#looks too crowded to discuss his contract

[moonshynecybin]

I’ve only been into/started following MotoGP for a few months. Can I ask how exactly did Marc getting the Ducati seat go down? I’ve seen references of it being jorge messing up/rejecting the seat and that somehow leading to Marc masterminding his way to it but don’t fully get it. Thank you :))))

lmao it was awesome. under the cut shes crazy shes long shes the war of the roses shes game of thrones shes ducati being fucking STUPID !!!!!

okay so the beginning of this season going towards the middle was like. genuinely dominated by discussion of who would end up with the second factory ducati seat, and there were 3 main candidates for the position: 1. enea bastianini, who had the seat but who had had a spotty 2023 marred by injury and was delivering inconsistent results in the early part of 2024, 2. jorge martin, who had been basically promised the seat ahead of them uno reversing and signing enea, and who had contended for the title the year before/was leading the world championship early in 2024, and 3. marc marquez, 8 time world champion and arguable GOAT of the sport, who was doing insane comeback rides on a year old bike that he had very little time to adapt to. on pure results, you would have to go with martin (it was p clear it wasnt going to be my girl enea....), but marc looked uh. very promising and very dangerous (apparently his data, ESPECIALLY in the left handers, was like. bonkers), and who was also undeniably a better business asset to ducati as a company trying to sell motorbikes. and as we all knowwwwww, ducati had BY FARRRR the most dominant bike on the grid, so they are staring down the barrel of like. deciding between three excellent riders for one, extremely coveted seat. they think they hold all the cards here, and after a bit of rampant speculation the ducati bosses say everybody calm the fuck down we will make a decision about the gp25 seat at MUGELLO. forza. and with that the stage is set.

but again. ducati had basically promised jorge martin that seat. in fact, there was a provision in his contract that said if he won the world title in 2023, he would automatically be promoted to the factory team. like if marc doesnt come in on his merry way essentially doing a year long AUDITION for that seat up-to and including crowd-commanding theatrics, then it is undeniably martin's bike to have. and it looks like ducati kinda thought they should honor that too! because it was reported (unofficially but through a multitude of reliable sources) on the thursday before mugello that jorge martin WOULD be signing with the factory ducati team to be in red for 2025 IMMINENTLY. and he shows up to the presscon with the moon shinging out of his ass and we didnt rlly have a reason to doubt him so things are looking pretty locked up tbh

so another piece of the puzzle. for the last few years one cog in the wheel of ducati's dominance has been them having EIGHT bikes on the grid, and as such having insane amounts of data to comb through and synthesize while developing the bike. at the time, the team with the most factory support is pramac racing. but YAMAHA have made a promise to a young shirtless man named fabio quartararo that they will get a satellite team for 2024 to help with THEIR efforts, and pramac's contract with ducati is expiring so theyre the top choice. yamaha offers them a fuck you amount of cash and full factory support to leave ducati and come run the M1s with them. and the thing is, it is EXPENSIVE to run an independent team and this sugar daddy style deal would essentially lock down their immediate future quite nicely, so they are thinking HARD about this— because if they lose jorge martin like. what the fuck are they doing not taking that deal. and YOU are asking me girl what the fuck does this had to do with marc marquez WELLLLL. ducati know that marc wants a gp25. and pramac has the factory spec bikes. and marc's famous ass is a VERY valuable little bargaining chip in their eyes. so ducati APPARENTLY wanted marc on the same deal jorge martin was on (complete with the promise of factory promotion if he won the championship) at PRAMAC in order to keep marc, jorge martin, and pramac all under the umbrella of ducati racing. they think problem solved :) we get to keep everything and everyone :) marc gets a current spec bike, jorge gets to be on the factory team, and we can still run eight bikes :) awesome.

WELL! marc catches wind of all of this and goes. fuck you i want to be a factory rider on a gp25. like why on earth would he move from busted satellite team to busted satellite team that doesnt even have his BROTHER ? so instead of keeping all of these negotiations behind closed doors he trots right the fuck up to the press at mugello and says hello yes i have ABSOLUTELY no intention of riding for pramac, in fact i only have the intention of riding with factory teams. big smile. fuck you. press run wild. domino tipped. pramac pissed off. ducati SWEATING.

