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p-artsypants · 10 months ago

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Paint it Black (14) Investigating

Ao3 | FF.net

“Chief Anderson Duffy speaking,” said the voice through the Batmobile’s intercom.

“This is Batman. I’m calling regarding the investigation you conducted with the missing boys.”

“Oh! Batman! Right, well, just as you requested, we removed the remains and returned them to those who had families. The rest were cremated. If this is truly the work of Joker and Two-Face as you suspect, we will ultimately leave their capture up to you. I have assigned a team to look into their locations. With a month headstart, I can’t guarantee we’ll find them. They may even be back in Gotham.”

“They aren’t,” he said definitively. “I have my sources. They haven’t been seen in Gotham in months. I highly suspect they’re still in Jump, laying low and trying to think of a new plan.”

“Well, we’ll let you know if we find anything, but they did a good job of clearing their tracks.”

“Did you leave everything else where it was?”

“Just like you requested.”

“Good. I’ll let you know if I learn anything new.”

“Good luck, Batman.”

He ended the call, heaving a sigh of relief. Working with the Gotham PD was always a pain, and if Gordan wasn’t on duty, it was damn near impossible. So when Jump PD was so cooperative, it was like a breath of fresh air.

He assumed their disposition was thanks to Robin.

The Batmobile pulled up to the building, the address that Cyborg had provided him with. Two dudes were having a smoke on the opposite street.

“Hey, you Batman?” One guy called.

Batman just looked at him as he closed his door.

“Like the real one?”

“Who wants to know?”

“You the one that’s been catching the petty crooks and leaving love notes?”

“No. Just got into town.”

The guy nudged his buddy. “See, told you it wasn’t Batman.”

“You guys smoke here often?” Batman asked.

“Fairly. Live upstairs.” He threw his thumb at the building they were leaning against. “Why?”

“Ever see any freaks come out of this building?”

One guy, the larger of the two, dropped his cig and stomped it out, and then came closer to Batman so he could talk in a softer voice. “I mean no disrespect Batman, but everyone in this neighborhood makes it a point to mind their own business. It’s not safe to witness anybody coming in or out of any place.”

Batman grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground. “I’m not asking about other people coming and going. I’m asking about a clown or a man with half his face burnt to a crisp. I don’t give two shits about anything else.”

“G-got it. Yeah, uh…I definitely saw those guys.”

Batman set him down.

“It was a while back. Probably a month was the last time. They were noisy as hell. Always laughing. I heard gunshots a few times.”

“Do you know where they went?”

“Sorry, I don’t. But I always knew they were in when I saw a white utility van parked where you are now. Some electric company logo on the side that I can’t remember. Oh, and the license plate started with ‘A’, if I remember that right.”

Batman gave him a clap on the shoulder. “You’ve been very helpful.”

“Don’t mention it.” He started walking back to his friend. “Seriously. Don’t.”

Batman went back to the parking space, scanning the ground for tire marks. Several prints came back, so he abandoned that idea.

Then he went to the backdoor that Cyborg had detailed in his report. It was unlocked, but he had a feeling anyone that tried to loot the building would quickly change their mind.

The torture room was worse in person. Blood everywhere. Horrible devices spread across tables and hanging on the wall. But no empty syringes, no notes, no journals. Nothing of use. Just enough information to paint a very ugly narrative of nineteen young men finding their doom, and one entering a torturous existence.

But perhaps the information he was looking for was never in this room to begin with. He scoured the building. Checking every room he passed.

He did find an office. There wasn’t much that would allow him forward, but there were some documents left behind that would shed a little more light on the experiment.

Three piles of applications.

14 labeled as ‘fodder’. This pile consisted of deeply disturbed and highly medicated individuals with conditions such as schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders.

Another pile of 5 were labeled ‘true candidates’. This group had been hospitalized for violent episodes towards other minors or foster families. They all were diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder or Bipolar.

Then, there was one application in between the two piles labeled ‘Control’. It was Robin’s.

‘This one has a strong moral code, despite his level of depression. He may help or hinder the experiment, but is not expected to last long.’

Batman couldn’t help but snort. Neither Joker or Dent were scientists, and had no idea what they had gotten into.

It looked like these applications had come from the beginning of the project and that further documents had been taken wherever they had gone.

Then there was the basement. Those two rooms may not contain anything useful, but he was not doing his due diligence if he didn’t at least check it out.

It took him a minute to find the ladder that Raven had mentioned, but soon he was able to let himself down to the dark, dank, hell mouth.

It still smelled foul, even without a body still hanging around. But it was a smell Batman had encountered before and knew how to deal with. A dab of Vick’s in the nose, and he could handle being down here for a little while at least.

He checked out the containment room first.

There were some flies, still subsisting off of the putrid puddles on the floor. The Slade bot laid in a heap on the ground, broken to pieces.

As he moved around the room, he noticed tick marks on some of the walls, as evidently the boys were trying to keep track of how long they had been there.

He saw Starfire’s name on the wall, written in blood.

He flipped the unsaturated mattresses, just checking for any hidden messages, but found nothing.

Nothing but grief.

So he moved on.

The room next door had housed the skulls of the other victims. The cards that had labeled the skulls remained in place, while the bones were gone. The knives on the workbench were in the same position as the photo.

Out of the three drums of sulfuric acid, one was gone. The two remaining were still factory sealed.

Batman made a call.

“Chief Anderson Duffy,” said the voice on the other end of the line.

“It’s Batman. What information did you glean from the drum of sulfuric acid that’s gone?”

“Oh that. Forensics were on that. Let me see what they reported.” There were some clacking of keys on the other end. “They found trace bone fragments in the acid. Says here that the acid didn’t contain the sludge often left over from dissolving a body, let alone 18. They think that these sickos may have only dissolved a few parts of a small number of bodies, before deciding to do something else with the remains.”

Batman growled, disgusted, frustrated, and angry.

These were all boys with full lives ahead of them. Boys that were taken advantage of because of where they were in life. Orphans, sick, vulnerable, impressionable. They could have been helped. They could have—

He tried not to dwell on that. They were gone, and it was his job to find out where they were taken.

I don’t eat processed meat because I don’t want to accidentally eat human meat.

At first, Batman had foolishly taken the statement at face value. Black said something insane, because that’s what he was. It was shock value, it was delusional, it was paranoid…but now it made sense.

“I know where the other bodies were taken.”

“Oh great! Just tell us where to look and we’ll take care of it.”

“Unfortunately, nothing is going to be recovered. I’m fairly certain they were cooked and fed to the other victims.”

There was silence from the other line, Batman assumed shock. “...If that’s what you think, we’ll go with it for now. I would like proof though.”

“I’ll get you either a confession from the Joker or Dent, or a witness account from the survivor.”

“You found the survivor?”

“Yeah. He’s in treatment. His mental condition is very unstable and he has retrograde amnesia. It might be a while before he’s able to talk about this incident.”

Duffy was quiet for a while before admitting, “you’ve made more headway on this case in the two days you’ve been here than the four months we’ve been working it.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Chief. I know how these two operate, and the clues they left were only going to be picked up by me.”

“Well, at any rate, thank you for working with us. Now, if only we could make some headway in Robin’s case.”

Batman huffed. “Who do you think the survivor was?”

“What? Really? That’s excellent! Well, maybe not, considering what you said about his mental state.”

“You would do me a great favor if you closed that case and stopped thinking about it.”

“Right. I’ll pretend like I don’t know anything. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“I will.” And he hung up.

There was a part of Batman that was frustrated with how messy this whole thing had gotten. Of course Robin was going to go undercover when he heard about this operation. Of course the easiest and least suspicious way to do so was to use the identity he used as a volunteer at the hospital.

He just hated that it led back to his real name, and now that name wasn’t safe anymore.

He was less concerned that Richard Grayson be linked back to Bruce Wayne, because really, how uncommon was the name?

Emerging from the basement, he crossed over the threshold to the torture chamber and twitched in surprise when he saw a man sitting in the rigged dentist’s chair.

It was not the half-faced mask he wanted to see.

“Ah, so that truly was the Batmobile out front. Interesting.”

Batman observed this new foe quickly, taking in the armor, the physique, the posture, and lack of weapons.

“I have no business with you, Slade. But I suppose I could fit time into my busy schedule.”

“You have heard of me. How nice. My old apprentice mentioned me?”

“No. My old friend mentioned a psychopath blackmailed him into stealing. I told him not to worry too much about a grown man that gets his rocks off bullying children.”

Slade’s eye narrowed. He tilted his head slightly, his expression completely hidden behind his mask. “So. What does the great Batman want in my building?”

“You own this block? I assumed it was abandoned.”

“‘Owned’ is a…loose term. I acquired it, because no one wanted it. It serves its purpose to me.”

“Ever rent it out?”

“No. Which is why I’m here. Heard someone was playing doctor while I was away.”

“Taking a vacation?” Batman snipped.

“Something like that,” Slade said casually. “I died. Did some sight-seeing in hell. Did some overtime during the apocalypse and got my flesh back. Then I spent several weeks trying to relearn how to walk.” He shifted so his head rested on his fist. “And now I hear I missed out on a very interesting experiment…but why would that concern Batman so much to bring him all the way here?”

“Ever heard of the Joker or Two-Face?”

“I subscribe to Villains Monthly.”

“Got jokes, do you?”

“I have a new lease on life Batman. Got a little more…pep in my step.”

“I hope those steps lead you out of my way.”

“You’re very serious, aren’t you? I see where Robin gets it from.”

Batman just glared at him.

“In case you’re wondering, I had nothing to do with whatever happened here. Frankly, I’m rather upset I wasn’t invited. I have clean up to do, since your friends decided to make a mess. So if you wouldn’t mind showing yourself out, that’d be just swell.”

“Sure,” said Batman. “But before I leave,” he cracked his knuckles, “why don’t I take the trash out?”

—-

Batman returned to the Titan’s tower about an hour later, a limp in his step and blood on his uniform.

“Sir? Are you alright?” Alfred asked as he entered. The rest of the Titans were sitting around at the table, empty plates in front of them.

“Fine. Just…had a little altercation. Tore the stitching in my leg.” He slid in next to Beast Boy, and leaned on his arms.

Raven was quick to go to him, and pressed a healing hand to his wound. “What happened?”

“I did a little investigating into that building where Robin was held, hoping for a lead to where Joker and Dent may have gone. Instead I ran into the building’s owner.”

Alfred placed a plate of Chicken Parmesan in front of him.

“...was the owner a tough dude?” Beast Boy asked, noticing the blood on his shirt was from his own nose.

He huffed, annoyed. He didn’t really want to reveal all this to them for several reasons, but they needed to know. “Yeah, tougher than expected. He’s a man by the name of Slade. Ever heard of him?”

Cyborg, who was on his fourth serving, nearly choked on his mouthful of pasta, while the other Titans gasped in horror.

“But he—” Starfire protested.

“Trigon resurrected him,” Raven bit. “He was there in the final battle, and then he disappeared.”

“Apparently, he had to relearn how to walk,” said Batman, shooing Raven away from his leg. “I took care of him. He put up a fight, but I knocked him unconscious and delivered him to Duffy personally. That’s why I’m late.”

The Titans shared a look, all being slightly embarrassed that Batman had been able to do alone what they hadn’t been able to do together.

“I can’t imagine this is going to actually stop him, but I bought you some time.” He finally started eating some of his dinner. “And he was tough, but definitely not ready to fight. I think he was still weak.”

“Still, it’s a little humiliating that you had to take care of our bad guy,” Beast Boy winced.

Batman smirked slightly. “I have had daydreams about sending that bastard to the hospital. Robin told me all about what happened with that sham of an apprenticeship. Blackmailing him by infecting teens with nanobots that slowly and painfully kill them unless he does what he wants? Sounds like Arkham’s next inmate.” He took a drink of water. “But that’s something to worry about later. How’s Robin—or Black, I suppose?”

“He is unwell,” Starfire looked over to the couch. For the first time, Batman noticed the boy was laying down, but was very still and quiet. “He did not eat dinner, and says…I believe the phrase was, ‘his think meat was thrown against a wall’?”

“That’s not a real metaphor,” Beast Boy offered. “That’s just his brand of stupidity.”

“Well, he’s making jokes, so he’s doing alright for now,” Batman argued. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on him. Right, Robin?” He asked a little louder, so he could hear him.

The other boy didn’t answer for a really long time, but the team was quiet and listened if either Black or Robin would respond.

Then, in the quiet of the room, with only the hum of the air system and a ticking clock on the wall, he sang. It was in his pathetic falsetto, with a scratchy tone. Up until now, Black’s songs had really depressing lyrics, but he had delivered them joyfully. This time, the song was far too sad.

“I am…the only one that got through. The others died wherever they fell.”

Starfire floated up from where she was seated and rested on the couch beside him, petting his head gently.

“It was an ambush…they came up from all sides.”

Batman set his silverware down quietly and listened very closely.

“Give your Masters each a gun and then let them fight it out themselves.”

Beast Boy swallowed thickly, biting his tongue. Black had changed the lyrics.

“I've seen demons coming up from the ground. I've seen hell upon this Earth.”

Raven closed her eyes as the image of that corpse came to mind against her will.

“The next will be chemical…but they will never stop.”

Alfred turned his back, hiding his face.

Once silence reigned for more than a minute, it was clear that the message was over.

“He changed the lyrics,” both Batman and Beast Boy said.

“The song is ‘In Memory of Harry Patch’,” Batman elaborated. “He changed ‘give your leaders’ to ‘give your masters’ and ‘they will never learn’ to ‘they will never stop’.”

“What do you suppose he was trying to say?”

“Maybe he thought Dent and Joker turned on each other? Or perhaps they’re going to try this again?” Batman mused aloud.

Black sat up from the couch, and they could already see the faint veins standing out against his pale skin. “Can I have one of dem Gumby skittles?”

“No,” Batman said, not blinking an eye. “We’re not giving you any medicine for a while, because we need a clean blood test.”

Black frowned and turned to Starfire. “You said that if I was ever in pain I should come to you, because you don’t like to see me in pain.”

Starfire hunched her shoulders, feeling guilty. “You are right, but I cannot give you the medicine you require. Perhaps a shoulder massage will help?”

He stood, stretching. “No. I think I’ll just go lay down in bed for a while, where it’s dark and quiet.”

Batman swirled some noodles around on his fork. “Alright, we’ll check on you in a little bit.”

Black nodded in understanding and left the ops room. He only stopped into his room for a moment to grab his trenchcoat, before escaping quickly to the hall, and then to the underground access tunnel.

Thank goodness for fingerprint scanners.

#fanfiction #teen titans #animated tt #teen titans 2003 #robin #dick grayson #starfire #koriandr #batman

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overlordofthelollipopguild · 24 days ago

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Broken Souls Mend Hearts -- Chapter 97: Going Home Again

Read on AO3 or ff.net.

Chapter notes:

Warning: Character death imminent. Sorry....

So this chapter is Enchanted Forest heavy and very Emma light. I was planning on the CS reunion being chapter 100 but so much of chapter 97-99 would have to be filler and I think I've kept y'all on the hook long enough. Season 3B here we come.

Also, Rumple is taking a lot of Neal's role. I just don't like Neal or writing for him. Rumple's easier and this is canon divergent enough that it flows better for Rumple to be more active than Neal.

Also next chapter is the CS reunion.

Chapter 97: Going Home Again

They appeared near the castle, which was kind of Zelena to send them so close to home, so she definitely wasn’t heartless.

August’s own heart was racing and his mind a mess of thoughts. Zelena wasn’t completely evil; he could see it in her eyes. She wanted to open up to him, to come to their side. He wasn’t sure why she rejected his offer, but they’d been so close to convincing her. August needed to see her again and talk. If only he stood up for her after the fire; if he did, maybe they wouldn’t be on opposite sides and she’d be with him.

August swallowed. Did he want that? Be with Zelena? Did he even know her? What if everything she ever said to him was a lie? He wanted to find out for sure, but actually being with her, pursuing a relationship, was something for him to think over.

“We have to go back.” Grace said. “I don’t think she’s evil, Uncle August.” In fact, Zelena seemed wrecked over the whole situation. It was clear to Grace at least that Zelena felt something for August, and she truly was upset that they hadn’t believed her about the fire.

“I don’t think so either, Gracie.” August sighed. “But we can’t go back. She doesn’t want us there right now.” Zelena gave him a lot to think about and he needed time to process. He figured Zelena also wanted to be alone for a reason.

Grace opened her mouth to protect, but August quickly cut her off.

“You know how sometimes you’re feeling bad about something and you don’t want to talk about it?” August asked.

Grace nodded. After all, she went through her lack of contact with her friends and losing Henry. Those were some rough months.

“Well, I think Zelena is struggling with something.” August said. “I think she needs time, okay?” Struggling with being good, maybe? Or was there something else? Zelena was so close to coming back with him, but something changed her mind.

“I just don’t want to give up on her.” Grace said. Zelena was her friend and friends were supposed to be there for support. Maybe August had a point, but Grace still didn’t like it.

“Grace!” Jefferson called out, catching their attention.

Jefferson and Belle walked closer to them.

“We’ve been looking all over for you.” Jefferson said. “Where have you been?” His expression was a mixture of concern and sternness. He definitely wanted answers.

Grace looked to August at a loss as to what to say.

Great, it’s time to be a responsible adult. August thought, though he hoped Grace wouldn’t be mad at him. He wasn’t going to lie to Jefferson. “Don’t be mad, but Grace wanted to talk with Zelena, and I went with her.”

Grace winced. Okay, so no lying this time. Papa was going to be mad.

“What?” Jefferson glared. “You took my daughter to see the Wicked Witch?” What the hell was August thinking? Didn’t he have any idea how dangerous that was?

“No, Papa.” Grace said, stepping in to defend August. “I ran off and Uncle August followed. He tried to bring me home, but I wanted to get answers. Zelena was my friend.”

Jefferson regarded his daughter for a moment, before sighing. Grace struggled since their return to the Enchanted Forest, and Jefferson knew that Lena, or Zelena, really bonded with Grace and helped her get through it, but she was still evil and was plotting against them. “I understand that, but you can’t run off and confront someone with the magic she has. I’m glad August was with you, but neither of you have enough means to defend yourselves against her.”

Grace looked down at her father’s disappointed tone. “I know. I wasn’t thinking about that. I didn’t think she would attack us, and she didn’t. She sent us back here.”

Belle and Jefferson shared a look. That was interesting. At least, they were both safe, but why wouldn’t Zelena harm them?

“She just sent you back?” Belle asked. Holding them hostage would’ve been incredibly beneficial to Zelena. Grace said she hadn’t attacked them either. Belle wondered what that meant.

Jefferson was curious too, and seeing August’s contrite expression, he figured that maybe Zelena had a heart after all. He’d talk more with August later, and they’d have to discuss not letting a twelve-year-old convince him to run off to a witch’s lair. “Be that as it may, we still need to talk about your independent streak. Come on, let’s go find your mom and we’ll talk about your punishment.”

Grace pouted but understood it. She hugged August tightly. “Thanks for going with me, Uncle August.”

August returned the hug. “You can always count on me, Gracie.”

As Grace walked over to her father, Jefferson sent a look which told August that they were going to talk more later. August nodded in response. It wasn’t a lecture he was looking forward to having, but he understood. He was the adult after all.

Belle walked over to him after father and daughter headed into the castle. “How are you doing?”

August shrugged. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Belle was the one who’d been through recent trauma. What he was going through with Zelena didn’t hold a candle to that. He’d eventually deal with his own issues, but whatever Belle went through, she needed all the support she could get from them.

“I’m…doing better.” Belle said uncertain. “Slow progress, you know?” She grimaced at her words, unsure of how to discuss her own situation. Not talking about it was too much, but talking about it at all wasn’t something that she was ready for and she doubted she’d ever be ready for it.

“That’s good.” August sighed. His heart wanted to reach out to Zelena, to get her side, but his head couldn’t trust it. He wasn’t sure he could trust her, even though she hadn’t attacked them and seemed so uncertain about her own villainy. After a moment of silence between them, August voiced his thoughts. “When we went to see Zelena, it was like she didn’t want to be our enemy. Do you think she has changed? I just…I don’t want to be played again.”

Belle considered his words. It was odd that Zelena seemed so unwilling to attack August and Grace or use them for her own gain, but could it be that Zelena had a change of heart? “I don’t know, August. I wasn’t around. I do know that villains are capable of change. Look at Killian, Rumple, and Regina. They all changed for those they loved.” Rumple tried so hard for her. Even when he had his setbacks, he still attempted to be a better man. It wasn’t until his passing that she realized that three-hundred-years of being the Dark One was a hard habit to break. “Rumple even sacrificed his own life for us.”

August froze. Didn’t anyone tell Belle about Rumple? Crap. “Uh, Belle, did…did anyone tell you?” Why did it have to be him?

“Tell me what?” Belle didn’t like how August paled.

“We think Rumple is alive.” August said carefully. “He sent a note about Zelena and Regina recognized his handwriting.” He braced himself for her reaction, knowing that it wasn’t going to be a good one.

Belle’s blood froze, a chill settled over her. That wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be unless…had Neal succeeded? Had he resurrected his father? If he had, then…a price was paid. Did that mean Neal was dead?

“Belle?” August worried about the shock on her face. Great, I broke her, again.

“If Rumple is alive, then…” Belle swallowed. “Neal resurrected him, which means Neal is dead.” She shook her head. “I need to find Regina.” She hurried off, leaving a shocked August in her wake.

*****************************

David considered Snow’s words for a long moment. She told him everything Regina said about the Land Without Magic and the Dark Curse. Worse, how the Dark Curse was there only option to bring Emma and Henry home. He wasn’t sure what to think other than, of course they’d have such rotten luck.

Why did there always have to be a Curse?

“If the Curse is the only way to open up the realms,” David started. “Then someone is going to have to sacrifice themselves.” It wasn’t something they could ask anyone to do. It was their daughter who was the Savior. Could they rightfully ask Jefferson or Ruby to sacrifice each other? Aurora or Mulan? Marco or August? It wouldn’t be right.

Unfortunately, that would mean… David swallowed. He’d have to be the one.

Snow sighed. “We have to figure out who. It’s a lot to ask someone.” Though it didn’t seem fair to ask anyone to do it, but after everything their family had been through, she didn’t want to lose David. Was that selfish? Absolutely, but she’d had enough loss for a lifetime. Emma grew up without them, they missed out on raising Emma, but Snow would not allow this baby to miss either their mother, father, or sister. Their family would be whole.

David paused, knowing he needed to broach this carefully. “Snow,” He started, kneeling in front of where she sat in an armchair. “We can’t ask anyone to make such a choice for us.” He hated it; hated the very idea of dying. But they needed Emma. They needed her a lot more than they needed him.

“No.” Snow shook her head. “I’m not going to crush your heart.” She wouldn’t, couldn’t, do it. “Our baby, Emma, Henry, Liam, and Killian need you. I need you. We missed out raising Emma and our family being together. I won’t have our next child missing out on anything.” Snow pushed herself up out of the chair, slowly, but she got to her feet and walked away from David. Her feet carried her to the open window. A hot breeze blew in, the August heat would normally be stifling if the castle wasn’t always so cold.

