#life is gonna be very different if we hop off one side of the fence

[boundinparchment]

……I’m really gonna have to double down on finishing some fics once I feel better….

[c4-weeb]

Obey me boy head cannons!

Skater!Mc x the demon boys + undateables!

Alright so background! Human mc had invited one of the boys to go to a skating rink with her in the human world, since she is one of the main racers and a very frequent attendee at the place since she was 10. She knows the regular skaters and owners pretty well. Shes held with high respect there and is pretty talented. She has skate races and a whole team of great skaters, so what happens when one day she invites one of the boys to go on a date/ support her during a competitive roller derby? Also please do keep in mind I'm taking inspiration off the monster high roller derby cause that race was pretty cool and difficult to do so make it more modernized and human. You know... no swinging axes or kraken's trying to grab you as you skate. Though in reality that sounds like something Diavolo would put together for devildom roller derby's...

Lucifer

When he heard you beg him to come support you for your first race back in the human world he was a little taken aback. A roller derby? Him? I mean he wasn't going to be the loudest but he did find the thought of watching them succeed and wanting his praise amusing nonetheless....

....in reality he missed the Mc dearly and would appreciate the time with them, but he'd never say so out loud.

When you looked up to him from the stands he smirked at you, the pressure was on... that smirk was the one of judgement and "let's see how you do" which wracked your nerves with enough anxiety that it helped fuel the fire to make sure you succeeded.

When the Mc took off, being shoved by people bigger than her on each side, he was surprised when you fell back and the two idiots collided and she hopped over with ease and sped towards the front with amazing speed.

When The Mc and their team won, she came speeding to him and hugged him from behind and thanked him.

Later he took you out to eat in congratulations, the smile on your face from getting praise and food? All the stress from the day was relieved by that small gesture.

"I dont know why I thought I had finally found out everything I could about you, yet you just keep surprising me...."

Mammon

When the you asked for his support during a casual race at your local skating rink, with just your team mates going against eachother in a regular speed skate with a few obstacles, he wasnt so interested, saying he wants money in return for his support, when in reality he would have went anyways. But when you told him that since it was a casual race, people could bet on the racers, he agreed so fast and even begged to be summoned right then and there.

Expect him to be screaming at the top of his lungs for you to win

Isnt against calling you baby this loud in public

May or may not have tried climbing the fence when you got pushed

Definitely bet on you, and a huge sum of money too. So much faith 😭���

Once you've won expect him to come flying at you, poor baby forgot you where on skates tho so you'd end up falling backwards to your friends amusement of your cuddly demon.

Tried threatening the owners to do another race so he could get money and failed

Sulked till you dragged him by the hand to skate in the neon lights since most people left it was just you two

Later he would drag you to either go to bet on races with him to gain more money or go to shower you in gifts, really depended on how well you could convince him to not go gambling, which had a 50/50 success rate.

"If I'm not going to get more money I might as well shower you in what I have, make you the prettiest gem for the whole world to see!" "Mammon you only won 200 dollars not a mil-" "sh, sh, shhhhh, shhh, no arguing! The Great Mammon is going to treat his treasure right tonight, ya' hear!?"

Leviathan

Now getting this otaku outta his room was an absolute struggle. So like a cat trapping their preh, you had to summon him to your house and put a blindfold on him for a special surprise.

Dragged his unsocial ass to the car and road down to the skate rink and took off his blind fold once you both got inside.

It took a lot of coaxing, but you finally got him to calm down enough to get a pair of skates.

If your skater friends said hi to him he'd hide by your arm like a scared 5 year old

The jealousy he felt of everyone in the room was unbelievable, because the poor boy has no balance for skating. On wheels or ice, his body just refuses.

You offered to help him learn and the poor boys face was fuming red, thankfully the neon lights and darkness hid it well.

He held onto your hand for balance throughout the whole date, only stopping to eat some pizza and play some arcade games.

After a few hours you headed back to your house to binge some Starwars, wanting to watch something different with him.....which eventually led to the both of you getting bored and going back to the new ruri-chan movie you guys binged countless amount of times on the phone together.

"H-hey! Hold on you're going t-too fast! No now you're so close I-....um... ack everyone can see us...so many people... but its worth it to show that your mine!"

Satan

Now Satan isnt much of a skater, nor a loud supporter, but with enough coaxing you finally got him to at least try and relax with you, doing a nice small couple's night at the skate rink

Really wanted to try human customs with you so there was little resistance

He would hold their hand as you'd skate

Even think of skating away from him and he will chase after you

This man's rage in his bones makes him a natural speed skater

Will tickle you when he catches you, starts a very one sided tickle war tho

If you wanna sit down, it's going to be in his lap, no rejections.

Will find it adorable if your friends make fun of how blushy you're getting as you hide in his chest

"Come now kitten, dont run away or I'm going to tickle you so hard that your face will hurt too much to smile at anyone else but me"

Asmodeus

This sweet baby was already dragging you to your room to glamor you up before the race.

Honey no need to say anything, he will make you the most gorgeous skater just tell him the vibes you wanna give off and he will hit the nail straight on the head and match your aesthetic.

Best expect victory photos.

Will record your victory and show it off to the group chat with the brothers.

Absolutely head over heels for you, hanging off your body in a hug and then going for a really close skate together

Might try to convince you to have some celebratory seggs but will 100% be making it known how much you excited him.

"Sweetheart look at all the likes our photos are getting! Everyone's congratulating you! Awe look at how viral my baby is! That was a VERY thrilling experience watching you, and you do need to take care of that body....shall we take this home and undress you so I can congratulate you the right way~♡?"

Beezlebub

Immediately agreed when you brought it up that you wanted to bring him to the skate rink, someplace you enjoyed going.

He knew skating was like a work out but was worried about finding skates his size there so he brought his own customized skates.

You better have snacks cause baby is gonna be starving.

Thankfully since you also work there and know the owners, you where allowed to hop over and take his order, putting it on your tab. 4 pizzas 2 Turkey legs 7 hotdogs and a pint of water (remember to stay hydrated)

If you bumped into a few of your friends and he WILL get along with them. He wants to be apart of your life, all of it, so he'll make it a point to get along with everyone in it for your sake.

If you ever look like you're going to fall he will be so close behind you it would be like slipping and falling back onto a brick wall who grabs you before you hit the floor.

If you fall forward he will grab your shirt but try not to choke you in the process

(If you do choke poor baby with be hugging you apologizing profusely)

You two try racing eachother but no matter what you dont win cause hes just too fast

Finds you challenging him over and over endearing and adorable.

"You're so adorable when you're chasing after me trying to win, but I'm hungry now...can we go eat again?"

Belphegor

Will complain once you ask him to go skating for date night in the human world

Wont stop till he finds out it has a sunroof along with the neon lights so he can look at the stars while skating with you.

Will only skate for an hour or two then passes out on your lap

Will not help at all when you fall, just laughs cause he is probably the reason you fell in the first place.

When hes skating he will take your hand in his the whole time and sorta lean on your shoulder while skating from behind you.

You two will stop periodically to sit at the small felt covered benches in the rink to look up at the stars (may or may not fall asleep on your shoulder so you're stuck there with him sleeping for 20 minutes)

You will be the last ones out

Must grab some food for Beel cause belphie promised to bring him home food.

Skating (more like you dragging him by the hand while hes in skates)back to your place and looking at the stars together at like 3am

Wont go back till he can officially cuddle you till the morning and leaves at 11am

"Hey look...theres Ursa major...*yawn* come on let's sit down again, I'm tired..."

Luke (only as siblings you take him skating)

Doesnt know how to skate

You end up teaching him and hes the happiest little boy ever.

If you take him to a race he'll be all worried that you got a scratch and starts to get protective over you when the person who pushed you comes near

Definitely eating cotton candy

Playing claw machines and you win him a stuffed piggy and he holds it near and dear to his heart cause it's from you

"Mc! Mc! Look I'm doing it! I'm skating! Sir oinkers and me are skating together! Thank you so much haha!"

Simeon

Happily joins to cheer you on during your races everytime. Got a race? Simeon will be there.

If you dont win he will comfort you and make the best of the situation by taking you to the food bar till it turns to a free skate again.

If you're injured he will pamper you and be ready with his first aid. Little angel kisses on every scrap and bruise.

So many forehead kisses of encouragement and praise 🥺😭

Can speed skate, so if you want to practice he'll help but if you want to relax he'll do that too.

Inlines? Regular skates? No matter what hes great at them.

Somehow he has great luck and every stuffie you showed interest in or every candy or prize there was that you would even look at, he would win on the first try.

"Dont worry! I'll carry it all. You just relax alright? You got pretty bruised from that fall."

Barbatos

Getting this man to stop working and go on a date will need a ton of patience, even Lord Diavolo has to convince him the little d's will do their jobs right while hes away.

Will take care of every scrape and bruise you get.

Man has glowsticks prepared to cheer you on

When it turns back to a free skate he will try his best to impress you and teach you little tricks he's picked up in his many years.

You try to convince him to eat some of the food there and he will politely decline and proceed to take you out to a nice fancy, but quaint restaurant.

"You were really quick to dodge them back there, yet you still got a few bruises, truly amazing for humans to get to that speed and dodge so fast. You're really a fascinating one arent you?"

Lord Diavolo

This man.... he made SIGNS

WILL be hollering when you win

The loudest in the stands

Glowsticks, glowing necklaces, bracelets, man is even wearing a glowing necklace around his head for you, glowing head to toe

So happy and proud 🥺😭❤

Definitely brought barbatos to help hold up the glittery signs him and the little d's made

Barbatos will leave with the signs after congratulating you and leaving you two to your date.

He will be a little off balanced when first skating cause the man went straight for the inlines 😂

Will be smiling the whole time, nothing can or will ruin it.

Absolutely in love with the skate rink because of you and even wants to add a few to the devildom so they can hold tournaments like the one you where in

Can get sad if he cant get you a stuffed animal while you're in the bathroom so he summons Barbatos again to help him while you're away.

Sends Barbatos away so you wont know he helped him get the prizes

Ends up getting you 6 stuffies and a phone case that doesnt fit your phone but it's the thought that counts right?

You win him a medium sized dragon from the claw machine and he sleeps with it every night and loves it like it's your guy's kid.

If he meets your friends he will find out just how much you've missed him as you get embarrassed, makes a mental note to see you once a week after that encounter.

Will eat 2 Turkey legs as you eat a slice of pizza and share a pitcher of soda with him

(He makes a mess of his face so you clean it off for him)

Will not want to leave and go back to the devildom so he'll insist on staying the rest of the night and walks you home

Will. NOT. LEAVEEEE! Master of excuses for why he should stay.

"But I dont want to leave! Theres still so much to do!" "Can I at least see your house?" "I wont leave until I see you're safe at home!" "Please can I stay the night, I miss having you wake up in my arms." "I want to see the morning sun rise with you before I go back"

[retvenkos]

alright, Olive, I'm back with a weird question. (but first of all, I hope you're doing good! how awfully rude of me to not start my ask by that) because you're so good at psychoanalyzing people (and I adore your rambling thoughts), I was wondering if you could maybe help me? I've always wondered who my godly parent would be in the PJO universe - it's been the biggest mistery in my life since I was 8. I just haven't found myself in any figure of the Olympus, maybe because I'd be the child of a minor deity? I've thought about Apollo, and I genuinely like it, but idk, maybe I need a more thorough analysis. I've also gotten Iris and Hemera from other people? I just think your piercing mind could see right through me. anyway, this is weird lol, I hope you don't mind me asking this! and don't worry if you can't answer, it's totally fine. 💜

asdfgfddfgfd, when i get my two weeks off for summer break, i should just do placements for inquiring mutuals because honestly it's one of my favorite things,,,

also, before i get into it (because i have some thoughts™), i'm going to plug one quotev quiz that i think is better than the rest when it comes to these matters: this godly parent quiz.

now, clara, i am not nearly as versed in pjo cabin placements as i am in hogwarts houses, but i'm going to give this my best shot:

first, i think i would be remiss not to mention that you are a libra, and libra is associated with themis, (idk really what that means since i'm not into astrology, lol), but themis isn't mentioned as one of the gods with a cabin, so i'm disregarding that. if we are following this logic though, i think that aphrodite is also associated with libra, so perhaps you could fit into that cabin? personally, i don't see it as strongly as i see others, but you do have a hopeless romantic streak, and a strong sense of community, which could sway you in that direction.

as for apollo, i'm going to unpack that for a minute, because it's very interesting that you'd place yourself there, and i'm on the fence with that myself, lol. (this is very stream of consciousness, so let's see where this section takes us)

i definitely see the association with the arts - music and poetry - although in my mind apollo has always been the performer, and less of the creator. i always associated the muses more with the creation stages of music and poetry. like... the muses are the fashion designers and apollo is the model going down the runway. or the muses are the writers and collaborators in the writers room and apollo is the actor or director. so, while i see the association, i think it's a little weak, because you strike me as more of the quiet artist who's behind the scenes, rather than the bard singing in the pub, trying to get coins. but, you know yourself better, so maybe it's a good association.

and after that, what always strikes me about apollo is the volatile contradictions of his personality. i mean, he's associated with the sudden death of children (rightfully so, i mean he slaughtered all of niobe's sons), along with his sister, artemis, but he's also a healer. he's like that "i'm a healer, but..." meme, which is funny as hell but also a little concerning. like, in many stories he is that godly sort of intelligent strength, but also he's really volatile and has quite a temper on him. i don't really think this relates a whole lot to you, because i get the vibes that you are generally mild mannered, but when something pisses you off, you let is really simmer. i feel like you aren't one to fly off the handle - if you do, it's probably been stewing within you for a while, and whoever your anger is directed at really knows that you're upset, and they knowingly pushed you to that place. i feel like you're more of a grudge holder than hot-tempered (but girl, same).

and then, of course, we have apollo's prophecies. now, maybe this is me reading too much into your scientific mind, but i think you are concerned with the future, but also don't think too much of it is predetermined. i feel like you are more of a trailblazer than that, and might just be prone to ignoring or actively working against anything you saw in the stars, asdfghgfsdfggfdsdfggfd

oh, and, apollo just has so many unfortunate romances, and on one hand, i have you quoted that you are more of an eponine than a cosette, but also, no hate to apollo and his tragic affairs, but he's openly mocked eros, and that truly gives off the vibes of working off of one (1) braincell, and you are too good for that, clara.

and just going back to personality, i think you have a lot of flexibility that just doesn't fit with the apollo cabin.

tldr; kinda but no?

now, i'm gonna kinda hop back into possible theories.

one of my gut reactions was the say athena, but after thinking about it, i'm still a little unconvinced. you have the intellect and pride for this cabin, and i feel like you would get roped into helping a lot of heroes like athena, but you also just have a charm to you that athena lacks. part of athena is that she's unapproachable and her pride is excessive. you, again, are too flexible to be athena. she's staunch where you are willing, and i feel like the rigidity of her nature is too constricting for you. it's very similar as to why i didn't place you in ravenclaw.

i also considered nike because of your competitive streak, but this placement kind of takes away from the underdog vibes i get from you. the righteous fury... the glee in the moment... it's definitely there, but i feel like there's a level of unsurety to your psyche that you don't really get with nike.

which leads me to my final analysis, where i think you would do well as a child of tyche.

let me go through this. so, i mentioned your competitive streak with nike, and that is 1000% evident in tyche. tyche is all about luck and fortune, and i feel like competition is a shoe in. children of tyche like to dabble with the unknown or the novel - it makes life interesting. they like to go against another and see where the cards fall, and if lady luck isn't on their side.... well, tonight's just not their night. they have a secure base to fall back on, and that allows them to stretch their wings and fly.

furthermore, with nike, victory is expected and guaranteed. luck is far more fluid and unpredictable - it's harder to pin down. you can have a lot of luck and a lot of things working in your favor, but still, the desired end result isn't set in stone - it's likely to happen, but there's always risk. this risk leaves for an air of quiet self-assuredness that isn't overbearing. there's always uncertainty in the mix, and that leads to less overt confidence. it also adds to the thrill (or the anxiety).

plus, i think that the gap between fortune and certainty (a pitfall of risk) leads to a lot of checks and balances that i really see in you. there's a lot of clear headed logic that gets weighed against ambition and desire, and it makes for a kind of pragmatism that doesn't stomp out dreams, just looks at them realistically.

which means i feel like a lot of people ask you for advice, clara. it also makes you a decision maker for sure. you might falter for a moment, but in the end, you make a choice and you live with it.

also, i have a personal headcanon that children of tyche are really well rounded, which harks back to my gryffindor analysis of you, where i mention that you have many tools in your box. you are able to manipulate many different things, and you can look at them from many angles, and i love that for you.

i also think this is a good placement for you because luck is all about what-ifs. it's about actively manipulating the world around you. like i said when i mentioned apollo's prophecies - i don't think that you do very well with the predetermined. some things, certainly, but one (1) you are too stubborn to believe you can't change things (oh, the contradictions of a gryffindor and child of tyche), and there's also a level of desperation that things won't always be like this. luck can come to anyone in any place. this is definitely tied to your bleeding heart - you care for people who have fallen on hard times, and you can't help but pray that it's only temporary.

oh, and i headcanon that tyche holds grudges sO BAD. she is only outdone by nemesis and hades.

anyway, this was long and it winded, but TLDR; i hereby herald you a child of tyche. you are my lady luck, clara.

[there-must-be-a-lock]

wings & the way down - part 3

Spencer Reid x Derek Morgan 

Word Count: 2190 this chapter

Warnings: None, really!

A/N: This fills the “jealousy” square on my @cmbingo​ card! 

Series masterlist is here. 

Sunday, January 5 - Spencer

Spencer doesn’t want to stay inside a minute longer than he has to. He can’t stay. He feels like his skin is a few sizes too small, and he’s itching with the discomfort of existing in his own body, and everything that’s rattling around inside his head is fizzing dangerously like bubbles in a shaken bottle of champagne. 

So he walks. 

This is what he’s done for over a decade now. In the last decade, Spencer has walked every street in this neighborhood more times than he wants to count. 

Spencer used to make up stories as he walked. When he was young, they were about the families who lived inside, the snatches of other people’s lives he saw as he passed. Later, he used to picture himself in those houses. He tried to imagine being someone else; who would he be, if he’d grown up in a different home, with a different family? Who would he be, if he was normal? 

He tries not to think about that any more. There’s no point being jealous of someone who doesn’t exist. 

He turns onto Lake Road, and then he almost turns around. 

This is creepy. Isn’t it? It’s creepy as hell. More importantly, why should he care whether Derek wants to see him? For all he knows, Derek didn’t show up at the park either. They’re never going to see each other again. There’s no reason for Spencer to care. 

He does care, though. 

The flip side of it is: they’re never going to see each other again. What does he have to lose? 

There’s something liberating about that thought. Derek doesn’t know him, and better yet, he never saw Spencer get shut in a locker. Derek wasn’t there when Charlie Hankel stole all Spencer’s clothes while he showered after gym class. Derek doesn’t remember any of the things Spencer would like to forget. 

Aside from Emily, everyone in Spencer’s class has known him for almost four years now. They all know him a little too well. 

Still, his heart is pounding uncomfortably as he passes #8 (big, sturdy mailbox, "the Hotchners”) and #10 (cheerful yellow mailbox, no name) and finally stops at #12 (small, tidy dark green mailbox, with “MORGAN” on the front). He almost turns around there, and then again (three more times) as he walks up the concrete path to the front door. 

This feels reckless. Spencer’s not sure what got into him today; he’s never reckless. 

He rings the doorbell and bounces on the balls of his feet. It’s one of those doorbells that actually chimes out a little tune, and he can hear it, muffled, inside the house. 

Nobody’s home, and that’s fine. It’s fine. Spencer’s just gonna go — well, he’s not going home, but he’s leaving. It’s fine. 

But he hears footsteps, and someone is shouting, “Coming, sorry, I thought you said two!”

Then the door is flung open, and Derek is standing there, and his smile drops when he sees who it is. Spencer’s stomach feels like he’s falling from the top of a very tall building. 

“Um. Hi?” His voice cracks. He raises one hand in an awkward wave, cheeks burning, and realizes he has no idea what to say. “I just — I figured — um. I wanted to say sorry? Assuming… you even showed up on Friday, which, for all I know you didn’t, but. Believe me, I really really wanted to show up on Friday. And… I don’t know what to say.” His voice trails off and then he admits, “I didn’t plan this far ahead.” 

“Yeah, I showed up on Friday,” Derek says quietly. He looks… unsteady, almost. Not sure what he feels. 

Spencer looks down at his ratty Chucks and repeats, “I’m sorry.” There’s a long pause, and he can’t bring himself to look up again. “I’ll just— I’ll just go, sorry, this was—”

He’s already turning around when Derek laughs and asks, “Really? You gonna ditch me again?” 

“Oh.” Spencer’s so startled he almost loses his balance pivoting to face him again. 

Derek’s smiling. It’s a different smile than the one he had on when he answered the door, and it’s tugging at his mouth slowly like he’s not sure why it’s there, but he’s smiling. “You wanna come in?”

“Oh.” Spencer blinks. “Sure.” 

There’s music playing from upstairs, hip-hop with a heavy bass beat, and Derek tells him, “Hang on, let me grab that.” He takes the stairs two at a time, and Spencer looks around bemusedly. 

The house is so… normal. It’s clean without being overwhelmingly so, and it’s full of light, and all the furniture looks like it was bought new, from a catalog. It’s so painfully normal that Spencer’s stomach twists up in knots. This is exactly the sort of life he used to imagine for himself. 

What is he doing here? 

“Hey, you okay?” Derek asks, as he comes back down the stairs. 

Spencer forces a smile. “Fine, just — having a weird day.” 

“My auntie and uncle are at church, so I figured I’d crank up the volume while I could,” Derek says sheepishly, holding a little Bluetooth speaker that was — presumably — the source of the music. “What sort of stuff do you like?” 

Spencer shrugs. Most of the music he knows comes from his mom, and he can’t really think about her right now without that cold clenching feeling around his ribcage. 

Maybe Derek can see how out of place Spencer feels here, because he leads the way out the back door, over to a big rope hammock strung up between two slim trees in the back of the neat lawn, and he falls back on it almost carelessly, sprawling out while still scrolling through something on the phone. 

“What were you listening to before?” Spencer asks. 

“Nas. You know him?” He grins up at Spencer, that bright-white dazzling grin, and Spencer perches next to him on the hammock. 

