#like this huge man is nothing more than a puppy who will defend his family to the death

[lavena]

I require CC and Marilyn to be like Odysseus and Penelope in would you fall in love with me again.

I need CC having the type of sentiment to make a bed from the tree he met Marilyn at. To carve the brick of their home from the mountain Marilyn grew up on.

I require Marilyn to not care what atrocities CC commited because she knows he is a good man, that is her husband, the father of her children and the man she loves.

Like a slight AU where CC got stuck in the caves with some of the men sent to kill him and Marilyn but Marilyn got out. Marilyn is so sure that CC is dead but three or four days later he appears, battered and bruised, blood staining his once crisp white shirt and his tan slacks, but none of it is his.

CC who was always the "do good and good will follow" fellow now has blood on his hands, he has killed and would do it again to get back to his wife.

But he is scared, Marilyn always told him how much she loved how kind and gentle he was despite his formidable stature, and now he can only hope she will forgive him for the pain he cause other people.

And Marilyn, who has believed for the last four days that her beautiful caring husband is dead, watches as her brick wall of a man falls to his knees with water welling in his eyes, telling her how he killed the people who were after them, how he regrets nothing, would do it again if it meant she'd be alright, and worries that she will be angry. He is just so sorry.

Marilyn's delicate, sweet, lug is alive and back in her arms, that's all that matters she tells him.

CC does kill again that night, he bashes a man's face in with the butt of his own gun before the man can shoot at Marilyn and Mary. He dies reaching towards Marilyn, telling her how much he loves her and hearing the same back.

They will meet again in one afterlife or another, they will be together in every possibility. Marilyn will not allow her husband to be alone any longer than necessary. He will be in her arms again, and they will wait, hopefully for a long time for their children.

[thevoidstaredback]

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

Danny didn't know how he was doing it, but all the acting classes he never took were really paying off!

'Fake 'til you make it and hope you don't get caught' is a great motto to live by and he is prepared to defend this hill with what's left of his living life.

By some miracle, Alfred hadn't kicked him from the haunt, instead giving him all the same permissions Dick, Barbra, and Tim have! He was warned about going to the Bat Cave for any reason, though. Not like Danny had any plans to enter Bruce Wayne's haunt. No thank you.

Speaking of Mister Wayne, Danny was so ready to be away from him. Just knowing they're in the same building was setting him off!

Bruce Wayne, on TV and in the eye of the public, was a man grieving his lost son. He's a playboy and a philanthropist who couldn't tell you left from right, but he's also Gotham's White Knight; her prince. A family man who's lost yet another of his family and doing his best to move past it.

In private, at least as far as Danny could tell, Bruce Wayne is a pessimist and a narcissist. He's a man desperate for a family, but unwilling to let anyone close, pushing everyone away and keeping them no closer than arm's length. He's stuck in the past, unable to move past mourning his parents and now his son. He is much more Batman than Bruce Wayne and it's only a matter of time before the two worlds collide disastrously.

Danny wouldn't know, but he can make a pretty educated guess on the matter.

Throughout the entire dinner, Danny had been observing everyone. He analyzed how they interacted, how they held themselves, how they ate, and how they reacted to his and Mister Wayne's conversation.

His main focus is Dick. Dick will always be his top priority, but Tim had quickly been added to the list. Barbra wasn't nearly as high on his list of people to take care of, but he was going to offer his help should she ever need it.

Especially because she snuck a nervous glance at Miaster Wayne when he mentioned Oracle.

He hadn't intended to stay the night in Gotham, but he wasn't going to turn away the opportunity, especially because Alfred was very insistent that Danny and Dick stay. And Tim and Barbra asking them on patrol? They both had pretty good puppy eyes, but Danny wasn't the one who made the mistake of looking at them.

Regardless, Nightwing being in Gotham for the night presented the Bludhaven Goons the perfect opportunity to commit crimes unpunished for the night. It wouldn't take long for the news to get out. Danny had fully planned on Phantom being there, flying over to work in Bludhaven before returning at his normal time, but Tim and Barbra convincing him to be on comms presented a bit of a hiccup in his plans.

Dick finding out about Phantom was inevitable. In fact, he didn't plan on hiding Phantom, but the times where Dick or Nightwing were awake never matched up when Phantom was out.

Okay, so maybe he was hiding a little bit.

Tim and Barbra finding out, on the other hand, was a bit of a problem.

Phantom was a hero in Amity Park, Illinois for only a little while before disappearing. He wasn't hugely known outside of the town or ghost hunters, not doing anything to warrant attention from the Big Leagues. (Nothing they knew of, anyway) It was unlikely that anyone outside of the niche group even knew his name, let alone what he looked like or how he worked.

Still. Tim figured out Nightwing's and Batman's identities, probably Batgirl's, too. And Batman is notoriously known for his paranoia and for somehow knowing everything and having a way to counteract it.

Mister Wayne is already looking into Danny, likely having already stumbled across the Missing Person report that wouldn't have gone through, ending up at a dead end. He'd easily put Danny and Phantom together as related somehow, if not being the same person.

Tim, similar to Mister Wayne, needs to know everything. The difference is that Tim's need to know is obviously a trauma response. Something that Danny would like to help him with, but that's beside the current point. It'll take maybe five minutes for Tim to find out everything he can about Phantom and Danny, especially now that he knows that Danny used to be a vigilante.

Sure, Danny could try and hide Phantom from them, but being on comms with them for the night would alert them to even the smallest fight. He's not a loud person, much preferring espionage and stealth over physical altercations, no matter how much his track record disagreed.

So, he's now presented with a choice. Introduce them to Phantom despite telling them that he was done being a hero, or leave Bludhaven to the mercy of her underworld for the night.

He was never quite able to leave stuff alone.

Sam had called him a tutelar.

Whatever that means.

Why couldn't these decisions be easier? Can't he ever have a Cinderella option? Why can't he ever just not decide?

Part 14 Part 16

[soulmate-game]

Not related to the other two Bio!mom Harley AUs that I did. Just... similar. I wrote this instead of sleeping, as per the usual.

—*—*—*—*—*

“I need your help.”

No accent, no threats of violence, no beating around the bush (figurative or otherwise). No fighting or unconscious bodies.

Just Harley Quinn with her hair down, no makeup, and completely serious, in the center of the Bat Cave. Even though her usual exaggerated Brooklynn accent (circa 1950s) had become a pretty inseparable part of her personality over the years, every now and then she forcibly stuffed it down and used her mostly unaccented voice. The one reminiscent of days with less colors on her face, a high bun, and a pristine white lab coat.

Every single one of the Bats and Birds present, fresh from an interrupted patrol thanks to her, could count the number of times they had seen Harley like this on one hand. Bruce would have the most recollections, but everyone else would have plenty of fingers left on said hand. So they all knew, especially when Bruce willingly pulled down his cowl so he could look Harley in the eye, that this was the start of something they were not likely to forget. And maybe their chances of survival were slim too.

“Harley,” Bruce’s voice was still gruff, seeing as he was still mostly Batman at the moment, but his eyes were soft. “Maybe you should tell us what you need help with first. And sit down. You look exhausted.”

Sure enough, there were dark circles under Harley’s eyes. She let Bruce-man lead her over to one of their debriefing tables and sit her down. She let out a huge sigh, her fingers tangling in her loose blond locks.

“I have a confession, and it isn’t gonna leave this cave, capiche?” The slight return of her accent relieved a little of the tension, but not much. Taking this as their cue, the rest of the bats spread out into their usual seats at the table. Bruce stayed near Harley, keeping a hand on her shoulder in silent support. Harley didn’t continue talking until he gave her a solemn nod in agreement. She gulped— an action that immediately returned the tension.

“... fifteen years ago, back when I was still with Joker, I disappeared off the Gotham scene for a few months. I’m sure a few of you remember,” she looked up, and a couple of the older vigilantes nodded. Really, Jason has still been Robin back then. But the memory stuck out in his head now that he was thinking about it.

“Yeah, you were breaking away from him a little bit, which was weird at the time,” Red Hood mused aloud, arms crossed. “I think you helped us out a couple times and did some of your first team ups with Ivy before you vanished. Then a few months go by and you were back in action with Joker, so we mostly ignored it as you just being you.”

Harley nodded. “Ah, my Ivy’s a lifesaver, even back then. She helped cover up the timeline by keeping me in action for longer than I should’a been without putting me at too much risk.”

“Timeline…” Red Robin spoke up, eyes huge even behind his mask. “You don’t mean—“

“Harley,” Bruce breathed, having also caught on. “You were pregnant?”

The air went still. Harley sniffed, eyes watering even as she smiled.

“Oh yeah. Shouldn’t have been possible, ya know? Me ‘n Joker being dumped in that damn acid should have made us both more sterile than an operatin’ room. But I knew I couldn’t raise a kid, so after she was born—“

“You kept her?” Damian interrupted, earning a gentle cuff over the head from Dick. Harley just snorted.

“Yeah. Not gonna lie, I thought about abortion. But the baby didn’t do nothin’ wrong, and I was still in love with Joker back then so I was ecstatic that I was able to make something new with part ‘a him in it. Still, I knew a baby didn’t deserve to be raised in Gotham. Especially not my baby, not with my enemies and history. Not with who her father was. I knew he’d never want her, never let me keep her. So I spent the last five months of my pregnancy lookin’ around for the best possible family to take her in. And I found them in Paris, France. A sweet couple, both of them bakers. Sabine, she’s both adorably sweet and super kickass. Comes from a Chinese family that is crazy about teachin’ their women martial arts. But nothing shady about it, I triple checked. Just bonding through kicking people in the face. Which is perfect, I wanted my baby to know how to defend herself. I knew she’d need those skills eventually. And Tom, that’s Sabine’s wife, he’s a gentle giant. Same size as Bane, but as harmless as a puppy and makes the best croissants ever. Seriously, the best.”

“Harley,” Bruce gently prodded, but there was a tiny grin on his face. Seeing her behaving so… so normally, so proud and reminiscent, was a rare treat. Bruce would be lying if he said he wasn’t proud of how far the woman had come. How she had freed herself and become a better person, mostly on her own.

“Right, right. The point,” Harley took a breath, rubbing her forehead. “I came clean to Tom and Sabine, but apparently they knew who I was the whole time. They just didn’t care— did I mention they are perfect? Anyway, once I explained everything, they agreed immediately to adopting my baby. They’d been wanting kids, but it would’a been too risky for Sabine’s health. That’s how I found them anyway, they were in the market to adopt. We named her Marinette. She took Tom and Sabine’s last names, hyphenated. We decided Quinn would be her middle name. And after that, I came back to Gotham and told myself that she was in good hands and I needed to forget about her. Cuz I was no good for her. I knew that. I went back to my old tricks. And then…” Harley chuckled, but it was self-depreciating.

“Then a few years passed, and I started breaking away from Joker for real. Then we broke up, I blew up Ace Chemicals while you guys were outta town doing Justice League and Young Justice shit. I started dating Ivy. And—“ she smiled softly at the table, clearly seeing something the rest of them couldn’t. “Then Ivy convinced me to go see her. Visit my baby, see how she’s been. And I did. Marinette was seven years old, but damn it to hell she was gorgeous. And say whatever you want about me and Joker— most of it will even be true— but neither of us are stupid. And she inherited all of our intelligence. All of it. She got my blue eyes. But she got his hair, which meant Sabine teased me relentlessly about ‘are you sure she isn’t that Wayne’s kid?’ And don’t make that face Bruce, you’d be lucky to have a kid half as beautiful as my Mari-pie. No offense, Damian. Anyway. Anyway, this is the important part. Or part of it.

“She sat there and listened to everything I had to say. Everything. A little seven year old, who could barely understand English at the time, and she listened without interrupting once. She never threw a fit, she wasn’t angry or confused. I told her about the things I’d done in the past— well, G rated versions— and she didn’t care. She called me Momma Harley right away, said she wanted to meet Aunt Ivy sometime soon, and started telling me everything about her that I’d missed. From that day on, she became my sunshine. The light of my life, and I still call her at least once a week every week. When I disappear for a few days out of the city? I’m visiting her—“

“You’re banned from international travel, Harley,” Dick scolded, but he sounded way too amused for it to work. He knew she had her ways, anyway. Nobody could actually stop Harley damn Quinn from doing whatever she wanted.

“—Ugh, she tells me the same thing every time! Disappointed glare and everything. I don’t know how I gave birth to such a goodie goodie, but somehow I did. Not important though! The important thing is, I’m always the first to hear when something new happens in her life. And we had decided that she wouldn’t visit me in Gotham until she was at least eighteen, but apparently she disobeyed me— which I should have expected honestly— and entered you guys’ WE international scholastic competition.”

“Oh no,” Bruce pinched the bridge of her nose. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng? The contest winner?” He finally pulled out a chair and sat down. “The winner gets an all-expense paid trip to Gotham for them and their whole class.”

“Exactly!” Harley threw up her hands. “Mari told me last week, and I’ve been trying to talk her out of coming ever since. But she’s inherited both of our stubbornness too, and she isn’t budgin’ a bit. ‘Momma Harley, I wanna see you and Auntie Ivy though!’ And ‘Momma, Gotham’s nothing I can’t handle,’ or my favorite, ‘Maybe you’ll finally get to see me dropkick someone three times my size then, and I’ll prove it.’”

“So that’s what you meant by you need our help,” Tim said as he leaned forward over the table. “Joker just broke out of Arkham yesterday. You want us to protect her.”

“I’d prefer if one of you was with her outside of the mask too, as often as possible,” Harley confirmed. “I can’t stop her from coming here anymore, but I also don’t trust Joker for a second. As soon as he sees her, I’m afraid he’ll make the connection.”

“She looks like him?” Damian asked, scrunching up his nose at the ugly mental image of Joker as a teenage girl. Harley shook her head, solemn.

“She looks like a dark-haired mini-me,” she corrected. “She even keeps her hair in pigtails as her way of showing support for me. And I know Marinette can kick ass, Sabine’s trained her well. But Marinette inherited more than I’d like from me,” Harley ran a hand through her hair. “I didn’t notice it until she was thirteen. She got a crush on a classmate, and it was almost like watching videos of me back during the early days of— well, of Harley Quinn. Just without the crime and insanity. She didn’t even realize that she was almost stalking the poor kid until I pointed it out, and luckily I was able to put my doctorate to good use and we nipped that right in the bud ASAP. She never meant it that way, anyway. As soon as I explained things to her, she was horrified and immediately asked me to help her learn how to have a healthy relationship. That was a fun discussion,” Harley grimaced. “But she still gets attached to people really, really easily. Once she grew out of her crush on that boy, she adopted him as her unofficial brother. She already calls Selina “Auntie,” even though I’ve barely mentioned her to Marinette. She gets attached fast, and deeply. And I’m afraid that even after all the warning I’ve done, all the stories I’ve told her—“

“You’re afraid she’ll get attached to Joker just like you did,” Bruce finished for her, closing his eyes. “Because she knows he’s her father.”

“Yes,” Tears were slowly dripping down her face already, her hands curled into fists so tightly that her knuckles were paper white. “You know how he is. If he finds out she’s his biological daughter, he’ll immediately try to take advantage of that. And he’s far too good with his words for people like me and Mari. I’m worried outta my mind. Please. Help keep my baby safe from him.”

“We will,” Jason no longer had his helmet on, or the domino mask that he usually wore underneath it. All of them knew masks were merely formality with Harley nowadays. And he needed to look her directly in the eye so she could see how serious he was. “I can sign up as a bodyguard for the class. It won’t be weird, seeing as they’re tourists and this is Gotham. They also have several rich kids in their group if I remember right.”

Bruce nodded, agreeing with Jason. “That’s a good idea. I can lead the class on their tours of WE personally. That’ll serve the purpose of keeping an eye on her and shutting up the investors that keep begging me to make more public appearances for the sake of the company. Marinette’s name is already released to the news as the winner of the contest, so we can’t keep her out of the spotlight long. Tim, you’ll have to keep an eye on any and all pictures of the class. Try to erase or doctor the images with her in it well enough that connections between her and Harley can’t be easily made. Dick, you and Damian will be in charge of keeping an eye out for any activity from Joker. The slightest hint, and you notify all of us. We’ll decide on a case-by-case basis who is necessary to stick with the class and who goes after the clown.”

“She’s gonna sneak out of her hotel to stay with me and Ivy,” Harley admitted, bringing the (now slightly judgemental) attention back to her. She raised her hands up in surrender. “She didn’t tell me that, and I didn’t approve or suggest it! I just know my baby too well to not realize that that’s her plan. Could ya provide an escort?”

Bruce sighed. “This is gonna be an eventful month.”

[pretend-writer]

Paranoid (Supernatural x The Umbrella Academy

Crossover

Summary: Things go wild when Y/N Winchester and Diego Hargreeves tries to make an announcement for their families. 

Pairing: Winchester x sister!reader, Diego Hargreeves x reader

Title Reference: Paranoid x Jonas Brothers

Word Count: 1.6k words

Warning: mention of the dead, mention of violence, swearing

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

It was a small tradition that we'd all gather together and have dinner at the Hargreeve's mansion. Allison, Vanya, Sam and I would all cook together, usually something different every time just to see if the others would like the food.

Ever since Diego and I have started dating, Dean and Sam had sort of used this dinner idea to watch us. "I need to keep an eye on this boy" is what Dean would usually say, even though he wouldn't even see him the other times I'm alone with him. Didn't see the full logic in that but I guess it made him feel somewhat safe.

The Winchesters having dinner with The Hargreeves was always merry and cheerful. Everyone had smiles on their faces, enjoying the food and the company.

We'd usually share stories of what happened; Dean, Sam and I would talk about our hunts. The Hargreeves would talk about which take downs they had, usually bragging about who had the most arrests within the week.

Everytime this topic had been brought up, we would say that we needed to collaborate and work together. Diego, Five and Vanya had joined us on hunts every now and then. The rest were too chicken to face the monsters in the real world.

