#let me go hide away in a state agency for 10 years so i can get my loans forgiven

[queenboimler]

i think i've hit the point where I'm contemplating changing careers because this fucking law degree is taking too damn long!!!!!!!!

[foundmywei]

Soukoku Fanfic Recs

Here are my favorite skk fics, I will be updating this as I read. Feel free to rec more in the replies. Enjoy!

(last updated: 27/12/2023)

Masterpost

Do I Get My Worthless Reward Yet? by World_Ender22

canon-divergence

(40,986 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 10/10)

Chuuya has always been certain of two things: he is going to die young, and it will be Corruption that kills him. So when the Boss orders him to use his Corrupted form without an out, he is neither surprised nor distressed. He simply does what he's told. When Dazai learns that the whole thing is a ploy to make him rejoin the Mafia, he plans to beat Mori at his own game... starting with convincing Chuuya to join the Armed Detective Agency. / Soukoku

hide the truth by writingfromtheshadows

canon-divergence

(24,611 words | Not Rated | Chapters: 1/1)

When Chuuya wakes up in the middle of an ongoing fight without any memory of how he got there or what happened to him, he ends up turning to someone saved as 'bandage-waster' in his phone. Somehow, it just feels like the right decision.

Willful Neglect by timeisdancing

canon-divergence

(27,915 words | Mature | Chapters: 10/10)

"Dazai..." Chuuya's voice comes out too tight and small, unlikely to ever reach Dazai. His hand lifts shakily, in some dazed attempt to stop him. There is panic wild and fast in his chest, the beginnings of hyperventilation, his breaths shallow and quick.

Something's wrong, something's wrong—

This hurts too much, it's not supposed to be like this—

His vision is blurring, and his head is taut and aching with the stress and anxiety and so much anguish that he can barely comprehend it.

The last of Dazai's hazy form disappears, far in the distance. _______

Forced into a difficult situation, Dazai has to leave Chuuya behind post-Corruption without his usual thorough check-up. Only, he has no idea just what state Chuuya was in as he was walking away from him that night.

Grief is a good teacher on how to value those you love. When he gets Chuuya back, Dazai uses his lessons well.

I'll Always Come for Chuuya by timeisdancing

PM skk era

(11,550 words | Not Rated | Chapters: 4/4)

A memory comes to him; in the dark as they lay in bed, a small whisper between their faces, a secret moment, Promise Chuuya won't ever use Corruption when I'm not there?

What if you're not there and I have no choice? Chuuya asked.

Chuuya has to wait for me. I don't care what's happening. Chuuya has to wait.

Chuuya stares down at his screen, hidden again behind some debri. There is still no response. His hand tightens around it, tremulous. He had to have seen it by now. Dazai's phone is always in his pocket.

Shit. Does he really not give a damn anymore?

He remembers a small smile, eyes gentle and deep and dark. I'll always come for Chuuya.

Liar.

______

Dazai has been distant with Chuuya these days, seeming to have grown bored of him and has been spending more and more time with Oda Sakunosuke. This sudden rift has consequences, and Chuuya will be the one to bear it.

picking a flower that blooms on the heart for you by burgundytshirt

hanahaki AU

(44,643 words | Mature | Chapters: 9/9)

The question is obvious at this point.

To die, or to ask Dazai for help?

Chuuya is so choked by this question that his breakfast is lodged in his throat, unable to be swallowed.

(Or, Chuuya would much rather die than let Dazai find out he has hanahaki disease.)

it's easy, if it's you by lunarumbra

fake dating AU

(16,500 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

“And then you promised that you’d do anything I asked no matter what it is? We made a contract and everything!” Chuuya produces a laminated scrap of paper decorated with clumsy script and a couple of misspelled words and - yeah, there's no mistaking it. It’s definitely 10 year-old Dazai’s handwriting.

Or: Chuuya needs a date for a wedding in France.

teenage nightmares commit atrocities by forever_wandering

PM skk era

(107,063 words | Mature | Chapters: 22/22)

“Tsushima Shuuji,” Chuuya reads out loud. “A bright, optimistic young man with a pep in his step and a zest for life. Hang on–is this referring to you?” “Unfortunately,” Dazai laments, sighing dramatically. “You just got away with ‘science nerd’ and ‘soccer player,’ but I’m supposed to be an artist! I hate art! It’s useless!” “Shut the fuck up. That’s not the problem here. You? A ‘zest for life?’ Looking forward to each new morning? Hah! Rimbaud would sooner come back to life.” Dazai turns to Chuuya with the barest facsimile of a smile painted over his lips. “I,” he says sweetly, “am going to gut you open like a fish.”

Dazai and Chuuya are seasoned mafiosos at the ripe old age of almost-seventeen. They’ve fought gang wars, interrogated prisoners, and done all manner of unspeakable things. Now, they face their greatest challenge yet: going (undercover) to a real high school. With regular teens (who may or may not be desperately trying to get them to kiss). One thing’s for sure: this school is unprepared for the absolute calamity that is Double Black.

This is how it feels to take a fall by forest_raccoon

canon divergence, temporary MCD

(20,602 words | Mature | Chapters: 9/9)

Gazing down into those blank, empty blue eyes, Dazai felt something shatter inside him. And in the wake of the destruction, the emptiness, he was flooded by sudden, ice-cold clarity. It wasn't okay. But it would be. He would make it okay.

[Or, something unthinkable happens, and Dazai goes more than a little feral in his attempt to reverse it.]

Narrow Staircases by rutu14

time travel

(31,045 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

The last thing Chuuya expects while overseeing a routine shipment is for his sixteen year old self to appear out of thin air.

all my own by halfbloom (diphylleias)

PM skk era

(17,473 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

“A day off?” Chuuya echoes, blinking slowly. “Yes,” Mori repeats with a chuckle, but it sounds like an order this time. “A day off. Do with it as you please.” And right as Chuuya is opening his mouth to ask why, Mori perks up and says, “Ah, I instructed Dazai-kun to take the day off as well.” He smiles serenely. “So you two may spend it together, if you’d like.” Chuuya’s eye twitches.

In between carnival games and ice cream stands, Chuuya learns a thing or two at seventeen about normalcy, cotton candy, and hand-holding.

Around We Go (And Back Again) by zombiemarker

canon-divergence

(24,247 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 7/7)

Corruption takes a toll, the mafia doesn't care for weakness, and the ADA has a bad habit of picking up traumatized gay orphans.

In which the author beats the shit out of the characters in order to make them happier and healthier later. Also ADA Chuuya.

bite your tongue by soupthatistoohot

canon-divergence

(20,709 words | Teen and Up Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

The Armed Detective Agency receives a mission to investigate and take down an assassin group that has been targeting high-profile individuals through a very specific method: first, the target is sent into an unwakeable sleep for a week, and second, when they wake up, they are unable to speak. Third and last, they die of a heart attack two weeks later. Ranpo suggests negotiating with the Port Mafia for the aid of executive Chuuya Nakahara, wanting to have Double Black at their disposal. But when Chuuya arrives… he cannot speak. Chuuya Nakahara has been targeted, and supposedly, he has two weeks left until he is killed.

all the holes we had to breathe by airiena

canon universe

(18,220 words | Teen and Up Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

“...Are you in a hurry or something?” Chuuya inquires, hand instinctively reaching out to wipe at the corner of Dazai’s mouth, successfully getting rid of the crumbs, before he realizes what he’s doing and freezes. “Yeah.” Dazai all but breathes. He is golden, when Chuuya takes in his appearance. He is a golden thing, dimmed, beaten, snuffed out, full of scratches but is still so human and so real despite what he always seems to believe that it makes the redhead want nothing but to take him into his arms and hide him from the heavy, heavy world and soothe all his aches and kiss all his scars— “I’m in a hurry, because I’ve already lost too much time.”

death offers no absolution by Zairielon

canon-divergence

(62,063 words | Mature | Chapters: 10/10)

After so many years in the Port Mafia, Chuuya thought he couldn't be phased by anything - that he had carried out the worst orders that would ever be given to him. Then he sees things he never saw before. He sees horror, cruelty, needless suffering. He sees death in every step he takes. Chuuya is only human, too. Eventually, he breaks. OR, Chuuya leaves the Port Mafia and attempts to escape his bloodstained past.

like a piece of glass by kagshina

PM & present era

(10,554 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 2/2)

The first time it happened, naturally, was after a fight. Chuuya couldn’t even remember what it was exactly that started the fight, only that Dazai said something to piss him off and it had escalated from there.  Somehow, they ended up here—with Dazai saying, “I can kiss better than you.”

Over every extinguished past by tucuxi

canon-divergence

(16,590 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

It’s been a little more than a month since everything almost went to shit, since the Armed Detective Agency and Port Mafia faced off against Dostoyevsky, since Yokohama almost lost its fragile, balanced peace.

And it’s also been just about a month since Ranpo emerged from Poe’s book, all pride and glowing accomplishment for solving 500 murders in a week, and just a passing comment about the other guy losing patience and starting punching people.

--

Chuuya emerges from Poe's book, exhausted, to discover that Dazai has been severely injured. Standing guard in the Agency's infirmary, Yosano, Kunikida, and Chuuya find unexpected common cause in their desire to keep Dazai in one piece despite his best efforts to hide his vulnerabilities from everyone around him.

Snow White and the Huntsman by paranoid_fridge

dead apple aftermath

(1,453 words | General Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

They're alive against all odds, but the fight continues without them. Huddled against a crumbling wall, Chuuya and Dazai find themselves discussing fairytales and their own roles, and (they will later blame adrenaline/near-death experiences/ general after-battle delirium) accidentally confess. Or something like that. The words 'true love' are used, however.

One more time with feelings by Root (Fyki)

PM & present era

(12,584 words | Explicit | Chapters: 6/6)

He didn't say anything, just waiting for Chuuya to keep going. The lack of an angry response at being ignored picked at Dazai's interest, but it was Chuuya's next words that finally made him lift his eyes and properly look at him. "Have you- have you ever kissed someone?" That, Dazai hadn't expected. (Five times Dazai kissed Chuuya and pretended it meant nothing, and one time he kissed him and couldn't deny it meant everything.)

A mission gone wrong - BSD / BNHA Crossover by Unicornfairycat

BSD / BNHA crossover, time travel

(57,458 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 20/20)

The Armed Detective Agency and Port Mafia are asked to investigate "amplified abilities" around Yokohama. After initial complaints, Dazai and Chuuya agree to work together. Their group manages to find the culprit and devises a plan to apprehend them. It's supposed to be foolproof but something goes horribly wrong. Dazai and Chuuya are sucked into an amplified portal which teleports them into the future. Two hundred years.

They land in the middle of a highschool and learn that abilities have become much more common and are now called quirks. As they figure out a way back to their time, they have to act as teachers for the hero course students in class 1-A, in return for U.A. to help them out with housing, I.D. and information gathering.

Silent sorrows / Loud feelings by foundmywei

canon-divergence

(8,406 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

But there was no God of destruction trying to take over him. Chuuya, quietly standing in the agency’s infirmary with his partner’s cold hand in his, came to the crushing realization that he had lost the one person he had always wished to keep close.

Or, a mission requires Dazai to fake his death. He doesn’t think informing Chuuya about it is necessary.

STORM by foundmywei

future fic, aged up characters

(37,258 words | Mature | Chapters: 7/7)

Osamu had thought of countless things he wanted to tell Chuuya once he saw him again, but what ended up leaving his mouth was, "Did you get shorter?"

Chuuya stared at him in silence for a few moments before he let out a sigh, rubbing his temple. "So you're still acting like a child."

Or, after six more years of separation, Osamu and Chuuya find their way back to each other again. Some things have changed, and some have not. One thing is certain, though; Soukoku are going to make their love drama everybody’s problem.

Stay by the_most_happy

canon-divergence

(23,699 words | Mature | Chapters: 1/1)

“Oi, Dazai, what are they saying, anyway? Too many people. It gets confusing.”

The detective smirks.

“They are just discussing the budget for the next mission. Kunikida insists he wants an ice cream, a drone, and a goat.”

From the Port Mafia dungeon to the depths of Meursault, Dazai and Chuuya keep finding each other.

They fall in love all over again — or, maybe, they never stopped.

That’s all.

clear skies by burgundytshirt

canon compliant

(2,860 words | Teen And Up Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

When Chuuya, wounded in combat, bumps into his ex-partner in the streets, he pretends that he’s fine as they banter like usual. Except halfway through tugging at Dazai’s collar, Chuuya suddenly passes out into Dazai’s arms.

I'll Make A Home In Your Gut Because its Somewhere Warm to Sleep by arahabakii

canon universe

(8,959 words | Mature | Chapters: 1/1)

After what felt like a lifetime, Dazai softly said “thank you.” The softness of his voice sent shivers down his spine. “For what?” Chuuya whispers, too afraid that if he spoke too loudly in this moment, it would disappear before his eyes. “For today,” Dazai confesses, brown eyes staring into blue ones, in the hopes that he might drown in them forever. “For just seeing me.” “Do you always thank people by kissing them?” “No,” Dazai whispered with a trembling breath. “Just you.” OR In a moment of weakness and vulnerability, the underworlds deadliest duo after 7 years, find a new sense of solace and comfort in one another.

Replaceable by timeisdancing

canon-divergence

(17,012 words | Not Rated | Chapters: 6/6)

Chuuya is scrabbling frantically at Mori's hands around his throat, his eyes wide. His body glows a faint red, fizzles out like a cough. "You can't even use your powers when you're like this, can you, Chuuya-kun?" "Mori, he is hurt." Dazai's voice rasps with controlled anger. Mori ignores him. "I can't tell where Dazai's plan begins and your stupidity ends, but regardless, such information should have never come out of that mouth of yours. What did you think? That such treachery will be forgiven and you will be made an exception? By the rules of the mafia, you are a traitor." ____ When one of Dazai's plans go too far, it inadvertently leads to Chuuya's death sentence. While in the dungeon cellars together facing the consequences, Dazai takes care of Chuuya and tries to save him.

Run Away With Me by timeisdancing

dark era

(5,306 words | Not Rated | Chapters: 1/1)

He must have knocked. Some time after, the door hauls open. "That's just great," the short redhead in the doorway sighs with disgust, all silken lavender yukata and flat eyes, "Just what I needed after a long flight back home. Shitty Dazai, the last thing I want right now is to see your ugly-ass face, so fuck off out of here." Dazai is staring at Chuuya blankly, and can't remember what made him think he could come here. "Right." His whisper is thin, raspy. Right. Of course. Like a ghost that doesn't know it's dead, he turns around, and he begins to leave just the way he came. "Dazai?" _______ After Odasaku's death, Dazai ends up at Chuuya's door, rain-soaked, dissociated and grieving.

I Was Never Meant to Last by timeisdancing

16 skk

(17,391 words | Mature | Chapters: 1/1)

Dazai ends up in a coma after his most serious suicide attempt yet. He has left three letters, one of them being for Chuuya. Sitting at the bedside of his comatose body, Chuuya tries to understand. ______ Dazai is falling. In the orange glow of sunrise, the waves of his hair are fanning around him, and his dark eye is wide with fear and shock, his hand outstretched towards Chuuya. Chuuya is not even thinking anymore. All he can see is that hand reaching for him as he launches off against the balustrade and falls after him. He uses his ability to make himself heavier, his own drop faster, his hand reaching for Dazai right back. It's only when he catches Dazai in his arms, holding his head tight against his own shoulder and trying to fly back up that he remembers; this won't work. He must have been really out of his mind to have forgotten it at all.

Lessons in Kissing by timeisdancing

18 skk

(8,101 words | Not Rated | Chapters: 1/1)

At eighteen, Chuuya doesn't know how to kiss. Dazai teaches him how. _ "I think you broke my nose," Dazai says faintly, finally letting Chuuya remove his hands. He frowns as Chuuya angles his head a bit to look at it. Dazai presses the back of a quick finger to the underside of his nose, blinking. "I'm bleeding, aren't I? I think I'm bleeding?" Chuuya rolls his eyes, letting him go. "Your nose is fine. It's not bleeding either, so stop bein' so dramatic about it." "Chuuya should kiss it better." "Hah!" Chuuya exclaims, "Shut the hell up, you! This doesn't give ya a free pass to say such bullshit just 'cuz I'm doing this with you!" Dazai is staring ahead, his eyes hazy. "Ugh, yeah. I'm pretty grossed out too now at what I just said. Where were we? Oh, right." He looks back at Chuuya, focused again. "So… this time… go slow, okay? I know you're excited to kiss my pretty face and all but - " "DAZAI!" Chuuya's voice is high and wild, bordering on a screech. He's starting to regret this already. "But you have to make sure you can actually see where my pretty face is instead of just banging into me."

Doll Parts by the_most_happy

post meursault

(8,367 words | Mature | Chapters: 1/1)

“Chuuya, what—?”

Chuuya grasps at Dazai’s bolo tie, fingers shaking and cheeks turning paler by the minute.

“I had nowhere else to go.”

Or: Shot during a mission, Chuuya crawls to the only person he trusts — his traitor ex-partner.

If you refuse to listen I’ll say it twice, love of my life by olympiansally

canon universe

(15,207 words | Mature | Chapters: 1/1)

There’s Atsushi, Dazai’s star pupil. There’s Fyodor, arguably Dazai’s soulmate, a single mind in two bodies. There’s Kunikida, Dazai’s partner. There’s Oda, the reason Dazai wants to live. And then there’s Chuuya. If he asked Dazai to define him, to name his purpose, Chuuya already knows what he would hear. Chuuya is his dog, Chuuya is a slug, Chuuya is a chibi. And sure, maybe he is. But none of that is enough. Or, Chuuya can’t figure out what he means to Dazai exactly, but if he would only listen, he would realize that Dazai has been telling him all along.

the void is loud and wants tuna by mistflowerxuan

canon universe, arahabakitty

(5,028 words | General Audiences | Chapters: 1/1)

Port Mafia Executive Nakahara Chuuya is a formidable man, the strongest ability user and is terrifying on the battlefield. He has been through indescribable horrors and has come out of those battles stronger for it. And so, there is not much in this world that can truly startle him. An eldritch abomination curled up on his chest, vaguely shaped like a cat and purring might do the trick.

The last string to sever by foundmywei

canon universe, time-travel, temporary mcd

(18,430 words | Mature | Chapters: 1/1)

“Chuuya!” he shouted, hopping, begging for a reply, even if it was a mindless howl. But no reply ever came. Chuuya’s movements suddenly halted, his body remaining unmoving in the air for a second before it started moving again, limbs turning and twisting in a way a human body shouldn’t allow. The only sound filling the unbearable silence of the night was that of Chuuya’s bones breaking.

Dazai had never thought about what life would be like without Chuuya; a mission gone wrong forces him to find out. Thankfully, he gets a second chance to fix things.

[arealphrooblem]

Story Masterlist/Tags

Smut and Explicit fic can now by found on my side blog: a-bigger-phrooblem

Tag breakdown on fics:

#enemies to lovers = fic with a romantic endgame

#spicy = suggestive to M rated/fade to black content. I will never post explicit smut on this blog.

#kissing = has kissing in this particular snippet

#dark = dark themes such a violence, threats, coercion ect. Typical villain stuff.

Fics

Sisyphus:

Synopsis: Hero is tired of the fight. Turns out, Villain is too.

Let Me See You Lose Control:

Synopsis: prompt fill. "Go on," the antagonist dared, eyes bright and gleaming. "Let me see you lose control."

#enemies to lovers, #spicy #kissing

Terms of Surrender -- Finished!

Synopsis: The queen of a doomed city makes the deal her husband refused to make with the conquering warlord outside her city's gates.

#enemies to lovers

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

You Could Have Just Asked

Part One Part Two

Synopsis: protagonist makes a deal with their villainous (and distant) cousin for control of the family fortune after the death of their parents

#dark #enemies to lovers #fake dating #marriage of convenience #kissing

Mutually Assured Destruction -- Finished!

Synopsis: Villain x Civilian. Civilian can sense other people's powers through auras but hides this ability. They are terrified of the most boring person at their office job, who hides the most powerful aura Civilian has ever felt.

#enemies to lovers, #dark, #spicy (part 10) #kissing

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

Deathtouched -- Finished!

Synopsis: Hero, a person who's power nullifies other powers, is the only person who can touch Villain, a person who kills whatever he touches. When Villain shows up at the Agency hell bent on revenge on Supervillain, Hero is the only one who can stop him.

#enemies to lovers #kissing #dark

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Kidnapped by the Boss

synopsis: Civilian is a secretary to the Prime Minster. But when the political summit between the city states goes awry, she finds herself kidnapped by the very boss she tried to protect and nothing is what it seems.

