asks flatly, “I’m not complaining, but six hundred dollars is a bit much for a therapy session.”

“It’s cold out,” you say lightly. “Days like these, I know I want to eat something hot.”

“Matt” thrusts the bag of frozen peas back to you. “I don’t need saving.”

“I know,” you don’t tell him that you’re lonely. You also don’t tell him that the last three people you saw around the building he came out of were dead.

There must be something in your face that gets his approval, because “Matt” puts the bag of peas back on his face. “Macaroni and cheese,” he says, before sitting stiffly on the couch.

“The macaroni I can do,” you dig the box of pasta out of the cupboard. “Unfortunately, the cheese,” you nod to the cheddar in Alex’s hand.

They shove the rest of the cheese in their mouth, probably just out of spite. But then they wave you into their room, just after you put the pasta in the pot to boil. They lean down to the safe they have in the corner, next to the closet, and opens it to reveal more money than you’ve ever seen at once. “When you get the sort of assignments I do, you learn to keep a thousand dollars in cash ready to go,” they say ruefully. “How much do you need?”

“I can’t-”

“Can he?” Alex cants their head to the guest in the living room.

You take the money. For some reason, Alex takes their laptop and shuts their door after this. Music blares from their room, and then it’s just you and “Matt” in the living room.

You sit uncomfortably at the dining room table across from him, and you eat in silence. “Here,” you say finally, handing over the other half of the five hundred.

“Matt” doesn’t touch it, instead coming to stand in front of you. In between one blink and the next, he’s straddling you.

“Matt-”

“Let’s figure out how to make you feel good,” he murmurs against your jaw before swooping down to kiss you, hot, wet, and absolutely filthy. His lips curve against yours when you shiver from it, and only now do you realize you’ve been kissing back. He tastes like your boxed pasta, like mint, like that weird burnt chemical smell from the building he came out of.

You wrench away. “Jesus, stop, fuck!”

“Matt” frowns at you. “Why?”

“Fuck, I don’t need-” your voice cracks. “You don’t have to do anything. I’m sorry,” your legs are shaking too hard to stand up, but “Matt” gets off you regardless and sits on the couch.

“I’m clean,” “Matt” says quickly. “I go to the clinic every week. You need to see the test results?”

“No,” you manage to stand mostly without staggering. “I only have sex with people who want it.”

“Matt” scoffs. “Well I want what you paid me for,” he nods to the money that’s still on the kitchen table.

“Well, I paid you to sleep on this couch,” you nod to it. “Do you want a blanket?”

“You’re no fun,” “Matt” spends too long rolling his eyes for it to be sincere. “I’d like a pillow, too.”

You get them for him, and then you lock your bedroom door and spend less than a minute jacking off before orgasming as silently as you’re capable of.

[l-egionaire]

Fire and Ice, Chapter 4

Also found at: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13006251/4/Fire-and-Ice

With a degree of difficulty and a little luck, Elsa and Olaf managed to sneak out of the palace unnoticed. Once they were in town, they raced towards the area where Elsa had seen the flashing lights.

"Uh, Elsa?"

Elsa looked back at Olaf waddling as fast as possible to keep up with her, his flurry cloud just barely staying over his head.

"Don't you think we should've gotten the king and that mean melty faced guy to go with us?" Olaf huffed as he continued to follow her.

"By the time we did, it might be gone! Besides, I have to-." She paused, trying to find the right way words to explain. "I have to see it for myself."

The Captain and the king both seemed like good men, even if she couldnt stand one of them, but they were tainted by their own experience and information. Elsa wanted to get her own perspective on the creature.

They trudged through the streets and dove down alleyways until they arrived at the area where Elsa thought she'd seen the creature. Olaf, wheezing with exhaustion, sank to the ground trying to regain his breathe.

Elsa looked around, trying to find any sign of the creature, but there didn't seem to be any evidence it had been there. "Where could it be...?"

Then Elsa noticed the same bright flashes of light coming from on top of a building a bit away.

"There it is!"

Elsa bolted towards the building. Olaf groaned before picking himself off the ground and following after her.

They quickly made their way through an ally that led to the street underneath the building. Just before she came to the end, Elsa noticed a familiar burning glow and stopped. Olaf quickly came in behind her and she made sure to slap a hand over his mouth to keep him from making any noise.

She peeked out from behind the edge of the building she was next to and sure enough, the fire monster was there. Its hands were extinguished as it had multiple large bags slung over its shoulder, but its eyes were still filled with flames. Sitting in front of it were two little kids, about six or seven years old. But surprisingly, neither one seemed afraid. They merely seemed to be waiting for the creature to act, as if it were a guest they weren't quite sure what to do with.

It carefully removed one of the bags from the dozens on its shoulders and dropped it at the childrens feet. One child reached out and opened the bag, revealing its contents to be the fruit it had stolen from the cart earlier in the day.

Once the children had seen the contents of the bag, the creature raised its foot and stomped it against the ground creating a blast of flame, propelling it high into the air and onto the top of the building above them.

The two kids looked up in wonder at the air. The little girl waved at the top of the building and yelled. "Thank you!" Then they excitedly tugged the bag of fruit through a door in the building.

Once they were gone, Elsa and Olaf followed back after the creature. They looked to the tops of the buildings and could easily see it speeding over the roofs, using flame propelled jumps to leap from one rooftop to the next.

After a while, it finally leapt from the top buildingng into a seedy looking alleyway filled with trash and debris.

Once again, Elsa and Olaf hid behind the corner, watching to see what it was up to.

The creature dropped its bags, turned its back to them and began digging around in the piles of garbage until removed a hunk of rotten looking meat.

Elsa eyes darted down at Olaf and could see he was just as confused as she was, before returning to the creature and noticing that it seem to be adjusting the cloth around its face. Then it held the meat up to its face and Elsa heard what sounded like chewing.

Elsa face squirmed. It couldn't be...

But sure enough, once the creature had slightly lowered the meat, there was a very large bite mark taken out of it.

Elsa gagged. The creature continued to tear off chunks of meat and could hear the sounds of smacking and slobbering.

Olaf watched with a noticeable grimace. "Oh wow, that is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. I mean, I haven't seen that many disgusting things, but this definitely takes the cake."

Elsa gave a squeak of agreement, her mouth still twisted as she watched the creature continue to eat. Once it had finished devouring the meat, it went digging through the rest of the garbage and devoured all the food it could find from old fruit rinds, to bits of vegetables, to moldy hunks of bread, stuffing them all into it's mouth with the grace of a ravenous bear.

Elsa grew even more disgusted at the sight of this voracious garbage goregefest and turned away, both hands now clapped over her mouth to keep the bile she could feel filling her cheeks from escaping.

After a few minutes of the sounds of flung garbage, and ferocious chewing and chomping, Olaf tapped her leg and said. "Okay, it's over."

Elsa roughly swallowed her vomit and returned her gaze to the creature. It picked up its bags and made its way down the ally until it took a right corner. The two of them quickly went down the alley, making sure to avoid the piles of trash, and then peeked out from behind the alley corner.

The creature was standing in front of the door on the front of the building. It rapped its fist against it. After a few seconds, out came a woman with a large ponytail of silky black hair wearing a sleveless black top that exposed her belly and puffy black pants with sandals. When she saw the creature she cocked her hands on her hips and stared up at its face looking slightly agitated.

"What are you here for now?"

Without a word, the creature dropped two of the bags off its back at her feet. They made a loud metallic ringing sound as they hit the ground and one fell open, revealing a large number of gold coins inside.

The creature once again ran off once the bags were on the ground and then lept onto another building. Like the children, the woman stared off at the place where the creature had leapt. Unlike the children, she just gave a mildly annoyed huff and lugged the two bags of loot inside.

Once the door had closed, Olaf attempted to run off towards the creature, but Elsa put her arm out in front of him. He looked up at her.

"What's wrong? Why aren't we following them?"

Elsa gaze was still trained on the door the woman went through. The way she'd acted around the creature, it seemed like she knew it personally. Maybe she could shed some light on things.

Elsa looked down at olaf with a serious expression. "I think we should ask her a few questions."

"Ooo, good idea." He tried to waddle forward again but Elsa continued to block his way.

"I can't go in like this." Elsa said, gesturing to her ice dress. If the king or, god forbid, Urooj found out she had snuck out of the palace, skulked around the kingdom at night, it might cripple their trust in her. "I need some kind of disguise."

As she thought over how to disguise herself, Elsa noticed a man walking down the road. As he passed by the alley, she payed special attention to the clothes he was wearing before he was out of sight.

Elsa stepped away from the walls and pointed to Olaf. "Close your eyes until I say so."

Olaf nodded and clamped both of his hands over his eyes.

Elsa began running her hands all along her body, her icy garment twisting, shrinking, and morphing when her fingers sailed over the icy fabric. The air began to fill with cold steam and dozens of shimmering tiny blue lights created from her outfits metamorphesis.

Once her clothes had completely transformed, Elsa told Olaf. "You can open your eyes now."

Olaf pulled away his hands and excitedly gasped when he saw her. "You look so good!"

Elsa gave a small satisfied grin. The clothes she copied and modified from the man was a white shirt with long sleeves, white baggy pants, white shoes, and overtop the shirt, an open white vest. On the edges of the vests two sides were bisected snowflake symbols that looked like one full snowflake with both edges touching.

"Hey, can I have a disguise too?" Olaf asked excitedly.

Elsa looked at him quizzicaly, wondering for a moment what possible disguise she could give a talking snowman, before shrugging, flicking her finger and conjuring a small blue ice cloak around Olaf's body.

Olaf squealed and flared out his cloak. "I love it!"

Elsa gave a more gentle smile. "Lets go get some information."

The two of them walked up to the door and Elsa knocked lightly.

Instead of the woman who was there before, the person who answered the door was a large man with short black hair wearing a red vest over his bare chest and white pants who glowered at Elsa and Olaf.

Elsa chuckled awkwardly and gave a small wave.

"Uh, hi. We were just wondering if we might speak with the lady of the house." Elsa said, hoping he wouldn't notice how she was sweating bullets.

The man quirked an eyebrow at the two of them before waving them in.

