#it's like he starts clapping and sets off a sonic boom

[bubacorn]

(x)

[d1stortedsky]

Day two of febuwhump: flinching

Summary: In the middle of a violent thunderstorm, the Tornado is struck down, causing Sonic and Miles to take residence in a cave until the storm is over. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it'll stop soon, much to a certain twin-tailed foxes' distress. It's up to Sonic to cheer up his new friend.

Word count: 750

Sonic frowns at the rain pouring down outside of the cave they had holed up in. The storm had struck the Tornado down and they crashed on an unknown island. And. thanks to the ongoing storm, they couldn't leave the cave to check out the damage that the Tornado sustained.

To make matters worse, it was winter, meaning that it was absolutely freezing. Coupled with the ice cold rain, and a lack of firewood, both hedgehog and fox were shivering and sopping wet. Speaking of, the small fox was curled up in the corner shaking violently. Sonic had a feeling that it wasn't entirely the rain causing the shivering. His hunch is confirmed when, after a particularly loud thunder strike, Miles flinches and whimpers.

He walks over to sit next to Miles, frowning when he flinches away. He scoots away and starts up a soft, scratchy hum, some old song from a childhood he barely remembers. Slowly Miles uncurls, looking up at Sonic. He gives Miles an encouraging smile that he hesitantly returns.

Thunder booms and Miles yelps and covers his ears, curling up again. His breathing becomes panicked as he twists his tails in his paws, unintentionally wringing out the water. Sonic carefully pulls the fox kits paws from his tails, worried that he'll hurt himself.

He pauses, thinking, before pulling off his gloves and sliding them onto Miles paws gently. Slowly, the fox kit calms down again. He stares at Miles' tails for a moment before getting Miles' attention. Miles perks up, watching carefully. Sonic points at his tails, then at Miles, repeating it a few times. Miles stares in confusion for a moment before his eyes light up. "Are you…giving me a nickname?" He tilts his head, not unlike a puppy. Sonic grins and nods wildly.

Miles, or should he say Tails, grins back at him in pure joy. Sonic looks outside and gasps softly at the clear skies, scooping Tails up carefully and carrying him outside. Once outside of the cave, they look up at the rainbow before running off to explore the island. Sonic and Tails eventually find their way to a clearing filled with so many flowers you couldn't see the grass.

They look at each other before racing off to see who collects the most flowers first. Roughly ten or so minutes later, they meet up again and Sonic dumps the flowers in his arms out proudly. Tails claps before dumping his armload and shaking out his tails, releasing flower after flower. Tails won their game.

Eventually, after running around for a while, they sit down and Sonic shows Tails how to make a flower crown. Sonic goes through familiar motions, ensuring that the fox can easily follow. Tails picks up a few flowers and starts on one of his own. Time passes as they make the crowns, a gentle breeze rustling fur and quills. Tails lets out a triumphant shout as he carefully holds up an orange and white flower crown. Sonic looks up from his own blue one to give the fox kit a proud smile and thumbs up.

Moments later, Sonic finishes his crown and plops it gently on Tails head, ensuring it won't fall off easily. He signs points at Tails and signs 'brother' with a gentle smile. Even years later, the look of pure joy and love on his new brother's face never leaves Sonic's mind. Tails practically leaps at Sonic for a hug, joyous tears streaming down his face. Sonic gathers his little brother into his arms, holding him as twin tails wrap around him in their own version of a hug.

After setting him down, Sonic wipes away Tails remaining tears as the fox carefully places his flower crown on Sonic's head, careful of stray quills. He giggles as Sonic poses dramatically, like a king would. He mimes pulling a sword from stone, pretending to not get the sword. He motions for Tails to try and get the imaginary sword, watching as the little fox makes an attempt. He wraps his paws around Tails and pretends to pull the sword out of the stone.

Tails cheers as he holds up the sword and knights Sonic with it. Both giggle and sit down in the clearing, the exhausted fox leaning against his brother. Sonic wraps an arm around him and starts humming the melody from earlier. Slowly, Tails drifts off to sleep, Sonic following soon after. They'll find the Tornado later, now is the time for rest.

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Second @febuwhump prompt completed! Despite it being shorter than the first prompt, I'm actually a lot happier with how this one turned out! Yes, Sonic and Tails game at the end refrences King Arthur, honestly might make an au where Tails takes Sonics place in satbk lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story!

[cold-b-writing]

Thanatophobia: Chapter 15

With both combatants ready, the fight started off with a blazing. Urenakk lunged forward, jumping high in the air and swung his leading foot in a downward arc. He was hoping to strike the older Gith right on the head. However, Khorek saw this coming from a mile away. His skin began to glow bright blue, and as if an exoskeleton made of magic enveloped him, he was able to absorb the blow without any issue.

“Is that it?” Khorek barked as he clapped his hands. A thunderous boom, unleashing a sonic pulse that could be heard from miles away. Urenakk was flying away from the sheer impact of the spell. This stunned the rest of the group that was watching a distance away.

Pil dropped to his knees, his ears ringing, he couldn’t hear much of anything for a moment. Aryanna had a similar effect going on, she tried pulling the wizard off the ground but he wouldn’t budge. Vedetta clenched her teeth so hard that she thought she would end up crushing them.

The rogue had his hands over his ears, but it didn’t help much at all. Breonna had her shield raised hoping it would alleviate the effects of whatever Khorek was planning to do. By the time she realized it was a sound based attack, it was too late.

Urenakk got up, his fire still burning brightly. From underneath the flaming mask, he spat up some blood which was littered all over the grass.

“Don’t tell me you’re done already…” Khorek muttered.

The monk glared at his father. Wiped the remaining blood off of his face with his sleeve and shook his head. He got back into his fighting stance. “I’ve only just begun…” he snarled. Right away, he dashed forward.

Once again, Khorek was anticipating his son’s movements. The sparks in his hands grew larger, lightning was dancing around him as he glowed brighter. Pointing at the general direction where his son was moving and from his fingertips, an array of lightning streaked across the field.

Urenakk had no way of avoiding the attack. He was fast, but he wasn’t faster than the speed of light. By the time he saw the lightning shoot out from his father, he had already been struck. Hitting him square in the chest, the monk gritted his teeth.

A surging, searing pain surged across the entire front half of his body. As each instant passed, it felt like someone was inside of him, digging a knife down across his torso. He let out a guttural roar as he just took the pain, accepted that it happened and he kept moving.

“What?” Khorek widened his eyes. His son was still dashing forward despite the attack. “What are you doing you fool!?” he was beginning to charge another bolt of lightning.

By the time he was making any progress, Urenakk had gotten close. The monk was able to close the distance and took advantage of that right away.

Not a moment later, he punched his father square in the jaw. Khorek reeled back from just the sheer force of the strike. However, Urenakk was not about to let up. Another punch landed right into the old Gith’s liver. Knocking the wind out of the sorcerer completely, Khorek was hacking blood in response.

Some of the Greyhawks who were finally starting to recover from the thunderous spell and immediately began cheering. “Knock ‘em dead, kid!” Morqen had a fist raised in the air.

“Show that old arse what you can do!” Vedetta was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Urenakk delivered a third blow to the old Gith and heard his teammates cheering him on. At that moment, even though he was totally focused on his father. He couldn’t help but crack a smile. Right away, he delivered another set of blows that was just as vicious as the previous three. Landing in different areas to cause as much widespread pain as possible.

Khorek clenched his gut tightly as he limped backwards, leaning against a tree that was behind him. He started coughing up pools of blood.

“I’d say that I’ve gotten better…” Urenakk sneered as he took a step closer.

Khorek gritted his teeth and right away, a gust of wind was picking up. This was strong, too strong for the monk to keep his balance. Urenakk leaned forward, not wanting to lose the tight space he had with his father. However, the winds were just forcing him back as his feet slid across the grass.

However, it seemed as if Khorek was just unaffected by the winds. He was standing up straight like nothing was going on. At least for a moment, then, his feet started lifting into the air. The sorcerer was floating in the middle of the air, as if the winds themselves were lifting him higher. He was simply glaring down at his son. The winds at this point were so intense that the trees around the old Gith were bending away from him.

Urenakk was finding it difficult to even stand at this point. He could hardly even see what was ahead of him. He had to use his sleeves to cover up most of his face just so he could keep his eyes open. All he could see was his father soaring above him. Thunderclouds forming above and lightning shooting across the sky. Much like how lightning was enveloping the old Gith.

Urenakk had no idea how he could possibly get close to his father now. He had to use every ounce of his strength just to stay on his own two feet.

“Urenakk…” the old Gith finally spoke again. All eyes were upon him. “These people that you travel with come from all walks of life. What were they able to show you? What were you able to gain from them?” The winds were calming down. The sorcerer wanted to hear his son’s answer.

“Well…” Urenakk pondered for a moment. “I think I learned what it takes not only to be my own person. But I think I’ve been shown what makes a true leader…”

“And what is a true leader…?” Khorek squinted his eyes. “How will it help you survive our home?”

“A true leader…” Urenakk looked up at his father. “A true leader doesn’t just rely on everyone to do all of the heavy lifting for him. A true leader doesn’t take advantage of all of the shortcuts, because the path hasn’t even been carved yet. A true leader is the one who makes the path, and one for his people to follow. A true leader faces the world for his people, no matter what stands before him…even you…”

The Greyhawks were able to hear all of this too. They were stunned at the response. They had all been there for each other. But they came upon the realization why he came to that conclusion. After all, they had been the ones so far who have been fighting off the undead that has been plaguing the area. They’ve been doing it because it was the right thing to do, not just because of the Lord, or any reward, as they certainly were getting no gratitude for it.

The wizard couldn’t help but start laughing. Aryanna turned to the wizard with an eyebrow raised. “What’s so funny?” she nudged him.

Pil wiped away a tear and smiled at the warlock. “Nothing…” he looked back to Urenakk. “It’s just that for a moment…he reminded me of someone I once knew…” He basked in the scenery, the fight before him and he couldn’t help but get excited. ‘Yes…’ he thought to himself. ‘That is something you would say, wouldn’t you…Dante…?’

Khorek paused for a moment. Considering everything that Urenakk told him and ran his hand through his hair, adjusting it while the winds were starting to pick up once more. “A true leader…” he glared at his son once more. “Is that what you want to be if you get back home? A true leader of the people?”

Urenakk remained silent. He simply nodded his head in response. The winds were now beginning to grow as intense as before. The monk braced himself and stood firm. Even with the winds roaring through the field and the forest, his fire was still burning brightly.

“If you want to make the path for the Githzerai…” Khorek was beginning to glow more intensely along with the lightning that enveloped him. “You better be able to show me that you can take the punishment that comes along with taking such a treacherous role…”

Urenakk glared up at the sorcerer. “Of course, father…” he muttered. His feet were already firmly planted into the ground. However, he was glowing brighter as the ground underneath began to crack. The young Gith, despite the heavy winds, and in a feat of great strength, launched himself into the sky in pursuit of the old Gith.

Once again, Khorek was easily able to anticipate his son charging on. He was able to charge his lightning bolt attack once again. Just like before, he pointed right at his son and in a literal flash, lightning shot out from his fingers and landed right into the upper body of the younger Gith.

Urenakk coughed even more blood, but he was already in the air. Nothing could stop him from closing the distance between him and his father once more. Once he finally got close enough, he prepared to deliver yet another kick. This time, winding himself up and adding moment with doing a front flip, he swung his foot in a downward angle just like before.

This time, there was no stopping the attack. The old Gith tried to use the same trick as before, trying to shield himself with the magic. However, this time the strike had enough power to simply break through and strike the old Gith in the head.

Khorek was not only knocked out of the air, but he was sent crashing into the ground with a force so great, the ground beneath the sorcerer began to crack.

As soon as the other Greyhawks saw this, they began to cheer once more. “You fucking did it!” Morqen shouted at the top of his lungs.

Urenakk was not far behind his father, however he was able to land gracefully on his feet. Now standing over his father, he dropped to one knee, grabbing the old Gith by the collar of his robes and pulling him closer.

“Well father…?” Urenakk smiled.

“You’ve gotten stronger…” Khorek leaned his head back, closing his eyes. A gentle breeze was picking up as the old Gith began to feel lighter. He started to gain a rather sickly appearance, his usual dark yellow skin was now a deep orange with hints of brown. Veins started popping all around the body as chunks of him began to break down.

“Father?” Urenakk widened his eyes. The breeze picked up as leaves began flying away all around him. The monk realized that the leaves flying away were coming from the old Gith. “What’s happening?”

“You’ve gotten stronger…” A voice broke out from behind the trees. It was Khorek, with his hands on his hips, looking down at his son. The old Gith didn’t even have a bruise on him. Urenakk widened his eyes in shock, how could his father be in two places at once. He looked down once more only to find that he was holding onto a small pile of leaves, most of which had flown all over the field. “But not much wiser…”

“What was…” Urenakk was stunned.

“A copy of me.” Khorek shrugged. “You said that you want to be a leader?” the old Gith crossed his arms and his son nodded in response. The sorcerer pointed to the Greyhawks in response. “Fine, show me. Start by taking initiative…”

“R-right…” Urenakk stood up straight. “I won’t let you down…”

“I hope not…” Khorek sighed, turning around. He was making his way deeper into the forest, away from the rest of the group.

The Greyhawks stood in stunned silence for a moment. They were all bewildered at what had all transpired. “Was that really it…?” Breonna looked to the rest of the group. They were all as confused as she was.

The monk sighed and started making his way back to his friends. “Hey guys…” he smiled sadly at them. “And I don’t know if you heard me or not Breonna…”

“I did…” the warrior collected herself and finally formed a smile. She approached the monk and put a hand on his shoulder. “Urenakk…” she pat him where she was resting her hand. “I think it’s great that you want to become a leader, I really do…”

“But you’re already the leader of this group…” The monk frowned. “I know that much was clear on the arrangement…”

“Who cares about the fuckin’ arrangement anymore?” Vedetta punched the monk in the arm playfully.

“I’m not stepping down totally…” Breonna chuckled. “But I would be more than happy to let you take charge on a mission or two. If it means helping you prove to your father, I am more than happy to help you with that…”

“Really?” Urenakk was taken aback.

Pil smiled and stepped forward. “You’ve been coming along with us so far. You’ve been helping us this entire time. Why wouldn’t we help you?”

“Fuck that…” Morqen shook his head. “We’re helping you because you are one of us…us Greyhawks look after our own…”

“You know what?” Pil nodded. “I couldn’t agree more…”

Urenakk didn’t expect for feelings to start welling up from within. He started laughing while tears ran down his cheeks uncontrollably. “Right…” he could only laugh even harder. “Thank you guys…for everything…”

In this moment, even while they were out of town, there was a lingering feeling that someone was watching. It wasn’t far from the truth either, as a young woman donning a dark cloak around her was a small distance away. She was underneath the shades of the trees. No one from the Greyhawks had noticed her so far.

She smiled as she started reaching a hand out slowly, drawing it back the moment it was brought out into the light of day. She sighed, pulling out a glove and started to gently slide her hand inside. Adjusting her cloak to cover up as much as possible before stepping out and approaching the group.

She had the hood of the cloak pulled over her head, most of her features were being concealed, yet the woman approached the group nonetheless.

“Wait…” Vedetta got the group’s attention and directed them towards the approaching figure. “Breonna is that?”

“Maybe…” the fighter stretched her arms and was the first to start making her way towards the cloaked figure. She squinted her eyes and then motioned for everyone else to follow. “Yeah, I think it is…”

The rest of the group gathered their belongings, Morqen slipping a health potion into Urenakk’s hands before approaching the figure as well. Breonna had a sad smile on her as she stopped her approached.

The figure started lifting the hood. However, only enough to reveal her face, not letting it off entirely. What was underneath the hood was a young woman with fairly light skin and long locks of blonde hair that curled. It wasn’t a natural occurrence, it was more like the way the hair sits after it is often tied into braids. It stretched down past the woman’s shoulders and when she looked up. It was easy to tell that she was roughly around the same age group as Breonna.

This had to be Kayla, this woman had similar features to the fighter. Only slight alteration, if the Greyhawks didn’t know any better, Breonna and Kayla could have been mistaken for siblings.

Kayla’s face was not as angular, she had a lighter shade of blonde hair and deep sapphire eyes. Kayla smiled and held out her hand. “It’s been too long…”

“So, what’s all this for?” Breonna motioned at the cloak. “Is this one of your super-secret meetings?”

“You can say that…” Kayla nodded. “I mean, I am trying to keep a low profile.” She sighed, turning her attention back towards the town. “Can’t say it’s the best idea to be recognized in town for a meeting like this…”

“What, too good for the likes of us?” Morqen shook his head.

“No, it has nothing to do with that…” Kayla sighed. “Though I will admit, how the townsfolk think of you, it’s not exactly helpful here…”

“We ain’t that bad…” Vedetta huffed.

“Never said you were.” Kayla shrugged. “Believe me, you lot have been doing a lot more for the town than anyone else as far as I’m concerned. But it’s not about me.”

“You’re the lord’s daughter…” Pil raised an eyebrow. “Your word might actually have sway…”

“It doesn’t matter who I am…” Kayla’s tone changed, seemingly getting more frustrated. “It’s easier to get people to believe in something crazy than to convince them they’ve been fooled.” She turned around to face the town. “Now do you want my help or not?”

“We do.” Breonna glared at the Greyhawks. She wrapped one arm around her friend to keep pace. “Please, we need all the help we can get and quite frankly, you’re the only person we can rely on right now.”

“Alright…” Kayla took a deep breath. “But I’d rather we continue this somewhere else. I don’t want to stick out here, this place doesn’t feel good to me…”

“You didn’t have a hard time finding us though, right?” Breonna smiled.

“No…” Kayla looked back at the ravaged fields and the thunderclouds hanging above. “I can’t say that you were necessarily difficult to find…”

The group had decided to follow the pair of women wherever they were leading. They made their way back into town, looking for a secluded area within. Kayla had decided that it would be best to bring them with her back to the Trenton manor.

It was within the same district as the church that Vedetta visited. The community was rather well off and soon the group was making their way towards the tall gates by the end of it. A couple of guards were standing on post and once they saw the Greyhawks approaching, they started to draw their weapons.

It took Kayla to step ahead of the group and pull the hood all the way down to reveal that they were with her and she was welcoming them. When the woman pulled down her hood, it was easy to tell that Kayla was among the higher ends of the town. One each side of her head looped braided strands of hair to the back which connected with a small ponytail at the end. It wasn’t holding onto a lot of hair at all, in fact, most of the hair was hanging lose underneath the ornamentation. It was just an indicator that Kayla was among the wealthier families more than anything.

The guards recognized her and let the group pass, opening the gates for them into the manor. The manor itself didn’t have anything that would stand out. There was a garden inside and a fountain, but nothing that would indicate anything flamboyant.

Usually with the lords of the lands, and with royal families, it was expected of them to have some kind of method of displaying their wealth. That had a lot to do with vanity. While the manor was better off than the other houses in the area, there was nothing flashy about it.

“Nice place you got here…” Pil muttered.

“We’re almost there…” Kayla held the door for the others as they made their way inside. She closed the door behind them, nodding at the servants before pulling the cloak off of herself, hanging it on one of the intricate racks nearby the entrance. There was a lot to be concealed underneath.

The woman had a deep blue corset dress with leather paddings all around, white sleeves, and long boots going up to her knees. Beneath the vest was a layer of chainmail that was lined with the cloth. She was granted a lot more protection than what was appearing on the surface. Black leggings extended from them. It complemented the white and blue gloves she was wearing.

Upon closer inspection, there was embroidering within the corset depicting a white owl inside of a blue shield, it was wearing a golden crown. The Trenton family crest was on full display. At her hip, a long straight sword with a golden hilt was bouncing side to side at every step. The sheath was a dark leather held together with metal pins, golden embellishments on all the metallic areas.

It was clear that despite her small stature, she was a capable fighter. She lead the Greyhawks into the common room where there would be more than enough space for everyone to be able to sit down and talk. “So, about the Roaring Banner…” she started, planting herself down on a nearby couch. “We need to come up with a game plan to deal with them…”

“Right.” Breonna turned to the others in her group as they were all sitting themselves down in different places. “You already know what they’ve been up to and why they have our attention, so let’s cut right to the chase and think of a plan to stop them once and for all.”

“That’s where I think I can be of help…” Pil piped up and all eyes turned on him. He adjusted his hair to get it off the edges of his face. “The thing is their leader Ancal I think has gotten a bit fond of me. He’s tried to coach me in the past about spell casting, we’re both magic users you see, I’m not quite sure what he’s expecting out of this thing he has with me, but I think this is the closest any of us have ever gotten to the entire group.”

“He ain’t wrong…” Vedetta huffed. “Most of them are an awfully prickly bunch…”

“We could use that…” Kayla nodded in acknowledgment. “Yeah, you could try to stay on his good side and we can take advantage of that in some way. I’m not sure if he’ll ever reveal all of his cards to you, but we can at least get the jump on him in one regard.”

“They’re also after the local bandits.” Morqen sighed. “The Bull’s Crew, you’ve also heard of them at this point. They want us to tag along as we hunt the rest of that bandit gang down.”

“We didn’t get to meet all of their members yet either…” Urenakk pointed out. “They kept referring to that Corvoril guy, I’m sure he’ll be turning up soon though.”

“There’s a lot of loose ends…” Kayla leaned back, looking up at the ceiling lost in her own thoughts.

“There’s something that I don’t get either…” Aryanna lit a cigarette and attached it to her extension. “It is clear that they are responsible for all of the undead rising in this area, yet there’s a lot of moments where they are also fighting off the undead. The amount of undead plaguing this town as well, it is just unprecedented. I mean, even if they are being raised in an organized manner, I doubt a small group such as them could raise this many.”

“They’ve been here a while…” Breonna sighed. “And it might not be just them…” he turned her head to the rogue. “You said that the bandits were doing something with the bodies they had. There might be something going on with them as well.”

“Wouldn’t put it past them.” Morqen sighed. “Now that you mention it, our friends do seem VERY eager to take these bandits down.”

“Almost like…” Kayla muttered. “They’re competition.”

“They knew each other at some point, it wasn’t always like that.” Pil sighed. “They know the name of the bandits’ leader. A guy by the name of Zyrsius.”

“Well, we can work with all of this…” Kayla turned to the wizard. “So you said there was another member named Corvoril you haven’t met yet, right?”

Breonna nodded her head. “Yeah, he’s off by the town’s medical ward. The group said they were going to visit him, make sure he’s okay.”

“This is perfect.” Kayla’s smile grew wider. “Pil, why don’t you go and pay them a visit tonight if you aren’t too busy? I’m sure your friend could use your support.”

“Wait, what about everyone else?” Pil looked to the rest of Greyhawks.

“Yeah, are you sure it’s a good idea to send him alone?” Breonna interjected.

“Think about it.” Kayla stood up. “Pil can approach them alone, now you don’t want to act like you are totally disloyal to this group. But maybe, you approaching them alone like this might give off the right impression to them.”

“What kind of impression is that?” the wizard didn’t like where this was going. He crossed his arms.

“He’s coaching you, treating you like his best friend.” Kayla smiled. “They’re bringing you all along to raise you up. Ancal wants to be friends with you, but I think he also wants you to join his group.”

“Wait, seriously?” the wizard tensed up. “I don’t think-“

“Why else would he take the time to get to know you in particular?” Kayla sighed. “People don’t just go out of their way to help others like that, especially not heroes. Normally, the lot of you would just be competition. He would want you out of the way.”

“So I just get up and I go talk to him?” Pil shrugged.

“That’s it.” Kayla nodded.

“Right now?” Pil asked.

“No time like the present.” Kayla sat back down. “Don’t worry, there will still be a spare room and bed for you here when you get back.”

“Wait, Kayla.” Breonna turned her head. “You don’t have to-“

“No, I want to.” Kayla shook her head. “I’m helping you because these people have been bringing way too much attention here as it is. The sooner they are all gone the better, and if that means I do everything I can to help you, then so be it.” She walked over and pat Breonna on the back. “Besides, it’s too late to take back your letter now.” She started to chuckle to herself.

“Right…” Pil sighed, looking at Princess who was sitting on his shoulder. “Guess I’m off then…” he started to get up, but Aryanna grabbed his hand. Causing him to turn back to her.

She smiled, but it couldn’t hide the fact that she was worried. “Be careful…” She muttered. He nodded his head and smiled before making his way out the manor.

The guards closed the gates behind him and the wizard got one last look at the manor before facing the rest of town. He let out an exhausted sigh. “Where do I even go…?” he muttered to himself. Princess took off flying into the air in circles, keeping an eye on the wizard from above. She made sure to stay in his general area.

The wizard saw that there was a lot of commotion going on in a nearby part of town. People were coming and going, it was easy to tell that they were buzzed. “Guess I just follow all the screaming…” the wizard shook his head and made his way closer.

‘Could really use a drink right about now…’ he thought to himself as he was listening closely to what everyone around him. It was mostly useless nonsense. The only thing he did manage to learn was that The Roaring Banner was still by the medical ward.

A lot more people were gathering around in that area. At this point, there might as well have been a sign that mentioned that the Roaring Banner as here.

Pil of course would shuffle his way past the crowd, Princess decided to descend from the skies. She perched herself on his shoulder once more and he scratched the bottom of her beak. It was hard to navigate through the crowd, mostly because everyone there wanted to see the heroes, but the wizard did manage to slide his way through almost everyone.

There was a point where the people ahead were too big and just would not move at all. He could not squeeze past them, yet he was close enough to finally see what the other group of adventurers were up to.

Ancal was exchanging pleasantries with the crowd while his brother was sitting in a corner of the room by himself brooding. He was far too menacing for anyone to dare approach him. Nayola was over at a bed where she was focusing her magic on an older looking elf who was in bed. She wasn’t paying attention to the crowd, she didn’t seem to care.

Ancal turned and saw that Pil was in that crowd and his smile grew wide. “My friend!” he called as he approached the wizard. The crowd would look at the wizard, then back at the leader of the Roaring Banner. That was when the whispers started.

The space was clearing up for Pil and he started to approach, but he could also hear what the people were saying as it suddenly grew quiet.

“Wait, they’re friends with him?” one woman from the crowd whispered.

“Lucky bastard…” another man hissed. “Guess anyone can really do well for themselves when they know the right people…”

“Hey…” Ancal muttered. Wrapping an arm around Pil when the two got close. “Why don’t we go somewhere a little quieter?” Pil simply nodded his head silently in response. Ancal lead the wizard down into a smaller room past Kelrac. Some people in the crowd tried to follow, but the large Dragonborn growled and stood up. Once Ancal and Pil were in a room by themselves, the green Dragonborn started laughing to himself.

“These people…” Pil shook his head.

“I know, bunch of ungrateful bastards.” Ancal pat the wizard on the back. “Sometimes I really question why I go out for them.”

“What about that entire speech you made?” Pil shrugged.

“These people want to be coddled.” Ancal sighed. “They want us to take care of them and they want to feel appreciated like they did a fucking thing.”

“So why do you give it to them?” Pil asked. “I mean, fuck them, right?”

“I would.” Ancal sighed. “But unfortunately for people like you and me, they’re the ones who put food on our table. But I got a plan…” Pil paused and waited for the lizard to explain. “I want these people to lift you up as much as they do with me.”