#enemies to lovers #dark #kissing (in later chapters)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

A Goblin Bride

Synopsis: Once her sister is safely eloped and out of the Goblin King's clutches, the protagonist waits for his revenge. Things take an unexpected turn

Surrender Prompts

Synopsis: a series of prompt fills for the voluntary surrender prompts by @ wither-wander-whump Each prompt has it's own set of tags/CW. General tags are: #whump, #captivity #dark

Part One, Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Arranged Marriage Prompt fill

Prompt by the modern typewriter. #Villain x Hero #suggestive #enemies to lovers #dark

CW: vague mention of non-con (villain describing to hero what other people would do to her that he would not)

A Favor for a Favor

Synopsis: When Roxanne -- Agent name Rocket -- is back-stabbed by a friend and given a serum that drains her of her powers and leaves her helpless, she has no choice but to turn to the one person she can't trust: Her nemesis -- a politician and king of the underworld. With her powerless and in the palm of his hand, what he decides to do with her is greatly influenced by their chance meeting as teenagers that neither of them have been able to forget.

#enemies to lovers #dark villain #kissing #spicy

CW: non-consensual drugging (not by villain) sexual content, kidnapping, murder mention, named characters, male villain x female hero

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 AO3 link

Retirement

Synopsis: After years of building his criminal empire, Villain has only one desire left: to walk away, preferably with his spy and the only person he trusts.

#enemies and lovers #villain x henchman, #villain x villain #soft

A Lost Cause

Synopsis: The trusted keeper of all the Heroes' secrets, Civilian's existence is kept a tightly guarded secret itself. So how did the villain find her? And how will she withstand the attempts of his scientist to break her open and discover those secrets himself?

CW: nonconsensual drugging, medical whump, medical experimentation, mentions of wounds from torture, needles and IV insertion mention (this fic is gonn have a lot of CW)

#villain x civilian #enemies to lovers (sort of?) #dark #whump #spicy

Part one Part 2

A Good Roommate Is Hard To Find

Synopsis: Civilian has harbored a secret crush on his roommate for a long time, only to find out that said roommate is the newest villain on the scene during a robbery at his job.

CW: Death threats, knives

#enemies to lovers #villain x civilian #named characters #angsty #male x male

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four

The Promise:

An officer of the Empire makes an offer of marriage to his former friend, now a rebel and his enemy, to honor an old promise they had when they were street orphans.

CW: enemies to lovers, kissing in later parts, marriage of convenience

Requests

Drowning Hero Ask

Part 2

Synopsis: Ask prompt that requested hero nearly drowning in water during villain fight and villain rescuing them

#enemies to lovers #male hero/male villain #fluffy (kind of) #kissing

Fire hero vs plant villain

CW: kidnapping, mentions of poison

Villain x Medic

CW: kidnapping

#angst

[hotch-stufff]

Love is Complicated

gifs by hqtchner & ncis-season-

Pairing: Hotch x reader, Gibbs x reader

Warnings!: angst, pining, kissing, fluff

Request: "well i was thinking about a criminal minds x ncis crossover, where the reader has a big crush on gibbs but then she meets hotch and she is really confused 😿" @wolviesbabes

--------

Your hand scribbled yet another word on the endless stack of paperwork that littered your desk. It really did never end. You set your pen down. You needed a break. You looked up and your eyes instantly found him. He was hunched over his desk, probably doing the same thing you were doing.

But God, did he look good doing it. Although in your opinion he looked good doing just about everything.

You noticed that about him over the past couple months on the NCIS team. You had been transfered from another similar unit in New Orleans on the recommendation of Dwayne Pride himself. Gibbs was quick to accept you to the unit, but he remained cold to you for the first couple of weeks. It wasn't until you saved him from a, for lack of better words, crazy gunman did he warm up to you.

After that, you two had gotten extremely close. So close that you developed a small crush on the man. Although, you hid it rather well. No one, atleast not to your knowledge, knew about your crush. And you intended on keeping it that way, but it was so hard when he was just sitting right in front of you, looking all handsome and just... him.

You wanted to tell him. You really did. But he was way out of your league, and you weren't even his type. But a girl could dream.

Vance suddenly came out of his office and called Gibbs up. He stood slowly and walked away. You prayed this wasn't a case. You really did not feel like dealing with a case right now.

He came back out a few moments later, a scowl on his face.

"What is it Gibbs?" You asked, he jerked his head towards Vance's office.

"He wants the team to attend an interagency gala on Saturday night." You scoffed. Of course he did. "FBI, CIA, and NCIS teams are all expected to attend. Including us." His scowled deepened at the thought of having to deal with other agencies.

"Great, just great." And you were so looking forward to a quiet weekened.

* * *

The night of the gala had arrived much quicker than expected. And of course Abby had insisted on going shopping for dresses. She herself had gotten a long black dress, with a slit. She said she would add a few things to make it more like her, and you couldn't wait to see it. You had gone with a more subtle dress. A long emerald green dress, with spaghetti straps and an open back. The front dipped slightly.

You had brought it with you to the office so you could get ready with Abby and as you were heading to the elevator to go to her floor, you heard Gibbs on the phone. Now you weren't one to eavesdrop, but you really couldn't stop yourself.

"I know, I know, it won't take long. I promise. Bye." Was he with someone else? You stood there frozen as he emerged from the room he was in.

"Hey y/n. Whatchtya doin?" He asked suspiciously.

"Oh, um nothing Gibbs, thought I heard you and wanted to say bye before we left, I didnt think you would actually go to the gala tonight, so I thought I could just stop in and-" he cut you off.

"Slow down, you're rambling. You okay?" You needed to get out of there.

"Yup, just been a long day. Alright well bye." You rushed off to Abby office. Once you got there, she instantly asked what was wrong. You explained everything. Your feelings, the conversation you heard, just everything.

"Awe, y/n/n. I'm so sorry. He's stupid if he doesn't see whats right in front of him." That made you smile.

"We should get ready." You stated standing up to grab your dress.

2 hours later, you and Abby walked up stairs looking amazing if you did say so yourself. Wolf whistles were heard coming from Tony as you two walked towards the group. You rolled your eyes, catching Gibbs smirk.

His eyes dragged up and down your body, which had confused you greatly. He had never showed any interest in you before, why now? Maybe he had and was just better at hiding it.

"Well, we should get going." You nodded, you all walked out to the SUVs ready for the night ahead of you.

* * *

The gala was interesting to say the least. Each agency decided to stay away from eachother, like elementary students. Each group taking up their own circle around the room.

You had spotted a rather handsome man who you had recognized as Aaron Hotchner sitting at the FBI tables and couldn't seem to take your eyes off of him. You new you had feelings for Gibbs,, but something about this man just drew you in. You had previously met him on a conjoined case with your old team, and you had developed the smallest of crushes on the man. You never expected anything to happen, and he was only in New Orleans for about a week.

Suddenly Gibbs popped back into your head, and you huffed slightly, turning to search for him. Finding him at a table nearby, talking with a woman. You scoffed and he looked over at you.

In a moment of impulse, you tunred away and walked across the empty dance floor straight to Agent Hotchner. He looked up from his conversation as you neared his table.

"Hi, NCIS Agent Y/l/n. We worked together on the Williams case about a year back." He nodded in recognition.

"Of course. Its great to see you again agent y/l/n." He paused looking you up and down in a way you welcomed. "Can I help you with something." He asked, not unkindly at all, but rather friendly.

"I was wondering if you would like to dance." He raised an eyebrow at you. "Someone's got to break the chill in this room." He nodded and stood up slowly, his team staring on in awe. You figured he didn't do this very often.

"I would love to." He took your hand bringing you to the dance floor as another song began. You two danced for about 10 minutes before more couples began to join you. You smiled in triumph and Hotchner laughed at your face.

"What? It worked didn't it?" He smiled shaking his head.

"I suppose it did." You two began talking and laughing and just getting to know each other. You soon found yourself at a table as you continued with your conversation.

"Okay but, im just saying if Strauss is anything like Vance, they would be perfect together." He laughed at this rather loudly, catching the eyes of a few people near by.

"That would never happen. If Vance is anything like Strauss they would drive each other crazy." You giggled softly. Soon it was time to leave, and Agent Hotchner, or Aaron as he had asked you to call him, offered to walk you to your SUV where the rest of your team was waiting. They all eyed you as this strange man walked you over, handing you a card and pressing a soft kiss to your cheek. You had blushed profusely and walked over, getting in the car.

"So y/n, whos the hottie?" Abby began interrogating you as soon as you shut your door.

"Thats Agent Hotchner. He's the Unit Chief of the FBI's BAU." You smiled to yourself.

"Must be an ass if he's from the FBI." Gibbs remarked, another scowl gracing his face.

"He was actually quite the gentlman." Was your only response before turning to look out the window. Gibbs was the one being an ass. You had just spent the night with a wonderful man and Gibbs just had to ruin it by spouting some snarky comment that only confused you more. The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

* * *

Once back at the office, Gibbs had called you to the elevator, not giving you a chance to respond. You had of course listened, and as soon as the doors shut, he had pulled the emergency button.

"What is it Gibbs?" You asked softly. He just walked closer to you, cupping your face. "What are you doing?" He leaned in slowly bringing his lips to yours.

And you had expected it to be perfect and explosive and passionate. But... it wasn't. He pulled away after only a moment.

"Hang on, let me try that again." And he leaned in once more, pressing his lips to yours. But once again, there was nothing. He pulled away.

"That was ... strange?" He asked, more to himslef than anything.

"I uh, that-that was-"

"Not what I was expecting." He finished for you.

"You know Gibbs, I've been pining over you for months, and I'm guessing you felt the same. But I think we both met someone else tonight that changed our minds." You recalled him spending the whole night side by side with the woman you had seen earlier. You smiled shyly at him. "Call that woman you were with tonight. Tell her you want to go out on a date." He smiled looking into your eyes.

"Only if you call Agent Hochie, or whatever his name was, and tell him the same." You laughed at not only his comment, but the absurdity of the situation. For the past 5 months you had been yearning for a man who ended up not being what you wanted at all. It made you think that maybe what you really wanted, what you both really wanted, was someone to love. So you latched on to the person who had become closest to you.

"I love ya y/n." He whispered as he pressed a kiss to your forehead.

"I love you too Gibbs. Now go get her." He stepped out of the elevator, pulling out his phone. You did the same, pulling out Aaron's card. It rang once. Twice.

"Hotchner." You giggled at his formal greeting. Taking a deep breath before going for it.

"Hey Aaron, I was just wondering if you were up for dinner?" He smiled.

"Of course. You know, I'm really glad you called."

"Me too." And you walked out of your office that night, a date with a man you had never expected, and a smile on your face.

-------

Not sure how I feel about this one, but I loved the request. Let me know what you guys think!! Thanks for reading! Requests are still open, so ask away! If you would like an idea of what to request, here is my prompt list, and if you would like to read more of my work, here is my masterlist.

[kim-lexie]

true beauty.

THIS DRAMA WAS UN-EXPECTANT. HILARIOUS. CUTE. AND PRECIOUS. we got cha eunwoo, our bae. with our newest bestest boy, hwang in-yeop. and our queen, mun ka-young. what else would one need in a drama?! i was excited when they announced the creation of this drama, because like so many of us i love the webtoon. that is overlooking the faults of the basis of the theme with shallow standards of beauty, it is great. and i love our characters. i especially love how the writers of the drama utilized the great structures of the webtoon’s characters and created another world. i rate it a 10 out of 10.

we follow our leading lady im ju-kyung as she overcomes bullying at her old school for being ‘ugly’. she was cast out and a ‘dumpling runner’, running around for the group of bullies. she finds a passion for makeup and masters it, becoming a new person with a ‘new face’ after putting it on. she starts life at a new school with her new face. she stumbles into an old place of comfort without her new face, the comic book store, and runs into the school prince, lee suho. this ensues with a bout of lying; unsuccessfully, because suho knows that she is the same im ju-kyung that started at his school. he protects her secret, and it leads their relationship to grow closer. we follow them through their years at high school, as she hides her face and later hiding their relationship from their classmates. this drama continues to follow them through their young adult years. 

now on to the spoilers…

overall, once again i must always state that i don’t love it when they take this shallow perspective and over dramatize the conventional aspects of beauty. im ju-kyung, who is supposedly not conventionally beautiful and they dramatize her redness and pimples, etc. she does all these wild things to hide her true identity from those around her at school. thankfully the writers did not try to pull that ‘oh my goodness, i didn’t know that was you under the makeup’ game because our suho is not a shallow cookie and looks below the surface. because that game is ridiculous and i would have died. i am thankful the ending that this drama took, because i was nervous especially at the start that it was going to go the duration of the show with no-one knowing her true face, like the webtoon. thankfully we had a character revelation unfortunately not on her own timing. but she had grown as a person and had a team of people behind her allowing her to shine and overcome. we love character development. it’s great. it makes my heart happy. we started the drama with her completely swallowed whole by the perception that she wanted to portray to those around her, not showing her true beauty. because she was a beautiful person who wanted to protect those around her, and once she let go of this facade and mask she was able to fully be the person she was destined to be.

i loved suho’s character in this. he had so many layers and i love that they didn’t make it like the webtoon in this aspect. i love how their relationship started in the comic store and ended there. he grew so much, and became livelier because he knew im ju-kyung. his character was so stoic and overcome with sadness at the start. his best friend committed suicide and he blamed himself for this, which was completely out of his control. im ju-kyung showed him that it was not his fault and they came to protect one another. also love how the writers had him pursue music producing at the end, and even produced for seo-jun’s debut. he was such a great son, after him and his father finally reconnected and then he suffered a stroke, crazy! suho went to the states to care for his father. definitely lost in this, he broke up with ju-kyung as to not hold her back, which was silly and even though he was across the world they could have made it work. they’d been through so much worse, but that’s for another drama universe.

han seo-jun our brooding character with a light personality just beneath the surface. i loved seeing his character at home and with his crew, compared to walking through the school halls. (hello, ‘okey dokey yo’). his character always fiercely protected those around him and i just love seo-jun. i love that he came to pursue his career as an idol, and ended up debuting at the end. he worked so hard and deserved the world and more. and i have to say i hate the second male lead dramas, because they break my heart. he changed so much because im ju-kyung’s character grew him and challenged him in new ways. i knew seo-jun would not get the girl. i knew this from the start. did that stop me from loving his character? no. no, it didn’t. did it stop me from cheering for him, even though i loved suho? no. so who ends up heartbroken in the end with him? me. i do. so here i am weeks after the finale, thinking about how seo-jun told ju-kyung that suho was leaving for the states to  send her running after another guy, and ultimately bringing the two of them together. thinking about all those years suho was in the states, when seo-jun treasured their friendship and was with her quietly supporting her in her dreams, for her to ultimately leave for suho. sad. that’s what it is, the definition of sadness. and goodness gracious where is my seo-jun? i will love you and treasure you honey. you do not need ju-kyung, i got you boo.

i must add that hwang in-yeop can show up in my life any day, and i will graciously stop everything and marry this man. i love all of his dramas thus far, his character from the interviews i’ve seen, i love him. he is a favorite. i am expectant for the upcoming dramas he will surely steal the show in.  

the friendship between seo-jun and suho was so multifaceted. i love how we saw how their relationship was before when they were a trio, and then the brokenness when seo-jun blamed suho, to then seeing them come together because they realized they both cut one another off when they should have leaned on one another instead. it was sweet and i loved their bromance moments. they truly stole the show away. it was hilarious and fun with them together. and i appreciate that the relationship between suho and ju-kyung didn’t break the two apart in the end.  

i need to make note how much i love im ju-kyung’s family. like her siblings were iconic. her sister im hee-kyung and her relationship with eui-sik, the homeroom teacher. ICONIC. and im ju-young, her brother, and his precious attempts at winning seojun’s sister’s heart. PRECIOUS. i would 10 out of 10 watch a spin off with the focus on these characters. i loved when ju-kyung’s mom realized all the trauma that her daughter endured how she went to mending the broken pieces to rebuild their relationship. and i love how sweet her dad was, always encouraging her dreams. and i love how they all wanted the best for her, and supported her dreams of becoming a makeup artist. 

i am so sad that whenever we get a great friendship between our leading ladies they end up in awful relations at some point in the drama. our kang soo-jin and im ju-kyung were the best of friends. she even found out about ju-kyung’s secret and protected her to get back to the tent when they were on the trip. and then when ju-kyung started to date suho, soo-jin got everything twisted. i appreciate how suho let her know that no matter the situation he would not have ended up with her, because he didn’t see her in that way. and i loved the seo-jun put her in her place and confronted her for posting the photos of im ju-kyung online. i am thankful that we had the revelation for soo-jin’s character and came back to apologize to ju-kyung in the end. it was sweet and genuine. she came to see why she was like the way she was, grew from it, and apologized for her past behaviors. 

i love how suho and ju-kyung’s world’s connected. from the comic book store, to high school, to her sister working at his father’s music agency. it was complete destiny that they ended up together. i love a good ‘it is destiny, it was meant to be'. 

the webtoon drama inception was REAL. i loved that they added those little easter eggs throughout the drama with the little connections to ‘extraordinary you’. i loved it. 

favorite moments. 

the flashback comic book store scenes. 

the games at the camping trip.

roar...like any and all instances of this. precious. 

ju-kyung confessing that she liked suho to seo-jun, and crushing my team seojun heart.

suho and ju-kyung’s first kiss.

suho daring to hand ju-kyung a cup in the elevator. ㅋㅋㅋ

seojun and suho fighting over making the best dumplings at ju-kyung’s house.

seojun showing up to help his sister, and im ju-young getting so excited that han seojun came to save the day. 

im ju-kyung sticking up for herself against her new and old school bullies. like the legit fist fight and then the one when she stood up for suho. when they came for her man she was like ‘heck no, not today honey’.

seojun and suho at the hospital and having to care for each other to complete daily tasks. really brought them together again. > also this accident was super dramatic. but we love that everything was chill in the end. 

im ju-young being traumatized by his eldest sister kissing her boyfriend, and then encouraging ju-kyung and suho to kiss.

tteokbokki between seo-jun and ju-kyung.

‘okey dokey yo’...ICONIC to say the least. 

the ost.

the ost did not disappoint. we even got cha eunwoo and hwang in-yeop tracks! here are my top favorites including the beautiful cover renditions:

‘call me maybe’ by SAya

‘i’m in the mood’ for dancing by yuju

‘starlight’ by chani

‘love so fine’ by cha eunwoo

‘flowerpot’ originally by alex, covered by hwang in-yeop

‘it starts today’ by hwang in-yeop

‘how do you do’ by chani

‘to you my light’ originally by maktub and lee raon, covered by hwang in-yeop.

[icedthoma]

10. As a warning with Bakugou PLEASE. Congrats on one year, love. We love you and your content!

10. As a warning

Pro hero AU once again~

“Why do you always insist on staying near me?”

You falter, steps hesitant from where you walk three paces behind the explosive hero down the halls of his hero agency. “I’m not sure what you mean. I’m your sidekick, right?”

His fists clench and for a second you’re afraid you’ve said the wrong thing, though you can’t possibly imagine what could be wrong about simply stating facts: you’re his sidekick, and it’s your job to support him. It’s what you don’t say that’s all the more dangerous, a confession just on the tip of your tongue only to melt away by a single look from those crimson eyes. 

Ground Zero’s always been perceptive, whether on the battlefield or off, and he’s always been able to tell when people are hiding something. Which is why you’re not all too shocked when he stops in his tracks and turns around, meeting that scorching gaze of his to yours so suddenly you can practically feel the burn. “You don’t want to get too involved with me.”

The pro hero had always been a very straightforward person, favoring direct confrontation over beating around the bush, and you were honestly expecting him to straight up accuse you of lying and demand you tell him the full truth as to why you choose to remain by him when everyone else leaves, and why you're not off-put by the fact that he’s a bossy, arrogant prick of a hero (something the media never fails to emphasize). 

Not some vague statement that indicates the possibility he knows about your true feelings, but leaves just enough gray area to make you wonder if he meant something else after all. 

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” you say, staring at him calmly. As your sidekick, I’m pretty involved.” You’re not sure why you keep emphasizing that fact. Maybe if you say it enough, you’ll not only convince Ground Zero that you have no romantic feelings toward him whatsoever, but yourself as well. 

“Why not?” Bakugou demands. “I’m pretty sure that our contract doesn’t involve you following me around every hour we’re on duty.”

“I mean, I--I care about you.” You wince at how pathetic you must sound. “As your sidekick.” You’re so stupid. 

Ground Zero huffs a sarcastic laugh as he jerks his head to the side to stare out the large window in the wall that overlooks the rest of the city. “What about when you’re not acting as my sidekick?”

This is got to be the longest conversation you’ve ever heard him have that didn’t have him yelling within the first minute. Part of you almost feels special, but it’s also throwing you off by how calm he’s acting. 

“Well?” 

Crap, you had almost forgot you were the one holding the conversation with him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you sniff, folding your arms and stepping to the side to lean against the wall opposite the window. The floor had never seemed so interesting in that moment. “You’re Ground Zero. I’m just...me.”

From your inspection of the floor, two feet cross into your vision, and you slowly drag your gaze up to see that he’s now standing in front of you, arms folded to match yours and eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie,” he growls, and you breathe a sigh. There he is. “Why won’t you just tell the truth?”

“What difference will it make if I do?” you yell, and you can tell Bakugou wasn’t expecting that from the way he raises a skeptical brow. You’re shocked at yourself, too. You never would have guessed you’d be the one exploding before him. Then again, Bakugou wasn’t the one with all these stupid pent-up feelings, and your mouth is moving faster than your brain can keep up with. “What will change if you realize that I care about you maybe a little more than a coworker should, contract or not?”

