#it is possible that he was after liz but i THINK he left before her and was pretty brief | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

jackiequick · 2 months ago

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—This Is The Place I Feel At Home… | Marvel AU

Pairing: Jason & Elizabeth

Additional Cast: Tony, Liane and Louis

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Summary: A home isn’t the place, it’s the people in your life that who help build the home together

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Note: This is Earth 82. Jason and Elizabeth nicknames are JJ & Liz

Inspired: A certain show on NBC if you know, you know ;) and the song To Build a Home by Cinematic Orchestra

Fic Type: Fluff & Angst

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Superbowl Sunday.

Usually a StarkWood event with tables and chairs all lined up, participants will run through the entire house playing. Family members and friends going out or staying in to enjoy a day off.

But this year was different. The kids were older and no one was around to enjoy the night like they used to. Louis went out to the mountains for a party with his girlfriend Laurel, Liane was busy shopping with her friend Petra along and Tony decided to head out to a party with Rhodes.

So that left Jason and Lizzie all alone to spend the evening together. It felt like an empty nest, but it wasn’t so bad. Sitting on the couch, eating chips and drinking as much as possible while watching television. The two even pushed the coffee table off to the side, making room for the two of them.

“A dance, m’lady?” Jason teased, extending his hand as he grinned.

Elizabeth chuckled, taking his hand, “Why certainly, good sir.”

The two danced together and laughed, looking around as they played around with the idea of extending their home. Building a bigger house to remodel together or buying a new one to renovate for a forever home they stay in when they’re old and grey, with great value.

A new production for this family.

“How about we take this talk upstairs?” Elizabeth teased in a suggestive tone and smirked, “The kids will come back later.”

“Mrs. Starkwood, how naughty!” Jason teased back as he smirked, lifting her up into an embrace hearing his wife’s squeals, “I love the way you think.”

There was laughter and chatter all the way through the bedroom floor…

——

Hours passed, the kids returned home, except for Louis who stayed over at Laurel’s house that night. Liane went to help their mother with fixing up the living room and put away any food that was left out. Tony decided to take a few minutes to clean up the kitchen with their father, making sure to throw away anything that might need to be thrown out.

Music softly played in the background as background noise as they all quietly talked and sang along to the sound coming from the radio. Liane was the first person to go upstairs, not with a kiss on the forehead from both parents and Tony soon followed after, turning off the items in the kitchen before he did. The still new dog, Bailey, went running downstairs to the living room to sleep. Elizabeth asked if her husband was coming up upstairs as Jason replied he’ll be there in a minute.

Jason took that time to tidy around the living room, write a note to Louis that was pinned near the entrance, turn off a few lights and then headed to bed.

Soon enough, the house was sound asleep with not even a single word was made out in the halls. Suddenly, an ever so quiet ticking sound appeared in the air, a switch downstairs in the kitchen flipped on.

The soft crumble of fresh flames crawled up the fabric and began to rise into the curtains within the kitchen, then slowly disappeared as it toppled onto the walls filled with memories and reminders…

———

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A smell of smoke and burnt flesh wood filled his senses as Jason sat upright. He yawned and fumbled quietly toward the door, but as he opened the bedroom door he was greeted with brightly painted orange flames.

He slammed the door shut as he said, “Lizzie! I need you to wake, baby, the house is on fire. Get dressed and put some shoes on!”

Lizzie woke up to the sound of her husband's voice and gasped, “What?”

Jason opened the door to call out to the kids, “Kids! The house is on fire, Tony! Lia!” He heard their voice and the sound of Liane’s screams as she swung opened her door, “Guys, close your doors! I’m coming to get you!”

Jason closed the door rushing to put on his sneakers and a sweater, exclaiming how he’s going downstairs for Louis in a panic. Elizabeth was putting her hair in a quick bun as she told him that Louis is not here, he stayed at Laurel’s house, as he nodded in response. Elizabeth rushed to the bathroom to wet any towel, and started removing the bedsheets from their bed. She watched in horror and panic as Jason rushed out the bedroom door towards Tony’s room.

He crawled and grabbed the door open, only to see Tony hyperventilating and coughing. His eyes were wide open as he tugged on his shoes, before meeting his father’s eyes.

“No, I’m not going out there! I’ll climb out my window or something!” Tony shouted, shaking his head, as his father pulled him down to the ground and he breathed deeply.

“Tony, buddy, there’s no time, come on!” Jason shouted, coughing as he led his son towards the room, watching Tony scurry into the bedroom floor.

Jason shouted, “Princess! I’m coming back for you!” As he shut the door coughing loudly, looking over to see Elizabeth going to open the window. He watched his wife breathing heavily as she coughed.

Elizabeth put the towel under the door and rushed to open the window taking in the cold brick air looking over her shoulder, “Darling hurry up!”

“I’m trying!” Jason shouted before turning to Tony with a firm expression and sighed, “If I’m not back in 3 minutes, you take your mother out that window.”

Tony nods frantically, “And if she doesn’t?”

“If she won’t go, you drag her out.”

“Wait don’t…”

“You’ll be fine.”

——

When Jason rushed out again, this time to find Liane, he was meant by a different type of expression. Screams and cries coming from his daughter, as he shut the door behind her.

He cupped her cheek, “Hey, hey, look at me. We gotta go.”

“It wasn’t my fire! I didn’t cause it!” Liane screamed between her cries as he wrapped a wet towel over her.

“I know you didn’t but baby we gotta go.”

“I don’t wanna!”

But he ignored her cries of refusal as he breathed out looking around frantically for an opportunity for assistance. Elizabeth and Tony’s screams were heard from the bedroom, threats from Lizzie that she’d come in there to get them, if they didn't respond back soon. Jason took the mattress off the bed as Liane screamed wondering what was his logic, but the answer soon came.

The door was open as they were meant once again with bright orange flames as the mattress was used as a shield against the fire, allowing for them to escape the bedroom and into the main bedroom. Tony slammed the door shut once they came as he screamed at how incredibly insane this situation was.

———

Cough, shouting and crying was heard from the whole family as they escaped through the window then stood on the roof. Elizabeth’s eyes were filled with fear seeing the danger and damage they were inflicted upon. She helped Jason finish tying the sheets together to create a rope, as they lowered Tony down first onto the ground as next went Liane who appeared just as frantic as her brother.

“Shit. I think Bailey’s still in the house…” Tony suddenly shouted as Liane’s realization hit her as well, wiping sweat off his face.

“What?! No, no, no!” Liane yelled looking around as if she could see the dog across the flames and held her brother close.

Jason caught his wife’s attention as he wrapped the sheets under her armpits secured with her grip holding on firmly. He looked at her in disbelief and panicking, his eyes filled with the same intensity as she held.

“I love you.” He said slowly lowering her down towards the ground where the kids stood.

“I love you more.” She breathed deeply as she replied watchung him slowly disappearing from her gaze as she was lowered.

Jason sighed in relief seeing his wife and kids down on the grass, as Elizabeth tugs their children to step away from the engulfing flames that were screaming from every window to crawl out even further. Jason takes a slight breath, coughing even harder than before and hisses in pain, not fully aware of the burns that appeared on his hands and forearms yet.

“Bailey is still in there!” Liane suddenly yelled once more.

Jason looked between the house and his family frantically as he yelled, “Forget the dog! I’ll buy you a new one!”

“No! Bailey!”

“I don’t hear him!”

Liane huffed and coughed even further, ready to race though the front door to grab said dog but Tony drags her back by the waist shouting how the dog’s not worth it. Tony’s voice was clear as day, trying to be the voice of reason here. Jason was breathing heavily through his mouth as his gaze fell upon the house in flames and his family.

But before he could say another word or turn around to climb back inside, Elizabeth’s firm screams through all the tension as she glared daggers at his direction.

“JJ! Jason! If you go back inside, I swear I'll drag you out myself!” Elizabeth screamed, coughing with a pointed finger straight at him.

Lizzie knew that if she didn’t catch his attention and made that harsh threat, he would’ve risked his life to save that fairly new dog and a couple of items within the house. She hated the words that escaped her lips, but she wasn’t blind to the dangers that were in front of her and the even bigger ones that would happen if he returned though their bedroom window. Furthermore, she could see the moment of doubt across her husband’s face, to know he was at a crossroads here.

Without a second later, Jason made a swift move as he climbed down the sheets that were created to make a rope and stepped onto the grass. He stumbled backwards, as Elizabeth held him upwards as her gaze was fixed between her husband, children and their home that was up in flames.

Tony held his sister close as she tried to fight back, but her tears stopped her as she screamed. Liane flopped into her brother’s arms sadly as her word quieted down and her gaze fell onto the house. Tony exhaled looking around watching their home, a pang of sadness filled in his chest as he sucked in a breath and sniffled. His own eyes were wet, leaning against his mother.

Elizabeth and Jason felt dizzy at the sight, coughing and gasping for air. The sounds of firetrucks and shouts could be heard from a distance that grew closer by the seconds, along with the screaming colors of police cars driving up the street. The cries from an ambulance appeared within grasp, as Jason rested his head next to his wife as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He tugs Tony and Liane forward into the embrace that was already formed from the one he created with Elizabeth.

———

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Extra notes to talk about in this AU

Bailey is fine don’t worry!!

Liz & JJ took Tony, Louis and Liane in when they were practically babies cuz they’re parents couldn’t afford them etc (or maybe one of them is biologically their own and they adopted the other two?? We discuss this later!!)

This fire sadly happened but it gave the whole family an opportunity to get a better view of the world as they live somewhere better, expanding their horizons and creating new memories while still keeping the old ones alive

The fire and the fact that the family stayed together ALIVE, showcase a huge view for Liane and Tony, who will grow up to become Superheroes influence them to fight for what matters most.

We can discuss this more later 😉

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Anyways that’s all folks I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think in the comments below 👇🏼

Remember to like, comment and share your thoughts 💭

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff f @gcthvile @missstrawbs2001 @djs8891 @starkleila @aidanxsophxoxo @mandylove1000 @yetanotherwells @topgun-imagines @buckysteveloki-me @sherloquestea @ximehs @savemewattpad @rose-of-oz @rowinablacks-moodboardsandstims @rickb-chaos @capsshinyshield @blueboirick @wickedocs @rowinablx

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fanficshiddles · 4 months ago

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Stranger Danger, One Shot

Thank you for the prompt: OFC is out late one night in the pouring rain, she accidentally bumps into Tom who offers her a lift home, however instead of Tom taking her back to her house, he kidnaps her and takes her back to his house, Tom is a dominant daddy and been looking for a new little for a while

WARNINGS: RAPE/NON-CON, KIDNAPPING, FORCED DADDY KINK

Liz was rushing home after being on a date, that didn’t go as well as she had hoped it would. Now it was bucketing down with rain and she was soaked through, not having an umbrella or even a jacket with her since it was nice when she headed out.

She was so engrossed in trying to get back as quickly as possible, she never noticed the tall man coming out of the pub on front of her heading to his car, that she knocked into him by accident.

‘I’m so sorry!’ She gasped out, looking up at the tall man through the rain.

‘Entirely my fault, darling.’ He said charmingly with a smile.

Liz titled her head for a moment when she locked eyes with him, surely this wasn’t…

‘I… I better go.’ She then went to continue moving, she really wasn’t rating getting drenched with the rain.

As she began moving, the man gripped her elbow to stop her.

‘Please, my car is just here. Can I give you a ride somewhere? You’re soaked through, you might catch a cold.’ He offered as he motioned to said car that was just by them.

‘Oh… Uh…’ She paused a moment, knowing she really shouldn’t go with a stranger. Though she had a feeling she knew who this guy was, she was just struggling to believe it was really him.

‘My name’s Tom. Tom Hiddleston. I know, stranger danger. At least let me find you an umbrella if you don’t want a ride.’ He offered kindly.

‘I… I thought I recognised you!’ Liz laughed a little.

Tom smiled widely and motioned to his car again. ‘I have heated seats, can get you partly dried before you even get home.’

Liz looked at the car then back at Tom and nodded. ‘Ok. Thank you!’

Tom quickly ushered her over to the car and unlocked it, he opened the passenger door and helped her in.

Liz took a moment to let it sink in that she was currently sat in Tom Hiddleston’s car, while he shut the door for her and walked around to the other side. Out of everyone she could have bumped into. Though she couldn’t deny, she was glad she was out of that damn rain, it was pelting hard against the windshield.

‘Crazy weather, huh? I was sunbathing earlier today, wouldn’t figure it the same day.’ Tom chuckled as he started up the car, setting the wipers to full speed.

‘Yeah, it’s a bit nuts. It was lovely when I headed out earlier, stupidly didn’t think to check the weather to see if I’d need a jacket.’ Liz sighed as she put on her seatbelt.

‘Hopefully this will help warm you up a bit.’

Tom flicked a switch to turn on the heated seats and it wasn’t long before she could feel the warmth against her back and bum. She couldn’t deny it was much better than walking home, even if she was technically in a stranger’s car… But with it being Tom Hiddleston, she figured she’d be safe enough. From what she’d seen in interviews with him, he seemed so lovely and sweet. Besides, she figured after a bad date, at least a kind, handsome, gentleman was driving her home.

‘Were you out anywhere nice? I’m surprised your boyfriend just left you alone on a night like this, it can be rough for a pretty woman to be out alone. Never mind in the rain.’ Tom said softly as he pulled out onto the road after getting her address.

‘Oh, I uh, don’t have a boyfriend. But I was on a date... A bad date. I was just desperate to get home, that’s why I wasn’t looking where I was going.’ She said embarrassedly.

‘Ah. Was it bad in a he was a big red flag sort of bad, or just awkwardly bad?’ Tom asked.

‘Bit of both.’ Liz said after pondering a moment.

‘Sorry to hear that, darling. On behalf of other men, I apologize.’

Liz giggled a little and smiled. ‘I know everyone’s not like that. I just got unlucky.’ She shrugged.

‘Well, I’d say I got luckybeing able to be in your presence, even if it’s for a short while.’ Tom said charmingly.

Liz blushed a little and turned to look out the window. That’s when she realised that Tom was going the wrong way, in a different direction to where she lived.

‘Uh, this is the wrong way. It’s on Lakeland Avenue I stay.’ She said apprehensively.

‘Don’t worry, this is a shortcut tonight. There’s football just finishing about now, so we’re avoiding the traffic by going this way.’ Tom reassured her and gave her a warm smile.

‘Ah right, thanks. I don’t drive so I guess I never really think about that sort of thing.’ She said sheepishly. ‘Driver knows best.’

Tom nodded in agreement. ‘What is it you do for work?’ He asked.

‘Currently I just do some ad-hoc admin work online. I’m doing an online course right now, so that takes up a lot of time, but being able to work online helps me juggle both easier. Plus, it’s flexible.’

‘Nice, sounds like you’ve got it all planned out… where are you from? Your accent tells me this isn’t your home town.’ He grinned at her.

‘You got me.’ She laughed. ‘I’m from up North, near Newcastle. My parents love the country life up there, but I wanted the excitement of London, for some reason.’

Liz relaxed more when she recognised the street they were now on, he was heading in the right direction.

‘That must have been a difficult move, very brave to come down to such a big city on your own.’ Tom hummed softly.

‘Tell me about it. I’ve only been here a month, but I left all my friends behind. That’s why I thought I’d try a dating app, to meet someone. Though maybe I should just be looking for a friend app or something, if such a thing exists.’

‘Perhaps.’ Tom chuckled.

When they pulled down Liz’s street, she felt a little relieved. She wasn’t sure why though, it was Tom Hiddleston after all. Though he was still technically a stranger to her.

Tom stopped the car outside her house and smiled at her. ‘We have arrived.’

‘I can’t thank you enough, really. Much better than walking home in this.’ She smiled back at him.

‘You’re very welcome. Hopefully we will bump into one another again.’ He said as he held his hand out.

She took his hand and blushed when he bent down to kiss the back of her hand.

‘Well, thank you again.’ She turned to open the door, well, tried to. It was locked. She turned back to look at Tom. ‘Doors locked.’ She said awkwardly, trying not to let the worry in her voice show.

Tom nodded once, then he got out of the car and shut the door behind him. She was confused, and began to panic internally when she saw in the rear-view mirror that he was going into the boot. He popped it open and it sounded like he was rummaging around for something.

Liz’s heartbeat quickened and her stomach was in knots. What was he doing? What was he looking for? Why didn’t he just unlock the door for her?

A few seconds later, the boot slammed shut, making her jump, and he made his way to the passenger door. He opened it and a wave of relief hit her, he had an umbrella in hand that he popped open and held up.

She internally smacked herself for getting worried, he was just being a perfect gentleman.

Liz got out of the car and Tom escorted her to her door, under the umbrella. She fumbled in her handbag to get her keys out and unlocked the door, then she looked up at Tom with a big smile. ‘Thanks again, you’ve been a true gent.’

Tom bowed his head slightly. ‘Of course, got to treat a princess right.’ He winked at her. ‘Take care of yourself, Liz.’

Liz felt her cheeks heat up again.

‘Hopefully I’ll see you around again.’ She blurted out before she could stop herself.

‘I’m sure you will.’ He grinned, a dark glint flashed across his eyes that she didn’t see as she turned to open the door.

As she took a step forward, that was the last thing she remembered as suddenly a damp cloth was pressed over her mouth and nose. Then everything went black when she passed out.

Liz’s head felt funny when she came to. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and it took her a moment to focus on her surroundings. It didn’t take much longer though for her to realise she was in a strange room, that definitely wasn’t her place.

Panic began to set in, she sat up and looked around, it was a bedroom. Though not one she knew, at all. Her chest felt tight and she began to breathe a little heavier.

She heard the door opposite the bed unlocking, then it swung open and in walked… Tom Hiddleston.

‘T… Tom… Where am I? What’s going on?’ She asked, her voice shaky as she still tried to catch her breath.

She hadn’t even realised that she was only wearing a very thin, see through nightgown. No underwear, either. Not until Tom smiled and his tongue shot out to lick at his lips as he looked at her body, then she noticed her attire and her panic only grew worse.

‘Shhh, you’re alright, princess. You’re safe here with Daddy, there’s no need to get into a panic.’ Tom said calmly, softly.

He walked towards her on the bed, though what he said only made her scared and even more confused.

Liz noticed on the dressing table there was some of her make-up and hair products. It was obvious because one of her make-up sets was quite expensive and large. Then she realised the nightgown she was wearing, was actually her own. And on the bedside table was the picture of her parents she had from home.

Tom sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to stroke her shoulder, she flinched and moved away from him.

‘Nu uh. You don’t ever shy away like that from me.’ Tom said firmly as he reached out with his long arms and he managed to grab her wrist, his hand was so large that she didn’t even want to try pulling away as he tugged her over to him.

Though when she realised he was trying to pull her onto his lap, she put up a fight and tried struggling out of his grasp, but he was too strong and before she knew it, he had her sitting on his lap. She tried not to move as she could suddenly feel a very evident bulge underneath her…

‘Please… let me go.’ She whined as tears rolled down her cheeks.

‘Aww, don’t cry, little one. I know you want this just as much as I do. I think you bumped into me on purpose, a little princess in desperate need of someone to save and look after her. I just got lucky, since I’ve been wanting a little of my own to love and care for.’ He hummed softly and started stroking her hair after wiping her tears off her cheeks.

‘No… No, no, no. Just let me go. Please, I won’t tell anyone. You can’t keep me here.’ She cried.

‘Oh but I can, sweetheart. No one will be looking for you, you told me yourself you’re alone here. Well, you were. You’re not alone anymore, you never will be again. Now you’ve got me.’

