#ive got some replies here ill move them over if it's ok

[youngpettyqueen]

for prompts, might I suggest a number 14 with Julian takin care of Kira, and a ‘it feels worse than it looks—no wait-‘ with Julian being a bad patient?

oh my god I finally fucking finished it.

I am SO SORRY this took so long I got hit with. the most violent writer's block ive had in a HOT minute and this had me fighting for my life. I dont even know how many times I wrote and rewrote this. I went through so many different ideas it was actually ridiculous. at one point I had something finished but it Was Not Good and I dont believe in posting writing I dont like so I scrapped it and started again

I keep waffling on whether or not I like this, but thats entirely because ive spent way too long staring at it. im sure in a few days ill actually really like it, cause I really like the dialogue, which was what I wrote out first. pulling myself out of my perfectionism, I do think I like this, and at the very least im proud of getting it down when it gave me so much trouble

again, im so sorry it took so long, but writer's block is a bitch and ive had a lot going on lately, so I hope you understand <3

for the readers- 14 on the list is "Stop pretending that any of this is ok. It's not." I did adjust that one a bit cause I was having trouble making it flow. but, without further ado, here's what I've got! 

Kira slides down with her back against the wall, grinding her teeth as she clutches at her wounded shoulder. The pain is still hot, the hole burned into her skin practically still smoking. She hisses as her palm makes contact with the sticky, raw flesh, but she still clamps down. 

“Anytime you wanna get over here, Julian!” She calls, her voice strained. 

“Doing my best, Major!” Julian calls from where he is, hunkered down behind some debris as a makeshift shield against the barrage of disruptor fire. 

This is, in eloquent terms, a right fucking mess. Getting into a fight with a bunch of Jem’Hadar soldiers is never a good thing, even when they’re prepared. When they’re not prepared, it’s even worse. And this time, they weren’t prepared. Because there weren’t supposed to be any Jem’Hadar on this planet. This was supposed to be a quick pit stop for the Defiant, replacing some whatsit that O’Brien said was damaged in their last firefight, but then there were Jem’Hadar soldiers and they’ve managed to land themselves in a whole different firefight. 

It really just hasn’t been a great week. 

Kira inches closer to the wall’s edge. Her grip on her phaser isn’t stable, but it’ll have to do. She takes a deep, steadying breath, and then she twists over so that she’s peering out from behind the corner. She spots the Jem’Hadar pinning them down, quick count tells here there’s 3 of them, and she snaps her phaser up to hit them with some fire of her own. The motion pulls at her injured shoulder in a way that makes her want to scream, but she bites down on it. 

Julian, bless him, takes the opportunity to lunge out from behind the debris. He scrambles across the gap, barely dodging the returning fire from the Jem’Hadar, and manages to throw himself down behind the security of the wall. He plasters himself up against the wall beside Kira, right as she ducks back behind cover as the Jem’Hadar’s fire intensifies. 

Kira looks at him. He looks at her. He’s breathing hard and heavy, his hair a mess and dirt and blood staining his face. She musters up a grin to tell him, “You’re late.”

Julian gives her a flat look as he turns to her. “Forgive me, it’s a bit difficult to make house calls in the middle of a battlefield,” He replies, sounding very, very tired. But then his eyes flick to her bloody hand, still clamped over her wounded shoulder, and she watches his expression shift as he clicks back into what’s affectionately referred to as doctor mode, “Let’s see that shoulder, then.” 

Kira moves her hand, letting Julian get a look at the wound. She winces as he pulls aside the burnt fabric, taking a deep breath in through her nose and resisting the reflex to jerk away. “How’s it look?” She asks, mostly just to distract herself. 

“Like it needs more than what I’ve got,” Julian replies, frowning, “The dermal regenerator I have will do for now, but this is deep. I’ll need to immobilize your arm,” He tells her, giving her an apologetic look, “If you move it too much, you’ll risk tearing it open again.”

“Just do what you have to,” Kira tells him, “Won’t be the first time I’ve had to shoot myself out with only one arm.” 

Julian nods, and returns his attention to her wound. “Right,” He pulls his kit up and rifles through it for a second. The first thing he pulls out is a hypospray, which he quickly sticks into her neck. Kira relaxes fractionally as the painkillers immediately start to work, dulling some of the burning in her shoulder. Then he’s pulling out the dermal regenerator, and bracing his hand against her shoulder again, “Try to hold still.” He advises.

Kira just gives a tight nod, already gritting her teeth and bracing herself. She feels the dermal regenerator start to work. The hypo helps, but it doesn’t take away that burning, itchy sort of feeling of muscle and nerves and skin stitching itself back together inch by inch. She clenches her fists tight, breathing hard through her nose as Julian works. 

“Sorry, I know this stings,” Julian says, “I’m doing the best I can. This regenerator wasn’t meant for a wound like this.” 

Kira grunts a wordless acknowledgement. If she says anything, it’s just going to be a string of curses. Instead, she focuses on keeping her ear on the sound of disruptor fire, making sure it isn’t getting closer. If the Jem’Hadar decide to come after them, she wants to be ready. 

“Done,” Julian pipes up. She looks over as he puts the regenerator back in his kit, taking the worst of the pain with it and leaving her with a dull ache, “That’s the hard part done. I’m going to move your arm now,” His hands are gentle, taking her arm and carefully easing it away from her side, “There we go. Alright, hold it there, please.” 

Kira does. Julian sits back, and unzips his jacket to get at his undershirt. “This will have to do,” He tells her, tearing a couple of strips from his undershirt, “These won’t be the most comfortable, but they’ll have to do. I’m out of bandages.” He leans back in, starting to bind her arm with the torn fabric.

“Sorry about your shirt.” She cracks weakly.

“I’ll get a new one.” He replies, without so much as a smile.

She hates how flat his voice is. Hates how… unlike him, it is. Quiet, with no bite. “C’mon, Julian, where’s that boyish optimism of yours?” She asks, “I could really use a hit of it right about now.”

Julian secures the bandage around her arm. “I must’ve dropped it when they started shooting at us,” He says, not meeting her eyes, “Do me a favour, Major. Don’t pretend any of this is ok,” He sits back again, still not meeting her eyes, all caught up in taking in his work, “Cause it’s really not.” He does look her in the eye, then. And he looks so… tired.

But then, he’s looked like that for a while, hasn’t he?

Kira gives him a smile. A sad, quiet little smile. “I never said any of this was ok,” She corrects, “I’m just… used to it, at this point.” Very, very used to it. Used to it in a way she hopes he never is. 

Julian considers that for a moment. His expression is hard to read- sad, maybe. Sympathetic. Then he sighs, and breaks eye contact. “Well, I suppose I’m getting used to it, too,” He scrubs a bloody hand through his hair, “We should get going. Can you walk?” He asks.

No time for sentiment, then. Kira nods. “It’s just the arm,” She assures him, “I can do a hell of a lot more than walk.”

“Good,” Julian starts to push himself up to stand, “Let’s-“ He doesn’t get far. He wobbles suddenly, his eyes widening slightly as he nearly topples right over. He barely manages to catch himself, bracing a hand against the wall before he can fall against it.

Kira quickly reaches out to steady him. “Julian?” She sits up, frowning, “What’s wrong?”

Julian frowns, confused. “I… don’t know,” He says, looking down, “I can’t feel my-“ He cuts off, suddenly, his eyes fixing on something, “Ah.”

Kira’s brow furrows. “Ah? What’s-“ She follows his gaze, and comes to the same abrupt halt as she sees just what he’s found, “Ah.” 

Julian has a substantial wound in his thigh. A chunk of his pant leg has been burned away, revealing a raw, painful-looking burn that’s steadily oozing blood down his leg. Kira’s eyes widen at the sight of it. That doesn’t look good. That really doesn’t look good.

“Well,” Julian says, “That’s not ideal.” And then he sways alarmingly, nearly crumpling right to the ground.

“Julian!” Kira lurches forward, manages to catch him by the arms. He grimaces as he eases himself down, taking his weight off his injured leg, “Damnit, Julian, what were you thinking ignoring this? Gimme that tricorder-“ She reaches for his medkit, not waiting for him as she rummages through it herself.

“I wasn’t ignoring it!” He exclaims, “I couldn’t feel it! Honest!” 

Kira finds the tricorder and pulls it out. “Don’t tell me they augmented the ability to feel pain out of you,” He shifts again, adjusting his position to give her a better angle to scan him, and it draws a painful hiss out of him, “Guess not.” She hums.

Julian manages a weak chuckle, the first one she’s gotten out of him all day. “Not as such,” He confirms, “I’ve just been- gah!” He grinds his molars as she pulls the burnt fabric away from the wound, “Preoccupied.” He growls.

Kira huffs softly as she reads the results on the tricorder. It’s not a fun wound. “So busy trying not to get shot that you didn’t realize you got shot?” She asks, arching a brow at him, “I’m almost impressed.”

“Only almost?” Julian asks, all mock indignation, “I’d hate to see what I’d have to do to actually impress you,” He mutters. His eyes drift down, then back up at her. He looks worried, “How bad is it?”

Kira puts the tricorder down. “How bad does it feel?” She dodges. 

“Pfft, this little thing?” He scoffs, gives a weak little wave that’s probably went to ‘wave off’ the pain, “It’s nothing. Just a scratch. It feels worse than it… no. No, wait, that’s not right,” He blinks, and she can almost see the gears in his head turning as he tries to figure out the order of the words, “I don’t mean to alarm you, Major, but I think the shock might be setting in.” He tells her.

Kira can’t help but roll her eyes. “No kidding,” She says, “This isn’t my first time, Julian. Hand me the regenerator, I’ll do what I can with it.” She holds her hand out expectantly.

Julian hands it over. “Now who’s being serious?” He asks.

Kira adjusts how she’s holding him, making sure she’s holding the burnt edges of his uniform away from his skin so that she doesn’t accidentally fuse any fabric to him. “Oh, so you can make jokes,” She takes the dermal regenerator and adjusts her hold on it, making sure it won’t slide out of her hand, which is slick with blood, “I thought you dropped that along with your optimism.” She gets the regenerator going, doing what she can with the wound.

Julian chuckles again, grins at her. “I told you, the shock’s setting in,” He replies, all charm, “I’ll say anything just to say anything. Apologies, but I’m going to be talking your ear off until we get out of here.” He warns.

Kira keeps her eyes on her work, keeps her hand braced on his thigh to hold him still. “As opposed to when you don’t talk my ear off.” She counters. After a few seconds, she can see that the burn’s healed as much as it’s going to. She switches the regenerator off and hands it back to him.

“Rude,” Julian huffs, taking the regenerator and putting it back in his medkit, “How’d the regenerator do? I don’t want to look.” He’s looking even as he says it, like he can’t help himself. 

“It’ll hold,” She tells him, not seeing any point in sugar-coating it. He would see right through her in a second, “For now. I’m gonna bandage it, just in case,” She adds. Now it’s her turn to get at her undershirt, tear it up for strips of fabric, “I liked this shirt, you know.” She informs him as she does.

“I suppose we’re even, then,” Julian cracks weakly, “Have I ever told you you’d make a great medic?” He asks.

There’s the Julian she knows. “Flattery will get you nowhere,” She tells him. Satisfied with her bandages, she gets them ready, “I do have one question for you, Doctor.” 

Julian frowns, confused. Yeah, the shock really has set in if he can’t see what she’s doing. “Go ahead.” He invites.

Kira starts wrapping his leg. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?” She asks.

He looks even more confused. “What are my-“ She yanks the bandages tight before he can finish, and he cuts off with a pitched yelp, “Fuck!”

Maybe it’s a bit mean to chuckle, but Kira can’t help it. She doesn’t often get to hear him curse. “Oh, language,” She tuts as she finishes tying the bandages off, “There. Nice and tight. That oughta hold you together till we get out of here.” She gives his knee a pat. 

Julian pouts at her. “You enjoyed that.” He accuses. 

“I did no such thing,” Kira replies smoothly as she pulls his medkit closer to her and starts rifling through it, not bothering to ask him, “Want a hypo?” She offers.

“No,” Julian shakes his head, making her stop short and give him an incredulous look, “I’ve only got the one left. Save it for someone who needs it.” He reasons. 

Her look quickly flattens. “Don’t start with the heroics, Julian,” She advises, “You’re not gonna be treating any patients until after you’ve been treated. On the Defiant.” She doubts he can even stand on his own, let alone treat people.

“I can hold out till then,” He insists, “Someone else might-“

“Julian,” Kira cuts in, not giving him any room to argue, “Take the fucking hypo.” 

Julian’s brows shoot up and he looks a little stunned. Just for a moment, though, before he huffs a bit of a laugh. “Now who needs to watch their language,” He says, his tone light and teasing, “Alright, go ahead.” He nods.

Kira takes the hypo out of his kit. “Oh, thank you,” She replies, making sure her own tone savours strongly of sarcasm, “You’re a terrible patient, you know that?” 

There’s that grin again. All charm. “So Nurse Jabara keeps telling me.” He replies, like the pain in the ass he is.

“You should listen to her. She’s always right,” Kira sticks the hypo in his neck, and watches his shoulders instantly sink down a notch. She didn’t even realize how tense he was, “Better?” She asks. 

Julian takes a deep breath. Probably the first one he’s taken all day. “…Much,” He admits, with the decency to look a little sheepish, “Thank you, Major.” His smile’s a bit less charm now, a bit more sincere.

Kira finds herself smiling back. “Anytime,” She says. She shoots a quick look around, regaining her bearings a bit now that they’re both taken care of. She can still hear blasters firing, but not as close. They might’ve moved off somewhere else. Or they could be waiting, “We should probably get moving.” She suggests.

“Probably,” Julian agrees, “Just one problem, though. I don’t think I can walk.” He tells her.

Kira figured. “Can you limp?” She asks, “I’ve still got two good shoulders, both perfectly good for leaning on.” She offers, patting her shoulder for emphasis.

There’s that glint in his eye. First time she’s seen it today- stubborn determination, or, in another word, cocky. “I think I can manage that.” He says.

Kira grins. “Great,” She ducks in and gets her arm around his waist, pulling him in snug against her as he wraps his arm around her shoulders, “Alright, lean on me. Steady. And…” She pushes herself up, and brings him with her. He leans heavy into her side, and she tightens her hold on him to keep him steady, “Up we go. Ready?” She asks.

Julian takes a moment to find his balance, shifting most of his weight off of his injured leg and compensating on Kira’s shoulder. “As I can be,” He tells her with a nod, “Let’s go.”

And they’re off. Making quite the sight as they hobble back into the action, pressed hip to hip and clinging tight to each other. But, hey, they’re still kicking, and they’ve still got their phasers, so they’ll make do. They always do. 

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Love and Medicine ~ 8

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 4,175ish

Summary: Your roommates are annoyed and Gamora is determined to make you jump through hoops.

Notes: This is based off of Grey’s Anatomy 1x07. I do not own Marvel or Grey’s Anatomy.

When your alarm went off, you were naked in your bed. With a naked Steve beside you. A small groan passing between his lips, Steve reached around you to turn off the alarm clock and then cuddled into you.

“Hmmm,” you hummed, enjoying his arms around you way too much. “You have to get up now.”

“What?” Steve mumbled, half asleep. “What time is it?”

You smirked, rolling on top of him. “It’s 5:20, and I have pre-rounds. And you,” you booped his nose, “have to leave before they see you.”

You gave him a small kiss before rolling off of him.

“Oh, come on, now,” Steve grumbled. “Why don’t you just let them see?” He quickly rolled on top of you, pinning you down.

“No!”

“Please!”

“No! No!”

He began placing kisses all over you. Saying, ‘please’, between eat kiss.

“Steve!” You squealed. “St-stoppp!

~~~

“You two get any sleep?” Scott asked, walking into the kitchen where Val and Clint were eating.

“Oh, she could oil the bedsprings as a courtesy or at least buy a padded headboard,” Val complained.

“So, uh, who’s the guy?” Clint asked.

“You think it was just one guy doing all that work?”

“Yeah, do you mind if I don’t think about that?”

“Oh, you jealous, Barton?” Scott teased.

“I’m not jealous.”

“Well, I am,” Val responded. “But at least I know she’ll be having a long day at work.”

They all froze when they heard a floor board near the top of the stairs squeak. The three of them rushed over to the doorway, wanting to see who was coming down the stairs. Steve snuck down the stairs and out the door, seen by Val, Clint, and Scott.

“Well, at least we know that brain surgery isn’t his only skill,” Val commented, going to get more coffee.

“They—they can’t be…” Clint stared at the front door in shock. “He’s… he’s our boss.”

“Yep,” Scott replied, glancing at his watch. “We’re late. You know, she has been scrubbing in a lot lately on his surgeries.”

“No, Y/N wouldn’t sleep with him just to… no.”

“Well, if she’s not ashamed of it, why is she keeping it a secret?” Val wondered.

“Maybe she didn’t. Maybe it just happened. You know, spontaneously, last night.”

“Good morning,” you greeted, entering the kitchen.

“Morning,” Val and Scott responded.

“So…” Val started, “it sounded like you were having some pretty radical sex last night, all night long. Who was the guy?”

“No one you know,” you lied with a shrug.

Clint, Scott, and Val all gave each other a look.

“We’re late,” Scott said. “Let’s go.”

~~~

“I’m gonna beed a major rush to make it through this day,” Clint said in the locker room. “I need a kick-ass surgery.”

“Ooh, you a bad boy last night, Clint?” Peter taunted.

“No,” Val answered for him. “That would be Y/N.”

“You a bad boy, Y/N?”

“Do tell,” Natasha urged.

“Nothing to tell,” you shrugged.

“That says it all, huh?”

Val slammed her locker door shut, annoyed at your lies.

“Sorry, I have a sex life,” you apologized.

“Don’t apologize,” Peter said. “Embrace it. Share it. Count me in.”

“Yeah, next time, just let me know if I need to go to a hotel so I can get some sleep,” Val said.

“Am I missing something?” You asked.

“You were just a little loud,” Scott replied.

Everyone left except you and Natasha.

“Do they know it’s Captain McDreamy keeping them up all night?” Natasha asked.

“I hope not,” you answered. “I already have Gamora riding me, I don’t need my roommates thinking I’m getting special treatment.”

~~~

You yawned as you and Natasha met up with the other interns and Dr. Gamora. You just hoped that you didn’t look as tired as you felt.

“Barton, Romanoff, Lang, Quill, go on to the clinic,” Gamora ordered. She looked up, catching Clint watch Steve through a window. Steve was putting in eye drops. “Barton, patients are waiting.” Clint scurried off. “You two,” Gamora motioned to you and Val, “come with me. Val, you’re hanging with me today.” Steve walked over. “Good morning, Dr. Rogers.”

“Dr. Gamora,” he replied as you yawned. “Late night, L/N?”

“No,” you responded, “caffeine just hasn’t kicked in yet.”

“If you’re at all religious, you would want to start praying it kicks in soon,” Gamora retorted. “There’s a consult in the pit. Girl with a fever and abdominal pain. After that, Lee in 3311 needs his meds. Mr. Jackson’s IV fell out, and he’s a hard stick. Post-ops in 1337, 3342, 3363, and 2381.”

You had nodded along, trying to get your tired brain to understand what she was saying. “3381, 3342, 3363,” you repeated, “and 23… 81?” 

Gamora simply glared at you instead of answering what you needed. “Why are you still standing in front of me?”

You quickly hurried down to the pit, not wanting to get on Gamora’s bad side anymore than you already were. You started your consultation with an eighteen year old girl named Jessie Todd. Her mother and father were both accompanying her. Jessie seemed nervous, biting her nails.

“I think she got some bug on her trip to Mexico with her friends,” Mrs. Todd said. “I told her not to go to a third-world country, but does she ever listen?”

“She’s been weak ever since and she’s lost weight,” Mr. Todd worried.

“Barely,” Jessie mumbled.

“And this morning, she passed out in the shower.”

“When was the trip?” You asked.

“A couple weeks ago,” Jessie answered. “I’m really fine. I just have a fever.”

“Okay, well, will you lie back for an exam for me?”

“No, please, I don’t need an exam. Just give me some antibiotics and send me home.”

“Well, maybe it is just a fever, but they called down for a surgeon, so I have to give the ok to let you go. So just let me do the exam.”

“Do the exam,” Mr. Todd urged.

“No. This is crazy. I’m fine.”

“For God's sake, Jessie, I don't want to spend my entire day here,” Mrs. Todd exclaimed.

“You know, actually, Mrs. Todd, this might be easier if we had some privacy,” you told the parents, sensing that Jessie was worried about their reactions to whatever was going on. “So would you two mind leaving the room?”

“That’s fine,” Mr. Todd said, guiding his wife away.

Jessie lied down and you began to push at her stomach.

“Ow,” Jessie complained. “Don’t push so hard.”

“Can you lift your shirt so I can examine your stomach?” You requested. With a sigh, Jessie slowly lifted her shift, revealing pink scars. “Where did you get these? Jessie… you've had surgery recently. These scars are still pink.”

“Don’t tell my parents.”

“You did this in Mexico so your parents wouldn't know? What did you have done?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Jessie—“

“I can’t!”

With a sigh, you walked away, ordering a CT for Jessie before heading to help the other patients that Gamora had for you.

~~~

You at just finished Gamora’s last job for you when she paged. You were quickly to go find her.

“You paged?” You questioned, finding her near a nurses station.

“Where are we?” She asked.

“I did the consult, did the IV, the meds, the Post-ops, everything.”

“How is your pit patient?”

“She’s febrile and has peritoneal signs.”

Both you and Gamora’s attentions go to Natasha, who is walking by looking ill.

“You alright, Romanoff?” Gamora wondered, not caring all that much.

“Fine,” Natasha responded, waving it off as she kept going. “On my way back to the clinic.”

“Anyway, about the pit patient.”

“I think she had some sort of illegal surgery done in Mexico,” you stated.

“Botched abortion?”

“No. She has four laparoscopic scars on her abdomen and won't say what they're from, the parents are clueless.”

“She’s a minor.”

“Seventeen. Freshman in college.”

“You order up for a CT?”

“Yes,” you nodded.

“So while she's there, the nurses couldn't get a Foley on Mr. Garay. He may need a Coude cath if you can't get a normal one in there. Write up post-op notes on all surgical-floor patients that had surgery within the last 24 hours. Be sure to document their EKG's and x-rays. Hunt them down if you can't find them.”

“Right away.”

~~~

You were exhausted by the time Jessie’s CT scans came back. Gamora was really working you to the bone. Of course, it didn’t help that you had spent most of the night up with Steve, having some of the most enjoyable sex you’ve ever had. But that wasn’t the point. Scans in hand, you found Gamora at the nurses station near the lobby.

“Dr. Gamora?” You walked up to her. “Jessie Todd’s abdominal CTs.” You handed her the scans.

She took them, holding them up to study them. “Is this girl fat?”

“Not at all,” you shook your head. “She’s a normal college kid.”

“So,” she handed the scans back to you, “what do you see?”

You took them back and studied them yourself. “Her stomach’s stapled. She’s had a gastric bypass.”

“And a bad one at, at that.”

Jessie Todd was moved into a patient room. So you and Gamora requested to speak to her parents outside of the hallway. You were tasked to explain to them what at happened.

“Gastric bypass is a procedure normally done on obese patients to help them lose weight,” you stated, after telling them what their daughter had done.

“Jessie?” Mr. Todd questioned. “She doesn’t need to lose weight.”

“Are you kidding?” Mrs. Todd responded. “This means the world to her. But it is so typical of this girl to take the easy way out. She's done it with everything since she was a little kid.”

“Mrs, Todd, nothing about this is gonna be easy,” Gamora said. “She's gonna face a lifelong struggle with malnutrition unless she has surgery to reverse the procedure.”

“Do the surgery,” Mrs. Todd ordered before turning to her husband. “I told her to watch the freshman 15. Don't eat junk, exercise. But when she came home Christmas, who had to take her out and buy her a brand new pair of size 6 jeans because she couldn't get in the ones I got her last summer?”

“Chrissy, you know, she tries so hard,” Mr. Todd retorted. “She does. She gets good grades. She gets A’s.”

“She had illegal surgery in Mexico.”

“Unfortunately, there were complications with the bypass,” Gamora stated.

“What do you mean?” Mr. Todd asked.

“She has what looks like an abscess under her diaphragm, and edema, which is a swelling of the bowel wall. I can't say for certain she'll recover completely.”

“Just do whatever you have to do to make her well, ok?”

“Of course, sir.”

Gamora walked away, and you stayed to check up on Jessie. It was then that Mrs. Todd entered Jessie’s room, angrily.

“Before you guys start,” Jessie quickly said, “I know you’re mad.”

“Disbelief, Jessie,” Mrs. Todd exclaimed. “Just disbelief.”

“I’m just concerned,” Mr. Todd added, much more calmly than his wife. “Where did you get the idea to do this?”

“The internet,” Jessie answered quietly.

“But, honey, there is a healthy way to lose weight,” Mrs. Todd said.

“Yeah, I tried that, but...it doesn't work for me like it does for you.”

“Hey,” Mr. Todd said, putting a hand on his daughter’s leg, “you don’t need to lose weight.”

“What are you eating?” Mrs. Todd quickly wondered. “And how much have you been working out? I mean, you know, most of the time, when people hit their target weight, they have to work to stay there.”

“Everyone gains weight in college, Mom,” Jessie responded. “It’s—it’s stressful. There’s... there's not enough time for exercise. I just thought if I wasn't worried about my diet, then… I could focus more on my studies.”

“So you took yet another shortcut? Life doesn’t work that way, Jessie.”

“Chrissy!” Mr. Todd exclaimed.

“What? You want to argue this?”

Huffing at his wife, Mr. Todd turned to you. “She has so much potential, if she would just apply herself—”

“Okay, okay,” you interrupted, having heard enough. “I think we should focus on taking care of your daughter. And, Jessie, your parents agree, the best thing to do is to reverse the bypass.”

“No!” Jessie shouted. “No, it's my body. I do not want surgery again. Please?”

“There were serious complications. And this is about your health.”

“But I’d rather be thin.”

“Well, I’m afraid the choice isn’t up to you,” Mrs. Todd responded.

~~~

With a sigh, you found yourself pushed up against the wall in the stairwell. You were tired and so over Mrs. Todd.

“Long day?” Tony’s voice came closer.

You opened your eyes to see him walking up the stairs. “You could say that,” you responded. “How’s trying to get a date with Dr. Potts going?”

“Not so well,” he sighed, coming to leaning against the wall beside you. “I’ve been bringing her coffee or tea every morning though. I’m trying.”

“You really screwed up,” you giggled.

“You’re telling me. How are you and Steve?”

“We’re… fine.”

“He told me you were up all last night.”

“What?!”

“Okay, he didn’t tell me. But I can see how tired both of you are. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”

“It’s that obvious? Tony, are you serious? This could totally ruin—“

“Woah, woah, woah. Calm down there, Y/N. I’m just playing with you. Gosh, you need to take a chill pill or something.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just… I know we shouldn’t be doing what we are doing.”

“But you enjoy it too much to stop. I get it… I just wish I was getting some too.”

~~~

Natasha was standing in the hall looking nauseous.

“Romanoff!” Clint called, excitedly hurrying up to her. “I’m scrubbing in on a hemispherectomy with Rogers.”

“Get out!” She responded. “I would kill for that.”

“We're gonna cut out half a girl's brain and it's going to work. It's outrageous. Almost makes it hard to hate him.”

“Why do you hate him?”

“Oh, no reason.”

“You know about him and Y/N, don’t you?”

“You know?”

“When are you gonna figure out that I know everything?”

Noticing Val walking up from behind, Clint pointed at Natasha. “She knows.”

“What?” Val questioned. “About Y/N and the Captain?”

“It’s been going on for, like ever,” Natasha commented.

“Seriously?”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Clint wondered.

“Ooh, you’re a gossip, huh?” Natasha responded.

“I am not!”

“I am,” Val said.

“He’s about to go into major brain surgery on no sleep? Not very responsible.”

“Jealous much?” Natasha chuckled. “Sex all night isn't about being responsible.”

“No,” Val agreed, “it’s about sex all night. I can't believe you're not more pissed off about this, you of all people.”

“Well, Y/N works hard all day. She’s good at her job. Why should you care how she unwinds? I mean, you like to bake all night. Some people like to drink. Others like an occasional screaming orgasm.”