This time however, these fun talks didn't happen. The dinner table instead felt intense; Dean wouldn't stop staring at Diego, Sam was upset his dish didn't turn out better than he expected. Vanya had not slept at all practicing on her violin, Allison stayed up all night learning the recipe for today and perfecting it.

Everyone was just in a terrible mood and now with all the grouchiness, I wasn't able to deliver the news that I was hoping to tell everyone at the dinner table.

I was already nervous enough to say I was pregnant, with everyone in a bad mood I don't even know what to add to make my announcement even merrier. Well, I doubt nothing would make it better; I just knew everyone was going to freak out, especially my brothers.

Dean eyed me as I played with my food, biting his bottom lip and observed me like he always did when I was with Diego. 'You barely ate your food, 'Y/N.'

'Uh, yeah sorry.' I answered quickly trying to force myself to look unsuspicious. 'Just not really hungry.'

'Can I have your plate then?' Luther asked with his mouth full, pointing at my dinner.

'Knock yourself out.' He snatched the plate that was in front of me, digging into it as if he hadn't eaten for days.

Five cocked his head, I swear he had mind-reading powers too because he was always up to something. 'Diego, you're quiet as well.'

'Just enjoying my meal.' Diego smiled with the fork still in his mouth.

Sam looked to his left then right, 'What's going on? Am I missing something?'

'I'm just tired, I don't know about the rest of you guys.' Vanya yawned, slowly eating her food.

'Same, actua-'

'No way!' Klaus screamed interrupting me as I was about to talk to Vanya. He talked and blabbed a lot but I haven't heard him talk so loudly until now. 'You're kidding me right?'

Five sighed, 'Didn't we tell you to stop bringing your dead friends to the dinner table?'

'No, no, no, no, no. This isn't just some random friend. It's Ben!'

Everyone groaned at the same time, tired of hearing Klaus bringing Ben up whenever it was convenient for him. During important hunt meetings, he would cast him out of the group. Whenever Klaus had excuses, he loved using his brother's name to pin him for whatever that was happening at the time.

Of course Ben couldn't even defend himself. Poor boy.

'I know, I know. I sound like I'm lying right now but I PROMISE I'm not.' Klaus whined, trying to convince us that he was telling the truth.

'I'm tired of hearing your bullcrap Klaus. I can't even imagine what Ben has to hear from you every time you're not around us.' Luther commented.

'You guys would want to hear this though! Oh, please please please.'

'What is it about?' Allison questioned Klaus.

Dean shook his head, 'Really Allison? Why did you encourage him?'

'Oh, Dean. You would definitely want to hear this.'

Five rolled his eyes and sighed, not even questioning his brother. Klaus kept on yapping about how he wanted to tell us this huge gossip that he heard from Ben.

'Why don't you just get to the point then, Klaus?' Diego finally said what everyone else was thinking.

'Are you sure you want me to tell them about your business?' Klaus grinned, clearly enjoying this "big secret" he had.

Diego shrugged, 'I don't really have anything to hide. I love you brother, but I doubt you know anything about my personal life.'

'Okay then.' Klaus cleared his throat, standing from his seat with a huge grin on his face. 'Y/N is pregnant.'

Dean spat water from his mouth, covering it as some landed on my forehead since I sat across from him. Sam made a face, staring at me to see my reaction.

'That's the dumbest lie I've heard.' Luther laughed, 'Wasn't even close to getting me. Nice try though.'

'Seriously, Klaus. At least make us laugh.' Five snickered and continuing to eat his food, unbothered. 'Are you two not even going to defend yourselves?'

'Ah.' I bit my lip, embarrassed that Klaus had to announce my big news in front of everyone. My brother's reaction said it all, they didn't even know what he said was true.

'Surprise?' Diego blushed, scratching his head as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

We were already nervous to bring our pregnancy to our family, Klaus suddenly blurting it our in front of everyone had made things worse than expected.

Sam looked at me, then back to Diego. 'Wait, wait, wait. Pr-Pregnant? Am I- Are you-'

My brother was practically panicking; Not going to lie, although I was afraid of their reaction, the way Sam's eyes wandered around like a lost puppy was cute.

Dean on the other hand was at loss of words. His usual angry reaction was what I expected and seeing him not do or say anything at all sort of scared me.

'I'll be an aunt!' Allison cheered, jumping up and down her seat. 'Is it going to be a boy? Oh I hope it's a girl.'

'Have you thought of names yet!?' Vanya smiled, joining Allison. 'Wait? You think the kid will turn out to have superpowers? Oh wow.'

'Diego you may want to run.' I murmured, watching Dean not move a muscle. Being too focused on my oldest brother's reaction, I blocked out whatever Allison and Vanya was discussing on he side.

'Ah, Ben. You little shit.' Diego talked under his breath, burying his head in his arms as he felt Dean's glare.

Klaus spoke nervously, 'Aha. Ben says sorry but blames me for how I went on about it.'

Luther tapped on his shoulder, 'You're not helping at all. I mean, look at Diego. He's shaking like a chihuahua.'

'Someone please make it make sense.' Sam places his hand on his forehead. 'Y/N. How did it happen?'

'Well, Diego and Y/N obviously had se-'

'Don't even finish that sentence, little kid.' Dean cut Five off, 'Y/N. I don't even know what to say but what the fuck?'

'I wanted to tell you guys tonight the proper way but you guys seemed so intense, I didn't know how to start this news.'

Sam lightly smiled, despite the panic I still saw through his eyes. 'Y/N, you and Diego have been dating for about six years now. I'm happy that you found someone other than your brothers that loves you so much.'

'No, no.' Dean crossed his arms, he was the total opposite of how Sam was acting. It hurt my heart a little that my brother was acting the way he did but there was nothing that I could've done.

The room went to silence, everyone staring at me and Dean as we all waited for him to say something else. It was odd to see Dean say a few words when he was pissed, which frightened me more.

He continued to stare at me intensely, taking a deep breath and taking in the little detail that he got from Klaus' announcement.

I wished that Diego and I had told everyone instead, otherwise this awkward moment between my brothers and me wouldn't have happened. Or at least could've been slightly better.

Dean shifted his eyes to Diego, I practically heard my boyfriend gulping from right next to me. Him and Sam freaked out when I've told him we started dating, Diego couldn't imagine what was going on in Dean's head.

'You were my little sister that always needed me, a little nut that never left my side. Now you're all grown up, about to start your own family.' Dean unexpectedly started to tear up, sniffling quietly. 'You just grew up so fast, Y/N.'

'Dean..' I reached over the table, grabbed his hand and squeezed it. 'I'll always need you. I'll need you and Sam. You'll always be my brother and I'll always be your little sister.'

'That is so cute.' Klaus smiled. 'See, Ben? I told you blabbing this would've not been so bad.'

'Oh, nah. This is bad.' Diego looked at his brother. 'You really thought it was a good ide-'

Luther hugged Diego from the side, 'Congrats brother! Wow. I'm going to be an uncle.'

'Now we have to celebrate! Let's go clubbing!' Allison got up, walking towards me as she pulled me from my seat.

'Oh no. That's a huge no.' Sam shook his head, 'Last time we went, Diego was practically eye humping my sister. No.'

Five laughed, 'That's why she's pregnant. Duh.'

Dean quickly turned his head, 'Really!? Did you really have to engrave that image in my head?'

'That's for calling me a little kid, old man.'

'You're the one to talk! Future boy.'

[peachyteez]

death’s grip ≫ DAY ONE, TRUST.

the tiger hybrid managed to escape from south korea’s top illegal hybird ring fights. of course, they didn’t let him go so easily. losing his chasers in a forest, covered in blood—his and others’—he decided to accept his fate of death from his wounds until a female and two other hybrids managed to take him from death’s grip.

PART OF THE HEAVEN SERIES.

✧ taglist: @defsoul15, @choisaniskillingme, @joongiebug, @t-tbinnie, @chanyeolol, @danibookmarks, @hello-its-ya-boi, @murralyn, @alienmashup, @panini, @moon8894, @taetae123094, @luv3rxcha, @treasure-hwa, @etherealbyeol, @hwaseongzzz, @koasworld, @sunsethw4​

can’t be tagged: @yoongisleftboob

feel free to let me know if you would like to be added to the list!

✧ note: i know this is a day late; i have a lot going on and uni’s not being very nice :(

✧ WARNINGS: mentions of blood and death

next。

“okay, now that we’re here—yunho, come back!”

it’s been roughly about two weeks since the three had settled in their new home. it was a new experience for all of them. for both seonghwa and yunho, they were experiencing the heaven of living with someone that actually cared for them and not just using them like toys. for jiyu, she was experiencing the feeling of having people to come home to, people to rant to when she had a bad day at work, and people that she can consider her friends and dare she say, family.

now that they had settled down, jiyu thought it’d be a nice idea if she could let seonghwa and yunho experience things that they had never done before. like this time around, hiking.

running after a cheerful yunho who went after a butterfly, she breathlessly chuckled at his inner child peeking through. “yun, i know you’re a giant, and you’re really easy to spot. but it’s really dangerous on hiking paths since the trail can split off and i won’t have any idea where you went, alright?” she smiled while ruffling his hair.

“sorry,” he sheepishly apologized, his tail wagging back and forth in excitement at the new adventure that he was about to embark on. “come on! let’s go!” he yelped before running off towards the path again.

seonghwa chuckled. “he really is a little kid trapped in a giant’s body,” he said before running after the puppy hybrid to join him. 

jiyu looked after them with a sigh, but she couldn’t wipe the little grin off her face. “they’re such dorks,” she mumbled before running after them. “hey, wait for me!”

and that’s how it was for most of the hike: yunho running ahead, utterly fascinated with the little insects and flowers on the path. although jiyu had to physically drag the giant away before he could even touch the poison ivy. even if seonghwa wasn’t showing his excitement like yunho, jiyu could tell he was enjoying nature since his eyes were contently closed as he basked in the sunlight while walking. 

jiyu smiled seeing them enjoy themselves. movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. her eyes lit up at the sight. “guys!” she whisper-shouted, pointing to a fawn and its child by a nearby river. “look, it’s fawns! but we have to keep quiet otherwise we’re going to scare them away.”

seonghwa and yunho’s eyes sparkled at the sight. they kept their eyes on the two animals who were drinking from the river. looking at their tails, jiyu couldn’t help but stifle her laughter—they were slowly wagging, a sign that they were invested with what was in front of their eyes. 

suddenly, the mother fawn’s head snapped up in alert. staring at the trees nearby, almost as if someone or something was there, she nudged her baby before they both took off. jiyu furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. did they see something?

yunho pouted. “aww, i wanted to watch them a bit more,” he mumbled. seonghwa nodded in agreement, the same small pout on his lips, too. “did they notice us?”

jiyu looked in the direction that the mother fawn was staring at. she shook her head. “no, the mother fawn looked over there, not at us,” she answered, still slightly confused at what couldn’t been there to startle the fawn so much. 

out of nowhere, a low growl was heard. jiyu and yunho tensed while seonghwa’s ears perked up in alert. standing protectively in front of the two, seonghwa intently stared at the direction that the growl came from. “who’s there?”

jiyu realized it was coming from the same direction that the mother fawn was staring at. carefully walking in front of seonghwa, she peered down and noticed an injured person sitting and leaned against one of the huge trees. her eyes widened. “sir! are you okay?” she called out, about to climb down the hiking trail and towards the injured person. 

seonghwa grabbed her arm. “what are you doing? what if you get hurt?” he asked, his eyes filled with worry. 

“he’s injured, hwa!” she defended. “come with me to check up on him.”

with a nod, seonghwa started carefully walking down the slope, away from the hiking trail. yunho hesitantly looked at the two as he debated if he wanted to follow them.

looking back at yunho, jiyu sensed his hesitation. “can you call the ambulance, yunho?” she softly asked, handing him her phone. after getting a nod, she immediately started to approach the injured man. but the closer she got, she noticed something on his head.

“a hybrid...” she mumbled. “yunho, wait don’t call an ambulance!” she called back to the puppy. looking back to the injured hybrid, her breath caught in her throat. he was looking at her with the most intimidating glare he could muster despite his many injuries.

“leave me alone...” he managed to growl out.

taking a closer look, she noticed he was clutching onto an open gash on his stomach, little cuts on his face, and he was covered in blood. blood was even dripping out of his mouth. she gasped. what happened?

“and let you die of blood loss?” she asked. seonghwa stood behind jiyu in case the hybrid were to attack.

the hybrid scoffed, wincing in pain after. “if that’s how i go, then that’s how it’ll be,” he mumbled, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the tree. “i don’t need your help, so leave.”

jiyu bit her lip in thought. she couldn’t just leave him here to bleed out and die. she turned to seonghwa. “can you go tell yunho to call yeonjun and explain what happened?” she gently asked.

seonghwa immediately shook his head. “what if he attacks when i’m gone?” he whispered back, the same worried expression back on his face.

jiyu ruffled his hair. “i’ll be fine. you seem to forget where i work at,” she joked. “go, hwa. i can’t leave him to die out here.”

after a long hesitation, seonghwa gave a warning glare to the injured hybrid before going back to yunho. the hybrid let out another scoff. “are they your hybrids?” he asked, looking at the wolf and golden retriever hybrid as they frantically tried calling yeonjun.

jiyu slowly sat down on the ground, keeping a safe distance. “yes.”

“what’s your intentions with them?” he glared. “use them for money? or perhaps your own pleasures? or—”

“no.”

his eyebrows slightly raised in surprise at the woman’s firm tone. looking at her, her face was full of disgust and slight shock at the question.

“i’d never do that. they’re my family.”

“that’s what they all say,” he humorlously chuckled. “that’s what they all say to get us to fall into their little trap before they show their true colors.”

“not everyone’s the same,” she defended. “i don’t know what happened to you, but i can assure you i want nothing more than to just help you.”

he observed her. as determined and truthful as she seemed, he didn’t want to take another chance. he’s already been through so much, mentally and physically. he was tired. “stop wasting your time,” he weakly mumbled, leaning his head against the tree again. “just leave me be.”

a pained look flashed across jiyu’s face. to see a hybrid so easily give up on his life pierced her heart. however, it only motivated her more to help. 

“jiyu! yeonjun’s sending a rescue team!” she heard yunho call out to her. 

she wryly smiled to the hurt hybrid  “as much as you want me to do that, i’m afraid i can’t. a rescue team’s already on their way.”

the hybrid’s eyes narrowed. “this could all be trap for all i know. you could be sending me back to where i came from,” he growled. he attempted to stand, but he fell right back down in pain. “just leave before you're gonna regret it.”

as threatening as he seemed, she knew he couldn’t do much due to his injuries. she stood up and dusted her pants. “look, you can believe whatever you want, but i swear on my life that i won’t harm you. i work at a hybrid recovery center, i just want to help. please?”

hearing her pleading tone, he looked up into her eyes. they were filled with nothing but earnest and desperation. why? why was she so insistent when they didn’t even know each other? what’s her motive?

he sighed. he’s survived up til then by relying on himself. he’s obeyed his owners for the sake of his own survival; never rebelled, never bit the hand that fed him. until enough was enough. he fought and ran away. humans were terrifying beings, they only cared for their own benefits and pleasures. so what was so different about her? he wouldn’t be lying if he said he didn't feel the slightest bit safe around her. 

suddenly, he heard the sound of sirens and footsteps, making his ears stand in alert and his teeth sharpen. looking in the distance, he saw a group of men and the familiar hybrid ambulance. so she really did call a rescue team...

“so will you let me help you?” she gently asked, squatting down by him. “you’ll be safe, i promise.”

watching a yellow-haired man interact with the wolf and golden retriever hybrid a distance away, he was surprised. it was a normal interaction for anyone, but to him, it was a whole new concept. he’s only been shouted at his whole life.

he closed his eyes, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. “very well.” he’s been through hell and back, he could take more if that was the case.

jiyu smiled before giving yeonjun and the rescue team the okay to slowly approach and take the injured hybrid. “ah, that’s right. i never got your name. i’m jiyu.”

he pursed his lips. seeing her happiness, he slightly lowered his guard. “hongjoong.”

[somedayonbroadway]

more.. please?

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Okay, no quote for this one, but this is a scene I had in mind since I started writing this fic!

So, as Spot was discovering, things at the Larkin home tended to get a little intense when it came to bedtime. True to his roommates words, the twins did try to convince him that they were quadruplets. Spot still had no idea how they’d gone in through one door and magically ended up behind him when he turned around but one thing was for sure. They were witches.

So many children around here were yelling and Spot was only trying to get to the safety of the quiet guest room. Jack was busy downstairs with Medda. Something about an elf and a shelf and a “do not tell the kids!” so Spot figured he would just go to bed and try to figure out what these feelings were that were swirling around in his chest.

Everything in this house seemed to be some kind of friendly competition. As Romeo had held his hand walking to see the tree lights and the light snow, others had been racing around him to see who could get there first. Somehow, and Spot may never know how, it had been Charlie. He’d looked very smug when he’d turned around to greet the rest of them.

Even after that, it seemed the boys had a bet to see who could see who could sing the loudest. Jack mostly just danced around with Smalls and signed the lyrics to countless Christmas carols with her. It was honestly one of the most adorable things that Spot had ever seen.

He needed to get away from it all before he actually melted. So he made his way past four of the twins and a tiny Smalls who tried to sign to him only for Charlie to translate that she was only saying goodnight and then he ducked out of the way as Henry kicked and writhed over Specs’s shoulder to eventually open the door to find Racer sitting on the floor of the guest room.

It seemed only appropriate to make a joke at first, after their established relationship from the last couple of hours had only been a chaotic mesh of playful flirting — which Spot needed to put an end to. He knew he did. The kid was only that. A kid. But when the boy didn’t even look up at him, Spot paused as it occurred to him that the boy might not actually be in here to see him. “Racer?” he ended up asking. It was almost amusing how the boy nearly jumped out of his skin, but Spot held back his laugh as he shrugged. “You okay?”