Liz couldn’t believe this was happening, she felt like she was trapped in a nightmare, but wasn’t waking up from it. Though things were just beginning for her…

‘Now, first things first. We need to train your lovely little body to accept me. You’re going to make me very happy, and in return I’ll make sure you enjoy everything just as much as I do.’ His left hand slid up her thigh under her nightgown, she tried squirming away but he was bold with his movements and didn’t let her squirming deter him.

Tom grabbed both of her wrists and held them at her back in one hand, his other hand managed to get between her thighs and he started slowly touching her. She tried clamping her thighs closed, but his hand was already where it needed to be. Now and then he pinched her inner thigh, to make her open her legs more.

‘Now, now, come on. I’m making this easier for you, little princess. Need to get you nice and wet before you can take my cock. Don’t want it to hurt, do you?’ He whispered into her ear, his breath warm against her.

‘I don’t want this at all.’ She sobbed, but Tom ignored her.

He slowly rubbed her clit and through her folds, carefully working her up. And it worked, even if her brain didn’t want it to, her body had a mind of its own. Tom grinned widely and kissed her shoulder when he felt the start of her arousal, using it so he could circle her clit more.

‘See, you do want this. Daddy knows best, you just need to accept it and trust me.’ He purred.

Liz just cried quietly, she accepted she wasn’t going to get away or get him to stop. She shouldn’t have trusted him, shouldn’t have accepted his offer of a ride…

It didn’t take too long before Liz couldn’t hold back a small moan, the pleasure was coursing through her veins as he stroked her clit in just the right way, she couldn’t help herself.

‘That’s it, my good girl. You’ll come for me, then you’ll be ready.’ He coaxed softly and carefully inserted a long finger up into her, his thumb took over playing with her clit.

‘No, no…’ She whimpered in defeat, one more attempt at pulling free from him failed. Then he forced her into an orgasm as he curled his finger and found her g spot, rubbing firmly on it worked wonders and she came all over his hand.

‘Ohhh yes, that’s it.’ Tom moaned. ‘Now, you should be ready to take my cock.’

He briefly let her go and placed her down on the bed so he could unzip his trousers. Liz curled herself up, yet was all out of tears. She couldn’t believe the way her body betrayed her like that. When she looked over at him and saw the size of him, she panicked.

‘Nu uh, uh.’ Tom tsked at her as she tried to slide off the bed.

They had a small scuffle as she really tried to fight him off, but soon found herself with his tie around her wrists behind her back and she was positioned over him as he sat on the bed with his back against the headboard.

‘That’s it, ease down onto Daddy’s cock, princess.’ He purred and gripped her hips, positioning her cunt right over his cock.

Liz tried pulling her hands free but his tie was too tight and began digging into her skin the more she struggled. She let out a cry when she was pulled down onto him and the tip of his cock pressed into her.

‘Ohhh, that’s it. Look at your lovely little pussy, opening up for me.’ He growled.

Tom smoothed his hands up and down her sides, then he went back to her hips and pulled her down further on him. As the tip of his cock slipped further into her, she let out a gasp. Her body was tight and started squeezing down on him, needing to adjust to the intrusion.

‘Fuck… You feel so good, princess.’ Tom groaned and buried his fingers into her hips more.

He looked down and could see that she wasn’t even halfway down on his cock yet.

‘No… it’s too much. Please stop. No more.’ Liz begged between panting.

‘Shhh, it’s alright princess. You were made for me, I will fit. You just need to relax a little more, just a bit more to go.’ Tom cooed and began to rub her clit.

He pulled her down a little further, she felt so full and like taking anymore would be completely impossible.

Tom slid a hand round to her back and he started stroking her back, reassuring her. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. ‘Such a good girl for Daddy, taking his cock so deep. I’m so proud of you.’

Liz was completely confused, scared, aroused... Everything at once. She thought it was finally over, that he was in her as deep as he could go. Though when she looked down between them, she realised there was still a few more inches to go and she let out a whimper.

‘Just a little more to go, then you can relax and just keep Daddy’s cock warm. Then, tomorrow, you’ll be ready for me to fuck you so hard you won’t remember anything else.’

He thrust his hips upwards at the same time as he pulled her down, filling her up completely. She panted hard as her cunt clenched around him, adjusting to him. It helped some when Tom paid some more attention to her clit again, though she didn’t want to admit it.

‘There we go. See? Not so bad now, huh? Just settle nicely and keep me warm. I told you that Daddy would take care of you, I wouldn’t be so mean to just fuck you without letting your body adjust. I know it’s a little scary, but you’re my brave good girl and I’m so proud of you.’ He stopped rubbing her clit to reach up and smooth her hair back from her face.

Liz was defeated and all she could focus on was how full she felt, how his cock was pressing against every single bit of her inside. To her dismay, he felt so good now the deep pain of the stretch was easing...

‘You’re mine now, princess. And this is where you belong.’ Tom hummed and gripped her chin as he kissed her on the lips.

#tom hiddleston #prompt #one shot #tom hiddleston x ofc

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peterparkouryo · 2 years ago

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consuming devotion | ੈ♡˳

prompt: You can't help but love Peter, even if he doesn't reciprocate your feelings

warnings: heavy angst, heartbreak, sweet sweet unrequited love and one sided pining (obv)

word count: 1.5k

"I'm left wondering why the stars align, but your heart doesn't seem to find a place for mine."

a/n: it’s sorta unfinished but not rlly? also who’s excited for rebound four?? ;) (edited: it’s unfinished but there’s like a sort of part 2 that’s connected and i’m working on it)

ੈ♡˳

There's something so beautiful, yet so so painful about being in love. On one hand, you have these intense emotions that are so heartwarming, joyful, happiness and you're content with being around the person you love. On the other hand, your mind is a battleground of emotions. You're plagued by self-doubt, wondering if you're good enough, if you're worthy of their love. You question whether they truly care for you, or if you're just imaging things. You're torn between revealing your feelings, or risking heartbreak.

That's the thing, you have felt every emotion of being in love that there is. The truth is, it sucks.

The distance between you and Peter feels like an insurmountable chasm. Time seems to drag on, and you always, always ache for his presence.

You know there's a mutual understanding that he only sees you as a friend, he has said it on multiple occasions, and thankfully you weren't stupid enough to actually admit to being hopelessly in love with the boy.

You're not entirely sure if he is aware of your affection for him, and you surely doubt that he is, considering its, well, Peter.

What you do know, that you are positively sure of, is that you've probably loved Peter for the better half of your life. There were countless times that proved it too, such as the movie nights, the boy offering to help you with your dreadful homework, walking you home after school, and pretty much anything else that made a vulnerable warmth settle in your heart.

After that realization, you became hyper-aware of every little detail about Peter - his likes, his dislikes hobbies and interests. You hung onto every word he ever said, dissecting his actions for hidden meanings. You started craving his attention and validation, yet you feared the vulnerability the came to revealing your true feelings.

You always had a mix of emotions all at once, sadness, frustration, and sometimes even jealousy. You alway questioned yourself, wondering what could possibly be wrong with you, why you weren't enough for him. It's a battle between your heart and mind, trying to rationalize your while your heart keeps yearning for the unattainable.

Peter's heart was truly pure gold, always thinking of others before himself, helping out whenever he could, he was perfect. And no matter what he did, you still loved him.

Even if he continuously rejected your feelings.

You both knew he wasn't exactly doing it on purpose, he's told you countless times that he only strictly saw you as a friend and nothing more, but like the stubborn person you were, you ignored those words and lived in this pathetic delusion that you'd actually have a chance with him.

Finding yourself caught in a constant cycle of hope and despair, wavering between moments of elation whenever he showed you kindness or affection, and moments of heart-wrenching despair when he seemed distant or unresponsive, which wasn't an uncommon thing. You always, despite already knowing where the boy stood, tried to decipher he feelings, to find hidden signs that he might just feel the same way, but the uncertainty gnaws at your sanity.

"Party, my place, tonight." A voice interrupts your quiet studying, the girl plopping her lunch tray down on the rectangular table quite harshly, the action gaining your morbid attention.

"I don't know, last time I went to one of your parties, I had to clean up after you." You point out, paying close attention to the way Liz's smiles slowly turns into a frown.

"Well, this party is different, and it's not like I made you do that." She argues, shaking her head with an eye roll.

Liz has been your best friend since you both could ride a bike. She's been your better half for as long as you can remember, knowing everything about you and vice versa. The transition from middle schoolers into high school was tough to say the least, puberty doing its job for her, and you....not so much. So it was not a shocking factor that the girl quickly became popular.

Yet, despite her social status, she always stuck to you like glue, and you couldn't be more thankful for that.

You give her a unsure glance, before turning back to your textbook.

"Peter'll be there."

You swear you thought you were subtle when your head practically snaps up at your friend's sentence, but given the way she snorts at your action, you highly doubt it and you clear your throat before you hurriedly look down at your textbook again.

"Okay." You shrug, picking up your pencil to vigorously erase a problem that was probably right or wrong, but you didn't care, your only goal was trying to pretend to seem nonchalant.

Truth be told, you do try to move on from Peter, but the love you feel is stubborn and persistent. It's a constant ache gnawing at your soul, a wound refusing to heal.

Liz tilts her head at your nonchalant response, not buying into your tone.

"Okay?" She repeats.

"Okay." You confirm, placing the pencil on the table, out of your anxious grasp.

Liz was well in the know of your one-sided affection for Peter. Always encouraging you to talk to him, entertaining the very thought of you two ever being a couple. Oh, how respectful she was toward you when she knew at one point during your high school years Peter harboured feelings for her. You don't know exactly what made the boy stop liking her, but you were glad in the end.

"Well, alright." The girl says carefully, picking at her food.

"You don't have to come, but it'd be great if you did." She states with a sweet smile, and you don't find it in yourself to retort it and only nod.

Liz mumbles a quiet bye, standing up with her lunch tray in hand, most likely going to hang out with her other more sociable friends, letting you be left alone with your thoughts.

Unfortunately, those thoughts last for a good five seconds.

"Just the girl I was looking for." You recognize the voice almost immediately, straightening your position to look more presentable.

Peter was effortlessly gorgeous, it was unfair, truly. It was almost like he was purposely taunting you with the knowledge of knowing you can't have him because he doesn't want you to.

He sets his belongings in the empty seat next to him, unzipping his backpack, grabbing a small piece of paper with a pencil, zipping the bag back up before sliding over the gathered materials in your reach.

You look in-between him and the objects in confusion.

"I need you to write me a letter." Peter says, quickly noticing your bewilderment.

"For?"

"My birthday."

"Your birthday's not till August?"

"Well, not my birthday, MJ's." Peter corrects with a small chuckle.

You nod slowly, sliding the objects closer to you, avoiding Peter's intent gaze.

"Isn't her birthday in like, June?" You quiz, writing your 'to' and 'from' as Peter shrugs from across you.

"Yeah, but I'm planning a surprise party that'll at least take a month considering its Michelle, and I know how much you love writing letters." The boy explains and your eyes go wide as you look at him, raising an offended eyebrow.

Of course, it was certainly no secret that many of your love confessions were most of the time in the form of letters, those of which he rejected, continuously, and it was a heartbreaking experience every time. But having the boy use the very thing you couldn't help but show your expression with, against you, hurt worse than any rejection (you're lying, obviously).

"You're so funny, I almost laughed." You deadpan, slamming the pencil down on the table, startling Peter slightly as you push the pencil and paper back to him.

You quickly gather your things, turning to leave the lunch room, though it was nowhere near over, ignoring the calls of your name from Peter.

One-sided love is a tortuous experience. It's such a devastating thing knowing that your love is nowhere near as close to be reciprocated. Always filled with such despair. A constant battle between your heart and reality, between your dreams and the harsh truth.

After your "storm out", Peter was quick to text you with a million apologies, which to all of those you hesitantly ignored, and it was a no good feeling, probably the hardest thing you ever had to do.

It wasn't like he had never joked about your feelings towards him. You think its better that way, but sometimes he could go a little too far and you never understood why you allowed him to continue with the humour you never found yourself to laugh at. It was almost like a coping mechanism, coming to terms with the whole ordeal in a way that wouldn't be so heartbreaking.

Maybe the reason Peter only did joke about it was to help you get over him because he can only ever see you as a friend, and he wanted you to see it as well.

#peter parker imagine #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x y/n #peter parker angst

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horseshoegirl · 1 year ago

Text

Damn Those Dog Tags: Part 22 - JUMP

📜 Second last one till the finish! 😭But we get Jake and Sadie's reunion in this one, and some more smut between Jake and Liz! This is also what I'd classify as Sadie's song amongst the bunch.

❗️+18, strong language, godmother reader/original female character, an original child character, reunions, sexual themes (I mean smut, so get out of here if you ain't +18, I mean it!!! Also wrap it before you tap it! minors DNI.), and fluff.

#8k words

Part 21 | Masterlist | Part 23

"You missed a spot."

You eyed Jake standing in the doorway to Sadie's room, bare-chested, from your spot on the ladder with a paintbrush in hand.

"Did I now?" you quipped back, your eyes narrowing playfully as you tried to find this alleged missed spot on the wall. Jake sauntered closer, a teasing glint in his eyes.

"You did, right here," he pointed vaguely towards the wall. You followed his finger towards the piece of crown moulding you had touched up white, but nothing was amiss.

"You're trying to mess with me, aren't you?"

He shrugged, the corners of his lips turning up into a smirk. "Maybe. Or maybe I just wanted to see you stretch a bit more, get a better view."

Rolling your eyes, you dipped the paintbrush into the tray, contemplating whether to flick a bit of paint at him. "You're impossible," you said with mock exasperation.

"That's why you love me."

Shaking your head, you resumed your painting but couldn't help the smile that crept onto your face.

It had been a few days since Jake's return. With each day that had passed, Jake's back was slowly healing. You'd account it him being as fit as he was, but after the first few, he no longer limped around the house.

You had gone back to his apartment with him to gather some of his things. If it wasn't the urge to take care of him and have him as close as possible after what happened, it was the fact you finally got a glimpse of what his life was like when he was alone.

As he gathered his things, you sat in his stark grey kitchen, frowning at the lack of warmth. It was stereotypical of someone who had a military career. Besides a few picture frames and a framed Long Horns jersey, the place lacked signs of life, all sharp edges and bare surfaces.

You rushed him out of there the second you could. Jake deserved to have a life filled with life, memories and bright colours. One full of love.

You were putting the last finishing touches on the walls of her room, and Jake was assembling her new desk chair and bed frame out in the hall.

The two of you had stayed up last night to get her desk built, the thing probably missing one too many bolts and screws, considering how many you had left over. It was tucked neatly into the corner of her room, out of the way of any wet paint.

If all went to plan, her room would be ready in time for when you went to pick her up the day after tomorrow.

Jake circled around your ladder, coming closer and eyeing the paint tray on the top step.

"Don't even think about it," you warned, holding your brush out in some type of threat to get him to stop.

He grinned mischievously, dipping his finger into the tray and flicking a droplet of paint directly onto your arm. "Oops," he said, feigning innocence.

"Jake!" you exclaimed, feigning horror at the small speck of paint on your skin, missing the splatter on your overalls. Without warning, you retaliated, swinging your paintbrush toward him and slapping a generous amount of paint to his cheek.

You tried to stop your laugh.

His eyes widened in mock surprise, and he touched his cheek, smearing the paint a bit more. "Oh, you're asking for it now," he threatened playfully, eyeing you.

You let out a challenging laugh. "You started it, Hangman."

Trying to reach for more paint, Jake's arms were suddenly around you, lifting you off the ladder and settling you down to the ground. Your shouts of protests of 'watch your back' fell on his deaf ears as he spun you to face him, pressing his paint-battered cheek up against yours. You squealed, yelping out his name as he ran his hands up and down the length of your body, smearing the remains of white paint across the denim.

"This is counterproductive. We will never finish her room in time."

"Ah, the wall can wait." he grinned, leaning back to take in his handiwork. For a moment, the two of you just stood there, you wiping, trying to pick away at a dried spec of paint under his eye, and Jake, trying to separate a few strains of your hair from your face.

You smiled up at him, lifting up on the balls of your feet to press your lips to his. It was meant to be a quick kiss, one full of affection and giddiness. But Jake tightened his grip on your waist, tugging you closer and taking what was a movement for you to take a breath, to part your lips in a savage kiss.

His skin was warm under your wandering hands, his lips soft and aggressive against yours. Till Jake slid his hand up into the roots of your hair, firmly pulling your head back to expose your neck, his lips tracking the ridges of your trachea.

"Fuck, Jake," you gasped, nails biting into his skin. His hand groped the meaty part of your ass, spreading your cheek and heat pooled in the pit of your stomach.

"Fuck, I need you so goddamn bad," he gruffed out.

In the span of seconds, Jake had unclipped the two clasps holding the straps of your overalls together, pushing them over your shoulders and reaching for the hem of your shirt, pulling it over your head. You pulled him down by the back of his neck, kissing him hard and gasping for breath, scraping your nails down the ridges of his chest.

He spun you, guiding you a few steps to the corner of the room, bending you slightly over the newly built desk with a hand pressed between your shoulder blades.

"Jake, we can't. Not on Sadie's desk."

"Don't you think we should test it?" he panted out next to your ear, hand sliding down the front of your stomach under your bunched overalls and underwear to cup your cunt, fingers spreading your folds. "Make sure it's secure?"

You whimpered at his touch, your knees on the verge of giving out were it not for your grip on the desk. Jake groaned, curling a finger into your spot. "Ugh, you're so wet for me. Only for me."

Your knees wobbled as he thumbed your clit, and you fell forward, only for Jake to quickly slide his hand at your hip, possessively up your stomach to the center of your chest. With his arm bracketed around your body, you were pulled upright, trapped between him and the desk.

You could do nothing but tilt your head back against his shoulder, leaving your neck exposed, as Jake simultaneously squeezed your breast and pinched your nipple, working his hand into your spot. His mouth was just as bad, going for all the spots he had a chance to study in greater detail that he knew would make you crumble.

"Please, Liz, let me have you again," he groaned desperately into the side of your neck. Turning your head, you met his lips in a desperate kiss, his lips muffling your confirmation before he popped the button on your hip and shoved your overalls down.

You had gone so long without intimacy in your life that you found yourself surprised at how easily you gave in to Jake.

After that first time, the two of you had a long discussion about what the two of you were okay with. Jake ashamedly admitted it was a conversation the two of you should have had after the fair, before the night in his truck, maybe even before the two of you even started dating. But you had assured him he had done nothing so far that you weren't comfortable with, and he had pretty much asked for your consent each time.

And it became clear to you soon after that Jake clearly loved sex.

Reaching for the buckle, Jake's belt clinked as he quickly unworked the strap, the leather hitting the back of your thigh, making you whine. You could even feel the back of his hand as he unzipped his fly and shoved his jeans down, cock jutting out to rub against your folds.

His breath was haggard as he stepped out of them and knocked your leg to the side, grabbing his length only to rub the head teasing against your entrance. You mewled, curling around his arm against your chest.

"Stop teasing me, Jake," you panted, tilting your hips so that you might thrust yourself back to catch him mid-tease.

"Tell me to do it," he uttered throatily into your ear, having caught on to your attempt, rubbing the head against your clit. "Tell me how good I make you feel."

But you're not weak, and your resolve is strong. What does your smart mouth reply with, "I have nothing else to compare you to."

Dropping his forehead to your shoulder, he growls, positioning himself at your entrance. "It's only me. It will only ever be me, making you feel like this, giving you this pleasure, only me fucking you. Loving you. No one else."

You smirk, knowing you've caught him. "Prove it."

Jake slid home in one stroke, burying himself in you with a groan, hands grabbing both your hips.

There were only two other times Jake and you did this. Once after dinner one night during a movie on the couch, and the other in your kitchen while you made coffee. That's not to say other things didn't happen, but with each time you took him, the stretch became easier to handle.

"So tight, darlin'. Ugh, look at you gripping my cock."

