#like i’m still bracing myself in case some of it’s true obviously i hope it’s not

[hugesigh]

ALSO how a guy in a rap battle gonna ask his opponent why he hasn’t dragged his girlfriend in to defend him?? aubrey, you’re in the beef of the century rn and he’s winning, he doesn’t need to make it her problem

[nevertheless-moving]

Suicidal Misunderstanding XX

Part I - - - - - - - - - - Part XVII - - - - Part XVIII - - - - Part XIX

Star Wars Time Travel AU #27

“I want you to understand that what we’re going to ask of you is entirely beyond the scope of duty and therefore completely voluntary. You are more than free to refuse participation, at any point, with absolutely no consequences.”

Deep within the Healing Halls best-kept medical secret, Eights quelled beneath the full might of the GAR’s highest and most lauded Generals. Yeah I’m sure whatever they ask I’m going to want to say no. Honestly, what kind of soldiers have they been working with?

“What can I do to help, sir? Sirs?”

“I know this might be shocking, but we have reason to believe the GAR is...compromised.”

“Sir?”

Eights thought furiously. This wasn’t about the healers who were hiding them, or the Jedi his battalion never received, or the decommissioning he had escaped. This was bigger.

The General Windu spoke calmly, “We suspect that you may have been trained or conditioned at some point without your knowledge to unquestioningly follow orders, orders that would usually be beyond what you would typically obey. With your permission, we’d like to try and activate that order in a restrained environment in order to gain more information, with the hope of finding a way to help the troops resist.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t understand. You’re just going to give me an order and ask me...not to obey it?”

General Koon nodded (General Koon! General Koon and General Windu were talking to him at the same time!). “In a manner of speaking, yes. But it’s possible that the order will do more than that. The only way we believe this could possibly work” Koon glanced to the man at his side. “And we...do believe this threat is real, is if you suffer from some form of brainwashing. Activating it might cause irreparable brain damage. Activating it might damage or kill the parts of you that make you you. Even if it doesn’t- the ideal scenario is we find something- an intentionally designed tumor perhaps- and surgically remove it. And brain surgery also has its own risks.”

Eights swallowed around a lump in his throat. 

“And this is something that could be going on with...my entire batch?”

General Kenobi winced. “The entire GAR I’m afraid. Every clone.”

The General of the 212th! Commander Cody’s General was here! Talking to him! Telling him existentially terrifying ultra classified intel!

The trooper stared up from bed in disbelief. If anyone besides three of most respected generals in the entire GAR (not including Buir Ti) was telling him this he would accuse them of bantha crap fear-mongering, if not outright treason. Instead he was just...outraged.

“What would the order make me...us...do?”

Windu took a deep breath. “Attack us. Try and kill the Jedi.”

“I would never.” Eights straightened up even further. “We would never betray the Jedi- it’s- never. We were made for the Jedi and even if we weren’t- you’re the only ones who treat us with an ounce of respect.”

“No one is questioning your loyalty,” the kind Mon Cal healer (whose name he had never asked for fear of getting her in trouble if this ward was ever discovered) said, obviously trying to sooth him. She spoke with heart-breaking earnestness. “The fact that you would never choose to obey such a command just makes the possibility of something forcing you to do so that much more horrifying.”

“How would something like that even get in our heads? The longnecks designed us to serve the Jedi, why... I’m sorry Generals. I didn’t mean to get out of line.”

“No need to apologize. You have every right to be angry about this intrusion, as well as any number of things,” General Kenobi reassured him, smiling sadly. “We don’t know to what extent the Kaminoans are involved with this plot. Not precisely.”

Eights nodded, clenching his one remaining fist. “I’ll do it. Whatever you need from me. I can’t let my brothers have something this big looming over them without any intel.” I’m not exactly front-lines material anymore anyway.

“Are you sure?” Mace Windu’s eyes seemed to stare into his soul. Eights stared right back.

“I am. When do we start?”

It didn’t take long to shave the soldier and connect a number of glowing vital readers to his skull. He was ushered into a chambered observation room with what appeared to be a sfaraday cage hastily built around it. 

“Alright, whenever you’re ready.” Bant (Master Eerin apparently, but she told him to call her Bant) said.

“I’m ready, sir.”

“Let’s start off small, see if we can learn anything without fully activating the order.”

General Kenobi took in a deep breath. He looked calm, but Jedi always did. The General took in another breath. Kriff, two deep breaths. That’s Jedi for freaking out, isn’t it? Right?

Fuck.

“Does Order 66 mean anything to you?” General Kenobi braced himself, staring intently at the trooper in his seat. 

Eights wracked his brain furiously. Sixty-Six...that was...

“It’s...a little familiar? Sorry sir, I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere but...I can’t recall.”

“That’s perfectly alright trooper, not to worry.”

A Twilek healer he didn’t recognize spoke into a micomphone from the other side of a transparisteel window. “His frontal lobe might be lighting up a little, but it’s nothing abnormal, and not enough to triangulate for anything intrusive.”

After several variations on the same question as well as a number of scans of different ‘levels,’ the questioning escalated to orders, as well an extremely uncomfortable mock fight that he would probably tell his grandchildren about, provided he survived today, and also was allowed to have grandchildren.

Still, Eights couldn’t quite recall ever learning an Order 66 and was starting to relax, thinking the whole thing was some sort of horrible separatist lie.

They left him alone for an uncertain amount of time before returning with-

“Quickdraw?!” Eights jumped up at the sight of his commanding officer arriving via hoverchair, nervously saluting with his left hand.”I didn’t know you were here!”

“Just got out of bacta. My spine’s not quite what it used to be after the blast,” the lieutenant responded wryly. “At ease, Eights.”

“Our apologies again for waking you prematurely,” General Koon said softly.

Quickdraw waved the General off. “I’m honored you did. For something as serious this- well I’d hardly forgive myself if I just slept through it.”

Quickdraw locked eyes with Eights. “I’m supposed to try giving you ‘the order’ now- General Kenobi suspects that as your superior officer, I might be authorized to trigger whatever the hell the longnecks put in our heads.”

Eights swallowed hard. “The longnecks, sir?”

“Who else?” Quickdraw asked in a tone drier than Jakku. He spun in the chair to face General Koon. “How are we doing this?”

After a brief discussion, the troopers ended up on opposite sides of a sound-proof transparisteel divider, an comm channel open between them. Eights plugged his ears and gave the order first. And giving Quickdraw an order was almost but not quite as weird as giving an order that would apparently make him try and kill Jedi.

Nothing happened and they swapped, this time with Quickdraw using a waxy covering to block his hearing.

His lieutenant stared at him straight through the clear divider and ordered him to execute Order 66. This time he finally remembered his training, and realized he was woefully outgunned. Oh well, he was a good soldier.

Eights stood up. The only visible change in his expression was a widening of his pupils. There was no malicious intent palpable in the force- he didn’t even look angry- just determined.

He lunged at the Jedi next to him, only to hit an invisible wall. He threw himself at the barrier desperately while the traitor backed out of the room and escaped. The wall finally dropped, but it was too late, he was locked in.

Sighing, he picked up the chair with his one good arm, slamming it repeatedly at the door frame. Good soldiers follow orders.

On the other side of the observation window, Quickdraw stumbled back horrified, reaching for his ears before hesitating. General Koon softly tapped his shoulder and indicated they should leave. 

“I’ve got a location.” Master Che said quietly as the lieutenant was ushered into an antechamber and the activated trooper continued to beat at the door. “It’s a small but clear patch lit up like the festival of lights- I don’t know why it didn’t turn up in scans but...I’m as confident as I can be. Worst case- it’s a small enough area that removing the grey matter shouldn’t...well it won’t kill him. It’s enough to go on for microscapel surgery.” General Koon nodded, then tilted forward, weight falling heavily in his palms on the counter before him.

Vokara rested a hand gently on his back “...I was hoping it wasn’t true as well.”

Master Koon flinched away. “I am sorry and glad to say you do not understand my feelings on the matter. I think...my apologies but I need some time to meditate.”

“Of course.”

Koon rushed out. After a moment Master Windu stepped in, radiating similar distress as Master Koon. Master Kenobi followed, looking grim but also happy. 

‘Oh I’m glad Koon isn’t around him right now,’ Healer Che thought wryly.

Perhaps sensing the mood, Obi-Wan sobered. 

“I’m sorry it’s just- I didn’t actually see the order get activated. Of course I believed it wasn’t a choice- and I’m obviously not glad that anyone’s will could be taken so easily-”

“You don’t have to explain anymore,” Mace offered quietly. “I can understand why seeing this would be something of a relief, all things considered.”

The Head Healer nodded in agreement before taking charge. “Kenobi, go in with Eerin and help her sedate him. I’ll prepare for surgery.”

“Wait- shouldn’t we try other permutations first? It’s possible that once activated, a clone might be able to order a superior officer-”

“And it’s also possible that if a lieutenant is activated, the entire army will turn,” Mace snapped. Obi-Wan bent his head, chastised. 

“Right. Yes. I’ll go- find Bant.”

An extremely long hour later, Master Che returned from surgery. Masters Mundi, Koth, and Yoda had left to and fulfill the other thousand and one duties of a council member not unravelling a Sith conspiracy at the heart of the Republic, while Master Aerdo had been dispatched to talk with Quickdraw as well as some of the other troopers in the hidden Medical bay. 

“It’s a chip,” Vokara said grimly. “Native biological material, but clearly a chip. Like you would find in a droid. Far more complex than any slave chip I’ve ever seen, and no explosive component. It would only turn up on a level five brain scan. I didn’t even think to run it before- it’s overly invasive and typically useless.”

The reduced meeting crumpled at the sight of the infinitesimally small object of control, carefully encased in a stasis slide and placed delicately on the conference table.

Proof of Obi-Wan’s future, a future that the group thought they already believed.

“We should get Master Nu,” Adi Gallia said quickly, “We’ll want our top researchers analyzing it as soon as possible.”

Koon nodded sharply. “Agreed.”

The Tholothian Master stood, “I’ll go at once- we should probably keep any mention of this off comms.”

As Master Gallia swept out of the room, Plo Koon wrenched his gaze from the stasis slide to face the healer. “Master Che, what is Eight’s status?”

“Unconscious and restrained, but he should wake up soon enough. It...might not be a bad idea to have another Jedi nearby when he does.”

Koon and Che left the room, taking the chip with them and conferring quietly.

Obi-Wan leaned forward, elbows on the table and face in his hands.

Master Windu exchanged a glance with Anakin. 

Finally Obi-Wan spoke, tentatively addressing Bant, “Could it be possible for someone...besides a clone to be chipped? If Palpatine had access to them as a child...”

Bant drew back, gaze flickering to Anakin. “I- we would have to study it more-”

Anakin interrupted, shifting in his seat. ”Master- what did I do?”

“It- it wasn’t you. It wasn’t you anymore that the person who fired on me was Cody.”

Bant exchanged a glance with Mace, before clearing her throat with a soft gurgle. “Perhaps we should leave the two of you alone to talk this through.”

The Mon Cala Healer stood and exited rapidly. Windu exchanged a glance with Skywalker before he left. “Talk through everything, understood?” Anakin nodded.

The door shut, leaving Master and Padawan alone. “I feel like I’m missing more than two and a half days,” Obi-Wan muttered wryly. “I don’t remember you three having a non-verbal communication system consisting of eye-contact alone before.”

Anakin chuckled once then immediately grew somber, picking at a loose thread in the sleeve of his robe. A thousand thoughts were swirling in his head, and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I- did I hurt you? Is that- is that why you stabbed me, you thought you were defending-”

“I did what?!” Obi-Wan paled, jumping up from his seat.

Anakin winced. “It’s nothing, that’s actually not important. I’m healed anyway so forget I mentioned it-”

Obi-Wan moaned, stumbling backwards over the fallen chair. “Of force- when you were trying to save me- I had a blade. I cut you down-” He tripped backwards, collapsing to the ground.

“Master!” Anakin lurched forwards, but the older Jedi scrambled back.

“I forgot my spray bottle in there,” Bant whispered outside the door. “Do you think it’s too late to go back for it?”

Mace peered subtly through the small window in the door. “Yes. They’re already on the ground. I think they’re both crying.”

“It’s been less than a minute!”

“Yes.”

“...We should go.”

“Yes.”

Unaware of their muffled audience, the two continued their conversation.

“Don’t- don’t touch me!” Obi-Wan gasped, back hitting a wall. “I don’t- I don’t deserve-”

The young knight reared back, falling from a crouch to his knees, “Is this...about the Tuskens again?

Obi-Wan blinked in confusion. “The Tuskens? What about Tuskens?”

“You don’t...remember?” The air grew cold and Anakin forced himself to continue, “What- what we talked about in the cave?”

“What we- I-” Obi-Wan thought furiously. “...Anakin. What did...what were you apologizing for in the cave? What- what did you think we were talking about?”

“Oh gods.” Anakin paled now, shuffling back.

“What are they doing now?” Bant asked the taller Master.

“They’re taking turns chasing each other back and forth on their hands and knees. They both look like they’re seconds away from passing out or throwing up.”

“I...is this a human thing?”

“No. What? Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know! Do you think this is how they usually talk to each other?”

“I think perhaps they don’t talk to each other, and that’s why they’re like this.”

“Right, right... I really want to hear what they’re saying.”

“Hm. I don’t.”

“Why are you also standing outside the door then?”

“I want to be ready to intervene if they start trying to kill each other.”

“FORCE”

“Quiet!”

“Sorry. Sorry. You think they fought then? In the...other timeline?”

“...It would explain Obi-Wan’s shatterpoint remnants better than anything else.”

“Not to mention the spice.”

“I thought we were politely ignoring the spice.”

“...and then I brought her back to the homestead for burial.” Anakin bowed his head, tears streaming against his will. “I thought...Master I know I can’t fix this but I’m sorry- I already stepped down from my position as General so I wouldn’t be in a position to kill anyone else- I need you to forgive me.”

“Oh Anakin.”

“What? What happened?” Bant asked urgently. 

The Master of the Order appeared unruffled in the force and human visible light, but the tips of his ears were heating up in infrared. She stood on her toes to see in.

“Oh- they’re hugging? Seriously? That’s what you’re embarrassed to see?”

“They’re clinging to each other like younglings. It’s undignified for a Jedi Master and Knight”

“Alright that’s it- we’re going. I really don’t think Anakin’s going to jump from crying and hugs to murder.”

Unaware of their newfound privacy, the two inside withdrew from their embrace, still sniffling slightly. 

“Thank you, Master,” Anakin said in a shaky tone. “I swear I won’t let you down, I’m going to do better.”

“I know, my padawan, I know. I’m going to be there to help you this time, I’m not going to leave you alone with- well I’m not going to leave you alone.”

Anakin smiled wetly at Obi-Wan’s careful avoidance of Chancellor Palpatine’s supposed Sith alter ego, refocusing on Obi-Wan and making intense eye contact.

“What did you think we were talking about?”

Obi-Wan looked down. “It doesn’t matter,” he whispered. “It- it never happened.”

“Ori’vod, please. You- you mentioned younglings. I did something else unforgivable didn’t I?”

Obi-Wan smiled but didn’t look up. “And i forgave you anyway. Even when I thought your apology was just a fantasy. But it wasn’t, it was real, and- and the people actually are unmurdered so...it’s not worth talking about it.”

Anakin bit the inside of his cheek, gut roiling. “You...really think I might have a chip in me?”

Obi-Wan’s eyes snapped up. “I...don’t know. I didn’t even know that Cody had a chip in him.”

“You just...were suddenly betrayed by everyone.” 

“Not...everyone. Most who refused to fall in line were executed, of course, but there were a few senators who stood with the Jedi, secretly.” 

A new wave of cold terror passed over Anakin. “What happened with the other senators?”

“Like I said to the council earlier, from what I heard they cheered Palpatine on. Thunderous applause.”

“That’s not what I mean- Padme, Was Padme alright?”

Obi-Wan buried his face in his hands, shuddering.

“Anakin- I don’t know what to tell you,” he said in muffled voice. “I don’t want to deceive you but- things were dark. If I tell you everything now, I’m afraid of what you’ll do.”

Anakin winced. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me. I’m not...evil. I just...I messed up, and I want to make things better.”

Obi-Wan sighed, and pulled Anakin so they were seated next to each other in a mirror of the false peace a few days earlier. Anakin leaned into his Master’s side, feeling the cold retreat. “You’re not evil Anakin, but what you did to the Tusken village wasn’t exactly a small thing. I- look- Ad’ika-”

Obi-Wan hesitantly placed an arm around Anakin’s shoulder and the cold retreated a bit more.

“If the council accepts my plan, we’re going to have time together over the next few weeks, to talk more about...everything. We’re going to end the war- save everyone. I know the cave wasn’t what either of us thought it was, but it still meant the galaxy to me. I love you, no matter what...and that conversation, what you said. Well, it gave me the strength to go on, to do what I needed to.” Obi-Wan froze. “Not my, um, self-inflected injuries- that’s- obviously that wasn’t your fault-”

“You thought you were hallucinating. I know.” Anakin smiled, feeling honestly amused at the absurdity situation for the first time. “I’m going to mock you for that for the rest of our lives, you know that, right?”

“I look forward to it.” Obi-Wan smiled.

A vise that had been clenched around Anakin’s heart since he broke down the door to their apartment finally relaxed. “You really weren’t trying to kill yourself,” he sighed happily.

“I was attempting to stay alive. Honestly concerned about dehydration. I wanted to stay in the daydream, but I knew I couldn’t. And part of that was because you gave me the strength to keep going. Sorry I did such a bad job honoring that but, well. You know. Thank you, Anakin. For saving me twice over.” Obi-Wan’s voice was utterly earnest, though it was a touch more embarrassed than he was used to after the single day of utter unrestraint. 

Anakin’s eyes welled up. “I’ve been- I hated that you would just leave like that, give up-”

“Never Anakin,” Obi-Wan vowed. “I will never give up on you, or this galaxy.”

He twisted so he could throw both arms around his padawan.

“I swear by everything I am I will keep going. It’s... in my nature but gods is it easier with you besides me.”

“Even though i’m a child murderer twice over and once removed?” Anakin joked weakly, clinging desperately to Obi-Wan’s presence.

Obi-Wan shuddered. “Too soon, Anakin. Too soon.”

Part XXI

[writingmyanxietyaway]

Confessions | El Profesor

Requested by anon:  can i request a lcdp imagine where the reader likes the professor and she confesses nights before the heist but he wants to stay true to his relationship rule so she is heartbroken so she doesn’t want to talk to him and when the heist comes she doesn’t eat and sleep and he gets really worried about her so he expresses his true feelings to her

Word count: 1.8k

Warning: mention of a gun, not eating/drinking, angst

Note: takes place in the first season! Hope you like it, enjoy! xx

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

You were in a difficult position. On one hand you wanted to wait until everything was over. On the other hand you were unsure if you would make it out alive. You knew about his rule not to engage any relationships of any kind and he took it very seriously, but the thing was you absolutely him to death and you were willing to take that risk. So here you were, about to confess your feelings for him.

You waited until everyone had left the classroom and took a deep breath. You had clammy hands and you were lightly trembling. 

‘I- uhm.. Can I talk to you for a minute?’ you asked the Professor. He turned around, away from his chalkboard with raised eyebrows. His glasses had slipped down his nose a little, so he pushed them up. You found it adorable. Just like how he scrunched his nose whenever you talked to him.

‘Sure. Did I talk too fast or was I not clear about something?’ he stuttered. He instantly started doubting himself if he had indeed missed anything he was supposed to explain.

‘No, no. You were great. I just, uhm.. I kind of have something to tell you..’ you trailed off, ‘something personal.’

‘Bali, you know how I feel about sharing personal information. I specifically told you,’ he stated. Suddenly you felt incredible stupid. How did you think this was going to work when he clearly said he didn’t want any personal information shared?

‘I know.. I just want you to know something in case things go south. It doesn’t have to get in the way of your whole plan. If you don’t feel the same, we can just pretend it never happened.’ You waved your hand around, not really knowing what to do with your hands. ‘I just wanted you to know that I really like you. More than a friend or teacher, or whatever you are to me. I think you’re really handsome and nice. So, yeah..’ you spoke.

You couldn’t read his face. You saw somewhat of shock flash across his face, but you couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

‘Well..? Am I just embarrassing myself or do you maybe feel the same? It doesn’t have to be a long answer. Just a yes or no is fine,’ you rambled. 

He looked at you, fumbled with his glasses and turned back to the chalkboard.

‘I’d rather had you hadn’t shared this. This makes it all a lot more complicated,’ he sighed and grabbed a piece of chalk. ‘Can I still trust you to complete your tasks?’

You frowned, feeling not only rejected but also very used at the same time.

‘I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m just asking if you might feel the same.. You don’t have to be so rude,’ your voice cracked. Sergio mentally slapped himself in the face for hurting you, but he had to.

