#like not directly but ya know. he was unfortunately involved in the nightmare that was The Raven King Thanksgiving

[dysfunctionalcreature]

ok but the twinyards during Thanksgiving as these lyrics,,, the killer = Aaron,, the final girl = Andrew

[maximumsnow]

Chapters: 8/? Fandom: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, HLVRAI - Fandom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Gordon Freeman, Tommy Coolatta, Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Bubby (Half-Life), Benrey (Half-Life) Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-typical swearing, Basically an au exploring what if HLVRAI followed Half Life a little more closely, Au where there isn't a betrayal in that one spot, Mainly was wondering what would happen to the others if they hadn't been in on it., Some things change some don't, Oh also this is sort of intended as a not a game au

Summary: Anyone who knows original Half-Life knows that the ambush happens in that spot no matter what. What would have happened if the ambush was as rough for the others?

There was a lot to unpack involving the full realization of just how inhuman Benrey was, but all of it was shoved aside thanks to the current problem.

Which was that Benrey was horribly injured and trapped in a room that was full of a poisonous gas, and, if Coomer’s continued explanation from Wikipedia was anything to go by, it was really, really bad. Gordon did not know the limits of Benrey’s ability to heal, but if he looked this bad while getting poison shoved down his lungs, Gordon wasn’t sure about Benrey’s chances of bouncing back if he stayed for too long.

The worry cranked up to eleven when Benrey suddenly collapsed below the window.

Gordon ran over to the control console and anxiously glanced over all the buttons and levers that clearly had something to do with the environmental room. “Shit, is there like, an emergency release button?!”

Tommy wasn’t far behind. “There should- there has to be one. It’s gotta be OSHA compliant!”

“No offense, Tommy, but given everything else you’ve said followed OSHA, that doesn’t mean shit.”

“I was joking then, Mr. Freeman.”

The conversation was cut off by Bubby yelling, “Look for ‘Emergency Ventilation!’ They might be idiots, but they don’t want to waste that much space and money on a bricked room.” He had taken Tommy’s place at the tank of poison and was fiddling with something over there.

Now that he knew what to look for, Gordon renewed his search, but Tommy was already reaching over him and slammed a fist onto a button. “Woah-”

A sound not unlike an air conditioning unit but much louder kicked in, and there was an immediate change in the enclosed room as the green started to clear out. With the fog fading away and the lack of a large rainbow body covering the floor, it was much easier to see what the room used to be.

The rocky terrain was mostly barren by this point, with the remains of possibly alien plants dotted around pools of water. Corpses of headcrabs were also strewn about, but, shockingly, they were mostly still intact despite Benrey’s presence.

Most notably, though, there was the body of a soldier, and Gordon could not say the same about it. It was in more pieces than Benrey’s still alive body. There was an arm in the corner, a leg by that murky pool, and Gordon had to look away from the torso with organs leaking out of it.

That was enough nightmares for today.

He anxiously waited for the door to unlock, but despite the toxin being flushed out by fresh air and vented elsewhere, there wasn’t a click or a hiss or any other sound he would associate with an unlocking pressurized door.

“Uh, why-”

The overhead sprinklers in the sealed room turned on; the hiss of spraying water was immediately covered up by a sharp scream that could only have come from Benrey.

Gordon slammed against the window as he tried to see what was going on. “Benrey? Dude, you okay?” He knew the question was stupid, but due to where Benrey dropped, it was difficult to see the security guard from the angle the window allowed.

“What are you doing?” The tone would be called whiny if it wasn’t for the gasps of pain that punctuated each word.

The implied accusation stung. “I don’t know! We hit the button to clear out the gas and-”

Tommy interrupted, “Sorry Benrey! That stuff- That gas residue can stick. The room has special surfactant laced water in the sprinklers and… yeah. Just hold on a little longer, okay?”

The explanation was met with silence.

“Benrey?” Gordon couldn’t help but call out.

“Oh. Okay. I can chill a bit.” The voice was strained, but at least he spoke at all.

The tension left his shoulders a little. As long as Benrey was still talking, they knew he was fine. At least it sounded like his voice wasn’t as raspy this time.

Unfortunately, all they could do was wait until the room went through a complete clean cycle if the book Tommy had pulled out was right.

Feeling bad for their stuck companion, Gordon turned the intercom on and panicked when he didn’t have an immediate topic to bring up. Latching onto the first question his mind thought of, he asked, “So uh, was this why you kept disappearing on us earlier?”

More silence.

“Benrey?”

“Hey bro. Appreciate what you’re doing, but please no talking? Pretty please? I’ll be fine. Promise.” Benrey’s voice was barely audible over the fans getting louder.

The pained plea immediately made Gordon feel guilty, so he turned the intercom off and started to pace in front of the window. The sound made it difficult for any of them to hold a conversation, even if Benrey wasn’t involved, so Gordon was stuck alone in his thoughts as he waited for the door to finally open. From a different perspective, it looked like he was all but bouncing between Bubby and Tommy, but he didn’t get to appreciate that mental image due to worrying over the condition Benrey was in.

He was still reeling over the full understanding that Benrey’s one off line about not being human was not an impulsive gag, but a truthful statement. Sure, he probably should have guessed by now given Benrey’s apparent powers, but Gordon still thought that he was more in line with Bubby or Coomer. An… Enhanced human, if anything else.

But nope, Benrey was apparently a shapeshifting monster that had a human form. The scientist in Gordon was intrigued at the apparent alien life form, but the empathetic part of him knew that outright asking shit like that would be rude at best. De-human… Depersonalizing at worst.

Sure Benrey gave him hell, but it wasn’t like Benrey had been outright malicious. Hell, he had even rescued Coomer.

… Actually, he was probably also the thing that slammed into Bubby’s tube to release him.