Jake set a harsh pace, a steady claiming rhythm that has you falling to the desk, crying louder and louder each time he hits deep. He's rambling about how pretty you look from his angle, mixing in various swear words while pressing bruises the shape of his fingertips to your hips. He makes a strangled noise, one that has him doubling down and reaching for your shoulder.

"Tell me where, darlin. Where?!"

You wanted to feel it again.

"Inside. Please, Jake."

He fell against your back, pinning you to the surface as his hips clashed with yours with newfound vigour. "Yeah? You want me to fill you?"

You whimpered. You knew that tone.

He was going to make you beg for it.

"I said, do you want me to fill you?!" he demanded on a particularly hard thrust.

You were too far gone to care how you sounded now.

"Yes, Yes, Yes, please, Jake. Please, cum in me."

Cold shock surrounds you as Jake pulls his cock from your cunt, causing you to cry out against the surface of the desk at the sudden loss. Then suddenly, you're being pulled up, a duel grip on the bends of your elbows against his chest, stumbling as he guides you away from Sadie's desk.

On weak legs and in supportive arms, you tumble to the ground, letting Jake manhandle you until you are on your back and your legs are wrapped around his waist, him on his knees with his cock, red, angry, poised at your entrance.

Panting, you cock an eyebrow at him in question, but Jake, ruggedly pants out, "I need to see your face," before he presses back in with a rough whine.

"Fuck, Elizabeth. I'm never going to get enough of you."

"Jake," you cry out, gripping the old sheet you used to cover Sadie's bedroom floor above your head.

His eyes darken as he starts his pace again, quickly amounting to rapid punches that have you biting into your bicep. Your screams are muffled, sounding out each time he hits the back of your cervix. It scares you a little bit, this level of desperation, to be wanted on his level by someone. But you knew, above all else, you were the safest when you were with Jake, even now.

Suddenly, Jake's mouth is wrapped around the bend of your jaw, you taking it as a sign he wants you to give him your mouth. You do, curving your spine upward as he takes both of your wrists stretched above your head into the grip of a single hand. He pins you down, taking each desperate cry, every wanton moan, into his mouth as his hips meet yours again and again and again, working to build that release once more.

Then, somewhere in the back of your mind, you register yourself saying you're close, urging him not to stop, never to stop, to keep driving into you, for him to give you everything.

It makes him thrust harder. Makes him take his hand, not holding on to you, and hike your thigh higher on his waist. It makes him gasp into your open mouth, "Always such a good girl, always letting me know what she likes. What she wants. How she takes my cock... How she wants to feel me cum inside her. Oh, fuck, Liz, I'm going to cum."

You scream from his words alone.

Jake sets his teeth into your shoulder, pulling you tight as he finds his release with a needy growl. You whine into his shoulder, a cry following close behind as your muscles pull taunt, and your stomach burns as you clench around him. He slows his thrusts, letting you milk him for all he's worth, until he stills, sagging his entire weight into you and in no rush to leave your warmth.

You can feel rough, harsh pants against your chest that match your own as Jake draws his head down to rest between your breasts, finding a moment's peace as he regains his strength.

Sadie would definitely kill the two of you if she ever found out when she got older.

"Ugh, I'd quit Penny's too if I only had to experience that once in my life."

Jake snickered against your chest, rubbing the outside of your thigh gently. "I'm curious. Where did you hear that story anyway?"

You lifted your head off the ground, staring at him funny.

"Wait, what? It was the reason Penny hired me back? She was short-staffed because there was this pilot," you said, poking him in the shoulder trying to play along, "who was scaring them off after having one-night stands with them."

A faint chuckle slipped from Jake's lips. It was subtle, a mere puff of breath between your breasts. But then it grew, his shoulders starting to shake, and with each second that passed, his voice grew louder and louder.

"What?" you asked him, a smile on your face. Your question only made him laugh harder, making him growl into the side of your breast. "Jake! What's going on?"

You lightly slapped him on his shoulder, prompting him to hum, "I never slept with any of them."

You widened your eyes, shocked, pulling yourself up onto your elbows to look down at him kissing your breasts.

"You're lying."

Jake shook his head, never lifting it once. "I would never lie to you."

"But the sign in the girl's bathroom? That.. I was throwing that at you almost constantly. You never said anything."

"One was having trouble with her... ex, I guess that's what he was?" he started, mouthing the top of your breast. "He slashed her tires during her shift, and I gave her a lift home a couple of times. She said she didn't feel safe with him lurking about and was debating quitting anyway."

You raised your eyebrows, slowly lowering yourself back down to the floor.

"One was trying to get her girlfriend to come to her senses after a fight. She had been offered a publishing job requiring her to move." He gently slid his nose up the length of your clavicle, snuggling his face into your neck and holding you close. "I was just playing a role, pretending to flirt with her. Last I heard, they got married and bought a house together somewhere in Seattle."

Your mouth dropped open.

"The last one was just a troublemaker, running her mouth about sleeping with all the new recruits. She managed to get her nails into Rooster and then saw me as her next victim. I might have had a rep, but I wasn't going to cross Rooster like that. Even back then. She left shortly after."

"Penny didn't know about any of this?"

Jake shook his head. "All of it happened around the time Penny and Mav went on a vacation. The one with the girlfriend wasn't out to anyone yet, and the girl with the ex... well, I'd rather her ex focus on me than her. The tramp just fit the rep I had, so denying anything would have been a waste. I mean, I wasn't a saint, but I hadn't been looking for something like that for a while."

"Jake..."

"It's okay," he sighed affectionately, breath hot against your neck. "It got me to you in the end."

You racked your mind for any explanation or memory that would have counteracted what he just said. But Penny had been short on the details when she asked you to come back. And Jake might have come on a little strong, but you had acted on the assumption he was really trying to get you into his bed.

For all you could have known, it could have been just some harmless flirting, something you've always been awkward at. As you thought about it, he never fully confirmed the story, either. When he kissed you for the first time, and you brought it up, he had said the bartenders had quit for other reasons.

You had also let everyone else form your first impression of him. Because it was that day at Sadie's Soccer game, they told you Jake had a thing for Bartenders.

Well, one person did.

"Fucking hell, Rooster!" you tried to shoot up off Sadie's bedroom floor, angry and feeling like you had been duped. "Bradley Bradshit Fucking Bradshaw, oh, I'm going to fucking murder you!"

Jake pushed you back down to the floor, laughing at your reaction.

"You fucking meathead, you were the one sleeping with people, weren't you?! Your name was on that list, too!"

"It's done and over with, Liz," he snorted. "We just got him on the same page about us. We don't need to jeopardize it."

But you shook your head back and forth against the floor, and Jake couldn't figure out if you were angry or laughing at the idiotic nature that was the overgrown chicken.

"Liz?"

"I really am Elizabeth Bennet!" you whined out. Jake sputtered out a laugh, moving so he was resting completely on top of you, arms looped under your shoulders.

"I really am!" you cried out. "And Ridley's having the last laugh 'cause she freaking named me after her."

Jake stroked your hair back at the side of your temples. "I think that's the first time you've told me about her without being sad."

His words sobered you, making you swallow harshly. "She left me a letter. And called me out on some stuff. Rightly so. I think the worst part for me was not knowing what she was thinking. The most horrible thing I could have done to myself was not read her letter when I should have."

He pressed his forehead to yours, trying to bring you some level of comfort.

"I wish I could have met her."

The other letter you stashed up on top of the refrigerator stood out like a solid picture in your mind.

Maybe you still can.

"I wish you could have too."

Jake trailed his nose along yours, gently kissing your lips, his thumbs sliding across your cheekbones. It has you sliding your hands up the length of his chest, one finding a home on the back of his neck.

When he pulls back, his face has a tender look as he gazes down at you. It fills you with warmth, so much so that you blurt out, "Move in with us."

His smile drops. "What?"

"Move in with us," you replied softly.

Jake blinked, clearly caught off guard, and studied your face for a long moment. You felt vulnerable under his gaze, worried about how he'd respond.

"We've done so much of this backwards, Jake. I don't think any of us had any plans to follow the rules," you admitted, chuckling nervously.

He quirked his lips upward. "Rules? What rules?"

You find solace in his reply, your nerves settling in the pit of your stomach when you return his smile.

"I meant what I said in my letter. I'm in, Jake, whatever comes our way. If it's marriage, kids, or none of those things, I just want you in Sadie and our lives. I don't want to waste time not being with you when you could be swept away from us any time you're called out."

You glide your fingers through his hair, stroking the tuffs back just above his ear. "I want to make memories with you, wake up next to you. I want hikes with you and Sadie and Saturday nights with family, ending with us doing the dishes. I want the two of us to continue being the reason you come home so you never have to know a life that's not full of love."

You felt it before you saw it, a drop of water hitting your cheek, and you realized Jake was fighting to stop tears from pooling in his eyes.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice choked with emotion.

You nodded. "I might have taken the longest, most backward route to deal with my grief, and God knows I give Bradley one too many chances when I probably shouldn't," You paused, a smirk playing on your lips as you looked into Jake's eyes. "But I love you, and I've never been more sure of anything in my life than this."

Jake took a moment, a whirlwind of emotions playing across his face, till he finally settled on a broad smile. "Let's wait till we get the bug from Camp to decide that?"

You frowned at him, but Jake only shook his head.

"She needs to know what she's getting herself into, yes?" he growled, rolling you on top of him.

------

The morning you were going to pick up Sadie from Camp, Jake was up and out of bed before you. Before you had even opened your eyes, you had reached out for him, only to be met by an empty space.

You got up, reaching for your robe to cover your naked body, hoping Jake hadn't gone out for a run. He was chomping at the bit to get back into exercising, and you didn't blame him. The doctor on base hadn't cleared him yet, and you were doing everything possible to ensure he didn't break that rule and set himself back.

Even the sex had you worried.

You found him sitting at your kitchen table with Sadie's Polaroid in hand and a cup of coffee next to him, gentle swirls of steam catching the light from your window. He was hunched over in thought, absent-mindedly working his hand across his mouth, staring down at her image.

You approached him quietly, placing a gentle hand on his back before wrapping your arm around the front of his chest, resting your chin on his shoulder.

Jake reached up, squeezing your wrist.

"Is that her cockpit photo?"

You remember this one, the F-18 and museum trip, and you understood why Sadie had wanted to include it with the others from the day of the hike.

Jake nodded. "The very one."

He reached over into the small pile, spreading the images out before sliding one of you in front of him. You weren't surprised the risky one was missing, Jake probably having stashed it somewhere safe out of your reach after he found out you wanted to burn it.

He never let you hear the end of that one... and then some. Only Jake could turn your anxious thoughts into something sexual. Though, that was a story for another day.

"This one is yours."

You lifted your head from Jake's shoulder to step next to him and lift the photo off the table.

It wasn't the prettiest photo. Clearly, Sadie had been messing with her camera when she accidentally snapped it. But you looked happy, smiling at Jake out of the frame. It was probably the first time you had truly smiled at something, and you knew then and there that Sadie only included it because all three of you knew who made you smile like that.

Yet, when you turned to Jake, he couldn't take his eyes off hers.

"She's going to prove you wrong, Jake."

He didn't give you a reply, his face etched in worry.

You gently grabbed his arm, pulling it out of the way so you could slide yourself in between him and the table. You popped yourself down, sitting sideways across his lap, wrapping your arm around the back of his neck.

"Can I tell you something, and you promise not to judge me for it?"

Jake shot you a look that made you smile, placing your head between his collar and jaw.

"The night I opened her box, it was a week after you left, and I broke down," you felt Jake's arms tighten around your body. "I was so upset, I ripped these from my neck and threw them across the room."

You held Jake's tags out in front of you, thumbing the rubber casing around one of them.

"Sadie found me. I don't know if she was scared of the thunderstorm or heard me scream, but she got them and returned them to me."

"I didn't give them to you to cause you pain..."

You were quick to reassure him, placing a hand on his cheek and letting the tag fall back to your chest. "No, they didn't. They just... helped me see what I was doing to myself. And I missed you. So much."

Jake pressed a kiss to your forehead, stroking your bare leg.

"She wouldn't have given them back to me if she didn't want you in our lives, Jake," you continued. "All along, that's what she's been doing. Showing you she cares. Since you helped her with her math homework."

You cupped his face gently, ensuring he was focusing entirely on you. "She doesn't, Jake. She misses you. She cares for you. She loves you so much."

He chuckled softly, "I swear she knew half the answers after that first day but just wanted to spend time together."

"She's more astute than we give her credit for," You said with a grin, nuzzling closer to him.

"She's just.." he trailed off. "She's one hell of a kid."

You smiled softly. "She is," you agreed.

The two of you sat like that for a few more minutes, Jake holding you, letting his coffee cool. The two of you didn't say anything, nor you didn't need to. Both of you were simply content to be holding one another.

"Come on," you said, getting up and holding out your hand. He took it, bringing himself to a stand. "We should get ready before Nat arrives."

Jake wiggled his eyebrows, following you down the hall.

"You think we could manage a quickie?"

"Jacob Seresin, you are a horny beast!"

"Takes one to know one, Darlin'."

------

When you and Nat dropped Sadie off at camp the week prior, she promised she'd come with you to pick her up. However, when she arrived at your house an hour later, a stowaway was with her - which was ironic when you thought about it. Nearly a year ago, Jake had been in Rooster's shoes, standing apprehensively in front of your porch step.

You had never seen him look more out of his element than he did when you opened the door.

You had instantly shot her a look.

"It slipped out," Nat held her hands up in defence. You placed your hands on your hips, cocking your eyebrow. "Really? It slipped out?"

There was no malice behind your words. If Bradley wanted to come with you guys to pick up Sadie, you weren't going to stop him. You smiled at Bradley, nodding at him that it was okay that he was here. He relaxed, returning your smile.

Jake pressed a kiss to your temple before walking out to your porch and down the steps to join Bradley. Nat and you walked over to the railing, somewhat away from the two, watching them have their moment.

She knocked your hip once, leaning over towards you to ask, "So I guess it was a good week."

"Why wouldn't it be?" you asked her confused.

"Cause you're walking funny and have a hickey twice as large as the first one you got. You did a shit job at covering up," she laughed.

You blushed, blubbering out, "Nat.. that's not.. I mean... What the hell do you mean I did a shit job?!"

She only continued to laugh, knocking your hip once again. "I guess you don't mind the anagram on his helmet now."

You sputtered, your mouth opening and closing like a fish, and Nat only relished in the innocent look on your face, trying to stop herself from drawing attention to the two of you.

Jake and Bradley, however, didn't hear the two of you. Bradley was too caught up in his head, trying to figure out what to say to him, and Jake was trying to come up with the words to properly thank him for saving his life.

"Bradshaw."

Bradley looked him up and down, a smirk on his face. "You look good, Hangman. You know, despite the..." Bradley pointed to the healing bruise on the side of his face. It wasn't as nasty as before, but still an ugly yellow-brown shade.

"Yeah, well.." Jake remarked, taking his eyes off Bradley for a second before looking back. "For all I know, I have you to blame for that."

Bradley let out a small chuckle. "Yeah..."

A silence befell over the two, and Jake mulled over the right thing to say that would express his gratitude to Rooster, that he wouldn't take the wrong way.

"Thank you for bringing me back to her," his voice carrying sincerity unknown and rare to Bradley. "To them. For saving my life."

"You two okay?" Bradley asked, tilting his head towards you.

Jake glanced over to you and Nat, sharing a laugh over something, and Bradley caught the loving look as Jake settled his eyes on you. "Yeah, we are. More than okay."

Bradley looked away, the weight of everything he had done heavy in the air.

"I need to apologize to you, Jake."

Bradley's use of Jake's name, not this call sign, made him turn back, slightly shocked.

"I've given you, given the both of you a hard time. I... just wanted to protect them, you know? They've been through so much, and Sadie..." he stopped, struggling to find the words. Jake crossed his arms, staring pointedly at Rooster as he rambled.

"I was in Sadie's shoes at one point in my life. And I think from what I know about you now, you'd do anything not to have someone else go through what we've gone through to get here in our lives."

Jake nodded in agreement. "Can I ask you what made you change your mind?"

Bradley didn't look at him when a soft smile came over his face, and he remarked, "When I saved your life."

Jake barked out a laugh, shaking his head. Bradley joined him, soft chuckles escaping his chest.

"I never thought I'd be sitting by your bedside while waiting for an airlift, begging you not to die," he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"Would have solved all your problems if I did, right?"

Bradley shook his head. "No, it wouldn't. I wasn't about to let Sadie or Liz experience the death of another person they loved.

"And?" Jake prompted, letting his voice drawl on.

"And I realized I was creating problems where there was none," he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "And projecting some shit onto you two."

Bradley wasn't about to admit to Jake his entire back story. That he was going to therapy, too, but something told him even if Jake knew, he wouldn't hold it against him.

He was seeing you, after all.

"You have every right to be in their lives. I'm sorry I assumed differently. If you make Liz and Sadie happy, I'm not going to stay in the way of that."

Jake scrunched up his nose, acting like he was contemplating his apology, before holding out his hand. It was not too unfamiliar from when he offered it after saving his and Maverick's life two years ago.

"Clean slate?"

Bradley cocked his eyebrow. "Really? A clean slate?"

"Just like that."

Rooster glanced at Jake's outstretched hand for a moment before taking it, gripping it tight and shaking it once. He went to let go, but Jake only tugged, making Bradley take a clumsy step forward, his shoulder almost meeting Jake's chest. He leaned over as if to pat him on the back, but instead, he tilted his head to say something into Bradley's ear.

"Just don't use me as a scapegoat this time to cover up the fact you're getting some."

Jake slapped him on the back hard, then stepped back as Bradley sputtered out a cough.

"Come on, boys!" Nat called out, having seen the interaction.

They turned back as you finished her shout, yelling out affectionately, "We have a Bug to go catch!"

------

Nobody protested when you asked if the four of you could stop by the thrift shop on the way to pick Sadie up. You had mentioned it had something to do with her birthday present, and nobody seemed to argue. Jake had only smiled, and Bradley and Nat instantly agreed, all too eager to see the famous store you and Ridley had found.

When the four of you entered the shop, Rooster, as you expected, practically ran to the vinyl section, Nat close on his heels to make sure he didn't break anything in his excitement.

Jake followed you to the counter, where you had to wait in line to see Mr. Murray. You honestly stupidly thought he would have gone off on his own, not follow you to the line. He couldn't see what you were doing; as much as this was a surprise for Sadie, this was a surprise for him too.

You had to think of something to get him to go away, and you had to do it fast.

Jake's hand was resting low on your hip when you turned and pressed your hands flat to his chest. Pulling yourself up, you lifted one of your hands to trace the outline of his lips with your fingers before you kissed him, slow and purposely. Lowering yourself back down, Jake's eyes remained closed until his brain caught up with him, and he found himself staring down at your lips.

"Shoo," you cooed at him with a grin. Jake raised his eyebrows. "Shoo? You want me to shoo?"

You nodded, pecking his lips again quickly in a bid to get him to leave you alone.

"Why? It's just Sadie's birthday present."

You bit your lip. There was no real reason he couldn't be there with you, and you didn't have a reply that wouldn't have given away her gift.

Deciding to take one out of Sadie's book instead, you slowly slid your hands down his back, cupping his ass, and squeezing hard once, leaning up to whisper into his ear, "No questions asked?"

Jake's groan vibrated in your ear. "I know what you're doing. And I know I'm at fault for it."

"Is it working?" you teased, sneakily taking his ear lobe between your teeth and letting go just as quickly. To any on-looker, it appeared as if you were simply whispering something in his ear.

"Still doesn't change the fact you're trying to get rid of me."

You slowly slid your mouth down, nipping the skin of his neck in a quick motion that made him hiss. You pulled back to take in the tiny mark, slightly proud of yourself.