‘You knew the rules. I told you not to share anything personal. Relationships make this all a lot more difficult. I cannot allow this to fail. I made those rules for a reason,’ he said. It was like a slap in the face. He didn’t even have the respect to tell you a) if he did or did not feel the same, but also b) to look you in the eye.

‘Yeah, you mentioned that, twice, but the least I deserve is an answer to my face. I guess that answers my question. Just forget I said anything.’

Obviously, that was impossible for the both of you. The next few days were awkward and very uncomfortable. You tried listening to everything The Professor was saying, but you couldn’t look at him. You did notice him staring at you once every while, making Berlin tease you and Denver tease him. You found it all very embarrassing and couldn’t wait until you were inside the bank to escape his face.

-

Everything went according to plan. You got in, locked everyone out and had now been inside for almost 2 days. You loved every part of it. The tension with Berlin got out of hand for a while, but soon after the storm blew over and you were back in the game.

‘Are you okay? You haven’t eaten since yesterday..’ Nairobi asked you, genuine concern written over her face. It was true. You weren’t hungry or thirsty so you hadn’t eaten. Usually you had a great appetite, but you couldn’t bring yourself to eat. Everyone noticed, though. Including Sergio. He noticed you were always wandering around the halls, not even sleeping. He was incredibly worried and felt like an idiot for behaving the way he did. He sat behind his computers, fidgeting with his hands, wanting to do something.

‘Yeah, fine. Just got a lot on my mind, is all,’ you nodded at her. She didn’t look convinced in the slightest, so she grabbed a sandwich and handed it to you.

‘I want this eaten in an hour. If you’ve not eaten it I will push it down your throat,’ she sternly told you. You chuckled.

‘Yes, mother.’

As soon as she left, you threw it back in the fridge. When you heard yelling in the hallway, you grabbed your weapon and braced yourself for what you would find. Berlin was obviously yelling loudly again, threatening to shoot Arturo. Same shit different day.

-

It was now two days later and you had eaten a little bit more than one sandwich since Nairobi basically forced you to eat. You looked a lot more tired, your energy level had dropped to -4 and you were phisically and mentally exhausted. You looked like shit, to say it lightly. Sergio had grown more and more worried, telling the others to keep an even closer eye on you.

‘Drop the gun,’ you told Berlin, who had his gun pointed at Denver. He only smirked. ‘Denver, you too. I’m not fucking around. We need each other. We can’t just keep shooting at one another just because we’re stressed. Think for once, damn it.’ You raised your voice gradually as you spoke.

Berlin raised his eyebrows at you. His eyes flickered from your gun to Denver, who was about to burst with anger. As you held out your gun, the strength in your arms weakened. You tried your best holding up the gun, but when you focussed on your arms, your vision got blurry. When you tried focussing your vision again, your arms started trembling.

‘Berlin, please,’ you sighed. Your mouth got incredibly dry all of a sudden and your speech turned more into slurs. You felt yourself getting weaker by the second and this child’s play cost too much of the little energy you had left. Denver quickly lowered his gun when he saw you sway back and forth.

‘Bali? Bali!’ You saw him rushing to you, just like Berlin before your vision turned completely black and you fell to the floor.

-

‘We told her to eat! It’s not our damn fault. She’s too stubborn to listen.’ 

Your hearing slowly came back before you could open your eyes. You felt someone hold your hand while someone else was on the phone.

‘No, of course not... Yes, we did that already. Shouldn’t be too long before she wakes up,’ the voice came closer, ‘I think she’s waking up, hold on.. Bali, honey, can you hear me?’ 

You nodded lightly before slowly opening your eyes. Moskú held the phone while Rio held your hand. You were in the office, laying on one of the couches. You had an IV in your arm and a bag of liquid hung next to the window. You waved to the camera in the corner, letting The Professor know you were in fact alive.

‘He wants to talk to you.. We’ll give you some privacy while you two talk. When you’re done, just give us a call,’ he smiled and handed you the phone.

‘Thank you, guys. For everything,’ you tried smiling, but you were still too weak. They gave you a kiss on the head and left to the hallway.

‘Starving yourself? Really?’ Was the first thing you heard when you held the phone to your ear. You groaned loudly.

‘No, I just wasn’t hungry. Adrenaline, probably,’ you muttered. ‘Why do you care anyway? It’s not like I’m any good use compared to the others.’

‘Are you serious? You and Berlin are the leaders of this entire plan, Bali. How could you be so stupid?! We need you and we need you alive. Too many people have died already, I can’t loose you too,’ he stuttered. You heard his jagged breath.

‘Are you done?’ you asked, not wanting to deal with his whining anymore.

‘I’m sorry..’ he sighed, ‘You scared me. I thought I was going to loose you, Y/N.’

Your breathing stopped for a second and you sat up. He never called anyone by their actual names. You didn’t even know he knew yours.

‘Why did you call me that?’ you asked, heart beating loudly in your chest. ‘You said no personal details or any information.’

‘I know.. I just had to know your name. God, I want to know everything about you. Your favourite breakfast, your favourite country, what your goals in life are.. I want to know it all. And that scares me. I’ve never had this urge to get to know someone as much as you. You’re perfect in every way and I almost lost you,’ he confessed. Your felt your heart flutter and you turned your head to look into the camera.

‘What are you saying?’ you asked him, hoping to finally hear want you’ve wanted to hear for the past two weeks.

‘I.. I like you. A lot. And I was too scared to tell you because I’ve never felt anything like this before for anyone. I was so rude to you and you don’t deserve that. Please forgive me?’ he asked hopefully. You couldn’t help the smile that grew on your lips.

‘Waffles with strawberries, kiwi’s and mango,’ you answered.

‘What?’ he asked, completely confused by your answer.

‘My favourite breakfast,’ you winked into the camera. You heard him let out a laugh on the other end of the line, making you smile as well.

‘So, who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?’ you whispered.

‘Sergio. Sergio Marquina.’

‘Nice to meet you Sergio. Now, get me out of here. I want to go to the beach.’

[theycallmebecca]

Drabble: The Ass-sistant

When I claimed this anon prompt for @the-ce-horniest-book-club​ I had other story ideas in mind... but after my little adventure yesterday afternoon, I was inspired in a totally different direction. So part of this is what actually happened to me... and the other part is just made up. I’ll let you figure out which part 😉

[Edit] Silly me forgot to tell you what my prompt was! It was an anon prompt for “Is this a bad time to mention that I prefer to sleep naked?”

Title: The Ass-sistant

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: language

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

When you cancelled your date with Chris, you hadn’t expected him to show up. The two of you had only been dating for a couple weeks.

But there he was, standing on the other side of your front door with a grocery bag in both hands and a backpack thrown over one shoulder.

“Damn,” he muttered as he took in your appearance from the brace on your ankle up to the bandages covering your palms. “You really messed yourself up good, didn’t you?”

“I’ll be ok,” you assured him. You hurt like hell, but you’d hurt your ankle before and had recovered fine. Granted, you’d never rolled your ankle and landed on asphalt. This time you had, and you had the road rash and cuts on your hands and knees to prove it.

It was that accident, which had occurred when you’d been walking down the long driveway of your apartment complex to get your mail, that had caused you to cancel your date with Chris. You’d been honest with him on your reason and, clearly, he’d come to help.

“Have you eaten yet?” He asked after you led him into your apartment

“Not yet, I was going to order in,” you replied.

“No need, I brought dinner,” he told you. “Sit down and get your ankle up. I’ll bring dinner to you.”

You watched from the couch as he made himself familiar with your kitchen.

It wasn’t until a familiar scent reached your nose that you realized he’d gone to your favorite restaurant and picked up your favorite meal. That had been the original plan for the evening, but he hadn’t asked you what you wanted. Obviously, he had remembered the fact from an earlier conversation.

“Tray table?” He asked.

“In the closet by the front door,” you replied.

From where you sat, you saw him walk down the hall and open the closet. It wasn’t exactly a Monica Geller secret closet of shame situation, but it wasn’t super organized either. You held your breath as you watched him dig around, but it only took him a couple seconds to unearth the two hand-me-down tray tables. Then he closed the door to the closet without a word.

Five minutes later, you sat with your ankle resting on a pillow with your favorite dinner on a tray table while Chris sat in a matching armchair eating his own dinner. 

“Thank you for this,” you said to him. “I didn’t want to cancel, but I couldn’t see any way around it since I can barely walk.”

“I hated the idea of you here by yourself,” he admitted. “And I’ve been there. Getting hurt is the worst.”

You both chuckled at that.

“I, uh, brought stuff over to stay the night,” he said, meeting your eye. “Not to do that but in case you didn’t want to be home alone tonight.”

You didn’t answer right away, partly because you had just taken a bite of your dinner but also because you needed a moment to think. You had been toying with the idea of inviting Chris in after dinner for that reason, but that plan had gone south with your injuries.

You had spent the last couple hours hobbling around your apartment and it would be nice to have some help. It also meant you got to spend time with Chris and that made you happy.

“I’d love for you to stay,” you told him and then took it a step farther. “You can stay with me in my room or on the couch, wherever you’re the most comfortable.”

“I’ll do whatever helps you sleep better,” he said seriously, but you could see something in his eye that revealed his true feelings. He wanted to sleep in your bed with you. “That’s the most important part.”

“We’ll decide later then,” you replied with a smile.

Once you finished eating, Chris got an ice pack out of the freezer for you to ice your ankle while he did the dishes. He went above and beyond your expectations when he not only took care of the dishes the two of you had used for dinner, but took care of the dishes in the sink, too. And wiped down your kitchen counters.

“Are you really here or am I just having a really good dream?” You asked him as he came to collect the ice pack.

Instead of answering, he leaned over the back of the couch and kissed you on the mouth. Leaning into the kiss, you brought a hand up to rest on his jaw and forgot about everything. Until your ankle moved.

“Fuccccccck,” you cried out, pulling away from him.

“Fuck, damn it,” Chris echoed. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s my fault,” you said through gritted teeth. Looking up, you met his eyes and gave him a small smile. “I liked the kiss.”

A worried smile crossed Chris’s face and he sighed before he carried the ice pack back to the kitchen. Then he shut off the light in there and made his way back to the armchair.

“No,” you said before he sat down. “Sit with me, there’s enough room.” Then, because you could see the hesitation in his eyes, added, “you won’t hurt me, I promise.”

He studied you for a second before he sat down next to you on the couch. Given that you were sitting sideways on the couch with your ankle resting on a pillow, it was a bit tight, but the two of you made it work. He even pulled you back a little, so you were resting against him.

It took you two a good ten minutes to pick a movie to watch, before he suggested that the two of you just watch your favorite movie.

By the time the movie ended, it was time for another ice session and pain reliever. Not to mention a potty break.

You could feel Chris’s eyes on your back as you limped down the hall to the bathroom. You knew he wanted to offer his assistance, but there were some things a girl had to do by herself.

When you came out of the bathroom, he had the ice pack ready for you as well as a small snack and pain reliever. While you rested, he double checked the doors and windows, making things were locked up for the night.

You could feel the stress radiating from him twenty minutes later when he followed you to your bedroom. Your anxiety over everything was high enough, you didn’t need his added to it.

“Do you need help changing?” He asked.

Finding your opening to lightening the mood, you tipped your head to the side and said, “Is this a bad time to mention that I prefer to sleep naked?”

He blinked in a stunned silence for a second before you started to laugh, and he followed your lead.

“In all seriousness,” you said, looking at him. “I’m happy you’re here with me tonight and that I’m not by myself. And you’ve been an absolute gem, I just need you to relax because you’re going to get me worked up again and then I’ll cry and -” You stopped talking as the anxiety from earlier started to build in your chest.

Then Chris was there. He wrapped his arms around you and held onto you as he whispered quietly, reminding you to breath. With his helped, you managed to pull yourself together.

“Thank you,” you whispered to him.

“Anytime,” he replied seriously. “I’ll go change in the bathroom and let you do whatever in here. Call if you need me.”

A short time later, you lay in bed next to Chris, trying to get comfortable, but not finding a comfortable position. It wasn’t your ankle cause the issue, however, but the muscles in your butt. After taking the brunt of your fall earlier in the day, those muscles had been ignored thanks to other immediate and demanding issues. And now they were making themselves known.

“Are you ok?” Chris asked. “Do you need me to go to the couch?”

“No, stay,” you said through gritted teeth. He had positioned himself as far to one side of the bed as he could without falling off, just to make sure you had enough room.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. There was a hint of worry, but he had taken your words about anxiety to heart.

“It’s embarrassing,” you sighed as you closed your eyes unable to look at him. “The muscles in my butt are screaming at me.”

When he didn’t respond, you opened your eyes and regretted it immediately when you saw the amused smirk on Chris’s face.

“It’s not funny!” You exclaimed. “It hurts.”

“I’m sure it’s a... pain in the ass,” Chris snickered.

Groaning, you rolled into your stomach in hopes that position would work better. It didn’t.

“Would you like me to help?” He asked attempting serious while amusement was still laced in his tone.

“Like what, rub my ass?” You asked, turning your head to look at him.

“It might work,” he replied. “I assume you need something deep and therapeutic rather than just a groping.”

“Definitely deep and therapeutic,” you agreed but then offered. “You can save the groping for another time.”

“If you want me massaging your ass to stay just that, you’ll need to keep those other comments to yourself,” Chris stated as he pushed the blankets off both of you.

“Those sounds too,” he added when his first, deep press into your butt made you moan.

“I’ll try,” you replied as he continued to work.

After twenty minutes of getting familiar with your butt over your pajama shorts, Chris removed his hands and asked, “How are you feeling now?”

“Much better,” you replied, sleepily. “When my hands get better, I’ll give you a massage, too.”

“It’s a date,” he said with a laugh. “Get some sleep.”

“You need to sleep, too,” you told him, looking at him. “I’m ok, Chris, just sore. I promise.”

He held your eye for a second, but eventually nodded. “I’ll sleep,” he promised.

And he did. When you woke up the next morning, still sore psychically, he was fast asleep next to you, which made your heart fill with happiness.

[moony-meadow]

The Very Hungry Beelzebub (3)

Previous Part / Next Part

“Uhhh…” Beelzebub was frozen. He was clearly unsure whether to reveal everything to Mammon in hopes of getting his help, or concocting some kind of lie to protect both his and my dignity. And I had a feeling that, unlike Mammon, Beel didn’t want to make the decision without getting my approval first.

“It’s okay, Beel, you can tell him,” I sighed. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to finding out what Mammon’s reaction would be. I honestly wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.

Though I couldn’t see it, I could easily imagine the confused expression currently painted on Mammon’s face as he wondered why he’d just heard my disembodied voice. No doubt he was looking around the room, searching for the source of the sound. “Huh? What was that?” he questioned, sounding thoroughly befuddled.

Poor Beel was going to be forced to explain the bizarre situation. Of course, I could try to do it, but it seemed like something that would be more easily done by someone not hidden away inside a stomach.

I could feel Beel take a nervous breath. He was obviously not looking forward to this. Despite being younger (and less powerful) than Mammon, he had never really acted like it. Beel would never take orders from the second oldest, and he showed no qualms about stepping on his toes. But now, he was anxious about admitting the truth to Mammon. What exactly he was afraid of, I didn’t know. Did he think his brother would be angry, or disappointed?

“After I started to recover from being sick, I got hungry...really hungry,” Beel began. “I-I wasn’t in control of myself. I ate everything in the kitchen.” I placed a hand on one of the fleshy walls, hoping it would come across as reassuring. “And then...and then Y/N came in.” He winced as he said it, and honestly, I did too.

“What exactly are ya sayin’?” Mammon’s voice had taken on an edge, a dangerous edge I hadn’t ever heard before.

Beel swallowed hard. “Mammon, I...I shrank Y/N and ate them.” He spit out the last part of the sentence, as if he was worried if he didn’t say it fast enough, he would never say it.

“You what?!” Mammon roared. I heard a commotion, and then suddenly everything around me lurched. I threw my arms out to brace myself against the walls. I definitely had not missed being thrown around like a ragdoll inside someone’s stomach, completely subject to their massive movements. “No, that can’t be right. Y/N has a pact with you. They woulda ordered you to stop.”

I could visualize the kicked puppy look on Beel’s face perfectly as he admitted to what he’d done in his hunger-fueled delirium. “They couldn’t. I put a silencing spell on them.”

More rough movements rocked my world, and then I heard, as well as felt, an echoing slam. I had a suspicion Mammon had just shoved Beel against a wall, which was difficult for me to imagine. I didn’t think I had ever seen him get violent with his brothers, or anyone for that matter.

“Mammon! Relax, I’m fine!” I shouted. The last thing I wanted was for things to get more physical, for my own sake as well as for Beel and Mammon’s. Seeing the brothers bicker and get at each other’s throats was commonplace, but I never enjoyed witnessing them coming to blows.

“Y/N?” Mammon exclaimed, his tone of voice instantly shifting. “Y/N, if you didn’t order Beel not to hurt you then you’re in danger! You’ll get digested--”

“Don’t worry, as soon as I got my voice back I made sure that wouldn’t happen,” I promised. The unfiltered concern in Mammon’s voice was more than a little endearing. The guy was quick to play the aloof, uncaring demon, though of course I knew that was all an act. It was refreshing to hear him being genuine and not attempting to hide his true feelings.

I could feel Beelzebub’s heartbeat begin to come down from its heightened rate as the tension in the room began to lessen. Once again he placed a gentle hand against his stomach, and I reciprocated with my much smaller hand on the other side.

“The only problem is I can’t bring them back up the same way you did,” Beel told Mammon regretfully.

“I guess that means you found ‘em tasty, huh?” Mammon said in a grumpy tone. Evidently he was aware of the little stipulation that prevented the Avatar of Gluttony from throwing up. I wasn’t shocked to hear Mammon was none too pleased about “his human” getting eaten by another demon. The Avatar of Greed was nothing if not possessive.

“Even the worst humans have a good flavor,” Beel remarked. “Of course Y/N would be leagues ahead of them.” My heart fluttered at the compliment, though it was a bit spoiled by the context of said compliment. I was glad Beel considered me to be “leagues ahead” of the worst humans, though I didn’t really like the fact that that seemed to go hand in hand with my level of tastiness.

“None of that matters,” I called out, eager to direct the conversation away from how enjoyable I apparently was to eat. “What matters is getting me the hell out of here.”

“Damn right,” Mammon was quick to reply. I had a feeling his determination was in large part attributed to his possessiveness.

Before Mammon had eaten me, when he was trying to convince me to agree to the whole endeavor in the first place, he had mentioned a backup place in case he was unable to cough me up naturally. His exact words had been, “if I can’t get ya out naturally, I could always just swallow the end of a string and pull ya out that way.” While the idea did sound pretty ridiculous and silly, I didn’t see any reason why it couldn’t work.

“Mammon, do you really think Beel swallowing the end of a string would work?” I questioned. I would be more than a little pissed if he had only offered that as a suggestion to trick me into letting myself get swallowed.

“Oh yeah, good idea!” Mammon exclaimed. “Lemme go find somethin’ that’ll work.”

“Wait, hold on a second--” Beel started to protest but was quickly interrupted.

“Beel, you should go to Y/N’s room so we don’t gotta worry about anyone walkin’ in on us.” After that came the sound of hurried footsteps exiting the room.

Beel remained still for a moment before releasing a soft sigh. “I’m going to make my way to your room,” he announced. “I doubt we’ll run into anyone at this hour, but just try not to move too much just in case.” He gave one last soft pat to his stomach before heading off.

While Beel definitely seemed to be making an effort to move slowly and carefully, the ride inside his stomach was still fairly unsteady. While it may have been my second time being eaten, that didn’t mean I was anywhere near used to the experience of riding around in a giant stomach.

Thankfully the trip to my bedroom didn’t last long and was completely uneventful. Once I heard the sound of the door clicking shut behind us, I let out a relieved sigh. “Is it okay if I sit down?” Beel asked tentatively.

A little smile formed on my face. Beel was so considerate and sweet. It was definitely a different experience being in his stomach than in Mammon’s. Aside from Beel’s far more mindful behavior, his stomach was also significantly bigger than Mammon’s had been. Of course that wasn’t surprising. He was the Avatar of Gluttony after all.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I replied with a light chuckle.

My environment creased slightly, signalling that Beelzebub had gone ahead and taken a seat. I myself took a seat at the bottom of the stomach, reclining slightly. Feeling much more confident that I would make it out of this situation alive, I allowed myself to relax a little bit. To be honest, being inside someone’s stomach was kind of comfy in its own weird way. I had gotten one of the best night’s sleep I’d had in awhile when I’d spent the night with Mammon. Of course, I would never admit that. Mammon’s head was already big enough as it was.

“Hey, Y/N?” I could feel Beel tracing patterns on the outside of his stomach as he spoke. “You know that I don’t, you know, just see you as food, right?” There was nervousness in his voice, as well as a large dose of guilt. He clearly hadn’t forgiven himself for what he’d done despite me having already given my forgiveness.