They walked in and Elsa immediately realized that what she'd originally thought was a house was actually a tavern. There were multiple round tables spread out and a bar with a set of stools off to the right. The place was loud, roudy, and stank of alcohol. The patrons seemed to be mostly large burly men like the one who greeted them, guzzling mugs of alcohol or chatting loudly with friends. There were a few women though. Some were chatting, some were flirting with the men, and one woman had a large crowd gathered around her, tossing coins as she-

Elsa blushed to the tip of her hair.

Good lord, this was a public place!

Olaf followed her gaze and tilted his head curiously as he watched the woman. "What happened to that ladies clothes?"

"Nothing!" Elsa quickly shrieked, placing one hand over Olaf's eyes while using another to block her own view of the offensive actions. The last thing she needed was him picking up any bad ideas or habits.

She looked around, doing her best to search with partially obscured vision, and saw the woman from before standing behind the bar counter.

Elsa grabbed Olaf's arm and pulled him over to the bar, sat on one stool and plopped him onto the one next to it.

The woman came over and looked expectantly at both of them. "And how can I help you?"

Elsa avoided looking the woman in the eye. She hadn't actually considered how she was going to do this.

"I was just wondering if you might want to have a little chat." Elsa said, nervousness etched on her face.

"This ain't a library sweetheart." Replied the barmaid. "Time is money. You want to talk, you're going to have buy something."

"Okay." Elsa's eyes swept across the bar, trying to locate the least drunk looking person she could, and settled for a man who she deeply hoped was just sleeping at his table.

She pointed to him and told the barmaid. "I'll have whatever he had."

"Alright." She pointed to Olaf who was spinning on his stool. " What about him?"

"The same."

The barmaid walked over to a number of different casks, grabbed two cups from beneath the bar and filled them both with flat dark yellow liquid before placing them in front of Elsa and Olaf.

Elsa took a sniff and cringed at the sour smell of the alcohol, but seeing the barmaid looking at her, she gave the best fake smile she could and tentatively took a sip from the cup.

She almost reched at the taste. It was like vinegar that had been left out in the sun and mixed with bad pickling herring. Elsa immediately wanted to spit it out, but she saw that the barmaids eyes were still on her and painfully swallowed the acidic beverage, trying to look as happy as she could with her scorched throat and watering eyes.

"Really *cough* great!" Elsa choked out, hoping the look on her face was one of joy, not overwhelming agony.

The barmaid scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Elsa took a moment to sooth her still stinging throat, before tentatively asking. "So...what is this I here about a fire monster?"

The bar suddenly went deathly quit. Elsa could feel all the eyes in the room turn on her. The barmaid struck her with a piercing glare. Her heart began beating like a drum and frost started to appear on the place where her fingertips touched the wooden bar top.

The barmaid leaned her face in so close to Elsa's their noses were inches from each other and Elsa could see each individual eye staring at her with hawk-like intensity.

"Now why would you go asking something like that?" The barmaid asked in a dangerously low tone.

Elsa stammered out. "I-I just wanted to know more about it."

"What makes you so interested in the Djinn?"

Elsa frowned, momentarily distracted from her nerves. "Djinn? Is that what you call it?"

"Yeah. So I'll ask you again." The woman leaned in closer, forcing Elsa to back up so much she was nearly off her stool. "Why do you want to know?"

Realizing that lying wouldn't help her any, she admitted. "Because I've been told a lot about it and I want to make up my mind for myself on what it is."

The barmaid backed slowly away from her face, but still seemed hesitant to say anyanything.

"Most people who go looking for the Djinn don't come back in such good shape." She warned.

"I understand. But I need to know the truth. Besides..." Elsa swept a finger around the rim of her mug while focusing her powers. Then she flipped over the mug and placed her other hand flat under it. She tapped the bottom of the mug with her finger and a solid cylinder of alcohol slid from out the upside down rim into her hand. "...I think I can protect myself."

She held it out to the barmaid and she took it. She stared down at the tube of ice and then at Elsa with unconcealed awe.

"Alright." She said, her tone a mix of astonishment and respect. "I'll tell you what I know."

"Head to the edge of town and go east until you find an archway made of stone. If you can make it past there, you'll find what you're looking for."

The barmaids words echoed in Elsa's head as she took in the massive rock archway that seemed almost carved into the side of the cliffface.

"Well that's pretty. So, what do we do now?" Olaf asked.

That was a good question. she'd made it seem like they had to keep going from here, but something about the way she'd worded it made Elsa uneasy.

What did the barmaid mean "If they made it past?"

Forcing down her hesitation, Elsa said. "We'll just have to keep going and see wha-."

At that moment something slammed into the ground near them. The impact was so strong it created a massive gust of wind and sand. Elsa was knocked back on her behind, while Olaf's body was broken into pieces and blown away along with his flurry.

"OLAF!" Elsa cried as she watched her precious snowman being swept away by the wind. She looked back to the impact site and her eyes filled with terror.

A being molded out of pure flames stood before her. It was about the size of a large carriage, but it's appearance was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Its body was similar to that of a large cat like a cheetah, a slender muscular body covered in flaming fur with stripes and spots. It's head was also that of a cats, a round maw with knife like teeth and burning slit eyes. But mounted on top of that head was a pair of what she recognized as sharp reindeer antlers, and instead of cat paws, it's feet ended in the same split, toe-like hooves that Sven had. On it's back were massive bird wings and the tip of its tail was covered in a fan-like grouping of bird feathers. It was like some kind of bizzare chimera.

For a few seconds Elsa was frozen with fear, but then the creature roared at her and she was shaken from her stupor. She shrieked and rapidly pulled herself up from the ground before bolting in the opposite direction of the beast but before she could even make it a few feet away, it pounded forward on it's hoof feet and pounced in front of the way she was going, causing her to stumble and collapse back into the sand.

The beast began to slowly creep towards Elsa, heat radiating off it and growing more intense the closer it got. Her breathing grew ragged as the beast inched nearer and nearer. Once it was close enough that she could feel its hot breaths on her face, Elsa snapped her eyes shut, and sent a silent goodbye to her sister and Olaf.

Elsa waited for her inevitable death by mauling or burns, but it never came. She just felt warm pulses of wind and heard an odd rythmic breathing noise. She cracked open one eye and saw that beasts nose was inches away from her face, but instead of attacking it was just taking long sniffs off her.

After about its sixth sniff, it reared back its head and narrowed its eyes at her, as if unsure what to think of her.

"Hey! Elsa!"

Elsa turned around and burst into a grin at the sight of Olaf barreling down the sands towards her, completely whole.

Unfortunately, the beast also saw Olaf and charged towards him. Elsa quickly followed after it, hoping she could get to him in time.

But the beast was far faster and with just a few trots, it was right in front of Olaf.

Elsa heart skipped a beat at the sight. She picked up the pace, praying to every god she could think of that Olaf didn't get hurt.

The beast didn't seem to mean him any harm, merely giving him some sniffs as it did her, but this time it seemed to notice something different. It got a hungry expression on it's face and licked it's lips.

Elsa gasped. Was it going to eat Olaf?

She dug down deep for one more burst of speed and managed to get up where they were and force herself between it and Olaf. Despite her exhaustion, she gave as defiant an expression as she could and stared the beast down.

"Stay away from him!" She managed to shout.

It examine them both quizzically and then something odd happened. The beasts firey body slowly began to shrink in size. By the time it had stopped it was no bigger than a vase.

Elsa and Olaf moved towards it to get a closer look and what they saw made Olaf gasp in joy and Elsa stare in utter disbelief.

"What is that?"

The creature now appeared to be a small spotted kitten. It still had it's other hybrid features, but it's antlers were now small and dul, its wings barely looked big enough to lift it off the ground, and the wings on its tail took up most of the space.

"Kitty!" Olaf squealed.

The kitten pounced on Olaf, knocking him to the ground, and began voraciously licking the parts of Olaf's belly peeking out from under his ice cloak. When the creatures tongue toched Olaf's snow, it made a small cloud of steam. But instead of causing him pain, Olaf seemed to delight in them.

"Hahahahaha! S-stop, that tickles." Olaf guffawed.

Elsa gaped at the kitten creature, completely flabbergasted that something that had seemed only seconds away from killing her now looked more like a harmless house cat. She reached out her hand out to it, but it hissed at her and jumped off Olaf's belly, scittering away past the arch.

Elsa pulled Olaf off the ground. "Come on, let's follow it!"

The two gave chase to the small fire kitten, barely managing to keep it in eyesight. After one or two minutes, Elsa noticed a bright light up ahead, seperate from the kitten's. She squinted and saw what seemed to be a house up ahead.

They continued going until they got to the house. From a closer view Elsa saw how dilapidated the place was. A huge chunk of the roof and center of the building had collasped, creating a massive pile of rubble inside. She noticed that some of the rubble had been cleared away and in the area that was free was a blazing fire.

She and Olaf walked inside, carefully maneuvering around the chunks of rubble towards the fire. The kitten sat next to the fire. Olaf went over, plopped himself on the ground next go the kitten and began softly stroking its fur, causing it to wriggle and purr apprciatively. Elsa was certain this was where the creature made its home, but why?

Then she noticed a trunk half sunken into the sands that had come into the house. Lying on the top were a number of small portraits. One immediately caught her eye. It was an image of a striped sandy furred kitten with antlers, reindeer hooves and bird wings. She picked it up to examine closer and saw that written in the bottom right corner in black ink was the word IFRIT.

Elsa looked down at the kitten by the fire. "Ifrit? Is that your name?"

In response the kitten let out a soft mewl.

Elsa was about to look at the rest of the portraits when she noticed that the scent of burning put off by the fire had grown stronger. She gasped and whipped her head around. Sure enough, the fire creature was standing on the edge of houses threshold, glaring down at her with both literal and figurative burning anger.

The creature held up its fist and lit it ablaze. Elsa did the only thing she could think to do: She held out her palm and created a swirl of ice magic.

Upon seeing her magic, the creatures arm fell limply against to it's side. The flames in its eyes once again extinguished, leaving only eyes completely filled with wonder. It walked inside until it was right in front of Elsa and looked down at her. Then, it slowly raised both hands up to its face and pulled off the cloth covering its head, while also moving the one covering its mouth.

Elsa jaw dropped

It was a woman.