"You're defiling government property, darlin'."

"You're not on duty, are you? That makes you mine."

"Oh, you're going to pay for that later."

"Am I?" you said, making sure your lips were just over his, just barely, enough so he might feel your breath but not your touch.

You weren't sure who this person was that Jake had awoken, but every time you found yourself in a position to tease Jake about something, you felt like those social media videos Sadie liked to watch with you, the ones where someone faked an "achievement unlocked" status above their head. Jake had no idea the power he had suddenly shown you.

He went to kiss you, but you dodged his attempt, pressing a finger to his lips.

"Go make sure Rooster doesn't break something. I'm sure that 45' Jerry Lee Lewis record is still there. He already plays Great Balls of Fire enough."

Jake grimaced. "Yup, no, thank you."

You patted him on his chest. Jake winked at you, turning on his heel, not before catching you mid-spin with a light slap to the meaty part of your ass. You yipped, jumping from where you stood, a hand covering the sting. Jake was already walking away with a shit-eating grin on his face, calling out, "Rooster! Hands off the classics!"

Looking up, you came face to face with Mr.Murray, his eyebrows raised. Heat flooded your cheeks more than it already had, and you felt like a kid getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Glad to see that one's safe and sound."

You blushed. "That was.. ah.. That was me..."

Mr. Murray shook his head, reassuring you. "My wife and I were like that at one point. Could barely keep our hands off each other. Still do to some extent."

"Mr. Murray," you blushed, stepping forward.

Reaching into your bag, you pulled out the patches ripped from Jake's ruined flight suit, secretly sliding them across the counter. Jake had saved what he could and asked you to throw out the rest. Little did he know you had other plans.

"Do you think you could fix them up? Do the thing we talked about?"

Mr. Murray looked down at the patches in your hand, taking them and smiling.

"For Sadie? Anything."

-------------

You knew there would be more moments in your life where you would feel immense pride for Sadie, each one topping the last. But watching her row her boat down that river, similar to how you and Ridley had done it as kids, would be something you'd never forget.

Her wanting to go to camp came from one of the polaroids Ridley left behind. You weren't sure who had managed to catch it, and the years had not been kind to the image, but Sadie wanted to know all the memories associated with that photo as you were pulling them out, deciding to preserve them in a scrapbook. You weren't shy about telling her. It was easier, having since opened her box, for you to talk about Ridley without clamming up.

In the end, she asked if she could go to camp like you and her mom did—specifically one where she could row her own boat down a river like that one.

The sunlight glinted off the water, shimmering as you leaned forward, a pair of binoculars held up to your face. Jake's knee bounced anxiously next to you, his eyes darting back and forth between the group and the river bend as Nat and Bradley carried on a separate conversation, waiting for Sadie's boat to come into view.

As you arrived, you had told the group that Sadie was taking part in this race before they could see her. Nat already knew, having made a poster with "Go Sadie Bug!" written across it in big colourful letters and splattered with ladybugs. It sat between the two of you, ready the second she appeared.

It was but a few more seconds before the boats made it around the corner, and you spied her and her teammate rapidly gaining on third place.

"There!" You cried out, letting the binoculars fall to your lap as you pointed. "In the red!"

Jake scanned the water, his heart thumping in his chest as the crowd started to pick up that the kids were nearing the end. His world momentarily narrowed to a mere pinpoint as he searched for one particular kid. A flash of red stood out from the rest, and Jake homed in on her small frame, leaning into every paddle stroke, fierce and determined.

All the uncertainty, the worry about whether she still resented him, evaporated. At that moment, Jake was filled with pride, seeing her giving her all out there on the water.

You were already on your feet by the time Jake stood, watching as Sadie and her teammate paddled vigorously, tied neck to neck with the team currently in third. Bradley leaned forward from his spot on the bleacher, muttering with confidence over and over, "She's got this. She's got this."

Beside him, Nat was unrolling her poster, the rubber band snapping in her excitement and eagerness, as she stood, throwing the piece of Bristol board over her head, letting out a shout.

Jake couldn't help but shout out his encouragement, even if she couldn't hear him from this distance or amongst the shouts of other parents.

"Come on, Bug! Give them hell!"

The distance between the two canoes started to close, and with each powerful stroke, Sadie and her teammate pushed into third, leaving the other canoe in the wake of their water trail. And then, inch by inch, the two of them rapidly approached the other two canoes, currently tied neck and neck for first place.

Bradley's voice joined the others as he shot up and out of his seat. " That's it! Come on, Sadie! Come on!"

But you... you were suddenly overwhelmed, tears streaming down your face as your heart pounded away inside your chest because it wasn't Sadie you were seeing, but your sister, shouting back over her shoulder to encourage what appeared to be you, trying just as hard to see the two of you through to the finish line.

It was such a vivid memory, and you could almost hear her voice, her laughter, as she yelled for the two of you to keep paddling, as she now yelled for Sadie to keep paddling. You didn't shove it down as you might have done once before.

You embraced it.

You instinctively looked over to Jake, who was too focused on watching Sadie to see your eyes on him. His face was lit up with fierce pride and love, and seeing Jake's unwavering support, despite questioning if Sadie really cared for him or not, in your heart, you knew the two of you would always be safe with him.

Sadie was undeterred by the task in front of her. It was clear. The finish line was drawing close, and you couldn't help but reach out to grasp Jake and Nat's forearms.

Nat yelled, "She can do it! She's our bug!"

With a surge of energy, Sadie and her teammate closed the gap, drawing level with the leading canoe. Her face was lit up in sheer determination as she shouted out, using every ounce of energy she had left to push themselves forward, crossing the finish line a mere few seconds before the previous leaders.

You let out a cry, screaming for joy as Jake went for your waist, lifting you up towards the sky in celebration as he celebrated, letting out a shout. Nat was hugging Bradley as he let out a loud whistle in appreciation.

Even if he thought she hated him, Jake still lowered you to the ground and pulled you into his arms, giving you an overly excited kiss and exclaiming how proud he was of her.

After everything she had been through, after everything she had to face this past year, you were proud of her, too.

The four of you escaped the bleachers, making your way down to the docks where you were meant to pick her up. Jake held your hand, eyes nervously scanning the crowd of kids staring to find their parents.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and you squeezed his hand once, swinging it back and forth. "You okay?"

Jake opened his mouth, ready to answer you, before Nat suddenly jumped and squealed, "There she is!" pointing to Sadie on the boardwalk below.

The four of you watched as she made her way up the dock, a red ribbon in hand, as she laughed and celebrated with her friend. You smiled, letting go of Jake's hand to step forward and join Nat at the peek of the hill so she would find you easily.

Rooster stepped forward to get a better view, but he still stayed behind with Jake, who remained where he was, currently clenching and unclenching his fists.

He didn't know if he was ready for this.

Sadie was saying goodbye to her friend when she realized you and Nat would have been in the crowd with everyone else. She thought she had seen someone holding a poster with Lady Bugs on it, but she had only gotten a quick peek before she had to concentrate on the finish line.

She leaned up on the edges of her shoes, scanning the crowd with a hopeful gaze. She knew you'd be here. You promised you would, and you never broke a promise.

A big smile appeared across her face when she finally found you and Nat waving at her on top of the hill. She picked herself up into a run, giggling like anything and everything.

You dropped to your knees, prepared to catch her in one of her overly dramatic hugs that would have you failing to the ground if you weren't ready. But then she stopped dead in her tracks, a gasp escaping her lips. Her face started to red, blue eyes wide and watering, and her bottom lip was begging to tremble as she looked past you.

Concerned, you followed her gaze, realizing she had caught sight of Jake and Bradley standing behind you.

"Oh, Bug," Nat cooed next to you. But you knew, right away, who warranted that reaction.

Jake caught sight of her, a hopeful yet apprehensive look on his face. His heart thudded heavily in his chest, awaiting what he thought to be the ultimate reprimand and lowest point in his life. Because everything was waiting on this moment, despite his apology, despite working his way back to the two of you, if Sadie didn't want him here, if she didn't want him in her life, he would walk away.

It was the longstanding promise to put her first. Her feelings mattered above all else.

But the ribbon she had won slipped from her hand at her side, falling to the ground, forgotten. She stumbled backwards a few steps as her mind caught up with the sight. Sadie couldn't believe it. Because everyone she had ever cared about, one way or another, had been taken away from her beyond anyone's control.

Uncle Jake was here.

He came back.

He was alive.

He was home.

"Uncle Jake!" She cried out, finally propelling herself into a run, going straight past Nat, you, and forgoing Bradley entirely to beeline it to him. The tension released from Jake's shoulders as he dropped to his knees into the dirt, holding out his arms to take the crying girl into his arms.

Sadie couldn't help but throw herself at him, launching her tiny body and wrapping her arms and legs around him only to borrow her head into his neck.

Jake's vision blurred, tears starting to form as he dropped his chin to her shoulder. He cradled her close, letting out a shaky exhale, his grip matching Sadie's tight. The two of them were terrified either one might vanish if they let go. The weight of everything he'd faced, the danger, the near-death, it all paled in comparison to this moment of pure joy and absolute relief.

Sadie did want him in your lives after all.

You could faintly make out the words from him as he cooed over her sobs, "I'm here, Bug. I'm here."

You stood, walking over and kneeling down next to them. You placed a hand on Jake's back and rested the other on Sadie's. Jake lifted his head to look at you, and you were surprised to see his eyes watering. The sight of him holding Sadie, moved by her missing him, brought tears to your eyes.

"Why are you crying, Bug?" You soothed, trying to stop your own voice from breaking.

She pulled back from Jake's neck to look at you. Despite her blotched face and tears, a smile was etched across her face as she blubbered out, "He came home."

Her statement wasn't lost on you. Ridley never made it home to her that night. The family you guys had found was made up of people who flirted with death daily. For as long as they flew, there would always be the chance one of them would never make it home.

"Of course, I made it home, Bug," Jake said, pressing a soft kiss into her hair. "I had to make it home to both of my girls."

Sadie buried her face into the fabric of his shirt, weeping, and you watched as he fought with himself not to cry.

Then she started to giggle through her sniffles, happiness starting to replace her sadness. She curled her head to the side against his chest, gripping his shirt tight between her tiny fingers and taking a few deep breaths.

She didn't want to let him go.

"I love you, Uncle Jake."

You had to wipe your eyes, knowing exactly where that came from.

Jake slammed his eyes shut. "I love you too, Bug."

He was in it for the long run. There was no question about it.

Sadie sharply lifted her head, looking at you, then at Jake, back and forth several times, her mouth hanging loosely open.

"Wait..are you two back together now?"

You nodded. "Are you okay with that?"

It was redundant to ask, but you still needed to anyway.

You could see the gears grinding in her head, working up a quick-witted response only she could come up with. Then you noticed the second the idea popped into her head, fighting to prevent the corners of her mouth from turning upward.

She tried to relax her face, but she was failing miserably. Jake caught on when she tried to become stoic, and his cheeky grin widened with each second that passed. She had done this to him once before, and he wasn't about to be caught in her trap for a second time.

Then a grin stretched across her face, reminding you so much of Ridley.

"Finally. My job here is over."

Little matchmaker, indeed.

You gasped affectionately, playing along as if you didn't know she had been trying to get the two of you together. "Why, you little..."

You attacked her with your fingers, tickling her stomach. Jake tried to contain his laughter as she started to squirm in his arms, shouting out, "Save me, Uncle Jake! Save me!"

Jake tried to lean back to keep her out of your path, but despite his reassurance, his back hadn't returned to being almost 100 percent. It spasmed, causing him to lose his balance off his knees. Sadie screamed, reaching for the only thing she could, which happened to be you, tugging on the front of your shirt.

Your breath caught in your throat as you fell with them, Jake securely tightening his arm around Sadie's back as she fell onto his chest while reaching out for you. He took the brunt of your fall, you landing on the opposite side of his chest, and Jake groaned, tilting his head back against the ground to the sky, laughing.

Nat gathered Sadie's ribbon off the ground, coming to stand next to Bradley, who was watching the three of you with an affectionate smile.

"Damn it, Rooster," Nat teased, knocking his side with hers. "It looks like you've been replaced."

Bradley shook his head.

When Sadie first came to live with you, each of the Daggers had found something to share with her. Nat and her loved sports, and Bob listened to her gush about bugs. Maverick did anything and everything fun and semi-dangerous with her. Fanboy and Payback loved playing games with her, and Coyote was simply there when she needed him. For Bradley, it had been sharing their grief at losing a parent.

But Jake... It wasn't Jake offering Sadie anything. It was Sadie who held out her hand and took him under her tiny arm. Sadie, who offered him her love with no questions asked.

He was never at risk of being replaced, never at risk of losing her love or her playing favourites. Sadie simply cared for everyone and everything thing.

It's just who she was.

"You know what, Nat, I don't mind," He replied, fondly looking at Jake, Sadie and you, now sharing a hug.

"As much as he needs Liz, he needs Sadie too."

I'm crying. There's only one more left 😭💛

Tag List:

@blue-aconite @tinytotontheoversizedpony @djs8891 @caitsymichelle13 @startrekfangirl2233

@mayhemmanaged @ereardon @dempy @shanimallina87 @teacupsandtopgun @daggerspare-standingby

@phantomxoxo @formulapierre @eli2447 @fulla02 @blckgrl-sunflower @mizzzpink @ohgodnotagainn

@bubblegumbeautyqueen @sarahsmi13s @desert-fern @lynnestra44 @memoriesat30 @penwieldingdreamer @mxlanciia

@bradleybeachbabe @bobby-r2d2-floyd @lavenderbradshaw @roosters-girl @lovinglyeternal @kmc1989 @gigisimsonmars

@keyrani @craftytrashprincess @hisredheadedgoddess28 @abzidabzy @memeorydotcom @vicsnook @taestrwbrry

@its-the-pilot @dizzybee03 @cassiemitchell

Part 23 - Sleep Deprivation, the final part, coming soon 😭

Wickett

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cr33pz-mck3nna · 1 month ago

Note

*cocks gun*

GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR OC’s

Since I just infodumped about Dusky and Cosmo I may not have much to say about them(Tw: one possible mention of EDs and health issues)

Random Glitchtale Prime/Underverse Prime character facts

• Liz is not Frisk, when Liz "hacked in" Frisk was successfully erased from that universe entirely, so nobody knows who Frisk is

• Glitchtale Prime is an AU directly off of Classic Undertale, Liz "hacked in" during the final boss fight, overrode the system and caused a huge reset which changed the reality to fit Liz

• Alphys and Undyne are canonically married and have been even before Liz fell in the underground

• Cosmo looks like...Cosmo IS basically the collector(owl house) mixed with the wardrobe of an abyss mage(genshin impact) and all slapped on a skeleton. He has the blue aesthetic but more of a dark blue and he has his hoodie but it's now very oversized, fitting almost like a dress and it has star designs on it

• Dusky is basically a traumatized Papy, he has a similar outfit to Papyrus but his is more muted colors, more of his bone covered, more old looking and somehow more mature. The poor thing constantly looks exhausted and I know he depends on the emotional support Cosmo gives him to even survive at this point

• Toriel and AsswhoreAsgore no longer get along and sadly not even Cosmo and Dusky were safe from their fights, their favorite way of fighting? Using Cosmo and Dusky. When adopting them neither claimed to chose favorites but they sure as hell chose one to cling to, Toriel kept Cosmo safe but Asgore got to Dusky and so while Toriel raised Cosmo as an intellectual astrologist Asgore raised Dusky to be a warrior, Papyrus got his wish to be the guard through Dusky but if he had to see what he was put through I think he'd give up on that dream

• What changed? That's probably what you're asking, because in current time Asgore and Toriel have three children and a happy family, well the simple answer is when the third child, Liz, showed up....she straight up hit Asgore smack in the face and told it to him like it is, he proceeded to start laughing saying "Nobody's had the guts to try something like that in years!" and "Tori can we keep this one?"

• I think when Dusky realized all he ever had to do was snap at Asgore and he'd be proud he actually legitimately had a mental breakdown, it took Liz, a whole pizza and a couple months of family therapy to fix him after that

• Liz doesn't like talking much about her past, all people know is she has two younger siblings, not the best parents and she has a nerve condition, one she takes probiotic medicine for, that can affect her eating habits and cause her nausea which used to lead people on the surface to accuse her of having an ED and look down on her for "blatantly and confidently lying to them", not a lie just a resounding no

• Justice is inspired by Xianyun and Arlecchino(both genshin impact) and thus also inspired by the crane bird and the stallion, her hair long and flowing like the horse but sharp angled and detailed like the bird, her moves graceful and elegant little the bird but with each footstep it sounds more and more as if a horse's hoof connecting with the ground

• Vengix(Gaster) honestly felt his actions of abandoning Cosmo and Dusky were merciful to them, he would have loved to have been strong enough to tell her about them, to bring them with them as they escaped, but he knew if he told her she'd go back and he wanted her to be free but he was already skeptical of how the surface would be around something like him and he wasn't putting those boys through what he might face. "I do not wish to leave them like this, they are not just mine but they are hers as well, a part of both of us, a part I must leave behind. Toriel protect them. I will go ahead and make the surface safe for them but you must promise to let them go one day to go see the world I left them for and ultimately left for them."

• Vengix had two assistants, Alphys and "her", he left the underground under the protection of Alphys so he could leave to protect her on the surface

• The reason Cosmo and Dusky are Blue and Orange is because "mother" used to have beautiful blue hair with orange highlights, Alphys helped her to get those colors

• Alphys didn't lose their mentor and colleague that day, they lost their brother and their best friend, she respected them both yes but they were more of her family than just people she worked with/for

• Undyne literally requires Liz to have weekly fights, claims 'it's the only way she's letting her stay', she just wants to make sure the human isn't getting stronger than her

It is now 7am as I write this 😭 who needs sleep? NOT I APPARENTLY! But anyways I loved this request and hope this is good enough for now. Tata gremlins -Creepz

#don't like don't interact #ut au #utmv au #utmv #undertale #undertale au #glitchtale prime rewrite #glitchtale prime #underverse prime #glitchtale prime liz #glitchtale prime cosmo #glitchtale prime dusky #underverse prime vengix #underverse prime justice

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not-a-space-alien · 1 year ago

Text

K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 9

Part nine of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

Sorry I've been slow getting these out--I've been suffering some writer's block due to some personal stuff I've got going on IRL. I'll admit that I'll probably be putting a liiiitle less effort into polishing the crossover fics from hereon out, but we got a lot of enthusiasm for them so I'm going to keep them coming even if they're a bit messy! There's still a lot of fun stuff in there imo :)

Also this ch is pretty long just because I couldn't find a good place for a chapter break!

K&J masterlist

MMSS masterlist

K&J x MMSS crossover masterlist

To be added to the taglist, contact @whumpsday

Warnings: Capture, dehumanization, nonconsentual bondage/restraint, gag/muzzle, mentions of rape and torture

In this chapter: Valen's fear of getting hatecrimed creeps towards plausibility, but even moving doesn't save Valen from an unexpected nightmare. Luckily this time, he has people looking for him.

***

It's unheard of for anyone to escape vampire territory after years of captivity, and a pretty big shock that another vampire helped him do it. Though it doesn't garner quite the response an inspirational solo escape story might, it's still an incredible tale of something really unusual and an unlikely alliance between humans and vampires, and the media eats it up. Jim does do several interviews about it, wearing the turtlenecks that have recently become his regular wear.

He's purposely vague about Valen, knowing that he doesn't want to be in the limelight. He doesn't even mention him by name. He doesn't mention Kane or any other vampire by name either, worried about Kane being able to find him somehow if he got access to human media. He's given a writer permission to write a book about his experience. She's not pushy like a lot of other journalists, and is intent on getting it right.