AND i guess the ducati CEO (claudioooooo) was there. and some big sponsorship guys (audiiiiiii) were there. and it has been LONG been reported that gigi daligna really wanted marc for that seat (and that pecco REALLY didnt lmao). like bad. some would say carnally. and then i guess they looked at his data. and thought about how well he had already adapted to the gp23. and how badly he was beating bez and company. and i suppose the idea of actually losing marc and him going to a KTM or an aprilia scared the actual genuine NIPS off of these guys and literally by sunday night they had apparently called jorge martin to let him know that it wasnt going to be him and he went over to aleix and got that aprilia contract signed genuinely immediately (and enea later signed with ktm and pramac with yamaha). so the aprilia news was announced on monday and we knew marc was the choice from that, and then they announced it officially in the dumbest smuggest little video of all time a lil while after. but not before marc took a selfie in a shirt that said FACTORY PILOT that he later lied about and said wasnt on purpose. king. done and dusted. insanity.

so to recap: in the course of four days, marc essentially pulled a coup out of thin air by just. deciding to exercise some muscle with the press, which caused ducati to lose two bikes, secured the best seat on the grid for himself, and made sure that two of the riders that finished top four in this year's championship (including the CHAMPION) are on much worse machines going into next year. like he literally created the best possible outcome for himself by virtue of his reputation, media savvy, and sheer force of will. it was absolute crazy shit and SO much fun to watch play out live

[9kylian]

you know damn well he's not the boss in that room. yes he's stubborn and all but political pressure is different. this is exactly how he was convinced to extend last time... he's not as hard to influence as he pretends

[drvscarlett]

About You Pt1

Pairing: Sebastian Vettel x Webber!Reader

Summary: Everyone knows about the history of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. But there's a well kept story within the paddock about Sebastian Vettel and another Webber. This is that story.

A/N: I know I said that its a whole one shot only but I don't think that I can do it. I have to cut it because there is a lot of history. I hope you all enjoy.

About You Series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Taglist: @spideybv28 @randomcuboidshape @mehrmonga @casperlikej @cliosunshine

2005, Circuito de Jerez

The earliest memory that Y/N has of Sebastian Vettel was watching him test the Williams-BMW car.

It was her first time accompanying Mark and she was still grasping some of the key concepts of Formula 1 when Sebastian headed to the car. She watched how he drives and how the team were discussing about how he is a potential driver for the seasons to come.

"You know Seb is just a year older than you" Nico Rosberg, who has been keeping you company for the testing that afternoon, stated.

"Then that will make him the youngest driver if he enters Formula 1"Y/N mused.

Y/N didn't know but she was pretty excited to see him on track. She knew that this Sebastian will change a lot of things in F1 and will probably make history. At the same time, she can't help but be a bit worried since its a dangerous sports. One second you can be living the dream and then the next you find yourself recovering in a hospital room.

Sebastian Vettel gets out of the car and lifts his visor. There was a certain spark in his eyes that Y/N didn't miss out. Its the spark that showcase how much he loved to race.

Y/N didn't miss how her heart skipped a beat.

2006, Istanbul Park

The next time that Y/N sees Sebastian Vettel was during the free practice. He was a Friday driver for BMW-Sauber and he is as impressive as the day she first saw him in Spain.

"That kid just set out the fastest lap" her brother, Mark was shocked by the time set by Sebastian.

"That kid has a name" Y/N stated "and its Sebastian"

"Oh how come you are so informed about this missy?" he wondered

"He drove with you in testing season last year remember" Y/N replied.

The replay on the screen showcases the bold moves that were made by Sebastian. It was like he was driving like he is a man on a mission. If Y/N will bet, there is a lot of teams that will be shortlisting his name to their team.

"What do you think about him?"

"A little bit of reckless, I mean 6 seconds in your formula 1 career and you already have a penalty. There must be some kind of record for that" Mark was referring to the speeding penalty that Sebastian received as soon as he left the garage.

Y/N mumbles a small hmm as she continues to watch how Sebastian moves around the track. She was sure that sooner or later, she might see Sebastian more often.

2007, Albert Park

Fridays aren't too crowded as the Sunday races but still there was a bit of pressure in Sebastian Vettel's shoulder as he entered Albert Park.