The first thing Elsa noticed about her was just how tall she was. Before there was always some distance that made it difficult to gauge an exact height, but now that she was so close, she realized that Her head just barely came up to top of this womans chest. She looked to be about Elsa's age. Her skin was the same tan color as the desert sand , her hair was coal black, long, and wild like a lions mane. The eyes she'd seen peeking out from under the cloth before were a bright amber color that almost seemed to glow in the dark. But the most distinguishing thing about this woman was the scar on her face. A pale red jagged line that started at the top of her right eyebrow, went left across her face through her nose and stopped just above the edge of the top of her lip. The garment she wore appeared to be down togethor from pieces of other garments with the same color and covered in a myriad of stitch lines, burns, and stains.

The woman still stared at her with complete amazement and once again raised her fist and set it on fire. She moved it so it was right next to Elsa's palm that contained the vortex of magic.

The two of them stared at the elements coursing through their hands, looks of unbridled elation breaking out across their faces.

"You're...like me." The woman whispered in awe.

"You have powers." Elsa said, eyes shining with happiness. A mirthful laugh bubbled up out of her throat. "You have powers!"

"So do you!" The woman cried gleefully.

The two women both shrieked with jubilant laughter, clearly exhilarated they'd met omeone with similar abilities.

Olaf, who had been observing the proceedings by the fire while still petting Ifrit, got his own grin. "Aww, isn't that nice?"

Elsa could barely contain her excitement, babbling away in a manner more befitting her sister.

"This is so incredible! I can't believe I've met another person with magic! I have so many questions, oh just wait until Anna hears about this!

For a moment the other woman seemed to be just as thrilled as her, her face beaming brightly. But then her expression morphed from one of joy to fear before settling into a look of painful resignation

"What's wrong? Elsa asked, noticing her sudden change in mood.

The woman gave a heavy sigh. "You need to leave."

Whatever happiness remained in Elsa drained out of her at those words.

"Wha-what? No, I cant leave, you're the first person I've ever met with powers like mine. There are so many things I want to know." Elsa said, her voice slighty trembling with worry.

The woman turned her back to her and replied in a hollow voice. "You shouldn't be here. Please, just go away."

"No. This is new for me too but maybe we could-." Elsa tried to step closer to her and the woman rounded on her, eyes and arms filled with flames.

"I SAID GO AWAY!" She roared.

Elsa drew back from her, her heart crushed at the loss of such a good moment. But she could see it would e bad to continue arguing and sadly replied. "Okay. Come on Olaf, let's go."

Olaf pouted and gave one last pet to Ifrit before going to Elsa. The two exited the ruined building and headed back to the city, but Elsa cast one last mournful look at the crumbled house, her mind still processing the encounter she'd just had.

[dynoguard]

NaNoWriMo: Return of the DinoKnights (Day 6)

Day 1 & 2 text is here. 

Day 3 is here. 

Day 4 is here. 

Day 5 is here.

It had limbs once.

It remembered that, as much as it remembered anything. It knew it had a history, it could feel it, the way an amputee might feel a missing limb. It was a moving thing in those times. Its limbs were made to move and grasp and hold. It couldn’t remember its name. or what color its sky was, or what kind of limbs they had been. 

Yet it remembered what it had used those limbs for. How the hot and wet splashed over them in that use. How it tore those things apart. 

As it had been torn apart. 

It was tumbling, falling amid fire and darkness. It had no context. No anchor point. Nothing to give it reason or purpose.

Until it struck stone. 

The building caved in when it struck, a shooting star whose companion plowed into the ground nearby. Destruction was familiar. It was context... and it understood its prison.

It was a lump of amber the size and shape of an animal’s heart. The color was on the uncomfortable side of orange and inside it was an unwholesome shape. A quick glance might mistake it for an insect, but the form was wrong, the legs and eyes too many or two few. 

A table, already half-smashed by the impact, slid haltingly into the crater, sending a cascade of debris down on the amber lump.

Pens and papers and metal instruments and other garbage fell among plaster and wood splinters. The shadow flit to each edge, each point of contract, but the objects were bland and sterile.

Then there was a rock.

The rock had not always been a rock. Once it had been a living thing. A claw, part of a limb for killing. It dug through scales and flesh but the prey fought back, they fell, tangled beaks and claws and teeth and horns alike, into the flood waters. To be buried, the savagery preserved in stone. The claw becomes a rock.

A rock becomes a claw.

It felt context return, as the amber heart pumped, the liquid crystal flowing in amber chunks. Each tiny stream crawling up the crater’s sides, flowing towards the fossilized bone that was now scattered across the museum laboratory’s floor. 

Piece by piece, bit by bit, it took shape, a miss-matched puzzle of fossilized remains assembled into a gruesome humanoid form around a core of crystaline amber. By the time the arms were forming it had remembered that it was a he. By the time a pair of burning green-yellow lights flickered to life in the beaked, horned skull of an unidentified sub-species of Styracosaurus it remembered it had a master.

A heavy claw grasped a work tarp and the creature secured it like a cloak.

“He-hello?” A voice shouted from above. 

A fleshless nightmare wrapped in a ragged, blue-gray cloak  rose to his ten foot height. He now saw over the crater’s lip, his face ringed with a natural crown of spikes. Extinxion, named that which he is, turned to face the witness of his rebirth.

“Boss! It’s you!”

The creature before Extinxion was the desiccated, bandaged-wrapped remains of one of the beasts from when all this began. It resembled a long-tailed ostrich, with arms with long-spindly claws in place of wings and a beaked head with a high, bony crest. The exposed flesh was dry, gray, and seemed as much shale as skin. The rest of the body was covered in loose loops of yellowed, rough cloth that bunched and looped in imitation of the feathers it had in life. Those that remained were moldy tufts.  

For all these features, however, most striking were the creature’s eyes. It’s right eye was the color of yellowed teeth, with a black pupil under a slight milky haze. The right was black void, inside a light, like a firefly’s tail, served as a pupil,. 

“You.” He tilted his skull and examined the creature. Each moment it grew more familiar. Context returned with his limbs. “I remember you.”

“Me too, boss!” It wheezed. “I think we’re alive again!”

The mummy took one hand and slipped it through a a gap in its wrappings. The hand slid into the shadows under its rib cage and began rifling through its contents as though it were an old backpack. Whatever it found pleased it. “Yes, definitely more or less alive.”  

“Must you label everything? We exist. Everything else is details.” The skeletal creature said as it walked out of the crater on talon-clad feet. 

“Pardon my crude language, great Exintixion.” He had a name and identity now, or possibly again. “New bodies, new minds, old souls. Our master has given us mobility! Form! Purpose! Hands!”

The mummy twiddled its long bone-fingers excitedly as it walked backwards in front of Extinxion, its head darting around in a twitching, unnatural way. 

Extinxion knocked the mummy out of the way with the swipe of a stony claw. The creature’s head snapped free of its neck and went clattering across the ground. 

“Durability!” The mummy’s voice called out. “After a fashion.”

“Fool.” Extinxion spat. “What name have you taken?”

The creature’s body did not fall. Instead, it lurched and stumbled comically, feeling its way blindly. The head, now resting in a pile of upturned specimen boxes, bounced as it spoke. The motions of its jaw making a hop with each syllable. “Yorik, great Extinxion.”

Extinxion clicked his new teeth. He considered asking Yorik if his name meant something, but his returning memories, vague as they were, told him Yorik did things for his own reasons. It also told him that he did not care what those reasons were. 

Yorik’s body stumbled into reach. Extinxion snapped an arm free of his makeshift cloak. His bony hand grabbed the stumbling corpse around the neck, as his other claw lifted Yorik’s head from the ground. He gracelessly slammed the skull back onto its body.

“Thanks boss!” Yorik said, twisting his head around to face forward. 

“The species makes temples to death.” Extinxion stooped to pick up half of a fossilized femur from some long-dead animal. “There’s something unsporting about being welcomed freely.” 

“Not a temple, boss.” Yorik hopped back and cringed instinctively after speaking. When no blow came, he straightened up. “This is a museum, I’m sure of it.”

“A Museum? That’s better, then. Learners tend to know enough to despair.” Extinxion looked up into the sky through the hole in the building’s roof. It was clear, filled with stars. “This is wrong. There are no fires. No smoke in the sky. Where are the screams, Yorik? Where is the legion? Where is the sound of the master feeding? This has something to do with you, I wager.” 

“Apothis cannot descend.” Yorik said. Though he’d never heard that word before, Extinxion knew his master’s name when he heard it. “That’s why he sent us, I can feel his need, he was wounded, lost in time.”

“Wounded?” Extinxion bellowed. “With this world so untouched? If one of the Great Shapes were here, I would know it. Even you would know it.”

“Not a Great Shape, Boss, or even one of Apothis’s brethren.” Yorik’s voice took on a worried tone.

“Mortals.” Extinxion dragged a stony claw along his new beak in thought. “Do you know what this means, Yorik?”

“We must fulfill our mission in the service of our master?”

“Try and muster a sliver of vision, you boneheaded waste of profanity.” Extinxion walked from the crushed lab, Yorik padding behind him. “You even said it yourself. Apothis has need of our services.”

“Y-yes boss? And?”

“Anything that has needs can negotiate.” 

Finding a pair of heavy wooden doors in his path, Extinxion reached out, his claws digging into the wood before tearing the barrier free. Yorik and Extinxion strode out of the Granite Mountain Museum of Natural History into a swarm of strobing red, blue and orange lights. 

“Mortals.” 

Extinxion would have smiled if he had lips.

[radioactivepeasant]

I've been wondering, in Imperial Problem Child, how does the Skywalker family verse Palpatine confrontation go down? Is it obviously public, with everyone seeing how evil Palps is, or is it behind closed doors and Palpatine had a "heart attack"? (Because a heart stops beating when stabbed by a lightsaber, after all)

It was definitely a private affair.

As private as a Sith, a recovering Sith, a half-trained Jedi, a disillusioned Emperor’s Hand, an angry Princess, a handful of professional assassins, and an angrier Togruta Rogue having a knock-down drag-out fight can be, that is.

The Red Guards are pretty used to hearing screaming coming from the Emperor’s audience chambers, so they never thought to check until it was far too late.