Life goes on. Jim helps Valen collect mushrooms. He goes vegetarian. Liz is back to patrolling. Liz makes Jim try therapy, but his preferred method of dealing with it is thinking about it as little as possible, so he drops it fairly early on. Talking with the writer is already pushing it.

Reporters will sometimes come to their house. Valen is thrown into anxious spirals every time, terrified there’s going to be an incident. But the visits die down over the first half a year. Jim doesn't reveal that Valen is living with him, but it's figured out anyway. People who know Liz and see her change from constant anger and depression to actually having some life back in her are grateful to Valen. But many people who don't know Jim and Liz are more hostile: this is an area where a lot of people have been affected by vampire attacks, to boot. They're getting left angry notes.

Valen goes out with Jim during the day, since Jim is still nervous about leaving the house at night. Valen is also nervous about leaving the house, so he doesn’t go to human stores or anything. He either asks Jim to get him things, or goes back to vampire territory and just nervously looks over his shoulder for anyone from the Kithrara estate.

He goes out to get mushrooms, though. He keeps working on his project. He avoids the media, unless someone contacts him directly and is really polite. If humans approach him, he's very polite and doesn't dodge them, but he does excuse himself before too long. He's not antisocial, but he is shy. He likes spending time with Laken, Liz, and Jim, and will socialize with people they deem safe.

One day, Jim and Valen are getting ready to go gather mushrooms while Liz is fast asleep. It's getting hotter out now in the summer. Jim tosses Valen the keys to his car, since Valen is already ready to go. "Hey, can you start the AC running so we don't cook in there while I finish getting dressed? If you're cool with that."

"Sure thing, Jim, dear." He secures his mask to his face, doublechecking that he's completely covered, and heads out, approaching the car in the driveway to unlock it and turn it on.

A man and woman are chatting idly while walking their dog on the other side of the street. When Valen comes out, the man hands the leash to the woman and encourages her to go home, crossing the street and approaching while she leaves.

"Hey!" he calls, looking pissed-off. "It's bad enough there's a vampire in our neighborhood being supervised, now you're out in broad daylight on your own?!"

Valen stops in his tracks and starts to back away. "I apologize, sir, I'm not doing anything nefarious. My-my associate is coming out shortly."

"Yeah, yeah, you saved the Lieberman kid. Well guess what, he's not the only one who lives here! You're scaring my wife, my kids won't play outside anymore!" He pushes Valen.

Valen stumbles back, scrambling back towards the house. "I-I assure you I pose no threat to your family, sir, I've done n-nothing to pose a threat to them."

"You're a fucking vampire! You being here is a threat! Thought the hunters were supposed to protect us!"

Jim comes downstairs shortly, pushing the door open. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Keep that thing on a leash." The man spits and walks off.

"F-fuck off!" Jim shouts, but it loses its impact since the man is already leaving and Jim's voice always wavers when saying anything defiant. He runs to Valen, hugging him. "Are you okay?"

Valen's face is downcast, eyes on the ground. "Um...Yes, I'm not, I wasn't in any physical danger..." He sounds extremely disheartened. "That man said his wife and children are afraid of me. I-I wanted to say he should let me speak to them, so they could see there's no danger, but I doubt that would have been very well received."

"That's not the kind of okay I mean." Jim sighs. "I've been kinda... thinking. That maybe we should move or something. Somewhere more secluded, where you wouldn't have to worry about shit like that. Not too far away from Liz obviously, but y'know. How would you feel about that?"

Valen rubs his arm. "That's probably for the best...but it feels bad they won't even give me a chance. Is there really nothing I can do to win them over?"

"Prolly some people, but not all. Some people are always gonna have their heads in the sand." Jim wonders if his parents would've approved of him and Valen. He's pretty sure they would- Valen brought him back, after all, and they were wonderful loving people, but he can't know for sure. They hated vampires. He doesn't even know for sure if they'd approve of him being gay. He never got a chance to ask.

"You don't need that asshole's approval. I was thinking we could wait 'til the book comes out, Mindy said it'll only be a few more months. And then we could use money from that to find a place. Or we could use some of the stuff you took from Priscus, if you wanted to do it sooner, but that's your call."

Valen still seems downcast. He wants to try and show everyone who he really is, but there is no way to do it without putting himself at risk and making everyone even more uncomfortable.

They end up buying the house and moving sooner rather than later, when Jim finds Valen crying over the latest hatemail he's received one too many times. When he starts being too afraid to leave the house even at night, that's how he knows it's time to go.

Moving is easy with Valen's superior strength and Liz's truck. The house isn't huge, but it's nice and cozy, and it has a basement with no windows. Valen doesn't expect Jim to want to be down there at all, but it's nice to know it's an option if Valen ever wants to rest somewhere where there's no chance the sun can get him.

***

Their life there is cozy, until one day Valen doesn't come home.

Jim freaks out fast. Valen doesn't ever just not come home. And when Jim didn't come home, it was the worst thing that ever happened to him- even though it led to meeting Valen, one of the best.

He calls Liz first, of course. She has connections with other hunters, and the first thing he wants to rule out is that Valen's been killed. The worst-case scenario, and unfortunately, what he thinks is the most likely one. He can't stop crying. He wants to go to Liz, but he doesn't. He has to be home if Valen comes back.

Liz calls around, asking if anyone in various branches have seen a vampire matching Valen's description in the last day. The last two days. The last three days. She ends up on the phone with the director of a branch a day-trip away, who finally confirms that Valen has been seen. And he's alive. He's been captured, and he's being... experimented on for weapons testing.

Liz informs the director who Valen is, and politely asks to please let them pick Valen up today.

"I'm sympathetic to your story, but are you quite sure this merits release?" the director asks her. "Live capture of vampires is quite a difficult feat."

Liz's heart pounds. There's no way she's leaving Valen there, but it would be a lot easier if he'd hand him over. "He's never hurt a human in his life. The opposite, he's actively saved a human from capture. He's accompanied me or my partner on hunts on a few occasions, when one of us was out of commission. He's working on synthesizing artificial blood vampires can live off of out of mushrooms. Hell, he's an innocent person. Those should all... merit release, right?" She's trying really hard not to blow up on him.

The director puts her on hold. Then, a few minutes later, he asks if he can call her back, because he needs to discuss it with some other people in the branch.

"Yeah, of course. I'll- I'll be here. Please call back."

Liz calls Jim immediately- she doesn't stay on the line long, giving a quick summary and a location, wanting to keep the line open for when the director calls. Jim is on his way the second Liz gives him the info, gathering two blood packs and a spare change of full-coverage clothes and a mask in case Valen's own have been compromised. He needs to get there right now. He needs to save Valen.

He doesn't know whether he'll get there to people willing to give Valen back, or hostile hunters refusing to. He can't stop crying, hasn't been able to stop crying for days, but now it's making driving harder. Despite it, he goes as fast as he can.

The director calls back a while later--an annoyingly, stupidly long time later--and he says that he's talked to some people from Liz's branch of the hunter's guild. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that Valen is not dangerous--but there are also testimonies from neighbors who lived in concern for their safety for quite a long time, and the director says that he has an obligation to protect the innocent people whose safety he has been entrusted with and can find no strong basis on which to support the release of this vampire. He does say that Liz is free to appeal, which would start the process of gathering a committee to draft a resolution outlining under what circumstances a vampire can be released, since this is such a rare issue and there is no precedent for how to handle it.

Liz wants to pull her hair out. "Valen doesn't- he hasn't been neighbors with those people for years. He moved away when the concerns were initially raised. He keeps away from humans. But, yeah," Her voice breaks. This is the second time someone she loves has been kidnapped. "I wanna start an appeal. Can you at least just... not hurt him? He hasn't done anything. Please."

The director puts her on hold again. Then when he comes back: "I've phoned the hunter's base where he is and told them not to start any new experiments. Thank you for your patience through this irregular situation."

"Thank you." She doesn't want to thank the bastard who approved Valen's torture, but being cordial to this man is now the most important thing. "Um, one more thing. My brother, he and Valen are, obviously close. He's kind of already on his way. Can you at least let him see Valen?"

The director hems and haws. "I suppose that should be all right, as long as it's supervised."

"Thank you. Please keep me updated."

Jim arrives a few hours later. The things he brought are stuffed in his backpack, and he knocks hard and fast on the door until someone opens it. His eyes are red and puffy. When someone opens it, he cries, "Please don't hurt Valen! Please, he didn't do anything, please let him go!" before the other person can get a word in.

The person who answers is a gruff-looking woman with spiked hair. She opens the door, is yelled at for a few seconds, and then looks bewildered. "Wha- Who are you?"

"My name's Jim Lieberman. Please. He didn't do anything, please let him go." Jim begs. "I swear to god, Valen is the kindest, most harmless person on earth, human or vampire. Please."

She huffs. "Ah, shit. Okay. All right." She opens the door and lets Jim in. "Lex!" she calls into the building. Her leg is in a boot, and she drags it across the floor into the next room, where another woman with bandages over her nose is sitting on a couch. "Lex, I knew something was up with that fucking vampire. Listen to what this guy is saying."

"I'm Jim Lieberman, Valen, the, the vampire you- kidnapped-" He's on the verge of tears, again. "He saved me. And he's never hurt anyone, ever. Please, you can't just- this is supposed to be what hunters are against. Kidnapping random innocent people. Please, where is he?"

Lex's face falls. "Oh my god. Okay." She stands up and comes over. "I'm sorry, Jim, we--We thought something was strange, so we brought him back alive, but then Nick wormed his way into the situation. Has anyone talked to the director about this?"

"Fuck the director," Ari says. "I'm making an executive decision of fuck the director." She walks to the basement door with an unsteady gait and turns the knob, opening the door. "He's downstairs." Through the now-open door, Jim can hear Valen sobbing miserably and wordlessly calling out hysterically.

Jim runs down the stairs and straight to the horrible fucking cage with the love of his life inside. "Valen!" he sobs, tears spilling over again. "It's, it's gonna be okay, I'm here, I've gotcha."

Valen's tear-stained face breaks into an expression of relief at seeing Jim, and he sticks his hands through the bars as far as they'll go before the chains stop him. He is topless, wearing a muzzle, and already covered in burn marks.

There's a man at a desk catty-corner to the cage with the hysterical vampire inside of it. He looks up, irritated, as Jim enters. "And what do you think you're doing?"

Jim takes Valen's hands in his, holding them tight. "I'm taking him home. You- you need to let him go. Please." He takes a shuddering breath and repeats his story that worked on the hunters upstairs. "My name is Jim Lieberman. This is Valen, the vampire who saved me from spending my life as a bloodbag." He's so much more than that. "He's never hurt anyone. You're torturing an innocent person. Please fucking let him out of this thing."

"This creature is capable of killing me with a word. I think it will be staying right where it is."

Valen lets out a pitiful whine and tugs on Jim's hand.

There's a clomping sound on the stairs, and Ari appears coming down. "You're so full of shit, Nick. You're not even the one who got your ass beat bringing that thing here. We didn't take him here for you to play with, we wanted answers, and you're done dodging the issue."

Nick looks stormy.

Jim keeps holding Valen's hands. "He's not a thing or an it! Stop treating him like he's not a person! Of, of course he fought back, Valen wouldn't hurt a fly even if someone was screaming in his face, you were kidnapping him! Wouldn't you fight back? If you were him?" He looks up at the spiky-haired woman tearily. "Please help. Please let me take him home. Please, I love him."

Ari sighs and rubs her temples. "All right, I've spent the last two days sitting upstairs trying to decide how I feel about this situation, and this raving lunatic showing up here rabid about this vampire being innocent is enough to push me off the fence. Nick, give him the keys."

"I beg your pardon," Nick says, eyes narrowed.

"Give him the keys, let him take the vampire home."

"You have no authority to tell me to do that," Nick says hotly.

"Oh! You're right. Sorry." She unholsters her revolver and points it at him. "How about now?"

Nick narrows his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

Lex makes a "cut it out" motion across her neck to Nick, but Ari has already pulled the trigger and put a slug in the floor inches away from Nick's foot with a huge BANG, causing him to jump.

Jim screams and flinches hard when the gun goes off, eyes wide. He's not as terrified as Valen, but he's still terrified.

"The keys," Ari says brusquely.

Jaw set with hatred, Nick comes over and hands a keyring to Jim. He takes the keys from Nick and shakily unlocks the cage, reaching in and pulling Valen out.

"I've got you. I've got you. It's okay, we're gonna go home." He goes to take the muzzle off.

"Do me a favor and take that off after you get outta here," Ari says. "I'm sure this guy is safe for you, but he's none too pleased with us." She reholsters her gun and moves between Jim and Nick, staring Nick down.

Lex comes over and helps Jim lift Valen out of the coffin. "I'm sorry," she says tearfully. "This was a huge mistake, I shouldn't have let this happen."

Valen shakily stands between them on wobbly legs, tears streaming down his face

"I at least need to take the cuffs off so he can get dressed, it's still light out." Jim protests, holding Valen close. "What- what did you do with his clothes? I brought an extra change, but..." But you're fucking monsters. Even Kane didn't strip me.

Jim sniffles. "Valen's the gentlest soul on the face of the planet." He doesn't know if even Valen might be pushed to his limit by this and fight, but he wouldn't blame him if he did.

"Absolutely not," Nick says. "Throw a blanket over him or something. That's a safety hazard."

"Shut up, Nick," Ari snarls. "The keys for the cuffs are on that keyring too. Unlock him if you want." She pointedly does not answer the question of where his clothes went.

"I'm sorry," Lex says. "I didn't realize how messed up this was. Here, let me help you get them off."

Jim takes the hint that they've destroyed his clothes. Even Valen's cute plague doctor mask. He similarly avoids responding with anything meaningful to Lex's apology- it's not okay. None of this is okay. A teary "Yeah." is all he says to her.

He takes the cuffs off with Lex, swings his backpack around, and takes out the change of clothes he brought. "Here, lemme help you get dressed. You're gonna be alright. Goin' home." Jim maneuvers Valen into the clothes until every inch of him is covered, putting the mask on over the muzzle. "Brought some blood packs, too. You can take that thing off and drink in the car. Won't even be- won't even be light for long."

Valen allows himself to be manhandled in Jim's hands, safely bundled up back up, covered, armored, eyes glazed over and distant, barely responding.

"I really don't know what the director will have to say about this," Nick says maliciously.

A growl rips from Valen's throat, and he suddenly comes to life, ripping the mask off, hands fumbling with the straps of the muzzle.

"Shit," Ari says, and Lex backs away nervously.

Valen repels all the hands on him and rips the muzzle off with an animalistic snarl. Then he does something Jim has never seen him do before: he uses persuasion.

"Tell them what you did to me last night," he barks at Nick, eyes aflame, face crunched with his fangs bared.

Nick's gaze goes soft and distant, hypnotized. "I raped you."

"See what the director has to say about that," Valen snarls, and he grabs Jim's wrist and drags him up the stairs.

Jim cries out in anguish at the confession, horrified. He wants to go right back down there and sock the guy, but getting Valen as far away from here as possible as fast as possible is more important. "You f-fucking piece of shit! I'll kill you!" he screams back downstairs Valen drags him out, sobbing.

He hands Valen the backpack. "I'm sorry, I'm s-so sorry it took me this long to find you. Fuck, I can't imagine- why would they do this?" It's not a real question. It feels like the universe is determined to have as much horrible bullshit as possible happen to him and the people he cares about. I don't know how Liz can believe in a loving god in this world.

Ari, it sounds like, is way ahead of Jim, because she also shouts "You fucking what?" And as they rush out and away from the scene, the sound of fists meeting face sounds out loud and clear from downstairs, accompanied by more enraged shouting.

Valen's enraged mask falls as soon as he's upstairs, and he lets go of Jim's hand, sagging against the wall and bursting into tears. He slides down to his knees, strapping his mask back on with fumbling hands.

Footsteps from behind them as the sound of Nick getting the shit beat out of him downstairs continues. Lex comes up, also in tears. "I didn't know he did that," she cries. "I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea he would do that."

Jim goes to stand protectively in front of Valen. Now that he has the damn muzzle off, they're safe. He doesn't need to hold back. "No, when you kidnapped him to torture him, you had no idea you were handing him directly over to a rapist! That makes it all fucking okay!" Jim yells at her. "What's wrong with you?!"

Lex shrinks back. "I didn't --it's compli--I'm sorry," she finally settles on. "I didn't--I thought he was, like, like--come on, you know what vampires are capable of, you know most of them are monsters!"

"Get- get away from us." Jim sobs. "You've done enough. Valen's not the monster here. You're the ones torturing people in an- in an evil lab."

Lex looks like she wants to defend herself, but before she can do so, Valen snaps,"Go back downstairs."

Lex's eyes go distant and she impassively turns and goes down the stairs.

Valen clings to Jim's knees. "Can we please go home now, Jim? Please?"

Jim's glad Valen can just use persuasion to make their exit smooth, even if the distant look he remembers from Kane's party still gives him the creeps. "Yeah, we're going home. Goin' home right now."

Jim helps Valen up and to the car, opening the passenger side door and ushering him in. "There's blood in the backpack, if you can get it under the mask. Here, actually." Jim takes off his flannel and hands that to Valen, too. "You can make a little tent if you don't wanna wait for sunset. We're going home. I'm taking you home. Not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again."

He gets in the driver's seat and pulls onto the road.

"Thank you, Jim. Th-thank you." Valen takes the flannel and curls up on the floor on the passenger's side, jamming himself underneath the glovebox and using the flannel as a blanket to cover himself. "I'm, I'm very grateful you thought to bring food, but I don't think I can eat anything right now."

"Yeah." Jim wipes his eyes as he drives, but more tears keep coming. "I thought, thought you were dead. That you might be dead. Liz's been calling all the hunter branches looking for you. I left as soon as we knew where you were. It's over now. He's not gonna get away with what he did t'you. I'm so sorry, Vale. W-what do you wanna do first, when we get home?" He hopes thinking about nice things like sleep in our own bed or take a bath might help him feel better. Grounded. Knowing he got out.

Valen sobs. "C-call Liz, I suppose. I was just walking, Jim, th-they didn't even give me a chance to talk, I know that's smartest for them so I didn't just use persuasion, but, but they didn't even give me a chance, Jim."

"They're awful." Jim agrees. "They're fucking awful. You're a damn teddy bear. You've never been a threat to anyone. I can't believe they just- they just took you."

He never wanted Valen to feel this way. What it feels like to get taken. And on top of that, the burns, and if that wasn't bad enough, the rape. As if Valen wasn't traumatized enough already, he can't be safe from it in vampire or human territory.

"We're gonna go home, and I'll treat your injuries, and you'll get all cleaned up and into some nice soft pajamas, and you'll be safe and sound." he promises.

Valen trembles on the floor of the car. He's never felt this threatened by humans before. Hunters, a little. The bad neighbors, the potential for an angry mob to form--yes. But he's never been so thoroughly terrorized by humans that any human feels like a threat. He's...a little scared of Jim, somehow, inconceivably. This must have been how Jim felt when Valen had saved him from Kane.

When they get home, Valen wordlessly goes down into the sunless basement, curling up underneath the stairs, still crying.

Jim calls Liz and lets her know what happened, and she immediately goes to come over. Jim puts the untouched blood packs back in the fridge, grabs a big fluffy blanket, and goes to the basement he seldom enters.

"Knock knock." he says softly. "Liz is coming over. She's gonna stay over a bit, make sure you're nice and protected." Since they weren't exactly supposed to take Valen. "Can I come down?"

Valen lets out a strangulated sob. "Can--can you just give me a few minutes? Can you maybe come back in twenty minutes? Can you--can you lock the door and come back later?"