He walked the paddocks and tried to visualize himself not just a Friday driver but an actual driver for the Sunday races. He pictures the screaming crowd chanting his name, the smell of burning rubber, radio messages from the team, and even being at the podium with the champagne.

In his daydreaming, he didn't realize that he bumped into someone. All he saw was that a girl was down on the ground with papers all over.

"I'm terribly sorry. I was not looking where I was going" he apologized.

"I'm equally at fault too"The woman assured "It was not wise to type and walk especially since this whole place is swarming with people"

Sebastian helped the girl compiling the papers and he noticed how the papers seem to be like contract for sponsorship. He looked at her and tried to identify which team did she belong to but her lack of team merchandise makes it difficult.

"You're new here?"he tries to decode.

"No, I'm not. I've been coming here since 5 years ago" there was an accent in her voice. Australian, if Sebastian was right.

"Huh, you must know your way around this whole place"

She takes a closer look at him, "You're that rookie Sebastian Vettel"

Now Sebastian doesn't have a huge following that he knows of and this is probably the first time that someone outside the family knew about him. Now, he felt even more curious about the girl.

"How did you know my name"

"Hard not to especially when you set a record to having the fastest penalty in their f1 career" she joked.

Normally Sebastian will be annoyed by the reminder of his mistake last year. He choose to forget that small mishap and avoid talking about it. But this time, he felt like the giggling is contagious that he can't help but smile when talking about his mistake.

"I assure you that I'm a much more better driver now" he states, holding up his hand as if saying that he swears he is a better a driver now.

"Hoping to see you deliver Vettel" she grins.

The girl started walking away from Sebastian when it occured to him that he didn't even know her name. He rushed to catch up with her.

"Wait, I didn't get your name"

She looked at him and there seems to be a slight hesitation

"If we meet again in a formula 1 race then I'll tell you my name" then the girl walked out of his sight.

2007, Indianopolis track.

It seems that luck has been on Y/N's side because she managed to avoid Sebastian during the past races. But it seems as if this luck is running out slowly since they are bound to meet up this weekend as Sebastian was bumped from reserve driver to formula 1 driver due to the injury that Kubica sustained in Canada.

She was hanging out at one of the coffee machines when she felt somebody tap her shoulder. She gave him a smile upon recognizing him.

"Sebastian Vettel, shouldn't you be preparing in your f1 car now?"

There was a loopy grin on his face, "Mystery woman, I was beginning to think if you are just a figment of my imagination.

Y/N pressed the hot cup to his hands, "I'm very much real and not just a figment of your mind"

"So will you tell me now your name?" Sebastian wondered. He has to admit that it has been bugging him for weeks on end about who this mystery woman is. He even went to ask around the paddock but his description was very vague and no one could help him.

"Its Y/N, nice to meet you" Purposely leaving out the last name.

In Y/N's mind it was just a safety pre-caution to leave out her last name. It was for her own good as well because people tend to act differently once they hear about your big brother or your connection to the sports. For once in her life, Y/N wants to be seen as just Y/N.

Maybe she just want to prolong this little charade for a little while longer.

"Y/N nice to finally meet you"

2007, Nürburgring

Maybe its the home turf advantage that boosted his confidence but Sebastian managed to ask Y/N if she would like a tour around the place. Thankfully, she agreed. Sebastian was already blabbering about the places that they have to get to and Y/N had to remind him that they're not staying for a vacation.

He will tell you that he is not freaking out but he prepared for the whole afternoon. He even asked his mother what outfit should he wear to make it seem like a casual hangout. In his defense, he never had a lot of friends growing up and he certainly didn't have beautiful australian girls around.

"You know you don't have to bring me flowers, were just touring around"

It was his idea to bring flowers because he often sees it in airports. When someone new is in town, they bring them flowers. He felt like the orange gerberas were a good pick as advised by the florist he knows.

"But the flowers made you smile" Sebastian grinned "I'm more than pleased to have a happy tourist to tour around"

Then two engaged in a conversation about their early life. Sebastian shared stories of the town he grew up in and his stories of motorsports.Y/N, on the other hand, listened and shared some bits of her life in Australia before she traveled around the world.