But Palpatine, for all that he is very very strong and is definitely going to gravely injure at least two people, made two very stupid mistakes.

Mistake Number One:He underestimated Vader’s ability to build a power base in a short amount of time. He thought that Vader would do what he had done before, and had thus taken measures to cut off any attempts to build droid armies, win the loyalties of private agents, or capture strategic fortresses. He failed to consider the Rebel Alliance as part of a potential power base. Vader has Chancellor Mothma’s somewhat reluctant backing, he’s got the Executor, there’s a small network of friends-of-friends of the Rogues and the Sabers willing to lend a hand. The Rebels have the spies that the Empire wouldn’t expect, people Sidious would find beneath his notice, and they’ve got about fifty retired Vod’e ready to throw down if needs must.

Mistake Number Two:He decided to pay a visit to one of the ridiculously luxurious skyhooks formerly belonging to the late Prince Xizor (who faced, shall we say, some budget cuts to Black Sun. And some lightsaber cuts. Lots of lightsaber cuts.)He’s in a giant floating mansion, basically, in Coruscant’s sky.The Executor, the Liberty, and Home One all had firing solutions plotted very very quickly in case things go sideways.

However: Despite some conspicuous evidence to the contrary, Palpatine is actually not a complete birdbrain. He had the Eclipse on standby, just in case Vader tried something. There was a fairly intense naval battle going on while the more Force sensitive members of the conspiracy fought in the skyhook.(Wedge ended up leading the Rogues from the cockpit of a TIE Advanced, doing significant damage to the Eclipse’s complement of fighters)

Inside the skyhook, there hadn’t really been much thought of taking Palpatine by surprise. By the time they had boots on the deck, he already knew they were coming and in no mood to parley. Leia took six Noghri and Mara Jade to clear out the Red Guards. Lumiya, another Hand, was present and supposed to kill Mara for turning on the Emperor. She managed to kill two Noghri and give Leia a pretty nasty burn on the shoulder, but some clever maneuvering and some liberal application of the Force ends the fight with Lumiya shot full of tranquilizers and dumped in a bacta tank for safekeeping.

Ahsoka hung back when they got to the audience chamber, meant to be kind of a second line of defense. (Dude, you saw the damage she can do to Vader. As long as she’s not caught off guard, she’s probably capable of putting some hits on Sidious). Palpatine didn’t even bother with a “Join the Dark Side” spiel. He decided to just kill Vader, and then he could take all the time he needed to break Skywalker and mold him into the perfect apprentice. Except that was a terrible idea. The problem with that was a little fact called “Palpatine you actual piece of moldy toast, that’s the Chosen One and his kids that you’re threatening”. 

Also, Grand Admiral Thrawn just arrived with the Seventh Fleet to make good on a bargain struck with Leia, and the Eclipse has just been blown out of the sky.

In summary:Vader lost an arm, and his legs aren’t in great shape.Luke was severely electrocuted and is going to need his prosthetic hand replaced.Mara was stabbed through the torso, just barely missing most of her organs. (lost a spleen though)Leia was slightly less severely electrocuted, and the burn on her shoulder was aggravated.Ahsoka got a concussion.butPalpatine got:One arm lopped offOne hand chopped into piecesMultiple stab woundsElectrocuted with a frayed wire (Mara’s idea. Leia thought it was splendidly ironic)Both legs stabbed throughBeheadedAnd thrown down a garbage chute…one that goes out into the upper atmosphere

Leia took one of the Red Guards’ cloaks and draped it over Vader’s right side to hide his missing arm when he went to inform the other Imperials of the Emperor’s sudden passing. Surprisingly, the splash of color gave him an intimidatingly regal look. Leia will probably insist on variations of that look later. Fashion is…really not one of his concerns. But he’ll do it, for her.

[bk-201-314]

Things I learned: ACO Work Edition #3

People really don't know anything about ducks despite thinking they do.

Facebook posts about how a perfectly healthy wild animal must be in distress because it hasn't moved from the area, "someone come save it please!", All the comments on the post, "oh that's the one I've been feeding for days, please pray for it!" ....and you all wonder why it won't leave.

You MUST talk/sing to the animals during transport in the vehicle. You are a strange anomaly if you do not...........and possibly soulless.

The skunk box trailer hitch thing isn't that heavy, but it is awkward and filled with rain water exactly when you need to take it off and carry it to storage.

Eventually you will be dealing with someone you know or their pet, and it's typically going to be rough.

You can tell how sick something is based off the type of stench it has. Puss filled skin infections smell rank and sour, late stage distemper smells like the inside of a garbage can (probably because whatever has it has been in one), really extreme untreatable respiratory infections are a wet moldy/dusty smell with a good dose of morning breath, oral cavity infections smell foul like rotting corpses

Know a tree guy. Arborists are great for saving animals stuck in trees.

On that note, typically you can call the fire department for help in certain cases, sometimes they call you - I'm still not sure how I feel about that.

Vet clinics will call you if the new tech doesn't know how to do animal surrender/intake forms.

If someone offers to do your job for you...let them. They wanna leash that big ass dog and walk it to the van/truck for you, instead of you trying not to get pulled down the street, you just nod your head and say thank you.

People do not understand the concept of DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE!!! Literally to the point it has to become a bylaw and then people lose their shit. On a regular day wildlife does not need your help and instead you are potentially causing a myriad of health and behavioural issues. (Rant to follow?)

[part one] [part two]

[qtcomicsblog]

Justice league Unleashed “Procrastination”

Justice league unleashed "Procrastination" Night time the league return to the watchtower after a day of hero work. Hawkgirl yawns Hawkgirl: what a day Flash: You said it, Thank goodness the day is over Superman: Hold on, before we go off and do our own thing we need to assign someone for monitor duty. Wonder woman: that's right and to do that we'll spin the wheel of choosing Diana brings out a spinning wheel with everyone's name on it Diana: time to spin the wheel of monitor duty Diana spins the wheel and the league watches in anticipation as it spins. The Wheel slows down and stops on green lantern Diana: And the one on monitor duty is, green lantern. Jessica: Really? ALRIGHT! everyone else is relieved that they weren't picked Diana: now Jessica here's what you have to do, you have to sit in this chair and look at these monitors. If anything happens just push this button and it'll alert us ok Jessica: Got it Superman: good, everyone else you got the night for yourself and Jessica your shift we last until 7:00 am that's 8 hours Jessica: no problem. Superman: Good, see you in the morning Flash: Later everyone Diana: keep an eye on that monitor Jessica everyone else leaves Jessica: Alright, time to show the justice league i can do this, if trouble rears its head i'll be there to sound the alarm and kick butt so HERE. WE. GO! Jessica stares at the screen. 45 minutes have past and no danger has been detected. Jessica: Jeez this is harder then i thought.I wonder what the rest of the league are doing. (Superman is at an ice cream parlor. Hawkgirl is dancing. Flash and J'onn are at the movies. Batman on patrol. Wonder woman is sleeping.) Jessica: But i most press onward it's only 6 o'clock. Ok here we go. Here we go. An hour has past and Jessica is getting bored Jessica: Come on trouble, show up. Jessica stretches and accidentally knocked over a can of soda she was drinking Jessica: uh oh, my soda. I better get that up. Jessica gets a bucket of water and a wet towel and clean up the soda Jessica: Hmmm...I might as well clean the rest of the floor while I'm at it. Jessica is cleaning and gets behind the fridge Jessica: I should get these hard to reach places, too! And these dishes need to be cleaned! Can't have dirty garbage. Jessica already finished Jessica: Well, I think it's clean enough now! That didn't take long...and it's only...10:00! Ooh... No more fooling around! I've gotta get back to work! Jessica goes back to the monitor. Jessica gets bored again Jessica groans Jessica: so bored Jessica sees the tv Jessica: maybe there's some trouble on the news Jessica goes to watch tv and flipping through channels Jessica: News, news, awe Real wives of Metropolis, and it's a marathon! I guess i could watch one episode, then back to monitor duty. 3 hours has past and Jessica is still watching the show. Jessica: (Giggles) Now she was crazy. Jessica stretches and sees the clock Jessica: 12:00! I GOTTA GET BACK! Jessica rushes back to her chair at the computer Jessica: That's it, I gotta stay focus. I'm not leaving this chair no matter what! Jessica groans Jessica: so bored Jessica sees the hallway Jessica: i'm not leaving this chair no matter what She looks back to the hallway and looks at her chair. She pushes herself in the chair away from the monitor Jessica: Well technically i'm still sitting in the chair Jessica pushes through the halls Jessica: hmmmm. Jessica uses her ring to create a slingshot and slings herself through the hall Jessica: WHHEEE! I'M STILL IN THE CHAIR! Jessica crashes into the league locker room Jessica: Well that was stupid Jessica sees wonder woman's locker and the chair. Diana in bed, snoring. A knock at her door and she wakes up. Diana opens the door Jessica: Hey diana, what you up to? Diana: Sleeping. Jessica: That's really fascinating, are you having a good sleep? Any dreams you'd like to discuss i remember when.. Diana: Jessica you and I both know that you're just using me as a distraction so you don't have to do monitor duty Jessica: (Gasp) Th-That is not true i came to have an engaging conversation with you Diana: Well i'm listening Jessica: Uhhh... Marco. Diana: Polo Diana slams the door Jessica: Yeah, well I gotta get back, Diana, got an important job to do? Jessica goes back to the monitor Jessica: Sheesh, what a chatterbox. Can't she see that I'm busy? Jessica sighs. Jessica stomach growls Jessica: oh getting hungry Jessica opens the refrigerator Jessica: Hmmm slim pickin's today The fridge is full of food Jessica: I guess i'll get order some food Jessica calls to place an order Jessica: Large pepperoni pizza. The cheesiest. And ten piece honey bbq wings with extra blue cheese dressing. Thank you. Jessica hangs up Jessica: Alright food's coming, i can watch the monitor while i wait Jessica sits down then she pats her lap. She then sees batman's locker. She comes out wearing batman's suit. Jessica: "I AM THE NIGHT, I AM BATMAN, THE BIGGEST BORE IN THE WORLD!" The door bell rings Jessica: Pizza's here Jessica opens the door to meet the delivery guy Jessica: Hello! Delivery guy: Large pepperoni pizza with cheese stuffed crust and honey bbq wings and extra blue cheese dressing Jessica: Great, thanks! So, uh, do you like delivering pizza? Delivery guy: It puts bread on the table. Jessica: Rye or pumpernickel? Jessica laughs Delivery guy: Oh, brother.. Jessica: So, do you deliver your own pizza or do you have your own delivery person? But then who delivers his pizza? Is there a never-ending chain of pizza guys delivering pizza to other pizza gys? Well, I guess a Postmates delivery could break the chain... Delivery guy: Don't you have monitor duty to get back to? He walks away Jessica: How did he know i have monitor duty Jessica goes back inside and eats her food. Jessica: Yummy, hmm i guess i could go check my emails She uses the monitor to check some emails Jessica: oh what's this? Jessica sees a link and clicks it. A video pops up. Girl: This just in, local superhero Green lantern only has a few hours left to complete her monitor duty, but she continues to goof off. head sticks out monitor screen Girl: When will she learn? Jessica screams and blast the screen with her ring blast. The alarm goes off   Jessica: uh oh. INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! Jessica: An intruder?! Jessica hears rumbling in the hall. Jessica stands alert Jessica: WHO'S THERE?! She searches the halls ready to attack Jessica: HELLO? Batman? A parademon busts through the wall Jessica: PARADEMON! Jessica blast it. Jessica: how did that get in...?! More parademons bursts through Jessica: AAUUGGHHH!!! Jessica flies out and sees that the city is under attack by apokolips Jessica: HOLY MOLDY APOKOLIPS! HOLY MOLDY THE WATCHTOWER! The Watchtower is on fire Jessica gets zapped in the back Jessica: GRANNY GOODNESS Granny goodness: Time's up little daring The league are restrained Wonder woman: Jessica, why?! Why did you let this happen, Jessica?! Why didn't you just take monitor duty seriously?! breathes loudly Wonder woman: Stop wasting time! Jessica screams Wonder woman: JESSICA! JESSICA! JESSICA! Wonder woman wakes up Jessica from her nightmare Diana: Jessica! Jessica: AUGH! Huh, diana, you're here and the watchtower's not on fire and darkseid not invading Diana: What? of course not, you fell asleep, thank hera nothing happened Jessica: oh sorry Diana: This is why you should takes things like this seriously Jessica, something like that could've happened. Anyway your shift's over you can go now Jessica: YEAH! PIZZA, WINGS, REAL WIVES OF METROPOLIS, AND SLEEPING HERE I COME! Diana sits at the monitor Diana: Ok Diana fells asleep immediately and the alarm goes off END.