There was a silence before David walked over to her side. “We can’t ask our friends to make this kind of sacrifice. I know it’s not fair to us, but it wouldn’t be fair to them either.” David said. “I know we’ve been through it, the Curse, losing Emma twice, losing Henry, you losing your parents when you were so young, everything Regina put us through, it’s been so much. But we’ve also been so lucky to have our epic love story, and two children and grandchildren. We’re well ahead of everyone else we know. Shouldn’t they be able to have those opportunities?”

Snow sighed, tears forming in her eyes. Though he had good points, sometimes Snow hated how noble her husband was, even if it was also one of the traits she loved the most about him. “Well, I know where Emma gets her selflessness from.” She shook her head. “Why is it always us, Charming?” Why did it have to be again?

“I wish I had an answer for that.” David wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as her tears fell, hating himself for making her cry.

“I don’t know if I can do this.” Snow sniffed. “Crushing your heart would be like killing myself.”

David held tightly, not sure how to comfort her. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to be there for their baby, wanted to reunite with Emma and Henry, wanted to see their child and Liam grow up together, but this was their path. They couldn’t let anyone else cast the curse, no matter how unfair it was to them. “I know.”

Snow cried into his chest as their decision was made.

*****************************

“Regina.”

Regina winced hearing Robin call out to her. They hadn’t talked since he kissed her, which was by Regina’s design. She refused to be alone with him again.

It wasn’t a bad kiss; in fact, it was incredible. It awoke long dormant feelings that scared the shit out of her. Regina knew she was undeserving of love and Robin, and Roland for that matter, deserved better than her. She didn’t want Robin to get ideas.

“Regina, hey.” Robin caught up with her.

Surely he wouldn’t want to discuss this while they were walking down the hallway where anyway could hear their conversation. “Hi, Robin.” Regina greeted, keeping her eyes forward. What excuse could she come up with to avoid him? “I was just on my way to gather ingredients.” Not entirely a lie.

“Could we talk a moment?” Robin implored, his expression pleading.

“I really should…” Regina stopped herself. What could it hurt to hear him out? So long as she shot him down, then they could put their kiss behind them. “All right,” she stopped and turned to face him. “What is it?”

Robin felt triumph. He knew she’d been avoiding him since their kiss; he’d take the small victories. “I wanted to talk.”

Regina’s lips twitched. “Yes, you mentioned that.”

“About our kiss…” Robin started. Come on, Locksley, be brave. He took a breath and spoke his truth. “I just wanted to tell you that it meant more to me than just being a kiss.”

Her heart skipped. What exactly did he mean by that? Regina shook her head. “It can’t be more than just a kiss.” She couldn’t let him think there were feelings there. There were, of course, and Regina knew she’d come a long way after all these months back in the Enchanted Forest, but there were people who still feared her or suspected the worst. She didn’t want Robin and Roland affected by her reputation.

“Why not?” Robin asked. “Don’t tell me you don’t feel the same as I do. I know you do.” Robin stepped closer to her.

Regina sighed. “Robin, I just don’t think us being together is a good idea.” How could she convince him that she was bad for him?

“I think you’re just trying to protect yourself.” Robin said. “You’ve shut away your own heart for so long, you’re afraid to trust someone else with it.”

Oof. Well, he was hitting the nail on the head. Regina truly did want to protect Robin and Roland from her reputation, but was that all? After Daniel, when Tink came to her to help her find her True Love, Regina let her anger, grief, and fear rule her decisions. She lived in her bitter emotions for so long. She remembered standing outside the tavern, seeing the lion tattoo, her heart in her throat, thinking how could her True Love ever love her?

She tried to earn her mother’s love, only receiving cruelty. She tried to be a good wife to Leopold, only to be ignored. Even Snow, while kind, was more often with her father. Regina was all alone.

Her father showed her what love he could, though he cowered to her mother’s power. Daniel showed her love and a taste of freedom, but her mother proved that love was a weakness and it certainly wasn’t meant to last.

How could she explain all of that to Robin? As much as she felt for him too, what would happen if her True Love ever showed up again? She couldn’t hurt Robin like that. What if Marian hadn’t been Robin’s True Love? What if someone better was out there for him?

“I’m poison, Robin.” Regina sighed. “I destroy everything I touch. I ruined Henry’s life, my first love died because of me, I took away everyone’s happy endings…”

“You’re not that person anymore.” Robin said, hands coming to her forearms, gently pulling her to him. “You’ve changed for the better. You’ve worked so hard. Don’t let your past decide your future.”

Regina looked down at her feet, shaking her head. “You might believe that, but not everyone else is as kind.” As her eyes moved up to look at him, they caught sight of something on Robin’s wrist. Regina turned her head slightly to get a better look and froze.

On Robin’s wrist was the same lion tattoo of her True Love. Her soulmate. In the exact same place.

How many people in the Enchanted Forest had that lion tattoo?

Regina swallowed, finding her voice. “I didn’t know you had a tattoo.”

A little confused about the abrupt change of subject, Robin looked at his tattoo. “Yes, it’s a simplified version of the Locksley family crest. A reminder of where I come from and why I left my titles and noble life behind.”

His family crest? Regina took a step back, Robin’s hands dropping from her. If it was his family crest, it was very unlikely anyone else had the same tattoo, which meant… Her heart raced.

Robin was her True Love.

Holy shit.

“Regina!” Belle ran towards her, thankfully interrupting any further conversation with Robin.

Shaking away her shock, Regina turned to her best friend. “Belle, what’s wrong?”

“August just told me that Rumple might be alive.” Belle was a bit out of breath, red-faced from running.

Regina grimaced. “After everything you’ve been through, I was hoping to prove Rumple was alive for certain before telling you. I mean, he sent a note and I believe it was his handwriting, but that’s not foolproof evidence.”

“Neal planned to resurrect his father.” Belle said. “We haven’t heard from Neal since he left for his father’s castle. I can only assume that if Rumple is alive…”

Regina’s expression turned grim. “Then Neal must’ve succeeded.”

“What does that mean?” Robin asked. “Is Neal all right?” Though he didn’t really care for Neal after the stunts the man pulled in Neverland, but he didn’t wish ill on the man…okay, he didn’t wish death on the man. If Neal paid a price for magic, then perhaps he deserved it.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think so.” Regina admitted. “Resurrection magic is dark magic. The darkest and most impossible magic. If Neal succeeded then the price was very likely his own life.”

Her words only distressed Belle. “I should’ve stopped him.” Tears came to her eyes.

“Belle, Neal made his choice.” Regina put her arm comfortingly around her friend. “Neal was a grown man. If he wanted his father back, I doubt you could’ve stopped him.”

“Regina’s right.” Robin reassured. “Neal’s choices were his own.” Damn him for making Belle feel at fault. After everything the poor woman suffered, she didn’t need unnecessary guilt on her conscience.

Belle wanted to take comfort in her friends’ reassurances, but she couldn’t help putting the blame on herself. She was with Neal. She should’ve stopped him. That was on her.

“Hey, stop thinking like that.” Regina saw the guilt weighing Belle down. “You couldn’t stop him, okay?” Wanting to distract Belle from thoughts of Neal, Regina changed the subject. “Come on, I need some ingredients for the Curse. Some help would be nice.”

Belle reluctantly nodded, still lost in her thoughts.

Regina turned to Robin. “We’ll talk later.”

As the women walked away, Robin sensed that later wasn’t going to come unless he kept confronting her. Though should he? Should he keep pursuing her or give her time? His heart told him to go after what he wanted, but he didn’t want to pressure her. Regina was a one of a kind woman and he didn’t want to push her away by wanting more than she was ready for; perhaps patience was the best course of action. He could be patient for her.

He only hoped that he wouldn’t have to wait too much longer.

*****************************

“Hey.” Jefferson appeared at his side.

August winced. Time for that talk then. “Hey, look, I know I should’ve been the responsible adult and brought Grace back, but…”

“But you wanted answers.” Jefferson said. He understood that much. August felt something for Zelena and her betrayal stung. While he was mad, after a long talk with Grace and Ruby, in which it was agreed that Grace was grounded for a month, meaning helping Granny with any and all chores, Jefferson came to understand how affected Grace was by Zelena's ruse. August's moping clued him in to how much it bothered his friend. At least August was sorry for being an idiot. Jefferson couldn't fault him for wanting to see Zelena and find out the truth. “I get that. You really like her, don’t you?”

“I’m not sure.” August admitted. “I liked Lena, I liked her a lot and thought...but I don’t know how real Lena was, or if everything was a lie.” He turned towards Jefferson, quickly changing the subject, not wanting to lament his love life. "I still shouldn't have gone along with Grace. I wanted to drag her back to the castle." He would never let Grace walk all over him again...he hoped.

"You shouldn't have." Jefferson agreed. "But I'm learning my daughter is a strong-willed, independent girl. I'm already terrified of what the teenage years will bring if the preteen ones are this difficult." He shuddered slightly at the idea. Grace was going to make him go grey before he reached his forties. "To be honest, I'm glad you found her. Even though you don't have magic, you being with her was better than her being alone." Jefferson crossed his arms over his chest, a stern expression in place. "That being said, if Grace ever attempts something like this again..."

"I will take her to you, Ruby, or Granny kicking and screaming even if she hates me for it." August nodded in agreement. "Mostly because I don't want to be werewolf chow."

Jefferson smirked. "Good man." He relaxed his stance and patted August on the back. "Now let's talk about Zelena." His friend wasn't getting out of this talk that easy.

August grimaced. What was there to talk about? Zelena lied and August was confused as hell over it.

"Come on, man." Jefferson said. "You can't keep moping. Talk it out, and let's figure out what you want to do." After a pause, Jefferson added, "Don't make me get Killian involved."

"You're going to rat to my brother?" August huffed. "What are you going to do? Get Regina to magic him back here from his mission to reunite with his soulmate to solve his brother's small problems?"

"Maybe." Jefferson said. "He's good at advice, particularly with love. I'm lucky I managed to get Ruby's attention." Jefferson leaned against the window frame. "I mean would you rather me get David? He's more accessible, but he's more..."

"True Love must be fought for?" August sighed. "Killian would probably tell me to figure out if I want to find out if Zelena wasn't entirely lying. If she was, forget her, lean on your family for support. If she wasn't, and she feels something for me, then..."

"A man unwilling to fight for what he wants, deserves what he gets." Jefferson quoted, hearing that phrase many a time during intense pool matches at The Rabbit Hole. Really, he said it often enough, Jefferson figured they needed to make t-shirts and sell them. Not a bad idea for extra cash. Maybe after the next Curse, he could start a graphic tee business with all of his friends' annoying quotes. "Well, I guess you need to figure out if it's True Love or not before you pick which advice to follow."

August looked out the window, wondering the best course of action. When he and Grace confronted Zelena though, he could've sworn that she wasn't acting. "Zelena said that maybe she was playing us at first. I think it became real for her at some point." His heart hoped it was real for her. He really liked her and before the fire, he was going to ask to court her. He wanted so badly to see her again.

"Then fight for her." Jefferson said. "At least if you convince her to be with you, then we won't have to worry about casting the Dark Curse and getting Emma back to defeat her."

"Ah, so that's why your pro-Zelena?" August joked. "Love conquers all, even wickedness?"

"I wouldn't say that." Jefferson shrugged. "But hey, Regina changed her stripes. Rumplestiltskin pulled a heroic sacrifice, though he's back now. Hook is one of the biggest heroes around. Villains can change. Though it also would be nice to not have one of our friends die for the Curse."

August nodded. "Did anyone volunteer?"

Jefferson sighed. "Not yet, but the meeting is in a couple of hours. I'm sure someone will and we can argue with them all we want, but if Zelena still plans to act against us, then what choice do we have?" He stood straighter. "I'm going to leave you to brood. Though careful about how much you do that, otherwise your really will start looking like Killian."

"Killian doesn't own the trademark on brooding." August huffed, though he couldn't help a small smile appearing on his face.

"Ha, right." Jefferson said. "Tell him that. You two really are brothers." He shook his head, walking away, leaving August to his thoughts.

August wondered about Jefferson's words. Could he really convince Zelena to side with them? Could he be the one to stop her and save someone's life in the process?

It was quite a burden to carry, and August wondered if Emma felt like this when acting as the Savior. It wasn't fair to do all of this just to bring her back because of her destiny. It should be done to bring her back to their family. To bring back just Emma and Henry, not the Savior.

August needed to figure out what to do and fast.

*****************************

Zelena kept replaying August’s words over and over. Had he meant it? Did he really want her side of the story? He said he wanted another chance, but did he mean he wanted to be her friend or something more? Her heart fluttered at the thought. Did he feel something for her?

She scoffed at her own thoughts. Why would he want something more? He couldn't feel more than possibly friendship for her. She was the Wicked Witch, which meant she was entirely unlovable. Her adopted father hated her, Cora abandoned her, Regina rejected her. No one loved her. It didn't matter that she loved August, he could only ever see her as a villain.

Zelena froze mid-stride, almost losing her footing, her entire being jolting as if struck by lightning. Did she just think that? She loved August? No, no, she couldn't possibly...

Her heart raced at the thought. Did she love him? Thinking about him sent butterflies dancing in her stomach. He made her smile and laugh so much when they'd spend time together. But love? Was that love? Zelena smiled widely. She did love him. She loved August Booth. Pure giddiness filled her being. She was in love. Oh, this is why love was so wanted. It felt so good.

Crap. Zelena shook herself. What was she doing? She was the Wicked Witch. She terrorized Oz for years. She...oh who was she kidding. Being Lena was the happiest she'd ever been, and part of that was due to the friendships she made and the man she loved.

What was she still doing here?

Zelena turned around, determined to leave this castle and go to August, only to come face to face with King George. Scowling, Zelena crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to deliver news." George said, looking none too happy. Whether it was because of his news or Zelena, she didn't know. "The heroes think that only the Savior can stop you." He watched her reaction carefully.

"So what?" Zelena shrugged. "The Savior is in the Land Without Magic. There isn't a portal they can use to get to her." Though she figured eventually they'd figure out that getting to the Land Without Magic via Neverland was a workaround, but they'd need a pegasus sail without Pan's shadow and fairy dust was dying out, so she doubted the fairies would offer it.

"They plan on casting the Dark Curse." George said. Her lack of concern irritated him. He knew she was weak; why did no one understand that love was a weakness and power was all that mattered? He was glad he planned for this. After seeing her interactions with the puppet and the Mad Hatter's brat, George just knew that Zelena would be too weak to aid him further. It was time to get her out of the way. "They want to return everyone to Storybrooke. We can use this to our advantage."

"Oh, you think so?" Zelena arched a brow. Just what was he playing at?

“If we intercept the Dark Curse, we could make it our own.” George said, ignoring the shadowed figured moving silently behind her. “You and I can have all of the power.”

“You’d share power?” Zelena asked, unconvinced. “Please, you and I both know you’ve been using me for my magic and to get to the Dark One. You’re a pathetic, bitter old man, who can’t get over losing your throne.”

George reined in his temper. How dare this witch speak to him that way? He was and will always be a King. “All I need from you is to alter the Curse. Let them do the work, but change it so that we're in charge of the town and they are nothing more than our slaves.” Nottingham needed to hurry. He didn't want Zelena to realize the ambush.

“No.” Zelena said. “In fact, I think you’ve been enough of a thorn in…” Something hard hit her head and Zelena fell to the ground, unconscious.

Nottingham dropped the scepter he found lying around. “Now what?”

George held his tongue of criticism. He didn't need Nottingham going against him too. George smirked. “Now, we find the Dark One dagger.”

*****************************

David entered the Council room, gripping Snow’s hand. He didn’t want to do this; he didn’t want to die. However, he couldn’t in good conscience let anyone else make the necessary sacrifice. Even if it meant never meeting his second born, or seeing Emma, Henry, Killian, and Liam again. Leaving Snow alone to raise their child made him sick to his stomach, but he knew she’d have the support she’d need.

He just missed out on so much already. He wasn’t ready to die.

Everyone was sitting, waiting for him and Snow to join, all ready to discuss the plan. He pulled Snow’s chair out for her. He looked around at his friends, his family.

Jefferson and Ruby sat across from him, ready to draw up battle plans if necessary. He adored his dearest friends and hoped they would back his decision.

Next to Ruby, Granny looked both stern and worried. Marco was next to her, his expression contemplative. Both were the supportive parental figures they all needed as most of them were orphans just trying to figure out their lives.

Then there was August, who David couldn’t help but grow to like as August did all he could to make up for leaving Emma.

Regina was grim yet determined. Her turn around truly amazed David and he was so proud of her.

Mulan was stoic as ever, though she glanced worriedly at Aurora, who appeared exhausted and rather frail. They helped everyone so much, opening their homes to refugees, even though it resulted in them losing so much.

Robin, who’d become such a good friend and counsel with Killian away, looking ready to follow orders.

Belle, who’d been through so much, but who was still determined to give her aid.

David took a breath and started. “So we all know that we need Emma to stop Zelena and that means casting another Dark Curse…”

“No.” Ruby interrupted. “You are not sacrificing yourself.” Her green eyes pierced him. There was no way she was letting David be a self-sacrificing hero.

Damn her for knowing him so well. “Yes, I am.”

“Oh great, you’re being noble.” Jefferson groaned. “Someone go get Killian to knock some sense into him.” Though Killian would probably yell first and then punch David. Jefferson seriously considered punching David if it meant knocking out the self-sacrificing part of his personality.

Regina was sorely tempted to do just that, but first, maybe they could convince David without resorting to Killian. “David, there’s no way we can let you do this.”

“Who else can?” David snapped. “I’m not going to ask any of you to sacrifice yourselves or your loved ones.”

“You shouldn’t assume you’re the only one willing to make that sacrifice.” Regina huffed. “I would if I was the person someone loved the most, but I don’t have anyone. You have a baby on the way and how do you think Emma would feel about you dying just for her to be able to come home?”

“She’s right.” Ruby said. “David, you’re an important part of this family. We can’t lose you. We can figure this out together.”

“I don’t want anyone else to die for us.” David said. Why couldn't they just let this go? He'd made his decision.

Snow, unusually quiet today, spoke up. “David, they’re right. This should be a family decision. Jefferson also has a point. We should tell Killian what’s going on.” Snow knew Killian was probably still angry with her, but he’d come home for this. She knew he would, and he wouldn’t let David sacrifice himself either.

“Someone still needs to die for the Curse to work.” David protested. “Who else would be willing?”

“Me.” Marco spoke up, surprising everyone.

“Papa…” August started, but Marco cut him off.

“No.” Marco stood, shoulders set. “I have lived a long life. I’ve raised my sons. I’ve had grandchildren. I found love.” He looked to Granny then, taking her hand in his. His eyes moved back to David. “It’s my fault that Emma grew up alone. I’m to blame for that. Let me do this for our family.”

Everyone sat silent, considering his words.

David felt gratitude and relief for Marco’s offer, but could he really let him die?

“Papa, are you really sure about this?” August asked, quietly, tears in his eyes.

“I am.” Marco said. “I will die a lot sooner than any of you anyway. To die for my family, so they can be reunited? There is no better death than that.”

“I’ll do it.” Granny said, saddened by Marco’s impending death, but pride for the man she loved shining in her eyes.

Marco squeezed her hand tightly, knowing she was doing it, not just for him, but to save August from the pain and guilt of killing his father.

“Marco,” David choked. “Thank you.” Because what else was there to say? Marco was giving his life so that David could live and be with his family.

Marco nodded. “There is no need for thanks. I’m happy to do it.” He sighed deeply. “I only want to see Killian and Liam one last time.”

Regina stood, her own eyes wet. “I’ll go get them. Killian needs to know what’s happening anyway.” With that, she teleported away.

“Now that it is settled,” Granny spoke, her voice thick with grief. “We need to prepare everyone to return to Storybrooke.”

*****************************

Killian gathered his crew, his family really, on the deck of the Jolly Roger.

Eric leaned against a barrel with Ariel in his arms. Alice and Tink sat on crates, Liam sitting between them, the eight-month-old happily playing with his aunts’ hands. Will and Blackbeard stood by the mast, both eyeing Killian with worry and curiosity.

He internally laughed at how much father and son looked alike in that moment.

“So fearless leader, why are we having a family meeting?” Will asked.

Killian chuckled at the title. "Well, to be honest, I think it's time to go home." He sighed. "I'm not giving up, but I was thinking over it last night. We haven't been back to visit the family, and perhaps consulting with Regina might give us fresh insights." More than that, he knew something was coming. Anticipation buzzed in his veins.

"Are you sure, brother?" Blackbeard asked. "They might not let us go off again."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Killian said. "Besides, I still feel like something is happening. I think they have answers." He couldn't explain it, but his gut knew that this was the right decision.

Blackbeard narrowed his eyes, still not entirely convinced Killian's powers weren't trying to break through. He needed to ask Killian if he ever died and was resuscitated. Then he'd know if the binding was still mostly intact or not.

"It might be good for us to take a bit of a break." Tink said. "After eight months of traveling, it will be good to stay in place for a little while."

Purple smoke startled everyone as Regina appeared.

"Regina!" Killian yelped in surprise.

Regina smiled brightly, hugging her friend. "It's so good to see you, Killian." She pulled away, taking in the others. "It's good to see all of you."

"You have perfect timing." Alice said. "We were just headed back to the Enchanted Forest."

"You were?" Regina asked, shocked. Did they know about the Curse? No, they just now made a decision about the Curse. There was no way they'd know already. Her dark eyes looked to Killian for an answer.

Killian shrugged. "I just had a feeling something was happening. That it was time to come home."

Regina scrutinized him, wondering, not for the first time, if the pirate was precognitive on some level. "You're not wrong." Taking a breath, she prepared herself for the negative reaction she was about to get telling Killian her news. "We have a way to get to the Land Without Magic."

"You do?" Alice asked. "When did you figure it out?"

Seeing Regina wince, Killian's blood ran cold. There was only one option that he knew for sure, and Regina's reaction told him all he needed to know. "No."

Perceptive pirate. Regina sighed. "It's the only way."

"No." Killian snapped. "I'm not letting anyone die."

"That's not your choice." Regina crossed her arms, prepared to stand off against him. "We're casting the Curse. Then magic will be back in the Land Without Magic, and you can get Emma and Henry."

"Wait, hold on," Tink spoke up. "The Dark Curse? The one where you have to kill the person you love most? That Curse?"

"As I explained to the others," Regina began. "It's not called the Land Without Magic because there isn’t magic, there's just not enough there to make it accessible. The whole reason the Curse was created was for Rumple to bring over magic so he could remain the Dark One. Casting the Curse will weaken the barriers of the realm, and since you have Ariel here, she could open a portal to the Land Without Magic."

"So the Dark Curse gets cast," Ariel started. "Storybrooke and magic would return to the realm. If you teleported me and Killian far enough away, once the Curse is cast, then I can get us to the Land Without Magic, no problem."

Killian still didn't like the idea. "Who's volunteered to die for this cause?"

Regina grimaced. "Look, let me transport everyone to the castle and we can finalize plans. Then, like Ariel said, I can teleport the two of you away from the range of the Curse. If you get caught up in it, you won't be able to leave Storybrooke to find Emma and Henry."

"Regina, who's dying?" Killian demanded. "David's not being a noble idiot again, is he?"

"He tried." Regina admitted with a watery chuckle. Killian knew his best friend so well. “But no, David isn’t pulling the noble sacrifice card. We wouldn't let him."

“Okay, let’s get back to the castle then.” Tink said. “We can debate and argue over the details when we’re there.”