Eventually the duo ended up in an orange farm, where they picked out oranges and waited for the sunrise to set in the horizon. It was a core memory that they will share with one naother.

"We should do this again sometime"Y/N suggested

"Its a breather for you and I" Sebastian agreed "Away from all the lavishness of F1 and the pressure of the sports"

"Sounds like you wanted to run away with me"

"Who wouldn't want to run away with someone like you?"

2007, Fuji Speedway.

The past few weeks has been stressful for the Webber siblings. The articles published by some news sites seems to be getting on Mark's last nerve. Everyone seems to be taunting him about how he is over a hundred of race starts already but then he still haven't won anything. The pressure is high and Mark was determined to prove them wrong.

"Mark just don't do anything stupid okay?" Y/N begs.

She watches as Mark suit up for the next race. She was already used to her brother racing but she knew this race was a little different since her brother wanted to win.

"I'm not going to be stupid Y/N, I'll drive good today and I'll get that win that they want"Mark grumbled.

Y/N handed the helmet to her brother, "Just stay safe, I don't want to lose you"

"I'll come back safe"

The race went underway and as usual, Y/N watches it in the comforts of the driver's room. She did not want too many attention focused on her and she felt like her heart might actually come out of her rib cage if she watches it on the stands.

Japan's wet races gives Y/N a heavy feeling that something bad might happen. Her heart beats rapidly as she watches cars after cars spin out or crash. She prays that none of them was Mark. or Sebastian.

There was 20 laps to go when her ears started ringing that a Red Bull has been rear-ended by a Toro Rosso.

'Please don't let it be Mark and Seb. Please don't let it be Mark and Seb'

But the voices in the Red Bull pitlanes and the storming voices of Mark confirms her worst nightmare.

"That kid is so stupid, he shouldn't have been allowed to drive" Mark roared "I had that in the bag, I was going to win"

Y/N immediately hugged her brother, "Its alright, the win will be coming soon Mark. What matters is you are safe"

There were frustrated tears from Mark as he cried in the embrace of his sister. Privacy was given to the siblings as the race continues on. She was so focused on her brother that she didn't notice that there were several messages in her phone.

Seb: Where are you? Seb: I messed up my race and Webber. Seb: Call me when you get this. Please?

2007, Shanghai International Circuit

It felt like a heavy weight on Sebastian's shoulder after he messed up. He kept on blaming himself that he did not just mess up his own race but he also messed up Webber's race. It did not help that Y/N was not replying.

The media has also been eating him up with the way that Webber responded to him. He was called a kid that did not have enough experience. It stings a lot but now he has to put up a brave face and just race.

"SEB! SEB!"

Sebastian looked back and he saw Y/N. There was no hesitation in him but he immediately hugged her. It was the only time ever since Japan that people aren't mad at him or hounding him for questions. He felt at ease to be with Y/N.

"Where have you been, I have been messaging you over the weekend"

"I'm here now, aren't I?" Y/N says "And before I forget, I made you this as a token of my apology"

In her hand, she has a paper bag. Sebastian's curiosity is piqued upon looking at the contents inside the bag. There was a tupperware with food and a sticky note in a messy handwriting "for sebastian vettel, you can do it."

"You cook?"

"I don't but hey its the thought that counts. I figure that you might need-"

Y/N doesn't have to explain a lot because Sebastian already appreciated the gesture. He hugged her again and it seems like everything just got a little bit lighter for Sebastian that weekend.

It wasn't Sebastian's weekend at all but remembering the little note, that was tucked inside his helmet, he felt a lot better. He can bounce back next season.

2008,  Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

This was the internal dilemma of being Sebastian's friend and being Mark's sister. The two of them are in different side of the coins for this season. Two drivers shared the same family with Toro Rosso being the sister family of Red Bull but it seems like that's their only similarity.

Then there was the mixed emotion. Of course, Y/N was proud of Sebastian because he is slowly improving and shining with every grand prix. She was always elated when they see each other post-qualifying or post-race at the hotel rooftop (it has been their common knowledge that they will meet up there so that they can get fresh air together). On the other hand, Y/N knows about the pressure that it is being placed with her brother. Mark has been declining and losing hope for a maiden win. He has been in the sports for some time and he believes his time should have arrived by now but he lost opportunity after opportunity.