“Oh, yeah!” Race grinned. “I’m so sorry, I totally forgot that you, like… are gonna be sleepin’ in here…” This kid was really entertaining. “Sorry, I just… normally come in here ta look at Jack’s painting before I go ta sleep.”

As amused as Spot was, he had to admit to himself how incredibly sweet that was. With a sigh, Spot made his way down to the kid, sitting with his legs crossed as his back leaned up against the bed, just as Racer’s was. “I’m still just tryin’ ta figure out what it means,” he said.

“It’s our story,” Racer said with almost no thought at all.

Spot glanced over at him. “What?”

The blond stood easily, walking over to the wall. “To everyone else it just looks like a bunch a’ squiggly lines but… it ain’t, just like how ta most people I just look like an innocent kid, when I can assure you that I’m very mature for my age and—“ the boy spouted out so dramatically.

“I’m gonna stop ya right there, Juliet,” Spot teased, standing and nodding over to the painting. “So, what’s the story?”

Clearing his throat and straightening up his non-existent tie, Racer turned back to the painting. “Well, you see here,” he began, pointing towards two intertwined lines, one blue and one golden. “These two lines are seen more than one time throughout this painting in various positions, always drawn towards each other. Blue is Jackie’s favorite color and he associated this particular shade of gold with me, so you’ve gone from point A to point B, you’re a master of the arts now, you’re welcome.”

Letting his mouth hang open a bit Spot laughed. “Oh my God, I’m a genius now? Wow, I’d like to thank so many people—“

Racer just scoffed and nodded, shoving Spot’s shoulder a bit as he spun back around and sat on the bed. He looked like an adorable little puppy with his curls, a huge mess from the wind outside and his matching pajama set and slippers. “For real though… it’s me and Jack. Sort of… I usually come in here before bed because… I don’t know, it makes me feel closer ta him. It’s stupid—“

“It ain’t,” Spot assured, sitting down beside the kid. “You n’ Jack… ya must a’ been through a lot together…” he said, gesturing to the very complex mural he was now staring at. Maybe Jack was actually more interesting than he’d originally though. To be completely honest, that was already true. Spot hadn’t even known that Jack had been adopted, much less that he had nine siblings or was this good of an artist. Sure, he knew that Jack was an art major, but that didn’t mean anything.

“Yeah,” Race smiled. “Everything… see the first lines I pointed to was when I was born, n’... ya see how they get separated after that? Then the blue one starts ta get smaller n’ thinner n’ almost disappear n’ the gold one’s tryin’ ta get to it n’ then… the opposite happens… we had quite the eventful childhood,” he explained, sounding all too happy about what sounded like a truly awful story. Spot’s heart broke a little for him but it was hard to be sad when the kid smiled at him like that. “Oh, ain’t ya so attracted ta me now that ya know I have a dark, mysterious past?”

Spot rolled his eyes. “Okay, kid, ya should leave before I take my shirt off, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you ta—“

“Oh dear God, please take off your shirt,” Racer begged as Spot stood back up and shook his head.

“No, I was told not to encourage you,” Spot chuckled lightly.

The boy pouted. “But I’m so encourageable!” he whined. Spot was beginning to wonder what this boy saw in him. He supposed that he was very much in shape, but that was about it. The kid didn’t even know if he was gay.

He didn’t really tell anybody.

Maybe he was drawn to the boy because he was so confident and forthright with what he was thinking and who he was. That was something to be proud of and Spot wished he could just live like that, just be outright himself. It sounded so much easier than it was. “If Jack finds you in here—“

“He can’t hurt me. He loves me too much,” Racer shrugged. “Okay, that sounded like a joke, but it’s one hundred percent true. This family is like… ours n’ we love them, but we were all each other had for a long time… man, I love that guy.”

Hearing it all made something in Spot’s chest tighten because so long ago, he’d known what that felt like, to have an unbreakable bond like that with a person, to just understand that no matter what they’d be there for each other. But that was a long time ago.

Before Spot could come up with any kind of response, the door was knocked on and then opened and a very annoyed looking Jack peaked in as he leaned against the doorframe. He whistled and used his finger to gesture to his brother to come closer. “Hey, you. Out,” he ordered easily. The way Race pouted and let his head hang low just made him look even more so like the little puppy Spot was convinced he was. Still, the boy did as he was told, giving one sly glance back to Spot. Spot refrained from sending him a quick wink. Instead he just smiled as Race was pushed gently from the room. “I said no encouraging—“

“He was in here when I got here,” Spot defended. “Told me the story a’ this paintin’... at least, what it’s about.” The young man shrugged, admiring the craftsmanship again.

Jack bit his lip. “Yeah… like I said… it’s complicated,” he shrugged, glancing back down the hall towards Racer’s room. He sighed. “Ma’s real happy you’re here, by the way. Told ya she’d adopt ya in three seconds.” The man yawned. Spot never cared much to actually get a good look at Jack, but now that he was, the man looked so young and somehow seemed so wise. It wasn’t like Spot didn’t know he was an idiot who had once nearly jumped off their apartment balcony on a bet, it was just that something felt different now. The things that Racer had said were swirling around in his mind. He wondered what the disappearing of the line meant, though he didn’t wonder for long, not knowing if he actually wanted the answer at all. Maybe it meant nothing but he knew that probably wasn’t the case. “Anyway, tomorrow’s the annual Christmas Eve party so there might be a lot a’ noise out here in the mornin’, but there will be Christmas Tree shaped pancakes, or… ‘ornament shaped’ pancakes if Henry lets Specs make a few,” Jack informed.

Spot nodded with a small smile. “Thanks.”

The older boy nodded back, offering him a small wave. “Goodnight, Spot.” Jack almost turned to walk away. “Oh, and uh… if ya don’t want kids — or Racer, for that matter, barging in at God knows what hour, I’d lock the door.”

And just like that, Spot was left alone. He did lay in bed but he spent a long while staring at the painting on the wall. He pulled a small necklace out from beneath his shirt. It was nothing much, just a little key. He held it gently in his hand as he stared at the painting, watching the story pass before his eyes until finally blue and gold were back with each other on the other side.

Before he knew it, Spot was fast asleep, something a little lighter in his chest.

[scribbling-stiks]

AAR - XXXIV - Hypocrite

Russia is just about to fall asleep when a phone rings. He jolts a little and hears America laughing at him for doing so. Someone answers, and the phone is handed to Russia. He yawns before putting it to his face.

"*Hello?*"

"*Hi,*" Belarus says, "*I want to know if you will be attending the UN meeting today.*"

"*There is a meeting today?*"

"*Yes. Did you not know?*"

"*When does it start?*"

"*In a few minutes. You might want to have the others with you as well.*"

"*Okay. Thank you.*"

Belarus hums before hanging up. Russia stares at the phone for a moment before America snaps in front of his face, catching his attention.

"What was that about?"

"There is a meeting being called by the UN. It starts in a few minutes and I agreed to attend."

"Aw man. Why'd you agree?"

Russia scowls and waves off the question. America pouts and crosses his arms.

"Now I have to go too," America grumbles.

Russia chuckles before pulling himself out of the chair.

"Hey, you can use my laptop to attend. Everything is well enough encrypted," New York volunteers.

Russia agrees and America takes the laptop from the teen.

"Thanks, Yankee."

New York rolls his eyes and walks off with New Jersey.

"Feel free to use the study," Dixie calls from the kitchen, "and y'all just holler if you need anything."

"Okay. Thanks Dixie!"

"No problem. Also, I'll send in Mrs. Finland  and Maple Syrup when I see 'em."

America laughs.

"Okay!" America exclaims, waving dramatically to the kitchen. Dixie pokes his head out and waves with the spatula and a loud laugh.

They walk into the study, and Russia smiles at the pounding steps on the stairs. He sits back in one of the office chairs and glares at the screen.

'I should've disagreed.'

America gets the meeting set up quickly and joins. He pushes the computer to the back of the desk and leans on the desk's edge.

Russia is just about to fall asleep when a phone rings. He jolts a little and hears America laughing at him for doing so. Someone answers, and the phone is handed to Russia. He yawns before putting it to his face.

"*Hello?*"

"*Hi,*" Belarus says, "*I want to know if you will be attending the UN meeting today.*"

"*There is a meeting today?*"

"*Yes. Did you not know?*"

"*When does it start?*"

"*In a few minutes. You might want to have the others with you as well.*"

"*Okay. Thank you.*"

Belarus hums before hanging up. Russia stares at the phone for a moment before America snaps in front of his face, catching his attention.

"What was that about?"

"There is a meeting being called by the UN. It starts in a few minutes and I agreed to attend."

"Aw man. Why'd you agree?"

Russia scowls and waves off the question. America pouts and crosses his arms.

"Now I have to go too," America grumbles.

Russia chuckles before pulling himself out of the chair.

"Hey, you can use my laptop to attend. Everything is well enough encrypted," New York volunteers.

Russia agrees and America takes the laptop from the teen.

"Thanks, Yankee."

New York rolls his eyes and walks off with New Jersey.

"Feel free to use the study," Dixie calls from the kitchen, "and y'all just holler if you need anything."

"Okay. Thanks Dixie!"

"No problem. Also, I'll send in Mrs. Finland  and Maple Syrup when I see 'em."

America laughs.

"Okay!" America exclaims, waving dramatically to the kitchen. Dixie pokes his head out and waves with the spatula and a loud laugh.

They walk into the study, and Russia smiles at the pounding steps on the stairs. He sits back in one of the office chairs and glares at the screen.

'I should've disagreed.'

America gets the meeting set up quickly and joins. He pushes the computer to the back of the desk and leans on the desk's edge.

"Well, look who took his bloody time coming back," UK sneers.

"America, what happened to your eye?" Ireland asks, curious and not letting UK start his tirade.

America grins. "Got hit. What's it look like?"

Ireland gives a hardy laugh.

"Only you Ame," Ireland says, shaking his head.

"Wait, is Finland with you?" Norway asks.

"Yeah," America replies with a nod, "she'll be here in a minute to say hi."

Norway's eyes light up and Sweden pops into frame, bouncing around like an excited puppy. Russia stands up from his seat.

"*I will go get them,*" he grumbles to America, who nods.

Russia walks out to the hallway and shuts the door behind him. He turns and calls for them as loud as he can bring his voice. There is a moment of silence before Finland appears from the first and Canada bounds down from the third.

"What's going on?" Finland asks curiously.

"Meri and I are in a UN meeting. They are asking for you."

"I still love that you call him that," Canada says with a laugh.

Russia rolls his eyes and allows them into the study.

"And when we're on the run from the feds, it's kinda hard to keep track of a pair of sunglasses," America says with the wave of his hand, "Oh! Hey Russ."

Russia grins and walks up beside America. Finland enters quickly and takes Russia's seat and Russia sees the others flinch on the screen. Russia could've laughed. He leans on the back of America's chair and Canada walks around him to stand in between the two chairs.

Then Russia sees someone log in a little late. It takes a moment to load and when it does, Russia can see his family behind it. His father looks worse for wear, almost completely exhausted.

Then he could hear some of the audio.

"*Grandpa?*" a small voice asks.

Soviet turns for a moment and a fond smile grows on his face.

"*Would you like to sit with me?*" Soviet asks someone off-screen, his voice is kind and soft.

"*Yes please,*" Alaska replies quietly.

Alaska wanders into the frame, only her hair and hat visible.

'The wolf ears are cute.'

"Soviet," UN says, looking a little stunned, "would you like to introduce your little guest?"

Soviet doesn't respond, instead just taking Alaska into his lap. He situates the bundle of blankets under an arm before returning his attention to the meeting.

"She will not be a problem," Soviet says, a hardened look in his eye.

"But who is that?" UN pushes.

"It is none of your concern," Soviet answers bluntly.

Alaska curls up under the light pink blanket and Soviet leans back a little to accommodate. Russia feels his heart melt a little.

'She looks so small,' he coos mentally.

"Is it another satellite state?" UN questions, suspicious.

"She is nothing of the sort and I suggest you not question me," Soviet says, giving a harsh glare in the direction of the camera that made even Russia shrink back a little.

UN sends one last suspicious look before turning to the others.

"As mentioned earlier, welcome back to Finland, Canada, America, and Russia," UN says loudly, "Is there any news we should know about here?"

America raises his arm and begins waving it as UN seems to ignore him. Russia puts a hand on America's shoulder to keep him in his seat.

"*Calm down,*" Russia says.

"*But it's important! You know that!*" America hisses back.

"*He can't ignore you forever,*" Russia says, and America sits back with a pout, his hand still in the air.

Finland stands while UN rambles on about some economic trade deal that Russia knew wouldn't pass from the start and she quietly excuses herself. Canada does the same a few moments later and Russia falls back into the vacant chair.

'I want to leave like that,' he mentally scoffs, 'but I'm required.'

"Okay. I'm done waiting because this is important and I want to get the word out before all the peripheral viewers leave," America says, leaning against the table, "First, Philippines is with us, safe and just upstairs. Second, this isn't just one monster. This isn't and will not ever be a few random attacks."

"What are you talking about?" UN questions, his eyes flashing with a sort of recognition that Russia's hair bristles at.

"It's a huge, organized operation. We aren't sure yet on their main base of operation, but they have several separate bases and, from what we could gather, they seem to be set on 'unlocking' the gift of immortality and they plan to use personifications to do it," America explains.

UN hums with a nervous look.

"What do you know?" Russia questions.

"What?" UN stammers.

"What. Do. You. Know?" Russia demands, staring at the camera.

"We know you know more than you're telling us," America accuses.

"I can't-"

"You will tell us," America says, standing up and slamming his palms against the desk, "and you will tell us right f***ing now. My kids are in danger and we're trying to figure out what's going on. I know my government is involved."

"Are you involved?!" UK yells, pointing to the screen

"No, he is not," Russia defends, standing up and moving to stand behind America, crossing his arms, "he is trying to find why his children are targets."

"Tell us what you know," Soviet orders, cradling the bundle of blankets on his chest protectively.

"We will not ask again," America threatens, his eyes glowing a light blue and his hands start sparking.

Russia puts a hand on his shoulder. America looks up at him with a bloodthirsty gaze and Russia shakes his head.

'It's not worth it.'

America turns back with a snarl but subdues his magic. For now.

"They were organized attacks from the beginning," UN mumbles.

"And?" America asks, his tone oddly calm as he sits back in his seat. Russia follows suit.

"We didn't know how they were being planned, but the abductions were targeting countries or personifications that were by themselves. We know that their main headquarters is in North America, though we don't know where."

"How do you know this?" America asks, glaring, "Are you involved with this bulls***?"

"No!" UN exclaims, waving his hands frantically, "I am not involved. We do have agents in the system, but none of them are high enough to confirm anything."

America hums disbelievingly but doesn't push it.

"How many attacks have happened?" Russia asks, forcing his attention back to the problem at hand.

"Dozens," UN admits, "at least dozens of speculated attacks. We know that 20, give or take a few, are definitively tied to the Revolution."

"So York was right with that name," America mutters.

"You knew?"

"We were guessing," America replies, "I was stabbed in the back. Nearly died of blood poisoning, but that's another story. Anyway, the knife and the random cameras-"

"Cameras?" Ireland interrupts

"While we were held, we were watched," Russia explains, "Dixie noticed that some of them had a strange symbol on the back."

"Who's Dixie?"

"Not important! So, we traced the symbol back to the Revolution. We don't know much, but we did see them recruiting. Also, Their bases are labeled with the Greek alphabet," America says, "I have another question. If you knew more than you let on, why didn't you tell anyone? Because let me tell you if I had known half that, I wouldn't have gotten myself captured to figure it out."

UN sighs as expectant gazes reach him. He is quiet for a moment.

'Answer him,' Russia thinks with a scowl.

"I was told not to by my superiors," UN finally mutters.

"That's f***ing stupid," America bites, "Do you know how much we lost trying to get information that you already had?!"

UN flinches.

"We were f***ing kidnapped and held there until, by a miracle, we were able to get out of there alive. We're lucky we made it out of that hijacked hospital at all!" America shouts, "then I lose an eye for maps and paperwork that you had access to?!"

"You have maps?!" UN exclaims.

"You will let me finish, you f***ing b*****d. Do you know how hard it is to admit to my f***ing children that I don't know when anything will go back to normal?! I can barely tell distance anymore, and for what?! For you to tell us that you knew?!"

America huffs, scowling into the camera. As much as Russia wanted to take his hand and comfort him, he resists. Russia chooses instead to give UN a vicious and cold look.

'I don't want the other countries to know anything about us.'

America slams a fist onto the desk with a vicious snarl.

"You know what?! F*** THIS! F*** YOU! What's the F***ING POINT if you're not going to tell us ANYTHING?!" America shouts, throwing his hands to his sides and tears prick in the corners of his eyes.

"America, please calm down," UN pleads.

"Why should he calm down?" Russia growls, standing up and ignoring the lightheaded feeling that hits him when he does, "This is information we need to solve this issue and you don't tell us until we demand it. *Many of us almost die trying to stop an unknown enemy that you had eyes on. We are cursed, captured, chased, and nearly eaten, and only after we are almost taken for medical experimentation and tracked down by soldiers do you tell us anything.*"

The outer edges of Russia's vision go red and he bares his teeth. He pushes back the urge to punch the wall and scream.

"*My brother was taken because you couldn't tell us that you have people involved here that could have given a warning,*" Russia spits.

"You did not tell me you had maps or that you have access to one of the bases," UN snaps, crossing his arms.

Russia slams his fists down on the desk, causing the desk to splinter on the edge. He ignores the wood digging into his hand and glares at UN with resentment.

"*You expect us to tell you anything when you keep information to yourself?!*" Russia wails, his mind searching for something to destroy, "*You get angry at us for having information when we must fight for it from you!*"

"Rue," America says quietly.