Jim is fucking heartbroken by how scared and miserable Valen sounds. "Course, whatever you want. Blanket incoming." He tosses the blanket over the side of the stairs. "I'll knock in twenty minutes, and if you don't want me down then either, it's okay. Lemme know if you need anything." His lip wobbles. He wishes he could take all the pain away, but he can't. "I love you." he says before he goes.

Valen just sits there, thinking about Jim, replaying in his mind the few days when they first met. Valen saving Jim, comforting him. The fact that the door is locked makes him feel secure--no one can get him.

He gradually starts to come down, and then he starts to want Jim. He slowly gets to his feet and drags himself up the stairs the next time Jim knocks and opens the door.

He walks straight into Jim's arms, plonking his face in Jim's shoulder, sniffling. "Thank you, Jim," he says, voice muffled. "I love you too."

Jim holds Valen close, rubbing his back. "You will always be safe here." he promises. "I can't make the world less fucked up, but I can promise you'll always be safe in this house." Valen's made him feel safe for years. He's determined to do the same. "Liz'll be over in like, ten minutes. You want me to get some cream for your burns? Or you wanna just leave it to heal?"

Valen sniffles. "Yes, please. I would like it if you rubbed the burn cream on me. I would like to see Liz. Thank you." He accompanies Jim to the bathroom.

Jim goes to take Valen's clothes off so he can see the injuries, but hesitates. "Can I see?"

Valen whimpers. How had he not thought this far ahead? This is Jim. Jim is safe. Jim has never been anything but safe. But...it's going to take a while for this to wear off. "I-I changed my mind, I don't want the cream that bad, I want to keep my clothes on. Please don't take them off, I want to keep them on."

"Then they're staying on." Jim agrees. "Do you wanna put it on yourself?" But there are burns on his back, they'd be difficult to reach. "Or- if, if it makes you feel safer, you could hypnotize me and have me do it." It's Valen. He trusts Valen enough for that. "Or we can just forget about it and go wrap you up in a burrito on the couch."

Valen shakes his head. The thought of using persuasion on Jim for anything but the most dire circumstances repulses him. "Let's just leave them. I would. Would like to be a burrito."

"Then a burrito you'll be." Jim leads Valen back to the living room and bundles him up all nice and cozy, sitting right by his side.

Liz arrives shortly, bursting through the door and rushing over. "Valen!" she wails, hugging him. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She thought it was going to be another someone she loves is taken away forever situation.

Valen hugs her back. "I'm so glad you were able to f-find me, Liz, thank you so much." He hiccups between words. "I-I don't know what I would have done w-without you."

Without us you never would have been in human territory in the first place. "Well, you got us. You got us for as long as we live. I'm your own personal bodyguard for the next few days, 'til we're sure everything's settled down. I don't think anyone's gonna come after you, but if anyone does, the great thing about silver bullets is they work even better on humans."

Valen clings to Liz and Jim both a lot over the next few days. They get word that Nick has been fired, apparently at the pushing of the two women who had met them at the compound, who reported to the director what they'd found out when Valen had used persuasion on Nick. Those two hunters also try to contact Valen--they eventually get word to Jim that they want to talk to Valen to apologize, but Valen says he doesn't want to talk to them, and tells Jim not to give them their number.

Valen still doesn't eat for a few days, and only breaks his fast when Jim and Liz finally force him to sit down and eat something. It's a long, long time before Valen works up the courage to go outside again, and the only time he does it by himself is at night, when he has to make his weekly trip back to vampire territory to buy blood. He continues to work on his project--at one point, the formula is far enough along that he can cut down on his trips to load up on blood to once a month.

The work is slowed down by Valen's newfound fear of leaving the house that Jim had promised is safe. But it is safe, safe and secure and still more than he ever thought he could have.

***

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#whump #K+J #angst #whumpblr #hurt/comfort

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pines4thetwin · 5 months ago

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Aaaahhhhh as someone who has had soul eater brainrot since childhood and is not recently getting into stancest- i need ur recent post injected straight into my bloodstream!!! Ugh if i may ramble a bit in ur inbox- the last bit being twin weapons and the betrayal that ford never transformed for him is so Tasty but also the angst of possible drifter stan era transforming for strangers for ~unsavory~ jobs meisters would rather not use their actual weapon for to make quick cash and stan hating every moment someone else's hands use him. But he's a charmer! A conman! He can resonate lightly with just about anyone but its always shallow and it never feels right for him always matching someone else's wavelength AND Then finding ford with Another weapon?? that he made a death scythe?? Ooohhh the angst

feel free to ramble in my inbox whenever

ahhh dont make me sobbbb. this one gets just a bit angsty

just gonna take this and say: liz and patty but if liz was alone (cause i think she definitely relied on patty as her rock and her light and stan would be a bit more like her imo) and didnt have patty to switch of with between wielding each other.

the ides of him selling himself as a weapon for hire basically to help with shitty and unsavory jobs??? *sobs on the floor* like yeah hes used to bending to the will of others so matching someone elses wavelength, even if its just enough to get the job done??? But he can do it even if he hates every second of it. i just know that left a mark on his soul!!!

i feel like even after he goes back to being partnered with Ford that theres always that moment after transforming, where his soul would recoil from the feeling of anothers just from those years of being a drifter. like he'd have to remind himself whose hands he's in because he used to let himself pass through so many (im sorryyyy) and itd take awhile for him to even get comfortable speaking to ford in his weapon form because with anyone else he would always just stay silent ahhhhhhh

also i think they'd have trouble with resonating. Ford would try to have them on the wavelenth that they had before but stan has changed so much since then (they both have) and that with the interference of blood (infected from fidds) i just think itd be a tough thing for them to settle back into.

i also think itd be cool to imagine them overcome with insanity (like that one scene with maka and crona fighting.)

i think maybe when they first gained the ability to transform fully that maybe stan and ford would switch off but at some point (with stans need to be useful and his devotion to ford) things change and stans always the one transforming. that isnt to say ford isnt devoted to stan also but thats a whole other conversation.

stan definitely lays up at night thinking about the fact that ford made someone other then him into a death scyth and once they reconcile he definitely throws that around when they argue (playfully >.<)

ooh imagine the first time stan feels ford matching his wavelength and letting stan lead instead of stan having to adjust himself to match ford like usual. i just know that would be one of the best feelings for him.

am i going off topic? i just have so many thoughts about this au!!!!

thanks for the askkk

(i meant to post this yesterday idk how i forgot)

#stancest #pines4the(t)win #giving them a soul eater au cause they deserve it

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knickynoo · 1 year ago

Text

Back to the Future: The Animated Series, s02ep12 "St. Louis Blues"

Previous episodes linked here.

In this episode:

Almost at the end of the series, folks. We don't have much Real Doc content left, so let's treasure our time with him while we can.

We find our friend Doc at the Hill Valley baseball field, where the Hill Valley Dreamers are playing against the Riverburg Big Dudes. According to Doc, the teams aren't very good, and most of the seats remain empty during the games. However, this hasn't stopped Doc from somehow managing to end up in the worst seat possible.

He does occasionally poke his head around the beam to talk to us, but he just. Goes back to sitting behind it. There is NO ONE else around, and he can literally sit in any seat he wants, but he's resigned himself to being unable to see the game.

I love Doc so much. Where else am I going to find a man who's like this?

As he enjoys an iced tea and a hot dog, Doc shares that the food and drink were both introduced at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, which he went to with his family. We go into the cartoon then.

Marty and Jennifer are on a date to play mini-golf, but it isn't going well. If you've been keeping up with these posts, you probably know that Marty and Jen don't exactly have a great relationship. Jennifer is angry at Marty like 80% of the time on account of Marty being an immature doofus who likes to tease Jennifer and lie to her. As they play golf, a series of mishaps (due to Marty's clumsiness) causes Jen to be sprayed with water and then covered in green goo from the fake volcano.

Marty thinks this is very funny. Jennifer does not.

After laughing at Jen for a little, a girl in a convertible pulls up to chat with them. Her name is Liz, and she's apparently a rich, snobby girl who goes to Marty's college.

Liz asks Marty if he wants to be her date to a party at the country club or, "play kiddie golf with the witch." And even though Marty has plans with Jennifer (you know, his girlfriend) for later that night, he decides he'd rather go to the country club!! With this mean girl Liz!!!

Jennifer stomps away angrily, to which Marty does not even react. He just laughs and goes, "Well, looks like I'm free."

Jail for Marty.

He goes right to a barbershop to get a haircut in preparation for his country club date, but even the cheapest haircut is $92.50. Marty leaves and figures maybe he can borrow money from Doc.

Doc, Clara, Jules, and Verne are all at an amusement park. After paying $275 just for admission and then being charged $10 each for a drink, Doc and Clara propose they take the time machine to visit an old-fashioned amusement park where the prices are much more reasonable. Jules and Verne aren't interested, though; they want to stay and ride the present day thrill rides. Clara and Doc decide to take the trip themselves and tell the boys they'll be back in two hours.

Meanwhile, after arriving at the Brown home and finding it deserted, Marty comes upon one of Doc's inventions in the garage—the "Hair Cut O Matic." Ah, the perfect solution to Marty's problem!

Except, as is the case with most of Doc's inventions, it malfunctions pretty much right away. Marty barely has five seconds to admire his fresh new cut before his hair starts morphing before his very eyes.

Listen. Marty deserves this, okay?

Also, I don't think I've really mentioned this in past posts, but some episodes have quick segments called "Back to the Facts" which is when Cartoon Doc reads off a fun fact that relates to the episode. I assume these were played at the start or end of the commercial breaks? Anyway, this episode has an interesting one where Doc notes when the first roller coaster opened (1804) and mentions that they probably didn't go as fast as the "roller coasters of today—which can travel up to 66 mph."

I did some research because my initial thought was, "That can't be right. Roller coasters in 1992 could only go up to 66 mph??" But it appears that fact was right, as I looked up a list of coasters from that year and couldn't find any that went above around 60 mph. Which is crazy because that seems so...slow? Roller coasters today can reach much higher speeds, with the fastest coaster in the world ("Formula Rossa" in the United Arab Emirates) going almost 150 mph.

I personally have ridden the fastest coaster in North America, "Kingda Ka," which hits 128 mph. This beast:

Yes, the drop is every bit as wild as it looks. No experience like it. I think I've been on it two or three times? It gets shut down a lot because if there's significant enough wind, it sways and becomes too unsafe to ride, lol.

Must refocus. Marty goes to the amusement park to try to find Doc and ends up having to cough up $100 for the entrance fee anyway. So...Marty had the money. He just didn't want to use it for his haircut.

He has a stunning, beautiful braid at this point, btw.

Marty's hair briefly returns to normal, and he buys himself a hat to hide it as he continues to wander around the park looking for Clara and Doc. He's eventually spotted by Jules and Verne, and this is where I got sidetracked AGAIN because I could not for the life of me figure out what Verne was saying after he sees Marty. It sounded like, "Hey, lookie! Michael came back from The West!" I went back and listened two more times, and it sounded the same. I assumed it was an obscure reference to something, but I couldn't figure out what. Then I went and turned on the subtitles and saw the line is, "Fievel came back from The West!" which still didn't help me at all.

So, I did some searching and found it's a reference to An American Tail: Fieval Goes West, which is the sequel to An American Tail, a movie that's apparently about a Jewish mouse named Fievel Mousekewitz? I guess this is something the kids of 1992 would have known?

Marty, Jules, and Verne travel to the World's Fair in 1904 and set up the Time Train as a fair exhibit: The Train of the Future. A Tannen relative, P.T. Tannen, sees it and is intrigued. He's looking to set up an exhibit of his own that will bring in a lot of money, and for a moment, it looks like he might take the train. However, it turns out that he wants MARTY for his exhibit. A boy with magically changing hairstyles is just the thing he's looking for.

After kidnapping Marty and locking him in a cage, P.T. starts attracting quite the crowd to view such a freak of nature. Doc and Clara even wander in and are horrified to see who it is. The audience screams in terror as Marty's hair continues to change.

Doc and Clara attempt to create a diversion and rescue Marty, and there's a moment where another one of those weird mistakes with the animation happens. As you may remember, there have been instances of character's eyes and skin tones changing color randomly during scenes, as well as objects disappearing from the frame. This show is full of errors, but this one is a first. After being caught by P.T. Tannen, Doc's eyes inexplicably glow for several seconds.

I would love to know what was happening behind the scenes of this show because it's so sloppy a lot of the time.

After successfully escaping with Marty, everyone returns home. Marty dresses in a spiffy suit, gets his hair fixed, and takes the DeLorean over to Liz's house. There has not been one sighting of Marty's truck over the course of this whole show, so I assume he doesn't have one in the cartoon universe. He's always borrowing the DeLorean. Also, not a single mention of parents or siblings.

Marty's whole experience with his hair has taught him a very valuable lesson: it's not nice to make fun of other people. He tells Liz that he never should have teased Jen at the mini golf place and says he can't go to the country club with her. This doesn't bother Liz one bit since she found a "better" date to take her: someone who is rich and popular. Marty goes to Jen's house with flowers, pizza, and some movie rentals and apologizes to her. She forgives him, gives him a kiss, and we go back to Real Doc, who catches a baseball in his ice cream cone. He still attempts to eat it.

This is a fun episode. I like when I get to go and do a few minutes of research and learn about things like roller coaster speeds and animated mouse movies. But I can't believe so many episodes are built on the premise of Marty being a meanie and having to go through something awful to learn his lesson. Cartoon Marty is so wildly different from Movie Marty, and it makes me sad to think about the potential the show could have had. Bob Gale should approve a reboot of the cartoon but make it GOOD this time. He should hire the Tumblr BTTF fandom to work on it.

Join me next time as we head into the final episode of the series. 😭

#back to the future #bttf #bttf: the animated series

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connectionterminated13 · 10 months ago

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Agony AU again :)

So do all the Afton kids meet the same fates as they do in ‘canon’? Does Mike still get scooped? Liz still Babied? I know you mentioned Evan still got bit and that Mike absorbed some of him and Fredbear the other. Does Evan ever reform? What effects to Mike & Liz ‘deaths’ have on them with them being agony beings?

(Again, sorry if that’s a lot of questions in one go and if you haven’t really thought about it)

It does But not being flesh and blood humans they are slightly different.

Like Elizabeth still gets babied but Similar to Evan she starts inhabiting baby and refuses to come out. Unlike Evan who after you know getting his head bitten and part of himself absorbed was too weak to separate himself from Fredbear. Elizabeth just Likes being circus baby better partly because she's a little girl who thinks circus baby is really cool but also partly because well usually agony creatures inhabit something. It's kind of like turtles if you took away a turtle shell sure maybe it could possibly survive but it would hurt a lot and it would be left without protection. Circus baby to Elizabeth was like a turtle who it's whole life hadn't had a shell finding one that was like the softest in coziest shell in the world. So she chooses to stay in there and her resentment and want to escape sister location is less wanting to be human again and more not wanting her and her family (the funtime) to be trapped in a torture basement!

And then when Mikey comes along in sister location happens Elizabeth isn't trying to take Michael skin but make him realize that it's just like better her away. She cares about Michael and hates to see him letting himself suffer by like pretty much starving himself and walking around a turtle with no shell. She wants him to join her family and to let go of The identity was forced on to him like the one that was forced onto her by William. The only reason the scoop happens is because Elizabeth figures out that Michael won't realize willingly so she thinks that if she takes out a chunk of him with the scooper that he'll be more willing to understand. He isn't he just gets really mad because she ripped out a chunk of him. Elizabeth is understanding and tells him that if he ever needs her that she'll be around Utah.

After that Mike kind of just lays on the ground for a while before like getting up and trying to stumble out of sister location. After that it becomes 10 times harder to keep a human form at all. Whenever Mikey tries to look human it's always plastic and fake Because he refuses to regain the trunk of himself that he lost, by feeding more. He doesn't have the same energy to produce a convincing human disguise like he used to. It's a lot harder for him to go out in public because 9 times out of 10 people will clock him as something not human and freak out...

Yeah about Evan he doesn't Reform because just like Mike he doesn't have enough Agony he like properly get himself out of the Bear. William tries to give more to Evan but he refuses now knowing what he is and what that strange black liquid is.

Both the scooping and the babying Doesn't affect the metal like most bodily harm. Agony creatures can only be killed through being burned alive.

No it's fine I'm just sorry this is so long

#fnaf #Agony children au

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axvoter · 29 days ago

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Blatantly Partisan Party Review XVI (WA 2025): Western Australia Party

Prior reviews: federal 2019, federal 2022, plus my friend’s b_auspol review for WA 2021

What I said before: “The Western Australia Party does not openly promote secession or greater autonomy, but their express purpose is to promote the interests of WA … It is possible to advocate for a state’s interests from a left-wing angle, but this is not that party.” (federal 2022)

What I think this year: This party is presently unregistered but at least one independent candidate is affiliated with them. Besides my innate completism to review all parties backing candidates whether they are registered or not, the Western Australia Party has a colourful story to tell.

At state level, the Western Australia Party had their registration cancelled on 20 February 2023 after failing to apply for continued registration. They were also registered federally, and this too was cancelled on 2 August 2023. On 22 January 2025, Anthony Fels—about whom I will say more below—applied to re-register the party with the WA Electoral Commission. This registration is under the full party name Western Australia Party, but the abbreviation for use on ballot papers would be WA First.

Unfortunately for Fels and whoever his current political mates are, this application came in much too late for the party to be registered for the election. You simply cannot get a party registered in a week or two. Among various legal requirements and administrative processes, party applications must be open to objection from the public, and the period to submit objections closed… yesterday, 28 February. The election is in literally a week. Even if the Western Australia Party does successfully obtain registration, it won’t be until later in the year.

So, Fels is running as an independent in the electoral district of Churchlands, which is in the affluent western coastal suburbs of Perth. This is a traditionally Liberal seat—although for most of its history it has been held by a conservative independent, Liz Constable—and it was one of the most astonishing Labor gains in the 2021 landslide. Christine Tonkin, who has confirmed that she is not related to former WA Labor premier John Tonkin (or, at least, that her branch of the Tonkins is a separate branch to his), is very unlikely to retain the seat, which she holds on a margin of 1.6%. She faces an especially strong Liberal challenger in the form of Lord Mayor of Perth Basil Zempilas. He is a popular figure in Perth, at least among a certain type of person, which might come as a surprise to some of you over east who will know him as a sweaty potato who crops up as a C-grade caller on Channel 7's coverage of the AFL, somehow even more mediocre than the likes of Brian Taylor.

But I digress. Fels is making a doomed candidature for his unregistered party alongside Tonkin and Zempilas in Churchlands, and I am unclear if there are any other independents aligned with the Western Australia Party standing for any other seats. Their website and socials have not been updated for over a year. The most recent content on the party website is an “it’s OK to say no” blurb from the 2023 Indigenous Voice referendum featuring Noongar woman Janetia Knapp, who has right-wing ties and stood for the party at the 2023 Rockingham by-election—but is not standing this year. It appears the party is becoming a vehicle for Fels: Julie Matheson, the party founder, is now standing for Sustainable Australia, whose press release announcing her candidature has a note that “The Western Australia Party is under new management and was unable to achieve registration to contest the 2025 WA Election with candidates nominated under its name.” Fels, evidently, is the “new management”.

So, who is Fels? He is one of the most prolific serial candidates and party hoppers in the country, who has stood for more parties than there are days of the week. He won election to the WA Legislative Council in 2005 as a Liberal member for the Agricultural Region, having previously stood or sought preselection for the Liberals since 1989. During his tenure, however, he fell out with the rest of the party, quit, tried and failed to form a party called People Against Daylight Saving, and served out his term representing Family First. After a couple of independent candidatures, he stood for Katter’s Australia Party in 2013 as one of their WA candidates for the Senate; you might recall that the WA Senate count was voided and the election re-run in 2014, by which time he was in the Mutual Party, formerly the Bank Reform Party (whom I reviewed without enthusiasm in 2013).