“Not at all, but… we can listen to that, if you want.” 

Derek sets the speaker on the ground, loud enough to hear but not too loud to talk over, and Spencer listens curiously as he lays back, hands folded on his stomach, looking up at the clear blue sky through the leaves. 

“When I stand somebody up, I don’t usually come to their house after to apologize,” Derek says tentatively. “Which… makes me think you might actually have a good excuse.”  

Spencer turns his head, and Derek is mirroring his position, looking right back at him. Their arms are just a couple inches apart, and Spencer feels acutely aware of his body. 

“I sorta had a… family crisis,” Spencer tells him. “My mom — we had to go out of town, and we didn’t get back until this morning.” 

He braces himself for questions, but Derek just half-smiles and nods slightly, looking back up at the sky. “Listen to this bit right here.” He kicks his foot idly, and the hammock rocks back and forth, lazy and gentle. 

“That’s a remarkably complex internal rhyme,” Spencer says, and Derek laughs out loud. 

“A+ literary analysis.” 

Spencer blushes. He’s dealt with a lot of teasing in his life, but this is so, so different. Derek’s elbow nudges against his, and when Spencer turns his head, he sees a broad smile that gives him butterflies. 

“I like it,” he says shyly. 

They’re quiet for a moment, listening. All that strange restlessness has faded, and Spencer likes it here; he likes the fence that surrounds most of the yard, hiding them from view, and he likes the pressure of the rope digging into his back, and he likes the way Derek looks at him. 

They listen in silence until the end of the song, and then Derek asks, “What’s your favorite book?” 

“I don’t know if I can choose a favorite. What’s yours?” 

He says it almost sheepishly: “Mother Night. Vonnegut.” 

“That’s an interesting choice,” Spencer says, thinking it over. 

“How do you mean?” 

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be,” Spencer quotes. 

Derek makes a face and looks up at the sky. “What, you gonna psychoanalyze me now?” 

“Why? What do you think it says about you?” Spencer counters, before he can think better of it. 

Derek laughs and says, begrudgingly, “That maybe I can identify with that. Pretending for the sake of self-preservation.” 

“I don’t know you all that well, but you don’t seem — I don’t know. You don’t seem like the kind of person who would need to pretend.” He wonders if it’s too much, if he’s being presumptuous. Derek looks self-conscious now. 

“But doesn’t everybody do that, to some extent? I mean… trying to fit in. Everybody pretends a little bit.”  

“I don’t, really,” Spencer tells him. “I wish I could, but… I don’t really know how to be anybody else.” There’s a note of bitterness in it that he can’t quite hide. 

“Is it weird that I’m jealous?”  

“You really shouldn’t be,” Spencer tells him. He mulls that over for a second and adds, “I do pretend when it comes to… how I feel. I don’t like showing when I’m upset. It doesn’t work the same way, though, because pretending I’m fine really doesn’t ever make me fine.” 

Derek snorts. “Yeah, I feel you.” 

“I imagine who I could be. I imagine what my life could be like somewhere else, or as someone else,” Spencer admits, which isn’t something he’d usually just say like that, but talking to Derek doesn’t seem to have the same rules as talking to most people. “It’s not the same as pretending, but... “ 

“Huh.” 

Spencer feels strange — oddly vulnerable and raw — and maybe Derek does too, because he’s got a soft, wistful expression on his face when he turns his head. They look at each other for a moment. Spencer knows he must be blushing. 

Then Derek’s phone rings, loud and startling through the speaker, and Derek seems to shake himself before fumbling with the buttons. 

“Hey,” he says, and pauses. “Oh — no, that’s fine. Cool. See you soon.” 

Which sounds like Spencer’s cue to go. He doesn’t really want to. 

He sits up, tucking his hair behind his ears. “I should —” 

“My friend,” Derek says, and he actually sounds disappointed. “A friend is coming over, sorry, I didn’t — you could stay, if you want?” 

Derek’s been here for how long now? And he already has more friends in the area than Spencer’s made in years? 

“Nah, it’s fine, I should get back to  —” To my life. Because this isn’t mine, as much as I’d like it to be. “— home.” 

“Can we hang out again sometime?” Derek asks. The hammock is sagging in the middle, where their weight is pulling it down, and when Derek sits up they slide closer, the sides of their legs press together, warm and distracting. 

“You’re staying here?” Spencer asks, more breathless than he’d like. 

Derek smiles. “Yeah, for a while.” 

Before Spencer can ask questions, Derek’s passing him the phone, and he taps his number in carefully. 

“That’s me.” He clears his throat. 

“I’ll text you,” Derek says, typing, and a second later, Spencer feels his own phone vibrate in his pocket. 

Maybe it’s all the talk about pretending — maybe if Spencer pretends to be confident, he will be, someday — maybe it’s the recklessness that brought him here in the first place — something possesses Spencer, and in a moment of courage (or stupidity) he leans over and kisses Derek, lips brushing the corner of his mouth, right where his smile curves up. 

Spencer’s so shocked at his own daring that he can’t really take it in; he gets the briefest impression of soft, and then he’s pulling back, ice-cold with the adrenaline rush. 

They both freeze for a second, blinking at each other. Just as Derek shifts, opening his mouth to say something, Spencer jumps to his feet. 

“Bye,” he chokes out, and turns, fighting the urge to run. 

“See you soon, pretty boy,” Derek calls after him. 

Spencer’s hands are shaking as he walks quickly around the side of the house. He stares intently down at his shoes, because he’s not going to do something like a little Snoopy dance of joy until he’s sure he’s on the next block and fully out of view. 

He almost collides with someone on the sidewalk; he gets an impression of blonde hair and pink shoes as she squeaks with alarm and jumps out of his way. 

“Sorry,” Spencer says breathlessly, without stopping. 

She chirps out a cheerful, “No biggie!” 

When Spencer looks back, she’s ringing the Morgans’ doorbell, and there’s this awful bitter thing in the back of his throat as he realizes that that’s Derek’s “friend.”

It makes perfect sense, though. What did he expect? 

Spencer swallows his envy and keeps walking. 

.

.

.

[stonertransdad]

Life Update since I hadn't been on here in forever

The pandemic was/is wild! Lockdowns started literally around the time we were going to the fertility specialist to get her pregnant. I lost my job to COVID in March shortly before we did the procedure, but we decided there's never really a good time to have a kid. Why not during a global pandemic when one of us in unemployed? (BTW, I don't recommend having a kid during a pandemic. Not being able to go to all of the appointments and having to sit in the parking lot was brutal.)

Let's talk about May friends...it was rough. (TW for mention of suicide btw. I'll post a gif where it's safe to start again if you wanna skip over it.)

So May 1st is the anniversary of my father's suicide. It had been 4 years. I found his body and since he wasn't married, I had to handle his affairs and arrange his funeral. May 1st, 2020 my wife and I had a Zoom game night with our friends and I got drunk because everyone was drinking (except my wife because she was pregnant). After our game night at like 2am, I had a psychotic break. I threatened to kill myself numerous times. My wife tried to talk me down, but eventually called the cops to take me. I thank her for that because looking back, that was the moment I knew something needed to change. I was convinced the cops were gonna kill me because I'm a trans dude in rural West Texas. I legit took the phone out of my wife's hand, hung up on 911, and yeeted her phone across the backyard and tried to hop the fence. Eventually the cops came and talked me down. They took me to the hospital an hour away in handcuffs (for their protection I did nothing wrong). They took me to the religious hospital that I was born in. So when they looked up my info by my name and date of birth from my driver's license (I only changed my middle name) literally all my paperwork and my bracelet had my deadname and wrong gender despite all of my legal stuff saying male with my new middle name. I mentioned it to them and they didn't care. They misgendered me the entire time I was there. I had hit my head hella hard on the bath tub when my wife was trying to snap me out of it, did the hospital even check me for concussion? Nope. I had punched so many things and my hand and wrist were swollen and discolored. Did they check out my hand and wrist? Nope. I was there for over 10 hours before I was able to convince them I was okay and that it was just the alcohol. Did I mention during that 10 hours I was literally out in the hall on a gurney with no mask and this was when COVID was running rampant in Texas (the first time)? I heard people die that night. I had nothing to distract me because they took away all of my personal items and clothes. My wife picked me up and we went home and I have been sober ever since. It's not the first psychotic break I've had with alcohol in my system. Alcohol just doesn't agree with me, but I'm finding new things to replace it with.

TW has been lifted...it's safe now.

A couple of weeks after that I began teletherapy because I had been on the same mood stabilizer and anti-depressant for almost a decade. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense that I felt like it hadn't been working for at least a year. This is a reminder to check in with your doctor if you feel like your meds aren't working. You may just need a different dose or a new med. There's no shame in that. I bounced around on various medications trying to find the right combo, some side effects scarier than others, but we got there. Before this, I had been diagnosed with ADHD, Major Depressive Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. My therapist threw out my Borderline diagnosis and said it was CPTSD instead, which made sense.

Fast forward to December because my wife was pregnant, I was unemployed still, and we did absolutely fuck-all because the global panini was still raging.

Our son was born on December 3, 2020. He weighed 5lbs 9oz and scared the ever loving shit out of us. He wasn't breathing when he was born so they called NICU in ASAP. I'm freaking out because I can hear and see what's going on while my wife was asking if he was okay as they put her guts back in place to sew her up. 5 or so minutes pass and a nurse asks if I want her to take some pictures. I'm like is he okay, he still hasn't cried. She's like "oh yeah, he's chillin." This goon was being held by a nurse and was just looking around not crying or anything. Chillest baby ever (he still is btw). I held him next to my wife's head until it was time to go back to the room. Little dude did have to spend 4 nights in the NICU because he couldn't keep his sugars or temperature regulated, but he was healthy otherwise. He's now 4 months old and is starting to sit up on his own a little bit and he's OBSESSED with standing. He's still a little guy, but very healthy and growing like a weed. He saves my life daily.

So after being unemployed for over 9 months, I started a new job working in a call center. I absolutely hate talking on the phone. It gives me anxiety and throws me into panic attacks, but I had been putting out hundreds of job applications since I lost my last job and this was the first offer I got. I wasn't really in a position to turn it down since my unemployment had ran out 2 months prior. It was 2 months of training, then we'd be on our own. I got thru the training and thought I could handle it...until they started putting us on live calls with someone helping us if we got stuck. My mental health hit the lowest point it had in a few years and my wife was terrified she was going to lose me. She convinced me to quit on February 28th (not because I didn't want to, but because I'm a stubborn ass who felt guilty). My meds got tweaked a little bit more dosage wise during this mess.

Starting about mid-February, I was experiencing severe shakiness, tremors, and spasms. I've always been a shaky person and never really thought too much about it, but at some points I could barely feed myself, or get a drink, or hold my son. On March 7th, I tried to make an appointment with my doctor about the weird symptoms I was experiencing, but she was out of town and her next opening wasn't until the 31st. My body said that won't work and my wife rushed me to the ER on the 9th...I had begun having seizures that day. I had no previous history of seizures. Got to the ER and had a seizure literally as I was walking thru the door, so they rushed me straight back. They took some blood and that was literally it. No MRI. No CT. They pumped me full of Ativan and said it was just a panic attack and to go home and chill.

Spoiler Alert: It wasn't just anxiety. I was having 20+ seizures a day. On the 10th, my wife rushed me to a different hospital...the good hospital over an hour away. First we had to drop off our gremlin with my mom to make things a little easier. Yet again, I had a seizure as I walked in the door and was taken back immediately. I don't really remember much because they kept pumping me full of Ativan and morphine because I had been in excruciating pain from the number of seizures I'd had. I do remember them doing a CT pretty quickly after I got there. Then they weren't happy with the results of the CT, so they took me to get an MRI, which showed possible signs of Multiple Sclerosis (but I didn't find that out until AFTER the notes showed up in my patient portal after being home a few days, so I raised hell...more on that later.) They did a 24 hour EEG on me and it showed nothing abnormal. Also, EEG glue is a bitch on your hair and scalp. After looking at everything and given my previous mental health history, they diagnosed me with Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures, or PNES. It is a subset of Functional Neurologic Disorder, or FND. I couldn't walk well anymore and had to use a walker when I was discharged. I was in the hospital for 3 days.

When I had my follow-up appointment on the 23rd, I asked why the possibility of MS was never mentioned to me since it was very clearly in the notes. The doctor didn't have an explanation. He called in a referral to neurology so I could get a 2nd MRI to confirm MS and marked it as high priority. He also didn't take my pain seriously. My pain levels had been at a 5 or higher every single minute since they took me off of the morphine in the hospital. He told me to keep taking prescription strength doses of ibuprofen and Tylenol, which I had been. I let him know I had been and it didn't even take the edge off the pain. He ignored me. Leading up to this appointment, I had also added urinary incontinence to my growing list of symptoms and was forced to wear diapers so I didn't have to do laundry all the time. The doctor also took me off my ADHD meds because they were lowering my seizure threshold. He also took me off of my sleeping meds and nightmare meds for the same reason I'm assuming.

I kept my appointment on the 31st with my primary doctor because she's been my doctor for 5 years now and I knew she'd take my pain seriously. She did. She immediately wrote me prescriptions for a muscle relaxer and Tylenol 4. She also told me that my referral had been rejected by neuro. She said my case wasn't a good one for what she called a "wallet biopsy" and the doctors in neurology could be real assholes. She immediately sent the referral to other locations to get an approval. I am still waiting on that despite it being marked as high priority. She wrote me a prescription for a wheelchair because we both agreed my wheelchair was not enough for particular days.

Yesterday my wheelchair was finally ready for pickup, so my wife drove me to go get it. I'm still unable to drive due to my seizures and my tremors and twitches as it's predominantly in my legs and arms. I am an ambulatory wheelchair user now. Some days I can go short distances without my walker, some days I can't go without my walker, some days I can't even get out of bed, and some days I will be using my wheelchair. Don't judge a book by its cover, not all disabilities are visible. I have managed to keep my daily seizure count down in single digits and have even had a few seizure free days. They are still incredibly taxing on my body. I feel like I can't ever replenish my spoons fast enough to keep up with anything in my life.

So all in all, life has been chaotic. We are moving from Texas to New Mexico in the next few weeks, which should be interesting considering I can't overdo it without throwing myself into seizures. We will be closer to my mother-in-law so she can help us with our son and I can start resting a bit more on the more difficult days. Being a stay-at-home dad with an invisible illness has been one of the most challenging things I've done in my life, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Sorry this is so long. I just wanted to update my followers since it's been over a year since I posted before a few days ago.

[impaladolan]

Capture - Grayson Dolan [ae]

summary: somehow, someway, y/n was rescued from her enstranglements and open to the world again..

warnings: lil smut & swearing!

a/n: sadly, this is the last part of capture :( i hope you enjoyed this little series! ily, mwah💕

later note: this is now an alternate ending, i am continuing this fic!

part one, part two, part three.

In the moonlit hours of the night, where the nocturnal animals are out and about, the slight creak of a door radiated through the room of which you lie awake and sleepless in. You didn't dare to move, but rather freeze. You held your breath and squinted your eyes towards the door, where a shadowy figure entered with ease and quietness. "Are you awake?" The shadow of a man calls in a whisper, edging nearer and nearer towards you. You decided not to answer, internally preparing yourself for whatever was to happen.

You had finally given up.

It's been presumably a month since that fateful morning run that lead to where you are now, stuck in a house you've barely ventured. You felt disgusting and a far different person from who you once were before. It's been a week since you've showered, to ward off the man you've named asshole. You've gone blank, almost mute. You haven't talked in days and you don't plan to. But what looks to be a man, in the dark, in front of you had altered your motives. "Y/N, I've come to take you home. We don't have much time." Hands begin to shake your shoulders as the unfamiliar voice awakes you from your thoughts. "How?" Your voice comes out raspy, breaking a fresh load of tears that you haven't been able to cry in days. "Come with me, and be quiet." He orders as he pulls your hands to help you out of bed.

He presses his fingers against his lips, faintly saying "It's okay," to calm your overwhelming nerves. He leads the way, opening the creaky door just enough for the two of you to escape. He smoothly walks down the hall, with you following suit, and through a couple rooms until he opens another door, leading into a garage with an already started black car. He quickly opens the passenger seat and lets you in, waiting until you're fully seated before softly shutting it. You quickly buckle your seatbelt as he jogs around the front and into the other side. He seats himself and immediately backs up once the garage door is opened.

This can't be real.

You begin to pinch yourself, letting your tears run down your cheeks as you giddily smile, watching as you pass the wire fence and roll down the entirely too long driveway. "I'm sorry." The man, who you've not given a good look at yet, muttered. He didn't look at you, but he kept his eyes on the road and quickened his speed. You didn't respond, because you have nothing to say exactly.

"It's not my brothers fault, I promise." He gives you quick glance, his striking features an awfully good resemblance to asshole. "Then who is at fault!?" You felt your anger arise in you, but you hiccup and sniffle afterwards, clearing the fury-filled facade you were trying to encapsulate. "I've been trapped in a room for a month, sexually assaulted, malnourished, and taken away from all the people I love without an explanation. So tell me, who was it?" You asked, a hurt in your voice like the man had never heard before. He felt himself almost shed a tear at your words, shaking his head.

"He was forced to, by our leader. I can't give you names or details Y/N, but I must ask you not to press charges. I'll reimburse you with whatever kind of money you want, but if you fucking snitch, we're all dead. Including you, understand?" The tone of his voice caused your sniffles to hush and your eyes to bulge. Before you could answer, you feel his car halt and the view of your house, seemingly untouched, outside the tinted windows. "Grab your things, shower, and get back out here as quickly as possible." He demanded unlocking the doors and following you up to your doorstep.

You didn't question anything, grabbing your spare key from under the doormat and bursting into your home, the recognizable smell instantaneously calming you.

Wow.

You missed this place so much. All the pictures and nicknacks placed strategically around the place. You wished to lay on you sofa and squeeze all your pillows and smell all the smells that were so homely, but the man hurried you, standing guard at the door as you did all the things he asked, starting with a well needed shower and a change of clothes. After packing up things that you thought you'd need, you follow the man back to his car and hop in, waiting for his words. "Where's your nearest relative located?" He openly questions, starting the vehicle and beginning a slow drive, opposite to how he drove before.

"200 miles away, in a grave yard." You answer monotonously, staring straight ahead. "I figured, since there wasn't any search warrants out." He mumbled under his breath, though you heard. Your hearing had increased very much so throughout the entirety of a month, as well as your sneakiness you'd guess.

"Is there a place you can stay for the next week?" He furrowed his brows in question giving you his full attention the moment he stopped at a red light, where no other cars eerily surrounded. The moment he asked that question, your mind immediately went to one of your closest friends, whom you met in college and have stayed in touch with for the most part. Well, all except for an entire month. "Yes, drive to Belmont. I'll give you directions once we get in the city." You direct with a nod, pulling your knees to your chest and closing your eyes softly.

It's gonna be a long ride..

-

"Please, Daddy, I'll be good!" You beg as you watch him look over you with a wicked grin, his large hand stroking his erected length. You had your legs spread wide open, ready for his touch and warmth— whatever he could possibly do to make you feel good.

"Good girls don't run away." He sternly said, with what seemed to be an angered chuckle. His cold, merciless eyes beamed right into your own, his signature smirk dancing on his lips. He grabs your hips, flipping you onto your stomach with an ease, his hands softly gliding up and down your back. His fingertips alone sent core-aching shivers down your entire spine until your back was arched to his liking. His index finger traced a line all the way down your backside until it delved into your incredibly drenched pussy, shooting a foggy sense of mentality to your brain. He toyed with your folds, inserting two of his fingers at a relaxing slow place that made your stomach twist and turn with glee. You let out a couple sheer moans to yourself, basking in this quick moment of sensation before it turns to dust.

He continues his motions, gliding his other hand further up to caress your breast while he leans his mouth up towards your ear to lowly whisper; "You'd like to have this, wouldn't you?" You bit your lip with a happy sigh as his skillful fingers pick up a little speed, nodding your head for a slight yes to answer his question. "Words, sweetheart." You gasp when you feel his lips connect to your neck, his harsh sucking creating a slight difficulty to speak, as he wanted you to. "Yes, Daddy, I'd love to." It wasn't hard to figure out that he'd cease all of his orgasm creating actions just at your words.

"If only you didn't run away, you could've gotten what you wanted." His gruesome chuckles startled you, making you whimper with need. You look behind to see him licking his fingers with a smile, a smile you'd never forget.

"Y/N, wake up we're in Belmont." The man taps your arm lightly as his soft and soothing voice wakes you from your gut twisting slumber. You felt your entire body shutter with desire for more, and you felt a pooling within your panties.

Did you just have a wet dream about a kidnapper?

You caught your breath and blinked your eyes to get acquainted with the newly risen sun, trying to regain your memory. "What were you dreaming about? You kept saying daddy and shit, kinda hot." He gave you a suggestive smile as he chuckles, all the while your face burned up with embarrassment. You were almost annoyed— no you were peeved that he had woke you up from an amazing, imaginary sex marathon. "Nothing much, just fucking your brother." You shrug with a blank face, a hollowed chuckle emitting from his throat. "Ouch, women." He continues his small laughs, turning into a gas station and sliding right next to a pump.

"What do you want for breakfast?" He asks, getting out of the driver's side with a yawn. "To piss." You yawn as well, leaning back in your seat to stretch.

"I'd let you, but you'd probably make a run for it or something." He twists his body around, letting it breathe rather than being crunched in a car any longer. "Fine, a hash brown." You quickly answer, your mouth watering just to the thought. He nods, shutting his door and locking the vehicle twice. Once he's inside, you quickly scribble something on a random envelope, placing it in his seat before looking in the backseat for your bag. You quickly grab the straps and put your arms through the loops. With one last look at the man, who seemed to be getting your desired hash brown, you open the passenger side door and sprint as fast as possible before he'd notice the cars alert system sounding.

You run as fast as your legs could take you, keeping up a solid pace until you're in a recognizable neighborhood. You could still hear the car's endless beeping, which gave you hope that you'd finally be—

Free.

-

Thank you, for helping me escape. I've decided, within the few minutes of planning my escape as well, that I will not bring any of this up to the police, as I probably should. Yes, I was held there against my will, but I can't say I was exactly unhappy. So with that being said, never contact or try to find/kidnap me ever again. I will carry this baggage for the rest of my life, don't make it worse.

good riddance,

Y/N Y/L/N

(masterlist)

[myheartrevealedocs]

Untouchable Ch 20: 3rd Life (S3E12)

Warnings: murder of teens, graphic injuries, swearing

Ch 19 | Ch 21

~ ~ ~

“Have you ID’d the body?” Hotch asked as they got out of their SUVs and onto the scene.