~~~

Gamora and you were carefully operating on Jessie in the OR. Gamora was letting you help with more than you thought she would.

“Handle with care,” Gamora advised as she handed you Jessie’s bowel. “This things—“

“Full of gunk,” you responded. “I know.”

“We need to free the bowel from the adhesions caused from the abscess. This poor girl. What was she thinking?”

“She wants her mother's approval. She wanted to please her.”

“And this damage is the result? Here, resect that.”

“Needle-tip Bovie, please,” you requested, handing the bowel back to Gamora.

“When you’re done here, you have post-ops waiting.”

“I know, Dr. Gamora.”

“Natasha also has the flu. So, you need to pick up the slack in the clinic as well.”

“Look, I’ll mop the floors, okay?” That earned you a glare from Gamora. “Sorry, that was inappropriate.”

“It's not the only thing that's inappropriate. While we're on the subject, you care to tell me what you think you're doing?”

“Look, I'll jump through hoops if you want me to. But what I do what I leave this hospital is my business.”

“Half this hospital knows your business. Flu isn't the only virus spreading around here.”

“I made a choice, and I know you don't respect me for that choice. But I'll live with the consequences.”

“Then I'll have lots of hoops for you to jump through.”

“I've done everything you've asked me to do. I may not do it your way but it gets done. So whatever else you got, bring it on.” 

Suddenly, Jessie’s bowel burst. Spraying you with toxic waste. You could hear the people watching in the gallery go, ‘ew’.

“Okay, Dr. L/N, now that you’ve drained the organ, we can attempt to repair it,” Gamora said.

“Now my day is perfect,” you muttered.

The nurses tried to clean you up the best they could as you operated. Though they seemed to only make it worse. After the surgery, you and Gamora headed out into the hallway together.

“I need a shower,” you commented.

“No, I need a shower,” Gamora retorted. “You need to go tell that girl's parents what kind of kid they're getting back.”

“You're not gonna let me shower first?”

“That would be a hoop, would it not?”

“It would qualify.”

“Shower first, then.”

You rushed to the locker room. Val and Natasha were already there.

“Ew, what smells?” Val asked as you passed her.

“That would be me,” you answered, "or more specifically, my patient's insides all over me.”

“That makes me strangely happy.”

“Oh, Y/N,” Natasha grimaced, “you smell like—“

“Karma.”

“What?” You asked Val.

“Nothing.”

“Something vile is stuck in your hair,” Natasha told you, pointing to your hairline. “You know, just go stand over there, please.” She shooed you to the other side of the aisle.

“Ugh, how much do I love being a surgeon right now?” You mumbled.

“Karma,” Val laughed.

“What does karma have to do with anything?”

“I'm just saying, you've been given all the best surgeries. And now you smell like putrid goo. And you're giving off a stench. Karma's a bitch.”

Gamora walked into the locker room. “Dr. Rogers needs an intern in surgery,” she stated. “Which one of you is clear?”

“I’m good!” Natasha raised her hand. She was still looking pale. “Where do you want me?”

“You need to lie down somewhere.”

“I’m fine, I’m completely healthy.”

“L/N?” 

“Of course,” Val grumbled.

“What is your problem?” You asked Val, annoyed.

“Um, you! Cause apparently you can help Captain McDreamy in ways the rest of us can’t.”

“You did not just say th—“

“Yes, I did!”

“Hey!” Gamora called out. “Natasha, hemispherectomy in OR 1 with Dr. Shepherd. Go.”

Natasha nodded and hurried away. Val marched off as well.

“Apparently, I’m not the only one with hoops,” Gamora smirked.

~~~

After showering, you found Mrs. and Mr. Todd in the lobby. As you walked, you explained to them what had gone on in surgery.

“We were able to reverse the gastric bypass, but we did lose a significant portion of her bowel,” you told them. “And because of the short gut syndrome, Jessie will never eat normally again.”

“Ok, wait, do…” Mr. Todd tried to put his thoughts together. “How do we help her here?”

“Well, getting proper nutrition will be a lifelong problem for Jessie.”

“Great,” Mrs. Todd murmured, annoyed, “as if we already don't have our hands full with her.”

“She gets good grades. She stays out of trouble. She's smart. I just think she feels like nothing she does is good enough for you.”

“If you somehow think that I'm responsible for this…”

“I think Jessie is killing herself to please you.”

“Oh, please. You have no idea what's going on in that girl's mind.”

“You're her mother. She worships the ground you walk on. She didn't do this for herself.”

“I think that this situation is completely—“

“Chrissy, shut up,” Mr. Todd interrupted.

Both you and Mrs. Todd looked shocked as Mr. Todd walked faster to Jessie’s room.

~~~

Clint had had an interesting day, to say the least. He had discovered that the anesthesiologist in Steve’s surgery was drunk. Bringing up to Dr. Rogers, both the anesthesiologist and Dr. Rogers got mad, throwing him out of the surgery. Which is why he needed another intern.

Durning the surgery, Natasha and Dr. Rogers quickly realized that Clint had been right. Allowing Natasha and another doctor to close, Steve requested Clint to met him outside of the OR.

“Let me explain,” Steve began.

“It’s fine,” Clint responded.

“No, there is a code among doctors. We're not supposed to ask each other questions, not within the walls of this hospital.”

“Okay, so, I was out of line.”

“No, you weren't. I was. I was out of line. Somebody should have taken responsibility. It should have been the guy doing the cutting. It should have been me. You didn't deserve what happened to you today. You did the right thing code or no code.” Steve held out his hand for Clint to shake. Hesitantly, Clint shook it. “You saw me leave the house this morning, didn’t you?”

Clint pulled his hand away. “Oh, was that you?”

“Hmm. I’m not using her. And I don’t favor her.”

“She’s pretty great, you know.”

“Mm-hmm. I know.”

~~~

You went to Jessie, getting her into a wheel chair so that you can walk her around while talking to her alone. You had made a phone call, and you needed to tell her about it.

“Did you fix me?” Jessie asked, after the two of you walked in silence for awhile. 

“No, not completely,” you responded.

“So, I won’t get fat?”

“No.”

“Oh. That’s awesome.”

“Jessie, I’ve asked social services to contact your parents.”

“What? Why?”

“They can help you.”

“With what?”

“You don't know this yet, but life isn't supposed to be like this. It's not supposed to be this hard. And your mom… she isn’t suppose to treat you this way.”

~~~

You were so extremely grateful when you were finally allowed to go home. It was late, so you were expecting your roommates to be asleep. When you entered the kitchen, you found Val frosting a cake.

“I thought you’d be asleep by now,” you commented, searching for food.

“Yeah, well, I’m not,” Val retorted. “If you wait a few minutes, you can have a piece of cake. Baked it chock-full of love. Actually, chock-full of unrelenting, all consuming rage and hostility, but it's still tasty.”

“So you know?”

“I know.”

“Well, do you want the long, sordid version, or do you want the short version, where I started sleeping with a guy who turned out to be my boss?”

“Neither.”

“Val, cut me some slack here.”

“No. You went to Dartmouth. Your parents— don’t get me started on that. I know you’re trying to hide who your parents are. But I know. You grew up— look at this house! You know, you walk into the OR, and there isn’t anyone who doubts that yo should be there. I… I grew up in a trailer park. I went to state school. I put myself through med school by posing in my underwear. You know, I walk into the OR, and everyone hopes I'm the nurse. Y-you have their respect without even trying, and you're throwing it away for...what? A few good surgeries?”

“No. It's not about the surgeries. It's not about getting ahead.”

“Then what? A little hot sex? You're willing to ruin your credibility over that? I mean, Y/N, what the hell are you doing?” You huffed, shaking your head. “Oh, my… you’re falling for him.”

“I am not.”

“Oh, you so are.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You so are. Damn it, you poor girl.”

“You know, it's just that he's just so… And I'm just… I'm having a hard time.”

"Wow, you're all, uh, mushy and… warm and full of secret feelings.” Val handed you a piece of cake.

“I hate you!” You snatched the cake from her. “And your cake.”

“My cake is good. So, um, how hot is the sex?”

“Val.”