He’s silent for a moment, which is just enough for your heart to leap into your chest, frantic thoughts screaming you’ve messed up you’ve messed up you’ve definitely messed up now--

“You’re going to get hurt, you know,” Ground Zero says, voice cracking slightly at the end (though it might be your imagination). “Why won’t you realize that?”

“I--”

“Whatever.” He makes to leave, but in a flash of impulsivity you grab his gloved hand and yank him back, maybe a little harder than you meant to because now he’s even closer to you than before. “Oi--”

“What do you mean, I’ll get hurt?” you whisper. “Ground Zero--”

“I’m a terrible person who doesn’t deserve you, okay?” Bakugou snarls. “And if I let you go on like this, soon you’ll realize that and I’d rather spare you that whole experience. So you should--” He pauses and it’s thanks to your close proximity that you hear him break off to swallow hard...or maybe because of it. 

“Should...?” The temperature in the hall seems to go up by several degrees despite the fact that the air conditioning’s on. If you stretch up by a fraction, or if he leans down just a bit--

You’re not sure who starts it, only that it happens, and suddenly you’re kissing pro hero Ground Zero in the hallway of his hero agency, hands tangled in his hair and back flat against the wall as he devours every sigh and gasp you make with his hungry lips, his gloves tossed to the ground long ago. “Still want me to leave?” you breathe in the second it takes for him to break away for air, but your next words die as his mouth is immediately back on yours, lightly nipping at your bottom lip in a way that sends your brain into overdrive. “Bakugou--”

His last name slips from your mouth before you can stop yourself, and you jolt in surprise as he immediately yanks himself away from you, red eyes wide and filled with...regret.

Swearing under his breath, he detaches himself from you and picks up the gloves of his hero costume from the floor, turning away so you can’t see the look on his face. 

“It’s Ground Zero,” he says forcefully, stalking away before you can say anything more. 

Before he caves and admits that he wants you to be something more than just his sidekick. 

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

one year event masterlist

[drazzilder]

A Hellish Encounter

By Drazzilder 

Chapter 42: A True Hero

It has been a week since you both arrived home. You sent the kids to live with All Might because the media now won’t leave the house alone since someone discovered you both are home. Camera men, media outlets, interviewers and more all storm the house daily. Some even managed to break through the fence but Enji would use his quirk to scare them off the property but that didn’t stop them from surrounding the house on all sides. They want to know more about the demon hero who was created by All for One.

Opening the blind: “Why can’t they leave us alone!” Enji says in anger as he shuts the blind again.

Clutching a pillow in your lap “It’s like we are prisoners in our own house. Why can’t they just leave me alone?”

“Even for me, this is a lot.” Zaheer says sitting on the floor next to you, doing his best to comfort you.

Enji comes to your side “I know this must be really rough for you; cameras and being locked inside.”

“I’m fine but I wish we could stop this.”

“You know there is only one way.”

“I know.”

“The last interview you did by yourself didn’t go so well.”

“I plan on doing an interview with you and Zaheer. You both are involved with this.”

“Of course, we will be there. Right, Zaheer?”

“I’m always with you (Y/N), I’ll be there by your side.”

“Can you call to arrange it, Enji?” You say with a sigh.

With a kiss “I’ll call them right now.”

After about another 2 weeks, the press conference is about to start. Hundreds of media outlets from all over the world at there, all of them trying to get the best seats to ask questions. All three of you stand behind stage, all in suits to look as professional as possible. Enji even shaved to look his best. You didn’t, it was a part of you after your transformation, you couldn’t just shave it off that easily. You all walk on stage, almost blinded by the lights and flashes, and sit down in-front of the dozens of microphones. You take a deep breath and begin to speak.

“Thank you all for coming. My name is (Y/N) but some of you know me by my hero name, Hellboy. I know you are all here to ask me about my upbringing but let me tell you one thing before you ask your questions. My past has nothing to do with who I am now. Yes, Zaheer was put inside of me by All for One. Yes, I killed thousands of people. Yes, I was on the run to hide from the United States government for years, there is nothing I can do to change what happened. I didn’t ask for everything that happened to me. I didn’t ask for a demon to be forcibly put inside on me, to be tortured for years, to be tested on. I am here now to be a hero, to help people, to save people. I don’t do this because of who I was but who I am.”

There is deafening silence for a moment before someone in the crowd asked a question. “How do you expect us to believe you?”

You sigh “I don’t expect you to believe me now. I want you to see my actions. Look at what I have done since I have been a hero, look at what I am going to do.”

“Are you a hero to make up for your past actions?”

“Do you really think that low of me?”

“What?”

“Do you think I want to be a hero just to repent? I want to be a hero because I believe it is the right thing to do. Zaheer and I both believe it’s the right thing to do.”

“What about Zaheer?”

“What about me? I have been with (Y/N) the entire time.”

“You tried to take over (Y/N)’s body, didn’t you?!”

“Yes, but I am not now. After seeing the trauma and torment that he went through as a child, I helped him. We grew this power together. No other demon would do what I have done. I love him just as he loves his husband. He wouldn’t be here without me; he wouldn’t have survived that room.”

You look at Zaheer who has now realized his mistake. Another interviewer just asks “What room?”

“It’s a room that turns 1 day on the outside to 10 years on the inside. I was locked in there for 24hours. Once I was let out, I was mentally unstable, being alone for ten years, and I lost my mind and control of the power inside of me. That’s when I killed all of the scientists that performed tests and surgeries on me while I was awake. I can’t ask you to understand what I felt at that time but understand it wasn’t me.”

“I have a question for Endeavor. Did you know all of this when you married Hellboy?”

Looking angry, Enji speaks “What does that have to do with Hellboy?! His past is his past, that’s it. Yes, I knew everything that he has done before I married him but it doesn’t matter. If you could just get a chance to know the real (Y/N), then you would understand why I married him.”

“And you’re ok with him killing All for One?”

“I don’t condone killing but I understand what he has gone through. From the few memories he showed me, the torture, the tests, the isolation, I don’t blame (Y/N) for what he did. For what that man did to (Y/N), I might have killed him.”

“What about Rei? All for One mention her. What does she have to do with Hellboy when she died before you meet him?”

Enji now has flames on his face. You place a hand on his shoulder and look at him. The look you give him tells you it’s ok. His flames die down as he speaks. “She faked her death to get away from me. Our relationship was not healthy and I hurt my wife and children mentally and physically. She kept an eye on us the entire time, watching to make sure we were ok. She was happy to find that (Y/N) came into my life. After the demon fight, Rei came back to sacrifice her life to save (Y/N) so her children and I could be happy. She knew that not having him in my family would cause more trauma.”

You speak up: “She saved me so I could save them. She gave her life because she believed in me.” Making some ice in your hand “She gave me her quirk because she believed in me, not just for her family but for others.”

“HOW CAN WE BELIEVE IN SOMEONE WHO MURDERED A MAN LIVE ON TV?!” Someone yells from the back. You just look at the table. All you can do is just whisper “Please…”

“What?”

“Please…. Just let me prove who I really am. Let me show you the hero I can be. Let me show you the real person I am. I have a demon inside of me and I have horns and a tail but that doesn’t make me not a hero. A hero comes from what you do when there is trouble. At the crossing incident, I didn’t run away, I helped, I saved those in need even though I could have been arrested. After seeing Enji, I chose to stand up, to help, to fight!” At this point, your eyes start to glow brighter as you stand as you ended your speech.

Zaheer stands “I will stand by (Y/N). I will fight with him! We will save everyone! Let both of us show you what we can do!”

Enji now stands “We will all prove to you the heroes we are, just watch us!”

All of the interviews begin to yell and ask questions but you just take both Enji’s and Zaheer’s hands and teleport to the agency. In silence, you sit down in Enji’s office and undo your tie.

Throwing the tie to the ground, “That could have gone better. They didn’t give me a chance.”

Enji looks down at you “Give it time and they will trust you again.”

“It feels like we are starting from scratch…. Again!” Zaheer says sitting on the ground, pouting.

Enji steps towards Zaheer and puts a hand to his face. “You really do want to be a hero.”

“I just want to help people; it feels like the right thing to do.”

Raising an eyebrow: “Are you sure you’re a demon? You don’t really act like one.”

“I may not act like one but I can assure you I am one as I am sure (Y/N) loves you.”

“Oh Zaheer, why do you have to be so sappy; but, back to what Enji was saying. I think they will trust us again. I just wish it didn’t have to take so long. It took years just for the public to trust Zaheer now they know what I did. Even after he is gone, he still is effecting me.”

Now coming to you. “Don’t think like that (Y/N), he can’t hurt you anymore. I just wish people could see what you have done at the stadium. That was the main reason I took you in. You sacrificed yourself to save people who could have easily turned you in. That to me speaks volumes about your character.”

You look at Enji for a moment and your eyes light up with excitement. “I have an idea! Why don’t we show them?”

“What? Use your mind control on the public? That’s impossible.”

“No, there were cameras there the entire time.”

“All Might said they deleted everything.”

“I know how the US works, there is a record of everything.”

“I’ll see what I can do, give me some time.” Enji says kissing you on the lips.

“Zaheer and I will do our best until we find that tape. Thank you.” You say kissing and hugging both Enji and Zaheer.”

“Can we go home now; I’m getting hungry and I want out of this suit and shoes.”

“Sure thing, I’ll cook your favorites when we get home.” You all then disappear in a blue flash.

Next Chapter

[scarpool-gmk]

2

Title: Godly Marine: Killed Author: Scarpool Fandom(s): NCIS, Percy Jackson & the Olympians Pairing(s): Gen Rating: PG/K+ Summary: Chapter 2 (3/13) — Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale, Marine Corps Mechanic and Son of Athena, was murdered. Annabeth Chase is determined to find out who did it and why. She, along with Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, and Clarisse La Rue, infiltrate NCIS where they team up with NCIS Agents Leroy Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee, and Ziva David. Complete Genre: Fanfiction, Mystery, Drama, Humour, General, Action Warnings:  N/A

"Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale, aged twenty-one, born on March 15, 1988," said Tim, pulling up Kahale's I.D. on the plasma screen. "Joined the force when he was sixteen. Signed up as a machinist. Clean service record, and absolutely spectacular performance remarks."

"Background?" Gibbs asked.

"Uh…" Tim looked at Tony for help. Tony shrugged at him. Prick. "There wasn't really anything…"

"I think what McGee means to say," Tony said, exasperated, "is that there are barely any records before he enlisted. No high school. No college. Not even a sports club."

"Not even the car was his," Underwood piped up, getting off of his laptop. "I just ran the number of the car. It's a rental. Marko's High-Performance Cars of East Maryland run by a Mr. Marko Tarsibo."

Tony smiled, and Tim prepared to roll his eyes.

"Marko? Ah," Tony tried on his best Russian accent, "'It reminds me of the heady days of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin when the world trembled at the sound of our rockets. Now they will tremble again - at the sound of our silence.'" He looked around expectantly, grinning, and was about to speak until Lima responded.

"The Hunt for Red October," she said. "Captain Marko Ramius."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, and Tim smirked as Tony blinked away his surprise. "That's right. 1990. Sean Connery. Directed by-"

"John McTiernan," Lima finished for him.

"Nice," Tony said, "Are you a-"

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said. Tim swore he saw his boss flash a look at Lima that was far from gratifying.

"Right," Tony continued and snatched the remote out of Tim's hand. "The only records we could find were family members and profiles of his first six elementary schools."

Tim raised his eyebrows and turned to Gibbs. "Six schools in five years. Kindergarten to fourth grade. Looks like a troubled kid."

"Or a troubled family life," Gibbs said.

"The changes were definitely not about his grades," Jackson said with a grin, flashing his eyes to his boss who, to her credit, did not spare him a glance.

"Very true," Ziva said. "Kahale passed all of the knowledge evaluations with close to perfect scores getting maybe one or two wrong."

"Passed all of the Military's written exam bars with such great scores he was able to skip some basic classes. Guy's like the next Einstein, Boss," Tony said, "Genius."

Gibbs nodded slightly. "Anything else? Was there a missing child report?"

Tim looked at him, a bit anxious to persist with the bad news. "None, Boss, and it's like I said. No other information at all between his fourth-grade year and when he enlisted. It's like he didn't exist for about six years."

"Well, he had to have been somewhere," Ziva said matter-of-factly.

"And what could he have been doing?" Tim wondered. "Possible that he could have made enemies during this time, Boss?"

"And then went to hide from them by joining the corps?" the burly girl, La Rue, if Tim remembered correctly, asked skeptically and crossed her arms.

Ziva grabbed the TV remote from Tony. "The Sergeant's family lives in Baltimore."

"Mr. Johnathan Kahale, the father, is an esteemed lawyer for the private company, Lowe's Consultancy," La Rue stated, "His salary is two hundred eighty thousand. His step-mother, Patricia Kahale," Tim heard her voice turn a bit bitter, "is a salesperson for an insurance company. They have three kids together."

"Absolutely no information on his biological mother," Underwood said, albeit a bit nervously casting glances to Lima.

"Let's work our way through both of these missing timelines. Clarisse," Lima ordered, "go to the car rental. Get all the info you can, and find who gave him the car."

Tim saw his boss eye the young special agent. "DiNozzo," he said, "go with her."

Lima glanced at Gibbs with careful, calculating eyes. "And Percy, talk to the parents." She looked back at Gibbs, waiting for him to interject again.

He didn't say anything at first, and Tim held his breath for a second. Why is it always so tense?

"Ziva," he stated. Ziva nodded. Nobody moved. "Well? Move!" Everybody started scurrying to their assigned task.

Tim tried not to show how startled he was when Gibbs whispered at him. "Do a background check on them. I don't like not knowing who I'm really working with."

Tim nodded. Of course, Gibbs didn't trust the Long Island team.

"Lima!" Gibbs called, going up the stairs. "Come on."

And so, Tim was left alone with Agent Underwood, who had plopped himself on Tony's desk and was typing on his laptop.

-Λεον-

Was it him, or did his paperwork triple since yesterday? The director groaned, pulling a hand over his face, and glanced at a packet that had something to do with the FBI. It was huge, and it was just one packet in a mountain. His secretary swore that she has no recollection of it coming into his office. Leon glared at the pile conspiringly. Honestly, she probably had such a traumatic experience just by looking at the amount that her brain wiped the memory of the entire moment to spare itself. He hoped this was just some nightmare, but no…

Not to mention, he got a late notification this morning telling him of a joint assignment with the NCIS branch of Long Island. Which meant they were paired up with Gibbs. Which meant Gibbs was going to barge into his office like he owned the place and throw a hissy fit. Which meant his headache was going to get 10 times worse! Maybe Gibbs wouldn't drag in the Agent in charge of the Long Island team, so Vance didn't have to mend another relationship between agencies.

And just like that, his door was thrown open, and Gibbs sauntered in. "Speak of the devil," the director grumbled. At the corner of his eye, he saw a notification pop up on his computer screen, most likely his secretary apologizing again about Gibbs's intrusion.

"Good morning to you too, Director Vance," Gibbs said with a smile.

Leon Vance felt the blood leave his face. It was still morning? Aw, he swore it had been hours since- wait, Leroy Jethro Gibbs calling him by his given title? Oh no. And then he saw her. Blonde, lean, professional, young…a bit too young. He straightened up and looked her in the eyes, a startling grey. How interesting.

"Director Vance," the girl nodded in greeting.

Leon returned the nod, taking a side glance at Gibbs's fake smile, and offered his hand. "Yes, and you are?"

"Special Agent Anne Lima," she replied as she shook his hand, firm, meeting his eyes, confident, determined.

"Ah, from Long Island, yes?"

"That's right."

"Director," Gibbs said, "My team can handle this case."

Blunt as usual. "Well, Agent Gibbs," Leon quipped, "Extra hands are always a help and appreciated."

"Why wasn't I notified about this when I was told about the case?" Leon saw Gibbs's eye twitch.

"I just got the e-mail this morning, and unfortunately, wasn't able to see until later. But Gibbs, working with the Long Island branch opens a way to connect to our other fellow agents," Leon said sternly but kindly shot a smile to the girl. She raised an eyebrow.

Gibbs took that as a sign to interrogate the poor girl. "Why is Long Island interested in the Staff Sergeant?"

"Michael was stationed at a ship currently docked in Northern New Jersey. He also had other matters that had him in Long Island," Lima replied smoothly.

Gibbs was ready to grill her some more, but his cell phone rang. 'Thank God.'

He gave Agent Lima another distrustful glace before glancing at the caller ID. Gibbs opened his flip phone. "Yeah, Abbs?"

'Yes,' the Director thought, 'Leave it to Ms. Sciuto to save us.'

"Yeah, we'll be right there." He clicked his phone shut and headed for the door. "Come on," he ordered Lima. The girl glanced at Leon with an unimpressed look, before heading out the door Gibbs was holding open.

Leon stopped Gibbs before the man could leave. "I didn't appreciate you turning my office into an interrogation room; don't do it again."

Gibbs tilted his head in response and left.

Alone again, Leon allowed another sigh to escape him as he rubbed his temples. Gibbs was being Gibbs, and although he had to admit the toughness of Agent Lima to yet be unmoved by the man, Leon worried that her stubbornness would be too much like Gibbs. Just added stress…

Speaking of stress, Leon looked at the mountain of files on his desk. Gathering himself up, he picked one up. He opened it, made a face, and put it back down.

"I need a coffee," He muttered, 'Or something stronger.'

-Ζήβα-

Ziva decided that Jackson had a very likable personality. The two rode together to visit the Kahale family, and Ziva had opted to drive, receiving no argument from Jackson. However, she had not been able to get much information on the NCIS Long Island branch than what Lima had already told them.

"Well, I think your mother and I would get along very well," Ziva laughed as she walked up to the door of the house, locking the car behind her with the remote key. She knocked on the door, quickly assessing her surroundings. She saw Jackson casually glance through a window. She caught the grin he sent her way. No visual problems from the front door, then.

A couple seconds later, a woman's voice came through the door. "Who is it?"

"NCIS!" Ziva shouted through.

"IDs, please."

'So,' Ziva thought, 'this woman is one of those.' She and Jackson brought their Federal IDs to the peephole. They heard the click of a lock turning, and the door opened to reveal a young woman. Ziva recognized her from the rundown on the dead Sergeant. "Patricia Kahale?"

The woman stared at them through the parted gap of the doorway. "What do you want?"

"I am Agent Ziva David, and this is Agent Jackson. We are here to inform you about your son-er-stepson, Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale."

"What about him?" Mrs. Kahale asked tersely.

Ziva resisted an urge to sigh in exasperation. "If we can converse indoors, Mrs. Kahale," she said politely.

For a moment, the woman didn't move and only observed both of them. 'A suspicious woman?' Ziva noted. After supposedly deeming them trustworthy enough, she allowed them in her home. The dwelling was telling of an upper-middle-class family. There were pictures of the Kahale family among the house for display. They featured mostly of Patricia's and Johnathan's three kids, two boys and the youngest, a girl. Not one showed the face of Staff Sergeant Kahale. As Mrs. Kahale led them into the living room, Ziva found the house to be impeccably clean and organized. She remained standing, and so did the two NCIS agents. "What is it you wished to tell me?" the woman asked.

Ziva made a show of turning her head as if looking about. "Where is your husband and children, Mrs. Kahale?"

"Out," she said curtly, "Johnathan took the kids on a visit to the beach."

"Do you know when they'll be back?" Jackson asked bluntly.

"No," The woman eyed him, "Aren't you a little young to be a federal agent?"

Ziva caught Jackson stiffen. "Just look like it."

Ziva tried not to frown. Mrs. Kahale didn't seem to believe it.

"You never answered my question. Why are you here?"

Ziva sighed. "I regret to inform you, ma'am, that your step-son, Michael, was found dead this morning."

Patricia Kahale closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Michael? Michael is dead for sure?"

"We are sorry for your loss," Ziva consoled, even as Mrs. Kahale was shaking her head.

"I didn't really know him. I didn't even know he joined the corps. I haven't seen him for years."

Jackson nodded. Ziva stared at him to see if he was going to ask any questions. She internally sighed when he remained silent, looking just a bit awkward- and kind of dumb, too, just standing there.

"We noticed that your step-son disappears on record for a period of nine years. May you explain why that is?"

"I think that is a question for my husband."

Ziva raised an elegant eyebrow at the quickness of her response. "Oh, why is that? Does your husband know where his son went?"

"No." Mrs. Kahale started to head for the door, "He ran off years ago, now I think you should leave. I don't have anything more to say about the boy."

Ziva took the hint but took her time to rattle off a couple more questions, "There was no report of the disappearance."

"We did report it, we were never contacted," the woman responded, as she held the door open for them.

"We will also need someone to confirm the identity of the body, Ziva said as she went back outside.

"Call us," Mrs. Kahale all but shot back.

As Jackson passed the lady out the door, he said, "Thank you for your time."

The woman grunted and shut the door. The lock clicked back into place.

"What a nice lady," Jackson lamented.