Two teenage girls, Katie and Lindsey, had gone missing from Chula Vista, California almost a day ago and the police had just called them in after a body was uncovered during a search party. It’d been there for 5 hours and supposedly was extremely gruesome.

“It’s a girl,” the detective confirmed.

“One of the missing girls?” Hotch specified.

“All I can tell you, is it’s a girl.”

“Did you draw up a list of those involved in the search?” Morgan inquired.

The team had to dodge police cars, officers, and bystanders to reach the yellow tape and see the grave they had uncovered.

“You’re gonna find the parents of those girls on that list.”

“Please tell me they didn’t discover the body,” Emily huffed.

“No. As soon as our dogs caught her scent, we kept them away from the scene.”

They all stepped over the edge of the pit, looking down on the body. It was positioned awkwardly, as if thrown down there. Any exposed skin was coated in a layer of blood, followed by a layer of dirt. And the face wasn't just covered, it was completely gone.

Lydia’s stomach churned at the sight, but she swallowed it down, stepping carefully into the grave and closer to the body, her gloves coming out instinctually.

She took her time to examine the body, finally speaking up when Emily and Spencer broke away from the team to look with her.

“The bruises had time to develop,” she explained, pointing to the discoloration on the skin they could see. “Her hands and face were cut up in layers. And from the indentations on her neck, she was strangled to death with a belt.”

“The bindings cut deep into her flesh,” Spencer noted.

“But why destroy her hands and face?” the detective asked from behind Emily.

“It indicates she knew the attacker,” she told him. “They think if we’re able to identify her, we’ll be closer to catching them.”

“Do you think the other girl’s still alive?”

“Until we find her body,” Rossi said, “we should assume she is.”

~ ~ ~

Lydia sighed, stepping into an abandoned house. The carpet was littered with blood stains, beer bottles and cans, cigarettes, money, shoes. The amount of evidence their unsubs left behind was astounding.

Throughout the day, they’d come to two discoveries. The first was that the body uncovered belonged to Katie Owen. And the second was that their other kidnapped girl, Lindsey Vaughan, wasn’t actually named Lindsey Vaughan.

Her and her father, Jack, were in witness protection after he’d been caught as part of the Boston mob. And if someone had figured them out, Lindsey was in much more trouble than they thought.

“Katie’s cell phone,” Emily said as she lifted up a small, pink object.

“Two different sets of footprints,” Morgan noted. “So, two unsubs.”

“Jack said there’d be two of them,” the detective offered.

“Hotch,” Lydia called. “We’re gonna need to pack up all of this. There’s DNA all over this scene.”

“For professionals, this is incredibly sloppy,” Emily stated and Lydia nodded.

“There’s no way. The mob does their job and moves on. They’ve been hanging out here, drinking… whoever’s doing this, they’re doing it for fun, not work.”

Emily picked up a belt. “This could have been the belt used to strangle Katie.”

“If they’re sending a message, why obliterate the ID and hide the body?” Rossi asked.

“So this has nothing to do with the mob?” The detective looked between them, baffled.

“Hey, guys,” Morgan called. “This blood trail goes all the way out the back here. Must have run out this way.”

The team followed them into the backyard and out of a broken section in the fence.

“Whoever it was,” Emily began, “they lost a lot of blood.”

“It’s getting thinner,” Lydia noticed. “It’s an arterial bleed. This person couldn’t have made it far on their own.”

Eventually, the trail disappeared, with no body nearby. “Okay,” Hotch said. ���Spread out. Search the grounds and every house.”

The team had their guns out a moment later, splitting off. The whole area was under construction, meaning they could walk freely in and out of the houses, but at the same time, so could their unsubs. An entire house to themselves is a lot of cover.

Lydia followed Hotch, knowing that searching for suspects alone wasn’t in her job description. And the FBI was one of the only jobs where doing more than you were asked is frowned upon. She’d been told that more than once.

As they walked, she pulled at her vest, frustratedly, with one hand, the other still on her weapon.

“You haven’t told the team of your relationship yet,” he mumbled back to her.

“Spencer wants it to come up naturally one day. Too bad he doesn’t really do fluid conversation. I decided a long time ago that that’s his business,” she admitted. “He knows the team better. If he wants them to know, he should tell them.”

“I understand that, but don’t give up your free will to please him. Reid will understand.”

She chuckled. “I know. I promise though, I don’t mind either way.”

They went silent after that, Hotch approaching the closest house. Lydia held her gun at the ready, checking behind them constantly her eyes bouncing from door to door. The two of them made their way upstairs and stopped dead in their tracks to find a small puddle of blood. Hotch indicated she should wait in the hallway, before kicking his way into the room.

He stopped, standing in the door and just looking at whatever was before him, then said into his com, “Guys, the last house on the left house, second floor. I’ve got something.”

As soon as he lowered his gun, Lydia put hers away and walked into the room to find a body on the floor. It belonged to a boy, likely no older than their missing girls were.

“You know that I’m not a forensic anthropologist, right?” Lydia grumbled as she knelt down to examine whoever this poor kid was.

“Lydia, you’re the closest thing we’ve got,” he argued.

“My PhD is in chemistry,” she continued, ignoring him.

There was blood all the way down the front of his body: shirt, pants, dripping from his mouth, etc. He had three stab wounds in his chest. His eyes were already foggy and distant. Across his face and arms were scratch marks. And there was a bite mark on his right hand.

Next to him was an open cell phone, which she reached for after throwing on a glove, but it was dead.

Lydia stood up and showed it to Hotch. “You think this is one of our unsubs?” she asked knowingly.

“He’s got defensive wounds. They have to be from Katie or Lindsey.”

“Well…” She glanced at the boy. “He’s not part of the mob.”

“We’re well past that,” Hotch murmured.

Rossi was the first to arrive on the scene and they explained their findings.

“At some point for him, things got out of hand and he wanted out,” Rossi reasoned. “He makes a run for it and gets stabbed in the process. It’s dark. They can’t find him.”

“They think he’s gone to the police and they have to think fast, so they take Katie and they dump her across town.”

“And to maintain some amount of control, they take Lindsey.”

Lydia looked between the two older men. “So… where did his friends run off to?”

~ ~ ~

The station was in a panic as news broke out that Jack Vaughan had escaped his protective custody agent and was on the hunt for the boys who took his daughter.

Garcia had identified their dead kid as Doug Silverman, a student at the same high school as Katie and Lindsey. Jack had claimed he’d never seen the boy before, but his sudden disappearance seemed to suggest otherwise.

The whole team was on the streets, trying to find Jack, except for Lydia and Spencer. Spencer was marking up his map, frustratedly, trying to determine where the boys might have taken Lindsey.

The only lead they had was a boy named Ryan Phillips. They were pretty sure he was the leader of the group they were looking for. But there was no way he would have taken Lindsey to his house, so it meant very little that they knew his name.

“You’ve got to find him, fast,” the witness protection agent insisted.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Spencer hissed.

“Coloring in a map!”

Lydia got between them immediately, so that Spencer could work in peace. “We’ve got people all over town looking for your witness when we should be focused on saving Lindsey. You’re clearly much more helpful when you’re sitting on your ass doing nothing.”

“What the hell is your problem?!” he shot back, but they were both interrupted by an officer walking in, letting them know that there had been reports of shots being fired on Jackson St.

The agent left with him, anxious to find Jack.

“Got it!” Spencer cried, pulling out his phone and dialing up Hotch before Lydia could ask what he’d found. “After inputting all the sites, I’ve come up with a two-dimensional probability service overlay map that indicates the offenders’ operating area… I know it sounds crazy, but I think he’s taken her to the Mayford High School two blocks from here… Thanks.”

He was off a moment later, throwing on his kevlar vest and Lydia quickly doing the same.

“What are you doing?” he insisted. “You don’t go on raids.”

“The rest of the team’s too far away,” she replied. “You need backup.”

“Lydia, I’ll be fine.”

“Then, what’s the harm of me going?” She didn’t let him answer that. “Hotch gave me this gun specifically because he knew that one day I was going to follow someone into danger with or without it. I’m more prepared than I have been on cases before.”

“Stay behind me,” he told her, the two of them running outside and hopping into a police vehicle.

The car that Jack Vaughan had taken when he fled was abandoned by the side of the school. Spencer pulled up beside it and the two of them rushed to catch up with him, guns at the ready. If Jack really did have a gun and Ryan Phillips was inside, things were going to end badly.

They ran into a nearby hallway, Lydia checking the doors on the right, Spencer doing the same on the left. She stopped in her tracks, hearing muffled yells from inside a nearby bathroom.

“Kill him, Daddy! Kill him!”

Lydia nodded for Spencer to join her and on the count of three, she threw open the door and he rushed into the bathroom.

“Put the gun down!”

Lydia went around him and also trained her gun on Jack Vaughan. At some point, he’d acquired a shotgun, which he now had facing an older boy on the floor of the bathroom, with a split lip, who could only be presumed to be Ryan Phillips. Jack’s daughter, Lindsey, upon seeing them, stepped up next to her father, blocking their shot. Her hands were tied behind her back and there was dried blood around her mouth, but she seemed otherwise unharmed.

“Help me, please!” Ryan sobbed. “Please help me!”

“Jack, put down the gun!”

Lindsey glared at Reid before turning back to her father. "She begged him to stop and he laughed at her! He laughed at her!”

“I didn’t laugh at her! Honestly, I would change this if I could!”

“Lindsey,” Lydia tried to reason, “what good is killing him? Trust me, his sentence will be punishment enough, we’ll make sure of it.”

“Please,” Ryan kept pleading. “Don’t kill me.”

Spencer sounded exhausted, taking in a deep breath. “Jack, you swore to your wife that you’d protect Lindsey. Listen to her, Jack. Listen to what she wants. She’s-- She’s begging you to kill somebody right in front of her. What do you think your wife wanted you to protect her from?”

Lydia decided to try and plead with the girl again. “Lindsey, I know it may feel like killing him is the only just option. And I know it feels like that’s just how things work in your family. Being exposed to things like violence and murder at a young age can make them seem more understandable or natural than they are. But your father’s history doesn’t affect yours. If you tell your dad to shoot him, that will be your first kill. Do you really want a murder on your hands?”

“Jack, your life has been… It’s been about violence, and if… you do this, Lindsey’s will be, too. Do you want that?”

“Lindsey, your father hasn’t killed anyone in a long, long time. He’s proved to the government that he can be a good person. Do you want to take that away from him?” The girl wouldn’t even look at her. She was angry. Her mind was too clouded by her need for revenge. If they were going to stop Jack from pulling that trigger, it was up to Spencer now.

“When does it end, Jack?”

“Put down the gun,” Ryan cried and they could hear sirens approaching outside the school.

“Kill him,” Lindsey whispered.

“When does it stop?” Spencer continued.

Jack looked at Spencer, then Lydia, then his daughter. Finally, he turned back to the pleading boy in front of him. “Tomorrow,” he growled and shot Ryan straight through the head.

Spencer’s face froze into one of pure shock, his gun falling to his side.

Neither Jack nor Lindsey said anything as Jack untied her arms and guided her out of the bathroom. As they passed though, Lydia could see the regret in both faces. They would never be the same after this.

Once they were out of the room, Lydia stepped in front of Spencer, blocking his view of the boy’s body.

“This is not your fault,” she said, firmly. “Ryan Phillips may not have deserved to die, but in the end, we did our jobs. We saved Lindsey.”

“I thought I could-”

She shushed him. “This is not on you,” she repeated. After a minute, Hotch, Morgan, and Rossi were rushing in, only to find Ryan Phillips’s brains all over the walls.

“You okay, Reid?” Morgan asked, seeing his friend’s distress.

Lydia looked up at Morgan. “I’m going to take him outside.” Then, she wrapped an arm around his waist and gently guided him out of the high school and onto a bench outside, pulling him into a hug for several minutes.

~ ~ ~

Spencer didn’t talk much on the trip back to headquarters, but stayed attached to Lydia’s side. After a while, he’d seemed to calm down a bit and reassured her that he would be fine. And then, asked that when they got back, they’d tell the team about their relationship.

After watching the two of them practically falling on top of one another for the whole flight back to DC, Lydia was pretty sure they already knew, but agreed quickly.

“Now or never,” Spencer whispered to her as they walked arm and arm into the bullpen, repeating her phrase from the day they’d told Hotch.

“Hey guys?” Lydia called to the team. “May we speak in the conference room real fast? Before everyone goes home?”

A couple of odd glances were shared between the agents, but they all nodded and shuffled onto the catwalk.

When Lydia and Spencer entered behind the group, the two were holding hands and no one had to say anything to know what the announcement would be.

“Spencer and I have been dating,” Lydia said, trying to save her boyfriend the embarrassment. But, Spencer smiled at the varying faces around the table.

Morgan looked absolutely appalled. Emily, JJ, and Rossi were pleased. And Hotch seemed relieved this conversation was finally out of the way.

So, Lydia continued, “This has been okayed by Hotch, but we avoided telling you guys for some time, because the Bureau obviously isn’t thrilled with the idea.”

JJ and Emily were quick to give their congratulations, the rest of the room silent.

“So… how long, then?” Morgan asked, as Spencer sat down at the round table.

“Have we been dating?” Lydia clarified.

“Yes… Come on,” he teased, seeing the two of them exchange an unsure look. “I know pretty boy’s got it memorized.”

“596 days,” Spencer snapped, clearly already fed up with the meddling. Too bad he was too frustrated to realize where he went wrong.

“Spence-!” Lydia squealed, both amused and nervous as Hotch’s head shot up. “Two weeks!”

It had been over two months since they’d told Hotch, but at that time, they’d promised him that they’d only been dating for two weeks, so that no one involved would get in trouble. Lydia could see the embarrassment flood Spencer’s face and he was sputtering to take it back.

“I knew it!” she cried, slamming her hands down on the conference room table in front of him. “I knew you’d be the one to break in the end! Mr. ‘I’m-such-a-great-liar’!” She laughed, mocking him as she sauntered around the room. “‘Let’s keep it a secret, Lydia!’ ‘They’ll never profile me, Lydia!’ ‘Sure, half the team already thinks I’m in love with you, but if you even talk to me at work, you’re gonna give us away! Be careful, Lydia!’”

“I didn’t-”

“You totally did!”

The whole team watched their playful argument around the round table room, never seeing such a side from either one of them. They were so comfortable with one another, not to mention genuinely happy.

“That’s not fair!” Spencer was saying. “Garcia only teased me about it the one time and I never admitted anything! So the only person on the team who thought I was crushing is Emily!”

“Emily knew?” Morgan turned on the dark-haired woman.

“How could you not!” she giggled. “Spencer is so pathetically romantic when it comes to Lydia.”

“I am not!”

“Guys,” Hotch said, sternly, catching the attention of the whole team. “Ambers and Reid have promised that their relationship would not affect anyone in the office and I expect the same from you. They’re a couple. That doesn’t change anything.”

“What?!” Morgan cried. “Doesn’t change anything?!? This is crazy! Does no one else find this crazy?!”

“Morgan,” Hotch tried again. “Please.”

There was silence, everyone’s eyes surveying the room, most amused at the situation. Finally, Morgan nodded.

“Good. Back to your desks. Ambers and Reid, my office.”

Spencer dropped his head onto the table dramatically.

~ ~ ~

Tags: @kris-stuff, @wooya1224, @arthurmorrgans, @anotherr-fine-mess, @eddysocs

[justahopelessssromantic]

Hey girl. If I could request a song fic with either "unless it's with you" or "deserve" by Christina Aguilera for Angel ❤️💕. Hopefully fluff because I'm a sucker for happy but I'll love anything you write! Thank you!!

Unless It’s With You

*Both songs are amazing 😍 and I will probably be getting to Deserve in the near future as well! This one was so fun to write and I really hope you enjoy it! It got me feeling all warm and fuzzy 😊*

*gif not mine*

Warnings: Just some much needed pure fluff for our boy Angel

Never wanted to feel weak in love, give up control. Never wanted to let down my guard, be vulnerable. Never wanted to feel helpless or too comfortable. I make it on my own, hey.

Like many people before you, you had been hurt in love, brutally. Ever since then you swore to yourself you would never put yourself through that pain again. You built walls, high and sturdy. And no one was going to break those down. You weren’t ever going to let love make you weak, again. You were terrified of getting too close, feeling too safe with another person and them throwing you away and crushing your heart, leaving you alone and broken once more.

I've been thinking a lot about the way that people change.The most beautiful beginnings can go down in flames. It's inevitable, and that's what's got me so afraid. I'd rather be alone.

It was easier and safer being single, a sacrifice you were willing to make. Not only had it happened to you but you had seen the same thing happen to almost all the people in your life. They were happy and in love and then all of a sudden their relationships were crumbling around them, they were breaking up and getting divorced.

It was as if the promises and vows they made never mattered.

You couldn’t do that to yourself, you wouldn’t. So you made the decision to never get married, and if possible not to fall in love, it was just safer that way.

And then life through you a curveball, sending you your very own personal angel.

I don't want no white picket fence. Dozen roses and a wedding dress. Fairy tales are fake happiness. But here we are and I must confess.

You took a deep breath as you tried to calm your nerves, standing there in your white dress preparing to walk down the aisle, tying the knot with the love of your life, something you thought you would never be doing. Your mind reflected on how you got here as you waited as patiently as you could for your cue.

Yeah, I'm in over my head feeling confused. I'm losing my mind, don't know what to do.

You laid in bed snuggled up against Angel’s chest, his arm wrapped around you leaving a light trail as he slowly ran his fingers up and down your spine. You sighed content listening to the steady beat of his heart, you were happier than you had ever been in your life.

You never wanted marriage and Angel knew this fairly quickly on in your relationship. He respected you and respected your wishes, the perfect gentlemen. He always thought he would be married one day but he loved you and just getting to be with you was enough for him.

You sat up and looked at him, this man who had turned your world upside down, tore all your defenses down. With him you could be completely open, vulnerable, and you always felt safe.

You had been thinking a lot recently, about your decision to never get married. You never thought you would let your guard down enough to fall so strongly for another that you would discard the rules you put in place to protect yourself, protect your heart.

But Angel had you reconsidering. He showed you what real love was. He was the most compassionate and caring person you had ever met and you loved him more than you even thought possible.

“Why you lookin’ at me like that?” He asked, sitting up and taking your hands into his large warm ones. The rough pads of his thumbs brushing against the back of your hands. “What’s on your mind, mi amor?”

You gulped, butterflies fluttering all around your stomach because of what you were about to say, “You know I don’t wanna get married,” you started to say.

“I know,” he said gently, cupping your face in his hand, “Just having you as my girl is enough.”

You smiled at his kind words. You weren’t sure how you got so lucky to find this wonderful man. “Unless it’s with you.”

He stared at you, mouth agape for a moment before he fully registered what you were trying to say. The corners of his mouth spread into the largest smile you had ever seen graze his beautiful face, as he looked at you, full of love, “Are you proposing, mi dulce?”

“Well, what do you say Angel Ignacio Reyes?” You asked, looking into his rich eyes, “Will you do me the honor of making me your wife?”

“You already know my answer.” The smile was still plastered to his face, “There’s nothing I want more in my life than to spend the rest of it with you as Mrs. (Y/N) Reyes.”

He brought his hand gently behind your neck pulling you into him for a deep, passionate kiss.

Pulling away he looked into your eyes once more, “You sure about this though? Cause once it’s done you can’t take it back. Til death do us part and all that shit.” He smirked, eyebrow raised.

“Til death do us part and all that shit, baby,” you grinned, bringing him in for another kiss.

You came into my life when I wasn't trying to find anybody to love, hiding what I felt inside.

You recalled the moment you first laid eyes on Angel. Honestly you judged him harshly at first, but in time you realized how wrong you were. Angel was nothing like how you thought he’d be, surprising you in every way.

You were pulled off to the side of the road, hood of your vehicle up as you wafted away the smoke coming out of it. You and this car had been through everything together but it had finally given in and petered out on you.

“Aw come on!” You exclaimed frustratedly, kicking the bumper before pacing off away from the old thing.

You held your phone up praying you could get some sort of signal out there in the middle of nowhere. Reaching up onto your tiptoes you stretched as far as you could as if that was gonna magically grant you service, as the rumbling of a motorcycle came sounding down the dirt road your way.

You pulled your arm down and looked at the man as he pulled up next to you. You cautiously put your phone into your pocket as you approached the stranger, he wasn’t exactly what you had in mind for help but you didn’t have many options.

“You aren’t gonna find any service out here querida.” He said matter of factly as he got off his bike, slipping his helmet off and swaggering your way.

This guy screamed trouble to you. Tall, sexy, and cocky, arms covered in ink, wearing a leather cut that read Mayans. This man was a heartbreaker you could tell, he was used to getting what he wanted, probably had a different woman wrapped around his finger every night.

“How about I give you a ride? You can call a tow when we get into town.” He offered stopping just a few feet away from you.

You thought for a moment as you weighed your options looking back at his motorcycle behind him. You could wait here for who knows how long and hope the next person that came along wasn’t a weirdo, or you could try walking the however many miles it was until you found service, or you could take your chances by hopping on the back of this stranger’s bike.

“My mama taught me never to take rides from strangers.” You said crossing your arms.

“I’m Angel,” he said, grinning smugly, “And you are?”

“(Y/N)”

“Well (Y/N)” he said, your name tasting heavenly in his mouth. If love at first sight was real, then he could have sworn this must have been what if felt like. “Now we aren’t strangers.”

“And how do I know you’re not some crazy killer who’s gonna toss me into some ditch, Angel?” You flirted, quirking your eyebrow. This man was already breaking away at those sturdy walls you had expertly put up so long ago.

“I could ask you the same thing.” He quipped back, “I guess we’ll just have to trust each other, or you could wait for some other person to come rollin’ up and take your chances with them, but not a lot of people come down this road, querida.”

You contemplated for a moment before finally giving in, not seeing much of a choice, “Fine,” you said , “but if you try anything I won’t hesitate to take you down, Angel. ”

“Fair enough,” he chuckled, closing the gap between you and gently placing his helmet over your head. You held your breath as he clasped it securely under your chin, his fingers just barely brushing against your skin.