Russia spins around and sees America looking up at him with a pleading look masking the anger and sadness Russia can see just beneath it. Russia takes a deep breath before turning back, giving a nasty glare. A stream of expletives flows through his mind as he tries to calm himself down.

Russia forces himself to sit back down, and he sneers at the laptop. UN makes a feeble attempt to change the subject, and the other countries present take it to avoid any more conflict. Russia begins dozing off in the chair, barely able to keep his eyes open long enough to listen to the full speech.

Suddenly, someone is gently shaking his shoulder. Russia blinks for a moment and seems America standing above him.

"Come on, sleepy-head. Let's go to bed. My room is down the hall," America says with a tired smile.

Russia forces himself to his feet and stumbles behind America with a yawn. They walk in and Russia zeros in on the fluffy pillows and fuzzy-looking blankets. He stumbles into the edge of the bed and falls into it. America giggles from behind him.

"Hey! You know I have to sleep there too," America teases, poking Russia in the side.

Russia grumbles and moves to put his head into the pillows. America laughs quietly before sitting on the edge of the bed. Russia reaches up and grabs America by his midsection and tugs him down. America topples ontop of him with a squeak.

"Sleep," Russia grumbles, hugging America like a child with their favorite doll.

America giggles, squirming a little to get comfortable.

"Can we have the blankets?" America asks playfully.

Russia grunts and sits up a little, using one hand to tug at the covers until they come loose enough to toss over them. Russia clings to America, relaxing with the heat America seemed to radiate. Russia kisses America's forehead before drifting off, bathed in a faint, light blue glow.

~

Next

Previous

Table of Contents

[nitholites]

Assuming someone in the BatFam is the end game:

It's been only a week or so since Tony figured out who Ladybug is

She's captured everyone's hearts, but has to go to Gotham soon

For help, but also because of her internship

The Stark Gala becomes a 'you better live and come back one day, Mari or I STG' party, hosted by Tony Stark, of course

She makes all the outfits of the Starks, her parents, herself, Jagged, Penny, Luka, and Kagami (the last two friends minus Chloe from Paris) and she makes extra in case someone has a wardrobe malfunction

Meanwhile, the Waynes have heard a lot about the newest Stark: MDC

Tim is a fanboy. He's found everything related to his favorite rock star's designer/niece there is to find ("I'm not obsessed! They're just super talented, and I'd like something from them! Stop laughing at me, Dick!")

Dick has no room to tease him, as both him and Jason are pretty much in the same boat

Kor'i and Mar'i love MDC, as well

Every one of the Bats are huge Jagged Stone fans

Like... Nearly rabid

(Damian, Bruce, and Alfred redact that statement)

They're invited to Tony's gala thing (he only started it to surpass the Wayne Gala, like the Lil Shite he is)

The night of the party, only Bruce and Jason go, since the rest of the bats are busy

Bruce, Jagged (who brought Fang), and Tony are all chatting in the middle of the floor, 2/3rds of the group are just talking up Marinette

Jason, meanwhile, accidentally runs into this small, adorable child who proceeds to spill her punch all over his suit

He insists it's fine, but she won't take 'no' for an answer ("I am so sorry, please let me make it up to you" "Kid, it's fine, accidents happen" "No, seriously, let me help")

There's a look in her eyes that insists she do something, and he eventually agrees

Cue to Marinette having a suit jacket that matches and fits Jason because "You look like you're the same build as Mr. Stark (she's all for joining Peter in calling Tony 'Mr. Stark' to get under his skin)"

"you know Tony?"

She shrugs, and doesn't comment anymore on it

"give me your address, and I'll bring this back when it's clean again. I'm moving to Gotham for a while soon, anyway"

He does, she doesn't realize he's a Wayne, and they part when the party ends

Cue the entire BatFam sprinting into Jason's room, chasing after a full on scream

Like, they didn't know Jason's voice could get "so high and squeaky, what the hecc?"

They pause as they see Jason litterally jumping up and down

"What the hell, Todd."

Instead of answering, he shoves the jacket in Tim's face with a shite-eating grin

It takes a moment, but Tim scowls and pulls out his wallet

When the rest of the family only look confused, Tim sighs and explains

"He got an MDC original first."

"...you had a bet on that?"

Jason freezes, eyes widening

"HOLY SH*T, I MET THE MDC! SHE WAS SO TINY, OH MY GOD, BATS, WE HAVE TO ADOPT HER!"

They're confused for a solid minute

"YOU DONT UNDERSTAND SHES AN ANGEL AND HAS BLACK HAIR AND BLUE EYES!! SHE'S OBVIOUSLY A WAYNE!"

It takes all of Bruce's willpower not to adopt her on the spot when she visits them

Like, he almost brings up adoption papers

But he knows Stark would fight tooth and nail to keep this baby

So he restrains himself

(for now)

(he swears if one of his children doesn't marry her, he's bringing the adoption papers to court)

She doesn't stay long, only meeting all the Waynes at the house and going back to her hotel

The next day, a villain goes after Mar'i, near the park/mall/something Marinette is by

Instead of becoming Ladybug, she heccin kicks arse

As Marinette

She gets both her and Mar'i out of danger without a scratch using a yo-yo of all things and meets Batman and Robin as they clean up the rest

She's all like "no, it's alright, I'm sure anyone would do the same please stop thanking me, my family's gonna kick my ass to next year for scaring them like this"

Bats comes up and takes her statement, and she happens to mention the situation in Paris

"oh, this was nothing compared to some of the Akuma I've faced" "What's an akuma?" She paled, eyes widening in shock. "You don't know? About Ladybug, Chat Noir, Ryuuko, Viperion, Queen Bee, Red Wasp, Multimouse, Hawkmoth, Mayura, Carapace, Rena Rouge, and all them?"

She explains a little, giving basic information everyone knew, then shows him the app she made a while ago

The Akuma Alert app that held much more than just akuma-related things

She leaves soon after, and Batman has a goal in mind

Within the day, Diana is furious at the lack of response towards the Paris situation

"This Ladybug was left alone for all this time?! Shame on you all, leaving my mother's successor alone!"

When Ladybug is later spotted (hehe, get it?) in Gotham, the entire BatFam finds her and gets her in touch with the League

She explains how she asked both the League and the Avengers for help, all those years ago, and was pushed aside with warnings not to send in prank calls anymore

Of course, Iron Man has already looked into it, but he's not exactly a detective and the more brains on this, the better

Meanwhile, as civilians...

The normal shipping stuff happens

With the exception that nearly every criminal in Gotham low-key adopts Marinette

They may think she's the next Wayne, but the Angel of Gotham is off limits

And not because the little Wayne chases after anyone who even looks at her wrong with a katana

Not just as Robin. As Damian

Marinette actually meets a few villains on the street

She was going to a commission, carrying some hero, vigilante, and villain themed macaroons when she got lost

(before meeting the Waynes officially, actually)

She was in a park, looking lost when Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn came up

She offered treats, and ever since she's the Angel of Gotham

Once, when on a date with her romantic interest, Killer Croc tried taking the restaurant hostage after robbing a bank

Key word: tried

Marinette calmly slipped behind him, grabbed his tail, and dragged his butt outta there

(he blames the fast French girl and the tile on the floor, which didn't let him get a good grip)

By the time Bats and the police got there, Croc was in tears as this tiny French girl lectured him about manners and interrupting dates

(the BatFam can't think of a funnier time)

When the Joker actually kidnaps her as a way to get to Batman, literally everyone rages a rescue mission

Harley, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze (Marinette reminds him of the daughter he's always wanted, with his frozen wife), Two-Face (Marinette talked philosophy with him, showing him he still had choices beyond the black and white), Killer Crock (who was impressed by the tiny French girl who threw him out of a restaurant by his tail that one time), Batman, Robin, the Teen Titans, Red Hood, Red Robin, Wonder Woman (she could feel Tikki's influence on Marinette and guessed her identity), Nightwing, all the Avengers, Red Wasp (Chloe, with the Bee Miraculous because she earned it back ages ago), Sabine (no one messed with her baby. No one), a teenage boy wielding a potato gun (who let this kid here?), Pepper, Penny (the two women were fast friends, bonding over their husbands' eccentric ways), Jagged with Fang, Audrey Bourgeois, and the entire police force storm the Joker's hideout

He didn't have a chance

Later, they admit it was kinda funny watching the small Sabine beating the crap out of the deranged clown

Fang, who was usually a puppy with scales, didn't hesitate to bite off the Joker's hand, reminiscent of Captain Hook and the Croc

Marinette's fine (or not, depending on how much angst you want in the story. It's easy to have her tourtured and nearly killed in the Joker's clutches {or actually killed and focused on angst from everyone who knew her [possible heavy Lila/class salt]} and see her move past her PTSD) and she gets home eventually

Around this time, she's made the Guardian of the Miraculous

She eventually goes back to Paris with her huge family (or everyone she thinks could keep their emotions in check)

They kick Gabriel's arse, but Adrien gets away with his mother (who was healed by Ladybug)

Possible second book

Marinette's ship becomes the Black Cat

Time skip, fiveish years later, some of Marinette's classmates see her for the first time since she left

They insult and sass her, not changed since school

Her S/O scowls and debunks them easily, defending Marinette

When they don't stop, Marinette's S/O calls Bruce, Tony, Jagged, and the rest of the League and the Avengers to destroy the morons in the class because they know how long they've waited for this moment

Mari puts her head in her hands, but doesn't stop them because she knows how long they've waited for this moment

Three hours later, the speeches and lectures aren't done yet

Lila eventually goes to Gotham or wherever Marinette is, and tries to warn the person on her arm about Marinette's 'bulling tendencies'

That gets another lecture

Or, her class gets a tour at either SI or WE, depending on when in the story you write it (could be both, and the class just doesn't learn or Tony, Pepper, and their kids were visiting WE to talk about Mari Protection Measures when they overhear it)

Lila goes off on how Mari's S/O is actually Lila's, or how she's BFFS with Batman/Iron Man/ Bruce Wayne and his kids/ Tony Stark and his kids/ the Avengers/ the Justice League

Cue the class seeing Mari

Instant bullying

The resident children and billionaire steps up, insulting and embarrassing the class while defending Mari

Lila tries to turn it around, but they're having none of that

First the kids jump at the chance to defend their little sister and/or girlfriend, then the big guns show up

At WE, it's Bruce, a highly protective Jason, and Tim, who has every single sin/mean thing/lie pulled up in a folder

It's thicker than his hand, and hard to hold

It's both in digital and physical form and sent to every single member of Mari's family- blood related or not

At SI, it's Tony and Pepper

FRIDAY steps up, too

Harley shoots Lila with the potato gun mk 3 until she leaves

The class don't know what they did wrong, but they swear to make it up just to get the scary CEOs and relatives

Also, if anyone knows the AU where Marinette was a street kid with Jason and his little sister (I can't remember who made it or what it was called, but I fell in l o v e), that could work with this one too. Jason would be so proud of his Lil sister being so famous and awesome and "how dare you let me think you were dead!! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" "I made you worried?! You up and nearly got killed last I checked!"

Jason swore not to tell her he actually died once. He prays she never finds out.

@tired-butterfly @evil-elf16 @doggiediva13 @krispydefendorpolice @mochegato @legallyspawned @kryptored

[antiquechampagne]

Antique Champagne - Ch44 - Child’s Play

The smell of sizzling meat coaxed a drowsy Payne to search out the Fizztop’s kitchen. She found Hancock standing in front of a sizzling frying pan bare chested, his white ruffled shirt slung over a nearby chair. She gently wrapped her arms around his waist.

“What’s cooking, Sunshine? It’s smelling good.”

“Who knew the power a scrambled eggs and Cram would have on you? You slept in quite a bit.”

“What time is it?”

“About 3.”

Payne let go of him and made her way to a metal stool in the corner. She did a few quick calculations in her head. “We still have plenty of time. It’s not like we have to get everything done in Nuka-World in one day.”

“True.” Hancock shoveled breakfast onto a pair of waiting plates. “Bon apple tea.”

Payne chuckled as she accepted the dish. “It’s ‘bon appetite’!”

Hancock answered with a nonchalant shrug. “Meh. Eat up!”

They moved to the prewar dining room, sliding into a booth away from the windows.

After swallowing a huge bite, Hancock poked his fork at her. “So, what’s your plan?”

“My plan? Why do I have to pick?”

Hancock leaned back against the back of the booth. “Cause I’m taking a holiday from being in charge while we’re here. And man, it feels nice!”

Payne chuckled and started to ruminate on her options. “Why don’t we start out in Kiddie Kingdom? There probably isn’t too much to see in there. Then we can spend more time in other parks.”

“Sounds good, boss.”

Soon enough, they found themselves walking up to a garish archway framed by giant rusting lollipops, the sun just beginning to throw golden silhouettes across the park.

A man in a cartoonish elephant gas mask held up a hand, barring their path. “Hold on a sec. Gotta make sure the sprayers are off.” He curtly stomped off.

Hancock leaned causally against a barricade. He lit a cigarette to pass the time. Looking up he pointed to something rising above the tall wall that surrounded the park. “Do you think that works?”

Payne looked up, shading her eyes to stare at the giant red Ferris wheel. Before she could manage, a gruff voice answered for her.

“Unfortunately, no. Not enough power to get the old girl running anymore.” A glowing green ghoul greeted the pair. His less than pristine tuxedo stuck out among the neon clad raiders.

“That’s a shame.” Hancock shook his hand. “The name’s Hancock. That’s Payne.” Payne offered her hand in kind. “Nice hat.”

“Uh, thanks.” The ghoul seemed a bit taken back for a moment before shaking her hand back. He extended his other arm, guiding them inside. “The Overboss mentioned you might be by sometime. I’m Oswald the Outrageous. If you hadn’t guessed it, Kiddie Kingdom is my home and sanctuary. It’s a safe space for ghouls, feral or otherwise. Everyone here is family.” He faltered a bit. “Friends of ghouls are welcome as well, of course.”

Payne smiled behind the helmet’s visor and nodded.

As they continued their introductions, the group walked past a stooped feral. He quickly scuttled out of sight behind a garbage can. Oswald stopped, crouched and calmly addressed the ghoul.

“Hey, Jerry. It’s alright. They’re friends,” he coaxed.

The ghoul poked his head out and sniffed the air. The feral wore a curly red wig, their face crudely painted with bright colorful splotches. Suddenly the stains that covered Oswald’s clothes made more sense to her. Payne barely choked back a chuckle. Oswald looked back at her.

“Sorry. I’ve never seen a ghoul with makeup on before.”

With a slight frown, he turned back to the spooked feral, continuing to cajole him out. Larry inched forward, cautiously, eventually planting himself squarely behind Oswald, shielding himself from the new interlopers. Oswald stood, his hand resting on Larry’s shoulder.

“Larry was one of the entertainers here, hired by Bradberton to amuse the kids who came to the park. He was one hell of a juggling clown, always making the kids laugh. He would even catch stuff they threw at him, adding it to whatever he was juggling at the time.”

“That would have been something to see.” Payne said.

Something fast rumbled noisily past them. Payne reflexively stiffened, ready to defend Hancock if necessary.

“What’s that?” Hancock asked.

“That was just the Nuka-Racers… um, a fast rail car ride. They make a hell-of-a-racket. Watch out if you cross the track. They pack a bit of a wallop if they hit you.”

Hancock took a quick puff of his cigarette. “Can I ride’em?”

Oswald thought for a moment. “I don’t see why not.” He lead the them through the wrought iron fences that served as the ride’s queue, Larry tailing them at a distance. “Give me a moment to stop them.”

Hancock chose a bright red car and plopped down into the seat. He barely fit. He waved to Payne. “You gonna join me?”

Payne shook her head. “First, there is no way in hell I’m fitting in there with you. Second… no thanks. Those things were nearly a death trap before the war. God knows what 200 years of wear and tear has done to them… no offense.” She gave a slight bow to Oswald.

Hancock tried to win her over. “When are you going to have this chance again?” Payne shook her head.

“Well, now that that is settled, there are a few things you need to know. Once these things start going, they just keep going until I stop them. So, when you’re done, give us a signal. Also, keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle. They run close to some of the buildings.”

Hancock nodded and gripped the fake steering wheel. Payne wasn’t sure if he was actually listening.

“Seems simple enough.” He beamed. “Let’er rip!”

With the press of a button, Hancock shot off, whizzing around the park at breakneck speed. His hoots of joy echoed off the walls. Payne just watched and chuckled to herself. She had a feeling, after the big breakfast they had just had, she knew exactly how this was going to end.

Catching some movement out of the corner of her eye, she peeked down to see Larry creeping closer to her. Slowly, she unlatched her helmet. The sun had dropped low enough in the sky that she was in little danger of it’s rays now. She crouched, setting in on the paved path next to her. Under Oswald’s watchful gaze, she sat and let the painted ghoul sniff the air around her.

“I hear your name is Larry. Mine is Payne. Nice to meet you.” She wasn’t sure that it would work, but she put out her hand.

Larry ignored it, instead something on her wrist caught his attention. Grabbing her wrist, he turned it over. Immediately, Payne wrenched her arm away as the feral began to dig at the bottle cap embedded in her leather bracelet.

“Hey!” she protested, standing up and covering the glowing star with her other hand. “That’s not for you!” The sudden movement and shouting sent Larry skittering away like a kicked puppy.

Oswald moved to intervene. He quickly scanned her wrist, checking for damage. “Sorry about that.” He scowled. “He’s normally not like that.”

“It’s okay. He didn’t break it. I would have been hard pressed to replace it if he had.”

Oswald squinted. “Is that a bottle cap?”

“Yeah. One from out west. It has a lot of personal meaning to me.”

“Sorry,” He apologized again.

Hancock made his second round, still giddy with the rush of the ride.

“I have a question for you. Are all the ghouls here from Nuka-World?”