“How?” the wizard raised his arms in a tired, exasperated manner. “They hate me, they hate my group.”

“Because we are going after the bandits.” Ancal smiled. “But I’m not gonna be the one to kill the leader…no…” he pointed straight at Pil. “You are…”

“We don’t even know where the rest of them are.” Pil sighed. “It was an entire adventure just to find one of their camps.”

“Ah!” Ancal interrupted the wizard. “You see, we didn’t have Corvoril before. This time we’re bringing him along with us. If anyone can help us find the rest of them, it’s him…”

“Right, that’s good and all, but why?” Pil shrugged. “But why? Why me? Why help me at all?”

Ancal paused and rested his chin on his fist. “Because you remind me of myself…” the Dragonborn shrugged. “And I like you, does there need to be any other reason?” Pil paused for a moment, looking into the leader’s expression. What threw him off was that Ancal was completely serious, he was telling the truth. Ancal couldn’t help but crack a smile as he knew he had Pil stunned. “Were you expecting any other kind of answer?”

“No…” Pil couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s just…” he scratched the back of his head. “It’s been a long…long time since I really had any friends…”

“Well?” Ancal smiled and held a fist in the air. “How about it then? Are you gonna finally take me for my word? Because I really do want to be friends with you, Pil. So will you finally let me?”

Pil had a multitude of mixed feelings build up. Confusion, happiness, anger, sadness, all of it boiling on the inside. But he couldn’t stop smiling at the whole arrangement. He finally relented and raised his own fist, connecting it with the Dragonborn’s. “Friends…” he muttered.

________________________________________________________________

It's wonderful how during hard times, you can always count on your friends.

[ninjakasuga]

Sonally Celebration, Year 3, Day Seven & Eight.

Sonally Celebration Week, Year Three, Day Seven & Eight: Slip & Rest.

Due to work wearing me down some I took day seven off and combined both prompts together since they can work nicely together. I had a blast again this year, and maybe I can muster the drive to get my solo-writing back on track, as well as get back to some hiatus’d RP’s I owe people.

Slip & Rest:

Setting her stylus pen down, Sally’s eyes glanced over the proposal she had finished penning on her tablet device. Once she was satisfied with the outline, and it’s concise word usage, she manually saved the document, and then had it sent to each of the Acorn Council members to go over, and give their input before they agreed on a finalized draft to implement. “Done, and done! Nicole, what's next on the docket for today?”

Materializing from one of the many holographic emitters through the castle, Nicole the Lynx appeared. Sporting a rather nice looking lavender, women's business suit. With the dress shirt under the suit jacket a lovely cream-pink. Hands folded, she smiled at Sally as her eyes closed briefly. “Absolutely nothing else! You’re finished for the day!”

Sally blinked, and looked at the clock at her desk, “How can that be? It’s only two o’clock, I should have more work until four or four-thirty. I could have sworn I had a remaining proposal to look over-.”

With a simple wave of her hand in a dismissive gesture, Nicole interjected politely. “You did, but I delegated it, as I did the rest of your itinerary.”

Flabbergasted, Sally pushed back from her desk, but remained sitting. “W-why?! Why did you do that Nicole? Some of those documents could use my oversight!”

“Yes, but also no. None of them were documents that couldn’t be looked over by the right delegate who is knowledgeable of the topic. They will have to cross your desk again, but for today others can do your work.” Hands now behind her back, Nicole’s smile faded, her expression now mild disappointment, and also full of concern. “You’re starting to overwork yourself again, and above all else, you’re still recovering from your ‘slip’.”

Grimacing, Sally looked down at her right leg, which was in a cast. “I’m sitting down, and off of it-.” “Doctor’s orders were to elevate it as much as possible. You can’t do that at a desk.” The Lynx stated in a firm, chiding manner as she moved closer and eyed the leg in question. “Why aren’t you doing this from bed or a couch at least?”

Sighing, Sally dragged a hand over her face. “Because, I get comfy, and I want to rest, I start to let my mind wander, or get nap-craven…”

An amused expression crossed the cyber-lynx’s face as she steps closer and places a hand on Sally’s shoulder. The nanites in her hologram made her body solid so she could do so. “That’s what you get when you don’t get enough rest. Your body will eventually start to remind you it has needs.”

Whining a little, a rarity from Sally unless she was ‘tired’. “I just have so much to do-.” “You have people to delegate your workload, myself included.” Reminded Nicole with an all-too-familiar tone of playful snark. “Sally this isn’t the war, you don’t need to take the world on your shoulders.”

Running a hand through her hand, Sally sighed again. Deep down she knew Nicole was right, but she had her reasons for being hyper-focused on certain aspects of work. “I know, I know, but after what happened in Spagonia last year, I wanted to hit hard on stemming any further diplomatic issues that have cropped up since-.”

The hand on her shoulder softly squeezed, empathy deep in Nicole’s voice. “I know you’re worried about a repeat of the kidnapping. Nor have any relations with other countries soured over bad diplomacy; but the whole incident was staged by a handful of greedy jerks.”

 “Greedy jerks, with a lot of pull, and a decent sized following of morons who bought their spiel, hook, line and sinker.” Sally reminded Nicole, shuddering as the memory of the whole incident made her heart clench in terror. The fear of someone wanting to hurt her babies to get back at her never truly left her. “I can’t let that happen again, ever.”

“None of us want it to happen again. That’s why we made those bracelet watches with two of my A.I.’s to be with them at all times. Whisper and Tangle are their new bodyguards and they’re among the best, and you and Sonic have been teaching them to defend themselves. In fact…” Nicole gestured to Sally’s leg. “That’s how you got that, you got over-zealous showing them some of your moves.”

A blush formed on Sally’s cheeks, going up to the tips of her ears. After the kidnapping incident, both Sonic and she wanted to start the children learning some basic self-defense. They made it a full family event with all four of them practicing, and the kids were really receptive. Then again, they always liked to see their parents show off for them, and neither Sonic nor she could resist those eyes, and pouty lips for too long.

So Sally decided last week to really show off some of her acrobatics. Even after all these years, a lot of it just came back to her, even the skills she rarely used since the war (she did keep up some of her training as an exercise regime) she found herself slipping back into use without too much catch-up practice. However, Sally was now over thirty, and was a bit more… ‘filled-out’ since her teen years. So during one wall-flip and somersault onto another surface maneuver, she miscalculated and ended up landing on her one leg, the wrong kind of way.

Luckily the break wasn’t bad, but of course Dr. Jolene had insisted on bed-rest for the majority of the next month, and to stay off the leg as much as possible. For the first two weeks, Sally obliged the order; until the itch to crack at her work got the better of her. Deep down Sally knew she was being somewhat unreasonable, but she couldn’t just be lazy all day when things had to be done!

Realizing she’d been silent for a time, and Nicole was looking at her with curious concern. Sally shook her head. “I'm well aware of how my leg got injured.” Hands on her desk, she stood up, making sure to lean on her good leg, and not let go of the desk. Reaching for her crutches, she managed to slip them under her arms and eased from the desk. In such a quick motion, Nicole didn’t have a chance to offer to help her with them. “In anycase, even if my other tasks have been delegated, I can still stop by the Council Chamber to-.”

Having had her fill of indulging the notion Sally might listen to reason and ‘rest’, Nicole decided to act and clapped her hands. Instantly she was connected to the intercom of the library. “Sonic, your lovely wife is trying to hobble out to the Council to work when she should be resting.

Eyes wide, and panic setting in, Sally glared at the Lynx who just smiled widely. “Nicole you traitor!” She turned to try and ‘hobble off’, but she could already hear not one, but three ‘booms’, followed by the sound of fast footsteps. Sally could only make a ‘meep’ sound as the door to her office flew open, and there stood her husband and children. “H-hey you three, you didn’t need to interrupt afternoon reading time. I was just seeing myself-.”

Sonic didn’t say a word, he simply crossed the distance, and instantly scooped Sally into his arms. Carrying her just like he always did. “Save the excuses for the Doc, you’re going back to bed. No work, at all. Nicole hun, can I count on you to do your thing?”

“Always my main Hog.” She smiled ever widely, nodding and with a bow, her physical form dissolved as she rejoined the castle’s nanite-network to go about her duties.

Wiggling in Sonic’s grasp, Sally puffed her cheeks, trying to look miffed, but only made herself look like a petulant child. “I can move on my own! I have crutches!” “Denied babe, kids, can you pick up the crutches for me?”

“Yes Dad!” The two seven year olds each grab and crutch and heft the item. The two lay their gazes upon their mother, practically mimicking their Father’s disappointment.

“Mama…” Kathleen puffed her cheeks, and attempted to intensify her glare. “You’re supposed to be resting!”

 As they followed their Father into the hallway, J.C. began to count off as he joined his sister in roasting their mother. “Doctor’s orders, Dad’s orders, Auntie Nicole’s orders, Aunt Bunnie and Uncle Twan’s orders-.”

“I know, I know!” Sally threw up her arms, admitting defeat, if not entirely in a graceful manner. Arms crossed she grumbled as Sonic carried her, she looked to her husband. “Isn’t carrying me a bit much?” She seemed to get more antsy about this fact, than her family putting her in the spotlight.

“Nope.” With a foot he kicked the door open softly, yet swiftly.

“...Aren’t I heavy?”

“Still nope.” Sonic eyed his wife, taking notice of his wife’s look of self-consciousness about the weight comment. “Hey kids, can you do me a solid?” He turned his head to regard the apples of his eye, smiling all the while.

“What can we do for you Dad?” Asked J.C. as he set the crutch he had carried against the wall. Something his sister mimicked as they both gave Sonic their full attention.

“Zip to the kitchen, and if Miss Cream’s there, ask her to whip up some pasta, garlic bread for dinner, and whatever else you two want. After you’re done, go and play, I got Mama from here.”

“Are you sure Daddy?” Kathleen raised an eyebrow. “Mama can be wily.”

He chuckled, gosh the kids were picking up those fancy words their Mama liked to use. “She can, but I can be more, that word you used. I got this.” He smiled and winked at the two children.

After a beat, the two children shared a look. “They’re gonna be gross.” Kathleen surmised after a moment. “Probably.” Her twin nodded, and the two rushed out of the room, making sure to close the door behind them. “Sheesh, us gross?” He grinned at Sally as he brought her to the bed, carefully settling her into her side. “How slander’in can you get? By our own kids!”

Unable to help herself, Sally giggled, lifting her leg as Sonic fit a pillow under her cast-laden limb. “Well to them, us kissing and being cuddly can be seen as gross.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged, gazing at his beautiful wife for a moment. Soaking in the view before taking her hand into his. “Something up Sal? I mean besides you not taking bed-rest orders, why’re you so touchy about me picking you up? Do you really think you’re heavy or something?”

“W-well…” The blush returned, from her neck to her ears. As those emerald eyes gazed upon her she looked away. “W-well I am, thicker than before-.” “Sal, it’s called having kids. Even I know most women have some ‘thicc’ added afterward. You’re still gorgeous as ever, plus you still work out, and keep in shape.” He raised an eyebrow. “You’re the last person I’d consider fat hun. Why did someone accuse you of such?”

“No, no this is entirely on me. I’ve just noticed it more, at how ‘thicc’ I am as you’ve put it. Plus without being able to work out due to my leg, it’s like...I just notice so easily when I’ve gained weight.” She rubbed her arms, feeling so vain about being worried over her figure or weight. “I just, wonder if I was off my jump that messed up my leg because of all this extra weight on me…”

“Ahh, I see…” Sonic still felt she was being silly, but he knew he shouldn’t dismiss her concerns either. Kicking his shoes off, he rounded the bed and climbed on from his side so he could sit next to her. Slipping his arm around her waist he leaned in and rested his cheek to hers. “Sally, sweetie, trust me you’re still fine as ever. That said, I could ask the Doc if there’s some exercises you can do without your legs, and we can ask the cook staff to give ya’ mostly light meals until you’re well enough to exercise properly again.”

“I think I would like that…” She murmured, leaning into him and enjoying the contact.

“As for your weight being why you got hurt… We’re both getting older, but Sal, babe, lookit me.” Once she did he leaned in, kissing her softly. “Just cuz’ your hips, boobs and thighs are a li’ thicker than before. Doesn’t mean you still aren’t looking after yourself, you keep in shape, and well… babe, last year you tore through a buncha armed idiots with just a sword, boots and fists. None of em’ laid a hand on you. You are not losing your touch.”

“I guess, I am being a bit silly…” Sally was still not entirely convinced, but it was nice to hear Sonic’s words. Sure he could charm and butter up anyone if he tried; but she knew him well enough when he was BS’ing. Now wasn’t the case. “Although I could argue you are biased.”

He merely grinned. “So I’m biased, I happen to enjoy being biased toward the woman I married.”

“Good to know, though truth be told.” Nuzzling his cheek, Sally peppered him with soft kisses. “I’m rather biased toward the wonderful man I married.”

After the two embraced again, Sonic leaned back and gently booped her nose. “Now if you’ll just relax and get some rest…”

“I get it, I get it, I know when I’m licked Sonic.”

His eyebrows waggle, “I haven’t done any of that… yet.” A laugh tore from her throat as she lightly smacked his arm. “Sonic!! Hahaha, oh you’re terrible!” “I dunno, you didn’t complain last time.” Arms reclining behind his head, the hedgehog clearly enjoyed his wife’s laughter at his admittedly naughty commentary.

“N-no, I didn’t…” Snerking, Sally shook her head, fighting another blush on her cheeks. “I’m sorry I’ve been difficult, I just… I feel compelled to see things through myself.”

“I get’cha Sal, still, relax, rest.” He insisted as he eased her against her pillows. “I’ll rest with ya’.”

“Going to keep an eye on me, huh warden?”

“If the shoe fits.” He shrugged, his infuriating smile remaining on his face. 

With a dramatic sigh, Sally reclined against the pillows, arms up as if she expected to be cuffed and hauled away. “I submit myself to the court.” “Just be sure to repeat that, as the kids are just as concerned as I am.” He stated playfully, going for one last dig. A bit low, but he wanted her to contemplate on that.

“Ouch… right, ughh.” She dragged a hand over her face. “I probably haven’t been setting a good example for them…” Knowing her children, they would milk that for all they could.

“Eh, I can’t be the only one giving em’ bad habits.” Sonic conceded with a mild shrug, before wrapping his hand over hers. “Now, how about we just lie here and chill here until supper is ready?”

Smiling softly, Sally squeezed his hand. “It’s a date, Sonic.”

[liron-ao3]

Brilliant

A Doctor Who–Destiel–Malec Oneshot

"This is brilliant!" the Doctor exclaims. She pushes some buttons on the console of the TARDIS. "Brilliant!"

"How is this 'brilliant'?" Alec asks. "We're trapped in a TV show."

"No, we are trapped in a TV series, Shadowhunter," Yaz hisses.

Castiel huffs in frustration. "It's probably just one of Gabriel's stupid jokes."

"Gabriel?" the Doctor asks. "Oh, the Archangel. Amy loved him, but not as much as she loved you, Cass."

"Where do you know his name from?" Dean demands to know.

The Doctor rolls her eyes. "I watched the show, Dean. Crappy ending, sorry."

"You... what!?" Dean asks.

"Nevermind. That's more brain-wracking than the usual time travel paradoxes. But I'm thrilled to meet you all. Umm—what are you doing, Magnus?" She raises an eyebrow at the warlock who lets his magic run over the console.

"This is worse than the technology in the Institute," he mutters.

Alec pulls him away cautiously. "Maybe you shouldn't mess with it then, love?" he suggests, smiling strained, holding tight on his husband's hand.

"Aww, you're the reboot version. I was so happy when Netflix saw sense. And your boys are the cutest," the Doctor chirps.

"Boys?" Magnus asks.

"Doctor, they might be from episode one of season four. Look at their clothes," Yaz whispers, but it's loud enough for Dean to hear it.

"There are only three seasons of Shadowhunters," he states. "It ends when they marry and Clary loses her memories, but gets them back in the last few seconds. It wasn't the best ending, but at least the gays were happy." Dean's grin reaches from ear to ear before it falters at Castiel's stern look.

"Dean, did you watch 3b without me?"

Dean shrugs. "If you wouldn't always run out on me or die then we coulda watched it. It was on my playlist for aeons. And I needed something to distract me from… You know." He waves his hand up and down the angel.

"Jesus! That's like that time when Sam and I were in this weird Hollywood dimension, with that Russian guy that looked like Cass!"

"Wait!" Magnus says. "I watched Doctor Who for six decades and Supernatural for fifteen years—I agree, Doctor, the 'finale' was crap. But if you all know us from a show called Shadowhunters, then we must be in some kind of dimension that morphs everything into a TV series that everyone else has watched."

The Doctor claps her hands together. "The French mistake—one of my favourites!"

"No, Russian." Dean shakes his head and rolls his eyes. He always loved the Doctor and was excited for a woman to take over the role, but he thinks he might have been able to live without her enthusiasm about their little get together. They have a world to save, after all.

"Chuck has a strange sense of humour, but that doesn't sound like one of his interventions," Alec states. "Why would he put us all in the TARDIS?"

"What do we all have in common?" Dean asks.

"We're kinda humans," Alec says.

"Time Lady."

"Angel."

"Warlock. And you're not fully human either, Alexander."

The shadowhunter chews his lips.

"But you three have some kind of mojo," Dean supplies.

The Doctor furrows her brow. "You're right. Cass has grace, Magnus magic, and timelord technology is so highly evolved, it could be seen as magical. If there is a—" she trails off and points her sonic screwdriver first at the warlock then at the angel. Then she listens to her ship. "You're right," she says and putters about the console.

"Care to fill us in?" Alec asks.

The Doctor pushes a button and a high-pitched sound makes them all cover their ears. "Gotcha!"

"What?" Castiel asks.

"I know what we have in common. We all have a fam. You've got the SPN family, and you," she turns to Alec and Magnus, "your fans call themselves shadowfam. And I?" She smiles brightly. "I have Yaz, Graham, and Ryan."

"You agreed on team TARDIS, Doctor," Magnus reminds her.

"Still, feels like fam to me." She shrugs. "So…" She quirks her lips in thought. "Some blood magic, maybe?"

"But family doesn't end in blood," Dean argues.

"Right, Bobby taught you that. Wish the showrunners remembered that in season 15," Alec murmurs. Dean gives him a strange side look.

"Is something wrong, Dean?"

"Nah, Cass," he says and pulls his gaze from the intertwined hands of the Lightwood-Banes. "So, maybe some rune thingy?"

Alec pulls a face. "Could turn Yaz and you into forsakens. Maybe even the Doctor. Better not."

"Can't you just put the coordinates in and throw us out in the bunker. Or in front of it? No idea if the warding would keep the TARDIS out or not." Dean frowns.

"Wouldn't work," Magnus says. "If this dimension, or whatever it is, thinks that we are all fictional, then the coordinates can't bring us into our worlds. We might end up in your dimension. I like our vampires better."

"Awesome!" Dean groans.

Magnus curls his fingers around his chin in deep thought. "I could summon a dimension demon, but they usually demand things one would rather die than do."

"Like what?" Castiel asks.

"The last time I had to pay one, he wanted me to drink seelie wine."

"Doesn't sound too bad," Dean says.

"You've never had seelie wine. That stuff is worse than the touch of a Djinn." Dean whistles in acknowledgement.

"Could still be worth it. I mean we need to get back to our friends, and yours are surely waiting, too," Yaz supplies.

"The TARDIS is stuck in this dimension, Doc?" Alec asks.

"Yes. Positive."

"Then we should begin," Magnus says, conjuring chalks. "We all will be home soon."

***

They stand in a circle around the pentagram drawn on the floor of the TARDIS.

"We must initiate a bond. Once this bond is sealed,..." Magnus starts.

"...it cannot be broken until the demon retreats," Castiel ends his sentence and smiles softly at Alec, who blushes fiercely.

"Well, this time, I won't be the one who'll break it in a gay panic," he huffs. Yaz snickers.

Dean furrows his brow, ignoring Castiel eyeing him. He recites the summoning spell together with Magnus and the Doctor. Green flames rise in their midst. They aren't hot, but their sight hurts the eyes. A deep growl speaks to them, and Castiel turns pale.

"I haven't heard this demonic dialect in a while," he calls over the noises. "Did he say what I think he said?"

Magnus worries his lip between his teeth. "I think he did."

"I can't."

"What, Cass. What does he ask for? Give it to him. It can't be that bad," Dean shouts.

"It isn't. At least not for me." Castiel looks at the Doctor. "Any Supernatural sequels you've seen by any chance?"

"No, sorry. I got stuck at the Destiel YouTube vids. Didn't get around to checking future releases. But you two always reminded me of Rose and me, you know?" She looks sad at the memory of her lost love.

"No. A human doppelgänger won't do," Castiel says firmly. He says something in the demon's tongue and gets a rumble in reply.

Magnus nods at him. "My magic can hold the circle. But hurry."

The others stare at them. "Why doesn't the TARDIS translate his words?" Yaz asks.

"This demon is too old," the Doctor says. "Even older than evil itself. No one speaks this language anymore but angels and demon-blooded ones, as it seems."

"Lucky me, huh?" Castiel presses out. He lets go of Magnus' hand and turns to Dean. The warlock holds the gap with his magic. "I know how you see yourself, Dean…"

"We don't have time for the whole death speech. Fast forward," Magnus hisses, clearly struggling to hold the bond.

Castiel frowns at him but nods. He turns his face back to Dean. "I'm sorry. I know you never wanted that to happen. It's simply what the demon demands. It doesn't have to mean anything, okay?"

"What are you talking about, man?"

Castiel smiles at him. "I love you." And then he leans in and kisses him. It's chaste but after a moment of shock, Dean returns the kiss, and his hand cards through Castiel's hair. Thunder booms around them and dense fog separates the different duos. The demon disappears with a screeching noise and when the fog thins out, the places where the two couples were standing are empty.

"It worked!" the Doctor rejoices. Yaz grins at her. "Let's get to the boys."

"No, Mulder, this isn't a UFO. It's surely just a high-quality film set," a redhead in pantsuit and coat says as she strolls into the room.

"Scully!" the Doctor cheers. "Brilliant!"

[neonun-au]

storm of the century

the beginning of something that will never be finished. 

The rain fell in sheets the day the storm began. 

Relentless in its descent from the sky; pounding against the roof, against the windows, against the doors. An unwelcome guest that didn’t know when to turn away.

An hour into the storm the power cuts off and you have to dig in the pitch black  through your cupboards for the small flashlight your father had made you buy “in case of emergencies.” Taeil had left home earlier in the day to run some errands and you sat alone with nothing but the thin beam of yellow light from the torch and the sound of rain pelting down on your house. You gather yourself and a well-loved blanket and sit down on the couch, facing the window, and watch as the storm continues. 

It’s torrential. 

The water collects on the pavement outside in a flood of rain. You watch as your neighbours garbage bin gets swept down the street along the rapidly forming river. Time drags on, in darkness and the cloying silence of your home as you wait for Taeil to make an appearance. Or to call. Or to text. But you receive nothing and the rain continues to fall. 

The lightning and thunder build in a slow crescendo over the city. Each brilliant flash of white in the sky overhead sends daggers of anxiety through your thoughts; each deafening clap of thunder sends your heart racing like a scared rabbit inside your chest. 

You had never liked storms--not really. 

People tried to convince you they were relaxing--the soft pitter patter of raindrops against glass windows a friend in the darkness, heralding clearer skies to follow--but you never believed them. You would nod and smile, placating them with apparent agreement so the subject would be dropped for one more favourable, but inside a storm of your own raged on. A storm of anxiety at the thought of the encroaching sonic booms from the clouds, from the knives of light racing through the sky--blinding brilliant white for the space of a single heartbeat only to disappear once more into the dull, grey skies. 

They couldn’t hurt you. You knew that much, at least. As long as you stayed in the safety of your home, hiding from the chaos outside, no harm would befall you. Logically, you knew that. But the logic of that thought never translated into truth inside of your heart--inside of your gut. Your insides twisted and writhed at the thought of the thunder encroaching on your peace; they raged a storm of their own inside of you and banished all logical thought from your mind until the rain eased. Until the sky broke clear once more and you could breathe easy again. 

Taeil didn’t know you were afraid of storms, so you couldn’t exactly blame him for not being there for you during this one. You kept your fear locked away like a small shame in the corner of your heart--some lingering irrational phobia from childhood, from a past life, from some ancestral experience. It vibrated up through the strings of space and time and pulled the fear taut inside of you. Always near a snapping point. 

No, he couldn’t know. And yet in this moment, stranded alone in your home gnawing at the delicate skin of your lips, you felt a small bitterness towards your husband creep up inside of you. Why didn’t he know? 

Truly you don’t know where the fear comes from--only that it persists inside of you like a deep knowing. Something about storms felt wrong to you. With each blinding flash of the lightning you were sure the world was going to shift. The thunder would be loud enough to shake the Earth to its foundations and alter everything. 

You sit with this state of paralysis, held captive on your couch by the storm, for three hours before the worry really starts to set in. No longer the worry for yourself--a small rabbit held captive on your living room couch, afraid to move for fear of being eaten. No, now the worry was for Taeil. 

Where was he?

© 2021, neonun-au, all rights reserved

[indianamoonshine]

chapter ii | sundaes and princes

summary: every summer you work on your father’s strawberry farm with your three sisters. it’s a way to take a break from the big city but summers in the midwest are hot and they linger. this year, your father’s old and mysterious friend shows up to stay on your land for a reason yet to be determined. din djarin seems dangerous, but kind enough, and the two of you quickly become…well, let’s fact it…smitten. rating: m (18+) for future and explicit sexual content. author's note: reader is well over eighteen for obvious reasons. i won’t ever go into physical detail about the reader’s appearance because we include everyone. this fic is pretty much a mix between pride & prejudice and call me by your name except without the und*rage crap we do not condone. warnings: drinking, a bit of blood mentioned because of a slight accident.

dinner was loud, as expected, which made it difficult for you to hear the guest sitting beside you.

you'd been zoning out ever since din's eyes met yours from across the table. he'd been kind enough to listen to a woman named dima who was known to be a bit of chatterbox. she meant well, but most of the time she spoke it was about her family or her dog which had a tendency to put anyone sucked into her trap into "rest mode". nevertheless, din listened carefully and nodded when nods were appropriate and smiled when smiles were pertinent. the man was pleasantly charming, grin faint but with affable disposition. it wasn't any wonder when those around him continued to ask questions about himself, to which he answered with vague reserve.

while dinner was entertaining enough, it lagged on more than you'd anticipated. the roast was tender and well seasoned, simmering with heat, and the company praised your culinary skills with hearty acclamation. afterwards, the guests separated into their respectable groups, jubilant conversations echoing about the yard. your sisters were busy amongst their own crowds with faces familiar since childhood, letting out a chorus of laughter whenever someone said something amusing. they were your confidants as well, but you were so distracted by the mess left behind that you couldn't help but start tidying it up.

it wasn't long until madeline set her hand atop your own while you reach for a dirtied plate. she gave you that look she bore when she felt you were doing too much, eyes heavy with exasperation at the idea you'd even considered cleaning at a time like this. you pause and smile feebly at her, a little guilty.