I paused for a moment. All seven of the demon brothers viewing me as tasty in some capacity was something I had accepted a while ago. I had forged friendships with them knowing that fact. At the start, the only thing keeping any of them from eating me had been my status as an exchange student. However, I believed things had changed. I couldn’t imagine any of the brothers intentionally trying to bring harm to me anymore. Even Belphegor had gone from wanting to kill me to being a close friend.

So maybe they all still secretly imagined eating me. It didn’t matter. Because I was convinced that none of them would put that desire before my wellbeing--so long as they were in their right mind of course. “Don’t worry, I know,” I reassured the demon.

“You’re sure?” Beel asked uncertainly. “Because I know I always talk about how delicious you look, and I ask if I can eat you sometimes--”

“Hey, I get it...well I sort of do anyway,” I said. “Humans are usually on the demon menu. I suppose it’s normal for you to want to eat us.” I added with a shrug.

I tried to imagine the situation from the demon perspective. To put it into human terms, I had to guess it would be like having a delectable ice cream sundae walking around and talking. I definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable eating a sentient ice cream...but that was beside the point.

“That doesn’t make what I did okay,” Beel stated firmly.

I sighed. “Well no, but like I said, that wasn’t really you.” I didn’t care that he wanted to eat me when he was in his right mind. All that mattered to me was that he didn’t actually do it.

It seemed likely that Beel would try to argue with me, but he didn’t get the chance before I heard the bedroom door opening. “Alright, let’s get Y/N outta there!” Mammon announced.

[yostresswritinggirl]

21 Years in Another Life Submission

Mother! Mother! By the time I sent this, August 18, I have officially turned 18! I am now legal to drink beer, I can finally drink my icon 😌. I know it's usual tradition to give gifts to the birthday person but I wanted to do a reverse and give something to you and the community. And that is: The Prologue of my Isekai webnovel! I would much prefer if I could also give Chapter 1 but I am currently recovering from tonsilitis and whenever I am not feeling good, my body just makes me sleepy to try and recover

Here's the prologue for "21 Years in Another Life"! -🍺

"It seems you are doing fine Mr. Dante, I'll be back for another check later tonight",

I could only nod and let out a hum as a signal that I understood. The boring white walls of the hospital were something that I had grown accustomed to but still loathed in every sense. The heavyweight of my right hand had a plastic cast of sorts to keep it straight as the needle of the dextrose tube was put inside in one of my veins.

I turned my head to see the dextrose bag hung on the stainless steel IV stand. I watched the small drop that would come out of the bag into the small cylinder that would connect to the tube. I looked back into my life.

21 years of my life. The majority of them are in the hospital.

The sickly body that I was born with not only burdened me but also my parents. Money was no problem for us as my father was the CEO of a well-known company he worked for from the ground up but rather it was the taint in the reputation of the family name.

I was his eldest child but thankfully not his only child. I had younger siblings and all of them have very healthy bodies.

And that is good.

I was about to close my eyes to sleep, not having the mood to read a book or even watch television until, "Oh, should we visit another time?", I tilted my head to the side as I saw my mother enter with my youngest brother, the baby of the family. "No, I was just looking to past the time", I said as my brother walked his way to the side of the bed where my free hand was. That was odd, he usually skips towards me.

I noticed the wide smile that was plastered on his face and the way how his hands were behind his back. "Big brother! I have a surprise!", He said excitedly obviously vibrating with joy, I inhaled a bit to brace myself and noticed the faint natural scent of flowers suddenly in the room.

"What do you have there?", I asked and he presented with three stalks of Sunflowers tied together with a neat little white bow. "I thought you might like them, I asked the nice old couple down the street if I can have some for you", his eyes twinkled and I couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh of my own.

"Thank you", I whispered, touched deeply by the gesture "Mum? Can you put it in the empty vase, please?", My mother nodded as my baby brother gave the flowers to mum.

I sat up with using my dominant left hand as support while my brother removed his shoes. I pat down the spot next to me gently as he climbed up the bed, sitting snuggly beside me as I gave his forehead a gentle kiss.

"I'm gonna start growing my flowers so we don't have to buy anymore from the flower shop", he affirmed to himself as I raised a curious eyebrow towards him, "Oh, why is that?", I asked, already having a hunch as to why he would like to grow them.

"You never really liked store-bought flowers, you said they smell funny", he said as he tilted his head upwards, "Why is that?", He asked as I nodded, "It's not the flowers but more so the paper, there are times that the papers are scented quite strongly that smell of the flowers are not complimented as nicely as I would have liked", I explained to him as he let out an 'Ahhhh' of realization along with gentle nodding.

"Will dad come visit?", I turned towards mom as she finished putting the flowers in the vase, "I hope so, if the meeting ends on time he'll pick up your sister so they can visit you", She sat back down on the nearby sofa as I just nodded. "How are you doing?", I could only give her the usual half-sided smile that I would give whenever my younger siblings are around.

A smile that meant: I don't know how to feel.

My mother could only exhale and gave a gentle reassuring smile and a nod towards me. A smile and a nod that says: I know.

My parents and I don't tiptoe around the topic anymore as if I was a kid. This was a sad reality I grew up in and we just accepted it but we made sure to make the best out of every situation.

The knock at the door caught our attention as my brother was about to open the television. "Come in", My mother called out and the door creaked open and the familiar face of my younger sister peaked through, "Oh! Oh! Look dad! He's awake!", The door opened a bit more to reveal my younger sister and dad, he was holding a canvas under one arm as my sister's bag was slung over the other shoulder of his.

"Hey Kiddo, how you doin' ?", My dad put the bag and canvas down on top of the cabinet as he made his way next to my bed and then ruffled my hair. A comforting feeling, his hand on top of my head as a gentle head pat was enough to help me calm down after rigorous emotions went through me.

"I'm doing fine now, I assume the meeting went well?", I asked and he just nodded along with the usual hand gesture of facing his palm up and down in a sideways motion.

It went well with some people who need convincing, just the usual things then.

"Big brother! My tutor gave me the assignment to draw on a canvas today!", She bounced a bit on her feet before skipping towards where the canvas was put down. She run-walked towards my side as I peered towards the canvas.

It has no color yet just the rough outline of her whole drawing, it seems she will be drawing sunflowers and lots of them. "I didn't have time to finish my sketch since it was already time buuut!", She pointed towards the middle part of the canvas, "This is where you are supposed to be!", I nodded with a smile etching its way onto my lips. She was so excited about it.

"My tutor also said that giving sunflowers to someone means to bring joy to someone's day", she explained before adding, "And! And! I wanted to give you this painting when I finish it so you'll be happy every day", I just chuckled and ruffled her hair with my free hand and brought her in for a side hug.

"And I'll be planting sunflowers in the garden so when you get back back, you'll see it every day and we don't have to buy new ones from the shop", My brother exclaimed. I just gave a nod as we heard a knock on the door, my father creaked the door open and the familiar white doctor's coat peeked through. My dad looked back towards mother and she just nodded and went outside.

I gave a sigh and let my head plop down to the pillow. "Big brother? When can you come home?", My sister's tone was now quite solemn. I just shook my head, not wanting to give them more hope than necessary.

I don't like promises being broken so I rarely make promises that I can't keep.

And sadly, this is one of those times.

The bed shifted a bit until my younger siblings were curled up to each of my sides, I just sighed a bit. "How are you two holding up?", I asked.

"Ehh",

"Mnnggghhh",

They also we're not too sure of it. I let out a breath through my nose, "Remember what I told you guys before? About promises?", I asked.

"Try not to make promises you can't keep", my brother voiced out, his voice coming out meek. They realized I won't be coming home any time soon. We just laid there on the hospital bed.

Closing my eyes as different memories from the times back home came to the front of my mind.

- - -

"Big brother!!!!" The muffled voiced screamed from behind the door. A voice filled with glee, before I could even say the door was unlocked it had slammed right open revealing my younger sister carrying her new case filled with art materials.

I just gave her a big smile, I settled the book I was reading to my bedside table and she made her way towards me. I saw dad peeked through the doorway and put his pointer finger to his lips and proceeded to quietly go away.

Dad had bought Artemis new art materials without mom knowing.

"Big brother! Remember when I made a wish to the shooting star we saw?", She asked excitedly, she bounced a bit on her on feet and, "It came true?", I "guessed" and she nodded, her hair bouncing along with her.

"It came true! The star was also kind enough to also give me a new case!", She heaved the case on the bed and proceeded to open up the case. She pulled out the shelfs that can be easily retracted inside for more efficient compartments.

"Darling?", the door creaked open and we both looked up and saw Mom. She saw the art case that Artemis proudly displayed, mom could only gave a smile and a nod but I could feel her secret fury behind it. It was not directed at us but rather, "Have you two seen your father by any chance?", She asked.

"Nope", "No"

She just hummed and nodded her head a bit, "If you happened to see him, make sure to give him this face", Mom gestured to her unimpressed face with her half lidded eyes and a small frown. Before smiling once again and saying goodbye.

Dad was in a lot of trouble.

- - -

The noises of delight that came from the children as they exited the school gates was one that could be heard from the other side of the street. All of them eagerly excited to come home from school.

I waited just by the sides of the gate, waiting for my younger brother, Artem. I looked over through the crowd of children slowly pouring out of the doors and I just eagerly waited for him, "Need a seat, boy?", I looked behind me and the guard was nice enough to bring out an extra stool, "Thank you", he just gave a friendly wave of his hand and went back to his station while I sat down at the stool.

I pulled out my phone and recalled the phone call that me and Mom had that led up to me being the one picking up Artem for the day.

"Dante? Do you feel alright today?", Mom went straight to the point,

"Yeah, yeah, why'd you ask?",

"If it's alright, can you pick up Artem today for me?"

"I don't mind, why?",

"You'll see when you pick him up",

I patiently waited for my younger brother by the gates. "Brother? Brother!", I looked up and saw Artem running towards me in full speed. He stopped just shy in front of me as his whole body vibrated with excitement. He bit his bottom lip as he tried to hide his smile.

"Come on, we can chat about your day while we walk home", I ruffled his hair as he nodded. I waved goodbye to the guard and we were on our way. Artem had a skip in his step as he told me about his whole day at school.

The activities they did and I just listened intently.

- - - -

I groggily opened my eyes and saw my parents had ushered my siblings out of the bed, my mom was the first one to see me awake, "Had a nice nap?", She giggled and I nodded along, a smile gracing my lips. I noticed how the edges of her eyes were a bit red and how her nose had a specific red tint to it, an indication after crying.

What happened?

I looked over towards Dad and gave him a questioning look and he just mouthed me the word, 'Later'. I just nodded as my mom had brought out a tupperware filled with dinner. "Artemis, can you go to the desk and ask for some spare spoons?", My mom's tone was a bit hurried but my younger sister just nodded and left for the door

"Artem, how about you join your sister? Just don't go to far from her, no?", My mom ushered my brother out the door as well and soon enough it was just me and my parents left in the room. There was an akward silent at first and then

"Mom? Have you been crying?", I asked while sitting up and she just pursed her lips together before nodding followed by a choked sob. I patted the spot besides me and she sat down, they were some tears refusing to fall down. I opened my arms and she just tackled me into a hug, with every inhale she took was followed by a broken sob.

"You've...been...", She sobbed out as I rubbed circles at her back, "Doing...so...well", she choked out before trying to calm herself down. I just sat there and hugged her close, trying to help her calm down.

It seemed the doctor didn't give the good news they were hoping for.

The door creaked open and my mom pulled away, soon wiping away her tears with a handkerchief that my dad had given her. My younger siblings came inside with 5 spoons. "We got the spoons!", My brother exclaimed as they gave mom the untensils.

Mom opened the tupperware and there she had cooked some Beef Stroganoff, my favorite food. "It was your dad's idea to cook your favorite today", she said while dad let out an akward chuckle. "Well, since the doctor had said you won't be coming home anytime soon. I thought bringing you some of your favorite food would cheer you up and give you some break from the Hospital Food", I just smiled towards Dad and gave him a thank you.

It was just comfortable silence until they had to leave, visiting hours were now over and I just waved goodbye to them, with my younger siblings promising to annoy mom or dad to visit me tomorrow.

I just laughed at their response as dad ushered them out of the room. Mom gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead and a farewell to them both. Being left alone in the dim room isn't always a good feeling, especially in recent times.

I toss and turned a bit, trying to find a good spot to get back into napping. The window gave a good view of the sky, it's filled with stars tonight. All of them twinkling individually, I let out a soft sigh before closing my eyes in trying to find a good nap.

- - - -

My eyes snapped open, the heaviness that my body felt before was now gone. I was somewhere else other than the hospital room I was admitted in.

I looked around, I am surrounded by twinkling stars with the ground beneath rippling under my feet with every movement I took.

"My, a young one already here?", I turned around and was met with a masked woman, she was holding a pocket notebook and a stamp in another hand. She looked up and tilted her head a bit to the side.

"You, Mister, are currently in the Realm of Stars" she started as she walked towards me, to ground rippling underneath her feet with every step she took. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and she stopped right in front of me.

She looked up towards me and was faced with her, "This is the realm where the soul journeys to their resting place", she added before looking through her notebook again and flipping through some pages.

Am I dead?

"Ah, here it is. We usually don't meddle with the laws of life but this is an exception", she hums before taking a step back.

"I'll be frank with you mister, if given the chance to live again...", She gestured with her hands, "How long would you like to live again?", She asked and I was flabbergasted with the sudden question. I gulped once more and I answered, "Another 21 years would be great", I replied to her and she looked at the notebook before nodding.

"Interesting, even if the life you were give doesn't have a clean start?", She asked and I just tilted my head a bit to the side, curious "What do you mean by that?", I asked as she materialized away the stamp and notebook she was holding.

"Let me reiterate again, if given the chance would you live again for 21 years but the body already has a history of living?", She asked and I just nodded, unsure still of her words. All I got was that I get another chance of living for another 21 years.

"Alright then, perfect!", She exclaimed whilst clasping her hand together, "We currently have a body that needs a soul but the old one had already left it and it isn't his time to visit the Realm of Stars", she sighed before a couple of stars started surrounding my whole figure.

"I wish you luck with your new life", she waved goodbye before adding another.

"I'll see you again when your 21 years are finished"

- - - -

My head hurts badly, it was dark all around as I tried to find the feeling in my "body" again.

"Call the doctor!",

Huh? Am I in a hospital again.

"Quickly, we must get his majesty back to the castle before any stragglers from the enemy line comes for us!"

Wait, wait, wait, majesty? stragglers? enemy lines? Did this body participated in a war or something.

What did I get into now?

"Don't worry your majesty, we will get you back safely to the castle", Hold on. Are they talking to me?

What is going on?! I should have asked that masked lady with some questions before agreeing.

Whatever the case, I should take this opportunity to have another 21 years to my life even if I didn't get a clean start again.

I should try to wake up by now.

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

YOOOO NIGHTINGALE SKGBAKJGB FIRST OF ALL HAPPY LEGAL AGE DAY!! YOU CAN NOW BE LEGALLY ARRESTED, I'M SO PROUD AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY THAT DELISH BEVERAGE!!

SECOND OF ALL HOLY SHIT I DID NOT EXPECT THIS, NOT EVEN THE LENGTH I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A SNEAK PEEK! I LIKE IT, THE TRANSITIONS ARE NICELY PLACED WITH A BALANCE OF NARRATIVE AND DIALOGUE, YOU'RE DOING GOOD AND I HOPE THINGS GET BETTER! FOR YOUR WEBNOVEL AND YOUR TONSILS!!

[vanillapie-80]

The Road To Recovery Chapter 2: Filling In the Gaps

Chapter two boisss. I suprised myself with this chapter because I thought it’d be shorter.  So there’s that, anyways. Here the aftermath of last chapter as well as some new problems.

AO3

As the rain poured through the streets of Arcadia, the police station was crowded with officers. Detective Scott had some paperwork he had to fill out after finishing a case of his. After that, he hoped to go home and spend some time with his daughter, if she wasn’t out with her friends. But he knew that Darci was at home since both Claire and Mary were said to be in detention for most of the day, so surely there was nothing to worry about. From a few desks away from him, an officer saw that their phone was going off and answered it.

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” They asked.

“Hello? Me and some students were in a car crash and one of us is missing.” 

The officer tensed at what they heard from the person’s voice on the other line, they began writing down the details they were given. “What’s your name?”

“C-Claire Nuñez.” Crap, the officer knew that was the councilwoman’s daughter.

“Okay, and where are you?”  

“Uh. I don’t know, somewhere around the campsite- Toby! Did you find Jim?” 

The officer continued to silently listen to the other line. “Yeah, but he got seriously messed up! I- I think he might be dying Claire. Please tell me you called for help!” 

Then, the other line hung up. The officer immediately began to contact dispatch to anyone who was close around the area and began to call an ambulance. By that time, Detective Scott was done with paperwork and was heading home.

Barbara looked up from her phone as someone announced that there was trauma incoming. She had been trying to contact her son for a while but to no avail, calling lead to voicemail and texting lead to no response. With a sigh, Barbara tucked her phone away and got ready to return to work. She anxiously waited for the ambulance to arrive, and in a matter of a few minutes, they arrived. 

As the paramedics swung the door open, Barbara made her way to assess the patient they brought in. But when she got close enough to see who it was, the doctor froze in complete shock. The sight of her son bleeding out in a gurney made it feel like Barbara’s entire world was going to shatter right then and there. Her baby boy, her ray of sunshine, was now dying right next to her. No, she thought. This was the irrational part of her mind speaking, Barbara did not know the full extent of Jim’s injuries. But, she had to let another doctor take care of her son. Holding herself as tightly as she could, Barbara watched her co-workers take Jim away. They did not question why she didn’t treat him, because practically everyone in the hospital knew it was her son, and Barbara knew that because of this fact, they would do everything they can to save him.

“Dr. L!!” The doctor snapped out of her train of thought and turned around to see Toby making his way towards her with tears in his eyes. Barbara braced herself as the teen came to her for a hug. 

She stayed quiet and let the tears stream down her face while allowing Toby to break down. A paramedic came through the entrance and spotted the teen. “Hey! You can’t go running off like that without a doctor examining you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of that.” Barbara muttered, her voice sounding dull and hollow. As more patients came to the ER, she began to recognize them to be students from her son’s class. “Come over here Toby, I need to examine you.”

“But Jim-”

“There’s nothing you can do right now except allowing me to make sure you’re alright.” Toby silently agreed, slowly making his way to one of the gurneys that were in the ER.

Barbara couldn’t do anything to help her son, but what she could do was to make sure these kids were alright and healthy. That’s all she could do, and the doctor hated that fact so much. As Barbara examined the redhead teen, she heard some commotion in the waiting room. The doctor saw Ophelia, shouting at one of the nurses to let her see her daughter while Javier was trying to calm his wife down.  

Babara let out a tired sigh and told Toby, “Your injuries seem to be minor, but I want to run more tests to make sure you don’t have any internal injuries. For all of you.” She took a quick glance at the other teens before walking toward the waiting room. “Mrs. Nuñez, there is no need to cause a scene.” 

“Cause a scene? My daughter was in a car accident! Do you know how common it is for someone to die in a car crash?!” Of course, Barbara did, she was a doctor. That’s why she was always anxious at the idea of her son riding a vehicle.

“How can you say such a thing? Your child wasn’t the only one in the accident and yet you don’t see us shouting at others like they own the place.” Detective Scott interjected, obviously offended by how the councilwoman was acting.

“Claire wasn’t supposed to be out there! None of them should have!” 

Soon enough the other parents joined in on the argument while Barbara watched them with a tired stare. The doctor drowned out their voices with her own thoughts, not wanting to take part in this pointless bickering.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never broken the rules before! Going behind your parents’ backs for the sake of rebellion!” 

It was very apparent that Jim needed surgery, but to what extent? She didn’t have enough time to see all of his wounds.

“Not when it comes to risking my own life for it!”

Should she call her family? They never gave the effort to be a part of her son’s life but that didn’t mean they never care about him. Barbara wasn’t sure how much of a support system he would need after this.

“Oh don’t give me that-” 

What about his mental state? The traumatic experience will very much affect him in more ways than one. Does this mean she’ll have to get a counselor of some kind, or would her son be more comfortable with someone close to him? When it came to therapy, it was hard for Jim to adjust to such a change at a young age. But what if it wasn’t enough? What if thinking ahead was a pointless endeavor in the end? Jim not making it was still in the realm of possibility.

“People please.” The parents went silent by Nana’s stern voice, something that even Barbara rarely heard. “Arguing among each other will lead us to nowhere. Our children are hurt. This is not about you, so you must let Dr. Lake and the others do their jobs.”

Once the silence filled the room for a few moments, all eyes were on Barbara. “Some of them appear to have minor injuries as far as we know, and while others have more serious wounds, none of them seem to be fatal.” The doctor explained bluntly. She couldn’t have any emotion in her voice, otherwise the grieving mother in her would come out and that wouldn’t be so professional of her, she had to keep her emotions in check. “I will let you know when you’ll be able to see them.”