Killian wasn’t happy about Regina withholding details and being rather shifty about the plan, but Tink was right. They needed to get back home. The sooner they did then the sooner they’d figure out whether or not the Curse was worth it, and then he’d find a way back to Emma and Henry.

*****************************

While he wasn’t too happy about George and Nottingham roaming his castle, Rumple had work to do. The memory potion for Miss Swan was almost ready and he needed to send it off before George and Nottingham discovered his whereabouts.

Having overheard George’s plan, Rumple only hoped that the heroes would cast the Curse before George could find the dagger or worse: find the dagger and control Rumple into altering the Curse.

When he defeated his father and sacrificed himself, Rumple was at peace with his decision and knew Belle and Neal had a support system to get them through their grief.

His sacrifice felt like an apology to Neal for everything that he did as the Dark One. More than that, death freed him from the Darkness. He never imagined his son would go as far as to resurrect him considering they never truly resolved all of their issues. Even now with Neal in his head, it was only a matter of time before one of them took control permanently. There couldn’t be two of them. Resurrection magic came with a price and that price would be the death of one of them. He just had to figure out how to make it so Neal lived and he died.

But that would be for another time. The memory potion was ready.

Rumple worked quickly to bottle the potion and hide evidence of his actions before heading to a window and summoning a bird. Of course it was a messenger pigeon. Rumple quickly wrote a note explaining what the potion was for and tied it to the pigeon’s leg. “Take this to Killian Jones.”

As the bird flew off, Rumple felt a pull in his gut. The Dark One dagger had been found. Answering the summons, Rumple disappeared in a puff of scarlet smoke and reappeared in another room of the castle in front of King George and Nottingham.

The dagger was in George’s hand.

George smirked. “Hello, Dark One. I have a job for you.”

*****************************

Regina first teleported all of them and the Jolly close enough to her castle so that the Jolly would get caught up in the Curse. She knew how important it was for Killian and his family to keep the ship. After that, they teleported to the castle, appearing in the war council room where only David and Snow awaited them.

“Killian!” David beamed at the sight of his best friend and quickly moved to embrace him.

“What are we?” Will whined. “Chopped liver?”

“Hello to you too, Will.” David said as he pulled away from Killian.

“He’s just sore because everyone likes me best.” Killian chuckled. As David hugged and greeted most of the others, Killian walked over to where a very heavily pregnant Snow sat. “I see that congratulations are in order.”

Snow’s smile fell, and she immediately bursted into tears. “Oh Killian, I’m so sorry. I was so horrible to you and you didn’t deserve it. I’m sorry.”

Startled at his friend’s tearful outburst, Killian sat next to her and took her hand in his. “It’s all right, Snow. Emotions were still running high.”

“No, it’s not.” Snow sniffled. “There is no excuse for how I acted and the words that I said.”

“Would it make you feel any better if I was still angry?” Killian asked. “Or if I said I didn’t forgive you?”

“No.” Snow wiped away her tears.

“Exactly.” Killian squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Let’s just leave it all in the past. Fair?”

“Okay.” Snow sniffed a final time before throwing her arms around him. “We’ve missed you so much.”

David walked over with little Liam in his arms. “Look how big he’s gotten. Is he crawling yet?”

“Oh all over the ship.” Killian grinned. “Teleporting too. Likes to give us a scare from time to time doing that.” His eyes lit up with pride taking in his son.

“He looks so much like you.” Snow reached up to brush Liam’s hair away from his face.

“Aye, but most of his expressions are pure Emma.” Killian said. “Particularly when he’s mad.”

David laughed at that, knowing the exact expressions Killian meant.

“I know this reunion is overdue, but we have a Curse to cast.” Regina spoke up. “I’m going to get started.” She gave David a significant look as she left.

David winced. Why did he have a feeling Regina didn’t tell them who was sacrificing themselves? How kind of her to leave the hard part to him…

“So who’s the ritualistic human sacrifice?” Will asked.

Alice smacked him on the shoulder. “Will, really?”

Will shrugged as if to say that his description was rather accurate.

“Uh, yeah, about that.” David grimaced. He turned to Killian. “Look, I was going to do it, but everyone was against it…”

“Rightfully so.” Tink said. “You have a baby on the way, and a full life to live.”

“I know.” David said. “I was trying to be noble. I didn’t think it was right to ask anyone else to make this kind of sacrifice.” He sighed. He really thought his sacrifice would be for the better until everyone set him straight. Marco made his points clear as well.

“So who’s is?” Alice asked.

Snow squeezed Killian’s hand again. “Marco.”

Killian whipped his head towards her. “What?” He couldn’t have heard that correctly. Not Marco. No, Pop needed to be around to watch Henry and Liam grow up. He needed to see Killian and Emma get married. What about August? Marco needed to be here for his milestones too.

“That’s why Regina went to get you.” David gave Liam to his father. “Marco wants to say goodbye to you and Liam. He and August are in the garden.”

Killian sat there a moment, stunned by the news. “Wait, hold on. There’s still got to be another way. The Dark Curse can’t be our only option.”

“We’ve already been over this with Regina.” David said, giving Killian’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. “Regina consulted with Blue. The Curse is all we have, Killian. It’s our only chance to reunite with Emma and Henry. Marco wants to be the one to do this for our family.”

“Go say goodbye.” Snow urged softly.

Killian swallowed, not sure what else to say. He got up and glanced at the rest of his family. None of them knew Marco as well as he had, but their sympathy for him and the situation was clear on their faces. He looked away, not able to stand it, before he left the war room with Liam in his arms.

The garden was in bloom despite the August heat. Killian found his father and brother sitting on a stone bench across from a black marble fountain. He approached quietly as Marco and August were deep in conversation. August clearly upset o er whatever his father was saying kept shaking his head.

“Papa, give me a chance to go to Zelena." August said. "Maybe I can get her on our side."

"If you can't?" Marco argued. "Besides, this is the only way to get Emma and Henry back."

August ran a frustrated hair through his hand. "Then let someone else do this. I know why you want to do this, but can’t you reconsider?” August pleaded.

“No.” Marco’s tone was resolute. “This is my choice. You won’t change my mind.”

“Could I?” Killian asked, surprising the two men.

“Killy!” Marco stood up and pulled Killian, Liam still in his arms, into a hug. “My boy, it is so good to see you. Welcome home.”

“Hi, Pop.” Killian returned the hug as best he could with the baby.

Marco pulled back and took in little Liam. “Look at how big you’ve gotten, little one.” Carefully, he took the baby in his arms. “Oh, you’re a heavy one now, aren’t you?” He tickled the baby’s tummy earning a giggle from Liam, who wriggled in his hold.

“Pop, can we talk about this?” Killian asked. “Why do you want to die?”

“Killy, I have lived a full life.” Marco said. “Fuller than most. Everyone else here still have long lives ahead of them. It would be unfair for any of them to die instead. As I told everyone, it isn’t just about that, but I feel it is necessary to make up for past mistakes.”

“Past mistakes?” Killian asked, but the answer came quickly enough. “You mean Emma? Pop, Emma forgave you for that.”

“That’s what I told him.” August said. “He’s not listening to reason.”

“I haven’t forgiven myself.” Marco said simply. “Killian, I love you and August. I love all of our family. Did I want to see you boys married and raising your families? Yes, I did. But for you, Killian, it won’t happen unless I do this. Please, let me do this for our family.”

Killian swallowed, pushing back tears. He looked to August, who appeared as defeated as Killian felt. “There’s nothing we can say to change your mind?”

"You can't be serious." August stood and began pacing the garden. "We can find another way to Emma and Henry. I know if I get a chance to talk to Zelena, she'll come to our side. Then we can all scour the realms until we find another way."

"You heard Regina." Marco said. "There is no other way. Even if we tried to look, Henry and Liam could be grown. I am an old man. My time will come soon enough." Marco patted Liam's little head as the baby watched his uncle pace. “Now, let me say goodbye to you boys properly, yeah?”

Breathing shakily, Killian nodded. “Okay.”

August reluctantly agreed as well, tears falling down his cheeks. "Okay, Papa."

Marco knew they would grieve, knew he’d miss out on so much, but he was at peace with his decision. To die was only the next adventure after all.

*****************************

Her head pounded as she came to awareness. Zelena slowly opened her eyes, finding herself facing metal bars. She pushed herself up finding that she was in a cage of some sort. She remembered George speaking with her then...someone hit her from behind.

“You’ve got us into a bind, dearie.” Rumple said from behind her.

Turning, Zelena found the Dark One scowling at her. “What happened?”

“King George and his crony Nottingham happened.” Rumple said. He was leaning against a table covered in gold straw. “They knocked you out and found my dagger.” His teeth clenched in a snarl. “I’m under his control now.”

Zelena swallowed back her fear. “Does that mean you’ll kill me now?” She needed to get out of here. Her magic reached out to unlock the cage, only to bounce off of more powerful magic.

“No.” Rumple said. “Luckily for us both, George thinks you’ll be useful as a hostage.” Rumple walked closer to the cage. “Your magic won’t work either. He ordered me to create a cage that you couldn’t magic your way out of, so that he could keep you in his possession.” He leaned down to whisper. “But this could work in our favor. You figure a way out without magic, get my dagger, and then we can kill George.” Rumple’s teeth baring grin held mania behind it.

“You’re more sane for the moment.” Zelena said. “Or have you been playing me this entire time?” She wondered about his outbursts and why he was so calm now.

“I can silence my son when needed.” Rumple said. “He’s asleep for now. No doubt he’ll wake up soon enough.” Though Rumple knew the real reason. The Darkness and past Dark Ones didn’t like his son holding him back. They wanted to expel Neal and get back to full power. Rumple silenced him as much as he could to protect him. He needed to figure out how to save Neal before the Dark Ones grew even more impatient.

Zelena couldn’t tell if Rumple was lying or not. She’d take him at his word for now. “How am I supposed to escape?”

“That’s for you to figure out.” Rumple snapped. He stiffened. Anger flashed in his amber eyes. If Zelena hid the dagger better, they wouldn’t be in this situation. “I’m being summoned.”

Once left alone, Zelena turned her focus to the cage. She couldn’t use magic to get out, but he didn’t say anything about picking the lock. Though Zelena didn’t know how to pick locks, it couldn’t be that hard, could it?

Combing through her hair for a hairpin, Zelena decided the sooner she escaped, the better.

*****************************

The Curse was ready.

Regina teleported Killian and Ariel to the Southern Isles, where they’d be out of range of the Curse, but still able to keep an eye on the Enchanted Forest’s coast.

Most everyone else was somewhere in the castle hunkering down. Only David, Granny, Ruby, Jefferson, Marco, and August elected to stay in the room. August wanted to be with his father as he died, especially since Killian couldn’t be, and Ruby and Jefferson stayed to support Granny. David stayed for support as well, but he was ready for a fight in case Zelena or Rumple showed up.

“Okay, it’s time.” Regina said. She beckoned Marco and Granny over to the cauldron. “I’m sorry for this.” She genuinely felt horrible for Marco’s fate, but this was the only way.

“It’s all right.” Marco assured with a sad smile.

Regina reached out, hand plunging into his chest, and pulled out his red, beating heart. Gingerly, she gave the heart to Granny. “All you have to do is squeeze it over the cauldron until it turns to ash. Once the ashes fall in, then the Curse is enacted.”

Granny nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She walked over to the cauldron, Marco at her side. August and Ruby joined them. August put an arm around his father, ready to catch him when he fell. Ruby stayed by Granny’s side.

Granny looked into Marco’s eyes, and with a final nod from him, she held his heart over the cauldron and squeezed.

Marco gasped at the pain, staggering a bit as August held him firmly.

Granny closed her eyes, unable to watch, squeezing harder, hoping for it to work faster to end Marco’s suffering.

As Marco’s knees gave out, August helped lower his father to the floor, holding him tightly. Marco whispered a final “I love you” as his heart turned to ashes.

August hugged his father to him as Marco took his last breath.

A sob escaped August, unable to hold it in now that his father was gone.

Once all of the ashes fell into the potion, purple smoke seeped out of the cauldron. As the smoke creeped along, Granny, with Ruby right behind her, went to August’s side. Granny hugged August, who refused to let his father go, his body wracked with sobs.

Regina stood off to the side with Jefferson and David, all of them tearful.

“How long will the Curse take?” Jefferson asked quietly, turning away from the grieving family. He hoped they’d be taken soon so that Marco could have a proper funeral.

“It will take some time.” Regina said. “It’s not a fast curse, so we should be in Storybrooke by morning.”

“Do you think Zelena or Rumple will interfere?” David asked.

“Even if they did, I spelled the cauldron to only respond to my magic.” Regina said. It was foresight on her part, sensing that either or both would want to manipulate the Curse in Zelena’s favor. That is, if her sister still held possession of the Dark One dagger. Her sister. Perhaps if she received the news better that she had a long lost sister, then they wouldn’t need the Savior and Marco would be alive. Then again, they’d likely never seen Emma and Henry again, and a very selfish part of Regina was glad for the Curse. She’d get her son and a woman she considered family back. As horrible as it was, in the long run, this truly was best for everyone And Marco’s sacrifice would be remembered.

“Will the spell hold against them?” David knew Regina was a powerful witch, but Zelena and Rumple were more powerful. It wouldn’t surprise him if they broke through it.

Regina’s silence was telling. “Let’s hope not.”

“Hope not what, dearies?” Rumple’s high-pitched voice startled them. The imp appeared out of the smoke. “That I won’t change your Curse?”

“Rumple.” Regina stepped forward. “I know you’re under her control…”

“Not hers.” Rumple said. “Someone else controls me now.” He grinned without humor. “Unfortunately, I’ve been ordered not to say.” He waved his hand, magically tossing Regina back into Jefferson and David, knocking all of them to the stone floor.

“You bastard!” Ruby snarled, pouncing for the Dark One, only to be pushed back with his magic, disappearing into the smoke of the Curse.

Granny screamed out Ruby’s name, rushing to her granddaughter.

August couldn’t see through the smoke as he sat clutching his father’s body, though the tears didn’t help his vision any.

Regina used the smoke as cover to get behind Rumple. Lightly twirling her hand, she knew a vial of squid ink appeared in David’s hand. “Rumple, you don’t have to do this.”

“On the contrary,” Rumple snarled. “I have my orders.”

Calling upon her magic, Regina threw her hands out, pushing Rumple into the far wall, away from the cauldron. “Fight it, damn you! You know if you alter the Curse, there’s no Savior to break it.”

“True Love abounds now.” Rumple said, hiding in the smoke. “Plenty of givers and receivers of True Love’s Kiss.” He came up behind Regina. “My master,” His tone was laced with disgusted sarcasm, “craves power and revenge. I’m to help him achieve that.”

Good, good, give me clues. Regina thought. Master of loopholes as always. “You can still fight it. I know you can.” They just needed to stall him long enough for the Curse to finish. Come on, David. She knew the squid ink wouldn’t last too long on Rumple, but it would last long enough to get past the point of no return for the Curse. “You’re stronger than the dagger.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Rumple walked slowly in front of of her, eyes piercing. “Play time is over.”

Okay, he can’t fight it much longer. Regina thought. Where was David? “Rumple, wait…”

The Dark One froze.

Regina glanced down to see David on the floor, having army crawled under the smoke to hide, an empty vial of squid ink poised over Rumple’s foot. “Finally.”

“Sorry.” David said, pushing himself up. “I wanted to make sure he was fully distracted.”

“He was fighting it.” Regina said. “His new master is a guy out for revenge. Any idea who?” Since they were back in the Enchanted Forest, it could be a number of people, not just ones who were victims of the first Curse, though it wouldn’t surprise her if it was a victim of the first Curse.

“Depends on who he wants revenge on.” David said. “You, me, Snow, Rumple, we all have a number of enemies.” Whoever controlled Rumple now was the most dangerous enemy they’d face yet; they needed to get the Dark One dagger back and soon. “How long will this hold him?”

“Maybe a few hours.” Regina said. “The Curse can’t be altered after a couple of hours, so when he gets free, there’s nothing he can do.”

“That’s a relief.” Ruby said, appearing out of the smoke with Jefferson. She favored her left arm, having landed on it, breaking her ulna.

“Here.” Regina waved her hand, healing Ruby quickly.

“Thanks.” Ruby said. “Now we wait?”

Regina nodded. “Now, we wait.”

*****************************

With his spyglass, Killian could see the Curse off in the distance. Purple smoke and lightning creeped through the Enchanted Forest as the deep inky sky started greying along the horizon. They hadn’t slept, worried that the Curse would reach them, though he hoped Regina’s calculations were correct and that the northern most coast of the Southern Isles was out of range.

“Do you see it yet?” Ariel asked from her perch on the small cliffside. She stretched as she yawned, eager for the Curse to be over and done with so they could all be reunited again.

“Aye.” Killian said. “It’s still far off, so it will take some time for it to finish.” He sat next to her, worry gnawing at his gut. He know leaving Liam with his brother and Tink was the right move, since he didn’t know how long it would take to get to Emma and Henry, but he hadn’t been away from Liam more than an hour or two in the boy’s entire life. Leaving him for who knows how long with villains amok ate away at him. “Once it’s finished, we’ll try your portal. Likely we’ll end up in Storybrooke, so I’ll need your help to get to the edge of the town and escape.”

Ariel nodded, stifling another yawn, when she saw something. “What’s that bird doing?” Ariel asked, squinting off in the distance.

Killian watched the pigeon flapping it’s wings vigorously, almost as though it was outrunning the Curse. “I don’t know. Is there something attached to it’s leg?”

The bird drew closer, clearly intending on them being its destination. It landed next to Killian, practically collapsing onto the ground.

Gingerly, Killian picked up the bird in one hand. There was a note and potion attached to its leg. “Here, take the potion and note.” He maneuvered the bird so that Ariel could untie it. Once that was done, he released the pigeon and took the note from her.

“What is it?” Ariel held the blue bottle carefully.

“A memory potion.” Killian said. “For Emma.” If the Curse didn’t return their memories, then why didn’t Regina give him the memory potion earlier? Why send a bird? Unless she hadn’t realized the Curse wouldn’t return their memories and someone else sent it, but who? Killian looked over the note, but it wasn’t handwriting he recognized. Could he trust that this potion was a memory potion? He pocketed the note and took the potion bottle from Ariel, eyeing it despite not being versed in potions to even know what he was looking at. Shaking his head, he pocketed it too just to be on the safe side.

The sun slowly ascended above the horizon.

Killian took out his spyglass once again to see the progress. A thrill crawled up his spine when he saw the purple smoke clearing. “I think it’s done.”

“Okay.” Ariel said. “Let’s see if I can make a portal.” She removed her bracelet, her legs quickly joining together, creating her fishtail once more. She handed it to Killian. “Hang on to this for me.” Then she pushed herself the ledge, diving into the water. Once she hit the cool blue waters, she stretched out her hand and twirled it in a clockwise motion. A blue portal opened and Ariel darted through.

As Killian awaited her return, he pushed himself up, preferring to walk down the cliff to a more level space, not wanting to risk shattering a bone. As he walked, the memory potion and who might’ve sent it nagged at him. Uncertain as to its origins, Killian decided that it would be a last resort when he found Emma. He’d do what he could to make her remember him and their life.

Ariel was waiting in the shallows when he reached the beach. “It’s there.” She said excitedly as he approached. “I came out about fifty yards from the coast. It looks just as it did before.”

“That’s a relief.” Killian said as he waded through the shallow waters. “Did you figure out where the edge of town is along the coast?”

“Yeah, it’s two leagues south of the docks,” Ariel said. She took Killian’s hand. “Ready?”

“Aye.” Killian said. “Let’s go home.”

*****************************

“Killian.” Emma gasped, waking up, looking around the room. She could’ve sworn…

Wait, something happened. Her bedroom looked and felt the same, but everything was off. Or she was off kilter.

Emma saw nothing different in her bedroom, but her instincts were screaming that something was different. Egged on by her gut, Emma hurried out of her bedroom, anticipating finding something changed. After scouring her apartment, finding Henry still asleep, Emma was at a loss.

This was certainly all the fault of her silly, stupid dream.

She dreamed that Killian was here. That they were so close to touching and being together. Her nostrils filled with the smell of him, leather, sea, and his Opium cologne.

God, she was going crazy wasn’t she? Killian wasn’t real. Or was he? After all, there was no such thing as Storybrooke, Maine, but she’d been there. She raised Henry, yet there were adoption records. She worked as a bail bonds person in Boston, then disappeared for over a year.

There were things that didn’t add up; things that couldn’t be explained. Storybrooke had the answers, and she planned on going. However, now, everything in her was telling to stay put and wait.

But wait for what?

A live-wire crawled under her skin. Life as she knew it was changing. Something big was coming.

Her bones, heart, head, and soul knew that before long, she’d be seeing Killian Jones.

#bsmh #broken souls mend hearts #cs ff #cs fanfic #cs fanfiction #cs au #captain swan

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brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics · 1 year ago

Text

Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 4

(Ao3 Here) (FF.net here)

Tucker waved at Danny as he approached him in the park. He’d rather have met at a fast food place, but Sam had shut that down quick. Of course, Danny didn’t see him.Danny was too busy frowning at something on his phone, so Tucker added a shout as well, “Hey man!” Danny’s head whipped up and turned to face Tucker. Tucker stopped walking for a second as he took in what he was seeing. Danny seemed to recognize something was wrong and ducked his head and turned away. His hand slowly reached up before stopping a foot away from the side of his head.

Tucker shook himself out of it, before forcing a smile on his face. He quickly sidestepped a man wearing overalls and was standing in the center of the pathway and jogged up to Danny. “Yo,” he said, sliding into the picnic table. He tried to feign as much nonchalance as he could in the action. He thought he was pretty smooth about it, but Danny just frowned harder.

Tucker chewed on his lip as Danny weakly waved at him, but he didn’t say anything else. Tucker glanced at Danny’s open lunch box and smiled when he saw the plastic ziplock bag in it. The only content left in it was a few crumbs of a sandwich, probably a ham and cheese.

Sam might have been trying to turn them both into vegan nut jobs, but at least Danny was still seeing reason.

He slammed down a bag from the best fast food place in town, the Nasty Burger, and leaned over the table. Tucker wasn’t ever really the tactful one, that was Sam’s thing. So, he addressed the elephant in the park the best way he knew how. “Sick head trauma, dude.”

Danny laughed despite himself and rolled his eyes. “Thanks man.” He eyed the bag on the table and sighed. “Sam’s gonna flip.”

“Sam can deal,” Tucker snipped. He immediately regretted it when he saw Danny flinch, but he was already tired of this vegan thing Sam had going on. He was fine with it at first, Sam hadn’t been pushing him to change, but then she went and took away the beef stroganoff. That wasn’t cool. Sam wanted to be a vegan, fine, she could make mistakes.

But making him change was crossing the line.

He tore open the bag and pulled out two nasty melts, double juicy lucy patties with slices of cheese, mayo, ketchup and mustard with bacon. He slid one over to Danny. “Here dude, I got one for you too.” Danny blinked as Tucker waved it towards him. “Come on, what Sam doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Danny shot Tucker an unamused look, but grabbed it anyways, opening it up almost as fast as Tucker. “She’s gonna see the bag.”

It took a lot of Tucker’s effort to not let his frustration show. He didn’t understand why Danny was so bothered by this. Sam was taking away his food too! It was stupid. Things were going great. Everyone was fine. Nothing needed to change.