You reached into your car grabbing your bag, and taking his hand that he had extended out towards you.

Leading you over to his bike, he placed his hands delicately on your hips as he helped you mount it before climbing on in front of you. “Hang on!” He called out to you behind him, grinning as he felt your arms wrap around his waist.

And you have been ever since.

But you opened me up and now I finally realize. I'll be your girl for life.

You tried to deny your feelings, push him away but he was stubborn and persistent.

“Just one date,” he pleaded for what felt like the hundredth time, “let me treat you for just one night. If you hate it I promise I’ll leave you alone, won’t ask again.”

If one date would shut this man up then fine you thought to yourself, “Ok, one.” You said sternly, trying to fight the smile you felt as he got all excited, not expecting you to finally agree.

All it took was that one date for him to start opening you up. What took you years to build the man was breaking down in the matter of days. It wasn’t long before you truly felt that you would be his girl for life.

We don't need a big audience. Thousand people we never met. Me and you and a couple of friends. And here we are and I must confess

Now here you were, arm linked to your father’s as you stared down the aisle, making intimate eye contact with this man who held your heart, as you did his.

His smile lit up the room as he looked at you. There you were looking breathtakingly beautiful, a smile to match his own as you both just stared lovingly at each other. His heart swelled as his eyes began to water, he wasn’t sure how he got so lucky, but he would be thanking God everyday you had together.

It was a small ceremony with just your closest friends and family, the club taking up more than half of the seats, but you wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Besides it could have been just you and Angel there and the two of you wouldn’t have noticed, your full attention on each other.

As you walked closer you could see the tears in his eyes and it took everything in you to keep your own back.

Beating heart and trembling hands. Take me just the way I am. 'Cause all that I want is one and the same. For the rest of my days.

Your heart raced as he took your hands in his, steadying them with his touch, your father giving you away and having a seat. You had never been so sure in your life about anything or anyone until this moment, the moment you and Angel would become man and wife. He accepted you fully and completely for who you were, you doing the same for him. As long as you were together you didn’t care what you were doing, just having each other for the rest of your days was good enough for the two of you.

And oh, I know it's scary. I know that it's true, I'm saying "I do"

“I do,” you breathed out, smiling at the heavy meaning behind such small words.

You blocked out everything Hank was saying, as he was the one officiating the ceremony, your eyes nevering leaving the others, the words “You may now kiss your bride,” being the only ones left that the two of you cared about.

Swooping you into his arms, Angel kissed you lovingly, your bodies melting into each other as the guests all cheered and hollered.

Pulling away you beamed at each other before turning your attention to the closest people in your lives, hands entwined, feeling as if the two of you were on cloud nine, ready to face everything and anything together for the rest of your days, as man and wife.

'Cause I don't want to get married. Unless it's with you, unless it's with you.

[zmediaoutlet]

in support of Black Lives Matter, @petitgateau911 donated $25, and requested weecest first time. Thank you for donating!

to get your own personalized fic, please see this post. (no longer taking prompts)

They’re just outside Wheeling, and Dad’s been gone for twenty-four days, and it’s friggin’ cold outside but it’s going to be 1999 in an hour, and Sammy’s--

“Dude, are you drunk?” Dean says.

“No,” Sam says, with affronted dignity. He puts his beer down in the snow and stands on one leg, easy balance. “See. You’re drunk.”

“Sure thing, squirt,” Dean says, laughing, and Sam grins at him in a total unexpected bloom out of nowhere, and it warms his gut just as much as the bonfire’s doing. It’s not much of a New Year’s Eve, but he’s got himself with no broken bones, and he’s got Sammy smiling, and Dad’s in the wind but they’ve got a twelve-pack and bottle of five-buck champagne waiting and a fire, out back of the trailer, and things aren’t all right with the world but, shit, Dean’s known them of a hell of a lot more wrong, so. He lifts his beer in a little toast, to Sam’s balance and to the world in general, and kicks his boots out into the snow. “You let me know if we’re up too far past your bedtime.”

Sam sticks his tongue out, kinda proving Dean’s point, but hell. He’s cheerful, which can get in short supply most days. No school to miss, with everything closed for the winter break, and Dad’s top-secret-no-sons-allowed hunt’s been keeping the boat unrocked, since Dad pretty much just calls Dean every few days to check in as proof of life, and so it’s just been them, and the woods out here, and the trailer. No job in this town, but Dad left enough cash that they’re floated for a while, and Christmas was pretty lame but Dean made a mega-batch of brownies from a box mix that turned out pretty good and Sam nearly ate his weight in ‘em, and there was enough cash left in Dean’s budget to do New Year’s right. Sammy’s even unbent enough to have some drinks, which frankly Dean’s surprised didn’t take more wheedling, but Sam shrugged and said, “It’s traditional, right?” and Dean could’ve just hugged him, but he settled for a noogie instead.

Sam’s still insisting on his sobriety. Dean can’t stop laughing, from his tree-stump that’s serving as a seat. “Shut up, watch,” Sam says, and does the whole rigamarole of the DUI stop to prove it. Walks a straight line, and stands on one foot, and recites the alphabet backwards while touching his nose. “See?”

“Sammy, how the hell do you know all that stuff?” Dean says. “You drunk-driving when I’m not around?”

He keeps holding his balance, looking up at the dark sky with his finger still on his nose. “DARE class, when we were in New Mexico,” Sam says, and finally drops the stance, shrugging. “Figured it couldn’t hurt to be good at it, just in case.”

Just in case. Dean’s little brother, ladies and gents. “You’re such a freak,” Dean says, glad, and Sam rolls his eyes but stumps over through the snow in his too-big boots, shaking his empty can. “Oh, and now you want a refill?”

“How long until we can open the champagne?” Sam says, practical, and Dean checks his watch. 47 minutes. “So, beer,” Sam says, and Dean shrugs, and gives him one.

“All right, short stuff,” Dean says, getting to his feet. He really is getting kinda tipsy--five beers to Sam’s two, that’s maybe understandable. “One thing about being a Winchester--you gotta hold your liquor.” Sam snorts, which Dean ignores. “Second thing, though, is that no matter what, you gotta be able to handle yourself. No matter what.”

“You said no matter what twice,” Sam says, helpfully, and Dean tugs his hat down over his face.

“So,” Dean says, and hops inside for their pistols, and a box of rounds. When he comes back out into the cold Sam’s resettled his hat and his face is pink and his eyes bright, and Dean does hug him then, a one-armed sling around his neck that makes Sam squawk but drags him all warm and bony up into Dean’s side, and then Dean drags them to the other side of the bonfire, where the light starts to fade as the trees encroach on the yard. The fence is kinda falling apart, but it’s steady enough to hold their empties.

Dean sets it up while Sam’s making skeptical-face. “You’re making me do training now?” Sam says, and Dean jumps back over through the deeper snow, crunching into the holes he already made. “Dude, this is lame.”

“Dude, it’s gonna be great,” Dean says, “because check it out: every can you take out, you get to take a drink!”

Sam sighs, like he’s aggravated, but he’s just being fifteen, because he’s grinning right after. Dean stands a pace behind him while he loads, professional, checking his weapon right just like Dean taught him--and he lines up, skinny shoulders square, and sights along his strong arm just like he’s supposed to. Shot--whipcrack sound that ricochets through the clearing--and-- “Yes!” Dean says, punching Sam’s shoulder, and he grabs their beers and toasts Sam, clunking the cans together, and even Sam going wait, you don’t get to drink yet! doesn’t dim Dean’s cheer.

“Okay,” Dean says, waggling his eyebrows, “my turn,” and Sam squints at him thoughtfully and then stoops and flings at handful of snow at Dean just as he’s lining up to fire, and he sputters and the shot goes wild into a tree, and he yells “Dude!”, scraping snow off his face, but Sam’s dancing backwards, laughing, saying, “Hey, you never said that was against the rules!” and oh, it is on.

Snowball fights aren’t supposed to involve gunfire, Dean’s pretty sure, but sometimes the Winchesters play on different rules than other people. All bets are off after Dean dumps a handful of snow down Sammy’s jeans when he’s aiming for his next can, and Sam’s girly-ass scream could probably be heard down at city hall. Dean makes his next shot even with Sam jumping around behind him making crazy monkey noises, and he drains his beer that time, and watches Sammy do the same. There’s a brief stand-off when Dean’s got two snowballs packed and ready, tossing them back and forth between his gloved hands, and Sam keeps watching him instead of raising his pistol to fire--solved when Sam raises--Dean throws--Sam immediately ducks and rolls forward in the snow, and fires closer--and totally misses, but Dean’s so impressed at the shitty attempt at ninjahood that he says Sam earned a drink anyway, and before long they’re laying on the ground, laughing and breathless, the cans all shot and the beer mostly gone, things pretty much perfect.

“How long,” Sam says, and Dean checks his watch.

“Eight minutes,” he says. Sam hums, sits up. He’s still got on his hat, somehow, but his nose is bright pink with cold. “Damn, kiddo. You’re gonna turn into a popsicle.”

Eyeroll, very obvious over Sam’s shoulder. “You’re the one who’s not wearing a hat,” he says, and Dean shrugs. Some things are just too dorky. When Sam’s a little older he’ll know it. “Anyway, whose fault is it that I’ve got snow in my boxers.”

“Um, yours,” Dean says, and Sam raises his eyebrows outraged and Dean says, “Hey, you started it, squirt,” and Sam says, “Only because you cheated first!” and Dean scoops a little clump of snow up and tosses it at Sam’s head, and Sam squawks and launched a full out tackle at Dean, and it’s on, yet again.

Sam’s wriggly and he’s got the bony elbows, but Dean still has five inches on him and the reach to match, and also he’s been fighting dirty way longer. He gets Sam pinned in pretty short order, an armbar over his chest and Dean grinning down into his face, and Sam puffs in irritation but then melts back into the ground--Sam’s special way of losing where somehow he tries to make it seem like it was always his idea, and he doesn’t care, anyway. “Uncle?” Dean says, and Sam says, “Whatever,” and Dean roll his eyes but sits up, straddling Sam just in case he tries anything else, and checks his watch again.

“Hey, one minute!” he says. “Got any resolutions planned?”

“Yeah,” Sam says, quiet. Different, to his usual moody Sam-ness, and Dean frowns, looks at him. His face is still all pink, nose and cheeks and what Dean can see of his ears where his hat’s not tugged down, and he doesn’t look--sad, or anything. Sam licks his lips, looks back at him like he wants to say something, but doesn’t know how to get it out.

“What?” Dean says, and Sam’s mouth twitches, and then he grabs Dean by the lapels of his leather jacket and pulls him down, and kisses him.

Dean catches himself with one hand in the snow to stop from toppling forward. He hovers there, shocked, and Sam--Sam holds on tight, presses their lips clumsily together. Like he has no idea what he’s doing, but he’s determined to do it anyway. “Sam,” Dean mumbles, brain still not quite together, and Sam huffs against his mouth and kisses him again, this weird smoochy noise that makes it really click in Dean’s head--Sam, kissing him. Sammy, kissing him. He blinks, pushes up, and Sam lets him go, back in the snow, face bright red and his mouth set like he knows he’s lost a bet but is determined not to care.

“Sammy,” Dean says. Everything’s static, two-am test pattern in his head.

Sam looks at him, then at the fire. “Midnight,” he says, and Dean glances at his watch to see that--yeah, jesus, it’s midnight, happy 1999, and Sammy fucking kissed him in the snow and that’s not--

“I just wanted to,” Sam says, quiet. Dean sits there, uncertain. “Just one thing, for me. Doesn’t have to be a big deal, Dean.”

“It doesn’t?” Dean says, and Sam gets redder somehow, his face all washed-out warm in the firelight, and Dean thinks--just one thing. For him. For all those days and days of curling up on the fold-out together and elbowing each other through Escape from LA and Sam falling asleep in the curve of Dean’s arm, that time, and Dean touching his cheek and thinking--wondering--

“Can we open the champagne?” Sam says, fake cheerful, pressing his hands down against the ground to squirm backwards, to get away, and Dean leans down and kisses him right--full contact, spreading himself over Sam’s body, a hand on Sam’s cheek and pressing Sam’s mouth open, wet touch of beery heat and Sam full-on gasps against Dean like a girl having her first time, and Dean pulls back for a second, turned upside down, inside out. Sam shudders, grabs at him, says his name.

“Sammy,” Dean says back, and then, weird and raw, “you never did this before?”

Sam stares at him, four inches away. Shakes his head, and the ends of his hair are wet with snow, clinging to his cheeks, and Dean licks his lips and tastes--beer--and tugs Sam up, and over, and when he sits down on the stump Sam collapses into his lap in total and ongoing surprise, like having started this he had absolutely no idea it could go further. “What?” he says, dumb, which is a nice change for once, for Dean to be the one who knows what’s going on, and Dean says, “Shut up, Sammy,” and tucks his hands on either side of Sam’s jaw and kisses him again, and again, soft and slow like he learned to do with the nervous chicks, and Sam just melts into his lap, grabbing at him awkward but eager. Wanting, and that’s just--Dean can’t think about that.

He gets an arm around Sam’s waist, keeps him close, and Sam squirms, his weight shifting in Dean’s lap. “Yeah?” Dean says, and his dick--jesus, his dick’s on board, has been, rocking a half-chub since Sam started wrestling with him but he’s been able to put that away--has always been able to put that away--only this time he doesn’t have to and it’s got his head spinning, his body moving on weird autopilot, since Sam wants it, Sam’s been wanting it. He grabs Sam’s ass and Sam jerks, gasping into his mouth, and Dean squeezes, instinct telling him that that’s a good thing, a good turned-on sound, and Sam shivers and his hips push back, and then cringe forward against Dean’s stomach, and then he jerks and says, “Oh,” soft, and Dean doesn’t get what that means until Sam’s hiding his face in Dean’s shoulder, shaking, and Dean realizes that Sam came in his pants, just from Dean touching him and having him in his lap, and his whole body feels like it about catches fire, right then.

Sam’s still quivering, though, and Dean’s not a dickhead. “Sammy,” he says, and tugs off a glove with his teeth to touch Sam’s bare skin--his neck, exposed to the cold, and the silky hair at the base of his skull.

“I didn’t--” Sam mumbles, clutching at Dean’s coat, and Dean doesn’t know what that means but he’s got a lot of experience reassuring his little brother, and even if this situation is--insane--world-ending maybe--well, he knows what to do here.

“Probably got jizz on my jeans, freak,” he says, super soft, and Sam pulls back and looks at him horrified, and then sees his expression and punches him in the shoulder, hard. “Ow,” Dean says, obligingly, and then touches Sam’s jaw, easy. “Hey. It’s cool.”

“Is it cool?” Sam says, echoing, and Dean bites the corner of his mouth, knowing he doesn’t really have an answer. Sam snorts, bitter. Dean doesn’t know if he was ever so bitter. “Yeah, see? I--I shouldn’t have--”

“Shut up, Sammy,” Dean says, again, and Sam looks at him, miserable. Dean shrugs. “New year. We still got that bottle of champagne. We could go inside. Whatever--whatever you want to do, man. Night’s still young.”

Sam stares at him. “Really?” he says, and Dean says, maybe more honest than he can ever remember being with anyone, “It’s all good with me,” because--it is. For once. Maybe for the first time in Dean’s whole life--everything is completely, totally, bizarrely, freakily--good. He blames it on the beer, and on how Sam starts, even if uncertainly, to smile.

[hopes4gf]

Thievery and Mischief (a marvel/ descendants crossover)

TW: (applies for series: discussions and mentions of rape, underaged sex, cheating, suicide, mental health)

AN: hi! this is a work in progress fanfic i’m uploading in advance of 15 chapters, so please show this some love, also sorry in advance for typos and spelling errors, my grammar is shit ;/ please enjoy!

I was so young. Too young. I didn’t understand why anything happened. I grew up in Agrabah with my parents and my brother, Aziz. But it wasn’t the dream vacation destination everyone in Auradon sought it out to be. It was a wreck. Jafar and Hades had invaded Agrabah and fought against my parents for revenge. Agrabah was damaged after their attack and our government had struggle to repair itself. So we had to live in a semi-permanent safe home for quite some time. By the way, I was also cursed by Jafar as a kid and I could shape shift into a tiger and develop other powers in the future. In my home, Mom was always stressed. Yelling and screaming how we needed to be better than they were to protect our city, especially me with my powers. My brother and I both took fencing classes, martial arts, learn how to shoot, every survival skill in the books before taking boys and girl Royal etiquette classes. Mom was the one who was particularly hard on me and my older brother throughout our childhood. Dad, not so much. He spent a lot of time in meetings in Auradon City. That’s how my first friendships began. He was great friends with King Adam and Queen Belle, elected leaders of Auradon. Ben, their only child was shy around me at first. He was intimidated by my mature stature. He like horses, painting, books, and food. I liked singing, fencing, and dancing but I also had a love for food and books so we got along through those things. We would always talk about the different ingredients in our cultures foods. His French pastries and my Arabian comfort foods. We were an inseparable pair of friends. And then I was introduced to Audrey. She joined our group soon after King Adam and Belle has decided to promise my parents and Audrey’s parents to a trust bond. A promise that would have one of us marry in the future. 9 year old me definitely didn’t want ANYTHING to do with dating my best friend. Neither did Ben. But Audrey, she was so persistent. She would constantly try to grab his attention. She was such a cheeky little girl. Raised to be such a lady compared to my more loose and carefree attitude. Somehow, Ben was happy around her. Our group soon expanded, and I met the greatest person ever. Li Lonnie, my greatest friend ever. Daughter of Fa Mulan and Li Shang, she was like me. Mature, strong, intelligent, and such a beautiful kid. Sure, she didn’t have my hazel eyes but she was such a pretty girl. She spoke so intelligently and when she spoke it was law. She was one of my inspirations as a kid. And still is :)

Time passed and we realized we weren’t kids anymore. My brother had to go away to a school in Auradon. And I was alone soon again. But I had my friends. But my child-like manners went away when I realized it was soon my turn to go to Auradon. So, I ran away. But you’ll hear more about that in the future.

Freshman year of high school. Audrey and Ben has broken off from our group and started dating in High School. Audrey has changed so much. She was such a sweet girl with a big heart but had begun to morph into a self-absorbed teen. Lonnie was still the same kind-hearted best friend. When I arrived in Auradon, I had a familiar face to help me. My cousin, Jordan. Daughter of the Genie. Everyone in that school was so nice that it hurt. My mother had raised me not to believe everything in front of me. But one particular thing or something changed that. A blonde boy with short curly hair and beautiful blue eyes had captured my attention. I still remember when our eyes had locked for the first time in the school courtyard. It was a whole new experience for me. I suddenly felt happy inside. Like a new found confidence in me was discovered. But my cousin Jordan advised me not to approach the boy. Chad Charming, son of Prince Charming and Cinderella. The most popular boy at Auradon Prep. Every girl would fawn over him endlessly. One day I had found a note from him on my lunch tray to meet him in the gardens. I swear we talked for hours about everything. We talked about our dreams, our experiences, our hopes. He made all my dreams happen. I wanted my first date to be at a carnival and he made that happen. I wanted something from the mall and he got it for me. I thought everything with him was just fine. Until that party. Ben had thrown a party for all his friends at Auradon Prep and Chad and I were there. Everyone was drinking except me. Imagine, prestigious kids of Royalty breaking illegal drinking laws. I didn’t know at the time but the punch was spiked heavily with Vodka. I never drank Vodka after that damn party. Jane, the headmistress, Fairy Godmother’s daughter had come to my dorm crying. She kept saying “I can’t take this anymore”. She had gave me the worst news of my life. She had seen Chad take me upstairs while I was drunk and touch me in explicit manners. Essentially, my boyfriend decided to rape me at my best friend’s party. I was sickened by that. And when my family pressed charges and got a restraining order on him, the case ended in a settlement. He didn’t even serve time. Because the judge was a family friend of the Charmings. I was devastated. I cried for weeks. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I just cried. Lonnie visited me every day while I was out of school. She had told me that Chad had moved on and was doing perfectly fine. I was miserable for all of Sophmore year.

By the way, my name is Adri Ababwa and I’m the world’s stupidest masterpiece. But you’ll see why later.

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

“Adri,” My best friend, Ben called out.

My eyes widen, suddenly alarmed from my name being called.

“What’s up?” I say striding over to Ben’s side as he looks out the window of his parlor.

”I spoke with my parents about the proclamation,” Ben says.

I roll my eyes, realizing what’s about to happen.

”I told you your idea was stupid. Your dad would never let you bring Villain kids over-“

”They approved it,” Ben says, stopping me between my sentence.

My eyes widen in disbelief.

“Oh. Oh! I guess that’s good for you I guess,” I say nervously.

Ben takes both of my hands in his.

”Listen, I know things were rough for you last year, but this year we need change in this world. And I’m gonna be the one to establish that change,” Ben says.

”Even if that means bringing the daughters of Maleficent and the Evil Queen and the sons of Cruella de Vil and Jafar to Auradon Prep?” I ask nervously.

”What did I say about that?” Ben asks cheekily.

”They’re not their parents,” I reply in a mumble.

”Right,” Ben says, patting my shoulder. Ben opens his mouth to say something but hesitates.

”What?” I ask.

”That‘s why your going to be my advisor,” Ben says.

I take a step back.

”Your crazy but okay,” I giggle.

Ben chuckles softly and goes to the phone to ask his secretary if Audrey is on her way to the room for her Coronation fitting.

I walk through the door and wish Ben good luck.

As I stride down the hall, I hop onto my sticker filled skateboard and race down the halls. I greet the guards surrounding the castle and slide the down the handlebars of the stairs. I see Audrey and stop to walk the rest of the way.

”Adri! It’s a pleasure to see after so long. Out of your depression, I see,” Audrey says snarkily.

”Sure! I’m fine. And I see your makeup is looking as creased as ever,” I reply in the same fashion.

Audrey huffs and rolls her eyes.

I strut off.

”Fucking bitch,” I mutter to myself, hopping on my skateboard and skating back to my dorm.

As soon as I reach my dorm, Fairy Godmother is standing by my door.

“Can you please give me the board?” Fairy Godmother asks.

”Can’t have any fun around here, can I?” I ask, giving her my board for the fifth time this week

“Not for the first week of school. Remember we have-“

”Press coming in to report on the school, I know Jane told me,” I say at the same time as Fairy Godmother.