Each parent began to calm down and some of them took a seat. The doctor noticed someone she didn't expect to see from the waiting room. Coach Lawrence sat amongst the other parents. She only knew him as one of the teachers of the public highschool of Arcadia and nothing more. Barbara took a shot in the dark and guessed that one of the kids was one of his. She didn’t dwell too much on it, after all, their children were going to be fine. 

Barbara took a deep breath and went back to the ER. The doctorly mask she’s been struggling to keep was still intact, but it was inevitable that it would have to come off, and she knew that.

After further testing, it is safe to say that Toby wasn’t suffering from any internal injuries, rather some lacerations and small head trauma. Barbara told him and the other students that some of them would stay here overnight for observations, just in case. The redhead didn’t want to leave with his nana just yet, he wanted to be there with his friends for support. 

“You alright Claire?” Toby asked anxiously as he sat next to her.

“Yeah.... just the morphine that’s all…” She answered, her speech slightly slurred.

“Don’t worry Toby, in a few hours the drug will probably wear off,” Darci reassured, taking a seat on the right side of the bed. She had her in a cast on her arm and had a sling around her to support it. “Though I get the feeling that it isn’t Claire who you’re about.” 

The redhead teen looked at the person next to him, her expression hesitant but still determined to obtain answers. He let a dry but quiet chuckle and said, “I would think that would be obvious by now.” 

“Sorry. But you haven’t talked about it. I’m just trying to make sure that you’re alright, well that everyone is alright mentally, but for you specifically. Jim is your best friend and anything can happen. You might even have to brace yourself for the worst-case scenario.”

Toby cringed at the thought of losing Jim, grabbing the fabric of his pants with a tight grip. “Jim’s a fighter. You’d be surprised how much he can take.” 

Darci couldn’t help but pity him, but she did not understand the true extent of Toby’s words. She did not know the countless fights the trollhunter faced with creatures that were twice his size.

“Did...did you see what attacked Jim? You and Steve are the only ones that found him and he won’t talk.”

The redhead’s eyes were glued to the floor with an intense stare. The image of one of his companions, his friend’s protector, slamming Jim deeper into the ground and leaving him there with no remorse. “I-it looks like a bear.” He muttered.

“A bear?” Darci repeated, who was having doubts.

“I think so. Look it was dark and I was still in shock, but to me, it seemed like it was a bear.” Toby couldn’t handle more of his classmate’s interrogation, he just didn’t want to replay the awful images in his head.

“Hey. Where are you going?” 

“I’m going to get something to eat.” He responded.

“But we’re at a hospital.” 

“I’m sure I can find something around here.” With that, Toby left before Darci could continue their conversation. 

The girl’s eyes then wandered to the blonde bully. Like she said to her departed classmate, Steve refused to speak with anyone the moment the ambulance came. He just stood frozen, sitting in one of the gurneys with a blank stare. Darci cautiously shuffled towards the unresponsive student.

“Um. Toby told me what happened.” She said nervously. As much as Darci wanted to believe Toby, the girl always liked to double-check her facts. It’s helped wash the worries away. 

“Why do you care?” Steve asked, his voice quiet but somehow intense enough that it made Darci uncomfortable. But she stayed persistent because if today meant anything, it was that Steve was like everyone else. That there were people he thought mattered and wasn’t so terrible, or at least that was what she hoped. 

“Police get involved in this kind of stuff, so they ask questions. I thought It’d be easier on all of you guys if I asked first so there wouldn’t be any added stress on talking about it with a stranger. ” She explained before continuing with, “Toby said it was a bear that attacked Jim. Is that true?”

The blonde teen blinked, then said, “A..... bear?” 

Darci only nodded. She could see how Steve was reeling in this information. “Yeah. That’s what I saw, probably the biggest bear I’ve ever seen.” The intense tone of his voice never left, but only grew. What would Steve be mad about? Unless Toby’s statement was false. “Where ‘s Domzalski?” 

She didn’t want to tell him, cause it felt like that would only stir the pot. But they were at a hospital, so Darci had nothing to worry about, right? “He said that he was going to get something to eat but-”

Steve immediately got up and pushed his classmate aside to leave the ER. Darci groaned in frustration, already feeling her regret. The young student looked around and saw the police. She took a deep breath and tried to shake off her nerves, Darci needed to be there with her friends for this. She tried reassuring herself that there was nothing between the two boys. 

Toby sat on the floor next to a vending machine, all while staring at the amulet that dimly glowed a blue light. The redhead managed to grab it just before the ambulance took him away. He dreadfully waited for the small object to do something, for better or for worse. Suddenly, someone grabbed Toby by the collar of his shirt and began dragging him into a secluded area in the hospital. 

He was then shoved into a wall and dropped the amulet from his hand. The redhead gazed upwards to see Steve in front of him, who had a furious expression. While rubbing his neck, Toby muttered, “Oh come on…” to himself.

“A bear? That’s what you went with?!” He shouted.

“So I see you’ve talked to Darci,” Toby remarked, trying his best to smooth-talk his way out of this.

“Are you stupid?! No one is going to believe that a bear caused all of this!” 

“You’d be surprised. There’s a lot of bears in California, you know?”

 “Oh, my bad. I didn’t realize bears had enough strength to flip a car over, let alone breaking trees in half!” Toby wasn’t sure why the blonde teen was so mad at him for doing it, it’s not like he did anything better or anything at all when Darci asked him what he saw.

“Listen. It’s a lot more believable than what actually happened. I’m trying my best here so cut me some slack alright.” The redhead tried to leave but he was shoved back again, only this time Steve didn’t let go. “Urgh! What is your problem?! I was trying not to make us look crazy and yet you’re mad at me?! You have no right to treat me this way!”

The blonde teen faltered and let go of Toby. Jim’s words began to echo in his mind, “You just have a reputation okay? And not a good one, but you already know that. I know you are capable of being a nice person.” 

He was doing it again, and Steve didn’t realize it. He was going back to the school bully that tormented others, going back to the person that everyone hated. “I.......I’m trying to be a better person....” Steve muttered, but more to himself than to Toby. “Sorry....”

“Well, at least you got it out of your system right?” The redhead bitterly said back.

Of course Toby didn’t forgive him, why would he? The blonde teen would’ve probably hurt him if he continued. 

“Steve Palchuck....” 

Both of them froze at the new voice, Steve wasn’t able to recognize it. “Steve Palchuck.....” He turned to the right to see a small object on the floor, the hands ticking away. 

Toby quickly fell to his knees and snatched it from the floor, his hands shaking. The redhead looked absolutely terrified. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” He got up and ran out of the room they were in, with Steve following behind. 

This isn't happening. Jim was fine, he was fine. What Toby heard was just his mind playing tricks on him. His best friend wasn’t dead, he can’t. But the amulet said Steve’s name, that wouldn’t have happened if...... if......

The redhead stopped at a screeching halt at the sight of doctors blocking his path, one of them being Barbara. “What are you two doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the ER?”

“Uh,” Toby looked back to see Steve, who was glancing away at the group of people. “We... just wanted to grab something to eat Dr. L, but we got lost. It’s a big hospital you know.” He couldn’t hold back the tears, as the idea of Jim being gone finally settling in. “Sorry about that.” Toby sobbed.

“No. Don’t apologize, this all must be very hard on you.” Barbara took one of his hands while wiping her tears away. She then took him to a few corridors until they made it to the ICU. When Barbara led Toby to one of the rooms, he quietly gasped. “He’s still in critical condition. But there’s hope that Jim will make it. 

The redhead felt a tidal wave of relief wash over him. He wasn’t dead, his best friend was still here. But if that was the case, then why did the amulet call for Steve. Toby began to worry, was the amulet just preparing for the inevitable. Can it even do that?

Barbara left the room to go talk to the doctors again. She saw Steve standing outside of the room like he was afraid to even enter with Toby. The doctor had heard a lot about him, with none of it being good. However, Steve was just a child, and just like the rest of his classmates, he was terrified about this ordeal. So, despite her hesitance, Barbara silently allowed the blonde teen to stay. 

Steve had expected Lake’s mother to kick him out, he wasn’t close to her son, not by a long shot. Now that it was just him and Toby, he felt intrusive and out of place. Steve was about to leave until the redhead spoke. 

“Something’s wrong.” 

“What?” He asked while seeing Toby holding his friend's hands. 

“The amulet. It won’t call someone unless the previous user has died.” Oh. Steve sensed a chill slowly running down his spine.

“But Lake’s fine. He has tubes in his mouth, but he's still alive.” The blonde teen rationalized. 

“I want to believe that too. But there has to be a reason why the amulet said your name.” 

“Maybe it’s broken.” Toby raised an eyebrow at Steve's suggestion. He showed the small object in his hand and tossed it at his classmate. 

“Does it look broken to you?” Steve inspected it, there didn’t seem to be any cracks or anything out of place as far as he knew.

“It’s magic, right? It’s messed up and we don’t see it.” The redhead groaned in frustration and pulled his hair back.

“Look man, I don’t have all the answers. I’m just spouting stuff other people told me.” 

The blonde teen was unsure if this was the right time, but at this point, he couldn’t stand being in the dark anymore. “S-so, you know what caused this?”

Toby stayed silent for a moment, the lump now in his throat made it difficult to get the words out. “Yeah..... I guess I do.” 

“Then can you please tell me what is going on? Because you can fool everyone in this hospital, but you sure as hell can’t with me.” Steve was able to control himself from shouting this time. 

Once again, there was a long pause from Toby. All he wanted to do today was to get his peers to enjoy themselves. He wanted Jim to have one day, one day where he was at peace and didn’t have to worry much about his responsibilities. The redhead had never expected this to blow up on his face this hard. Now Steve was the trollhunter while there was a huge possibility of his best friend dying.

“Well then, you might want to sit down for this part. Cause it’s a lot to take in.” Toby said with a sigh, his eyes focusing on Jim. Hoping that the universe will be kind enough to keep him alive. 

After a few hours, the sedative the doctors gave Claire wore off. She began to feel extremely sore in some parts of her body, most likely where the more severe injuries she suffered were treated. At some point, her parents were able to see her when Claire was moved to her own room. Most of the time it was just her mother scolding the young teen while her father watched with a sympathetic look. Like always, the councilwoman had to make it about her instead of her own daughter.

At this point, Claire had learned to just tune out the lectures. She had heard it enough times to understand her mother. That she’d be disappointed in her no matter what if Claire didn’t fit the perfect image the councilwoman envisioned. Soon, the young teen had the room to herself. As she waited for some of her friends to come, her phone began to vibrate from the counter on the right side.

Claire picked it up and that it was Blinky. She took a deep breath and braced herself. “Hello?” 

“Ah, Lady Claire. Is Master Jim with you? There is something important we need to discuss and he hasn’t been answering my calls.” The troll greeted, his voice sounding somewhat relieved but still worried.

The young teen bit her lip, before saying, “Blinky. We were in an accident and-” 

“Great gronka morka! Are you alright?!” 

“I’m fine, Toby is too, but Jim...... he..... he was hurt pretty badly. I don't know what happened to him yet but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.” Claire explained nervously. She had started to wonder where the redhead even was since there was no sign of him despite being hours since Claire last saw him.

“Oh dear. This.... this is not good. What are we going to do now?” By the sounds of it, Blinky was talking about something completely different.

“What’s going on Blinky?” She asked.

“I’m afraid that this night will not get any better. The Tribunal has requested for the arrest of Master Jim.”

“What?! Why?”

“Apparently Usurna has evidence that Master Jim has released Gunmar into the surface.” This could not be happening right now. Jim was not in any shape of getting out of this hospital, but knowing how stubborn trolls could be, there was no telling what the Tribunal would do if the trollhunter didn’t show.

“Can you just explain what happened and just postpone it?” She knew all too well that trolls weren’t so kind to humans, especially for Jim’s case, but surely they can give him some form of sympathy and stop this.

“I’m afraid with an accusation as severe as this, it cannot be dropped so easily for the Tribunal are very adamant for punishment. If it’ll not be Master Jim, surely they’ll find someone else who was involved in it to take responsibility.” Claire quickly dropped her previous sentiment once Blinky clarified that this situation was not going to be easy to get out of. “Telling the ordeal you’ve been through tonight could give you for a few days at the very least. However, that’ll make the Tribunal restless which might not help your case.” 

The young girl pinched the bridge of her nose, their options weren’t great, but there wasn’t much they could do. “Well, you’re doing your best. That’s really all I can ask for. Me and Toby will try and be there as soon as possible.” 

“Very well then. I wish the best for you all.” As Blinky hung up, Claire sank herself further to the mattress of the hospital bed. Too much, there was too much going on with little time to actually process it. She then heard a knock on her door and saw Toby standing in the middle of the door frame.

“Hey Claire.” He sheepishly said. 

“Toby, you just missed a call I got from Blinky.”

That caught the redhead’s attention as slowly walked closer to his friend. “Really? What did he say?” 

Claire sighed as she began to fiddle with her phone. “Nothing good really, but before I tell you, any word on Jim?”

A tired smile formed on Toby’s lips. “He survived the surgery. Dr. L says that he has a long way to go but he’s doing fine all things considered.” The young teen felt a lot of her anxieties washed away and glanced at her phone. 

“That’s.... that’s good to hear. I’m going text Blinky about right now.” 

“Uhh sure you do that, but while you’re at it, there’s just one more thing I need to say, or show you in this case.” Toby didn’t make it seem like it was anything bad, but he was good at sugar coating things. 

The redhead looked outside from the room and made a small gesture to someone to come inside, and that someone was Steve. 

Claire blinked in surprise. “Oh. Hi Steve.” 

Toby scratched the back of his head while saying, “Sorry I didn’t come sooner. I was giving out some good ol’ exposition to our “buddy” over here.” 

The tension then came back to her and lifted herself out of bed. “You told him?” 

“Easy there. He saw Draal the moment we found Jim, so there was no point in lying.” Toby was leaving something out, she could tell by the tone of his voice. 

“The stupid amulet called my name,” Steve muttered. “But I guess the person who had it before is supposed to die.” It was obvious that he was uncomfortable at the thought, and who would be?

Claire stayed silent with a blank stare before saying, “I thought you said that Jim was alright,” with a frantic voice

“He is! It’s just that the amulet picked Steve for some reason, but before you take the chance to freak out more, mind telling us the not-so-good news Blinky gave you?” Right, there was also that. Man does this day keep getting better and better. 

“Uhh, he said that the Tribunal wants to arrest Jim for releasing Gunmar.” Toby’s eyes widened in shock while Steve’s shoulders tensed up.

“That’s bad, right?” The blonde teen asked. 

“Yeah, it really is. So what do we do now?” The redhead moved closer to his friend and sat next to her. 

“We have to go to Trollmarket as soon as possible. Or least until I get discharged. If we don’t show, things will probably get worse.” Claire explained with a sigh.

“Do I have to come?” Steve didn’t want to ask that question, he really didn’t. But this was starting to sound serious, and maybe there was a small chance that he could help. How exactly? The blonde teen wasn’t sure. 

“It’s really risky, especially since you never had any combat training.” As much as a frustrating person Steve was, she would never wish any harm on him. And if what she heard about Trollmarket’s reaction when they found out that Jim was the trollhunter was true, then bringing him along could lead to the exact opposite of what Claire wanted.

“But what if the Tribunal thinks we’re lying about Jim? We’re not someone who they really trust, and he could be backup, a fancy sword made of magic can do much wonders as a defense.” Toby suggested with a shrug. “And if something goes wrong, he has you, me, and Aaarrrgghh to help him  out.”

The two boys watched the young girl weighing the options. Sure, it was two out of one, but Claire was smart. And at this point, she was silently placed as leader until further notice. “I can’t believe I’m going through with this, but we’re all pretty much screwed right now. So, do you have any trouble sneaking out of the house at night Steve?” 

“Not at all.” He had successfully snuck out a few times to go to some late-night parties, this shouldn’t be any different.

In one of the private offices of the hospital, Barbara laid head first on the desk. She was on break and finally had time to let all of her exhaustion set in. The information given to her about Jim’s condition and the outcomes it might lead to. 

The worst of her son’s injuries was the one on his spine. The doctors stated that most likely that he will have permanent damage to his nerves. There was no telling he would regain complete function of his limbs or would have to deal with something else. Either way, Jim’s body won’t work the same way as it used to. 

As Barbara put her hands above her head, an elderly voice called to her. “Ah, there you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” The doctor straightened herself and turned her chair around to see Toby’s grandmother. “Mrs. Domzalski-”

“Dear please, how many times do I need to remind you to call me Nana.” The old woman teased as she entered the room.

Barbara let out a tired laugh, removing her glasses to rub her eyes. “Old habit I guess. Though why were you trying to find me? I discharged Toby a few hours ago.” 

“He wants to check on the councilwoman’s daughter. They’ve been friends for awhile you know.” Nana explained. “And also wanted to see how you were doing.” “What you’d expect I suppose.” She wanted to grieve, to let all of those raw emotions free, but Barbara just couldn’t at this point. And she knew that there wouldn’t be enough time even to do that if she could.

“Dear, I don’t believe I know the answer to that. Only you do.” Nana placed her hand onto Babara’s left shoulder. “And if you’re willing to talk to me about it, then I’ll know. It’s never healthy to keep everything bottled up.” 

Barbara allowed the old woman’s word to sink in. “ I will give anything to do that, but I’m just so tired right now. I don’t have enough energy to even fall apart and cry for hours.” 

“You know for someone whose job is to take care of people, you don’t seem to do that for yourself.” Nana never understood that. She could forgive those who didn’t have any extensive knowledge of health, they just didn’t know any better. Doctors, however, did. The old woman could remember the countless times she has seen medical professionals ignore their health.

“Well, I’d like to think that we’re the biggest hypocrites on earth,” Barbara explained with a quiet voice. 

It took two days for Claire to get discharged, the doctors told her parents that she just had to take it easy for a few days. That statement made the young girl second guess herself about going to trollmarket but pushed the idea aside. Sooner the better, because there was no telling when the Tribunal’s patience would wear thin. When the night came, Claire took her shadow staff and created a portal while a small changeling watched from behind.

“Remember NotEnrique, you have to keep watch to make sure mom and dad don’t know I’m gone.” 

“I hear ya. And I’ll let ya know if they come running over here.” The changeling added. Claire smiles at him before entering the portal. 

In Arcadia’s canals, Toby and Steve stood below the bridge there waiting for the young girl to arrive. The two never said a word to each other for a good while now. Something about being alone with Steve made the redhead uneasy, bringing back the memory of him and Claire trying to retrieve the bridge pieces. Meanwhile, the blonde teen was too anxious about seeing trolls to even talk to Toby. He tried to play it cool at the hospital when learning that there was an entire society hidden underground in their town, but when Steve made it home, that’s where he took the time to openly show his nervous breakdown in his room.

Everything that felt out of place in Arcadia suddenly made sense. But very quickly he wanted to forget it, the mantle of being a trollhunter sounded too dangerous for his taste. Steve had no intentions of dying, and going through with this sounds like the exact opposite of what he wanted. However, the blonde teen would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. And who wouldn’t? It’d be near impossible to just ignore the existence of magic and trolls and not look into it. 

Steve’s were ripped away at the sight of a dark portal appearing in front of the two boys. Claire then hopped out of it and it quickly disappeared. She pulled her hair back and exhaled. 

“Okay. We’re all here, now it’s time to face the music. Would you like to do the honors, Toby?” The redhead nodded and took out an orange crystal that had a wooden handle attached to it. 

Toby made his way to the canal’s wall, with Claire and Steve following behind, and began to draw a curved line as big as he could. Once he was done, the redhead pressed his hand on the wall and in a matter of seconds, it began to break away into various pieces and disappear. Steve watched as Toby quietly went inside the glowy entrance. He extended his arm but pulled it away when it made contact with the magical wall. 

“It’s now or never.” The blonde thought before jumping headfirst inside the canal’s walls. 

What he was met with were massive blue crystal staircases that twirled around until they reached the ground. The blonde teen stared in awe by how beautiful the sight was, but had to divert his attention away to getting all the way down. Claire noticed her classmate’s reaction and decided to catch up to him.

“You know. I really wished this was under better circumstances.” Steve jumped at the sudden sound of the girl’s voice, almost falling off the stairs. He looked at her in confusion, so she continued as they walked. “Coming here for the first time, it’s a one of a kind moment. But the difference between now and before is that there were no lives at stake or trolls coming to arrest us. I just hope that when all this blows over, you get to share the same experience that we all had.” 

It was very strange. Hearing someone genuinely talking to him, was it supposed to feel like this? First from Coach Lawrence, then from Lake, and now Claire, would he be able to get used to such a thing? As the three of them walked down the final set of stairs, two large creatures, which Steve assumed were trolls, pointed their spears at them. The trolls barely looked like the one he saw in the woods, but that didn’t make them less terrifying. 