"we can do that later." she takes the plate from your grasp, setting it back down a little more forcibly than you'd like. "enjoy the party. grab a sundae at the bar - it was your idea to set it up."

you glance at the setup near the house. an ice cream station with dozens of toppings and syrups beckoned you temptingly.

you sigh and pat her hand. "alright," you murmur in defeat. "do you want one?"

"sure, i'll take one." she links her arm within yours and places a kiss on your cheek.

the two of you go a little crazy with the ice cream. you've piled it high with chocolate and vanilla scoops, decorating it with colorful sprinkles, and dousing it in raspberry syrup. madeline decides on plain vanilla with chocolate curls.

"you know..." she begins, voice a bit too playful in its caution. "i saw him looking at you."

you freeze, like the ice cream, but shake your head. so you hadn't imagined it. "i don't know what you're talking about."

"is it such a strange idea that a man might be interested in you?" she proposes, placing a long-handled spoon in both of your glasses.

"yes," you reply with a small, bolshie laugh.

she says your name in pest. "you're beautiful and sweet. charlie once called you enchanting.

charlie was a childhood friend - like most of them. he was also bestowed the nickname "charming charlie" and it wasn't just because he was blond, handsome, and had the reputation of a casanova. charlie complimented everybody - especially women.

you remind her of this with a scoff as the two of you sit on a log beside the river. the water laps gently against the banks, rippling slightly from the hop of a bullfrog in the distance.

"charlie may be charming but he doesn't lie." madeline takes a spoonful of her ice cream and then rolls her eyes in ecstasy at the sweetness. "this was the best decision i've made tonight."

"don't think i haven't noticed tommy giving you bedroom eyes throughout the entirety of dinner," you clap back. you also moan in rapture at the taste.

madeline blushes in the moonlight. "don't change the subject."

tommy was your favorite of madeline's many endeavors (she had a bit of reputation in town). the tall, brunette was a hockey player with freckles splattered along the bridge of his nose. you'd been interested in him first, but as soon as you saw how quickly the two of them hit it off, your attraction to him fizzled. he was a hockey player which was admittingly one of the reasons why you found him so appealing. madeline felt the same way. the two of them have been inseparable ever since his first college game.

a millisecond before a quip can escape your lips, rhea comes bounding down the beaten path, long legs skipping with ease and hair swaying behind her.

"come join us, you hermits!" she titters blissfully, obviously tipsy on wine. that's what you deduce anyway; she preferred red rather than hard liquor. you couldn't relate. "come drink with me!"

both you and madeline exchange a look but it's in good-humor.

"i see you've already started!" madeline yells across the distance.

rhea blows a playful raspberry. "it's no fun being drunk without you guys." she gesticulates with a wag of her finger. "come ooooon! they're playing elton!"

this peaks your interest. she knew the king of rock n' pop would convince you to dance badly which is exactly what the alcohol was for.

madeline pursues her lips and cocks an eyebrow at you. "i think that's a great idea," she says suspiciously.

you didn't trust her tone, but when you heard the beginning rift of saturday night's alright (for fighting) blast loudly from the distant speakers you were possessed.

"alright," you laugh as rhea grips your hand and drags you backwards.

the three of you giggle in the night. |||

you didn't drink very often, but you did it enough to know not to wear a sundress while doing so.

in your defense, you hadn't known you'd be drinking tonight - or this heavily, anyway. you wanted to be sober enough to be aware of any stupid ideas that may creep in your head in the event you oogled over din long enough. drunk you was not sober you.

drunk you was a flirt. but not just any kind of flirt - a tease. and no matter how much you may or may not have caught din djarin's attention, he didn't deserve to have debauched eyes - clouded with drink - making him feel any sense of discomfort.

but dammit, he'd been drinking too.

how much, you couldn't be sure, but he had nursed at least two glasses of whiskey at the bonfire. he sipped slowly, relishing in it, and wise enough to know it was dangerous to scarf it down. you tried to convince yourself that it was okay to be this irresponsible while throwing back your third shot of vodka. after all, you were in your twenties and could hold your alcohol better than your sisters. life was too short, youth was too fleeting...all of that bullshit your elders had lied about.

sir elton john certainly didn't help nor did freddie mercury. by the time don't stop me now began to play, you were spinning in circles with charlotte, head thrown back in whimsical laughter, and stumbling upon the ground. the two of you laid back - despite the dirt - and held your bellies in order to settle the maniacal chuckling.

your sundress might've been too short for such ruckus but you couldn't find yourself caring. no one was looking anyway, right? a breeze lifted the hem and you shrieked playfully. charlotte is startled by the sudden gasp. she lets out a throaty chortle.

"you're such a sloppy drunk," she accuses, but slurring all the same.

"am not," you protest in a faux whine, but giggles edge the corner of your voice.

the two of you continue to volley insults back and forth, all in good fun of course, before charlie and tommy hover above you with quizzled, but humored brows. they were handsome, but unfortunately not enough to distract you from the way din kept throwing swift glimpses at your pathetic display. his intense features loosened when he found you joking, albeit drunkenly, with friends.

madeline joins the group and leans her head on tommy's chest, apparently brave enough to admit something to herself. "let's play hide and seek," she suggests, words a little rushed and lazy.

tommy and charlie were both as intoxicated, but tries harder than you girls to pretend otherwise. they shrug at one another, interested in the idea, though tommy may have been catering to madeline's pleads.

"alright, bet." tommy presses a kiss to madeline's forehead. "i'll be seeker."

"rules?" you ask, attempting to get up from the ground and failing miserably. charlotte takes your hand, clumsily pulling you to your feet. you knock yourself against her. the two of you almost topple to the ground again but she steadies herself with you in her arms.

"the pond is as far as you can go," charlie interjects. he motions to the willow tree in the center of the back yard. "that's the counting place."

the five of you agree enthusiastically, separating from one another like a football team does before their play.

it might have been strange (even reckless) to someone in the east - or west - to take part in such a game in the dead of night. after all, the moon was your only source of light in the woods, its beams illuminating the thicket and branches with a faint glow. but in the midwest, such games were a right of passage. forests were to be memorized, danger to be reckoned with. hide and seek in these conditions were elementary.

by the time tommy starts counting in a sonic boom, you've already begun sprinting in the woods. you were somewhat aimless in your pursuit, eyes frantically searching for a hiding spot worthy enough to be considered. you were the master at hide and seek - always have been. it once took charlotte an hour to find you and, when she did, she caught you wedged between a rack of clothes in the basement closet. you had a reputation to uphold.

but, alas, vodka was stronger than your sense of pride. while running through the entanglement of abundant undergrowth, you lost your footing and tripped over - what you can only guess - a shrub riddled with thorns.

"jesus christ!" you scream, immediately grabbing hold of your foot to inspect the damage. it was enough to sober you up to squint through the darkness. why the fuck hadn't you worn shoes?

you can't see the thorn - the night is too thick with darkness. you curse again just as loud as the first time in attempt to gain someone's attention. you weren't terribly far from the house, so you prayed to the gods that your cries of help would be heard.

because, much to your chagrin, you couldn't walk.

you did try but it proved fruitless because of the thorn. you realized how stupid that was because it pushed in further. god damn this drunkenness you whined internally.

a rustling of leaves startles you. you decide this was the end - you'd die in the middle of the forest you once trusted with your life. you've accepted the gory fact that your father would find your body mangled by the paws of a coyote in the morning.

"i don't wanna die a virgin," you moan tearfully.

a heavy voice full of worriment slices through the darkness. "let me see," he says.

oh no. oh no. oh no, no, no.

din djarin leans down upon his knees, taking your foot in a gentle fashion, before squinting at the damage. his fingers prod carefully against the arch, wiggling something foreign from the meat of your skin. you squeak pathetically at the intrusion, shifting away from his makeshift surgery. finally, he pulls out the thorn and holds it up to the light of the moon.

"a rose thorn," he confirms. you watch as a hint of blood glistens against the lunar rays. he smiles tenderly and then presses the pad of his thumb to the wound. "you'll be alright."

you gulp, all drunkenness suddenly scrambling your thoughts like eggs. instead of thanking him like a normal human being you can only mumble, "i can't walk."

din allows a full bodied smile and your heart skips a beat. he is princely and it takes everything in your pie-eyed body to stop from saying it.

"grab a hold of my shoulders," he instructs, leaning down a bit more so you can reach. you do so, very hesitantly, because there's no way in hades he'll be able to carry you.

but din is full of surprises. he lifts you almost effortlessly as you're slung bridal style against his chest. you must be joking.

with your arms wrapped around his neck, you gaze softly into his eyes. it's hard to see them, but you're close enough to watch as his pupils dilate, mouths almost pressing against one another. gods, you want to kiss him. you really do, but the very little percentage of your brain sober enough to reason with you decides against it. you'd regret it in the morning.

"thank you," is what you meekly say.

his stare is a bit more serious now...but not in an icy way. no. he looked...just as charlie once said...enchanted. his lips part just slightly, considering his next move, but then falls short. he nods in chaste before turning towards the break of the woods.

this was bad.

||| this is just the beginning of the night, ya’ll. more fun to follow! :-) tag list: @dancingwiththeplanets​ | @t3a-bag​  |  @dodgerandevans​

[spxderman-s]

i wish we had more time

summary: you are one of the select few who knows about spider-man. living across the hall from peter parker for years helped accomplished that. when the alien overlord thanos begins his invasion of earth, you know peter’s responsibility--but your heart says otherwise. 

pairings: peter parker x reader 

word count: 1645

a/n: this is set in the beginning of infinity war, and loosely inspired by the conversation between pepper & tony. the phrase “i wish we had more time” kept playing over and over in my head so i had to write something

The day began like any other day. The sun rose over the city, slowly and silently. People went about their lives as usual. Cars honked, birds chirped, planes flew overhead. Everything was...normal. 

Normal. What a strange word. 

You rolled over in your bed, the sliver of sunlight filtering through your curtains waking you. Rubbing your eyes groggily, you glanced over at your bedside clock and groaned. The bus down the street would be here soon. 

You could hear your brother in the kitchen making coffee, the smell permeating the small apartment. Slipping on an old school sweatshirt and tugging on a pair of jeans, you headed into the bathroom to wash your face and brush your teeth. 

“Pancakes?” your brother asked you as you entered the kitchen and sat at the table. 

You nodded, stuffing your books into your backpack. “Gotta take them to-go, though. I’m late.” 

The kitchen was small and cramped. There were stacks of books everywhere--courtesy of your brother being an author. Pictures of your life were all over the walls; losing your first tooth, winning the elementary school science fair. It wasn’t messy--just lived-in. The apartment was a safe space for you and your brother, ever since you lost your parents a few years back after the first alien invasion of the city. 

“I’ll see you later,” you said, grabbing a couple pancakes and stuffing them in your mouth. “Love you!” 

Your brother laughed at you trying to speak around the pancakes. “Have a good day, kid. I love you too.” 

You smiled and left the apartment, cramming the last of the pancake into your mouth as you locked the door. You shifted your backpack onto your shoulders and turned around to leave--running right into Peter. 

“Whoa--hey, are those pancakes?” he asked, pointing to your mouth. 

You clapped at hand over your mouth and tried not to laugh, swallowing your breakfast. “Yeah, sorry.” 

The two of you started walking to the bus stop together, laughing and talking about how you couldn’t wait to graduate and the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Every time Peter laughed, you felt a twinge in your chest. 

This wasn’t the first time you had felt it, either. There had been many occasions where both of you had danced around your feelings for each other. Unfortunately, both of you were cowards and refused to admit anything. 

You glanced at him sideways, his eyes lighting up as he spoke, the sunlight bouncing off his brown curls and beautiful smile. Time always seemed to slow down whenever you looked at him. 

“What are you looking at?” His voice startled you, bringing you back to earth.

“Nothing--I was just listening.” 

Peter didn’t buy it, playfully shoving you. “Alright, what did I just say?” 

“That you’re not impressed with this latest season of Game of Thrones?” 

“Nope,” he laughed. “I said that about two blocks back.” 

“Sorry,” you replied sheepishly. “Today just feels--weird.” 

“You’re weird.” 

You both sat down on the bench at the bus stop, your hand resting on the edge of the seat, inches from his. His fingers were close enough to yours that you could feel the warmth radiating from them--all you needed to do was reach out and touch. You looked down at them, as if staring would make them intertwine. 

“[Y/N], can I ask you something?” he suddenly spoke, moving his hand away and standing up. 

“Yeah, of course,” you replied, brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s up?” 

“I--uh...how do I put this…,” he scratched his head and started pacing in front of you. “We’ve been good friends for a while now, right?” 

“Yeah,” you answered slowly. “So what?” 

“We spend a lot of time together,” he went on, his cheeks beginning to blush. “And--I...uh, well--” 

“Peter, please,” you interrupted him, “just say whatever’s on your mind.” 

He stopped in his tracks and stared at you. He’s never stared at you like this before. His brown eyes seemed to look within you, burning bright with ferocity. 

“Peter?” 

“I like you, okay?” he suddenly blurted, and immediately covered his mouth. 

Stunned, your jaw went slack--closed--and opened again, but nothing came out. 

“I always like hanging out with you, no matter what we do,” he rushed out. “And--I always thought you were really pretty, and I always wondered why you wanted to hang out with me.” 

This was really happening, here and now. The little voice in your head screamed at you to say something, but all you could do was stare at him, standing there, looking so...perfect. 

“Will you stop staring at me and say something?” 

“I like staring at you, idiot,” you snapped. “I’ve always liked looking at you. I like you too, alright? There. I said it.” 

Now it was his turn to look surprised. “W-what?” 

“Here we are, finally admitting our feelings about each other, and all you can say is ‘w-w-what’?” you rolled your eyes and crossed your arms over your chest. “I’m not stupid, and neither are you. We both knew, but we were too afraid to say anything.” 

Peter returned to his spot next to you on the bench and stared forward. “Well...here we are.” 

“Here we are,” you muttered. 

“So...you’ve had feelings for me?” he asked, his voice soft. 

“Don’t act like you didn’t know,” you scoffed, looking at him. “It’s not like either of us is any good at being discreet.” 

He chuckled, and your stomach flipped. “Well, then the only solution is with an actual question.” 

“What’s that?” 

“Do you--do you want to start...dating? Like officially?” 

You couldn’t hide the smile that blossomed over your face, paired with furiously blushing cheeks. “I would like that very much.” 

Before he could say anything else, you mustered what little courage you had and slipped your hand into his. His fingers tightened around yours immediately, and the world felt right. Every piece seemed to fall into place at that exact moment--the two of you holding hands for the first time at the bus stop. 

Suddenly, he sat up straight. 

“Peter?” you asked, leaning forward. “What’s wrong?” 

“Something’s coming,” he said, your fingers slipping from his as he stood up. “Something big.” 

His phone started ringing. As he answered it, you heard a thunderous sonic boom that shook the buildings around you. 

You shot to your feet and looked up to the sky--the pit of your stomach filling with dread. 

A giant alien spaceship had entered the atmosphere--bigger than the one six years ago. Way bigger. It looked like a giant circle, its colossal engines creating a mini vortex right in the middle of New York City. The wind flurried leaves and trash and anything not held down, like a tornado. 

“Peter?” you shouted over the roar of the wind, “what the hell is happening?” 

He grabbed you by the arm and hurried you into a nearby shop. “Just stay here, alright? Don’t leave until you hear back from me.” 

“Peter--wait,” you pleaded, grabbing his hand again. You wanted to just rewind and sit on the bench with him once more, feel his warmth, feel him stay. “Peter, please--I know you have to go save the world and everything but--” 

He pulled you into his arms and held you tightly. You could smell a hint of cologne mixed with his laundry detergent, and you bury your face in his shoulder. His skin was so warm...you wanted to just stay like this forever. 

“I have to do this,” he murmured into your hair. “Please, [Y/N], you have to understand.” 

“Why do I feel like you won’t come back this time?” your voice broke with emotion, and you tighten your grip around him. 

“I just told the girl I’ve liked for the last few years how I felt, only to find out that she feels the same way,” he chuckled. “I’ll be back. I promise.” 

You never imagined it would be so hard to pull away from someone, but somehow you managed it. He gave you that crooked smile you loved so much, gently brushed a finger over your lips, and...he was gone. 

You stared at him as his suit appeared over his body while he ran, straight towards the giant alien ship that was ten times bigger than the one that killed your parents. With one thwip of his webs, he swung out of your sight. 

The shop owners were friendly and offered to let you stay until enforcement controlled the situation. You obliged, sitting in the window, watching the ship with worried eyes. 

You didn’t know how much time had passed, until your phone rang with the cheery jingle you assigned to Peter. You answered it swiftly, your heart pounding in your ears. “Peter?” 

“H-hey, [Y/N]--there’s been a--a slight bump in the road.” You could hear static interfering with the call. 

“What happened? Are you coming back?” As you spoke, you saw the ship begin to rise into the sky--leaving the planet. For a moment, relief flooded through you. “It’s leaving!” 

“Yeah--*static*--about that--,” you heard him say. Icy dread shot through your veins. “I’m--*static*--I’m sorry, [Y/N].” 

“Peter,” you whimpered. “Please tell me you’re not on that ship.”

There was more and more interference, you could barely make out his words. 

“I wish we had more time,” he spoke, his voice breaking. “I’m sorry.” 

There was nothing but static as you watched the alien ship disappear into the atmosphere and out of sight. You could do nothing but stare out into the sky, inhaling the remnants of Peter’s scent still lingering on your clothes...and cry.

[thoughtsoftheantagonist]

A Song For You

A/N:I know its been a long while but im back. After losing my mother in march then my brother in December of last year it took alot out of me and i had to find a new way to live without them. Thank you all for sticking with me and i hope you enjoy. alot of other things to come as well. 

To catch up my A Song For You  Masterlist is right HERE

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Juan's Pov

There are many things he has learned in his life, most recently he has learned how to be a man, and how to love a woman like his wife. Strong and wild as a hurricane he remembers one of the best pieces of advice he had gotten the day of his wedding. As his best man Chibs had pulled him aside and gotten him to calm the fuck down, apparently he had been annoying the fuck out of the guys all day with his squirrely behavior and Chibs gave him a blunt and a beer. Once his nerves had released him he stood with his brother and was heading back to the set up area when Chibs stopped him. "Let me tell ya one thing to always remember when it comes to a woman like Joy." He nods and gives Chibs his full attention "Love her but keep her wild. She is a woman and we all want to protect our women but at the end of the day she is a force of nature that granted you the privilege of standing close enough to be in awe of her and live." 

When Chibs walked away he stared out across the reservation where he stood, Chibs was right, he wasn't worried about how any of this went. He was more worried about his wife coming to her senses and taking off in the other direction then he was standing but that was his old doubts about himself. But like Chibs said, Joy was a force of nature, and she chose him to pour her love, life and energy within. Why the fuck was he looking that gift horse in the mouth? He grins as he stares at his wife as she throws her leg over her Dyna in their driveway, she doesn't see him move to lean on his bike and looks back at him over the top of her ray bans. "You ok handsome?" He shakes off his nostalgia and walks over to stand at her side, his hands automatic coming up to braid one side of her mane of wild curls while she does the other. "I'm fine babe. Just a lot of thinking. Must be getting old."

He chuckles when his father in law slaps a hand down on his shoulder as he passes him, having spent the night in the guest room "Shut the fuck up you toddler." He puts the hair tie around the bottom of his wife's pig tail braid and kisses her temple as she snickers. Pinching her thigh in retaliation and jumping back as she swipes at him, climbing into his bike he shoots her a wide grin before putting his helmet and glasses on, peeling out of the driveway with her on his tail. Catch me if you can baby.

Joy POV

She heads up the stairs to the second floor with Bobby on her heel. Once again asking the age old club question…..what the fuck are you wearing kid. She speaks over her shoulder to the older man " I couldn't help it that my  good taste offends your eyes. But i refused to sacrifice that to the all black of the club colors." Apparently that had tickled bobby as they marched up the stairs to grab their hiding leader. Jax had called them all here and wasn't even down stairs. But she knew where he would be. She knocks on the door and peeks inside with a grin. " everyone is here brother." He nods and stands, she sees him pocket his small journal, walking by her he grabs the side of her head and places a kiss on the top of her head. " Hmmmmm apples. Not bad." She snorts and shoves him, then he gives her a loaded look as his blue eyes scan her face. "You ok? Sleep alright." She knew he meant the nightmares, she sighs with a nod "Yeah Juan had me smoke two blunts myself and I was knocked the fuck out." He chuckles and looks between her and Bobby "Let's get the day locked down. Gonna be a huge one. Bobby anything from Galeen?" She and Jax move to leave but Bobby's voice stops them " Meeting is at two. Something we gotta Handel first." She arches a brow "What's up?" He doesn't look at her, speaking only to Jax "Bringing Clay to the table." She feels her hand twitch at the look on Jax's face. "Excuse me?" Bobby continues "He is gonna admit what he did with the nomads. Too Joy and Tara, all of it and we vote." She is stunned, he went behind Jax's back. Knowing what it could mean he went to Clay anyway. She clenches her fists, hissing through her teeth "Bobby what are you doing?" He glances at her as he moves to go down the stairs "My job kid."

She and Jax share a loaded look, this wasn't fucking good. They practically trip over each other as they head down stairs. She doesn't get time to tell her father or Juan what is going on before they are seated, but the way her husband is gripping her thigh, and the way her dad is trying to get her to look at him and not Clay at the end of the table leads her to believe they have an idea something isn't right. She can't take her eyes off of him as he speaks "I was lying in a hospital bed, thinking about all the shit I lost. I wasn't ready to let it go. I reached out to Frankie Diamonds. He was the one that suggested the home invasions. We figured we could rattle some of the folks close to the club, make it look like the MC was gonna hurt Charming and that Jax couldn't protect his own. Frankie pulled in Gogo and Greg. I promised to split my percentages when I got the gavel back." She grind her teeth, her hand clenching hard into fists at her side she knew her nails were drawing blood as Bobby talked, his eyes on the table " And attacking Unser at your house took the focus from you?" Clay nods, she snarls, her now bloody palms slamming down onto the wood of the table, making everyone jump as she stands, her voice like a sonic boom off the black walls. "And what about me Clay? Diamonds shot me point blank in the fucking stomach. If that had been Rita, her and the life of her unborn baby would be on your fucking head that I would gladly rip off your fucking shoulders given the smallest chance! Juan get the fuck off me!" She struggles as her husband yanks her down onto his lap, his arms locking around hers to keep her from struggling to much as Clay speaks directly to her "I didn't know you were buddy buddy with Eli's old lady, when they picked up the East Dub crew, I thought that was a good way to put the attacks on to Pope. And now with Jax working with him, I figured I could use it to help sway the club my way. I never wanted anybody to get hurt." She knows the sound of her half manic cackle bouncing off the walls isn't helping the situation. But she just can't believe the horse shit coming out of his mouth, Juan grabs her bloody hands in one of his and slaps his hand over her mouth she freezes through as Tig speaks for the first time since Clay started speaking " But they did. You hurt a lot of people." Seeing the pain in Tigs eyes as he looks over at her she lets the fight drain from her body, feeling the change Juan lets go of her mouth and just holds her in his lap. His grip is tight but comforting as Clay replies.

"You know, I-I don't expect anyone to believe this, and I ain't saying it wasn't 'cause of my pride and my greed, 'cause it was, but the main reason I was trying to push out Jax was because I didn't think he was ready to lead. This cartel shit, the pressure with the Irish, I didn't think he could handle it. I was wrong. He's proving to be a better leader than I ever was. I'll be in the garage." She watches him walk out, her eyes narrowed as the door closes. Moving from her husband's lap she yanks a black bandanna from her bag by her feet. Wiping at the bloody crescent shaped marks on her hands she listens to Jax "We heard his story. Vote has to be unanimous. Does anyone else have anything they'd like to say? All in favor of Clay losing his patch?" The vote is a solid yes across the board. She looks up as Jax says his next words "As far as the mayhem goes let's hear pros and cons." She is shaking as her eyes scan the table, her eyes locking on Chibs as she speaks " He's a traitor. I ain't buying this humble, "for the good of the club" bullshit. He's done." She nods, tears welling up in her eyes and spilling over as she grabs her husband's hand on her thigh. "I want to see the life drain from his eyes Jax. I can't fucking sleep at night without doping myself up because of the shit he set in motion almost killed me. If I don't I wake up screaming for my dad and husband because I'm scared they are next. Hell my god damned husband wakes up in cold sweats and shakes me awake just to make sure I'm not dead. I want him dead so this butterfly affect he started can fucking die with him." She rests her head on Juan's shoulder, his lips pressed against her forehead as she tries to slow her breathing.

Jax stares at her for a moment and nods "All in favor of Clay Morrow meeting Mr. Mayhem." Six yea, she looks to Bobby and her whole body goes numb as he speaks "No." She stares at him for a moment as Jax's bangs the gavel, barely hearing Chibs as he goes to get Clay. She stands. Bobby turns to her, his mouth open to speak but her hand claps against his cheek, some blood she had missed on her hand now on his reddened cheek.. She shoves him out of the way. Not realizing Jax was right behind her along with her husband, she almost runs into Clay as him and Chibs come back. She feels more then sees Jax move past her and fly into Clay, watching the two men grapple she feels her blood pump, standing back she doesn't move to help Chibs as he tries to yank Jax off Clay, the dull thud of Jax fist against the side of clays face gives her a sick kind of satisfaction. But it's cut short, she curls her lip as Chibs and Tig successfully yank Jax away from Clay. She walks over to Clay as the others are preoccupied with Jax, standing over the man she sees blood dripping from his temple and arches a brow "Looks like it hurts." Before he can speak the heel of her boot comes down and the sound of his nose breaking makes her smirk before she is yanked up off her feet by her father. " Enough Mija." She nods, she got her lick in, and the way the bastard was clutching his face made her anger levels drop somewhat. She feels Jax's hand on her arm, she lets him yank her away from the others and back into the clubhouse, looking back she gives her husband a look as he tries to follow. Jax needed her, only her it seems. He releases her as he shoves the doors to church back open, he all but collapses into his chair, she watches him with narrowed eyes as she closes the double doors behind her gently. The sound of her docs on the floor almost painfully loud as she makes her way to her seat.

Sitting she stares at Jax as he twirls a gold lighter between his fingers. She doesn't speak, and neither does he for the longest, but as she feels the silence about to swallow her and him whole the door opens. But as the person enters she wishes they would have stayed out if she was honest. She feels her whole body tense as Jax's chest starts to rise and fall rapidly, his body tense as his voice sends an uncomfortable chill down her spine. "You made a deal with him behind my back." She almost jumps as Bobby tosses Clay's jacket onto the table, she watches him with a heated glare. He refuses to look her way, keeping his eyes on Jax "We couldn't prove shit. We both know that. And there's no way that you could let Clay sit at this table. Me either. The shit he's done. He needed to go away, and if I didn't make this deal, you would've killed him as soon as we were finished with Gaalan." She slams her hands down, making their gaze jump to her "Wrong Bobby. You seem to think you're the only one who is looking out for Jax. I would do it because I want to watch his insides bake on the concrete outside." Bobby sighs " But kid Do that once, next time just becomes a little easier, and before you know it, this thing that we have is pointless. I stopped jax from becoming the guy that you both wanted to kill. All your doing is being his god damned dog on a leash like Tig was for Clay." She almost leaps over the table to get at Bobby's throat, no one talked about Tig infront of her…..no one. But Jax's hand on her tattooed arm stops her. "You think this vote protects Clay?"  She moves her arm out from under Jax's hand. Bobby looks between her and Jax, and for the first time she really looks at him. He looks tired, worn down and her anger slowly drains from her body. "You want him dead. Seems like the only choice today. But I know you, Jax. The right thing settles in."  