“Good. Then I’ll see you soon,” Fairy Godmother says dismissing herself.

I turn around and head for the courtyard where I spot Jordan under our gossip tree.

”What’s new, pinky-Lou?” I ask.

”Hey, cuz. Just doing some newspaper projects. I writing about the secret camera web series of our school and the new kids coming to the Isle,” Jordan says.

”Damn, news does travel fast,” I scoff.

”Ben posted an announcement a couple minutes ago,” Jordan says.

I roll my eyes in disbelief.

“What if one of them is cute? You gonna go for it?” Jordan asks cheekily.

”HELL NO. I am never making the same mistake of opening up to a person ever again,” I yell.

”It’s gonna happen...” Jordan says in a song-like manner.

”Shut the fuck up!” I say.

The night I sneak out of my dorm and go to the kitchens to get a snack for Roxie, my baby tiger.

”Insomnia?” A voice says behind me.

I’m startled by the voice and I turn to see Lonnie standing over the counter.

”Yes, you asshole,” I sigh.

Lonnie laughs silently.

”You know someone’s gonna find out that it’s you recording the videos at lunch,” I say.

”Stop it. That’s top secret,” Lonnie says.

”Who cares? Everyone knows that they’re asshole and dickheads anyways. And your very lucky that I haven’t ratted you out to Jordan. She’s persistent,” I say, grabbing some bacon from the fridge and putting it in a pan

”That’s for Roxie, right?” Lonnie asks.

”Maybe not,” I say.

Lonnie laughs and I take a piece of cooked bacon and put it in my mouth.

I hum softly at the taste.

”Hey. Don’t be afraid to talk to me sometimes. Especially after what I saw,” Lonnie says.

Ah. The thing. After some time in my self-quarantine of Sophmore year, I decided it was time for everything in my life to end. So, I grabbed some pills and I did something I regretted. Lonnie saved my life that day. That’s why I love her so much.

“I know, mama,” I say softly as I cook the rest of the bacon.

”You have no idea how much I care, Adri,” Lonnie says, hugging me from behind me.

”Thats probably why I love when you’re around,” I chuckle.

Lonnie lays her head on my shoulder.

”By the way I signed ya up for the welcoming comitee with Audrey,” Lonnie whispers.

”What!” I yell.

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

Two weeks later...

Someone starts banging heavily on my door. I open my eyes and the sound in my ears clears.

”ADRI! Wake up! Your late for the Vk’s welcoming,” Audrey screams from behind my door.

Maybe I should have stayed asleep. Damn you, Lonnie.

I put on this:

pin.it/5uiV7hV

And I walked out my door.

“Ben shouldn’t have made you his advisor if you were gonna sleep in,” Audrey says.

”I’m here aren’t I?” I reply.

”Shut up, let’s go,” Audrey says, grabbing my hand and dragging me down the stairs to the courtyard.

Oh god this is gonna be terrible.

Ben sees me and Audrey coming up next to him.

”What happened to you?” Ben asks.

”Slept in,” I mumble.

Ben chuckles and Audrey takes his arm.

”It’s fine by the way, it’s actually the first time in a while,” Ben says.

Fairy Godmother begins to greet everyone in the small group of band kids and cheerleaders until she reaches our trio.

”Ben, Audrey, Adri, how are you?” Fairy Godmother.

“Good,” We all say.

The limo pulls up and the band starts playing. The limo stops and two boys pop out fighting over a scarf.

My eyes glance towards to girls who come out of the other side of the car. One has short plum hair with a plum leather outfit to match. The other girl has long wavy blue hair with two crown braids at the front.

“Why do you want whatever this is?” One of the boys with gray hair says.

”Because you want it,” The other boy in a red beanie says.

Right off the bat you notice who’s who. And the boy in the beanie is definitely Jafar’s son.

“Leave it where you found it! And by that, just leave it.” Fairy Godmother says.

”Just cleaning up!” The boy with the red beanie says.

He puts the scarf back in the limo and his eyes immediately catch mine.

He catches me as I stare at his frame. His brown hair, his dark brown eyes, his muscular form and his leather outfit all catch me off guard.

His frown turns into a smirk and he strides towards me.

”Hello, foxy~ The name’s...Jay,” The boy introduces, attempting to flirt with me.

I laugh softly at his action.

”Your quite the catch aren’t you?” I remark with a smirk.

“Welcome to Auradon Prep,” Fairy Godmother says, stepping between us.

I whisper a little thank you to her and she nods.

”I’m Fairy Godmother, the headmistress,” She curtsies.

”As in, the Fairy Godmother? Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo?” The girl with plum hair asks.

”Bibbidi-Bobbidi, you know it,” Fairy Godmother says.

“Does she ramble like this much?” I ask Ben.

”All the damn time,” Ben says.

We snicker in unison.

Audrey nudges Ben.

”It’s so nice to meet you all. I’m Ben,” Ben introduces.

”Prince Ben. Soon to be King, right Bennyboo?” Audrey interjects.

I fake-vomit at the nickname and roll my eyes.

”You had me at Prince. My mom’s a queen so that makes me a princess,” The blue haired girl says, fawning over Ben.

”The Evil Queen has no Royal status here and neither do you,” Audrey smiles cheekily.

”Yes she does, otherwise Snow White would cease to be Royalty and she is her step-sister,” I comment with a smile.

Audrey raises a brow to stop me and I wink in the girl’s direction. She gives me a smile in return.

”This is Audrey. My-“

”Girlfriend. And future queen,” Audrey says.

”Last but not least, this is Adri. My advisor and my best friend,” Ben says.

”Your new wickedly cool best friend,” I say with a smirk.

”These three are going to show you all around and I’ll see all tomorrow. The doors of wisdom are never shut! Except library hours are 8:00 to 11:00 and you know I have a thing for curfew,” Fairy Godmother says, excusing herself.

”She tends to drag things out of proportion. Don’t mind her,” I say.

Ben chuckles and Audrey nudges his arm.

“It is so, so, so good to finally me... meet you all,” Ben starts as Jay hits his chest with a light punch.

“ This is a momentous occasion, and one that I hope will go down in history... Is that chocolate?” Shaking the gray haired boy’s hand that is covered in chocolate.

”As the day our two peoples began to heal,” Ben finishes.

“Or the day where you showed four peoples where the bathrooms are,” The plum haired girl says.

“A little over the top?” Ben asks her.

”More than a little,” She says.

”So much for my first impression,” Ben says awkwardly.

“You're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you? Yeah, you know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mom's Aurora. Sleeping...“ Audrey starts.

”Beauty! Yeah I’ve heard the name. You know, I totally do not blame your grandparents for not inviting my mother to their stupid christening,” The girl responds.

”Water under the bridge!” Audrey fakes.

”Totes!” The girl replys in the same tone.

They laugh together pathetically.

“Jeez, can we get this over with?“ I scoff.

” OK. So how about a tour, yeah?“ Ben starts.

We start to move towards the front of the school.

“Auradon Prep was originally built 300 years ago before my father turned it into a high school when he was elected King,” Ben says, clapping his fingers to morph the statue.

The gray haired boy jumps into Jay’s arms.

”Carlos, it’s okay. My father made the statue to remind us that anything is possible,” Ben addresses.

I laugh at the boy’s banter. Jay sees this and drops Carlos to the floor. I can feel him lurking by me as we continue inside the school.

“ So do you guys have magic here? You know, like wands and stuff?” Mal asks.

“All that stuffs pretty much retired. Most of us are just ordinary mortals,” Ben says.

”Unlike me. I was cursed so...” I say clicking my tongue.

”And you happen to be kings and queens?“

“That’s true. Our royal blood goes back hundreds and hundreds of years,“ Audrey says, placing an arm around Ben.

”Doug,” Ben calls Dopey’s son down.

“Doug, will be showing you to your dorms. If you have any questions-“

”Ask Adri or Doug,” Audrey says, whisking him away.

“Um, hey guys. Hi, guys. I'm Dopey's son. As in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and... Heigh-ho.,” Doug starts, his eyes landing on the blue haired girl.

I take the clipboard from him and read their names.

”Mal Bertha. Evie Grimhilde. Carlos De Vil. Jay Farr,” I read to myself.

I interrupt Doug as he talks about classes.

”I’ll be showing you to your dorms,” I say, walking up one staircase.

”Guys, it’s actually this way,” Doug points towards me as the go in the wrong direction.

They follow me until we stop at their dorm rooms.

”Boys, you have the larger dorm here,” I point.

”Sweet!” Carlos says, hopping inside.

”What’s in it?” Jay asks, me

”Two full size beds, a flat screen tv, mini fridge, 3D printer, gaming console, a bathroom for two, fireplace, and double closet,” I say off the top of my head.

”Thank god, that’s enough to keep them busy for hours,” Mal says.

Me and the girls turn away from their room but someone places a hand on my shoulder.

”Hey, can we talk after?” Jay asks.

”Why?” I ask, raising a brow.

Jay gives me a pleading looks and I roll my eyes, walking away.

”Girls, this is your dorm. With roughly the same things as the boys except a bigger closet and bathroom and no gaming console,” I say.

”This room needs more-“

”Purple? I supposed you would agree. Love your outfit by the way,” I compliment.

”You don’t look to horrible yourself,” Mal smirks.

”I made it by the way,” Evie adds.

“Fashion Designer, huh? You could make some bank with that,” I comment.

Evie smiles.

”If you need anything, I’m the first door down the hall,” I say.

I close the door to the girls dorm and turn to see someone completely unexpected. My smile turns into a frown as I see Chad Charming at the end of the hall. As I try and stride down the hall to Jay and Carlos’s room, his gaze meets mine.

”Well, well. Look who it is. Little miss court case,” Chad says, his lips curving into a smirk.

”Your lucky my restraining order is expired, Charming,” I snark as he draws near to me.

”You know, you’re lucky Ben and Lonnie are friends with you. Otherwise, everyone here wouldn’t give a damn about your little charity case,” Chad says cockily, running a hand through my hair.

My body tenses and my teeth clench as he touches my hair.

“Don’t do that,” I say through my clenched jaw.

”Or what?” Chad says, pinning me against the wall. His frame towering over me.

”You gonna sue me again just so that I could give your pathetic ass more money?” Chad asks.

”Get your fucking hands off of her,” A voice says from behind Chad.

I look over Chad’s shoulder to see Jay standing behind him with a scowl on his face.

I can practically feel my eyes change shape, pleading to Jay to help me.

Chad gets off of me and walks towards Jay confronting him.

”Is that a threat?” Chad asks.

”You gonna punch me if it is, Princey? You know, you probably shouldn’t mess with someone you barely know. I’m sure it’ll have serious consequences,” Jay growls.

Chad backs off, intimidated by Jay.

”Whatever, man,” Chad scoffs, taming a step back.

He turns to me, his smirk returning.

”I’ll see you later, babe,” Chad says, winking at me.

He walks away and I can practically feel the tears coming to my eyes.

”Who the hell does he think he is?” Jay scoffs.

My legs start to move down the hall, trying to get away.

”Hey! Where are you going?” Jay calls behind me.

”Leave me alone!” I choke.

Jay’s footsteps chase after me and he grabs my wrist.

”Stay out of my business and leave me the hell alone,” I say in a serious tone.

”What was that about though? And why do you look like your about to cry in any second?” Jay asks deliberately.

I growl under my breath.

”Because he’s my abusive ex-boyfriend who raped me while I was blacked out at Ben’s party! And now everyone pities the hell out of me and treats me like a child because I tried to commit suicide. Is that what you’re so desperate to get out of me?” I yell.

Jay is taken aback by my words. His brown eyes widen as he looks at me. Searching through my eyes and seeing the pain in them.

”Shit, I’m so sorry. Look, I will never ever do that to you ever again,” Jay says, concerned by my action.

”Listen, don’t make promises you know you can’t keep,” I say.

Jay turns to leave but I grab his wrist.

”You forgot you tell me what you wanted to speak about,” I say with a smirk.

Jay scratches his neck nervously.

”Sorry. I was just so concerned about the way that guy was talking to you that I didn’t even realize,” Jay explains.

I chuckle lightly at his concern. How is he so chill after that? After I just yelled at him?

“I was just wondering if I could learn a little more about you. I mean-since we know a little bit about Ben and Audrey so,” Jay says.

I giggle lightly at his question. Then I hesitate, remembering this is the son of my parent’s enemy. But suddenly, my new found confidence tells me “Fuck it”.

”Well, I’ve lived in Auradon for 3 years. I like Art a lot. And um, I’m the daughter of Aladdin and Jasmine,” I say shyly.

Jay erupts in a light chuckle. My brows furrow at his actions.

”Did I say something wrong?” I ask.

”No, but that does explain everything,” Jay says with a smirk.

”Explain what exactly?” I ask, confused by his action.

”The comebacks, the way you roll your eyes, the outfit, and the way you act around danger. You have that “I really don’t give and shit sometimes attitude”. I’m assuming it’s family trait,” Jay laughs.

I roll my eyes at his banter.

”Sure, dipshit. And you know wanna know what gives you away?” I ask cheekily.

”What?” Jay says, playing along.

”The fact that you prance around me, eyeing me just like your father did to my mother when she was my age,” I say with a smirk.

His eyes widen, catching him off guard.

”And I promise you, your little concerned or flirtatious act isn’t gonna always cut it with me, pretty boy,” I say, tapping his shoulder and turning to leave.

I look behind me and see him smirk behind me as I walk to my dorm.

That boy is gonna keep trying to win me over. And I’m in for the long game...

[blake-belladonna-defence-force]

Soooo, bee haw related asks huh, cool, the white fang are cattle rustlers so Blake is insanely good with a lasso, while yang can put a hole in a quarter after someone flips it in the dark, they decided its a good idea to traid skills after they are partnered up at Beacon Ranch

There a whole lotta creative liscence taken with shooting and lassoing here 😅

I hope y’all like competitive bees!

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Listen pardner…” Yang drawled, lifting her hat up slighting and leaning back on the fence, toothpick hanging loosely from her lips. “There ain’t no way no rope throwin’ gon’ impress me. Any body can throw a rope. Takes real skill to shoot a quarter in the dark, y’hear, Blake?”

“Sweetheart…” the cat faunus woman in front of her practically crooned, slivers of gold glinting from underneath her own hat. “If Just anybody could throw a rope, Ozpin wouldn’t have hired me. You need me.”

“Oh please, Blake. I could do your job easi-“

Yang stopped and quirked a brow when amber eyes glinted below Blake’s black hat dangerously, seeming to shift to a molten gold. Blake’s hands shifted to the two lassos that she kept at each hip and unhooked them from her belt and started spinning them at her sides, her movements slow and lazy at first but quickly picking up speed.

“Miss Xiao Long…” Blake said dryly, her golden eyes narrowing as Yang stood up and stepped forward her head tilted curiously. “I don’t appreciate your tone. Maybe we need to do something about it?”

“Like wh-“

Yang was cut off by Blake expertly sending her lassos out towards her and she lifted her arms high to block the incoming trap… only to realise too late that both ropes were headed to her gun holsters that were slung low on her hips. Blake’s lassos looped around each gun and yanked them out and into her hands, disarming her. Blake’s golden eyes gleamed with a challenge as she freed the guns and twirled them around in her hands before she quickly unloaded them, sending Yang’s magazines to the ground, before she hooked them into the front of her jeans with a smirk, her shirt lifting up to reveal the toned skin beneath.

“Holy-“

“Anybody can shoot in a sharp line. But it’s takes real skill to disarm our finest sharp shooter on the ranch.” Blake said, mocking Yang’s earlier words. “Now, these guns are real pretty so I think I might hold onto them for a bit. Come find me when you’re ready to admit defeat, cowgirl.”

Yang stared after her in shock as Blake sauntered away, her thumbs hooked through her belt loops and disappeared around one of the buildings.

“Goddamn.” Yang whispered to herself, taking her hat off her head and ruffling her long, blonde hair ruefully as she stared after Blake with a slightly dopey grin. “Now that’s a woman.”

She paused for a moment and blinked as she realised, later than she should have, something very important.

“A woman that stole my guns!”

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Blake smirked lazily as Yang strolled into the saloon, her spurs clinking as she walked, an air of false nonchalance about her. But when lilac met amber, Blake watched the way Yang’s jaw tightened at the sight of Blake spinning her guns around her fingers lazily. The ranch hands surrounding Blake all glanced up and winced, patting Blake on the back and wishing her good luck as they moved a safe distance away.

Still within viewing distance of the show, though.

“You wanna give me my guns back now, Sugar?”

“Hmm… maybe.”

Blake bit back a laugh when Yang growled, her gaze narrowing as she turned a chair around and sat on it, leaning forward and crossing her arms over the back rest.

“What d’ya want, woman?” Yang asked, tilting her head slightly as her sharp gaze carefully examined Blake’s face.

“I want you to admit that you were wrong about me.” Blake said simply, placing the guns on the table out of Yang’s reach. “I disarmed you. Something that no one has been able to do, cowgirl. That’s gotta say something.”

“It says that yer a smartass.” Yang drawled, a competitive gleam entering her eyes. “I admit, you got the jump on me this time. But I still doubt that ropin’s as hard as you claim.”

“Funny. I could say the same thing about shooting.” Blake leaned forward, biting back a smile. She would never admit it… but she was having fun.

“Yeah? Well… how ‘bout we make this more interestin’, then, pardner.” Yang said with a sly grin. “I set up some trick shots that you’ll have to shoot and you set up some kinda challenge for me with a rope.”

“Make it two and you got a deal.” Blake smirked, her feline ears flicking forward with intrigue. “I’m ambidextrous. If I’m shooting with two guns, then you’re going to rope with two hands.”

“Pfft.” Yang scoffed. “Easy. What are the wagers?”

“Loser buys drinks for the winner for a month?”

“I like the way you think, Belladonna.” Yang chuckled, leaning her chin on her forearms and grinning up at Blake. “I almost feel bad that I’m gonna kick yer ass.”

“That’s funny.” Blake laughed, delighted with the challenge. “I don’t feel bad about kicking yours at all.”

“Feisty.”

“As you’ll find out, Yang.”

“I certainly hope so, Blake.”

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Blake, admittedly, may have bitten off more than she could chew. She watched as the two kids stroll 20 paces away and got ready to throw their coins.

Blake could shoot. She could shoot a bandit and a rustler. She could take aim at a rattler that was about to bite her herd or her horse and protect her animals. Hell, when she was with the White Fang and rustled cattle, she had taken out her fair share of deputies and sheriffs.

But that was basic shots. This was sharp shooting. She had heard the rumours about Yang. Had heard tale that she could shoot a hole in a quarter at 50 paces… in the dark, using only the glint of steel to direct her shot.

Ugh. This is what she got for trying to show off.

“Alrighty, Blake. Usually I shoot at 50 paces and at night but I’m gon’ be nice and getcha to shoot at 20 paces durin’ the day. When yer ready, Doll… let the kids know.” Yang called lazily from the crowd, a smug expression in her face.

Blake growled under her breath. Cocky little shit, wasn’t she? Regardless, she inhaled deeply and nodded to the kids and took aim…

And took out two windows instead of the quarters.

“Well, shoot.” Yang grinned cheekily, no doubt knowing exactly what she was saying. “That’s not meant to happen. I hope you’ve got enough lien for the upcoming month, Blake.”

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, Yang.” Blake stomped over to her and calmly (well… as calmly as she was capable of at that moment as the crowd chuckled) placed Yang’s gun’s into their holsters, purposefully giving them a tug and leaned forward. “I can’t wait to wipe that smug smile off of your face.”

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“I’ll show you a small series of tricks and I want you to copy them as best as you can, cowgirl.” Blake said calmly as Yang watched carefully. She couldn’t get this wrong. How hard could it be?

“Got it, Sugar.” Yang smirked.

That smirk quickly fell away as Blake effortlessly danced through her lassos, bouncing and hopping between the loops. She made it look so easy… but not even Yang’s sharp eyes could keep up. Yang gulped, her confidence starting to crack.

This was what she got for trying to show off, wasn’t it?

“Here you are, Sweetheart.” Blake smirked with a brow raised challengingly as she passed Yang the lassos and stepped back.

“Pfft.” But she wasn’t going to let Blake see the crack in her confidence. “This’ll be easy. That’s nothin’, Doll.”

Now… Yang could throw a lasso over a rogue cow if she needed to. She could tie knots. She could even make a rope. But she was starting to realise that this was a very different beast.

She inhaled deeply and began to twirl to loops to the sides and made the first jump into them… and quickly lost track of what she was doing as the noose tightened around her ankles, sending her off balance. She hopped, desperately trying to regain her balance, until the back of her legs hit something.

There was a loud splash as Yang fell tumbling into a water trough. Loud snickers ran through the crowd and if she didn’t know better, she’d say that the horse’s were snickering at her too.

“It’ll be easy, huh?” Blake teased as Yang pulled herself out and crouched, loosening the lasso and pulling it off her ankles and throwing both ropes at Blake, who caught it easily.

“Yeah, yeah.” Yang grumbled, despite the smile fighting its way into her lips as she, dripping water, glanced at Blake. “I guess ropin’s harder than I thought.”

“And I guess I can’t shoot as straight as I thought.”

The two stared at each other for a long moment before they both began to laugh softly.

“Well…” Yang snorted, amused. “I guess that’s a draw. How’s that work out?”

“Let’s make it simple and say that we just have to buy each other drinks for a week?” Blake smiled genuinely as her left ear flicked. She had a really pretty smile, Yang realised.

“Sounds good to me.” She said before letting out a sigh. “I would suggest that I buy you one now… but I need to go change.”

“We can catch up later, then.”

“Sure thing, Blake.” Yang started to walk away but paused and glanced over her shoulder with a small side smile. “Jus’ so y’know, Blake… I’m looking forward to workin’ with you.”

“You too, Yang.”

Yang grinned, winked and waved as she walked back to her home. Life just got a lot more interesting around here.

[saharamae21]

Never Ran Smooth (Part 21)

Hey guys, sorry bout the wait. I wasn’t feeling very good. Plus my activity has pretty low, so I didn’t know if you guys still liked the series that much. I enjoy writing it though. Hope it was worth the wait! 

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And sleep, that sometime shuts up sorrow's eye

The morning light filled the car as we sat in there sweating. The car was probably 100 degrees and we were dying. I groaned and sat up, only for JJ to pull me back down. Cop cars whizzed past us, sirens blazing.