Toby and Claire stood in front of the blonde teen and took their weapons out with a defensive stance. It didn’t take long for more trolls to contribute to this ambush. They all looked the same except one, who came towards the group. Their appearance was formal and very fancy in Steve’s perspective.

“Where is the trollhunter?” Usurna hissed while glaring at them.

“Didn’t Blinky tell you? He’s at the hospital and is in no condition to come right now.” The troll scoffed at Toby’s notion.

“You could easily be lying. Trying to hide him from our grasp.” 

The redhead glanced at Claire and muttered, “Told you they wouldn’t believe us.” 

She turned to the blonde teen with a nervous expression. “Steve, take out the amulet.” He did as he was told and heard many gasps from the trolls at the sight of him. “Read the incantation.” 

“Incantation?” Steve looked at the small object more closely and noticed there were words inscribed on it. “For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is Mine to Command.” He read slowly. 

The amulet began ticking and its blue aura shined. Armor then appeared out of nowhere and was placed onto Steve. It felt tight at first before the armor adjusted to his size. With a flash, Steve was holding a sword, which made itself slightly bigger than before.

“Holy shit.” He whispered, amazed by such magic. 

“So..... the trollhunter died, and amulet dared chose another fleshbag to hold the mantle,”  Usurna stated, disgusted at that fact.

“Did not listen to what I said. He’s still alive.” Toby quickly corrected, but before he could say anything else Usurna spoke.

“I believe it does not matter at this point. Arrest the human trollhunter.” She commanded before turning their back on them.

“What?!” The three of them shouted in unison. 

The troll guards grabbed Steve by both arms and dragged him away. A fight or flight instinct came over Steve, an instinct that has been proven useful to him countless times. “Let go of me! Or else I’ll beat the hell out of you!” He thrashed and kicked at the trolls, yelling with all his might. But it was futile. 

Claire ran for Usurna and blocked her path. “You can’t arrest Steve! He had no idea about all of this! Wouldn’t it make more sense to arrest the people who took part in the release of Gunmar?!” 

“You have no authority over me, fleshbag. If James is unable to attend to his own arrest, might as well let this new trollhunter to fill in the role.” The troll pushed past the girl with such force to almost make her fall to the ground. “And besides, it’s more than Gunmar’s escape that will be put into question.” 

As Claire helplessly watched Usurna leave, Toby sprinted to Blinky’s library for aid. Because this was not going according to what they planned at all. God, could there be one day where everything went smoothly without any issues?

[chachkayes]

You Matter To Me - Mer x Hayes

Sooooooo..... @herrera-n-hayes gave me an idea good enough to make a Bad Idea part 2, so here’s that. The Waitress title theme is going to probably run rampant on our pages for the next little while, so get excited for that. Here is the link to part one, titled after the Waitress cheating anthem “Bad Idea” (obviously). I’m really proud of how this fic turned out, and I hope you all enjoy!

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

Cormac Hayes rested his eyes as the woman lying next to him slept peacefully. He listened to the quiet sounds of her breathing, as she rid herself of the day’s hardships. Her arm and head lay still on his chest, while his arm was wrapped loosely around her waist. He tried his best to shut off his mind and enjoy the peace and quiet, but his brain couldn’t stop racing. He couldn’t pinpoint what exactly he was thinking or feeling, but he couldn’t stop it. After 15 minutes of laying in complete silence and happiness, Cormac finally fell asleep too. For 30 minutes, he and Meredith slept peacefully in each other’s arms. And for 30 minutes, everything that was wrong in the world had seemingly been put on pause. Everything finally felt right for the first time in a very long time. That, of course, was until Andrew DeLuca walked into the very same on-call room where Meredith and Cormac slept.

Andrew had just finished helping his sister in her office, seemingly the only other doctor in the hospital who didn’t hate him after word spread quickly about what he’d said to Meredith. She certainly wasn’t very impressed with him, but she couldn’t hate her baby brother. He was on-call that night, and figured it would be best if he got a nap in, since he was tired and knew to sleep whenever he could. What he wasn’t prepared for, was to walk into the on-call room and be met with 2 scrub tops on the floor, accompanied by Cormac and Meredith fast asleep on each other on the bed nearby.

Cormac was woken up by the sound of the doorknob twisting, but he kept his eyes firmly shut, praying that the person about to walk in was anyone other than Andrew. Meredith was unroused by the sound. Luck clearly wasn’t going to stay on Meredith and Cormac’s side today, as the door slammed shut and was followed by a very loud and angry “What. The. Hell.” From none other than Andrew DeLuca. ‘Damnit.’ Cormac thought to himself as he opened his eyes. He glanced over at Meredith for a moment, to see her wide awake, staring at Andrew.  

Andrew was pissed – and Cormac made the unfortunate decision to stand up and put his scrub top on. He began to say something to try and diffuse the situation so Meredith wouldn’t get hurt, but before he could even get a word in, Andrew grabbed Cormac, slammed him into a wall and punched him – hard. “Andrew, please, no.” Cormac could hear Meredith say through tears. It seemed like Andrew was getting ready for Cormac to hit him back, but that never happened. He refused to become violent, especially in front of an already distraught Meredith. “Please, leave him alone.” She cried. As Andrew continued to punch Cormac, his mind wasn’t focused on defending himself, the only person he was concerned about was Meredith, and as long as Andrew wasn’t punching her, he would take it until he could get a word in and get away. His heart broke more and more as Meredith got up, sobbing while putting her scrub top on.

Cormac finally threw his hands up in surrender as Andrew threw another punch and cursed in Italian. The more he got hit, the worse Meredith’s cries got. He couldn’t stand hearing her in so much pain, and as much as he wanted to put the blame on himself, he just knew that would cause more punching and hurt Meredith even more. “Listen, pal,” Cormac started weakly, before he was rudely cut off. “Don’t you even think about calling me pal right now.” Cormac rolled his eyes. “Shut up, seriously.” He rebutted. “She was upset, rightfully so, and I followed her in here to make sure she was okay. She just used me for some temporary pain relief, that’s all. It didn’t mean anything.” Slowly, Andrew backed off. Cormac finally looked over to Meredith clutching her chest, bordering on hyperventilating. That one look to her was enough to set Andrew off again, and another punch flew. Cormac closed his eyes, bracing himself for whatever was about to happen, until he heard Meredith grunt and grab Andrew by the collar, flinging him away from Cormac and slamming him up against another wall. “Get the hell off of him!” She yelled through tears. Cormac took this as his chance to get out of there, but he stayed close by in the supply closet next door, in case Meredith needed him.

“You have no right to be so upset, Meredith. Seems to me like you’re actually really good at getting over people pretty fast.” Andrew glared at the woman in front of him, and she glared back. “I’m only saying this once, so listen up. You were the first man I ever trusted enough to love again after Derek, and that’s saying something. I never thought I’d ever in a million years feel love for someone again, or say I love you to another man. But YOU messed that up. YOU told me you felt inferior to Derek. Then to take some space. Then, that you didn’t love me or need me. And yet, I got back together with you. But then you told me to forget about Derek. You don’t get to tell me I don’t have a right to be upset, and you certainly don’t get to determine how ‘good I am at getting over people.’ That’s not up for you to decide. Yes, I was able to forget about you for the whole 2 hours we were in here. I wanted to. That was all I wanted to do, was to forget about you for a little while. And it worked. But I could NEVER forget about Derek. He was the love of my life, and is the father of my children. When you said that, when you told me to forget about him, you broke me. You broke my heart. I don’t regret a single thing I did in this room with Hayes, and I refuse to apologize for how I chose to repair what you broke. So, we’re done. Stay the hell away from me, and from Hayes. I don’t want to hear your apology when you finally come to your senses.” Without missing a beat, Meredith turned around, exiting the on-call room and leaving Andrew standing there, stunned.

As she left the on-call room, her thoughts immediately drifted to Cormac. She frantically searched the hallways trying to find him, but it didn’t take long before she found him looking for gauze in the supply room next door. He caught her gaze as she slowly entered the room, tears in her eyes as she looked at him bleeding. “I… I’m sorry. I’m okay, I promise.” He told her as Meredith closed the door behind her, grabbing some gauze off the shelf. “No, you’re not okay, Hayes. You’re bleeding and you’ve got a nasty black eye forming. And don’t say sorry, you didn’t do anything wrong.” She reassured him as she placed the gauze on his face, causing him to wince. “Alright, come with me.” She said, holding out her hand. “Where are we going?” He asked, confused. “To the ER, to get you stitched up and to get some ice on that eye.” He avoided grabbing her hand but started walking towards the door with her following very quickly behind. When they reached the ER, Bailey and Link looked at Cormac in horror. “Dr. Hayes, what the hell happened?” Bailey called out to her chief of pediatric surgery. “DeLuca.” Meredith responded. Her eyes were bright red, stained from tears. Bailey didn’t have to ask any further questions to figure out what had happened. “Page Andrew DeLuca to my office right now.” Bailey said as she walked quickly away, looking back to Link. He nodded back at Bailey, then looked over to Meredith. “Hey, Mer, need a hand?” He asked. “Thanks, Link – but I’ve got it.” She called back to him as she closed the door to the previously empty trauma room.

Meredith immediately went to work, grabbing a suture kit and handing Cormac an ice pack to put on his eye.

“You weren’t temporary pain relief.” Meredith finally spoke up, after what felt like an eternity of silence. “What?” Cormac asked her, confused. “You told Andrew that I just used you for temporary pain relief, you said it meant nothing, but that’s not true.” They locked eyes, neither one of them wanting to take their gaze off each other. “Then what was it?” He said, eyes still locked with hers. “It was something that’s been a long time coming. You and I both know that. You did so much more for me than just help me forget about him for a few hours. You made me feel safe, beautiful, happy, and peaceful. You reminded me of what I deserve. You saved me from myself. You’re not just some rebound, or temporary pain relief. You matter too much to me for you to be anything other than someone I genuinely want to be with. Our time together meant everything to me, Hayes. You’re everything I never knew I needed.” Meredith finished, placing a small kiss on his lips. “When he was hitting me, I hardly even felt it. All I could focus on was the sound of your cries. Hearing you sob the way you did broke me more than DeLuca ever could have.” Cormac told her as Meredith’s hand rested on his cheek. He was lucky that he came out of everything relatively unscathed, aside from the multiple cuts on his face, the slight pain in his jaw and the black eye that was quickly forming. It definitely could’ve been much worse. A tear ran down Meredith’s face as they stared at each other, and Cormac wiped it away with his thumb. “Like I told you, you matter to me. And it broke me to pieces, seeing you being hurt.” She said.

“You matter to me, too.” He told her. “By the way,” He continued, a smirk forming on his face. “I heard you yelling at DeLuca from the supply closet. Gotta say, Grey – it was hot.” Meredith began laughing through her tears, and with her hands placed at the back of his neck, she kissed him. He smiled and laughed into the kiss as well, and his arms wrapped around her body, resting on her lower back. They pulled away from the kiss and Meredith immediately pulled him in tightly for a hug. When they finally let go of each other after who-knows-how-long, Meredith leaned back into Cormac’s grasp and grabbed one of his hands that was sitting on her back. She smiled as she grabbed the ice pack off the bed beside Cormac and placed it in his hand. “Alright, Dr. Hayes. Keep that ice on your eye. Wouldn’t want that handsome face of yours to get too bruised up.” She winked at him. Cormac smiled at the woman in front of him who was teasing and complimenting him at the same time. “God, how am I going to explain this one to my boys?” He said, lightening the mood once more, causing the both of them to laugh with each other about the situation, happy to just be happy together again.

[theowriteswhatever]

Zuko Story With No Title Part 12

“Guys! Guys! We have to go see this play!” Sokka and Suki came running up to us with a poster that had a few familiar faces on it. We all perked up as Sokka began to excitedly explain that it was a play based off of our adventures. 

I immediately didn’t want to go. I didn’t really want to relive everything we had gone through and if they were accurate about my part of the story, I would have to explain a few things afterwards. They still had no idea I saved Zuko’s life in the North Pole, or that I got to know him as Leeane in Ba Sing Se, or that I kissed him in the catacombs, or that I’ve kissed him multiple times since then. This could be really bad.

“It’s settled then! We’re going!” I heard Sokka declare at which I immediately panicked. I didn’t say anything or let anyone catch on to how I really felt, but I sat there fearing for what would happen tonight.

At one point later that day, I decided to pull Katara aside and confess. If anyone would be pissed off at me after the play, it would be her.

“What is it?” She asked worriedly. I braced myself for the word vomit that was about to come out of my mouth and just decided to rip it off like a bandaid.

“So you remember when I would dress weird in Ba Sing Se?” She nodded slowly like it was a dumb question. Which it probably was. “Well the truth is that I was visiting the tea shop that Zuko and Iroh worked at dressed as someone else.” I said, bracing myself for a lecture.

“Why would you do that?” She asked, but surprisingly she didn’t sound angry. Just bewildered.

“At first I just wanted to go to a regular tea shop, but then I saw them. Zuko and I got to talking and I learned he just needed a friend so I decided to be one for him.” She smiled slightly at my statement which was not the answer that I expected.

“That was sweet of you. But why are you telling me now?” 

“Because I didn’t want you to be mad in case it was in the play tonight.” I admitted sheepishly. She laughed a little bit and this was going so well that it kinda scared me.

“I wouldn’t be mad at you for that.” She said with a chuckle. “It’s fine, (Y/N). Don’t worry about it.” She assured me before walking away to join the group. 

It wasn’t long before we had to go to see the play. I was still extremely nervous about what would happen and Zuko could tell. Since we were walking in the back of the group, he could grab my hand without anyone noticing. He looked down at me and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze at which I returned a small nervous smile.

We eventually made it to the building and sat at the back of the theatre so no one could see us. Toph and Sokka sat on either side of Katara, much to Aang’s dismay. Suki sat next to Sokka and Zuko, Aang, and I sat in the back row. The second we sat down, the curtain raised. 

Katara’s character was crying, Sokka’s character was laughing, and my character just sat there.

“Sokka, my only brother! We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas, and yet never do we find anything fulfilling!” Katara’s actress said solemnly with the back of her right hand held dramatically to her forehead. “And (Y/N), my closest friend, aren’t you tired of this same routine? But don’t worry! I have hope for a better future for all of us! Together!”

Toph and Sokka laughed, but Sokka’s expression immediately dropped when his joke started to make “inaccurate” jokes about his hunger. The audience loved it, but I could tell he was highly offended. I mean, this was obviously dramaticized. What else did we expect? They really shouldn’t take it so seriously.

“I will just sit here and do nothing as I am too afraid to give my opinion.” The actress playing me said. “I would hate to ever offend anyone so I simply won’t speak.” 

That bitch! Screw dramaticized. This was. . .harassment! I would have some serious words with the writer after this. 

And it only got worse. They made fun of Zuko by saying honor every other word which seemed kinda accurate to me honestly. Half of Sokka’s lines were about food. Katara only cried about hope. And Aang was a freaking girl. And my character just stood there. Like literally just watched things happen. 

We had gotten past me saving Zuko in the North Pole just fine, no one seemed too upset. And at least Toph loved her character when he was introduced. And everyone was quiet and understanding through Leeane’s part. They were a little surprised, but not too bad. But then it came to the catacombs. My character sat there alone just like I remembered until Zuko’s character rolled into the scene. 

“Oh Zuko! If only I would actually voice an opinion, then I would admit my dying love for you!” My character yelled dramatically which drew gasps from the crowd.

“(Y/N), I can’t believe you lied to me! But I forgive you, because I love you too!” The characters then kissed and all our friends turned to look at us. Except Toph who looked a little too far to the left. They then saw our hands touching and Sokka literally gasped. We quickly let go and scooted away from each other, but it was too late. Sokka pointed at me and then at Zuko and then at me and then at Zuko until Katara eventually had to slap his hand down. Aang leaned over to Zuko and whispered “Is it true?” to which Zuko responded “I’ll tell you later.” 

The play continued and once we finally got to intermission, we immediately went to the lobby. Aang had stormed off due to character Katara calling him a little brother and Katara went after him to make sure he was ok. Sokka and Suki snuck backstage to give character Sokka some pointers. And it was just Toph, Zuko, and I.

“It was time the secret was out anyways.” Toph said out of the blue. We both looked at her and she shrugged. “I can feel when you guys kiss, you know?” She asked us.

We looked at each other awkwardly before I eventually decided that we had to say something. “Well thanks for keeping it a secret, Toph.” I said shyly. 

Soon enough Katara came storming in and grabbed my wrist to drag me with her to the bathroom. “What is it?” 

“Aang kissed me!” She yelled angrily. My eyes went wide and I had no idea what to say. “I told him I wasn’t sure if I liked him like that and then he kissed me!” She paused and waited for me to give her a response. “Well?” She demanded an answer out of me.

“I’m sorry that happened.” Is all I could think of to say.

“And even worse, my best friend got a boyfriend and didn’t tell me!” She said as she crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. And he wasn’t my boyfriend back then.”

“But you kissed, didn’t you?” I sheepishly nodded and she grunted in annoyance. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“We weren’t ready for you guys to know yet.” I admitted. I was literally fearing for my life at his point.

“You should always tell your best friend. That’s what they’re there for!” 

“I’m sorry. I’ll start telling you about this stuff when it happens.” I conceded.

“Good! And you will tell me everything I missed when we get back to camp, agreed?” She aggressively asked. I nodded and she nodded once to confirm. She then grabbed me again and dragged me back out to the lobby where Sokka and Aang were supposedly asking Zuko about us. 

“Zuko!” She yelled, probably too loud considering we were trying to stay undercover. She stomped over to him and he looked just as scared as I did. She let go and I hid behind her so he couldn’t look at me to save him. “You’re cool and we’re friends now, but you hurt (Y/N), and I will not have forgiveness or mercy. Even Aang will not be able to stop me, capiche?” He nodded quickly with fear and everyone laughed a little bit before she turned to look at them. Once she made eye contact, they shut up and nodded too. She then humphed and walked back into the theater. 

The rest of the play went well, except for Katara sending Zuko the stink-eye every time our characters came remotely close to each other. 

By the end of the night, the moment had passed and Katara was back to her happy self. But from the feel of Zuko’s sweaty hand, he was still incredibly scared. I wouldn’t be surprised if he flinched every time she came close to him for weeks. 

@vintageroses1014516 @aphrodites-perfume @akariblue @leslieanahid @expecto-patroni @shephard17895 @sweet-dolans @duh-dobrik @rintheemolion

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Sixty Three

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

October 17th, 2000

Remy shook his head as he trudged around campus. He hated this. He hated this whole thing. The only thing that made college bearable was the idea that he might get a paying job from it, but he didn’t even have that job security for certain, so really, why was he here?

A familiar voice called his name from across the quad and Remy turned, rolling his eyes as Emile ran up to him excitedly. Yeah, college was annoying, and Emile could be a bit of a nuisance, but he was at least a familiar nuisance. And if Emile wanted to hang out with Remy, well, Remy wasn’t going to stop him, even if he didn’t see what Emile saw in him.

  May 20th, 2002

Remy kept the frustrated tears at bay for as long as it took for him to clock out at Starbucks and walk down the side, to the back parking lot. Once there, he punched the dumpster that was backed up against the building and a few tears slipped out from pain and from anger. He was beyond pissed, and he didn’t know why. He had seen this coming. He knew they weren’t going to pick him to become the new manager. And yet, when he heard the news, it still felt like his hopes shattered into a million pieces.

“It went that badly, huh?” Emile asked from behind him.

Remy turned swiping at the tears on his cheeks to find Emile standing there, hands in his pockets. “Yeah,” he settled on saying.

“I’m sorry, my love,” Emile said, closing the distance between them and hugging Remy close. “You don’t deserve to be overlooked just because you don’t want a degree.”

“They didn’t even pick from the store,” Remy said. “They brought in someone else who doesn’t know the system, just because they have that stupid Bachelor’s.”

Emile winced and Remy sighed. “I mean, I saw it coming that I wouldn’t get the job, but seriously? Outside? Not even from another store, just someone who’s never worked there before. We’re gonna have to teach him everything in the span of maybe two weeks!” He shook his head. “Emile, I’m really sick of this.”

“I know you are,” Emile said.

“One day, I can quit this crappy job and be my own person,” Remy said. “One day.”

Emile nodded as he lead Remy to the car. “And that day will be amazing,” Emile agreed. “Until then, we should probably ice your hand and make sure nothing’s broken.”

Remy sighed. Punching the dumpster was a dumb move, but at the very least, it beat punching brick wall. “Yeah,” he said flatly.

Emile drove them home and Remy leaned back into the chair, trying to stop crying. All he was getting for his troubles was a headache and more tears. “My head hurts,” Remy griped.

“Not surprised,” Emile said. “Do you need to take some ibuprofen when we get back?”

“I don’t think so,” Remy said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I just need to get over myself.”

“Hey, hey,” Emile said, pulling into the parking lot. “You have every right to be upset, Rem, that’s an upsetting thing. You don’t have to ‘get over yourself.’”

Remy grumbled, “Then why am I getting so worked up over something I knew would happen?”