Fels then became a One Nation member, and although there were some reports he might be preselected to stand for them, he never did. In 2017, he made a foray east for the Bennelong by-election, standing for the Non-Custodial Parents Party (or as I dubbed them, the Disgruntled Deadbeat Dads Party). Come the 2019 federal election, he was a United Australia Party member and stood for them in the sprawling rural WA electorate of O’Connor. He then ran as an independent in the 2021 state election for the upper house region of Mining and Pastoral before contesting the 2022 North West Central by-election for the Western Australia Party. And that brings us to the present!

What does the Western Australia Party stand for? We can’t know exactly, given the dated nature of their online material, but Fels has circulated through parties further right than the Liberals for a while now so that should give a clear indication of his personal politics. The proposed abbreviation of “WA First” suggests Fels might intend to ride the current wave of exclusionary me-first nativism sweeping the globe, and the party’s support for the No vote is another mark against them. Let’s hope the registration is unsuccessful and that Fels in Churchlands continues his recent track record of garnering few votes. Although his name might be well known to election nerds—up there with Vern Hughes and Peter Breen for party-hopping—this recognition thankfully does not carry over to the general population.

(I have my suspicions that Mic Fels, preselected as the Liberal candidate for the Division of Swan in the soon-to-be-called federal election, is related to Anthony but I have found no confirmation. They both have backgrounds in the Esperance region. One would hope that if Mic got elected, he does not repeat his possible relative’s track record.)

Recommendation: If you are a voter in Churchlands, you need to number all squares, and Anthony Fels belongs at or near the bottom of your preferences.

Website: https://westernaustraliaparty.org.au/

#auspol #ausvotes #WAvotes #WApol #WA election #WA #Election 2025 #Western Australia Party #WA Party #Anthony Fels #serial candidates #perennial candidates #update your website or gtfo #weak or no preference

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frazzledsoul · 11 months ago

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So the Rory/Logan/Jess timeline in S6 is a little...insane. I may have concluded that S6 lost all sense of time and logic when plotting out this story (if they actually bothered to do that, which they may not have).

Jess comes to visit Rory in Hartford on the Nov 5 episode (6.8). We know it takes place more or less in real time because he mentions that her birthday was a few weeks beforehand. He more or less causes Logan and Rory's breakup by getting Rory to realize that her current lifestyle is making her unhappy and she needs to refocus on her goals and ditch the aimless partying. I believe Rory moves out of her grandparents house right away and goes to stay with Lane.

The next episode is 06.09 (Nov. 15). Rory badgers her way into a job at the Stamford Eagle Gazette, reunites with her mother, and starts making plans to go back to Yale. People rag on Jess for not knowing the "real Rory", but his methods are pretty effective.

6.10 airs on November 22. It's Thanksgiving, so we are more or less in real time. Thanksgiving happens at the Dragonfly: Liz cooks. Jess does not attend. Logan's sister Honor calls Rory to tell her she's sorry about her breakup with Logan. They haven't spoken since Logan left her alone at the bar right after having dinner with Jess, so Logan decided to cut the cord by sending the word through Honor. As we find out later, he then starts sleeping his way through Honor's friends.

6.11 aired on January 10. Rory is back at Yale, so we're still in real time. I wonder if she saw Jess over the holidays. She moves in with Paris and Doyle.

6.12 airs on January 17. Logan decides he wants Rory back, but she rebuffs him. He goes to Lorelai and begs for her help, and Lorelai writes Rory a boyfriend recommendation letter. I think Rory is still undecided by the end of the episode.

6.13 is the infamous (and IMO, overrated) fighting episode. It aired on January 31. Rory doesn't reconcile with Logan until this episode, when he comes to her rescue at the paper.

6.14 is February 7. Paris is kicked out of her position as editor of the Yale Daily News and Rory is voted in. Paris kicks Rory out of the apartment and she moves in with Logan.

6.15 airs on February 14. It's the dreaded Valentine's Day episode. Logan (because he is insane, apparently) invites Luke and Lorelai to Martha's Vineyard for a couples weekend. As you will see, we are in real time here. Rory and Logan mysteriously have a weekend and domestic routine after being back together for two weeks and living together for one. What? How is that possible? He's also taught Rory to cook. I rather like this detail, but there is no way this was accomplished within a week. Did they take advantage of a time loop to accomplish this? So strange.

Oh, and they weren't living like this when Rory was at her grandparents during the summer and fall, because they spent all their time partying, Rory didn't have time, and the grandparents would have noticed if she was out of town with Logan every single weekend. Domestic Martha's Vineyard Logan is obviously someone who is trying harder and not partying so much, which is not who he was before the breakup.

Luke points out that he doesn't want to spend all weekend with Logan because "we don't know where we stand with this guy" and points out that Rory and Logan's relationship status changes every week. Luke was a giant douchebag this episode, but one can't blame him for being right.

6.16 aired on February 28. Rory finds out that Logan slept with Honor's entire bridesmaid party while they were separated, is upset that he "cheated" so soon after they stopped talking to each other, and moves out of his apartment and back in with Paris.

So basically they were back together a little less than a month.

I don't feel Rory is terribly sympathetic here. First of all, she had her tongue down both Tristan and Jess's throats within a day of her first two breakups with Dean, so she really is in no position to talk about moving on too fast. Second of all, the fact that they didn't clarify when exactly they broke up is on both of them because neither of them picked up the phone and asked the other one what was going on. No, Logan shouldn't have broken up with her through his sister, and yes, he should have told her what happened, and he certainly should have given her a heads up before she hung out with his sister's friends, but he technically did not cheat. At least not in the way Rory has done in the past or will a few weeks later with Jess. I don't feel she has the moral authority to proclaim herself as the aggreived one here.

6.16 airs on April 4. I'm not sure if this episode happens a week later or if it's an actual month. It's mentioned that Zach has been working his way up to asking Mama Kim for Lane's hand in marriage and he proposed the previous episode, so it very well could have been a month. Anyway, Logan talks his way into Rory reconciling with him and she moves back in.

6.18 (airing on April 11) is the episode where Rory goes to Truncheon and breaks Jess's heart into a million tiny pieces (again). This time she apologizes to him and admits that he deserves better than to be treated as her sidepiece. She returns to her Logan drama, while Jess is consoled by the many, many willing men and women of Philadelphia. Your slut destiny awaits, Jess. Enjoy.

As we all know, Rory dedicates herself to Logan when he gets injured, and he moves to London at the end of the season (which takes place on May 9) despite Rory accusing Mitchum of trying to interfere in their sacred love and begging him to let Logan stay (Rory, you've broken up and gotten back together twice in six months and have only actually been together about half of that time. Also, you were making out with your ex three weeks ago. Calm down). This relationship does not seem particularly stable. However, we get new writers the next season, so it calms down and both of them actually mature a little before having all of that growth reversed in AYITL while Jess stays awesome. Oh, well.

The thing is, imagine if Jess had made a move sometime in the two months when Rory was officially broken up with Logan (the first time) or if they got together over Christmas or if he had made a move after the second break-up while she was living with Paris. I'm not sure if Rory was mentally stable enough for Jess or if this version of her could handle a long-distance relationship, but that's not the point here. It could have gone so much smoother for both of them, and Jess wouldn't have to be roped against his will into another cheating scenario.

But, alas. Not to be.

#timeline shenanigans #literati speculation #gilmore girls

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conanssummerchild · 2 months ago

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Season 2: Episode 19 "Teach Me Tonight"

previous // next

Oh boy. This episode has a lot to talk about, I mean so many things are happening. First of all I don't think Jess should be driving while eating ice cream but that scene seemed pretty harmless, he was messing around with Rory but they were on a virtually empty road that went straight and after that he went back to driving normally, so I really don't think he was driving recklessly when they crashed or anything, it was just an accident.

And with that out of the way, here we get to the part that first created my burning hatred for Lorelai Gilmore. Let's break it down:

Rory tries to tell Lorelai that Jess called the ambulance and made sure she was okay before he even talked to the police, because she knows Lorelai is going to blame him immediately, but of course Lorelai cuts her off, not even willing to listen to her. Despite the fact that Lorelai claims that she's so upset due to Rory getting hurt she sure doesn't seem to care what Rory herself says at all, seems like it's more about her own feelings towards Jess than anything else.

Rory is not the only one who just got into a car accident, Jess did too and he's probably shaken from it, on top of that he's probably worried about Rory and knows that everyone is going to blame him and what does Lorelai do? She goes to find and yell at this seventeen year old boy (she herself being a grown woman) and is yelling around Luke's diner without even telling Luke what's going on.

Note how Rory consistently refers to the accident saying "WE got into an accident." "WE swerved and WE hit a pole." and puts attention on the fact that it happened because of an animal but Lorelai says "JESS was driving Rory's car and HE crashed it." as if Jess had forced Rory into the car at gunpoint and maliciously smashed it into a wall because he just really wanted to. Note how Luke asks "Is ANYONE hurt?" because he's not a self-centred piece of shit that cares about no one except himself and his own kid.

"She's getting x-rays and tests!" bitch-- She ASKED them to give Rory additional tests and now she's whining about it. I'm sure Rory's wrist hurts but it's not like she's in the ER with severe internal bleeding and a concussion or something, calm your ass down.

Anyway, continuing on, Luke has to ask "What about Jess? Is he hurt?" Because Lorelai can't possibly fathom that Luke may be worried about the child in his care and doesn't bother to offer up any information. To this Lorelai replies "No, Luke. Jess did the hurting." Which means abolutely nothing because he was still in the car too so he could well be hurt also, you idiot, It's not like he ran Rory over, they were both in the accident.

And as if all that wasn't bad enough Lorelai says "That little punk nephew of yours nearly killed my kid tonight." to which I can only say: are you fucking serious? They crashed into A LAMPOST. Rory has a HAIRLINE FRACTURE. No one in that fucking car was even remotely near death, holy shit. GET A GRIP, Lorelai. Come join the rest of us back in reality for fuck's sake.

And then to make things EVEN WORSE. Lorelai dares to open her mouth and form the words (shouting) "Why did you do this? Why did you bring him here?" Luke did an incredibly kind and generous thing by letting Jess stay with him when his mum sent him away. Not to mention that Jess had Nowhere. Else. To. Go. What the fuck does she want, for Luke to have just left some seventeen year old with no support system out on the streets? Just because it's more convenient to her? He is a child. Go fuck yourself, Lorelai.

Past this point is where it really starts to get unnaceptable. She tells Luke that it's his fault. She says Luke told him to come (untrue, Liz sent him, Luke was given very short notice). She says Luke should've just sent him back, to his neglectful, unstable household where he wasn't wanted because she decides who does or doesn't deserve to be safe and loved.

The reason this is unnaceptable, if the above reasons weren't already enough, is because Luke has done EVERYTHING for Lorelai, he has never treated her with anything other than love and respect, he's repaired her house, he's put up with her stupid bullshit every day and Lorelai can't return this favour. It was an accident for god's sake. It's just horrible and selfish to come in and start yelling at Luke for something that has nothing to do with him and blaming him. Also does Lorelai really just not care about Jess's wellbeing at all? Like I get that she hates him but he's still a human being capable of complex emotions and physical and emotional pain. Does she give that little value to lifes she's deemed worthless?

"Why didn't you put a stop to it at the first sign of trouble?" What trouble? Jess pulling some harmless pranks? Jess struggling in school? Jess being sarcastic and often rude? These are not signs of trouble these are signs of, oh, I don't know, being a teenager, maybe?

"You had an obligation to this town and to me and to Rory." God, if I was this entitled I'd just go ahead and kill myself. You seriously think that Luke has more of an obligation to you than to his nephew and his sister who he grew up with? Funny how she thinks she's so different to Emily.

Luke absolutely devours when he finally snaps at her. Lorelai is here crying that her daughter is safe in a hospital with only a hairline fracture, getting tests, with both her parents soon to be there with her, her dad driving in from Boston in the middle of the night to make sure she's okay. While Jess is in a town that is not his own with no one but Luke on his side and Luke doesn't even know where he is, or if he's safe. I'm just going to write the direct quote because Luke says it best:

"Hey! I am sorry about Rory. You know I care more about her than I do myself. But at least you know where Rory is and at least you know that she's okay. Now I have to find Jess and I have to make sure that he's okay and if that cuts into your screaming time, well, that's just too damn bad!" Luke was the epitome of a good parent in this episode. One of his best moments of the ones I've seen imo.

Jess seems genuinely upset when Luke does find him by the lake and it makes everything Lorelai said just piss me off 10x more becuase he obviously cares and he obviously didn't want anything like that to happen and it pisses me off that Lorelai is acting like a car accident is a character flaw. Jess has many, many problems and flaws but this just isn't his fault.

I'm absolutely obsessed with the fact that when Jess tells him "I made sure she was okay." Luke reassures him with an "I know you did." and just sits with him quietly and then when Rory comes up to Luke and says "It wasn't his fault." Luke says "I know it wasn't." He listens to them both and validates them, the only one in the town that does. Kudos to him, really.

Rory says it best in the following episode with "What if Dean had been driving?" Because we all know that he wouldn't be getting this treatment. They swerved to avoid an animal, that could've happened to literally anyone. Also infuriates me how Lorelai acts like her argument with Luke was nothing, maybe for you because Luke did nothing wrong but you fucked up BIG TIME and I wish the town was shunning you instead for being a selfish jerk.

Other thoughts:

Thanks to this episode I found out what the hell the 'take a penny, leave a penny' thing is for. Very useful. Previously I though that people literally just took one of the pennies from the jar and left one of their own. I was very confused.

I'm obsessed with Jess and Lane. Their interaction in this episode in class is one of my all-time fav moments, the lines were funny and the delivery was fantastic, I wish they got to be friends and talk about their mummy issues together.

Jess stealing every baseball in the school is hilarous to me I'm sorry.

Jess is so lame with his stupid magic tricks !!!!!! (I think he's adorable). Also if I tried to study with Jess we would never get anything done because I would get distracted by his magic tricks and neither of us have any motivation for school.

Every time I watch this episode I remember how Milo said in an interview that he liked his delivery of "In cooones." and I just find that quite cute.

I kinda agree with Jess that being an overseas correspondant would be too rough for Rory.

RIP Rory's car that Dean built her, good thing her grandparents are rich and will just buy her a brand new one when she graduates from her super expensive prep school next season!

Love how Lane doesn't come in blaming Jess like L*relai even though they're not exactly friends and instead focuses on RORY and how SHE'S feeling.

Kirk's film is great, a true masterpiece. Phenomenal dancing skills.

I do wonder whether it was Jess or Luke's decision to send Jess back to NY.

#alex says shit #gilmore girls #gilmore girls review #teach me tonight #jess mariano #rory gilmore #lorelai gilmore #luke danes #liz danes #emily gilmore #christopher hayden #lane kim #dean forester #kirk gleason #stars hollow

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lizisshortforlizard · 1 year ago

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Living Dangerously - Chapter 32

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster?

A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs.

But would they die for it?

Jurassic Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: some swears, this chapter is definitely M, 18+ due to one particualar line of dialogue. Minors dni.

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @ocappreciation @wordspin-shares @howlingmadlady @arrthurpendragon @themaradwrites @starryeyes2000 @kmc1989 (please lmk if you would like informed of my sporadic updates)

Read on Ao3

Chapter 31 | Chapter 33

"Heroes" - David Bowie

“For Christ’s sake, girl!” Kathy practically ripped what remained of Lizzy’s dress off, yanked the shower door open and all but threw her inside. “You’re a darn icicle!”

The water was as baltic as the run-off from a glacier, heat yet to kick in and Lizzy’s teeth were still chattering violently.

“And don’t come out until you’re wrinkly!” Kathy snapped and left her to it, running a towel over her own head, as steam started to fill the room.

Lizzy scrubbed and scrubbed. She just couldn’t get rid of the smell of death. She imagined she still felt the raptor saliva clinging to her body, each faint hint of the stench making her want to gag. Lizzy kept trying to purge in vain until her skin was raw and angry, but the water continued to run dark red with a mixture of blood and dirt.

She gave up and simply stood under the water for a long time, as her limbs slowly defrosted. But her insides stayed cold and numb, and she started to cry, her sobs covered by the echo of the jets hitting tile.

***

Tom found Kathy by herself, sitting alone in the tiny kitchen in the staff lodge and staring at the wall.

“Everyone else has gone to bed, Kit.” He opened the fridge, half-heartedly scanning the contents before letting it fall shut again and leaning against it. “How’re you holding up?”

“I could be better.” Kathy told him. “That was pretty gruesome. I’ve never actually seen the aftermath before.”

Tom whistled. “Pretty rough one for your first time.”

”He’ll be back before we know it.”

Tom opened and shut his mouth in astonishment. Jeez, either her sense of humour was dark as night, or she had no clue.

”Uh…I don’t think he will be.”

“Huh?” Goddamn. She was serious.

“I mean, miracles are possible.” He slid into the chair beside her. “But I don’t know if we’re getting one this time.”

Kathy put her head in her hands, he didn’t notice she had broken until her shoulders started shaking silently.

“Hey, now.” He tried to put an arm around her but stopped when she leaned away from his touch. He hovered his hand above her and settled on an awkward back pat instead. “You’ve…er, you’ve got this.”

“Ughh…no, I don’t…” Kathy sniffed loudly. “I can’t wait it out until August-“

”You gotta-“ Tom’s heart dropped.

“But why? I could just go home to Minnesota now. I’d be flat broke-“

”We need you, and stuff. To lead. Lead the team.” He hurriedly tried to change her mind.

”Not much of a team to lead anymore.” She shrugged. “My jobs open, I guess you could fight Lizzy for it.”

”No, I need you-“ Tom realised he’d made a mistake. “-aw, Hell.”

“You…need me?” She blinked up at him. “Since when?”

”I, uh-“ He couldn’t meet her gaze. “Shit.”

“Talk.” Now she was looking at him all accusing, like, and Tom wished he was the one currently being zipped into a bodybag.

“Okay, here goes.” He sighed. “I kinda…couldn’t stop thinking about you over Christmas.”

“Huh?” This had to be a joke. Some ploy to get inside her head.

“It was the goddamn scarf you made. Something clicked…-“ He faltered. “That, and when Liz talked you into singing in front of everyone at the Christmas party.”

Kathy blushed and hid her face. After Lizzy had slaughtered a rendition of 9 to 5 which was very blatantly directed at Richardson, Kathy had followed her lead, with some convincing, and belted I Wanna Dance With Somebody at the top of her lungs.

”I’ve never heard anyone sing as pretty as you, lady.” Tom was still in awe, weeks later. “You could sing the anthem at the Superbowl.” “Oh, that’s very…kind of you.” She responded warily.

Kathy had her own series of might-have-beens. She likely could have made a career in the arts, but she’d always loved cats more than performing. And anyway, she had crippling stage fright. No exaggeration, she’d have to drink more than Muldoon to stand in front of the microphone on a regular basis.

“You’re the kind one. You’re far too good for this place.” He gave her a sideways glance. ”Even if you do cheer for the Vikings.”

”There’s always next year.” Kathy muttered angrily. Minnesota had been knocked out in the first round of playoffs, much to her chagrin. “‘94 is gonna be the one.”

”Cowboys will win on Sunday.” Tom said confidently.

”We’ll see.” Kathy raised an eyebrow. “Looks like I’ll be cheering for Buffalo, in that case.”

He chuckled. “Could be worse, you could be into baseball.” His comment reminded them both of Regis, in his Trenton Thunder cap.

Let’s roll.

Their smiles faded and they sat in solemn silence for several minutes.