And then Sam started doing this thing…

“She can deal,” Tucker said, rolling his eyes. Okay, so he didn’t keep his frustration completely in check. He was human, sue him. He took a bite into the cheesy, gooey mess, before frowning. “Aw, dude, I asked for no pickles.”

“A vegetable isn’t gonna kill you.”

“It might! I might get e-coli or one of those brain eating worms!” Danny glowered at Tucker, but any threat he had was lost in the grease that was dripping down his face. “I’m serious! That’s real! Look it up!”

“I’d rather not, I got enough going on right now.”

“Anyways,” Tucker said, going back to what he really wanted to get to. “Sam isn’t gonna die if we eat meat.” Danny looked like he was about to say something, but Tucker cut him off. “So, what’s the story with the head wound? Cut yourself trying to trim your hair into a style Sam’d drool over?”

“Ha. Ha.” Danny said with no inflection. He huffed and took another bite. He pulled the burger away and stared at the tasty meat for a while. “No, it’s… you know how school’s shut down right?”

“Yeah, something about renovations? The email they sent out didn’t say much..”

Danny took a bite and shook his head. “Nah,” he said with his mouth full. He chewed a couple more times and swallowed before continuing. “I mean, yeah, they’re gonna renovate stuff, but it’s because some kind of monster attacked.”

Tucker raised an eyebrow. “A monster… seriously?”

Danny pointed to the wound on his head. “Do you see this? Do you think I’m joking.”

Tucker leaned back. “You know dude? Yeah, I do.” Danny dropped his hand to the table and Tucker continued. “Look, alright, I know you’re saying magic is real, and though I haven’t seen anything other than that candle trick, I’m gonna go out on a limb and believe you. Ghosts? Okay, that’s starting to push it. But now you’re telling me there’s monsters out there? Is bigfoot really just low res in real life and that’s why we can’t get a good picture of him?”

Danny opened his mouth to respond, but then he looked past Tucker. “Can we help you?”

Tucker turned around to see that man he had stepped past earlier had approached them. Now that he wasn’t focused on Danny, he saw that the man looked strangely pale, and his eyes looked like they were bulging.

“Box…” The man whispered.

Tucker scooted away from the crazy man. “What?” he asked, glancing at Danny for help, who was slowly standing up.

“Box!” The man shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. “BoxBoxBoxBOX!” Tucker at this point was jumping away from the table, when he heard a sickening crack. His eyes widened when the man’s arm snapped in half in the middle of his forearm, making an almost ninety degree bend.

And that was just the start.

The cracking continued, and the man’s leg snapped back, popping out of his hip and twisting until his heel was by his ear. His head then began to shake back and forth until his neck snapped and his head twisted and fell off his neck. Tucker could see a part of his spine poking up from the skin of his neck.

The process continued with his other leg snapping up in front. He should have fallen, but instead he floated there in the air in front of them. His lower half snapped backwards, right into the middle of his stomach. Then it happened again, this time, vertically. Then he was folded in half again. This repeated over and over like someone was folding a piece of paper.

Tucker watched this all happen. His eyes were seeing it, but his mind was not comprehending it. It felt like he was watching a movie. It was just too unbelievable. His mind went blank as he tried to process what was happening, but the sounds of the body breaking in front of him were too sharp and crisp for him to think that this was anything but real.

This.. thing… folded over and over in front of them. Bones and flesh were crushed and pulverized until all that was left was a box with a human face on it.

The cube fell to the ground. The quiet thump felt comical compared to the horrific crunching sounds that had been ringing in Tucker’s ears. The box quivered and shook until an arm snaked out of the box and started to pull itself along the ground and then up onto the table.

The arm reached into Danny’s lunch box, and flung everything that was in it out onto the table, before finally pulling itself into the box, grabbing the lid, and sealing itself shut.

Danny calmly reached over, and locked his lunch box.

“Dude,” Tucker began, his tongue felt thick in his mouth. “What the hell?”

“Well what was I supposed to do?” Danny shouted.

***

Danny looked up as Sam was approaching, fortunately from his good side. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw her. He and Tucker had spent the last 30 minutes in silence and it had long past the moment that the silence had been uncomfortable. Tucker didn’t even finish his burger. The grease in it had begun to cool and congeal back into fat, which given his recent experiences was really unappetizing.

Thankfully he had finished his burger before that happened to his.

Sam sat down and looked at Tucker’s burger. Her eyes narrowed, and a grimace smeared across her face. “You know those things are gonna give you a heart attack someday.”

Tucker didn’t respond. He just sat there, elbows on the picnic table and his hands pressed together in front of his face as if he was praying. For all Danny knew, he might have been.

Sam looked between the two before turning back to Tucker and sitting next to Danny. “What’s wrong?”

“Monsters are real,” Tucker stated. He didn’t open his eyes or shift at all.

Sam turned toward Danny “What? What are you… Danny, why is your lunch box duct taped closed?”

“Monsters are real.” Tucker repeated.

At that point, the box rattled and jumped over the table. Danny slapped his hand down on the box and held it in place for a minute before it calmed down. He huffed and pulled his hand away. The box rattled in place before a very quiet, and muffled, contented sound came out of it. “Boooooox…”

“What on earth? Do you guys have an animal trapped in there?”

Tucker shook his head just slightly. “Monsters are real…”

Danny turned toward Sam to explain, as much as one could explain something like this. But before he could even begin Sam gasped and reared back. “Danny!” She said behind her hands covering her mouth, “What happened to you?”

Danny sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, uh, so after school yesterday. I was going to do my labs with Mr. Falluca, but then we heard a sound. We went to investigate, and it turned out to be this…” Danny paused, as he realized that Sam would probably NOT want to hear that the monster was made out of meat. “Giant blob monster thing…” Sam didn’t react to that news at all, instead her gaze was focused solely on the side of his head. “It attacked us. That’s why school is canceled for a while.”

Sam gently pulled her hand away from her mouth and gently reached out toward Danny. Danny tried not to react as he felt her fingers press against his face, before pushing through it. It felt like she was pressing through his skin and bone. Her fingers were piercing him and pushing all the things that made him him aside.

Before her fingers made contact with the side of his head, gently stroking the side of his head. He could feel her fingernails gently caressing the area below the giant wound. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Danny hated this.

He didn’t get it. He knew that Sam wasn’t being completely truthful. He didn’t know why. It had been bothering him ever since Sam had started going vegan. There was something inside him that twisted every time she said she had a problem with meat. It hurt. It was like something inside his chest was tearing.

But he had no clue why this was happening.

“I’m okay, Sam, it’s just a flesh wound. It’s gonna heal up pretty soon.”

Sam smiled softly, in a way that didn’t quite feel right. The way her cheeks lifted up and crowded her eyes made him think she was just shy of crying. She pulled her hand away from his face and he felt her hand start pulling itself out of his body. She held her fingers up to cover up the wound. “You know, it’s a good look on you.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah… yeah it is.”

“Monsters are real…” Tucker repeated. Sam jerked back, the action making Danny gasp as he felt her hand rip its way through his other face. Tucker finally put his hands back down on the table and opened his eyes. “Magic is real, and monsters are real. But instead of getting hippogriffs or invisible horses, it’s monsters straight out of Call of Cthulhu…Wait... are werewolves real?"

Danny gave Tucker an unamused glare. "I've seen your deviant art, I don't know, and I'm not gonna help you of all people find out."

"Fuuuuuckkk…” Tucker groaned as he slammed his head into the table, "Then there are no upsides to this, are there?" The impact of his face against the wood made the lunch box rattle and start off another instance of the creature inside freaking out. Danny slammed his hand on top of the box before giving Sam an apologetic smile.

“Do I want to know what’s in there?”

“No,” Danny and Tucker said at the same time. Danny let out a slow breath as Tucker sat back up. Tucker closed his eyes and shook his head, the action reminded Danny of a dog trying to shake off water. It was like Tucker was trying to let everything that happened today just roll off him so he could go back to normal.

Which meant he picked up his burger and started eating again.

“Ugh, do you really need to?” Sam lamented. She twisted away, and Danny felt that tearing feeling coming back in his gut. He watched her face twist as if she were about to vomit.

Tucker on the other hand started chewing loudly. “Yes, Sam, I need to. I’m hungry.” The feeling inside Danny got stronger as Tucker continued to chew. He swallowed and then continued. “Mmhmm. Good old bacon and cheese. A perfect combination if there ever was one.”

“Stop, Tucker!” Sam shouted.

“No. I’m not going to!” Tucker shouted back. “Look, Sam,” he continued at a much more reasonable volume, “You can make whatever decisions you want, but the line stops at me. You don’t get to make me change. I don’t want to change. I want us to all keep being friends but you’re pushing this vegan thing on me, and I don’t like it.”

The twisting feeling reached a peak, Danny felt like his entire insides were being cracked open, and ice was pouring out. As Danny tried to hold onto his own countenance, Tucker turned toward him. “Danny, back me up on this!”

Danny grimaced and looked at Sam. Sam wasn’t looking at Danny or Tucker. Her gaze was focused on the ground behind Danny. On one hand, Danny agreed with Tucker, but on the other hand…

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong, and Danny didn’t know what it was. Sam’s vehement anti-meat stance didn’t feel like a whim or a decision made lightly. There was something there. He didn’t understand anything that was going on with Sam. She wasn’t explaining her sudden shift.

But he knew that meat, of any kind, was causing her some sort of pain.

“I think…” Danny began, and he could see Tucker’s face begin to fall. “That it’s easy for us to eat before hanging out with Sam.”

“Dude!” Tucker shouted. “Come on! I know you like burgers as much as me! Come on man, she’s taking it too far!”

Sam jumped up from the table and ran away. Danny jumped to try and follow her, but out of the three of them, Sam was the fastest. (There was a reason why he couldn’t outrun a sentient wad of meat after all) He didn’t even get two steps before he realized it was a lost cause. He groaned and turned toward Tucker.

“Dude…” Danny began.

“Don’t dude me!” Tucker said, throwing his arms wide. A chunk of cheese, or maybe it was fat, flew off into the grass. “I’m right!”

“I know, I know-”

“Nah, man, forget it.” Tucker said, getting up. “I get it, she’s her and I’m me. Of course you’re gonna side with her.” Danny tried to get a word in edgewise, but Tucker turned around and started walking away. “You go calm her down or whatever… I’ll see you later.”

Danny stared at Tucker’s back as he walked away. His insides felt like they were being torn apart. His veins filled with ice, and his skin felt clammy and loose. His breathing began to quicken, and even though there was no sound at all, it felt like the world was too loud and-

The box on the table rattled.

Danny’s gaze snapped toward the box. That creature was the reason why they were arguing right now. Danny and Tucker could have easily finished eating before Sam had gotten there. It was its fault.

Danny reached out and grabbed the box. Only, he didn't. His hand was a foot away from the box. But he could feel the metal underneath his fingers, the roughness of the tape that they had used to close it compared to the smoothness of the metal. It was like he was holding it in his hand.

Danny lifted his empty hand, and the box rose up with it.

Danny roared and threw the box. He watched it arc across the park before impacting against the building that housed the park’s toilets. The box landed on the ground, with the lid bent slightly open. The creature inside slipped out from the crack, and then scuttled off into the woods.

“Fuck, I shouldn’t have done that…” Danny muttered to himself. He definitely should have given that to his parents instead.

“Hell of a throw there, kid.”

“JESUS CHRIST!” Danny shouted, jumping away from the man who had spoken right next to him. The man stood out quite a bit, wearing a long trench coat. “You scared the crap out of me…” Danny looked him up and down as the man looked at him with an amused smile. “Did you see…”

“I heard you yell and saw that lunch box sailing through the air, that got a lot of air time. Your football team must be proud.”

Danny rubbed the back of his head. It seemed like he hadn’t quite seen the part where Danny wasn’t actually holding onto the box “I… uh… don’t actually play any sports.”

“Good, Casper’s sport teams are fucking stupid.”

Danny looked him over again, on closer inspection, even though he had a bit of goatee going on, it was faint enough that he didn’t quite seem that old. In fact, Danny couldn’t quite tell what side of 18 he was on. “I… don’t recognize you from Casper?” Danny started.

The man huffed. “Yeah, it’s called dropping out for a reason.” He held out a hand. “Name’s Johnny.”

“Danny,” he offered back, taking Johnny’s hand in his and shaking it. “Sorry about the yelling, it’s just…”

When Danny didn’t continue, Johnny raised an eyebrow. “This have something to do with the cute goth chick that I saw running out of the park?”

Danny groaned. “Yeah, she and my other friend got in a fight and-”

“You’re caught in the middle defending your girl or the one who’s in the right… I’ve been there.”

“She’s not my girl.”

“Ah, my bad. Well, good news is then, you don’t have to just side with her. If she was your girl, I’d have told you to just agree with her next time. Makes your life a whoooole lot better if your girl is happy with you.” Johnny hummed looking Danny in the eye. “You wanna talk about what’s bothering ya?”

Danny looked up to the sky and sighed. “Nah, no offense to you or anything but…”

“You need a moment or two to process it yourself?” Danny’s head snapped back to Johnny and Johnny chuckled. “My girl’s a self described empath, I’ve picked up a couple uh.. what’d she call it again? Emotion intelligence? Emotional? Whatever. Point is, like I said, been there.” Johnny said, waving goodbye. “Anyways, Imma let you keep throwing boxes. See you around kid.”

Danny waved goodbye himself and he started walking over to his lunch box. He picked the thing up and…

He wasn’t using his hands.

In fact, he hadn’t been using his entire body for the last few minutes. He had been on autopilot for a bit there and that was when it was nearly impossible for him to remember which was his body and what wasn’t.

Johnny had looked him in his eyes.

He was looking above Danny’s head, and into the eyes of his other face. Hell, Danny couldn't even be sure if he had shook Johnny’s hand with his real hand or this ghostly one.

Danny turned around to look for Johnny. He saw him get on a motorcycle before racing off. The engine roar echoed across the park, loud enough that it almost felt like it was coming from inside his head. Johnny raced out of the parking lot long before Danny could even think to wave him back down.

Danny swallowed as another thought entered his head.

Why did looking at Johnny with the wrong face feel so natural?

#ectoimplosion2023 #danny phantom #fanfic #dp #danny fenton #tucker foley #sam manson #johnny 13 #box ghost #gore #body horror #cw: gore #cw: body horror #Hazafic

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snowbellewells · 2 years ago

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Self Promo Sunday: “Operation Future”

This week’s little re-run is a bit more Captain Cobra than CS, in all honesty - though the CS love and devotion is certainly still present. I originally wrote it just after 5x08, desperately needing some fluff to make up for the painful reveal we had just gotten. I thought this was really more of a canon compliant missing moment fic, but as I went back to try to find scenes to make the art, I realized I had imagined more of this than I thought. In my mind, it still seems like a missing moment we just didn’t get to see though, rather than truly canon divergent. At any rate, I hope you enjoy if you give it a read (or read it again.)

Summary: (5x08 really gutted me for a bit, and now I have to write some fluff in order to recover and survive the wait for 5x10. Luckily, once I calmed down a little, I saw that there were some lovely sweet moments in the episode too, and I thought I might explore them further. This one is courtesy of Killian and Henry and their very own secret code name operation. Hope you enjoy! Obviously, I still don’t own them – if I did, I would play with them much more nicely! ;)

Also available on AO3 and ff.net, as part of the one shot collection “Of Swans and Swords and Hopeful Hearts”

by: @snowbellewells

When Emma’s lad had first come to him whilst they idled in Camelot wondering what to do and how to proceed, Killian had arched an eloquently skeptical brow – not sure why Henry would possibly want his opinion, want to include him in this way, and imagining Emma’s indignation at their plotting a major life decision for her in such a manner. However, the genuine hope in the young man’s eyes, the tone of voice that tried so hard to sound firm and sure while under the surface beseeching the pirate for help and support in continuing to believe, and the enthusiasm when Killian listened and showed interest, quickly led the pirate to acquiesce and become Henry’s partner in his newest secret operation.

And what a worthy mission it was. Though the Captain had known this about the boy already, the joyously enacted scheme drove the fact home to him even more forcefully. His love was not the only one stubbornly invested in the happy endings of everyone she cared for – her son was exactly the same. Heroism ran in Henry’s blood as surely as the sea flowed through Killian’s own veins, and the boy was pure love for all whom he cared about, without the extra protective shell of cultivated cynicism and walls Emma had been forced to develop so early in life. Henry had always had a home, been loved (even if Her Majesty Regina had not always expressed that love well) and known that he was wanted. The boy’s belief in Right and Good was a powerful thing, not allowing him to give up nor admit defeat when others might.

Thrusting the newspaper from Storybrooke into Killian’s line of sight, Henry had plowed forward with his explanation, growing more and more enthused as he could see the man warming to his vision. “Okay, so these three are the ones I like best, but give them all a look and see what you think…” he offered as he pointed to the classified section where several homes on the market were displayed. Even as his excitement had him near to bursting and he bounced on his toes slightly while Killian took the paper and began to peruse the choices with genuine interest, Henry still spoke quietly and kept a furtive eye on the others in Granny’s to ensure that their plans were not overheard.

Somehow, it wasn’t until he really studied the homes Henry had indicated that Killian felt this gesture’s importance hit him right in the chest. Tears he refused to let fall stung mightily in the corners of his eyes as the Captain realized quickly that all of the lad’s choices were near the docks and the Jolly, along with boasting lovely views of the water. True, Henry was looking for something good his mother could hang onto, something lovely – a hard-earned reward – to anticipate as she fought for her very soul, but he was also telling Killian that he wanted his mother’s boyfriend to be there with them for the long haul, that he was a part of their little family now, and that Killian had his acceptance and love; it was abundantly clear in the way the lad had chosen only homes that a sailor couldn’t help but love.

Glancing back up and holding earnest, eager brown eyes with his own intense blue gaze, Killian hoped desperately that he could express just how much this gift meant to him. The emotion swelled, tightening in his chest, and where words usually flowed from him eloquently, all he seemed able to rasp out in that moment was, “These are fine abodes, m’boy. Right worthy choices, to be sure.” He licked his lips, striving to continue, to say thank you, to let Emma’s lad know how much he truly cared for him in his own right, as well as for Emma’s sake, but all he could do was nod meaningfully to this extraordinary and astute young man, hoping it would convey his agreement, approval, and a growing sense of paternal love – all the things he was unable to force from his throat aloud just yet.

He could see though, as enthusiasm lit Henry’s gaze and the young Author gave him a determined nod in return – as if setting their course – that he should never have doubted the Truest Believer. Whether he had been able to voice all he felt or not, it would appear that he and Emma’s son also understood each other.

“Well now, Master Mills,” he gave Henry a playful, secretive smile, keeping his voice soft, but allowing a degree of joviality as well, “if we are in accord, perhaps we should shake on it and seal the deal? A gentlemen’s agreement of sorts?”

Henry literally beamed back at him, extending a hand to take Killian’s inconspicuously proffered right and finalize their arrangement – their gift for the mother and savior they both loved. “Aye, aye, Captain,” he said with equal good humor.

Killian circled the house he liked best, jotting down a tentative note of “This one?” beside it, then handed the classifieds back to Henry, who tucked the paper into his tunic for safekeeping. The lad had begun to back away, looking the tiniest bit awkward and unsure for the first time, when Killian couldn’t resist speaking once more to offer his appreciation and approval, even if it was not truly his place. “This is a stellar notion, Lad,” he murmured, hoping to show his fervent sincerity in even a quiet tone. “I do believe your mum will be quite happy with it.”