Y/N can't fault anyone for this one. Both of them just wanted to achieve their dreams. She wished everything does not have to escalate but here they are in the 2008 Monza Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel was starting on pole while Mark was starting third. Everyone is buzzing about the possibility that Toro Rosso might clinch a first win before Red Bull. It was something that Y/N knew bugged Mark's mind.

It didn't help that it was a rainy start and it sort of brought her back to Japan 2007. She was not an overly religious person but she prayed to any higher being to please don't let Mark and Sebastian crash with each other again.

The race went underway and the rain was not as heavy as Japan. Still there was some crashes and some spin. But Y/N felt the conflict of emotions start again upon seeing how Mark started to drop places while Sebastian pulled away from the rest.

Y/N went out of the driver room when it was nearing the end of the lap. She didn't know whether she should run and congratulate Sebastian or she should stay behind and comfort his brother.

Of course, blood is thicker than water.

Mark looks absolutely defeated as people started to ask him about how he is feeling when their sister group got its first win before them or how did he manage to mess up his 3rd position to eight.

"Just please give him some space, we will be answering the questions later" Y/N stepped up. Right now she was not Mark's sister but rather Mark's assistant.

Y/N helped Mark to go back to his driver's room so he can get a few minutes to himself before he gets questioned by the media again.

"It feels like shit. I feel like I can't do anything right" Mark threw his gloves across the room.

"It wasn't your time yet Mark" Y/N replied. Its like a broken record at this point which frustrates Mark.

"Then when will it be my time? Sebastian has been here for just a year or so and he already have a grand prix victory"

Y/N knew that this was the dam breaking. No words can comfort her brother right now so she just went to give him a hug. She could only wish in silence that Mark gets his win eventually.

On the other side of the paddock, there was cheering. Sebastian Vettel was in cloud 9 as he saw the Toro Rosso mechanics and engineers calls out his name. Everyone was in full party mode that they have even tossed Sebastian up in the air.

Everyone wanted to talk to him. They wanted to ask him about how he is feeling or how he created history today. He was the youngest driver to have a maiden win and the first one to bring victory to Toro Rosso.

But Sebastian eyes seem to search for someone in the crowd. He wouldn't voice it out but there was a certain woman he was hoping to see when he stepped into the podium. It had a slight twinge in his heart but the roaring crowd silenced that feeling.

'Maybe I'll see her later' Sebastian thought.

However, there was no Y/N in sight for the rest of the weekend.

2008, Marina Bay Street Circuit

Sebastian was still experiencing the highs of his Monza win and the Singapore GP has also been a good race for him. He might not have a podium finish but 5th was good enough. However if there was one thing that bothered Sebastian was the lack of Y/N sightings.

He tried messaging her after Monza but there was no reply. He thinks its probably weird that he didn't even get a congratulations because surely Y/N would know about it. There might be a couple of reasons why she didn't see it which is a) she was sick or b) she resigned.

Sebastian was gunning for the first choice because surely Y/N won't just resign without saying goodbye.

So imagine his surprise when he saw the woman that has been bugging his mind at the exit of the pitlane.

"You could have answered my texts you know" that was Sebastian's greeting to her

Y/N seems to be caught off-guard by Sebastian's presence. She was still in her work outfit Sebastian takes note as she was carrying a tote bag.

"I'm sorry. It just got a little busy for me"

Sebastian nods, he understands how having a job here is quite difficult. He could not fault her for that.

"Why not lets celebrate? I won in Monza and I finished fifth here"Sebastian offered "Consider it as your make up dinner for not congratulating me"

There was that hesitant smile gracing her face again and it reminded Sebastian of the first time she didn't tell her name. She seems extremely conflicted.

"Seb I would love to but I still have to do some work and-"

"Y/N, there you are"

Sebastian and Y/N whipped their head to the source of the voice. Mark Webber started walking towards them. It confused Sebastian as to why he knew Y/N but then he remembered that Mark was probably the one that Y/N has been working with.

"I told you to wait for me"Mark says as he picked up the bag of Y/N "I was just fixing some things with Christian"

"I can carry my stuffs myself Mark" Y/N replied

"But you have been walking in your heels the whole day, it's going to make you cranky sooner or later" Mark quipped back.