“Tom, this has kind of come out of nowhere.” Kathy admitted, trying to process what was happening. He wasn’t bad looking, quite the opposite in fact, in a rough-around-the-edges way, if you liked that sort of thing.

But it was always his manners she’d found off-putting. And she genuinely had no idea he felt that way about her when everything he’d ever done indicated he positively loathed her entire existence.

She tugged on one of her braids, studying his expression carefully. “Why’d you tell me now? I’d made my peace with us never communicating outside of work.”

”I know, I know.” Tom looked guilty. “I wasn’t going to bring it up, but with Rico-“

Every word that came into his head was too permanent, too final for Kathy’s state of mind, so he changed tack mid-sentence.

”If something happened to me, I’d like to think I’d have no regrets.” He shrugged. “So there ya go.”

He nudged her shoulder with his, and this time, she didn’t recoil.

”I like you, lady.”

That should do it.

They usually just fell into his arms. And then his bed. It was easy. But Kathy didn’t move a muscle. Or even say anything. She was just smiling at him politely like she wasn’t quite sure what to do.

“So, uh, how about it?” He prompted her. “You seeing anyone?”

“No.”

He grinned. “Awesome.”

”Sure, I’m single.” She and her high-school sweetheart had called it quits the previous winter. “But the no was my answer to your first question.”

“Grea- wait, what do you mean, no?”

Tom couldn’t remember a girl ever telling him no before.

”There’s been some undertones.” Kathy started off demurely, then exploded at him. “Hang on, screw that. You’ve been an absolute dweeb-“

Tom’s eyes widened at the verbal attack.

“-no, a complete and utter dick to me! You expect me just to drop everything and do what you want?! Now that you’re being civil?!”

“Okay, you can stop, I get it-“

“Talk about regrets?” There was no stopping it now, the emotion was just pouring out of Kathy. She was formidable. And she didn’t even raise her voice, not once. Her softness was all the more jarring. “You’ve made me feel like crap! You’ve embarrassed me, undermined my authority in front of pretty much everyone. Don’t you regret that?”

”I do, actually. I’ve realised why I was giving you such a hard time.”

”Well, please enlighten me.”

”It’s pretty complicated.”

”I’m pretty smart.” She said sharply. “I’m sure I can keep up.”

“Wow, we’re really getting into it tonight, huh?” He lamented even going into the kitchen at all.

“I’m waiting.”

“Jeez, you’re feisty when you feel like it-” Tom huffed. Where to begin?

“Okay, if it means so little to you, then I guess I’m leaving-“

“Wait, fine!” He groaned, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. “…Richardson got to me early on, took me under his wing. I thought he was the mentor I’d always been looking for. That him and me were simpatico. The same.”

”You aren’t the only one.” Kathy could see why he’d targeted the southerner. Playing into a certain stereotype, Tom was the obvious choice.

“Well, he made promises he didn’t keep. Told me every chance he got that you, Liz, Muldoon, none of you were the right fit for the place.” Tom confessed. “That he had someone else in mind before Muldoon put Liz forward for her job. Someone better.”

“That’s why he doesn’t like her?” Kathy didn’t know why she sounded so shocked. Everything Tom had told her thus far had made perfect sense. “Because Elizabeth wasn’t his first choice?”

”She wasn’t his choice at all. He despises her. Richardson likes his women submissive. Seen and not heard.” Tom continued. “He thought he could easily make her leave, but she’s thriving here. Rattled some cages. Trust me, it’s only because Liz and Muldoon are so goddamn stubborn that this place hasn’t turned into a boys club.”

“Oh, screw that.”

“Be glad of those two. If they weren’t here, you and Isaac, maybe Julian too, would have been outta town within the first month.” Tom nodded meaningfully. “He’d have made it impossible for you to stay.”

He paused, chewing the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. He would have likely been part of that ousting process. But things were different now. A certain ethologist had fought for and won his respect. Rattled his cage, indeed.

“Jeez…I’m so glad I was put on Carnivores.” Kathy murmured.

“Me too. I was originally supposed to report back to Richardson with anything…untoward.” Tom shook his head. “He was absolutely convinced Liz was sleeping with someone higher up.”

”What, he thought she’d do the same for him?” Kathy snorted, only half-joking.

”Evidently. He ain’t got it as bad for her as he does for María, I’ve heard him say some damn awful things. Like, make you lose your lunch, sick.”

Kathy shook her head, she didn’t want to think about that. “What happened?”

“I realised that Richardson was wrong about plenty. Especially Liz.” Tom thought back to that fateful day Muldoon locked them both in the cupboard to work things out. “Everything he told me about her was a lie. That she was a spoiled, dumb, little wh-…uh…”

“Say it.” Kathy insisted. “You need to.”

“He called her a whore.” Tom looked thoroughly ashamed. “I believed him.”

“Past tense?” She pointed out. “So you definitely aren’t his right-hand-man anymore?”

“Eh, I’ve pissed him off one too many times, I reckon. Liz has done nothing wrong, God forbid she’s actually good at her job, and he didn’t like it when I told him so.” Tom smirked. “She’s alright. Though I do miss really winding her up.”

“You still do that.” Kathy pointed out.

“Yeah. Even if anything…happened-“ Tom cleared his throat. “I’d probably stay quiet about it now.”

“Well, aren’t you a saint.” She remarked.

“Muldoon’s a good man. He’s fair. Which means a lot around here.” He looked downtrodden. “But I’m still not sure he does anything other than tolerate me.”

”No, he likes you.” Kathy told him, her voice rising in pitch. He snorted at her obvious lie. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Well, he doesn’t hate you!” She exclaimed. “That’s an achievement.”

”He told you?” His expression brightened.

”Something like that.” Kathy nodded. “He tells me most things, verbally or otherwise, I can usually figure him out.”

“You’re lucky.” Tom sounded genuinely envious. “I can’t read the guy at all. I just-…nah…”

”Go on.”

“Promise not to make fun?”

“Cross my heart.”

”I don’t care what Richardson thinks of me anymore.” Tom hesitated. “I kind of care, a lot, about what Muldoon thinks.”

Dare he even think it, let alone utter the words, he wanted the guy to be proud of him. Something he’d never, ever, get. Pathetic. Goddamn, what a loser.

”I think you’re doing okay.” Kathy told him quietly. He’d made wrong choices, sure, but Tom could still turn it all around. “Recently you’ve been almost bearable.”

“I’ll take that.”

“So, what’s next for Richardson’s white supremacy vision?” Kathy leaned back and stared at the ceiling, blinking hard. She’d thought of Rico again, and the tears were threatening to make another appearance.

“Well, it’s not good. Travis says he never goes out in the park with them. His own team is getting pissed off with him. They want what we have. They want a Muldoon.”

”Mutiny?”

”Maybe.” Tom agreed. “It’s not gonna be pretty.”

“I might not be here to see it.” Kathy sighed. “Shame.”

“You’re dead set on heading back to the States, huh?”

“I’m going to my new job at the Smithsonian.” She said fiercely. “Nothing’s gonna change that. It’s really important to me. The interview was terrifying.”

”I get it.” He glanced at her sideways. “I still got a couple months with you, right?” “With me?” She raised an eyebrow. “Why, you planning on doing better?”

“Well, yeah.” Self-improvement was a relatively new concept. “Even if nothing…-I’d like to think we could hang out more. Just us, maybe. I could be your acc-…accom-…accomp-…the fella who plays guitar.”

”Can you even play guitar?” “Well, not yet. But I’d learn how if you would sing for me.”

“Very good.” Kathy smiled, in spite of herself. “Here’s what I want-“

”You want it, you got it.”

“Listen up. Prove you’re on my side.” She deliberately tapped the countertop between each word. “It’s that simple. Just don’t be a dick anymore, Tom.”

“Can I still be a little bit of a dick? Only not to you.”

”As long as you’re not a huge dick.”

“I’ll be your dick.” He thought he’d blown it, wincing. “Wait, no-“

Fortunately, she laughed. “There are far too many length descriptors in this conversation for my liking.”

“Sorry.” ”’S’okay. By all means, be a useful dick when appropriate to do so. Be our dick.” Kathy finally got up to leave, even if she couldn’t sleep, she still needed to crash out on her bed. “And boy, you better start learning guitar.”

***

Lizzy gave a final look to her dress, crumpled like a dead bird in the sink, no longer red, no longer a one-piece, balled it up and threw it in the trash.

If Regis was really that pressed about it, he could take it out of her salary. She didn’t care. She would be happy to never see that man again.

Call off your dog.

Bastard. She whispered at her own reflection in the mirror. Makeup washed away, she still didn’t recognise herself. The haunted look in her eyes, and gritty blood trapped under her fingernails kept pulling her back to the moment she had rolled Rico‘s body over and seen what resembled a dissection diagram laid out on the muddy ground at her feet.

But she had finally pulled herself back into enough recognisable pieces to face the world. She reminded herself it wasn’t over yet. She was acting like Rico was already dead. Everyone else was too.

He may as well be.

She wondered if the helicopter had made it to Bahía Anasco. If they had found a doctor. If he had still been alive at that point. So many what-if’s and no answers.

Lizzy padded up to the kitchen in her bare feet and the clothes she usually slept in, hair still in damp ringlets after towel-drying.

She heard Kathy and Tom’s voices, talking low and hushed. It sounded like an important conversation. Suspiciously resembling a heart-to-heart.

Lizzy was about to push her way in to join them, but changed her mind.

She would be kidding herself, and them, by third-wheeling. She didn’t want to think anymore. She didn’t want to chat.

She knew exactly what she wanted. And who she wanted it from. Lizzy about-turned and marched back down the corridor, arriving outside a door that wasn’t hers, but one she knew well.

Screw the goddamn rules.

Knock knock. And because she was in a spectacularly bad mood, still seething at Regis, she kicked the door for good measure.

He didn’t answer fast enough for her liking.

She wondered if Muldoon also wasn’t in the mood for talking. That was alright, because talking wasn’t what she had in mind. Knock knock kick again.

Chances were, he already knew it was her, and for whatever reason, was keeping her waiting. Lizzy jogged from foot to foot impatiently, he needed to hurry up, before anyone saw what she was up to.

There would be questions. The park warden regarded her suspiciously as he finally opened his door.

“Well, you look a damn sight better.”

”I don’t feel any better.” She answered bluntly.

“Likewise.”

Lizzy sidled closer, hoping he’d take the hint. She waited expectantly for him to let her in, but he just stood, unmoving in the doorway.

“Why are you here, Armstrong?”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

“What’s wrong with Baker’s company?”

“She and Tom are having a moment.”

“Really?” He looked genuinely interested. “Strange.”

“I know, right?” Lizzy shook her head, ready to elaborate, then realised she was being misdirected. ”That’s not the point!”

“Then get to it.” His expression didn’t change. “Quickly.”

“I don’t want Kathy. I want you.”

She wanted to feel safe. With Kathy, she was the protector, always the protector, always looking out for everybody, with her siblings, co-workers, even bloody Simon. She wanted to be protected, for a change. Just for one day.

Muldoon looked exasperated. “We’ve already been through this, we can’t-“

“Please.”

“This isn’t a good time.”

“Look, here. I have had quite possibly the worst day of my adult life, and-…why? What are you doing?” Her gaze flicked past him to the table. “Oh, you better not be-“

He defensively moved to block her view. “So what if I am? Rough night and all that.”

“You are!” She cried in dismay. “Seriously? Are you trying to kick me when I’m down?”

“Then leave, if you don’t want to see it. Go back to your own room, and stay there.”

She became apoplectic with him. How dare he? They were all struggling, and he’d chosen to suffer alone, again. Turning to drink, instead of company. Instead of the rest of the team. Instead of her.

But this time, she wasn’t running away. Not without a fight.

“Absolutely not.”

Lizzy ducked under his arm in a flash and headed straight for the table.

She knew she had to get through to him somehow, and she had a feeling it wouldn’t be pretty.

Lizzy snatched the bottle off the table and looked him dead in the eyes as she started necking down the contents.

“For Christ’s sake, Armstrong-“

“It’s not nice, is it?” Lizzy stopped for breath, head already swimming, throat on fire, dodged him and continued downing gulps of whiskey as she tried to evade, keeping the table between them. “Watching me do this to myself?”

No, it wasn’t nice. It was bloody awful.

Lizzy nearly tripped, swallowed the wrong way and started a coughing fit. Christ, it burned. But she recovered quickly, from years of practice as a teenager in the darkest alleys of Glasgow.

“Serves you right.”

“God ‘sake, this is awful stuff.” She peered at the label on the bottle, struggling without her glasses. “Eighteen-year? I don’t bloody think so! You really drink this?”

“Not tonight, apparently.”

“Then I may as well just pour the rest of it away?” She stepped backwards and hovered the bottle tauntingly through the open window, threatening to upend it. “Remove temptation.”

“Alright, that’s enough, Lizzy.”

“First name?” She smirked, but set the bottle back down on solid ground. “Oh, I am in trouble.”

It felt all wrong. She hadn’t dared confront anyone about a possible alcohol problem since she’d ended up with a broken arm in her teens. Her shoulder was aching that very moment, from the cold and rain, and she rolled it unconsciously, a nervous habit, stretching it out with an audible creak.

Muldoon watched her do it, the way her mouth tightened involuntarily from the pain she was used to dealing with every single day. Not all of it physical.

He couldn’t do this to her. She was trying to help him. Trying to fix something, since she had failed to fix Esteves, in the jungle.

Her eyes were a little out of focus as she glared at him. He waved a hand slowly back and forth, and as her gaze followed, it was definitely lagging.

“Are you wrecked? Already?” He sank down on the bed, looking incredibly weary. “I thought your sort knew how to handle your drink.”

“You would assume so.” Lizzy hiccuped. “Funnily enough, I can’t stand whisky anymore. How’s that for ironic?”

“You’re a ridiculous woman.” Then partly to himself. “Who in their right mind would-“

”If I drink it all, there’s none for you.” She was beginning to sway back and forth with a thousand-yard stare. “Actually, mate, I don’t feel very good.”

Lizzy barely drank anymore, for personal and obvious reasons. When she did, she could hardly keep up with Kathy, and she didn’t even want to.

“Ridiculous.” He repeated. “Go, get into bed, now.”

Lizzy only blinked at him, stunned.

“To sleep, you lunatic. You’re half-cut.”

She raised a finger and whispered very deliberately. “That may be true.”

Even in her bleary state, she’d spotted a loophole.

He’d made no mention of Lizzy getting in her own bed. And he wasn’t sending her away that easily.

She started undressing, right in front of him. She’d made up her mind she was staying the night. Hell nor high water was getting her out of that room. He was not drinking on her watch. This was a stakeout.

“What are you-“

“Maybe you should try the thirty-four-year-old instead.” Lizzy interrupted loudly as she slid her shorts down over her hips, kicking them off across the room. “Just saying.”

“The thirty-four-year-old is really testing my patience.”

“But will make you feel so much better.” She sidled over, standing in front of him with bare legs. “No hangover.”

“Just a permanent headache.” He replied cynically.

“Tastes better, too.” Her eyebrow twitched suggestively, and the mood changed in an instant.

His gaze was now dragging over her body in an entirely different way. “Does she, now?”

She murmured affirmation as she bent forward and took both his hands in hers, placing them around her middle. Lizzy lifted the hem of her baggy t-shirt, getting ready to pull it over her head.

“Lizzy-“ He warned. This was going too far.

“Have you had enough of me?” She asked in a low voice.

Never. But he didn’t want her like this. Not at his best, for lack of a better phrase. He’d already made it a fair way through the bottle before she’d rudely interrupted.

He told her as much, but it didn’t seem to put her off at all.

Lizzy smiled coyly. “Who says you have to do anything?“ She was looking at him from under her eyelashes as she elaborated. “I like being in charge too, y’know?”

She had very nice legs, strong legs. It was difficult to push away the thought of those on either side of his, straddling him, if she took the lead, as she was implying.

She felt good, as he was running his fingers up and down her thighs. Watching her shiver and arch her back slightly, battling whether to reach up and squeeze that lovely rear of hers before thinking better of it and letting his hands drop down, away from her body. Lizzy’s smile faded and she folded her arms over her chest.

“I know, Lizzy. But you’ve been drinking.”

“So have you.” She quite rightly pointed out.

“Makes it double the mistake then, I’m afraid-“ he held her gaze, “-fucking you.”

The sound of Lizzy’s sharp intake of breath filled the whole room. She’d never heard him say that word before, it was always damn this, bloody that. And it honestly shocked her. The switch was flipped between them, and she wasn’t sure what to do with herself.

He did that on purpose.

“Very chivalrous.” She stammered awkwardly, recovering her ability to speak after a flustered moment and sat down beside him, spell broken. “You must hate always being right.”

“Now more than ever.”

She stretched and flopped back on his bed. God, she was exhausted. The chill from the wind and rain had cut down to her bones. Though the taste was lingering on her tongue in a way she wasn’t a fan of, the burning scotch was starting to warm her up pleasantly from the inside, her lids were so heavy. She felt herself sinking downwards, gradually relaxing muscles that she didn’t even know she’d been tensing.

Felt like home. Not Glasgow, not New York, but exactly the way her bunk smelled in her favourite place in the world at the end of a long, hot day. Of the outdoors, and sun-warmed leather.

Going to rest my eyes, just for a second. Got to stay awake-

He was talking to her again, but she was too tired to process what he was saying.

“Uh-huh, yeah…I’m still here…” She mumbled.

Then oblivion.

“Armstrong?” No answer. “…Lizzy?”

When he looked around she was fast asleep with her mouth open, sprawled out and limbs pointing in all directions.

He didn’t have the heart to wake her.

“Suppose you are staying, then.”

***

By Christ, she snored.

Rhinoceroses were quieter. The damn tyrannosaur was quieter.

But it was oddly reassuring, instead of the usual dead silence, alone with too many of his own thoughts. Like heavy rain on tent canvas, or cicadas.

If it were a biblical plague of cicadas Muldoon thought to himself.

She hadn’t stirred when he’d picked up her legs to move her underneath the covers. If anything, she’d snored even louder in protest.

He’d swithered for a long while about actually getting into bed with her. It almost felt wrong it was that easy, after months of thinking about this exact situation, and she wasn’t even awake.

It was her idea in the first place. Where else could he go, sleep in his damn Jeep?

He couldn’t do that to her, just leave her to wake up alone. She needed him, come looking for him for a reason, though slightly misguided.

But this is not a reward. She won’t stay next time. She’ll leave and not come back.

Muldoon vowed to do his best to make sure there wouldn’t be a next time. This was his last chance.

Armstrong’s ridiculous, half-baked, hastily-constructed plan had paid off.

Ridiculous, indeed. She was the most ridiculous woman he’d ever met.

And brave. Damn brave, to face him in this state. With that thought, Muldoon felt incredibly guilty. She shouldn’t have had to do all that in an attempt to get through to him.

He couldn’t stop thinking about what he would have done if it had been Armstrong attacked, instead of Esteves. If she were the one lying cold and motionless, headed to the mainland for the last time.

But she was alive, only sleeping, and she was right there.

He watched her chest rise and fall for a few minutes, just to reassure himself she was unharmed. Her ribcage wasn’t caved in, her skin wasn’t leaching colour from exsanguination.

She was warm and soft and kept on fidgeting endlessly, limbs pointing in every direction, shuffling closer to him in her sleep, until he was pressed against the wall and couldn’t possibly move any further away from her.

When she flung a hand out restlessly, reaching for something he couldn’t see, Muldoon gave up and put an arm around her middle, letting her in.

Can’t say I didn’t try. She sighed softly, resumed snoring at quite frankly worrying decibels and stopped twitching every half a second.

The whiskey glass, still in its place on the table caught his eye, glinting in the moonlight.

For the first time in a very long while, he didn’t want it.

No, this would do instead.

***

Thanks for reading!

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