“What? Come on, my girlfriend broke up with me, I’m not getting any. Help a girl out with a few details.”

~~~

Steve showed up at your door an hour later, exhausted as well. You two headed up to your bedroom. You were both on either side of the bed, pulling back the covers.

“You know,” Steve slurred, “we could just…”

“Sleep?” You finished.

“We could, yeah, if… if you want to.”

“Yeah?”

You both crawled into bed. You turned off the lamp beside you before cuddling into Steve’s side. He reached over and turned off the lamp at his side.

“I could get used to this,” you whispered, falling asleep.

next chapter >

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2​​​. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch52: Chicken Soup And Baseball Gloves

Intro: The original Avengers are re-united and along with Rhodey, Rocket, Nebula and Scott Lang, they run the first test on their Time Machine. 

Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut! (NSFW) No under 18s.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

A/N: Holler @angrybirdcr​ does the biz with the edits again

Chapter 51

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“Any news on Natasha?” Katie asked, her voice thick, as Steve walked into the kitchen.

“Not yet.” He shook his head, as she reached over, adding bread to the toaster. “She was still working on a lead. How are you feeling?”

“Ok.” She lied. Behind her, Steve rolled his eyes.  

“I can hear you wheezing from here. Go back to bed.”

“I don’t want to lie in bed.” She shrugged and he took a deep breath, crossing the room to stand behind her. It wasn’t often she got sick, but when she did she was a terrible patient.

“Sweetheart.” His arms circled her waist. “You’re burnt out and ill, and you certainly can’t go to the compound like this.”

He was right, Katie couldn’t actually remember the last time she felt so bad. She’d requested they leave the compound early last night as the group sat around discussing Tony’s plans to build their bigger Quantum Tunnel. She’d had a headache that she thought was a migraine, but had woken herself and Steve with a particularly nasty coughing fit in the early hours of the morning, whereby he’d gone to fetch her a glass of water and laid with her, rubbing her back until she fell asleep again.

“My plan was to actually lay on the sofa all day watching trash.” She shrugged, coughing a little.

“Ok, if that’s what you want.” he nodded, gently moving her so she was facing him. “Go, I’ll fix the kids breakfast. Do you want anything to eat?”

She shook her head, before letting rip with another hacking cough, her hand flying to her mouth as she turned away from him.

“C'mon,” he sighed, “c'mere.”

Katie practically fell into him when he wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled her head into his chest, her arms wrapping around his waist. “I’m fine,”

“You look like crap.”

“You’re mean.” She croaked out. He chuckled as he brought his hand up and pressed it against her forehead and she closed her eyes, he felt so cool.

“You have a fever. Did you take anything?”

She nodded “Tylenol and cough syrup.”

“Well go lay down until it kicks in.”

“Okay,” she finally relented, and Steve watched as she stepped out of his embrace and headed into the living room. The last time Steve had anything like a cold was pre the serum. He felt the odd sore throat and sniffle every now and then but as fast as they arrived they went thanks to his healing qualities. Jamie seemed to be the same. As a baby he picked up a few bugs but he was back to normal in a maximum of a day. There was one time a few months ago he had picked up a nasty cold that had lasted longer, making him even more of a mamma’s boy, clingy and grouchy. But after thirty-six hours he was back to his normal self, the half of him that held the super soldier serum clearly winning out. And Steve was glad, if the half of Jamie that was his father meant he rarely get sick, he’d passed something good onto his son. Emmy, on the other hand, was like Katie. No serum, so when she got sick she felt it more. And Katie was always on hand to look after her kids, even when she felt crappy herself. So when it fell to Steve to look after her, he was more than happy to do so.

“Is Mama sick?” Jamie asked, from where he was sat at the table, his face creased into a frown.

“Yeah she is, buddy.” Steve nodded, grabbing the toast as it popped up from the toaster, buttering it and cutting it into squares for his son. He placed it down in front of Jamie and then popped more in for himself. “Just a cold though, she’ll be fine.”

Steve left the kitchen for a moment, shouting up the stairs for Emmy to get a move on before returning and pouring himself a coffee and one into a Thermos mug for Emmy to take with her.  Apparently the ‘in thing’ now was to take her breakfast to eat on the way. Steve had no idea why, but whatever. When did he ever have a clue about anything that was on trend?

She bustled in, rucksack on her back and grabbed the toast he was holding out in a paper napkin and her mug.

“Thanks Dad.” She smiled, giving him a peck on the cheek.

“Your Mom’s in the lounge, she’s not feeling too good.” He looked at her. “So I know you wanted Brooke to come over tonight but it might be better to give it a miss.”

“Okay.” She nodded, “I can go to hers instead. Will you be here to give me a lift later if I come home and get some stuff?”

“Sure.” He nodded. She ruffled Jamie’s hair on her way past and then disappeared up the hall, and he was pleased to see she popped her head into the lounge to tell Katie to get better soon.

“Are we going to the compound?” Jamie asked as Steve sat down, his own breakfast now in front of him.

“You’re going to Day Care.” Steve looked at him. “You haven’t been in a while.”

“I don’t wanna.” Jamie pouted

“Well, suck it up.” Steve replied. It was important to him and Katie that their son interacted with kids his own age as much as possible, so even whilst Katie wasn’t going to work today, Jamie was going to nursery. “I’m staying home today. We can go to the compound at weekend. If your momma’s better maybe we can stay over.”

Jamie pondered this for a moment. “Okay.”

Steve chuckled and ruffled his son’s hair as the two of them ate their breakfast. Jamie requested a bowl of cereal once his toast was finished, and to be fair Steve was still hungry too so he made them both a helping of Cheerios before he cleaned Jamie down and got him dressed. Once that was done he popped his head into the lounge and saw Katie was asleep under one of the throws.

“You got everything?” He looked at Jamie, quickly checking him over. He had his small rucksack in his hands, his jumper was on and he was clean. Looked good to Steve.

“Yep!” Jamie nodded enthusiastically.

“Alright, come on then.” Steve held out his hand, and Jamie slipped his little palm into his Dad’s as he opened the door and they made their way to the car.

*****

“Why is it so cold?” Katie groaned, pulling the comforter round her as she shuffled into the kitchen.

“It’s not cold, you’re just sick.” Steve pulled the orange juice out of the fridge, pouring her a giant glass. He handed it to her, raising his hand to her forehead. “You’re still warm.”

“No, I told you, I’m freezing.”

Steve was about to say something when they heard the security system telling them Tony had arrived.

“Why is Tone here?” Katie asked, coughing again.

“Dunno.” Steve shrugged. “I told him I wasn’t going to the compound today as you were sick so maybe he’s come to see how you are.”

“Bit out of his way.” Katie pondered, as the front door opened.

“Knock knock.” Her brother’s voice called up the hallway.

“Kitchen Tony.” Steve called back.

“Just thought I’d see how the patient was,” Tony’s voice rang out down the hallways and Katie rolled her eyes, “so far so good, I see no red cross on the door telling everyone to stay away or any one walking outside chanting bring out your dead…”

At that point he walked into the kitchen and nodded to Steve before he turned to Katie. “Huh, maybe there should be. You look like shit.”

She was pale, her hair was pulled into a messy pony tail and her nose was bright red. She opened her mouth to shoot some comment back about being pissed off with people telling her she looked terrible but was cut off by a fit of hacking coughs.

“I’m dying.” She groaned.

“From a cold?”  Tony rolled his eyes.

“I feel like it.” She mumbled.

Steve chuckled and stirred the soup in the pan.

“Smells good, Spangles!” Tony looked round him to glance down. “What is it.”

“Chicken soup, my Ma’s own recipe. Plenty if you want some.” Steve offered.

“No, it’s mine and I don’t like people taking my stuff.” Katie pouted, childishly. “That soup makes everything better.”

“Don’t be a brat.” Steve shot her a look.

“I’m ill, don’t shout at me.” She shot back, coughing again. Steve pointed to the orange juice that she had set down on the side and the Tylenol next to it.

“Drink that, and take that.” He instructed. “And then back to the couch.”

“You’re not my dad.” She glared at him, sullenly. Steve took a deep breath and bristled, Jesus she was obstinate.

“No, but I am, well, by default.” Tony eyed her. “Do as you’re told.”

She gave Tony a look that was positively mutinous, staring directly into his brown eyes before she reached over, took two pills from the packet, tossed them down with a swallow of juice and flipped him off.

“I guess I’ll be on the couch.” She grumbled, retreating out of the kitchen.

“Thanks.” Steve sighed once she was gone, and Tony chuckled.

“She was a nightmare as a kid when she got sick.” He mused, leaning back against the counter.

“She still is. Insists on trying to keep going instead of resting.”

“You know, when she was ten she got a nasty bout of tonsillitis.” Tony stepped over to grab the coffee from the cupboard. “It turned into something called Quinsy and she ended up hospitalised as one of them burst and she needed them removing under emergency surgery. They were worried about blood poisoning.” Tony paused to top the machine up with coffee and he grabbed the glass jug from underneath. “She demanded to come home the next day even though she was on some heavy duty IV anti-biotics, full scale tantrum when she was told she had to stay in for four days.”

Steve snorted as Tony filled the machine with water and turned it on.

“So trying to carry on when she has a cold is nothing.” Tony looked at him. “Just tell her whose boss.”

The men exchanged a look, both of them fully understanding that Steve was most definitely not the boss before they laughed and Tony clapped him on the shoulder, moving to make the coffee.

“So, Pepper is coming to the compound for the rest of the week” Tony poured himself a drink before he did the same and handed it to Steve. “I was wondering if you wanted me to take Jamie off your hands for the evening, Morgan will be pleased to see him.”

Steve hesitated for a second, as he took a sip of his coffee. He was still torn as to whether the compound really was the best place for the kids. But, the living area was far enough away from any of the equipment, and Emmy had lived there before…

“Don’t worry, I won’t turn him into a teenager.” Tony spotted the flicker of doubt that flashed across Steve’s face.

“No, it’s not that, I trust you Tony, I-” Steve began, feeling that he needed to explain but Tony waved him away.

“I know, and believe me I wasn’t sure I wanted Morgan there but I haven’t seen her since Monday.”

“You know, you don’t have to be at the Compound permanently.” Steve turned the heat down on the stove.

“I know but it’s just easier.” Tony shrugged. “Especially whilst we’re still building the stuff.”

Steve nodded and began to pull three bowls out of the cupboard “Okay, well yeah I’m sure Jamie would like that.”

“Great, I can get him on the way back, I’m assuming he’s at the tower?”

Steve glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only half two but there was no time limits on when he could be collected from Nursery. “Yeah he is, I’ll call ahead, let them know you’re picking him up.”

Tony clapped his hands together. “Great.”

“Let me get this to the patient and then you can fill me in on what’s been going on.” Steve said, picking up a bowl of the soup and a spoon.

****

Katie’s cold lasted three full days. On the fourth night, she had another restless sleep. Not wanting her constant tossing and turning to wake Steve, she headed down stairs, took another dose of Tylenol and turned on the TV, snuggling under the blanket on the sofa. She felt like crap. Luckily the medicine kicked in about fifteen minutes later and she managed to fall asleep, Lucky curled around her legs, keeping her feet warm. When she woke later that morning, she was pleased to find she felt a lot clearer headed and she didn’t ache when she moved which was a bonus.

“You look better.” Steve smiled as she wandered into the kitchen. He’d left her asleep on the couch when he’d seen her earlier that morning, the kids were still in bed seeing as it was weekend.

“I feel it.” she nodded, running her hands through her hair “I’m starving.”

Her appetite being back was a good thing.

“Want me to fix you anything?” Steve asked.

“Eggs and bacon.” she said enthusiastically “I’m gonna grab a shower.”

“Good I can smell you from here.” he teased, laughing as she raised a middle finger which she held up over her shoulder as she walked out of the kitchen. The shower made her feel even better, and once she was dressed in actual clothes and not Pyjamas she felt human again.

She devoured her breakfast, drank another large glass of orange juice and Steve filled her in on what was going on at the Compound. Natasha was still tracking Clint, the Quantum Tunnel Machine was well under construction, Thor, well, Thor seemed to still be a little distracted but he was engaging as much as could be expected and they’d started designs on suits that would help them navigate the Quantum Realm.

“Has anyone given any thought to how we actually get the stones?” Katie asked, a small cough escaping her.

“I’ve been thinking about it a bit.” Steve nodded. “There are a number of possibilities. But trying to get them individually instead of all at once is likely going to be the best bet.”

“How’s that going to work?” She pondered and Steve shrugged.

“To be honest, I haven’t got that far.” He sighed, and Katie dropped the subject.

They headed over to the compound in the late morning, and immediately Katie and Steve spotted the Quinjet was back. They shared a glance, knowing that could only mean one thing and, as quickly as they could, they got the kids out of the car and headed inside. As they made their way towards the main lounge, Katie heard a familiar voice and she felt her chest tighten. Letting go of Steve’s hand, she broke into a run and burst into the room. Everyone in there turned to face her as she stood, stock still, staring at her one time Senior Officer.

“Clint…” She whispered, before she threw herself at him, hugging him tight.

“Hey, Katie.” he croaked as she buried her face into his neck, his arms wrapping around her, squeezing her into a strong hug. 

“Hey yourself.” She sniffled slightly as she stepped back, before she grinned and ran her hand over the shorn sides of his hair. “Nice Mohawk.”

He chuckled and then his attention turned to Steve “Hey, Cap.”

“Hey Clint.” Steve smiled, stepping forward to embrace his friend. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too.” Clint smiled, before he glanced down to Steve’s right where Jamie was now tugging on his hand. 

“Daddy, who’s this?” He asked as Steve picked him up. 

“Jamie, this is Clint. A friend of mine and your mom’s.” Steve smiled.

“And this is Emmy.” Katie said from behind him. Emmy gave him a smile that was a little shyer than Jamie’s as Clint nodded to her.

“Pleased to meet you both. I heard a lot about you from Natasha.”

“Auntie Nat-Nat gives me chocolate.�� Jamie grinned. “But I’m not upposed to tell anyone where she keeps it.”

“She used to give my kids chocolate.” Clint smiled, sadly.  “Even when I told her not to.”

Silence fell across the room, no one really knowing what to say to that. Clint took a deep breath and looked down at his feet, until Katie spoke, breaking the tension.

“Shall I fix lunch?” She offered and the team all made noises of agreement and started to move around. Clint smiled at her, and then looked at the boy in Steve’s arms. .

“He looks like you, Cap.” He nodded. Steve smiled and looked at Jamie.

“Apparently so.”

“I think it’s great you guys, you know, that you’re parents.” Clint smiled at Katie. She returned the grin.

“Yeah, it has its moments.” She watched as Steve set Jamie down and he wandered over to Natasha, who beamed at him as he clambered into her lap.  

“Especially when dealing with stroppy teenagers.” Steve quipped looking at Emmy who rolled her eyes.

“Change the record, Dad.”

“Note she said record, not CD old man.” Tony shot.

“It’s just a figure of speech.” Steve rolled his eyes “And for the record, I wish you’d change yours too.”

Clint looked around and caught Katie’s eye, a fond, nostalgic look on his face. And she knew why. It was almost as if nothing had changed. The banter was familiar, each person taking up their role they had held in the Avengers easily, as if the last seven years hadn’t happened. But then, looking around the room was enough to make you remember that they had. They looked different, felt different. They’d split, gone their separate ways and then the Snap had ripped everything from under them, and none of them had lost as much as Clint. 

Katie smiled. “Wanna come help with lunch?” She asked softly, as he hastily wiped a tear from his face.

“Yeah,” he nodded. The pair of them made for the door and she turned to Steve who shot her a smile, before she led Clint towards the kitchen.

“Thanks.” He muttered as they left the room. They walked silently until they reached the kitchen and Katie shut the door as she walked to the fridge pulling out various ingredients to make a huge pan of stuff for fajitas.

“So,” she turned to Clint, handing him a knife, “you chop veg, I’ll do the chicken.”

He smiled softly. “You sound like Laura.”

“Clint, I’m so sorry.” Katie sighed. “I’ve no words that can even pretend to offer a comfort. I can’t begin to imagine-”

“Natasha told me about your baby.” Clint cut her off as he looked at her. She looked down at the chopping board before meeting his eyes. “You lost too.”

“Yeah, we did.” She sighed “We all lost someone.”

“Bet you didn’t go on a killing spree because of it.” Clint sighed, taking a deep breath.

“Clint,” Katie took a deep breath. “Yeah, what you did wasn’t…great, but you can’t let it define you.”

Clint stayed silent for a moment before Katie spoke again. “Steve killed someone you know. In cold blood. One of the HYDRA guys that kept me captive and, well, you know what they did.”

Clint let out a growl. “I don’t blame him, I’d have put an arrow in his head if it had been Laura.”

“That’s my point.” Katie shrugged. “Something like that tipped Captain America, the sentinel of justice and truth-” she framed her words with her fingers making quotation marks and Clint snorted “-over the edge. Someone as morally correct as Steve snapped because of something someone did to me. He didn’t do it to protect me, he did it for out and out revenge.”

“That’s not the same-”

“Maybe not.” Katie shrugged. “But the point I’m trying to make, albeit very badly, is that people react to trauma in different ways.”

“It was anger.” Cling spoke after a moment. “Anger and bitterness that they died and all these assholes didn’t. I wanted to even the scales a little myself. Why did they get to live and my family didn’t?”

“Exactly. You went through the most awful thing ever.” Katie laid a hand on Clint’s arm. “It might not make it right, but it makes it a little more understandable. Certainly from my point of view.” At that she returned to her chopping, with a little shake of her head. “If anything happened to either of my kids, I’d lose it too.”

“That implies you had it to lose in the first place.” Clint quipped, cheekily. She looked up and she was pleased to see the mischievous Barton glint had returned to his eyes.

****

As Tony reminded them all, whilst they had a working Quantum Tunnel, building that into something bigger to do what they needed to do was going to take time. Everyone understood, even if it was frustrating, but as Katie kept pointing out, they’d waited five years for this, what was a couple of months more?

Those months Katie and Steve spent flitting between the Compound, Stark Tower, their home in Brooklyn and Tony’s lake house, trying to manage the time between Emmy’s exams, ensuring the kids were looked after during the school vacation, keeping a business going and maintaining as normal a life for Emmy and Jamie as possible.  

But then, one Wednesday morning in late September, Tony let out a triumphant yell. They were ready.

With Emmy and Jamie both safely out of the way- Emmy back at school, and Jamie in Day Care- they decided on taking their test that same afternoon. The goal was simple, go back in time for a minute or so, pick something up, see if it could be brought back. Katie and Steve followed Tony through the hangar as he was dragging the metal pipe which contained the power cables they had just helped him arrange into the mains which would fire up the machine. In front of them, Thor was walking, drinking a beer as usual, dressed in a scruffy pair of grey sweats and a red hooded top.

“Drifting left!” Tony warned the God. “On the side there, Lebowski”

Katie snorted at the reference. “Makes a change from Point Break.” she said, and Steve grinned.

 “Ratchet, how’s it going?”  Tony called.

 Rocket looked up from where he had been working on something underneath the glass platform “It’s Rocket. Take it easy. You’re only a genius on Earth, pal”

Tony stopped and grinned, catching Katie’s eye, passing the cable to Rocket and giving the raccoon instructions on where to plug each wire.

 “Okay so where’s Lang?” Steve asked, looking around.

“In the chamber having his suit calibrated.” Nat looked up from the tablet she was poking around on. The machine lit up, and Tony stepped back and looked at her. “So far the fluctuation levels are holding.” She nodded and Tony grinned.

 “You say it like you’re surprised, Red.” He shot back. She merely smirked to herself, tapping again.

 “I’ll go see if they’re ready.” Katie nodded.

 “Hey, hey, hey! Easy, easy!” She could hear Scott’s voice as she approached the side chamber in the lab.

 “I’m being very careful” Banner replied

 “No, you’re being very Hulky”

 “I’m being careful.”

She reached the doorway where Clint was leaning against the frame, and looked at him. He shot her a smirk as she turned her attention to Lang who was holding up a small, red glass tube.

“These are Pym Particles, alright? And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We’re not making any more.” 

“Scott, calm down.” Rhodey soothed, looking at him.

 “Sorry.” Scott said, “But we’ve only got enough for one round trip each. That’s it. No do-overs. Plus two test runs.”

 At that, with a yell, he shrank and then grew again back to his normal size after accidentally pressing a button. Katie let out a groan as she looked at Clint.

 “One test run.” she shot, turning to Lang.

“All right. I’m not ready for this.” Scott shook his head and Katie noticed the slightly panicked look in his face. Before she could say anything else, however, Clint spoke softly.

“I’m game.” He nodded as everyone turned to him. “I’ll do it.

There was a moment’s pause before Katie grinned, clapping him on the shoulder. “Suit up then, Hawkeye.”

Clint and Lang switched places, and Bruce handed him one of the GPS controllers. Instantly the same suit Lang was wearing formed round Clint as Lang deactivated his, grabbing his baseball cap from the floor.

“Wai-wait a second, let me ask you something.” Rhodey spoke, his tone making it clear this was something he had been thinking about for a while. “If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don’t we just find baby Thanos, you know, and…” He made a hand gesture suggesting he was strangling something.

“First of all that’s horrible.” Bruce spoke in a disgusted voice.

“It’s Thanos.” Rhodey shrugged, simply and Katie had to agree. If that as a plan would work, she had no problems in going back and being the one to choke the life out of him. Infant or no infant.

“And secondly, time doesn’t work that way. Changing the past doesn’t change the future.” Bruce continued.

“Look.” Scott nodded.  “We go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them, Thanos doesn’t have the stones. Problem solved.”

“Bingo.” Clint agreed.

“That’s not how it works.” Katie shook her head.

“She’s right.” Nebula added. “It’s not.”

“Well, that’s what I heard.” Clint shrugged.

“What? By who? Who told you that?” Bruce sighed.

Rhodey held up his hand, counting with his fingers as he spoke. “Star Trek, Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time…”

“A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time.” Rhodey continued.

“Hot Tub Time Machine” Scott added.

“Hot Tub Time Machine. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Basically, any movie that deals with time travel.” Rhodey looked around.

“Die Hard?” Scott asked, before he frowned. “No, that’s not one.”

“This is known.” Rhodey finished.

“I don’t know why everyone believes that, but that isn’t true.” Banner said, earnestly “Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present becomes the past. Which can’t now be changed by your new future.”

“Exactly.” Nebula added.

“So ‘Back To The Future’ is a bunch of bullshit?” Scott asked, with the air of a small child whom someone had just told Santa didn’t exist.

“Afraid so.” Katie looked at him. “Furthermore, there’s a theory that Tony alluded to when he mentioned the Deutsch proposition. If you alter an event in the past you create an alternate universe and timeline as a result. You don’t change yours.”

“Which is why I think we’re gonna have to put the stones back when we’re done.” Bruce mused. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” He tapped a final button and then stood up. “Okay, that’s it.”

“Ready?” Katie looked at Clint. 

He nodded “Let’s get this show on the road.”

*****

“Lang had an attack of nerves when he accidentally used up one lot of Pym Particles” Katie explained as Steve looked at Clint, confused as to why he was the one in the Quantum Suit on the platform in the middle of the hangar.

“Wait, he used them?” Steve frowned.

“Yeah, so now we only have one test run. But Clint says he’s up for it.” She looked at Tony who opened his mouth to say something, and shook her head. He took a deep breath, simply shrugging as Steve turned to Clint.

“All good?” He asked, and Clint gave him the thumbs up.

“Alright, Clint.” Banner looked at him. “We’re going in three… two… one!”

The helmet sprang forth onto Clint’s head from his suit and he was sucked down through the platform into the Quantum Realm.

“Returning in five…four…three…two…one!”   

The portal opened again and Clint re-materialised on the glass platform, breathing heavily.  

Natasha was first up the steps, taking his face in her hands “Hey, hey, look at me. You okay?”

He waved off her concern, but that wasn’t what Steve was looking at. It was the baseball glove in his hands. Clint tossed it to Tony who caught it, slapping it slightly into his hand, a look of victory on his face.

It worked.

“Cap?” Tony turned to Steve and he realised that everyone was looking to him for directions.

“We need to plan carefully where we go.” He cleared his throat, taking a deep breath and letting it out. “I suggest we start first thing in the morning.”

****

“Em,” Steve spoke as the family sat down to dinner later that evening. “You know we’ve been doing a lot of work at the compound?”

He looked at Emmy, who nodded. After swearing her to secrecy, they’d explained everything to her when they had first started, both of them believing she was old enough to know the truth, and they respected her too much to keep anything from her. 

“Has it worked? Did Tony build it?”

“Yeah, and we think that we should probably move to the compound, just until this is all over. We’ll still make sure you get to school and stuff, we don’t want any of this to impact anything for either of you.” He looked at her. She took a deep breath, but it wasn’t her who spoke next, It was Jamie.

“Can I bring my toys? And Lucky?”

“I think Clint would really like to see him again.” Katie smiled. Clint’s reunion with the dog a few weeks ago would have melted even the coldest of hearts. Lucky had been overjoyed to see his old master, and Clint had buried his face into the animal’s fur, sobbing quietly. Jamie had been indignant that the dog was paying more attention to Clint than him, but that had all changed when Jamie had called his name and Lucky had run back to his side, licking him furiously. Katie had explained to Clint that the two had a very strong bond and Clint had smiled, stating that the animal had loved Nathaniel as well. He was simply happy someone had taken care of him. 

“He’s my dog.” Jamie pouted and Steve snorted, shooting Katie a look.

“Someone else doesn’t like people touching their stuff.” he muttered, grimacing as Katie kicked him in the shin “Ow!”

*****

“You know, we’re gonna have problems if Clint wants to take that dog back.” Steve said as they lay in bed later that night.

“I’m hoping he won’t” Katie sighed. “I mean he’s twelve this year, I’m sure Clint will be happy to let stay seeing as he’s older now.”

“Oh is that how it works?” Steve asked, his hand moving through her hair. “The older you are, the more people want to keep you settled?”

“Why else do you think I kept you around for so long?” Katie shrugged.

“That’s just rude, Mrs Rogers.” Steve looked at her and she grinned as she pressed a kiss to his lips.

“Suppose you have other uses.” She smirked against his lips.

“Really, what might they be?” He asked, in between kisses as she straddled him, his hands creeping up the t-shirt she was wearing and resting on her hips.

“Not sure now you come to mention it?” She wrinkled her nose, wriggling slightly against his crotch, making him grunt. “You might need to remind me.”

Steve simply pushed his hips upwards and Katie groaned softly as his arousal pressed up against her spot. Steve’s hand moved from her hip up to the back of her neck, pulling her down into a deep kiss that had the pair of them wanting far more. Steve hungrily pulled her top over her head, sitting up, running his nose up and down her sternum in between the lines of her breasts. Katie’s head fell back slightly as she bit her lip, relishing the feeling of his skin on hers as his lips traced a path from her jaw line to her neck.

“Remembered yet?” He muttered, breath hot on her ear as she let out another soft whimper.

“Not quite.” She teased. In a flash he had her on her back, and was kissing down the length of her body, nose skimming the waist band of her underwear before he hooked a finger into each side and pulled the garment down her legs. Hands on her knees he gently moved he legs further apart and grinned at the sight of her arousal.

“Liar.” He mumbled, setting his mouth to her. 

Her soft, breathy moans soon filled their room as his tongue worked her over, his right hand placed over her stomach to anchor her into place. He would never get tired of this, hearing her, feeling her as she came undone, her back arching off the bed, knees gripping at the side of his head. He snuck a glance upwards and had to chuckle slightly as she had a pillow pressed over her face to muffle her noises. As she flattened back down, he dispensed of his boxers, crawling back over her, gently removing the item from her face.

“You okay?” He asked with a trace of amusement. She glanced up at him, smiling and laughed as she drew her breath.

“You know, one other thing about going back to the compound,” she chuckled as he pressed against her, giving her another kiss, “the walls to our room are soundproof so there’s no-“

He cut her off as he pushed into her harshly, causing her eyes to close and her breath to catch. He continued to thrust, slowly, powerfully. Watching her face as he did so.

“Eyes on me, Doll.” He managed a low growl and she bit down on her lip, before her jaw slacked slightly and he saw her brow crease just as it always did when she was about to tip over that precipice, riding that fine line between pain and pleasure.

“Come on, Kitten.” He panted, his hips continuing. “Let go…”

And she did, she came hard as her hands wrapped around his biceps, nails digging into his skin as Steve chased his own end furiously, coming with a violent final thrust, his head buried in the crook of her shoulder.

They lay in silence for a while, Katie falling asleep way before Steve. The Soldiers brain was running on overdrive analysing the day. Their machine worked, the test run had been a success, but he knew the hard work was only just beginning. They had to suss out when and where to go to get the stones, and then there was actually doing it. That was going to be the hardest part of all. Then, they faced even more engineering to develop something to harness them, and, maybe the biggest question of all, deciding who was going to snap their fingers.

He glanced down at his wife, her long eyelashes laying against her cheek as she slept. She looked so peaceful.  With a soft sigh he kissed the top of her head and lay back, eyes closed, the warmth of her body soothing him slightly as he felt the tendrils of tiredness pulling him under.

**** Chapter 53

 **Original Posting**

[kiatheinsomniac]

Huntress V

[Part I]   [Part II]   [Part III]   [Part IV]   [Part V]

When (Y/n) awoke, she was in an unfamiliar room, no longer at the doctor’s. It was fairly cramped and the windows were boarded up to prevent any sunlight from getting inside, leaving the candles on the desk as the only source of light.

The bed took up most of the room albeit it, it was small and very low down. Opposite the bed was a desk and chair — papers had already been pinned above the desk and Ezio stood with his back to her and was laying some items out over the table, seemingly taking an inventory. There was a hatch on the floor which (Y/n) assumed was the exit.

She sat up and looked around, rubbing her eyes before throwing the blanket back to examine her legs — big mistake. She gasped and pulled it back over her figure, causing Ezio to turn around to face her. The vampire had heard her wake up but didn’t feel the need to turn around until hearing her sound of distress.

“Where are my clothes?!” She exclaimed, holding the sheet over her bare chest.

“Relax. It’s been a few days and I thought they needed to be cleaned. If it makes you feel any better, I sent for a woman to change you.” He continued as he crouched down beside her, watching as she held the sheet tighter and shuffled back a little. His dark eyes locked with hers for a moment before he reached for the blanket at her feet. Her hand darted out to grab his wrist, stopping him.

“What’re you doing?!”

“Checking your bandages.” He replied, “I have no ill intentions for you, (Y/n).”

“You know I can’t believe that. I tried to kill you twice and then you saved me from execution. Why would you do that unless you wanted something?” She narrowed her eyes at him. But her glare wasn’t as hard as he had seen it before: she seemed cautious, confused and painfully aware of how vulnerable she was in that moment.