Oswald nodded. “Yes. Most of us took shelter here when the bombs fell. After, we had nowhere else to go. Here we had shelter, food, water… we really became like a big family and we protected one another.” He looked down at the ground. “Over time, though, we started to change. We didn’t know about the radioactive waste stored in the base of the castle that was slowly poisoning us. One by one I watched all my friends grow sick with the Affliction, then even more slowly lose their humanity. Now I watch over all of them that are left until we can find a cure.”

“We?” Payne’s heart sank.

“Rachel and I. We were the only ones to keep our minds intact.” Oswald offered a tired smiled. “Rachel left to find a cure. When she comes back, we’ll make everyone well again.”

“That’s… something, I guess. When do you think she’ll be back?”

Oswald’s smile faded. “I don’t know. She’s been gone for over a year now. I’m sure she’ll be back any time now.”

Payne looked up to see Hancock start his third trip around the track… only this time he wasn’t yipping with excitement.

“You better stop the ride.”

“What?” Oswald blinked and looked after Hancock. “He’s not waving at us.”

“I know that face. Stop it now.” Payne sprinted off down the track.

Oswald jumped to action, quickly bringing the cars to a clanking halt. Payne got to Hancock in enough time to help him out of the car to where his breakfast quickly exited his system all over the grass. Oswald trotted up next, luckily avoiding the pile of vomit.

“I knew that was going to happen.” Payne scolded.

Hancock plunked down in the grass. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Would you have listened if I did?”

“No.”

All Payne could do was shrug and shake her head.

“Maybe this will help to calm your stomach?” Oswald produced a Nuka-Cola.

Hancock accepted his offer. “Couldn’t hurt at this point.” He took a few wary sips.

As Hancock regained his composure, Payne turned to their guide. “What did you do here, before?”

“My name doesn’t give it away? Oswald the Outrageous! I was the headlining act for the park. Over the centuries, my magic act has only gotten better!”

“I suppose you would have more time to practice.”

“Practice has nothing to do with it! No doubt, my body has changed, but it has also given me magical powers to spare!”

Payne looked at Hancock, who was undoubtedly having similar thoughts.

“Really?” Hancock put a hand on his knee to help himself up. “This, I gotta see.”

Oswald’s eyes sparkled as he tipped his top hat. “Right this way, then! Step into the great King Cola’s Castle and see for yourself the wondrous acts of Oswald the Outrageous with your own eyes!” And with that, Oswald bent himself in a deep bow before his form disappeared in a great plume of smoke.

[infinite-inferno]

The Promise Ring

Characters: Single Dad!Logan, Virgil, mentions of Roman, Patton and Deceit

Ship(s): Prinxiety, past moceit

This is probably completely out of character, this is 1000% a vent fic

Virgil looked up from their phone, grinning like an idiot at what their boyfriend, Roman, sent them. God he’s such a sap, promise rings? I don’t even wear jewelry all that much, but I would totally wear it if he got it for me. Virgil smiled and sent the text giving their okay on it. ‘Just so you know, my dad doesn’t know about us at all, so I would have to order it, and just pass it off as something I wanted for myself.’ Virgil frowned slightly, remembering that their dad was weary about online friendships, let alone a romantic relationship. They had little intention to tell him, always imagining the worst case scenario (as always) and it always led to him making them break up - something Virgil couldn’t imagine doing. 

So, when they got the email that it arrived - a week earlier than it was supposed to, when their dad was going on a business trip - they panicked, knowing he would get the mail before they would get to it. When they got home and saw their dad had the package in his hand, they felt the largest wave of anxiety they’ve had in a while hit them like a truck. 

“Virginia,” their dad started, causing Virgil to internally wince - they hadn’t told their dad their new name or pronouns, knowing as well how he feels about nonbinary identities and just really didn’t want to have that conversation - their coming out as pansexual was hard enough. “What is this?”

Not having it in themself to lie, or the capacity to make up one on the spot in this state, they mumbled out “a ring.” Their dad’s face reflected confusion and anger, very different from his usual near emotionless expression, and it made Virgil hunch more than they already had been.

“You don’t usually wear jewelry at all, why all of a sudden did you get a ring? Be honest, is it for your partner?”

“What if it was?”

“Is it?”

“What would you say if it was?”

“Who is it?”

“... he doesn’t go to my school.”

“Ok, where is he from?”

Virgil panicked again, not being able to think of a lie quick enough and before they knew it they said “Spain. But I’ve been talking with him for over two years, he speaks perfect English, and he helps me in my Spanish class too. Please-”

“Virginia, you know how I feel about the online thing. I’m just concerned. What if he isn’t who he says he is? I’ve been accepting of you being pansexual, and you know that. But you already have to put up a facade because we happen to live in a very close minded, conservative town, and having someone who you tell everything to, who ‘understands’ you, that can be really unsafe!”

Virgil felt all their anxiety turn to anger, somehow getting the courage to stand up for themself, yelling “So what do you not trust me?”

“Honey I do trust you. I don’t trust him. How do you know if he is who he says he is! For all you know he could be some 40 year old man! He could just be faking everything, and just telling you what you want to hear!”

“How the hell would you fake a Snapchat? Or a video call? Snapchat LITERALLY SAYS if the picture was just taken or if it had been saved from the internet or whatever!”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s possible! Do you have any plans to go to Spain?”

“No, but-”

“Does he have any plans to come here?”

“Actually he is hoping to do a study abroad in the city, or somewhere relatively close to me. He’s starting college this year but he’s only 17 so it’s not like there’s this huge age gap either-”

“I don’t care if he claims to be 17. How do you know if he is who he tells you he is?”

“Please dad, I’m really happy with him-”

“You’re too young to know what you want out of a relationship. All this is… is puppy love at best! Besides, how are you supposed to say you’re dating someone you’ve never met? Someone you’ve never been on a date with? Dating means going on dates. That’s not what you two have. End of story.” 

Virgil fidgeted with the strings on their hoodie, their confidence draining away as the tension in the room rose. “You don’t think that’s what I want? I would love for that to happen, but it hasn’t. I just don’t understand how this is any different from any other long distance relationship that starts in person-” 

“That’s just it, they start in person. You know who they are. You started dating before the distance separated. As far as I’m concerned though, you two are just close friends, just someone you communicate with. Nothing more.”

They bit the inside of their cheek, stopping when they tasted the briefest tinge of blood. “So what, that’s it. Are you going to make us break up now? Cut off all communication?”

“No, because you’re too damn stubborn for your own good, and I know this is just going in one ear and out the other. No matter what I say, you’re just going to do what you want, and let me tell you, that pisses me off to no end. But it’s too late to do anything about it.” Logan took a deep breath and put his head in his hands. “I wanted you to be better, but I guess you’re not. So go off, I know you’re gonna go right up to your room and hide away like you always do, and vent to him about how much of a bitch I am. But I’m just worried about you Virginia. Maybe it’d be different if he lived here, if I could meet with him and the family, but we’ll never know won’t we?” He sighed, looking up at Virgil. 

“But would it really be different if he lived here? People can still be fake in person, like what happened to Patton when he dated Dorian.” Virgil spoke quietly, still defending themself, but not as violently. “There’s that bit in every relationship - you can never be sure. What was that saying? You have 3 faces, one you show to the world, one you show to family, and one that you never show to anyone.”

“While that is true, it is easier to catch the bullshit in person. When they have to look you in the eyes and talk to you, it’s different. But what do I know?”

Virgil continued to fidget with their hoodie, deciding not to get on their dads’ bad side completely, and even if it was against what they thought, they should at least try to end on a good note. “I… I understand why you’re upset, because that kind of thing isn’t completely uncommon today...” Virgil’s face saddened, as they were about to say something they completely didn’t agree with, but just said to get their dad off their back. “And I guess you’re right, we haven’t been on any dates. He’s just someone I’m talking to.” Virgil internally smirked, knowing that for their generation, “talking to someone” is the precursor to (or sometimes saying that you are) dating. So technically, they weren’t completely outright lying, they just weren’t speaking in words that the older generation would recognize. 

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” Logan gave Virgil a soft smile, but Virgil couldn’t return it. 

They looked at him hesitantly, “are we good then?”

“I don’t know, are we good?”

“I think so,” Virgil shrugged.

“Then I guess we are.” 

[schmergo]

Scarlet Pimpernel at Lincoln Center (informal review)

I just saw the most amazing show at Lincoln Center last night. I said to someone the other day that I don’t usually write informal “reviews” of limited-run productions because nobody else would probably be able to get tickets to them, but this was something special. It was a one-night only semi-staged version of The Scarlet Pimpernel, which originally ran on Broadway from 1997-2000 and has never yet been revived. A rarely-performed musical, my friend Wren and I discovered it in 10th grade and quickly fell in love with the catchy score but never thought we’d see a professional production.

When I first heard about the Lincoln Center concert, I burst into tears with excitement and thought, “Oh MAN, I wish I could go!” and moped around for a few days. Then I realized, “Hang on, I have some money saved. I have lots of unused vacation days. It’s only a four-hour bus ride away. What’s stopping me from going?” And I am so glad I did. Was it a flawless production? No. Was it painstakingly and meticulously designed and rehearsed? Definitely not. But was it one of the liveliest, most entertaining shows I’ve seen with top-notch vocals, hilarious gags, and tremendous audience response (actors sometimes having to cut off the excessive cheers and applause after certain numbers) that culminated in a 100% standing ovation? All that and a bag of pommes frites.

If you’re unfamiliar with the story, The Scarlet Pimpernel is based on a classic adventure-romance novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. Set during the French Revolution, it’s often called the original superhero story, in which a disguised vigilante hides behind a mild-mannered secret identity. When fashionable English gentleman Sir Percy Blakeney suspects his new bride, Marguerite, may be a spy for the French Revolution, he sets off on a mission to rescue innocent people from the guillotine- without his wife finding out. But he and his band of merry men don’t fight terror with terror. No, they employ witty disguises, tricks, and antics, leaving behind the mark of a flower called the Scarlet Pimpernel (Percy’s family crest). Back home, the men escape suspicion by exaggerating their mannerisms into ridiculous caricatures of fancy fops who care more about French lace and silk than French Revolutions.

But when Marguerite’s ex-lover Chauvelin (now a high-ranking French agent) blackmails her into discovering the true identity of the Pimpernel lest her brother die, she little knows how close to home her mission will hit.

It sounds like it could either be an overwrought melodrama or a Looney Toons short- and indeed, it is a bit of both. The musical itself endured many extensive rewrites during its short run, never quite finding the right balance. This concert seems to be a mish-mash of about three different past versions with at least one new song. But despite the jarring shifts between heart-wrenching ballads and silly slapstick in which tap shoes become a valuable component in a duel and executioners are distracted by 123 rampant geese, this performance was so rich in heart, joy, and spirit that the whole audience beamed along.

Of the leading roles, the only one I’d never seen or heard before was Tony Yazbeck, inhabiting the many hats (literally) of the Pimpernel himself. I can confidently say that he gave one of the most brilliant performances I’ve ever seen, period. Although he’s already an accomplished performer, I suspect this one-night show might catapult him to being a massive star. He’s, like, a quadruple threat, with so much stage presence that he shimmers. Yazbeck’s Percy can be ludicrously silly or achingly sincere, powerful or vulnerable, with a powerhouse voice and untiring energy and grace. I was sitting close enough to see all of his facial expressions, however over-the-top or subtle, and he was totally immersed in the character the entire time, sometimes hurling his script to the ground with emotion. (Remember, it was a staged concert with about a week of rehearsal.) He frequently breaks the fourth wall, trying to steal a violinist’s bow, dropping ad-libbed comments, sitting in the audience or dancing down the aisle, without dropping his polished English accent. I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next.

My personal favorite singer, Norm Lewis, co-starred as sinister French operative Chauvelin, who I can best describe as a more seductive Javert who is constantly humiliated by those around him. Having recently seen him in the Music Man, in which he gave a jovial performance but struggled with some lyrics, I was relieved to see that he held his script in hand most of the time here. He still flubbed the occasional word and seemed overly reliant on his script at times, but oh my good golly, I have NEVER heard his voice sound better. He has one of the richest, most powerful voices on Broadway, not to mention a huge vocal range, and this score puts all of it to use. This is the 6th time I’ve seen him live (plus his filmed performances in the 25th anniversary Les Mis concert and NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar), and every song he sang here sent huge chills up my spine and fireworks off in my brain. Gosh, I love him. I do think Mr Lewis bit off a little more than he could chew doing these two semi-staged concerts only a week apart— he did seem less confident than the other performers— but I still feel so lucky to have seen him in both.

Laura Osnes sparkles as the sensitive and vivacious Marguerite. Her voice is higher and lighter than how I’d heard the role performed before, but she can certainly belt out a tune when required. She gives nuance and genuine feeling to Marguerite’s inner conflict, even joining in a sword fight to defend her husband! Osnes shows remarkable poise, rarely consulting her script. She has especially great onstage chemistry with Corey Cott, who plays her little brother with earnest puppy dog eyes and a strong pop vocal.

Though I didn’t like all of the changes in the song listing, lyrics, and script, I was completely invested the entire time. The able and versatile ensemble took on a variety of roles, from Percy’s merry men to French guards. Drew Gehling gave a particularly scene-stealing turn in the dual roles of Robespierre (stern and sardonic) and the Prince of Wales (utterly zany and wearing a magnificent feathered hat). Backed by a chorus of over 200 people and a full orchestra, the music was nothing short of sublime.

The pared-down nature of the show mostly came across in costumes and props, or lack thereof- Percy’s elaborate 18th century suits were clearly necessary to the plot, but stood out against most characters’ contemporary clothing. Supporting characters merely threw on a cheap-looking accessory or two to connote a different character or disguise, and Marguerite wore modern ball gowns. Sometimes, the script referred to characters changing clothes without the actors actually doing so. Still, the movement and staging was more complex than I had expected, and I was particularly taken by the effective guillotine prop.

All in all, I left the theatre electrified and touched that this huge audience- David Geffen Hall holds 2,738 and this show was pretty much sold out- had all seen and evidently loved this musical that means so much to me, that over 200 people put in so much effort and enthusiasm to bring it to life, and that I got to be there.

Another thing that unexpectedly moved me was Percy’s character arc. I’ve always strangely related to Percy despite not being heroic, rich, or fashionable, but I AM known for being kinda silly and flamboyant. And like Percy, I like to think there’s more to me than that. Although Percy becomes the Pimpernel out of anguish and desperation, he seems to genuinely relish getting to act so weird and over-the-top. He seems so comfortable in his own skin. Even when his identity is unmasked, he continues to be outlandish, even forcing Chauvelin into a tap dance battle. He and his wife desperately love one another, his friends care about him and always have his back, and he’s able to be his true and complete self— strong, smart, and brave, yes, but also in touch with his feminine side, compassionate, theatrical, romantic, and generally outrageous. As someone who feels equally accepted by my loved ones despite my outsized personality, I love this non-conformist romantic hero who proves you don’t have to be macho and grimly stoic to save the day.

“And that is why the lord created men!” Percy sings after springing a trap on Chauvelin. Marguerite and Madame Tussaud, who both helped, cough. “And women!” he sings to cheers from the audience.

I loved this show. I wish you could have been there. I’m heading home on the bus right now and this piece reminded me more then anything how much I value and appreciate all of the people in my life. Onward, ho!

[winmance]

Chapter 19 - trust in me

"Is that a new car ?" Shawn asks, stopping in front of Jensen’s car

"Kinda. I've had it in my garage for over a year”

“In your garage? Jeez, Jensen, this car is awesome, why would you hide it?”

“I asked him the same thing!” Jared says happily “I had to beg him to use it”

“Wait, you succeeded in getting something out of Jensen by begging?” Shawn asks, a smirk on his face “Even my kids can’t do that!”

“That’s because they can’t do puppy eyes as good as me” Jared winks, a proud smile on his face.

Jensen doesn’t say anything, his face burning with embarrassment as he curses Shawn for talking. He doesn’t want Jared to know that he somehow managed to reach his sweet spot and can get practically anything he wants from him without Jensen complaining.

“Come on, we’ve got a long ride ahead”

“I feel like we just spent a year in that car” Jared complains, opening his door “Once we get there, I want us to walk everywhere”

“Don’t know if we'll leave the house a lot” Jensen admits, letting the three other cars go in front of him before following them. “We need to think about your safety first”

“Yeah but think about my mental health, too. I can’t spend too long in a car or house”

“I know” Jensen says, offering him a compassionate smile.

He can see that Jared is bothered by the whole situation, and he can’t blame him. He’s been attacked, and left for dead before coming to Jensen’s apartment. Been accused of being a criminal, staying in yet another unknown place, and now, he has to deal with Jensen’s whole family. The kid needs to have some fun. Hell, Jensen needs to relax as well.

“You know” He says “Riley-“

“Who’s Riley?” Jared cuts him

“My nephew? Come on, you met him ten minutes ago”

“Yeah, but all three of your nephews look like they’re on drugs”

“Josh’s kids are… they’re something” He admits, weighing his words.

“Awful is the word you’re looking for”

“You said it, not me” Jensen defends himself, “But yeah, they are. One time, I had to watch them for a whole weekend. Man, that was the worst two days of my life. I was this close to kicking them out of my place”

“I can’t imagine you taking care of kids. Well, not those kids”

“Kids in general I would say. I don’t know how to deal with them”

“You deal with me just fine and let me tell you I’m not easy either”

“No shit” Jensen sighs, which earns him a middle finger from Jared. “But that’s different. You’re… you’re different”

There’s a light blush spreading on Jared’s face, and Jensen has weird feeling in his belly, something he hasn't felt in years, maybe ever. He doesn’t know what it is, and he’s not sure why but it makes him feel good and he doesn’t want to think too much about it right now.

“So what did Riley say?” Jared asks

“Oh, yeah. He said there’s a Christmas market, where we’re going. We can go, if you want”

“Yes! Yes I want to!” Jared yells, jumping in the seat happily

“Alright, we'll go. But you will stay right next to me, Ok?”