Damn, Gordon really felt bad for being a dick to Benrey earlier, now.

His thoughts were interrupted as a loud hissing sound brought his attention back to the room, and Tommy all but yanked the door off its hinges before catching himself. “Mr. Freeman, you have to, uh. You’re wearing an HEV suit. You have to be the one to pull him out.”

Nodding, Gordon quickly passed him and entered the now supposedly cleaned environmental room. Benrey was huddled under the observation window, and when he looked up at Gordon, he actually had more than half of a face.

The sight of muscle and bone still made Gordon recoil in horror. “Holy shit, dude. Doesn’t that hurt?”

Benrey half-heartedly gave a one-armed shrug. “I’ll regen soon, don’t worry about it.”

“That doesn’t mean this doesn’t suck ass!” Hell, just looking at him was making him queasy. But the half-drowned puppy look compelled him to at least try to ease the poor guy’s pain. “Come on let’s get you out of here.” He knelt down and tried to figure out where he could potentially touch Benrey without hurting him.

“Need a hand?” Benrey rolled over, and clutched in his remaining hand was a now very muddy arm.

Needless to say, the visual equivalent of a non-sequitur gave Gordon pause as he tried to process just what he was looking at.

“Why the fuck do you have a random arm?”

“Wasn’t his.” He lazily waved the arm like it was a magic wand and pointed the hand end towards the dead soldier.

Gordon could feel his stress headache building. “What do you mean it wasn’t his?”

In lieu of saying anything, Benrey shoved the other end of the arm into Gordon’s face, and the movement startled Gordon into falling on his ass.

He was so glad that he couldn’t feel the mud through the HEV suit.

“Dude, what the fuck?”

“Look, it’s not, uh, natural.”

“I don’t want to look at the bony end-” He stopped and stared at the place he knew there should be blood and bone, but there were bits that looked shiny under the mud. “Metal?”

“Yeah. Not his. He’s kinda made of meat.”

“Is this… Dr. Coomer’s arm?”

“Think so. Tried to get it back for ‘em”

… That’s right, Benrey was the monster that chased the soldiers that had taken Dr. Coomer apart.

Gordon shook his head as he got back on his feet. “You can show him when we get out. Come on...”

Given Benrey’s current state, Gordon finally decided to just try picking him up bridal style. Other than a few grunts of pain as he was shifted around, Benrey kept mostly quiet.

Exiting became a problem since the others had all elected to stand directly in the doorway to peer in like children trying to snoop on their parents. He rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything, Benrey shouted, “LET ME OUT OF THIS BOX!”

The sudden volume actually made Bubby and Tommy scramble out of the way, but it took a not so subtle yank from Bubby to make Coomer move.

With the path clear, Gordon walked in and found a relatively clean spot next to a wall to put Benrey. “Here we go. Sorry, can’t do anything more comfy for ya.”

“It’s fine,” He said before shoving the arm into Gordon’s hands. “I gotta. Gotta nap.”

While the thought of staying too long made him nervous, Gordon couldn’t help but agree with him there. They could afford to take a break for a while. “Alright, I’ll get you up before we leave.”

“Sounds good.” The one eye was already drifting shut, but the steady breathing soothed Gordon’s fear.

Despite still being worried, he could see some of the skin regrowing on Benrey’s face, and, frankly, Gordon didn’t want to get sick. Instead, he turned to the others, nearly bumped into Tommy with how close he had been standing, and asked Coomer, “Hey, your arm-”

“Look, Gordon, you found my left Extendo-arm!”

“-Your arm is dirty. Do we have to do anything special to clean it?”

“Nope! It’s perfectly waterproof even when unattached. You’ve even seen me swim with it.”

“The chemicals in the water should have- should have made it safe to use. Even after exposure to- Even after being exposed to the poison.”

“Okay so just some good old soap and water to get off the dirt should be fine.” With that, he walked over the bloodstains to one of the sinks built into the counters. He tested one of the faucet handles, and sighed in relief when water flowed out of the tap. Grateful that the water was still working, he started trying to wipe off all the mud.

Progress was… Slow, however.

“How the HELL did this get so fucking dirty?”

The clunky gloves of the HEV suit didn’t make it any easier, either. As he scrubbed at a particularly stubborn clump of dirt, he glanced over towards Tommy and Benrey.

Tommy was practically standing over Benrey. Like he was guarding him.

But before he could say something to him, Bubby and Coomer’s movements caught his eye as they wandered towards Gordon’s other side.

Coomer had moved first. Something had caught his attention, and he was walking towards the other sink. Then Bubby’s examination of the poison tank ended, and he joined Coomer in looking over what was left on the counters.

They both stood in front of a strange egg-like thing, and when Gordon looked over his shoulder to do a quick headcount, he had to ask, “Uh, what the fuck is that? Please don’t poke it.”

“Hello, Gordon! I have no idea what this is!” Given his current lack of upper limbs, Coomer had settled on nearly shoving his face into it as he tried to examine it.

Bubby, of course, decided to pick it up, and before Gordon could stop him, the egg appeared to hatch on contact. “Oh. I uh. Didn’t expect that. Does this mean I’m a parent now?”

“What a beautiful child!”

The creature in question was an insectoid creature not much bigger than Bubby’s hand with a large faceted eye. When Bubby brought up his other hand to presumably touch it, a beak snapped shut very close to his finger and nearly caused him to drop it.

“Careful, before it bites your hand off!”

“I’m not that stupid.”

Gordon chose to not rise to the bait and start a fight there. “We can’t take it with us, so figure out what to do with it.”

Turning back to his task at hand, he continued scrubbing mud away, and he couldn’t help but notice that the artificial skin on the arm sometimes made it look far too real.

Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think- Wait where the fuck did that thing go?

When he looked back over the counter, the creature Bubby had picked up was nowhere to be seen.