She jerks as Jax's voice echos off the wall. Making her grind her teeth "And how is letting him walk the "right thing"?" Bobby holds Jax's gaze "I know you see it as betrayal." She feels her nose wrinkle and her eyes sting as he looks at her across the table "i know you both do. And I took that risk because I love you, both of you. And this club needs you two. We're broken." She clenches her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears, but Jax's next words rip a gut wrenching sob from her lips, " I've had a hard time feeling any love or brotherhood since Opie died." She slaps a hand over her mouth, her other hand resting on her stomach as she tries to keep it together. "You're just lost your way a bit, brother." She angrily swipes at her eyes, not caring if she looks a mess now, she sees Jax's eyes, bright and wet as he locks eyes with her and shakes his head "No, I found it, finally." She sniffs as he turns to Bobby "Opie was right. The gavel corrupts. You can't sit in this chair without being a savage." She feels like her world is crumbling as Bobby stares a Jax, tears in his eyes as he sighs "I know." She reaches across the table, her hand gripping Jax limp one as he sniffs. "You don't know shit." His grip slowly tightens on hers as he continues, the tears falling from his eyes make her heart break for him. "You counsel from fear. You want me moving in comfortable, cozy circles, and I can't do that." By the time he turns away from Bobby and releases her hand his grip was painfully tight on hers, turning the skin of her hand ashen gray from lack of blood flow. She turns her damp eyes to Bobby, staring at him hard for a moment she clears her throat, still flinching slightly at how raw her throat feels. "You should go."

She watches Bobby as he leaves, turning her eyes to Jax once the door clicks shut. His cheeks are wet and his eyes red. But he has no more tears now, she reaches into her bag, grabbing the pack of make up wipes she yanks one from the pack and scrubs at her face. Seeing Jax watching her with an odd look she glares and tosses it at his face, making him jerk a little and toss it off his chest where it fell. She couldn't help but chuckle, locking eyes with him again and she fell silent, her hand coming down to rest over his for a moment. "I'm with you brother." He nods, moving his hand out from under hers he pats it and turns to the door as it pushes open. Seeing her favorite Scott's men she gives him a weak grin, he nods to her and leans his hand on the chair in front of him. "Jackie boy. Sorry to bother you but August just called, and Pope wants a Meeting at Charming Heights." Jax turns to face Chibs. "When?" The Scott sighs "Now." He nods and turns to her "I need you to stay, chibs is going to come with me. I want you to get the guys ready for the deal later with Lin. He is closer to you than me so I want you at my side for this. Not Bobby." She nods, getting to her feet she leans down pressing a kiss to the top of his blonde head she pat Chibs on the arm as she passes. She needed to see her husband.

He wasn't far, she found him on the swing set. She leans against the gate as he stares off to the side, a blunt hanging from his lips, his hand grip the chains on either side of his head as he swings slightly, the sun gleaming off the multiple rings on his fingers, she glances at his eyes, seeing them already low lidded so she knew it wasn't his first one. He doesn't even notice when she takes the seat beside him, but when her fingers glide along his forearm to his hand he grips it tightly, letting them fall between them to swing. Turning to her he gives her a small grin. His dark brown eyes scan her from head to toe and she felt it like a warm caress. He brings her hand in his up to his lips, using his other hand he hands her the blunt while he kisses the back of her hand. " You've been crying." She nods, taking a deep pull she holds it, holding it back out to him he shakes his head, keeping her hand by his lips he presses kisses to her wrist and fingers. Making her smile. Her sweet husband, trying to heal her pain with good weed and kisses. What a man. She giggles and he smirks, his teeth biting down on her thumb playfully. Making her rip her hand back with false and over dramatic out rage, forgetting she was on a swing she shrieks as she falls back into the wood chip ground with a grunt, her calves resting where her ass used to be in the swing "Jesus Joy!" Her husband scrambles to get to her, kneeling on the ground next to her he lifts her head onto his lap. He calms when he realizes her body is shaking from laughter, he grins and picks wood chips from her hair as he tries to not wheeze as she starts to snort she was laughing so hard.

"I sometimes forget how much of a klutz you are until you do shit like this." Her giggles intensify as her free hand comes up to smack at his shoulder. The other one bringing the blunt she somehow managed to not drop to her lips with a smug grin. "Didn't drop the blunt though that's talent " his eyes locked with hers for a moment and he gave her a leering grin. "No what you do with your tongue that's talent." She stares at him gobsmacked before she is on him, forgetting about the blunt she drops it and starts smacking at her husband, cursing in rapid fire Spanish. And that's how her father found them when it was time to go. Never a dull moment for the Ortiz/Lowman bunch.

Henry Lin's Warehouse (Joys pov)

As her bike pulls to a hard stop in the Lin warehouse she grins, she remembered so many deals here. She also remembered unloading a good amount of the legal shit here as well. Everything she ever did before the club was to be ready for redwood. Every odd job, everybody she dropped had been to be here, standing full circle with Henry across from her this time. She accepts his hug and waves to the others behind me, receiving nods and grins in return. She steps to the side as Jax beings Romeo over "Henry Lin, Romeo Parada and his  associate, Luis Torres." She take her place against the far dock door, pulling a pack of cigs from her her back pocket she watches Henry work, letting out a whistle of appreciation at the hardware his men were uncovering not being able to stop herself for speaking along with Henry "Russian Kornet with articulating tripod. Thermal sight, 9M133 missiles." Everyone turns to her, she shrugged, her guys grin and turn back to the deal. She stares off to the side, her mind wandering, keeping her focus somewhat on what was going down, until she hears two words that made her want to throw shit. " Three months." She tilts her head back, tossing her cig out the open dock door. She didn't even have to look at Romeo to know that was not what he wanted to hear.

She sighs, her eyes watching Romeo's back from behind her shades as he speaks lowly to Torres for a moment before turning to Henry "Ten Kornets. Hundred missiles. Two dozen Brownings, two dozen KS-Vs with quick-release silencers." Henry nods, everyone turning to watch Torres as he speaks, a black duffle in his hand "Once you figured out the Hamas express, we'll want drops every two weeks. Mayans MC will handle the transport. 250 down payment. Just let us know the balance." Henry shakes bother their hands " Absolutely. Looking forward to doing business with you."  Romeo nods "You should. We're gonna make you rich."  She is about to get on her bike as Romeo and Torres head towards Jax, Bobby and herself but Jax's hand grabs the back of her cut, keeping her in place. Asshole. Romeo locks eyes with herself for a moment then Jax "Galindo's getting pushed on two fronts by Lobo Sonora. We just lost Tubutama; we can't wait three months for them Kornets. We're gonna need another shipment of RPGs from the Irish before we kill that tie." She sighs, her hands on her hips, she stares past the guys, plans forming in her mind, possible outcomes of how this could work. That Irish fuck head will not be happy to hear about Clay being out, and when he does he might not give them what they need. She is shaken from her thoughts when Romeo's voice shakes her "Is that a problem? " She is about to yell yes but Jax beats her "Shouldn't be. I'll ask Gaalan at the pickup." Romeo shakes his head, a hand coming down on Jax's shoulder, making her hand twitch for her glock "Don't ask him. Tell him."

As the two men walk out and away she drops her mask of indifference and curses, her head falling back as Jax combs his hands through his already slicked back hair, his eyes wide and moving around rabidly as he thinks almost as if he was seeing his own thought process before his eyes. Her husband comes to stand next to her, his hand going up the back of her shirt to rest on her lower back. His warmth was a slight comfort. Jax finally nods and turns to the rest of the group. "All of us need to head back to the shop. I want Chibs and Bobby to get this shit rolling. Joy, can you go check on Tara for me let her know what's going down." She nods, turning to her husband as the guys head for their bikes, wrapping her arms around her husband's narrow waist she sighs, her cheek resting on the warm leather of his vest. His chin rests on her head. "You ok baby girl?" She nods, leaning more into him as one of his hands brushes down the back of her head in soft swipes, over and over again. "I'm ok. Just thinking about it all. Once I get it all cleared in my head I'll give you a peek inside. Ok?" She feels his chin brush her head as he nods. His lips pressing to the top of her head before he releases her reluctantly. She gives him a half hearted wave and sighs as he and the other drive off, turning to Henry as she sees them heading out as well. She nods her head and moves towards her bike, time to check on Tara.

The Hospital

She is laid back in Taras office, her body draped across the beige couch as she scrolls through her phone waiting for Taras break. When the woman in question sees her she smiles. "Joy. I see your making yourself at home." She smirks at her phone screen. "I have the amazing power of not giving a fuck where I am. I'm always comfort." Tara chuckles and walks over, gently pushing the other woman's legs from the seat so she could sit next to her, joy shoves her phone into the inner pocket of her cut and grins at Tara "So Jax got the deal locked down with henry and the cartel." Tara nods but she see the slight pinch in joys face and sighs "I hear an invisible but in there." Leaning back into the couch she sighs, closing her eyes she blurts out everything, just ripping it off like a band-aid. "But the guns won't be here for a while so now Jax has to meet with the kings and get them to drop a load of guns out their tight freckled fists one more time. And with clay not here that means Galaan will bitch so this might not go well."

When she doesn't hear a groan or even a sigh she peeks one eye open seeing Tara looking at her blankly she opens them both. "Don't look at me like that. The past few days haven't been exactly conductive mentally for either of us so forgive me if i expected a violent reaction….ass." Tara snorts and looks off to the side. "Sorry to disappoint you with not having another mental break down. My body just doesn't have it in it right now." She snickers and nods, but stops when Tara gets a nervous look on her face. "I know that look. Talk. What's wrong." She is surprised when the normally stand offish woman grabs the hand closest to her and holds it tightly. Joy is more worried than ever, her other hand resting on top of the on gripping hers. "I have still been working on the papers for the other hospital. And through all this and talking to the club lawyer today something occurred to me. If something were to happen to me or….to jax."

The hitch in Taras voice makes her pat her hand, as much and no one ever wanted to think about their family or partner dying that sadly never helped. All it did was make you more lost when it happened. "If that happened i don't know who would have Able and Tommy and Joy that scares me. I have no other blood family and I won't let Gemma raise them i won't. And with blood Wendy could possibly take Able and I don't want that either Joy. " She nods. No Gemma might have the deepest love to give like any other mother but hers had long been tainted by something inherently Gemma….something wrong. And wendy would have to take Able from her cold dead arms. When Tara turns her face to joy she sees tears in the woman's eyes and she yanks her hands from taras, her fingers wiping at the woman's pale cheeks, not understanding how to help. Until Tara's next words make everything click into place. "So talking with the lawyer i have named you and Juan as the people who will be their guardians." She feels the hot tears as they glide down her cheeks. Her hands move from Taras face to her own as she swipes at her cheeks roughly. Looking over she sees Tara watching her closely and she realized Tara actually thought she wouldnt want them. She sniffles and shakes her head. "I already love them like they were mine without overstepping. I would open my house and heart to those boys and Juan would too Tara. They would need or want for nothing because both of us would do anything to keep them happy. So if this gives you peace, do it. I already know Juan would be overjoyed, shocked but overjoyed." The woman's smile is bright and right there She sees the woman Jax sees all the time. As stern and logical as Tara was she was warm and beautiful when happy. Leaning over joy kisses her cheek with a nod. "Yeah. I have not one objection to that. But just know. Me and Juan might never leave here hun. Your boys would grow up here. Are you ok with that honestly?"

Tara stands, turning she leans back against her desks and sighs. "I know that. And if i'm honest it was one of the reasons i hesitated, and if i'm honest the only reason. But then i remembered how you grew up. Knowing about this life, it was never hidden like a secret or something shameful. And despite what you say about yourself your not a monster. Your good to my boys and everyone in that club who deserves it. And you dont shield able from it you let him know this isn't for him right now and send him on his way like the morning after Otto. So no.....i wouldn't mind them growing up here with the right mother and father besides Jax and myself." She stares at her rings as she twirled them around her fingers. She didn't realize the others knew she struggled with her nature. Sure Juan and maybe her father but to know on some level it was plain as the nose on her face made her want to hide away. Like a piece of her armour had been knocked off in battle. She speaks to Tara, her eyes still on her rings. "I struggle everyday with what i do for this club and to survive. Im not exactly martha fucking stewert. I don't know shit about kitchen knives but i know what blade to use to flay a man…..but i swear i would always love those boys and do right by them. Not manipulate but always have my hand out for them to grip on for balance. And thank you….it means alot to me." Tara is about to continue when her burner goes off, pulling it from her cut she sees Jax's name. Opening it she speaks "Im coming." Into the phone before hanging up and standing. Walking over to Tara she presses another kiss to her cheek." I love you Tara." She doesn't give the woman time to answer as she leaves, she had to slam down the gates on her emotions. The day isn't over yet.

The Barn

She gets to the barn just as the truck pulls up, she almost falls off the bike as shs skids to a stop in front of Jax and the other. Her prez was obviously worried she wouldn't make it, He practically yanks her off the bike as he hugs her. "Cutting it close sis." She pats his side as she hooks her sunglasses in the collar of her shirt. "I know. Got caught up talking to Tara." They make their way inside, she winks at her husband as he passes behind her. Smirking when his hand pats his ass as he does. She moved to follow him but Jax grips the back of her cut, keeping her on his left with bobby on his right. She sighs. She should have just kept the god damn patch at this point. "Where's Clay?" She and Jax both turn a sharp eye to Bobby. Clay would fucking be here and useful for once of bobby hadnt done what he did this morning. Bobby tosses the duffle of money on the ground between themselves and Gaalan. "He turned in his patch.It's been coming for a while."

Gaalan arches a salt pepper brow, his eyes bouncing between her and Jax. "He's out of the club?" She sees Jax sigh before finally speaking, her hand coming to rest on his back out of sight from the group before them. But very visible to their club behind them. "Look, Gaalan. I know you blame me for Kellan's death. And you're right, events in Belfast spun out of control.I just want to say, I liked the priest. He loved my dad. He sacrificed himself for my son-- I know that." She nods. She was proud of how level jax sounded. She tilts her head, a teasing lilt to her voice as she speaks makes Gaalan zero in on her. "And after you and our dear prezs little game of grab ass and your rambo impersonation i was personally hoping it might ease some of this tension." The man chuckles, she sighs. Her hand falls from Jax's back and she speaks plainly to Gaalan.

"Look Gaalan dispite what you might think about me i fucking hate the cartel. Mexican or not they are fucking up our day to day we all hate them.Romeo wants this shipment, one more. We give him that and we're done. No more them and everyone in our shit. Just The MC and the IRA can go back to business as usual. Sound?"

She wasn't surprised at his look of surprise at the use of irish slang. Her mom might not have raised her but she did her own research about the other half of her heritage. And as much as she might dislike Gaalan as well, a part of her felt kindred to him, his and chibs heavy broug as different as they might be, made her want to watch the old videos of her mother when her father would pick at her about her strong accent. She is shaken from her melancholy as the older man nods "Aye. Tis sound lass. For a little halfling your not all bad are ye." She opens her mouth to curse him but the doors on either side of the bar open. Both glocks are aimed on either side of her before they fully open and she starts cursing internally as Jax speaks to Romeo, his hands gently pushing her arms down. She doesn't put her guns back though. "What is this?" Romeo sighs "Talked to Damon Pope. Heard all about Clay. Thought we should come by and make sure the deal was moving forward. “I told you I would handle it."  Jax’s tone was very obviously pissed but neither irish or catel cared as they glared at each other.

Luis eyes Gaalan with a curl of his lip "We know how stubborn the Irish can be." Gaalan turns to look at the other man with a wide wicked grib "And we all know how ignorant you muppets can be." Romeo practically growls as he points to the gun crates "Put the guns in the truck." Gaalans voice echoes off the wooden walls "Don't touch the bloody guns." She grunts as she elbows jax back behind her towards her father and husband. Knowing if shit got wild they would yank him behind cover. Her voice is practically a hiss as she speaks pointedly to luis and romeo “We all want the same thing here! You two pendejos aren't helping for shit. We had this under control until you put your size twelves in it pulling this macho man shit." Having not listened to shit she said Romeo instructs the man closest to Luis to grab a crate. She sees the gun in Gaalans hand just as he fires it. She doesn't think, turning to Jax she rams into his chest. Knocking them both back into her father and Juan. Her father yanks Jax down next to him. She presses tight into her husband's side as bullets fly over his head. She sees her father and Phil book it outside to safety. She sees a blur running towards bobby and jax and she roars "Bobby get down." The man hits the floor as she lays out one of Galindos men. All fire stops and she looks over to see Gaalan at gunpoint. She shoves her guns back into their holsters and watches with narrowed eyes as Romeo snatches up the duffle of money. Yelling for the man to put the crates in the truck, he grins at her and Jax who was radiating pissed off like a furnace. "This buy is on the MC. For killing my guys, and the inconvenience of our wait. We'll call it even." Jax yanks her back as she lunges for Romeo. He had no idea what he had set in motion, the kings won't let this slide.

As luis yells for Gaalan to get his pasty white out of there Gaalan passes her and Jax. Giving Jax a loaded look he stops "This is on you, boy." Jax just nods, as prez it was his mess. Didn't stop her from moving to shoulder herself between him and Gaalan. He wasn't an ally anymore. He turns his jade eyes to her, his gaze grows harder. It wasn't in her favor that she looked so much like the men currently holding him at gunpoint "Sons are gonna feel this on both continents Lass. Know that." She nods as he leaves, her body slightly shaking from the adrenaline drop as she and Jax turn, both of them coming face to face with a wary looking bobby. She cant help her angry at him, a part of her doesn't want to put it all on him. But if clay had been here. If the meeting had ended moments before the cartel showed. Maybe things would have been different. But they weren't. Like Jax she shoulders her way past bobby outside. The guys following behind closely. She and Jax glare down the men loading the truck for the next ten minutes, a cig hanging limp between her lips as she locks eyes with Romeo. Dead eyes. She inhales deeply for the last time and tosses it to the side. Turning as Jax marches back behind them to the group of men she turns to watch as he paces for a moment. Walking closer she leans against the precut logs chibs was sitting on as he too watches jax. When he sees everyone is close,he starts pushing out orders, his eyes bouncing between her and chibs. "Lock down the shop and alert families." She and chibs nod. He would take care of teller morrow, all she had to do was send a text to one person and the phone tree would set on fire. She had spent months making plans for anything. Deaths to club threats but this was the most ambitious, she made sure everyone involved in the club only had two people on speed dial. The person next on the list and her. Once each call was made she would get a text to confirm until the last person on the list confirmed the texts kept going. Opening her phone she sends a message to Lyla a simple phrase 'Start the fire.' She puts her phone away as jax turns to Tig his voice raising the more frustrated he gets "Get Tacoma down here." Tig walks off without a word and Jax steps closer to chibs and herself. "Gaalan is gonna try to hurt us." He was right. Gaalan didn't seem the kind of man to make idle threats. Jaxs puts his hand on chibs shoulder "I need you find Gemma, you have her call me. Ok everyone roll out and get packed. Be in by lock down or be locked out. She quickly heads for her bike her husband and father hot on her heels all of them stop as Jax calls Juice back. "Juicy, I need you for something. Sonshine go get his shit packed, we will all meet at the club house." She hesitates for a moment as her dad heads off with a nod. She lets her husband pull her tight to his chest as he kisses her forehead. "Go baby. You know what to pack. Get sonny ready and i'll be there before you have time to miss me." she snort, pressing a kiss to his shirt covered chest. "Too late." She pulls away from him and locks eyes with Jax. "Keep my husband safe." He grins "always darlin." She rolls her eyes and walks off as the man laughs. These guys wouldn't know safe of it gave them head.

Clays house (Juan pov)

He and Tig had decided to give Clay, Miles and Rat and escort back to the shop. Well Tig wanted to do it and Juan didn't want him alone. As they make it to the cabin Tig knocks, he hangs back his shade covered eyes watching their surroundings. The irish were sneaky bastards. Once the door is open he and Tig quickly file in and lock the door. Walking over to rat and miles he sighs "Fuck the rest of his shit. Galindo fucked up the Irish deal and no Son is safe anywhere. Get his clothes and ill pack his guns, i know what he uses. Get moving we don't have much time until lock down." He watched the guys split up and he looked around as Tig and Clay talked about what happened. Seeing Clay's gun bag he opens it up and freezes. He sees the reaper holster, the nine and he grins. He is shaken from his memories by Clay's voice "You always did like it." He nods, watching clays large hands pull the gun from the holster. Bright silver with the black reaper handle. Shit was as beautiful as he remembered.

He watches clay aim it towards the wall before putting it back in the holster. "Piney gave it to me for my five year. I always thought I would give it to opie." He nods, his throat closing up, he clears his throat to fight back the sight of opies face. Not now, stay focused. He sees the gun being held out to him. "Clay come on." He shoves it back but the man passes his hand and presses it to his chest. "I get I'm not like a dad to you no more kid. Things i did to joy and you destroyed any of that but least i can do is give someone something i cant use anymore. So take it. Hell give it to the kid. She might put it in a shadow box with the day i died on it." He smirks and shoves the gun and holster into his inner pocket. "Or kill you with it." The older man chuckles. "Looking forward to it." He snickers and grabs the gun bag, and heads for the van. Making sure everything is in he heads for the bike. Lock down was approaching fast and if he knew his wife he knew she would shoot anyone who tried to close it with him outside of it.

Teller Morrow Garage

She volunteered to watch the outside as her father, Chucky, Unser and her father got the grill hot, with the amount of people here best idea was to have a potluck and bbq. Old rap plays from her phone next to her, her head bobbing and lips moving as her eyes scan the still open gate and full parking lot keeps her hands on the table under her, both her glocks next to each hand. She hears the bikes before she sees them. She smirks as Tig and her husband pull up in front of the van holding Miles and Rat. As Tig and her husband pull their bikes into the line. She nods to the guys as they pass her and go into the club house. When her husband and tig walk up with clay not too far behind her smile drops. Her husband kisses her cheek with a chuckle, his lips brushing her skin as he whispers "Down cujo. Gaalan called him on the way here." She arches a brow over her husband's shoulder to clay as he passes them without a word. "Fine….but he breaths wrong im playing baseball with his kneecaps." She lets her laughing husband pull her inside as miles and rats come back out to take over her watch duty.  

Everyone had been here for about an hour now and despite the reason for being here it was fun and everyone laughs all around. She hugged a few of the Tacoma boys she recognized, Kozik being one of them. She had missed him when he went back but he seemed to be keeping on the straight line where drugs were involved and she was so proud of him. She was watching her father talk to Lyla with a grin, he was leaning back against the pool table as Lyla lined up a shot. When the ball hits the pocket she smirks at one of the Tacoma prospects who thought she had been an easy target, poor kid. She bumps fists with Nero before turning back to talk to Happy. She feels her husband come up behind her, his hands snaking around her waist to rest low on her stomach. She turns her head to the side, kissing the side of her husband's stubble covered cheek as he rests his chin on her shoulder. "Why are you grinning like that beautiful?" She giggles, taking her bottom lip between her teeth. She places her hand on the side of her husband's face, making his gaze line up with hers. She knows he sees them too when he hums. "Now that's different. But oddly enough would make sense." She smirks. "exactly. I doubt much will happen for now. With Opie and all which i agree with, grive fully and never rebound. But i see something….something good in that possible future." She closes her eyes as her husband presses kisses to her cheek. "Look at you. Little miss matchmaker." She snorts and turns in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck she gets on her tiptoes to press a kiss high on his cheek. Beaming up at him she says "Matched myself up with you didn't I?" He nods with a grin, his hands rubbing her ass before he surprises her and yanks her up by the thighs. She shouts as he heaves her body up his torso, her thighs clinch his sides as he carries her through the crowd of laughing sons, her protests and threats of body mutilation falling on deaf ears. When he plants her on the pool table she goes to swipe at him with her nails but he catches her wrist and holds it to his chest as he catches her lips.

All the fight leaves her body, her free hand gripping the side of his cut she yanks him closer. The world falls away as he surrounds her, his hand gripping her now limp wrist moves to the back of her neck. But their moment is short lived as one of the balls from the table hits her left thigh making her jump and look that way. Seeing a smirking Lyla with a chuckling nero and Happy over her shoulders. She nero's her eyes at her father. "Et tu, Brute?" Her father shrugs and grabs the pool cue from Lyla as Nero pats her shoulder "We're currently hiding the corner pocket Leona." She smirks at the nickname, Lioness. Well played Nero. She slides off the table Jax walks by them but she clenches her eyes as he freezes next to her, the venom in his voice makes it obvious who he is speaking too. "Why is he here." She pecks Juans lips one more time before turning to plant herself next to Jax. Clay looks even more broken than she remembers. Hunched over be tilts his head at Jax "Gaalan reached out to me. He wants the guns or the money or wendy is dead." She whips her head around to stare wide eyed at chibs, he makes a snatching motion and she sighs. She must have been at the hospital, she would grill him about it later. "Does Gaalan know wendy isn't Jax's wife?" Clay chuckles "Believe me kid i could hear wendy in the back shouting that and a lot of other stuff about Jax to prove as much. He says do it anyway or Able will be going back to Belfast." She snarls, jax holding his arm out in front of her to calm her. But her anger and frustration builds as Bobby chimes in "four hundred and seventy five thousand dollars. We pay back the Italians and Nero we ain't even close." She moves to stand behind chibs as Tig adds on "And there is no way we are getting the guns back from Romeo." She plants a hand on Chibs shoulder, his hand comes up to pat her. Chibs always knew how to center her, help her pull herself out of panic. Even without a word. Forever her mentor and guide.

She looks up as Nero clears his throat, pool cue in hand, his eyes bouncing around to lock eyes with them all before settling on Jax "I'm sorry. Couldn't help but overhear and I may have a solution." She locks eyes with Jax. She sees him tossing thoughts around and finally his eyes clear and he nods his head to the door before looking at Clay, she heads for the door as Jaxs tells Clay to get out. She sees her husband off to the side, headphones in his ears as he works on a few hard drives on the table before him. Leaning against the far wall she watches him from afar. He was deep in his tech mode and she refused to break that trance. She smiles as his lips move rapidly as he raps along to something she can't catch from how fast his lips move, but his grin is amazing. She feels someone at her side, the scent of clove and sandalwood makes her arch a brow. "Tiggy. Do you trust me?" Tigs arm lands around her shoulder as he leans on the wall next to her. A beer in his hand he takes a deep pull before replying. "Without question kid. Why?" She tilts her head to the side to look up at him. "I know none of us but Clay will be delivering that money when we get it." Tig nods, people doubted him so much but he was quicker than people gave him credit for. "Go with him. I don't trust him alone, let alone around Gaalan. So if he goes. Go with him. If not for the club or Jax. For my peace of mind?" Tig thinks on it for a moment before pressing a kiss to the side of her head and heading off into the crowd. She knew he would, she hated putting him so close to Clay so soon. But Tig was Clay's right hand for years. Clay wouldn't think twice of Tig going with him. She scrubs her face with her hand before pushing off the wall she sighs. So much to do and only so many hours.