“Because I want you to change your mind.” He replied, feeling her grip of his wrist soften and moving his large hand to hold her smaller one. “You’ve been on the wrong course for so long. What will killing vampires achieve? Satisfaction? Why not go out there and kill the men who took your sisters, hmm? Kill them and everyone like them who would strip you and other witches of your freedom. Stop them from putting anyone else through that pain. Fight with me, not against me. Fight for a world where we can all choose the path we lead.” The idea seemed to roll in her mind and she sighed, not wanting to share her thoughts on it just yet and raising the sheets to reveal her bandaged legs instead.

Ezio returned to the desk and grabbed a pouch before returning to her side and removing the bandages. (Y/n) hissed when he prodded her a little too hard by accident, causing him to mumble his apologies as he inspected the wound. Her skin was raw and blistered and she winced at the mere sight.

“The doctor prescribed this ointment.” He spoke as he pulled it from the pouch and (Y/n) opened and closed her palm to signal for him to hand it over. She opened the lid and smelled the contents.

“This won’t do anything. If I had my stuff, I could get the spell to cure it.” She grumbled as she handed it back over.

“Would it still be in the Doge’s home?” He queried.

“Yes, but he’s surrounded by guards now, no doubt.” She replied, “But I’m worried I’ll suffer from infection under this doctor’s work. I’ve never trusted them, we just don’t know enough about the human’s biology yet. I’ll stick to my own remedies.”

"And there are no other copies of this remedy?" He asked, raising a hand as he stood.

"No, I came across it myself by accident after a fight when I was working with whatever ingredients I could find." She replied, frowning at her bandaged legs. "And if it's any motivation for you, that book you stole pages from is also in that bag."

"It is?" His eyes lit up, "Where have you kept your things?" He queried.

"The trunk at the end of the bed in the spare room." She replied, "Though, I'm worried that they may have got rid of my things when they arrested me."

"Va bene, I'll send someone to check and see if they can recover your belongings." He replied as he got up and reached for the handle of the hatch on the floor.

"Don't go anywhere." He finished as his head disappeared down below and the door fell back into place.

"I think my blisters are security enough for that." She rolled her eyes before swinging her injured legs over the side of the bed, holding the sheet around her form in case Ezio came back, assuring that it was wrapped securely around her slim figure.

She stood upon the wooden floor and winced at the pain in caused, gripping onto the table to sturdy her balance - it had been a few days since she last walked and she was feeling the effects of it. She opted to lean one hand on the table in order to try and get back to her usual self, not wanting to be idle anymore.

She reached towards the pages pinned to the walls - sketches and annotated diagrams. It showed a sphere was unusual markings that was called a Piece of Eden and 'the apple?' hastily written beside it as well. There were annotations about some of its known abilities: mind control, illusion and so on. (Y/n) could recall a few mentions of this artefact from the book which she had stolen from the Doge's study but these must be the pages which he had torn from it. Personally, she had been much more interested in the staff that it had documented so she thought very little of these few mentionings of the apple.

Strewn over the desk were various maps and lists: some were maps of regions in Venice with different locations circled and crossed out, some areas marked with squares around buildings. But she could not find any key to decipher what any of these meant, perhaps it was just one that Ezio had kept in his mind. There were lists of different names and information provided by contacts. There was a scroll of various papers that was bound with a black ribbon. She opened it up to reveal contracts assigned by Lorenzo de Medici.

"The Medici?!" She whisper-yelled to herself. How many people did this vampire know? The contracts spoke of enemies to the Medici rule that needed to be dealt with. Some of them were checked off by Ezio but others were yet to be completed. Perhaps he intended to finish them once his work in Venice was done?

There was a noise from below and (Y/n) looked back to the hatch, seeing Ezio climb up a ladder and re-enter the small room which they seemed to be sharing for the time being. She didn't act hastily in rolling the contracts back up again. If he wanted her to trust him then he would allow her to know everything that was going on; especially seeing as he had previously told her how much was hidden from her beforehand.

"I've sent someone to try and collect your things but we can't guarantee she'll be successful." He began before holding out a bundle of white silk and linen to her, seeing as all she had to protect her decency was a bedsheet. "I also got this for you, one of the ladies has let you borrow it until we can get your clothes back or buy you some new ones."

"Thank you." She mumbled as she took the clothing and held it out with one hand, seeing the length of it and how revealing it was.

"Is this lady a courtesan by any chance?" She scoffed as Ezio turned around to face the desk once more in order to allow her some privacy as she changed, his back now to her.

"Yes, actually. We're above a brothel." He replied and (Y/n) sighed as she stood on the bed (due to the lack of space) and dropped the sheet, pulling the shoulderless dress on over her head and pulling the thin layers of the skirt down, still feeling awfully revealed by the open-cut front of the dress and how the stay sewn into it barely contained her breasts. She almost fell to the floor in the process, her legs still weak, but she managed to support herself on the wall.

"Ok, I'm done." She huffed as she pulled the front of the dress down carefully, feeling anxious about her lack of clothing underneath, all while not wanting the bodice to shift with it. Ezio looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened for a moment before flickering down her body and a smirk pulled at the corner of his lips before he looked away once more.

"I saw that," (Y/n) grumbled as she sat down, letting her legs fall off the side of the bed.

"It was only a quick look." He replied in a laddish tone with a hearty laugh at the end.

"Not for you, it wasn't. I wasn't born yesterday, Ezio, I know how quickly your kind can move when wanted." She was replied with another laugh from him.

"Art should be admired, no?"

"You're not doing yourself any favours in getting in my good books here." She finished as she walked over to one of the boarded-up windows.

"Don't touch those." He said, not raising his gaze from one of the maps on the table.

"What's stopping me?" She countered, knowing that she had the ability to severely injure him just by prying a board back and allowing the sunlight to pour in. An arm wrapped around her torso, restraining her arms by her sides and a blade was pressed to her throat in a moment. The cold metal rested against the hot skin of her neck and she reeled her head back to try and put some distance between herself and the weapon, ending up leaning her head back onto his shoulder.

"This." He growled in her ear, not wanting her to get any ideas about attacking him while he was vulnerable during the time that he was treating her. He truly wanted the best for her but he would never be able to achieve that if both of them didn't command mutual respect. She twisted her body to the left a little, elbowing him in the gut and giving her the moment she needed to turn around and shove him away.

"Still not doing you any favours for getting on my good side." She grumbled as she leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. He didn't seem to mind her shoving him, it not really having much of an effect seeing as she was already weakened by her injuries. "Don't do that again." She mumbled, making her way over to the desk to watch what he was doing. After realising he had taken out a very specific map of a building, she became curious as to what it was.

"What're you looking at?" She asked, wrapping her arms around herself as she felt a sudden chill.  

"It's a map of the Basilica, there's something that I need. . . Would you shut up?" She was taken aback for a moment after he spun in her direction to say that, opening her mouth to retort when she saw that he was, in fact, looking behind her. She turned her head and jumped backwards with a yelp, her back hitting Ezio's chest in the small space that was the secret loft of the brothel. Suddenly she understood the chill.

She'd never been sensitive to spirits in the day, perhaps that's why Elizabetta's ghost had managed to appear behind her, undetected.

Her dark locks fell down her back and her eyes were a piercing green, poking like needles into whoever caught a glimpse of them. Her skin was strikingly pale and (Y/n) could see the punctures over her neck so easily in their short distance - a reminder of what Ezio was capable of doing to her. The naked ghost took a step closer as she continued to speak silently, lips moving but not a word coming out.

Whether he meant to or not, Ezio's arm made its way around (Y/n)'s waist, trying to push her behind him in the small distance. The witch turned her head to glance up at him, seeing the look of irritation on his face as he regarded the dead woman.

"I've heard enough. You won't scare me Elizabetta, and you won't make me change my mind." There was a pause as she clearly scoffed, (Y/n) only wishing she could hear what the spirit was saying. "Why would I listen to you? I know that your only goal is to see me fail." His voice was rising and it was clear to (Y/n) that Elizabetta had hit a nerve.

"Begone, you're no longer welcome here for the time being." (Y/n) cut in, watching as the woman's emerald eyes narrowed angrily, somewhat surprised that the huntress had even cut in before she vanished like smoke.

"What did she say?" (Y/n) quizzed, turning around to face him.

"She. . ."He seemed to trail off as he looked down at the woman in his arms, his hand resting on her lower back, tilting his head down to meet her gaze before closing his eyes. He sighed and stepped away, turning around, "I'm not entirely sure yet, all I know is she was trying to get under my skin and she succeeded to a degree." He reached a hand out to smooth down the top of her hair.

"Get some rest, it'll do you no good if you tire your legs out. We're going to be moving once the sun sets then I'll be heading out to see what I can find out about the Doge's whereabouts." (Y/n) didn't like being told to sleep as though she were a child and it was her bedtime.

"Fine, but I won't be staying inside your next hideout while you look for the Doge. If your courtesan doesn't return my things, I'll have to retrieve them myself and if I can't then I'll have to buy some new clothes. You may think that I'm fragile because I’m a witch, Ezio," She added as she sat down and pulled the blanket over her lap, "but it hasn't stopped me in the past and now that I have a new score to settle, it certainly won't stop me now."

"Revenge is a painful road, belleza," Ezio spoke wearily, recalling what his own path was.

"And it seems it's a pain we both know all too well."

[98prilla]

Abductions, Past and Present

Next

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AO3

...

He knocks on the door softly, wincing at the startled yelp he hears from the other side, but he hears a ‘come in’ before he can apologize. He peeks open the door, and it takes him a moment to find Remus, who is sitting in the corner of the room, knees pulled to his chest, to the left of the door.

 “I brought you some pancakes.” He starts simply. “Would you like the door open, or closed if I intend on staying in here with you?” He asks, not missing Remus’s surprised consideration at the question. He knows well enough the importance of choices.

 “closed is fine.” Remus says after a moment, and he nods, closing the door softly. He slides the plate of pancakes across the floor to Remus, grabbing a spare blanket and wrapping it around his shoulders as he settles in the corner opposite Remus, idly looking around the room, careful not to make Remus feel stared at or watched.

 “They taste great, by the way. The pancakes. And I know Patton enjoyed the company.” He comments, noticing how Remus’s shoulders tense a bit, though he does take a bite of food, savoring the fluffiness and heavenly sweetness of syrup. In only a few minutes, the plate is slid back across the room to Janus, who sets it aside.

 “you didn’t need to come check on me.” Remus mumbles, and he hums for a moment, thinking.

 “I didn’t. And I will leave if you want. Tell the others you’re just resting, and to leave you alone, if you like.” Remus considers for a moment, before shaking his head, resting it atop his knees. He relaxes back against the wall, stretching out his legs and looking up at the ceiling, letting Remus set the pace.

 “I was excited. And I yelled. And I asked for something.” Janus tilts his head to show he’s listening, but still doesn’t look away from the ceiling, knowing the weight of a gaze is not welcome.

 “you did. And while it did startle everyone, it made all of us happy, to see you happy about something.” He replies evenly.

 “I’m not allowed to be loud. It gets me in trouble. Which really means it gets Roman in trouble. It means… it means he gets hurt. I know… I know it’s not like that anymore, but… but I still expect it, I can’t… I can’t not.” He lets out a low breath, nodding, finally tilting his head so he’s looking at Remus.

“I know. I was younger, and alone, but I can imagine, if they’d stolen one of my nest mates along with me, how hard I would cling to them as my life line, how hard I would fight to keep them safe. I learned obedience quickly, with the help of their tools” he spits the word, “though pain was unavoidable.” He can still feel the needle sharp jolts of pain over every inch of what was once scales, his flesh torn and raw and red, each one meticulously plucked from his skin for some fine lady’s jewelry or a rich man’s fancy cape, the type of pain that didn’t even hurt after a day, just made his stomach roil and his balance lopsided, ill and feverish and weak from it.

 “I suppose they took better care of me than they did you. I wasn’t a lab rat, and they couldn’t afford to lose me. They fed me well so my scales would stay shining and bright, would always tend to my injuries carefully so they would grow back in well after every pluck. Lots of IV’s, to keep me hydrated and get nutrients in me.”

 “how often?”

 “Once every month, month and a half. I was eight, when they grabbed me. I was 21 when they got me out.” Remus lets out a low whistle at that, the silence lingering for a moment, and he can feel Remus studying him, debating something in the silence.

 “how… did you stop? Forgetting where you are, I mean. Or… knowing where you are and just… not being able to believe it?” He sighs, letting his eyes meet Remus’s, a small, bitter smile on his lips.

 “you don’t, really. I’m still expecting something to go to hell, and somedays I can’t leave my room, convinced for some reason that if I walk out I’ll see the hospital white halls. Some nights I still wake up, thrashing and screaming, and some nights I don’t sleep at all, and some days I cannot stand to have anyone touch me. It comes and it goes. It just… comes less and stays for shorter amounts of time, the longer I’m here with people I trust.”

 “that fucking sucks.” Remus mumbles softly, picking at his shirt. He shrugs.

 “yeah. But it’s still better than the real thing. And everyone knows to respect whatever boundaries I lay down, no matter how often they shift and change from day to day. You won’t get in trouble for allowing someone the privilege of touching you one day, then saying no touch the next. Or allowing one person touch, but denying another. I know me saying it doesn’t just magically let you believe it, but they’ll show it to you, over time. Because every time you say something, or ask for something, or get loud and excited, and expect that punishment? It won’t come. Until you start to believe them when they say it won’t ever.”

 Remus meets his eyes again, for longer this time, once again on the brink of saying something, but unsure if he can cross that precipice. He knows that feeling, hell, he probably knows all the exact things going through Remus’s mind right now, because they’ve sped through his own a thousand times.

 “so if… if I wanted touch now… you wouldn’t just pat me on the back or something later, when… when I’m not expecting it?” Remus finally asks, though he can tell it’s a precursor to what he really wants. Still, he’ll never push. He just nods.

 “Yes. And if you did want touch it would also be ok if you only wanted a specific kind of touch. Hand holding, arm around the shoulders, full on cuddling, that kind of thing. It is always open and up to you to decide what you are and are not ok with. You can always ask for more. Likewise, you can always ask for less, if you decide something is too much.” He answers, trying to keep his voice soft and purely informational, trying to make this easier.

 He's surprised when Remus nods decisively once, takes a deep breath, then scoots across the floor to him, carefully settling against him so that their sides are touching. Somehow he expected to be the one to go to Remus, not the other way around. He’s almost afraid to move, afraid to scare Remus away.

 “have… have you ever gone back? To your home planet?”

 “Once. Just to see. It was strange, being there. It felt right but… empty. So much of who you are as a Naga is built on what nest you’re from, what family in that nest you belong to, and I don’t have any of that. I was an outsider in my own home. It… hurt, but I think I needed it to. I had already planned on staying aboard, I just had to make sure.” Remus nods.

 “I miss home. I wonder what movies have come out, what my friends grew up to be, what my parents are doing now. If they stayed together or got divorced, or maybe had more kids, or maybe adopted. I could see that. They always wanted to foster. But we can’t even check, can we? That’s not the rules for Earth.”

 “no. they aren’t.” He replies. Earth is just starting to open up to aliens, just starting its space exploration, just a baby in the grand scheme of space, and thus heavily regulated, both by the planet itself and other universal aid to keep other planets from interfering in Earth’s development. No, returning home for the brothers is impossible, at least for the foreseeable future.

 Remus rests his head on his shoulder with a sigh, and he is once again terrified to move, to scare the skittish human away.

  “Logan said we’ll be touching down somewhere in a few days. I’m going to lose it as soon I step outside, I know it. I’m trying to brace myself already, trying to remember what real sun feels like, what wind or grass or trees even look like, what solid ground feels like, and I can’t. How pathetic is that? Ten years of my life, I spent outside every second I could, and now I can barely remember what outside is.”

 “Lose it, then. Scream and cry and pound the ground and punch a tree and laugh while sobbing like a maniac. It’ll make you feel better, extremely satisfying, really.” He replies, remembering his first time off ship. He’d just sat on the ground in the sun, just crying. Just endlessly crying. Remus lets out a small snort, gently bumping his shoulder against him.

 “I’m sure that would go over well with the locals. ‘Oh that? That’s just the human, losing his shit, don’t worry, he probably won’t break your shit or kill any of you, though he is half feral.’ I’m sure that would put their minds right at ease.” He simply shrugs again.

 “Fuck ‘em. I can move faster than nearly any other species, and I’ll bite whoever wants to even think of trying something. It’s a small planet, yes, but a common way fair point for smaller ships like ours. Smuggling isn’t uncommon in the galaxies, Remus, and they’ve seen their fair share of refugees. We wouldn’t be taking you somewhere you wouldn’t be safe.” He softens, feeling Remus sigh.

 “I… know. That’s what’s hardest. Is knowing that I somehow trust all of you because it terrifies me, all the extra ways I could hurt cause of it. All the different ways any… any of you could hurt me.” He doesn’t say anything to that. There’s nothing he can say, that will ease Remus’s mind. Only time can do that, as painful as it is to see that doubt creep in, he knows it can’t be vanquished so easily. “could… could you… hold me?” Remus asks, voice small, and instantly he shifts, allowing Remus to slip onto his lap, wrapping the blanket around them both, one hand resting on Remus’s waist, the other gently stroking up and down his back.

 “Is this alright?” He murmurs softly, and Remus lets out a small, content hum, eyes drifting closed where his head rests against his chest. He smiles smally, humming softly, that lilting lullaby from his memories, watching Remus’s face finally relax as he fell fully asleep.

 Of course, now he couldn’t move, stuck as he was with a human on his lap, not that he minded, really. It felt… nice, having someone curled against him, his own temperature rising to cozily warm as Remus’s supplied extra to compensate for his colder body temp, it felt… natural.

 This is how Naga were supposed to sleep. Curled up together, piled on top of each other, tangled around each other, and it had been a long, long time since he let anyone hold him, not even Patton, despite his intrinsic need for touch. He avoided it like the plague most of the time, because he couldn’t stand to have a taste of it, only to lose it again.

 But now, Remus is curled in his lap, and his senses are on fire, and he feels warm, and whole, and full, in an aching, needy sort of way, and he knows that plan is out the window, hurtling into the dark abyss of space, because this is absolutely pure bliss, and he finds himself snuggling closer to Remus, resting his head in Remus’s hair with a soft sigh.

 Yes. Remus reminds him far, far too much of himself, for either of their own goods.

[mattygraygubler]

our campus: chapter 4 (tom holland fanfic)

summary: frat!tom and reader go to the same college and y/n is tasked with being his tutor, they don’t really get along at first (because i love reader and tom hating each other trope)

warnings: none ?????

word count: 2.1k

a/n: so many texts and so much dialogue fuckin kill me also texts are bold

for a list of characters click here

to be added to the tag list send me an ask !

masterlist

✰✰✰✰✰

“I don’t know what you did to get her to give you a second chance, but I need to warn you.” Ally said. Tom turned to look at her, they had only ever spoken when necessary for theater stuff. 

“Warn me?” He asked. 

“Y/N can make your life either very, very good or very, very bad. She has most of the professors in this school wrapped around her pinky. And she doesn’t make it obvious, but she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met. She can really help you if you let her.”

“Well, thanks.” He said awkwardly and turned back to his stuff. 

“One more thing.” Ally said. Tom turned again and raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you dare catch feelings.” “Seriously? No need to worry about that.” Ally scoffed. 

“I’m serious, Tom. Don’t. She doesn’t need that right now.” 

“Yeah, fine, I get it.” He said. 

“Alright guys let’s get started.” Gigi said, signaling rehearsal was about to start. 

* * * 

It was finally Friday, and your phone was blowing up as you walked to the library. Class had gotten out late, so you were walking as fast as possible so you wouldn’t be late to your meeting with Tom. 

Al

if Y/N is ok with it its fine with me

Iz

i still dont know how i feel about this

Em 

pretty pretty please guys i really like this guy and he really wants me to go

You

what are we talking about i was in class

Al

harrison invited em and all of us to the delt party tonight

Iz

and i said we shouldnt go bc of what happened

plus isnt tom a delt? wouldnt that be a bit awk?

You

honestly i couldnt care less. after the week ive had im gonna too blacked to even realize where we are

Em

lets take it to a vote

aye

Al

aye 

Iz

nay

You

im abstaining

Em

the ayes have it! delt BABEEEYYYY

ill have harrison put us all on the list

You 

glad we got that sorted ill see u guys at mine at 8

You walked into the library, checking your watch and seeing it was 4:02. You bit your lip. Hopefully he didn’t give you any crap for being late. 

You walked quickly into hlab, and you knew you looked like a crazy person. Your bag was falling off your shoulder, you had a coffee in your hand and your water bottle tucked under your arm, and your phone in your other hand. 

You scanned the room and saw Tom sitting across from Max, both of them had books out. 

“Hi,” you said breathlessly. Max slid over a seat so you could sit across from Tom. “So sorry I’m late, crazy day.” 

“No worries dar-” You heard him start to say darling, but stopped himself. “No worries. It’s only 2 minutes after.” 

“How long have you been waiting?” You asked.

“Max and I have been hanging out for a while, not a big deal.” 

“Speaking of, I’m on alc duty for tonight so I better go.” Max said, did his stupid handshake with Tom, and walked out. 

Hlab was almost empty except for some freshman. Most people don’t like studying on a Friday, who could blame them?

“So I got a copy of your lectures from this week. What do you want to start with?”

“I don’t care.” 

“Ok, what is currently confusing you the most?” He thought for a second before saying “Astronomy.” You nodded. 

“Great, grab your notes and your textbook.” He pulled out a notebook and his laptop, opening the online textbook. You pulled out your laptop and a pen and highlighter. 

“May I?” You asked and pulled his notebook to your side. You went through his notes, circling certain things with the pen and highlighting others. 

“These are really good, Tom. I like how you put question marks next to things that confused you.” He laughed. 

“Do I get a gold star?” He joked. You rolled your eyes. 

“So phases of the moon.” You started. 

“Wait a second,” he said after you had been talking for a while. “You’re telling me that the moon doesn’t actually, like, change?” 

“It’s all shadows.” You replied. He nodded and seemed to finally be getting it. 

“The phases will most definitely be on your next lab, which isn’t open note, so make sure you memorize them.” You said. “Let’s move onto stats.” He groaned. “What?” You asked. 

“Statistics is so stupid. Letters and numbers shouldn’t go together.” You rolled your eyes. 

“Stats is easy, I promise you. This is the first unit, all we’re doing is descriptive statistics and graphing. Let’s start with some vocab.” You said, highlighting certain words in his notes. 

Once you could see his brain was about to explode, you moved onto writing. 

“There’s not much to talk about, just email me your most recent paper so I can go through it and look for themes we need to discuss.” 

‘“Themes?” He asked. 

“You know, on going issues that need to be addressed.” He nodded and emailed you his paper, which you would read tomorrow. You heard your phone buzz and took a quick glance. 

Em

al dont be upset

Al

then dont give me a reason to get upset

what is it

Em

……….. It’s themed

Al

are you kidding? were not freshmen, i dont wanna go to a stupid themed frat party

Em

its blackout !!!! itll be fun i promise

You turned your phone back down and didn’t realize you had an upset look on your face. 

“Everything ok?” He asked. 

“Just arguing in the group chat.” 

“Do you need to go?” He asked. 

“No, no, just arguing about tonight.” 

“What’s tonight?” 

“Tonight is not related to political conflict, which is what we should be talking about.” He laughed. 

“Do you ever have fun?” 

“Excuse me?” 

“I’m serious, do you ever have fun, or do you just go to sleep surrounded by planners and textbooks.” 

“That’s not funny. There’s a lot more about me that you don’t know.” 

“Clearly.” 

“So we’re starting off with socioeconomic issues over time and the class strugle. Did you read the Marx chapters?” 

“Yup. Didn’t understand a word of it.” 

“Ok, let’s get into it.” You said and began rambling about the bourgeoisie and the communist manifesto. Politics was your favorite subject, you could talk about it for hours. 

You were having a really good discussion with Tom. It was global political conflict, and he was able to connect the themes to both America and England, which made you really pleased. 

You were pulled out of your discussion when your phone vibrated. 

Iz

pickin up panera anyone want anything 

“Jeez it’s already past 6:30, I gotta go.” You said. 

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He said. 

“No it’s not your fault, I get so into politics I lose track of time.” “I can tell.” He said as you both packed up your stuff. 

“Wanna grab some food?” He asked. 

“Sorry, can’t,” you said. 

“Why, got a hot date?” He joked. 

“Maybe,” you said. 

“At least let me walk you to wherever you’re going.” 

“You don’t have to do that.” 

“Well where are you going?” 

“Congression Hall?” You replied. 

“Wait, you live there?” 

“Uhm, yes? Me along with practically every other junior.” 

“What floor?” 

“8.” You said. 

“Should’ve guessed.” He replied as you started walking across the quad. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Honors 8. I forgot you were in hc.” He was referring to the eighth and top floor of Congression Hall, which was reserved for the honors college juniors. 

“Yeah.” You said simply. 

“I’m on six, by the way.” He said. “That’s why I was curious. I’ve never seen you around there.” 

“I’m not usually, I only really use it for sleep.” 

“Of course,” he replied. 

“I assumed you lived in a frat house.” You commented. 

“Nah, next year.” He said with a wink. “Speaking of frat houses, there’s kind of this party going on at Delt tonight-” 

“I’m aware.” You said, cutting him off. 

“Ah, well, if you want I can get you on the list.” You smiled to yourself. 

“No need, I’m already on the list.” You said. 

“Oh?” He said, clearly embarrassed. “Because of delta nu?” 

“Nope.” You said, not offering any other information. 

“Well maybe I’ll see you there then.” 

“Even if you do see me there, I will be pretending I don’t know you.” 

“Why?” He asked, clearly offended. “I run that house.” He joked, trying to play off the embarrassment. 

“No offense, but your reputation would not be good for mine.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Well I have a certain reputation in the greek community, and if people see me with you they’ll get the wrong idea.” 

“The wrong idea?” He asked as you walked in the lobby of your building. 

“Well, see, the thing is,” you said, stepping into the elevator. He pressed the button for six and eight. “I have certain standards. If people see me with you, they’ll think I’ve…” 

“Wow, you are really uptight, aren’t you?” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Certain standards? Jesus christ, you’re not the queen, Y/N. And I don’t have a bad reputation. But god forbid I don’t live up to your ‘standards.’” He said, storming off the elevator without another word, clearly upset. You sighed. Good job, Y/N. 

Tom got to his room and threw his stuff on the floor, collapsing on his bed. His head hurt from all the tutoring, and trying to focus on not staring at your lips. 

delt juniors

Tom

aight important question guys

Cal

whats up tommy

Tom

do you guys know a girl called Y/N Y/L/N? shes a delta nu

Joey

dan knows her ;)

Cal

fuck, Y/N? what are you doing with her? 

Tom

shes tutoring me stop buggin 

Max

i know her which u know shes in hc with me 

Liam

oh danny DEFINITLY knows her 

Will

who doesnt know Y/N? shes a hot commodity

Tom

what do you mean? 

Cal

shes like the perfect girl next door, totally hot and so smart which just makes her hotter

Will

doesnt help that shes a huge fuckin flirt AND can hold her alc

Joey

dan is being suspiciously quiet……..

Dan

shut up joe

Liam

care to share with tommy your story with Y/N, daniel? 

Dan

i hate u all 

fine

i was like in love with her freshman year

and i thought she was into me too

and we made out a couple of times but nothing else

the second she found out i was in delt she stopped talking to me

like complete radio silence 

Tom

wtf? Why? 

Cal

she doesnt fuck with delts

thats like common greek knowledge

Will

maybe its because shes gonna be dchi sweetheart? 

Joey

nah theres gotta be something else

Harrison

well i just put her on the list for tonite

Tom

wait YOU put her on the list?! 

Harrison

yeah i invited her friend Emily Gold and she doesnt go anywhere without Y/N and these two other girls

Cal

Ally Park and Isabelle Miller

Harrison

yeah howd u know? 

Cal

theyre like those cool girls from high school everyones obsessed with that are just out of everyones league

Tom

wow american high schools are so weird

Dan

tom if u wanna get with her i wont be pissed

Tom

nah like you said she hates delts, and after three tutoring sessions with me i guarentee i am her least favorite delt ever

Liam

theres no fuckin way she shows up tonight

she wouldnt be caught dead at a delt party

Noah

wait you said Y/N Y/L/N may come tonight????

DIBS

DIBS DIBS DIBS

I CALL DIBS

Cal

noah u seriously show up just to call dibs?

Noah

yeah bro have u seen her? if she comes tonight and any of you try to cockblock me i stg ill deck you

Dan

pretty sure tommy has rightful dibs to this one

Tom

nah fam she hates me so fuckin much

let noah try his luck

i doubt she’ll even show

Max

she’ll show. 

Tom

what makes u say that? 

Liam

max does know her best

Max

she and ally and emily and isabelle are ride or die. they circulate who picks what party they go to and if its emilys turn and harrison somehow conviced her to go, Y/N wont miss it

Dan

she hasnt set foot in a delt house since freshman year, you seriously think she’ll show? 

Max

five bucks says she does

Dan

youre on 

Noah

i just wanna make it clear

that if she does show

D I B S

[katsens-writing]

Bumpy Night, Part 6

Summary: A mission gone wrong leaves one of the Avengers fighting for their life and the other fighting time to save them.

Content: Loads of angst and whump, injury, illness, inaccurate medical stuff (I am not a professional, people), mention of blood. Please let me know if I need to add anything else.

Word Count: About 1.4k (Does not include recap)

A/N: We’re nearing the end here. You can find a link to the masterlist under the tags. This is part 6 of a story I wrote for a writing challenge. The line I picked was “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” (You can find the line in part one.) This was my first time writing anything for a challenge so let me know what you think. This part (*ahem* like the last two....)  also ends in a cliffhanger. My asks and messages are open if you want to yell at me!

---

     “What is it?” you inquired, your brow creased. Without a word, Bruce stepped back so you could see the screens better. When your eyes focused on them, the color drained from your face. Peter’s heart rate had spiked dangerously and his breathing was sporadic. The percentage on the oxygen monitor clipped to Peter’s finger was frighteningly low and his temperature was increasingly high. You turned and looked at Bruce, your heart racing.