“Let's game this out,” JJ said. “Maybe you guys can help, being the smart ones and all, but who are the cops going to believe? Ward Cameron or us?”

I listened to JJ drone on and on about how there’s no way they’d believe John B. Kie and I looked at each other through the rear view mirror and we both knew he had a point. Then after a while John said something about Sarah bailing him out and my head snapped to look at him. We all chimed in saying she wouldn’t sell out her brother. Plus what money did she have that wasn’t Ward’s? The truth didn’t matter, getting John off the Outer Banks did. We all laid back and listened to cars go past. Sirens blared as cops passed us.

We drove over to the docks and Pope got out. He came back with a flyer in his hand and a panicked look on his face. The flyer was a wanted picture of John B. This couldn’t get any worse. The whole island was on lock down. I sat there, thinking of possibilities of escape while JJ and Pope talked about some boat. I got out of the car and looked around, assessing the situation. Pope honked the horn and I got back in. People began to point and walk up. Pope started the car as Kie and I yelled. We jolted forward, rear ending the cafr in front of us and I screamed. JJ’s arms held me as we peeled away.

“How much weed did you give him?” I yelled as we sped down the road. I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed again as we slammed into some mailboxes. “Stop the car!”

I felt Pope slam on the breaks and I slid into the back of the driver seat, yelping in pain as my side ached. JJ pulled me back into his arms and held me tightly. I whispered that I was okay, but that didn’t seem to ease his nerves. I listened to Pope tell John to get out and we would take care of everything.

“I'll get the rig, and I'll meet you in the dump tomorrow, okay?” JJ said as John got out. “Three o'clock, okay?”

John agreed and ran. The sunlight began to fade and I was laying in the backseat. I felt like I was going to be sick, but didn’t want anyone else to worry. My side was aching with pain and my anxiety level was through the roof. I listened to the hip-hop blaring through the speakers and heard JJ laughing.

“Pope, you clocked that car, man,” he said, clearly amused. “Like, that was so bad!”

I wasn’t amused though. I was sick of this. I listened to Kie yell to pull over. She was mad and I could see why. We pulled over roughly and Kie got out angrily.

“JJ, it's not funny. He shouldn't be driving,” she said. I got out too and took the passenger seat. I felt JJ reach out to stop me, but I was too quick. I opened the door, but didn’t get in right away. I hunched over and squeezed my eyes closed before finding the strength. Kie looked at me worried, but I waved my hand at her. Kie shifted the care into drive and took off.

“Where are we goin'?” JJ asked.

“The last place they're gonna look,” Kie said.

We sped towards Sarah Cameron's house and parked outside. I listened to JJ complain like usual and decided it would be best to just let it out. I didn’t want to fight with anyone, especially with JJ over something stupid. We hopped her fence and I listened to Kie say she had a plan. Pope then started talking about plans and I could tell he was high out of his mind. I sighed and listened to Kie.

“Can you handle a plan right now?” she asked. Honestly I didn’t think he could. He was spiraling and not in a healthy way.

“Course I can handle a plan right now. I'm-I'm Plan Guy. I'm-” he said, pausing for a second. “I'm Mister Plan-o-Matic. Hey, I'm-I'm always thinkin' of a master plan, aye! 'Cause there ain't nothin'-”

Kie shushed his rapping and told him it was a quiet plan. She had her hand on his mouth and was afraid to move it. Finally when she did, he got a serious look on his face.

“I love you, Kie,” he blurted out. I stared at him, knowing it wasn’t the time or place to do this. I watched as Kie became confused, hurt almost. “I love you. I'm in love with you.”

“You’re wasted,” she said. I didn’t know whose side I was on at this point. I looked at JJ who also didn’t know what to do. I watched as she turned to walk towards the house and Pope grabbed her arm.

“No, I know I'm wasted, and that's why I'm saying this now,” Pope said. “I really feel like this. I love you. I've been meaning to tell you, I love-”

“Are we really doing this right now?” Kie asked, interrupting Pope’s confession. He kept typing to tell her and she just didn’t want to hear it. Pope got louder and Kie got more and more upset. My heart was breaking for the both of them and JJ grabbed my hand. We both felt like we were intruding on something personal, something intimate that we weren’t supposed to see. “First of all, I need you to be quiet. Second of all, thank you for saying that.”

“Okay,” he said under his breath.

“Now, that's very sweet, but it's- Look, it's not gonna happen,” she said and Pope’s heart broke. I stared at him and felt for him.

“Okay, well, why not?” he asked desperately.

“Because Pogues can't mack on other Pogues,” Kie said, making excuses.

“That rule doesn't make sense, and nobody follows it,” Pope retorted.

“Look, I-I want something different,” Kie said. “I-I wanna go to Antarctica and I want to ride camels.”

“I want to do those things with you,” he argued back.

“No. Pope, it's not gonna work,” she said. “No. It's not gonna happen! Do you understand what I'm saying? Like… Look, I know that that's really hard to hear right now, but we don't have time for this, and this is a really bad place to do it. Are you okay?”

Pope stared for a second before whispering that he was okay. I could see him wipe some tears as Kie asked if he was ready for the plan. When he said yes, Kie walked away. I felt like this was partially my fault. Maybe if I didn’t tell him to tell her, this wouldn’t have happened. JJ squeezed my hand as we walked, following Kie.

We walked up to the house and got ready for the plan. I told JJ to keep an eye on Pope and he nodded. I followed Kie and made sure she was okay after everything. I didn’t think she was, but we snuck up to Sarah’s window. The window was locked, but she could hear us through it. Kie held up the wanted poster and Sarah looked as if her heart had stopped beating.

“Are you in on it?” Kie asked.

“Did you think I was?” Sarah asked back.

“No.” I said. We heard Ward yelling Sarah’s name and we bolted.

We were all tired and needed to get some sleep. I told them that we could crash on my boat for a night. No one, but maybe Jasper would know if we were there. I abandoned Kie’s car at her house and walked over, making sure not to get caught. Pope took the couch on the main cabin. Kie took the guest room. JJ and I curled up in our usual bed. I sighed, feeling guilty for everything that had happened. I felt tears well up in my eyes and JJ held me tightly.

“Are you hurt?” he asked. I shook my head and he cradled me. He knew my anxiety was skyrocketing with every passing moment. “Let it out.”

“I feel like a terrible friend,” I said breaking down. I cried and told him how I encouraged Pope to tell Kie. I told him that he should tell her everything and that it wouldn’t hurt. I lied to his face.

“Savannah,” JJ said, wiping my tears with his thumbs. He cupped my face and stared at me. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t tell him to do it there and at that moment. Stop blaming yourself for everything.”

“I just feel like everyone’s life began to fall apart the moment I stepped into it,” I said.

“Not mine,” JJ reassured me. He placed a kiss on my forehead and pulled me tighter into his arms. “We should sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a really long day.”

He was right, yet I still didn’t feel any better. I took in his familiar scent and closed my eyes. I tried to relax and sleep, but nothing worked. I felt JJ’s breathing slow and it helped to know that he was still able to fall asleep. I opened my eyes and looked at how innocent he looked. Did his life really get better with me in it? For my sake, I hoped so, because I couldn’t go back to the way things were before him.

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[megara-the-jedi]

A/N: This is just an OC story. If you wanna read it, you can, If you wanna make suggestions you can. I've been working on this character since the shoe came out, but I'm just now getting to writing it. The only thing that's really a big decision is either just have her end up single or with someone, so we'll see. 

OC's name is Carlie Brooks. Her family has money, but due to her parents being out of town constantly for work, she lives with her grandma. Her older brother, Carson, is out of town for college. She happens to have a Jeep Wrangler, but like the rest of the Pogues, takes rides with John B.  I'll explain more as we go.

That Summer

If you were a normal person living on the Outer Banks, when you thought of Carlie Brooks, you thought of her bright personality and her even brighter smile. However, if you were a “kook” on the Outer Banks, you thought of her as a traitor when she barely considered herself a “kook.” If you were a “pogue,” she was the friendliest person you could meet.

Her parents were considered kooks, while her brother and her were considered pogues due to the people that they hung out with. It didn’t matter though as her parents were barely home during summer except for social events and they weren’t there during the school year either and the fact that she was basically living with her grandmother.

The sunrise was beautiful, Carlie thought to herself as she took another sip of beer as her friends walked around a beach house that was being built. John B. was trying to balance on the roof, JJ was sitting on scaffolding next Carlie, and Pope was messing with the tools. Kiara, or more commonly known Kie, was walking through the house, looking at everything.

“That’s what, a three-story fall to the deck?” Pope said, looking up at John B. “I’d give you about one-in-three chance survival.”

John B. hummed in response, stuck his finger in his mouth, brought it back out to test the wind. Carlie leaned forward against the railing of the scaffolding. 

“Should I do it?” He asked.“Yeah, jump.” 

Pope raised the drill in his hand, “I’ll shoot you on the way down.”

“You’ll shoot me?” responded John B.“

They’re gonna have Japanese toilets and towel warmers.” Kie came out of the house and onto the porch.

JJ scoffed, “Of course. Why wouldn’t they?” Carlie laughed. It all sounded ridiculous.

“This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about the turtles?” Kie said, taking in another look around the construction zone.

“I mean, I can’t have cold towels.” JJ remarked.

Carlie laughed. “Yeah, ‘cause that’s what’s important here.” JJ nudged her arm with his.

Kie turned to look up at John B, “Can you please not kill yourself?”

“And don’t spill the beer,” JJ said, following that with a swig of his own. “I won’t be giving you another.”

This statement, of course, was followed by John B dropping his beer.

“Of course, you did. Right when tell you not to.” John B groaned at JJ’s comment, while Carlie laughed and took a swig of her own beer. 

Pope walks over to the side of the back porch. “Uh, guys, security’s here.” Pope turned to face them, “Let’s wrap it up.”

Carlie looks at JJ, shoving him to move, before making a move herself to jump off the scaffolding.

“The boys are early today” John B remarks as JJ turns to him, “let’s roll, Humpty Dumpty.”

Carlie lands on the wood and walks towards Kie, who says “let’s go boys.”

JJ thought that this would be a good time to mock the security guard.

“Hey Gary, is that you? It’s me! Good to see you!”

Carlie called out, but couldn’t stop smiling, “JJ, stop it!”

“You’re asking for it” Kie added.

“JJ!”” The guard, Gary, yelled out.

JJ took off, the rest following. Carlie, thankful that she was wearing actual shoes for once.

Gary yelled for them stop, but they didn’t, laughing as they ran and zigzagged through the house’s structure. 

JJ almost running straight into the guard, luckily avoiding any hand that Gary had out. Carlie, who was following JJ, managed to avoid Gary, by running past JJ. She barely heard Gary call out, guessing that there was another guard.

“Go Pope! Carlie go!” That she heard, JJ close behind.  

Carlie, happy that she had a running start, went over the fence gracefully. Well, as gracefully as one could who had been drinking and was basically running on pure adrenaline at that point. 

She heard JJ yell something at Pope, who had fallen, and she ran towards the van. She hopped in and JJ and Pope followed closely.

“Look, Gary’s going for a raise!” John B laughed.

The door hadn’t closed yet, so JJ took another opportunity to mock the guard.

“You guys are gonna give him a heart attack.”

Carlie crawled into the front seat, knowing that JJ was gonna be a handful.

Eventually, JJ threw a beer towards Gary, who had caught it.

“They ain’t payin’ you enough, man.” JJ said as Kie pulled him back in.

Soon enough, they passed the Outer Banks sign.

Underneath the town name were the words “Paradise on Earth.”

In a way, it was. To Carlie, it was home. It was where her parents weren’t, as they were always away on business. It was where she grew up, living with her grandmother. She had a great group of friends here.

However, there was a slight difference in her family and friends.

Her parents were considered “kooks,” which meant they were rich, but only because they both worked. They also had a house on the Figure Eight. Lucky for Carlie and her older brother, Carson, their college and other things needed were paid for. Unfortunately, Carson and Carlie hated the “kook” lifestyle. They, like their parents, rather earn their keep. However, while living with their grandmother, they didn’t have to due to their parents giving them money. In return, Carlie used the money on her friends when she could, but mainly used it for her Jeep Wrangler. She saved up a majority of her money for that car. 

She was considered a “pogue” because she lived on The Cut side of the island. All of her friends were there and her grandma, too. She felt more at home and at peace on this side of the town than the other.

Carlie watched as the Figure Eight went and turned into The Cut. The scenery only really changing when it came to the homes on the sides of the road.

This may be the time to introduce the friends she mentioned earlier.

John B. Routledge, basically the leader of the group. He drove the gang everywhere. His dad went missing while searching for a shipwreck off the coast nine months ago, so his house was always the hotspot of their hangouts, but it was like that beforehand.

JJ Maybank, also known as John B’s best friend. He was Carlie’s as well. He came from a long line of fisherman and was great surfer, but nobody tells him because it would inflate his ego if he knew. 

Carlie had known JJ and John B since elementary school. Her grandma would look after them when their parents would ask. When those two would go off and get in a mess of their own, Carlie was right there beside them. In a way, they were the reason that she had a taste of freedom and was never going back. 

Pope Heyward, the only one in the group with a scholarship and a possible way out of this town. Very intelligent, very reliable. His dad was pretty lit, though. If you needed anything, you went to Heyward.

Kiara Carerra, or as everyone calls her, Kie. She was constantly trying to save the turtles and the environment. Carlie wasn’t exactly sure why she hungout with them, but she couldn’t judge Kie as she was they were the same with the rich parents shit. Only hers were involved in her everyday life. Kie’s parents actually owned The Wreck, a local restaurant that was a hit with the tourists. Also, all the guys in the group had some kind of thing for her.

Life was going on. Although, John B was being threatened with being tossed into foster caee due to his father’s absence and the (true) rumors of him living by himself. 

And then Hurricane Agatha came.

[dem-obscure-imagines]

The Time-Traveler’s Daughter

Prince Zuko x Reader Summary: You are where history and prophecy collide, the daughter of a time traveler and a witch, and this has done nothing but cause problems...But maybe getting stuck in another dimension isn’t the worst thing to happen to you. Note: I will probably use this reader again. I don’t know, I just really like this concept. Warnings: None? I’m a hoe for Zuko as usual lmao. (I went way overboard. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is the longest one-shot I’ve ever written for this blog) Word Count: 6k

Being the child of a dimension-hopping time traveler and a witch who knew better had given you quite possibly the strangest childhood you could have ever asked for. Your father’s friends from all over history and the universe were always popping in for a visit, and your mother’s ancestry granted you an education at a magical boarding school.

It was the summer just after your graduation, and so each of your parents had decided to give you a gift. Your mother’s gift was her own coming of age necklace, a powerful amulet that had been passed down from woman to woman, all the way down her side of the family. Your father, as always, had invented something of his own for you, a watch.

This was no ordinary watch, however. The large steel device allowed the wearer to time travel or travel through dimensions as they pleased. It harnessed the same technology his metal glove did. Your mother was a bit on the fence about this gift, but your father insisted that it was time for you to explore and have your own adventures. After all, if he hadn’t gone out to explore the universe, he would have never met your mother.

So, she relented and let you try it out. That was, perhaps, why you were blacked out in a dimension that wasn’t your own. Your head hurt something fierce, and by the time you started to open your eyes, there were two familiar strangers hovering over you. The first was older, his friendly features obscured by a white beard. The second was around your age, shaggy dark brown hair partially hiding his fierce amber eyes. A scar stretched across the right side of his face.

“Oh my God…” You groaned, struggling to sit up.

“I’ll get you some tea. Please be careful.” The first stranger, someone you recognized as Iroh from your years of watching Avatar as a child, told you. “You’ve been asleep for a long while.”

“You’re...Iroh and Zuko…” You mumbled, looking at each of them for a moment. Zuko’s eyes widened and he looked to his uncle for some clue about what to do. Depending on when in their timeline you’d found them, that might have not been the best thing to say. “I’m...I’m not from around here. I don’t know how I got HERE of all places…”

“I thought you were dressed a little strange.” Iroh noted, chuckling to himself. He didn’t seem bothered about your comment, nor the fact that you knew who they were while they were pretending to be simple refugees as opposed to powerful fire-benders. “I’ve never seen clothes like those before.”

In most dimensions, your gray hoodie, black t-shirt, and ripped jeans would have been more than normal. Of course you found yourself in the one where they weren’t. And then there was the matter of your watch, which upon further inspection was broken, sparking and jolting when you rushed to take it off. “Shit!”

“What’s wrong?” Zuko jolted at your sudden outburst.

“It’s broken! Oh my God, my mom’s gonna kill me! I...” You took a deep breath, trying to center yourself. “I can’t get home without it. It’s broken, so I’m...stuck here.”

“What do you mean you’re stuck here? It’s just a bracelet. I’m sure if you explained to your mom--”

“You don’t understand, Zuko. That watch is...the reason I’m here. It’s like a portal. And without it, I can’t get home.” You looked to Iroh. “I, uh...wasn’t kidding when I said I wasn’t from around here…”

“You’re from another world, then…” Iroh thought about it for a long moment, passing a warm cup of tea to you. “That is quite the pickle. Well, you’re more than welcome to stay with us until you find a way home. Zuko, find our guest something...suitable to wear. Wouldn’t want to draw attention.”

“Thank you.” You were still floored that this was your reality. Your whole childhood, you’d looked up to Iroh. His wisdom and kindness were values you’d appreciated forever. And Zuko...well, it wouldn’t be too far off to say he’d been one of your first crushes, despite the fact that he was animated. Of course, now he was in the flesh in front of you, and it was...different. You couldn’t deny the fact that the prince was handsome.

Zuko left to go to the market and get you something that wouldn’t make you stand out in Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile, Iroh asked about where you’d come from.

“My father is like me. A dimension-hopper. He made my watch as a graduation present. Where I’m from, you and Zuko...you’re fictional.”

“Fictional, you say? Very interesting…” He took a sip from his tea. “So how did you come to know about us, then, if we’re fictional in your universe?”

“Well, you two are characters in one of my favorite cartoons growing up.” You thought for a second. This world you’d found yourself in was very technologically behind the one you’d come from. “Cartoons are like...drawings that move. And they have sound. It’s...hard to explain, I’m sorry.”

“Cartoons sound incredible! It must be such an interesting world, where you’re from.”

“It is, yeah. Where I’m from, the only people with powers are witches like my mom. Like...me. I always thought benders were so cool. The idea that you can just control the elements is so cool.”

“You have magic?!” The old man’s features lit up. “Would it be out of the question to see some?”

“Of course not, um…” You thought for a moment before letting go of your tea cup and letting it float in front of you. When you did it, the amulet around your neck glowed. “I can’t do much. My staff is back home, but without it, I can do some little things. If I had it, I could just...fix my watch. Without it, though, I guess I’ll just have to figure it out.”

“Zuko could probably take you to the market tomorrow to look for parts. Someone around here must have something that could help.”

“What about me?” Zuko entered the house, closing the door behind him. He had a bundle of clothes tucked under his arm. He handed it to you. “I wasn’t sure what size you are, but I think those should fit.”

“Thank you.”

“We were just discussing the matter of (Y/N)’s broken watch.” Iroh explained, motioning to the device that was still sparking every few seconds. “She needs some parts to fix it. I wondered if maybe you could take her to the market tomorrow to get some spare parts for it.”

“Sure.” He shrugged, sitting between you and his uncle. Your heart lurched, and so, you stood up to go to the spare room and change into these new garments. Zuko had found you some naturally colored undergarments with a green dress that went over top. You used some clips to pull your hair back and folded your clothes from home before returning to where Zuko and Iroh were sitting.

The way they both stopped talking and looked up at you when you returned made it obvious what they had been talking about. Well, that, and Zuko’s interested statement, “You’re a witch, too?”

“I’m a lot of things.” You laughed, tucking your folded clothes into the corner of the room with your backpack. “Did Iroh tell you the other thing?”

“That we don’t exist? Yeah, he did.” Zuko looked uncertain as he said it.

“It’s not that you don’t exist.” You walked back to the table and sat down next to him. “My dad explained it to me when I was young like this: there are a lot of dimensions in our universe, and sometimes they leak into each other. Sure, you don’t exist in MY world, but you do exist here. If we’re being technical, most of my dad’s friends technically don’t exist where I’m from, my mother included.”

“Really?”

“Hell, I technically went to school in a whole dimension that isn’t supposed to exist.”

“Well, I guess that makes me feel a little better.” He laughed and shook his head, smiling softly. “It must be weird to...meet the villain from your favorite childhood thing.”

“You’re not the villain.” You told him with an amused chuckle.

He looked genuinely surprised. “I’m...I’m not?”

“Not even close.”

Iroh smiled to himself, going to the other room to get some sleep while you talked with his nephew.

“So...If I’m not the villain, then who is?”

“Your dad.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” He nodded. “So I’m, what, I’m some minor villain then?”

“In season one you were. Kind of. Although that’s arguable, even.” You shook your head, taking in his face in the quiet. There were crickets chirping outside. “I mean, sure, you’ve done some questionable things, but...honestly, you have one of the best redemption arcs in history.”

“Redemption arc?” He laughed. “Me? Really? Me?”

“Really. You’re a fan favorite.”

“People like me?”

“People more than ‘like’ you.” Your cheeks flushed, thinking about it. That you were sitting on the floor next to the love of your seven-year-old life.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Goodnight, Zuko.” You got up and walked to the bedroom, settling into the bedroll Iroh had set up for you.

“Night…” He watched you go, a surprised smirk settling onto his handsome features. Maybe he’d have to investigate that some more…

***

The next morning, Zuko decided to make breakfast for you and Iroh, which judging from the slight burning smell coming from the pan, you learned was not a usual thing.

“I’m really sorry. I tried.”

“Thank you, Zuko.” You laughed, eating it anyway. It wasn’t great, but it was edible, and that was really all that mattered. “It’s actually pretty alright.”

“Thanks. Just, uh, trying to get that redemption arc on a roll.”

“What’s this about a redemption arc?” Iroh asked, amused, as he drank his tea.

“Nothing, Uncle. After breakfast, I’m taking (Y/N) to the marketplace.”

And so, he did. The prince of the Fire Nation led you through the rows of stalls, and you diligently searched for any merchant that might have a little box full of gears and metal bits. Zuko watched you as you went, an unsure expression on his face. How was it that this stranger had wandered into his life and changed so much? Good, changes, sure, but changes no less.

Your face lit up as you approached the stall of an inventor. Among his wares, there was a  box filled with itty bitty gears and pieces, exactly what you were looking for.