He had to ask, "What did you do?"

"Tranq'ed it."

Gordon blinked a few times before yelling, "HOW?"

"With tranqulizers Gordon use your goddamn brain." With that, Bubby turned away and walked over towards the desk.

"Where did you- you know what? I don't need to know." He knew a lost cause of a conversation when he saw one, and he did not want to deal with it anymore.

Once the arm was sufficiently cleaned, he placed it on the counter and nearly ran into Coomer.

“Hello, Gordon!”

“Hey, Coomer. Does this need to dry before we reattach it, or can it just go right on?” He waved towards the drying arm.

Coomer mused for a second before saying, “It is waterproof, but I’ve never tried attaching the arms while they’re still wet. Maybe we should sit it in rice for a few minutes?”

“Uhhhh, we don’t have rice, dude. But we can let it air dry for a while. Don’t think we’re going anywhere soon.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the resting Benrey. In a quieter voice, he asked, “How’re you holding up?”

Matching his volume, Coomer responded, “I’ll be much better when I have my arms again. At least we’re almost halfway there.”

Gordon reached over and patted Coomer’s shoulder before going back to the others. “How about we just. Take a breather for now?”

“Best idea I’ve heard all day,” Bubby said before promptly dropping to the floor. At least that spot was clean...

“… You okay?” “I’m fine!” Despite the claim, Bubby was removing the shoe on his bad foot and was checking on the injury.

Before Gordon could go over and repeat the question, Coomer lightly shoulder checked him as he passed by and gave Gordon a look.

As Gordon understood it, that was an unspoken, “Let me handle it,” gesture, and he backed away from the older scientists as they settled.

Coomer lightly leaned against Bubby on his way down to a sitting position; the ease with which he went through the motions spoke of years of practice.

How often had Coomer been armless before?

Gordon knew the question would be unappreciated at the moment, but it hovered in his mind like an annoying fly. He tried to distract himself by taking a seat not far from Benrey and Tommy, but Benrey was still obviously regrowing shit, which Gordon still didn’t want to focus on.

So that left trying to get Tommy to relax.

“Yo, Tommy, uhh. How long before I can sleep?” He nearly slapped himself on the forehead with how dumb that was. Wow, great conversation starter, Gordon. Bringing more attention to their group's various injuries was a great way to ease Tommy’s worries.

The expected reaction of Tommy managing to tense up even more made Gordon vaguely wonder when the theoretical string would snap. “I don’t- It’s not an exact science. Just. If you-” Tommy cut himself off. “-I know we can’t keep you up forever.” The admission was followed by a drop in Tommy’s shoulders. “Can you stay up until night- until the we have to stop and sleep later?”

The correction was appreciated. Sometimes they didn’t see the sun for a while, and at this point, Gordon didn’t even know what time of day it was. The lobby had ambient sunlight shining through the skylight, but with everything happening, he couldn’t even begin to guess how long ago that was.

Right, he needed to answer that question before Tommy wrung himself into a spiral of anxiety. “Yeah, man, I can do that.”

Tommy’s face lightened up into a faint smile, and while that gave Gordon some relief, he couldn’t help but feel sad that the normally vivid expression had faded so much.

Deciding to take the conversation back to what he actually wanted to talk about, he asked, “Wanna take a breather? The rest of us are. Can you mess up the door like the last one?”

Tommy bit his lip as he appeared to weigh the options. “This door doesn’t- This room doesn’t have a Tesla charge. So it doesn’t have the same-” Tommy waved his hand in frustration, “-Things. That the last door we blocked did.”

Gordon groaned, “OSHA Compliance?”

“OSHA Compliance.”

Sure, he knew why most automatic doors didn’t have an auto-lock on them, but it made things really inconvenient right now.

“How about we just block the door with something? We’re all hanging out on the ground.” Despite that last statement, Gordon adjusted himself so that he could stand up and help.

“Take it easy, Mr. Freeman, I can get it,” Tommy said before putting a hand on Gordon’s shoulder to keep him seated.

“But-”

“It won’t take me long, just keep- Watch out for the others.”

He wasn’t entirely sure just what he meant since Bubby was already faintly snoring, and Coomer was loudly snoring, but didn’t argue as Tommy breezed past him.

Gordon would swear he only blinked before Tommy had come back and settled near him and Benrey.

“You already done?”

“Yeah, just took some- Took a few chairs and made a barrier. The counter already blocks us from view. And the- the uh, blood trail should be a warning sign...”

Tommy sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Gordon, and it didn’t look like it was working.

“I believe you.”

The look Tommy gave him conveyed incredulousness and gratitude.

“We’ll get through this, okay? But don’t burn yourself out. I can keep an eye on things for an hour or two, if that would help?”

Sure, Gordon knew he would be an alarm system at best, but Tommy looked so tired. Even if Tommy would only take a short nap, it would be better for him in the long run.

Honestly, it would be better for all of them since he was the only one not physically fucked up in some way, but Gordon’s primary concern in the moment was Tommy’s mental wellbeing.

The quiet after the question stretched for an uncomfortable minute, but Gordon knew Tommy needed to think this through on his own terms. “Sure, I can- I can take a nap. Will you wake me up in-” Tommy then seemed to notice the lack of functioning clocks in this room, “-In a little while.”

“Poggers,” Gordon nearly died as the streamer lingo slipped out. Sure his interest in video games had slipped out earlier, but the residual fear of exposing his private interests to professional colleagues never went away completely. “Sounds good, I mean.”

Tommy shrugged before handing over the assault rifle and sliding down from his seated position to a laying position.

“G’night, Mr. Freeman.” “Goodnight, Tommy.”

[sleepyfan-blog]

Mouth stitched shut, horror x nightmare?