     “Have Nat page the tower, tell Cho to have her team ready at the landing pad,” Bruce clenched his jaw. “It’s going to be close.” He turned and headed toward the cockpit. “I’ll tell Tony.”

     You nodded. “Tell them not to wait, I’m staying here with Peter.” You ignored the throbbing in your temples and kept your eyes on Peter. “Hold on kid. We’re almost there.” You whispered.

     “2 minutes to landing,” came Clint’s voice over the comm.

     “Hey,” still hunched over the exam table, you looked up and saw Tony standing on Peter’s other side wearing his suit and looking apprehensive. “Bruce told me what’s going on. What can I do?”

     Before you could reply, several loud, solid tones emitted from the various machines simultaneously. Your heart froze in your chest at the sound. Your gaze snapped to the monitors before you turned to Tony with a terrified look in your eyes.

---

     “Grab Peter!” You shouted over the roar of the engines that filled the jet as it began to land. You began unhooking Peter from the various machines and monitors, leaving only the critical IVs as Tony scooped him up in his arms. The second you had detached the last wire, Tony turned and bolted for the back of the jet.

     “Lower the ramp!” He yelled.

     “We’re too high up!” Sam shouted.

     “The ramp is down!” Natasha’s voice carried out from the cockpit and through the main cabin. You grabbed the last printout of Peter’s vitals and ran after Tony. The wind whipped through the jet, sending the loose strands of your hair flying up around your face. Tony walked out to the edge of the ramp and stepped off, the suit thrusters automatically engaging. As soon as he was clear of the ramp, you jumped down without even hesitating, landing next to him at the same time he did. As soon as you straightened, Dr. Cho ran up to you and Tony, her team right behind her pushing a gurney.

     “What stage?” she shouted. She caught a glimpse of Peter as Tony laid him down on the gurney and she paled, no longer needing an answer. Her fears were confirmed when you handed her the printout.

     “He’s crashing!” You shouted over the roar of the jet.

     Dr. Cho turned to one of her assistants. “Go get the defibrillator set up!” The assistant nodded before turning and running off. You took the assistant’s place at the gurney’s rail and as soon as Peter was secured, you helped push it toward the entrance, hurrying alongside it with Dr. Cho and the others. Tony was right behind you guys as you burst through the doors, with the team on his heels. Bruce quickly overtook him and caught up with you.

     “Stage three?” He asked breathlessly. You nodded without looking away from the hall in front of you guys as you ran through another set of doors. As you rushed through them, the hall widened into an expansive, bright open floor equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. Individual rooms were sectioned off with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and doors.

     “Third room on the right,” Dr. Cho indicated. You could see the assistant that she had sent ahead already in the room, standing by and awaiting your arrival. You didn’t hear Tony’s shouts when Rhodey and Steve held him back at the last set of doors as you turned into the room that had been prepared for Peter. The second the door closed behind you, Banner turned and with a few quick taps on the wall next to the door, the glass darkened so no one could see in or out of the room.

     “How long has he been like this?” Cho asked hurriedly as Peter was transferred to the table.

     You quickly glanced at your watch and your stomach churned. “About eight minutes.”

     Dr. Cho’s eyes widened at your response. The second Peter was laid down, one of her assistants put an oxygen mask on him. The first assistant handed her the defibrillator paddles as Bruce began compressions. You stood at the head of the table, keeping an eye on Peter’s heart monitor for any changes.

     “27, 28, 29, 30!” Cho’s assistant counted.

     “Clear!” You called and everyone stepped back as Cho shocked Peter’s heart with the defibrillator. His body jumped as the electricity ran through it, but the heart monitor remained the same. Bruce immediately resumed compressions as the assistant counted. You held Peter’s face in your hands and murmured to him, pleading. “Come on Peter. Come back to us.” Your heart was pounding in your chest, beating so rapidly as if it was trying to beat for you and Peter.

     “26, 27, 28, 29, 30!”

     “Clear!” Peter’s body jumped again as the paddles made contact. You didn’t dare glance at the time because you didn’t want anyone to stop. You knew it had been at least ten minutes since Peter’s heart had stopped beating. Ten minutes since it had stopped sending blood flowing through his body, ten minutes since his lungs filled with the oxygen his brain desperately needed...

     “28, 29, 30!” The assistant called.

     “Clear!” Everyone stepped back again and you let go of Peter. His body arched off the table as the electricity contracted every muscle in it, yet the monitor still remained unchanged. The room fell quiet, the solid tone of Peter’s heart monitor drowning out the other machines. Dr. Cho looked over Peter’s body to Bruce who closed his eyes tight and lowered his head. Your eyes widened and you shook your head, not wanting to hear what they were thinking.

     “No. No, no, no,” your eyes filled with tears as you shook your head.

     “Y/N--” Bruce’s voice broke as he gently placed a hand on your arm.

     “No!” You cried, yanking your arm away. You lowered your head, gritting your teeth as tears streamed down your cheeks, your shoulders trembling in a silent sob. Your blurry gaze came to rest on Peter’s face. Cho glanced at the time, her eyes watering. She opened her mouth to speak when a soft beep broke the silence of the room. Immediately your head shot up to look at the monitor. Your mouth opened slightly as you saw the smallest peak disrupt the straight line. Your heart leapt when you saw the peak repeat itself and your knees began to buckle from the relief.

     “We need to intubate,” Cho hurried to the side, not pausing for a second. “We’re going to need to flush his kidneys too.” She turned to Bruce who nodded before moving to get the machine set up. You were turning to help Bruce when you noticed a red slash on Peter’s arm that was growing. Your eyes grew wide as you realized one of the IVs you left in Peter’s arm must have been ripped out when his muscles contracted.

     “Hand me some gauze,” you told one of the assistants who obliged without question.

     Cho looked at you curiously before she saw the bleeding. “Get thread and sutures too. We can’t risk it,” she added.

     Cho kept a close eye on Peter’s blood pressure as you helped Bruce stitch up the wound. You held gauze to it, pressing on it and hoping, praying it would stop. Your eyes flicked to the monitor and you saw his blood pressure had plummeted. You looked back to Peter and paled when you saw how much blood he had lost already from the wound. It wasn’t that big or deep but you knew Peter’s blood was thinner due to the poison, so it was just as deadly as a cut twice as severe. You looked pleadingly at Peter and whispered to him. “Please, don’t give up now. Please.” You wanted to hold his hand but you didn’t dare take the pressure off his wound.

     A minute or two passed but it felt like hours. “I got it,” Bruce murmured as he finished the stitches and sutures. He placed a hand on yours gently and pulled them away from Peter’s arm. You all turned to the monitor and waited with bated breath. What felt like your whole life went by before the numbers on the monitor gradually changed as Peter’s blood pressure slowly but steadily began to rise. You let out a trembling sigh, your whole body shaking in a combination of relief and disbelief. You turned to Bruce, stunned and he looked back at you, a glimmer of light finally returning to his eyes.

     “We... we did it,” Bruce whispered, sounding astonished, but you didn’t hear.

     “He’s stable for now but we still need to take care of his kidneys and I want him intubated just to be safe.” Cho turned to her assistants and directed them. She looked over to you and Bruce and her face softened a little. “We can take it from here if you guys want to update the others.”

     “Ok,” Bruce nodded. He glanced at the small assistant trying to maneuver the machine by herself before turning to you. “I’m going to help them get set up then I’ll be right out. You go ahead.”

     You didn’t hear him because you had already turned and were halfway to the door. The whole team was gathered outside the room, standing around and waiting. The second you opened the door, you were met with seven worried faces.

     “How is--” Tony began, but he stopped mid-sentence, and the color drained from his face the second he saw your clothes. Steve’s eyes widened and Bucky’s lips parted in surprise. You didn’t realize your shirt was completely covered in blood as you took a few faltering steps toward them. Bucky took a hesitant step forward. You saw the worry on his face, and you saw his lips moving, but you didn’t hear anything. You didn’t even notice the pain shooting through your ankle when you took one more step before darkness rushed up and swallowed you as you collapsed to the floor.

---

Tags: (If you want to be added, let me know, its no trouble at all!) @whiskey-cokenfanfic @xmarveled @parkerspicedlatte @sunmoonandbucky @southerngracela @jll72-blog @evanstush @bla-369 @diekatimitdemhutohnehut @supermoonchildbroski

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[grownups-are-the-real-monsters]

Silver Bells

Summary: Richie is sick and tired of being badgered about relationships at his family Christmas parties. And his idiotic cousin always brags about his girlfriend. So when in need of a fake boyfriend to stop the annoyance, Eddie’s name comes out. 

Words: 9,774 

Ships: Reddie 

Stanley Uris lightly dragged his pencil down the side of the worn out pages of his bird book, passing the bushels of color from the photos. A thin feather-light gray line followed in it’s path alongside the faded dark brown framing of the particular page. He grinned, a kind man’s grin, and hoped to himself that once winter ended he would get to see a lot more birds again. The distant chatter of the dinner customer crowd was just as foggy as his table’s paired window. The snow falling down tapped almost silently against it and left a delicate layer of moisture perfect for finger drawn doodles. Surrounding the view was a strand of tiny bulbs of Christmas lights. It was all very warm and welcoming, enhanced by the smell of home cooking. Stan enjoyed his job there and was glad he got it. Working under Mr. and Mrs. Carson, a lovely old couple, was just his favorite. 

The only thing was the creepy little old timey paintings they had around the dining areas. A part of him loved them and another part hated them. Their eyes followed him everywhere. 

“Stan!” Richie abruptly came from behind the booth and set his cold hands on the very slim opening of Stan’s shirt on to his exposed collarbones with the intent to scare him. But Stan remained still as the dead. It was not in the least bit surprising but it still disappointed Richie to no end. “How did that not get you this time?” 

Stan made a small amused huff as Richie came round to slide into the bench across from him, eyes avoiding the painting behind his head. “Can’t be surprised by what you know is coming, Rich.” Was his simple explanation and it made Richie huff for himself, crossing his arms and leaning back on the cushioned seat. He sat still for as long as he could entertain himself, which wasn’t long at all, before he started to hastily remove his layers of warm clothing. Flakes of snow fell off like tiny beads onto the chair and table. 

“Here, eat your soup. Still warm.” Stan pushed the tiny meal he brought from the kitchen over to his friend who he knew needed it. Richie gladly took it and started to dunk the little bread rolls into it. “I only have like ten minutes for break so, what’s up?” 

Richie slurped his soup from the silver spoon and rolled his lips together in thought. Stan had mastered his mind-blocking of the unfavorable sounds of eating, loud chewing and other classic gross hits. It was a skill that had come with the job and was now just a nice bonus. He smiled to show his friend he was listening. 

“I have a problem.” Richie swallowed his mouthful and sat back again like just the sentence had exhausted him. He reached over to play with the end of the scarf he had carelessly thrown on the table. 

“I think that much is apparent, Rich.” Stan nodded with a playful little grin and Richie rolled his eyes which lead to his thing about following every one of Stan’s movements with his eyes. He did that from time to time & Stan as well. But where they differed was Stan only really ‘people watched’ those he did not know because he had all his friends movements committed to memory. Richie, however, only really did this with his friends. And he’d make key expressions that lead Stan to believe he was happy with himself for predicting these movements. It was like he needed some kind of reassurance that he knew them as well as he suspected. 

Stan partly dabbled in the art of observing and noting his friends habitual patterns. He grinned to himself and shook his head the tiniest bit, his own physical note of happiness. Like Stan noticed, Richie’s nose twitched like he had expected that reaction. 

The nose twitching reminded Stan of that show....Bewitched! He figured if any sort of power that character had existed in the real world that it would most surely not be allowed in a restaurant. Especially if the someone who had it was Richie. He could imagine the havoc he’d cause and it made him giggle. “They’ll kick you out for that, y’know.” He mumbled to himself. Richie’s eyebrow quirked but he just waved his hand to forget it. “Never mind that, tell me what’s wrong.” 

“A lot of my relatives are coming over for Christmas and everyone of them bugs me about school and relationships sooo...” Richie trailed off and scooted up to the edge of the table with a look of amused dread. “I told my parents I had a boyfriend.”

Stan put on a little smirk. “I know where this is going.” 

Richie raised his brow but he continued. 

“I’ll do it but only cause I have a swell outfit I’ve been waiting to wear...” Stan trailed off in his special Stan way and rolled his head back on his shoulders with a tiny smirk. 

“Oh no. I told them Eddie was my boyfriend. I mean, I thought it’d work cause my parents like him and I thought maybe everyone else would too. Then they’d get off my back a little.” Richie explained, waving with his hands like he was telling a great story. Stan began to laugh again which annoyed his friend but he didn’t seem to care. 

“I would have made a great boyfriend, y’know? Better than Eddie.” Stan put on a frown and leaned over to punch his friends arm but Richie remained conflicted. “Truthfully, I don’t know if that was the best idea, Rich.” 

From his more upright position, the eyes of one of the paintings locked on him. Stan would scowl or maybe just move if he was alone.

Richie frowned, looking offended. “Why?” He said with a very snippy tone. Stan gave him that look that he absolutely hated. It was the kind of look only Stan could do. It said all he had to say without a lick of speech. It drove Richie nuts because what it said was ‘I know something’. 

“Well, because you like him.” Stan said casually, picking up the salt & pepper shakers to perfectly center them in front of the menus. 

The only reaction Richie could muster was to scoff a few times and try to stumble his way through a reply. “That is ridiculous. Stan, where did you get that?” He narrowed his eyes because the confusion was loud in the back of his brain. “I don’t like Eddie.” He made sure to put the same tone on the word as his friend. 

“Bev and I talk about it all the time.” Stan said in a joking manner but it still pissed Richie off. 

“Well fucking stop cause I don’t.” Richie reached over and pinched him. Stan made a small ‘ow’ sound and rolled his eyes. 

Stan licked his lips and shrugged, leaning his forearms on the table. “Ok, so I was wrong.” He didn’t seem all that bothered and Richie knew it was because Stan still thought of himself as right. It irked the shit outta him. 

“I don’t, Stan.” 

“I didn’t say anything-” 

“You said it with your eyes.” 

“Ok. I said it with my eyes, sorry.” Stan laughed softly. “Anyway, why didn’t you go talk to Eddie about this situation? Considering he is your ‘boyfriend’." Stan stood from the booth with a kind smile and looked down at him. 

Richie pouted up at him like a child. “Eddie’s gonna be maaaad.” He frowned. “He'd have to come over and meet everybody and-” Richie put his face in his hands and chuckled himself before pulling his palms down so his skin would pull. 

“I think you should give em’ a heads up.” Stan patted his shoulder and laughed. But when Richie made the move to get up from the booth, Stan stopped him with a gentle push as he whipped a towel over his shoulder. “Finish your soup first then go find him. He’s probably at the bike shop with Bill.” 

Richie smiled and went for his food again. Stan went the backwards way back to the kitchen to avoid that particular painting. 

                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Bill Denbrough had been many different things in his lifetime so far and a fool was not one of them. Although as he approached the middle of his senior year in high school with his butt planted firmly on a glossy floor and staticky balloons with bright yellow smiling faces as his only company, he realized that everyone was a fool. No exceptions.

He tilted his chin up and felt the thickness of the air from the cloud of dust forming around him. The sneeze he held back gave him the closest thing to a high that he’d had in months. It was kinda nice. The smiley balloons leered above him with a much more mocking energy than he had planned for. Had this been just a couple years ago, he would’ve sworn they were swarming around him. It was deeply upsetting when paired with the cheery winter tunes on the radio. ‘They're really rockin’ around the Christmas tree, huh?’ Bill smiled a cheesy grin back at one because he was alone and did not give a shit. The kind of smile that gave a soft click from the shift of spit and showed off his great teeth. One of the damn smiley things popped. He sneezed.

“Mmmm I didn’t like that.” Bill whispered to himself with a slight grin as he steadied his hand once more on the cherry red bike he was working on. “Not one bit.” He went on meekly but with a spark of amusement. He had to be amused because if he wasn’t he’d be really annoyed.

Bill had worked at Sherwin’s Bike shop for roughly a year working under Mr. Sherwin, a small and outgoing old man. Bill had painted big bubble letters on the windows and wrote fun little sayings on the signs like ‘Sherwin’s Schwinns are sure to win’ for a while. But when the kind old man went and died on him a month ago, he left the store all to some new guy that Bill didn’t very much like. Which was why he was stuck with an early shift that started with being the only one in the store. 

But now, he sat cross-legged on the bicycle shop floor some time later with his huge ‘Women want me, fish fear me’ shirt pooling into the lap of his jeans while he got stalked by smiling kids balloons. “All that worrying for nothing, huh? Turned out great, didn’t it?” Bill pursed his lips as he spoke to himself with such a heavy dose of sarcasm it would have annoyed anyone over thirty. And because he was becoming prematurely bitter, it sure did grind his gears too.

Grind his gears. That was a classic Mr. Sherwin expression. Bill hoped to God he wasn’t just going to straight up turn into the old man when he grew up, though he had loved him dearly. But his wardrobe spoke volumes on that idea. ‘Wearing a dead man’s shirt was like bad luck, wasn’t it?’ Bill paused from his work on the bike to think to himself. He sure hoped it wasn’t because he’d had enough of that in his life already.

It was the only damn piece of clothing in the store which made sense considering he had not thought to be prepared for spilling his coffee all over himself like an idiot at work. There had not been any time to go home for a change before he had to open but luckily, his favorite little old timer left this gem behind....’Almost as if he knew Bill would be an idiot.’ He was always one to tease him. The traces of his less prominent stutter that stayed with him was a popular subject to Mr. Sherwin’s comedy line-up. Bill missed him a lot but that did very little for him. People died on him, that was just the way it went.

One of his tools fell from the perch of his toolbox and shocked him enough to choke on his own spit. “F-f-fuck.” He cursed once he got most of his air back and stood, bringing the bike to full stance and laying it on it’s kickstand. And thus began the orchestra of disaster...

Once Bill had a small glass of water, he set it down to go back to his work but had misjudged his placement and it came to a crashing halt on the floor. The bike toppled over just a few feet away onto the tools which created harsh bangs of metal. Bill smacked himself on the forehead and bent to pick up the glass and cut his fingers. Blood trickled down his cupped hand as he rushed to get a towel that wasn’t covered in garbage.

“This is fine. Wonderful even.” Bill spoke in a voice so sickened with sarcasm and wrapped his hand slowly. He took a few moments to breathe in and out. It wasn’t as if he’d be alone much longer. His co-workers would be starting their shifts soon. That took a little weight off his shoulders and allowed him to relax.

Another balloon popped. 

And the glass doors abruptly opened. Bill almost jumped into the air but he was soothed as Richie came bopping in with a carefree smile. “Hey Bill have you seen-? Christ! What happened!?” 

Richie darted over and Bill was momentarily confused before remembering his cut-up hand. “Oh that...accident.” He tried to wave his hand to dismiss it but ended up flicking blood onto the counter. Richie rolled his eyes and tried to remember some of the medical shit Eddie had told him over the course of their friendship. 

Richie attempted to wrap Bill’s hand properly while the other man shifted around the counter looking tired.

“Hey, at least the good stuff in life only requires one hand, huh?” Richie made an obscene gesture and Bill only rolled his eyes with a look of distaste. He awkwardly chuckled and went back to his job. One of the floating yellow bastards began to deflate slowly and descended a ways towards the floor. Bill felt a flare of silly anger from his gut as he followed it with his eyes. The tension was so thick that Richie briefly looked up & over his glasses to check it out, turning to see what was so infuriating to his friend.  

“You do know that’s just a balloon, right?” Richie chuckled and Bill let out a small grin. 

“Damn t-t-things are annoying the crap outta me.” Bill shook his head and Richie pushed his glasses up. 

“Was Eddie around earlier? Kinda have to talk to him.” 

“No one comes just to visit me anymore.” Bill mock pouted and took his injured hand back from his friend. “Yeah, E-E-Eddie came in looking for you actually. He meant to catch you before he started work but said he was outta time now. So I’d go looking for him at the theater.” Bill said with a grin. Richie rolled his eyes because, of course. 

“I’ll come visit you later, Big Bill. Take care of your hand.” Richie snapped his fingers and made to exit.  

“Oh! Before I forget!” Richie piped back up, sliding closer to Bill again. “Where can a guy like me get one of those ‘Women want me, fish fear me’ shirts? Asking for a friend.” He waggled his eyebrows and made a mockingly curious face all his own.

Bill rolled his eyes but had to laugh at the way Richie spoke and moved. ‘That was his real kicker, he thought. Richie just fuckin’ moved and acted so ridiculous that it was truly his powerhouse. Especially considering it came off so natural.’ Bill shook his head a few times and moved to shrug and shove his hands into his pockets.

“S’not funny Bill. My friend really wants to know, ok?” Richie slapped Bill’s arm and broke himself. ‘His true weakness however was laughing before he could fully commit to a joke. Which could sometimes be even fucking funnier....so maybe it wasn’t a weakness’, Bill thought.  

They laughed endlessly for what seemed like hours. Every-time they thought the bug was gone, they’d just share a look and succumb to weird versions of their usual laughs. One’s that were more like hissing from being a victim of such restrain or their bodies would just rock in silence because nothing could even come out anymore.

“What’s the matter with you, that wasn’t even funny.” Richie spoke through restrained giggles. Bill shrugged and cradled his hand. 

“I dunno. I’ll s-s-see you later, man.” Bill patted him with his good hand and walked with him to the door as he spotted his co-workers beginning to walk in. 

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richie bopped inside the theater with hesitance. Eddie was a pistol and he was not too excited to hear the whole spiel he would surely have prepared in seconds flat for Richie name dropping him as his ‘boyfriend’. 

Upon entry he could easily spot his tiny friend working as the ticket boy though since it was a slow day, Eddie was texting hurriedly under the tiny little booth. He grinned. Eds was not a champion at being subtle. It was by some miracle that he’d yet to be noticed. Just as Richie was starting to walk over, his own phone buzzed. 

Eddie: Work is dead. Bring me a Redbull. 

Richie held in his giggle and happily skipped on over. “Hey! You shouldn't be texting on the job!” The deep and loud yell was contrary to his bouncy demeanor and wide grin. However, Eddie jumped about a foot in the air and by the look of it, had a mini heart attack. 

“Oh fuck you. I thought you were Robert.” Eddie rolled his eyes and smacked Richie hard in the arm. Robert was Eddie’s manager, a nice little old man, who Richie knew well enough just by visiting Eds all the time. That and he personally rejected Richie’s application on three different occasions. 

“That was the point.” Richie gave some passers-by the side-eye as they looked up to stare at them. The theater was pretty dead so this was the most excitement they probably had all day. “I’m really good at impressions, huh?” He playfully tapped him. 

“It isn’t hard to mock Robert, Rich. Where’s my Redbull?” 

Richie rolled his eyes and leaned on the little booth. “I got here ten seconds before you texted me. I’m not a psychic nor The Flash, y’know?” 

Eddie frowned but shrugged before they fell into an easy small-talk. “So why did you come visit then?” 

Richie grinned again though this time it was a little nervous. “Can’t I just come say hi?” He chuckled and Eddie smirked. 

“You come say hi like every time I’m on the clock. But I can always tell when you want something.” Eddie playfully narrowed his eyes and Richie felt his stomach drop a little. He glanced away and let his eyes drag over the red and gold decor of the theater. He felt the familiar bitterness for not being hired himself, he loved this place. 

“So here’s the thing-” 

“I knew it.” Eddie shook his head with a smile but quickly quieted to let his friend speak. He rolled his lips together, sniffled and rubbed his finger under his nose. 

“You know how my family bugs me about how I never date anyone?” Richie asked and Eddie nodded. “Well, everyone’s coming over for this Christmas party in a few days and it’s a whole thing... dinner, activities, and all that jazz.” Richie made jazz hands with a flat expression and Eddie fought back a tiny giggle. “So in order to dodge all those annoying questions...I told my parents that I have a boyfriend.” 

“You came out to your parents? That’s great! How did they take it?” 

“Great but that’s not the point-” Richie had never doubted his parents would be ok with it. He had a gut feeling that they already knew, probably even before Richie himself did. “I told them I had a boyfriend.” 

“But you don’t have a boyfriend.” 

“Thank you, captain obvious.” Richie rolled his eyes. “That’s the um...-Well I told them that you were my boyfriend..” 

Eddie’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth but Richie was already set on a long tangent. 

“I only said it because they like you so much, Eds. And I just don’t wanna hear that whole spiel again about relationships and I figured I could get them off my backs by being in one. Plus my mom already had suspicions about me being in a relationship. And when I said your name, she seemed pretty psyched....so yeah.” Richie grinned like a child after they’d done something wrong and rubbed behind his ear. 

He recalled the moment he’d told his mother. 

                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had been mindlessly bickering about the yearly Tozier Christmas party while she cleaned the kitchen. The oven cleaner had gone right to his head and made him slightly more irritated than normal. The idea of this tradition was more so a burden to him now than it ever was. Being that once he turned around fifteen, all the questions were about dating and school. And his idiotic cousin who already had a girlfriend. 

“Mom?.....Mom?....Mom!?” Richie whined like a child as Maggie Tozier pulled her head out of the oven with a comical grin that looked eerily familiar, Richie dropped his own grin. “Is everyone coming?” 

“Yes, Richie. Everyone but your cousin. He’s got plans with his girlfriend, y’know.” She poked his shoulder in a very ‘mom’ like way. 

“Oh that’s bull.”

“Richie!” She smacked the back of his head lightly. “Wouldn’t hurt you to just tell me you're dating someone.” She pursed her lips in the same way Stanley Uris did when he ‘knew’ something. He sat up straight with curiosity. 

“What do you mean?” 

“C’mon, I know you do. You go out all the time with the same excuse. ‘Going to hang-out with Eddie.’ or ‘Gonna go visit Eddie at work’. How many times can you be bothering that boy, realistically? I know that’s a cover-up son. I’m hip with the lingo.” Maggie circle her face with an extended finger and Richie held back a burst of laughter. 

Though that had been quite amusing, Richie was momentarily thrown that she’d noticed how much he, quote unquote, bothered Eddie. It wasn’t that much. Of course not. 

“You know your aunts and everyone wouldn’t bother you so much if you just admitted to it and brought her over.” She threw her dish towel over her shoulder, neglecting to remember it was covered in the oven cleaner that made Richie lightheaded and irritable. 

The more Richie thought about it, his mother was on to something. No more long awkward conversations about setting him up with the local teenagers they knew. He gritted his teeth just thinking about it. He held up his hands in mock surrender and spoke without thinking, which he did a lot. 

“You caught me, ma. You’re one...ugh...smart cookie, huh?” He put on some on some old timey voice and bumped her on the arm. She rolled her eyes but actually looked pretty pleased.  “I have a boyfriend.” 

Richie had spoke before he realized he’d basically just accidentally came out of the closet. He wasn’t too concerned but still....

Maggie just lit up though, her smile was wide and loving. “His name....?” 

Richie panicked. “It actually is Eddie! That’s why I hang out with him all the time!” He gestured, very happy with himself. 

‘That was smart, good job.’ He patted himself on the back. 

That is until he realized the consequences of his words. 

                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why don’t you umm...think about it?” Richie suggested, fearing a long rant from the boy. “Keep in mind, it’d sure help me a lot.” He grinned and Eddie chuckled, he felt better. “I’ll come back in like ten minutes.” 

Eddie smiled like he was more so amused at the other boy than pleased, at least that’s what Richie thought. He gently patted Eddie’s arm and began to exit just as he saw Robert make his way over. 

As he headed to the door, he caught the beginning to their conversation. 

“You’ve got some weird friends, Eddie...” 

“Do I now?” Eddie’s voice suggested amusement. 

“Yeah. I don’t like that Richie kid, but you know that. You should hang more with that um....Bill kid or the Mike one. They’re nice respectable boys.” 

“Alright boss.” Eddie laughed. 

Richie couldn’t help but laugh. Though that old man didn’t like him and rejected his applications, Richie fuckin’ loved Robert. 

                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Richie buzzed off for a while, Eddie moved on to cleaning the popcorn machine. His least favorite thing to do in the whole entire world. His thoughts easily drifted to the proposition Richie had given him. And as he cleaned the slimy grease off the counters nearby, he felt his stomach flutter. 

He liked Richie. Liked him. He so badly wanted to take this chance while he could because heaven knows he’d never actually say a thing to Richie about his feelings. He’d sooner die. 

He had mentioned it to Bill however, ‘well more like Bill found out all on his own because he knows me too well & I’m way to transparent but I digress.’ Eddie frowned deeply. Bill would be pissed if he found out Eddie had agreed to a plan like this. He could hear the whole speech about how this would only hurt his feelings in the long run now. But Eddie was thinking about saying yes. Really how bad could the harm be? Yeah he’d get his feelings hurt but he’d get to spend the day as Richie’s ‘boyfriend’...

Screw Bill. He was going to say yes. 

Ten minutes went by astoundingly quick and Richie was easily spotted in the corner of Eddie’s vision just as soon as he started to wipe down the concessions counter. He turned, mouth open to speak but Richie interrupted by sliding a can of Redbull to him. He grinned widely. 

“Oh you spoil me, Richie Tozier.” His voice was light and soft and he could almost feel a blush beginning to bloom on his cheeks. 

Richie happily leaned over the counter to pinch his cheek. “Anything for my Eddie Spaghetti.” 

Eddie swatted his hand away but missed it just as soon as it was gone. For a few comfortable minutes they were silent and smiley.  

Eddie coughed and looked down towards the candy case as if examining the order. “So I’ve thought about it.” 

Richie tried not to get his hopes up. 

“I’ll do it.” Eddie looked up again, once more wiping his finger nervously under his nose. Richie followed the movement with his eyes and looked as if he knew he Eddie was going to do it. He then lit up with a wide smile, so wide in fact that his cheeks pushed his glasses up. 

                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And you said what!?” Bill narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms with all the grace of a middle-aged dad. Eddie gritted his teeth slightly as he responded with a ‘grin’ and twiddled his thumbs. 

“I said yes and it’s too late to change it.” He shrugged with a purse of his lips, looking rather smug. 

“No it’s not! Tell him I s-s-said no!” Bill spoke in all seriousness even though Eddie giggled like a child at that. “Be serious Eddie. This is only going to hurt you in the long run.” 

Eddie pondered that statement for a few seconds and pushed himself off the wall of the bike store. “One day being Richie’s boyfriend is better then nothing, Bill.” 