Many hours later (Teller Morrow)

Wendy had been rescued and left twenty minutes ago in a huff, muttering to herself about fuck knows what. The last of the Sons from the lock down had hit the road and she was currently restocking the bar and her husband and father talked behind her. Something about new ink for Juan. Tara and Jax had yet to come down and that worried her. Turning to grab another bottle of turkey she sees Jax and the look on his face makes her pause. He speaks to Nero and Chibs for a moment before locking eyes with her. He shakes his head, she nods and gets back to stocking the bar as her father speaks to Jax. She feels someone at her side a moment late. She knows its jax from the scent of Marlboro and that damned hair gel he used that was a little too spicy for her nose. Once the shelf is stocked full she turns to him, he is leaned next to her and watching everyone. "You know I believed you earlier today." She arches a brow and chuckles "I said a lot of shit i meant earlier today. Refresh my memory brother."

She leans her upper body down on to the bartop. He stands next to her and copies her, their arms touching as he stares at the movement around them. "When you said you were with me. I know you are Joy. I don't doubt you on any front. I just…" She wants to look at him, but she knows it won't help. Bless these tough men they didn't understand how to communicate without showing fierce emotion. "I just don't know how to work this all out without Opie. I could say any idea or do any dumb thing and he would be there to help me realize why it was dumb in a way that would get through to my thick skull. And now that he is gone. Im worried about the gavel joy…." It took her a moment to understand what the last part meant. Then she remembers in church with Jax, Bobby and herself. The Gavel corrupts. Saying a mental fuck it to pretending this wasnt a serious conversation she turns to Jax, even as he refuses to do the same she speaks direct at him.

"The gavel will change you Jax. It's a hard and heavy weight that can crush a weaker man or woman. And you werent ready at all and didnt fucking want it. But  jax the way you're doing this. Getting it spread out among the other groups so everyone can get some food in their mouth. It's amazing Jax. Be proud of that." He nods, having enough of him not looking at her she moves around the bar to stand before him, grabbing his face between her hands to stop him from moving. Hazel meets blue as she makes sure he understands her "And trust that I will keep one of my last promises to Opie. Too keep you grounded, to be a solid wall to slam against when you cant fucking stop yourself. Always know that i have no issues stopping you." She gives him a grin "Even if i have to break a few bones. You'll live to redeem yourself in my eyes." he gives her a very weak grin and pulls her hands from his face. Grabbing the back of her head he pulls her in to kiss her forehead. "I'm sorry in advance for breaking your heart sonshine." She remembers what she said to Tig and Chibs. "But you all wouldn't be mine if you made it easy to love you." He nods, looking past her she turns to see Chibs with a phone in his hand. "Heres Tig Jackie." Jax grabs the phone from him and heads towards the doors to church. She sighs as Bobby goes to stop him, she leans back against the bar as Bobby calls to him when he refuses. "Jax we gotta talk this shit out." The way Jax halts his steps set her on edge. And the face that turns to greet bobby isn't Jax. It's their new president, a man she is only just beginning to learn was a whole other man all together. "I said no." He closes in on bobby and she shakes off chibs as he goes to stop her. She wasn't letting shit slide anymore, she was done running. As she closes in on them she hears Jax loud and clear "Im sure the right thing will settle in. But right now if i'm alone with you VP i'll tear your goddamn head off." Getting next to them she places a hand on Jax's arm holding the phone. Keeping her eyes on Bobby who is currently watching her with dark narrowed eyes "Go talk to Tiggy jax. I got this." She felt Jax's arm tense under her hand but didn't ask why. It wasn't the time. She makes sure the door is closed behind her firmly before she speaks to the older son before her.

"Did you honestly fucking think he would want to talk? Not hours after your screwball set a shit ton of butt ugly on our heads?" The man just stares hard at her, refusing to reply. "You are obviously not thinking through shit bobby. You want this club to be better, I get that but the way you did it. Behind his back out the gate fucked up any possible trust in you as his VP." She expects him to see reason, if not the main reason Jax is angry. The new prez had fought his way through the lies of his family, the people meant to never wish you harm, found a plot to kill the mother of his children and also the possibility that his father was also murdered. By the same man. He had hoped to find a new family, build from us a family that wouldn't l harm him. That would support and the first act of his new VP is a plan behind his back. Another scheme. It was the act and the person it saved that was the hardest part to swallow for Jax. She got that, maybe Bobby just couldn't. He steps into her space, his voice the angriest she heard directed at her before. "Don't presume to tell me what I should do, Joy. At the end of the day you gave this patch up willingly to me. So stand down."

Pressing her pink nailed hands to his chest she shoves him back hard, he didn't expect it and falls back into the pool table. Her husband and Chibs make their way over as she speaks directly to Bobby. "Don't speak to me like a goddamn child Elvis. I gave that patch to a man I thought would do right by not just the club but the man who stayed to keep us all out of jail at not just his expense but his wife and children's as well. Man the fuck up and speak your fucking mind next time you have opinions. Don't pull that shit again Bobby or I swear to god I'll take you back to the table for my god damn patch back and to save trouble I'll tear it from your cut while it's still on you!" Her husband, having heard enough, wraps his large arms around her middle, locking her once waving arms to her side. She wasn't done though.  "Because I'll be damned If you hurt him or this club again." She lets her husband drag her out, the cold air makes her overheated skin break out into goosebumps. She stands next to her father's ink station in the garage. Juans hands rub her upper arms as she watches her father pull on his black gloves, her body slowly losing its tension as the machine comes alive and the buzz is a soothing note in the air. She sees two guns and arches a brow, looking at her father again she sees him holding a pair of gloves out to her and she smiles. She had learned to do tattoos by watching her dad do them. Her first tattoo she did on a body was on her father. Around his collar bone area there was a phrase "I live, I die, I kill for my family." The letters were blocky and some funny looking but he let her do it without thought and she loved him more for it then he would ever know.

Pulling the pink velvet scrunch from her wrist she holds it behind her to her husband as she grabs the other low roller chair next to her dad. Pulling on a pair of gloves like her dad he points out things and asks her to name it just to make sure her knowledge on the subject hadn't slipped. Once she proved herself to her father he goes back to setting up the ink cups. Everyone looks up as the garage office door opens, she hadn't realized the guys had trickled in during the pop quiz her father gave her. The garage was filled with sons. All eyes on Clay as he makes his way to the chair between her father and herself. When he plops down he glances at her, looking down at the black kabar on her thigh before locking eyes with her again. With a roll of her eyes she slides the kabar from its sheath and flips it mid air, grabbing the blade loosely she hands it to Clay and watches as he slides the strap of his black tank, revealing the reaper on his shoulder blade, he stabs her blade roughly into the wooden table top and she arches a brow but says nothing. No one spoke as she and her father went about roughly blocking out the reapers on the older man's skin. Blood and black ink leak onto the black gloves on her hands, making the once matte latex glint in the light. Once her part in all this is done she put the gun down, her body felt as if it had been drained, any rage or possible sympathy she felt for the man before her was gone. Seeing the once proud man reduced to a black ink splattered shell soothed a lot of the pain she carried around recently. Pulling the gloves from her hands she stands, walking over to her father she kisses the top of his tattooed skull, locking eyes with Bobby she stands to her full height. Now that the rage wasn't pounding in her ears like a heartbeat she could see the conflict and lost look in Bobby's face. She walks over, knowing her husband wasn't far behind she kisses the older man's bearded cheek and walks away. As good a sorry as she could give knowing that everything she said had truth to it. She had a sinking feeling that another change was coming. How big would that change be? Only time would tell.

Next morning (Joy Pov)

Warmth, that's the first thing she feels as she wakes, and when she finally reaches full consciousness she realizes why. Looking to her side she sees Juans pillow is missing its namesake. But looking down she sees a lump where her stomach is, it makes her grin. For a moment she looked pregnant until the lump moved and she pulled the covers up slightly and could not help but feel her heart melt a little. Her husband's head was resting below her breast, his arms curled under her back as he clutched her in a tight but comfortable grip. Watching him sleep she takes in the beauty of him, his soft skin being revealed bit by bit as she pushes the covers off of them. Making her husband curl into her more to steal more of her warmth. She brushes her fingers along the tattoo on the left side of his scalp, she knows he is slowly waking because he is nuzzling his face into her stomach. A poem comes to mind and when he looks up at her with sleepy, heavy lidded eyes, a small smile is his gift to her. She smiles as the words spill from her lips. "You're next to me and I'm half asleep, wondering what I did to deserve this moment - to deserve you. And while you're here, breathing easily. All I can think about is what I can do tomorrow to be better for you then I was today."

He gifts her with open mouth kisses along her belly button and hips over her boy shorts, his hands having pushed her sleep shirt up to her chest to get access to more bed warm skin. "Fuck i love when you do shit like that." She giggles as he speaks into her skin, his hands sliding under her lower back, forcing her to arch and her legs to fall open more as his kisses move upward. His hands shove her shirt over her head. Tossing it off the side of the bed he hovers over her as she tries to get her hair out of her face. Looking up at him she sees his once sleepy eyes are watching her. The smile on his face is blissful and only for her. Reaching her hands up she holds his face between them, the way he leans into the gentle touch pulls at her heart. Her beautiful strong husband was such a gentle man, she hoped this life wouldn't rob him of that. She would give up her humanity to protect him if she had too, as long as he was always going to be here, like this. His lips on her forehead wash away her dark thoughts like rain water.

Her eyes, which she hadn't realized had closed to prevent him seeing the pain in them blink open, seeing him watching her. "Welcome back." She cant help but sigh, which quickly turns into a gasp as he rolls them, his strong grip on her hips keep her from toppling over as he now lays with her straddling his lean hips. The way he folds his hands behind his head and smirks up at her makes her bite her lip and her cheeks flushes as his eyes take in her bare chest, even after living with and being with him he still made her body heat with a look. Moving her hair over one shoulder she lays her chest flat against her husband's, her head under his chin. His hands are now combing over her head and curling her hair around his fingers. For a moment they are still except for his fingers curling into her hair and her body rising and falling as he breathes deeply. She is slowly falling back asleep when the chest under hers vibrates as her husband speaks "Jax is up to something involving clay." Curling a fist under her chin she uses her other hand to grab the discarded blanket and pulls it back over her now naked back. "What makes you think that." He isn't upset she questioned him, in fact it made him grin. "When Jax asked me to stay behind the other day after the irish he only wanted to ask me a favor. 'I need clays gun. No questions right now. I need it.” she lifts herself up enough to get more comfortable, stretching her legs out she moves to his side to rest her head on his shoulder, looking into his eyes she arches a brow. "The one currently at the shop wrapped up in a shirt." He smirks and kisses the tip of her nose. "Yes nosy shit." She snickers and smacks his chest, he laughs and rubs the sting away. "He wanted me to get it to you. I don't know why but he wants you to put it in his side saddle on his bike." She sighs, he was plotting alone again. She was getting so fucking tried of this behind closed door shit that had been going down since the cartel popped up. She can't say Jax wasn't doing good things but the way he was doing them was gonna make her go grey. "Your right. I'll see whats up but if i'm honest we won't know much until shit pops off and we all have to drag his ass out of danger." She cups her husband's cheek and pulls him in for a kiss when her phone rings from the nightstand. She growls under her breath and reaches back for it.....let the games begin

Time Jump

Once she got to the shop things had been crazy. She barely had time to do what jax asked her but she did it. And now hours later she stood beside Nero as he spoke to the shop owner "Nero they fuck up my shop, come in and take anything they want and now Dante says we have to pay triple two for protection?!' The pretty hispanic woman sighs "I mean we all know you split but what are we supposed to do now?" Nero sighs and holds up his hands “Okay. I get it, Carmella. I'm sorry I let this happen but i'm here now. I swear." He grabs her hands and holds them "We will handle Dante, Mi vida." She tosses her cig to the street as Nero walks over to them. "So what's the plan boss man." He brushes a hand down his face. "We need to cut off the goddamn head. Dante, he's running out of a rag warehouse, two blocks, at the end of Palm. Fights are in progress." She nods, Juans hands squeezing her shoulders. "Is he there now? Anyone scooping him out?" The man next to Nero shakes his head"Not sure. All of our faces are too well known around here to play double o seven" she snickers, looking over to Jax when he taps her arm as she is the main one next to him. "Ok let the white boys and slightly tan girls." She hisses at him and smacks his shoulder. "Tan!?!? I am a light sepia goddess. You redneck Tarzan." He grins but ignores her, he continues on. "let us go in, just a few fight fans. We'll see what we're dealing with."

Nero nods and she walks over to her bike, she strips off her cutte, her black lace up side high waisted jeans cover her lower stomach, but the cute pink halter crop top with the words 'brat' shows enough of her stomach to keep her cool on this hot day. bobby asks "How big is this crew?" Nero tilts his head for a second before replying "Last i knew fifteen." She is shooting off a quick text message as the man next to him shakes his head. "Nah they have been busy. More like twenty." She is pulling off her thigh and chest holster as hands her guns to her husband since her outfit wasn't loose enough to hide anything. Nero replies "If that's true with just us it's a little light." Her phone goes off and she yanks it from her back pocket with a grin. "Think again." Everyone turns to see her waving her phone with a grin "Cholo Calvary is inbound." Her husband smirks and reaches over to pat her on the ass. "That's my girl." Making the guys chuckle as she smiles brightly, her hips doing a little wiggle at the praise. Her father reaches over to yank her head close enough to kiss her temple.

Once they get to the place and on the lift of the building the sound of dog barking makes her reach out for the closest hand. Tig grips her hand back just as hard as Bobby opens the lift door. The others scatter to different corners but she and Tiggy don't release each other as they watch with Horror as the poor dogs tear each other apart. Her mind flashes to sonny. Her sweet little prince in the dog's place and seeing the raging bloodlust on the shouting mens faces makes her stomach roll. The fight is over quick and she watch a dark skin man lift the wounded white dog and walk away. She knows what happens next. Tapping tig are rapidly she whimpers "Tiggy. We can't let him." He nods and he gives her hand a reassuring squeeze and they both follow behind them man. Not realizing the others saw them. They make it to the back and her legs give out as she sees the trash cans filled with the bodies of precious dogs. All torn and slaughtered. She doesn't realize Alex has left her until she hears him say "I'll blow your goddamn head off." Her husband and father see her on the ground and rush to her. She points to the trash cans and her husband curses and helps her off the ground. Standing between her and the trash cans he holds her face in his hands "I know baby. But we can't help them now. But you saved one. Come on." She nods and lets him drag her around the corner as Tig points behind her and Juan as Jax grabs his head to make him focus "Look at this shit its so wrong." Jax nods "I know but it's not what we are here for." Walking over she grabs Tigs gun from him gently. He locks eyes with her and she nods to the beautiful dog in the kiddy pool by her feet who was licking her father's hand as he spoke softly to it. "Watch her." He nods and she walks over to the man knelt on the ground. Pressing the gun between his eyes she arches a brow "One question dickbag. Dante. Where is he?" The man points behind him "Through there. Uses the supply room as an office." She nods and hands the gun to Tig. "Piss off. And leave the dog." The man takes off as she kneels down to gently hold the dogs face in her hands. Smiling as the dog licks her cheek. "Hello love. My friend phil here is gonna carry you to your ride ok. Your not gonna fight anymore." The dog keeps licking her face and Jax taps her arm "Let's go mother pupresa. We got work to put in." She nods to phil and takes her glocks from her husband as she stands. Making her way in she sees Chibs break the lock and all hell breaks loose. Her father levels a man rushing them and she holds her guns on Dontae as Jax yells. "Put the guns down!" Dante just stares and she smirks, getting in front of him she holds one gun to his head the other to his dick. "Cough wrong. Give me a reason." He curls his lip but tells them to lower the guns she hears Jax yell and she naturally runs, smart move on her part as the room floods with Dantes crew as he yells

"I WANT THE BITCH. KILL THE OTHERS!" Making it outside she sees the gate bust open. And moves to the side as Nero and his crew take out of a few of the men following behind. The remainder of Dante's crew are quickly held down by the Mayans. She laughs and they roll through on their bikes whooping and shouting. "Fucking love you crazy bastards!" Her joy is short lived as Dante and another man run back inside and lock the door. She takes off at a full sprint as she yells over her shoulder "Dantes running. TAKE DOWN THE REST." It's quiet as nero,chibs, jax and herself move around the high stacks of boxes. All of them take different paths she is just about to turn down another way when the sound of a punch makes her take off back behind her she sees Chibs as he stabs the man who was with Dante. Using all her body weight she shoves him against one of the boxes, her fists crack against his cheek and temple. He grabs her by the hair making her shriek but the pain is short lived as he is yank off of her by Jax. She watches with glee as the man's face is shoved into a bag of nails. His screams making shudder at the agony in them, but her mind flashes back to the trash cans of dogs and she feels nothing again. They all jump into action as Nero's voice fills the warehouse "He's running!" They take off towards the sound. Shs stares at Neros back as he takes off after Dante and finally catches him at a window. She releases a short burst of laughter as Nero laughs as he pushes Dante through the window. Mother fucker was nuts. Once they all get through the window she sees a woman yanked from her van. But lucky her own dog was inside. And currently using Dante as a chew toy. Nero holds the door with his body and she leans next to him with a smirk. "That's gonna leave a mark." She leans down to watch the dog as Jax chuckles, punching her arm as she coos at the dog "Whos a good protector. You are. Good doggo." Nero heaves a sigh, his lip twitching as he tries not to laugh "We should probably let him out yeah?" Chibs smirks "That would be the good catholic thing to do." She snorts and shakes her head "I'm neither good nor Catholic so i guess he is puppy chow." All the guys around her laugh.

Back at Teller Morrow

When they got back to the club house phil, tig and herself went straight to the pool table with Dr.Chibs. She laid on her side on top of the pool table as the dog rested next to her, she gently brushed a hand over her ears and head as Chibs worked on the animal's leg wound. Her husband's hands grip and rub her thigh as he stands behind her. He knew she was shaken seeing so many dead animals. Killer his wife may be but when it came to animals. She was so sensitive to them. Thats where her and Tig bonded alot. She reaches down to grip one of her husband's hands in Silent thanks as she coos to the dog as it whimpers. "Its ok baby. Chibs is just gonna make you all better. I know it hurts." Tig pats her arm as Jax walks over "So that was one of Nero's boys. He found the breeder who is supplying the dogs. Wants us to shut it down." She nods and sits up as Tig replies "I'll gut that bitch." She grabs her bowie knife of the coffee table "i call his balls." The guys all shifted a little at that, knowing she wasn't joking. She and Tig grab their weapons of choice on the table and head for the door. Just as Chibs speaks "Lets go." Jaxs stops him "I'm gonna take Tig and Joy." Chibs shakes his head "Notta chance. You don't know what your walkin into." Jax stands firm and soon enough they are pulling. Up to a warehouse. She and tig strip off their helmets and walk ahead of Jax just as she hears a gun be cocked.

She reaches for her own but Jax's voice stops her making her turn to see the one thing she never wanted to see. One gun trained on her, another on Tig....and Jax holding both. Her face pales as Tig tries to move towards Jax and Jaxs hisses at him "Dont fucking move. Either of you." Her hands shake as she holds them up. He locks eyes with hers and nods "All weapons down. And kick yours away Joy your aim is too good to trust." She and Tig follow instructions. She keeps quiet as Tigs breathing picks up and he finally yells "What is going on Jax!?" She hears the approach of a car and her eyes narrows at the unmistakable Rolls Royce kicking up dirt and it all clicks into place. How they got out, how tig made it out with them. Jax was gonna go in but Opie some how did it first......Tig was always the chip. Because of what happened with clay. Forcing Tig to take action and kill Pope daughter. To do what he thought was right. Once again Clays lies were catching up to them.

Her rage is violent as she yanks Tig back behind her and Snarls at Jax "I'll kill you if they touch him. Ill fucking kill you all." Tigs arm wraps around her shoulder as she shakes, Gripping his arm she eyes the men getting out of the car as Tig groans. "Jax no. Come on man." Jax shakes his head "I'm sorry." She seethes "No. But you will be." Pope snaps and two men appear next to them. She and Tig are ripped apart and she shrieks, she is held back as the other man searches Tig. She is then searched herself before being tossed back at Tig. She wraps her arms around his middle. Gripping onto the man for dear life, her body shakes as Tig combs a hand over her head. Trying to calm her in a moment when she should be comforting him "Your really gonna give me to him Jax? After what he did to my Daughter. Its could have been Able, fuck it could have been sonshine here if hap had done it you bastard!" Jax yells at Pope to shut tig up and she crumbles to the ground with Tig his kidney is hit from the back. Using her legs she kicks out at the man who hurt Tig "Leave us alone you Bastard i swear to god ill bathe in your entrails for this." She is dragged away from Tig by her legs, she lands a kick and crawls back to him sobbing. He holds her on the ground with him as Jax speaks to Marks. He rocks her "Don't cry kid. Please kid don't cry." She grips a hand into his cutte. Whimpering when she and Tig are both pulled up from the ground. "Tie him up on the garage." She shrieks as he is being pulled away but Jaxs stops him "I want the Cutte." She growls and jerks in the arms holding her back. "Have you not taken enough from him Jackson for Christ Sake!?" The man approaches Tig and she struggles more "Please." The men stop, staring at the shaking and sobbing woman, for once looking her young age and her Golden eyes lock with Pope. "Let me take it off him. I'm all he has left." She was surprised when pope nods. Walking over on shaking legs she looks at the two men on either side of Alex. He reaches up and holds her face in his hands. Giving her forehead a hard kiss he whispers. "i love you kid. Best friend i ever had." She whimpers and slides the Cutte from his shoulders. He is instantly jerked away from her and into the warehouse. Her legs give out and someone catches her, apart of her knows it's Jax and she wants to struggle but she can't. Crushed under the weight of losing another brother all she can do is sob "Alex......Tiggy." Jax buries his head into the side of her hair and she hears him talking. She tries to stop sobbing and shaking to hear him "Trust me. Its hard but trust me ill fix it i promise." She pushes him away and stands. Clutching tigs cutte to her chest she watches Jax with narrow and tear swollen eyes as he walks over to his saddle bag and something clicks. Clays gun. As tumblers fall into place she watches Jaxs in slow motion as he paints the side of Popes car red with brain matter. Seeing him race into the warehouse she uses the hand not clutching the cutte to grab a silenced glock and runs after him. Seeing him take out one of Pope men she kills the other. Tig, who was thankfully alive, rams Pope as he tries to shoot them. Falling his gun lands at her feet, holding her gun on him she grins wildly "Do it. I dare you." He jerks and Jax appears at her side to grab the gun on the floor. She watches Jax as he hands Clays gun to Tig. Pope growls at Jax "You redneck bitch. Do you have any idea what will happen to who ever kills me?" A small smile ticks up Jaxs lip "Im counting on it."

She moves away as Tig blows Pope brains out the back of his skull. Walking over to Alex she wraps her arms around him. His arm not holding the gun grips her cutte. Hearing movement next to her she lifts her head, her gun held between Jaxs forth and fifth rib. "Give me one reason not to kill you prez. One."  He holds his hands up "I couldn't tell either of you. He would have picked up on it if Tig was off or if joy wasnt like she was. You know that." She did but the Image of Jaxs holding a gun on her still made her gun hand shake "He could have shot him right away Jax. Then what!?" Jax nods "But he didnt. I know that's not the best thing to say but he didnt and the plan worked. Im so fucking sorry to do that but i had to be done. We would never be free. Tig wouldn't get closure." Logic, sense, it was shooty but planned out. Pope dies at the hands of a man she and Jax want dead more than anything. And with Pope being an OG the bounty would be set and Clay would be dead before his hearing. Releasing Tig she lets him hug Jax, their eyes locked over the man's shoulder. Today something changed. Today she saw how far Jax was willing to go on his own. And she didn't know how to feel about it

The club house

Sitting across from her husband in their old room he stares in wild eyed shock as she nods, her wet hair dripping onto the sheets. She had felt so dirty when they got back that she had passed everyone and went upstairs to shower. Now dressed in some cotton shorts and a hoodie she lights up a blunt, inhaling deeply. She told him everything, her father would be next but she needed Juan right now. "Jesus baby. I didn't know he was going to…..i.....i never would have let you go with him alone if i knew." She lets him yank her onto his lap, her legs thrown over the side as She held out the blunt for him, he tilts his head and lets her hold it for him as he inhales. His hands to busy rubbing and gripping her legs, sides, her face as he tries to calm himself. Holding his inhale he replies "I love you baby. Im so fucking sorry you had to live that. Fuck i could strangle him. Was Opie not enough?" She exhales the smoke along with him. Filling the room with the smell of gas and apple wrapping paper "Apart of me knows he was right. Pope would sniff out a fake performance for a mile. But i feel so hollowed out. I know tig is alive, i know Jax didn't really betray either of us but i still feel it." She waves a hand "Maybe it's that i feel used by him. And that alone makes me feel dirty."  He nods and presses his lips to her forehead. Taking the blunt from her he takes another hit. "And your allowed to feel how ever the fuck you please. Jax knew what might happen if he did this. Trust and loyalty only go so far until the broken pieces just don't fit right anymore. So your going to heal from this. And i'll be right here if Jax has anything to say i'll handle him." She cant help but grin watching her husband blow smoke off to the side, his jaw tight and sharp she cant help but draw her tongue along its shape making him look at her with wide eyes. "You have no idea how hot you look when your angry daddy." he chuckles and shakes his head, taking in her low lids and dopey smile. "And you're cute when you're a high and horny baby." She snorts as his hands and rests her head on his shoulder as he takes the last deep hit from the blunt before tossing the roach into the ash tray to break down later. She uses her hand to turn his head as he gets ready to blow the smoke out. He smirks and fists a hand into her hair, his other hand palms her bare breast over the hoodie as he blows the smoke into her mouth.

*She couldn't hold it as she moans, her skin was sensitive and her mind was only focused on his hands. She scrambles out of his lap and crawls up the bed, but she doesn't get far as quickly grabs her ankle and yanks her back with a chuckle. "Where do you think your going?" She takes her bottom lip between her teeth as she tries not to smile. He yanks his shirt over his head and crawls over her, her fingertips ghost up his sides as he claims her mouth. She could taste the weed on his tongue, and that ever present mint. She groans as his lips leave hers but she arches as he pushes the hoodie up to expose her bare chest to his eyes. Leaning down his tongue circles one nipple before blowing on it, making her still shower warm skin break out into goosebumps. He presses his face into her sternum and drags his tongue along the anarchy A that rests there as his hand slides down onto her shorts, she feels his grin when he finds no panties in his way. She is hot and slick as he slides two thick fingers inside. "Yes touch me!"

He lays on his side, his arm propping his head up as he watches her writhe and moan as his pace picks up. Pressing his nose against her temple his lips brush her ears as he speaks lowly. "Do you have any idea how sexy you look like this?" She shakes her head, her eyes wide and glazed as she stares up at the ceiling, one hand rolling her own nipple, the other gripping his forearm, the feel of his muscles moving under his skin as his fingers fuck into her driving her higher. "Legs spread wide for me. Wet little pussy gripping my fingers like you never want me to stop." She shuddered and groans "I don't want you to stop. Please daddy. Fuck me?" He smirks and removes his fingers much to her dismay. As she turns to pout her mouth falls open as she watches him suck his cum covered fingers into his mouth. She quickly strips off her shorts and reaches for his pants and belt. He chuckles at her enthusiasm and she swats his stomach making him curl up and laugh harder. She giggles and stops trying to strip him. "Your such a dork Juan." He nods and reaches down to quickly undo his own pants, sitting up he leans his back against the headboard and shoves his pants down enough to free himself and yanks her onto his lap. Holding his cock steady he lets her slide down onto it, watching her face as her eyes fall closed at the stretch. Her hands gripping his neck and shoulders as she grinds down onto him. "Jesus you feel so good."