[litcityblues]

5 More Things About Guns

1. I’m not 100% against arming teachers- but I think it’s a situational decision at best. If I’m in Utah or rural Texas or some place where gun ownership is high, it might be a solution worth considering. However, as a ‘solution’ to the problem it’s...  dubious, as it turns teachers into targets potentially. There’s this to consider. Then there’s this to consider as well. As the preferred band-aid of the pro-gun folks this week, I think it lasts right up until some teacher flips their shit and shoots up their school. Teachers should be teachers and not security. (Also: arming teachers seems like an easy solution to making schools safer, but the reality is that we can, as a nation, design safer schools that don’t look like prisons. Last time there was a school fire that killed more than 10 kids? 1958. Then we decided to make design safer schools. We can do the same- along with many other things with this problem.)

2. No, I didn’t watch the CNN Townhall and it sounded like it was absolute garbage. There was a moment where you thought that maybe, just maybe, we could stop frothing at the mouth and come together to have a serious conversation about sensible gun laws, but that moment seems to be teetering on the brink of fading thanks in large part to this garbage townhall. CNN scripting questions? Come on now. It was an opportunity for the anti-gun folks to land some sick burns on pro-gun folks. That’s all. But sick burns don’t lead to sensible policy. They might feel good. They might give you a big ol’Twitter boner, but again...  doesn’t lead to sensible reforms. That’s what I want. That’s the goal, here. (The kids speaking up seems to be opening a pathway toward some sensible reforms though: age limits on high powered rifles, rethinking magazine capacities, fixing the background checks and making them universal. All of that’s on the table now. So, despite the less than stellar townhall that only added to the froth instead of making an actual conversation, they might have opened up the path for something. Which is better than nothing.)

3. Oh and if you think the Left is the problem here, think again! The more frothy end of the Right Wing is promoting ridiculous, hateful ideas of ‘crisis actors’ (no, I’m not going to link to their garbage. Go look it up for yourselves.) They’re slamming the kids for speaking up yet think 18 is old enough to buy a fucking gun. Do I think the kids could stand to educate themselves a bit on the topic instead of just parroting talking points from the news? Sure. But massive props to them for actually standing up and saying, ‘hey this is bullshit.’ Some of the more radical and vocal ones are getting more of the airtime, but I saw a clip from the protest in Washington and this girl said, “We don’t want to take anyone’s guns away. We just want to go to school without getting shot.” Now there’s a couple of sentences to give the NRA nightmares, because it’s a reasonable position that only the most extreme ends of the political spectrum can dismiss. Even the in the reddest of red states, regular folks can probably get behind that as being an eminently reasonable request. 

Shitting on the kids isn’t a good look for the pro-gun folks and while school districts may well issue suspensions over walkouts (if it were my kid, he’d have my support, but he’d also be taking the suspension, because actions have consequences and true change requires sacrifice.) In general, I wasn’t all that radical of a person in high school, but if the school district had pulled a stunt like this, I would have taken to the barricades with everyone else- and I hope those kids shut that district down cold.

4. So: “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Well, there was one. He didn’t do anything- I’m not sure why he didn’t do anything, but if you think this is justification to ‘ARM ALL THE TEACHERZ’ consider this: if a professional, 33 year veteran of law enforcement who is trained and equipped to run inside and deal with shit like this freezes (I’m guessing that’s what happened, but who knows for sure) what do you think teachers are going to do? 

5. “But our freedoms! We need to protect ourselves from the government!” Man, fuck this argument with a moldy Q-tip. Seriously. In the past two decades I’ve been told that I need to give up my right to privacy because SECURITY. I have to surrender my Civil Liberties because SECURITY. I have to surrender my right to free speech because people might be fucking well offended not to mention all the yahoos calling for ALL THE GUNZ thinking Gitmo is just a swell fucking idea, ignoring the fact that it’s a dubious Constitutional precedent at best and can be pulled out of a deep dark drawer whenever the government wants now to use against American citizens at some point with the future. Ditto for internment (thanks FDR) and suspending habeus corpus (thanks Lincoln.) You’re worried about government oppression? Hey me too. How ‘bout you get on the right side of the issue before thinking ALL THE GUNZ is going to solve it. 

[stlouismoguttercleaning]

Do Not Forget About Gutter Cleaning

When making a home maintenance checklist, one need to always include gutter cleaning, specially the gutters that are outside your home.

Unclean gutters can quickly cease to be functional given that they have a tendency to obtain clogged with twigs and different other kinds of debris. However, many individuals typically overlook this because cleaning it out needs a lot of time and energy. Similarly, considering that it is on the roofing of your house the unwillingness of a person to clean it out is twice as much.

Are You Keeping Away from Gutter Cleaning?

Among the main reasons you should not ignore or evade gutter cleaning is because many types of roofing damage can quickly be connected to obstructed, filthy gutters. Clogged seamless gutters trigger roofing damage by triggering water seepage, moldy and decomposing roofs and other smells. On the other hand, all the leaves and branches in the gutter may increase the odds of accidental roofing fires occurring also.

Nevertheless, in wet conditions, the leaves, branches and other debris makes rotting mulch which always tends to draw in and host an entire nest of wood consuming insects such as carpenter ants or termites so you have a good chance of getting an invasion. That is why looking after your roofing by clearing out your gutter ensures that you end with a healthy, delighted roofing. If you’re being curious ways to go about the task, here are some tips to get you started:

Gutter Cleaning – Do It Yourself

If you’re deciding to clean your gutter by yourself, you will have to have some items for the task before you begin cleaning. The materials you need to clean out the gutter consist of:

Ladder

A hose pipe with a high pressure nozzle.

Gloves – Rubber.

Gutter Scoop.

Garbage bags.

Pails – 2- 3 Gallons with handles.

Although you may need to make a fast visit to the store for some items, you might find that you already have the majority of them in the house. To begin cleaning, put your ladder at a point where it is convenient for you to stat digging the collected particles utilizing the gutter scoop. Put your buckets within arms reach or hang them from their deals with near you. Put all the debris from the gutter into your container. Stop work and empty the pail inside the trash bag as soon as you fill it up. Use the hose pipe to get rid of any debris that is staying behind or that you couldn’t scoop up easily.

Employing the Experts

Oftentimes, owing to physical constraints or the correct know how, lots of people are incapable to carry out gutter cleaning on their own. Likewise, gutter cleaning is a time consuming task. Owing to increasingly tight schedules, lots of people might not have the time to perform gutter cleaning by themselves.

However, even if you don’t want to clean your gutter because it is particularly dirty or that you feel that you are inadequate in method in cleaning it, you can easily call a trustworthy gutter cleaning business and avail their services. Click here to get the best gutter cleaning service in your area.

To try to find gutter cleaning companies, you can even look up and search different reliable companies in the gutter cleaning market. They are also able to assist with other conditions that related to this element of your home. Coming properly geared up with the right tools for gutter cleaning as well as have all the proper know how about ways to handle various conditions that can emerge owing to clogged up gutters.

Hiring A Gutter Cleaning Service

If you own a home, you most likely do not even consider your seamless gutters, unless something bad happens. If your gutters quit working and rain water begins running over the sides of your house in sheets or the gutters begin to yank away from the roofing system making an eyesore, then all of the sudden your gutters are a big deal. The truth is that you need to clean your gutters twice a year, even if there are not noticeable issues. Keeping your rain gutters clear will ensure the long life of your house’s foundation and your gutter system. However when it comes time to clean them, should you do this yourself or employ a professional gutter service?