Bill rolled his eyes and tapped lightly at a bike handle. “I can’t believe you agreed to such a d-d-dumb idea.” He spoke as if he was wise beyond his years. Eddie loved and hated that trait, right now he mostly hated it. 

“Look. I’m not trying to be the bad guy, Eddie. But once the day is done, you and Richie will be too. W-Where will that leave you? S-s-sad and regretful.” Bill rolled his lips together and felt a pinch in his gut. Eddie’s eyes glazed over with thought again and he could tell he was biting his cheek. 

“I’ll be fine and I invite you to call my bluff afterwards if I’m wrong.” Eddie nodded. 

Bill sighed, momentarily giving up the subject in fear of causing too much strain. The two of them ended up watching one of those stupid and unsettling yellow balloons slowly deflate to the ground for twenty minutes. 

                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The day of the Tozier Christmas Party, Richie woke up supremely early to help his mother around the home. The cleaning, the tidying, the whole ordeal. His father sat at the kitchen counter reading the paper without a care in the world while his lovely & helpful son cleaned under the table. 

‘Under the God damn thing. Like seriously? Who was gonna see under the thing? Beside’s maybe Grandma Ruth’s frickin’ dog.’ Richie pouted to himself as he laid under the thing and heard Wentworth Tozier’s soft laughter. Richie decided to give him a little show. 

He moved to crawl under but purposefully misjudged his distance and smacked his head against the table. Wentworth burst into laughter, the kind Richie basked in with pride. Playing stupid wasn’t his preferred method to get laughter but it sure was effective in small doses. 

“Oh Richie....” His mother’s voice cooed from the other room as if she just knew what happened from the ‘thump’ sound.

“I’m ok, ma. Tip top shape even.” Richie stood up as he called out loudly to his mother, rag hanging out of his pocket as he moved to sit next to his father, still chuckling. “So’s the table. Am I done for the day now?” 

Wentworth ruffled his son’s hair. “Sure, sure. But before you go goof off somewhere, is my oh so wonderful son bringing someone to our little party this year?” 

Richie slouched and shrugged him off with a playful frown. “Just Eddie, you’ve met him.” He assumed his father did not no of the details yet. Maggie Tozier might be a gossip but right now she was a little preoccupied, he heard her opening and closing drawers to reorganize them now. Plus, she most likely would want Richie to explain it when he was ready. 

“Ahh Eddie, yes.” He nodded, not seeing anything weird in that idea. Richie pursed his lips. 

“I just wanted to um....” Richie stumbled a little, not quite expecting his nerves to rise as they were. It was a little shocking. He knew 100% that his father wouldn’t care about the gay thing and would love him either way. So was it the Eddie thing he was nervous about? He shouldn’t even care about that cause it wasn’t even a real thing. “Bring someone special, you know?” 

“He’s one of your childhood pals, Rich. Sure he’s special.” Wentworth casually spoke as he filled in another word in his crossword puzzle. “That’s why we invite your ‘Uncle’ Dan. He’s been my buddy since I was ten. Did I ever tell you how I met him-?”

“Yeah Dad. Just a little over two hundred times.” Richie wondered if all father’s had trouble recalling what boring stories they’d told at nausea. 

“Anyway” Richie paused to think. He really had to sell this to get him to believe Eddie was his boyfriend. 

So he took advantage of his nerves to give the best acting performance of his life...’and it wasn’t even that hard!’ His father turned to him, oblivious as ever. “Never-mind it’s stupid.” 

Wentworth smiled up at his child and chuckled, swallowing his first tedious sip of the coffee he’d been nursing. "I say a lot of stupid things, I won't mind."

Richie gave him a look a lot of children give their parents. One of begrudging amusement and familiarity. “Well, Eddie and I are dating, dad.” Richie blurted and bit his lip afterward, wondering if that had been too strong. 

“You don’t have to tell me that.” He rolled his eyes. “All kids your age are dating, son.” He shrugged and Richie blinked. How had he completely missed the point? 

“Each other, dad. We’re dating each other” Richie rolled his eyes. Wentworth grinned. 

“Oh. Alrighty then. Better warn him about your aunts, my boy. They’ll be swarming him with questions.” He stood, the chair squeaking, and patted Richie’s back softly. 

Richie smiled, no teeth, just a casual joyful grin. “Better warn him about you too, dad. You and mom can be quite the handful, I tell ya.” He laughed and felt instant warmth and relief as he leaned back and his father wrapped his arms around him briefly. “Thanks.” He mumbled into his arm. 

His father said nothing else. Just shook his son lightly and kissed the top of his head, a gesture Richie usually hated. 

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything had worked out perfectly. Eddie’s mother was going to be out for the day with a friend but not before she helped him bake some peppermint brownies. To avoid suspicion, Eddie insisted they were for his track team because they were meeting for practice today. She was none the wiser to the fact that Track was not even in season right now. 

To sell the point even further, Ben came over early in the morning to help them and to vouch for Eddie’s track story. 

“Eddie. You could have said cross country, at least that’s currently in season.” Ben rolled his eyes with a small laugh. Eddie bumped his elbow and shrugged. 

“Well, track’s what came out of my mouth so we’re going with it.” He sprinkled some peppermint dust on the brownies. Sonia Kaspbrak was getting her things together before she had to leave. “Besides, I’m not doing cross country again. Just track for me.” 

Ben recalled the one year Eddie had done both and all the times he’d complained about running through the ‘fucking disgusting woods, Ben.’ He laughed. “I could guess that.” 

“So what exactly am I helping you with now?” Ben asked, playing connect the dots with the candy cane pieces in his mind. 

“...The brownies.” Eddie said dumbly, arm hovering over the pan of food. Ben laughed again. 

“Yeah, no. I got that dummy. I met what am I helping you cover for?” Ben smacked his arm lightly as Eddie mumbled a small ‘oh’.

“Richie needed a fake boyfriend for a Christmas party to you know, get his family off his back.” Eddie shrugged, casually. 

Ben chuckled again. “Sounds like a nightmare.” He joked. Eddie laughed too after what he thought was a pause. 

“It’s a way to spend an afternoon alright. At least I’ll get some food and shit.” Eddie dusted his hands of crumbled candy and wiped them down his pant legs. “He’s coming over early, just as soon as my mom leaves to....”  He stopped moving his hands to think it over. “actually I don’t know.” 

Ben raised his eyebrows with amusement. 

The two of them finished up the dessert treat and once Sonia had left, with a bit of a struggle, Ben made his exit too. 

Eddie wrapped some tin foil over the pan and placed it on his counter just as a knock came at the door. Just as he swung the door open, a hug black garbage bag thrust into his arms. 

“Is your mom here?” Came Richie’s voice, slightly muffled as Eddie’s face was shoved into the bag. He threw the thing onto his carpet and rolled his eyes. Richie stood in his doorway with a wide mischievous smile and a Christmas sweater that was practically glowing from the twinkle. 

“No but if she was, your ass would be thrown out on the sidewalk by now. Do you have to make such a scene when you enter a room?” Eddie playfully smacked his cheek and Richie shoved him off, moving towards his bag of treasures. 

“The answer is yes, Eddie my boy.” Richie sat on the ground and started to untie his bag. “And look what I have brought for you, my dear boyfriend.” Richie chuckled and Eddie swallowed thickly. 

For a panicked moment, Eddie fully agreed with Bill. Just from the use of that word. It hit him in the gut and took with it his breath, he almost reached for his inhaler. However Richie did not miss a beat and was already pulling crap out of the bag to show him. 

“You gotta pick one so you can blend in with the Toziers, who dress soooooo very cool.” 

The garbage bag was full of Christmas sweaters, each one uglier than the next. Eddie let himself laugh again and took a seat on the carpet with his friend to dig through the pile of mess. 

And for a solid twenty minutes, Eddie didn’t have a care in the world. As long as Richie was making him laugh and displaying his lovely sweater collection, he was happy and carefree. 

After some fun, Richie and Eddie headed on their way together. The drive was surprisingly quiet, each boy inside their own head. Richie admired the falling snow and hoped that it would stick around to last through Christmas day. 

Eddie’s mind was happily pushing out the risks about the day and feeling the slight itch from his borrowed sweater. He was elated from the knowledge that under Richie’s own thin coat, his sweater matched with his. He grinned and twitched his nose. He was pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t feeling that nervous anymore....in fact the only bothersome feeling he was having was that kind of absent feeling? He shook his hands which somehow felt empty as if he forgot something....

“Shit! Oh my god, you’re so stupid.” Eddie smacked his forehead and yelled at himself. Richie just about jumped six feet in the air from the abrupt surprise. 

“Hey! What’d I do???” Richie blinked and Eddie turned to him with a look of amusement and annoyance, he gave that look to Richie a lot. 

“No, I was talking to myself....I made brownies for your family but I doubt they’ll enjoy them much if they’re still in my kitchen.” 

Richie chuckled for a few seconds before realizing they’d have to drive all the way back to Eddie’s house. “Oh crap.” He muttered, fidgeting in the drivers seat like he was going to turn. 

Brenda Lee was singing with a voice of jolly as Richie pulled into a gas station to turn them around. “Should actually get some gas here, Rich. You’re gas light’s gonna be on in like two minutes I bet.” Eddie laughed. 

Richie frowned. He was a really good driver but if he had one problem, it was forgetting to get gas or just pretending he didn’t need to do it. He did not like having to stop because it was an ‘inconvenience’. It made Eddie laugh because what an actual inconvenience it’d be if the guy ran out of gas in the middle of driving. 

As the boy got out of the car, Eddie turned up the radio and felt the vibration of Richie sticking the gas pump in. The radio started out in soft whispers and grew louder in a familiar nostalgic way. Eddie knew just what it was so he lowered his window for his companion. “Listen to what you’re missing, Rich!!” 

“...Another year over. And a new one just begun. And so this is Christmas...”

Richie instantly shouted out a loud cry of enjoyment. He finished filling the car up and hurried over to the window with the brightest grin Eddie had ever seen, he scooted back on his seat as if afraid of the sudden closeness. “This is why I hate getting gas. I miss everything good.” He leaned further into the car. 

“Then get in and lets’ go.” Eddie said, almost begging him to back up and stop leaning over him. 

                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richie and Eddie made it back to his house and collected the brownies which were just too enticing for Richie not to try on the way back to his house. He ate three out of the huge pan full. Eddie smacked his hand the fourth time he tried to reach for one. 

Richie did a great rendition of Elton John’s ‘Step Into Christmas’ where he got louder and louder every line which ended just in time for him to pull into his icy driveway. He turned the car off and made no immediate move to get out, just leaned back and sighed. “We’re still really early so it’s still probably just my parents.” 

Eddie nodded. 

“You ready for the greatest time of your life, dear?” Richie asked a sweet voice and made Eddie grin and laugh. Richie took that as yes and hopped out of the car in a flash and before Eddie could even think to open his door, Richie opened it for him. 

Eddie whistled as he hopped out, careful not to slip though Richie looked ready to help if needed. “Oh how I love when you’re a gentleman.” He batted his eyes in some impression of a love-struck teen. He didn’t really know for sure what he was going for, after all Richie was the impressionist. 

Richie almost looked flattered for a second, blinking with a shy grin. But almost instantly after, he rushed to the door while Eddie followed after. 

Richie started speaking almost before he even opened the door,  “ 'Zat You, Santa Claus?” He questioned sarcastically as he slid inside with a smirk. “Oh no, just your loving son.” He smiled and then gestured for Eddie to follow him. 

“Dusting off the ol’ Louis Armstrong impression for the holidays, huh?” Wentworth spoke up from the kitchen counter. His newspaper spilled from his hands and spread over the table. His eyes still glanced over to read a few lines as his mother used the sports section as a placemat for cutting up ribbon. She glanced up and the look on her face was way more excited than Richie had expected and suddenly he was nervous again. 

The home was in the process of being decorated, evergreen garland wrapped their banister and bundles of lights nested deeply in the spaces between green and pine cone. Richie was willing to bit his mother had forgot about the annual Christmas sprucing again and borrowed some extra lights from their neighbors. The ol’ time-y 50′s radio that Richie had found at a garage sale was pulled from his room and sat neatly a-top their crappy fireplace. James Taylor was currently wishing them all a merry little Christmas. He smiled. 

“Eddie!” Maggie happily strolled over and stood before them.

“I’m here too mom.” Richie said sarcastically and she waved her hand with a matching smirk. 

“Hi, Mrs. Tozier, Mr. Tozier.” 

Richie could tell Eddie was a little nervous but who wouldn’t be if you had to pretend to be dating someone in front of their parents? 

“I made everyone some brownies...there’d be more if your son didn’t eat three on the way over here.” Eddie playfully smacked Richie’s arm and handed over the pan to Maggie, who looked grateful. 

“He is his fathers boy.” Maggie threw a look to her husband as she slid the treats carefully before him. He was not really paying attention to her and habitually reached out for a sweet brownie. Maggie slapped his hand and gave Eddie a look that said ‘See!’ and they shared a laugh. 

“Hey! What’d I do?” Wentworth questioned, darting his eyes between them. 

Richie felt a little odd at the moment. It was a new level of bonding that just occurred between his mother and Eddie. A simple shared joke about the Tozier boys...’Their Tozier boys’....it made his face burn a holly colored red that luckily no one saw. 

“I thought you kids might wanna decorate the tree before the family shows up.” Wentworth scooted out of his seat and followed them into the living room area, picking up a smaller ornament box while Richie took a larger to set on the couch. 

This was Richie’s favorite activity. God, he loved this time of the year. He started to carefully dig through the boxes for the best ones while Eddie sat down on the couch. “You gonna help me or what, Eddie dear?” 

Eddie scoffed, leaning his body over the box. “I dunno....you probably ate enough sugar to do it all yourself in thirty seconds, Rich.” He spoke softly but with his favorite tone...teasing. 

Richie rolled his eyes and leaned over the box as well, slightly taller so Eddie tilted his chin up. “You’re such a Grinch these days...” He sighed and lifted a clearly handmade ornament, admiring it in his hand. “I miss the boy in this ornament...he was much more fun back then.”

Eddie furrowed his brows and sat on his knees to get a peek of the ornament however Richie moved it from just under his nose. “Oh come on, what is that?” He scurried off the couch and fought him for it. 

Neither boy cared to notice Richie’s parents who were so obviously enjoying the show. Maggie smacked Wentworth’s arm to get him to look and when he did, he held back laughter. “These kids...” She rolled her eyes but let her hand rest over her heart. 

“Aha!” Eddie ripped the thing from his friend and got the look he wanted so badly. It was a handmade clay red and green frame with a photo of the two of them when they were no more than eight. Richie wanted to see the look on Eddie’s face so he instinctively rested his chin on Eddie’s shoulder. He’d been doing that lately a lot since Eddie was much shorter than him. “Awwww...” Eddie couldn’t help but smile. “We look so stupid.” He burst into laughter and thrusted the ornament back to his ‘boyfriend.’ 

“I gotta see this.” Wentworth jumped up and went over to them, Richie gladly handed it over. His dad smiled and shook his head and soon Maggie was over there just the same. 

“And who would’ve known those two idiots would grow up to be two idiots in love.” Richie mocked, hand on his chest before looking at Eddie. That’s when he realized the heaviness of his words. Eddie’s eyes were wide and for a half second, panicked. No one in the room seemed to know what to do but for different reasons. Richie allowed his parents to believe the air was tense because they’d simply not said the ‘L’ word just yet while he and Eddie didn’t make eye contact. 

“Ummm, ok. Who wants to hang the elf with one arm?” Richie held up the broken ornament with an awkward smile. Eddie chuckled, taking it from him, so everyone knew it was ok again. 

They spent twenty minutes hanging shit. There were tons of ornaments Richie didn’t even remember like a vintage looking yellow balloon with a black smiley face. He figured it was one of his dads, he was weird. 

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had only took two or three guests arriving for Richie and Eddie to fall into a comfortable routine. Mostly because nothing had really changed. Richie always put his arm around Eddie, Eddie always begged Richie for bites of his food when he was perfectly capable of getting his own, and Richie always played with the end of Eddie’s sleeves. 

By the time everyone was all counted for, Richie and Eddie were making their rounds with no problem. Richie could not believe how easy it was. They got told they were the cutest little couple like ten different times. ‘That was strange, huh? Nah, I’m a great actor so...’ Richie got distracted by Eddie looping their arms together. 

Eddie was in shock that he played the part so well. Even family members he’d met before found it completely normal for the two of them to be ‘dating now’. It pained him a lot. Even more than he suspected. 

The two of them and found a moment to themselves in the corner of the room on an old chair. Richie cradled a Pine candle that he raised to his nose every thirty seconds or so. “So, how weird is it for you?” Richie asked, head tilting to the side. 

Eddie frowned. “Very.” ‘painful’. He took the candle to smell it for himself. 

Richie deflated at that answer and he wasn’t quite sure why. That had been what he’d expected. He looked up to where his mother was showing everyone some childhood scrapbook and caught a comment. 

“I knew it. Mary, I’ll tell you that much. I knew those two were a couple.” 

Wentworth rolled his eyes, sipping the most classic dad drink he ever could, eggnog. “No you did not.” 

His mother turned with her lips pursed to start bickering about it and Richie did not want to hear anymore. “What about you, Rich?” Eddie handed the candle back over. 

Richie took in a nice long breath of it and rolled his lips together. “I mean yeah, but when everyone was trying to get us under the mistletoe I was excited. I’ve just been dying to kiss ya, Eds my love.” He grinned and leaned over to pinch his cheeks and Eddie rolled his eyes, slapping his arm to initiate a play fight. 

“Awww look how cute.”

Both boys stopped suddenly as Richie’s aunt Mary stopped in front of them. Their cheeks turned rosy shades of pink. 

“Hey Aunt Mary....” They both smiled awkwardly, dropping their hands into their own laps. 

“Now. I’ve heard from just about everyone on how cute you two are.” She put her hands on her hips and they nodded out of politeness. “But I would like to know how it started. I mean I’ve known you Eddie since you were about...yay big.” She paused to make sure her measurement was right, her hand hovered low to the ground. “So it must be a cute story. You guys were adorable then too.” She laughed. 

‘Crap.’ Of all their preparing, they lacked an actual answer for that. They never did come up with a full story. Richie turned to his friend, who looked equally lost and figured he should take the handle on this since it was all his idea. 

“Well, I think I always just knew, you know?” Richie started, hoping he could pull it off. So he tried to remember why everyone truly believed them. “But I’m pretty shit at being serious about things like that so I always just joked with Eddie about it, I’m sure you remember hearing some of that?” He asked her and she nodded, not even caring that he swore just then. 

“Anyway, I um....” He scratched behind his ear before awkwardly sliding it over to clasp Eddies for a more convincing look. Eddie didn’t even flinch, in fact, he looked rather interested himself. “It was after this really awesome day we had this past summer. We’d all hung out all day and at some point we were the only two left so I asked Eddie if he wanted to get ice cream. And what was it that we got...?” Richie laughed and looked to Eddie. This was such an unnecessary detail but he was basing this on an actual day they had and for the life of him, he could not remember their order from that day. 

“Rocket pops.” Eddie supplied him with what he remembered and shook their hands, for a few seconds they just looked at each other. 

“Oh yeah, Rocket pops. So I being an idiot, thought it’d be funny to scare Eddie on my way back from getting mine and so I did and you should’ve seen him.” He started to laugh. “He must’ve been going for a record jump. Eds Kaspbrak gets twenty feet off ground....” He laughed some more before gathering himself for his aunt’s sake. 

“And he drops his right? We didn’t have anymore money left either so I felt like the scum of the earth.” He pats their clasped hands with his free one. “So I gave him mine. He didn’t even care about my germs. And I dunno...something about that moment was too perfect. I was still out of breath from the greatest day ever, I think Bruce Springsteen was playing on the loud speaker at the ice cream place and he makes me overly confident like nothing else-” He laughed again “And it was so God damn sunny out....so like the perfect day, right?” He was going on one of his tangents. 

Eddie’s hand tightened it’s grip and Richie felt less nervous. “So I just kinda actually realized it for the first time and I knew that I had to say something right then and there or I’d regret it.” He waved his hand and when everyone was still looking, he let it fall. His chest tightened with embarrassment. 

“Awwww, you two are the cutest kids.” Aunt Mary said in that adult tone of voice that read like she didn’t believe they’d last very long and she walked away. However, Eddie smacked his arm hard enough to leave a hand-print. 

“Ow! What’d I do?” Richie rubbed at it and whined. Eddie shook his head and smiled. 

“How did you come up with that?” 

Richie felt himself grow even more embarrassed. “Oh well, you know-” 

“Richie! come here for a minute!” He heard his mother call and was instantly relieved to escape the moment. He gave Eddie a small smile and squeezed his shoulder in habit as he left the room. 

About five minutes later Eddie got bored and walked into the kitchen. He made a terrible mistake when he stopped at the door frame next to Richie where they were now...both under the mistletoe. ‘Crap’ 

This time, they’d done it themselves but no one seemed to notice a part from them. Richie looked up and back at Eddie, then Eddie did the same. 

Both boys remained still and focused on the other. There was something between them in this moment, Eddie was sure. And God he really hoped so. Richie had to be thinking the same thing. Who could say a story like that and not mean it?

Richie twiddled his thumbs as he looked at the smaller boy. That story had just come out of him really. But when he was saying it....boy he really wished that had been what happened. Looking at Eddie right now, he was oh so sure he felt the same way. 

‘This is it. He’s gonna say something’ Richie thought.  

‘This is it. He’s gonna say something’ Eddie thought.  

“Kids come here for a second!” 

They both jumped, maybe breaking Eddie’s record from the ice cream shop and felt their chances were blown. Even worse, both felt that maybe they were reading too much into it. 

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He's got to wear his goggles 'cause the snow really bites And he's cruisin' every path with a little surprise-” 

“Dad? Did you just say ‘the snow really bites?’ ” Richie asked his father with a laugh. Wentworth nodded. “That’s not right. It’s ‘the snow really flies’, dad.” 

Eddie chuckled as he plopped into the seat next to Richie. Richie’s dad pulled back with a shocked expression. 

“You’re kidding?” 

“No dad. I know that song in and out. No one knows the Beach Boys better than your awesome son.” Richie stuck his thumb to his chest and Wentworth scoffed, getting up and ruffling his sons hair. Richie watched him go and turned to his small friend. “How goes it, my love?” He pinched his arm. Eddie smacked his hand away. 

“Don’t do that, asshole.” He reached over and pinched him back. Eddie wanted so badly to start actually talking about how he was feeling like a normal person. But he really couldn’t get it out. Bill was right. This was a bad idea and any pain he was feeling was his own damn fault.

‘Little Saint Nick’ faded into ‘Silver Bells’ and Richie lit up like a Christmas tree. “Come on Eds, my dear. We should probably dance, you know?” He held out his hand and Eddie hesitated before allowing it. 

Teasing ‘whoops’ and whistles came from his family members and Eddie hoped he wasn’t blushing. Richie just played along, rolling his eyes and waving his hands at them. 

“-Children laughing people passing meeting smile after smile And on every street corner you hear

Silver bells (silver bells) Silver bells (silver bells)” 

Richie pulled Eddie closer. 

Eddie almost pinched himself. 

Both boys took to the dance as any boyfriends would. Laughing, spinning each other and pulling the other close. Eddie was in heaven. 

Richie leaned his head down as Eddie came close again, smiling into the shorter boys hair. 

“Hey Eds-?” Eddie looked up and their faces were now just inches apart. “I missed the moment last time....but this one’s just as good so...I wanna tell you, I have feelings for you. Like real ones.” 

Eddie almost passed out. “You do?”

Richie loosened up on the boy and nodded. “I know it might be weird and I dragged you into this but holy fuck, I didn’t plan on this. I have feelings and I think I always have.” 

Eddie jumped up and wrapped his arms around his neck and heard distant whistles again. So he just mumbled into Richie’s neck. “Me too. And I’m so happy you dragged me into this.”

                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The losers club was huddled into one small booth at the restaurant where Stan worked. They had just gotten the great news from Richie and Eddie. All that was left to hear was Stan. He came strolling out of the kitchen after his shift ended and slid into what space was left next to Mike. 

He caught sight of Richie, who’s arm was around Eddie and he smirked the widest he’d ever had in his life. 

“Wow. Seems like another case of I was right and you were wrong, huh Richie?” He crossed his arms. Richie shrugged. “I knew you liked Eddie. Before you even knew.” He stuffed some bread in his mouth as the rest of the losers laughed. 

They spent the next twenty minutes having dinner together. Richie pulling Eddie close and the eyes of the ol’ timey paintings followed them all. 

[lovelyladiesofoverwatchimagines]

Could I request a fantasy widowmaker x reader? Okay, so widow is a vampire that reader was meant to hunt, but before they could kill her, she fed from them and made them her property. At first highly resistant to all of her advances, reader starts to develop feelings for Widow, and falls in love? One day, another Hunter comes around and try’s to kill Widow, but before the new Hunter could land the killing blow, reader takes it instead. Could you have widow turn reader into a vamp to save them?

Ive been really sick, sorry it took so long

—��———————–

“What did you do to me heathen?” You spat at the woman in front of you. You were the best hunter in France. And here you were, apprehended by the most feared creature in all of France

“I claimed you,” She said calmly

“You what?! Why?“ You shot back. The beast hesitated before answering

“No other hunter for the past 400 years has been able to even get close to my castle, or remotely past my traps. You interest me”

“Ok?” You looked confused

“So I’m keeping you here so you cant release a way to get to me” She explained

“You, the most powerful vampire in France, ”the Widowmaker” is scared of a Human?” You laughed out, practically sneering in her face

“Shut up”

———————–

“Eat” Widowmaker scolded from the other side of the cell wall

“No” You pushed the tray of food away

“You need sustenance”

“Yeah? What do you care? If I die you don’t have to worry about others finding you” You shot

“Despite what people think, I’m not a heartless monster. Starving is not pleasurable” Widowmaker shot back

“Fine ill eat, as long as it gets you to leave me alone” You mumbled, shoving a piece of bread into your mouth

————————

“What are you doing?” You stood as the cell door opened. As the weeks passed Widowmaker had become more friendly towards you. Suppose loss of human or beast contact will do that to you

“I’m letting you out. Providing you a room in my villa is the least I can do since you’ll never part” Widowmaker answered, holding her hand out to you. You took it

“Thank you” You mumbled as she led you up the stairs and to a new part of the villa

————————

“So then I said, that’s an Alibi, not a squid” You laughed covering your mouth. Amelie subtly laughed and smiled at you. The wine in her hand almost half empty

“You are very funny you know” She implied

“My ex thought so too,” You said shooting down the last of your wine

“You are not with anyone?” Amelie acknowledged. You shrugged and put the wineglass down

“Nah, once I started hunting, things changed. I pushed everyone away” YOu looked down and twiddled with your thumbs

“Why?”  She asked

“The reason I hunt is that one of your kind killed my daughter,” You said sternly. The mood of the room changed greatly in a matter of seconds

“I am sorry,” She said. You coughed and stood.

“I’m not so hungry anymore. Thanks for the dinner. Goodnight Widowmaker" You said, making your way out of the den

“Amelie,” She said quickly

“What?”

“My name…its Amelie,” She said hesitantly. You smiled and headed up the stairs to bed

————————-

“Good morning Amelie” You  greeted, sniffing the air and rubbed your eyes

“Good morning (Y/n), I was making eggs, would you like some?” Amelie said from the kitchen

“Si” You returned

“You know, I have told you about myself…But you’ve shared nothing about yourself with me. I think we should change that, Oui?” She set down the utilities and turned to look at you

“Sure” So that’s what happened. Amelie laid down in your lap and listened for hours to your story, your life, your family, parents, education, all of it.

“You came to France just to hunt me?” Amelie said, almost in a voice that said she was impressed

“Yeah and before that it was a coven of Demons called Los Muertos, run by their alpha known as Sombra. She was tricky. Promised me my daughter if I let her live” You said, taking a sip of your drink

“Did you?”

“First thing you learn as a hunter is never trusting a deal.” YOu laded, looked down at the woman. She smiled up at you. You shook your head and looked toward the ceiling

“Vampires destroyed my family and here I am fraternizing with one” You laughed and sighed at the same time

“We are fraternizing?” Amelie asked, raising an eyebrow

“Well… I mean..yes?” You stuttered out

“Then we should do it properly, Non?” SHe breathed, leaning up she connected her lips to your own. You smiled and kissed back eagerly

————————–The next night you read quietly in bed, only to look up to be greeted with one of the most beautiful sights you had ever seen. Your jaw dropped as Amelie spoke

“A countess gets lonely after a few hundred years mon cher” The lingerie held tightly to her body

“I bet she does” Was all you could get out

“Care to spend the night with me?” She suggested, holding her hand out. You stood and nodded. Following her to her room. She sat on her bed seductively. You gulped and blushed. Her eyes pierced your soul as she reached a lanky finger out and motioned towards her.  

That night you spent together was the first of many. A few weeks proceeding that night you woke up in each other’s arms as usual for the past weeks, every morning, evening and night you two fell in more love than you ever had. Her yellow eyes peered into you that morning, just like the one before

“Good morning darling” She whispered to you as your eyes fluttered open

“Good morning mi Amor,” You said with a smile. You graded your lips on hers. You placed your hand on her waist and kissed harder. You only pulled away when you heard a rap on wood

“That was the door?” You sat up, the blankets covering your bare waist. You slid out of bed and put on clothes. Amelie sat up and looked at you with concern

“Let me check it. ” You said sternly

“But-” She started

“Ame I have a feeling I know who it is,” You said sadly. You made your way down the two-story villa and to the large door. You opened it as you heard Amelie be decent down the stairs. You looked at the figures at the door. One wore a hood the other you immediately recognized

“Atlanta” You spoke

“(Y/n)… I thought you were dead” The woman said in shock

“No, I’ve just been, planning my next hunt..” You excused

“Without Cherin? I thought you two were partners?” She asked

“We were but there we some-” You looked Amelie in the eyes

“Complications”

“(Y/n) are you sure you’re alright, your never this open about, well anything” Atlanta being one of your closest friends, she would know

“Fine,” You said, looking at the stairs. Atlanta squinted, peering at your neck

“You’ve been claimed (Y/n), that’s a vampire mark..” Atlanta stated

“Yes I got in a scuffle” You lied

“I know she’s here (Y/n)” The figure removed his hood to reveal your partner.

“Cherin,” You said acknowledging him

“Move” He musked out

“You aren’t getting to her” You moved to cover the door, Amelie stepped down another step as Cherin delivered a knockout blow to your face. You sank to the floor. In a blurry image, you saw the larger hunter move towards Amelie who bared her fangs threateningly at him. He pulled a large cured stake out of his coat and thrust it at Amelie