“Promise!” Jared says, a huge smile on his face

“You ever been to one? When you were a kid, I mean”

“Yeah” Jared says, more calmly this time “Until I was five, we used to go every year. I don’t remember much exactly, but I remember the feeling, you know? It was a good feeling. Really great”

“What happened? When you were five I mean?”

Jared shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not answering, so Jensen decided to take the lead.

“When I was ten, my dad he . . . he raped my babysitter and I walked in on them. She was in love with him, well as much in love as you can be when you’re 14, and she… she ended up pregnant. When she told him, he told her he didn’t love her and he gave her money for an abortion I heard the whole thing.”

“Did she get it? The abortion?”

“No” Jensen says, his throat tight “She lost the baby, probably right after telling my dad, and when she realized… she went to our house and she committed suicide”

“Fuck” Jared whispers “Who found her?”

“Me” Jensen answers right away, refusing to let his emotions get the better of him. He never told this story to anyone, not even to Derek who learned the story through his wife. And saying it out loud, for the first time, was way harder than he thought it would be. More revealing, too. “I found her, and I… the police, they didn’t have any evidence showing why she did it. Nothing. My father . . . he would have got away with all of it so easily, but I… I talked. I talked, and I destroyed my family, my father, my mother, my siblings, and myself”

“You protected her” Jared whispers

“Who?”

“Your babysitter. You protected her, over everybody else. You protected her memory and you . . . shit, can you imagine? If you hadn’t talked? Her parents would have thought she was sick and that she died for no reason. But you… you saved her, in a way. In many ways.”

“I never saw it like that” Jensen admits, his voice shaking with emotion. He spent so many nights, wondering if he did the right thing, if her parents would rather have a crazy daughter or a daughter that was abused. If they would rather think that it was nothing but a mistake, rather than know that they put their daughter in the hands of a pedophile, of her own murderer. He thought about it, again and again, but, he could never fully justify what he had done.

He won’t say that Jared gave him a clear conscience, no one really can, but he gave him a new perspective, a new way to find peace.

He came out of his thoughts when he felt Jared’s hand on top of his, rubbing his skin gently with his thumb.

“You did the right thing, Jensen”

“I’m not that sure” Jensen admits, letting go of the wheel for a few seconds to rub his eyes with the back of his free hand.

“My sister died” Jared says “When I was five. We were playing together outside, I was supposed to be watching her but I… I don’t even know. I stopped looking, I didn’t think, I mean, I was only five and my mom was just in the kitchen. She could see us from there. But Julie, she… she ran across the street, and she was only three, you don’t think about danger when you’re three. She got hit by a car, and I didn’t . . . . I didn’t even realize it, not until I heard my mom screaming.

She died right away. The car was going too fast and she was too small, too fragile. She always looked like an angel, a cute little thing, with long brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. My dad . . . she was his princess. When my mom was pregnant, he prayed to God I would be a girl. I wasn’t, and then I killed his princess.

He was… he was furious. At me, mostly, but at my mom too, and he missed Julie so much, that he just… he started drinking. A lot. He would yell at my mom, at me, would hit us whenever he could, and one day… They had stopped having sex even before my sister’s death. I’m not sure why, and I don’t really care, but they had, and he… we looked alike, my sister and me. And I missed my dad, I missed him, his hugs and his kisses, so I didn’t… when he came to my bed, I was so fucking happy because I thought he loved me again. Then he started… he started doing those things. I told him to stop, but he wouldn’t, he would say that it was only foreplay, that I took all his happiness away, and that I owed him that. He said that he wished it was me, instead of her. And after a while, I wished it was me, too”

Jensen pulled the car over to the side of the road without thinking about it twice. Before Jared could ask what was going on, he had taken his seatbelt off and pulled Jared against his chest, holding him as close to him as possible.

Jared’s whole body was shaking with ugly cries, his face hidden in his neck, and Jensen does his best not to cry, too. He wants this to be about Jared, and Jared only.

“I’m sorry, Jared. For everything that happened to you” He whispers in his hair “But never . . . never believe that you would be better off dead, because that’s not true”

Jared doesn’t answer, but Jensen doesn’t expect him too. He just wants to reassure him, to tell him that it’s fine, that he’s fine, and that no one – not now, not ever, no one will hurt him again.

“I’m glad you’re alive” He says instead, cupping Jared’s face between his hands “I’m glad you’re alive and I’m sorry. . . I’m sorry all of those things happened to you”

He pushed Jared’s hair behind his ears before bringing their foreheads together.

“I kept. . . I kept wondering if he was… If he was doing that to Julie, too” Jared whispers, his voice breaking at the end

“I can’t tell you if he was or not, but I can tell you that he isn’t hurting her or you anymore."

“I know, but I-“

They both jump when Jensen’s phone starts ringing, his brother’s name appearing on the screen.

“Shit” He groans, cleaning his throat before answering “Yeah Shawn?”

“Hey, are you guys ok?”

“Yeah, we just- we’re ok. I wasn’t feeling good”

“Ok, well, we're stopped at McDonalds because the kids were hungry”

“We’ve only been gone for an hour” Jensen points out “How often do those kids need to eat?”

“A lot” Shawn laughs “I bet Jared and you could use some food, too”

“Yeah, we'll be here asap”

He hangs up the phone, focusing on Jared again.

“They stopped to eat a few miles away. You’re up to it?”

“Yeah, sure” Jared says, wiping his eyes

Jensen offers him another smile before starting the car again, his heart lighter and heavier at the same time, a bit of his pain and guilt disappearing, only to be replaced by Jared’s sadness and anger.

He needs to ask how Jared knows Josh, but now isn’t the right moment. He doesn’t plan on letting Jared out of his sight for more than a few seconds anyway.

They will have time to speak later

Tags : @emmalh2001 @captainsteelandsunshine @servilesammy @jaredbootyylecki @mysterioushunters

Beta by @debivc78

[myrxellabaratheon]

Pumpkin Carving

Ok, so this is inspired by @ironstrange-advent-calendar prompt, and somehow turned into a Supreme family fanfic. I had no idea that one of Spider-Man’s villains from the comics was Jack O’Lantern because I know nothing from the comics, though Ifound it and I had to add him in this thing, which is completly and utterly crack. Like, canon, who knows her? 

The point was, Stephen couldn’t refuse a damn thing to the kid. He didn’t even know why, by now, maybe it was because of his stupid puppy eyes, maybe because please him was so easy that Stephen didn’t have the heart to refuse him a thing, maybe because he grew to care about him during their stay in the Soul Dimension, he didn’t know.

What he knew, though, was that he wasn’t going to listen to him and Harley, ever again.

The point was, the youngest of his boyfriend’s kids -- don’t deny it, Tony, you adopted both of them by now -- seemed really interested in the Mystical Arts, and Stephen had always been the kind of person to encourage academic interest. Which was the reason why most of the times Harley was with Stephen in the library. Sometimes, Peter joined them too. and that kind of familiarly grew easily on Stephen. Especially when Tony arrived at the Sanctum as well and then the four of them just portalled in the Tower.

But he usually didn’t shove the two teenagers through the portal as he did that night. The point was: Wong wanted to bring a bit of Halloween spirit in Kamar-Taj and considering that it wasn’t a Nepalese festivity he stated that the pumpkins should have been enough. Which brought Harley at the realization that Tony loved Halloween, and they should totally carve pumpkins. Which was perfectly fine with Stephen, as far as he wasn’t involved.

But the teens decided to find a spell to help the Supreme Sorcerer to take part in this family ritual, and they succeed, in part.

Because neither of them spoke Latin.

“Babe!” Tony said the moment he saw the glowing portal opening in the middle of his workshop. Then, his whiskey brown eyes ran from his boyfriend’s face to the two kids he was with. “What did they do?”

“Why do you always think we did something, Tones?” Harley asked, and Stephen, despite being mad with them, couldn’t help a smile. Harley reminded to him of a younger version of Stephen himself.

“Because I’m looking at Stephen’s face right now. So, what happened?”

“Nothing Mr Stark we just…”

“They forced me into giving life to a sentient pumpkin,” Stephen said, and he glanced at Tony when he heard that he was starting to laugh.

“Forced you, doc?” Harley asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Since when ‘Hey this spell seems super cool because the pumpkin will stay lighted until you break it’ is forcing?”

The kid definitely spent too much time in Tony’s company, that was for sure. He huffed and seated on one of the chairs in the workshop, his attention fully back on his mobile phone while Peter was trying to find a way to apologize, and Tony tried not to laugh his ass off.

“So, after that you perform a spell on a pumpkin what happened? It attacked Wong because he was eating a soup made of its siblings? Please, tell me you took a picture.”

“It would be on Instagram if that happened,” Peter answered, a shy smile cracking through his worried expression now that it was clear that Tony didn't make a great deal out of it. “No… It just… Walked out from the Sanctum and now there’s a sentient and friendly pumpkin around Greenwich Village.”

“And this is Shuri’s text,” Harley interrupted his friend. “She’s at the Compound and we really have to go because our princess friend is waiting for us.”

Stephen rolled his eyes at the ceiling. Of course, he forgot that T’Challa and Shuri were throwing a Halloween party in Wakanda and pretty much everyone who was under twenty-five had been invited. And Stephen didn’t expect for Tony to forbid them to go so, yeah, he and his boyfriend were going to spend Halloween night chasing for a sentient pumpkin, along with a sentient Cloak, very likely. That was his life now, not that Stephen was complaining.

-- 

Not so surprisingly, the spell was stronger than Stephen guessed and the carved vegetable was probably smart enough to hide in plenty side because they walked around the Greenwich Village for almost two hours and there was no clarity of where it could have gone.

“You’re free to not believe me but when the kids told me they were going in Wakanda for a party, I pictured a very different night,” Tony said, after they decided that Central Park was a place as good as others to start their search for the missing pumpkin. “And Jack O’Lantern was not invited.”

Yeah, thank you so much, not that he was having fun. And he was also half sure that if Wong would have known about it nobody would have saved him from a lecture on how to read the side effects of the spells, before practising them. It wasn’t the first time either so it wasn’t like he could completely blame that incident on Peter and Harley.

“You can go home if you want,” Stephen said, even if he really hoped for his boyfriend to stay with him. Strange knew better and by now was sure that the moment they stopped the pumpkin he was going to study the spell and try to understand if it was the same that let the Cloak having its own mind. “It looks like this will take long enough.”

Tony shook his head. “No shit, babe! I want to see you play the fairy godmother and turn the carriage back. Let’s just hope it won’t disappoint any Cinderella.”

He smirked at him, and Stephen couldn’t help but smile back at his boyfriend. At least, they would have a night just for the two of them, even if it wasn’t what they both had hope for.

It took them almost four hours to find the pumpkin. A group of children had found it before and it didn’t look pleased with all when it saw Stephen, trying to run away from its creator. And that was the moment when things started to go down profusely.

The thing kind of evolved, or went shopping. considering that was wearing a suit, and from where its hands were supposed to be it could shoot fireballs.

“Great, next time try not to give them magic, honey!” Tony yelled, tapping the Arc Reactor and shooting at the thing the moment Stephen opened a couple of portals under the kids’ feet and portalled them in a safe place.

The pumpkin should have understood that Stephen was the one who could bring it back to his vegetable form because it was attacking only the sorcerer, which was a huge problem because it forced Stephen to defend himself instead of practising the counterspell. “I’ll keep that in mind, now, if you keep it occupied…”

The next blast hit the thing head even if wasn’t apparently enough to stop the creature, though the thing started to pay attention to Tony what was necessary to Stephen and the Cloak to block it. With a fast movement of his hands, he turned the thing back into the innocuous carved pumpkin which had been before.

By now, though, every person in the park seemed to have been attracted by the noises and the fires, and they probably thought it was a play or something because the crowd was cheer at them and a girl dressed as the Black Widow, and definitely the less shy in her Avenger-dressed friends, approached them.

“Wow, guys! That was a thing, and your costumes!” Her eyes were shining and when she focused them on Tony they grew even bigger. “Oh my… Dude, is that the latest Ironman’s suit? And the Cloak, it moved!”

At that, Cloak itself decided to make her point even clearer and waved at the girl. And Stephen knew that his boyfriend’s beautiful mind was working. Somehow, the sorcerer didn’t like that idea, right now. But then Tony removed his helmet, and the girl, her friends and whoever was close enough to see his face recognized him.

“Ok, guys, y’all are invited at the Stark Tower for having the greatest Avengers Halloween Party ever!” Stephen’s smile was soft, once he retrieved his suit and took Stephen’s hand. “Don’t you mind, babe, do you?”

Stephen shook his head. Tony always liked to throw parties whenever he could and Stephen was happy in knowing that the alcohol wasn’t any more the main attraction in those parties. He wanted to spend some time alone with Tony but he didn’t really mind to postpone it.

--

The day after, when Friday alerted them that Shuri, Harley, Peter, MJ and Ned arrived in the lobby, Stephen looked at his boyfriend’s still asleep at his side, a small and secret smile painted on his lips.

“We should wake up,” He whispered in Tony’s ear.

“Hmm.”

“You know that they’ll enter there…”

“Hey, guys!” MJ called, while from the kitchen came sounds of dishes and cutlery. “You’d better get dress because if you don’t show up in five minutes, Harley and I will finish Tony’s Italian coffee.”

That was enough for Tony to wake up completely. “I hate her,” he muttered, even if he was clearly joking. “Why have we approve our son dating her?”

“Maybe because May will kill you if you try to tell Peter he can’t date someone he likes,” Stephen replied, and he had to force himself to get out of the bed. He wasn’t tired, it was just that he didn’t plan to leave the bed at least that day.

In the end, he decided it was useless to wait longer and walked out of Tony’s bedroom.

“How was your party?” Stephen asked, looking at the teenagers.

“Super cool, Mr Doctor!” Peter said, and he couldn’t actually stay still on the chair. They all looked pretty on a sugar height but it was probably because of the time zone and the fact that they probably just had some coffees before leaving.

“And yours?” Shuri’s tone was smug to pair her smile.

“Oh, we chased Jack O’Lantern all night long,” Tony answered. “And then we discovered that you can’t give a moral compass to a conscious pumpkin so we had to fight it. Oh, we also invited a lot of people there and had a party until ass-o’clock in the morning.”

“Ok, Tony, whatever you say, we just asked to see Steph blush,” Harley replied, though the sorcerer was sure he was disappointed by the fact that he didn’t blush at all.

[jonah-aesthetic]

Complications -part one- Daniel Seavey

Daniel Seavey X Bre

Requested: nope, but part of the limelight cupid for @superseavey and made by @whydontwecry

Plot: Two best friends happen to be in love with each other. All the boys know and keep telling them that the other is in love with them. None of them believe until the very last second and everything falls apart the next morning.

Word Count: 2,143

A/N: So this is for the beautiful Bre, I know it’s long waited but here it is. Also I made it a small series since the story evolved a little too big and kept getting bigger. If you see a similar format like this one, it’s probably because @thatcanadianfangirl is my main blog.

He laid on the perfectly grey couch, letting the cushions take in his figure. Daniel’s arms are thrown over his head supporting his vision to line with the TV. Lilo And Stitch playing on the screen, which oddly happened to be my favourite Disney movie. Scratch that, I’m a Disney kid that meant I adored them all. Though Lilo And Stitch is my all time favourite Disney Movie.

As I continued to analyse him, his bare chest popped at me. His body slightly tighter than the last time I saw him. Biceps beginning to bulge out a little more, making me gawk at him for a bit longer before my eyes moved on. Black joggers were tugged low, resting on his “V” line, his untouched hair from the day before appeared flawless in my mind. 

The heavy presence of someone behind me, pulled me out of my trance that Daniel always seemed to put me in. Hot breath fanned my left ear, “Staring and drooling over him doesn’t really help any of us. Now does it?” The soft voice of Corbyn flowed to me making my head snap to the floor. Of course there just happened to be a pool of drool right between my feet. I’m so pathetic sometimes.

In a swift movement my foot lunged forward and swiped it up. I instantly regretted it as my saliva seeped through my sock, soaking my toes. Gross, I really need to think before I do anything! I turned around to face him, as his blue eyes watched me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I said a little confidently. 

Corbyn scoffed and rolled his eyes dramatically causing me to do the same. My arms crossed over my chest ready for his response. “Everyone in this very house knows that you two are pining for each other, yet you guys are too blind to notice any of it.” Corbyn said with a serious tone, like this was the most important thing in the world right now. I beg to differ.

“What are you guys talking about.” Daniel silky voice startled me, both of us turned to see Daniel’s full attention on us. Daniel’s ocean blue eyes filled with something I couldn’t define, “Just easy details for Cupid’s day game plan.” Corbyn spoke up. My gaze on Corbyn again as he quickly raised his eyes in a see-what-I-mean-the-guys-inlove-with-you look. I rolled my eyes again so Daniel couldn’t see our silent conversation.

I wasn’t so sure about Daniel and I being in love with each other. It seemed way too cliche to be real, from the way the I was looking at it anyways. If Daniel really did have an interest in me why didn’t he make a move or at least say something about. Maybe he didn’t want to ruin the great friendship you shared. 

Deep down I wanted to believe it I really did, because we had an amazing friendship. But lately I’ve been missing how we use to be, fooling around with each other, watching Disney movies in the late night. But right now there was a block of distance between us. Though I only took it as a small bump in the road.

I’ve been lusting after him for so long and I’m just starting to get over him. But god was that a hard task, Daniel was a perfect human being. He’s attractive that’s not hard to see, but his personality is the one thing I adore most. 

My gaze turned back to Daniel to see what his response to that is. “why? we always have a cupids day game plan meeting with the whole house.” Daniel went against it, Before Corbyn could defend his case, Jonah walked in with Zach and Jack trailing him.

“Jesus Danny someone’s a little jealous.” Zach piped in. “Anyway he probably needs help with his and Christina’s special day, that none of us could ever help with since we’re of the male gender.” Jonah came to the rescue as well. I smiled lightly, sometimes I just loved these idiots. They got my back like no other. 