His hands slide up the sides of her smooth thighs to her waist, the hoodie pulls up with his hands until her lower half is exposed, her rocking hips in full view, using his hands he slowly starts to set the pace. His eyes taking in the image she made. Sun streaming through the window made her bronze skin glow, her wet curls bounced as she rode him. Lips red and kiss swollen from his lips. One of his hands leaves her waist to grab her jaw making her blink her eyes open.. "Open your eyes baby. I want to see them as you cum." Her brow is drawn and she can't control the sounds falling from her mouth, but she nods. Her hands claw at his shoulders and he gives in, needing to hold her closer, his arms wrap around her yanking her to fall into his chest. She places her hands on the wall next to his shoulders and starts to quake over him. Her lips trimble and he releases her hips and grabs her face in his hands. "Your close aren't you baby." She nods, a whine falling from her lips. She watches him watch her as she rides him as hard as she can. Her body was so close but she couldn't reach it. "Juan.....can't."

He grins and moves a hand down between them, his thumb strokes her clit and she shudders with a cry. "Come on baby. Want that pretty pussy to come. Come Joy." She groans and her bodie tenses, her thighs quivering against his hips as she arches. His thumb keeps up its circling. Making her jerk and dig her nails into his shoulder, with a growl he jerks up into her hard. Forcing a breathless cry from her.

"Do that again I'm gonna get you pregnant." He says it through clenched teeth and closed eyes but the way her fingers freeze for a second before digging harder. His head jerks up and he stares at joy. Her eyes were glazed and her lip was between her teeth as she slowly rolled her hips down onto him. Her body jerked every once in a while as his thumb pressed down hard. He watches her for a second and he smirks. "You want my baby inside you Joy?" She nods and he growls, his hands hold her waist as he pushes her back. Keeping himself inside her as he gets her on her back. His forearms hold her legs back as he pounds into her, her head is tossed back as she screams. The thought of pumping her full, watching her stomach grow. Fuck he was close. Looking down at her he he groans "Look at me." She whimpers and forces her eyes open. The hazel eyes staring up at him look so gold in the light from the sun outside and he pants. "I want my baby to have your eyes."

Her back arches violently off the bed as her whole body quakes under him, a flood of her juices soak his cock and her grip is so tight he can't hold off as it milks him. Shooting inside her he groans, laying on his side he rolls her to join him.* His lips brush her forehead as they both pant, he watches the light slowly fade from the room. His mind clear and his body lax he barely hears his wife as she whispers. "I want them to have yours Juan." He grins, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Guess we are spending the night. Good thing Tig got Sunny from the house. He will be good for Tigs dog i think." She nods, looking down at her body and his she giggles at his boot clad feet on the pillow. "No shoes in bed you street rat." He chuckles and slowly pulls away from her, his limp cock sliding from her making her hiss and narrow her eyes at him. "Don't give me that look. No shoes in bed." She rolls her eyes and reaches over the side of the bed to get her discarded shorts. Pulling them on she shoots a text to Tig to  feed Sonny for her and plugs up her phone to charge.

Curling up she drifts until Juan returns and from the smell of his skin he showered, but she doesn't have much time to think more on it as she finally slips under. She jerks what she feels isn't a moment later but when she opens her eyes she sees nothing. Pitch black and the sound of Juans snoring and her phone going off. With a groan she grabs it and rolls onto her back. "Hello?" She sits up straight at the voice on the other line, making Juans arm draped across her stomach fall off. Waking him with a grunt as he looks around. "We have a problem Joy." She feels a cold feeling settle in the pit of her stomach as she replies "Jax what's wrong?"

Jax's House

Their bikes couldn't move fast enough, she barely puts down the kick stand before running towards the house, she stops short as she hears her name being yelled. Looking over she sees Tara and she races for her, her eyes stinging as Tara looks up at her with bright wet eyes. "What do you need me to do." Tara looks past her for a moment, she was worried she might have gone into shock but when Tara looks back at her she is all there. Her lips move and Joy focuses on them to read her lips and her face hardens as she gets what she says "Protect them from her." She nods and brings her fingers to her lips to press a kiss to them before smacking them on the window and walking towards the house shouldering past officer's as she went, hearing Teddy stop them from grabbing her. She pats his arm as she passes into the house. Finding Jax sitting at the kitchen table, Able rushes to her side and she lifts him up and sits him on her hip as he presses his wet face against her soft hoodie. Juan presses a kiss to the side of Ables head before going to get Thomas who was crying in the back room.

She bounces on her feet to rock Able, the hand not holding the child up is rested on Jax's shoulder as he holds his head in his hands. "She gave me papers...naming You and Juan guardians of our kids, if something happens. I signed them as they knocked to come get her. What are we going to do Joy?" She sighs, resting her cheeks against the child's cheek. "What you are going to do is leave this to Lowen. This is her area, do what the fuck she and Tara ask of you. Tara isnt stupid, she knew what this life meant when she stayed Jax. All you can do is stand by her like me and her did for you and Juan while she is inside. Stay the course, and get the fuck out of Charming the second you can. You hear me?" He nods, his hand reaches up to grip hers. If he had looked up he would have noticed her eyes weren't on him, but the door. Locked in the gaze of another woman. Gemma glares at her and she stands her ground, she wasn't scared of Gemma. But Gemma should be scared of what she has just done, because karma is a bitch. And she was its Messenger. Gemma would answer for this if it was the last thing Joy did.

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That’s this new chapter. Im working on the next one as we speak. again thank you all for hanging with me. 

[idontworkforsega]

🤔 How about...a Amy vs Omega prompt...with Sonic cheering for Omega in the background just to mess with her!

(This was the only image I could find of the two. lol)

@cutegirlmayra is usually the one who does Prompts… but I can give it a go?

Friendly reminder, Cutegirlmayra is on Prompt Shutdown, meaning I’m also not taking new prompt requests. Please keep your ideas safe and sound until she reopens them on her blog again. :)

How does she start these things off again? Oh right!

Prompt:

The Sonic Heroes blazed a trail into the new era following Metal Overlord’s demise, however, they still had an appetite for adventure and battle! To determined which team was the strongest, they held a competition…

The Team Battles!

One player from each group would be assigned to compete in different activities and sets, and funny enough, Team Rose was down to their last contender, Amy Rose.

With determination in her eyes, she pulled her fists up forward and had a spark flare up in her heart. “This is my chance.” She looked to the screen, seeing that Knuckles had beaten Shadow and Cream in the last arena.

That was simply for tactical advantage though, the game was to find something in record time. Cream was almost going to make it but Shadow Chaos Controlled near the location. Right before reaching for it, Knuckles burst from the ground and clamped down on the item with his mouth, refusing to let it go till he was declared the victor.

It ticked Shadow off, but Cream and Cheese flew back to Amy safe and sound.

“We’re sorry, Miss Amy…” Cream’s eyes bent in submission, clearly disappointed she couldn’t score a point for the team. “I wasn’t quite as fast enough as Mr. Shadow… nor as ingenuitive as Mr. Knuckles…” she hunched forward, her little Chao repeating the same action with his cute remarks as well.

“Chao, Chao…”

“There, there. You two did your very best.” Amy’s compassionate heart couldn’t be limited, and especially not here, with her friend looking so down and blue. “The next test is going to be primarily about keeping the upper hand. It’s like king of the hill, but we have to keep one primary spot till the timer runs out. I think this is about power and speed.”

“Endurance too… Maybe…” Big shrugged, smiling as usual in his cheery way.

“Right.” Amy turned back to him and nodded. “Big’s already won the Flicky challenge. Gathering them all up last second by lassoing his fishing line around the other teams Flickies.” she giggled at that, motioning what had happened with her hands. “I’m sure I’ll come out on top with this one too.”

“You sure sound confident.”

Amy’s heart gasped with the familiar-sounding voice, doing an Irish jig in her chest as she slowly turned around to see the man of her dreams.

His smile could slay millions of frowns, dry up a billion tears, and keep the world a better place… if it’d only look her way, it could do far more!❤️

“Sonic!” She swooned, holding her hands together and up by her left cheek as swarms of hearts fluttered in her eyes.

Sonic looked to Cream then, “Great work out there, Cream! You really put everything into that challenge! Me and Tails were really impressed!”

“Y-You were?” she blushed in pride, comforted a bit more than before. “Thank you, Mr. Sonic! Mr. Tails!”

Tails blushed too in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head, “Ah, gee. It’s the honest truth!” he then nodded to Amy, “So, you’re going up against Sonic and Omega next round?”

Amy’s face suddenly looked as though a large bell had smacked her on the head, draining the color from her face and leaving her condemned. “S-Sonic… And Omega?” her knees suddenly trembled slightly, and she had to turn away, shivering at the idea of facing not only her true love but also a behemoth of a killer robot!

“What’s wrong, Amy?” Sonic raised an eyebrow, deciding to play the teasing jokster of the bunch. “Scared you can’t take on the big boys?” He narrowed his eyes, smirking.

The challenging tone of his voice sent a new wave of thunder throughout Amy’s body from her core, reaching out from the center and giving her new vigor and life.

Her eyes, shining white with heaven’s lightning turned back to Sonic, “I’ll see you on the field!” she bolted as fast as she could to the entrance arena, where Omega was also speaking strategy with Rouge and Shadow.

“THERE ARE NO EGGMAN ROBOTS PRESENT IN THESE COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES. REQUESTING TO ABORT UNNECESSARY ACTIONS AGAINST YOUR FAMILIAR LIFEFORMS.” Omega seemed to be asking permission, but something about his body language made you think he was begging.

��Don’t worry, Omega. I’m not all too thrilled to be participating in these strange contests of strength and unity either.” Shadow stated, looking off to see Amy rushing by them. “It does seem pointless… but Sonic and his friends are offering Chaos Emeralds to the champion team. That’s incentive enough for me to compete in these ridiculous feats.” He walked up to Omega, seeming to side with him on this one. “We’re choosing you for this match. You’re sturdy. Plant your feet on the ‘X’ and keep the others from budging you off. We should be fine.”

“Hmph, I wouldn’t be so sure.” Rouge flew down beside the two.

“What have you heard?” Shadow crossed arms.

“Sonic is the next pick for his team, and I hear Amy is taking the slot as well.” Rouge dusted off a wing and then some of her arm. “Shame, I thought you wanted to have a go at Sonic again.”

“I’m only after the Chaos Emeralds now… But our time will come.” He narrowed his eyes, “He’s rash and leaves people apprehensive. Amy will most likely be distracted into fighting either with him or against him. It just means Omega has a safer chance at securing this game more easily now.”

“Oh? You doubt she’ll side with him?” Rouge seemed to lean more on the fact that she’d help him win. “Why do you suppose that?”

“From their interactions… it looks like she’s got something to prove.” Shadow concluded, “I honestly don’t think she’d just back down in front of him.”

“ANALYZING EMOTIONS.” Omega turned to Amy, scanning her from a distance.

His eyes lit up momentarily and Amy turned around with a ‘Hey!’ instantly.

He turned his head in an owl-like movement back to his teammates. “IDENTIFIED. SHE APPEARS TO BE FUMING WITH MOXIE.”

“You better believe I am!” Amy cried out, “Let’s up the anty a bit, shall we?” Amy turned to Sonic, who had just raced up to the starting line as well.

“Oh? A wager?” Sonic flicked his nose, “Now that’s my style!”

“If I win, you have to marry me!”

“Pass.” Sonic disregarded the statement quicker than when he joined in the topic. He placed his hand on his right cheek and looked up to the sky, immediately bored by the once interesting prospects and began tapping his toe, waiting for the timer.

“Awoohhh! You’re not being very fun!” Amy complained.

His head rose a second, and he swung around to her, “What was that?”

“Fight me! I’ll show you I can go head to head with the fastest hedgehog alive!” she beamed with a brilliant drive in her, but Sonic just stared…

He shook his head, “Better idea… I know you can take me head-on, Amy.” Sonic seemed to happily consent to that fact. “But what about Omega?”

“What about him?” Amy’s gaze pierced through Sonic’s subtle hinting.

“Heh.” Sonic seemed to regain his mischievous nature, and continued, “Let’s see how long you can go with Omega. He’s not like the usual trash-heaps Eggman throws at’cha. What do you say?”

“It’s a trap.” Shadow and all of Team Dark walked over to the starting line then, Shadow clearly not having any of Sonic’s ploys.

“Oh?” Sonic leaned away from Amy, “Easedroppers. What are you so afraid of? A girl and her mighty hammer?” There was a double-edged sword in his words, but Amy just glared at him, not pointing it out right now.

“He’s only trying to get you to focus on Omega and let him seize the prize.” Rouge countered, but Sonic just turned himself away.

“She’s right, Amy. But man, I would have really loved to see that fight.”

Amy felt a bit torn, hearing him say ‘love’ so casually like that…

“Word of advice,” Rouge didn’t particularly like Amy, but she could see what Sonic was trying to pull here. She turned to angle herself towards Amy and make an even bigger distance between her and Sonic. “Don’t let men so easily manipulate you.”

Manipulate?

The word clung to Amy’s ears. It stung. Sonic may be playful at times, but he would never hurt Amy with lies.

Now her head was reeling… who should she go for?

Omega moved into position, along with Sonic, both to her right and left and in front of her.

Tails began the countdown till the timer started.

She studied their backs, gauged whether to go for Sonic or Omega first. She couldn’t not go after one of them… but if she went after Sonic, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop Omega’s large frame from sitting pretty on the target. As for Omega… many would think she was working for Sonic, being… 

Manipulated.

“On your marks!” Tails’s voice boomed.

Amy’s eyes settled to the ground, her head lowered in conflicting feelings that battled one another. Victory and defeats in a matter of seconds, an entire age of war waged on while Tails’s voice continued.

“Three!… Two!… One! Go, Heroes!”

Amy took off, immediately figuring out what she would do next.

She wouldn’t be the only one to play cleverly in this game…

She went for Omega.

Her hammer slammed into his shoulder, knocking him slightly off stride as he swung an arm back at her.

“PINK HEDGEHOG HAS ENGAGED. PREPARE FOR OFFENSIVE MANEUVERS.”

“Bring it on!” Amy cried out.

“Woo! Go Omega!” Sonic called from the front, booking it to the spot they needed to claim on a hill.

Amy’s anger spiked then, ‘Did he lie about not wanting to see this match!?’ But he sat high and mighty on the hill and clapped, looking eager to watch the two squabble.

Amy swung another hard hit into his side, but Omega stopped running to focus primarily on stability.

“Tsh, that girl.” Rouge was enraged and disappointed, seeing her do exactly what she thought she would. “You’d think a girl would be smarter than that.”

Shadow watched intently… Seeing something that perhaps Rouge hadn’t noticed yet.

“Don’t swing so hard, Omega! She didn’t mean it!” Sonic’s commentary was annoying Amy for once in her life. She actually wished he would just stop. “Remember that one time you told me not to blow up that robot, Amy? Can I ask the same from you? Heheh.” Sonic snickered, not realizing his jokes were falling on deaf ears. “Woo!!!”

Tails also sweatdropped, not exactly proud of Sonic’s behavior. “He’s acting rather… eccentric now, isn’t he?”

“Eh, should have known.” Knuckles sighed, folding his arms. “Amy wouldn’t want to hurt Sonic. She’d rather see him succeed than have her hero fail because of her, you know?”

Cream and Big looked down a little worriedly to the match too, not sure as they both turned to each other.

“Do you think Amy’s okay?” Big asked.

“Don’t worry, Big. I’m sure Miss Amy has a plan to get us that point!” Cream tried to stay cheery.

“Chao, Chao!” Cheese also looked determined to not give up on her.

Omega looked up to Shadow and Rouge, “REQUESTING ADDED FIRE POWER SUCH AS MACHINE GUN EXTENSIONS.”

The two shook their heads, very adamantly.

“THEN… SECONDARY WEAPONRY WILL BE ENGAGED. BRUTE DESTRUCTION.” He rose his arm and was about to swing it down on Amy.

“Woah!” Sonic’s eyes widened, “Amy! Look out!”

Amy heard that, but only Shadow noticed her smirk.

The arm came down… the dirt and dust seemed excessive, but Sonic was already looking over Omega’s shoulder, having raced up to see if Amy would be okay.

Something red was laying on the ground…

“Amy!” Sonic whacked back Omega, crouching down by it. “Amy..?”

When the dust cleared, it was Amy’s red headband, but nothing more.

“Huh?”

“OPPONENT DISENGAGED. HEADING TO TARGET LOCATION.” Omega turned around before his scanners picked up on an image at the location. “PINK HEDGEHOG SPOTTED. INGITING BOOSTERS FOR MAXIMUM MOVEMENT.”

“What?” Sonic turned around, seeing Amy plant her mighty hammer down on the ‘X’, claiming it as her own.

“Some match, eh, Sonic?” She grinned.

Rouge looked amazed, “She fooled him?”

Shadow smiled, closing his eyes. “It appears she has fooled you as well.” He looked back over to Rouge who looked slightly appalled by the idea but conceded and sighed.

“I guess you’re right. She took his own dirt and flung it right back in his face.”

“Sonic’s not going to let a friend of his get hurt. She used that to her advantage as he had used her fondness for him against her.” Shadow explained, “Well done… Amy Rose.” he seemed to smile for a moment.

Cream and Big cheered, holding each other’s hands and jumping for joy, exclaiming, “She did it! She did it! She did it!”

But there was still a while left on the clock, she had to hold her position.

Sonic recovered from the mixup and headed right to her, making it there far before Omega did and throwing out a kick.

“That was a cheap blow!” he teased, but was in good spirits.

She blocked, keeping a stable footing and flinging him behind her.

“Ahh-yoh!”

“Remind me to show you how mighty my hammer can really be!” Avenging her honor felt sweet, but not for the big titan…

“SAFETY MEASURES DISABLED. PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE SHOVING.” Omega blasted forward through the air, only hovering somewhat as he angled his shoulder to ram into Amy.

She moved her hammer into place.

“10 seconds on the clock!” Tails shouted out.

Now the intensity was rising…

Amy held her hammer firm in her hand, taking a deep breath.

‘9…’

She counted.

Omega swung his arm at her, Sonic came up from below to grab her leg.

‘…8.’

She let Sonic pull her to her knee, saving her from Omega’s hit but resisted being fully pulled off the hill.

‘7.’

She took Omega’s force and used it against him, hammering into his legs and then slipping her hammer in a fluid motion behind her and hooking Sonic’s side.

‘6.′

It was all slow motion clockwork, as she flipped Sonic into a twirl that he quickly got out of, but momentarily was unaware of Omega stomping down on the spot Amy was trying to procure.

‘5.’

Amy tossed her hammer, having Omega’s robotic eyes follow it as his primary threat level was hyper-focusing on it.

‘4.’

She watched his head completely turn to leave her in his blind spot, and with him toppling over, grabbed his arm to toss him over her.

‘3.’

Aiming for Sonic’s disoriented body that was just now landing back to the ground, getting ready for a comeback.

‘2.’

Sonic’s eyes widened as he had just gotten back his footing, but now Omega was being launched through the air at him, his thrusters still on!

‘1.’

Amy watched as the hulking mass of Omega slammed into Sonic and pinned him to the ground. She steadied her footing, and watched in amazement as the bell donged her ultimate triumph.

“Amy wins!” Tails exclaimed, completely flabbergasted as was everyone.

“I knew Miss Amy wouldn’t let us down!” Cream excitedly wrapped her arms around Cheese, embracing him in a victory hug as Amy stumbled back from the top of the hill, gasping for air.

“S…Sonic?” She motioned a hand to him.

A little blue head wiggled out from below Omega.

He gruffed in defeat, clearly annoyed, but smiled up at Amy. “I deserved that.” he winked, “But next time… no tricks!”

“Only if you’ll hold to it.” She sighed in relief, he wasn’t too upset with her.

“Now, uh… think you can… help get him off of me?” Sonic sweatdropped.

“Emm… No.” Amy’s eyes turned devious.

“Wha-what?” Sonic’s eyes shrank, knowing that look.

She approached him on the ground…

“W-wa-wait a second, Amy!” He struggled to get loose, but Omega had swirls in his eyes. “D-don’t do this!” he stretched his frown out to show his teeth, terrified as she came in for a smooching!

“Emm~ Muah, muah!” she kissed all over his head, making him cry out as though in pain.

“No! Stop! Help! Someone! Ah! Heeelppp!!”

She laughed and giggled, as Rouge shook her head, looking to Shadow who looked uneasy at seeing the open display of affection.

“How awful…” Shadow muttered, not even wanting to approach and help his friend while the act of ‘pecking one’s cheek’ was being done repeatedly under his poor fainted friend.

“Well, well. Looks like two can really play the same game.” Rouge looked a bit too proud to watch Amy get back at Sonic, placing a hand daintily by her cheek and lowering her eyelids to the two. “Women perfect everything. Even deception~”

“Let’s not go that far.” Shadow seemed to not want to agree with that, and moved to Omega’s head, hitting it a few times as Omega came back to life.

“OPERATING FUNCTIONS. SYSTEM STABLE. IT APPEARS I HAVE BEEN BAMBOOZLED. I REQUEST UPDATES TO RECTIFY THIS ASTONISHING FAILURE AT THE EARLIEST CONVENIENCE. REQUESTING THAT BE NOW.”

“Yeah, you’re not the only one. But you’ll be alright.” He patted his friend’s head and squatted down beside him. “Knuckles, Big… Care to join me?” Shadow humorously gestured to helping Omega off of a trapped Sonic, still getting pelted with Amy’s love and affection.

They all seemed a little awkward when approaching, but agreed.

Sonic tried not to underestimate Amy’s abilities ever again…

Fanfiction Entry 599 (x)

[theabominableblogger]

Rewatching “Revenge of the Sith”

Ohhhh yeahhh, I’m going there.

My apologies in advance because this post is so long...

*silently boogies out to 20th Century Fox jingle and ends up throwing popcorn everywhere*

*mouths along to opening theme*

WAR!

“Evil is everywhere.”  Dude, this is Star Wars we’re talking about...

Just a heads up, I am so freaking glad that we have The Clone Wars because honestly, it has a lot more flowing character development when it comes from jumping from “Attack of the Clones” to this movie, especially Anakin.

Lens flare!

Holy snot how many Republic ships are there?!?  Did the Separatists come with every single ship imaginable?  Is that why?

Aaaaand that’s a dead body.

The hell are those things?

“Nothing too fancy.”  Says the man [Obi-Wan] who dramatically drops his robes whenever possible.

*imitates the buzz droids*

“IN THE NAME OF-”  Finish the sentence, Obi-Wan!

R2′s taser thingy looks like the Twelfth Doctor’s sonic screwdriver.

What if they didn’t notice the shield in time?

Boom!  End of saga.  Cue end credits music.

Ohhhh this asshole.

WHAAAATTT’SS THE SITUATION, CAPTAINNNN???

*imitates the droids saying “Roger roger”*

How come Anakin and Obi-Wan aren’t getting jostled around when the elevator car first stops?

*quotes the entire “No loose wire jokes” conversation in the elevator*

Is that the same freaking chair that’s gonna pop up in “Return of the Jedi?”

Anakin and Obi-Wan fight Dooku but every time their lightsabers clash, it’s Obi-Wan going “Hello there”

Did Dooku just backwards kick Anakin away?  Oh my God...

DEW IT

 *Anakin kills Count Dooku*  Well done, prequels.  You done didn’t use your Christopher Lee effectively enough.

ALL BATTERIES FIRE, FIRE!

Wilhelm Scream!

*imitates droid saying “Reversing stabilizers...”*

Holy crap, you can actually see Grievous’s face kind of twitching with anger when he commands the droids to level out the ship.  Dang.

Freaking Obi-Wan’s little yell of horror when he wakes up...

*ugly cackles*

*quotes the entire ray shields scene*

I cannot freaking believe that the TV show took the time to make freaking sure that Anakin never met Grievous until this movie.

Actually, yes I can.  They have a goddamn script continuity department.

How come one of them didn’t take one of the electrostaffs?

The Separatist flagship just tore in half when it entered the atmosphere and yet I remain completely unfazed.

“8 plus 16...”  Pfftt, what the heck does that mean?

Guys, I think I found the origin for the Dramatic Hair Flop of Angst in TCW

Pretty sure that’s the Millenium Falcon at the bottom hangar

“Oh, I’m not brave enough for politics.”  *cough cough*

Obi-Wan gets a whole freaking bus to himself.  Chaos will ensue.

How has no one noticed Padme just hanging out next to one of the pillars?

“There were whispers... that you [Anakin] had been killed...”  Really?

Anakin’s reaction to Padme telling him that she’s pregnant is actually really good.

Wasn’t there like a deleted interaction where Anakin first accused Padme of sleeping with someone else while he was gone but then they decided that was not that great of an idea?

The music that plays when Grievous exits the shuttle is pretty sweet

*imitates Grievous saying “Yes, Lord Sidious?”*

*claps with each word*  This is not how you write romance, [George] Lucas!

Oh I didn’t realize that you could actually hear Anakin’s robotic arm move when he puts his face in his hands

“How long is it gonna take before we start being honest with each other?”  You [Padme] should have asked that before you two got hitched in the first place.

Ladies and gentlemen, the absolute worst therapy lesson in the history of Star Wars:  Yoda telling Anakin to basically get over himself and accept the sudden, incoming death of the people he loves.

“What must I do, Master Yoda?”  MOTHEREFFING IGNORE HIM!

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”  NOOO, OH MY GOD...

There’s actually a whole video by Pop Culture Detective that went into detail how terrible the Jedi Council were when it came to giving Anakin emotional support.

“Be careful of your friend Palpatine.”  And your pal, Friend-patine.

I just noticed that there are less chairs in the Jedi Council room

“The Council doesn’t like it when he [Palpatine] interferes with Jedi affairs.”  Then why the heck don’t they confront Palpatine about it?

Holy crap, I just realized that this movie came out 13 years ago.

“Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo...” Was that really “holding” though?

Anakin’s delivery of “At last!” sounds like Darth Maul when he said “At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi” in the first movie.

This entire opera scene should be a dead give away to Anakin learning about Palpatine being the Sith Lord.  The minute Palpatine even said the word “Sith” should have raised a few red flags...

This entire Darth Plaguesis explanation is so good and ominous.  Just the minute Palpatine finishes the story and tells Anakin that there are other ways to gain that sort of power, you can just gradually feel the dread setting in for the rest of the movie.  You just know something bad is gonna happen (besides Anakin becoming Darth Vader)...

Look at the way Obi-Wan’s sitting in his chair!

Oh my God... the Wookies just did a Tarzan yell...

Headcanon:  he’s [Anakin] checking for updates about the Siege of Mandalore

OK, everyone craps on the Utapau storyline with the fight scene between Obi-Wan and Grievous but I actually think this is one of the best parts in the movie.