Henry’s head dipped for a moment, bashful, and then, in a quick shuffle, so brief Killian almost thought he was imagining it even as it happened, the teen jerked forward, hugged him tightly, and then fell back and moved away before the man could even respond. Watching Henry’s retreat as he neared his grandpa, and Charming turned to clap him on the shoulder in greeting and welcome him into the little circle he had formed with his wife and Henry’s infant uncle to enjoy the repast Granny had made, Killian felt warmed from the inside and a smile lingered on his face. He was more strengthened for the struggle than ever, well aware that he was not alone in battling for Emma’s happiness, and as her two greatest loves united, they could not fail.

~~~00~~~00~~~00~~~

Four weeks later…

Henry stands on the front walk, looking up at the façade of the two story house he and Killian had picked as their favorite back in Camelot. Dew still glitters on the grass in the yard, and he huddles into the heavy wool of his coat against the chill of the cold, grey, early morning. The house is every bit as perfect as it had looked in that newspaper ad, and his mom does live here, but somehow things are still all wrong, and nothing has turned out the way he had hoped.

Not only is Emma still the Dark One, but something is wrong with Killian too. At first, Henry had attributed it to the fact that they were back home with no memories of their time in the other realm, and the frustration he knew the Captain must feel at thinking he had failed his love and seeing her so cold and distant, fully embracing the entity he had fought to destroy for hundreds of years. Henry had felt pretty guilty himself, though Emma had assured him that he was not one of those who had failed her, and he knows that his partner in crime, the man he thinks of as a stepdad, must be hurting even more.

The young man has tried to seek the Captain out, to listen, or to ask for sailing lessons as a distraction – even to enlist the man in a new mission to help his mom together. However, it seems that lately Killian is avoiding his company, keeping his distance for no reason that makes any sense to Henry. When they are in close proximity, as when they had used the Crimson Crown to summon Merlin, Killian is as encouraging and loyal as ever, assuring Henry he has faith in him, but otherwise there is a distance that Henry doesn’t like. One that had not been there before. Even without all his memories, the boy is nearly certain of it.

Clutching the old ad in his hands, Henry looks down at the picture of the house now standing before him, and Killian’s flowing script indicating it as their choice. Henry doesn’t really understand what has happened. He doesn’t know what he needs to do – yet. But he will not be deterred. His mom deserves her Happy Ending. Just as she had been so determined to provide for everyone else, Henry is going to see that she receives no less. He knows Killian needs to be here in this house with them. He needs these two people – his parents, he hopes, if they can have two seconds of peace all together to enjoy it – to be back to themselves and in his life once more.

Sighing, he admits to himself that hope seems lost right now, but he won’t give up on Operation Light Swan, the joyous reunion he and Killian had planned, nor on Killian and Emma themselves. He loves them. They’re family. And in his circle at least, family always finds each other. This house is meant to be the happy home of their dreams, not a cold, lonely mausoleum where Emma can hide with her darkness and heartbreak. He’s the Author and the Truest Believer, and even if it is his mission alone now, he will find a way.

Tagging a few who might enjoy: @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @jennjenn615 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @laschatzi @jrob64 @apiratewhopines @stahlop @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @therooksshiningknight @spartanguard @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl @thislassishooked @wefoundloveunderthelight @elizabeethan @the-darkdragonfly @donteattheappleshook @scientificapricot @tomeandflickcorner @winterbaby89 @gingerchangeling @gingerpolyglot @cosette141 @xarandomdreamx @justanother-unluckysoul @xsajx @anmylica @motherkatereloyshipper @zaharadessert @nachocheese-itsmycheese @booksteaandtoomuchtv @kazoosandfannypacks

#self promo sunday #ouat 5a missing moment ff #operation future #captain cobra one shot #cs one shot

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letthewhumpbegin · 1 year ago

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Faithful, chapter 1 - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fandom: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Characters: Newt Scamander, Albus Dumbledore, Gellert Grindelwald Short summary: Newt finds a fugitive Gellert Grindelwald and is forced to a duel. Word count: 2230 Warnings: contains magical injury, mentions of blood, passing out and magical healing.

A/N: this story is already posted on my FF.net and AO3 account, but now posted onto here as well.

This is chapter 1 of 2. Second chapter will be up on 8 November.

The manhunt for Gellert Grindelwald lasted for months now. Over several continents, the Ministries of Magic of at least a dozen countries, and even Albus Dumbledore, were involved in the search, but Grindelwald was neither caught nor found.

That was, until now…

It was a cold, snowy December evening when the unlikeliest of wizards, quite accidentally, stumbled across the clue that led to the discovery of Grindelwald's hiding place.

Newt Scamander was not a man who went looking for an opportunity to duel or see his name in the newspapers. Quite to the contrary even: he usually stayed away as far as possible from things like that, but this information on Grindelwald's location looked very solid, and at least worth investigating. Newt had simply overheard a couple of wizards talking in a tavern earlier in the evening, and he had to admit it all sounded way too good to be true. Still, it felt wrong to dismiss it as bollocks immediately, and only a few short checks later, Newt could only conclude that this might be the clue they had been hoping for.

Newt knew he had to act fast, or Grindelwald would slip through their fingers once again. The information he found led to an abandoned estate in Scotland, not even that far from where Newt was now, and he decided in a split-second that he would go and check it out. Supposedly, Grindelwald stayed there alone at the moment, but that could very well be a trap of course.

It would be dangerous, very dangerous even, but there was no time for doubt. Grindelwald had eyes and ears everywhere, and would know in a heartbeat that he had been discovered, so there was no time to lose.

Before he left, Newt sent word to everyone he could think of being involved in the manhunt here in Britain, but he would not wait for them. No, he had to act immediately. He tried not to think of the possibility that he might not survive this, and what that would mean for his creatures. That he would escape the inevitable duel unscathed was unlikely, but Newt had made his decision: if he didn't act now, it would be too late. And he at least owed Dumbledore this level of commitment and faith.

So, for now, and probably against his better judgement, Newt set off on his own…

---

Newt Apparated at the beginning of a lane, lined with tall trees, that ended at a handsome mansion. One of the Scottish lochs in the distance reflected the moon overhead, and the fresh snow crunched softly under Newt's feet as he hurried up the lane.

The lack of defenses as he carefully made his way to the mansion set Newt unbelievably on edge. It was highly unlikely that a wanted criminal and exceptionally skilled wizard like Grindelwald, would not have any defensive spells in place to fend off intruders. Still, so far, Newt encountered nothing.

The entire mansion was dark, except for one window on the ground floor. A faint light escaped through drawn curtains, betraying someone was in that room.

All of Newt's senses were in a state of highest alert as he approached the front door. At any moment, curses could start flying his way, and he knew those would not be innocent Body-Binding curses…

The front door of the mansion stood slightly ajar, almost as if to welcome him in. Newt pushed it open and stepped into the hallway, wand at the ready. He halted for a moment, looking sharply around for movement that announced an oncoming attack, but all remained eerily quiet and desolate.

"I must say, I am disappointed."

The voice came from the living room to the right side of the hallway. Newt apprehensively crossed the threshold, and found Gellert Grindelwald sitting in an armchair by the hearth fire. Even though Grindelwald had his back turned to him, Newt knew very well that the wizard's wand was pointing towards him.

"What disappoints you?" Newt ventured the question. His eyes darted around the room for a possible ambush from Grindelwald's allies, and yet again he saw none. Grindelwald indeed seemed to be alone here.

"I had rather hoped to see my old friend Albus," Grindelwald replied, still not looking at Newt. "And no worries, Mr. Scamander, I am quite alone here." Newt nervously took another step closer, reducing the distance between himself and Grindelwald to less than three meters. "That's close enough." The menace dripped from Grindelwald's voice.

Newt readied himself for the attack that could start any second now. He was well aware that he alone would likely be no match for Grindelwald, not even with Grindelwald being without allies, so delaying was his best strategy.

"I might be able to persuade Dumbledore to come here," Newt tried. Grindelwald scoffed. "You and I both know he is already on his way. But he is not coming for me, he is only coming here for you." "Dumbledore doesn't care about me," Newt lied. "Well, you might be right," Grindelwald sneered, "sending you here is tantamount to killing you, so maybe indeed he doesn't care… or he just grossly overestimates your abilities."

Newt fidgeted his hands together without slackening the grip on his wand. He would not be able to keep Grindelwald talking for much longer. The only thing Grindelwald wanted was to kill Newt and disappear again before anyone else arrived, and Newt was sure he would do so sooner rather than later.

Grindelwald slowly rose to his feet, back still turned to Newt. "Any last words, Mr. Scamander?" Newt kept his gaze firmly fixed on Grindelwald, taking in every minute movement, but he refused to answer that question. "Have it your way," Grindelwald mumbled venomously.

In a flash, Grindelwald spun round. The first curse was already flying before he was even fully facing Newt. A jet of green light flashed past Newt's head, but this attack was what he had been expecting. He fairly easily dodged the curse and sent his own counterattack in Grindelwald's direction. Grindelwald blocked Newt's curse, immediately sending the next one flying.

Newt was not fully able to dodge or block this one. He felt the intense pain of the Cruciatus Curse flood his body, but he willed himself to remain upright. If he ended up on his knees, Grindelwald would be able to finish him off before this duel had even properly started. Newt bit through the paralysing pain of the curse, and with immense power of will, managed to send a jinx hurtling towards Grindelwald.

Grindelwald had clearly not been expecting this. Newt's jinx hit him square in the chest, and the force of it threw him backwards against a bookcase. His reply, however, was instantaneous.

"Diffindo!"

It was the first curse Grindelwald actually spoke, but he did so with so much menace that the word alone instilled fear in Newt. There was no chance for him to block this curse, and he only half managed to leap out of its way. The curse only scraped the right side of his chest, but it still left deep gashes across Newt's ribs. Warm blood spilled onto his shirt and hands, making the grip on his wand slippery. The injury left Next momentarily unaware of his adversary. A mistake he immediately regretted.

Grindelwald cast the Diffindo-curse again, hitting Newt across the back of his shoulders. Fresh wounds bit into Newt's flesh and sent him crashing to the floor. Grindelwald seized this opportunity to cast the Cruciatus Curse again. This time Newt caught the full force of the curse, seizing him with an excruciating pain.

To Newt it felt like hours later before Grindelwald lowered his wand and lifted the curse. Newt lay on the floor, panting and trembling as the after-effects of the torture curse still flowed through his system. "What shall we do next?" Grindelwald taunted, glaring down at Newt with a look that promised a whole lot of misery. Newt's vision was blurry, but he did his utmost best to keep his focus. If he didn't act now it would surely be the end of him.

Grindelwald obviously did not expect Newt's next move, or he just believed Newt was already beaten. With the last of his strength, Newt tightened the grip on his wand and rolled himself onto his back, ignoring his painfully protesting wounds.

Now with an unobstructed line of fire, Newt bellowed his curse."Reducto!" It knocked Grindelwald clean off his feet, throwing him to the ground a few metres across the room. "Expelliarmus!" Newt quickly disarmed Grindelwald before the wizard could even think of another curse to cast. With another flick of his wand Newt made ropes appear which tightly bound Grindelwald and left him unable to move.

"Newt?" The familiar voice of Albus Dumbledore was heard only faintly from outside, but to Newt it was the sound of saviour. "In here," Newt answered. He suddenly became aware how weak his own voice sounded. Black spots blurred his vision all of a sudden, and the world swam around him. He firmly closed his eyes, willing the unpleasant sensation to pass. It only got worse, though, and Newt had to grab hold of a nearby desk to keep himself on his feet.

"Newt?"

He startled to hear a voice from so close by and hands suddenly resting on his shoulders. Newt opened his eyes. The blurry shape of Albus Dumbledore, standing in front of him, slowly came into focus. "Professor?" "You don't look too good, Newt." Concern was written all over Dumbledore's face and laced in his voice. "I– I'm f-fine…" Newt hadn't even fully finished his sentence when his legs would no longer support his weight. Dumbledore caught him by the armpits before he could fully collapse, and guided him to sit down on the rubble-strewn floor. "I got you, take it easy now."

Blood stained Dumbledore's hands as he released his grip on Newt. He carefully pulled Newt's coat a little aside to reveal the wounds to the magizoologist's chest. Dumbledore's brow furrowed into a concerned frown. "This looks serious, Newt. You injured your back as well?" Newt nodded weakly, but did not find the strength to answer with words. "We need to wait for Ministry officials to take him away." Dumbledore motioned over his shoulder to Grindelwald. "But then I'm going to take you to have those wounds treated, okay?" "It's not looking good, is it?" Newt wasn't able to keep the tremble and the hint of fear out of his voice. Dumbledore gave him a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine, Newt."

They had to wait for at least another 15 minutes for the Ministry officials to arrive. Newt remained sitting on the floor. Even just breathing hurt him, and he was still losing blood. All his muscles hurt with the after effects of the Cruciatus Curse, and suddenly he felt cold as ice. Altogether, Newt knew his condition was deteriorating fast now, but he just had to hold on for a little while longer.

Dumbledore stood leaning against the desk in the room, hands buried deep in his trouser pockets and his gaze directed down at his own shoes. His eyes often darted in Newt's direction, but not once did he acknowledge that Grindelwald was in the room, too. Grindelwald, on the other hand, was glaring at Dumbledore. The ropes Newt had conjured were still binding him tightly and made it impossible for him to move. Several times it looked as if Grindelwald would speak to try and provoke Dumbledore, but he never actually did.

Voices from outside announced the arrival of the Ministry officials. Within seconds the room was filled with at least a dozen Aurors from the Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore hurriedly spoke to one of the Aurors, while the rest safely incarcerated Grindelwald and inspected the rest of the house for other possible threats.

"We need you to come with us to the Ministry, Dumbledore," the Auror with whom Dumbledore had spoken suddenly said. "No." Dumbledore shook his head. His tone was friendly, but final. "I have more urgent obligations at the moment, and I'm sure the Ministry can handle this alone." The Auror looked ready to protest, but Dumbledore had already turned his attention to Newt.

"Come on, we need to have you looked at." Dumbledore rested a hand on Newt's forearm. "Merlin's beard, you feel like a popsicle." He shook off his coat and carefully draped it across Newt's shoulders for extra warmth. "Thank you," Newt mumbled. He only now realised he was the 'more urgent obligation' Dumbledore had to attend to. "Where are we going?" "The only place that is always safe," Dumbledore winked, before moving away to collect his things.

Newt slowly hoisted himself up onto his feet by the desk. He felt even worse than before, and his exertions did not improve the pain much either. As soon as he stood, he was in immediate danger of collapsing again. Vertigo hit him like a sledgehammer, and he swayed ominously on his feet.

Dumbledore caught up on the situation, hurrying over to Newt's side again. "That's not such a good idea." He slung an arm around Newt's waist for support. Newt stammered some objections, feeling slightly embarrassed. "I won't have it, Newt." Dumbledore shook his head. "You are coming with me, whether you like it or not."

#fantastic beasts #fantastic beasts and where to find them #fbawtft #fantastic beasts fanfic #fantastic beasts fanfiction #newt scamander #albus dumbledore #eddie redmayne #jude law #whump #whump writing #whump fanfiction #ltwbwriting #fanfic #fanfiction

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eomma-jpeg · 1 year ago

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Heyyyyfor the writer ask! 20, 32 (not me please I want to hear about other cool writers!!), 58, 66, 73, and 75 for itm have a good one!!!<33333

squid !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

I gotta brainstorm this

I used to use the word ‘jarring’ all the time because I say that in real life LOL

I think when it comes to writing and more dynamic themes, i think the main thing i try to emulate in my writing is that you know whats going on in the scene. I want to make sure that the reader knows the layout and how every person is interacting with each other. I try and go back over my writing over and over again to make sure it is understandable

I think a newer theme is emotions ? i focused so much on physical descriptions in my older works that it wasn’t,,,, fun? To read my stuff. So with my newer works i tried to experiment with more complex emotions, especially the physical repercussions of the emotions lol

32. Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

Squid said i cant say her T-T

SmutWithPlot on FF.net is an author who’s style inspires me SO MUCH. Their description style and flow is something I aspire to have. tension is so good….. (they’re also on ao3)

I’ve said this before but @eilwen is SUCH an incredible writer. No Reason is a fic that I cry whenever i see that its been updated. Their style is so poetic and detailed and i lovelovelove the story and world building its so incredible.

Kuwakun or @tomboyyyaoi here on tumblr has the most beautiful like,,, poetic style of writing… i want to try my hand at poetry style writing one of these days. I have such a literal and straightforward writing style that i would need to practice if I wanted to write the beautiful imagery that they have in their works…. (I sincerely believe they are one of the only people that really understand trimax vashmeryl)

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc)

Hmmmm

I think outlining and editing are tied in my mind. I LOVE creating the story, and that happens when i outline. I see it all in my mind and can normally get it down on the page okay, but the story really comes to life when i outline, and then it is reborn when i edit lol

I love going back over my work and editing. It helps me realize what isn’t flowing well, what words were strange to use, what sentences just make absolutely no sense because my brain was moving so fast that i forgot half of the words lol. But I love editing in general…. Its so fun.

66. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie. pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc.)?

So far i haven’t faced a lot, which has been nice. I think what helps is that I do this because I like to. I love sharing it with people and knowing that others really enjoy the story,,, but its really a selfish act LOL

If i get negative comments,,, those fly over my head. The positive ones far outweigh the negative ones (although, i havent gotten any ! which is so nice lolol)

Updating and deadlines,,,, i set those myself ? so like,,, if they need to be moved or adjusted i can just do that

And you can too ! please work at your own pace. Don’t feel burdened by those who read or consume your creations, I am certain most if not all are patient and willing to wait however long it takes for you to feel like its good enough to share

73. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

Hmmmmmm im gonna be a brat about this and say I write stuff that flows well. Funfact about lace, this is because I have written so many history papers, and those need to flow well in order to make sense. I go back over my works countless times to make sure everything is coming across well and that the audience knows whats going on. Is it perfect? No. I went back and reread chapter 1 of in the meadow recently and immediately wanted to start fixing lolol (i might do that 👀)

I would say it helps that I know grammar lolol,,,, i try to not put dialogue for different people in the same paragraph or do run on sentences,,, but I am certainly guilty of using the same adjectives over and over or putting too many commas in one sentence lol

75. What scene in in the meadow took the longest to write? What was difficult about it?

Okay,,, there have been a few parts where i had to pause and take a moment before i actually got my thoughts down

The first was the fight between Milly and Knives about Wolfwood. I had planned that scene so early on,,, but I … i couldn’t figure out each character’s motivation for SO LONG. it took me forever to find why Milly would even put up with him when he was the one to kill WW but also Milly wouldn’t hold a grudge like that and yakjdlkfjsdlj it took so long and i went over it a billion times to fix it and change it ugh

Another one that was sillier was in the latest chapter (28) I was having the hardest time planning out the silly conversation with the sisters. It literally made me stop writing for like a week T-T I couldn’t figure out how to make the conversation flow or how to make Vash seem like a sleaze while not a huge sleaze or for the ladies to tease Meryl UGH

I still don’t think its good but it was the best i could get it

I also avoided writing the final chapter for a minute cuz i didn’t want it to be over,,, then i wrote the whole thing in one day lol (squid knows lol)

#asks #in the meadow #trigun #okay fixed some hyperlinks

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sushigirlali · 1 year ago

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Bad Idea Right? - Part I (Reylo Fanfic)

Part I | Part II | Part III (Complete!)

Summary: Rey Niima realizes she may not be over Ben Solo when Hux’s social media posts show her ex-boyfriend is moving on at Poe’s Halloween party. Donning a matching costume purchased before their breakup, Rey decides to stop running and confront him. Horny Halloween hijinks ensue!

Pairings: Rey/Ben, Rose/Hux, Finn/Poe

Continuity: Modern AU

A/N: I wrote the outline for this on my phone with speech to text while stuck in traffic and listening to Olivia Rodrigo 😂 Happy spooky season, rats! I was definitely inspired by some reylo/hellcheer Halloween art I’ve seen recently as well 😛

Master list –> AO3 | ff.net | Tumblr

——————

Bad Idea Right? - Part I

By: sushigirlali

——————

Boston, MA

Friday, October 24

——————

Hey

Haven't heard from you in a couple of months

But I'm out right now, and I'm all fucked up

And you're callin' my phone, you're all alone

And I'm sensin' some undertone

——————

Rey Niima had a problem. Was it a problem of her own making? Perhaps. But it was a problem nonetheless.

After swearing off men and dating and love for the last two months, she was lonely and bored and horny. More specifically, she was horny for her ex-boyfriend Ben Solo. It had been exactly 62 days since their breakup (yes, she had been counting), and every night without him was worse than the last.

The urge to text him was almost overwhelming at times, but she tried to see it as an exercise in control. It made her feel a little better, to have a goal. Even if the goal was to ruin her own life.

Rey blew out an irritated breath, moving her unwashed brown hair away from her face. She really should shower and change after a long day’s work, but she just didn’t care. Flopping down on her bed in an oversized blazer and yoga pants, she wondered whether Ben was thinking about her just then as well. It was hard to focus on things like hygiene and personal needs (beyond what was strictly necessary on a mandatory zoom call) when there wasn’t anyone around to judge you.

“Or praise you,” she thought wistfully, because Ben used to praise her for the tiniest, sweetest things…

Rolling over onto her stomach, crushing the front of her semi-professional blazer, Rey pressed her face into her battered, space-themed comforter and screamed.

——————

And I'm right here with all my friends

But you're sendin' me your new address

And I know we're done, I know we're through

But, God, when I look at you

My brain goes, "Ah"

——————

The breakup had been stupid, really. Or, she was stupid.

Near the end of August, on the date of their four year anniversary, Ben had planned an elaborate scavenger hunt for her through the city. And at the end of the trek, there had been a box and a question.

She could still remember the pain in his dark eyes when she refused him, the slump in his broad shoulders as he balanced on one knee, the quiver of his lips…

Rey pushed her guilt aside and focused on the other ways his lips had made her feel over the years. They were full and plush, with a tendency to hike up on one side when he grinned. And when he kissed her, sometimes she forgot her own name. And when he didn’t stop kissing her until she begged for more, slipping his lips hotly down her cheek, her throat, her breasts, her stomach… Well, she liked those memories most of all.

Stripping out of her house clothes, she tossed them onto an existing pile of dirty clothes by the foot of the bed. Ben would be horrified that they didn’t immediately go into the hamper, but again, he wasn’t around and she just didn’t care. At any rate, it wasn’t like one pile of junk was going to ruin the ambiance of her small, dingy apartment.

Which honestly just felt like another fitting punishment for breaking Ben Solo’s heart. “Not that I could afford anything better on my own,” she lamented, thinking about the mountain of student loan debt she owed.

Shaking her head to clear it, she went back to disrobing, removing her favorite lace bralette and matching panties and tossing them aside as well. She didn’t even know why she’d bothered to keep the very expensive, yet impractical cream ensemble besides years of childhood poverty making her thrifty. It definitely wasn’t because they were a gift from Ben and he loved peeling them off her.

“Don’t think about… actually, no. That works.”

Rey stretched to retrieve her cell phone from the bedside table and navigated through her contacts to the entry entitled “Ben Solo.” Her finger hovered over the call button for a second, the thought of hearing his deep voice again tempting, but she chickened out.

“I really should have deleted his number by now, or blocked him at the very least.” But he hadn’t texted or called in 62 days, and she hated how hopeful it made her that he still could.

Closing her contacts, she opened the files app instead and unlocked a folder titled “Gardening Tips 🍆💦” with an extremely long and complicated password. Biting her lip as sultry images flashed before her eyes, Rey leaned back against her second-hand cotton bedspread, which had been washed so many times that the thin fabric felt like silk against her bare skin.

The first few photos were of Ben’s hands, his long, tapered fingers and calloused palms. Despite his family’s wealth, Ben liked to work with his hands at his firm’s tech lab. He was an engineer, like her, so she understood the need to tinker.

Rey imagined those hands on her body again, running one of her own across her taut stomach to cup one of her small breasts. The pads of her fingers weren’t nearly as rough as his, she usually worked on sketching designs instead of with hard materials, but a picture was worth a thousand words as they say.

“Ben,” she whimpered, flicking through a few more photos before finding some of his face and chest.