I got a request for this already, but couldn’t resist doing it again :P enjoy!

Set a couple of years after this.

Fandom: Undertale AU

Characters and pairing: Nightmare, Horror, Dream, Dreammare

Warnings: body horror, blood, implied abusive relationship,

Word count: 2,342

Summary: Horror sees someone he shouldn’t have and gets punished for it.

Horror!Sans - or Hatchet as he’d decided to call himself - had been more or less willingly working for Nightmare for the better part of a year and a half. The spine-chillingly powerful being had suddenly appeared in his timeline one day and after beating up half of the royal guard, had informed him that he would either join him, or watch as everyone around him fell to dust - and his brother get corrupted and twisted. In exchange for working for the goopy asshole, Nightmare ensured that his people got regular shipments of good food. Enough that they didn’t have to ration and scramble in the garbage for scraps and wait desperately for any human unfortunate enough to fall into the underground.

He helped to bring pain and misfortune to other timelines - and aided Nightmare in expanding his multiversal empire. There were others he worked alongside - A stabby asshole by the name of Killer, who liked knives more than anything and Dust… Who was a twitchy Asgore-damned lunatic. Others came and went, but they either died… Or did something stupid, like try to betray Nightmare. Which never went well - and the moment that they tried to turn on him, they were dusted.

There was one part of the castle that no one was allowed to go. Not even the dark Papyri - who as far as Hatchet could tell, were summons of Nightmare’s. Normally the large skeleton knew better than to go against boss’ orders… But he was pretty sure that he could sense someone in that part of the castle - and if he dealt with an intruder in the secured part of the castle, he supposed that the good of going after some poor random asshole would counterbalance going against Nightmare’s orders, as was usually the case for such things.

After glancing furtively around - checking for any dark Papyri or Dust and Killer (Nightmare wasn’t in this miserable wreck of a timeline - off recruiting another damned soul to his hellish brigade) Hatchet carefully opened the door that led to the forbidden wing of the castle. It… Seemed to be the oldest section of the place, and the deeper inside that he went… The less tense and anxious that he became. There seemed to be something… Soothing to this portion of the castle. He wasn’t quite sure why - it was decorated in the same creepy, vaguely ominous and threatening manner as the rest of the castle… But the colors were lighter in hue.

As he approached the being he did sense, Hatchet realized that the first time since… Since before The Kid had fallen underground and killed Asgore… He was feeling genuinely and completely calm and at peace. He was… He was smiling, and it wasn’t because he was trying to creep someone out, or to throw someone off-guard. It had been so long since he filled that way. He spotted a flash of golden light and a bit of movement from the other end of the hallway, and with a happy (rather than maniacal) laugh, Hatchet gave chase.

It took him a good twenty minutes to catch up to the other being - in part because he didn’t know this section of the castle well, but he caught up to the other, trapping them into a room. The figure was small, wearing a faded golden cape, curled into a small ball, trembling “I caught you, little ray of sunlight. It was very foolish of you to come to this place. Now, come out from the corner and tell me why you’re here.” He called out, his voice lighter and warmer than it had been for a very long time.

The frighten yellow ball slowly uncurled, and a skeletal face peeked at him. The other looked like a swap Sans - except for the… Holy fuck. The other’s mouth was stitched shut with cyan strings, and the other’s golden eye lights were shrunk to mere pinpricks in fear, tears silently streaming down their face. Their hands were trembling violently as they tried to sign at him, but Hatchet couldn’t understand what the other was trying to say.

“I… H-Hey, it’s okay… I’m not going to hurt ya’. I know that I look like a real demon, but I won’t bite. Not unless you ask at least.” Hatchet called out soothingly, backing off a little before sitting down.

The yellow skeleton stared at him for a couple of moments, a curious expression appearing on his face and the other started to approach him, signing [You are injured. Let me help?]

“Eh? Oh, you mean the crack in my skull?” Hatchet responded after checking himself to make sure he didn’t have any injuries on him that he couldn’t feel for some stupid reason. “I’ve had that for quite a while. I haven’t met anyone yet who’s able to heal it. But if you really want to try… What’s your name, by the way?”

That was apparently the wrong thing to ask, because as soon as he did, the golden skeleton drew away from him, his eye lights turning to pinpricks as he shakily signed [If you do not know then you should not be here. Run. I promise I will not tell him you came here. Run please. He will hurt you.]

“I… Wh-who’s he? Shit, I’m a pretty strong fighter. I know the crack in my head makes me look mostly dead, but there are only a few who can match me, and fewer still who can best me.” He wasn’t talking arrogantly - but rather in facts.

Before either of them could react, something cold, slimy and sticky wrapped around his neck and his arms, and something shoved him against the nearest wall - and Hatchet hissed and cursed - struggling to get free. A sudden chill went through the room, and terror floods through him only like when boss is furious and using the full brunt of his emotive powers.

“Hatchet, why are you in this part of the castle?” Nightmare hisses, flipping him around so that the other can look at him directly, the other’s tentacles keeping him in place.

“I.. I thought I sensed someone in this part of the castle boss, and went to investigate, in case it was an intruder. And I found the yellow Blueberry over there. I was starting to interrogate him when you showed up… Sir.” Hatchet answers honestly, doing his best to be polite - boss this angry was liable to dust the subject of his fury unless the matter was handled very, very carefully.

“He’s here because he’s supposed to be. Apart from myself, he’s the only one allowed to be in this part of the castle without my express permission.” Nightmare growled, still radiating palpable waves of fury.

As boss spoke, Yellow - who had crumpled to the floor at some point - crawled over towards Nightmare on his hands and knees, and let out a soft whimper, signing with shaking fingers - Hatchet couldn’t tell what the other was saying.