Ziva scowled at him, "What was that?"

"Looks like she didn't like us much."

"Obviously. No, I'm talking about you. You weren't much help!"

Jackson had the gall to look surprised, "You had it!"

"Well, someone had to," Ziva shook her head, feeling disappointed. "Anyway, I have a feeling that Mrs. Kahale does not care much about her step-son, and from the way she threw us out- it seems she might be hiding something."

"Did you see the knife?" Jackson asked, acting nonchalant.

Ziva was thrown off guard, "What? Where?"

"The table by the entrance," Jackson said, "It's probably nothing, just forget about it."

Ziva wasn't deterred, "Really? On the table?" Ziva tried to remember. She may have seen something shine in the light, but she must not have noticed it. Was she getting rusty? "What is it doing there?"

"Nothing, probably just a fancy envelope opener."

Ziva sent a look at him.

Jackson shifted on his feet for a bit. "So, what do we do now?"

Ziva sighed, thinking about what she had to tell Gibbs, "I must report back to Gibbs and then call Mr. Kahale."

"Let's go then, I'll drive."

Ziva's brows furrowed into a small frown as Jackson practically raced to the car. He was hiding something. But what? And what was the significance of the dagger? She had a strong feeling these agents from Long Island were not telling them everything.

-Κλαρίς-

Clarisse did not enjoy her car ride. Her first opinion on this 'Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo' was that he was a complete doofus. And he was, but it was made clear why he had gotten to be a top agent. His tactic was to play the completely dumb chatterbox, and boy could he talk like a daughter of Athena in a museum, but that was just a ploy to get others to talk to him as well. This was an interrogation. And Clarisse had gotten pissed off. She did not like being interrogated by some snobby, stuffed up Agent. And she especially hated how he had done it. If Clarisse La Rue was to be interrogated, then let it be straight up. No descendant of the Ares was going to tolerate such a petty approach.

So, she had told him to 'shut up or else.'

Ah, sweet silence.

DiNozzo broke that with a whistle of appreciation as they finally drove into the Rental estate. It wasn't hard to figure out why. Rows of high-performance sports cars were displayed for customers.

"Wow!" Agent DiNozzo exclaimed as he parked the car. Clarisse rolled her eyes as she saw him slide on some sunglasses dramatically and walk up to a sleek, red Ferrari. "Wow!" He repeated. He checked his reflection in its tinted windows. Clarisse frowned slightly as he pulled his phone out to take a selfie.

"Come on," she huffed at him, "We're supposed to interview why Michael was here, not take selfies of cars we can't afford." She looked at a description of a Lamborghini, "Besides, what are you going to do with 600 horsepower, go from one red light to the next red light?"

"Ah, it's about the display, the comfort, the thrill on the highway, the style." DiNozzo lifted an eyebrow and grinned at his phone, most likely looking at his newest selfies. "Besides, you got to learn how to take a break from time to time."

Clarisse scowled and led the way into the dealership building, leaving the older Agent to trail behind her at a slow pace still taking in the sights. She entered the building and breathed in the cool air. Though once the door closed behind her, she tensed and didn't move a muscle.

DiNozzo charged through the door still talking. "You know, taking breaks during work is suggested. It can be a stressful job and-"

"Sh!" Clarisse snapped.

DiNozzo blinked in surprise. "You know, I think we started off on the wrong foot," he began.

"No," Clarisse whispered, "It's not that."

DiNozzo frowned, "Why are we whispering?"

"Do you hear that?" Clarisse asked.

Clarisse's ears rang a little as DiNozzo took a couple seconds to listen. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly."

"Manager could just be in his office?" DiNozzo mused, but even still, he nodded.

"Hello?" He called out. "Mr. Tarsibo?"

Clarisse moved towards a glass window, facing the street. They were right by a busy street intersection, too.

An office door opened as a man pushed his way out and quickly shut the door behind him. "My apologies, I had a customer to attend to."

Clarisse's senses prickled, "A customer?" she asked, glancing around the empty building.

The man smiled, "Yes, he was otherwise engaged and did his business through call. I am Marko Tarsibo, by the way," He held his hand out, "How may I help you?"

"Mr. Tarsibo," Agent DiNozzo replied as he shook the proffered hand, "I am Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo from NCIS, and this is Agent Clarisse La Rue."

"Federal Agents," Tarsibo acknowledged, his shake strong and confident, "What seems to be the issue?"

"Unfortunately," DiNozzo explained, "Your car was found in a crash site."

"Crashed? How horrible! But no worries, I have procedures in place for such a situation. The renter does sign a form and all that jazz. Come and sit, and I can give you any additional information you want."

He directed them to the front desk.

"Yes, thank you," DiNozzo said, "We would like to confirm the lessee of the car."

"Of course, I hope the person was not critically injured by the crash. Do you have a plate number or anything I can go by?"

DiNozzo brought the plate number and other such identification numbers up on his phone.

As they sat there, Clarisse observed the area of the main desk. It was pretty bland except for the assortment of mini flags. She was able to identify the American flag as well as the French and even the Greek flag. There were a couple more she really didn't recognize- maybe that one was Finnish. She saw another with a horse and rider. She tilted her head a bit. Did that one have Greek words on it? Before she could read it, Mr. Tarsibo exclaimed, "Yes! Here we are. A Mr. Michael Kahale was the client. I remember him. Yes, a marine, was he? Is he alright?"

"He did not make it," DiNozzo responded.

"We are currently investigating his death," Clarisse added, "How did you know he was a Marine?"

Mr. Tarsibo directed his smile to her, "We have a discount for members of the service and veterans here. Proper ID is required."

"Can you tell us about your interaction with Staff Sergeant Kahale, Mr. Tarsibo?" Agent DiNozzo asked.

"It was very brief," Mr. Tarsibo said, "He was simply looking for a quality car for his time here. Nothing out of the ordinary at all."

"When was he here?"

"Two days ago. Sometime in the afternoon. Let me give you the time from the sale."

Mr. Tarsibo quickly printed out a log and handed it to them. "Will there be anything else today, agents?"

"No," Agent DiNozzo said with a smile of his own and offered his card. "Thank you for your time, and please don't hesitate to give us a call if you remember anything."

"It was no problem, and if you ever need to rent a car, I would be happy to offer discounts to federal agents as well."

Mr. Tarsibo's warm smile led them all the way out.

The blast of noise when Clarisse stepped outside was welcoming. She took a deep breath of fresh air.

Agent DiNozzo walked up behind her. "What was up with you and Mr. Smiles in there?"

Clarisse glared at him. "I don't trust him. He's slimy. I don't know what it is; maybe he's not sharing everything or something.

"I understand the distrust. But he is a car dealer. It is natural to feel that, but maybe try not to be so aggressive next time."

"Whatever," Clarisse growled. She snatched the car keys out of his hands. No way was she just going to sit in a car for another two hours doing nothing.

"I'm driving."

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[masked-buffoon]

Chapter 10: Truth and illusions (Part 4)

Warnings: violence, child abuse

Author notes: it is so cliche that the main character never knows how to take care of a child... The main question is... Do we like cliches...?

The boy had quickly agreed to play with me while his mother and Yosano-sensei had an "adults talk". He had led me to the living room next door and, when I had asked him what he wished to do, he had answered that he wanted to draw. After just enough time to grab paper and crayons, there he was, quietly occupying himself while I was watching, and yawning. The doctor had been wrong, Sakunosuke-kun was not an imp, not the devil in disguise. I had overheard her thoughts earlier. He was simply a kid and, even though I had no experience with them, it was not too complicated understanding their desires. I only needed to rely on my ability, after all… Which did not mean I was good with children.

"Look, look…! What do you think, Kasumi nē-san?" He excitedly shoved his doodle towards my face.

Years of acting allowed the most genuine smile of admiration to turn my lips upwards.

"It's lovely...!" I exclaimed "You're such an artist, Sakunosuke-kun!"

Immediately, a pout formed on his chubby face and he lowered it, as though he was going to cry.

"You're a liar… You don't like it…"

What had I done wrong for him to see through me…? Even the best businessman could not detect I was acting…! I was at a loss for words when tears actually started gathering in his eyes. The first sobs were about to come out from his throat, when I crouched in front of him and put my hands on his cheeks.

"Don't cry…!" I demanded, not quite knowing what I was trying to accomplish "Why would you cry…?"

"... Because you don't like the drawing…" He mumbled.

"I didn't —"

I stopped myself. My lie had been discovered, so assuring I did like his drawing would only make me sound fake. I frowned slightly.

"How old are you, Sakunosuke-kun?"

"I'm almost eleven…!" He declared, rather proudly.

"Eleven? Then you're a small adult." I stated, to boost his ego.

"Right…! Dad said so too…!"

"Then, I can talk to you like an adult." I let go of him "Sit next to me."

He obeyed, and I took his drawing from his hands.

"This is what you made."

He nodded.

"And I… Am not quite fond of it." I admitted.

Tears came back to his eyes.

"Don't." I calmly told him "Let me tell you something useful, as an adult."

"What is it…?"

"Not everyone will like you or what you do. It is very hard to understand that, but since you're a little adult, you do get my point, right?"

"Mmh… Because… Everyone has different tastes…?"

"That's exactly what it is. If you know that, then do not be sad that I don't like your drawing, for, what matters most is that you like what you do…" I smiled slightly "Do you like your own drawing?"

"Very much…!"

"Then you shouldn't cry because of me."

He agreed and, surprisingly, I found myself patting his hair. He was ten years old… Just like Ruriko-chan when I had been thrown away. I regretted not having been a better sister, sometimes…

"Do you want to play hide and seek, nē-san?" He suddenly offered.

I immediately saw an opportunity to search the house as I would be searching for him.

"Alright, Sakunosuke-kun. I'll count…! So you better hide well…!"

"You'll never find me…!" He claimed.

He had no chance to hide from me, for my ability would find him immediately. However, seriously looking for him was not my current purpose. Swiftly, I covered my eyes and started counting until one hundred.

"I'm coming…!" I warned him, playfully.

And I searched for the young boy, I explored the mansion up and down. Obviously, I had already found him; he was hidden in his room, upstairs. It amused him to think he was so good that I could not see him. At the very least, he was having fun. I discreetly checked that Yosano-sensei was still talking to the mother to venture myself in a closed room. Or, rather, it was a locked one. Nevertheless, no lock could resist me and I quickly picked it up. It was Taikin-san's office. Whatever the man was hiding, I would discover it, for the sake of protecting that boy.

As I grabbed a file, however, I wondered why I was so determined to fulfill that mission. Or, rather, I did not care much about the mission, not as much as I cared for the boy. His smile warmed a heart I believed had long been frozen by an all too cruel world, and his presence was enough for my being to feel at ease. He was appeasing. With him, I did not feel tormented by my issues; I did not care about the Armed Detective Agency, nor about Dazai, nor about me… Even my annoying ability seemed a very meaningless matter. I only wanted to preserve his innocence. It was such a simple purpose, yet it gave my mission a whole new meaning. Caring about others suddenly seemed so easy to the ever-doubting person I was.

My fingers trembled in excitement as I turned the pages of the binder, looking for any kind of clue about Sakunosuke-kun's father. According to my own research, Taikin-san was a successful businessman whose main possession was his enterprise, a very prosperous technology business. His last invention was a chip which would, in the future, replace our cellphones. The chip would be inserted in our forearm and we would access data directly from our brain. Or was it a holographic screen? I did not remember the details, but I had to admit he had futuristic ideas, although they had already been seen in works of science fiction. Even so, why would one want to hurt him? Except for his well-deserved success, he had never hurt anyone and seemed like a nice person. Every month, he would make a donation to charities and had even financed a school in Ethiopia. A quick look through his ledger did not show any kind of embezzlement either. I had no idea who could resent him, nor why. On the surface and even as the leader of an important business, that man was perfect.

"I'm so bored of waiting… Nē-san really sucks at this game…!"

I remembered the game of hide and seek with Sakunosuke-kun and hurried out of the office. As soon as I closed the door, the boy was in front of me, his big eyes full of questions as he saw me. I cracked a smile.

"There you are…! I looked for you everywhere!"

"You're so bad at finding people…!" He laughed at me.

"That's because you're too good at hiding." I poked his nose "What about trying again?"

"No!" He declined my suggestion "This time, you'll hide…!"

"Sure thing, then." I grinned "Let's see if you can find me~"

He started counting and I took the opportunity to disappear from his sight. Trying to investigate more would make me look suspicious. For the moment, I would have to focus on playing with the boy.

A random room would serve as a hideout, so, the moment he could not see me anymore, I opened the first door on my left and entered the room. It was rather large. A bed was placed against the wall on my right and, in front of me, a bay gave access to a balcony. Further, a large wardrobe seemed to contain someone's clothes. On the nightstand, a picture distracted me from the game. It was Yumiko-san, with Sakunosuke-kun. They both looked bright and happy… However, Taikin-san was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had been the one to take the picture, after all. As I put the frame down, loud gunshots made me jump in surprise and dropped it. Unfortunately, it broke on the wooden floor and, cursing my clumsiness, I crouched down to pick the glass pieces up. I most certainly would have to call a maid… And I had to hurry; that shot did not predict anything good. Where was Sakunosuke-kun…?!

A last thing caught my attention. There was a second picture, right behind the main one. My eyes widened when I finally saw it. A woman wearing a colourful kimono was holding a crying child. The look on her face was tired, but her eyes, as blue as a field of lavender in summer, shone so brightly with happiness that I hardly recognised her. She was Ogawa Eirin, my mother. And the crying child…

"My first love… May you be happy with the sun of your life."

It was me. It was my name, and the date written under the note only served to confirm it. I pursed my lips. Sadly, the only thing I remembered from that woman was how she had avoided me each time she had seen me… Taikin-san's wish had never been fulfilled…

Another wave of gunshots erupted in the mansion, bringing me back to my current mission. I had to find Sakunosuke-kun before anything could happen to him. I shoved the picture in the inner pocket of my coat, and rushed out of the room. I could not utter a sound to call him. If the enemy was in there, I would reveal my position and any attempt at surprise would be ruined. I decided to use my ability, despite how exhausted it would make me feel.

"Scared… I'm scared…!"

His thoughts led me back to the living room, where Yumiko-san had passed out, holding her shoulder in pain. Yosano-san was holding her close to her, a seesaw in her free hand, ready to defend themselves against anyone who would dare approach them.

"What happened?" I asked, nervous.

"We were attacked, suddenly…" The doctor answered me.

The glass of the former windows, shattered on the ground, proved we had indeed been targeted.

"Are you unharmed?" I inquired.

"I'm fine, save for a few scratches here and there. Yumiko-san is okay too… Her prosthetic arm saved her."

My eyes widened as I saw she was not bleeding. Instead, a kind of oil dripped from her wound. I simply nodded.

"I have to find Sakunosuke-kun. We were playing hide and seek and —"

"Ogawa… They took him…"

"What…?" My throat was suddenly dry "I thought… I… How…?"

"They came in and looked for him. When they went out, he was with them." She sighed "I'm sorry, I was on the verge of death… My ability saved me…"

"Don't apologise, sensei… This was only due to my negligence, after all…"

But then, whose thoughts had I heard…?

"Save me… I'm scared…"

The boy was still here, after all… But he was in a different place. I took a pain reliever, a useless attempt to get rid of my headache, and focused. I had made a mistake. The voice came from another floor, which meant the boy was above me. I climbed the stairs and opened the door of the targeted room. It was closed.

"Sakunosuke-kun…! It's me, Kasumi nē-san…!" I called.

"... Who…?"

I frowned and forced the door open. In a corner of the room, poorly decorated and left dusty, the boy was crouched down. However, his clothes had changed. The ones he was currently wearing were old, worn out.

"You are not Sakunosuke-kun…" I muttered slowly approaching me "Shh, don't be afraid… It's alright, I don't want to hurt you…"

"Who are you…? How do you know my brother…? And how did you find me…?"

"You have so many questions…" I smiled at him "My name is Fuyuno Kasumi, and I was hired to protect your brother and your mother… I found you because… I had an intuition. What's your name?"

"Kitaro…" He said, timidly.

"Kitaro-kun…" I repeated "Alright… Don't worry, I'll protect you too…"

Gently, I took him against me for a hug. He was sobbing against my shoulder, the poor thing… In him, I was sad to recognise my younger self…

[dinoyoongi]

Cuddles & Kitty Cats

SYNOPSIS: After a night of drinking, you go to Yoongi’s dorm for some quality cuddles. Unfortunately, you’ve forgotten that you are currently giving him the silent treatment.

PAIRING: Yoongi x Reader

GENRE: Fluffy angst

WARNINGS: Language

WORD COUNT: 2292

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I have a million other things that I should be writing but this spontaneously jumped into my head. Nothing was planned, I just wrote whatever popped into my head. Hope you all enjoy!

_______________________________________

“Yoongi! Y/N is downstairs! Should security let her up or are you two still arguing?” Jin yells from the foyer of the apartment. Yoongi, who is currently slumped into the living room sofa and attempting to decode the obviously inebriated text messages you had just sent five minutes prior, lifts his head in confusion. He sighs heavily.

“I think she's drunk. Tell them to let her up.”

Your boyfriend and Jin idle by the door for what seems like fifteen minutes, waiting for the doorbell to sound. Yoongi is about to go search the floor for you when there's suddenly a loud banging on the door, followed by a pitiful whine. Jin yanks the door open quickly and both boys are startled when your body tumbles inside, crumpling to floor at their feet.

“Ow,” you half squeak, half hiccup. You slap the pristine, gleaming tiles with the palm of your hand. “Big Hit too cheap to spring for carpeting?”

“I don't think they anticipated drunk girls breaking their head open on our linoleum, Sweetheart,” Jin says, watching in amusement as Yoongi pulls you gently to your feet. He steadies you when you wobble, keeping one of you arms around his shoulder. Feeling his limbs against yours, you yank yourself away as if his skin is made of lava.

“I don't want to talk to you,” you say snottily, wrapping your arms around yourself. Yoongi snorts humorlessly, his eyes widening in disbelief.

“Then why the fuck did you get dropped off here?”

Jin has to stifle his laughter when you genuinely look confused – why did you instruct your taxi driver to take you here? It wasn't because you subconsciously wanted to make up with Yoongi and cuddle him all night. Nope. Absolutely not. No way. You were punishing him with the silent treatment and would continue to do so until he apologized for the things that he had said yesterday.

You hiccup again, your eyes moving toward the taller boy. He's surprised when you shove a finger in his direction. “Jin! I came to hang out with Jin. Jin is my best friend.”

Before Jin can even process what you've said, you have him by the elbow and you're dragging him into the living room, pulling him down to sit next to you on the sofa that Yoongi previously occupied. Yoongi leans against the wall of the entryway, already exhausted of your theatrics.

“So, Jin, how have you been lately? Tell me everything new that's going on!” you exclaim, kicking your leg up over your knee. Yoongi's eyes narrow at the expanse of skin that is suddenly revealed when your skirt shrinks in on itself with the movement.

“Uh,” a panicked Jin throws a worried glance at Yoongi, who motions with his hand and the rolling of his eyes to play along. “I've been … good. Things have been … good. Nothing new going on – just recording music and learning choreography and photoshoots … you know, BTS stuff ...”

You nod your head. “Of course. Sounds hectic.”

There's an uncomfortable silence. The weight of your expectant gaze targeted right at Jin is even more uncomfortable. He clears his throat. “And … yourself?”

By the way you perk up, shoulders squaring and posture suddenly proper, Jin can tell that you clearly didn't give any kind of shit about how he has been or what was new with him. He locks eyes with Yoongi again, both of them realizing what kind of game you were playing.

“I've been just peachy, Jin. Just peachy. I broke up with my neglectful boyfriend yesterday-”

Yoongi scoffs loudly. “We did not break up.”

“As I was saying,” you talk loudly over him with as much sass as you can muster, “I broke up with Yoongi and went to the bar tonight to find myself a new man who will actually remember my birthday and not call me immature for being upset about it.”

“You forgot her birthday?” Jin asks in incredulity, facing the younger boy with wide, disappointed eyes.

“I was only one week off!” Yoongi exclaims defensively. “I thought it was on the 18th instead of the 10th! I even had her present already bought and wrapped!”

“We've been together for three years, you asshat. And we've known each other for even longer than that. It is against the law for you to forget my birthday by now!”

Jin grimaces. “Err … that's not a law, Y/N.”

“Well it should be!”

“And this is why I called her immature. You're hammering the nails right into the coffin, Babe,” Yoongi drawls, shaking his head in amusement at your ridiculousness. The smug look on his face only enrages you further in your intoxicated state.

“And this is why I broke up with you! You are also hammering your -”

“You did not break up with me,” Yoongi interrupts, smirking when he sees your face flush red with anger.

“Shut up!” you screech, grabbing the first solid object that your fingers can reach and whipping it in his direction. Unfortunately for you, it was a stray sock and barely traveled halfway to where Yoongi stood. He stares at the piece of laundry for a few seconds before bursting into loud guffaws. Somewhere between throwing the sock and Yoongi laughing at you, your liquid courage dried up. A sudden wave of humiliation washes over you and you jump to your feet, ignoring the pain when your knee knocks into the coffee table hard as you run past Yoongi into the nearest bathroom.