Daniel sat up right after we all made our way to the couch, reading for CDGPM (cupids day game plan meeting) he leaned forward resting his elbows on his thighs, why had that hit the core? I closed my eyes harshly. I’m pretty sure I started seeing black dots in my vision.

puppies eating McDonald’s fries  

Wow this was way hard than I thought

“Why do I feel like everyone’s against me? Daniel asked with a pure face. “Because everyone is, well except Bre of course.” Jack commented, I snapped my head towards him in a slight warning. Usually the boys never implied my liking to Daniel. He only replied with a huge smirk spreading across his face.

“Anyway lets begin our discussion. absolutely no bring the opposite gender home, six of us live here. We don’t want to here your pleasure.-”

“Why did you say the opposite gender?” Daniel asked slightly suspicious, “Sorry but you guys aren’t the only ones who enjoy sex.” I responded to him a little defended he asked that. “I guess we just forgot some females aren’t submissive.” Jonah had excused Daniel’ s behaviour.

I shook my head, “Well we all know the rules of cupid’s day, lets continue, Corbyn” his game plan was always first. “Why is it me who’s always first?” He whined, “you’re the only one in a relationship so spit it out.” Jack said, Corbyn sighed, “I’m obviously taking Christina out and probably heading to her house after. the same plan as it was last year and the year before that.”

“Yeah we should of just skipped you.” Zach said waving his hand in his direction already knowing his plan. “Well Logan’s having V day party and Me, Jonah and Jack were probably going to head over there. We’d defiantly crash there too” Daniel had explained,

I nodded not wanting to prier open my overthinking box. “Baby Zachary,” I spoke up turning my attention to him, he furrowed, his eyebrows knitted together as he glared at me. “Stop calling be that it’s embarrassing.” Zach tried to say it with a stern voice but the very vibrant blush poked through. 

“Man you know when she gives you a nickname there’s no going back.” Jack reminded him, I let a giggle slip, “He’s right your stuck with it Baby Z.” Jonah said teasing him, “let’s just carry on. like every Cupid’s day I’m staying home with Bre, watching Disney movies. A regular Wednesday night.” He shrugged, but the only problem was that wasn’t my plan for tonight. 

“Okay that’s the close to our discussion.” Daniel jumped up from the couch and clapped his hands slightly eager. Before the guys could take off I called out “Wait! you guys just blew off my game plan, which by the way is rude.” I made eye contact with Daniel the whole time I spoke. 

“No, your plan is the exact same as Zach’s.” Jack had tackled my confusion first. I smirked, right I haven’t told them yet. “Actually not this cupid’s day, I’m bored of just watching movies every time. So I’m going on a date with a guy that I’ve been talking to for a few weeks now.” I said to the boys. 

It was step one in the plan to get over Daniel. 

I really did think it was time to move on from Daniel, I’ve been pining after him for a few years now. And its getting kind of pathetic now, he’s one of my best friends and I do think it’s best in the long run. Maybe we did get together and broke up after a few months. Leaving me to the curb because the band was his family not mine, they’d take his side. I know it.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Corbyn asked a little shocked. I shrugged ‘I was seeing if we flowed together, there was no point on telling you guys if it was nothing.” I explained myself, “Right.” Jack said. But I could see the sliver of hurt resting in Corbyn’s eyes. Because I should of told him anyways, no matter if it worked or didn’t. He knows it too, ‘cause he’s my childhood best friend.

“Who is he?” Daniel’s stained voice knocked our attention to him. His face was ghost white and expressionless. Blue eyes dulling to a grey, I can see it know. Of all the moments we shared this was the one. I saw that he was in love with me, maybe it was the other guy. Taking me away from my Daniel’s trance enough to realise what we actually shared between us. 

Maybe it’s a bad idea to go out with Grayson now. Now that I knew Daniel felt something for me, but I wasn’t the one who was going to right say. Making myself that vulnerable in front of the guys, because to them I was kind of a badass queen. So I picked Grayson, that was defiantly that wrong choice, but what was I suppose to do.

“Grayson Dolan.” It was almost a whisper because I now knew how he felt. “Great.” he said flatly before walking off, it almost feels like I could feel his pain. Because I can see every sign that showed he was upset like it glowed right in my face. 

“Guys I see it and I think it’s too late.” 

“No, He’ll always love you.”

Corbyn sat on my bed as I analysed myself in the mirror, taking different positions to see what side was my best. Every single one was, I was stunning. Not to be cocky or anything, but I was. “You’re gorgeous, Bre. what are you doing?” Corbyn asked connecting eyes with me through the mirror, his eyebrows raised. 

“Wondering why I’m not going out with Daniel tonight.” I said grabbing the sides of the red dress. I watched as Corbyn shook his head, “Just try to enjoy tonight, worry in the morning, we don’t have time for this.”  I smiled, “Why are you always right?” 

“I’m your best friend, I’m always right Bre.” 

“Whatever you say Blondie boy.” 

There I was wear a beautiful red dress, it was off the shoulder with a firm material. a deep V neck that might have been a bit revealing, it was thigh high in front and soon got longer until it hit the floor in the back. It also supported an open back, stopping just above my butt. Red lipstick tracing my lips matching the red pumps on my feet. My raven black hair rounds in perfect curls. 

“I’m ready.” I said with a wide smile, 

“I know, you’ve been ready for the past thirty minutes.”  Corbyn replies back.

“shut up lets go.” 

Once me and Corbyn reached the bottom of the stairs the boys were already dressed and about to take on the night no matter where it leads them. They all looked good in their Christian Grey looking attire, the only difference was it was red and black. 

The moment Daniel stood up, time ran slow, he wore a blood red dress shirt tucked into his dress pants. sleeves rolled to his upper fore arm, his hands looking delicious. His brown hair whipped to his level of perfection, Blue eyes no longer dull which made me slightly at ease about what happened earlier. 

“Wow.” We both said. before anything else is said the door bell rings. “Grayson’s here.” I smiled averting my eyes to the door. forgetting about the moment that happened between us. Corbyn pulled me in my the waist and kissed me on the ear, “Remember to have enough fun to forget about him.” Corbyn whispered. 

Even if this ends badly, I know I’ll have Corbyn.

I smiled before walking off, “Ill see you boys tomorrow, Ill see you later Zach.” I called behind me as I walked towards the door, all the boys called their goodbyes as I reached the door, I swung it open and was meet with a tone and handsome boy. His eyes ran around my body before meeting my eyes, “God you’re more gorgeous than you appear on screen.” A laugh erupted, “Thanks Grayson.” 

He wore a red dress shirt and casual black skinny jeans. A tie wrapped around his neck vaguely lose. His outfit wrapped around him tight, when I mean tight I meant if he moved a button would pop. His pants hugged his thighs perfectly and little tighter around his little friend. Maybe I could have fun tonight. 

“Shall we go?” 

“Absolutely Bre.” He spoke formally grabbing my hand into his as he lead me from the house. I close the door and the last thing I saw was Daniel’s clenched jaw. I swallowed the light guilt I had left.

[scarletraven1001]

Villainous

A Vegebul Fanfic Collab with @supersaiyanerd

Summary: Bulma is a genius, but has decided that she wants to use her brains for evil. Yet what is a Supervillain, without a bit of muscle?

Enter Vegeta, a mercenary for hire. He is tough, and frankly terrifying, and his brawn clashes with her brains in a cosmic power struggle that leaves the good guys in a real state of panic.

Never before has evil been so deliciously exciting.

Also on Ao3.

8-8-8-8-8

Chapter 1: The Supervillain’s New Henchman

8-8-8-8-8

Failure was not something that Bulma Briefs was good at.

She had never really, actually failed before, so she was rather sore about failing now.

It wasn't even as if it was a real failure, or so she liked to think, but more of a… Temporary setback.

She needed that damn medallion.

She just couldn’t get over the fact that she was not able to acquire it as quickly as she had anticipated.

She didn't like waiting. She was not used to waiting.

Bulma was a woman who had been born with everything within her reach.

Coming from a wealthy family, she had always had everything she needed, whenever she needed it, and in all the colors available.

She was beautiful. Long, silky hair, the color of a cloudless sky, with bright blue eyes and lips as pink as rose petals. She had fine, alabaster skin, perfect teeth, and a voluptuous build that had men panting after her wherever she went. Thus, it had always been easy for her to use her feminine wiles to get her way.

Most of all, she was incredibly intelligent.

She had a certified genius-level IQ and an uncanny skill for public speech.

She had been slated to run her family's company since she had learned to read and speak three languages at four years old.

She finished high school at thirteen, two Bachelor's degrees at seventeen, her Master's at nineteen and her PhD at twenty-one.

She had the world at her feet, an arguably perfect life…

And she had been bored beyond belief.

She knew that there would have been millions of women - maybe even men - who would have traded places with her in a heartbeat, but to Bulma, her life had been one tedious, never-ending cycle of being immaculately gifted and perfect, and she detested it.

She needed something different…

Something exciting.

The answer came to her one day, when she was at another one of her boring philanthropic luncheons, an esteemed guest after she had invented a state of the art method for terraforming a nearby exoplanet so that the government can use it to plant rice. A police detective had been one of the speakers, and he had spoken about the various tricks and lengths that evil masterminds would go through.

He spoke about working in tandem with West City’s superhero, the Great Saiyaman, and his son, the Great Saiyaboy.

The detective had then said one thing that forever changed Bulma’s life…

“Well, I suppose being a supervillain could be exciting, but sadly for them, they could never get away with their crimes…”

It was like he had just given her a bold dare, and Bulma realized that she wanted to see the look on his face when a supervillain managed to pull off a successful heist.

Bulma realized that what she needed, to escape the monotony of her dreary existence, was to become a supervillain.

Which led her to her current predicament.

She had been doing well as a minor villain, but Bulma was nothing if not an overachiever, and she wanted to be the most super Supervillain to have ever… Villained.

And so, she needed to make a powerful supervillain-superweapon, but to make that, she needed a supervillain-super-powersource.

She learned about a special little trinket that had just been brought to West City a few weeks ago, a small medallion from an ancient warrior race that, under the right conditions, had enough elemental energy to power the entire northern sector, and she needed it for her newest invention.

She had gone into the museum, intent on stealing it, when she was thwarted by none other than the Great Saiyaman.

What ensued, after he had decided to take the medallion back, could not even be called a struggle, since he had basically plucked the item from her hands, not even breaking a sweat as he retrieved the medallion from her thin fingers.

Bulma got to thinking… She had all the know-how, but how was she going to win when the good guys had the strength to overpower twenty Bulmas in one flick of a finger?

She needed to be stronger, but she really hated the gym, and would not be caught dead trying to do weight training…

But then again…

She didn't have to do the heavy lifting, if she could just pay someone to do it for her now, did she?

Perhaps… She can just… Hire a strongman?

Bulma quickly looked into her online network, looking for ad space.

She needed some brawn to assist her brains, and she was gonna have to start looking for the perfect thug to act as a minion.

Bulma Briefs, Supervillain Candidate, was hiring.

8-8-8-8-8

Vegeta Prince was not the type of person who enjoyed quiet. He’d grown up in war zones, on battlefields, in the purest messes of chaos, and had always risen above victorious.

So why in the HELL was no one looking to hire him?

Hours upon hours, day after day had been spent looking for work, looking for something to spare him from the mind-numbing boredom. And nothing had come up.

Maybe destroying a city or two would calm his nerves. It was something to do.

Just as he was about to get out of his chair, he heard a telltale ping!, alerting him to a job opening on a job site he was subscribed to. With his otherworldly speed, he clicked it.

 Wanted: Henchman

I am a villainess looking for some muscle, especially muscle that can take on The Great Saiyaman and his son.

 Vegeta stopped for a moment, his eyes lingering on the name. That Kakarot, walking around in spandex, defending all that is good, saving the distressed and protecting the innocent. It made him want to vomit.

 I am willing to pay a very high price for anyone who I deem worthy enough to be my henchman.

If you wish to prove yourself to me, send me an email at bulmagoesbad@briefs2.com for a pre-registration.

Go to the highest peak of the West Mountains on Monday at 8:00am.

The rest will be up to me.

 Vegeta pondered for a moment. Whoever had written this, they were clearly new. Inexperienced, maybe even some pathetic weakling who did it for some tragic reason.

But on the other hand, it was a job. And that was exactly what he was looking for.

And a chance to beat Kakarot and his brat into the dirt? It appeared the pros far outweighed the cons.

Cracking his knuckles, Vegeta Prince grinned, knowing business was good once again.

8-8-8-8-8

“I am Spike the Devilman!” cried the man in the strange blue suit as he stood with arms akimbo, a pose meant to be menacing. He had large, webbed wings and a pair of huge green horns, with large pointed teeth and pinkish claws.

He looked like a bat. Not a devil.

Bulma wanted to roll her eyes, but refrained.

Just because she was a supervillain now, didn't mean she could be rude.

“I can fly!” he said, lifting off on his thin wings, before brandishing a pitchfork that Bulma hadn't even seen on him before.

“I can use this weapon for combat! Watch me!”

He then proceeded to do aerial acrobatics that had Bulma finally give in to the urge to roll her eyes, before she turned back to her pre-registration list.

She groaned.

She had spent the entire day with not a single ideal candidate in sight. And batdevil here, was the last man on the list.

The most promising one had been an android who reminded her of the typical portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster. He had been strong and had the terrifying bad-guy henchman looks, but it all fell apart during the interview, when she realized that he was more harmless than a three-day old puppy.

This was hopeless.

She let the last candidate fly around a bit more, before she finally called him down.

“Um,” she began when he looked at her expectantly.

“You are on the shortlist!” she lied, crossing her fingers behind her back. “I will call you back.”

The man beamed, before he gave her a short salute, and flew off.

She sighed.

What a waste of a day. Perhaps she could set up another screening schedule.

She was about to get up to place the small table, chair and umbrella set that she was sitting on back into her storage capsule, when she heard a loud, indistinct rumble go off in the sky.

She stood up, turning her head to look for the strange sound, when a very small but sudden, concentrated explosion a little to her right made her jump, a terrified squeak leaving her lips.

“What the hell?” she screamed, spinning to face the direction from which the unexpected attack came from.

There was absolutely nothing there.

She scrambled to encapsulate her things, sticking the tiny containment unit into her pocket before she turned once again to survey the sky.

She pulled a small laser gun out of her utility belt, pushing the folds of her white lab coat back so she can crouch slightly, gun at the ready.

Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and while she was scared, she realized that this, this, was exactly what she wanted, why she decided to become a supervillain. This rush, the adrenaline and danger…

Whoever had attacked her, was taking his or her sweet time.

“Who the hell are you? Show yourself!” she called out.

An answering blast of light came from her left, and she responded with a few blind shots of her laser gun.

She realized belatedly that she really should have brought more defenses and weapons, but dammit, she was new at this.

It wasn't like she got a full job orientation.

The ground started to shake, and she stood stunned as she realized that the entire mountain range was now pulsing with violent energy, emanating from a spot just a few meters away from her. It was concealed by a small hill, but Bulma could see dangerous flames of purple ki leaking out from the sides, and she realized that whoever, whatever this attacker was… Was extremely volatile.

She shot at the small hill, willing the attacker to appear, but even after the small hill had been decimated by the blasts, the attacker remained hidden.

She saw a flash of movement, and she straightened as she understood that her attacker was now on the move.

She tried to follow the streaks of blue with her eyes, despairing as she realized that the attacker was just too fast.

She felt a gust of wind blow through her, and she held her gun to her chest, noting with apprehension that the attacker was drawing nearer.

Another flash of blue appeared to her right, and she spun, lifting her gun to fire, only to feel a powerful tug at her wrist, a second before she stared in horror at her now empty hands.

The attacker had taken her weapon.

Eyes wide, Bulma scrambled to try to run away, but before she could even deign to move, she felt a powerful cage of limbs wrap around her, trapping her frail arms close to her torso, holding her immobile against a hard, unyielding body.

“Let me go!” she screamed, lifting both legs up to try to force her captor to lose balance, but the being remained firm, lowering a malicious head to breathe harshly against the back of her neck.

She saw a thick shock of spiked dark hair from the corner of her eyes, a moment before she heard a deep voice growl into her ear.

“I am here for the henchman vacancy. Please, pardon my tardiness.”

The arms unlocked from around her, and she scrambled away, falling painfully onto her hands and knees, before she turned around, sitting on the ground as she stared up at the man.

She brought scared but indignant eyes up to meet an intense gaze, blacker than the darkest night and sharper than a warrior's blade.

The dark hair she had glimpsed before stood in a riotous flame-like wave, drawing down into a severe widow's peak that slashed over a stoic face with thin, stern lips and an angular jaw.

She noted that he wasn’t too tall, but his body looked hard enough that it could have been sculpted from stone, with firmly defined muscles and thick arms covered in light caramel skin.

He was wearing a blue tank top, tucked into a pair of the tightest pants she had ever seen, showcasing powerful thighs and leg muscles that clearly explained how he could have moved so damn fast.

He was impatiently tapping his gold-tipped white boots on the hard ground as he stared at her impassively, watching her marvel over his form.

“If you are quite done drooling over me, I suggest we begin your screening methods so you can hire me,” he said, voice arrogantly loud, shocking Bulma into alertness.

“Excuse me, who are you?” she asked irritably, getting up to go toe to toe against the frankly terrifying man. “You're not on my list of applicants.”

“I did not bother sending an email since I knew I would be the best that you can find,” he smirked at her, raising a brow as his lips formed a mocking smirk. “Am I incorrect?”

She sputtered, unable to deny it.

Deciding not to even dignify him with a response, she crossed her arms, huffing.

“Well, could you at least tell me your name first so we could get on with the interview?” she asked, staring up and down at his very impressive physique.

He leaned his weight on his right leg, cockily crossing his arms across his chest, and Bulma could have sworn that the smug bastard flexed his biceps as he moved.