I love the design for the Pau’ans

GUYSSS I LOVE BOGA SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!

Someone get me a plush animal of her on my desk pronto!

HELLO THERE!

GENERAL KENOBIII... YOU ARE A BOLD ONE...

That pose though!

That spinning helicopter move Grievous does while stalking toward Obi-Wan was always really cool to me.  A little extra, but still cool.

ARMY OR NOT... YOU MUST REALIZE... YOU ARE DOOMED!

Oh I don’t think so!

*imitates Obi-Wan using the Force to throw Grievous*

Wait, so how many times has Cody had to hold onto Obi-Wan’s lightsaber when Obi-Wan freaking drops it?

Death Star plans?

Big question:  so how old is Anakin here?  He’s 19/20 in “Attack of the Clones” and there’s at least a one or two year time jump in S3 of TCW.

Yo, that means he was like late 30s/early 40s when he died in “Return of the Jedi.”  Well shoot, man...

Yeah, Obi-Wan, let’s freaking kick the crazy homicidal cyborg.  Great idea.

Is Grievous just covered in gasoline or something because he just went up in flames *snaps* just like that.

Ohhhh this scene with Anakin and Padme looking at the windows of their respective places is really good...

Look at freaking Anakin here! 

George Lucas deserves any and all sins for the bad dialogue for Anakin because Hayden Christensen can really act when he’s not given any dialogue and he’s just told to react. 

So, with that, henceforth, there shall be no dissing Hayden Christensen on my blog.

I AM THE SENATE!

Dramatic window break!

Palpatine’s lightsaber just freaking deactivated as soon as Windu kicked it out the window

Wowwww... the prosthetics on Palpatine look.. bad....

UNLIMITED.... POOWEEERRRRR!!!

I just realized that Anakin kind of walks over to Palpatine on his knees before he pledges himself to Palpatine

Why Darth “Vader” though?  Is there any special reasoning for that?

AN:  Holy crap, there’s an hour left and Anakin has just turned to the Dark Side...

Pfftttt....

THESE SHOTS THOUGH

Man, I need to download more tracks from this soundtrack...

You can tell that that’s green screen behind Cody

*in best Palpatine impression*  Execute Order 66!

Nooooooooooooo, Boga!

Aaaaand everyone dies and it sucks now!

Ughh, Aayla Secura...

NOOOOOOOOOO PLO KOONN!

What planet is that?

Here’s my question:  in Rebels, how the heck did Thrawn get Gree’s helmet?  Was there an imperial campaign out on Kashyyyk and he found it somewhere?

That small matte painting shot of the Jedi Temple burning is actually really pretty now that I see it again

Yooooo can we talk about this padawan though?

Kashyyyk has twin moons...

So what happens to Chewie after this and before the Han Solo movie?

Heeeyyyyyyy I know that kind of ship!

“Have faith, my love [Padme]...”  Uhhhh... Padme should have picked up on how... off that line was

How has NO ONE in the Senate (besides Organa and probably Mon Mothma) picked up on Padme’s pregnancy?

*imitates Palpatine*  Mustafaaarrrrr....

“Could be a trap.”  It’s Star Wars.  There’s always a trap.

What’s that planet right next to Mustafar?

Random xylophone scales!

Yoda is taking no prisoners!

Where are the lightsaber/balster holes in the younglings?  Yoda said that they were probably killed by lightsaber so where are the marks on their bodies?

Yellow eyes...

“So this is how liberty dies:  with thunderous applause.”  Best.  line.  Ever.  Someone send flowers and chocolates to Natalie Portman.

“I've recalibrated the code, warning all surviving Jedi to stay away.”  Aaaagghh and we see it in Rebels and in the Last Padawan comic!

Don’t mind me casually dying

I just noticed that gradually throughout this movie, you can see Obi-Wan get grey hairs in his sideburns

*Obi-Wan sneaks onto Padme’s ship to Mustafar*  Where did he come from?!?

“You [Darth Vader] have restored peace and balance to the galaxy.”  *in best Anakin voice*  OK... now what?

“And together, you [Padme] and I [Anakin] can rule the galaxy! We can make things the way we want them to be!”  Wow, “The Last Jedi” is just smackin’ me in the face right now

Anakin... you’re breaking my heart!

That is just extremely bad timing on Obi-Wan’s part

YOU HAVE DONE THAT YOURSELF!

Your new Empire?!?

DEMOCRACY!

“Only a Sith deals in absolutes.”  A what?

That’s a pretty nasty lisp you have there.  Might wanna do something about that.

You know how this Yoda vs. Palpatine fight could be more amazing?  Just add helium

Honestly, for the BIG DEAL fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan, it just goes on for a little bit too long.

Plus when it’s intercut with the Yoda vs. Palpatine, the latter is way more entertaining (hello, two most powerful peope going head to head with actual Force lightning being involved?)

Are they [Anakin and Obi-Wan] just kicking each other with the Force now?  Wow...

NOT EVEN HITTING EACH OTHER!

Seriously, they’re just banging their lightsabers together and calling that a fight.  C’mon... actually try to hit the opponent!

Duel of the Fates!

*Palpatine throws the Senate chairs at Yoda with the Force* So I threw the Senate at him!

Honestly, you could cut out this whole balance thing on the sinking balcony and mining buildings/walkways

Commander Fox?

ExPLOsions...

Noooo... cut this out...

“Into exile, I [Yoda] must go.  Failed, I have.”  And yet people complain about Luke doing the exact same thing in the sequel trilogy

You’re not even trying to hit each other!

FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, THE JEDI ARE EVIL!

IT’S OVER, ANAKIN!  I HAVE THE HIGH GROUND!

YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!

“You were my brother, Anakin.  I loved you.”  Uuuggghhhh....

I actually read somewhere that Ewan McGregor actually asked George Lucas to change the line to past tense instead of the original present tense.  Which is sad, so thanks Ewan.

Can’t you just put out the fire with the Force?

How did 3PO and R2 get an unconscious Padme on board?

Where is this?

*Palpatine’s shuttle lands in Coruscant*  It was a dark and stormy night...

Y’know, at this point, me comparing Anakin being repaired and transformed into Darth Vader and the creation of Frakenstein’s monster is almost inevitable at this point...

Stupid question, but what’s the significance of the names “Luke” and “Leia” concerning the themes present in the movies?  Or is that up to people like me who enjoy the meta to find that out?

He [Darth Vader] just killed that medical droid next to him...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Do not want....

“...[Qui Gon] learned the path to immortality...” In the TV show!

I like how the last line in this freaking movie is “Oh no!” and it’s from 3PO...

Triceratops rams!

The design for Padme’s funeral garb is actually Iain McCaig’s favorite concept art

How did they develop TIE fighters so quickly?

Oh my God, the dude they got to play Tarkin... oh God...

Definitely not Peter Cushing

*gasp*  Leia’s theme!

Random eopie noise!

Oh my God, “Binary Suns”...

Obi-Wan’s like “Great, now I gotta help a pair of random, separate Force-sensitive teenagers and their astromechs in the near future...”

Wait, they put Ewan McGregor in top billing?

“With Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu”  Thamuel El Jackthson!

Holy crap, I forgot Joel Edgerton plays young Uncle Owen

[queenofcats17]

Prompt time!

-To give one of their own a confidence boost, the gang does a rendition of Hey Jude. -“Of all the things I expected to happen, us getting turned into the X-Men wasn’t one of them.” -Bendy and pals get to see Star Wars for the first time. -“Why doesn’t my character have a reflection?”

I’m really sorry this took so long. Also, sorry some of them are so short. 

Wally was going to ask someone out. It wasn’t clear whether this someone was a male, female, or even someone they knew. The employees of Joey Drew Studios just knew that Wally was gearing up to ask someone on a date. He’d been a nervous wreck for about a week now involving this.

“We’ve gotta do something about this,” Norman said at lunch one day. “The kid’s a mess. This can’t continue.” Wally had eaten and gotten back to aggressively cleaning in order to get his mind off this whole thing.

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Sammy asked, massaging his temples. He, Norman, Shawn, Grant, and Thomas were seated together at a table for lunch.

“I really don’t see how this is our business,” Grant said, sighing heavily as he desperately tried to distance himself from the conversation. He wasn’t even sure why he’d left his office in the first place. Thomas had dragged him out for some reason.

“Well, if Wally’s on edge then everyone suffers for it,” Thomas said. “He doesn’t clean as well and all that.” Murmurs of agreement echoed from around the table. They knew they had to do something about this to help the janitor.

“Why don’t you sing him a song?” The men looked up to see Allison standing there, fidgeting a little. The tiny intern smiled nervously at the scrutiny.

“What kind of song do you have in mind?” Sammy asked, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.

“Well, um, Hey Jude?” Allison suggested, playing with her skirt.

“What makes you think of that?” Norman asked.

“I’ve been listening to the Beatles a lot,” Allison explained. “And, well, I think this one is pretty relevant to the situation.” Sammy’s smile widened. Oh, this was good. Partially because he wanted to mess with Wally. He knew this was going to make the other man extremely flustered.

“I gotta get back to work.” Shawn pushed back his chair. “Tell me how it turns out.”

“I have to finish balancing the company chequebook.” Grant got up as well. “The rest of you have fun.” The two of them went off to get back to their jobs, leaving Thomas, Norman, and Sammy with Allison.

“I should probably get back to work too.” Allison began to turn away, but Sammy caught her hand.

“No no no.” He said. “This was your idea. You’re going to help us execute it.” The four of them headed down to where Wally was furiously scrubbing at an ink spill on the ninth level. Allison was still rather nervous. She didn’t sing for very many people. She was taking over for Susie today, sure, but that was only because the other woman was out sick.

“I’m not sure I want to do this.” She whispered to Sammy.

“You’ll do fine,” Sammy assured her.

“Hey! Wally!” Norman yelled, causing the janitor to jump and nearly drop his mop. “We got something to say to you!”

“What?!” Wally turned around, his face a mask of barely contained terror. Sammy cleared his throat, gesturing to Allison.

The little intern stepped forward and began to sing. “Hey, Jude, don’t make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart. Then you can start to make it better.”

“Hey, Jude, don’t be afraid. You were made to go out and get her. The minute you let her under your skin. Then you begin to make it better.” Sammy joined her, an arm around her shoulder.

“And anytime you feel the pain, hey, Jude, refrain. Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders. For well you know that it’s a fool who plays it cool, by making his world a little colder.” The two sang together, with Thomas and Norman provided some backup vocals.

“Hey, Jude, don’t let me down. You have found her, now go and get her. Remember to let her into your heart. Then you can start to make it better. So let it out and let it in, hey, Jude, begin. You’re waiting for someone to perform with. And don’t you know that it’s just you, hey, Jude, you’ll do. The movement you need is on your shoulder.”  

Wally could only stare at them. This was by far one of the strangest things he’d experienced. Were…Were they trying to give him confidence or something? Oh shit, did they know he wanted to ask Shawn out? They did, didn’t they?

“Go get ‘em, tiger,” Thomas said with a subdued thumbs up.

“Whoever it is you’re trying to ask out, just do it,” Norman said. “We’re all getting tired of watching you rabbit around.”

“I just wanted to sing a song.” Allison smiled nervously. “Um, I’ll go now.” And with that, she quickly ran off.

“So? You gonna do it or not?” Sammy asked with a huge smile. Wally just kept staring at them. Was it that obvious that he was nervous? Ah, screw it. Wally threw down his mop.

“I’m gonna do it!” He said, hands on his hips. He stormed to the elevator. “I’m gonna ask Shawn Flynn out!”

“So that’s who it is. Hm.” Norman nodded slowly. “Didn’t think he liked him.”

“I mean, it kind of makes sense.” Thomas shrugged a little. “He’s always cleaning near Shawn’s workshop.” Sammy smiled to himself, quite proud of what he’d done. They’d have to see how well this panned out, though.

.

.

“Of all the things I expected to happen, us getting turned into the X-Men wasn’t one of them,” Grant said dryly, throwing a quarter at the ceiling. The coin bounced off the ceiling, hitting one of the toys Shawn had animated, passing through Cordelia, and finally landing back in Grant’s hand. The intern shivered a bit as the coin passed through her translucent and incorporeal body. She’d been crying for the past hour but seemed to finally have stopped. Grant had been performing little tricks using his new powers to calm down her and Allison, both of whom had been terrified when their powers had first manifested.

“Why’re my powers so lame?” Shawn groaned, making a few of the plushes get up and start dancing around Allison. Allison smiled and clapped her hands weakly. What a cruel trick of fate her powers had been. Allison would never be able to be a voice actress now. Whenever she opened her mouth, what seemed like miniature sonic booms came out.

“You can animate inanimate objects,” Grant said, shooting the toymaker a dirty look. “You could make statues move. I can only manipulate probability.” Behind them, Thomas had started taking apart everything he could, studying their layout.

“What are you doing?” Cordelia asked, carefully making her way over. She was terrified she’d pass through the floor again.

“I need to understand how they work,” Thomas muttered. With some concentration, Cordelia managed to pick up one of the machine pieces.

“Are you going to put them back together?” She asked. Thomas nodded, snatching the piece from her hands. In less than a minute, the machine he’d taken apart was reassembled and working better than it had before.

“Whoa! That’s so cool!” Cordelia exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Allison opened her mouth to ask if she could see, but only a long shriek came out. Everyone covered their ears until she had closed her mouth. She looked on the verge of tears again.

“Hey, it’s alright.” Cordelia walked over to try and hug her, but only passed through the other girl.

“We need to find the others,” Grant concluded. “Perhaps their powers have awakened too.”

“Mm.” Thomas kept taking apart and putting together machines.

“Is no one coming with me?” Grant asked, sighing.

“I don’t feel comfortable moving long distances,” Cordelia whispered, already starting to sink into the floor. Allison started to panic, trying to pull her fellow intern up from the floor. By this point, Cordelia had become almost completely incorporeal.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Pull yourself together, girl!” Shawn said, running over to help as well.

“Alright, I see you’ll all be busy with…her,” Grant said. “I’ll be back in a little.” Before anyone could stop him, he walked out of the room. It took a few minutes to calm Cordelia down and get her out of the floor, but they managed it. Once that was done, Shawn started testing the limits of what exactly he could animate. As it turned out, quite a lot. When Grant finally returned with Joey, Shawn was animating the toy machine and making the toys in the room dance. Cordelia was finally corporeal and opaque again, and Allison was clapping excitedly along. Thomas was still taking apart machines.

“Well, it looks like everyone is adjusting nicely,” Joey said brightly. Grant could only groan.

.

.

The toons were going to watch Star Wars. When Susie found out they’d never seen the movies, she knew this had to be remedied. So she’d set up the projection for a movie night and corralled the toons.

“Why’re we doing this?” Bendy whined, rolling around in his chair. “I don’t want to watch a bunch of boring movies.”

“Star Wars is a staple of American culture.” Susie chided him as she set up the film reels. “You have to watch it.”

“I think it’s exciting!” Alice said, clapping her hands together. “Susie’s told me so much about the movies!”

“I’ve always wanted to go to space,” Boris said almost dreamily.

“It’s space.” Sammy shrugged a little.

“Oh, hush. They should be excited.” Susie started up the film, snuggling up beside Sammy. They watched all three original films in the span of one day, taking breaks for food and going to the bathroom. By the end of it, all three toons were ecstatic. Alice had fallen in love with the character of Princess Leia, while Bendy liked Han Solo. Boris enjoyed Luke Skywalker himself, tearing up a little when Luke reached out to his father.

“It’s just so kind,” Boris said, wiping away tears. “He still believes in Vader, even if Vader chopped off Luke’s hand. That’s…That’s really powerful.”

“You’re such a softie,” Bendy said, patting his back.

“I gotta admit, I do admire Luke,” Sammy said. “That does take a lot of courage and compassion. I’d never be able to do something like that.”

“The bitterness is strong in you.” Alice giggled.

“There are more movies, too,” Susie said, wiggling her eyebrows. “They’re coming out with a new trilogy.”

“No way!” Bendy’s eyes widened. “Is Han in them? Please tell me he does cool stuff!”

“He does cool stuff,” Sammy said. “And Leia becomes a general.”

“That’s great!” Alice squealed and started jumping up and down.

“We might have to sneak you guys into the theatre sometime,” Susie said, grinning as she went to remove the reels from the projector.

“Good luck getting that idea by Joey.” Sammy’s smile fell. “He’s not gonna like the idea of getting the toons out.”

“I’ll figure something out.” Susie hummed. “I always do.”

For the next few weeks, the toons reenacted scenes from Star Wars, quoting and playing make-believe. No one had ever seen them so animated. They were so excited, so full of ideas and pranks and joy. Joey couldn’t help but smile. Maybe he’d have to let them out to see the new movies. They were excited enough about it.

.

.

Allison was finally getting her own character in the show. After years and years of working her butt off, trying to become a voice actress, she finally was one. She was so excited she could barely breathe as Joey showed her the concept sketches of her character.

“Her name is Leticia,” Joey said.

“She’s beautiful.” Allison gasped, running her fingers over the sketches. Leticia was a curvaceous young woman with long dark hair, a sleek black dress, and little high heels. Allison was excited to have another female character for the show. But one sketch caught her attention.

“Why doesn’t my character have a reflection?” She asked, pointing to one sketch of Leticia in front of a mirror.

“She’s a vampire,” Joey said brightly.

“Oh.” Allison looked down at the sketches again. “She’s...Um...She’s not a bad vampire, is she?”

“Oh no!” Joey laughed and shook his head. “She’s Alice’s best friend and a little bit of a troublemaker, but not evil.”

“Oh, good.” Allison laughed nervously. “Well, I’ll do the best I possibly can!”

Allison threw herself into her work, finding that she could relate to Leticia more than she had previously thought she would. She felt a connection to the character, the same way Susie felt a connection to Alice. This excited Allison. She’d always admired Susie, seeing her as what she wanted to achieve someday. To have a connection to her character, just like her idol, was something amazing to her. Susie just seemed glad Allison wasn’t going to be taking her job anytime soon.

[cutegirlmayra]

Ello! I'm a big fan of all your work, and I just want to request a prompt if that's alright. Sometimes I like to imagine that the Sonic Boom characters are really just older versions of themselves from the games, thus their personalities has changed a little. For example, Amy is no longer openly obsessing over Sonic. I was wondering if you can write a story that takes place between the Modern!Sonic timeline and Sonic Boom timeline where Sonic starts to notice and question Amy's new personality.

(x)

Aw, thank you so much! This is a wonderful concept to work with! I hope I do it justice ^^

Prompt:

“Oh my hero!!!” A small Amy Rose held her arms out to embrace him.

Why does she do that? Can’t she tell I’m-

Sonic let the strange girl embrace him, but he stepped back a bit; exaggerating his movements as he tried to lightly put his hands to the sides of her shoulders.

With a light tug, he was able to have her let go.

She never seemed to care or notice that he would let her have her movement, before moving on.

But as she got older… She would take any opportunity to try and get closer to him.

It was so exhausting…

Sonic looked up from the outdoor table at the ‘date’ Amy arranged, wagging his foot out that balanced on his knee while he waited anxiously for the day to be over.

At the end of it, Amy insisted on him taking her for a run, even when she would voice that she was getting tried of him simply carrying her all the time. 

She wanted something more… something interesting.

I was always nervous it wasn’t enough for her anymore…

Sonic frowned as she once again would hug him… but this time,…

Before he could even lightly touch her shoulder, she already started to pull away.

At first, he smiled shyly, but now he looked surprised.

Her face… was distant.

Why is she so sad?

Was it something I said?

Sonic began to look over his shoulder, and realize that Amy wasn’t as enthusiastic about keeping up with him on his adventures like she used to be.

Life began to shift, and suddenly she was more interested in little projects here and there then chasing after him.

Puzzled… Sonic took the opportunity to engage her back into his life.

When Tails mentioned an Island where a small village lived, and that they could spend some relaxing years there while Eggman set up camp; he took the chance to see her again.

 With Eggman building a lair there… it was probably best the team hung out there to make sure he wasn’t up to no good.

Would the village be able to defend themselves without him and his team? Pfft.

Sonic smirked and raced off to get Amy, trying to find her anywhere he could.

Amy… Amy… Where are you?

It was always easy for Amy to find Sonic.

And for the first time…

He envied that.

Amy… Amy… Amy..?!

He spotted her in a shop, not having seen her in quite some time.

“Amy!…huh?”

He was shocked to see her so grown… a figure in a new look, a lady instead of a child.

She turned around and smiled. The features on her face still resembled the girl he knew… but something was somehow…

Different.

“Amy…”

“Oh, Sonic!” She happily waved.

He was used to her at least running up to him…

He shook himself out of it, and walked up. “Tails found out where Eggman was vacay-ing too. Want to ruin his fun?” He smirked, gesturing a thumb behind him.

“What do you mean? Like… we’re all going to live there?” Amy blinked her eyes, as Sonic opened his own excited ones and nodded, leaning up.

Amy’s eyes widened, and he was proud to show off his height now~

“Yep! What do ya say!? Up for some more adventures?”

“An island..?” Amy looked away smiling as she seemed to think about it.

She put a hand up to cup her cheek. “Oh! Beaches and jungles! New adventures! And everyone being so close again! How could I refuse?!” She excitedly squealed, kicking a leg up and out.

“Heh, nice try, Amy.” Sonic stuck his nose up, “But just because the island is small, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to catch me off guard or anything.”

It was mostly said to be sarcastic and humorous, but he was surprised by her response.

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. It’ll be fun to hang out, but I’m more excited about getting a tan!” She turned to the fabric and picked something out. “Besides, you’ll probably see me fighting off Eggman too! I’ve changed a lot in a few years! Oh, I see you let your hair grow out on your arms? Nice!” she lightly went to feel, before giggling and turning back, flinging a brown fabric towards him.

“Hmm… This one is good, but maybe this outfit won’t go well with a scarf..?” she kept looking around, before flapping her hands out as if giving up. “Oh, who am I kidding. It’s a ISLAND! I won’t need a scarf!” she laughed and dashed out, before waving off to him.

“See you at Tails’s, Sonic!”

He held the brown fabric… almost hurt by the fact she didn’t flirt back or even try too…

He looked down at the scarf…

“…Maybe you won’t try…” he tied the fabric around his neck like a bandanna, and then smirked, turning around. “But I haven’t given up so easily! And I know you haven’t either!” He dashed towards Tails, admiring his new fashion statement.

He held it up by a hand before taking a sniff and looking up. “All she needs is another push… shouldn’t be a problem!”

However…

Arriving on the island, Amy acted more like a ‘chum’ than she did beforehand…

It was easier for him to be around her, but odder for him to see her the way he used too.

It was kinda sad for him, to see her not even try and make a move, but also made things more comfortable in that he could always be around her and not feel the need to keep any walls up.

They ended up getting closer…

And when Amy did make plans for something, she never called them ‘dates’, and he was able to say ‘yes’ to more alone time with her.

He… kinda liked that.

It was casual, easy, free…

“That was fun, Ames!” Sonic stated, walking her home one day before she stopped laughing and turned to look at him.

“Ames?”

She seemed almost touched, as he turned around and put his hands down from behind his head, scratching his nose and avoiding her stare.

“Oh yeah. I thought it’d be a good idea for a nickname. It doesn’t bother you, does it? I know it’s not really original or nothing, but it’s quick, rolls off the tongue, kinda cute when you say it right and well-”

She suddenly hugged him.

He was surprised, it had been a long time…

His arms came down and so did his eyelids, but she pulled away right before he could even try and return the embrace…

He nervously moved back as if he wasn’t going to hold her back.

“H-heh.. what was that for?” he acted cool, playing it off as he lightly rubbed his arm, growing… strangely more awkward and nervous than he ever had before…

“Oh, just a thank you…. Sonic.” she smiled… something he could never pull his eyes from.

He smiled back.

“Glad it made ya happy,… Ames.” he winked.

She nodded and continued to her home, “Well, this is my place. Sorry for the hug, by the wa-”

He slammed his hand on the door at lightning speeds, suddenly stopping her from advancing as she flinched back, and turned to him as he leaned on the door.

His elbow now kept it shut as he looked to her and then away, trying to once again seem ‘casual’ and ‘cool’.

“Sorry? F-f-for what? I’m used to it. It’s been a while. Ehem. Are those shoes new?” he looked down.

She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t seem to realize he was stalling…

“Hehe, the whole outfits new, Sonic.” she looked down and moved her shoes around, showing off before flipping her hair and posing a second. “Haven’t you noticed?”

“More than you’d think…”

“Huh?” she blinked her eyes open as he stared at her…

“Bah-wh-wha-whelp!” he clapped his hands and moved off the door, before gesturing to it and swaying his arms out that way. “You’re probably tried and haa~ So am I~” he stretched and faked a yawn. “You should get to bed. I’ll um… just… walk around here.” he kicked a foot out, putting his hands behind his back and whistling as he took off with a merry little bounce in his step.

she was still suspicious, but figured- this was Sonic we’re talking about- and looked up, shaking her head at even thinking the thought, before heading inside.

When she closed the door… Sonic turned back to it, his smile suddenly becoming a genuine look of missing her.

Now that Amy’s holding back… I’m starting to want some of the old days back…

He sighed, his shoulders coming down as he looked forlorned and kicked a rock out.

Guess I’m just a few years too late…

His eyes suddenly lit up as he looked to her window.

Or maybe.. just too slow!

He looked around and a few feet away, there was a sunflower that was lying on the ground. Probably blown off from the strong winds the islands got.

He opened his mouth wide into a grin, and looked back at her window.

He took some courage and grabbed the flower, heading up to the window.

However…

Before he could surprise her, he heard her conversing on the phone.

“Boyfriend? Oh please! I’ve moved on since then!”

His face sunk a little… his excitement leaving him suddenly…

She waited a second before responding to the person on the phone. “Emhmm. I’m a new woman now! you know what that means! The world is mine for the taking and I don’t need any stinkin’ man!”

Sonic dropped the flower into the room and dashed off.

“Haha! That’s right! And this time..-”

Well, if that was the case… might as well just let life take it’s course…

Get close while I still could be close…

-What he didn’t hear-

Phone: So you’re not gonna call him your boyfriend anymore?

“Boyfriend? Oh please! I’ve moved on since then!”

Phone: Oh.. you’re taking on a new strategy then!?

“Emhmm. I’m a new woman now! You know what that means! The world is mine for the taking and I don’t need any stinkin’ man!”

Phone: hahaah, that’s right! Only a ‘Hero’ will do!

“Haha! That’s right! And this time…-

                                         I’m gonna make that Sonic respect me!

                                                        With his own free will….

                                                                He’s gonna fall and chase me into love!”

Phone: Good luck, Amy! Me and Cheese are rooting for you! ‘Chao Chao!’

Amy hung up the phone after saying goodbye, before almost stepping on something that crumbled slightly under her feet.

Reaching down, she touched her heart and admired the beautiful sunflower, before looking around and up at her roof’s window.

“Did you get blown in here, little fella?” she smiled and looked down at it, putting it into a water jar.

“There. Now you can flourish in a new home!” She lightly stroked the petals. “Much like something else I hope will grow..”

(I thought the progression would look something like this..? xP Idk)

(x) sequel

[forkanna]

[AO3 LINK]

NOTE: Apologies for how caustic Kim is at the beginning of this bit haha. Also, rest in peace, Chester Bennington.