Jin sighs, grabbing the edge of the coffee table to right it's position. “What I just witnessed was ridiculous. You know that, right? She's drunk. Why are you antagonizing her?”

“She came over here looking for an argument so I indulged her,” Yoongi shrugs. Something about Yoongi's nonchalant attitude sits wrong in Jin's stomach.

“Do you really think she came all the way over here to argue? She got drunk and probably missed you. And whether you'd like to admit it or not, you do owe her an apology for forgetting her birthday. That's kind of messed up.”

Yoongi sighs. “She understands. I forget important dates and anniversaries all the time and she always lets it go. I don't know why she's freaking out this time.”

“Do you ever forget my birthday? Namjoon? Jungkook? Any of the other members? Hell, you even remember to send some of management gift cards on their birthdays. Imagine how that must make her feel, Yoongi. She probably doesn't feel all that important to you.”

Yoongi's eyes fall to the sock on the floor by his feet. Jin was right – of course, he was right. When he forgot your birthday the first year, you were so calm and understanding. Yoongi had panicked and prepared for the worst but you soothed his worries and forgave him with no fuss. When he forgot your anniversary the next year, he could see that you were visibly upset but also let it go with a smile on your face. After that, it became routine. Yoongi didn't think these dates mattered to you all that much so he didn't put forth the effort to remember them. Has he been taking advantage of you and your feelings this entire time?

“You're right,” Yoongi sighs, rubbing the spot between his eyes with his thumb. “I really am an asshat.”

“I know you hate to do cheesy things, but I think you have to just suck it up this time. Go in there and apologize and be nice. And then bring her to bed because she seems on the brink of passing out. I'll make her a sandwich so she isn't so sick tomorrow.”

“Thanks, hyung,” Yoongi pats his elder on the shoulder before padding down the hallway to the first bathroom. He raises his fist to knock but leans his ear to the wood instead when he hears a faint whimpering from the other side. “Y/N? Jagi? Are you okay?”

When there's no answer, Yoongi turns the knob. Surprisingly, it opens. He finds you sprawled across the bathmat next to the shower, wet, mascara-streaked eyes trained on the screen of your phone. There's a faint melody of familiar music playing but he can't place a finger on what it is until you begin singing.

“It leaves me feeling seasick, baby ...” you half-sob, half-sing from your spot on the floor. Yoongi sighs, crouching down next to your body.

“Are you okay? Did you get sick?” he asks, lifting the toilet seat to check. The water is clear as crystal.

“No,” you whimper. The sight of your bottom lip quivering makes Yoongi's chest throb. “But I don't have any kitty cats for Jimin.”

Yoongi's eyebrows furrow in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“The kitty cats!” you howl, sliding your phone aggressively to where Yoongi is crouched. He's overcome with a mixture of understanding and amusement when he sees the agency page of BTS World running on your phone. “Jimin is so sad but I don't have any kitty cats left to give to him.”

Yoongi hides his chuckles with his hand. Even sloppy drunk with smeared make-up, you still managed to be both infuriating and adorable at the same time. He picks your phone up off of the ground, sliding it into his back pocket before reaching down to gingerly lift you into his arms. Fortunately you don't fight him, choosing to instead wrap both arms around his neck for support. As Yoongi carries you out of the bathroom and into the hallway, you catch sight of Jimin leaving his bedroom.

“Jimin!” you wail. Your mouth is near Yoongi's ear and the volume makes him wince. It startles Jimin, too, who stumbles over his own feet. His eyes are wide as saucers as he stares at you; eyes puffy and red, makeup everywhere except where it should be. What a sight. “I'm so sorry that I couldn't give you the kitty cats. I tried so hard. All they gave me were the stupid flowers. I'm so sorry.”

Jin's laughter is high-pitched and loud from the kitchen. Jimin opens his mouth in confusion but Yoongi shakes his head, jerking his neck forward as if giving permission to carry on. He brings you into his bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him and lowering you softly onto his bed before heading into the bathroom for a damp washcloth. He sits down next to where you lay, dabbing and wiping gently at your ruined makeup.

“I hope you remember this in the morning because I'm terrible at this but … I'm sorry, Y/N. I'm sorry for not being attentive and forgetting so much that is important to you, to us. I'm sorry for being mean when you got upset. And I'm sorry for teasing you tonight. I'll be better, I promise.”

“And I'm sorry for throwing the sock at you. Violence is never the answer.”

A tired, amused smile stretches across your boyfriend's face. “That's right.”

“But Yoongi? Am I important to you?” you mumble pitifully. Yoongi's chest throbs harder.

“Of course you are, Jagi. You are the most important person in my life and I'm sorry for making you feel like you're not. Can you forgive me for being an asshat this whole time?”

You push down the queasiness in your stomach to roll onto your side, reaching out to grab his arm. He understands your motives and lays down next to you, tucking you into his side. You sigh in contentedness. This was what you wanted. This is what you came here for tonight. Yoongi cuddles were the best cuddles and you craved them even when you wanting nothing to do with him.

“I love you so I suppose I can forgive you,” your words are muffled by his shoulder. He chuckles. “Only if you make me something to eat, though.”

“Your best friend is in the kitchen making you a sandwich right now.”

“Oh? Why is she here? Did I bring her with me? Yoongi, she's a terrible cook. Can you ask Jin to make me something instead?”

All Yoongi can do is laugh. He reaches for the edge of the blanket and pulls it up over your body, knowing you enough to be prepared for the sudden slumber that you always fall into after you stop making sense. He watches your eyelids begin to droop.

“Jagi?” he asks, moving a strand of hair from your face. You hum in response. “You said you went to the bar to find a new man … you were joking, right?”

“He wanted to buy me french fries, Yoongi,” you mumble sleepily, your eyes never opening. “But I said no thank you, sir, I have a boyfriend.”

Yoongi's responding laugh is louder than he thought it would be. He slaps his hand over his mouth but the effort is wasted as you have already fallen asleep, your lips parted with soft snores. Still snickering, he leans down to kiss you lightly on the forehead before clicking the lights off and making his way back into the kitchen. Jin is already plating a large sandwich stacked with meats when Yoongi finds him. Jimin sits on a stool at the counter, flipping through the week's schedule.

“Might as well wrap it up and put it in the fridge. She's fallen asleep but I'll make her eat it for breakfast. Thanks, hyung.”

“Did you two work things out? No fighting?”

Yoongi smiles. “We're good. No fighting.”

“I'm really happy that you and Y/N are on good terms again but I have a question,” Jimin chimes in from his seat. Both boys turn to look at him. “What kitty cats and flowers was she talking about?!”

[smolbeandrabbles]

Spera - Elias x Reader (Trespass)

Direct Follow Up To: Veritas GIF Credit: X

@wltz-bby​ @happyskywhale​ 

Author’s Note: *Story Time* Ha-! I went on holiday in September and there were a bunch of DVDs at the holiday home and no word of a lie, this was one of them and my parents wanted to see it. So, I kinda wanted to continue things from ‘Veritas’... and watching it again got me inspired (and I got to notice a bunch more stuff!) 

I was going to call this ‘What She Wants Tonight’ ... but then I decided to keep the Latin theme.

So you get Elias back-! 🎉

What She Wants Tonight - Luke Bryan  (Because of course it’s Luke Bryan)

Disclaimer: Trespass & associated characters not mine / gif not mine / lyrics not mine. / Call backs to Veritas / Kyle Sullivan (Guns for Hire) gets another name drop.

Premise: You hadn’t expected him to call you, of course. But then you didn’t think you’d expected to see him again either. On this mission you must work together. But it’s clear that that’s not your only objective...

Words: 7171

Warnings: Swearing / Sexual Pre-Amble / I really can’t write action scenes.

_____ She walks up, velvet rope unhooks She snaps her fingers and a drink comes She locks you down with just one look She's got this whole club undone If she's on the rebound, you ain't gonna know it Coming off a heartbreak, she ain't gonna show it She's eyes caught, red dot, locked on me, yeah She wants my hands on her body She wants to burn like she's made of fire Said she ain't going home 'til we Drink every drop of Kentucky dry Don't even know what she'll do when she does it Palm of her hand, I'm hers in the blink of an eye She don't take no and I love She gets what she wants And I get to be what she wants tonight I get to be what she wants tonight I get to catch all her secrets Sequins bouncing off flashing lights If she wants it, then we're leaving Get me home, park the truck, cut the tires I get to be where she goes when she's lonely The last door of the night she's closing Oh, I know she could have anything, but And I don't know how I got to be The only thing she needs right now

---

To anyone who wasn’t aware, the building could have been a normal office block, the people going in and out certainly appeared to be normal office workers. A few of them were – in order to hide their organization, the first few levels of this building had been rented to businesses, but the rest of the block belonged to the Agency.

You stepped gently into the elevator and swiped your access card, pushing the elevator button for your floor you stood back against the mirrored walls and waited to ascend.  Of course, by the time you were to the floor, Joel was already busy running around gathering papers and talking loudly on phones… it was clear that you wouldn’t be here long, they would have you out the door as quick as they had you in. Joel was a little like a personal assistant. Although an ‘assassin’ in his own right he was more on the level of office worker casual, than your higher ranking. He was not your partner - although you did use him as such on occasion - and you were not his mentor, he had been taught the basics by others but that’s as far as he got. He was your go between, only top clients saw you face to face (and were always surprised that you was a woman) everyone else went through Joel, he arranged your payments and sent off your confirmation… sometimes he helped on intel, or clean up detail, but he also arranged transport and set things between your Superior and yourself. He managed to offer you a quick nod as he rushed around, which you gratefully returned… you ascended a flight of steps and knocked on the door.

“Come in.” You entered. “Y/N. Quick as ever to the call I see.” “There isn’t often a time when I cannot get here. I’d like to keep my records intact.” “And they are quite some records.” Your Superior indicated to the chair in front of him, “Please sit.” You did as was asked, crossing your legs one over the other. “…It’s a wonder to me why the Master has not called you up yet.” “Because he knows that I’m good at ground work. If you pulled me up another level then, of course, I would have jurisdiction over several assassin’s as you do, but I would only get called to field work in times of dire need… and We haven’t had a real firefight in close to 100 years. I would do better out there. Plus aren’t you all men?” you managed to crack a little smile, “I’m not indicating sexism, but…” He gave a small shrug, “They all think you’re male anyway. As we all go by codenames here.” “Yes there is that.” You nodded to the window, “Joel appears to be working hard on the next big thing already,” your eyes flicked back to your Superior, “I assume I am needed right away?” “Yes…” He handed you over a file “As you’re in the area, we thought that might take your fancy. It isn’t directly your job, but it does pay well.” You opened the file and raised an eyebrow, “Nilo? Again?!” “Several of these drug lords are untouchable. As you well know.” “Eh, they give good business, some even pay well,” you flicked the page, “these just seem to be calls for several underlings…” “Several big Russians are getting too big for their boots, too…” “So there’s a lot going on?” “I would only send my best to several jobs at once.” You took the second file from the desk, they all looked to be linked, “These guys aren’t in situ yet, are they?” “No. But we have it on good ear that they will be.” “So Nilo calls for the blood of the Russians, and some” you squinted as you read the name, “…This sounds like drug wars?” It had been a while; they weren’t exactly to your taste. Nilo was a very old client indeed – back when you were just starting out on your own. “You have connections.” “Yes. Joel is useful in that respect too… Does he know?” Joel would know the when and where and exactly what you’d need. You doubted he’d be doing so much rushing if he knew what this was really for. “You can brief him.” “Hmm. Well, it’s a good thing we focus on the numbers and not the side…” You stood, collecting the folders together, “Consider it done.” “Good. Your payment for yesterday has been wired. The man himself has been reported missing. I assume no body will turn up?” “Not on my watch. Unless someone asks for it specifically.” You waved the folders, “Expect some good news within the next few days.” “I always do with you, Y/N. Good luck.” “Thank you Sir. But I won’t need it.”

 As you exited the room and took the stairs you called to him: “Joel!” He fell in step as you hit the floor; “Can get the car out front, I’ve sent intel up to Marty, meet in 10?” “Sure, let me go see what our weapons tech has for me then… you ready?” “Sounds like there’s a war brewing.” “Drugs war. Hope you enjoy undercover.” “Me? Oh Geez…” Joel’s face told the story you expected “Well I’m not even supposed to be there am I? They don’t call me Ghost Shadow because they can see me, do they?” “It’s actuall-” “Don’t care, Joel, remember…” You looked to him with a smile, you’d never had much patience for whispered codenames, “Besides, you have the connections.” He scoffed, “Don’t rope me in with the drugs guys, Nilo’s just used me before.” “Yeah, but I want other side intel.” You tapped him in the chest with your folder, “Get it.” “Yes Sir.” “Funny.”

***

Your weapon’s technician looked as enamoured as ever to see you, his smile bright as you walked onto his floor: “Y/N!” “Marty.” “…Off already?” “One day I’m taking the first fight out to Cozumel and NOONE is going to stop me.” “If you ever get a break, considering what you do, I’m going to give you free range and let you clear out my weapons cache entirely.” “Oh? You’d do that for me?” You fluttered your eyelashes teasingly “Marty!” you tapped your card in, and opened the doors, “What do you have in?” “New? Since you were last in here?” “Don’t give me that tone! Because if there’s one thing I know, you are a collector and second, I haven’t been using this particular weapons store in my work recently, so, yes, new!” “Usually you carry your own pistol.” “Usually?” You gave him a wry smile, “Always. And I do, but everything else-” “What I like most about your pistol is its untraceable.” “Well. That’s how he made it.” “So it WAS his.” “Yes. It the least I could do to honour him.” “…Well, you are right, I do collect. I have several new rifles in, but you’re not such a fan. I also have a light weight sniper gun, and if you were ever interested in something smaller for close range-” “A pocket gun?” You chucked, “Bring it, a lot less messy than a knife.” “So they do work?” “Execution style. Yeah – anything will work if you want it to. I mean, sometimes us Assassins have to improvise; that said its always hoped things will never get that messy.” He slid the tiny gun across the table to you, “It’s not been road tested yet. But… I can think of no better person to try it out. Careful.” “Will be,” you patted it as you slid it into your top coat pocket, “and for Joel?” “What do you think he’ll need?” “You’ve read the file, you tell me! Don’t forget rope; the most useful thing you could give me.” “Kinda think a gun would be more useful.” “Rope saves lives, guns take lives. Get my meaning. Besides, how else do you expect me to ascend or descend a building?!” “Stairs!? A lift!? This is Nilo we’re talking about, it’s not exactly big budget. This isn’t Mission Impossible.” “Well it could be-!” You cracked a smile as Marty muttered under his breath, collecting everything up – he handed the bag to you, “Have a good trip. See you in a few days.” “Of course! Thanks!” *** Joel complained the whole way; it was to be expected - you were used to getting into the middle of gang and mafia warfare. Taking out politicians and heads of state. Drugs sometimes, on a higher level – but drugs carried its own problems… This, in particular, was way below your pay grade. “You’re too good for this.” “He’s fronting the right amount of money and he wants me.” “No, fact is you should have been off shit like this years back. You did some good jobs back then, but you’re above this now. And drugs?!? Y/N, you abhor drugs. It’s like your one thing.” “Look, if He sends me then I can’t push back.” “You have authority, surely?” “Well it’s a little late now. Next time I’ll think on it.” “Yeah well, you better.” His hard stare switched from you to the road. No doubt, Joel didn’t want to be mixed up in this any more than you. Perhaps it was about time you asked to politely be removed from anything related to them.

When you pulled into the parking lot he began grumbling even more. Of course Joel had most of the intel, maybe he’d need a little more research but, that’s what the first meeting was all about. Sometimes you thought he’d rather stay at HQ and feed you the info via a web link. “I mean, a strip club. Could this be any more degrading for you?!” Joel was about to launch into how the Agency should think before sending their best female agent to places like this, to stop the tirade you gave a smile and a joke instead. “As long as you’re not expecting me to get up and dance?” You nudged him, “Besides the girls all love you.” “Not interested.” Was his blunt reply, reaching into the back seat for his case. “Nothing will cheer you up today, huh?” “No. It’ll get worse.” You rolled your eyes, “Okay, so let’s get in, get it done, get out.”

*** To be honest when you’d left your card with Elias you never expected him to call it. Maybe hoped on it, but you’d been done with hoping after a few days; those had now bled into months - and you had plenty of kills under your belt since then (and a grovelled apology from Kyle Sullivan. He hadn’t called on you again since.) But your day got a little better as you wandered into the club and very nearly snorted, hiding your face and smirk behind Joel for a moment. “What?” “Remember when I told you about that little bit of trouble at Mr.Sullivan’s place?” “Yeah, I remember...” “Guess we just stumbled on where they came from.” If it had pleased you, Joel turned another shade of glum. “Brilliant.”