Emile shrugged. “I’m not inside your head, Rem, I can’t speak for you. If I had to hazard a guess, it’s because hiring someone from outside the company just adds insult to injury.”

Remy laughed hollowly. “Understatement,” he groused, getting out of the car and inspecting his hand. It was swelling a little, but didn’t immediately come across as “broken,” which was a promising sign. “You ever break a bone, Emile?” he asked.

“Uh...not that I remember. There were a couple close calls, but nothing ever broke. I did once dislocate my knee,” Emile said.

Remy winced. “Ouch. How?”

“One of my friends took martial arts classes, and taught me and some of our friends some of the moves, but we didn’t do much stretching before we tried it...and I wound up with a lot of pain the next day in gym class, to where I could barely walk.”

“Ooh!” Remy exclaimed, hissing. “That’s pretty bad.”

“Yep, six weeks of physical therapy, a knee brace, the whole deal,” Emile said. “You break a bone?”

“I fractured my wrist at like...age six.” Remy laughed. “I was running down the sidewalk, and I assume I tripped, because the next thing I know, my wrist feels like it’s on fire and I’m sprawled on the ground. Went to school the next day, couldn’t use scissors without pain, went to the nurse, and she pretty much knew it was broken within five minutes of seeing it. Called my mom, they took me to the doctor’s, got X-rays, and I got a sick-looking cast.”

“Your mom sent you to school with a broken wrist?” Emile asked incredulously.

Remy shrugged. “She didn’t know how to identify a broken bone, she just assumed I cried for half an hour because, y’know, I’ve always been a crybaby. You got sent to school with a dislocated knee!”

“Because it didn’t really start hurting until gym class,” Emile said. “If a six year old cries for half an hour over tripping on a sidewalk, something’s up.”

Remy waved off Emile’s concern. “Eh, she apologized about it later. It wasn’t the end of the world, and because it happened during the school year, I still had two months where I could swim in the pool after the cast came off.”

Emile squinted at Remy and Remy rolled his eyes. “What?”

“You’re excusing your mother’s actions again.”

“She didn’t know, Emile,” Remy said. As they got inside the apartment and Emile gave Remy an ice pack, Remy continued, “You don’t have to know everything about injuries to become a parent.”

“No, but I still think crying for half an hour over a trip should be investigated. And if a school nurse can identify the injury that quickly, shouldn’t the parent be a tad bit suspicious before the kid leaves for school? Because obviously there would be swelling.”

Remy shrugged. “Listen, this wasn’t too bad. She was just forgetful in this case,” he defended. “She’s done worse, you’ve seen her do worse.”

Emile pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did she dismiss other health concerns?”

“I didn’t tell her about other health concerns, like in high school when everyone was turning against me except Toby. She couldn’t dismiss what she wasn’t told about.”

“But you didn’t tell her because she would dismiss it?” Emile questioned. “That seems to be what you’re implying.”

“Okay, she brushed off some things in middle school, things that I don’t even remember because I blocked them out. They couldn’t be too severe if I’m still standing here, though,” Remy brushed off.

Emile sighed and Remy inwardly grimaced. He knew that sigh. It was the sigh Emile got whenever he thought Remy was dismissing key parts of his mental health. “Remy...”

“Can we just agree to drop this subject and let me return to bitching about not getting the manager position?” Remy requested. “I know my mom wasn’t on top of it. I know she was bad. And we just disagree about how severe this infraction was. I agree that she should have done something, at least asked me why I was crying so much, but she didn’t. It’s over. Done with. Has been for years. I just want to gripe.”

Emile sighed. “Okay, fine. Let’s just talk about what’s going on in the here and now.”

Remy nodded his thanks. “I don’t think my hand is broken,” he said idly. “It would be swelling more if that was the case. Even with ice, it would look different.”

“Agreed,” Emile said. “You still shouldn’t have punched the dumpster.”

“It was that or the brick wall,” Remy said drily.

Emile shook his head. “Rem, you worry me, to this day.”

“Yeah, well. I’m getting better at controlling my anger, it just...needs an outlet, and I couldn’t hold it back further without risking lashing out, so I took it out on the closest inanimate object to me,” Remy said.

Emile rolled his eyes and took the ice pack off Remy’s hand to kiss the knuckles. “You may be an impulsive man, but you’re my impulsive man. And I’m proud that you’re working to control the more angry impulses.”

Remy offered Emile a smirk. “I thought you liked it when things got heated.”

“Not in this context,” Emile laughed.

Remy grinned, before looking at his hand and sighing. “Man, I wish I could be running my own shop right about now.”

“Hey, one day,” Emile said, squeezing Remy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, but that’s going to take so long,” Remy sighed. “Too long. I’ll still have to deal with this new manager, and what happens if I can’t hide my resentment well enough?”

“Remy, I know this probably doesn’t help, but I’m fairly sure you can hide your disdain behind your customer service smile. You’re consistently way better at that than I am. He might know it’s fake, he might not. Regardless, he can’t hold you accountable so long as you don’t say how you really feel about him and you keep smiling.”

“I don’t want to keep smiling,” Remy sighed. “I want to be able to be mad, and to cry, and I want people to know that I’m human.”

“Unfortunately, the downside of working in food service or retail hell is that a lot of people won’t see you as human,” Emile said knowingly. “But you’re always free to be human around me, and our friends, and anyone else we run into when you’re not working.”

“I know,” Remy grumbled. Didn’t change the fact that he didn’t want to put up with this.

“Rem, time will pass without you realizing it, and one day, you’re going to wake up, and realize you have the money and power to start your own coffee shop, and you’re going to absolutely crush it,” Emile said with conviction. “Trust me. It might be hard to see right now, but you’re destined for greatness.”

That, at least, got Remy to laugh. He both loved and hated when Emile got all storybook cliché on him. “I would disagree about the destiny thing,” Remy said. “I carve my own destiny.”

“Exactly why it’s true,” Emile replied smoothly. “You don’t wait around looking for your purpose, you go out and make a purpose that fits you.”

“I would argue that I wouldn’t make the purpose. Plenty of people have dropped out of college before. Many people have become entrepreneurs. It’s not exactly a unique path,” Remy brushed off.

“Yeah, but it still goes against the norms of what people expect of you. Instead of just going with the flow, you’re standing tall. And nothing can push you around if you don’t let it. Honestly it’s...pretty inspiring,” Emile said.

Remy laughed. “Please, Emile. I don’t have this heart-stopping origin story that you’re making this out to be.”

“I don’t know,” Emile said with a shrug. “I just think that you’re pretty impressive. If I were in your position, I wouldn’t have ever gotten this far.”

“I mean, I think you could have gotten out of my family situation before I ever did, and made a name for yourself however you wanted,” Remy said with a shrug in return.

Emile offered a slightly bitter smile, which surprised Remy. “Rem, believe me when I say that the only reason you believe that is because my parents taught me how to stand up for myself. You learned how to stand up on your own. No one taught you. If I had been in your position, I probably wouldn’t have lasted through high school. You’re impossibly strong.”

Remy shrugged. “I mean, I guess I’m strong. I’m taking you at your word on that, but I didn’t learn how to stand up on my own. You’re the one who taught me that.”

Emile shook his head. “No, Rem, I may have shown you where to stand tall and demand respect, but even before I met you, you were trying to make your own way in the world. Studying business over accounting, remember? That was all you. You’ve got what it takes to make your own place in the world. And if I were a betting man, I’d put all my money on you.”

Remy stood there, shocked into silence for a good minute. He didn’t know what Emile saw in him to cause that sort of conviction, but he knew that Emile was serious in this. And he wasn’t about to disappoint Emile. He smiled. He would get through this. He’d get through it and go his own way, sooner or later. “I love you too, Emile.”

[masked-buffoon]

Chapter 4: To exist (Part 1)

Warnings: violence, mentions of drug, addiction

Author notes: I received a punch from someone and decided to hit myself to go back to chapter 4... Here is the result, and I will not shy away! I hope you’ll like it! If not, feedbacks are pretty much welcome!

Notes 2: I this chapter, everything you MUST NOT DO is depicted. I’ll say more in future parts.

I was born on March 30th, which was supposed to be the happiest day of my parents. However, my father was not interested in a useless, weak and sick ability user who could not control her power, and my mother... She was indifferent. As long as I could remember, I had been sequestered in my room, with no company but the butler and my books. My days were morose, and March 30th was never different. I did not exist, my birth had been forgotten by my parents. So, I had never celebrated my birthday. Thus, ever since I had known about my birthdate, I had sung to myself the "Happy birthday" song, a way to cope with the lack of festivities. I had stopped this childish custom on my sixteenth birthday, which I had spent wandering in the shallows of Yokohama.

The next one was not any better. As a present, despite being unaware that I had been alive for exactly seventeen years, Dazai-san offered his toughest training so far. His previous mission with Nakahara-san had left him frustrated and I could feel he was more upset than usual, more brutal, violent. To me, I had never been as efficient in training as I was this day. I could not believe that I could avoid my superior's hits better than usual, and my gunshots were also more precise. Perhaps was it the result of my secret workout, every evening... However, I made a single mistake. The first one of the day, after a flawless performance. He slapped me. Or, rather, he punched my face. The shock was so great that I was sent to the ground, a stinging pain irradiating my entire neck, and I considered myself lucky that my head was still connected to my body. My ears were buzzing, I could not hear his voice, which, I assumed, barked at me to stand up, and my vision was so blurred I could not even distinguish the features of his face anymore. He gave up and harshly tugged on my collar to put me back on my feet. I barely registered him demanding me to go to the infirmary and let my feet drag me in the corridors of the Mafia.

"A severe case of torticollis..." The nurse, whom I knew very well, told me "What did he hit you with, this time?"

"Still his hand..." I winced as she put a brace around my neck "His fist, more accurately..."

"I'll get you some ice for your cheek..." She sighed "You're lucky you don't have any broken teeth."

"Thank you..." I cracked a smile.

I remained sat on the bed, pressing the ice on my swollen cheek to try and appease the pain.

"Do you feel any better?" The kind woman asked me after coming back.

"So so... I don't have morphine anymore, do you happen to have some?" I looked up at her.

"I do... But you should be careful with it. It can quickly make you feel addicted." She advised, taking a syringe in a drawer "Give me your arm, I'll do it for you. I believe I shouldn't ask how many you've already taken… I am not supposed to encourage you…"

"You shouldn't ask, indeed… Thank you..." I lifted my sleeve, before suddenly needing to cough.

The nurse waited for me to be done, but she did not insert the needle in the bruised skin of my arm. Instead, she brought her palm to my face, and gently checked my temperature.

"Wait a moment... I'll take a thermometer." She stood up "You don't seem good... Do you eat enough?"

"Eating...?" I blinked.

I was not accustomed to eating much. I had spent almost a year trying to survive misery, my stomach had grown used to the lack of food.

"I am barely ever hungry..." I confessed.

"What about sleep?" She came back and put the instrument in my ear.

I only gave her a sorry look, and she understood. Obviously, I could not sleep...

"I'm sorry... I was talking to you as though you were a normal patient..." She read the temperature.

"I don't mind..." I shrugged it off "Can I have my morphine, now?"

"You can. But you'll have to stay with me a bit."

"I-I can't...!" I protested "Dazai-san exceptionally allowed me to come here because I could not budge my head anymore... I have to go back..."

"You are wearing a neck brace, what does he expect you to do in this state?" She argued, angry "I'll keep you there. You suffer from acute malnutrition and insomnia. I need to check your vitals — saturation, tension and pulse — then I'll infuse you, and it won't be morphine."

"But I need it..." I pleaded "I... Am already addicted to it... I can't help it... I'll go crazy...!"

"Ogawa-san..." She frowned, concerned "If you can read my thoughts, you should know I mean no harm... I'm only trying to help you..."

"Please... Give me morphine..." I almost cried like a lost child "I need it..."

"... Alright..." She gave up, knowing it was the best behaviour towards a potentially violent patient "But agree to be treated afterwards."

"Anything... I'd do anything... So, please..."

So pitiful... I was so pathetic, imploring her so shamelessly to help the poor drug addict I was.

I had not chosen to become like this. It was this one day, Dazai-san had wanted to train my mind even harder than usual. He had somehow discovered I could dive much deeper into someone's consciousness, to discover hidden secrets and desires that would not be known by simply hearing punctual and superficial thoughts. Since, I had undergone such terrible pain, I was not sure how I could not want to die yet, and morphine had been my only option to save myself from the suffering. Once, twice, several times a day, I needed my injection, and I had soon become addicted to it. It was a toxic product and I had not paid attention to the warning, too focused on easing my pain away. Now, it was too late to go back.

"There you go..." She removed the needle once she was done "Now, on to —"

The door opened brusquely, and I jumped in fear, fidgeting with my fingers when I saw it was Dazai-san. His look was menacing, and I knew exactly what was the cause of his anger; I had taken too much time.

"Ogawa-kun! What are you still doing there?!" He yelled, grabbing my wrist so harshly I thought it would break.

He almost cancelled my ability — almost — for he realised his mistake and instantly let go of me.

"It's my fault." The nurse stepped in firmly "I wanted to do additional checkups on her health."

"Hoh? And why is that?" He raised his eyebrows contemptuously.

I slowly got off of the bed, readjusted my jacket and pants, and put on my trench coat.

"Because you are breaking her, Dazai-san." She pointed a wagging finger at him "You are killing her! Are you doing so consciously?"

"You..." He clenched his fists "Are just a nurse. How I train my men has nothing to do with you."

"Except when the said men come to me in her state! I don't believe she needs a neck brace because she slept in a weird position, did she?" She seemed very upset.

If it had been any hospital, and if Dazai-san had been any of my relatives, in a normal situation, he would have backed down and mumbled he did not plan to hurt me, that the nurse was right. But this was the Port Mafia, and Dazai-san was the demon prodigy of the organisation. He did not back down, did not apologise, and silently ordered me to leave with him.

"You'll be transferred." He simply told the poor nurse.

I glanced at her, apologetically, and followed the executive without a word. But inside, I was angry. Not many people cared about me, and she was one of them. Why...?

"Why must you take away anyone who is a tad concerned about me...?" I whispered, without realising I had said it out loud.

The slap came, on the other cheek this time. Perhaps would my neck get better, now?

"Are you disrespecting me, Ogawa-kun?" He glared at me "Because I will not tolerate it."

"I'm sorry, Dazai-san... I didn't mean... I..." I teared up, holding my cheeks.

Accumulated fatigue, pain and stress had gotten the better of me and I could not control my emotions anymore. My lacrimal glands seemed to work perfectly, and I could not hold the sobs back. At this point, it felt that even a cotton ball could hurt me. The sobs were nervous, shaking my chest, and awoke the cough. I pulled out my handkerchief, already covered in blood, under Dazai-san's widened eyes, and did not hold back as my body protested once again against my ability. When the crisis ended, I exhaled. What a sight it should have been, seeing me in such a state...

"What's that...?" He looked genuinely unaware.

It had to be expected; I had tried to hide my true weakness for almost a year, he had never known about the actual effects of my ability.

"That's nothing... Nothing at all..." I folded my reddened handkerchief and put it back in my pocket "Shall we get back to training, Dazai-san...?"

"Go back for now..." He avoided my resentful eyes "Take the day off..."

I nodded and walked past him, without a single glance. I was relieved he did not want to train me again... I would have never borne it.

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[tsipasce]

Same Difference Ch. 13

A/N: sorry for the late upload for anyone following, I’ve been pretty lax on uploading on here bc of the low interaction with these posts (I think like 3 people read this, maybe lol). But I’m going to try and upload them here just in case. 

Chapters: 01  |  02 |  03 |  04 | 05  | 06 | 07 | 08 |  09 |  10 |  11 | 12

AO3 | FFN

 “We need to talk. Now.”

“Yes. That’s why we’re on the phone.”

“We don’t have time for games today. You need to come to the base immediately.”

She’d recognize that “not now, Nanami” tone anywhere. Whatever it was, it was serious. Switching gears mentally to brace for the impending shitstorm, she exhaled,” Give me 30 minutes.”

“20.”

“What? That’s not even realisti—” she stopped, hearing the phone click. Rolling her eyes, she watched her friend exit the post office and walk over to the car.

“So, I say we go to that new brunch place first and then—wait what’s wrong?” Hitomi pivoted recognizing her friend was much less enthused than when she’d left. Nanami turned to her, an apologetic look on her face. “The hospital has you on-call again, huh?”

“Duty calls, sadly.” She felt bad about lying, but knew she’d feel worse if Hitomi got caught up in her mess. “Though I don’t know how long it’ll take so we might be able to salvage the day.”

“No, it’s ok, I understand. Take your time, we can always hang tomorrow or later in the week. When do you need to be there?”

“… in 20 minutes.”

“That’s unrealistic.”

“That’s what I tried to tell hi—I mean them, but it’s an emergency. Mind dropping me off at my house?”

“You got it. I’ll drive, you watch for cops.” Before Nanami could protest, Hitomi screeched out of the parking lot and back down the road they came.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 Waving bye to her friend, Nanami hurriedly grabbed her keys and work bag just in case the talk carried over to lab work. Running down to her car, she sped over to the base, basically rolling out of the car when she arrived as there were only 5 minutes to spare. Hearing a noise, she reflexively turned to look but continued running forward. Suddenly she felt herself run into a solid figure as she bounced back, falling onto her soon-to-be-late keester. Regaining her bearings, she looked up and saw an older gentleman in traditional attire, his hair slicked back and his face serious.

“Oh my gosh I am so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she apologized, giving him an earnest look.

He paused for a beat before giving her a kind smile, offering his hand to help her up, “That’s alright miss, no need to apologize. Where are you off to in such a hurry anyway?”

Crap, how do I get out of this one… she strategized inwardly on how to answer the question discreetly without sounding rude. “Oh nowhere, I just have to… make a house call! I’m a doctor, and my patient’s a massive germaphobe; very needy, you see.” She laughed awkwardly, hoping he bought it.

At her last comment, she could’ve sworn she saw a look of recognition flash across his face, but figured it was her imagination. “Oh, I see. Well he’s a lucky man to have you. As such an attentive caretaker, I mean. I won’t hold you up any longer, have a nice day Dr… what did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t.” She smiled, “You have a nice day too!” She said as she continued her jog to the base. She looked back to see him waving, returning it as she rounded the corner. Well that was close.

Once at the front gate, the door opened before she knocked, an irritated Overhaul waiting on the other side. “What took you so long. I said 20.”

“And I was going to say that was unrealistic before you rudely hung up on me. Besides, I would’ve actually gotten here on time if not for your friendly neighbors. I don’t know how the HOA of this neighborhood decided to let you of all people in. Everyone else seems so nice.” She pouted.

“What are you rambling about?”

“Your neighbor? I ran into an old man outside—I didn’t tell him where I was going or why I was here, obviously—but he seemed nice, if not a tad nosey.”

At this she saw him pause, “… What did he say to you?” The question much meeker than the last.

“Uhm, I bumped into him by accident, so he just asked where I was going, told me to have a nice day... oh! Also, how lucky you are to have me. You know, obvious stuff.” His brows raised before she quickly clarified the last statement, “As a doctor! I told him I was your doctor. He was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.”

Though he donned his usual mask, she could tell his features had softened at whatever he was thinking. She’d even bet there was a small smile forming, but at what she wasn’t sure, “Hm, I see. Well, there’s no use in loitering around, let’s go.”

“Well you’re the one that stopped but ok” she said under her breath. He turned, giving her a warning look as she shrugged, raising her hands in faux surrender.

They continued down the usual pathway in the underground base before reaching his office and passing it, going down a hallway she wasn’t familiar with. It gradually became much darker the further they went, and the air temperature felt as though it had dropped at least 10 degrees, almost causing her to shiver. After what felt like an indefinite amount of time they arrived at a door, but before Overhaul could reach the handle, it opened, a panicked Kurono standing in the doorway.

“He had a pill.”

Looking past him, Nanami could see the assailant from the night before. Though he was savagely beaten, it was apparent he’d killed himself with whatever pill was hidden in his mouth as foam was formed around it, his body still going through its final convulsions. Working in a large hospital, she’d seen her fair share of people dying, but to say it got any easier would be a half-truth. The vision was familiar, but it was still unpleasant, no matter who it was. In contrast, Overhaul seemed irritated for a second before realizing something and returning to his stoic expression.

“No matter, we got all we needed from him anyway. Follow me,” he directed at her as he left the room and Kurono to dispose of the body. Nanami somberly followed, mentally giving the man a moment of silence. Whatever happened, she knew the importance of remaining objective in the presence of death. There might come a time when she’d make some bad decisions herself—to put it ever so lightly— and she hoped whoever was there in her last moments wouldn’t relish in her death either. They arrived at the door of his office, the clicking of the handle rousing her from her thoughts. He sat down across from her on one couch as she sat on the other, now feeling a bit out of place in her casual attire.

“It seems you have a price on your head.”

“Hm?” Nanami squeaked, her face that of disbelief.