Now this confused Sebastian. It seems like their dynamics is not just work related but rather something personal. He also felt like he has missed a whole chapter and he feels very invisible at the moment.

"You two know each other?"Sebastian managed to ask.

There was a panic in Y/N eyes as if she wanted to explain but it was Mark that beat her to it.

"Of course, I know her" Mark admitted "Why wouldn't I know my sister?"

And it was that moment that Sebastian pieced out why she haven't been able to message him or why she was MIA as well in Japan. He felt stupid because he never inquired why she didn't give out her last name or why she was booked at the same hotel as the drivers.

Great just fucking great.

2008, Interlagos

It was eating her alive that Sebastian is not in speaking terms with her.

In hindsight, she understands that sooner or later, she has to tell him about who really is. She just didn't know that it will be as early and as unprepared as what happened in Singapore. She also got an earful from Mark who questioned how did she manage to meet Sebastian and why does it seem like the two are close with each other.

Honestly, she can't wait for the season to be over so that she can rest from all the drama but she knows that she has to make amends before winter break starts.

And so she slipped to the Toro Rosso garage, under the disguise that as Mark's assistant, she has to talk to Sebastian. So here she is in Sebastian's driver room, waiting for him to arrive.

"Can't I deal with this after-"Sebastian immediately stopped in his tracks upon seeing Y/N "Oh its you"

Silence enveloped the two of them. Y/N has a practiced script in her head but no words doesn't want to come out.

"I'm giving you five minutes or I'm kicking you out" Sebastian warned.

"I just came here to say that I am sorry. It wasn't really my intention to deceive you. I just wanted to be friends with you without my last name being too intimidating. I know that its terrible but I was going to tell you my name someday but Mark just got into the way and its all shit"

She was word-vomitting, she was sure of it. But hey its better than keeping everything as a burden on the shoulders.

"Say something please?" Y/N wondered with Sebastian's silence.

"You could have told me, don't you trust me?"

"I trust you Sebastian. Its just, its really complicated to be seen as Mark's sister or Mark's assistant. I just want to be just Y/N when I'm with you"Y/N sighs.

Y/N felt bummed as she thought she could fix this before winter break starts but she knows he might need some time.

"I know that its not easy to forgive me. Its selfish of me to do that so I won't force you to forgive me" she says "I'll give you some time to collect your thoughts"

Y/N reached out for the door when she felt a hand tugging her back. She saw Sebastian reaching out.

"Just give me some time"

"I will. Don't worry" she understands "I have to say I'm really proud of you this season. You did well Seb"

There was that silence when Sebastian held her. She knows things are far from okay and there is the upcoming season that has the possibility of Sebastian being upgraded to Red Bull but in this moment, none of that matters. Its just them. Just Y/N and Seb.

[0mysticmidnight0]

~Mystically Broken AU - Chapter 1~

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You trembled as the taxi took you to a dark street, filled with crime. Robbery, Arson, right in the day light. You felt nervous. The taxi stopped at the tallest building. Once you left the taxi and entered the building, you turned around to glance at the Taxi, two people robbed the driver.. You hurried to your destination. You enter the Elevator, hopping nothing wrong happens.

~Flash Back~

You sat in your boss's office, expecting your paycheck for the month. She looked at you rather nervously. "As you know, our company has been slowly crumbling, we've been losing clients and we haven't been strengthening any business ties. Luckily! We have a few people wiling to help us, under a few conditions." You glanced at her nervously. "Who are these people exactly?" She gulped and looked away, She wasn't usually this cautious. You were worried. "You'll find out soon! They arranged a meeting for us to discuss the terms and conditions. You are coming with me since you are our top employee and one of our representatives!" She smiles enthusiastically. It felt odd, you wanted to know more about them. But you felt like she'd avoid the question. "That's great.." You smiled nervously. Why did your fellow representative have to be sick on THIS day?! You knew you should've spent more time in bed..