Indeed, though you looked pretty collected as you approached Nilo, Elias has turned sheet white. The others wouldn’t have noticed, you’d taken them all out before they saw your face. Well, maybe except the big guy but he was eyeing you with a certain level of curiosity, instead of what was going through Elias’ mind. Clearly not so happy to see you. You didn’t even spare him a proper glance, nodding to Nilo instead. “It’s been a minute.” “Indeed it has, Y/N. Welcome. We’ll certainly be glad to use your services once more…” “No use kicking around, I suggest we discuss the job.” You bowed your head gently, if only to say my pleasure - with a smirk. Because it would be your pleasure. Although, looking back to Elias you were sure that not everyone was glad. *** Elias didn’t really speak much during the briefing; you already counted too many people involved – and Joel was getting antsy. You’d just have to deal with it, you could do this alone but Nilo wanted to make sure everything was done to his letter – and therefore was sending a group along with you. You didn’t particularly understand this; did he think you were still a kid who’d only just started out? Reckless and a little dumb? You thought it was more likely the group he wanted to send were the ones who would mess everything up. Elias and Ty were amongst them. Elias, being the obvious one you knew – who did not like being under the weight of your stare – and Ty being the one you’d picked out as a potential problem back at Mr. Sullivan’s house. Elias’s brother, Noah, was also in on the meeting and a couple of guys who looked less tough than paper, who you would refuse to take when it came to your terms… but let Nilo think he’s in control, for now. Joel and yourself were now sitting at the bar of the club, him facing it with his laptop, grumbling like there was no tomorrow. And you facing the pole dancers, back against the bar. You’d never had the inclination to get up there and do that, but you were 99% sure you could; maybe one day you’d give someone a run for their money. Joel had ordered some cocktail that came with a lollipop and you wasted no time in stealing that. Your drink wasn’t alcohol, you didn’t drink on a job – Champagne was for afterwards. Joel was drinking to get himself through this one. “So?” “I can’t believe this.” “You’ve said that 20 times.” You removed the candy from your mouth, “I need, you know, something useful.” “I mean the complex itself is relatively easy to get into, you don’t even need the code, just fry everything. There’s multiple floors but there’s hardly anywhere that’s going to have cover…” He was staring hard at the schematic. “Why are we not going alone? The more bodies in a corridor the harder this is!” “Joel.” You warned. “Okay, you just need to get to the inner most point. It looks like one of those panic rooms.” You half turned to his screen as he tapped it, replacing the lolly with an agreeing hum. “Assured your guy, and whatever drugs or shit you gotta haul on back, is there.” He turned to you, looking more than a little disgruntled that he was having to do this, “I’ll make a couple of calls. It won’t be hard. And forgodsake, please do not drag this personal hell out for me.” “I’ll try.” You gave a gently sarcastic smile and he sighed. “And PLEASE stop doing that overtly sexual thing you do! Like, I don’t need it.” “It’s not for you.” “I think he’s a bad idea.” Joel eyes were back on his laptop, and you weren’t sure if his uncomfortable shift was just for show. You supposed he was only going to point back to his ‘degrading’ speech if you pressed further. “I didn’t ask you.” “No, and I can see why.” Of course you were playing a game here. You knew Elias was watching you – there wasn’t much out there you weren’t aware of. That was all part of your training. But you’d noticed that try as he might he couldn’t keep his eyes off you, and you could busy yourself with being a seductress whilst also being teasing and paying him absolutely no mind. What you’d also come to the dissatisfying conclusion of was that his girlfriend was also here; oh, and she was not impressed. You didn’t really care, it was fun to play them against each other, in fact maybe it was more satisfying to have her here, realising exactly what you were doing. Because she was all over him and that was not an exaggeration, but Elias was pushing her out of the way to keep on staring at you. So, if Joel really didn’t think you were going to sit on this stool with your chest pushed out and your shirt riding up, sucking on a lollipop… well he should know better. You didn’t need to show too much skin: the idea was to let his imagination do the work. From what you could tell, Elias’ imagination was working overtime. Joel left you alone to make his series of phone calls outside, convinced that he needed air anyway. Which you’d laugh at of course, considering he’d probably kill his time outside smoking. At which point you turned back to the bar and gathered your thoughts – before you would begin to clear your head of everything but the mission. That was all that would matter for the next few days; that was all that had to matter. As you were pondering this however, you were approached by someone else, and you didn’t really have to guess who had made his way across the club to you. “Well, I see you can’t even call a number on a card, how do you expect me to think that you can pull this off?” Elias slid onto the stool next to you, tipping his head, “It’s not that simple.” You turned your eyes on him, “I get it, you have a girlfriend. Don’t tell me you’re not interested. And if you’re not, don’t come over here and talk to me, keep it strictly business.” He rummaged in his jacket pocket and your calling card was placed back on the table, “I wanted to.” You couldn’t help but smile as you stared at it, “Wanting is something you can say easily, the doing is the only thing I have use for.” Your fingers brushed his as you pushed the card back towards him, “Keep it, if you ever decide to become useful to me.” “Y/N…” The bar tender placed a drink in front of him without Elias even asking and your look away from him was enough to be an eyeroll, with the way you stared straight at the back wall. He spent enough time here for that then. He took a sip, eyeing yours. “You don’t drink?” “Not on the job no.” “Y/N, what are you doing here?” “I’m an assassin, I told you that. It’s like you haven’t listened to a word I’ve said since I walked in.” “Is that any surprise?” His voice was laced with sugar, which made you a little uncomfortable as you turned to him. Those blue eyes were watching your face intently, and if you thought that a man like him was capable of melting, that might be what you’d call it. “Please, Elias. Go back to your girlfriend.” There was a pause, before he leant into your space and you sighed in obvious frustration. “Why do you need two guns?” He indicated to the one on the counter that no one was paying any mind to, and then to your hip, partially concealed by your coat. “Assassin as good as you.” “Will you do what I say, if I tell you?” His smile became a grin that was more of a smirk, “Depends what you tell me to do.” You couldn’t help but hum a laugh as you unholstered the one on your belt, “That,” you waved at the one on the counter, “that’s my own, it’s no big deal. It’s probably standard issue – due an upgrade, but it’s never let me down. Call me superstitious, but I’d quite like to keep it around. This baby…” You weighed the one in your hands up. “Belonged to my mentor.” “The one that used to spew Latin before he killed people?” You couldn’t help but smile as you nodded: he remembered. “So why do you have it?” You placed it with your own and leant into him, you became a little huddle and lowered your voice, “Because he died, Elias. It’s in honour and memory of him.” There was a moment’s pause, and Elias wondered if you’d opt to continue the conversation, “…How? I mean your line of work is dangerous but-” “The Agency killed him, made me watch.” The flicker across Elias’ face was both apologetic and a revelation; ‘that might explain a few things’ “He fell in love with a target, he couldn’t kill her. Eventually the Agency found out and executed him.”  It was weird for you to just out and say it like that, it jarred you – you weren’t sure what you were thinking, saying something so personal. You were supposed to have better instincts than that. Did you trust him? There was something cold about the way you were talking that didn’t fit with the look on your face, and Elias tipped his head – “But you’re working alone now, you have no mentee of your own?” He seemed to be asking if that process would be too painful for you. Instead you gave a shake of your head, “No. I have no patience for that. I would be no good, not yet anyway. Not all of us make it through the process – hence why Joel is my assistant and not an assassin himself. He has all the skills, he didn’t pass all the tests.” You frowned momentarily, then shrugged, “I’ll probably die doing this, or see myself old enough to take my bosses job. Though, I’ve never been much of a girl for desk work.” Elias would agree with that, “How long have you been doing this?” “…That’s… a little too much of me to expose to you.” Oh, but you liked this didn’t you? Talking to him. To someone who was actually interested in you. “I never knew my parents. The Agency has a specific way of testing kids at orphanages and such. There’s no attachment, nowhere for the kids to run. Still, they take care of you better than some children get treated by their own parents so, I guess there’s a win somewhere.” Something twinged in Elias by the look on his face, making you realise you’d touched on something that was a little too much of him to expose to you. You left it alone. “I guess you have a point there.” “Uh huh.” You couldn’t help but smirk as you looked over his shoulder, this girlfriend of his had spotted the two of you talking and the livid look on her face was only making your ego swell a little. There was no way she didn’t know he was into you, and you were invested enough in the conversation to have some attachment to him. You wondered if he’d told her about your kiss, if it was obvious to her by the way Elias looked at you. But he was still watching your face, even when you turned away, the way you were smirking and clearly enjoying yourself, “What?” He was clearly amused, he hoped it was him. “Your little girlfriend is about to blow a fuse.” Elias’ face fell instantly as he looked over his shoulder, “Oh-” “She a dancer here?” He didn’t need to nod, “You walking cliché.” You nudged him off his bar stool, “Go. Go on.” “Try not to miss me.” He shot back, hands getting a little too friendly as his touch lingered on you. Instead you scoffed, picking up your cup, “Trust me, I won’t.”

 ** You kicked around for another day and a half, longer than you would have liked, but once Joel had his intel sorted the small group you assembled had to make the plan water tight. Which means they listened to you, no questions asked. Ty was about the only one you really trusted, he was built for this and he took an interest in you for reasons you thought were kind of unhealthy; not an assassin, you could tell he was probably going to enjoy this. You never took enjoyment from killing – it was just your job. Still, Ty was quiet and nodded along. Elias didn’t. And to be honest, if you weren’t having so much fun playing him and Petal – you’d tried not to snort – off against each other, you’d be more pissed with him than you already were. “She is NOT coming on this mission!” “She always tags along.” “You’re not running this mission Elias, I AM. And there’s only one thing I have a hard stop on, and that’s drugs.” Before he could protest the irony of what you were doing you continued, “She’ll fuck the whole thing up and I know you know that. I will not take drug dependants on this mission. Or we can take her, but I’ll put a bullet in her head the second I feel I have to and I won’t hesitate.” “---You’re…. insane!” “It’s my job. I don’t fail on my tasks; your little gang of tag-alongs are not going to change that.” “Then I won’t come.” “Well don’t. Explain to Nilo why, for all I care.” Elias sighed, faltering on the fact you would give him up so fast, a little too easily for someone who wanted to labour a point, “Okay. Okay… I’ll tell her.” “You better…” He turned away but you pulled him back by his jacket, “Woah, hey. Your brother’s not coming either.” “Oh my god-” “Because he’s the opposite problem. He’s not taking his medication and he’s erratic. You think I can’t read tells?” “No, on this I might be inclined to agree you have the right idea.” “So we’re agreed, on the same page.” Elias didn’t meet your eyes as he nodded, “Yeah.” “So we’re getting somewhere.” Your arms folded, confident little smile making him give you that same melted look. Scratch all previous thoughts, Elias was easier to play than a deck of cards. You wondered how long he’d spent looking at your calling card and desperately wishing to call the number. You wondered why Elias hadn’t already. What was his real reason? He could give you as many cocky smirks and sarcastically suggestive little quips as he wanted – you could see right through him. “I thought we already were.” *** You should have bet on how much complaining Joel was going to do, by the fact that he was muttering curses in more than one language under his breath. For the first part of the journey you thought it was funny, and responded in kind. Linguistics was a nice hobby, and Joel and yourself had a healthy competition on how many you could learn. Aside from that, it was good business practice. For the second half of the journey you settled into silence, closing your eyes and taking yourself through all your focus meditation and breathing exercises – before checking and double checking your weaponry. Then triple checking it – obviously. All with Joel still grumbling on, and Elias and Ty asking each other if this was something they ought to be doing. Joel slowed the van and parked up, the complex was in view, but you were out of sight. You had split yourself into two teams: Elias and yourself, and Joel and Ty. You would clear the first few floors together – without breaking a sweat – and then they would go on look out and you’d take out the name on your rap sheet. Obviously your assistant was as impressed with this arrangement as he was with everything else – but he was on side with you, and he understood it. He could make sure there were no screw ups. Joel also had a build like Ty did, so he wasn’t about to be taken out, or by surprise, by him. You all had communication links to each other so you could keep tabs, but you wanted radio silence unless absolutely necessary. The only good thing about this was that you didn’t really have to worry about how messy you were, Nilo didn’t have a preference for making someone disappear, he just wanted the man killed. As predicted the four of you swept the first few floors silently, splitting the building nearly in half you came to the point where you’d be leaving Joel behind, turning to him you opted to continue your language game: “You know where you’re going?” “I know what I’m looking for.” “Be careful. I don’t trust them.” “The feeling is mutual.” “Yell if you need anything.” He shot Elias a look before turning to you, “I’d say the same, but I think you can handle yourself!” You chuckled, “Thanks, Joel. Until later.” And, indicated for Elias to follow you, ascended the stairs.

  ***

Everything looked very different up here, but was equally as quiet. There’d be security every so often, you were sure of that, as there had been downstairs. Perhaps more, considering your target was their boss, but nothing you didn’t think yourself capable of handling. “So, I don’t get it, is this a drugs complex, or a house!?” You turned to Elias as he stared around the walls: very domestic from the bland grey concrete you’d seen downstairs. “Both.” It wasn’t a guess; you’d seen the schematic. “A safe house?” “Round about, we’re heading for a panic room.” “You have that map stored in your head?” You kept the pistol steady as you rounded the corner, it was clear and you beckoned him on, “Is that impressive?” “Vaguely.” You chuckled, “I’ll take it.” You suddenly pulled back, slamming Elias against the wall as a bullet streaked passed you, “Shit!” You weren’t worried about that, immediate with your retaliation fire. You were trained for this, it was instinct. There was more than one of them and you had to bring them down quick less they raise the alarm, you had no time to think about cover: about the only thing Elias did think of. “They’ll have heard bullets, I gotta go.” You turned back to him, “Your choice, go back to them or try to keep up!” Trying to keep up was much easier said than done, and you had sprinted out of sight by the time Elias had run around the next corner. “Ah, shit.” He ran a hand through his hair, “Well, I’ve followed her this far!” You must have been quick, because Elias made it another couple of floors up before he found any signs that you might have had difficulty, what worried him was that it was your mentors’ gun that was lying on the ground – so out of the way it’d probably been kicked or thrown there. Carelessly; you hadn’t just decided to drop it. You certainly would have retrieved it.  Whoever your mentor had been, however you tried to hide it, Elias knew he’d meant a lot to you. Picking it up, the still loaded chamber and half empty magazine told a worse story to him. What the hell had happened to you?! Surely they hadn’t overpowered you? Not you! *** Elias almost started to believe it as he continued walking, as suddenly there wasn’t a body, or blood or an empty casing anywhere in sight. Everything was still quiet. Not a sound, not even on the radio. He arrived on the next floor, and again everything was clear. It occurred to him to call the other two for help very nearly a little too late, as, more concerned with finding out where you were, Elias rounded the next corner without his pistol up. In fact, without a pistol at all, and he was faced with yours. “You’re lucky that I check what I’m shooting at before I pull a trigger, Elias! Geez!” You flicked the safety on. “ME!? You just gave me a heart attack! Where the hell did you go!?” You shuffled on the spot with a little shrug, “Look, just, don’t go upstairs into the office, okay?” “Office…? What? I thought you said he had a panic room.” “He absolutely had a panic room – he wasn’t in it. It was not the cleanest kill I’ve ever made and…” You paused staring up at the ceiling, “At least it’s done.” He followed your eyeline and grimaced, leaking through the ceiling already was a patch of blood, “That’s a lot of bodies or it’s a terribly built house-!” “Bit of both…” You looked to him, “Hardly matters right now, don’t you think?” “Who the hell are you, Y/N?” Your head tipped, regarding him seriously in the eschewing silence to his question. “You really want to know that?” He nodded firmly, “Yes.” Elias wasn’t sure he liked the smile you gave back, the way it made the heart leap in his chest, and a shudder run up his spine. You grabbed him, shoving him up against a wall this time not to protect him – far from it. Your lips on his were rough, this wasn’t love…  you weren’t even sure you could call it chemistry. But it was something. Elias pulled your body into his, your fingers running into his hair, he groaned into the kiss as you raked your nails across his scalp. But you continued to push his body as you made him breathless. Oh… shit. Elias could barely think properly as he ran his hands under your coat and over your ass, pulling your shirt with him, the feel of your supple skin under his calloused hands drove him crazy. Until he found himself backed up against a door, breaking the kiss in confusion. “Maybe you should try it.” You encouraged, voice at a whisper as you brought his lips back to yours, Elias wasn’t going to say no, and it swung open behind his push. This time when he broke the kiss it was only to smirk. “Oh? A bedroom?” “Uh huh.” He turned back to you, eyes raking your body as they had done before, but now significantly more hungry. You pushed a finger to his lips before he started getting clever: “…Stop talking… stop thinking… don’t make me wait any longer.” Replacing your finger with your lips, Elias pulled back to nod, “Okay.” He pulled you into his arms, relieving you of your coat immediately. It was almost like no time had passed at all, he tasted the same as you remembered, whisky and cigarette smoke. Elias pulled you closer, certainly not eager to break the kiss or let you go for even a moment. You pulled off his leather jacket, throwing it with your own; you revelled in the way that you were both so different, but you wanted the same thing so badly. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” He gave you a small smirk. You let the look on your face answer for you, to which Elias grinned, hands under your shirt he pulled it over your head, allowing you to relieve him of his own. His fingers ghosted over your skin, and he paused momentarily: every so often there was a litter of scars. You weren’t about to count the number of times you’d been in real trouble, but you always got out of it. You simply chuckled, “Yeah, no dancing on a stage in just my bra and panties for me.” “That’s not why I’m here.” You’d agree with that, kissing him gently again, your fingers grazed over his chest and Elias tensed; “What? Scared?” You smirked against his lips. “A little. It’s not like I don’t know what you’re capable of.” “I don’t sleep with my targets.” You kissed him again, winking as you undid his belt, dragging him back to your lips with his belt loops; this time he bit your lip gently, making you groan against his kiss. Elias picked you up, undoing your pants and bra clasp, pushing you down onto the bed he nipped down your jawline and neck. You pulled him back, reciprocating Elias’ trail of kisses, whispering prayers into his skin in nearly every language you knew. He slid your pants down your legs with a sigh, and he shook under your touch. You were too much for him already, but you weren’t about to show Elias mercy. You smirked wickedly, claiming his lips with your own once more. This man was about to be all yours… *** All of you were clearly sworn to silence. Elias was the more dazed of the three of you (Ty seemed none the wiser), and Joel kept throwing you dirty and disgusted looks. You couldn’t care less. You’d done your job, you were entitled to a little fun every once in a while, your assistant didn’t have to be a killjoy. Overall though, you were disappointed in yourself, somewhere along the way – probably when you were dealing with everyone who was actually occupying the panic room – you’d lost your most important possession. You weren’t about to admit that out loud, but you hadn’t been able to find it as you had made your way back downstairs. You vowed you’d get it back, but you’d rather go back with Joel and do a real sweep without the other two around. There was too much going on here – and it was obvious Joel wanted out and away from here as soon as possible. That was fine with you. You dropped Elias and Ty back at the bar, and you were wondering if this time it might really be it. Were you both satisfied now? It scared you that you might not be sure of the answer to that. Joel went to deliver the news and package, and Ty wasn’t one to kick around, leaving you and Elias outside. “Well, now you can get back to that girlfriend of yours.” “Is that really any way to say goodbye?” “I don’t want to get emotionally involved here.” Though your eyes strayed from his face a little too much for Elias to want to believe that. “Does that make everything easier for you?” “Yeah.” You folded your arms, no point in skirting around that. Elias for once looked like he was seeing right through you, “Except there’s one thing that makes you show your cards.” “What?” You narrowed your eyes at him, how dare he stand here acting like he had you all figured out. Elias rummaged in his jacket, and you nearly gasped as he presented you with your mentor’s pistol. “He must have been one hell of a guy.” “He… was.” You took it from him delicately, “You found it.” “It’s important. Right?” “…Thank you.” And there was emotion behind that, you both knew it. “You’re welcome.” Although his hand took yours, thumb running over that tattoo on your wrist, and down to your fingers, Elias was so close to entwining them. He thought better of it, instead twisting the ring so that ‘Veritas’ very clearly faced him – you just about admit to yourself you were disappointed. “My offer is still on the table, you know?” You gave a small smile, “If you ever want to be useful, you have my number.” He chuckled, “Well. I’ll… think on it.” Then added, with a smile, “That’s the truth.” “Don’t think.” You took a step back as Joel called you, walking briskly back to the car. Yes, he certainly wanted out. “I told you, the only thing worth it, is the doing!” ** Amazingly Joel did not go ballistic at you – you thought he was just glad to be out. On top of that he knew you’d seen the looks he was shooting you, and you supposed he thought that said it all. To be honest it probably did, and you would both vow silently to never talk about this again. You pulled your pistol apart to check it, as you always did and, satisfied, you pulled your mentor’s apart too. Pausing as you checked the magazine, sitting in the top was a rolled-up piece of paper. You smiled to yourself, only guessing what it said. You pieced the pistol back together and unravelled it. He’d watched you do this on the journey, so Elias could be certain that you’d check your gun pretty soon after he’d returned it. Spera - Trust. ‘Someone is a show off’. You almost laughed as you read the number before rolling it up again and pocketing it. Truth and Trust seemed almost ironic. And yet also seemed to be completely fitting. You made sure to be safely home, to ensure that Joel wasn’t physically ill. And also to wait a few days, to keep Elias hanging. Which he was, because that man wasn’t like you. You could wait on him to call like it was no big deal – but he would be checking that mobile of his every ten minutes at the very least. Predictably he picked up on the second ring: “Y/N?” “Hey, babe.” You would be directly flirty, you’d tell Elias what he wanted to hear, “I see my number must be saved in that phone of yours, you just never pressed the call button. See, even a busy girl like me can action something.” “I… I’m just glad you did.” You left a significant pause, enough to make him uncomfortable, “Are you asking me to trust you?” “The truth is important to you, isn’t it? Don’t you trust me?” Your voice became quiet, all too aware of the vulnerability of admittance: “I do. It scares me that I do.” You sighed, “But that hardly matters. I told you I like action. So, if I don’t want you to call me unless it’s for you to be useful, I figured that my calling you was only ever about offering you the opportunity to be so…” “How?” Elias’ voice was eager, you could almost see his nails digging into the bar, the tension running through him, a slight dark tint to those blue eyes of his. “You ever been to Boston?” “…No?” “Well, if you get yourself on a flight over… I can give you an address.” “You live in Boston?” “You asked me to trust you.” “I did.” There was relief and understanding in that sentence. “When?” “Whenever you want, babe. I’ll let you know if I get called anywhere though, wouldn’t want you to waste a trip.” “Considerate of you.” “Well, like for like.” You smiled, “Just one more small favour, Elias. An… assurance. Perhaps an insurance policy. Before you do come all the way out to me.” “What’s that?” Really what he was saying was anything. I’ll do anything. “I told you that my mentor died because he fell in love with a target…” “You did.” Then he quickly added, “I won’t… tell anyone!” You shook your head, Elias was jumping ahead of himself. As were you. But you weren’t sure where this was going, and yet you had to be certain. It wasn’t that you thought you were about to fall in love. You might, it wasn’t beyond you. It was that if you were asked to kill him… you weren’t your mentor. You weren’t scared that you’d be unable to pull the trigger, you were scared of the knowledge that you could. “Yes, well. Just don’t do anything to piss anyone off, okay?”

---

Thank you for reading! 😁💙

[niall-is-my-dream]

Power Over Me - Part Two

Thanks to @heart-attack-harry and @lizziespidiepridie for your help.

Catch up on part one below

https://niall-is-my-dream.tumblr.com/post/188083232033/power-over-me

"I wanna be king in your story I wanna know who you are I want your heart to beat for me Oh I"

3k words

Your eyes were struggling to open up this morning. Puffy from crying like a loser last night over a guy who is clearly an arsehole. Reliving the whole thing in your head had you pulling the covers up and hiding beneath them, wanting to hide away for the rest of your Sunday. 

But you knew you shouldn't.

Dragging yourself from your bed you managed to navigate your way to the bathroom, running the tap and splashing your face with warm water. Patting your face dry, you looked in the mirror above the sink and saw your face. 

You looked a right state. 

You needed paracetamol, a coffee and a two week vacation somewhere hot.

Preferably by yourself where you could wallow in your own self pity.

Sadly you'd have to make do with your sofa.

After making yourself a coffee and some toast you sat your bum on the sofa, turning on the tv and browsing the channels, you found some housey type programme. You know the ones where they want the cafe culture life in London but on a shoestring budget, then complain it's a two bed flat rather than a 3 bed house they'd dreamed off.

Well those twats can fuck off you thought as you switched the channels to an old episode of Friends. The One With The Prom Video, great. Basically the one where after years of lusting over Rachel, Ross finally wins her over by his sweet antics from when they were teenagers. 

A nice happy ending.

Well that can fuck off to.

You turned it off in the end, choosing to sit in silence and eat.

Your phone was on the coffee table with your bag and keys, exactly where you had left it last night when you'd got in. It had been ringing constantly on your journey home and the taxi driver had even commented about you not answering it.

After a quick text to Deo as promised to tell him you were home safe, you'd turned it off and left it. 

Now it was slowly torturing you.

A sucker for punishment, you moved to turn it on. The screen lit up and showed you how many missed calls, texts and voice messages you had.