He was smiling in a lot of them, something he rarely did around anyone but her, his expression intimate and open. Or, at least, that had been the case when they were…

Zooming in on his chest, she traced the curve of his muscles, the shape of his trim waist, the blush of his nipples, touching herself in each of those locations in turn. But it wasn’t enough.

Backing out into the folder, she skipped down to pictures of his ass, his cock, of them together. “Fuck.” She flushed with arousal at one particular set from the night before they broke up.

Ben was deep inside her, his pubic hairs meshing with hers, his thumb on her clitoris, her body contorted. Every frame showed a different angle of his penetration, from her point of view.

Lifting her knees, she bent her legs toward her chest, trying to mimic the position, before flipping open the camera app and snapping a few new photos. She wanted to recreate the scene, but it was too difficult to hold the filthy position and touch herself at the same time without Ben pressing down on her hips.

Annoyed, she hit the share button and sent off one of the new full frontal nudes to her man before thinking better of it.

Then, “Oh, shit. Oh, fuck!” Scrambling upright, Rey stared at her phone in horror. Ben wasn’t her man anymore and she had no right to send him unsolicited sexts. “Fuck, fuck, fuck—FUCK!”

Rey jumped as her screen lit up: Ben was calling her.

——————

Can't hear my thoughts (I cannot hear my thoughts)

Like blah-blah-blah (blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah)

Should probably not

I should probably, probably not

——————

Rey was frozen solid for the first three rings, but on the fourth, she impulsively hit the talk button. Hitting that button meant she’d hear his voice again, it meant he hadn’t blocked her either, it meant…

“Rey?” he said hesitantly, her name from his lips immediately heightening her arousal.

Her jaw worked up and down, but no sound came out. She wanted to respond, to keep him talking, but what could she say? Sorry I haven't called? Sorry I’m such a mess? Sorry I ruined our lives?

“Rey, why did you send me that picture?”

“I–I’m..”

“Are you still naked?” His tone was neutral, but the question still brought heat to her cheeks.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Did you just take that pic? Is that what your pussy looks like right now?” His voice became gruffer.

“Yes.”

“Are you keeping your curls tidy for any particular reason?” He was stern now, or was it jealous? Maybe a bit of both.

“No,” she said, because, “I’ve ignored every other aspect of my hygiene except a biweekly bikini wax in case you ever wanted to eat me out again,” was insane.

“Good girl,” he said warmly.

Praise. Ben was praising her. “Fuck.”

Rey propped herself up on several pillows, put the phone on speaker, and set it on her chest with the microphone facing her mouth. Using one hand to pull her right leg up and back, the other slid between her legs. “Ben, I’m so wet.”

He blew out a breath. “Fuck, Rey. Do you need my help, baby?”

She nodded but then realized he couldn't see her. Clearing her throat, she said, “Yes, please,” very politely.

“That’s my girl,” he chuckled. Then, with more heat, “Are you touching yourself already?”

“Yes.”

“Where? How are you positioned?”

She told him and he groaned. “I’m so turned on, Ben, but it just isn’t the same without…” She cleared her throat. “What should I do?”

“I want you to run your index and middle fingers over your slit,” he commanded.

She did as he said and sighed into the receiver.

“That’s it, baby. Do that until you’re so slick my thick cock could slip in without a hitch.”

She pictured him over her, touching her, fucking her. “Oh, god, I am!”

“You’re doing so good,” he praised. “Now slowly spread your lips and slip your fingers inside.”

“Okay,” she panted, swirling her fingers around her opening before sinking them knuckle deep in her pussy. “They–they're in.”

“How does it feel?” he asked.

“Good. Really good. But I wish it was your fingers, Ben, they’re so thick.” Shit. She shouldn’t have said that.

He choked out his next demand, clearly affected by her statement. “Drop your leg, baby, and use your free hand to massage your clit. If I were there with you, I’d keep you open so wide, but you need to use both hands for me.”

“Okay,” she said, the image of him pinning her down with his big body flashing through her mind.

“Now close your eyes,” he murmured. “Are they closed?”

“Yes, Ben.”

“Picture me while you pump your fingers inside your cunt and rub your clit with your other thumb.”

“Ohhhh!” she moaned, doing his bidding. Her sheath clenched around her fingers as he continued to whisper into her ear, telling her how sexy she was, how much he loved this, how good he wanted to make her feel.

“Are your nipples hard?”

“So hard!” She didn’t even know what she was saying anymore, she just wanted to please him.

“Is your pussy dripping all over your sheets?”

“Yes!” she screamed, rubbing, straining, curling and twisting her fingers until a flood erupted between her splayed thighs.

Ben talked her through the blinding orgasm, her first since they had parted, until she calmed several minutes–hours?–later.

“Rey?”

“Hmm?” Rey was breathless, her body tingling and satiated.

“I have to go now.”

Her euphoria shifted into confusion and hurt, which was rich considering he had just helped her get off and asked nothing in return. “Oh, okay. Uh–thank you.” Then, her deep-seeded fear of rejection taking control, she quickly disconnected the call before he could say anything more.

——————

Seein' you tonight, it's a bad idea, right?

Seein' you tonight, fuck it, it's fine

——————

Rey pulled her comforter tighter around naked body, trying to smother out the light streaming through her window. During the excitement last night she had forgotten to pull the blackout curtains closed.

“Ugh,” she grumbled when her phone buzzed a few times in quick succession.

Sticking her hand out of the warm cocoon, she blindly felt around for the device before pulling it back under the covers. Switching the light setting to dim, she read:

Ben: Good morning, sweetheart ❤️‍

Ben: Rey, are we really doing this again?

Ben: I know what it meant to me, but what did last night mean to you?

She sighed her favorite word in lieu of doing anything productive. “Fuck.”

Fiddling with the phone, she started texting him back several times, writing and rewriting a positive message, a negative one, something neutral, but in the end she turned it off without sending anything.

She knew she should respond, that he’d take her silence to mean last night meant nothing, but she was scared. Last night was incredible, he was incredible, and he hadn’t even touched her. Just his voice had reduced her to a quivering mess, bringing back all her memories of them together. Sexual and otherwise.

Rey swore again, frustrated that she hadn’t gotten him out of her system. “It was just one call, idiot. It’s not like you fucked him again.”

But that couldn’t happen. Her dumb heart wouldn’t be able to stand letting him go twice.

——————

Yes, I know that he's my ex, but can't two people reconnect?

"I only see him as a friend, " the biggest lie I ever said

Oh, yes, I know that he's my ex, but can't two people reconnect?

I only see him as a friend, I just tripped and fell into his bed

——————

A/N: I intended for this fic to be a one-shot, but whoops it’s >10K words of feelings and smut. Part II coming tomorrow! Happy All Hallows’ Eve Eve!!

#reylo #reylo fanfic #reylo fic #kylo ren #ben solo #my fanfiction #sushigirlali #happy halloween rats

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stillafanofsonic · 9 months ago

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😅 🎢 ⛔ 🙋‍♀️ ❌ 😬

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

The first fanfic I ever wrote as a teenager that's still on ff.net somewhere... I don't remember the password so I can't go delete it (funny story, a friend once tried to find it and then said she left a comment. I couldn't login, but I found the fic and looked through the comments and said there was no new comment. She left one on the wrong fic, LMAO).

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

And the truth comes limping after. God that was so much fun to write, I legit had trouble sleeping after posting chapters because I was so excited.

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

Kinda... I thought about doing a swap about the human characters went to mobius as children and were taken care of by the hedgehogs. It didn't work out for me.

🙋‍♀️Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

No, they know I write and that I want to be a novelist but not that I write fanfic or what it's about.

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

Anything really romantic focused. It's just not interesting to me

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

Hmmm.. honestly, I don't write about anything really horrific but I would worry they'd see my stuff and be like well, this explains so much about you (I'd die on the spot)

#asks #fern tag

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cg29fics · 2 years ago

Text

Gone

Tagging 🔖 Sorry if I’ve missed anyone - If you would like to be tagged in these updates then please let me know and I’ll add you to the list: @janetm74 @drileyf @katblu42 @psychoseal @weirdburketeer @alexthefly @misstb2 @thundergeek59 @burningcowboyhoagietaco @dragonoffantasyandreality

8 Chapters Left: The complete fic is also available via FF.Net & A03 - CreativeGirl29

Previous: Chapter 46. Talking.

Chapter 47. Further Conversations.

The morning after Sanderson’s arrest had seen the police arrive early, with them insisting on questioning the entire family one at a time. Thankfully, when it had come to them taking Virgil’s personal statement the police had allowed him to have his father present, alongside Doctor Sylvia. Several hours later the officers informed them that Maria Andrews had been released and Emily Sanderson had been charged with attempted murder, with no bail being granted. Further to this, several other charges were also made against her aunt, brother and father, who the police believed had been helping her with this and further other crimes she may have previously committed. Upon hearing all this news, the entire Tracy family were delighted to see Virgil visibly relax and fall into a much-needed sleep. It was a good 24 hours later when Virgil finally opened his eyes, a natural smile falling across his face when they rested on his next oldest brother, John sitting next to him.

“Hey, Sleepyhead. How are you feeling?” John asked.

“A bit thirsty,” Virgil answered, trying to sit himself up.

“Let me help,” John offered, adjusting the head of the bed into a slightly raised position, and then pouring him some water.

“Thanks,” Virgil replied, “what time is it?”

“11am, about your usual wake up time.”

“Cheeky!” Virgil laughed. “Where is everyone?”

“Scott’s just gone to get us some coffees and everyone else is back at the hotel. We decided to take shifts while you were sleeping,” John informed him.

Just as he had finished speaking Scott stepped in the room. “Virgil,” he beamed, spotting his brother was now awake.

“Hey, are one of those for me?” Virgil joked.

“You can have some water for now,” Scott said, passing the one coffee he was holding over to John, “we’ll find out about the coffee later.”

No fair!” Virgil retorted, scrunching up his face.

“You’re sounding a little bit happier today,” Scott commented.

Virgil nodded. “Relief can do wonders!”

“Glad to hear it,” Scott grinned, “and now you’re awake, I will give the others a call, I’m sure they’ll be pleased to see you looking a bit chirpier.”

“Do you have to call them?” Virgil asked.

“Err, yes bro... If I don’t dad will go mad. It took a lot of persuasion to get him to head back as it was… Why, don’t you want any of them here?” Scott questioned.

“Yes, of course I do. It’s just it would be nice to let dad get some more rest, I know he’s been with me constantly, and it would be great if we could chat.”

“Chat?” John and Scott questioned.

“Not about that... Just normal stuff, like we did before.”

“What, like how many different nurses John’s tried and failed to chat up in the past 24 hours since you’ve been asleep?”

“I have not failed,” John protested, “and you’ve been just as bad, Scott!”

“Oh, so you have both been chatting them up then?” Virgil teased.

“Well, they do look pretty good in their uniforms,” Scott admitted, “and now you’re awake and a bit more alert, we all know how bad you’ll get!”

Virgil went to object, but stopped when the door opened, and a young nurse entered. “Sorry to disturb you.”

“It’s okay,” all three of them responded.

“Hi Virgil, I’m Hannah and I’ll be your nurse for today. How are you feeling, any pain?”

“Not too bad,” Virgil replied.

“Really?” Scott and John both responded.

“Honestly,” Virgil assured them, “I’d say the pains a 4 out of 10, whatever painkillers they’re giving me are working well!”

“Well, I would prefer if you weren’t having any pain,” Scott frowned, “but it’s an improvement on how you have been… If it steps up to a five or more, then make sure you let one of us know so we can get a nurse.”

“Yes Smother,” Virgil grinned.

“I’m not a smother!” Scott protested.

“Err… Yes, you are!” John stated.

“Hey, I’m the eldest, which means you’re meant to be sticking up for me!” Scott protested.

John released a smirk. “I don’t think so… Virg is younger, and you know that the little ones always win an argument. Plus, he’s sick… And you really are a Smothering Hen!”

Scott looked back and forth from John to Virgil. “I’m not going to win, am I?

“With four younger brothers when have you ever won?” Virgil answered with a slight laugh.

“You’re definitely right about that,” Scott agreed.

Hannah shook her head at them all. “Are you guys always like this?”

“Pretty much,” John responded, “and it’s much worse when all five of us are together.”

“Mm, I can imagine… And I’m beginning to understand why all the other nurses warned me about you lot.”

Virgil chuckled. “Well you can’t blame me. I’ve not really been with it, but it’s good to know my bro’s have been maintaining our reputation.”

“Well, from what I’ve been told they certainly have!” Hannah stated, while she finished checking Virgil’s obs.

“Cute!” John observed, when Hannah left the room.

Scott shook his head. “Leave the poor woman alone!”

“Why should I?” John questioned. “I’m single!”

“Yes, but if you chat her up, that means I can’t,” Scott complained.

“Hey, stop it you two,” Virgil broke in, “I’m the sick one, which means I get the first go.”

Scott and John both glanced at each other and released hearty laughs.

“What?” Virgil demanded.

“Oh Virg, we both know how bad your pick-up lines are,” Scott remarked.

“Well, if you think about it Scott, we should leave Virg to the chatting up… Once he’s finished, we’ll definitely be in with a chance!”

Scott grinned. “Personally, I think he needs to save the chat-up lines for Penny!”

“I have no idea what you mean!” Virgil declared, trying to hide his reddening face.

“And I’m not that bad at chatting women up,” he added, trying to change the conversation.

“Oh, come on,” John laughed, “don’t you remember Sarah Fields horror at your awful attempt to ask her out to the school dance.”

“I was only 12,” Virgil protested.

“Actually, you were 15!” Scott stated.

Virgil scrunched up his face. “Why do you remember everything?”

“I can’t remember what she said that had all of us laughing so much!” Scott admitted. “Can you John?”

“Sorry bro, I can’t.” John glanced towards Virgil to see if his brother could provide the answer. However, when he noticed Virgil’s pale face and sudden drop in energy, he instantly nudged Scott before addressing his younger brother. “Virg, are you okay?”

Virgil shook his head. “I remember what Sarah said.”

“And what was it?” John and Scott asked, with puzzled expressions.

“She said my chat up lines were like being slowly tortured,” Virgil released a nervous laugh, “from personal experience, I’d say the girl didn’t know what torture was really like… And to be honest, it is quite funny.”

Scott reached out and grasped his brothers hand. “Virg, you don’t have to pretend with us!”

Virgil nodded, desperately trying not to make eye contact.

“And if you want to talk we’re right here.” John added.

Virgil glanced up at them both and quietly nodded his agreement. Scott and John both exhaled in relief and pulled their chairs in closer. After waiting patiently for around five minutes, Virgil began to speak. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared and alone in all my life. I never thought anything would top how I felt when the Sentinel shot me down… But this certainly did… I kept trying to be strong, I was answering him back… I even told the Hood to go and get a Hobby, instead of chasing International Rescue all the time… But then he revealed what he did to mum… And then the nightmares started…” Virgil breathed out slowly, then continued. “When I saw the devices and camera being set up, I began to feel sick with fear… Not for myself, but for you guys… I’m so sorry that you had to see that.”

“Virg, this was not your fault.” John soothed.

“But I… I wasn’t strong enough,” Virgil sniffed, “I tried to hide the pain that I was in… But I couldn’t.”

Scott wiped away the tears from Virgil’s eyes. “None of us would have been able to hide the pain… And personally, I think you’ve been very brave.”

“No,” Virgil replied, “I haven’t been brave, I should have hidden it better… What that must have done to you all, having to witness what he did to me.”

“Virgil, listen to me,” Scott commanded, “now, I’m not going to lie to you… We were all angry, scared and extremely upset when we saw what the Hood was doing to you… But, like John’s already said, and we’ve already told you on multiple occasions… None of this was your fault!” Virgil went to object once more but was silenced by Scott. “And you really need to stop focussing on how we felt and start concentrating on your own wellbeing!”

Virgil nodded sadly, stifling a yawn.

“You should get some more sleep,” John suggested.

Virgil shook his head. “Haven’t I slept enough recently?”

“Your body and mind need the rest, so it can recuperate,” John informed him, “you’ve already been awake much longer than you have been… And don’t pull that face!” He scolded, when Virgil grimaced.

Virgil sighed. “Will you both stay with me?”

Scott nodded. “Of course, we’re not going anywhere.”

Note: Virgil’s reference to ‘The Sentinel’ shooting TB2 down - Refers to an original series episode: Terror in New York City.

NEKT: Chapter 48. Dreams

#thunderbirds fanfiction #cg29fics #thunderbirds #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds original series #thunderbirds fandom

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arisu-artnfics · 3 years ago

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“The ghost island”

A Danny Phantom fanfic.

Note: First Danny Phantom fiction ever. I really can not say how bad or not I had these characters. Credit to:

Beta by Clydeside on AO3. (@clyde-side). Based/inspired on two fanarts/ideas: Full Moon by @the-random-phan on tumblr. Silly reveal scenarios by @bctoastyyy on tumblr. Summary: The class goes on a field trip but things don't go to plan. Winding up on a deserted island sounds just like Danny's sort of luck. Also on: DA || ff.net || AO3 || Facebook Version en español

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. They weren’t supposed to be in this boat going to that island in the distance. It all started about a week or two weeks ago, with the field trip permission form. Daniel Fenton/Phantom aka Danny, had tried and failed to get out of it. He never liked to leave Amity Park. The ghosts were there, he needed to protect it. A field trip to one of the islands on lake Michigan was not where he wanted to go. But when not even his sister could give him an excuse for it, his parents signed the permission form without even thinking about it. Danny was going, no exceptions. After Danny found out that he couldn’t get out of it; a plan was made. It was simple: he would go, but he would also lock the portal with a code that his parents wouldn't be able to figure out until he was back. Then his sister Jasmine Fenton, also better known as Jazz, would check on it to make sure. Jazz had gotten a lot better as a ghost hunter, even though nobody would likely admit it. But for a weekend, Danny would trust his sister. And now Jazz was comfortable back home, and Danny was stuck in a small boat. But it was of course Dash and his stupid, stupid dare, and for once Lancer actually trying to stop them. Danny didn't even remember what the dare was. Just that it involved climbing into the small boat. That boat wasn't part of the emergency strategies the ship had, it did have lifejackets anyway but nothing else.

What happened was indeed a collective amount of actions happening at the same time. The captain spoke through the speakers, warning and asking everyone to take cover in the hold. A small storm was building ahead of them and it needed to be avoided. Everyone except Dash decided to do the intelligent thing and follow safety procedures. That's where the dare started, Dash wanted to prove that he wasn't scared of nature so he stupidly challenged himself. It was simple, he was going to climb into the small boat, and grab tight to the side the whole time that the storm lasted. Lancer caught up with what was happening, he was about to make sure that everyone stuck together when he noticed. Dash was going to be filmed by Paulina, so Paulina with her suitcase and Star was next with her were close by. They could see the clear sky, couldn't understand what the captain was referring to, so hadn't thought about the possible danger that they were actually putting themselves into. That's when it all happened. Lancer noticed that one of his students was doing something extremely ridiculous just for the sake of it, while two were just watching and probably filming for the future. So he did what he thought was the correct action, turned around to the rest of his class and ordered them to stay, while he went to stop them. Danny, unable to believe his luck, and seeing the storm the captain mentioned, knew he should do something before any of them got in serious trouble. Tucker and Sam, his friends who were also noticing everything that was going on, couldn't believe that they were about to also get involved in helping Lancer stop the idiots of the class. Being in the A-list didn't mean that they were the smartest, did it? Valerie noticed as well in that moment that rather than stay like their teacher had ordered, they were going out.

“Are they insane, what was going on?” Valerie thought. She was pretty new in their group of friends. "Oh I'm going to kill them, if the storm doesn't," murmured Valerie, upset that her new friends, but friends nevertheless, were going crazy. The storm was about to start. She also followed them. She was as well regretting her own actions but too late to stop, it seems.

“Valerie?” asked Sam when she noticed that she had followed them. “Sam, Tuck?” said Danny when he turned and noticed them. “And Val?” he added once she was also close enough. “I can handle it,” he whispered more to Tucker and Sam. Hinting his ghostly powers would help. “We know,” said Tucker in the same voice level, he couldn’t allow Valerie to know about it. “You are crazy! Not here, not now…!” Sam warned. Especially close to Valerie that could easily call a ‘watch’ in her wrist to check for ghosts close by, by their ecto signature. “I know, I wasn't… not something obvious, just…” Danny stopped himself when he noticed confusion and a suspicious eyebrow raise from Valerie. They had stopped whispering and started talking and it was getting too loud to be heard. “Never mind,” Danny concluded. Valerie shook her head, wishing that they trusted her a bit more. Although without her knowledge they did. "Daniel, Tucker, Samantha and Valerie, didn't I say to please stay put inside?" said Mr. Lancer when he noticed the four students behind him. That made them stop discussing what they were talking about and tension was in the air. They half forgot why they were all standing there, right now. "Mr. Lancer?" Asked Paulina once she noticed the commotion behind her and Star, and turned around to see them; just as Dash had finished climbing the boat and sat inside with a thumb up signalling that he was tight, safe inside and ready to be filmed as soon as Kwan returned from the toilet. "What are the losers doing here? This is going to be my challenge, my own record!" said Dash while looking past Lancer to Danny and his friends. “Well Mr. Baxter, as much as I'd normally appreciate a record well done, I must stop this crazy act—” Mr. Lancer started but stopped in one when the wind picked up very fast and rain started falling stronger than ever. The storm had started. "Oh crap," said Danny, knowing that it was indeed too late. "Language," scolded Lancer with some difficulty. He couldn’t stop himself from correcting his students even when it was starting to be very difficult to even stand still any longer. They all were in real danger.

Danny took that as an opportunity to think fast, the only thing that was secured at the moment seemed to be the stupid boat where Dash was. Dash was already grabbing tight there, so it should be relatively safe, hopefully safe enough to stay in one piece after the storm. Everyone else except Danny was starting to slip and close to falling overboard. It was time for action, and that's what Danny did. He grabbed Tucker and Sam and put them together to his other side closer to the boat. They got the hint and jumped in, pulling Paulina and Star with them. Paulina with difficulty as she refused to let go of the suitcase. Lancer as well jumped into the boat as he noticed what his students had decided, while Valerie who was about to just lay down on the floor and grab whatever was close to her and pray that she managed to survive the storm without activating her suit. She really was going to kill them, specifically if that caused the class jerks to know her secret. One thing was her dad knowing, 'thanks' to Phantom, but it would be a whole other thing if her friends and class knew.

After putting his closer friends safe, Danny helped Valerie with a bit of super ghostly strength to also get her inside the boat. He knew that in the worst of the cases she would be fine thanks to her hunter suit. Even when he supposedly didn't know about those 'extra curricular' activities. Although, that would probably mean that he would be dead, wholly dead, if Valerie’s secret got out. Eventually, they all were on the tiny boat, with Paulina’s suitcase and everything they had in their hands. It was definitely not the best situation, luckily not the worst, but it was something that they could hopefully survive.

However, the storm only got worse with time. They all were grabbing the safety line tightly at the side of the boat. In seconds the wind was ever stronger than before, they all could feel it lifting the boat. It was Danny who actually swore when he noticed that the boat, while not being one of the life savers, was just on top of the floor fastened down with only a few knots. Lancer also noticed the same thing and for the first time that day he allowed the swear, he could feel how doomed they were. Lancer would normally be happy thinking of ‘Doomed’ but not right now, when it was a real life situation and not his favourite game.

When things couldn’t get worse, as many had now noticed the danger that they all were, it got worse. The wind finally managed to have loosened the boat, the rain was pushing it close to the edge, and then finally the stupid small boat rolled overboard. The students screamed, while Lancer tried to calm them, ordering them to not move much so the boat would land upright. The storm was a big one, so it was hard to see, the captain didn't pay attention to that side, nobody did. They were more concerned about the people inside and avoiding the huge waves that had quickly appeared out of nowhere. It felt like being in the middle of the ocean. It was terrible, that was it, as the ship pulled away, leaving the small boat with the students and teacher struggling not to flip over.

Time passed, and the storm finally stopped. The students and Lancer were relieved that by miracle, or actually ghost powers provided by Danny sneakily, they didn’t flip. They were all alright, at least that’s what it looked like. Mr. Lancer checked everyone. Paulina and Star were trying to accommodate a suitcase, he still doesn’t understand how or why that was here. Tucker, and Dash were actually green looking, heads hanging over the edge. Sam had found the lifejackets and was trying to pass those around. Danny was silent looking at all, odd but alright, probably dizzy as well. And Valerie was laying down on the edge.

That made Mr. Lancer react, noticing as well that nobody was actually calm. “Please everyone calm down,” he finally said. That’s when Paulina screamed, her suitcase finally budged and fell over. “My suitcase!!” she said while trying to reach for it. Star stopped her, before she fell as well. Sam at that moment was trying to give Danny one of the lifejackets. “You need one,” she said through her clenched teeth. Valerie finally managed to lift her head, she had herself in the boat with the help of her suit in a sneaky way, but at the last second of the storm she bounced a bit out of it. “A little help here, please!” she screamed, it was the worst that it could happen to her and everyone but c’mon, they couldn’t be that bad. “Sorry, I’m going to…” said Tucker, totally green with nausea, having accepted the lifejacket Sam was passing around. “Don’t look at me either…” commented Dash looking as green or worse than Tucker “Shit,” was the only thing that Danny could think at that moment, then it was him being the closest to her to help her out.