“The lackeys that tried to take you were sent by the head of the Okumura clan, a rival organization. He seems sure you have a unique ability and learning of our partnership only seemed to confirm this.”

“Bu…But I was so careful. I don’t talk to anyone about us, I take weird routes every time I come here, I always use the burner ph—“ she began frantically before he cut in.

“You were not at fault for this. One of the new recruits was abducted. He didn’t know much, but he gave enough information to pique their interest.”

“And what happened to him?”

He was surprised at the question, but answered anyway, “He was set free after the questioning.”

“Well where is he now? Maybe he can tell us something useful about them and what else they want.”

“He’s no longer with us.”

“… Like he quit?”

“…”

“Overhaul.”

“… As I said, he’s no longer with us.” They stared at each other, Nanami now knowing the “snitches get stitches” saying to be only half true. Something tells me stiches wouldn’t help him now… She sighed, his blank expression unwavering as he continued, “Also, there is no ‘us’ when it comes to you and I and the Okumura. You will stay here until this problem is solved.”

“I’m gonna do what now?”

“You heard me. Your apartment is no longer safe. Considering they probably expected to see their men return last night with you captured, they will undoubtedly send more to finish the job.”

She opened her mouth to speak before closing it again. She knew it wasn’t safe to stay at her place, but staying at the base was just a lot, especially if her assumption about not being able to leave was correct. “Ok, but I have work and a life. Am I just supposed to hide here and put all that on hold?”

“Would you rather put it on hold or have it all end?”

“…That’s not fair.”

“Most things aren’t.”

She shifted in her seat biting her lip, realizing she was losing the argument. Every counter she came up with she mentally shot down before speaking it. I could stay at Hitomi’s house? No, they’d just follow me there and attack her too, or worse… I could stay at home and defend my place? Except they wouldn’t stop coming. My place would be trashed and then the neighbors would find out...I could...

“I could go in myself and get them. It’s my head they’re after, I’ll just have to convince them it’s not worth the trouble.”

He gave her a pitiable look, knowing the suggestion was equal parts blind bravery and desperation, “Your training with Rappa has made you a capable fighter, but are you really prepared to kill another person, permanently? Dozens of them? Simply maiming them wouldn’t be enough, they’d keep coming until…” He paused as he saw her look down in defeat, her fists clenched in her lap, her jaw tightening. She was angry—mad as hell—but she knew he was right. She was a fighter, not a killer, and no amount of training could change that overnight. She knew the logical solution to the problem, but her nature wouldn’t allow her to solve it. Seated across from her, his head tilted as he gazed at her pensively. Overhaul couldn’t figure out why but seeing her so upset was… unpleasant. He wanted nothing more than to make it stop, though the motivation behind the action remained a mystery. “Dr. Watanabe,” He continued slightly softer than before, her fists unclenching for a moment at the change in tone, “Your strengths lie elsewhere. Strategically, it makes the most sense for you to be here. It will only be for two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” Nanami could tell he was trying, but the frustration with the situation lingered. Attempting to calm herself and accept reality, she finally managed to respond,” Can I at least get my stuff first?”

“Yes, but let’s be quick about it.”

“’Let’s?”

“You didn’t really think you were going alone, did you?”

“No!... Well, yes. Fine, let’s go.”

[randomoranges]

love potion au part 51

--

 Edward respected Étienne’s wishes and gave him the space he needed. Once he was discharged from the hospital and found not guilty in regards to the whole love potion mess, Edward returned to an unfamiliar house and was quite overwhelmed by it all. His parents explained that he and Étienne had moved in right before this “accident” happened and the only saving grace to it all was that there weren’t thousands of memories stored deep in the walls. It was, in a sense, a blank slate. There were still many of Étienne’s things in every cupboard or closet he opened, but that was a problem for later – for when he’d be able to box everything up. Or, maybe, his friend would come to pick them up, he dared to hope, for it would give them a chance to talk – for him to explain.

 He did his best to reacquaint himself with whatever his life had been and somehow or other navigate through the mess of his memories.

 In regards to Étienne, the problem was – he’d had a thing for Étienne. At some point. And he couldn’t really tell if it was before the potion or after it, but as time went on he was more certain that it had been before. But – Étienne had always been his friend and he’d never thought that Étienne would like him, a simple guy, when Étienne was so much more extravagant. So he’d kept his little thing to himself and had been perfectly okay with being his roommate and friend.

 By the time he’d wanted to maybe actually pursue something – or attempt to anyway, Étienne had been with someone, and then he’d been with someone and so on, and by then, Edward felt the universe was telling him that it was not meant to be. He contented himself with friendship and moved on.

 And then, he assumed, he’d drank the potion.

 After about two months of radio silence, Edward decided that he was done and wanted to speak to Étienne. He hadn’t really seen him, what with Étienne quitting his job, his hospital stay and sick leave, and he realised that he missed the other’s company. On top of that, to his surprise, he realised that he still had a thing for Étienne. He was – mostly sure, that it wasn’t some side effect of the potion, but he figured, there would be no harm in at least talking to him.

 The only problem was that Étienne never returned his messages or his calls, so Edward backed off and gave him more time.

 About a month after that, Edward decided to start sending him letters. It was a way for him to empty out the thoughts that kept running through his head and he hoped that, maybe, Étienne would write back.

 Unfortunately for him, Étienne did not, but Edward kept at it, hoping that maybe he would.

 More time went by and the only good thing that came with it was that Edward’s memories slowly returned – in an out of sequence sort of way at first, but eventually, he was able to place them in order and he felt so bad for what Étienne had gone through. It was then that he decided that this radio silence had gone on long enough and that it was time to pay Étienne a visit.

 He didn’t call ahead and only thought about it after he’d parked the car in front of Élyse’s place. He figured he could start here, not knowing where else Étienne could be and he hoped Élyse wouldn’t close the door in his face when he rang. Not that she didn’t have the right to.

 He braced himself for immediate rejection, but instead, when Élyse opened the door after he thought of running away for at least ten minutes, she only gave him a cold hard look, which he supposed he deserved – to some extent.

 “What do you want?” She asked, using her body to block the door in case Edward tried to do anything brash like step in. Whatever warmth she’d usually shown towards him was clearly gone and Edward felt a small pang – he’d always appreciated her, “If you’re looking for my brother, I’m not letting you see him. You’ve done enough damage. Leave.” She added, as though she could read his mind.

 “Please – I just want to talk to him – I’d like to see him; I don’t want to hurt him.” He tried and the carefully rehearsed speech he had practiced a million times before this moment vanished from his head.

 “Why did you do it – why did you drink the love potion?” She threw at him instead, ignoring what he’d just said.

 Edward fell quiet. He’d thought about it. Over the months. He thought about why it was he drank the love potion over a year ago now. He wished he hadn’t, obviously, but – why had he done something so foolish? So reckless and so stupid.

 “I guess – I didn’t believe in it. I wanted to show them that it was dumb – I thought it was a myth – an old tale – I never thought it’d work... and I never meant to hurt Étienne...”

 And that was the thing that hurt him the most. He didn’t care about his jumbled memories, or forgetting about what he’d done. He didn’t care about the fool he could have made out of himself or the things he’d said. But – he hurt his very dear friend and that was too much. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was Étienne and he’d done everything but that, in the end.

 Élyse must have read something on his face that she didn’t think was garbage and gave him another hard look, “I’ll see if he wants to talk to you. He’s been a mess, you know, ever since you woke up.” She told him and – Edward could only imagine, “He’s been getting better. I don’t want to see him fall like that again. Or ever.” She warned him and Edward nodded.

 She disappeared and went presumably searching for Étienne, while Edward remained on her doorstep, suddenly nervous. What if Étienne didn’t want to see him? Or what if he did and it turned out badly? Thoughts ran through his mind and he was caught up with them to the point where he almost didn’t see Étienne appear.

 His eyes widened in shock when he saw him and Edward’s first reflex was to walk up to Étienne and envelop him in a tight hug, but he stopped himself from it, not sure if Étienne would be okay with that. Étienne looked – terrible. There were deep bags under his eyes, his face was gaunt and he looked – heartbroken was the only word for it. Yet, Edward noticed a small spark in his eyes and the flicker of a smile on his face and he supposed that had to mean something, even if it only lasted for the briefest of moments.

 “I – Étienne – you’re – I’m,” The words fought to get out of his mouth and Edward mentally kicked himself for tripping over himself when it mattered the most.

 Étienne chose that moment to step out of his sister’s house and walked up to his side, “Walk with me?” He asked and Edward realised how much he’d missed the sound of his voice in that instance. He nodded and the two of them fell in step as they quietly made their way around the block.

 Neither said anything at first, lost in their own thoughts and the urge to reach out for Étienne’s hand was strong, but he ignored it as best he could.

 “I read all your letters, you know. I – thank you. For writing.” Étienne was quiet, as if he wasn’t really talking to him and Edward waited, in case he had more to say, “I’m not mad at you – not anymore. It still hurts, though, but – I don’t blame you for it – not entirely.” He sighed, “It’s complicated, isn’t?”

 “Yeah, it is... I’m – are you okay?”

 “Better. I mean, my feelings for you haven’t changed – I still love you and I guess that’s what hurts the most – that for you it was all an illusion.” There was a sad smile to his face that Edward would have loved to erase, but instead he kept his hands to himself yet again and they kept walking.

 “What if – what if there was a chance to fix this? To make this better – what if it wasn’t all an illusion?” He asked. He’d given it a lot of thought and – he wanted to right his wrong. Wanted to have another go at it – the proper way this time, without the influence of a potion.

 “Don’t mess with me, Edward. Once was quite enough.”

 They stopped walking, under the light of a lamppost and Edward found the light made Étienne’s face look more severe – removed the softness from the curve of his lips and the easiness of his smile.

 “I’m not – promise. This is one hundred percent me – no potion, no after effects. I’ve given myself time and I’ve thought it over. And – I like you. As more than a friend. And I want to – take you out, go on a date, or something. Do things the proper way this time – see where it goes...” He trailed off, not wanting to get carried away – afraid still that maybe it was the love potion, even though he knew it wasn’t. He felt like himself – not like the impulsive shell he’d been.

 “I... what did you have in mind?” Étienne asked as they resumed walking.

 “Nothing elaborate – just, let’s get a coffee, or something – catch up. As – at least as friends. We were friends before all this started. I want us to be friends again and I get if you don’t want us to be more than that, honest. I won’t push you. But – I’d like to think we can be friends.”

 Étienne was quiet, as though he was pondering the words – weighing them. The pros and the cons. What he wanted and what would be best.

 “Okay.” He finally said and Edward was so very relieved, never thinking that one word would have such an effect on him. They exchanged hesitant smiles at that and continued the walk back to Élyse’s place in silence, but this time around, it didn’t feel quite as heavy, to the point where Étienne even reached out for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

 “Wait here,” Étienne told him when they made it back to the front door. Edward wondered what Étienne was up to, but he waited as the other man went back inside and returned a moment later, “Here,” He said and handed him a small box.

 Edward opened it and was surprised to find a wedding band that – after a moment, became familiar to him.

 “I don’t want it back – not before at least two years – if not more. So, hang on to it, in the meantime, and I’m sure there’ll come a time when it’ll be appropriate for you to give it back to me.”

 Edward nodded, tears suddenly gathering in his eyes and he did his best to blink them away, “I will. I promise.”

 Étienne smiled, a hint of a true smile after so long and for the first time, Edward felt that maybe, just maybe, it would all work out in the end.

 --

PREVIOUS: L

CURRENT: LI

NEXT: LII

[sojourner-between-worlds]

Burn the Ships, Chapter Three

A/N: This is twice as long as the previous two but, hey...It was...sort of necessary, lol. And somehow I also managed to crank it out in half the time! *shrugs* lol. It’s also, like, 93% dialog I’m sorry, lol. ...I also feel like I should point out that it’s, like, 1:30 in the afternoon by this point in the story and it was, like, a little after 7:00 in the morning when Steve tasked him with this, so Jerry has had plenty of time to put this all together. :P

To any UK readers: It came to my attention while writing this chapter that Alex’s alias in Scorpia Rising is different between the UK and US editions. The UK edition has it as Alex Brenner, while they changed it to Alex Tanner in the US version. Why they would change that is beyond me, but they did. Since I’m American myself, I stuck with the US edition’s alias for this story.

. . . . .

Chapter Three

Steve took a deep breath as he stepped out of the elevator. He needed to find Alex; they had to talk about what happened, and he wanted to apologize for flying off the handle. When he’d gone back to the truck to find the kid gone, he’d panicked. His worry had manifested as anger, and he needed to make that right. But he also had to get Alex to understand that it wasn’t okay to put himself in harm’s way like that.

Rounding the corner, he pushed through the door into HQ and headed for Chin’s office. He paused outside the door; Alex’s back was to him, and Chin was focused on whatever he was saying, a smile on his lips. They were apparently getting on very well, and Steve was loathe to interrupt that, but all the same, he knew he’d have to eventually.

“Steve?”

He turned his head to find Jerry staring at him, leaning against the holotable. Ah, yes; the other reason he’d come back to the Palace. “Yeah, you get something?”

Jerry hesitated. “Yeah, and you were right that you probably weren’t going to like it.”

Steve sighed as he approached. “Alright. Let’s have it.”

“For the record, this is one conspiracy theory I’d hoped I would never prove.”

“Conspiracy theory?” He raised an eyebrow. Sure, they’d proved a couple of his theories true, and Jerry had certainly been helpful in numerous cases, but Steve wasn’t ready for him to reduce this kid to that just yet.

“Also for the record, it didn’t start out that way,” Jerry tacked on quickly.

Steve crossed his arms over his chest. “Fair enough. What’d you find?”

“Okay, well, I took the liberty of pulling security footage for the Place to get a photo to help, and then I ran him through missing persons like you asked. No hits. I thought at best, no one filed a report, and at worst, no one even noticed he was missing. Working under the assumption that he’s possibly in the foster care system, group homes are notoriously understaffed, after all, so either one would be plausible.

“Anyway, when I didn’t get a hit there, I moved on to the DOT. Interestingly enough, no hits there either -- not even a learners’ permit even though he told you he’s fifteen. But, again, not really unprecedented if he’s in the system.

“Next, I ran him through the UK’s database as well as the Department of State’s database to see if he has -- or ever had -- a passport. He had to get into the country somehow, after all. Now, brace yourself, because this is where it starts to get weird.” Jerry brought up a file on the holotable and flicked a set of images up on the screen. “Between the UK and here, I got a grand total of five separate passports.”

“And you’re sure they’re all the same person?”

“Facial rec confirmed it. These all belong to the same person.”

“So what are you telling me, Jerry? That this teenager has forged documents?”

“If they’re forges, they’re incredibly good as they all appear to be standard government issue.”

Steve took in the documents more thoroughly: British issues to Alex Rider, Alex Friend, and Alex Tanner; American issues to Alex Gardiner and...Alex Rider? “Wait -- there are two issued to the same person.”

“Right you are. I’ll come back to the whole ‘multiple passports’ thing later, but that was the lead I followed first, so. The British-issued one is the one that’s been used the most frequently and was invalidated this past July -- the same time the American one was issued. As it turns out --” Jerry swiped an image up on the screen of two sets of legal forms -- “he was also granted citizenship at that same time. Coincidentally -- or not so much -- that also happens to be when he was adopted by Edward and Elizabeth Pleasure of San Francisco, who are also former residents of England. According to the forward of his book on Damien Cray, they moved there after Mr. Pleasure was badly injured while on vacation with his family in the South of France. He also revealed that that attack was the result of the research he was doing on Cray. He moved his family to California for a fresh start shortly thereafter.”

“Okay, well that makes sense then. Did you reach out to them?”

“I would have, but that’s impossible.” Jerry pulled up a news article from September 17th, the black letters in sharp contrast to the white background: Three Killed in Car Bombing: Journalist Edward Pleasure and wife among the casualties. “Turns out they had a daughter as well, but she wasn’t with them; the third casualty was a by-stander. According to social services, she went back to England to live with an aunt and uncle, but Alex went into the system. He was in and out of foster homes, never staying in one place too long, until early November when he was sent to a group home in Sacramento. He was only there for about a week, though, before this guy --” he brought up a photo of a man with dark hair and darker eyes -- “showed up. Supposedly he’s still in this guy’s custody.”

“Possibly human trafficking?”

“Central Intelligence Agency, actually. His name is James Branning. Fifteen years of service to the CIA. Lives and works out of DC.”

“So -- what? They come out here for vacation and Alex somehow gets caught up in drug trafficking? I don’t buy it. Not to mention, what was this guy’s interest that he went all the way across the country just to foster a kid?”

“I agree with you, and I’m getting there. I did say there’s a conspiracy theory here, remember.”

“Right.” Steve gestured towards him with one hand. “Please, continue.”

“I ran those names against the flight manifests for all inbound flights from the DC area from November through yesterday. Surprise, surprise, I got no hits on either name. On a hunch, I ran Alex’s aliases through as well, and while there is no record of Alex Rider coming to Hawaii, there is an Alex Gardiner who arrived through Kahului Airport on Maui on December second. I pulled airport security footage for that day and found this.” Jerry brought up a still shot from said footage of Alex walking along next to a man who was clearly James Branning. “Branning came onto the island under the alias Mike Wingert, and given that they both traveled under an alias, I don’t think either of them were here just for a vacation.”

“Whoa, hold up, Jerry,” Steve interrupted, holding up a hand. “Are you trying to tell me that Alex is working for the CIA? Because you are aware of how crazy that sounds, right?”

“I know -- I do know how it sounds, but it all adds up. Look, I started off saying that I never wanted to prove this right, but… the teen spy out of MI6 has always been the most credible conspiracy theory out there for one simple reason: anything and everything relating to this disappears from the Internet within hours -- even on the dark web. You can talk about JFK and Area 51 and everything else you want, but not the teen spy from MI6 because it’ll disappear. Everything I had on this prior to today was from a few dedicated individuals willing to ship FedEx. I know it sounds crazy, but I honestly don’t think it is -- especially now.”

Steve sighed. He had to admit it was brilliant even if terribly unethical. No one would ever suspect a kid, after all. Part of him didn’t want to hear any more of what Jerry knew, but in the end, he said, “Okay. Help me understand it then. Tell me everything you’ve got on this prior to his arrival in the US.”

“Well, I won’t bother with everything,” Jerry admitted. “A lot of it is still just conjecture, but I will tell you about the stuff that’s most relevant.” He paused bringing out a newspaper clipping from a folder sat on the edge of the table. The photo was blurry but showed a person dangling from a parachute through the roof of the science museum in London. “This is where it all started. An unidentified individual broke through the skylight and shot both the Prime Minister and Herod Sayle.”

“I remember hearing about that. There was never a formal press release of any kind about what actually happened. There was speculation it was a terrorist group, but no one ever took credit for it.”

“And the high-tech Stormbreaker computers never launched. To this day, no one knows why.”

Steve frowned. “Okay, but why is this attributed to some ‘teen spy’?”

“Eyewitnesses. I mean, MI6 tried to tamp down on it obviously, but…” Jerry shrugged. “No one could confirm without a doubt that it was a kid but, like I said before, all the chatter disappeared within hours. We all knew then that clearly we were on to something or they wouldn’t be trying so hard to cover up any mention of it. So we all kept our eyes and ears open for anything else in the news that could prove our theory.”

Jerry pulled all of Alex’s alias passports up on the screen again as he continued. “All of these passports have something in common: they’ve all only been used once. That by itself is strange because there’s record of them leaving England -- or, in one instance, America instead -- but never returning. On top of that, the dates they were used all line up with major events that myself and my fellow theorists previously attributed to the Teen Spy. For example, Point Blanc Academy in the French Alps. It was exposed as being a cover for experimental cloning within weeks of Alex Friend’s arrival in France.

“And, according to his real passport, Alex was in France with the Pleasures when Edward was injured when their vacation rental exploded. Not too long after that, Damien Cray -- the very man he was researching and whom he himself revealed was the reason for the attack -- is killed in England aboard Air Force One while the president is having tea with the queen. Seems a bit too coincidental to me.

“Moving on from that --” he pulled out yet another newspaper clipping -- “we have the first ever space hotel -- the Arc Angel -- that explodes in orbit before its completion.  You wanna know who entered the US right before that happened with the guy who was funding that project? Alex Rider. And the next place he pops up is Australia only days after that -- only days after a pod is seen entering orbit immediately after the Arc Angel was decimated. Based on trajectory, that pod was estimated to set down somewhere in the Pacific. On top of that, I don’t know what he was doing there, but he didn’t get back to England for almost a month.”

“Gotta be honest, Jerry,” Steve cut in with a sigh. “Right now all I’m hearing is that this kid is well-travelled. Outside of the multiple passports that may or may not actually be his, you’ve got nothin’ solid.”

Jerry nodded once. “Yeah, I’ll give ya that, but this last one is a doozie, so hold onto your hat, Commander.” He pulled out another article, this one from only six months before.