Nightmare’s grip on Hatchet loosened minutely and he tilted his head a little, consideringly “No, I don’t plan on killing him. He’s far too useful for this one offence to cause his dusting. However… He will need to be punished… And I would rather he not talk about seeing you. How much did you speak with him?”

[Asked him if he wanted to be healed. Did not know he was not supposed to be here until he asked my name.] Yellow signed back, his hands steady enough for Hatchet to read now…

Wait did that mean that Yellow had been asking boss to spare his life? Why though? Then again, he looked like a slightly off-Swap, and they tended to be merciful creatures if they weren’t also Fells. Not that Hatchet was going to complain if the other was asking for Boss’s nearly non-existent sense of mercy. “I’ll do whatever punishment you want, boss. And I won’t tell the others about… Whoever that is.” He very carefully did not look directly at yellow, unsure as to whether or not his words would help or hinder things.

“Good. Stay here while I get the supplies needed for your punishment. It’ll ensure that you won’t be able to speak of my beloved to the others - at least until the enchantment wears off. Then if you’re still alive and have proven that you will mind your tongue appropriately, I won’t reapply it.” Nightmare responded, glancing down at Yellow “Oh… And you can leave if you want to, darling. But if you do, I won’t let you help him. Do you understand? And he better still be here when I come back.”

Yellow cringed and nodded meekly, his gaze fixed firmly on the floor, trembling and staying where he’d crawled to. Nightmare teleported off to somewhere else in the castle.

Hatchet was seriously tempted to run - but he couldn’t make portals and boss would catch him sooner or later. He also wasn’t going to touch the fact that Nightmare had referred to Yellow by pet names. Hatchet didn’t want to get further involved in whatever this was more than he already was. “I’m guessing the he you were referring to was Boss?”

Yellow nods, tears slowly falling from his eye sockets and he signed back [I am so sorry I could not get you to run before he came. If I had led with that you might have ran.]

“I might have, but probably not… I’d ask for your name, but I suspect that the more I know about me, the worse shit I’ll end up in.” Hatchet rumbled quietly.

[Probably.] Yellow signed, sinking further in on himself [he is probably going to silence you as he has done to me… Hopefully he will not reapply it to you for another decade. It hurts just as much the second time as it does the first.] Yellow lightly touched a couple of his stitches for explanation.

Hatchet choked on air for a couple of moments, shuddering a little but - as soon as the fear and anger ran through him, it vanished again, and he was left calm. “The… The hell?”

[He will do it to you, and being fearful or angry will only make him take longer on the stitches, will make you bleed more.] Yellow signs [I am sorry for pushing you back to neutral without asking first, but it is one of the few things he will let me do.]

“Awh hell. You’re the Ink to his Error, aren’t you?” Hatchet swore quietly. Only Nightmare had managed to *capture* his lighter counterpart. Why the other didn’t flee using portals, he could only guess. “… Why don’t you try to leave this place? I mean - I assume that you can make multiversal portals.”

[Night’s corruption is my fault. There are flashes of who he truly is buried beneath the darkness and madness. Besides - where would I go? He can find me no matter how far apart we are. The… The pain is not worth the temporary freedom, and I do not want him to kill the mortals around me simply because I have hidden in their timeline. Who are Ink and Error?]

Well, *shit*. Yellow’s got a hell of a point… Or rather, since Nightmare was all dark and evil and tweaked darker emotions… He was going to guess that Yellow is likely called Dream. “Ah, well I suppose that makes sense. Ink is the self-proclaimed guardian of the Alternate Universes. Error is a destructive ass who destroys timelines and universes for shits and giggles as far as any of us can tell.” Hatchet explained quietly.

Nightmare appears at the door to the room they’re in, cyan string that matches what Yellow has stitching his jaw shut, a silver needle glowing the color of his magic in hand. “I’m going to begin - do stay still Hatchet, I don’t want to miss. If you could help me hold him still, precious?”

Yellow nods miserable and staggers up to his feet. The other is surprisingly short and the other barely comes up to his shoulder. Still, his hands are stronger than expected as he gently pushes Hatchet down to his knees, gently squeezing the other’s shoulders as a sense of peace and tranquility fills the horrortale native as Nightmare glides silently across the room, the silver needle in hand.

~

The procedure barely hurt, and as soon as Nightmare finished, Yellow healed him so that he stopped bleeding marrow and magic - the other also healed the crack in his skull so that it was much smaller. Nightmare left with a smirk, saying “I expect you in the main throne room in half an hour, Hatchet.”

Hatchet nodded silently in response lifting a hand and giving the other a two-fingered salute and signed clumsily [Yes Boss.]

Yellow was crying quietly, and signing over and over again, his fingers shaky [I am sorry, I am so, so sorry…. If you would have left, then he would have only punished me for wandering…]

Hatchet shook his head, grabbing the other’s hands with one of his own before signing back [Not your fault. My own curiosity led me here, and I should have listened when you told me to leave. Stay safe, yellow.]

The other nodded, not crying anymore. He sent Hatchet a watery smile and took a couple of steps back before pausing for a moment. Yellow teleported off and then back to him moments later, holding up a pale blue scarf, tying it around Horror’s neck and face, adjusting it so that it covered the lower half of his face… Including the stitches that he’d just acquired.

[Thanks, Yellow.] Hatchet signed.

The other nodded, smiling a little and gesturing for the other to leave, gently patting one of the taller skeleton’s shoulders. [Good luck. I hope that you are able to abide by Night’s rules.]

Hatchet nodded and teleported off to his own room before walking over to where Boss had ordered him to be… Killer, Dust and a half-dozen dark Papyri there as well. This was going to be fun.