You'll probably think I'm being a super lazy storyteller when I start out with "And that's how it went for a week or so." Fuck you, I do what I want. Besides, I'm going to give you some summary stuff, so don't get too bent out of shape.

And that's how it went for a week or so. Knives would disappear for a couple days, then pop back into my life to just chat and hang out, come with me to the library or work, digging through albums at Sonic Boom. Literally a stray dog. None of my attempts to be acerbic and grumpy could drive her off. Sometimes she wanted to get food together, sometimes she wouldn't bring it up. Eventually, she stopped asking about the "challenges" though, which was fine since there weren't any. One thing I had to wonder about, though…

She never invited herself back to my apartment, or asked me to go to her place. Probably the second one is because she's living with her parents while on break from uni. But it was weird; she was spending all this extra time finding me and following me, wanting to have enforced bonding time, but never wanted to see where I lived or make the night longer. It's not so much that I was disappointed by that, of course. Just surprised. Like people who jumbo-size their fast food meal, then order a diet soda. Why go for broke with the eats but then stop short on the drink? Just not logic that I can follow.

Anyway, that was about it until the night Steph and I were going to play an actual show instead of being stuck in the corner of a café. I hadn't been thinking too much about it, because to be honest, the idea of playing this kind of music in front of an audience that actually came specifically to hear live music was terrifying. It took all night for me to psych myself up to not chicken out, since this wasn't exactly my comfort zone with live performance.

"We can do this," she was whispering backstage as we waited anxiously for the emcee to call for us. "We can. We totally can, and we totally will."

"You're going to talk both of us out of it at this rate."

"Shhh." Adjusting her ironic beret, she glanced over at me. "Almost showtime, that guy with the six harmonicas seems close to done."

Nodding, I pushed my coppery bangs out of my face. They were growing out, and finally just long enough that they were almost normal hair. I was just sick of bangs. "Yeah."

"You okay?"

My entire body bristled. "What? Fine. Shut up."

"You've been kind of weird since last week at the Other Cup. Like… we don't talk much outside of band prac-"

"I really don't want to, either," I lied. Sure, it'd be nice to have someone besides the hyper ninja chick to talk to, but Steph didn't have to offer friendship out of pity. We were both above that.

"Suit yourself. Oh, this is us."

Shaking off the vague feeling of nausea, I made myself follow her out onto the tiny stage. The announcer just said our names and encouraged the audience to "give it up", which they did, politely and quietly. We didn't have a band name yet since Steph said she was "over labels" and I didn't want to argue with her. Naming it would be accepting that this was actually the shitty excuse for a band that I was currently part of. The latest of many.

"This one's called 'Garland of Cornelia'," she said into the mic. "And it goes a little something like this."

What a cheeseball.

We played our set, and people actually didn't boo us off. We sounded as good as we possibly could given the kind of crap Steph writes, and dare I say it, we might have been ready for the big time if we could find a flautist. Or a thereminist; that seemed about right for this pretentious bullshit. It made my skin crawl and I really wanted someone else to be playing the bongos instead of me, since really she could play bongos as well as I can — just not at the same time as the zither. But I could fill in with her for now until she found someone who hated the music less than me. Or until I found another rock outfit that wouldn't implode like the others.

Part of the gig was that we got free drinks after our set, so after more polite applause I literally only took enough time to shove my bongos into the bag before heading straight for the bar. "Steam Whistle."

"Can I see some ID?"

"Cute." But the bartender just stared me straight in the face, and he didn't look like the type to mess around. Shrugging, I got it out and showed him, and he got me a beer.

I'd barely had enough time to get two sips in before I spotted Knives at the corner of the bar, far away and close to the door. She wasn't with anybody, and she wasn't looking at me either when I first spotted her. Maybe it was a wild coincidence.

Or maybe the way she did catch me looking at her, gulped, and sprinted for the door meant that it wasn't anything close to a coincidence.

Of course I ran after her. When somebody runs away, it's only natural to want to chase them down and figure out why, isn't it? But when I got outside, she was nowhere to be seen. I thought about trying to follow, asking if anyone saw a speeding Chinese puppy-girl and which way she went, but everybody on that street was either wasted or sleeping it off in doorways. No sense in wasting my time. Disgusted, I turned and went back inside.

What did she want from me? Why didn't she wait? The whole thing was so ridiculously confusing that I focused on downing as much beer as possible for a minute or two.

"What did I miss?" Steph asked when she caught up to me, picking up on my bad mood before she even sat down.

"Life is stupid."

"We weren't that bad. They actually clapped a little. Some of them, anyway."

"Not that. Just… nevermind, I should probably go home."

Her elbow bumped mine on the bar. "Don't be like that. I actually don't hate you, even if the feeling isn't mutual."

"Maybe it should be mutual. Hatred, I mean; just… whatever." My head slumped forward until it connected with the bar. "I'm trying not to care about something that doesn't deserve to be cared about in the first place."

"What's that?"

Another sigh. "The girl from Delicious Cup."

"Oh. You and her are a thing?"

"WHAT? No. Don't jump to conclusions." My hands gently spun the empty pint glass. "She made this proclamation that she's my 'bff' now, I guess. Even though I don't care. Anyway… she was here tonight."

"She came to hear us? That's pretty decent of her."

"No, it's weird. I never told her about this show. How did she know to come see us?"

When I peeked at Steph, I saw one of her eyebrows was raised as she ordered us two more beers. "Uhh, could be the marquee out front that said 'Steph Nordegraf and Kim Pine'? Just a tiny clue."

"Those letters are so tiny, though. Unless she's walking around with a microscope in her bag…"

"Look." The beers arrived, and we both paused to take a swig before she continued, "She clearly looks up to you. Younger girl, right? She needs a role model or something like that. Happens all the time, teenagers latch onto women who are still young enough to be 'friends' but not old enough to be a second mother, and kinda… you know, that word for imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, that thing?"

"Emulate," I guessed.

"Yeah, that's it. Probably all there is to it. Kind of a feather in your cap, if she wants to be like you even with you being the way you are. Don't worry about everything so much."

"And what way am I, exactly?" The point had been to put her on the defensive and shut her down, but of course, it didn't work because nobody takes me seriously anymore. She didn't even hesitate to answer before taking another drink.

"An asshole."

"Thanks."

                                              ~ o ~

"Hey!" Knives said cheerfully as she bounced into No-Account the next day.

"What were you doing at Cameron last night?"

She literally froze in mid-high five. Which I hadn't raised my hand to return, anyway; I wanted answers before we moved along to pleasantries. "Uh… what?"

"You were there. I saw you run out."

"Nahhhhh," she drawled out, very slowly thawing from her frozen pose and tucking her non-high-fived hand behind her back with its twin. "That was the other girl."

"What other girl?"

"I don't know? Not me, that's for sure. Why would I be at Cameron House?"

"Because you're stalking me. We kind of already established that part."

Wilting, she finally leaned against the counter and gave me the puppy-dog eyes. "Am not. Well… not that bad, I don't spy through your bedroom window or anything at night. Just wanna see what you do with your days."

"You could have asked to come along."

"How? You didn't tell me you were playing."

The slight pout won me over, and I sighed. "Fine. Just forget it."

"You guys were good, though! Weird, but good. What do you call that kind of music?"

"Trainwreck."

"Trainwreck, huh?" she asked, again missing that I was being facetious. "It's kinda like, soothing, except for Steph's lyrics are brutal in that Nineties lesbian way."

My eyebrows twitched upward a little. "What do you know about Nineties lesbians?"

"N-nothing, except for Ellen," she laughed nervously. "But the music, I mean… I've been trying to learn about music more. Started because of Sex Bob-omb, but then I kinda started branching out from there."

Rolling my eyes, I grunted, "Nobody should start learning anything because of Sex Bob-omb. Those two demos floating around online are going to forever haunt me."

"They were good! You guys rocked, you just… drifted apart."

Knives looked sad. Like, genuinely sad that everything changed, the way high schoolers usually do right after graduation, or — gee, look at that — after their first year of college. Pathetic and dejected, her sweet little face the picture of a child who had lost their favourite toy and finally figured out it wasn't coming back. Maybe that's why I reached up to lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey… we sucked. Not worth getting upset over."

"But you didn't suck. I liked it…"

"You just admitted you didn't know much about music before hearing us. Like… angsty young Kim was listening to Linkin Park constantly in junior high, and now I think they're shit. But that nostalgia factor makes me stop myself from completely hating them. You know?"

"Awww," Knives cooed, momentarily distracted. "Angsty young Kim…"

"Shut up. But you get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah." Her hand came up to wipe her eyes. Had she been crying?! I hadn't noticed because no actual tears fell, and she was looking down and pouting. But now when she looked upward with a slight smile, patting my hand, I could see how shiny her eyes were. "Thanks, I guess. Still liked you guys together, though, but… I guess…"

Swallowing hard, I jerked my hand away. The whole 'emoting' thing made me very uncomfortable. But then I winced when I saw her wince. We both ended up doing a lot of wincing lately. I had to smooth that over somehow.

"Um… you can pick the next movie. Got just enough time for it before my shift is up."

Clearing her throat, she grinned up at me, and the signs that she had been crying were way too clear to ignore. It hurt for some stupid reason. "Cool. But I know even less about movies than about music, so… I dunno. That zombie movie?"

"It's not even real," I sighed, looking over at the new releases. Which were still from forever ago.

"Oh? Well then… 'Action Doctor'?"

"Sounds lame. What about 'It Came From Subspace'?"

"That could be cool… what's it about?"

"Hell if I know. But it's a movie, and I haven't seen it yet, either."

That was what we watched. And the whole time, I found myself looking over at Knives and trying to figure out why she was there. Why she cared so much about whether or not I cared the same amount as her about the implosion of the Bob-omb. Why I cared whether or not she cared. Just this annoying circle of caring that made me want to pull my hair out.

About halfway through, she caught me staring. "What?"

"Just… wondered if you wanted a drink." It was the only excuse I could think of.

"Nah. I'm good. Do you?"

"Nah."

"Do you want something else?"

Even though I felt like I might, like to ask her again why she felt it was so important to watch me and Steph play, or any of those caring-related questions that had been spinning through my head, all I did was shrug. That was simpler. Safer. Less threatening to my grumpy way of life.

But definitely not 'better'. And it was getting harder and harder not to admit that.

                                               To Be Continued…

[grizzbe]

The galaxy’s most dangerous duo picked their way silently and professionally through the forest, their cliff fading into the background as they came ever-closer to the pirate campsite. “Galaxy’s Most Dangerous Duo” had a nice ring to it, he’d have to remember to ask Cora how she liked it later.

Scott picked his footing carefully, each step made to ensure total silence and to keep the element of surprise squarely in their corner. SAM had spotted an additional two pirates from their ship up in orbit, still not anything that should give him and Cora any reason to pause but Scott was all about surprises. Slowly, the voices of the pirates grew and, eventually, their shuttle came into view.

Scott and Cora hunkered down behind a fallen tree and began to survey the field. Several of the pirates were hauling crates from the shuttle and setting them aside; two others were rummaging through them, marking their contents. One sat on top of the shuttle, appearing to shout at the others.

“Well, there’s the leader,” whispered Scott. He magnified each of the pirates, taking stock of what kind of ordinance the ragtag group was using. Mostly M-8 Avengers, one had a Katana, and the Angaran had an Isharay but, overall, they weren’t sporting top-of-the-line gear.

“I don’t know,” said Cora, giving the obvious leader a glance. “He could just be the loudmouth that everyone else has to put up with.”

Cora crept forward as Scott reevaluated the man sitting atop the shuttle shouting instructions, “Why does that seem like a thinly veiled joke at my expense?”

“What joke?” asked Cora, with all the innocence she could muster as Scott crept up behind her.

“Oh. Oh Cora, that cuts deep,” whispered Scott.

His second-in-command stifled a laugh and grabbed him at the base of his neck before pressing her helmet’s visor against his in their developed shorthand for a kiss. He always appreciated these armored kisses, but they weren’t quite the same as the real thing, the two usually kept a tally and made up for them in-the-flesh later on.

“Alright, how do we want to go at this?” asked Cora. “SAM, do you see any biotics in the crew?”

“None are readily apparent, Ms. Harper,” said SAM. “One would assume if they had biotics, they wouldn’t bother with manually offloading their cargo.”

“Any intel on our uninvited guests?” asked Scott. “Why they’re here? Where they came from? What might be in those big ol’ crates of theirs?”

“They call themselves ‘The Black Holes’, Pathfinder, and no fewer than eight hijackings have been attributed to them in the past month,” said SAM. “It is not readily apparent why they are here, nor what they might have in their crates. There have been no pirate actions reported in the area recently.”

“‘The Black Holes’? We should take them down just for having such a lame name,” declared Scott.

“With nothing reported, they probably robbed another gang,” said Cora. “Which probably means they’re going to be jumpy, waiting for the other gang to strike.”

“Makes sense,” agreed Ryder, giving the group a final look over.

“So how do you want to go at this?” asked Cora, turning to give her partner her full attention. Even with all of his gear on, she could tell the wheels in his head were turning, which usually meant that he was going to do something foolish.

“Just… wait for my signal,” said Scott as he hopped from behind cover and started slowly walking towards the pirates completely unarmed.

“Signal?!” hissed Cora as the Pathfinder walked casually towards danger. “That’s not a plan, Scott!”

She shook her head in frustration but prepared herself; she had been with Scott long enough to know he didn’t just walk into danger without a plan, regardless of how much it looked like he did. Whatever his signal was, she’d catch it, and she’d be ready.

Scott held his hands out in front of him as he picked his path toward the clearing carefully, his mind racing to formulate something akin to a plan. One of these days he’d learn to actually think of something before jumping headfirst into the next deadly encounter, but it obviously wasn’t going to be today. The leader was still shouting from on top of the shuttle, and the others continued to bumble around on the ground. As he got closer, the pirates appeared less and less competent.

“You said these guys are responsible for eight hijackings in the last month, SAM?” asked Scott.

“That is correct, Scott,” said SAM.

“How on earth did they manage that?” asked Scott, mostly to himself. Then, to SAM, “What are the casualty figures with their raids?”

“Nearly two dozen colonists, several outlaws, and nine Angarans,” replied SAM.

“Well, that makes this business a lot easier,” said Scott, a cloud falling over his features for a brief moment.

The pirates hadn’t noticed him by the time he made it to the clearing, so he took a few more tenuous steps out in front of them. After they still hadn’t noticed him, he cleared his throat loudly. The talk around the shuttle died down as the group turned to face him. For a split second time stopped before the pirates began shouting and grabbing their weapons, every muzzle pointed at the Pathfinder.

“Now now, everybody, no need to get aggressive just yet!’’ exclaimed Scott, entirely in his element. “I just want to talk! Anyone here I can talk to?”

The obvious leader of the group hopped off the shuttle and made his way toward the Pathfinder, no longer pointing his shotgun at Scott but not putting it away entirely either. He wasn’t tall, only coming up to Scott’s chin, but he was solidly built, he had apparently earned his way to the top of this particular heap through force and intimidation.

“That’d be me, asshole,” said the leader, his gruff voice matching the idea of the oafish thug that Scott had already assigned to him in his head. “Whadaya want an’ why shouldn’t I blast you off the face of this planet right now?”

This guy really wasn’t helping his case for not being the ball in a game of biotic catch between him and Cora, thought Scott. He tried his hardest to suppress the grin that was spreading around the corners of his mouth, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Pirate. My name’s Scott, human Pathfinder, defeated the Kett Archon, established several colonies, you might have heard of me.”

The pirates began to murmur, looking at each other hesitantly, their weapons wavering a fraction more.

“I just thought I’d let you know that this planet’s been claimed, so if you don't mind climbing in your ship and taking off, I’d be greatly appreciative,” only the slightest hint of a threat finding its way into Scott’s voice, his confidence oozing through his words. “Oh, and go ahead and leave the cargo, the Initiative will appreciate your contribution.”

With that, the murmurs grew louder, the leader’s eyes darted between his men before coming back at Scott, anger burning in his eyes.

“We supposed to be afraid of the big bad Pathfinder, huh?” challenged the short man. “Last I checked, eight was better’n one and bullets put you down just as good as any other person.”

Scott’s laugh had a chilling effect on the pirates around him, “You think you’re supposed to be afraid of me? No no no, you shouldn’t be afraid of me, right now you should be afraid of her. You can be afraid of me in a second.”

“Her?” was all the pirate leader managed to utter, the confusion on his face turning to utter horror as Scott’s biotics grabbed ahold of him and lifted him helplessly off the ground.

The sonic boom crackled through the air as Cora charged in, sending the pirate’s lifeless body flying into the forest, cracking against branches before landing out of sight. Chaos quickly gripped the rest of the pirates as the Pathfinder disappeared into thin air. The rest of the fight was quick, the pirates incapable of mounting any concerted effort, several falling to their comrades own fire.

Within minutes, Scott and Cora met in the middle of the clearing, their slight huffing the only evidence that either of them had done anything more stringent than a brief jog. Both took off their helmets and smiled, enjoying the silence after the thunder of battle, seeing in each other’s eyes how happy they were to see the other safe and sound.

“Nice work, Lieutenant Harper,” said Scott. “Glad to see you caught my signal.”

“Not so bad yourself, Pathfinder. And was that what that was?” Cora asked, rolling her eyes as her smile grew just a touch more radiant. “I could’ve sworn that was just a flying man that needed hitting.”

“It was a rather obvious signal, Pathfinder,” chimed SAM.

“We’re going to work on sarcasm later, SAM,” said Scott as the two operatives shared a laugh. “Now, what do we have in these boxes?”

Scott clapped his hands together and rubbed them as he and Cora approached the nearest crate. He hit the latch, and the two of them raised the lid, peaking in to get a better look. Inside, packages of freeze dried steak lined the crate, actual earth-cow steak. The box would be worth a small fortune. Cora opened another container to find it stacked with bottles of Asari and human wine, their labels a testament to their vintage.

“I’ve heard of this place before,” said Cora, inspecting one of the bottles. “One of the best vineyards in Asari space. It would’ve fetched thousands on the Citadel back in the milky way. There’s no telling how much you could get for it on Kadara, not to mention the Nexus.”

“Kadara appears to be this cargo’s original destination, Lieutenant Harper,” said SAM. “Upon further investigation of the labels on the crates, these foodstuffs were purchased by Sloane Kelly from a black market vendor and meant for a private party. She paid a hefty price.”

“Well, she’ll be ecstatic to hear that her good friend Scott found them,” said Scott, chuckling while looking over the spoils of their fight. “SAM, let Sloane know that we found her fancy food and that we’ll be dropping it off the next time we’re at Kadara Port. Also, tell her that I’m more than a little hurt that I didn't get an invite to her party.”

“Will do, Pathfinder,” said SAM.

The sun was beginning to descend before Scott realized that they had blown past the afternoon. He found his stomach grumbling as he realized that dinner was supposed to be an hour ago. Scott looked down at the steaks and plucked two of the best looking cuts from the crate before closing it up and securing it.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” asked Cora, a playful smirk curling on her lips. “You don’t think Sloane’ll be counting all of those when she gets them back?”

“Finder's fee,” said Scott, smiling as he shrugged his shoulders. “And payment for not getting an invite.”

Cora laughed before leaning over the wines and plucking a couple of expensive looking bottles if their fancy labels were any indication. She walked over to Scott and motioned back towards the cliff and the campsite on top.

“What say we head back and have ourselves a nice dinner?” asked Cora.

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” said Scott, leaning over to give her a quick kiss.

The sun was down by the time they made it back to their tent and Scott immediately got to work stoking a new fire. It wasn’t long before their steaks crackled over the flames, the explorers clinking the glasses that Cora had managed to find in the shuttle. Well, not actually ‘clinking’ as they were metal tumblers and not real glass, but close enough.

The two enjoyed their extravagant meal in companionable silence, enjoying the flickering shadows playing across each other’s faces from the fire.

“That was incredible,” said Cora as she took a sip from her wine.

“You could say that again,” agreed Scott. “It was almost as good as sex.”

“Almost?” said Cora, a devilish smile overcoming her wine-red lips. She got up and walked over to Scott, her hips swaying as she caressed the scruff on his jawline. “Don’t you think it’s about time for dessert?”

“I do believe it is,” said Scott with a toothy grin, his body on autopilot as he followed his second-in-command toward their tent.

This expedition was easily the best idea he’d had since he’d been thawed out. Well, maybe second best after deciding he wanted to get to know one Cora Harper better. The work would be waiting for them when they woke up, but right now, under these alien stars, he was perfectly content to enjoy the company of the most important person in the galaxy to him.

Well, there’s Chapter 2! I hope y’all liked it and thanks so much for reading! I’m loving this pairing the more I write for them, such a great power couple. If you have any requests, feel free to ask!

[hartwinorlose]

(wrote this for a prompter on AO3, figured I might as well post it here)

The sun blazes down on the asphalt below. Glints off the lenses of Harry’s glasses. Glints off the barrel of Valentine’s gun. The muzzle flares to life at the touch of the trigger.

All Eggsy can hear is the rush of blood in his ears, his heart pounding in his chest. His eyes fly open to find only black surrounding him, and he suddenly feels as if he’s the one who’s died. Sweat sticks his hair to his forehead, has him throwing back the covers.

Eggsy staggers into the bathroom. He flicks on the light, squinting in the sudden glare, and avoiding his reflection in the mirror. Instead, he bends over the sink, turning the cold water on blast and splashing it into his face. Might as well wake himself up, he figures. He’s not getting back to sleep after a nightmare like that.

Like a sonic boom, the gunshot rings in Eggsy’s ears, delayed. He claps his hands over them, but it doesn’t stop the inside of his own head from taunting him. In vain, he tries to shake off the clinging dread, reminding himself that Harry is fine, that he’ll be back later that day. Eggsy just has to make it another few hours.

He moves around the house quietly out of habit. Harry isn’t there to wake up; he’s off somewhere in Belize. Eggsy isn’t even sure what timezone Harry is in, whether it’s night or day for him.

A few hours seems like an unbearably long time as the sun slowly spills over the horizon. Eggsy hunches over his mug of tea, watching it go cold. When he finally takes a sip, it’s little more than room temperature. With a grunt of disgust, he pushes it away. A bit of it slops over the rim, but Eggsy can’t be bothered to clean it up, not then.

The thing that finally gets him out of his chair is a small, plaintive whine at the front door. JB’s claws scratch at the wood, and he yelps pitifully.

“Fine, fine, I’m comin’,” Eggsy mutters, hauling himself out of his chair. He shuffles over to the front door, trying not to let JB trip him up.

The pug is off like a shot as soon as the door is cracked, wriggling through the small gap, and bounding away.

“Oi!” Eggsy calls after him, but JB doesn’t give any sign that he’s heard. Sighing, Eggsy snatches the lead off the rack by the door, starting off after him. He cups his hands around his mouth. “JB! C’mon, boy, get back here!”

Obediently, JB comes trotting back, followed by a tall, suit-clad figured.

“Lose someone?” Harry asks, eyes shining with amusement.

“Harry,” Eggsy breathes, letting JB’s lead fall to the ground. He launches himself at Harry almost at a run, barreling into him and wrapping his arms around him as tightly as he can.

Harry huffs out a laugh, returning the embrace. “I was going to ask if you’d missed me, but I think you’ve answered my question,” he murmurs, dropping a kiss to the top of Eggsy’s head.

Eggsy burrows his face into Harry’s chest. His fingers clutch the fabric of his suit jacket, trying to pull him even closer.

Harry cards his fingers through Eggsy’s hair, indulging him. Eventually, however, he leans back a bit, tilting Eggsy’s chin up. “Is everything alright?” he asks, studying Eggsy intently.

A relieved smile spreads across Eggsy’s face, and for a moment all he can do is nod. “Yeah. Yeah, everythin’s fine.”

Harry’s skepticism vanishes, and he returns Eggsy’s smile. “Glad to hear it. Let’s get the little bugger back inside, shall we?”

Eggsy turns to find JB sitting at his heels, tongue out and panting.

“Right,” Eggsy laughs. He bends down, and scoops up both the lead and the pug in one go. Cradling JB in one arm, Eggsy holds his other hand out to Harry.

Looking slightly surprised, Harry accepts it, lacing their fingers together. They head back into the house, out of the early morning chill, arms swinging gently between them.

-

Eggsy realizes he’s being particularly clingy, but he can’t help it. Every time he closes his eyes, the nightmare flashes through his mind’s eye again. Blood-spattered glasses, the thud of Harry’s body hitting the ground.

Eggsy suppresses a shudder, pressing his ankle to Harry’s.

Harry looks up from his plate, shifting his foot slightly. “Did you need something, Eggsy?” he asks.

Eggsy just shakes his head.

“Are you sure?” Harry presses.

“I’m sure.”

For a moment, Harry just blinks back at him, but then he nods and resumes eating. “Alright.”

Harry asks again when Eggsy keeps brushing arms as they’re washing dishes.

“I’m fine,” Eggsy insists.

Harry arches an eyebrow, gesturing with one soapy hand to where Eggsy is practically plastered against his side. “It’s just that you don’t normally stand this close when we’re doing the dishes,” he says.

“Oh.” Eggsy suddenly realizes how close he really is, and reluctantly peels away. “Right, sorry. Must’ve drifted over without noticin’.” He grins sheepishly up at Harry, and Harry shakes his head fondly.

They finish the washing up, Eggsy making a conscious effort to stay in his own space.

That resolve doesn’t last long.

Harry settles onto the sofa with a novel, and Eggsy joins him immediately. He doesn’t have anything of his own to do, so he just leans his head against Harry’s shoulder and closes his eyes.

Almost absentmindedly, Harry settles his arm across Eggsy’s shoulders, running his fingers through his hair.

With a soft sigh, Eggsy snuggles in closer. He’s half-asleep when Harry speaks.

“I really do wish you’d tell me what’s wrong.”

The words are little more than a whisper, but Eggsy can’t help but hear them, given how close he’s sitting. “What makes you think somethin’s wrong?” he asks without lifting his head.

Harry chuckles, marking his page, and setting the book aside. “You’ve not let me out of your sight once since I’ve gotten back. Did something happen while I was gone?”

Sighing, Eggsy turns his face into Harry’s neck. “Had a nightmare,” he mutters.

Harry stills. “May I ask what it was about?”

“You know what it was about,” Eggsy says, reluctant to put his fear into words. Saying it makes it more real, somehow.

“Eggsy,” Harry says, shrugging the shoulder Eggsy is propped against. “Eggsy, look at me.”

Eggsy does, blinking up miserably at Harry.

Harry takes Eggsy’s face tenderly in his hands, gazing at him with soft, worried eyes. “I’m here. I’m alive. I’m not leaving you again.”

Eggsy’s hand moves of its own accord, fingertips brushing along the scar at Harry’s hairline. “I almost lost you,” he whispers, hating the way his voice shakes.

“I came back to you,” Harry says. He captures Eggsy’s hand in one of his, pressing his lips to Eggsy’s fingers. “I will always come back to you.”

“Yeah?” Eggsy asks, throat tight. “You promise?”

Eggsy can’t remember a time when Harry has looked more sincere. Still in possession of Eggsy’s hand, Harry brushes his lips over his knuckles, pressing a light kiss to the back of his hand. Eggsy shivers at the sensation of warm breath ghosting over his skin.

“I promise.”