A reply from Deo telling you to sleep well and to text him if you wanted to talk.

You didn't.

A couple from your friends who you'd been out with, asking you what was going on and that they hoped you were safely home.

And 23 messages from Niall.

13 missed calls. 

And 5 voice messages.

You didn't bother to read them and you hastily deleted them all without reading them. Same with the voice messages. Delete.

You didn't feel any better after doing it, the coffee and toast slathered in butter hadn't even helped how you were feeling. It wasn't a hangover or troubled night sleep that was causing you pain. 

It was your heart.

You were shamefully heartbroken at what had happened. Shameful because you had vowed since Lewis Burns broke up with you in Year Ten that you would never ever let a guy hurt you like that again. Granted you had been 15 at the time but it was a value that ten years later you still tried to follow.

Your heart felt heavy and it both scared you and annoyed you.

You just need some time to cool off and get over him.

Letting out a huge sigh you gathered up your plate and mug and took them to the kitchen. Opening up Spotify, you put some tunes on and started tidying up your flat. Washing up, making your bed, putting a load of washing in, it was all a distraction. A much needed one and it was working. When it was all done you grabbed your book and headed for a bath.

Throughout your day your phone beeped with messages, when you saw Niall's name you just deleted them. But as the afternoon went on, you opened up his contact and blocked him. Tears had followed and you ended up going to bed at 9pm. Your Sunday had turned out to be a quiet and lonely one, but something that was very much needed. 

Turning off your alarm the next day, you couldn't be bothered to get out of bed. But you had a meeting at 9am and another at 11am, and you had some prep to do.

The mornings routine was basically just going through the motions. You still felt like absolute shite, the heavy feeling in your heart hadn't even remotely subsided. After taking a hot shower you dressed and ate a quick breakfast, not even bothering to put the radio on like you normally did. Good luck to anyone who came in contact with you today.

The tube as usual was busy and you were squashed in amongst all the other commuters. By the time you'd arrived at your station your mood was getting worse. It hit its peak when you walked into your building and saw bimbo bambi on the front desk. She had a stupid smirk on her face that was definitely aimed at you as you walked past her. 

Luckily she had been on the phone and hadn't been able to speak to you. You were in no mood to be dealing with her high pitched squeaky voice this morning. How in the hell she had got the job as receptionist at the Recruitment Agency you worked at you will never know. You got the impression she couldn't even spell her own name. Which was Nina by the way. Bimbo bambi was just a nasty, horrible nickname that you and Annie from the second floor had come up with. Bullying wasn't something you condoned, but she didn't know that was her nickname and so she couldn't be offended if she didn't even know it. You were always polite to her and smiled nicely whenever she interacted with you. But she was definitely not a friend of yours and would never be one.

The reason behind her smirk became apparent when you saw the huge bouquet of flowers on your desk when you walked into your office.

Pausing in the doorway, you didn't want to go over to them. A few faces of your colleagues were smiling at you. Jack the office playboy was the first to speak, asking you who your new fella was. Choosing to ignore him, you walked to your desk dumping down your bag and looking at the arrangement.

The bouquet was beautiful, a mixture of light pink and cream flowers. A sealed note was attached to the cellophane wrap. Looking around as you opened it, a simple message was written.

Please can we talk x

Shoving the card in your bag, you didn't have time to even think about it now. You had a meeting with a company about helping them with recruitment in exactly 28 minutes. A large coffee was needed and you needed to gather all your prep together.

Dwelling on the card and over thinking about it would have to wait.

********

Your 9am meeting went well and you were back at your desk finishing the prep for the next one when your work phone rang. Seeing it was the reception office you let out a frustrated sigh before putting on your most polite voice.

"Hello?"

"Elizabeth, You have a visitor?" Nina said.

"Oh they're early." You replied looking at your watch and seeing 10:35am.

"No, it's not your next appointment."

Your heart sank.

Please no.

"You didn't tell me you were friends with Niall Horan?!" She whispered excitedly down the phone.

"Well it never came up in conversation." You replied quickly. "Please tell him I'm super busy and that I have a meeting at 11."

"Oh ok, will do." She replied, and you hung up before she could answer any further.

You were fuming, first the flowers then turning up at your work. Did he think that was the way to get you to listen? Well he was sadly mistaken.

Running your fingers across your temples you willed the anger to go away. You still had work to do. You'd managed to distract yourself this morning with the potential business that your meetings could secure. Letting him get into your head was not needed right now.

Breathing out a massive sigh, you looked up at your computer to continue answering some emails. That's when you saw him. 

Strolling through your floor coming for your office, attracting the attention of every single person. His casual attire of dark jeans and blue t-shirt being the biggest factor.

Fuck he looked so good.

His face was unreadable, something that was strange to you considering you'd known him 6 years. You had always been able to read him. 

But not today.

You stood up from your desk as he strolled into your office, closing the door firmly behind him.

"Niall...."

"Why haven't you answered my messages?" He asked you bluntly.

"Because I didn't want to." You replied in the same manner.

"You've not even read them, and the last ones I've tried to send you bounced back. Have you blocked me?!"

"Yes, and yet you still didn't get the hint." You said as you gestured towards the flowers.

"I just...... " He began but you cut him off.

"Look Niall, I can't do this right now. I have a meeting in 15 minutes to get ready for. To be honest I don't even want to have this conversation with you at all."

You were being rude now, desperate to save face. Your heart was pounding in your chest, it ached to reach over and touch him, but you held back when you remembered Saturday night. His cocky behaviour had infuriated you, but his lost looking face right now was making you feel guilty. But only for a split second before you remembered how hurt you were, how embarrassed and ashamed you'd felt.

Holding back the tears was becoming harder and you really needed him to leave before he saw how broken you were. The tough exterior you were trying to show him was crumbling.

"So, you don't even want to talk to me about what happened?" He asked you his voice calm.

"No."

This was a lie, well sort of. You did want answers from him but not now. You weren't ready.

He shook his head and started to look annoyed which infuriated you even more. He had no right coming into your office, surely the ignoring his calls and messages was enough of a hint for him, but apparently not.

You'd have to have a word with Nina in a subtle way to get her to actually listen to you when you need someone to go away.

"This isn't over." He said as he left.

"It never started." You replied.

**********

The second meeting had been ok, luckily it was a meeting with a client already on your books, because your mind had been elsewhere. 

Niall strolling into your office was not something that you had even been remotely prepared for. Seeing him had effecting you far more than you had thought. It was a silly crush and you needed to get over it.

It would be easy, he travelled a lot and he had a lot of friends. You were sure you could dodge seeing him, you'd probably lay low for a few weeks and avoid the dreaded conversation with your mutual friends.

Willie's voice asking Niall what the hell he had done to you, was still stuck in your head, he had messaged you today asking if you were ok. Willie had taken on the big brother role in the group and as one of the youngest you had been happy to have him care and support you. Deo had sort of become the annoying brother, but he had shown his caring side to when he helped you in a taxi on Saturday night. Neither had pushed you to talk and you appreciated it.

As you had got into the office early that morning you decided to head off at 5. Your head was still pounding and after taking some painkillers you tidied away your desk and grabbed your bag.

Nina was sitting at her desk on reception when you went past.

"I'm heading off now Nina so if anyone calls they will need to leave a message." You informed her.

"Got dinner with a certain someone?!" She replied with a wink.

God she was annoying.

"Not that it's any of your business but no."

"Oh it's just he's been outside in his car for the last half an hour."

"What?"

"Niall Horan." She said continuing to smirk.

"Spreading gossip isn't tolerated here. And not following orders from me when I ask not to be disturbed while I'm prepping for an important meeting is also a problem."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

"I know, but Niall is my friend and he's incredibly private. Please don't start making something out of nothing." You replied, defending him. He might have pissed you off, but you couldn't help but be protective.

"I am really sorry, I wouldn't spread gossip I promise. And I'll follow your orders about visitors from now on." She replied looking absolutely petrified of you.

"Thankyou, I'll see you in the morning." You said.

She mumbled a nervous goodbye as you left the building. You spied his car out the corner of your eye, what was he thinking hanging around waiting for you?

Walking quickly in the opposite direction towards the tube station, you hoped he hadn't spotted you.  

But of course he fucking had.

He called out your name, but you headed down the street winding in between the crowds. You knew he wouldn't follow you, wouldn't risk being seen chasing a woman down the street. In today's world, cameras were in your pockets and footage could be uploaded online for everyone to see in seconds.

He definitely wouldn't do that.

You reached the tube station, swiping your oyster card you made your way through the station to your platform, breathing a sigh of relief at having avoided him again.

The walk back from the station wasn't long and you called into little Tesco Express to get a microwave meal and a bottle of wine. You definitely couldn't be bothered to cook tonight. It when you were approaching your building that you saw his car in the car park.

Fuck.

You managed to avoid him and sneak around the back. There were two entrances to your block, accessing the way through the gate and the shared garden, you let yourself in hopeful that he hadn't seen you.

But it didn't matter, he hadn't been waiting in his car. He was waiting at your door.

Your heart sank.

After a rollercoaster day of emotions and a heavy workload you could cry just at the sight of him. You didn't have anymore fight in you to argue and you knew you'd crumble. 

The sight of him leaning against your door, knocked the breath out of you. His face looking straight ahead, the sound of you walking up the steps caused him to turn.

His face once again had that annoyed look, and you couldn't believe the cheek of it. How dare he look annoyed after how he had behaved.

Walking up to your door, he didn't move. Your eyes met his and the annoyed look was gone, replaced by one that was pleading with you. He knew you'd ask him to leave and he would fight you until you agreed to hear him out.

Moving closer to him, you were just inches away as you raised your right hand above his shoulder and put your key in the lock.

"Please talk to me. Let me explain." He whispered.

Your body betrayed you as your eyes filled with tears.

Turning the key, you unlocked the door and moved sideways to get around him. He was right behind you, walking into your flat as you were taking the key out the lock. Strolling in like it was perfectly ok to do after everything that had happened.

Shutting the door, not acknowledging him you put your shopping bag on the side. Carefully taking out your meal and your wine. You could sense him at the doorway as you took off your coat and sorted out your bag.

"Are you going to let me explain?" He asked his voice calm and low.

"Doesn't look like I have any choice does it?!" You scoffed aware that he could probably hear the way you were choked up.

"Why are you being like this?" He asked you.

"Like what Niall? An arsehole? Not nice is it?" You replied allowing your face to be seen, no longer hiding behind your long hair.

His eyes widened when he saw your face and upon hearing your words.

"I'm sorry."

"Doesn't matter."

"It does matter. I'm not good at this."

"Good at what exactly?"

"Talking about this sort of stuff."

"Then why are you here, why have you been messaging me, coming to my office and waiting outside my work? I specifically told you I didn't want to talk to you. Did you not listen or are you just trying to humiliate me even more?"

Silence.

You couldn't even look at him, choosing to walk past him and out to the hall, hanging your coat up on the hook on the wall.

"I think you should go." You said, eyes brimming with tears. You knew he was right behind you and you couldn't bare to turn around and face him.

"Not until you've let me explain."

"There's nothing to explain, it was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened. Done. Now you can go."

"Elizabeth."

"No, I can't deal with you right now. Please just go." You begged.

"I didn't mean to leave that night, I don't know why I left you to wake up alone."

You moved towards the door, opening it, unable to bare being near him. His scent was invading your senses and you couldn't take it anymore.

"Let me know when you figure out why you did." You said and he moved towards you.

Your eyes couldn't meet his as he looked at you before walking out the door.

Part Three

https://niall-is-my-dream.tumblr.com/post/188384634468/power-over-me-part-three

[fyexo]

191115 Meet SuperM, the Team of K-Pop Superstars That Became One Big Family

SuperM has arrived. It’s late afternoon in Los Angeles, and voices can be heard floating through the halls of Capitol Records in L.A., muffled and low. They’re just out of sight, but if the video teasers for the K-pop supergroup’s debut are to be believed, the seven members will turn the corner burning with a smoldering intensity, walking with the confidence of an elite squad of K-pop assassins trained to vaporize the competition with a single look. All have been hand-picked for this mission from some of K-pop’s most successful groups: Taemin from the legendary SHINee, Kai and Baekhyun from the record-breaking EXO, Mark and Taeyong from the massive 21-member group NCT, and Ten and Lucas from NCT’s Chinese subunit WayV. Together, they are an industry team of aces, pairing powerful performance with immense individual skill in dancing, singing, and rapping.

But as they find their seats around a massive marble conference table, they’re more like a bunch of brothers at summer camp. Kai, an often blush-inducing dancer, has pulled the arms of his sweater over his hands to create soft paws and is hiding behind them as he whispers to giggling rapper Lucas. Baekhyun, the group’s leader and stunning vocalist, scrunches his nose in frustration as he struggles to open a water bottle. One by one, each member relaxes into their chairs and widens the gap between their slick onstage personas and their sweeter offstage selves.

Taeyong looks softer than his icy rapper persona as he yawns and stretches, the blinding silver highlight on his cheeks catching the sun as he adjusts the waves of his purple hair. Ten, usually a brooding dancer, is disarmingly friendly. When a part of the conversation strikes him as funny, he looks around the room to find someone else who is laughing and wrinkles his nose at them as if to say, “Isn’t this all so silly?” Mark, the youngest, is usually the excitable little brother of NCT. But as SuperM’s strongest English speaker (he’s actually from Toronto, Canada, originally), he matures into a calm and collected translator and only ages down again when caught in a fit of laughter.

The member with the biggest gap between onstage and off is Taemin, the group’s most senior member in terms of experience, who was selected from one of K-pop’s foundational groups, SHINee, and boasts one of the most successful solo careers in the history of the industry. When performing, Taemin is wickedly villainous, sensual, and sophisticated. In a recent interview, Taeyong went so far as to describe Taemin’s stage presence as “a bit immoral.” But offstage, in this conference room, Taemin’s small frame is almost swallowed up by his chair. He likes to hold water in his cheeks so that they puff out like a fish, and his big, round eyes, which are usually narrowed for effect when he performs, stare blankly from beneath his shiny blonde bob. He is so quiet that he sometimes appears to not be paying attention at all, but then one of the other guys cracks a joke and his entire face lights up.

The group is in high spirits, coming off of an intense October weekend of stateside promotion that included their first official appearance as SuperM, the debut of the music video for their single, “Jopping,” the release of their eponymous debut mini album, and a performance for thousands outside of Capitol’s iconic headquarters in Hollywood. SuperM carries on the legacy of SM, one of K-pop’s oldest and most-revered entertainment agencies. “If you ask me, I’d say what the world now considers K-Pop began with SM Entertainment,” says Taemin, through an interpreter, as Ten nods in agreement. “SM was the very first company to take musical influences from Western culture and incorporate Korean culture into that by rearranging and writing lyrics with our style.” When Taemin finishes, he turns to Kai in embarrassment and says, “I’m too proud of SM, huh?” But Taemin is right; the company created what is considered to be the first modern K-pop idol group, H.O.T., in 1996, and has been a dominant player in the space ever since.

The guys don’t show it, but they are under an immense amount of pressure. SuperM was conceptualized and produced by the founder of SM, Soo Man Lee, and their staff notes that curiosities are piqued, even within the company itself. “I think people are interested in this new attempt because we are not newbies. Each of us are from groups that are already well-established,” says Baekhyun, the eldest. Kai agrees, “We feel obliged to live up to their expectations.” They don’t know it yet, but in a week they will have the no. 1 album in the United States.

Despite looming expectations, the guys seem more delighted by the new arrangement than worried. “I’ve been in SHINee for 10 years, so starting a new team almost felt like getting a different job,” says Taemin. “I was excited; it felt so fresh, like a new start. To be honest, I thought the project was going to get cancelled when I first heard about it, so SuperM has a special place in my heart.” Baekhyun finishes, “Each of us saw it as an opportunity, a new challenge, and that helped…” Taeyong chimes in, “It united us.” “That’s right,” nods Baekhyun, “Now, we feel like we’re a family.”

That bond was formed quickly, over a handful of summer months in 2019. Though they all trained and worked under SM, most members had only ever seen each other in passing, like students in different grades at a large school. Despite this, the synergy between them is almost telepathic. After Baekhyun fails to break the cap on his water bottle, he silently pushes it towards Taeyong, who opens it for him with a twist of his wrist and without a single word. Members often finish each others’ sentences and exchange knowing looks across the table. Whenever Taemin isn’t sure about the meaning of a word in English, he leans over to consult Ten. At one point, Taeyong looks at Mark with pride and reaches out instinctively to stroke the youngest’s ear. This must be fairly normal, because Mark barely reacts.

When they return to Korea after this trip, each member will rejoin their respective group or solo promotions until they come together again as SuperM in November to tour the U.S. and Canada. Kai discloses that Lucas is already exhibiting separation anxiety. “This morning Lucas said to me, ‘Hyung, I wanna move in with you! Can’t we move in together?’” Kai says, using the Korean word for “big brother.” Lucas lets out a wild, guttural giggle as Kai snitches again, “Even Baekhyun said in the car that he would miss us after we all got back from the States!”

For these short two weeks in Los Angeles, they’re living together and having what sounds like the time of their lives. They’ve all taken roles around the house. Baekhyun is known for recalibrating the group dynamic, cracking jokes to lighten the mood. “I’m the reaction, I react to them,” Taemin says cheerily. “Mark and Ten are English teachers,” says Baekhyun, “Taeyong is the cook and dishwasher…” “and alarm!” chimes Taemin. “Taemin is in charge of dieting,” says Kai. Taeyong points to Baekhyun, “And he disrupts dieting,” he says, as they all crack up, “he’s the Diet Destroyer.” Baekhyun shrugs. “We’re the tall ones,” says Kai, pointing to Lucas and himself. “I’m in charge of getting things that are far away,” says Lucas, with a laugh that is almost musical. “He’s the biggest baby,” says Ten, smiling lovingly from the corner. “There are cups and plates placed high on the cupboard...” says Taemin. “And Lucas takes them out for us,” finishes Taeyong.

Like most families, they watch Netflix together. “We like zombies, especially Kai hyung. He likes The Walking Dead,” says Ten. “And Black Mirror,” suggests Mark. Taemin looks up at Ten with doe eyes and says “Stranger Things!” in a small voice, which Ten repeats at a volume everyone can hear. They go swimming in the house’s pool, play mafia and video games, and share meals, Taemin’s favorite. “I love that we eat breakfast together every morning. We wouldn’t do that if we weren’t close. We feel comfortable with each other’s company, it feels natural.” They’ve had everything from Korean meals and Chinese food to pancakes but, usually, they eat cereal. That is, until the diet destroyer gets involved. “We started off with Froot Loops,” says Mark, “and then we searched through the refrigerator and saw strawberry yogurt. Baekhyun was like ‘Alright, we’ve got to put the Froot Loops in the yogurt!’”

Between the seven of them, they speak five languages: English, Korean, Chinese, Thai, and Japanese, so “sometimes communicating gets very confusing,” says Lucas, switching into Korean for the last word, to underscore his point. Still, “we understand each other very well,” assures Mark, “and I feel like that's the true role of K-pop: bringing cultures together.” Ten nods in agreement. He can speak four languages and has remained alert throughout the interview, like a guard dog, leaning in to translate Korean or Chinese to English. “What’s cool is that we’re from different places, so when we talk we get to learn new vocabulary,” Ten notes, as Taemin looks on with cheeks full of water. “Sometimes I even teach them Thai,” he says, beaming proudly. “That’s the best part.” On cue, Taeyong presses his palms together, bows his head, and says the Thai word for “hello.”

SuperM has been focused on breaking into the United States, so many of the members have been learning English from Mark and Ten. Taemin, who is already fluent in Korean and Japanese, says “pronunciation” has been the hardest part. A few days earlier in an Instagram live stream, he playfully pleaded with fans of SHINee, called Shawols, to help him learn the language. When asked about that, Taemin smiles, shrugs his shoulders up to his ears, straightens his arms and splays his hands wide in discomfort, like a scared cat. With perfect pronunciation he says, “I hope to speak English well but...” and then makes a gesture that communicates, “I hope to get better.” Taeyong nods and says in English, “Step-by-step,” while Kai lets out a supportive, “Wow!”

In September, Baekhyun also took to Instagram to announce that he and Lucas were delighted and perplexed by the sound of one word in particular: awkward. The mention of this sets off a domino effect during our interview, as each member tries pronouncing “awkward” themselves. Then Baekhyun introduces a new word: turtle. He points to his mouth, which he has opened comically wide to get the sound just right, “Toooortle!” “The word turtle is so awkward!” summarizes Taeyong. Then they can’t be stopped—their favorite terms are flying back and forth across the table: Pronunciation! Positive energy! Level! Frog! Pioneers! Taeyong slowly sounds out “performances” and then claps for himself when he’s done. Over in the corner, Baekhyun leans back in his chair and crosses his arms matter-of-factly. “Turtle!” he says with confidence, one last time, as Mark bursts out laughing and Taeyong slaps him playfully on the knee.

The room is so warm with joy, so free from ego and pretense, that it’s easy to forget that these seven friends are some of the world’s most celebrated performers. Despite their differences—in age, language, culture, and experience—they function as a single solid, supportive unit, united by one goal.