“Sir, how much for the...box of gears?” Zuko asked, his hand on your shoulder, essentially claiming you in front of the locals.

“Oh, those? Couldn’t find a use for them, I’m afraid. My eyesight went years ago, so I don’t have the patience to deal with such small parts. If they make the girl happy, then take them. They’ll do you more good than they ever have me.”

“Thank you so much, sir. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course.” The kind old man handed you the box and winked at Zuko. “She’s a keeper, that one. You’ve got yourself an inventor on your hands, boy. Be careful not to lose her.”

“Believe me, sir, I will.” He smiled and the two of you turned, faces flushed, as you walked back home. “Thank you. For playing along.” He said once the market was far enough away.

“Gotta blend in somehow.” You nodded. Of course. Of course that was what had happened. The two of you were just blending in. The love of your childhood life had certainly not just claimed you as his sweetheart in front of an entire market full of people.

When you got back to the house, Iroh was reading, his cup steaming with a fresh cup of tea. You moved your watch to the table and set the box of gears down. In your backpack, you had a pair of tweezers and some goggles, so you put them on and set to work, carefully pulling out the broken pieces and searching the box for suitable replacements.

Zuko watched as you worked, amazed that someone could know how to manipulate such tiny pieces. “How did you...learn how to do that?”

“Many years of practice. My dad is kind of the best inventor ever. He taught me everything I know.”

“Mmm…” Zuko nodded. He wondered what it was like to have a loving relationship with your father. After all, he’d never really gotten that. His mother had been one of the kindest people he knew, but once she’d exited his life, he was left with Ozai, and...well, the rest was history.

“Speaking of parents...there’s a moon in this dimension, right?” You asked. “That’s a dumb question, of course there’s a moon here.”

“There is. Why?” Iroh asked.

“Well, I have to contact my mom. You know, tell her I’m alright. She was worried about this whole dimension hopping thing.”

“Ah, I see.” Iroh nodded. “Well, I’m sure we can help you if you need it.”

“Thank you. Seriously, thank you both. You’ve done so much for me.”

“Well, showing you some basic kindness is the least we can do. I can’t imagine what would have happened to you if someone else had found you.” Iroh lamented on it, humming to himself.

“Me either.”

You tinkered away for a few more minutes before finally finishing. “I think I did it.” You sat up straighter, wrapping the watch around your wrist and looking it over.

“You’re done?” Zuko asked, watching as you stood and started to gather your things. “That was...quick.” You pretended not to notice the disappointment on his face.

“Yeah, I don’t think it was as broken as I thought it was. Well...here goes. Thank you for everything. I’ll come visit if I can.”

“You’re welcome here any time.” Iroh promised.

You let your eyes linger on each of them for a second longer before adjusting the settings and pressing the button on the watch. For a few moments, it whirred the way it was supposed to. And then...everything went wrong. The metal started to get hot. Really hot. The device groaned, pieces grinding against each other. You ripped it off of your wrist and threw it out the window, just in time too, because only a moment later, you heard a loud BOOM and then a cry of “MY CABBAGES!”

“Maybe my...calculations were off.”

“Maybe.” Zuko nodded, looking out the window and then back at you. There was some little piece in him that couldn’t help but be glad you weren’t leaving just yet…

***

When dark fell, Zuko took you beyond the city walls. It was a clear night. The stars reflected off of the little pond, and inside the crystal waters was the image of the crescent moon. You walked over and knelt beside it, reaching out to skim your fingertips along the surface, letting the waters ripple out from you.

When the image cleared again, your reflection was replaced with your mother’s. She looked at you with concern.

“Are you alright? Did something happen?”

“I’m fine, mom. I just thought I’d check in, let you know where I landed. I’m in the Avatar universe. My watch broke on impact.”

“BROKE?!”

You winced at her outburst of panic. “It’s fine, though. Dad said I’d have to learn how to fix it, so why not now?”

She wasn’t listening to you, though. “That’s it, I’m sending your father to pick you up right now—”

“Mom, you don’t even have to. Seriously, it’s fine. Don’t send Dad. I need to figure this out on my own.”

She looked at you, tilting her head in that way that she did when she was deciding to be angry or proud of you. Eventually, she caved. “Fine. I’m not sending your father. But…you call me if you can’t figure it out and I’ll send him in a heartbeat. You don’t have to do everything alone, you know.”

You looked to Zuko, smiling softly when he looked at you with those sharp golden eyes. “Believe me, Mom. I’m not alone.”

You talked with her for a few more minutes before finally dismissing her aura and standing up again. Zuko stood up beside you, looking down at you, waiting for one of you to break the silence somehow.

“You’re taller than I expected you to be.” You told him.

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s weird that…you know, you knew who I was before. Maybe not weird, just…you know.”

“No, it’s definitely weird. I used to watch your cartoon every single day before school. They used to play reruns in the mornings while I was eating breakfast. My parents had to basically drag me away so I could actually catch the bus.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah.” You nodded, and the two of you began the long walk back to the safety of the city walls. But not before running into a bit of trouble first.

“What have we got here? The fire prince and his little damsel in distress? I wonder how much we could get for the two of you…” A group of bandits had formed around the two of you. You looked up at Zuko, his eyes blown wide with panic before melting into the confidence he so often had. Flames tickled his palms before igniting in his hands.

You didn’t have any weapons, no watch, no swords of any kind. You were lucky, though, that the two of you were standing back to back beneath the branches of a great tree. You reached a hand up and the tree seemed to kneel under your control, one of the limbs dipping down, down, down until the wood was gripped tight in your hand. The end of the thin branch snapped off, leaves flying off as the new staff formed, twisting and bending to your will.

“What kind of bending is THAT?” One of the bandits’ very panicked voice asked.

“Oh, I’m not a bender.” You replied, fingers tightening around your staff while the tree stood itself upright again. “But you’re going to wish I was.”

And then the battle broke out. Zuko’s flames blazed any of the bandits that dared to get close to him, punching fireballs at anyone who got too close to you. Meanwhile, you were using your staff, which was nowhere near as powerful as the one you had at home, to send the bandits back with waves of sheer power. Needless to say, they hadn’t ever seen anything quite like the two of you.

A few minutes later, all that was left was a scorched field, a panting fire bender, a tired witch, and a trail of bandits making a run for the woods.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?!” Zuko turned to you excitedly.

You rested your staff against the ground and looked up at him. “My mom.”

“Figures.” He chuckled. “You’re good. And you’ll have to be if you’re going to stay with us until we get your bracelet fixed. Uncle Iroh and I…”

“I know. You’re in a bit of trouble. Maybe you need someone like me looking out for you, huh?”

“Yeah, just maybe…”

***

It didn’t take long for you to fall into a rhythm. In the mornings, Iroh would make tea while you helped teach Zuko how to cook breakfast. After that, Zuko ran the store they were using as a front with his uncle and you helped tidy up a bit. It was only at night that you tinkered with your watch some more. Well, that, or Zuko would take you out to the field to practice fighting. After all, you had a staff to break in.

Fight practice led you to be caught in some precarious positions. Only a few nights ago, you’d wound up pinned beneath him, his breath warm across your cheeks, his shaggy bangs hanging in your face. Something in you lurched, your heart doing a backflip. Never had you imagined, despite your unusual childhood, that you’d ever end up there, your wrists pinned down by rough, warm hands, breaths shallow, lips aching for his. But neither of you acted on it.

Your magic was getting stronger by the day as you became less dependent on your primary staff and learned how to use this new one. Every time you cast a spell, Zuko noticed, the amulet around your neck would glow, as would your eyes. You would meditate on sunny afternoons, and when you did, your form would hover a few feet above the ground. It was mesmerizing to watch, and he often did, only caught by you a few times, causing him to leave the room red-faced, babbling some excuse about going to find his uncle.

Zuko wasn’t sure what it was about you, but he trusted you. He supposed he had to, since you were living in their house after all. Given that he and his uncle were wanted fugitives, trust was a thing they had to be careful with. Yet, the longer you stayed, the less he wanted you to leave…and the less YOU wanted to leave.

In all of your days there, you had yet to see Aang or Katara of Sokka or any other members of the main cast. Just Zuko and Iroh. Not that you were complaining. The fire prince and his uncle were more than fine with you and they had been nothing if not welcoming.

It had been a few weeks since you’d woken up in this place. You were sitting by the window, looking out at the starry sky. Zuko walked in so quietly you didn’t hear him and he sat down beside you, watching the way your features flickered in the light of the lantern.

“Would it be awful…if I said I didn’t want you to leave?” Zuko asked quietly, his voice soft and his expression softer.

“I’d love to stay, Zuko, but…you have a destiny. One that doesn’t involve me, I’m afraid.”

“Mmm.” He nodded. “Right. You know everything that happens, then.”

“Just about.”

“And this…your visit?”

“Not part of the plan.”

“But a pleasant addition.” He amended, reaching out to rest his hand on top of yours. He was so warm, endlessly warm, a result of the flames raging inside him. How someone so broken could be so soft, you weren’t sure, but he was. You were certain you’d never met anyone with a kinder soul. “I could just…go with you.”

“They wouldn’t win the war without you.” You whispered, shaking your head. You looked away from him and instead locked your eyes on the sky. “They need you, Zuko. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph…they all need you.”

“Please don’t leave me.” He pleaded. “Please…”

“Zuko, what am I supposed to do? If I stay here, I’m putting you in danger. I’m putting your whole WORLD in danger! You’re so important to this place. So, so important…”

“So are you!”

“No I’m not!”

“You’re important to me!” Zuko shouted. It was the first time you’d heard him raise his voice the whole time you’d been there. Sure, he’d had little spats with his uncle here and there, but never like this. There were flames flickering in the golden irises you’d come to love. His expression softened when he saw how tense you were. He reached out with a gentle hand and stroked your cheek. “You’re important to me…”

“I can’t be. I’m not supposed to be. I’m not even supposed to exist…”

“But you do. You’re here and so am I. Why can’t you just—”

“You’re supposed to end up with Mai.” You interrupted. He went quiet for a moment. You could have cut the tension with a knife. “She’s your endgame. Not me. You’re going to end up with her and forget all about me.”

“I don’t want Mai anymore.”

“What do you mean you don’t—”

“I want YOU.” Zuko leaned closer. “I don’t want Mai. I want you. Don’t you feel the same?”

“It’s not about my feelings, Zuko, it’s about your future.” You fought the tears that were welling in your eyes, blurring his face.

He was quiet for a long time, thinking. “You can leave this place. You can go home. But once we win the war, I’m going to come find you. I don’t care what it takes.”

***

You could only stall on your watch for so long without letting it be noticeable, but you knew the longer you stayed, the more it would hurt when you finally left. So, after a few tests and the aid of your growing magic, you decided you were finally ready to go back.

“You know you’re welcome here any time. We could use a witch around the house.” Iroh told you, pulling you into a tight hug.

“I know I’ll see you again. I’ll be sure to come visit sometime.”

“You better. I’ll miss you if you don’t.”

Zuko stood there quietly for a moment, waiting for his moment with you. Once Iroh had said goodbye, he left the two of you alone, and it was silent for a little while. Then, Zuko took a step closer, hesitating before reaching out to take your hand. Zuko let out a long sigh.

“You…don’t have to leave, you know. You could stay a little longer.”

“If I stay any longer, it’s just going to hurt both of us more.”

“Yeah…” He was quiet, tilting your chin up so you were looking at him, into those fierce golden eyes one last time. Zuko let his eyes drift shut as he closed the distance between you, his lips pressing against yours for the first and last time. Then, he murmured softly. “I’m going to find you after the war. I don’t know how or where, but I will. I promise.”

“I hope you do.” You whispered back, tears welling in your eyes as you kissed him one more time. And then another. And then one last kiss for the road, and then before you knew it, you were activating your watch. There was a flash of light and then you were standing in your backyard, knees trembling until you fell to the ground, finally letting your tears flow as you realized that he was gone. You’d never see Zuko again.

***

It was quiet in the house without you. Dark. Empty. Zuko missed you. He missed your glowing eyes, your fierce energy, the sight of you floating in the sunlight streaming through the window. This place was so different now. He thought he’d be ready for it, but he wasn’t. He never could have been.

“You miss her.” Iroh noted, watering one of his plants. Zuko only nodded. “So do I.”

It was then that there was a bright flash of light. The same kind that had happened when you’d left him. Zuko sat upright, preparing himself for whatever or whoever was standing there, but to his disappointment, it wasn’t you. However, the stranger standing there did resemble you a bit.

“Are you Zuko?” The man asked, looking over the fire prince. Scar, check. Shaggy dark hair, check. Forlorn look in his fiery eyes, check. This had to be the outcast prince you were so heartbroken over.

“Y-yes, sir. Who are you?”

“I’m (Y/N)’s dad.” He offered the teenager his hand, and he shook it, unsure. “She doesn’t know I’m here, before you ask, and no, I’m not here to take you to her.”

“Oh.” Zuko deflated slightly, listening for what else the dimension-hopper had to say.

“I came to give you this.” He pressed a small metal token into Zuko’s palm. “After the war, use this, and it will take you to her. You’ll know what to do.”

“But how do I—” Before Zuko could finish his question, the inventor was gone as fast as he’d come, leaving him standing there wide-eyed, gripping the disc tightly in his hand. He couldn’t lose this. It was his only chance.

***

For the summer solstice, as you had every year since you were young, you helped your mother prepare the back yard, put up tables, string up streamers, tape balloons into place. You helped her cook food and make punch and make sure everything was just right for when all of her witch friends came over to celebrate.

You were wearing your nicest summer gown. It was yellow, knee-length, and the fabric was covered in butterflies, a crown of enchanted flowers sitting in the curls of your hair. Everything was perfect. Well, everything except for one thing. You’d gotten home from the Avatar dimension about a month ago, and still, you were stuck in a post-Zuko gloom. You didn’t think it was possible to miss someone so much.

You weren’t sure why it was, exactly, that the fire prince had captured your heart. You hadn’t stayed with Zuko and his uncle for all that long. You had only kissed the one time before you left. And yet, you couldn’t help running through all of the memories: that day in the market, your first fight side by side, practicing combat with him in the field outside the city once the sun had gone down, and it was just you, the prince, and the stars. You thought of every meal you shared, every stolen glance, every flicker in the golden amber of his eyes.

There had been a time, once, when Zuko had gotten a cut on his face. Some squabble with some man in the market had resulted in the prince being on the receiving end of a knife. He’d come to you, a little blood dripping from the wound, claiming it to be nothing. The cut had been just above the top of his scar, something you knew he was sensitive about.

“Can I?” You’d asked gently, and he’d nodded, leading your hands up to the spot. Your fingers brushed against his reddened skin as you used your magic to heal him, reducing the bleeding gash to nothing more than a faint white scar.

That was the first time the two of you had been that physically close before, face to face, his lips only a step away. The next was the sparring match near the woods that had led to him pinning you down in the grass. Your heart raced, remembering how it felt to have him. And God, it still hurt.

Liking Zuko had been so much simpler when you were seven and he was a cartoon.

“It gets easier.” Your mother whispered, embracing you from behind. She kissed your cheek tenderly before letting go of you. “I know it hurts now, but it will get easier. You have a universe of possibilities at your fingertips. There’s no need to get tangled up in one boy.”

And you knew she was right. What you were, both halves of what you were, gave you quite the variety of opportunities. But it still hurt.

One flick of her wrist sent the gate at the front of the yard flying open, and minutes later, your mother’s witchiest friends started filing in, mingling with each other under the sun’s bright light. Your father was bouncing around, too, chit-chatting. Some of his friends from other dimensions had shown up, as had some of your school friends, who were dying to hear about your experiences dimension-hopping.

“So uh, have you ever…you remember that cartoon Avatar?”

“The one with the blue people?” One of your friends, Jacob, asked.

You laughed and shook your head as your friend Amber corrected him. “Avatar with the blue people wasn’t a cartoon. She means the one with the four elements and the little bald kid with the arrow on his forehead.”

“Yeah, that one.”

“What about it?” Jay asked, watching your expression. Usually when one of you brought up a childhood show, it was met with waves of nostalgia, not…whatever look you had on your face. “Oh my God, is that where you went?”

“It’s kind of a long story, but yeah.”

“Oh my God, is Sokka as handsome as I remember him being?” Amber gasped.

“Wait, wait, wait, you had a crush on SOKKA? Not Mr. Fine-Ass Firebending Prince of my Heart?” Jade held her heart like she’d just been shot. “Zuko is so hot. No pun intended.”

“And that look has to be for something…” Jacob studied your face when the topic had changed.

“No way, you met Zuko?” Amber’s expression softened.

“I…yeah, you could say that.” Before anyone could ask anything else, you grabbed Jade’s hand and dashed over to the dancefloor, pushing all of the thoughts out of your head and instead giving into the beat of the music. Time didn’t exist anymore, which was evident by just how fast the sun seemed to set, igniting the sky with orange.

Eventually, you wandered to the edge of the dancefloor, where Amber and Jade were. You could tell they were curious, and you couldn’t hide from the questions forever, so in the reds and pinks of the setting sun and the flickering lights of the candles on the tables, you decided to surrender to their inquiries.

“So…what exactly happened between you? You don’t have to answer—”

“I kissed him.”

“You AAAAAAH! Oh my God! Tell us everything!!!” Amber squealed.

“You kissed Zuko.” Jade stated, dumbstruck. “You Kissed him. With your lips.”

“Yeah.” You giggled, shrugging. “I kissed a prince.”

“You kissed a prince.”

“So…are you going to bippity boppity boo yourself back to him?”

“I can’t.” You shook your head. “When I got to him, he and his uncle were still pretending to be refugees. The war hadn’t ended yet, and by the time it does, he’ll probably be in love with Mai. I’m…I’m never going to see him again…”

“Now, why would you say that?”

Your eyes widened, and you traced Jade and Amber’s gazes to a spot behind you. Your racing heart had prevented you from noticing the bright flash of light.

“Holy shit…” Jade murmured, covering her mouth. You were almost too afraid to look.

“Zuko…” You whispered, voice catching in your throat. You felt a large, warm hand on your shoulder. As much as you wanted to turn around to look at him, you couldn’t move. You were paralyzed, frozen by the fear that if you looked, he wouldn’t be there.

Footsteps trailed through the grass, walking around you until he was standing in front of you, as real as you remembered him. His hair was a bit longer now, shaggier, almost hiding his gorgeous amber eyes from you. But his smile was still there, as rare and precious as his smiles tended to be.

His voice was soft and gentle, as gentle as the large hand that rose to stroke your cheek. “We won the war, princess. I told you I’d come find you.”

Instead of replying, you launched yourself into his arms, causing him to let out a soft ‘oof’, his strong arms fastening tight around you. “H-how are you here? H-how did y-you--?”

“Aww, don’t cry,” he cooed, stroking your hair as he teased, “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

“I missed you s-so much…” You cried, shaking as he held you like you were the only thing in all of the worlds that mattered. “I t-think I love you, Zuko.”

“I know you do.” He chuckled. “I love you, too. Took us long enough to say it, huh?”

You pulled your face out of the crook of his neck and stroked his cheek, turning his face towards yours. He smiled softly before leaning closer and closing the distance between you. The crowd of people in your backyard cheered when they saw you and the prince of the Fire Nation locked into an embrace.

“Oh my god, she’s dating Zuko.” Jade whispered to Amber. After only seeing the prince in cartoon form, it was strange to see him here, living and breathing, and as real as you were.

“She’s done what every cartoon-loving little girl has ever wanted to.” Amber agreed.

“I can’t believe you’re here…” You whispered, brushing the bangs out of his face. His hair was a bit longer than when you’d last seen him. You wondered how much time had passed since you left.

“But that’s a good thing, right?”

“A really, really good thing.” You nodded, stroking his cheek as you studied his features, his arms still tight around your waist.

“Good. Because I don’t plan on leaving you any time soon.”

You pecked his lips. “Good.”

Tagged: @rikersgirl22

[valkyrieofsmut]

Cowboy!Kurt’s Mail Order Bride

Cowboy!Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler) x Mutant!OC

Descriptions:   Old westAU In about 1900 Germany, Kurt has heard stories about the wild west and dreamt about being a cowboy for a long time. When he’s brought over to America and sent to live with Logan he’s excited, until he learns what hard work a ranch actually is. Logan knows a woman will set him straight from his shenanigans, and brings one back. Kurt hopes for love, but they can’t seem to get along.

A/n- I watched the (1964) western movie “Mail Order Bride” and thought it would be hilarious to make a story and stick our favorite blue fuzzy man in! Also... He’s kind of a whiny brat in the beginning... because that’s where he had to be to have character growth! lol. 

Masterlist

Story!

Kurt laid in the back of the wagon, looking up at the night sky as they traveled toward the new place he would be living. 

New York. 

It was a large city in America, but he was hoping that it still had some of its western charm. 

A lot of books about the west had recently come to Germany for him to read, stories of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, wild outlaws, good lawmen, genteel ladies… 

He smiled as the thought came to mind that he may meet one of them. 

The smile turned to a frown, however, when he looked at the three fingered hand he lifted up to look at against the sky. 

Not only three fingered, but blue in the light, and invisible in the dark, except to his yellow-eyed night vision. 

He turned over and looked where Hank, a large man wearing a pair of glasses, was laying back, napping, and he wondered if it was something learned here, since he’d traveled all the time with the circus, but had never been able to sleep, since they all stayed awake in order to set up camp as soon as they landed. 

Or maybe it was the time difference since traveling across the ocean to America. 

He pulled his well worn German copy of “Tales of the wild west” from his bag and started reading. 

.

The sun shone down into Kurt’s eyes, waking him, and he saw that they had stopped moving. He sat up and looked around over the edge of the wagon, seeing a rather large spread of land, larger than what they’d take for the circus, even. He looked around further and saw Hank talking to a man in a wheelchair at the door of what he could only describe as a mansion. 

Kurt hopped out of the back and made his way to the door, knowing that Scott and Jean had probably already gone to “freshen up” or whatever it was city folk did after a journey. 

As he got to the door, Kurt had his eyes down and pulled on his hat so he didn’t have to see the shock/ disturbance in the man he was sure was the Professor’s face as he saw him for the first time, and followed the other two men inside. 

“Hello, Kurt. We are glad to have you here, are you excited to be in America?” The Professor asked. 

“Certainly,” he answered. “I have heard a lot of the cowboys here, and it has become my dream to be one as well.” 