“Back in July, the American Secretary of State traveled to Cairo, Egypt, to give a speech on education but never got to finish it because halfway through shots were fired inside the venue. But it didn’t stop there, and the firefight continued outside, in the midst of a traffic-jammed street. The only reason we know this is because of amauter phone camera footage taken from one of the cars. Thanks to my connections, I am one of the few people who has that footage. It was uploaded to YouTube but, just like everything else, was quickly removed. Before it was taken down, one particular person had the presence of mind to download it, so here we are.”

Jerry connected a USB drive to the table’s system and played the short video. It was unfocused -- the person recording jumping at every gunshot -- and blurry from the evident torrential rain, but the person crouched behind a car and firing at someone off-frame was unmistakably Alex. He turned from his cover and ran, dodging between stalled cars as the rain continued to pound down, and a second later, the person pursuing him appeared as he rushed passed the car.

Steve felt his jaw drop. “What the…”

“My thoughts exactly,” Jerry continued as he disconnected the drive. “Remember how I mentioned he could have been involved with Point Blanc Academy? What if Dr. Grief had actually been successful in his attempts at cloning?”

“Because I currently don’t have a better explanation of...that, let’s just say that’s true. Why? Why would this supposed clone go after the American Secretary of State?”

“Because if Alex really was working for MI6 and someone pinned that assination on him and could prove he was working for MI6 at the time of the assination --.”

“It would have torn relations between us apart.”

“Exactly. I think the whole thing was a set up from the start.”

“I don’t know, Jerry --.”

“Don’t make a judgment call just yet. I have more you need to see.”

Steve rubbed wearily at the back of his neck. “Alright. Continue, then.”

“In all the hub-bub surrounding the failed assassination, most people would have overlooked this much smaller article that appeared in the same issue.” Jerry took out a small article from the folder, the headline reading American Killed near Siwa -- Local authorities still investigating. “Apparently the vehicle exploded, killing the woman driving instantly. We were never sure how exactly these two events were connected, but we were sure they were, so I thought it worth looking into further. I ran the name from the article, and it came up empty, but I thought if Alex was there under an alias -- which he was, by the way, under Alex Tanner -- then, if it’s connected, maybe this woman was too. So I looked for obituaries with the same date of death and found just one that fit the bill.” He put it up on the screen. “Meet the late Jack Starbright. According to the obituary, her parents are still alive and well living in DC, so I took the liberty of reaching out to them since there’s not much info here to work with. It took a bit of persuading, but they eventually told me about their late daughter.

“She went to London not quite ten years ago to study Law. In order to help make ends meet, she started looking for a job she’d be able to manage around her studies. She ended up answering an ad for a sort of live-in nanny-type thing. It was absolutely ideal because not only was it within a reasonable distance from campus, but room and board were provided and expenses covered on top of a modest paycheck. The man who offered her the position said he had to travel a lot for the bank he worked for and he needed someone to look after his nephew when he was away. That man was Ian Rider, and his nephew was Alex Rider.

“They went on to tell me that even after she finished her degree, she stayed at the Rider’s. She spoke very highly of them both, and Alex is the reason she never moved back to the States. When Ian died almost two years ago, that was just more incentive for her to stay so Alex wouldn’t be left alone.

“But here’s the kicker: I dug into it a little more after I hung up with them and found that, during that time between completing her degree and Ian’s death, her visa lapsed and wasn’t renewed until almost a month after Ian’s passing. On top of that, when it finally was renewed, it was permanent.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. If her visa expired, that means she was there illegally. They would have prosecuted her instead of granting a new one -- much less a permanent one.”

“And this is where my new and improved theory comes in.”

“I’m all ears, Jerry.”

“I don’t think Ian Rider was a banker like he claimed. I think he was a spy, too. He wasn’t killed in a car accident as his obituary states; he was killed on the job. The day he died and the day Alex parachuted through the skylight are barely a month apart. Based on that, I think whatever happened with those Stormbreaker computers is what got Ian killed, and his death is the reason Alex got involved. Moreover, they convinced him to do it by offering Jack a permanent visa rather prosecuting her. The visa situation had been previously overlooked because, of course, Ian knew the right people through his employer, so they just looked the other way until it was convenient not to. Alex, then, proved so useful that they kept finding ways to convince him to work for them.

“Then Cairo happened. Jack went with him for whatever reason and ended up dead. Between that and fighting someone with your face, the end result was probably pretty traumatic. Maybe they realized how unethical they were being, but more likely they realized he wouldn’t be bouncing back from that experience any time soon and decided it was better to let him go. Enter the Pleasures who offer to adopt him and give him a fresh start out in California. But then that goes sour, and he ends up in the system instead.

“Because he had an American alias prior to this, it’s possible that he had also worked for the CIA previously, so when he went into the system, they saw that as an opportunity. They sent an agent to take legal custody of him, and that brings us all the way up to this morning when the Coast Guard fished him out of the bay.”

Steve leaned back against the holotable, silent for a moment as he tried to process the last twenty minutes. “I gotta admit, that was a wild ride from start to finish.”

“Then you don’t think it’s true.”

“When we first met, yeah, I probably wouldn’t have bought a word of it. Now…” Steve trailed off with a sigh. “Now, I don’t know. It all sounds pretty crazy, but I feel like dealing with the crazy is kinda part of the job description at this point.” Steve pushed off the table and started back for Chin’s office.

“So what are you gonna do?”

Without missing a beat, Steve replied, “I’m gonna go find out the truth.”

. . . . .

Tag list: @diekatimitdemhutohnehut @ghostly-homo 

(Let me know if you’d like added/removed!)

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

ARC: Into the Hurricane, Part 1

Lena's decision isn't the magical fix it feels like it should be.

Alex and Sam continue to sleep in their own room, and Lena continues to keep her distance.

She knows what she wants.

Reaching for it is another matter entirely.

"I don't where to go from here." It's Sam's idea to find counseling. "So we're going to find someone who does."

So counseling comes in the form of a casually impersonal office and a therapist who pauses more at the stack of NDAs Lena drops on her desk than she does at the fact they're three women in a strained marriage.

At their first session, the set a dangerous precedent: they lie.

"We were... emotionally intimate," Sam navigates carefully. Lena wonders if she can hear her teeth grinding. "With Lena's best friend."

Dr. Chisolm nods. "Okay. And is this someone you continue to have regular contact with?"

Lena stays quiet.

"She's my sister," Alex says quietly.

"That would be a yes, then." At Alex's nod, Dr. Chisolm regards them neutrally.

"Emotional intimacy is a rather broad term. Is there anything you're willing to share about what happened that might give me a better idea about what came between you?"

"Kara lied about who she was," Lena snaps. "They both knew the truth, and helped her lie about it."

"Okay that's not--"

"It is true," Lena cuts Sam off. Then she huffs. "But it doesn't matter. I let it go."

Silence answers her for a long moment before Dr. Chisolm shifts in her seat, leaning forward.

"Things have a way of leaving pieces of themselves stuck to us, even when we let them go," she says, her voice soft. "And that's okay. That's why we're all here."

None of then respond, giving the therapist plenty of room to continue.

"One of the things I like to do during the first meeting with my clients is to have all participants share one thing they're hoping to get out of this. Doing so gives me the opportunity to learn where to steer some of our conversations, and gives my clients some insight to the big roadblocks their partners have already identified."

Lena looks away, reluctant to proceed but unwilling to say so. Chisolm doesn't seem to notice, or if she does she pays it no mind.

"So how does that sound? Alex, would you like to start?"

Alex shrugs. "I just want my family back. All of it."

It sounds so simple, the way it spills from her lips as though its the most obvious thing in the world. And it almost would be, except for the fact that that 'all of it' means Kara too, present and prominent.

The thought turns Lena's stomach.

"So that includes your sister too," Chisolm echoes Lena's thoughts. "Before we continue, Alex, do you think she'd be willing to join a session or two, should the need arise?"

A scoff pulls from Lena's throat. "That didn't take long, did it?"

All eyes swivel to her.

"Lena," Chisolm says patiently, "can you describe what you're feeling right now?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling anger. And spite. I knew this was a stupid idea."

"How so?"

"The whole reason any of this even happened is because I thought my marriage was one where we'd always come first, to each other. But Sam and Alex both chose to prioritize Kara's trust over mine." She scoffs again. "And here we are. Half way through our first counseling session to FIX our marriage, here she is being invited right back in."

Lena glares into her lap, unwilling to risk meeting Alex's gaze, or even Sam's. When she finally lifts her chin, she barely meets Chisolm's gaze before looking away.

"All right," the doctor accepts readily. "Thank you, Lena. Kara doesn't have to join us. But we will need to address the effect she's had on your relationship, and in some cases speaking with the individual in question can be beneficial. Obviously, however, we can table that for another visit."

Lena shrugs it off.

"Would you like to go next, Lena?"

"No." Her hearts is already pounding with having said too much. Too much she can't reel back in.

Chisolm doesn't push it. "Sam?"

Sam, who's been quiet until now, takes only a moment to steel herself.

"I want to be able to touch you again, Lena."

The confession comes soft as a whisper, and whips Lena's head around so fast her neck spasms. A jolt shudders through her chest at the sight of the tears in Sam's eyes.

"It's like there's these bristles, that lift when I get even a little close, like you can't stand for us to be near you. And you are so tactile, Lena, it's always been part of how we communicated, but now... I don't know how to connect to you without it."

That was it.

Lena hasn't noticed. She's been alone for so long, even having Ruby to cuddle with feels like her cup's overflowing. She almost reaches out to grasp Sam's hand right there in the office, but she sits frozen, stunned by the admission.

"Thank you, Sam." The doctor the turns once more to Lena. "Lena? Is there anything you'd like to share?"

"I want my trust to be precious," she blurts, still staring at Sam. "Every time it's broken I'm asked to trust again and this was the one time I swore to myself I wouldn't. I couldn't."

Sam takes a shuddering breath. "But you said--"

"I choose you. Because I do. I love you both, and there won't be anyone else for me. But I'm still extending more trust that hasn't been earned."

Silence answers her. Not even Chisolm tries to break it.

"I gave you everything," she grinds out, swallowing thickly. The day they'd traded vows, Lena had packed all her trust into her heart and given it to both of them.

"And it meant less to you than Kara. So why, WHY should I do that again?"

Sam doesn't have an answer. Neither does Alex.

Honestly, Lena doesn't either. But she's here, and she's trying, and that has to count for something. Doesn't it?

Lena rubs her arm self-consciously-- and startles herself a little when her fingers travel too far down and slip over the stump of her arm. Shit. Every single time...

Tears burn behind her eyes, and she closes them tightly to keep them at bay.

"Thank you, Lena," Chisolm says softly. "All of you."

Lena shifts away from Sam, facing front once more.

"Tensions can be high during the first visit, and a lot of people find that this is the first place they've been honest in a long time, which can of coirse be overwhelming. And we're almost out of time, so when you go home tonight I want you to be conscious that things are raw, and to be patient with each other. Do you think you guys can do that?"

All three of them nod mutely.

"Great. Now, I do have one more item I'd like to address. Lena."

Lena looks up, bracing for the reprimand she was sure would follow.

"You've recently had an extremely traumatizing experience."

"It's been six months," Lena points out. It's hardly new anymore.

Dr. Chisolm tilts her head. "Yes," she allows, "but four of those six months have been devoted to healing, and getting you well enough to go home. That's a 24/7 job: that doesn't give you much time to process."

Lena opens her mouth to protest, but the therapist lifts her hand.

"I'm not saying it might affect what happens in this room, I'm saying it WILL. This kind of trauma-- especially when it results in physical disability-- affects your entire life, including your relationships."

Great. So, they'll just wait for her to snap then.

"I mention this, because I think it would be helpful to you to seek trauma counseling as well, outside of what we do here in this room. If you truly want to succeed here, you have to be able help yourself too."

Chisolm pauses, ducking her head slightly in an attempt to meet her gaze. Lena stubbornly looks away.

"How does that sound?"

Lena shrugs noncommitally. "Fine."

With a nod, Dr. Chisolm closes her notepad. "And that's our time for today. If you're ready to schedule your next appointment, you can talk to Wendy at the front desk...."

The doctor's voice fades to a ringing in Lena's ears. Without another word, she shoves to her feet and bolts.

She doesn't look back.

[pokeshippingflashfic]

sequel Pocky Game

(Follow-up to “Pocky Game”, which many people requested! @chumpyamigo, @miyatoriaka, @thealexxa123… Tagged because their request asks for this fic weren’t used to post it.)

A resounding thought crashed down on her as they slowly drew apart from each other, breath so shallow she wasn’t sure it was enough to sustain consciousness much longer.

“You… didn’t know, did you?”

It was a ludicrous marvel to watch Ash scramble for his escape, doing his utmost to look anywhere except for at her as he ran upstairs, claiming he needed to use the bathroom right away. Pikachu followed loyally after his distressed trainer while Misty watched in heart-aching awe.

That was just before the earth-shattering quake of righteous fury began to overtake her - partially at Ash because wasn’t it her who should be the one to run away in mortification? And partially at the third party duo she just knew had been behind it all.

“It was you two, wasn’t it?!” she whispered breathlessly, practically hyperventilating as she rounded on Tracey and Brock. “There was no way Ash had even heard of that game before tonight and you tricked him into playing!” She would have been screeching if she wasn’t so concerned it would draw more attention from the wrong person (i.e., Ash).

“Whoa, wait a sec, Misty!” Brock shouted, backing away on his knees, hands up in front of his face to ward her back. “C’mon, it was just a joke, right? No big deal! Ash didn’t expect it but he’ll get over it by morning! Probably forget the whole thing!”

“I - I don’t want him to forget the whole thing!” she responded too quick to better phrase her response with a stomp of her foot.

“I knew it!” the future doctor exclaimed with a confident smirk and the snap of his fingers.

“O - or maybe I do! I dunno! It’s just… he didn’t ask for this and… it’s not fair it happened this way!” she attempted once more. But of course it was even more than that, though her outrage made it impossible to string the proper words together in that moment.

“But you did want it to happen, didn’t you?” Tracey pointed out next with a nod in her direction as if hoping to coax her into a confession.

His perceptive nature was enough to cause her to clam right up. She knew she would have been better off running away like Ash had done. She knew it was all too good to be true.

It wasn’t just about Ash of course, though she had felt some misguided need to defend his ignorance in this case. At the end of the day, she also had to think about herself…

“I don’t know what you two were really trying to pull, whether you thought you were helping or thought it wouldn’t really matter once it was over somehow… but it’s not a joke to me. Now I have to figure out how to convince Ash that it didn’t mean anything special to me when, even if he didn’t know about how the Pocky Game works, it definitely did.” Misty huffed, turning on her heel and launching around the couch and upstairs.

In his room, Ash’s head was abuzz, questions flurrying about so quickly inside his head that he couldn’t find the time to form a single answer.

“Pika…? Pikapi?”

“O - oh, uh, hey buddy,” the teenage boy stuttered with a resigned sigh, staring at his Pokemon through his reflection in the vanity mirror. “Thanks for checking on me. I’ll be okay, of course. That was just… unexpected.”

It wasn’t his first kiss. It wasn’t his first unexpected kiss. It wasn’t his first kiss on the lips. It wasn’t even his first kiss on the lips with an audience present. But there’d been something so entirely overwhelming about the situation, about the closeness of Misty’s flushed and freckled cheeks, about her half-lidded blue-green eyes and her fluttering eyelashes and the intimate rise and fall of her chest from less than a foot away…

“Gah!” he exclaimed in retaliation, jamming his palms over his own eyes as if that would block the imagery creeping up from the back of his mind. This was nothing, nothing new, he’d been there a few times before so why was this particular kiss so much… more somehow?

“Ash?” a familiar voice that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with at the present time drifted softly from behind his closed bedroom door. “C’mon, we gotta talk about… what happened downstairs.”

“I’m, uh… I’m sleeping!”

“Obviously you’re not!” Misty shouted immediately back, a slight twinge of ire obvious in her tone.

“I’m sick, very sick, gotta get some rest to feel better now!”

“Pikapi!” Pikachu admonished from his spot on the corner of his bed before the redhead could reply again.

“Fine!” the teenage boy groaned, caving to their combined demands, “C - come in, Mist…”

He joined his Pokemon partner on the bed, sitting stiffly, his spine straight as a lightning rod, nerves on end in panic over what would happen next. Misty cautiously opened the door, caught sight of him, stepped inside. He still couldn’t look her in the eye, instead hyper-focusing on her bare feet as she came to stand in front of him.

“Ash, I’m sorry about what happened back there. I… To be honest, I don’t know what else to say to you,” the redhead shrugged, beating back the small part of her that wanted to hone in on his cowardice and mock him for it like normal. She really missed their normal right now.

“It’s just… Tracey and Brock taught me the game but…” he wistfully shook his head, commentary faltering.

“Yeah, I figured that one out for myself, and trust me, I’m gonna get ‘em,” the redheaded girl muttered through gritted teeth, fists clenching at her sides. Then her overall posture relaxed once more as she stared down at him where he sat, Pikachu sitting bipedal at his side in support. “I promise I wouldn’t have let things go the way they did if I’d known that you didn’t know.”

There was a pregnant pause as the three occupants of the room braced themselves, steeped in silence. Misty’s face was aflush with a complicated ratio of appropriate embarrassment and unbecoming fulfillment. In the back of her mind, a part of her subconscious cheered through the guilt and anger and confusion of everything. Finally… something had happened between them, even if it hadn’t gone as planned.

Unfortunately while she was busy suppressing that part of her, Ash’s expression was pivoting over another realization entirely.

“Misty,” he began, finally looking her in the eye for the first time since the incident, “you said you would get Brock and Tracey back for what happened.”

“Uh… yeah?”

“‘Cause they put us in this position by not telling me that… the kinda thing that could happen if we both played the game to that point.”

“Right?” she responded blankly.

“But you also… when I brought up the game to you, you also asked me if I knew what the game was,” he continued pointedly, internally putting the puzzle pieces together so quick he felt a headache coming on from the pressure build up, “as if you knew how things might go at the end.”

“Oh…”

“And then you agreed to play it with me.” He stared the magenta-faced redhead down, daring her to deny his suspicions. “So that must have meant you wouldn’t have minded a kiss with me at least. You knew it was possible. M - maybe you even wanted it. Is that right?”

You’re out of your mind! she wanted to screech at first but her sandpaper tongue wouldn’t allow the syllables to form. What makes you think I’d ever want something like that with you?! she tried next but the secondary statement fared no better past her lips than the first.

Ash Ketchum watched the poor girl struggle, so pink in the face she looked just ready enough to faint from her internal brawl. Pikachu stood gaping at his master’s side as the situation unfolded before them.

The younger of the two trainers didn’t know what he expected (nor wanted) to hear but he was on the edge of his seat with bated breath until the girl standing in front of him finally buckled and mutely nodded her head after a solid few minutes of wringing her hands out around her night shirt.

Cotton filling his lungs and throat, Ash was barely able to get the next question out of his mouth. But he was in too deep not to go the distance now.

“Why is that? Why would you wanna kiss me?”

Misty mustered a shrug of indifference while her nerves burst alive in trepidation. However even she knew the situation wasn’t going anywhere and he wasn’t likely to let the subject drop until he heard her speak.

“I just… I’m sorry, Ash.”

“I don’t want you to apologize, I want you to tell me the truth!”

He was on his feet instantaneously, his hands grabbing her fitful ones and softly turning them palm up, gliding his thumbs downward and easing her fingers open, her tangled shirt hem falling away. He swore he could feel an erratic pulse in the blue of her veins as his thumbs trailed over them but the humming faded just as quickly, replaced by a profuse need to know greater than he’d ever thought he’d experience.

Any other day, Ash would have willed such a weird, sappy topic away, choosing ignorance in a heartbeat.

“I’ve wanted it for a long time, to kiss you,” she finally confessed in a murmur just loud enough to hear. “I only did it tonight because… I thought you wanted it too, and that was why you asked to play the pocky game with me. I guess I should’ve… known better, huh?” she finished with a wry grin, cheeks splotching red after holding back her breath and tears. “It was dumb of me to think you’d figured me… my feelings out to that extent.”

It took the teenage boy far longer than it probably should have for him to decipher the emotion filling him up was joy. How was it possible he was happy to hear that Misty had wanted so long to kiss him? How long had he even liked Misty in that way without knowing it…?!

“Ash…” The aforementioned female began in an aggravated tone, “… why the heck are you smiling? That’s not… I should kick…”

Of course only Misty could follow up her confession of love (as it more or less was) with a physical threat but that seemed to impress upon him all the more how strongly she felt somehow and he reassuringly squeezed her hands in response.

“Heh, Mist, it turns out that I might like you too! And,” he paused here as the redhead went still, eyes as wide as his had most definitely been after kiss earlier in the evening, swaying unsteadily for a moment as she came to terms with his statement, “next time you wanna try locking lips we don’t gotta play a game… unless you want to.”