There are 2 factors that you might prefer to clean your very own rain gutters. The first is the fact that doing the job yourself conserves money. As long as you have a big adequate ladder, you can clean your rain gutters for less than twenty dollars. You just need common household items and an economical gutter scoop. Professional gutter cleaning services can charge anywhere from seventy 5 to five hundred dollars. The important things that impact that rate include the square footage of your home, how many stories your house is, and how blocked the gutters are. Bear in mind that you generally get what you pay for. Therefore, the more economical gutter cleaning services might not do a great task compared to exactly what you could do yourself for less than a 3rd of the cost. The 2nd reason you might choose to clean your own rain gutters is something less tangible. Looking after your home and finishing a big and essential chore like this will give you a sense of achievement that will not exist if you pay somebody else to do the work.

There are likewise 2 factors you must employ someone to do this task rather than doing it yourself. First, gutter care can be a harmful proposition. There are safety concerns with getting up on a ladder as well as possible health issues over coming in contact with specific molds and bacteria. If you are mishap susceptible or have major mold allergic reactions, then employing an expert is most likely a good idea. Second, there are specific added benefits you get from a service like gutter maintenance and upkeep. Service technicians will make sure your seamless gutters are leveled correctly to motivate the proper circulation of water to your downspouts. In addition, they will make sure that the hangers that attach your gutters to your roof remain in great repair and put any hat need it. These services are generally included in the cost so you need to weigh that in your decision.

Because you’ve invested a great deal of cash in your house, it is necessary to take care of it as best as you can. Among the things that you’re going to want to hang around and effort on is cleaning the exterior of your home. This is the first thing that individuals see when they arrive at your home, so making the effort to guarantee that the exterior of your home is tidy will allow you to make a good impression on guests. You can make sure that your house is both gorgeous and well secured by making sure that your gutters are tidy and functioning appropriately.

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[floydwild6870679-blog]

Breitbart News Goes To War For Steve Bannon.

Breitbart stated that had actually been actually smeared" by CNN range Don Lime when he explained the web site as platform for the alt-right" and also asserted that Steve Bannon had described this as such. Even gasoline our company use in our lawnmowers, motorcycles, as well as go carts, may provide our company a poor hassle, especially on a warm time as the vapors from the materials in these items intensify. In the event the door is actually moldy, run a hot water washout with some chlorine bleach to kill the fungis. The concept is for warm flowing sky to go through the colder water, pushing the water to cool the sky by vaporizing. You can likewise spare funds through decreasing the temp on your hot water heating system to 120F. Spring and also summer highlights the bug sprays, lawn fertilizers, swimming pool chemicals, property coatings, washing solvents like bleach and also ammonia, building adhesives, epoxy, and so on Addition from the revenue resulting from the first to tenth homes and also subtracting the expenditures of the twelfth house is actually the revenue, which is actually exemplified by the l lth home. As Fourth house is actually also lungs as well as Kirk rashi is likewise bronchis, any kind of bronchis soul concerns in the concerned family members will be actually highlighted. Our team would certainly really love to make you a one-off customized if you have actually got a custom or conventional warm pole. Ketu in the 5th home reveals recognition and also good name due to your buddhi/knowledge and also cleverness. . Trump's firing of Comey happened a day after previous functioning Attorney general of the United States Sally Yates told a Senate door that she had actually updated the White House on Jan Enhanced in the craft nouveau type with extravagant porcelains and also frescos, you'll locate an Irish-Roman bathtub, Russian steam bath and also very hot spaces. This write-up will certainly educate you how to create a hot compost heap to ensure you may produce your own compost in the house. That is via the effects of the l lth home that every kind of accumulation from the incoming wealth from the native is actually looked after. One might be actually probably to make with the aid of their initiatives, which is actually signified due to the lagna. Considering that it provides your home and also instant revamp due to how appealing it appears each off inside the residence as well as outside as well, this is actually an excellent suggestion. The heater or cooler is usually quite small however effective and also usually possesses an integrated irritant filter to ensure your pet dog's hair as well as pet pollen may be removed of the canine house. Princess House offers a massive product line from products, consisting of cookware products, kitchen tools, meals storage, provide materials, home design and more.

KETU in the 6th residence presents working with some progressed, well put and also very placed folks. They can additionally live inside the sewage drains pipes, garbage cans, watered property plants as well as dog food items bowls, creating this all the find more information challenging to obtain rid them. You desire to attempt to orient when you stay in a region of the planet that is actually both scorching as well as damp your home to ensure that it is actually certainly not swamped along with sunlight. However as a matter of recurring smarminess (and also probably likewise thinking about his future as our home Minority Leader), Ryan apparently could certainly not quit himself coming from lapsing into being a hypocrite. This are going to aid avoid rodents from being attracted to your residence from the beginning. She consistently invited me in (after I shovel around her house) for a cup from very hot coco. Your controls are broadcast both wirelessly and also over the existing energy wires in your house if you put up Insteon automation elements.

[ellawjasso]

Why Does my House Smell Musty? 5 Things That Can Make your Home Smell

A lot of smells in our homes are easily identifiable, and we can get to their source quickly because we know where they’re coming from. Garbage is smelly because last night’s leftovers are sitting in there a little too long? Just throw out the trash and the smell will go away. Other smells, however, are slightly more mysterious. When we can’t find out where the odors are coming from, and they’re left to linger too long, it can create a rather unpleasant environment to live in as well as a potential health hazard. Find out where some common household odors come from and how to get rid of strange smells in house .

Pet Odor Removal Tips

Those who have been around pets know that at times they come with a characteristic odor. Usually, the bad odors ate attributed to body odors and urine smells. Pets themselves may smell like they need a bath, or the smell’s left behind in the home from when the pet is outside. Dogs will often get urine on the bottom of their paws after they go outside. Also, many cats and dogs, unfortunately, have accidents inside, especially on carpet. If your pet has spent a lot of time outside and gotten wet, their fur can also start to smell of mildew.

To get rid of pet smells, first determine if it’s the animal or the flooring to determine where they went to the bathroom. If so, that could be the source of the odor. If your pet smells unpleasant, give your pet a bath, paying particular attention to the pads on their feet. If it’s the carpet, you may be able to remove the urine smell easily. Steam cleaning can clean carpet thoroughly down to the padding. If it’s a new spot, you may use the OdorKlenz pet urine eliminator to attack and neutralize the odors. If the odors have gotten down into the subflooring, you should look into the OdorKlenz subfloor treatment kit to inject the odors at the source. If you are uncertain of the location of the source of the odors and the carpet is worth salvaging, you may consider investing in a black light.

How to Remove Drain & Sewer Odors from Bathrooms

Have you noticed that your little-used bathroom has an unpleasant odor coming from it? Unusable bathtubs may start to give off a sulfur, rotten egg smell. This reason is that the plumbing of the drain requires water to keep functioning properly. If water isn’t running down the drain regularly, sewer gases that normally washes it out of the system can make their way back up into your home.

Even if you don’t plan on using the extra bathroom, it’s still a good idea to run water down the bathtub and sink drain at least once a week. That will dissipate some of the gases that build up and prevent any odors. This way, the smell will go away, and the bathroom will be ready for use when someone does need it. For quick removal of drain and sewer odors, check out the OdorKlenz Drain and Disposal Odor Remover.

Smoke Odor Removal Tips You Need to Know

You can usually tell as soon as you walk through the door of a home if a smoker lives there or not. Cigarette smoke is very invasive to homes and can embed itself in carpets, on walls, and remain airborne for months on in. Cigarette smoke is highly corrosive and stays on people’s clothing even after being washed in the laundry. Cigarette smoke doesn’t only smell bad; but it can also cause lung cancer, asthma, and other respiratory problems for both the smoker and those who inhale the smoke. Third-hand smoke refers to the inhalation of smoke left behind, even if you weren’t around the person smoking. This scent frequently occurs in homes where a smoker lives and can be as dangerous as if you were smoking the cigarette yourself.

Getting rid of smoke smells in homes can be a daunting task. The best course of action is a whole house approach. Carpets usually need to be steam cleaned to get all of the smoke particles out. Walls and upholstery can be treated with OdorKlenz Source Odor treatment which works to neutralize the chemical odors associated with smoke. Stains may stay behind on walls from the smoke—to eliminate these and prevent them from returning; you can paint the walls with a sealer and primer first. This way it will lock in the stains and smoke odors, and make sure they don’t soak through to the new paint layer. It’s also important to purify the air. Opening windows and doors can help, but you’ll most likely need a professional grade air purifying system that can draw in and deactivate smoke toxins. The OdorKlenz mobile system works to provide the end user with two stage filtration, by addressing the removal of particulates with a medical grade HEPA filter as well as odor reduction with its patented earth mineral cartridge.

Washing Machine Odor Removal Hacks

Sometimes you may notice a strange moldy smell in your basement or laundry room. You may attribute it to wet towels or soiled laundry at first, but then realize it doesn’t go away, even though you’ve removed those items. Although they’re designed to clean, washing machines themselves can get mold and mildew buildup, causing an unpleasant odor that may even transfer over to your clothes. This statement is especially true with front-load washing machines, which close tight with a vacuum seal. Moisture inside after a wash isn’t allowed to evaporate, and the warm damp environment provides perfect conditions for mold to grow.

To remove washing machine odors, run a laundry cycle with the OdorKlenz washing machine deodorizer. To prevent the smell from happening in the future, you can leave the washing machine door propped open after a wash to allow for proper ventilation.

How to Remove Decaying Pest Smells

Many residences are unlucky enough to have problems with mice or other vermin. Chimneys, behind appliances, and in small spaces in the basement are all common places people typically find dead and decaying animals. Even one little pest can cause a huge smell that permeates the whole house after it begins to rot.

It’s best to have some pest control plan in the first place to prevent this from happening. Seal areas from outside that mice can get in, such as chimney sweeps or cracks in the foundation. If you do notice a decaying smell, follow your nose to locate the animal and dispose of it. Make sure to wear gloves, and to throw the remains away in two double garbage bags. Disinfect the area you found it as well as any tools you use to remove it. Pests can carry harmful bacteria that can make humans sick.

Basement Must and Other Basement Odors

Basements are notorious for being at risk for mold and mildew growth. This concern is because basements are dark, humid places. Appliances that use water and that can potentially leak are typically located in the basement. This set of appliances includes the water heater, main sewer line, washing machine, and sump pump. Organic materials like cardboard or paper can also grow layers of mold or mildew when they are kept stored in these conditions. A chemical caused Geosmin causes the musty smell, which occurs as mold grows.