“Amelie!” You yelled quickly standing up and running toward your lover, jumping in front of the stab. Your life flashed as you felt the excruciating pain fill your lung. You heard a scream and muffled words as you slumped to the floor. Almost immediately you heard the stake drop and Amelie rushed to your side. She screamed at the intruding hunters

“Leave! You’ve broken one of the most sacred hunting laws. Leave before I make you” Tears welled her eyes

“Let’s go, Cherin,” Atlanta said, pulling on the other hunter who just stared in horror. As they left Amelie’s focus went back to you

“Please, please breath you’ll be ok” Amelie begged to your unconscious body

—————————-

“Good morning my love” Amelie choked out. You weakly smiled and opened your mouth to speak, all that came out was a cough and trail of blood

“Don’t speak” Amelie said

“Save your strength darling” She tucked a stray hair behind your ear. You smiled and pressed her hand to your face

“You look sad amor” You wimpily whined out. Pain piercing everywhere in your midsection

“You are dying,” Amelie said with drops filling her eyes. You clenched your jaw

“Turn me,” You said hesitantly. Amelie’s eyes widened in shock

“I know you were thinking about it but wouldn’t without my concent..so do it”

“Cher it is no small choice..and even if I did you can’t leave the castle. Eventually, you will get tired of me. And there is no guarantee it will work” She explained

“I love you, Amelie. And I trust you” You leaned in and kissed her. She sniffed and kissed back. You leaned back and coughed. Amelie sighed

“Alright”

———————–

“I am also yet a girl, standing in front of my love, asking them to love her. But I guess if she is loved she should let her love move on. "Look at me she cries, come back to me, I love you and not another.” And its because she loves them that, she can’t be selfish. Yet when she says “I love you”, she expects it said back. The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more and that plants a fire in our hearts and minds. That’s what she had to give. As the girl waits for a reply she thinks of a story. “You’re waiting for a train, a train that’ll take you far away, and you know where you want this train to take you, but you can’t know for sure, but it doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t matter, because they’ll be together.’” You sighed finishing the book. You ran your tongue over your left fang and picked up your sleeping wife to take her to bed. Maybe being stuck with the countess wasn’t so bad

[yaoisex]

A Serious Post.

I’ve been meaning on writing this for the last two weeks, since the whole *thing* has started here on Tumblr. But I wanted to wait and see what would Tumblr decide to do. And now it’s out and I’m pissed, angry, sad and devastated. 

Sorry in advance if this post is long. I’m not going to use a Read More cut either. I want you to read everything.  

In short - Tumblr has f***ed up. 

Instead of getting rid of all of the p*** bots, they decided to just get rid of ALL adult content. 

If I understood correctly, it’s mainly REAL s** and p*** photos and videos that they’re going to ban now. I’m not sure about fanart? Also I think fanfics are allowed. 

But I’m here to talk about the things relevant to me and my Tumblr: 

Like my bio says, I basically post about anime, seiyuu and BLCDs. But some of those include some n-sfw stuff. 

Even though my username is very n-sfw, I don’t actually post about that actual thing. I never post/reblog y*** manga scans (sometimes I post specific frames and censor them). I think that in my whole Tumblr life (~8 years) I’ve only reblogged two actual n-sfw gifs?? I try not to post too n-sfw posts, and by posts I mean pics/gifs, because as you clearly know, my most n-sfw posts are audio posts. 

If you’ve tried searching for the Y**i tag since the whole thing blew up - you probably noticed that you got nothing. 

I’m not posting too much of that, but I use that tag on some of my posts. Which means that now none of those posts will show on the tag because there will be no such tag. 

Same goes for the n-sfw tag. And I use that tag a lot.

SO. Questions time:

Do you think my blcd snippets posts will be ok? Since I tag them as n-sfw. From what I’ve read, it’s mostly pics they’re concerned about? I don’t know about audio files.... ._. I don’t know if they’re actually planning on forcefully deleting every post that has n-sfw in it?? If so, maybe we could think of a code name for those posts. For example - apple. If I tag a post apple - you know it’s n-sfw (and then you can add that tag to your blacklist or whatever-list you have so you won’t see it on your dash until you choose to click on it.)

MY USERNAME. It clearly has two of the No-No words now. I don’t know if they’re also going to deal with usernames?? o_o I’ve had this username for around 14 years (anyone remember Live Journal?). It’s also my username on some other social medias. Now I wonder if I should change it here on Tumblr? .______. What do you guys think? On on hand, it won’t be such a big deal for me I think, even though I feel connected to it after so many years, but on the other hand - many people connect this username to me?! They know me by this username, it’s part of me and my online life. I don’t know what to do ;___;

My Tumblr is not marked as explicit. I know they deleted many blogs that were marked as such :/ But I never marked myself as that because I’m not really explicit. 

****

I never thought I’d do that, but in case something bad happens here, I don’t want to lose the friends I’ve made here. So, even though I’ve been asked about my other social medias before (but never really replied to that) - I’m now open to allowing you guys to follow me on Twitter. 

My username there is the same as here. 

I’m not very active there. I mainly use it to rant once in a million years (I’ve used it more often years ago, but not anymore). I’m there mainly to follow seiyuus and BL mangaks/companies. 

But if I have no other choice and have to move my fangirling elsewhere - I’ll have to use Twitter more if I want to talk and fangirl with you guys, so I’ll have to add you back. 

My twitter is private, so you have to send a request. I’m probably not going to add everyone. At least not at first. BUT, if we’re friends, if we’ve talked here before (on chats/replies etc) - you guys probably know who you are - please send me a message here telling me you’ve asked to be added on Twitter and what’s your username there - so I can recognize who you are and then I won’t have any problem adding you. I’m saying that again, I’m not going to add everyone that send me a message, only if we’ve actively talked here before more than once. So maybe don’t bother to ask and send a request if you’ve only been following me here but we never actually talked before. Sorry if I sound super rude, I’m just very cautious and private on every other social media apart from Tumblr so I hardly add people, only if I know them for some time. 

I really hope my Tumblr will continue to live on (I actually never backed it up or anything). I don’t want to lose the community we’ve built here and the friends I’ve made. I think that as long as we continue to fangirl over anime and seiyuus we won’t have any problem, right?? The only risky thing is the BL, so we’ll have to think how to deal with that.

I love you all! 

❤️

[lokikingofasgardslover713]

Philandering with Thunder: 3

Masterlist

Philandering with Thunder Masterlist

Thor Odinson x Plus!Size Reader

Warnings: Angst

A/N: Fluffy Thor, angry Thor! We find out how much Thor cares for the reader but no smut yet! First I must torture you!

Words: +1,700

No one seen Y/N until later on the evening, slumped over on the bar, looking as if she had been attempting to help with the dinner they had planned since everyone missed thanksgiving due to the mission. A mixing bowl in front of her as it appeared Y/N had fallen asleep while making a batter of some kind, the bowl wrapped tightly in bare arms her head on the counter. Wanda was at the stove tending to a boiling stock pot, turning the moment Thor entered & puzzled at Y/N who was out.

“What happened,” he asked, worriedly going over to her, nothing the exhausted creature had taken a shower, thin tank top showing a bandage around wounded ribs & an IV tube still attached to her arm.

“She passed out after showing her gift, the Dr. said she broke the ribs that were fractured & reinjured the wound. She was trying to help but the last dose of pain meds put her out, I didn’t have the heart to wake her,” Wanda admitted to the god that worriedly laid a hand on gently rising shoulder moving it tenderly to urge Y/N to stir to let her know he was there.

“Y/N, it's me, I'm going to take you to my quarters to lay down,” he began softly moving to place a arm around her back & under warm knees, Y/N jerking awake to grab for the bowl that was gripped in tired arms.

“I have to help,” she replied drunkenly, Thor gently pushing the bowl away, returning to loop one arm under her knees & the other around her back to lift her to strong chest.

“You’ve helped enough, how about you get some rest before the dinner tonight,” Thor began, the comment seeming to pacify the relaxing creature that went back to sleep in his arms.

The god taking easy slow strides to his room to assure he didn’t jar her aching body, fuming that Y/N had to show her gift. Thor knew it hurt the creature more than she would admit, Y/N explained that though it was a quick shift it still rearranged & in certain contortions would break bone, especially if one was already injured. Carefully the god pulled the lax woman up to rest tired head under stubbled chin, pushing the door open with his boot as he rubbed a cheek over soft hair, wanting no more than to cuddle with the sleeping creature but he felt the need to find out what had led to her current state.

Carefully he laid her back in the spot she had been curled in just that morning, watching Y/N settle against the pillows before laying the fur over bruised body sure that it didn’t lay to heavily on her wounded side. The god unable to fight the urge any longer, calloused hand brushing over her cheek to rest on soft neck, putting a knee on the bed to bow down to her placing his forehead to hers.

“Ill take care of you little cub,” he breathed out, Y/N nuzzling at the god in her sleep, free hand taking the one that had the IV to pull it free of her skin, she didn’t need it, not while she slept it could rip free & hurt his Y/N.

The sleeping women squirming as it pulled free, a calloused thumb holding to the hole as it clotted & healed. A quiet knock sounding at the door, the god looking over to it before taking one last look at Y/N & getting to his feet to start for it, pulling it open to find Steve standing with Tony. The two looked worried to say the least as the god stepped out to shut the door, taking a guarded stance in front of it arms across his chest.

“Is she OK,” Tony began before Steve could push the words out himself, both looking at the billionaire.

“She will be, how could you let them…,” Thor began fiercely, the scowl on his face telling them it was all he could do to hold back his anger as mismatched eyes glared the two down.

“He didn’t, they pushed Y/N & before we could stop her she shifted. It was bad… you could hear…,” Tony spoke stopping & not wanting to finish or relive the sickening moment when the woman altered from mortal to animal, the sound of breaking bones enough to make teeth shatter.

“Has she not proved herself enough for your authorities!? All Y/N wanted when she joined was to help & not be treated like a weapon! A thing! But yet here you are allowing it,” Thor snarled harsh words reverberating around the corridor at the men, a fire lighting in Tony’s eyes & before Steve could stop the man he went for Thor.

“I ALLOWED NOTHING! WHO WAS IT THAT INJURED Y/N LIKE THAT! You! You & your fucking macho battle with the Hulk…,” Tony shouted out at the god, getting ready to shove a finger in his chest but Steve jerked him back as the god was consumed by streaks of lightning.

“IT WASN’T…,” Thor began to bellow back but stopped himself.

“You almost killed her,” Tony roared at the god the instant the door to the room opened to reveal a bleary eyed Y/N who was holding to it to keep sore body steady the god moving quick to make sure she didn’t fall out into the hall.

“Look guys… this just isn’t working s’okay? I'm going to mmmyyy placceee & sleep ssssinnce you ca… can… can’t keep it dowwwnn,” Y/N slurred out, apparent the pain meds were making the woman drunk, Thor catching her as she took a step to walk out of the room.

“I'm sokay, just get mme to my jeep,” she slurred once more the brawny god looking back to the men that where staring at her in awe as well.

“Y/N, lets go lay back down, this can wait,” Thor spoke soothingly to the woman that he pulled into his arms pulling her tight to his chest & felling her curl into him as if cold.

“Mmmm… warm,” Y/N mumbled into the gods chest snuggling in close to shut her eyes once more.

“We’re not done here,” Thor spoke back to the two before taking a step back into the room.

“We are actually, because I am getting ready to reem their asses myself,” Steve spoke hatefully, turning with Tony on his heels.

“Easy dove,” Thor cooed down to the drunken & now giggling woman that wrapped cool arms around heated neck.

“You wouldn’t call me thatttt if you ever seen my… my true form… whichhhh… you never have. Want to see,” she popped up excitedly in his arms locking gazes with the god, Y/E/C eyes hazy hands snaking into the gods hair to nuzzle at his face.

“No dove, I want you to rest,” he smiled at the flirtatious creature that was coming out in the drunken woman as he laid her to the mattress arms staying tight around his neck to make him fall with her the woman still nuzzling at his face.

“Buuutt… I'm fluffy, I have my winter coat & it's soft & fluffy. Did I say fluffy,” she tried to coo but it came out a drunk giggle that had the god smirking as she settled back to her spot & curled around him as he settled with her pouting at him.

“I don’t doubt you are, but I want you healed well before you show me. Rest for me little cub, you have a while before dinner & me to yourself,” he coaxed, pulling the fur over her yet again as she snuggled into his clothed chest.

“Thor,” Y/N spoke, now slightly calmer & less giggly.

“Yes Y/N,” Thor spoke quietly arms holding her tight to him swearing she was trying to bury deeper in his chest, legs intertwining with his.

“Hold me close,” she whimpered now like a frightened child, shivering in the gods arms.

“I will, tell me what is wrong,” he hushed out keeping her close hand going to lace in loose Y/H/C locks.

“My past doesn’t let me sleep,” she mumbled out breath calming as a calloused hand rubbed gingerly along bandage back.

“I’ve got you dove, rest,” he hushed filling Y/N go lax in his arms all she wanted was protection.

The buzz of a cell phone woke him, the god shocked he actually feel asleep holding the quietly sleeping Y/N who looked to haven’t moved since they laid down. Carefully the god shifted around to find the phone crammed in his pants pocked, noting the time & a text from Steve telling him that dinner was ready if Y/N was awake. It seemed the two had slept cradled together for 4 hours at least, the god moving slow as he moved the sleeping woman carefully pushing back to look at her.

“Y/N,” he echoed, hand cupping soft cheek as he cherished over it, enjoying the feel of the supple skin the woman stirring slightly with a quiet mumble & a furrowed brow at unseen pain.

“Y/N, dove, it's time to eat, are you hungry,” he continued to echo, her arms curling around his neck to push her forehead to his stretching out but whimpering quietly at the pull of the wounds, tugging tight to the god that held her gingerly as not to hurt her.

“Mmmm yeah,” she finally responded nuzzling at stubbled face, moving to sit up, the god quick to help & get her to bare feet with a slight hobble before they stopped.

“You're hurting, let me…,” Thor began but she stopped him.

“No, I’ll be OK until after we eat, if I take anything now I will go back out & it will make my stomach hurt,” she admitted, looking up at the god who looked down at her worriedly, but nodded in understanding.

Without a word, the god lifted her into his arms, knowing Y/N would protest if he offered, since it seemed she was fully coherent & able to reject any help offered. Smirking at the perplexed woman as she let out a yelp at the sudden but gentle sweeping off of bare feet the god done.

“Then allow me to carry you to dinner my little cub,” he smiled, not allowing room for protest as he started for the door with the blushing woman in his arms.

Tags open! And re-blogs are ALWAYS welcomed!

Tags: @dark-night-sky-99​  @prettybubblesintheair​  @gramaeryebard​  @reallyheckinggay​  @jovanna-shewolf​  @andiyholly​  @katstablook​   @nickyl316h​  @beets1bears1battlestargalactica​ @aslandia726​ @moonfaery​ @furstinnajoelle   @itsbqueenthings​ @lookwhatyoumademequeue​

@whovianwookie86-captainxev@jazzieomega @tomhardy41

[swyllh]

i spent a ridiculously long time agonizing over this, but 2 + minghao for the 100 ways to say i love you thing!

(2. “this reminded me of you.”)

premise: minghao can’t let go.

pairing: minghao x reader

genre: angst, textfic

tw: major character death, lots of swearing.

10 february 2018

minghao [1102]: hey

minghao [1102]: ITS YA BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

minghao [1102]: img1834.jpg

minghao [1104]: i set your phone to silent

minghao [1104]: this doesnt work when ur phone is ringign

minghao [1105]: haha

minghao [1105]: thats actually q funny wtf

minghao [1106]: like

minghao [1106]: lets pretend to talk to u like ur alive

minghao [1106]: while ur phone is ringing next to me

minghao [1107]: ………….

minghao [1110]: yeah i don’t kno wwhy im doing this

minghao [1111]: dr lee said i t would be good

minghao [1111]: oh 11111

minghao [1111]: 1111*

minghao [1111]: u used to wish on them

minghao [1112]: i thought it was so stupid

minghao [1112]: still think its sutpid 

minghao [1113]: man its so hard

minghao [1113]: m so used to u biting my head of f

minghao [1113]: i miss you

minghao [1115]: i miss you so much

minghao [2032]: k SO

minghao [2032]: i finally got to finidhign

minghao [2032]: all the fuckdifnf funrrrl 

minghao [2033]: moeny

minghao [2033]: haaaaaaaaaaaaahha

minghao [2033]: djd y inow funerla s cost soc much

minghao [2033]: 3000 %94_43?@589;@(p;%

minghao [2033]: ‘’’’’’’’

minghao [2034]: $7_*

minghao [2034]: $7__________________________*

11 february 2018

minghao [1422]: fuck

minghao [1422]: seems like drunk me couldnt turn back

minghao [1422]: the keyborad

minghao [1422]: keyboard*

minghao [1422]: lmao

minghao [1426]: this is actually fucking funny

minghao [1426]: but what i wanted to say was

minghao [1426]: cremations cost like 100000

minghao [1426]: ……………..

minghao [1426]: did i extra type

minghao [1427]: u dont even give shits about numbers

minghao [1427]: rmb that time

minghao [1427]: you like,, frget the decimal

minghao [1427]: we ended up donating like half our rent

minghao [1430]: about rent

minghao [1431]: do i sell this house now

minghao [1431]: i mean i like it

minghao [1431]: its close to the metro, theres two supermarkets, a library

minghao [1432]: but its also hell to get to work

minghao [1432]: mine not urs

minghao [1432]: ……..technially its not a house

minghao [1432]: god how do u still osund so bitchy after death

minghao [1443]: also moving out will mean moving your stuff too

minghao [1447]: idk i dont want to think about that

minghao [1820]: img1886.jpg 

minghao [1821]: the sunset today is so beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

minghao [1821]: fuck

minghao [1822]: img1887.jpg

minghao [1822]: img1888.jpg

minghao [1823]: img1889.jpg

minghao [1823]: which one

minghao [1823]: for insta

minghao [1824]: should i do a collage

minghao [2311]: 1111

12 february 2018

minghao [0608]: going out fr a run

minghao [1050]: ur mum wants to meet

minghao [1050]: think she wants to get ur stuff back

minghao [1111]: 1111

minghao [1111]: your mum says youre in heaven

minghao [1112]: she misses you a lot

minghao [1115]: ha fuck

minghao [1115]: next thing i know im gonna be waiting for you to text back

minghao [1251]: what do i say

minghao [1251]: screenshot_89.jpg

minghao [1251]: “sure!” ?

minghao [1252]: is it too morbid to add an exclamation mark

minghao [1252]: ???

minghao [1252]: sure.

minghao [1253]: the fullstop looks mean

minghao [1253]: ………………

minghao [1255]: god why cant she just

minghao [1255]: i said ‘sure’ w the fullstop

minghao [1255]: screenshot_90.jpg

minghao [1256]: what do i say now?????

minghao [1256]: why cant she get her own imaginary u

minghao [1256]: smh

13 february 2018

minghao [1637]: just got out of therapy

minghao [1637]: dr lee was talking abt the 5 stages of grief

minghao [1637]: kind of zoned out

minghao [1638]: was cool tho

minghao [1638]: youd like that psychology talk

minghao [1639]: can u imagine someone

minghao [1639]: a scientist

minghao [1639]: just going up to grieving people

minghao [1639]: like “hey can i know how ur feeling”

minghao [1639]: checking in every five days

minghao [1640]: or getting them to jorunal

minghao [1643]: kind of what i’m doing

minghao [1644]: but fuck if i let u become a memopad

minghao [1648]: anyway the bus is here

minghao [1648]: think ill sleep 

minghao [1946]: how the fuck

minghao [1946]: do u eat so much rice

minghao [1946]: i cooked exact as usual

minghao [1947]: img1890.jpg

minghao [1947]: r u fcuking kidding me

minghao [2313]: soz i missed

minghao [2313]: 1113?

minghao [2313]: at least its not 1112

minghao [2313]: 1113 is like a deliberate delay

minghao [2314]: a statement against the futility of numbers. freewill vs fate, control and determination. 

minghao [2314]: ok im sorry thts bullshit

minghao [2316]: i wont miss it again

14 february 2018

minghao [0028]: fuck

minghao [0028]: its valentines day

minghao [0028]: fucccccccccccck

minghao [0028]: everynes gonna be gross

minghao [0029]: ugh

minghao [0029]: like us

minghao [0029]: sto p soudnign so smug.

minghao [0812]: i still cant believe they skated to yoi 

minghao [0812]: what a time to be alive

minghao [0816]: ur probably so pissed that ur missing the olympics

minghao [0819]: i just checked, mens singles is on the 16th 

minghao [0819]: bet u chen rekts hanyu 

minghao [0820]: actually, no

minghao [0820]: youll cry if he does

minghao [0824]: god how many posters of hanyu do you have

minghao [0828]: youll cry if i take them down

minghao [0828]: p sure if u had any say

minghao [0828]: ud want them to paste it all over ur tomb

minghao [0829]: ………………

minghao [0830]: right now im really really hoping you dont hav some weird will that wants me to do that

minghao [0831]: ur so gross

minghao [0831]: ur room is so gross

minghao [1215]: i cant do this

minghao [1215]: ur room smells like you

minghao [1216]: fucking nivea extra fresh

minghao [1216]: cant believe im cryign over deoderent 

minghao [1217]: deodorant

minghao [1217]: even the word is gross

minghao [2311]: 1111 

minghao [2311]: i miss you. 

minghao [2312]: spent the day in your study

minghao [2312]: your mum is coming over on saturday so i packed a bit

minghao [2320]: ok i lied

minghao [2320]: i cried all over your things

minghao [2321]: how

minghao [2321]: how do you just keep crying

minghao [2321]: i should be dehydrated by nw

minghao [2322]: fuck

minghao [2322]: think im crying again

minghao [2322]: is it possible to die from crying so mcuh

minghao [2323]: i miss you

minghao [2323]: the bed is so cold

minghao [2326]: i miss you. so much. all the time.

15 february 2018

minghao [1128]: they’re going to terminate the contract on your phone

minghao [1128]: and then i wont be able to message you like this

minghao [1129]: i panicked and called dr lee

minghao [1129]: she said it was a good thing

minghao [1130]: fuck this

minghao [1130]: i know it isnt like ur gonna text back

minghao [1130]: but 

minghao [1131]: i hear your voice and it makes me safe

minghao [1131]: like youre here

minghao [1132]: fuck.

minghao [1516]: so i forgot to water your cactus

minghao [1516]: its dead

minghao [1516]: sorry

minghao [1517]: maybe oyull take better care of it now

minghao [1517]: actually

minghao [1517]: do plants go to heaven 

minghao [1518]: they can right

minghao [1518]: since they were once alive

minghao [1518]: lol

minghao [1520]: that means books cant

minghao [1520]: god it must be so boring up there

minghao [1522]: unless heaven has their own publishing company

minghao [1538]: or phone service

minghao [1540]: is that why you cant text me back

minghao [1540]: cos im texting the wrong number

minghao [1541]: i swear if u pull a new phone hoo dis

minghao [1542]: …. i cant even kill u

minghao [1542]: or its like overkill

minghao [1543]: jesus

minghao [1546]: youre always one step ahead of me huh

16 february 2018 

minghao [1741]: happy lunar new year

minghao [1741]: i went to your mum’s. we watched yuzuru hanyu.

minghao [1742]: ok FINE he won okay

minghao [1742]: nathan chen fucked up 

minghao [1742]: did u mess with him from above

minghao [1743]: thats not a fair win ok

minghao [1750]: your mum started crying in the middle of lunch.

minghao [1750]: she cooked all your favourite foods.

minghao [1751]: fuck you.

minghao [1803]: im sorry i dont mean that 

minghao [1803]: i love you

minghao [1804]: i love you

minghao [1804]: i lov eyou 

minghao [1804]: i love you 

minghao [2203]: ive been thinking

minghao [2204]: its getting hard to

minghao [2204]: talk to you 

minghao [2204]: at you, like this

minghao [2206]: im not

minghao [2206]: this sounds bad

minghao [2207]: it probably is 

minghao [2207]: every time. i do. its like.

minghao [2207]: i know youre not going to reply.

minghao [2208]: i knw youre dead

minghao [2213]: youre dead

minghao [2218]: but i miss you so much and it doesnt stop there and i still love you but your phone is still lighting up i still keep it charged and every time i try to talk about you its hard to not feel like im being ripped out from inside and i lov eyou still 

minghao [2224]: i dont want to forget you.

minghao [2248]: i dont want to wake up one day and not think of you and meet someone else and fall in love with them and throw all your things away and forget how you look like

minghao [2255]: i forgot wwhat you looked like this morning

minghao [2256]: i was looking at a photo of us

minghao [2256]: and for a moment i thought you looked strange

minghao [2257]: like, was your nose /that big

minghao [2257]: HAHAHAHAHA jk

minghao [2259]: i almost lost it. i wanted to break things and 

minghao [2302]: i dont want to say it

minghao [2311]: 1111

minghao [2312]: good night.

17 february 2018

minghao [1050]: your mum’s here

minghao [1050]: im so nervous haha wtf

minghao [2047]: the whole house is so empty wow

minghao [2047]: it’s so crazy 

minghao [2048]: but ur yuzuru posters left marks on the wall 

minghao [2048]: :p

minghao [2051]: its so weird 

minghao [2052]: its like youre not here

minghao [2055]: dr lee says its a step forward but i feel like somethings missing. and that things are going to fuck themselves up now.

minghao [2104]: its like i can hear everything now that all ur files and stuff are gone

minghao [2110]: this house is too big for me

minghao [2111]: shold i get a dog?

minghao [2111]: what if it dies

minghao [2111]: your plant died

minghao [2112]: bc i didnt water it

minghao [2114]: did you die because i didnt love you enough

minghao [2115]: the last thing we fought over was so stupid

minghao [2115]: it was about bills right

minghao [2117]: are you still pissed about that

minghao [2118]: im sorry.

18 february 2018

minghao [0233]: im unplugging your phone.

minghao [0234]: the contract’s expiring soon anyway.

minghao [0234]: so.

minghao [0240]: you’re at 76%. 

minghao [0240]: so this is kind of anticlimactic

minghao [0252]: i think ive spent too long holding you back

minghao [0252]: your mum gave me that look when she found out i was texting you.

minghao [0254]: im just scared. 

minghao [0255]: i dont want to forget what its like to love you

minghao [0301]: 49%

minghao [0510]: i had a nightmare

minghao [0511]: almost recharged your phone on auto

minghao [0512]: tired.

minghao [0512]: love you.

minghao [1110]: youre on 1%

minghao [1110]: i love you.

minghao [1110]: i love you.

drafts

[!] message undelivered - [1111]: i love you.

[jasonfvkingtodd]

Wolf  [Part 1]

Warnings: Slight mention of mental illnesses

I awoke with a throbbing headache from the earlier 'session'. Ive been stuck in this cell, tortured for weeks or even months on end in 'The Lab'. My own blood was on the floor and walls of the cells, it stank like the pits of hell. Why were they doing this? Both my tank top and tactical pants were caked with blood. When was the last time I actually cleaned up? Fuck.

A group of men burst into the cell and dragged me across a long corridor, illuminated with bright white lights. A bald man with a goatee wearing a white lab coat greeted me. As from what I’ve have gathered from the conversations my captors had, his name was Sadiq.

"Jasmine, nice to see that you've... recovered. Lets begin with our next session." Sadiq smirked.

I then glanced down to find that the stab wound from the previous time you were in The Lab healed fully.

The men tied me down to a examining table, awaiting for Sadiq's instruction. Not having enough energy to resist them, I laid there, exhausted and hopeless, awaiting the pain that’s about to come. Then, out of nowhere, men were shouting outside the Lab, followed by guns firing. Sadiq looked worried, terrified even and ran out of the room. Not so tough now huh.

Minutes later, the entire facility sat in a deafening silence. I started to realize why Sadiq was scared shitless. Something took out the entire facility within minutes. Strapped to the table, i was left defenseless. Unable to turn my head, I heard the door opening behind, followed by a dark shadow with... pointy ears? Was this a joke? A face loomed over, it was covered by a cowl. The man’s face was impossible to read. He then sunk a syringe into your neck as you slowly faded into oblivion.

Whispers were heard as you laid on what felt like a metal surface. “You can’t just bring someone like this into the cave Master Bruce. Especially not a criminal!”, a British sounding voice exclaimed. “She’s in need of immediate medical attention that even the best hospital in Gotham can’t provide,” a deeper, American sounding voice replied.  How was I a criminal?

They’re going to torture me again. Another one of Sadiq’s mind games. The man in the mask moved towards me, his face inches away.

“Why are you in Gotham,” he growled.

“ I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I blatantly said.

“Let me ask you once more. Why. Are. You. In. Gotham.” The man in the mask repeated.

I remained silent. No point answering him anymore. He remained silent for a while, thinking.

“Do you remember fighting me?” He asked.

“No.” I answered.

“Do you remember fighting me for that thumbdrive?”

“Uhm no.” I hesitated. What on earth?

“She doesn’t remember a single thing from 6 months ago.” The man in the mask said to the older guy in a suit standing beside him, both seemed… vexed. Maybe I was really rescued.

The man then turnt to the machine and administered another substance into the IV drip. Before I could panic, I immediately felt the effect of the knockout drug, as waves of fatigue crashed over me, before I drifted back into nothingness.

I woke up to warm rays of sunlight on my face. Sunlight. Huh. It’s been forever since I’ve seen the sun. Last time I saw it… well, Sadiq almost executed me. Just one of his mind games.

“Good morning Miss.” The British guy walked in the room just as I was about stand up. I tensed up, my body on alert. I’m much stronger now, I can fight back. “You’re safe here. Don’t worry Miss…?”

“Jasmine. You can just call me Jasmine.” I managed to stutter out. That’s what I presume, my name I mean. Sadiq always calls me that. I never knew my name, I can’t even remember who were my parents.

“At your service Miss Jasmine. Oh, where are my manners. Alfred Pennyworth, at your service. If you need anything, ring the bell.” He gestured to your nightstand where a dainty-looking hand bell stood.

“Yes… Sure, thank you. May I ask where am I?” I probed. This sounded too good to be true.

“You’re staying in Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne’s ‘house’” He replied.

Who? Who the tell was that? I gave a puzzled look to him. I heard him mutter under his breath, “Oh dear Lord, this is even worse than what Master Bruce has made it to be.”

He cleared his throat, “Would you like a tour around the manor Miss Jasmine?”

With that, I was cooped up in this manor for 2 months, recuperating. Not that I’m complaining, it’s been the best days of my life. On the plus side, I was getting stronger everyday, getting smarter everyday. I eventually found out who Bruce Wayne was, billioniare ‘playboy’, secretly Batman. Funny how I knew Batman first before Bruce Wayne. But like all the Robins before me, I found hope again.

The first time I met Bruce  (a few days after I woke up in the manor),  I hugged him. I know, totally not the most awkward thing to ever do when you first meet the Batman.  Still, no regrets. “Thank you. For saving me.” I choked out. He smiled (HE ACTUALLY SMILED). And that was our first non-hostile exchange of information. He’s the sweetest person, although he doesn’t actually show it. He became a father figure to me after the 2 months.

As weeks passed, he started teaching me martial arts as I recovered. ‘To neutralize threats’ he would tell me, ‘is to take each and everyone of them down in the fastest way possible’ as he fucking flips me across the room.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m never becoming a Robin, Damien would murder me. Besides, I’m pretty sure I’m not cut out for this shit. I’ve had countless sleepless nights, even with the knowledge I’m safe, I can never sleep properly without medication. It’s a problem, I know. Thus, I would conclude, everytime I had an internal argument on taking up Robin’s mantel, I would never get that lovely 8h of sleep if I were to become Robin.

Meanwhile, as I’m fantasizing about my plans to take Sadiq down with the new learnt moves Bruce has taught me, I walked around the house. Then one day, I saw a figure looming over a picture in the library. Fuck is that a ghost? I’ve always heard stories from Dick that the manor had tons of wandering spirits.

As I inspected closer, it was a man. Around 6’2, in a grey tactical suit with a red bat symbol. As he sensed someone’s prescence, his head suddenly turnt to my direction, staring right back at me.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked, getting ready to fight if there was a need.

He laughed, “What the fuck are you doing here? Alfred let me in don’t worry. “ He paused awhile and continued, “OH you’re the girl, Alfred’s talking about! You’re a clone or something right? Hi, I’m Jason Todd, former robin, now red hood.” He remarked.

“What th- First of all fuck you, I lost my memory I’m not a fucking clone. Second, name’s Jasmine, you shitfuck.” Shit was that too rude? FUCK.

Jason chuckled,”Woah, feisty. Nice to meet you Jasmine. Are you planning to fight Damien to overthrow him as Robin? Or are you going to take the Spoiler route?”

“Huh, definitely fighting Damien.” I joked.