He puffed up his chest, and with a low, raspy voice that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, he growled.

“My name is Vegeta Prince, and I will be your new strongman. Let me see whatever trial you have in store for me, and I guarantee, I will complete it.”

8-8-8-8-8

Vegeta looked curiously at the woman who could potentially become his employer.

To say that he had been surprised upon seeing her would have been a monumental understatement.

He had no idea, that the person posting that stupidly simplistic ad was, in fact, an incredibly beautiful woman.

He had been expecting a jaded old lady or a large, monstrous female who wanted world domination as revenge for a terrible life.

However, when he saw her atop that mountain, glaring dejectedly at her increasingly ridiculous applicants, he couldn't help but be intrigued at why such a good-looking person would decide to pursue the life of a villain.

Well… As if he should talk. He was pretty damn striking, if he did say so himself.

Woe betide anyone who dared to disagree.

Yet, he had his reasons. Vegeta was born to be destructive, his powers were literally all about destroying things and he did not have a well-meaning bone in his entire body.

This woman though… she was rather soft-looking, with pinkish white skin and baby blue hair that screamed innocence, and yet here she was, on the lookout for an evil henchman. He watched, interested, as the woman politely dismissed the last of the morons who had come for the job vacancy, and he cracked his knuckles as he decided to show off a bit, as his method of introducing himself.

It had worked very well.

The woman was definitely interested, if the darkening flush on her cheeks and the hastening beating of her heart was any indication.

“This job is mine,” he thought smugly as he stated his name, and the woman defiantly stared back at him, raising her chin as she stood up to full height.

“Well Vegeta,” she said. “My request is simple. Show me what you’ve got.”

He grinned, a wide and feral smile that showed off the sharp edges of his teeth.

“Well then,” he growled. “Get ready to be truly blown away. I assure you, I am not like anything you have ever seen before.”

“Well, then, dazzle me,” she dared. “I just had all the other applicants show me their powers. Come on, let's see what you're capable of, homeboy.”

He hooked one arm under her armpits, and the other under her knees. He smirked at her pink-stained face, shifting his weight from one leg to another, before he, without warning, shot into the sky.

He smirked snidely at the terrified screams that his sudden action wrenched from the woman’s surprisingly foul mouth, and his smirk turned into a full-on grin as the blue-haired woman gradually ceased her yelling, as she realized with blatant fascination how high they had actually flown.

“You can fucking fly!” Her eyes went wide with awe. “Not one of the other applicants could do that. I mean, the guy before you could, but it was with wings, and he wasn’t this fast. You… You can actually fly. No wings or gadgets or anything!”

He grinned. “If you think that's impressive, watch this,” and without a single hint or warning, he let her go.

He listened to her scream as she fell. He looked between her and the distance from the ground.

500 feet.

400 feet.

300.

200.

100.

Once she hit 50 feet, he shot down, and easily scooped her into his arms once again.

She was shaking.

Honestly, he knew she could have handled it.

“What. The. Actual. Fuck.” She looked at him, her cheeks flushed red, but now from rage.

“You said you wanted to see what I could do.”

“I didn't mean dropping me from 600 feet in the air, asshole!!!”

He watched her shake, and slowly, her body went still. Her eyes met his once again. “While that was a dick move, I will admit that was impressive. Your speed is phenomenal, and you do appear to be able to control your flight quite well. I guess you can show off a little more.”

He grinned, and she sighed. “And by that, I mean you can show off without trying to make my body hit the ground at terminal velocity.”

He soared back into the clouds, spinning around, doing loop-de-loops, watching her face light up. Oh, he surely had this in the bag.

At one point, he flipped his body upside down, holding her only by her wrists. She screeched, but he assured her he wasn't going to drop her this time. Her feet sliced through the clouds, and he could hear her laughter at the sight.

He touched down onto the ground, and watched her stumble as her frail body started to become used to being on solid ground once more.

“Oh wow!” she cried. “That was amazing! That was tons better than a roller coaster!”

He smirked. “Of course! I could fly ten times the speed of the fastest carnival rides. The speed I showed you just now was nothing.”

“Well,” she answered, her flushed, happy face seemingly lighting up the gradually darkening sky. “If you’ve still got more of that in you, how about you take me back to my lab?”

He raised his brows. “Why woman… We’ve only just met. Isn't it rather early to invite me back to your place?”

Her face flushed another interesting shade of red, and she stomped one foot on the ground, drawing a laugh from within his chest.

“First of all, you asshole,” she said through gritted teeth, “my name is Bulma. Bulma Briefs. And secondly, I need you back in the lab so we can perform a strength screening!”

He held a hand out, and the woman gladly took it. He used that hand to pull her up to him until he had her small body in his arms, before he lifted off, going straight up into the sky.

“In which direction?” he asked.

“It's in the very center of West City, Capsule Tower 3,” she answered, and he nodded, taking off.

However, something seemed strange about that location…

“Is that not a very visible area? Why would you put your lair in the center of the city?” he asked confusedly, peering down at the woman in his arms.

“Well, it’s my building. I figured, why not use it as my evil lab?”

He snorted. “Gutsy. Dumb, but gutsy.”

They flew the rest of the way in silence, until he finally saw the top of the tall tower, blinking up at him through the clouds of the early evening sky.

He landed on the helicopter helipad, placing the woman down on her feet.

“Follow me,” she instructed cooly, leading him to a small elevator near the edge of the wide rooftop.

The elevator hummed an infuriating tune as they descended, before it finally stopped, opening up into an expansive space with extremely high ceilings, filled with inexplicable little gadgets and complex machinery.

“Vegeta,” she said, turning to him as she stood at the entrance. “Welcome to my laboratory!”  

He looked around. Metal was scattered everywhere, blueprints were strewn all over the walls in favor of wallpaper, and a large computer covered one wall.

Various unidentifiable gadgets filled the large area, interspersed with what appeared to be advanc3d robotics and a large tank full of green liquid.

He had to admit, it was impressive.

“And what exactly are we doing here?” He stared at his future employer, her eyes glowing in the light of her super-computer.

“Oh, right! The strength screening!” She ran off, and he sat there for 1 minute, then 5, then 10, and finally, after about 20 minutes, she ran back in, holding 3 spheres.

“Here you go!” She grinned at him. He raised a black eyebrow.

“And you brought these, why?”

“Well, each one is made of a different alloy. This first one,” She held up the one at the far left. “Is a pure steel alloy. Each alloy is stronger than the last. You see, the Great Saiyaman has extraordinary strength, and you'll need to be on par with him if I'm to steal the medallion I need. So what I want you to do,” She gave him the sphere she was holding. “Is crush each and every one of these.”

He looked at her, then at the spheres, then back at her. “You didn't have any of the other candidates try this.”

She shrugged. “You are able to fly, and the blasts you fired at me had quite a bit of punch to them. So, I'm sure crushing these things will be no challenge.”

He looked at the sphere in his hand, and crushed it as though it were merely paper. “Like that?”

Her blue eyes widened. “Exactly. Damn, when I said crush it, I did not expect this. You literally turned it into a pancake.”

He smirked, and took the next one, and crushed it like the last, again showing no problem flattening it.

“You just crushed solid titanium. Basically the hardest metal on the planet. Ok. Wow. Well,” She held up the last sphere, smirking. “This is made of some of the hardest metals on the planet, and some from meteors, don't ask, in order to create what is theoretically the hardest metal to exist. I’d like to see you crush this.”

He took it from her hand, and tried to crush it like the others, but found it was harder than the last two. He had to admit, the woman had brains, because he had never found anything he couldn't crush with ease. He gripped harder, harder, and finally, the sphere gave. The blue eyed woman smirked, a victorious grin on her face. “That is definitely strength that will give the Great Saiyaman a run for his money.”

He smirked, “Woman, this is the strength that can crush Saiyaman and his insipid excuse of an offspring.”

“Confident, aren't ya?” she asked, an eyebrow raised in appraisal.

His smirk just widened further. “I am fully aware of my own capabilities.”

8-8-8-8-8

Bulma looked thoughtfully at Vegeta as she realized that he, in all his cocky, evidently overbearing glory, was undoubtedly the man that she needed for the job.

He was brilliant.

He was absolutely perfect.

His skills, his power, and that amazing strength… it was what she needed to defeat the Great Saiyaman.

He was also rather infuriating, but she was damn sure that she could live with that.

Putting up with the attitude would be worth it.

“Alright, Vegeta,” she said straightening to her full height. “I can see now that you really are the best man for this job. I wish to offer you a job as my official Henchman.”

He smirked, bringing his fists together and cracking his knuckles in glee.

“Good,” he said. “I am looking forward to it. Now… About the compensation…”

Bulma, stopped him by pulling out a small square of paper from her pocket, and she pushed it up to his face so he can see the salary that she was offering.

He whistled. “Not bad.”

“So you accept?”

“Looks fine to me.”

“Great!” she beamed, before she turned around, heading for a large table at a corner of the lab.

She sat down on the large office chair, and motioned at one of the cushy, small couches in front of her table.

“Take a seat, please? I’m just printing out your job offer, which I already arranged this morning. Just need to fill your name in,” she said, typing down on her keyboard as she squinted at the screen.

She pulled the job offer sheet out of the printer and held it out to Vegeta, who took the paper from her with a look of apprehension.

She went and entered his name into another document that she also printed, and handed to Vegeta as soon as he was done reading and signing the offer sheet.

His brown rose as he looked at what she was holding out to him.

“What on Earth is that?” he asked.

Bulma blinked. “Your employment contract.”

Vegeta’s eyes were wide in disbelief. “You… you want me to sign an actual, legal, employment contract?”

She cringed slightly at his question. “Duh! Of course! I may be a Supervillain, but I still need to follow labor laws. I would hate to get on the workers’ union’s bad side, you know?”

“I suppose,” he muttered, looking over the document, before pausing at a particular clause.

“Wait,” he said. “This part… Does this mean I get overtime pay?”

“And health insurance! With dental!” she beamed.

Vegeta shrugged, and after a few minutes, he laid the paper down on her table so he could sign it.

Bulma smiled. “So hey, I’d hate to rush you, but can you start on Wednesday?” she asked, giddy.

The tough, terrifying man blinked openly at her. “Today is Monday.”

“I know.”

He shook his head with a chuckle, before he answered. “What the hell. Sure.”

“Great!” Bulma said, extending a hand to Vegeta. “I look forward to working with you, Vegeta-san.”

He smirked, before he took her hand, and shook it with a firm, nearly arrogant grip.

“As do I, Bulma-san.”

8-8-8-8-8

To be continued…

[windmilltothestars]

I finally finished the Defenders today!  Time for some spoiler-tastic Scattered Impressions and Questions and Whatnot under the cut.

-K’un-Lun.  We know it’s gone somehow, but has it actually been massacred, or just the portal is inaccessible?  Elektra claims to have killed everyone there, but she might have just been saying that to get Danny riled enough to activate the Iron Fist.  I’d like to think it’s still out there and Danny will be able to go back at some point and talk to his old friends, possibly explain things to them, but who knows?  If he’s taking over vigilantism from Matt, New York’s his priority, and probably still THINKS there’s nothing left there because of Elektra’s claims, even if they WERE false.

-Elektra.  Augh.  I can’t get myself to like her.  I think it’s very noble and and shows great heart and loyalty for Matt to never give up trying to save her and find the good in her, but - I couldn’t see it, man.  Like in the beginning she was totally brainwashed and that was more understandable that he was trying to get her to go back to herself, but when she broke free and still wanted to murder everyone and support the Hand’s goals?  Unless there was lingering brainwashing nonsense, I just gotta say -- Matty, she’s not good for you.  Unclear if she survived, but I’m not necessarily looking forward to her return 

-Murakami was by far my favorite Hand boss.  Not even sure particularly why, just his continual snarky disregard for Alexandra, the fact that he only ever spoke his native Japanese and always tried to fight alone - it showed a kind of endearing pride and independence and arrogance that I found deeply entertaining. He was introduced dissecting a bear he had hunted and killed in hand-to-hand combat for kicks, and he lost pretty much every fight because fought alone people got the drop on him, but I loved him.  He got impaled and had a building fall on him, but with those Hand guys, you never know how much it takes for perma-death, so I can hope he’ll be back.  I felt like he showed a lot more actual personality than his lieutenant, Nobu, even if he got off worse in fights.  The rest of them I could take or leave.  I liked Sowande and Bakuto OK, nothing special, was generally annoyed/creeped out by Alexandra, and would be almost sorry to see Madame Gao go after all this time, as her enigmatic menace has been here since season one of Daredevil.  It’s likelier that she survived that collapse than Murakami, if either did.  

-I know next to nothing about Heroes for Hire or Daughters of the Dragon, but I’m here for them. I thought Luke and Danny’s friendship was gold, and Colleen and Misty were getting there.  I think it’s possible Luke and Jessica will get back together, after that last scene.  Luke and Claire seem solid, like, practically-married solid, and I wouldn’t want to rob either Luke or Claire of one thing going right for them, but - I don’t know, man.  Luke and Jessica are a happily-married superhero family with a child in the comics, I hear.  And that would be adorable.  We shall see, we shall see.  Jess deserves something going right for her, too.  I definitely want Danny to stay with Colleen, though, and not randomly get paired with Misty in the name of comics-accuracy.  She seemed so much older than him, and his dynamic with Colleen is sweet and solid.

-On the other hand, I could consider Jess with Matt, and their snarky frienship was really entertaining and refreshing.  I think ultimately I prefer them as just friends as well, but of course that’s what I used to say (and sometimes still do) about Matt and Karen.  I would definitely have to use the ship name “Mess” for them, and there dynamic was fun and sweet in that after a fashion, they stopped judging each other and worked as respectful team unit, with more affectionate banter.  But nah, I’ll hold out wild crazy out-there longshot hope that Matt gets together with Natasha Romanoff, just because.  I need to stop with my internal shipping wars because it’s going to get silly, and I’ll probably revert back to my lingering sentiment for season one Matt with Claire and Karen with Foggy, which opens up more messes with Luke and Marci and things, so -- let’s end this.

-Matt’s not dead, but his friends think he’s dead and he’s probably going to meet his mother, and season 3 is being hinted to cover the famous arc of “Born Again” - which I have not read, but intend to, and know a bit of the gist of.  I REALLY want Matt to tell his friends he’s not dead as soon as he can, because it would be a jerk move not to, but Punisher season 1 is coming out before Daredevil season 3, and Karen is in Punisher and I can’t really imagine her just getting a call from Matt all “Hey, I’m not dead” when it’s not his show and she’s dealing with other things.  So storytelling timeline-wise, it might be inevitable to postpone, which sucks. Or maybe he lets her know he’s not dead but doesn’t come back to town for a while so she won’t worry about him or mourn for him but she can do whatever she does on Punisher anyway.  Or maybe he can’t access any way to contact his friends for a long time?  Or maybe he has amnesia?  I’m grasping here, I don’t know.  I just don’t want another huge Matt’s Friends Are Justifiably Mad At Him fiasco.  I was SO HAPPY to see how NICE and SUPPORTIVE Foggy was being in Defenders.  He supports him not-Daredevilling and doesn’t judge, and then supports him doing it again when it’s inevitable and necessary, and they HUG and he just wants to HELP him.  Karen confused me and slightly annoyed me in one scene, but hopefully her talk with Trish got her thinking about Matt differently.  If she’s still an ally to Punisher I have faith she will still be one to Matt in the future.

-Stick is dead for realsies it seems.  I’m not gonna lie, I utterly loathed Stick after season 1 of Daredevil, but I was forced with great resistance to gain a measure of extremely grudging respect for him in season 2 and in Defenders.  Even if he was going to kill Danny and ultimately allowed him to be captured.  He joins a troublingly expanding list of MCU characters I initially hated but was later forced to sort-of respect -- along with Yondu, Ward Meachum, Hope Pym -- but the strength of both the dislike and the eventual respect is perhaps strongest with Stick.  Man, what a jerk.  I hate him.  I don’t hate him.  I respect him but still hate him.  I don’t know.  He’s dead.  I’m sure he’s been resigned to his death for most of his life.  Rest in peace, you child-murdering punk. 

- I freaking ADORED the lighting design of the first few episodes where every character and their scene was continually bathed in their theme color -- Red for Matt, blue/purple for Jess, yellow for Luke and green/muted turquoises for Danny. Like, it just did it for me.  I loved the lighting designs with just the symbolism of the red in season one of Daredevil, so the expansion was just beautiful.  Also the revelation that Matt can play the piano a little bit (playing a few chords of the theme tune)?  Man, I gotta do something with that in fic!

-Obviously, you know, out of the Defenders I’m the biggest fan of Daredevil.  I like all of them, but Matt is just my dude.  I’m most defensive of Danny, probably, because he is a puppy and he needs it the most, but they all shone in their respective areas, and their team dynamic was just getting good when it ended.  I wanted them to act as a team MORE, but I suppose this was more of Defenders Assemble and they’ll be more united in future seasons, if those exist.  I wanted to explore different character dynamics, though, between them all.  And the fact that they ALL knew Claire!  We got a lot of Danny and Luke and a lot of Matt and Jessica.  We got a little Jessica and Luke and very little Matt and Danny.  And we got next to no Matt and Luke or Jessica and Danny.  Anyway, they should all eat more meals together and hang out and be friends and have a “Yay we beat the Hand” party but I don’t suppose that will happen now they all think Matt’s dead.

-It was crazy, sometimes-disturbing action-packed, snarky ride, but I had a lot fun with it.  I was obsessed with it, really, and chafed at waiting for the next episode with my parents, so impatient and hungry for it I spoiled most of the major plot points for myself beforehand.  But ah well.  It was still awesome to see how it came together.  If you count how many time I mentioned season one of Daredevil here, you can probably tell I still love it the best of all the Marvel Netflix things, but Defenders was full of heart and soul and humor and worth every second.