A lot of chemicals are also usually stored in the basement. When we’ve finished with projects, we store things like paint, varnish, stain, and other cans of toxic chemicals in the basement. Many times, we don’t even need to keep these chemicals but have nowhere else to put them, and don’t know the proper disposal procedures. The cocktail created by these chemicals being stored near to each other can cause health hazards and an unpleasant smell, however.

To fix these common basement problems, take steps to check that mold isn’t growing in or around basement appliances. Store things like paper, toys, clothes, or mementos in plastic, water-proof containers instead of cardboard boxes. Run a dehumidifier regularly in the basement. If possible, have it drain into the sump pump area, so you don’t have to empty out the water collection bin regularly. Regarding chemicals, check with local hardware stores or environmental agencies on what’s the proper way to dispose of them. If you have no further use for them, it’s better to get rid of these toxic substances than to leave them lying around the house. If you must store them, make sure to keep them somewhere cool and far away from any heating system, which could potentially cause a fire.

For any of these common household smells, proper ventilation and air filtration is key to prevention and elimination. The majority of household odors become so bad because they’re allowed to build up within the home, rather than being diluted and filtered out with fresh outdoor air. Use common sense and follow your nose to eliminate the source of odors, and then follow the cleanup and prevention tips listed here.

Here what Others Have to Say About OdorKlenz

I am not sure how to leave a testimonial on your website, so here’s mine below: OUTSTANDING PRODUCT! I moved into a 12 year old house and did not know what the stink was for 6 months. I painted, sealed, and repainted a total of 5 layers. The smell was still there. Then I used OdorKlenz and the smell went away! I found out that there were rodents living in wall and the infestation created an awful smell that prevented me from staying in the master bedroom for more than a few minutes at a time. I needed the OdorKlenz to decontaminate the walls in conjunction with a pest removal service in the attic where little critters hung out (or I should say used to hand out.) Thanks SOOOO much to OdorKlenz. It was the alternative to tearing my walls out.

Alice Jones

We had two bird live and ide in our attic during the middle of the summer. OdorKlenz really helped us literally get the smell of death out of our home..

Paul. M

Our drain smelled of fish no matter what we used. I poured two gallons of vinegar and it still will not get better. I used the OdorKlenz drain cleaner and within minutes that fishy smell found a new home. I love it

Auroa B

  Featured Products

Pet Shampoo

$14.99 $16.99

Removes Stubborn Pet Odors that other shampoo mask or leave behind. Fragrance-Free & Non-Toxic

Click here for more details

Add to cart

OdorKlenz Pet Deodorizing Mitt

$12.99

Removes Stubborn Pet Odors without the use of water. Pat Mitt on pet to remove the toughest smell while on the go

Click here for more details

Add to cart

OdorKlenz Pet Litter Additive

$19.99

Removes the Toughest Litter Box Odors without the use of Masking Agents or Fragrances. Non-Toxic & Kitty Approved

Click here for more details

Add to cart

Deodorize Carpets, Upholstery, Wood Flooring. Safe to use on All Water-Safe Surfaces without the Use of Toxic Chemicals or Fragrances. Made From Safe Earth Minerals

Click here for more details

Select options

OdorKlenz® Subfloor Treatment Kit

$29.99

Removes Stubborn Pet & Urine Odors From Subfloor without the Need of Pulling back or Removing Carpeting.

Click here for more details

Add to cart

Two-In-One liquid spill and deodorize. Fragrance-free & Non-toxic.

Click here for more details

Add to cart

Spot Treatment for all urine odors. Works on solid surfaces, upholstery, & carpeting

Click here for more details

Add to cart

Why Does my House Smell Musty? 5 Things That Can Make your Home Smell published first on https://odorklenzsite.wordpress.com/

[odorklenzsite]

Why Does my House Smell Musty? 5 Things That Can Make your Home Smell

A lot of smells in our homes are easily identifiable, and we can get to their source quickly because we know where they’re coming from. Garbage is smelly because last night’s leftovers are sitting in there a little too long? Just throw out the trash and the smell will go away. Other smells, however, are slightly more mysterious. When we can’t find out where the odors are coming from, and they’re left to linger too long, it can create a rather unpleasant environment to live in as well as a potential health hazard. Find out where some common household odors come from and how to get rid of strange smells in house .

Pet Odor Removal Tips

Those who have been around pets know that at times they come with a characteristic odor. Usually, the bad odors ate attributed to body odors and urine smells. Pets themselves may smell like they need a bath, or the smell’s left behind in the home from when the pet is outside. Dogs will often get urine on the bottom of their paws after they go outside. Also, many cats and dogs, unfortunately, have accidents inside, especially on carpet. If your pet has spent a lot of time outside and gotten wet, their fur can also start to smell of mildew.

To get rid of pet smells, first determine if it’s the animal or the flooring to determine where they went to the bathroom. If so, that could be the source of the odor. If your pet smells unpleasant, give your pet a bath, paying particular attention to the pads on their feet. If it’s the carpet, you may be able to remove the urine smell easily. Steam cleaning can clean carpet thoroughly down to the padding. If it’s a new spot, you may use the OdorKlenz pet urine eliminator to attack and neutralize the odors. If the odors have gotten down into the subflooring, you should look into the OdorKlenz subfloor treatment kit to inject the odors at the source. If you are uncertain of the location of the source of the odors and the carpet is worth salvaging, you may consider investing in a black light.

How to Remove Drain & Sewer Odors from Bathrooms

Have you noticed that your little-used bathroom has an unpleasant odor coming from it? Unusable bathtubs may start to give off a sulfur, rotten egg smell. This reason is that the plumbing of the drain requires water to keep functioning properly. If water isn’t running down the drain regularly, sewer gases that normally washes it out of the system can make their way back up into your home.

Even if you don’t plan on using the extra bathroom, it’s still a good idea to run water down the bathtub and sink drain at least once a week. That will dissipate some of the gases that build up and prevent any odors. This way, the smell will go away, and the bathroom will be ready for use when someone does need it. For quick removal of drain and sewer odors, check out the OdorKlenz Drain and Disposal Odor Remover.

Smoke Odor Removal Tips You Need to Know

You can usually tell as soon as you walk through the door of a home if a smoker lives there or not. Cigarette smoke is very invasive to homes and can embed itself in carpets, on walls, and remain airborne for months on in. Cigarette smoke is highly corrosive and stays on people’s clothing even after being washed in the laundry. Cigarette smoke doesn’t only smell bad; but it can also cause lung cancer, asthma, and other respiratory problems for both the smoker and those who inhale the smoke. Third-hand smoke refers to the inhalation of smoke left behind, even if you weren’t around the person smoking. This scent frequently occurs in homes where a smoker lives and can be as dangerous as if you were smoking the cigarette yourself.

Getting rid of smoke smells in homes can be a daunting task. The best course of action is a whole house approach. Carpets usually need to be steam cleaned to get all of the smoke particles out. Walls and upholstery can be treated with OdorKlenz Source Odor treatment which works to neutralize the chemical odors associated with smoke. Stains may stay behind on walls from the smoke—to eliminate these and prevent them from returning; you can paint the walls with a sealer and primer first. This way it will lock in the stains and smoke odors, and make sure they don’t soak through to the new paint layer. It’s also important to purify the air. Opening windows and doors can help, but you’ll most likely need a professional grade air purifying system that can draw in and deactivate smoke toxins. The OdorKlenz mobile system works to provide the end user with two stage filtration, by addressing the removal of particulates with a medical grade HEPA filter as well as odor reduction with its patented earth mineral cartridge.

Washing Machine Odor Removal Hacks

Sometimes you may notice a strange moldy smell in your basement or laundry room. You may attribute it to wet towels or soiled laundry at first, but then realize it doesn’t go away, even though you’ve removed those items. Although they’re designed to clean, washing machines themselves can get mold and mildew buildup, causing an unpleasant odor that may even transfer over to your clothes. This statement is especially true with front-load washing machines, which close tight with a vacuum seal. Moisture inside after a wash isn’t allowed to evaporate, and the warm damp environment provides perfect conditions for mold to grow.

To remove washing machine odors, run a laundry cycle with the OdorKlenz washing machine deodorizer. To prevent the smell from happening in the future, you can leave the washing machine door propped open after a wash to allow for proper ventilation.

How to Remove Decaying Pest Smells

Many residences are unlucky enough to have problems with mice or other vermin. Chimneys, behind appliances, and in small spaces in the basement are all common places people typically find dead and decaying animals. Even one little pest can cause a huge smell that permeates the whole house after it begins to rot.

It’s best to have some pest control plan in the first place to prevent this from happening. Seal areas from outside that mice can get in, such as chimney sweeps or cracks in the foundation. If you do notice a decaying smell, follow your nose to locate the animal and dispose of it. Make sure to wear gloves, and to throw the remains away in two double garbage bags. Disinfect the area you found it as well as any tools you use to remove it. Pests can carry harmful bacteria that can make humans sick.

Basement Must and Other Basement Odors

Basements are notorious for being at risk for mold and mildew growth. This concern is because basements are dark, humid places. Appliances that use water and that can potentially leak are typically located in the basement. This set of appliances includes the water heater, main sewer line, washing machine, and sump pump. Organic materials like cardboard or paper can also grow layers of mold or mildew when they are kept stored in these conditions. A chemical caused Geosmin causes the musty smell, which occurs as mold grows.

A lot of chemicals are also usually stored in the basement. When we’ve finished with projects, we store things like paint, varnish, stain, and other cans of toxic chemicals in the basement. Many times, we don’t even need to keep these chemicals but have nowhere else to put them, and don’t know the proper disposal procedures. The cocktail created by these chemicals being stored near to each other can cause health hazards and an unpleasant smell, however.

To fix these common basement problems, take steps to check that mold isn’t growing in or around basement appliances. Store things like paper, toys, clothes, or mementos in plastic, water-proof containers instead of cardboard boxes. Run a dehumidifier regularly in the basement. If possible, have it drain into the sump pump area, so you don’t have to empty out the water collection bin regularly. Regarding chemicals, check with local hardware stores or environmental agencies on what’s the proper way to dispose of them. If you have no further use for them, it’s better to get rid of these toxic substances than to leave them lying around the house. If you must store them, make sure to keep them somewhere cool and far away from any heating system, which could potentially cause a fire.