Jason and I… We hit it off. It’s kinda like the dynamic I have with Dick, only much much more inappropriate. I talked all the way into the night as he drove you to what he termed “the most beautiful view in Gotham”.

“Woah.” I marveled at the city lights of Gotham city as both of us reached the rooftop of a rickety old brick building. “I gotta admit Jason, I had my doubts.”

“Never judge a book by its cover clonegirl.” He remarked.

“Fuck you.” I rolled my eyes.

Both our feet hung off the rooftop, sitting next to Jason’s childhood gargoyle, letting the stillness of the night fill the atmosphere. The view was amazing. 

However, as I looked down, cop cars raced off along the road. I was reminded of the crimes that people were committing during Gotham nights. Then one thought led to the other, I was in Sadiq’s Lab again, filled with fear. Agony. Pain. Fuck this wasn’t the first time I’m having these flashbacks, but every. Damn. Time. It feels the same.

“Jason, do you ever have flashbacks?” I broke the silence.

“Of wha- Oh. Yea. I have them. Not the best thing when it happens. Although it did make me zone out when I was tortured down in Qurac.Why?” He remarked.

“Huh, nice. I just don’t know what to do. You can’t stop the images from forming you know? It’s not… I can’t.” My brain was not working.

“Fuck, what happened Jasmine?”

“I was tortured too. By a man named Sadiq. For months, the pain I was put through was unbearable. But he just won’t let me die. Whenever I wake up, my wounds, even a punctured lung, stab wounds… They’ve all been healed.” I rambled, before I knew,  tears started streaming down my cheeks. “ Oh fuck. Sorry. You really don’t have to know that.”

“Hey hey, its going to be ok. You can cope with it. You’re here now right? Let’s start with that” Jason said, as he hugged be. Oh god. The warmth that radiates off him. I want this hug to last forever.

I sniffed, “I guess you’re right.”

I asked him all questions on coping with all these and he has been the best support. Don’t get me wrong here, Alfred and Bruce has helped me so much through these weeks of rehab but the emotional trauma… I don’t want to cast that burden on them, or anyone.

Jason and I, I realized, shares a lot of common things. We went through surprisingly similar experiences, similar tastes, humor…

“And that was how I knew I’ve done fucked up this time.” Jason concluded on his story on bringing a muddy raccoon back into the manor when he was 15. We were sitting shoulder to shoulder, sitting closer and closer together as our conversation and the night went on.

As we watched the sunrise, I rested my head on his shoulders. I felt him tense up. Ohhh shit, bad move Jasmine. He relaxed again as he let out a breath, resting his head on mine. Relief washed over me.

“We talked an entire day.” Jason cleared his throat as he got up from the ledge, “We should get some rest.” I guess he must’ve seen the disappointed look on my face. He then added,” You free tomorrow? Let’s go on a day trip to NYC.”

“Yea sure.” I chuckled. Is he leading me on? I don’t know.

As we arrived at the porch of the manor, we said our farewells.

“See you tomorrow, pick you up at 0800. Rest well doll.” He said, with the most mischievious looking smile ever.

“See you soon Jay.”

Thank you for 100 followers and for surviving this long ass read at my first shot at a fanfiction! I opted to go for 1st person instead of reader x Jason fic as I found it more challenging to write from that POV.This story also starts off on the first few issues of RHATO Rebirth. If i can, I’ll be following this series close to the current comics! :) Also, much much more fluff & action is planned out for this series! (I’ll keep on writing no matter) Already planned out a tie-in for #25 so hope yall would like it! Hope this concepts works out with logic haha. Any suggestions/tips for writing, pls comment! Much appreciated :) AND ALSO WHAT A TIME TO POST THIS YALL IMMA KICK START JASON TODD BIRTHDAY WEEK HERE WITH THIS STAY TUNED xoxo

[levi-inthesun]

Chronic

Steve Rogers x Chronically Ill!Reader

A/N: OKAY I have never done this before and don’t even know if this is good. I just got the inspiration from one of @bigexplodingstar ‘s imagines and yup. I hope this is okay. I have just been wanting to see more inclusion of disabled/chronically ill characters in fanfiction so uh... here it is? I would love to hear what you think! I literally wrote this in a few hours. It started as a headcanon but I started to put too much into... Honestly, it could just be terrible. If someone else wants to take a shot at something like this PLEASE let me know I would love to read it.

(also, I know that rarely, if ever, anyone has ever responded to being chronically ill but this is captain america and he is perfect and pure.)

Summary: You and Steve met when you started working for pepper and tony as their assistant. Once they found out you were chronically ill and that the treatment you were getting wasn’t helping, the instantly moved you into the compound where you would have access to their medical team who could keep an eye on you (and who, in Tony’s opinion was a million times better than the ones you were seeing). As you became better friends with the avengers, you seemed to grow closest to Wanda and Steve. Only Wanda knew besides Tony and Pepper what was going on with you and helped take care of you whenever she could. You and Steve even started dating, yet, you still hadn’t told him what was going on with you.

“Lady Y/N!!! It has been quite a long time!” Thor boomed from down the hallway. Flinching at the loudness of his voice you accepted his hug and after a little small talk you excused yourself down the hall, Wanda following closely behind

Across the room, Steve saw you flinch and tried to figure out why. You weren’t afraid of the thunderous god. He would have definitely noticed that. Did you not like his soul crushing hugs? No one really did… he followed where he saw you and Wanda to ask you about it as he pondered. He could hear your voices so he knew he was heading the right direction

“Yn, hey! Wait up!” Wanda called after you “are you okay?” your friend caught up and she looped her arm around yours.

“Um, yeah, I don’t really feel great and just can’t do the loudness today” you smiled weakly at your friend.

“Noted. Want some company while you hide in your room?”

“I think I am ok, thanks though Wanda”.

She gave you a gentle squeeze and a knowing smile promising to check up on you later. That is when Steve caught up to you two.

“Oh, uh, hey Steve” Wanda nudged you as she started walking away.

“Wanda” he said in reply. You looked down at your feet before finding the incredibly handsome avenger looking at you “Is everything okay doll?”

Ugh. He was calling you doll again. The nickname always made you blush, not helping the fact that you were already feeling pathetic for not being able to handle the loud avengers.

“I’m ok, I just have a headache, and Thor is a bit loud, is all” you only semi lied, looking back down at your feet. He thankfully accepted your answer, and escorted you to your room.

“Can I keep you company? I feel I haven’t seen you much lately” he asked as you went to climb in your bed.

“Well, I was just gonna take a nap, if you want to join me?” at that he jumped right in with you and snuggled into you.

As much as you wanted to be alone right now, you loved cuddling Steve. And with his extra warmth you fell right asleep.

Steve woke up after about 45 minutes and left you to continue your napping. After making some dinner to surprise you with, he carefully walked back into your room and set it down next to your bed with a little note.

You slowly opened your eyes and immediately realized Steve was gone. Glancing at the clock, it read 2:45am. Rubbing your eyes and sitting up slowly you saw the tray and a note. Turning on the lamp by your bed you picked it up.

Y/n,

Thought I would make you dinner before I had to leave. I will only be gone for a few hours. I would have said goodbye but you look like an absolute angel when you sleep.

Yours,

Steve

Smiling you put the note back down and put the contents of the tray, in the microwave you had in your room. After it warmed up all the way you ate it slowly, not wanting to further upset your stomach.

It was almost 3am when Steve made it back to the compound. Not expecting you to be awake he quietly peaked in on you.

“Doll…. Did you just wake up? Are you sure you are feeling okay?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine… I just slept longer than I thought I would”. Now you were lying between your teeth and you felt terrible about it.

You hated the fact that you hadn’t told your boyfriend about your chronic illness, but how could you tell him? He is a super hero who goes and fights bad guys, goes to bed, then gets up to do it again the next morning! You worked at a desk and sometimes couldn’t even get up the next day, and you felt pathetic.

Seeing the sadness flash behind your eyes Steve scooped you up into a tender embrace as he ran his fingers through your hair. It frustrated him so much to see you like this. He knew something was wrong but didn’t want to push you too much, especially if you weren’t feeling well. Suddenly he noticed your body temperature was a lot higher than normal (which was easy to notice since you were normally a little cold).

“Y/n, listen, I love you, I don’t know why, and you don’t have to tell me right now, but something isn’t right.” He pulled back to look at you “I am taking you to the Medical wing to have them check you out, you are burning up right now, and I don’t think it’s because you have been wrapped up in blankets for the last few hours.”

Knowing you weren’t going to get him to let this go, you agreed to let him take you.

“Captain, I am glad you could convince y/n here to come in, she’s normally too stubborn to.” the doctor said before turning to face you “y/n you have a fever of 106. Especially with your medical history, this could have been very dangerous for you.” You sighed in response, looking up to see your confused and worried boyfriend. “We are going to get you re-hydrated and attach your other regular meds up through the IV. Do you have any questions?”

“Nope!” you said quickly before Steve could ask anything “thanks Doc!”

The doctor took that as his que, and left to get the nurses to hook you up to the IV.

“You have other meds? You are normally too stubborn to come in? Darling, you’ve got me really worried here” he told you. His eyebrows pulled up, eyes huge. Then he seemed to have an understanding look in his eyes “Doll, if you are worried what I am going to think, you know you have nothing to worried about, right?” you nodded shyly before he continued on. “Do you know what I was like pre-serum?” he asked you tentatively.

That’s when you suddenly felt very silly about this whole thing. “Oh, uh, yeah, I remember you telling me now…” you looked away quickly as you grew embarrassed. “I weighed 90 pounds dripping wet. I was the skinniest little twig you could ever imagine. I had asthma, heart problems, and scarlet fever, just to name a few.” He looked at you lovingly “if anyone is going to understand you, doll, it’s going to be me” he said with a smile. It disappeared as he saw a few small tears run down your cheek. Before you even noticed the tears, Steve kissed them off your cheek tenderly before planting a soft, chaste kiss on your lips. “Please” he held my face in my hands as he begged “please tell me what’s going on. Please let me in?”

Closing your eyes you took a deep breath “Steve, look, it’s not even that bad and I guess it really isn’t a big deal, so I really should have told you a lot sooner, but I am chronically ill. That’s why I seem tired all the time and I am constantly in pain. Some days, like today, I get overstimulated and can’t handle loud noises, bright lights, those types of things. On the worst days my skin even hurts…” you trailed off a little, looking back up at Steve. He looked sad, not in a pity kind of way, like you were used to, but in the way that says I understand you, and I love you. You gave him a peck on the cheek before continuing.

“Steve, the reason I kept this from you was because I was, well, still kind of am, afraid of what you’ll think of me. I know you grew up sick, and that you have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known, but people who I have told before have straight up told me that I am lying and had only been saying those things for attention… even doctors. Some have even treated me for things I knew weren’t an issue because they didn’t believe me and caused me more pain. I have lost friends over my illness and, Steve, I can’t lose y-“. This time, when Steve caught his lips with yours, it was rougher and filled with more passion than before. Resting his forehead on yours he whispered “nothing is gonna change baby. You have got me, heart and soul. I am yours. And I am not going to let anyone treat you like that ever again.” You both let the tears freely fall as he kissed you once again.

[buckyspetpsychopath]

Sick Bibby

Words: Reece Bibby x reader New Hope Club

I hadn’t seen my boyfriend in quite a while , it seems as though he had been avoiding me the past few days, so I decide to call him up. It goes to voicemail and I frown, sending him a quick text. 

-Hey I rang you?  -Yeah sorry, I’m just busy getting ready. We’re going out for a meal, for Lexi’s birthday -oh ok, have fun! I’ll be over on her actual birthday to give her, her presents and stuff, I just miss you :( 

I send back and frown, that’s a little bit strange that he didn’t invite me, we always go to special occasions with each other. I also frown when I don’t get a response from him. I sigh and decide to go to McDonald’s to pick up some food. I order and go wait until it’s ready. When my number is called I get my food and go to leave, but somebody shouts my name. I look around and smile when I see Lyndsey and Lexi. I go over to them and exchange hugs then Lexi moves over excitedly.  “come eat with us” she chirps so I nod and slide in next to her. 

“I thought you we’re going for a meal?” I say to Lyndsey and she furrows her eyebrows.  “we’re going on Saturday? Reece didn’t tell you?” she asks and I shake my head.  “No he said tonight, because I was going to come over but he said he’s busy” I explain.  “No, Reece is in bed, hes not well. Been stuck in bed for the past few days, we were actually wondering why you hadn’t come over, you two are usually glued at the hip, young love I guess” she smirks and I blush.  “He didn’t tell me, he kept saying he was busy, I was beginning to think he didn’t want to be with me anymore or something” I frown.  “No way, he’s just ill. He probably just doesn’t want you to get sick” she suggests and I nod. I stay silent just thinking about it for a moment. “do you want to stay over tonight? You have clothes in our house don’t you?” Lyndsey pipes up and I nod.  “thank you.” I say and she smiles.   “yay! Sleepover with y/n” Lexi cheers and we both laugh. Once we’re finished eating we head back to Reece’s house, I send my mum a quick text to tell her I’m staying over and she replies with a thumbs up. 

When we walk into Reeces house Lexi runs straight upstairs yelling “Reece! yn’s come for a sleepover”. Jamie comes out of the kitchen and gives me a hug, pecking my cheek.  “Hey, how are you?” he asks.  “I’m fine, how are you?” I reply.  “I’m all good”  “Y/n?”I head Reece mutter and turn to him. He’s standing halfway up the stairs, bags under his eyes, his hair flopped down onto his forehead. “what are you doing here?”  “well since you lied to me… I saw your mum and Lex in McDonalds, your mum invited me back. Why didn’t you tell me you were sick I would have came right over, you know that. Instead of avoiding me for a week.” i huff. Reece takes my hand and takes me upstairs.  “I know you’d come right over that’s why I lied. I didn’t want you to see me like this” he mumbles. I place my hand on his cheek.  “like what?” I giggle.  “All sweaty and disgusting, gross and ugly…” he pouts.  “oh baby, even when you’re sick you’re the most handsome boy Ive ever seen and I’ve got to say you look quite cute, you should wear your hair down more often” I say and lean in for a kiss but his eyes widen and he moves away.  “No! You’lll get sick too”  “I don’t care, we can be sick together. I haven’t kissed you in a week” I say and he waywardly brings his lips to mine. I close my eyes and lean into his touch. Despite his previous concern, he cups my cheek and the kiss gets quite heated, slippiing his tongue in. We’re making out in the middle of his room when his mum bursts in the door. 

“oh, wow, right, sorry” She apologises.  “mum” Reece groans.  “sorry, I wanted to make sure y/n had pjamas”  “yeah she can wear some of mine” he replies and Lyndsey nods.  “ok I get the hint, mother leaving. Keep it PG you two we don’t want any babies” she smirks.  “Mum” Reece gasps covering his face, I blush. She laughs loudly as she closes the door behind her. 

“do you-” Reece starts but breaks out into a coughing fit. My eyes widen and I push him down onto his bed, I reach for the bottom of his jumper and lift it up over his head. He smirks at me.  “Any other time this would be happening I’d be thrilled but …” he jokes and I roll my eyes.  “You’re sweating, you need to cool down. I’ll go get some ice cream.” I say and leave him laying in bed. I go downstairs and Lyndsey, Lexi and Jamie are watching a movie.  “sorry to disturb you but do you have any ice cream?” I ask and Lyndsey shakes her head.  “No hon, feeling peckish?” she asks.  “No, its for Reece, he’s overheating, I’ll just run the shop and pick him up some stuff” I say and she smiles. “Are you sure? I can go if you want” she offers.  “Its ok” I smile.  “Can I come?” Lexi chirps. I look and Lyndsey and she shrugs.  “If you stay with y/n and put your coat on I don’t see why not” Lexi cheers and jumps off the couch, running to get her coat on. I also put mine on.  “Do you guys want anything?” I ask and they tell me a couple of things they’d like- some sweets and drinks. Its only a short walk to tesco and we soon find ourselves at the sweet section, I pick up the sweets that the parentals requested and choose some for Reece and I. 

“What do you want Lex?” I ask her.  “What can I get?” she replies tilting her head at me.  “Anything you want, just not too much or you won’t sleep” I laugh. She picks up a packet of sweets and her favourite chocolate bar.  “You done?” I ask and she nods so we make our way to the drinks and pick out a couple. Then we head to the ice cream and I get two, one for Reece and I, one for the others. We pay for our items and get ready to leave the shop. 

“uggh, my feet are sore from walking” Lexi complains.  “Jump on” I say bending down, she grins and dives on my back, I hold her legs and stand up again walking towards the exit. We hear some squeals so we turn around. A small group of girls come over to us.  “Omg hi! You’re Reece Bibby’s girlfriend and sister right?” one of them asks, I nod.  “Is Reece with you?” another asks.  “No, unfortunately he’s at home in bed ill, we came to fetch his some supplies.” I laugh. They smile sadly. “Have you got Twitter or Insta, I could have him follow you?” I suggest and their eyes brighten. One rips a piece of paper from a small book in her bag and writes all the social medias down.  “Thank you so much! Could we get a picture?” they ask shyly. I smile.  “No its not a problem, you staying up there Lex” I tease and she nods with a little giggle. We ask an old couple to take our picture and then we part ways. We make our way home and when we walk in the door, Reece greets us. 

“hello?” I laugh.  “Where’ve you been?” he asks with a frown. I set Lexi on the floor and hand her the bag and she scurries into the living room to share out the sweets with her parents. I wrap my arms around his neck.  “the shop to get you some treats and medicine. What are you doing out of bed?”  “You didn’t come back and I wanted to cuddle” he pouts.  “awwh, poor Bibby” I joke pecking his nose. He continues to pout and hides his face in my neck.  “I feel so sick” he mumbles as I stroke through his sweaty hair. “You’re so needy when you’re ill” I smile and Lyndsey rounds the corner.  “tell me about it” she taunts and he narrows his eyes at her.  “You only brought my girlfriend here so you didn’t have to deal with me anymore” he argues back and she laughs.  “Thats exactly what I did” she smirks and retreats back into the living room. “You’re going to get sick though y/n, be warned” she calls out. I shrug and grab Reeces hands and the bag with our food in and go upstairs. We get set up in bed, watching a movie and eating the food. Halfway through the movie it had been abandoned when we started a little make out session, Reece pulls one of my legs over his body, forcing me to be flush against him, he runs his hands up and down my back. 

“I’m feeling a lot better with you here, thank you” he says when he pulls away. I smile and shrug.  “And you tried to avoid me” I say raising my eyebrow. He grins sheepishly and buries his head in my neck. We end up falling asleep. 

In the morning I wake up with Reeces arms wrapped tightly around my stomach. “Morning beautiful” Reece croakes, half hoarse from sleep and half from being I’ll. I sniffle and turn around to face him. “Morning handsome you feeling better?” I mutter. “A bit, but you’re sick too now” he pouts. “I don’t care as long as I get to spend all day cuddling you I really don’t mind, I really missed you the past couple of weeks, you were on tour then you can home and ignored me, I didn’t know if you still wanted to be with me” I frown. “Of course I still want to be with you, I just didn’t want to get you sick” “I know that now, but at the time. I’m sorry for even thinking like that” I admit. “You should be” He jokes. “Cause I’m not leaving any time soon” he chirps pecking my lips. “Knock knock” we hear Lyndsey murmur and knock on the door.  "You can come in mum" Reece calls out hoarsely. She comes in with a plate full of pancakes, nutella, bacon, orange juice, throat medicine and some tablets. “Thought you would both be needing this, were all going out now, are you two ok alone?” She asks. We nod. “You sure?” she hints, wiggling her eyebrows and i blush. “Mum just go” Reece whines. She tuts. “Uhm I mean thank you mamma, I love you very much” he smiles and she nods leaning down to peck his forehead then repeating the action on me.  “Have a nice day” I croak and she smiles sadly.  “You two get your rest, no horny teen stuff” she smirks before leaving. I groan and roll over onto Reece.  “You know its your own fault?” Reece points out.  “Was I supposed to just let you die in bed alone? No. Im your girlfriend I’m supposed to be here at times like this”  “Its just a cold or something” he laughs and I shrug.  “You’re still sick”  “and so are you” he points out. I cough and hold my chest as it hurts. “ohhh, my poor baby is feeling poorly” he jokes in a baby voice, wrapping his arms around you. I force a laugh then it goes silent. We both sit and start eating, quickly demolishing the food, still in silence. We go and brush our teeth then head straight back to bed. I get too hot and end up peeling Reeces jumper off me, I only have a bra on and his eyes rush straight to my boobs. I roll my eyes and push myself up slightly, throwing a leg over his body and leaning back on his legs, we connect our hands.  “You’re the most beautiful girl Ive ever seen” he says tightening his grip on my hand. I pull mine away and grasp his cheeks leaning down to kiss him. When I pull away he nudges his nose into mine and connect our foreheads. “I love you so much, thank you for coming to ‘try’ and get me better” he laughs.  “yeah, I didn’t do such a good job did I?” I snort.  “I’m just so irresistible” he jokes.  “You are” I say scrunching up his cheeks. He swats my hand away and grabs the back of my neck pulling my head into his neck.  “lets go back asleep” he mumbles and I nod, staying silent as we fall back asleep. 

[jessahmewren]

Miles between us and miles to go. Chapter 5/6

Written for @thexmasfileschallenge and tagging @today-in-fic 

Day 12: Secret Santa

 -0-0-0-

“All you have is now.  Do the best you can with that.” 

But how?  It seemed like a tall order, an insurmountable task.  Scully stood in the bathroom, looking at herself in the shatterproof mirror above the sink.  Her eyes were hollow and dark underneath, and she was trembling slightly.  At least the IV was gone, having been discontinued after her latest attempt to do it herself.  She steadied herself at the sink.  The cool tile of the bathroom floor sent steady jolts of sensation through her feet and legs.  She was, indeed, alive.  Now what?

She splashed some cold water on her face to clear her head and was surprised to find that it felt good.  She did it again.  “Ok,” she said aloud.  Start with the basics. 

You’re in the hospital because you tried to die and failed.  Now you’re stuck, because apparently you can’t even kill yourself properly and you’re too chicken to try again.  Yeah.  You’re afraid to try again, and that’s even more pathetic than trying again and failing. 

A mess.  You’re a mess. 

“All you have is now.”  In Scully’s eyes, she had very little at the moment.  The hospital room, the emptiness, and the good, cold water.  And hunger, she realized.  She was hungry.  The realization stupefied her with its simplicity.  She wasn’t before, and now she was.  So she had hunger.

And she had Mulder.  Always Mulder.  Mulder was there and he wouldn’t leave.  He said it would take time, to give it time.  But time is the enemy when you don’t want to live; there’s always too much of it, and too many things trying to fill it.  Like Mulder. Mulder, who kept his hand to the darkness without closing his fingers around it.  Mulder, who was full of so many good things.  How she wished they could have raised their son away from the hell that was their lives. 

Mulder wouldn’t leave.  She had him.  She shut off the lights and closed the door behind her. 

As she was walking out, the door to her room swung open.  It was Mulder.  He carried a bag and tossed it on the bed.  His demeanor had changed into one of tightly wound tension.  “I brought you some things,” he said in a rush.  “Get changed, we’re leaving.” 

She watched him reach up behind the wall-mounted television and retrieve a gun wedged under the frame.  Scully’s eyes widened in surprise.  “What’s going on Mulder?”  Her heart rate accelerated.

“We’ve got to go, Scully.”  He moved closer to her now, his eyes resolute.  “They’re going to put you in lockdown.  Maximum security wing, tomorrow morning.”  He locked eyes with her.  “I can’t let that happen.”

He handed her the bag.  “Get ready,” he said tensely, and turned to leave.  She knew that in his mind he was already strategizing whatever had to transpire, while she knew nothing.  Less than nothing.  She stood there, hesitating.

“Hey,” he returned to her, reached and gingerly cupped the back of her neck with his hand, centering her face with his.  “Do you trust me?”  His voice had lost its urgency.  Time slowed, resonating between them like the final note of a beautiful aria.  She shook her head, a short, rapid nod.  Under the scrutiny of his gaze, she forgot to breath.  Of course she trusted him.  She trusted no other.  “You know I do,” she exhaled finally.  It was firm and decisive. 

Mulder looked away, breaking the contact.  “I’ll be right back,” he said.  And he was gone. 

She opened the bag on the bed.  It was a piece of her luggage with her clothes inside.  On top was a folded set of hospital scrubs, a stethoscope, and shoes.  She put them on and tied her hair in a low ponytail.  The shoes were a little loose, but would work.  She checked the mirror again, smoothing her hair back.  She was ready.

-0-0-0-

“You’ll only have five minutes after the shift change, then you’re on your own.”  Sara looked at Fox Mulder, a man she hardly knew and had met only days ago.  “Thank you,” he said in a low tone.  He looked at her with some reluctance, thinking of how much he’d already asked of her.  “I need the location of the security cameras…fifth and second floors, the parking garage, and the elevator.  Do you think you can do that?”  She shifted in the small supply closet and nervously checked her watch.  “Ok,” she finally said.  “I’ll have to get them from security somehow.  Look, I have to go.  You need to make your move soon.”

Mulder looked at the young woman fully.  “I know what you’re risking for this,” Mulder began.  Sara stopped him with a raised hand, and he saw the scars on her wrist.  “Just take care of her,” she said quietly.  “Take care of both of you.”

Mulder exited and made his way down the hall, his demeanor one of casual urgency.  He opened the door to Scully’s room and slipped inside. 

Scully stood by the window in the undulating shadows of moonlight, her arms folded across the middle of her borrowed navy blue scrubs.  Her shoulders were slumped slightly, but when she turned to look at him, her eyes were bright.  She’d tied her hair back, revealing a delicate profile and graceful neck.  The scrubs were entirely too long for her, and she had cuffed the under to try and hide the fact.  She was beautiful. 

Mulder cleared his throat, seeing a glimpse of the Scully he knows and loves.  “You ready?”

Scully dipped her head, and for a moment, there flitted a whisper of a smile.  “Yeah.” 

-0-0-0-

The plan was simple enough, though executing it might be something else entirely.  Sara had sweettalked the surveillance blueprint from security (citing a paranoid schizophrenic’s conspiracy theories), but that might’ve been the easy part. 

While concocting the plan, she still maintained her rounds and responsibilities, dividing her attention between the two worlds so as to not arouse suspicion.  It was unbelievably complex, and verified (to Sara, at least) that she would be utterly useless as a secret agent.

She rounded the corner, passing the fifth floor nurses station.  All of her coworkers seemed to notice her at once, but their attention was only a product of her heightened awareness.  Her illicit activities made her feel exposed, made the hair on her arms stand on end.  On some level, though, it was thrilling.  In a place where the only kind of excitement was what patient was going to expose themselves at the nurse’s station on what day, or who you got each year for Secret Santa, this was downright explosive.

Sara ducked into Room 514, looking as business-like as possible.  Her heart thundered in her chest, her throat constricted.  She took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

Agent Mulder and her patient were standing close together.  Dana appeared calm and focused, a welcome change from the erratic, angry woman she’d known for the past week.  Her long-suffering visitor was talking to her in a low, purposeful tone, his words indiscernible from where Sara stood by the door.  Dana listened intently, her head turned slightly into their conversation.  Occasionally, she nodded.  She said something then, and he lightly touched the slight bend in her elbow, holding it briefly.  The sweet intimacy in that simple gesture made Sara feel uncomfortable, like a voyeur.  She had misjudged them, she realized.  They were definitely more than friends.    

“It’s time,” Sara announced steadily.  “We don’t have long.”  She handed Agent Mulder the folded blueprint, then crossed to the shelf against the wall and reached for one of the hospital gowns stacked there.  “I need to get changed.”

Dana looked at her, then at Mulder.  He stepped forward, taking the gown from her hand and tossing it on the bed.  “No, you don’t.”  Sara looked at him, stunned.  “I can’t let you take the fall for this.”  Mulder swallowed, his eyes softening.  “You’ve done too much.  We’re doing this my way.” 

Sara shook her head.  “It will be easier if Dana and I trade places.  If she keeps her head down you two can just walk out of here.”  She searched his eyes, realizing it was futile but trying anyway.  “Listen, she’s not due for a bed check for at least another fifteen minutes.  That gives you plenty of time.” 

Mulder’s jaw clenched, but before he could reply, Dana interrupted.  “And what about you?  What do you think will happen to you when they find you here?”  Her voice held a brittle edge, but her eyes betrayed the concern there. 

Sara swallowed.  She already knew what would happen.  At best, she’d lose her job, most likely her license.  If she didn’t go to jail, her career, at least, was over.  Mulder’s expression was stoic, non-negotiable.  “We do this my way.” 

She understood. 

-0-0-0-

“I’m sorry, but this has to be convincing.” 

Sara winced as Agent Mulder tightened the bonds around her wrists and ankles.  He’d torn part of the bed sheet in strips, and he now bound Sara’s hands to the bedrail.  She was on her knees on the cold floor, her ankles bound behind her in the same way, her hands tingling from the tourniquet around her wrists.  Her thighs trembled in the awkward position.  “You don’t have to do this,” Sara said.  “If they find you—“

“They won’t find us,” Agent Mulder said tersely.  “And you’re an innocent in this.  Wait a few minutes for the shift change, then keep them busy explaining what happened.  Tell them you came in on rounds, and you were blindsided.  When you came to, we were gone.”  Agent Mulder tore another strip from the sheet.  Dana reappeared from the bathroom and handed him a washcloth.  These were two people practiced in working as a team, she thought. Sara shook her head slightly, indicating that she understood.  Her mouth was a grim line.  “Thank you,” Agent Mulder said, and then, “I’m sorry,” as he stuffed the washcloth in her mouth and tied the gag tight.  Dana looked on, her face unreadable.

-0-0-0-

Mulder and “Sara” walked casually down the hall, toward the elevator.  Scully wore Sara’s glasses, but kept her head down, pretending to review the file she carried.  A close-fitting long sleeve white shirt under her scrubs hid the bandage on Scully’s wrist. Despite the ill-fitting scrubs and the difference in their hair color, with a stethoscope and her comfort in such attire, she looked the part. 

They kept a steady, determined pace, yet Mulder was careful not to go too fast.  They slipped by the first security camera, then the second, making their way to the electronically sealed double doors that would lead them out of the psychiatric ward.  Scully unclipped Sara’s ID and swiped it over the security pad.  There was a low buzz, and the doors lurched open. 

Directly into the path of a middle-aged, balding physician waiting on the other side.  Mulder recognized the elegantly embroidered name on his white coat (“Johansson”) from Scully’s door.  He was her doctor.  Scully kept her eyes down, trying to keep a low profile.  Johansson noticed the “nurse” right away.  Glancing only briefly at Mulder and forgoing any pleasantries, he addressed her in a clipped, dour tone.  “Sara, I need those test results on the patient in—“he stopped abruptly, recognition flashing in his eyes.  He opened his mouth, probably to call for security, but never got the chance.  In a flash of movement, Mulder struck him with the butt of his gun, rendering him unconscious.  Mulder caught him before he fell completely to the floor.  He checked for a pulse, and then he and Scully towed the man’s dead weight behind the empty security desk.  Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long until someone found him. 

Bypassing the elevator, Mulder grabbed Scully’s hand and led her into the stairwell. 

They were running out of time. 

-0-0-0-