The Professor chuckled. “We don’t have many cowboys around these settlements anymore, mostly settlers.” 

Kurt frowned, his hand holding his bag against him tightly. 

.

Logan was at the feed store, putting in an order when a woman came from the general store next door. 

“Oh, Mr. Logan, I’m glad you haven’t left yet, someone is on the line for you,” she told him, looking a tiny bit harried, but also interested in the happenings of whatever was going on. 

Logan looked up, wondering who it could be and threw two dollars on the counter. “Just load it up,” he told the man before following the woman next door. 

“It’s right back here,” she showed him, making sure the phone was working correctly before she left. 

“Yeah?” He asked into the phone. 

“Logan, thank goodness. It’s Xavier. Listen, I’ve taken in a young man- I’m not sure what to do with him.” 

“Sounds rough Professor, where do I come in?” 

“Well, I was hoping- He is very disappointed that there are no cowboys around here, he wants to be one desperately, I suppose.” 

There was a pause as Logan didn’t say anything. 

“I was thinking; your ranch is away from town quite a ways- he is affected physically- and it’s more like what he was hoping for-” 

The Professor’s voice was a little tight, and Logan knew it wasn’t for only those reasons that he wanted to bring the new mutant there. 

“I don’t know Professor, if he can’t hack it at city life, he ain’t gonna survive ranch life.” 

“I think he would enjoy it much more, Logan, just being there,” came the pressing answer. “And, I will, of course, help with expenses if he needs anything.” 

“Well… Suppose I could use a ranch hand. But I ain’t going easy on him.” 

Logan could practically hear the relief in the Professor’s voice as he said that someone would be around with him shortly. 

Shortly was a relative term when a simple trip to town could take a day, several hours, or just a few, depending on your mode of transport, and it was a mite bit farther from New York to where he was. 

Logan raised a brow, but shrugged it off as he hung up the phone. 

He finished his shopping around town and climbed back onto the wagon before turning his team back to home. 

He was surprised to see a figure standing on his porch, and only relaxed after he could tell that it was Hank. 

“Howdy,” Hank greeted. 

“Hey,” Logan responded. “How did you get here so fast?” He asked. 

Hank smiled his easy smile. “The new boy is a teleporter, and he was very motivated to come here. Took him a few jumps, but we made extremely good time.” 

“Yeah?” Logan snuffed, looking around. “Where is he?” 

Hank gestured to the other side of the house. “Out back. Your dog gave us a greeting.” 

“Hm. Get in,” Logan told Hank and they continued around the house to the back, stopping next to the barn. 

Logan saw his fluffy shepard mix chasing a lithe blue figure back into the herd of cattle that mooed and called to each other. 

Logan climbed down and stood on the fence for a moment before whistling to the dog and the young man followed the dog over. “Keel,” he told the dog and it laid down. 

The blue man stood next to the fence, a huge grin across his face. “Hallo,” he greeted with German accent. “I was just playing with your dog, he is very nice.” 

“He wasn’t playing,” Logan told him. “He was herding you.” 

“What?” Kurt asked in surprise. 

“Buck, tend,” Logan told the dog, and the dog jumped up and ran back to the herd. “He’s a herd dog. He protects them, and anything that’s not a threat in the fence that can be herded will be.” 

Kurt blushed a little and looked away in embarrassment. “Oh…” 

“So, you’re the one who wants to be a cowboy, huh?” Logan asked as Kurt easily slipped through the horizontal slats in the fence. 

“Ja, very much,” he enthused. “My name is Kurt,” he held out his hand as he greeted his new mentor. 

At least, he hoped he’d be his mentor, he certainly looked like a cowboy; a day’s growth on his face, muscles to spare from working his place, he had the boots, clothes, and hat. A real cowboy. He grinned at the man who was a little shorter than him, but he just got a grunt in reply. 

“There’s no time for messin’ around here, we have to unload this wagon.” 

.

Days passed and Kurt was exhausted. 

“But, I want to be a real cowboy,” he complained. “With the gunfights, and stampeeds, and cattle drives, and riding a horse everywhere…” 

Logan pounded on the horseshoe held by the other hand with a hammer. “Ain’t that romantic.” 

“I thought I was moved here so that I could be like a cowboy, but you all lied to me! You just wanted me out here to hide me from the town! I was doing fine at that in Germany, they promised I’d get to be like a cowboy!” He whined as he teleported around the shed rapidly in aggravation. 

“Knock it off,” Logan yelled, startling Kurt into stopping. “They sent you here because you need some training to be a man and not an annoying kid anymore.” 

“What? I’m not annoying,” Kurt denied. 

“Annoying me instead of doing your chores,” Logan told him. 

Kurt huffed and teleported to the ground to kick a rock. 

“Didn’t your mama teach you any manners?” 

“Nein,” Kurt snapped at him sullenly. 

“Hm,” he set down the things in his hands and switched tools to shoe the horse standing by the post. “Maybe that’s what you need, then.” 

“What?” 

“A woman to teach you how to behave like a man.” 

“A woman?” Kurt asked. 

Logan grunted in reply. 

“How is a woman going to teach me how to act like a man? Is she a crossdresser?” Kurt asked as he burst out laughing. 

“Think I’ll go find one,” Logan told him. 

“Really?” Kurt questioned, growing serious. 

Logan tossed his head yes as he finished with the horse. 

“A genteel woman?” Kurt asked a bit softly. 

“Yeah, sure. One that won’t put up with any cud from you,” Logan grumbled. 

”When will you go?” Kurt asked, his voice a bit surer, now. 

“Well, horse is shod. Could head out tomorrow, as long as you take care to milk the cow and don’t let yourself starve to death while I’m gone.” 

.

Kurt lay awake in the room he’d been told to sleep in, his hands unable to stay in one place for long, flitting nervously from his view to clutching the blankets to him to touching the book laying in the bed next to him. 

What would she look like? 

How would she react to seeing him for the first time? 

Would she be like the strict school marms he had read about, or more like a caring mother? 

How old would she be? 

His age, or older to be a mother figure? 

If she was his age, would she like him, or even be able to look past how he looked? 

Those questions and so many more rushed through his mind, unable to be quieted. 

.

The next morning he walked out to see Logan off, surprised at the amount of things he was loading onto his horse. 

“How long will it take to go into town?” Kurt asked. 

“Can’t go into town for this,” Logan answered. “No one is going to let their daughter go out to my ranch alone with me to live. Besides, we need someone who isn’t connected with the town so that it doesn’t raise suspicion.” 

“Oh… How far will you have to go?” Kurt asked. 

“Couple of towns. Should be back by the end of the month.” 

Kurt’s eyes widened. “What will I eat?” He asked. 

Logan shrugged. “There’s enough canned stuff, jerky and cheese to last for about that long, coffee, the well is good, milk from the cow, and some bread as long as you eat it before it goes bad. If you get real hungry, there’s always the horse feed.” 

Kurt looked irritated as Logan kicked the horse and took off. 

“Huh,” he grumbled, turning to the fence and jumping it easily, despite it being as tall as him, running to the dog and chasing it around, playing and rolling around on the ground. 

A/N-  For the next chapter, I also have to make a special note that the oc’s name is Bethilde (beth - ill - duh), because I named her, and then realized later that her name is spelled the same as Bethilde (bet- ill- duh). Basically, it’s just the pronunciation of the h, but Beth is short for (beth - ill - duh) and Betty is short for (bet - ill - duh) lol.

[pinnithin-writes]

Good Jokes

Chapter 6

Tommy was starting to get sick and tired of monsters.

The creature with blades for arms was effectively incinerated by the rocket thrusters in the launch room, taking Bubby out in the process. Tommy had grown to expect a quick reappearance from both of their elderly companions anytime they were wiped out. He wasn’t sure what kind of spatial fuckery had been added to their cocktail of enhancements, but it was definitely coming in handy. Especially once they escaped the clutches of one monster and promptly ran into another monster.

Oh god what the fuck what was that? What was that?

The whole team wasn’t sure what to do with the lumbering, twelve foot tall beast with lasers for hands. It reverberated the very chamber they stood in as it swept its incinerating beams in a wide, burning arc. The scientists scattered while Benrey slouched out of the way.

“I actually don’t know if you can help. That looks like hell,” Bubby commented once they had all found cover.

Tommy, pressed against the wall next to a frightened Dr. Coomer, eyed the thing in the next room. He cast a line out in his brain for something, anything familiar. Oh, well, there was that one thing.

“I’ve never seen something like that - they don’t - there’s no article about that on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia!” he called.

Coomer parroted him instinctively. “The free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit?”

Across the walkway, Gordon barked out a laugh. The creature swung its attention to the three of them and they bolted.

Benrey actually managed to surprise Tommy by luring the monster into the arcing shock of a defunct generator, effectively frying it. With an ear-shattering screech, it disintegrated, leaving the group to stare at a solitary figure cruising leisurely out of the chamber. Benrey looked like he was on a stroll in the park.

Bubby pumped a fist in the air. “Gordon, we’ve defeated the creature!” he announced, an excited gleam in his eye.

“Thanks to Benrey’s song of death,” Tommy added. He caught the entity’s eye and lifted his chin in acknowledgement. So he could pull his weight and help out if he wanted. That wasn’t so bad, was it?

Benrey flipped him off and kept walking.

Tommy scoffed. He didn’t know why he bothered.

Dr. Coomer strode into the chamber to investigate a residue that was left behind. Gordon, panting and leaning heavily on the doorway after his most recent near-death experience, cast the scientist a concerned look.

“Don’t drink that!” he called. His voice was like a barbed wire fence, rusted and strained.

Before he could get himself any more worked up, Tommy took Gordon by the arm and pulled him aside to a quiet hallway. He needed to calm down. They both did. Tommy was relatively used to avoiding mortal injury, but getting bisected by an extraterrestrial laser wasn’t usually on his list. Tommy spoke to him slowly and evenly, watching the tension in Gordon’s neck gradually ebb as he caught his breath.

“When we get out of here,” he told him, mouth quirking with mischief, “I’m writing the Wikipedia article for the thing we just killed.”

Gordon’s laugh was more of a stumbling exhale. “What was it - what was it named?” He asked between breaths. He looked utterly drained, but he still chose to humor Tommy. “Y-You mean, you - I guess we’re the - the fuckin authorities on this. We’re discovering these things.”

Tommy leaned his shoulder against the sheet metal wall, facing Gordon as he thought. “I’ll call it…” What was the dumbest shit he could think of? “The Black Mesa Golem Ape. And I’ll write it down and put it on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.”

The tired laugh Gordon let out felt like a gift just for him. Tommy found himself chuckling softly along. The dim glow of the industrial lighting reflected off of Gordon’s glasses as they held each other’s gaze. The lenses needed a good pass with a cleaning wipe, clouded as they were with blood and grease. Impulsively, Tommy reached up and removed them from his face with careful hands.

Gordon froze. Stopped laughing. Retroactively, Tommy tipped his head in a question. May I?

After a pause, Gordon nodded. Tommy could feel the weight of the other man’s gaze on him as he passed a hand over each lens, polishing them to perfect clarity with just a thought. It was quiet except for the latent hum of electricity from the lights.

“So I can’t wait to read that article,” Gordon said to fill the silence. “It’s gonna be great.”

Tommy’s smile pulled wider, but he didn’t say anything. He had hoped a gentle, private display of his power like this wouldn’t spook Gordon, and he was glad it was being received well. Tommy raised the frames to inspect them in the light, even though they were spotless.

He slid them delicately back onto Gordon’s face, his fingertips touching his cheekbones just barely as he withdrew.

“Um, yeah,” Gordon went on. “After this, I think I’m going to sleep for like, five days.” He raised a hand to push his glasses more securely up the bridge of his nose. His eyes were so dark and lovely. Like pools of rich ink. “Maybe get like a… Big Mac or something.”

Tommy could go for a Big Mac. He lifted his eyebrows expectantly, curious as to where Gordon was going with this line of dialogue.

Bubby chose that moment to stick his head around the corner. “What are you doing back here, Gordon?”

Tommy angled his chin to get a good look at the scientist, who wordlessly passed a glance between the two of them. He didn’t ask. Tommy didn’t answer.

“I’m relaxing after the-” Gordon flicked a look to Tommy. “What did you call it? The Black Mesa Golem Ape? After that incident.”

Tommy listened to Gordon explaining the concept of adrenaline to Bubby while Dr. Coomer caught up to them. This guy really was the only member of their party who was purely human, having to push himself harder than anyone just to stay alive. Tommy couldn’t help but feel a prickle of admiration for Gordon. If Tommy’s heart had been leaping out of his chest every minute for the past day and a half, he wasn’t sure he’d still be able to stand upright.

“When I come out of that,” Gordon finished, “I feel like I’m about to crumble to pieces.”

“Oh, dear, Gordon,” Dr. Coomer piped up. “That sounds serious. You may have come down with a case of The Crumbles. I read about it on Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.”

Tommy had to clap a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.

Gordon, bewildered, glanced between Tommy and Coomer. “Why are you guys being like - why are you being so verbose about Wikipedia?”

Dr. Coomer offered no clarity, instead choosing to announce, “we’d better get a move on,” and disappear around the corner with Bubby.

Gordon’s questioning gaze hung on Tommy. He just grinned apologetically and shook his head. They followed the other scientists out of the hallway.

Rounding the corner, they found Bubby reclining in a metal folding chair that looked more uncomfortable than it would have been to simply stand there, with Coomer hovering next to him. The scientist’s eyes flashed with an almost feral glint when he saw Tommy and Gordon. Bubby had a pained look on his face, as if he’d been coerced into this.

“While you were out working,” Dr. Coomer informed them brightly, “we took a break on this luxurious chair. A chair is a piece of furniture with a raised surface supported by legs, commonly used to support a single person. Chairs are supported most often by four legs and have a back; however, a chair can have three legs or can have a different shape. Chairs are made-”

Tommy had never broken a bone in his life, but he felt that maybe one of his ribs would fracture from the sheer force of his laughter. He was delighted that his panicked, throwaway line about Wikipedia had evolved into such a tremendous gag. Sure, he’d read every line on that website, and sure, Black Mesa was maybe probably definitely funneling funds from the organization, but the tenacity with which Coomer jumped onto the joke was incredible.

Did he have that article about chairs programmed into him? Did all the clones come with secret Wikipedia articles? Were they all about chairs or did they each get their own unique knowledge?

Tommy giggled madly while he speculated. Gordon looked confused. Dr. Coomer looked pleased. Benrey looked like he was about to throw up.

---

They went deeper into the facility, following the vertebra of an extensive railway system. The army paratroopers had somehow found their way down there as well, and it felt like every corner they rounded hid a soldier on the other side. Tommy nudged the team in what he hoped was the right direction, drawing on his memory of the time he scanned the building layout in a manual he’d read a while back. It was questionable intel at best, but it was all they had.

Benrey was being refreshingly cooperative for a change. Okay, cooperative was a stretch, but he at least wasn’t actively hindering their progress. At times he was running with the team, mowing down infantrymen alongside them, other times he would disappear completely. It was during one such time that they encountered a sandbagged barricade, walling off a mounted turret. The barrel was pointed directly at a soldier in a maroon beret, who appeared to be in deep discussion with a man in a security uniform - wait.

“Is that Benrey?” Gordon asked, peering at the two figures on the other side of the tracks.

It wasn’t Benrey for long. The soldier put a bullet in his skull as soon as the group of scientists announced themselves.

Gordon, hopping the rails immediately, interrogated the man at gunpoint. It was admittedly not a good look for him, threatening the life of another in such a contentious way, teeth bared and trigger finger taut. The intimidation was forced and unnatural, and Tommy could see by the whites of his eyes that Gordon was nervous. He stepped neatly over Benrey’s latest corpse and backed Gordon up, anyway. He did ask nicely, after all.

The man identified himself as Forzen and, aside from being excessively agitated and jumpy (acceptable - he had four firearms pointed at him), appeared to be an ordinary human. Every word that came out of his mouth was either a clear lie or utter nonsense, and Tommy seesawed between respecting the guy for shooting Benrey point-blank and mistrusting him for associating with Benrey at all.

The soldier then chose that moment, apropos of nothing, to unload three consecutive clips into a nearby body.

Well, uh. Sure. Okay, dude.

Crossfire drew their attention long enough for the hostage to slip away. Gordon pelted after him, the rest of the team close behind. Tommy dragged his thoughts behind him on a string while he ran. What was this deranged man doing with Benrey? What made him decide to kill the entity? He suspected, somehow, that this particular paratrooper was not here simply on orders.

They found him hiding behind a crate minutes later, perched at the top of a precarious, ten story drop. Coomer and Bubby flanked Gordon and aimed their weapons. Tommy mirrored them passively, examining the soldier. Forzen, was it? He had that wide-jawed, high and tight, mass-produced soldier look, strong and anonymous. It made the fact that he was almost pouting all the more noticeable.

Bubby misfired his AR, startling everyone present.

Gordon recovered quickly. “We’ve got a couple of loose trigger fingers here,” he warned the soldier. “A lot of loose trigger fingers here.”

Tommy heard Bubby mutter “I think the trigger is loose,” under his breath and barely held in a snicker.

Forzen scowled. “Sounds like you guys don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I tried explaining to them about thirty times,” Gordon sighed. “This one’s a kid.” He tossed a gesture at Tommy.

Ouch. Was that payback for pointing his gun at him earlier today? Tommy pitched an inquiring look at Gordon, but he wasn’t paying attention.

Forzen passed Tommy a leer, eyeing him up and down. “You’re a kid?” he asked.

“I’m thirty six,” Tommy clarified testily. He didn’t feel weird about pointing a gun at him anymore.

“Oh,” Forzen uttered. “You have a - d’you - you have any - uh, you want a Beyblade?”

Tommy’s mouth opened wordlessly at the sheer audacity of this man. A Beyblade? Forzen was seriously trying to sell him on a child’s toy? He straightened, keeping his aim steady. He was beginning to suspect that him and Benrey’s proximity was no coincidence.

Actually, y’know what? Fine. He’ll bite.

“Yeah,” Tommy answered flatly. Gordon’s subsequent laugh was more of a startled choke.

“It’s - it’s downstairs,” the soldier went on. “Let me go get it.”

“No, no, do not listen to him,” Gordon said, the seriousness of his warning diluted somewhat by his giggling.

Dr. Coomer rolled a sardonic look between Tommy and Gordon. “I think we should let him get the Beyblade,” he suggested.

“Why do you need a Beyblade?” Gordon asked shrilly.

“Let it rip,” Forzen intoned. His sneer was mocking, now.

Tommy stared at him. He was actually starting to feel angry. Of all the fucking things he had to put up with on this nightmare hike through Black Mesa, infantilizing remarks from a gun-toting maniac was not what he had the energy for. He was about to commit an act of violence.

When Tommy pleaded, “Mr. Freeman, what should I do?” he was really asking, “Mr. Freeman, can I kill him?”

Gordon caught the dangerous edge in Tommy’s voice and threw him a warning look. “Don’t fall for it, man,” he said. “This is a fucking US military strategy. This is a US military strategy. Listen-”

“He’s infiltrating my mind!” Tommy’s words were dripping with so much sarcasm he suspected he could drown someone in it.

“The US military is getting crafty, Gordon.” Coomer remarked, his stare hard as he kept his gun aimed on the hostage.

“What d’you think, Bubby?” Gordon slanted his attention to the old scientist.

Bubby hadn’t said a word this entire exchange, aiming his weapon pensively. Gears were turning in his head, judging by the expression on his face, but he said nothing.

Gordon glanced back to Tommy. “Tommy,” he said seriously. “Stay strong.”

Fine. Since Gordon asked. He stayed strong as long as he could. Tommy didn’t have to worry about his own self restraint much longer, however, as Forzen went on impishly about the Beyblade. Gordon finally knelt so he was eye level with their hostage, pointing the barrel of his weapon straight at the soldier’s head.

“Listen,” he said. “Give me one piece of information that might get us out of here a little bit faster, and I won't blast you in the skull.”

Forzen, effectively cowed, spat out, “Benrey knows the exit.”

Tommy and Gordon exchanged a glance.

“Benrey knows the exit?” Gordon echoed, narrowing his eyes at Forzen. “You killed Benrey. That man’s - What do you know about Benrey? How do you even know his name? Why do you know who Benrey is?”

Tommy was staring at the paratrooper very intently now. This was orchestrated. Wherever Benrey was, whatever the entity was doing, this person was in on it. He stood very, very still at the realization.

“Because we’re best friends,” Forzen continued. Then he faltered, correcting himself. “We were best friends.”

Gordon peered up at Tommy again. Benrey had friends?

The loudspeaker, which had been pealing overhead like an omen for the past hour, chimed in. DOCTOR. FREEMAN. GET. OUTSIDE.

“I’m not gonna listen to the fucking intercom!” Gordon hollered at the ceiling hotly, springing to his feet. “I can’t trust anything!”

Tommy did not miss the way Gordon’s voice cracked when he said those last few words. He really thought he was an island in this haunting black sea. Tommy gazed heavily at him. He ached.

“Listen,” Gordon said to the hostage. “We’re going to point guns at you. You’re going to walk to the Beyblade.”

Forzen pulled himself languidly to his feet, eyeing the barrel aimed at his face. He passed a look between the scientists present, hovering with hesitance. Then he strolled to the edge of the vast pit and stepped right into it.

Gordon, stunned, stared after him as his form disappeared into the blackness. He cast a nonplussed look at his companions. “Don’t follow him,” he cautioned, his eyes snagging on Tommy in particular. “Do not f - Tommy.”

Tommy leapt down after the soldier, ignoring Gordon indignantly calling his name.

At the bottom, Forzen stood waiting, staring at him keenly. “Let’s go,” he said.

Yes. Let’s. Tommy flicked his fingers. The soldier disappeared from the plane.

---

When Tommy materialized at the top of the ten story shaft, he was surprised to see that Gordon looked legitimately worried.

“You’re back,” he sighed shakily.

Tommy held his gaze and inclined his head in a reticent nod. Of course he was. He’d always come back. As long as the world was crashing off its axis, Tommy would return to Gordon’s side. This was a matter of trust, and trust wasn’t something to be fucked around with.

Gordon cleared his throat. “Did you get the Beyblade?” he asked, attempting to be cheeky but failing.

“No,” Tommy answered evenly. “He ran off.”

Chapter 5 <-----> Chapter 7