For any of these common household smells, proper ventilation and air filtration is key to prevention and elimination. The majority of household odors become so bad because they’re allowed to build up within the home, rather than being diluted and filtered out with fresh outdoor air. Use common sense and follow your nose to eliminate the source of odors, and then follow the cleanup and prevention tips listed here.

Here what Others Have to Say About OdorKlenz

I am not sure how to leave a testimonial on your website, so here’s mine below: OUTSTANDING PRODUCT! I moved into a 12 year old house and did not know what the stink was for 6 months. I painted, sealed, and repainted a total of 5 layers. The smell was still there. Then I used OdorKlenz and the smell went away! I found out that there were rodents living in wall and the infestation created an awful smell that prevented me from staying in the master bedroom for more than a few minutes at a time. I needed the OdorKlenz to decontaminate the walls in conjunction with a pest removal service in the attic where little critters hung out (or I should say used to hand out.) Thanks SOOOO much to OdorKlenz. It was the alternative to tearing my walls out.

Alice Jones

We had two bird live and ide in our attic during the middle of the summer. OdorKlenz really helped us literally get the smell of death out of our home..

Paul. M

Our drain smelled of fish no matter what we used. I poured two gallons of vinegar and it still will not get better. I used the OdorKlenz drain cleaner and within minutes that fishy smell found a new home. I love it

Auroa B

  Featured Products

Pet Shampoo

$14.99 $16.99

Removes Stubborn Pet Odors that other shampoo mask or leave behind. Fragrance-Free & Non-Toxic

Click here for more details

Add to cart

OdorKlenz Pet Deodorizing Mitt

$12.99

Removes Stubborn Pet Odors without the use of water. Pat Mitt on pet to remove the toughest smell while on the go

Click here for more details

Add to cart

OdorKlenz Pet Litter Additive

$19.99

Removes the Toughest Litter Box Odors without the use of Masking Agents or Fragrances. Non-Toxic & Kitty Approved

Click here for more details

Add to cart

Deodorize Carpets, Upholstery, Wood Flooring. Safe to use on All Water-Safe Surfaces without the Use of Toxic Chemicals or Fragrances. Made From Safe Earth Minerals

Click here for more details

Select options

OdorKlenz® Subfloor Treatment Kit

$29.99

Removes Stubborn Pet & Urine Odors From Subfloor without the Need of Pulling back or Removing Carpeting.

Click here for more details

Add to cart

Two-In-One liquid spill and deodorize. Fragrance-free & Non-toxic.

Click here for more details

Add to cart

Spot Treatment for all urine odors. Works on solid surfaces, upholstery, & carpeting

Click here for more details

Add to cart

[noraspaulding]

Location/Price/Size:

Of course when you’re moving, you’ll have an idea of why and where you want or need to be living. Location is most important factor when choosing a new apartment because you’ll be there for at least 6-12 months or longer if you choose to re-sign.  Price is also going to be one of the major key elements; maybe there’s a strict budget or you have some wiggle room. Either way you need to be diligent about price and discuss with your partner/spouse or roommates about finances. It's important to be up front and very honest about it. You have to be realistic about square footage, number of rooms, how many bathrooms, amount of closet space, as well as storage spaces like cabinets and drawers and storage closet (if available) you’ll truly need.  Know what you have and if anything downsize & declutter before moving-it will help you a TON. A lot of new tenants aren't allowed to make many adjustments to the space however it's a great practice to be smart with organizing clutter and also using wall space in a tactful way(vertical not just horizontal). 

Applications/fee, Deposit-first last month’s/credit check, Pet fees, utilities:

Step one in moving is taking tours and physically seeing the space. If and when you like an apartment (or condo/house etc) then you have to apply for it. Put in your application ASAP! Applicants are vicious at some nicer complexes and will snatch a unit from under you without a deposit down or unit being held (this happened in my experience twice). When you fill out the application, make sure you print neatly and if you mess up; either A) very carefully use white out and write clearly over or to the side of the mistake or B) start over on a fresh application  if it can’t be fixed.

DO NOT PUT YOUR IDENTIFYING INFORMATION on it until the end especially YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER! For fear of it falling into the wrong hands besides your hands or your managers hands…BE CAREFUL! 

But also don’t forget to sign the bottom and bring with you any needed documents like bills for identification, pay stubs or bank statements for income verification and an ID (of some sort). Usually application fees are no more than 20-40$ a piece, if at all. Have an idea of your credit score beforehand- you don’t need to know this particularly but you’ll have a deposit based on credit so be realistic about what that number may be. They can run anywhere from like 300$- 2x the full rent amount (is what I’ve seen on Oregon applications). Sometimes it’s one full month rent or even first and last months rent OR a flat rate deposit based on your credit. Pet fees are a big part too when you have a kitty or your best friend fido, you’ll want to bring them with you. These days it is expensive to bring your buddies along with you to a new place-I don’t know if every state has "pet rent" but usually you’ll at least be hit with a not-so-friendly deposit for your furry pal too. I know most major cities are initiating these fees, especially in big time NYC or Seattle.  Utilities are another monthly expense (most places don’t cover for W/S/G (water, sewer, garbage), so if anything one maybe comped but don’t go in expecting anything. Count these in addition to your rent and pet fees expenses could be upwards of 50$ or more depending on where you live.

Quiet community V.S louder kid friendly complex:

As far as this goes- you need to know what type of person you are. You may not have all the control in the world over this but, to an extent you do. If you are a family of four, you won’t mind having lots of kids and a more active community around you. But if you are a single adult, a quiet older couple or a pair who just isn’t about kids then you’ll want a much quieter complex. In your search be mindful of places that are loud and active versus more quiet and reserved. We personally don’t like to hear  screaming, some badly behaved kids constantly and have to deal with many families in the pool for instance but you don’t have much control over it. So I always just ask what the manager thinks and if we can get a unit in a quieter building.

Hard floors/Laminate V.S Carpet:

This is a main point of a residence and he floors you have really set the stage for your apartment. If you have kids then you’ll want more carpet for falls and playtime. If you have dogs or cats then maybe hard floors might be a better option. There are often many options in an apartment and this may play more into what you’re looking for in a place. I find hard floors a little more difficult to clean the dust bunnies and get the corners spic and span but also impossible to keep nice clean carpets with dogs- so weigh your options and take it into account while visiting spaces. I love using Swiffer products on my floors and Dyson vacuum for carpet. I would highly recommend a Dyson vacuum, they are worth the money and you'll want to use it for everything. 

In Unity Laundry OR Laundry Room separate outside space: 

I always prefer having my own laundry in unit. Sometimes it’s not possible and having a laundry room outdoors is usually what people would get stuck with. The moving of everyone’s clothes, having to pay coins for it, and going up and down floors with your laundry is a hassle. Having an in hall laundry area is somewhat of the same problem. It’s always in the way, you’ll have clothes everywhere and moving them up and down (usually in a stack able version) isn’t the best for your back. But those who can be blessed with an in-unit laundry room (small or large) will certainly appreciate some place to get rid of those stinky clothes, somewhere to get those spots out and a place to fold and sort. Handy too when you can do laundry in your own space at any hour. Do your best to also keep your laundry space clean and maintain as pests can get in through walls or where the connections come through. Wipe down your appliances every week or two in order to keep them looking nice and clean and working properly. You can also do a vinegar and hot water rinse cycle to "disinfect" your machine. 

Renters insurance, Mold/Mildew/Pests, Late Fees etc:

Important things you need to know before moving into a new place. Renters insurance is required everywhere and there’s no need to have an over expensive coverage usually it’s required for 100K worth of renters insurance for a year time span. I go through Assurant and they have me on a plan that’s about $15 a month (which is normal for Oregon state) around $180 for the whole year to cover costs if any damages should occur. Believe me if a fire or something does happen you’ll be thankful that you had that coverage. Mold/Mildew and Pests will and do often happen. Just ask your manager and go over these points in your rental contract. Usually it states that they will come and clean mold as it occurs and because it can make you very sick- it needs to be carefully cleaned with bleach and blocked from more moisture getting inside to create moldy areas (door seals, windows, bathtubs etc.). Pests are another story- I would think that a maintenance person or manager would cover that as well but I can’t speak for all properties. I know our complex here has a “pests day” where you can make appointments with an outside company if such a need occurs. The penalty for not paying rent on time or past the rent pay days usually the 1st-the 5th. Late fees are usually anywhere between $50-150.

Gated V.S Non-gated: 

Gated and non-gated complexes, these are also nice to take into account. Honestly especially in a sketchy neighborhood- I’d rather be a little more protected from the outside population. Having a key card or gate key is nice and also a bother, if lost or stolen you’ll be paying for a 30-40$ key, because they are specially cut at the key maker. Unlike a normal door key lock they are more intricate and therefore cost more. But not gated can sometimes be more dangerous and strangers being even more loud and obnoxious.

Security number, access code to pool/office/bunkhouse, newsletter/special events and maintenance number:

Things you should know that you may not think about, make sure you get the number for security company if they have it or local police/non emergency line. You’ll need pool access codes or key/key-card if needed and knowledge about who can and can’t come into the pool area. Some complexes do not allow guests or limit to one per resident. Pets are not allowed in pool and clubhouse areas. Knowing the hours of when the pool is open and exactly when it closes is good to know. Office hours are a need to know basis and you should memorize them so you’ll know when you can get help to a problem or concern. Know who is the manager and what the policies are for living in that complex. A newsletter goes around in some complexes to let you know what the happenings are- special days of the month, holidays, closed office days or events like Taco Tuesday! Having the maintenance number is crucial because you’ll have accidents and things will happen in your new apartment. And although it looks shiny and new- it’s been lived in before, so truth is it has previous dents and dings. Don’t be scared to live in your space though despite breaking in your own apartment. I love to be in new shiny spaces but a cozy lived in place is just as nice too. I hope that this is super helpful information! If any of this helped you or you want to pass onto someone else, I would really appreciate it.  *This is all information I have learned over the years and is based on my knowledge in Oregon.*