[ironbound-praetorium]

A Place to Start Over

Tirisfal still smelled like blight and ash even days after the Horde and Alliance clashed at the gates of Lordaeron, but it didn’t deter any member of the Praetorium from venturing out in the hopes of finding those left behind to ruin. Raelin Dawnsorrow, above all of them, had stood at first hand witness to the atrocities committed under red and blue banner. As days bled into one another , he raced across the tree line in an endless grid pattern ferrying civilians back to the trio of ships that hovered over the landscape.  Only when he was commanded to sleep did he fall into his rack and nightmares about those he hadn’t been able to reach in time.

 The Ironfist had a soft heart, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it was directly centered on the children of the world, as he hardly thought it was fair they had to deal with adult concept like war and unnecessary death.  It was a direct result of his own tragic past with regards to his younger siblings whose ashes now lay peacefully in the Dawnsorrow mausoleum. Those losses had driven him near to madness, but purpose had been found in knowing he could stop others from suffering the same fate… if only he was strong and fast enough.

 Thankfully, Raelin had an ace up his sleeve when it came to the speed necessary to grid out Tirisfal and search block by imaginary block for those left in the wake of the war machine. Dalis, the Ironbound protodrake had been encountered in Ulduar when the world’s heroes sought the release of the Titan stronghold from the grip of the Old Gods, but it had been fate which brought the two together.  They’d weathered a hundred battles together since that day, and not once had their trust wavered, even when words between them were entirely absent.

 It was that trust that kept Raelin steady as Dalis veered hard to the right and made a beeline for a outcropping of trees along the eastern border of Tirisfal.  Shifting his weight, the ginger elf laid flat against the drakes back as the air rushed over him and bright blue eyes scanned the ground for whatever target they were after. It could have been up to three miles away knowing how keen draconic eyesight was, but the pungent smell of decay and smoke signaled they were far closer.  

 Their target was seen as the drake maneuvered to a clearing a short distance away, landing with a thud that shook the ground and caused loose and burning limbs to fall. Dalis wasn’t even fully settled to his haunches before Raelin was off his back and striding for the burned out remnants, his loud voice sure and strong as he announced his arrival; a necessity given the volatile climate he was current in.

“I’m here to help! Hello? Anyone here?”

 Long strides carried him up the broken stone path, though the moment he reached the door long ears flicked in response to the sudden knowledge that he wasn’t alone. Raelin knew better than to make any sudden moves, as war gave way to paranoia for many, and he rather liked his head attached to his body.

 “Just here looking for civilians that need help…Silver Hand…promise I’m not here to cause any ha- oh shit…” Turning around slowly as he spoke, the Ironfist’s eyes went wide as his ‘company’ was viewed clearly.

Five childlike figures clad in mud streaked rags formed a half circle around the Ironfist as the scent of ichor stung his nose.  Undeath had not been kind to any of them, as protruding bones and missing parts came more clearly into view. Ligaments and sinew hung limply from one’s arm where clearly an axe had tried to lop off the offending limb, while another’s cheeks were stained black from the dangling eye that clung only by a bundle of nerves. Their injuries were substantial, yet not one of them seemed to register the pain, as no doubt the shock of everything they had seen had muddled their minds to the most base of responses.

 “Hey there…” Raelin began, slowly beginning to crouch down in order to not tower over the diminutive figures. “M’dragon over there seemed to think you guys needed some help, yeah?” His voice, while usually littered with vulgarity became soft and quiet as he offered a hand outward. “M’name’s Raelin...”

 The smallest of them, a little girl who couldn’t have been anymore than 6 when she rose as a Forsaken, began to take a step forward as if she would accept Raelin at his word but was blocked by the lanky boy who stepped in front of her in a protective way. His spindly fingers curled against his tattered pants as hollow eyes stared down the large man while the others seemed more fixated on Dalis, who had intentionally gone very still as to not frighten the poor creatures.

 “Your eyes are blue…” the ‘leader’ said, his raspy voice cracking as if he was perpetually stuck in the throes of puberty.

 “Mmm, they are...but not here under the Alliance banner, see?” Moving cautiously, the Ironfist shifted upwards to tug on the Silver Hand tabard that was displayed over his chest, tapping one finger against the closed fist. “I don’t much like red and blue, always preferred yellow… like in sunflowers? My Ma used to grow them in our gardens back in Eversong when I was younger…”

 Skeptical to be sure, the boy took a step forward to inspect the tabard with a narrowed gaze while the small girl’s voice piped up in garbled tones. “I like flowers...”

“Yeah? My favorites are blue roses…” Raelin offered, casually glancing to the others who remained wary of him as he reached to flip up the edge of his tabard where the aforementioned flower was embroidered.

The tension in the air was palatable, as it always seemed to be when dealing with the Forsaken, as they were not at all inclined towards dealing with the living. Drawing in a deep breath, his forearms settled on his knees as he looked between them all with a faint smile cast across his rugged features. “How about you let me take a look at all your hurts, and then we see about getting you to a safe place, hrm?”

 “We’re not fucking children, you idiot!” Taken back by the temper that came out of nowhere, Raelin’s eyes shifted back to the leader with both brows raised in response.  It hadn’t dawned on him until that moment that they’d been stuck in this perpetual state of youth for gods knew how long and that he’d gone about the whole situation in entirely the wrong way.

 Lifting his hands again, a helpless shrug was given with a crooked grin. “Oh, well good… means I don’t gotta watch my fucking mouth. Guess you’re just going to have to forgive this big dumb elf for making that mistake and let me make it up to ya, yeah?”

“And how th’fuck is some Quel’dorei bastard going to do that, hrm? Drag us off and put us in chains to be held at the mercy of the Boy-King?” countered the leader of the small group as steps were taken closer to the elf in defense of his companions. “No-fucking-way that shit is happening. We didn’t want no war t’begin with!”