Lancer also helped Valerie to sit straight, then making sure that Paulina finally gave up trying to get the suitcase that was drowning bit by bit. He was very surprised that it lasted that long on the top. He then proceeded to help Sam and make sure that everyone, including himself, had a lifejacket. Once he helped with that and the two dizzy boys stopped looking so green he decided that it was time to form a plan to get rescued.

"Wait… is that the moon?" Asked Dash after a couple of seconds of calming his stomach. He said just before Lancer could even get their attention. "A full moon, but yes," said Danny with a tired expression. Using his ghostly powers while avoiding suspicions or being discovered, especially by Valerie, was harder than he thought. Especially if you count the fact that he was saving everyone there. "Is it really that late…?" said Paulina, finally paying more attention to the rest in the boat. "Well, the storm started when the sunset was setting, so," said Valerie with a shrug afterwards. They should have paid more attention to the time she guessed. "What a way to change the time," commented Star, feeling disoriented as well. "Tell me about it," murmured Tucker, he was feeling a bit better but that didn’t mean he was liking the situation a bit less. "Mr. Lancer, shouldn't we look for a way to contact everyone else?" Asked Sam, she wasn't going to spend more time than necessary with them if she could help it.

"Oh, yeah" said Lancer, shaking himself out of the conversation passing by himself around and clearing his throat. "All right, everyone, obviously once the storm stopped, someone on the boat should have noticed us missing, so it will be only a matter of time before they rescue us. Meanwhile, we should probably find a way to get dry… a bit at least, so nobody gets sick and keeps calm, maybe even see how far we are from the coast, remember that we aren't in the sea and the closest islands should be habitable, so people should help us there even better. I don't think any of you guys have a working phone with you, even though it was strictly prohibited..." He stopped when everyone put their hands in their pockets looking for their devices as if they just remembered they had them on them. That made Lancer just sigh in defeat, he wasn’t surprised; not even a little bit. "Dead," said Danny with a small smile that hinted at an inside joke for him and his closest friends. That smile got removed from his face when looking at his phone with dead battery and totally soaked, he almost hadn't noticed how wet he was, his powers helped him to stay dry, normally. But that wasn’t relevant at this moment. "Same," said Sam after checking hers with similar conditions. "My baby is dead…" said Tucker, showing his phone more wet than the others if possible. He is going to be looking for a new one as soon as possible, that was for sure. And cry about his phone debts. "Dead," said Valerie with a shake of her head. "Mine was in my suitcase…" said Paulina, with tears in her eyes. "And both were very brand new, now I'll have to ask my papá to get new ones again," she said as if it was nothing, that probably was true for her. "Mine isn't that wet, but I don't think it has service," said Star, trying to lift as much as possible her hand with the device. They all look at Dash who hasn't said anything yet. "What?" he asked. "Your phone…" said Paulina as if that was the most obvious thing to do and check. "Oh, no, sorry ‘Lina, dead as well, it only lasts like a week… sad, but oh well, my dad would get me another," Dash replied with a shrug at the end. "How about yours, Mr. Lancer?" Asked Danny, he was at the end the closest sitting to him. Lancer sighed. "I did check a while ago, but…" he showed his old fashioned phone. "As you can see, I don't have any luck either." The phone was wet with a dark screen screaming broken as well. "Then our only hope is that the rest of the class said something to the captain," commented Valerie. “Great” she whispered with sarcasm. It would take a real miracle now. "I suppose that's true," said Lancer simply, there wasn’t much to do now, was it? "We are going to die," screamed Dash, getting in panic mode again. "We aren't going to die Dash, don't be stupid, we are close to there," said Valerie, she was tired of everything, and as Lancer said before they should be close to shore, an island shore but land nevertheless. She point out what she could see in the close distance. "And how the hell do you think we will reach it, Gray?" asked Paulina, annoyed about everything. For her, everything shouldn’t be like this, now she was stuck with them. Lancer then looked around, and noticed that indeed they didn't have anything that would help them navigate the small boat to the island. "Ah," said without much thought "Are we going to use our hands and arms to move around?" said Dash, adjusting himself so he could put one arm outside the boat in the water to demonstrate what he meant. "You know like this, but well, it should work if all the losers help too," he said looking to Danny and Tucker specially. "Hey," Tucker complained, it wasn’t the time. He was thinking of pointing out that it was Dash’s fault that they were all in this situation. "Don't start Dash,” interrupted Sam. “It's all your fault, you and your stupidity put us in this situation, if you didn't think that you were the best or whatever you were trying to prove this time, then Mr. Lancer wouldn't try to stop it and us too. You are a jerk but that doesn't make it right to let you be that stupid specially when you put others in danger!" Sam was mad. She wasn’t going to let Dash’s behaviour slide, not this time. It could have all ended worse than what they knew, she and probably Tucker knew Danny had been using his powers to help them all. Lucky enough Valerie hasn’t noticed or said anything about it if she did. "Wow," commented Tucker, happy to know that he had his friends on his back as always. "She is right, you know," said Valerie, getting the same amount of annoyance from Dash and his stupidity. "Hey," complained Dash. "I never asked you losers to play heroes or whatever—" "We aren't playing…" said Danny, getting tired of everything even more than before. They might not know about his secret, but they always knew when and how to do the right thing. They always tried their best. "What do you want, fentoni?" said Dash, getting annoyed that everyone seems to be against him, it was supposed to be a little dare, a record even; something funny. Nothing more, as nothing was supposed to go wrong. "All right, all right… that's enough," said Mr. Lancer stopping both parties, who decided to just glare at each other for a couple of seconds before both breaking contact at the same time. "Then, Mr. Lancer, what are we going to do? There's no way to move the boat that easily… or it is?" Said Paulina, Star nodding along to that observation. There weren’t any paddles that they could see, probably lost in the storm. "I could do it easier, but that won't be easy to explain," thought Danny. He sighed. "I can’t believe I'm saying this, but maybe Dash was onto something, it’s not that bad of an idea to try to use our hands like that. We just need to coordinate better," he said, deciding that admitting that was going to bite him back but he was so tired of everything and they needed it out and fast. "Wow, I never thought I would see that happening any time soon," said Tucker, even though he could see that for the first time ever it seemed like Dash was right in something helpful. "Mmmm… me neither," said Valerie. It was easy to agree with what they were saying, she wished it was their idea rather than Dash’s, just for the fact that well, it was him. "I'm impressed," said Sam while nodding. "Whatever," said Paulina, she knew that they were right, she didn't like it, but the sooner she was safe the better. So she prepared herself to help too. "I'm surprised we are all right, it feels like it’s been hours," said Star out of nowhere. "Mmmmm…" was a collective agreement by everyone else.

Like that Mr. Lancer took the attention of the students and started guiding the students on what to do. How to navigate the boat with their bare hands and with what they had. It took them a couple of more hours for sure, but then they were all finally out of the water. They knew they were on an island, the question was which one and if there was anything here. Lancer did manage to keep the small group together long enough before one of them complained and decided to explore or something else. They should be close to something, anything for real, they were supposed to be close enough to civilization. This wasn’t an island in the deep ocean.

“Mmm… Mr. Lancer, I think that we are in the deserted island… the one that doesn’t even have a name…” said Tucker after a moment of looking around. Everyone had been hoping it wasn’t the case but it was. “How can you be so sure, Tuck? I thought that all your gadgets got wet and/or have no battery to tell you where we are,” said Sam with an eyebrow raised. “I don’t need technology to know that it’s a deserted one… Look around, there is nothing, NOTHING!” replied Tucker while making a show with his arms open and pointing around as if the answer was obvious. “Are we going to die here?!” said Paulina, getting worried while looking around as she needed to confirm that they were indeed on that kind of island. “Okay, okay,” said Lancer with his hands up showing palms, trying to get in control of what to do. Now that they had looked around and found nothing, it was really looking like what Tucker said. They needed a plan and fast. “We need to stay calm, wherever we are, look even if the next island town is just ‘around the corner’,” he said, making air-quotes. “For now we should use the advantage of the full moon light to start improvising a camping spot, and get ready to sleep. Tomorrow when the rescue comes, it will be all for the better,” he finished with a smile trying to provide a calming atmosphere. “But we’re all wet, well, getting dry in different stages of wet, have nothing but our clothes on, how the fuck are we going to camp, here… also camp??” complained Valerie, who normally wouldn't complain or swear like that, but she probably could be the one with actual resources, thanks to her hunter suit, but she wasn’t about to say that any time soon. “Language, please, Miss Gray,” said Mr. Lancer. He sighed, “Yeah, I know, it doesn’t sound good or looks like it for that matter, but right now in the middle of the night, I can't do much. And if my memory serves well, those lifejackets that we wore before, should have a GPS location for emergencies like this one when a person gets thrown overboard so the crew can find that poor lost soul in time,” he said, explaining that fact that was explained in the main boat as safety procedures. Considering that his students don’t know or actually paid attention the first round about when the trip started. “But what if it isn’t. We are going to stay here stuck, forever, living off… whatever those trees are… and… nooooooooooo,” said Paulina who started crying after that, Star who never left her side patted her on her back. Star was worried as well, but they should all be fine at the end, right? Their teacher was right after all. The GPS should work. “Okay… dramatic much, but we aren’t going to die,” said Sam. Danny gave her a sheepish smile. “Well, not all the way,” she murmured for just Danny to hear, sometimes she couldn’t believe that she followed his sense of humour, “I believe Mr. Lancer is right. None of you noticed but those had a red light on the whole time we had it on and still on, so rescue is on its way, probably because it’s late, won’t be here until the morning.” Sam finished nodding to herself, feeling proud of that. She knew the whole time that’s why they always used them on small boats like that, actually in all kinds of boats. “Thank you Miss Manson, so let’s go that way,” Mr. Lancer said and pointed to the closest group of trees that, funnily enough, had grown in an arch, giving the illusion of a roof. “We can all fit under that, so at least we will have shelter for the night.” Lancer had been looking for something like that for a while, while the rest were focusing on the worst.

Everyone looked at what he was pointing at and agreed with the teacher, sometimes they forgot that he was a scout when he was younger. At least Dash was sure that Lancer had said so in the past. Even Danny could agree with what had been planned out. Like that, everyone got into a task, even without words, they seem to be working together fine for once. Paulina and Star started to collect some smaller branches and put them all together to make a fire. Sam was walking around collecting some berries and fruits that were growing close to them and easy to collect. Valerie decided to help the other two girls, she could probably be the only one there that would be able to start the fire without a problem, but wasn’t going to expose herself. She was starting to hate that fact, but secret identities were for something. Dash, Danny and even Tucker were helping Lancer accommodate the big branches and making sure that all of them could lay down with enough cover for the night.

Once everything seemed fine for the night, they all sat together around the fire. In a surprise turn of events, it was Paulina and Star who started the fire. Valerie was surprised as well as everyone else. Danny did surprise the rest a bit when he without too much thinking was the one that did some hard lifting to move away one of the heavy branches. Although that did surprise everyone else who wasn’t aware of his powers they just shook it off as an odd thing from him, and continued as if nothing unusual had happened. Just like that everyone started to get in better conditions and less wet than before, more dry and comfortable with their clothes as far as they could. Once Sam returned with everything that she collected, she divided it up equally.

“I can’t believe I must eat this… I didn’t notice but I was starving,” said Tucker while helping some of the fruits, knowing well enough how sick he is going to get after all this. Hopefully his body resists until after the rescue. “I can’t believe what I’m about to say, but thanks Manson,” said Dash who was as well starving and eating what he was given. “Well, I don’t have my stuff, but at least this isn’t that bad, I guess I’d have to give you some credit, Sam,” said Paulina, who was wishing to have at least her phone working or her own food. “Unbelievable…” commented Valerie after hearing Paulina. “Well, okay, before you guys start another of your… debates,” said Mr. Lancer. “Wish they were this active in my class rather than blaming each other thousands of times” he thought and sighed, “you may have missed that I found the perfect place for your… needs,” he said, pointing out a bit farther behind them where it could be seen a small hole. Their toilet for the night. The disgusted faces of his students confirmed they got the message. That was good enough for him, he wasn’t planning on explaining that. After a couple of seconds Paulina said, “No way, I will hold it until we get rescued, I’m dry and tired, so I’ll just lay down…” She stood up from the circle that they all were sitting close to the fire. That got her a couple of nods from Dash and Star.

Like that Paulina, Star, and Dash move to the impromptu camp that Lancer with the boys had managed to create. Mr. Lancer just sighed at their reaction and decided that, for good or bad, he was going to use it. He left Danny, Tucker, Sam and Valerie still sitting close to the fire while the A-list students were already laying down and closer to falling asleep than they wanted to admit. Danny on the other hand just smiled at the situation, even when he was worried sick of what all of this could mean, at least they all were safe and sound. Sam had already confirmed that the lifejackets had indeed sent the GPS signal. They were all going back to Amity, later than never, and faster than they think.

Danny was just looking up to the sky, admiring the stars, he had a plan, or at least he hoped that he had. He was simply waiting for everyone to fall asleep and fly back to see where they were and well, if Phantom was the one that made sure they got help, so be it. He just needed to be very careful when doing it. Valerie was there as well, and even though they had a truce, he wasn’t risking a shot just because he was there as Phantom. It would be very hard to explain why he was there, well Phantom.

After a while, Lancer returned and asked them if they were alright. They did reassure him that indeed they were fine considering the circumstances. They just wanted to look at the stars for a little longer before laying down with the rest. Then Lancer decided that he was as well going to lay down, but remind them to wake him up if something happens. Once they promised that, he went with the rest. Valerie followed suit, she wasn’t going to do much if she was as tired as she was feeling, it didn’t help that just before the trip, she did have a long night ghost hunting. Sam and Tucker as well followed suit, they could tell Danny had something in mind, but also knew that he could be the one that finds something useful.

Then Tucker and Sam wish Danny luck and warn him about the obvious treat that was Valerie. Danny knowing their good intentions affirmed that he was very aware about the sensors on her suit, they all knew -well, the team Phantom- and he knew how to be very careful. Danny stayed a little longer stargazing before taking for a walk to get some distance, transforming, keep invisible just in case, and flying away. In the distance, not that far off the island at least for him, just his luck, he found the main boat. Keeping the invisibility, he passed through walls until he found the captain and the crew actually trying to locate the missing persons and the boat that they had. With that in mind, and noticing that they were on the right track, Danny decided that they would be fine until the next day. Seeing that they all seemed tired and were actually pausing the search for the next morning. All did point out that they were going to get rescued very early in the morning. Finally some great news from all this.

That’s how Danny decided that if the captain and crew were in charge of actually rescuing them, then he would have to be there with his classmates to be rescued. He flew back to the island, but not before grabbing some stuff that could be useful that he ‘could have’ in his pockets and ‘forget’ about it. Dash or even Valerie won’t be happy about it, while Paulina and Star would probably be very confused as to how he forgot about those. He knew well that Sam and Tuck would know but pretend that they didn’t just to see how confused is Mr Lancer as well with all. Once he arrived on the island, he pretended to use the ‘toilet’ before deciding that it was time to sleep with the rest. He was exhausted as well.

Once the next day arrived, the fire was long gone, and the students and teacher were getting up. Sam decided to look for more fruits and berries to eat once more, and Valerie volunteered to go with her. Actually, during the night she had noticed her suit alarm, but not had a chance to check for ghosts, so worried about that, she decided to look around. Sam didn’t mind though, she could tell that she was looking for what should be just Danny the night before. Meanwhile, Dash pushed Danny to help him collect more wood for a new fire. He insisted that if he did it yesterday, he would be able to do it again.

Danny, not liking where that was going, stopped harshly and fell face down into the sand. “Hey what was that, fentoni, I know you aren’t that weak, at least yesterday you weren’t,” Dash said annoyed. “I don’t know how that happened.” said Danny lying from the sand without raising his head. “I don’t think anyone here understands you, dude,” said Tucker, just playing along. “C’mon Danny, you don’t want your friend Tucker helping him, right?” said Paulina, she knew that Dash was right and it would be very interesting to see Danny do something like that. “Aren’t you, like, the one that always helps… in a way?” said Star. She had noticed that detail from him over the years, even before all the ghosts appeared. Danny lifted his head and part of his body from the sand and started to stand up. “Really? That’s what you guys got? Shouldn’t Mr. Lancer be the one helping? I mean collecting the wood for the new fire?” asked Danny, he could tell what they were trying to do. “Mr Fenton, as much as I appreciate the vote in favour, I’d have to ask you guys to do the hard work today, it shouldn’t take that long for the crew to find us anyway…” Mr Lancer said, hinting that yesterday did a number on his back, but wasn’t saying it. Noticing that, Danny sighed. “Fine, I’d do my best,” he said, and gave a smile to the group. “Star and I will go to that small clear water entry we found yesterday, the water from yesterday is almost gone,” said Paulina pointing to the bottles that weren’t there earlier at night but later on. “Just be careful girls, don’t forget to reuse the bottles that were on the boat,” Lancer said; he still didn’t recall when or how they found those underneath the ‘pocket’ in the boat that contained the lifejackets. What he didn’t know was that it was Danny who brought those and by ‘chance’ found those during the night in the boat. When he was supposed to use the ‘toilet’. “Sure thing,” both girls said.They also couldn’t believe that the bottles were there the whole time, but how the saying goes ‘don’t look a gift horse…’ so they just shrugged it off.

Minutes passed, it could be even around an hour, they didn’t know how long had passed, just that time had. Sam and Valerie were returning with more fruits and berries and such to last for the day. Paulina and Star had managed to get as much water as possible, without adding any sand in it. Tucker and Lancer were finishing accommodating some of the stuff that got moved during the night. A new fire pit was ready to be lit, and just in time Dash and Danny returned, carrying enough wood for the whole day or even longer although they didn't need it.

It was there and then that everything seemed to be happening at the same time in slow motion. Dash arrived first with the first and bigger amount of wood that was put down close to the fire pit created from the night before. Danny was following suit, didn’t notice that action. He was carrying a bit bigger than his own height in amount of wood but not that much heavier than what he could carry. At the same moment, the girls were arriving with the food and water respectively. Mr. Lancer and Tucker, noticing what was happening, looked around to see. Danny, when he didn’t notice the wood in front of him, just tripped. To avoid collapsing to the rest of the wood already on the fire pit and throwing his part on top of Dash or anyone close to him, with his instincts he just passed through those.

In that precise moment, Valerie's suit was softly beeping the signal of a ghost. She ignored it for the sake of Danny, hoping against everything that it was wrong. Paulina and Star almost drop all the rest of the water they had in their hands. Sam and Tucker just palm head themselves. While Dash and mr. Lancer just stood there standing gasping with their open mouths. Danny couldn’t believe his luck, that wasn’t how he had planned it; he didn’t think that he was going to use his powers any more, he knew the rescue was close.

“What was that, Fenton?” asked Dash after closing and opening his mouth a couple of times. He couldn’t believe what he just saw. “Did you just call him by his name?” said Tucker, as pointing out the obvious, Dash normally wouldn't ever do that. Although at this moment it didn’t matter. “Well, he is a ghost isn’t he, oh god he is a ghost isn’t he?” Dash said what the A-list students and Valerie were thinking, although Valerie didn’t want her suit to be right, Danny couldn’t be one. “It can’t be…” Valerie said, softly. She wasn’t sure if anyone heard her but she didn’t care. “You are one… aren’t you Fenton?” said Dash more like a fact than a question and looked directly at Danny. “Because no way you are possessed, are you? Your eyes aren’t different colours… oh god…” He really didn’t know what to do or think at that moment. “Um…. ah…no?” Danny hesitated. He didn't know what to say, the obvious option was to deny it, but after that, not even super ecto contamination or some sort of lie like that would work. He knew it, he was very screwed. “Oh god, you are hesitating,” accused Paulina, she didn’t get it. It shouldn’t be possible, they should know. “No!” Danny tried to deny it with more precision than before. “No way, you went through those, here I thought you were about to fall all the way down, you did it earlier” said Dash pointing to the wood branches that were in front of him as to need to point out the obvious. “It was reflexes, okay,” Danny said, finally putting down the rest of the wood that he had next to the wood that caused the whole dilemma. “Reflexes he said…” said Tucker, not believing his friends' reactions, after all this time. Danny glared at him. “Thanks for the help, Tuck,” said Danny, a bit annoyed by his friend. “Wait… is that true… are you okay?” said a bit sad sounding Paulina who was out of her own dilemma with what was happening. Danny looked around, noticed that they all were waiting for a reply, he also looked at Sam who only shrugged as saying at this rate, there wasn’t much to do, was it? “Yes…” he replied. “Oh for the ‘Lord of the Flies’! Daniel, you are a ghost and you just say yes?” said Mr. Lancer unsure of how to react to that fact. That was something that he was sure it couldn’t happen but it did. “But your parents…” said Dash, putting out the fact that they are ghost hunters, and getting worried, even when he doesn’t like Danny that much. He couldn’t imagine ‘living’ like that. “Don’t know, and I’d appreciate it if that stayed like that, please.” Danny begged them with his tone and eyes. “And before this goes more crazy, I’m only half ghost, that’s why… well, I look like this…” he said, pausing for a couple of seconds. “Now,” he added almost like a murmur and turned his head down. That was it, no turning around out of this, it seemed. Tucker and Sam both got closer to Danny and put their hands on his shoulders respectively. “All right, he wasn’t going to say much, and if he didn’t do what he did those branches would have squashed any of you,” said Sam looking at the students with a very serious expression. “You two knew and didn’t tell me, I guess I know why, but still… It hurts! We are friends now, right?” said Valerie. She knew that she was being a bit harsh but they needed a distraction from the rest. Danny needed it more than them, more than herself and her suspicion that they knew her secret as well. “What?” Danny said very fast as he also turned his head back as fast as possible to look at her. “Of course we are, me, Tuck and Sam… we do consider you our friend… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you… yet… ” “Yet?” Valerie said with an eyebrow raised. “Yeah?” said Danny, he was planning to, they have a truce after all, but not saying it yet. “Look, it's complicated,” added Sam, nodding as though hinting that they knew what her watch really was. “I’d say,” replied Valerie, having the more secure suspicion that she knew what they meant with that. Her sensor was actually telling her Phantom was close, or it did when he used his powers. It was unbelievable, indeed but very believable at the same time if she tried. “Mmmm…” said Paulina, she could understand Tucker and Sam already knowing, they were his friends after all, but she also had the suspicion that they knew something more, something that looked like it had to be with Valerie and that’s why she was saying that. “Wait… Danny,” called Star, unsure if it was okay to ask. “Yes?” Danny replied and looked to see her. “What do you mean by half?” Star did notice that before, and seeing as nobody else was saying much about it, she was going to ask. “Oh, that’s simple…” Danny started. “Are you sure?” asked Sam, worrying that maybe that was a bit much information. They all don’t need that. “Yeah” said Danny. “Yeah?” asked Tucker just to be sure. “Yes,” said Danny seriously and then looked to Star and Paulina who was next to her. “Half ghost and half human, halfa,” said Danny simply. “Impossible,” said Dash with a snort. “Well, I'm still ‘alive’, right? I mean I'm still here… eating and doing all that ghosts shouldn’t be able to do, right?” said Danny. “But I saw my ghost boy do all that stuff before, I mean he was seen in the Nasty Burger before…” said Paulina while Star nodded along. She had also seen that before. “Oh, well… haha,” said Danny with a forced laugh at the end and putting a hand behind his neck, his nervous signature. “No way, that’s bullshit” said Dash. “Language!” said Mr Lancer, getting annoyed by all the times he had said that in the last 24 hours. Even though he could understand that reaction, he was having trouble understanding himself what that meant. “But Mr. Lancer, you don’t believe that, don’t you?” said Dash incredulously. “I don’t think it’s important what I believe right now, other than even if Daniel here-” started Lancer. “Danny, please just Danny,” Danny said, letting his green eyes pass through. He never liked that, it always reminded him of Vlad. Right now, exposed as Phantom as well, if they all got the message, he wasn’t feeling that calm any more. “You scary eyes are out,” whispered Tucker. “Oh!” said Danny as his eyes returned to his natural blue. “Sorry about that.” He didn’t know what else to say, he only knew that he must calm himself before something else happened. “It’s okay,” said Lancer, getting the feeling that obviously Danny hasn't planned any of this, and it would be better for all if he was all right, as much as a halfa could anyway. “No, it-” started Danny when a strong ‘honk’ was heard.