For almost the entire interview, Mark and Taemin have been playing with two thick silver rings overlaid with heavy crosses. At one point, Taemin experienced a brief panic when Mark’s ring got stuck on his finger. “We got these as a gift from Mr. Soo Man Lee,” Mark says seriously, holding his up in front of his face. Each member’s ring bears a slightly different design, but they all “have ‘Super M’ inscribed on the back.” The accessory feels overtly symbolic: a physical reminder of the heavy expectations that unite them. “This is our Thanos Infinity Gauntlet,” Mark jokes, referencing SuperM’s branding as the “Avengers of K-pop.” As he laughs with Taemin, his face softens and he looks like the group’s little brother again. Then they both pick up their rings and place them back on their fingers, joining the rest of their team.

Source: Elizabeth de Luna

[imagineyourself]

The Interview- Noah Centineo

A/N I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted. Sorry Junior year kicked my ASS. But it’s all good now I’ve been writing this imagine for a while and finally finished it. I hope y’all like it. Let me know if you want a part 2. 

Word count: 1515

Summary: Noah decides to admit he isn’t single anymore and shit hits the fan a bit

Warnings: Swearing (obvi) but other than that nothing bad lots of cute fluff 

*Noah’s POV* 

I sat down, waiting for the interview to begin. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I resisted the urge to check. I know it’s Y/N texting me good luck before the interview. She has no idea what I’m about to do. I hope she doesn’t get mad, I just love her so much and hiding her doesn’t feel right. 

“Noah! My man, how are you?” Jimmy Fallon asks and pulls me in for a bro-hug. 

“I’m good, been busy!” 

“I can imagine I mean you have had like what 3 movies come out this year that you star in???”

“Yeah I know. It’s crazy.”

“You went from small child actor to big time teen heart-throb in nothing flat. So how has that changed your home life?”

“I have to work really hard on checking in with my mom. She is so proud of me, but that doesn’t stop her from worrying about me forgetting to eat and stuff. Otherwise, nothing has changed I still talk to them a ton! My family and hometown friends keep me and my ego in check which is so important for someone young like me. Couldn’t be more grateful for them.”

“Wow it’s so great that you recognize their importance! But, and you know I have to ask for all of the teenage girls out there, is the infamous Noah Centineo single?” 

This question comes up all of the time. I hated lying about Y/N and saying I was single, and now is my chance to stop the secrets. I want to show her off and be able to take her out for proper dates.

“No, actually I am not.”

*Y/N’s POV*

I was watching Noah’s interview casually eating popcorn on our couch when the relationship question was asked. I was used to him having to publicly deny our relationship, I liked my privacy and it made him more attractive and therefore more successful.  

But then he shocked me by saying he wasn’t single. He stated he was taken. Off the market. Unavailable. Mine. 

“WHAT THE FUCK????” I jumped off of my couch screaming. He didn’t tell me he was doing this. I am not ready to handle this. I figured he would consult ME on this before telling the world, but apparently not. I couldn’t even listen to the rest of the interview as my panic spiralled.

My phone started going off instantly, from tweets and instagram follow requests. I called Y/B/F/N crying.

“Hey babe, woah wait what’s up?” She said noticing my tears.

“Noah”

“What happened? Did y’all break up? I will fucking kill him.”

“No, no. An interview.” I mustered all the air I could to try and explain what happened.

“I am on my way over. I’ll be there in 10.”

*Noah’s POV*

“Really?? So who’s the lucky lady?”

“Yes really. Her name is Y/N and she is smart, funny, and beautiful. I love her so much.”

“How long have you two been together?”

“A year and 2 months.” I smile thinking about how it has been such a long time.

“Wow, that’s a long time. How has she reacted to the spike in your career?”

“She has been nothing but supportive! Since we kept our relationship private, I couldn’t bring her to set, but we host a cast dinner at our apartment. She adores Lana, they are like best friends.” 

“So you guys live together?”

“Haha yup, we moved in together about 6 months ago.” I can’t wipe the smile off of my face. I finally get to talk about Y/N and I love talking about her because I am so proud of her!

“So what does she do? How did you meet?”

“She’s a lawyer for several casting agencies in hollywood, and she ended up drafting my contract for SPF-18.”

“Wow, that’s great! I am so happy for you! Now back to promoting your new movie!” Jimmy puts us on track despite getting an exclusive scoop.

*Y/N’s POV*

I opened the door to let Y/B/F/N in despite giving her a key. I finally gained enough composure to explain what happened.

“So he finally told the world he was taken?”

“Yes.”

“And he didn’t tell you he was going to say anything?” 

“Not a word.”

“Okay, um, what the fuck. Isn’t that supposed to be a joint decision because your privacy is at stake here.”

“Yeah, I mean I’m both relieved and upset. I’m glad I don’t have to hide anymore, but also teenage girls can be so rude and I don’t know if I’m ready to face their scrutiny. In their minds, I took their man.”

“Okay, ms. lawyer, take it down a notch. Who knows they might be supportive?” She hugged me tight and tried her best to make me look at the bright side.

“You could be right.” 

“Damn right, now let’s get you changed and in bed. I’m staying the night to make sure you’re okay.” She helped me up off of the couch and led me to Noah and I’s room to change into new pjs. 

Before I fell asleep I texted Noah, telling him I saw the interview and we needed to talk about it.

Later that night, I woke up to a slight rumble happening in the living room. I got up when I recognized Noah and Y/B/F/N’s voices. They were whisper-shouting at each other clearly in some heated argument. 

“Sorry, Noah, but you can’t just tell the whole goddamn world you have a girlfriend without telling her first. She called me freaking the hell out because teenage girls are ruthless, and honestly I don’t think she can handle it. I don’t think I can handle it, because you aren’t always here and when you aren’t here she calls me. I hate seeing her upset and I know you do too, but you really should have talked to her about it first. It’s her privacy and her life that is at risk.”

“I know. I know I should have talked to her first, but I just couldn’t take one more interview of lying to the world. I love her more than anything and I want to show her to the world.”

“Yeah I get that, but did you ever consider if she was ready for that? What if she doesn’t want that?” 

There was a lull in the conversation as Noah took the time to think about what I wanted. 

“I love both of you, like a lot,” I say as I step out from behind the bedroom door. “But I think it’s better to talk about what I want with me there to actually tell you what I want.”

“I’m so sorry babe. I know I should have talked to you before I did it.” Noah came closer to me giving me a hug. 

“I’m not mad, I’m just scared witless. I love the romantic gesture, I really do, but not everything is going to be better. Not for me, at least.”

“What do you mean?”

“She means that people will start to send her hate, threats, stalking her, and it could possibly affect her job.” Y/B/F/N piped up.

“My phone has been blowing up non-stop since you said my name and my job on national tv. It got to the point where I turned my notifications off. The comments that I saw were not the kindest. I don’t want to get in between you and your fans, and they seem really mad that we’re together.” I look at Noah with tears in my eyes, and he looks at me with a similarly somber expression. 

“You know that hurting you or putting you in harms way was never, and will never be, my intention, right? I’ll post about us officially and say that any hate comments or threats or anything of the kind will receive an automatic block. I will protect you from harm if it’s the last thing I do.”

“I just don’t want things to change between us, you know?”

“Y/N, sweetie, nothing will change. He’ll still come home after filming and annoy the crap out of you, and I’ll still be a 10 minute drive away to help you through everything. We are your support system forever and always.” Y/B/F/N said giving you a hug. 

“She’s right. And I promise that I won’t do anything that reckless without talking to you first.” Noah says joining the hug. 

“Can I get that in writing?” We all break apart from laughter. 

“Okay, Ms. Lawyer, whatever you want.” 

“I can draft the statement in the morning, let’s get some sleep.” Noah and I went to our room and Y/B/F/N went back to hers. 

“I love you so much.” Noah said as we crawled into bed. 

“I love you too, but please talk to me next time.” I whisper as I cuddle into his chest. 

“Of course, baby girl.” He kissed the top of my head and we fell asleep. 

[the-more-you-kn0w]

Georgia, HB481 And The Mother of All Evil

Trigger Warning: This post is concerned with the issue of reproductive rights, specifically abortion and also contains mention of rape and incest.

Disclaimer: I’m not American nor do I live in America so it’s currently unlikely this law would affect me but as someone who is passionate about reproductive rights, I had to say something.

Today, my heart, broke sank and cracked a little more for the women of the world. To be clear, this happens on a regular basis and is not a phenomenon simply reserved for travesties and issues that affect the Western world. But today, it  sank to the pit of my stomach because Georgia, a state of the so-called “land of the free” that promotes the American dream and is part of the self-proclaimed ‘greatest country in the world’ passed a bill that makes me so angry, there isn’t a word strong enough. 

That bill will be referenced as House Bill 481 (HB481) and seeks to criminalise abortion, after the 6 week mark  Abortion beyond this point would see women treated as murderers, under the law, subject to imprisonment and even capital punishment. This will also apply to women who miscarry if a court can find they could have done something to prevent it from happening.

Yes, you just read all of that right. I know. We’ve entered a dimension of hell. To understand the many layers of why this is a new evil, we need to break it down a bit...

The Biology of A Baby And A Women’s Body:

Technically, if a woman’s body is to follow the textbook definition of a menstrual cycle, she will have a period every 28 days or four weeks. Under the new law, this gives her only a two-week window to discover she is pregnant, from the time of her last period. Typically, many women will pass this marker of time without even realising they’re pregnant because guess what? Menstrual cycles are weird. Sometimes you wait 6 weeks between periods. Sometimes you wait 3.If you have a naturally irregular cycle, you’re honestly lucky if you know what the heck is going on down there at all.  It is also worth noting that 6 weeks would only just indicate the first pulsing of cells that will later specialise in and become the heart. At this point in pregnancy, a foetus has not yet developed a brain or face, yet they have been granted personhood under this bill.

There are many women and girls around the world who do not have rights or agency over their bodies. They are abused and grossly sexually violated on a daily basis. If they become pregnant, they’re forced to risk their lives because they don’t have decent enough medical technology to stop them from dying in childbirth. They’re also adding yet another mouth to feed when starvation, malnutrition and sickness are wolves at the door. That’s a harsh reality and one I sadly can’t fix from here. It doesn’t mean I won’t try in the future but for now, I can campaign loudly to tear down these ‘heartbeat bills’ in the US that would see in the age of #MeToo, a women denied rights over her own body.

The Power of Choice

A woman does not have to have a baby. There is no contractual obligation that our bodies and our lives must be devoted to housing, feeding and nurturing another. If that’s the life you choose, all the power to you and equal power if it’s the life you don’t want.  This is not the Handmaid’s Tale. A woman should not have to justify her reproductive choices but for the sake of creating allies and conversation, here are some reasons why a woman might decide to have an abortion.

1) Her pregnancy is the result of rape or incest - At the moment Georgia’s bill and others allow this as an exception but there are anti-choice groups actively campaigning for the removal of this exception which they’re also doing for

2) Women whose health would be endangered by pregnancy - which can be the case if you have certain chronic illnesses such as lupus etc. or you’re at risk of passing on a genetic disease such as Huntington’s which has a 50% chance of hiding its genes in your DNA if your family is already susceptible. 

3) They just might not be ready for or in circumstances where having a baby is advisable/feasible/what they want.And this looks different for a lot of people. It could be down to financial struggle, being too young/having kids already and adding another just being complicated or a million other things. Some people aren’t meant to be parents and that’s OK. You gotta remember, in the majority of cases, you can’t cut ties with a baby after 9 months. It’s at the bare minimum, if you’re really sure, an 18-year-long process. Babies need a home and food and clothes and eventually an education. Raising a baby costs $$$. This might come off as a horribly harsh thing to say, but trust me, from personal experience there’s nothing more scary and heartbreaking than a baby being born into a situation where they’re not wanted or where parents can’t be bothered or where they shouldn’t have even really had a baby at all. 

Under The Law

So, 1973 in the case of Roe vs. Wade, the US Supreme Court makes a decision to allow women safe and legal access to abortion. You can read more about the case here. 73% of Americans don’t want to see this law overturned. Before its arrival, abortion was the cause of 1 in 6 pregnancy related deaths. Since that day, the 22nd of January, 1973, it has of course been under attack and protest from those who don’t believe in abortion. The attacks have gotten stronger over the last year or so with the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court who was chosen by Donald Trump, for a number of reasons, one specifically being his strong opposition to Roe vs. Wade. 

Shockingly it’s not just Georgia that has the ‘heartbeat bill’. Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa, and North Dakota also have these bills. But wait... it gets worse! There are also a number of states who have these ‘trigger laws’ that in the event of Roe vs. Wade being overturned, would immediately criminalise abortion, allowing women to face the death penalty and any found to be helping them charged with conspiracy to murder, with a sentence of up to 10 years. This also includes travel for abortion. Those states with ‘trigger laws’ are Arkansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Indiana, Missouri, Texas and South Carolina.

So What Can We Do?

There’s not much, but we can keep campaigning. We can support Planned Parenthood. We can refuse to let the Dark Ages crawl up out of the hole we pushed them into for destroying. We can continue to talk about reproductive health. They can’t take our voices away. We can join the campaign the people of Hollywood are behind right now to remove the film industry from Georgia in light of their passing the bill. When it comes to next year’s election, you can vote Donald Trump and his Republican bigots out of the White House. But if we’re going to fix the world as you know, from its many complicated problems, we have to be together and unflinching in our goal. Whatever it takes  Hannah 💛

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

SPN 14x19, Jack In The Box -- Review

We're getting there. We're almost at the finale, I can hardly believe it. It feels like season 14 only just recently started airing but yet, strangely at the same time, it feels like season 14 has been going forever. While I can definitely say that season 14 hasn't been my favorite season, it most certainly has been taking me on a wild ride. This week we have 14x19, Jack in the Box.

There will be spoilers so maybe don't read this if you haven't seen the episode.

I do want to say right off the bat that the episode name, "Jack in the Box" while a perfect title for this episode, it also completely spoils the episode before you even get into it. I didn't even need to watch the promo trailer (which I didn't) to know that this episode was going to surround the idea of Jack being stuffed in that malak coffin. But that's neither here nor there. Just a casual observation. I'm not really complaining about it, just simply stating that it's not exactly rocket science to see the title of the episode and make a somewhat accurate conjecture on what's going to happen.

Let's begin with the episode starting off with Mary's "wake" I guess. I'm assuming these extras are meant to be a mix of the regular hunters and the au!hunters that survived au!Michael. Everyone's having a good time reminiscing about Mary and then out of nowhere an axe flies killing one of hunters and it's revealed that the killer is au!Bobby and the hunter he killed was actually a wraith in disguise. And this scene, the tone of the scene, it was a little weird. For one thing, it takes a while before it's made explicit that au!Bobby killed this dude because he was a wraith. I want to say the scene goes on for about 10-15 seconds before they make it clear that au!Bobby was killing a monster and not one of his own and 15 seconds is an eternity in film practically. It was kind of jarring and then just seeing everyone not even blink an eye, just an, "hey, how are you, Bobby? Glad you could make it. Thanks for sticking that axe in that dude's nagen." I do have a certain amount of respect for that wraith, though. Going into a hunter headquarters full of hunters to gloat over another hunter's death...while not necessarily classy and somewhat ill-advised and stupid, I gotta respect the dude's guts. I'm sure the dude's having a grand old time in Purgatory now. Dude was clearly not one to shy away from a fight. But anyway, before, I mentioned how this moment was kind of jarring. And I'm thinking perhaps by design for the sake of symbolism and foreshadowing. We got a monster in the headquarters of hunters so I can see that as symbolism and foreshadowing that there's a monster in our heroes, as well. Throughout this episode we've seen our heroes grappling with things that are bad and could be considered monstrous by their own standards. We have Jack sinking further and further into darkness, basically letting the monster within take control even if it is through Dumah's manipulation. Then we have Sam and Dean grappling with betraying Jack, something neither of them are comfortable with. There's Cas killing Dumah and for Cas, he doesn't take killing angels lightly considering the immense guilt he already harbors towards them. Au!Bobby deciding that finding a way by any means necessary to take Jack off the playing field could be seen as letting the monster take over, as well. And then there's another angle to think about in which au!Bobby killed the monster hiding amongst the hunters which is interesting to think about as his aim is to kill Jack who's technically a monster living amongst hunters. And it also leads into the idea of Sam and Dean taking the same approach with Jack.

And while we're on the subject of Mary's wake, there was something I noticed in that scene where it felt like Dean's body language was very closed off to Cas. When he's giving the speech about how great Mary was, when referring to Mary as a mother, his gestures are always open to Sam but closed off from Cas despite Mary viewing Cas as a son and "one of her boys". So obviously, things are still a little tense between Dean and Cas. I'm not really looking to get into the "you're dead to me" drama here. I'll do that in different posts if I so choose but for the sake of this review and my commentary on this episode, I thought it was worth a mention and was wondering whether anyone else picked up on that.

In this episode, we have Jack getting some more bad advice from Negative Jack which ultimately leaves him quite vulnerable to emotional manipulation by Dumah. And Jack is super relatable in these moments, too. Technically, Jack is only two-years-old but emotionally, I'd say he's probably around 10 or 11-years-old. Emotionally, he's at an age where he wants to be included with adults but still lacks the capacity to make decisions based on his own self and instead he's doing whatever he thinks will make his family happy. It's really easy to be manipulated at that age. You want to hang out with the big kids but you haven't quite figured out that there's a whole new set of rules to hanging out with the big kids.

And Dumah's betrayal actually does make a certain amount of sense. She's the first angel that really showed much of an interest in Jack. She was the first one that really made it known that she saw a use for Jack. She was the one who first mentioned using Jack to create more angels. I haven't really talked that much about Mary's death being a conspiracy. I really just wanted to wait and see but Dumah's actions in this episode kind of lends a lot to that. It doesn't make complete sense because if she was the mastermind behind this why did she wait to talk to Cas before making her move? She clearly could find Jack reasonably quickly (I'm not sure how, but whatever) so why did it take her so long to do the initial search if this was her endgame? Or maybe it's a conspiracy on Billie's end? I'm still kind of side-eyeing her introducing the idea of the malak box when ultimately it wasn't necessary despite her telling Dean it was the solution that allowed everyone to live. Once again, I'll bring up my idea of Billie as an unreliable narrator. I'm certainly not calling Billie a villain or anything, but she is a character with her own agency and her own set of goals and it's important to note that while she may be willing to work with the Winchesters if the occasion calls for it, they have a business relationship with each other not necessarily a friendship one. She's playing the cards to get her own job done, what she feels is productive to this universe.

So I loved the confrontation scene between Cas and Dumah. As I mentioned before, a little bit of symbolism linking back to the beginning scene but I also saw Dumah as a mirror of Cas. A mirror of who Cas used to be. Season 6 Cas with sprinkles of Season 8 Cas. Dumah is all about trying to save heaven much like Cas once was and she isn't too choosy on how she goes about it. And then there was the threat on John and Mary very similar to Cas breaking down Sam's soul wall and telling Dean that he'll save Lisa and Ben if Dean supports his plan. So throughout this scene, Cas was basically looking at a previous version of himself, a side of himself that he hates and the scene culminating in Cas killing Dumah paints a clear picture, at least in my reading, of Cas killing the previous version of himself and perhaps paving the way to him forgiving himself. He certainly hasn't forgiven himself yet but symbolically, I think was a step in that direction. And also a nice parallel with trying to protect his family. He wasnt going to let Dumah do that to John and Mary so it's interesting when at the wake he came off as feeling like a little bit of an outsider of the group who wasn't necessarily being seen as one of the family, and then doing this to protect the family he was being treated as if he didn't belong to.

I'm going to refrain from talking about the whole manipulating Jack into the malak box as I fear I might get a little critical of Dean as a character if I try and do that. Truthfully, I've been somewhat quiet in these reviews in regards to Dean because I just want to wait and see where he ends up at the end of the season before I start really talking about his actions in these past couple of episodes. Needless to say, I understand why he's reacting the way he is but at the same time, it doesn't make it right and I'm not going to make excuses for him and I hope the show does something in which he acknowledges it and grows from it. And also, regarding the Malak box, they couldn't have made it a little bit comfortable for Jack? Throw a pillow in there. A blanket. A book to read? A stuffed animal he cherishes? You know something to make him feel like he wasn't being abandoned.

And locking away your problems in a cage, in a box? How very Chuck-like of the Winchesters considering that's what they got on Chuck about in season 11. If Chuck really is going to make an appearence in the finale, that would be an interesting conversation to have. Perhaps the Winchesters are seeing a little more from Chuck's point of view.

Well, I think that's the end of my ramblings. I hope you all enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed this episode. Not bad for a BL episode. It could've been way worse but it was quite unlike BL to have such a grounded episode, it kind of took me by surprise. But I did feel like this episode's dialogue and directing was a little bland. Nothing very memorable in the cinematography or musical score. I'd give this episode a B-. It's enjoyable, it kept me interested but it's not something I really have any compulsion to return to.

As always tagging my friends @metafest to weigh in if they so choose. We got the finale next and I'm super excited to see how this season leaves us.