“Actually, was kinda thinking we’d go take a little ride on my dragon to a big shiny ship in the sky… get ya injuries seen to and a hot meal? I mean… if chains are your thing, good on ya… but not exactly too pleased with ol’Anduin and his puppet master Greymane at the moment, so...” Raelin kept his tone nonchalant as he moved to lean against what remained of the house, again holding his hands out to the small contingent.

“Fuck that flea-ridden asshole, deserves to be skinned and mounted!”

“Well…I can’t argue with that…” Raelin laughed which seemed to ease the group from the precipice of violence.  “However, none of us are getting away with that anytime soon… so, how about we make sure we get to see that day come and raise an ale to the ol’bastards death? “

“Where will we go?” questioned the ‘little girl’ as she moved closer to Raelin, reaching to flip up the edge of his tabard and trace the rose stitched neatly into the fabric.

“Most of your people I’ve been giving lifts to end up in Silvermoon…” the Ironfist stated, watching their displeased reactions scrunch up little noses and set their lips into grim lines.  “….but I mean if you’re really after getting away from the war, I know a pretty decent spot to start over…”

 “At what cost?” Another of the ‘children’ asked, stepping next to the girl to put a protective arm around her shoulders.

 “No cost… just have to want to live in peace and not play into the faction crap the world would have you believe is necessary…” Raelin said, shrugging his shoulders as he shifted to accommodate the curious inspection of his tabard.

 “How do we know you’re not feeding us a line of shit and plan to throw us in the Stockades?” It was a viable and logical question that, unfortunately, Raelin didn’t have an answer to.

 “You don’t…suppose it’s a leap of faith in that regard. Just going to have to trust this big stupid elf if you want to get the fuck outta here and away from the bullshit going on. Question is…. Do you really want to?” Shared looks and silent understanding brought all five to nod their heads as Raelin crouched down to look eye to eye with the small girl and offered the crook of his arm as any gentleman might, causing a tittering of laughter to slip out in raspy tones.  “Shall we then, my lady?”

 One by one, the Ironfist lifted the injured and tattered Forsaken ‘children’ onto the back of the massive protodrake and gave them each a small loop of leather to hold onto. After climbing on himself, the Praetorium communication stone was pulled from his pocket as Dalis lifted into the air. “Commander, got an intake of five Forsaken on the way… give Bri a heads up for me?”

 “Bri’s on patrol with Cora…but I’ll let Tanner know to give the medbay a heads up” came Maladir’s tired voice as the small party raced across the skies towards the awaiting Sanctuary City ships and what was hopefully a decent and peaceful future for the refugees at the Ironfist’s back.

(( @sanctuary-city-wra @kelladen @silverfall-patriarch for mentions/involvement))

[freerebelmentality]

For the love of music pt2

AN: Well here is the second part of the some what crossover 

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Word Count: 2,113

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Once the garage is empty is when Chibs got the keys from Gemma’s office and opened the trunk. He sees nothing in there other then a spare tire and the tools to change the tire and other things for the car. Until he saw something, it was very well hidden but he knew how a slight opening looked like for a hidden compartment. He lifted the hidden door and unveiled an arsenal. Very well organized. From sawed off shot guns, flasks, ammunition, knives, one weird looking knife that had teeth for blades, along with another that had some weird engravings on them to hand guns and even rock salt.

“What the fuck is this shite” He asks looking at the rock salt.

He sees a box and takes it into his hands and looks in there. Its a box containing fake ID’s, badges, licenses and fake name tags that involved all sorts of law enforcement rankings. He noticed three particular ones, one was bloody, the others were bloody as well but at the corners were melted a little bit. Still able to read the name and rank.

He closes the trunk, locks the car and places the keys back in Gemma’s office. He closes the garage and locks up as well. He walks into the club house and into his dorm. He doesnt bother with the drinks and crow eaters. He goes directly to his room and lays on his bed while he looks to the ceiling wondering why you have a packed trunk and a hidden past. A sad one.

A week has gone by and you got a call from the garage that your car is ready for pick up. You wish it was Chibs who would call but it was a woman. Your heart sank when it wasnt him but you brushed the feeling a side and asked your friend once more if she would drive you to the auto shop. Your friend picks you up in a matter of minutes and drops you off.

“Im here to pick up a Chevy Impala for Winchester” You knock and give the lady the model and your last name.

“Here you go sweet heart. Sign here and here. This is your total” The lady says with a friendly tone and gives you your keys and an invoice.

“Is cash ok?” You ask after signing

“Yeah thats fine” She replies and takes the cash from you.

“A lot of the guys are going to miss that car” The lady says while looking out the window and sees a few of the guys gathered around the car and loving the sight of baby,

“Gemma” She introduces herself looking to you.

“Y/n” You tell her and smile while looking away from her and to baby.

You walk out of the office and seeing baby being parked in the parking lot put a smile on your face.

“Hey sweet heart, miss me?” You ask while thinking of Dean.

“A woman talking to her car. In my books that is fucking sexy as hell. What you name her?” Kozik asks as he walks out of the garage.

“Baby. My brother named her. Uh late brother” You reply with a fake smile. You knew he saw past it.

“Car is mint. Sorry about your brother. Well it was nice seeing ya and hope to see you more often. Have a good day” Kozik says as he gets into the truck, most likely to make a pick up.

“Yeah, you to and see what happens” You smile to him as you watch him get into the truck and drive away from the garage.

How much you missed your older brother, well brothers in general. You looked around and in hopes you would see Chibs but no where in sight. You saw a couple of bikes lined up and you decided to head into the club house to see if he was in there. You saw familiar faces and smiled at them

“Is Filip around?” You ask Bobby in hopes he will be around

“No, he is out for the day and wont be back till late tonight. If you want I can tell him you are looking for him” He replies looking to you.

“No thats fine” You tell him and give him a small wave and walked out.