They all turned to look at the ‘sea’, and noticed that the ship had found them. At that moment everyone outside of team Phantom forgot about Danny being a ghost. With that the almost clear implication that he was no other than Danny Phantom, their town hero. They weren’t going to ask how that worked, they would only just accept that as a fact if he actually admitted it to them. Meanwhile, all of them were happy that indeed the lifejackets with the trackers did the deed and they were found. It was like a miracle for everyone except Danny. He was happy that everyone else seemed to forget all about him. At least a break for now from him.

The crew of the big boat sent the real lifesaver boats to them. They explained and confirmed that once they noticed a small boat missing with a group of people after the storm they hoped that the trackers were on. Once that was confirmed to be on, they noticed that it looked like they were just at the other side of it. It was pretty late when the storm had passed, so they weren’t so sure of what they were going to find. Everyone on the ship was glad to find out that the missing people were safe and sound on that island. The news spread quickly. The rest of the class were happy and not that much -well not that serious- of finding the missing classmates, and their teacher.

Once the small group was back on board and checked over, they all returned back to the coast as it was planned. For obvious reasons the rest of the trip activities were cancelled, even though the rest of the class was safe the whole time, mind. In no time, the whole class was on their way back to Amity. That was something that Danny couldn’t be more grateful for. Once they were on a bus back home, Lancer took the opportunity to ask Danny about his condition, he hadn’t forgotten about it. He was going to make sure that neither of the small group said much, and he understood, in a way that the Fenton's parents couldn’t ever know about it. Unless Danny said something first.

Danny didn’t find it comfortable talking about being a ghost like a condition, but did appreciate the effort from his teacher. While Dash had reunited with Kwan, (who was going to the toilet just before the disaster and like that avoided the island); couldn’t stay with him as he apologised himself to talk with Danny. Kwan was confused as to why Dash wanted to talk with Fenton, but was glad to see his friend back. Paulina and Star sat close enough to Danny and co, so they could actually promise not to say a word, because even being them would not guarantee that anyone else would believe them. They were smart after all, not just pretty; also they had agreed between them that they would keep it a secret.

Once they arrived at Amity, and back to Casper High, they all acted like nothing had changed. That helped Danny to feel a bit more at ease with that, that and the fact that he knew that they could be nice persons when proposed. Lancer had a bit more serious talk in his office later on during the week, explaining that even when he appreciated his help against the other ghost he couldn’t keep missing so many classes. So team Phantom now with Valerie being officially part of it as the hunter as well, created a plan together to help in general. They did explain to Lancer, so he would know that they are working on a better time manager to fight ghosts and such. Lancer did help them adjust the plan. Like that Danny and even Valerie were doing better at school. It all seems to go for the better from now on.

The End? :D :D

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izayoizuki · 2 years ago

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A Place In The Suns

Pairings/Characters: Alpha!Paz Vizsla x Omega!F!Reader, Assorted Star Wars Characters

Summary: A Festival has been arranged, where Clan Alphas will fight for your hand in marriage. But your heart has decided on the worst candidate, Paz Viszla. Will politics and duty allow you both to have a happy ending? Inspired by idea by @maybege which I will link as soon as I can find it.

Tags: a/b/o dynamics but only when I like, soulmates (of a sort), marriage of convenience, elopment, eventual smut (which will be tagged accordingly), nobody will die (except maybe some evil people), 100% happy ending, fluff, angst, pining, yearning, hurt/comfort, I haven't written in over 7 years so please be very very gently with me.

Warnings: allusions to arranged marriage, there will be torture and incarceration for the main characters.

Rating: G for this chapter, but upcoming chapters will be 18+ (no minors please)

(Written on phone so no wordcount)

Masterlist || Crossposted to AO3|| FF.NET

Chapter 1: A Raincloud in the Desert

As Binder, the Cup of Welcome was yours to bear. It was misnamed, you thought, as you clutched a the oversized goblet? Chalice? Trophy? with both hands, one around the stem, one around the foot, tight enough that the engravings bit into your flesh. You had made the drink with half your mind, feverishly muttering to yourself as you added each ingredient, as if you hadn't made it a hundred times, as if this hadn't been your job since childhood, as if you had needed to tell your body what to do out loud; rosewater for freshness, spring water for strength, honey to bind, while the other half of your mind burning with every lesson you had received since childhood: "You are the Binder", your father had roared. "You exist to Serve. Your life will be in Service. There is no greater Honour."

Now, as you stood at the head of two rows of Welcomers, in front of the Ten Steps, waiting on all the hovering ships of Clan Leaders to land, to fight over you, to claim you like a piece of meat, you resolved to yourself once again that you would run away. If the clans were weak enough that they had to rest on your shoulders, on your sacrifice, they didn't deserve to live. You did not deserve this, and nor did any other Binder from any other clan. It felt blasphemous to think this, but you knew that you would sooner die than be wed to someone that you didn't want. And truly, was there someone miraculous that both you and your clan would agree on? It was a simple answer: no.

But thinking was all well and good; execution was a different thing entirely. You whole body jerked as the horn was sounded, and the ships began to settle, emissary parties disembarking. The parties each announced themselves before striding up the people lined avenue, and as the first party neared, you could see that they had spared no expense. Every finery afforded to armour had been applied, and they moved like- like puppets, you realised, that you had seen in the crèche as a child. They jangled to a screeching stop at the Eighth Step, only letting their Leader step to the Ninth, in front of you, and you found yourself thankful that you only had to Welcome the leaders.

The leader bowed jerkily, and when he opened his mouth, his tone was oily. "I ask Welcome and bring Peace."

Bullshit, you thought to yourself, even as you answered, by rote. "You and your Peace are welcomed." You bent forward so you could tip some of the drink into his waiting cupped hand, and saw with part dismay and part satisfaction that most of drink fell through the ornamental metal of his glove, his tongue hurriedly darting out to catch even a drop. You pretended not to notice as you went back to your initial position. After all, there were dozens of parties left.

The ritual repeated itself till you lost track. Every clan seemed to want to outdo one another, but all they managed to do was appear more and more untrustworthy. Some tried to be seductive, some simpering, some others yet aloof. But all of them wore the veneer of lies, and as the suns rose to their twin apexes and beat down mercilessly, your anxiety over the whole affair increased, taking away your capacity for tolerance. After seemingly hours, there seemed a gap in the constant stream, and as you re-assumed your position, re-assumed your thousand mile stare, you saw.

He rose out of the shimmering desert air like a mirage created from all your most secret dreams. No party was this. He was one man, leader above all others, his stride sure, unerring even on the feckless desert sand. He seemed tall, seemingly almost there, but he just kept coming, coming, till you realised how massive he really was. His armour was polished to a high sheen, but held no great ornamentation- you supposed the blue beskar spoke for itself. Unlike many, if not all of the other armours you had seen so far, his contained a fair amount of leather, which probably accounted for his more natural movement. He walked up the two rows, and a hush fell over the crowd, and as he walked up to you, his breadth eclipsed both suns, a raincloud in the desert. He climbed up the Steps and you had to bend your neck back to look him in his visor, and you smelt his scent- of soap and leather and metal, but also of a darker musk, and a sweetness you associated with the tabac that some old men chewed, and of the salt that only the ocean contains.

He bent on one knee in one fluid motion, cupping both his hands together in front of him, like a monk in supplication, and you recognised the respect he gave you.

"I ask Welcome," his voice a deep baritone with a curious rasp, but for all that, it held no overtone other than reverence, "and bring Peace."

You answered as if in a trance "You and Your Peace are Welcomed."

Something about your voice must have been odd, because he moved his head up as you tipped the drink down, and even though his helmet was completely closed, his you couldn't help but lock your gaze where you knew his eyes must be. Out of your periphery you took in how his leather-shod hands did not lose a single drop of water, and how appreciatively he drank. He rose in another fluid movement, and you struggled to re-assume your mien as Binder. But even as you strove, you were startled by a raucous jeer. "Finally, we see Paz Viszla, Clan of one."

This was new. Thus far the Welcoming had been almost boring in its ritual. No one has been this openly disrespectful. You weren't sure if you were allowed to turn around, and as you struggled to figure out the correct answer, you felt a hard shove in your back, and felt yourself falling to the ground. You closed your eyes and wrapped your body around the Cup. You were expendable, the Cup was not. But even as you braced, you felt your fall halted by two strong hands. Your eyes opened to blue beskar, and a cacophony of yells and shouts rent the air. "He touched the Binder! Paz Viszla has touched the Binder!", and before you could understand what was happening, the strong hands were torn away from you, and the one they called Paz Viszla was shackled and dragged away.

#Paz Viszla #Paz Viszla x Reader #Paz Viszla x F!Reader #Masumi Writes

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brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics · 1 year ago

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Fanfic - Desynced: Chapter 6

(Ao3 Here) (FF.net here)

It took a week, but eventually the school reopened. Danny was both dreading, and looking forward to, the school day. While nothing new had happened, there had been no sign of that one ghost (or Danny’s lunch box) but Danny also hadn’t seen or heard from Tucker or Sam since that day in the park.

It left a feeling like there was a gnawing pit in his stomach.

But, not just in his stomach, it went up his chest as well. Like his ribs had been torn open and left a gaping wound in his chest.

Danny tried to run up the stairs to the school, but each step he took he’d falter. Each step he took, he’d feel the ground beneath his feet a full second before his foot would actually find purchase. And if it weren’t for his white knuckled grip on his backpack straps, he knew he’d lose track of where his hands were.

It felt like he was a stranger in his own body.

Eventually, Danny made it to his locker. Even though he had trouble placing his extremities; he felt like a stranger in his own body. It wasn’t difficult to make it to his locker. His body felt larger than it was, which helped him avoid running into anyone else. When he made it to his locker, he took a moment to breathe. He carefully reached out for the lock on his locker. He felt a hand phase through the metal of the door, the metal felt weak and fragile as he pushed his hand through.

Eventually, his flesh and blood hand made contact with the lock. He breathed out and carefully pulled it away from the door. The metal door creaked as the ghostly version of his hand (that for some reason felt more real than his human hand) slid back.

Slowly and methodically, as not to forget which hand was which, he entered the code to his locker. The twisting of his fingers was hard to ignore as he could feel the ghostly version of himself scraping his palm open with sharp claws.

It took way too long, but eventually he got it open.

He tried to ignore the fact that it felt like he had an open wound dripping something on the floor next to him.

“Yo!” Tucker’s sudden greeting made Danny jump and whip around. He put his (bleeding) hand to his chest. “Whoa, dude, you a lil’ jumpy there?” His eyes widened and he glanced around, before leaning in. “Did you see another one of those… things?”

Danny shook his head. “No, not that. I got a name for them apparently,” he said, shrugging. “They’re apparently ghosts.”

Tucker raised an eyebrow, “You mean like… the things that go boo?”

Danny nodded and shrugged off his backpack before slowly putting his backpack on its hook. “Yeah, that’s apparently what they really look like. They can do that thing where they walk through walls and stuff, but when they manifest in the real world, they look like that monster.”

“Well, there goes any desire to see my great grandma…” Tucker muttered quietly. He raised an eyebrow. “You bringing coffee to school?”

Danny followed Tucker’s gaze to his locker. On the back of his backpack what looked like a metal thermos was hanging off his backpack. Danny pursed his lips and looked back at Tucker. “Yeah, no, it’s not a coffee thermos it’s… okay, so like there’s this tradition called a bottle tree. It’s meant to trap evil spirits because the spirit can enter the bottle but has trouble getting out of it.”

Tucker scoffed. “Are ghosts bugs that can’t understand windows?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Some spirits follow rules that we don’t have to, and some evil spirits really are just malevolent crawling entities. There’s a LOT of folklore out there about it. Anyways, the point being, remember what I said before? My parents' job… what I thought was my parents job... was basically finding out what works and doesn’t work in folklore and magic and turning it into repeatable stuff. This is their version of a glass bottle tree so it’s-”

“It’s a spirit containment device,” Tucker cut off. “You could have just said that.”

“It’s a theoretical spirit containment device. They don’t have any idea if it’ll work or not.”

“Oh, well, that’s comforting.”

“Better than nothing,” Danny sighed, and reached out to close his locker. His hand stopped almost a foot before the door. Bone scraped against metal, the shock of it made him look up and see he wasn’t truly touching the door. He took a couple breaths before pushing and he felt his hand sink into the metal of the lockers, and the metal scraped through his hand, sliding between bone, muscle, and sinew as he used his human hand to close the door.

“You alright?” Tucker asked, glancing at Danny and looking him up and down.

“I’m fine,” he lied. “Anyways, you know my locker combination? Just in case… ya know?”

“How could I forget? Six-six-six… wait, if magic is real, is that actually cursed?”

“How has this school year gone?”

“Fuck.”

***

Sam tapped her pencil against her notebook. Her lip was beginning to feel raw with how much she was chewing on it as she tried to place the unease she was feeling in her gut. It felt like she was going to vomit, but unlike the past couple weeks, it wasn’t because of the smell of cooked meat. No, something else was bothering her.

Something was bothering Mr. Lancer too, seeing as he snapped at Dash to put his racket ball away. Dash tried to protest, saying that it was just for rolling out the muscles in his arm, but Lancer told him to just focus on the lesson.

Mr. Lancer never had told off any of the ‘jocks’ before. Usually he did nothing but sing their praises, calling them modern warriors and scholars.

It felt… wrong. The way the air tasted felt off, everything was cold to the touch, and sounds just felt so much sharper.

And it felt like there was something breathing down her neck.

There was a thudding of footsteps out in the hall, and Mr. Lancer’s head snapped to the door. “Hey!” he shouted, as he made his way to the door. He opened the door and looked down the hallway. “No running in the-”

Anything else he said was cut off by the sound of alarm bells ringing.

“Mr. Fenton!” Mr. Lancer shouted, absolutely furious. “That’s not a-”

Danny’s voice shouted back. “Get everyone out! Now! Towards the main entrance!”

The rest of the class all looked at each other with wide eyes, before Mr. Lancer stepped back into the classroom. Mr. Lancer grumbled under his breath, “This better not be a prank…” before he clapped his hands. “Alright everyone! Just like the fire drills, let’s get going. Single file and no pushing! We’re gonna do this nice and orderly.”

Everyone got up immediately, and started rushing towards the door. The line started going out but Mr. Lancer turned toward the closer emergency exit, not towards the entrance like Danny had shouted to.

“Mr. Lancer?” Sam called out, “Didn’t Danny say to go the other way?”

“This is the fastest route out,” Mr. Lancer said, turning around to give the students a calming smile, “There’s no smoke coming up the stairs here, so we should be fine.” The lead student gasped as they and Mr. Lancer turned the corner. “What the fu-” Sam saw his face turn from confusion to panic and he turned and pushed the students next to him away. “Other way! Run!”

The urgency in his voice made several students turn and book it. Forgoing the ‘single file line’ that he had asked for to just trying to run past each other. But some were slower than others, the sudden shift in plans made panic start coming to the forefront. Sam got pushed out of the way, before she too turned and started running.

Then the ground shook.

Sam turned and looked back, and her feet froze to the floor.

There was a giant hand, large enough that it could easily wrap itself around her chest, slammed against the wall, but the hand wasn’t flesh. Sam recognized it immediately by the way her stomach roiled in protest at its existence.

Ground meat, marbled with fat was slapped against the wall, bones poking out of it scraped against the wall. It felt like it was moving slowly, but the sheer size meant that a slow movement for the giant mass of meat swept across a wide area.

And then it pulled itself forward.

The body turned toward Sam, and the thing’s eyes saw the students scrambling to get away. It opened its mouth wide and Sam felt her chest shake as the sound of children screaming practically crashed into her.

That was Sam’s cue to start running again.

Sam turned and started running. She paused for a moment to pick up one of the other students. She thought his name was Mikey, but she wasn’t sure. “Come on, get up!” She shouted at him before pushing him forward.

She paused again to pick up another student, this one she knew was Trisha. Then she heard Danny shout. “Sam! Look out!”

Sam felt something loom over her, and she looked back. The creature had crossed the distance of the hall way faster than something of its size should have been. There was a fleeting moment where she realized wouldn’t have been able to outrun it…

Before a boney and meaty limb slapped her against the wall.

Bright splotches filled her vision as her head struck the wall, and she fell to the ground. She couldn’t scream, not with the air from her lungs being forced out the way it was. But the bile in her throat rose as the smell of rotting and fetid meat assailed her. It was worse than all the sharp pains she felt across her body where the bones had sliced and cut her.

Her vision began to darken, before a scream snapped her awake. “Sam!” Danny’s voice snapped her eyes open, but her vision swam. The world was shaking and jittery, and she could only see red splotches spread across her skin.

Before the creature stepped in front of her, its mouth opened wide as its limbs reached for her.

The smell of rotting meat assaulted her as the same time hot air coming from its mouth washed over her.

And she realized she was trapped in its hands as it pulled her into its mouth.

A second time, she fell to the floor as some kind of missile slammed into its side. Sam blinked as her vision began to clear, and she saw something in front of her. To say its skin was pitch black would be an understatement. It was like all light vanished by the creature in front of her. Even the hallway was darker in the direction of it. There was an ethereal green glow around it, like the corona of light around all the pictures of black holes Danny would show her.

A long tail, littered with boney spikes flicked back and forth in front of her, snapping back and forth like a whip. Each sudden movement was accompanied by the sound of bones breaking.

She’d never forget how she knew what that sounded like.

The meat creature’s body twisted, not quite moving, more like the meat rotated around a core so that the mouth and face were facing the two of them. Its eyes settled on the creature in front of her, which widened its stance.

Sam glanced down to see digitigrade feat that were encased in a bone like material, before the movement of limbs made her glance up. The arms looked like someone had forgotten to put musculature on the arms, before the hands ended in large claws that were as long as Sam’s torso.

The meat creature roared, the sound of sirens ringing out from its mouth before the black one slashed the other. The meat creature stepped back, placing a limb over its face. The limb melted into its head as a new limb sprouted from the bend of its arm.

Sam couldn’t see the black one’s mouth open, but she knew it screamed as well. This was louder than the meat creature by far, and Sam was brought to her knees by the sound. Unlike the meat creature, the sound coming from it could have been made by another creature.

It was the sound of a young girl, screaming, and a young man calling for help, over the sound of breaking bones.

It was Tucker’s yelling, and Sam screaming as Danny fell out of his parents’ device. The screams she let out before she had to save her breath to give Danny CPR, and the sound of his rib cage breaking underneath her hands as she tried to keep him alive.

The black creature sprung forward, its claws pierced the meat monster’s eyes and it twisted as it leapt over. It planted its feet on the ceiling and with a harsh yank it pulled the larger one away from Sam.

Sam scrambled back as the pile of rotting meat fell to the floor. The ground shook underneath her. The black creature leaned forward, its claws slicing in the ceiling, leaving plaster to fall down onto the meat creature. The one on the ground began to swell, letting out a wet squelching sound as it stood back up. It looked up, and once again let out a scream, the sounds of pots crashing was drowned out as Sam’s own screams came out of the black creature’s mouth.

The black one dove off the ceiling, crashing into the meat monster. There was enough force behind the tackle that it dragged the both of them through the wall. The resulting hole was just barely larger than the smaller of the two monsters, with the larger being dragged through. The screaming of Tucker calling for help and the sound of breaking bones echoed through the school, and it made Sam jump up.

She ran over to see that the two were now fighting in the cafeteria. Sam couldn’t help herself, and she ran over to the railing to see the two of them. The smaller of the two was circling the larger, its claws tearing up the tile as if it were paper mache; it looked like a panther circling prey as its tail whipped about. Each movement was followed by the sound of breaking bones that made Sam’s skin crawl.

The meat monster in comparison was fairly still, if it weren’t for the fact that the body spun as if on an axis it’d look like it was completely stationary. The eyes of the creature tracked it as it slowly prowled around it.

It gave Sam another good look at the black creature, Sam had expected it’s face to look like an animal’s but that wasn’t even close. It was quite obviously humanoid, it almost looked like a skull, but it had long teeth that looked more like fangs.

Then a green light came from the eye sockets and the mouth, before more of Tucker and Sam’s screams came out of it. The meat monster braced just before the black one dove at it. It leapt up, pouncing on it before sinking its teeth into the other. The humanoid head jerked around about, like Tucker did when he was eating a particularly stubborn bit of beef jerky.

The meat monster’s mouth opened in a roar, the sound of children screaming echoed in the cafeteria before it reached up and grabbed the black one in one meaty limb before prying it off and slamming the black one into the floor.

The floor cracked, but Sam couldn’t hear it over the sound of breaking bones. Each creek dragged her back to the basement, back to when Danny’s body fell out of the device with a sickening thud as his skull cracked against the ground, back to when she tried to keep him alive. She could practically feel Danny’s ribs giving way as she tried to keep his heart going, as this weird creature defended her.

The black one twisted underneath as it was pinned. It’s head, arms and legs turning 180 degrees to turn and continue trying to tear the meat monster into pieces.

The meat monster roared again, before it whipped about and threw the black creature through a wall. The concrete and bricks tumbled to the floor, causing a cloud of dust to begin to rise off the floor.

Then it turned to look at Sam.

Suddenly, two men burst into the cafeteria. Their white suits were ruined with red blood stains. One of them immediately drew a pistol and started firing at the meat monster, as the other sprinted across the cafeteria. The crack of gunshots were nothing to the sound of the creatures’ roaring from earlier, and the bullets did virtually nothing to the creature.

They would impact against its body, occasionally splintering a bone that was poking out of it, but other than that the only effect was ripples spreading across the body.

But it got its attention. The meat creature took several steps towards one of the men, getting close enough to raise its arm to swing at him. But then a bolt of fire flew across the room. Sam stepped back as her eyes practically burned from the sudden light. She tried to blink away the spots in her vision as the monster screamed. It whipped around, turning towards the second man, before practically flying across the cafeteria.

It got about three quarters of the way there before the first man shouted something, before a bolt of fire got flung from him and then thrown at the creature. Sam once again stepped back as the creature screamed, her hands covering her ears in a useless instinct.

Sam watched in fascination as the men played with the creature. Even though it seemed like what they were doing was effective, even she could tell the men didn’t do any real damage to it. The fire striking the body didn’t even leave a mark on it, but the beautiful flares sure as hell pissed it off.

It was too angry to think, turning its focus to whichever man was flinging magic at it. Back and forth they switched, casting spell after spell after spell. Till eventually, the creature threw its head back and roared, before disappearing into mist, leaving only the smell of cooked meat wafting in the area.

The two men stood still for a moment before straightening and dusting off their suits in sync. Then both of them looked up at Sam. Sam wanted to run, but her legs might as well have been made of stone for all she could use them right now.

The two men made their way out of the cafeteria, but before Sam could get her legs to obey her they came up to her on either side of the hallway, blocking her off from any escape she could have had.

“You’ll need to come with us,” they said in sync.

Faced with two obvious federal agents of some sort, Sam said the first thing she had on her mind. “I’m…” Sam gasped, “I am exercising my right to remain silent.”

Then the smell of burnt and rotting meat got too much for Sam, and then she threw up.

#danny phantom #dp fic #fanfic #danny fenton #sam manson #Hazafic #ectoimplosion2023 #cw: body horror #cw: gore #body horror #gore

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