“Well you want to have a drink with me?” Bobby asks while you look to the bar and the guy with the tribal tattoos looks as though he doesnt like you much. You didnt care though.

“Sure, Im liking the free drinks” You smile to Bobby as he smiles as well and leads you to the bar.

Juice gets up from his stool and walks out of the club. You smile amongst yourself. Bobby reminded you about well Bobby.

“Christo” You say for old times sake as Juice walks away. But no reaction what so ever.

“Dont mind him, he doesnt trust you” Bobby says while Happy comes into the club house and he nods to you.

“Im sensing he doesnt say much does he?” You ask while smiling to him as he passes the both of you.

“Only when he needs to” He replies while taking a sip from his beer and pulls a joint from his pocket and lights it up.

“Yeah, I get like that too. When my brothers and I would travel a lot for work and we would meet new people. I wouldnt be so trusting of them because well you know how people can be” You tell him while remembering Gordon Walker.

“What line of work did you do to travel?” He asks in hopes you will answer him or give him any info about you.

“Extermination, family business. Well I better get going. I dont want to show up to work drunk and getting fired” You tell him and get up from your seat.

“It was nice seeing ya and hope to see you around more often” Bobby says as he walks you out the door. For the hell of it you linked arms with him as he opens the door to your car for you.

“Thanks Bobby, see you around” You tell him and start the car. You loved how she roared to life. The same love Dean had.

Juice looked up the word Christo and what he got was a Latin translation to Christ. He couldnt figure out why you would say that as he walked away from you and Bobby.

Clay came walking into the club house and saw Bobby sitting by himself at the bar like as if he was thinking long and hard about something.

“Did I just see a 1967 Chevy Impala leave the lot?” He asks breaking the silence.

“Yeah, that car would belong to a Y/n Winchester. Chibs has a thing for her and he worked on her car” Bobby says looking to his President.

“Winchester?” He asks while Bobby nods.

“You know a Winchester?” Bobby asks thinking he would have better info

“I did, John is his name. Met him back in Nam, we served together” He says while thinking back to the first time he met John. They were in the same platoon and soon after John was placed with the Marines.

“John is or was her father” Bobby tells him while Clay looks to him quickly

“You mean the guy is dead?” He asks in disbelief

“Yeah, Juice looked in on her and thats what turned up about her family in the records” Bobby tells him what Juice did because of his trust issues. He head is in the right place though.

“Jesus Christ, how?” He asks in hopes that he will know a little more about Johns passing.

“A horrific car accident that he was in along with his two older sons and y/n. She walked away with minimal injuries though. She is lucky” Bobby tells him while Clay couldnt believe John has passed already.

The last time Clay had seen him was a few years ago when they bumped into each other at a gas station. He was coming from Stanford, a visit he had with his son and Clay remembered how proud he was for him. He didnt mention any names about his kids but thats how he remembered him last. How happy and proud he was.

“I hope she comes around again. I want to give her my condolences. Is Mary alive? Or she pass too?” He asks remembering John mentioned a girlfriend named Mary all those years ago and how he said he was going to propose when he got back home.

“Unfortunately she passed as well. House fire” Bobby tells him while feeling incredibly bad for you. Family gone, he knew it wasnt easy for you. Bobby could still see the pain on your face when you would bring up family or your brothers.

“Shit. Thats some tragic shit” Clay says while his hand rubs his face.

“Sure is. She will have Chibs though, he is really invested in this chick” Bobby says while looking from Clay.

“Well better him than anyone one else. John would have been pissed but he would eventually accept him though” Clay says and they both get other things done with the businesses that needed to get organized.

You got in the car, baby roared to life and you love how she sounds. You drove out of the parking lot and drove to work. When the work day ended is when you went home, got into the shower to wash off the stress from the day and wanted to relax. When you got dressed into your comfy clothes is when you went into your music/library room to continue reading the book you wanted to finish.

You selected a vinyl record by Schubert, you pulled the vinyl from the cover and placed it on the turn table and placed the needle. Once the music filled the room is when you went to sit in your chair, got comfy and took the book while turning to the page you left off. You read for hours while placing another vinyl in by Chopin.

Chibs finally arrived back to the club house with Jax and Tig. He walks in and sees Bobby who waves him over.

“Y/n came by earlier and she was looking for you” He says while looking to him

“Shite, forgot she was coming by to pick up her car” He says and walks out again. He knew your address and wanted to see you.

When he pulled into your drive way and seeing the gorgeous car parked is when he had a smile on his face. He walked up to the door and heard faint classical music. He rings the door bell in hopes you would hear it but nothing. He turns the door knob and its unlocked. He walks in and follows the music. Once he stops in front of the door way is when he saw you sitting in your chair reading and enjoying the music you have selected.

He saw how incredibly beautiful you are, elegant and graceful. Yet he notices that you have seen nightmares that lurk in the dark, he sees them when he looks into your eyes. When Chibs went to Tacoma is when he met up with an old hunter who is now part of SAMCRO and they chatted for a long period of time and why he came back so late. He told him the things he used to hunt, how your brothers are complete legends for closing the gates of hell and sadly dying to save the world.

“Just beautiful” Is all he says to break the silence

You startled at the sound of someone else in the house, you look away from your book and see Chibs leaning against the door frame with a smile.

“You scared me” You say while closing your book

“Sorry, I rang the bell a few times but ye didnt answer” He says as he steps further into the room and takes the arm chair next to yours.

“Oh, sorry about that. Music is blaring and I was really into my book” You tell him and sit back down.

“Bobby told me ye came looking for me at the club” He says while looking around the room.

You have wall to wall shelves from ceiling to floor. All filled with books and vinyls you have collected over the years. You even have the folk lore books from over the years as well, the ones Sam owned are also placed on the shelves. You look to them and smile about the countless of memories reading through them.