~Present~

You gulped as you tapped the button on the elevator. The top floor. The elevator door shut loudly. Who were these people? Why was this place so shady and creepy. You had the feeling that whoever your boss made a contract with isn't really a nice guy. The elevator made an abrupt stop as it opened. You walk out of the elevator and looked around. The floor was glass and it looked like an aquarium? You couldn't see any fish until you saw a.. robot shark.. then another and another.. The room was dimly lit and looked up to see the city's four most wanted criminals and your boss looking at you. "You made it!" your boss's voice muffled you were too in shock and you looked at the four criminals infront of you. "Let's get this over with, my time will not be wasted by your incompetence." Donatello, Mechanical genius, One of the smartest and deadly criminals due to his understanding of technology. He creates deadly weapons that cause mass destruction. it was rumored he uses petty criminals for his experiments.. Who am i kidding, he probably does. He glared you down like he couldn't tolerate your presence. "Donnie, stop your growling. You're gonna scare away the prey." Leonardo, One of if not the person with highest bodycount. He's killed hundreds, thousands to get what he wants. But he always manages to hide the evidence. One of the best Manipulaters. He's hard to catch, people say he just vanishes. He nudges his twin while laughing. He looks at you like he wanted to devour you whole. "Why don't you idiots shut up! Don't listen to them."

Raphael, a literal tank that could take hundreds of people at once. The strongest when it came to raw strength and battle strategy. If you ever cross him or do something that upsets him, prepare to deal with his terrible and DEADLY temper. He glared at Donatello and Leonardo as they shut their mouths. You hear a voice from behind you.. You gasped when you saw who it was. "Well, don't you look fun?"

MichelAngelo, The best at deceiving others and persuading them to do his bidding. He locks people up for fun and calls them his playthings. He kills anyone who steps in his way. He commits daily vandalism. He wouldn't kill anyone right away, he'd slowly drive them to the brink of insanity because it's fun to watch them fall apart. What had your boss gotten you into?! "Now, take a seat. Cynthia here tells us you have experience addressing crowds and dealing with rumors about your company. Dealing with any evidence regarding your companies misdeeds." It was true you were the one dealing with false rumors and false evidence.. That's how you became one of the representatives. But you had a gut feeling they were gonna take advantage of that. "I have been the one dealing with those issues but that was because they were mostly false! I can't defend something when i know it's wrong." You wanted to stand your ground. That was a bad choice. you turned to your side and gulp. There was a sword or katana.. an odachi. There was an odachi to your neck. "All of us have to do things we don't want to do to survive in this cruel world. Do as we say and we'll keep our end of the deal, alright?" Your boss, Cynthia just looks at you nervously, her gaze telling you to accept their condition. "Or we'll have to slowly destroy you one by one.. " His laugh echoing through the room. "Make this quick so i don't have to spend another moment with these imbeciles." you gulped and slowly nodded as you still felt the Odachi's sharp end to your throat. "We need you to destroy all criminal records. No matter how many times i delete it from the governments system, the people of new york still spread these awful rumors. who knew word of mouth could be so, infuriating. we need you to-"

"Ughh.. Donnie! English!" "Just get to the point already!" "I was JUST getting to that. We need you to accompany us to some governmental parties this year. They host four parties each year. One of us will accompany you and we need you to speak for us and claim our innocence." "But you aren't innocent! I-" You felt the Odachi go closer to your throat. "Hold your tongue." "Precisely, Complaints of the people to the government make us a target. So much so that they arranged an elite super force or a group of highly trained professionals after us." "We ain't getting anythin' done when we knows a buncha' creeps watchin' us!" "Do you think you can get the job done? It is pretty fun!" Your boss looked at you apologetically.

You nodded and the Odachi was pulled away and you took a sigh of relief.. What did you get yourself into.?

[codenameredkrystalmatrix]

Made with Love- Miguel O’Hara x FemReader

You could always trust him to bring the perfect close to a day at the café.

"Alright folks, keep it up. I want you all out of my place by 6 o'clock sharp!"

Translation: I know it's been a busy week, so I want you all to get some time off. I'll clean up here.

You smiled, joining in the teasing "Yes, sir, manager, sir!" with your co-workers. Isaac groaned, keeping up his unsmiling exterior.

Tables to wait, orders to write, customers to chat with- why hadn't Amanda made the amaretto yet? Oh, Jayce was here for his pound cake- did they have enough pumpkin for the muffins?

Yep, the post work rush was in full swing.

There was strain in your legs and and a bit of a rasp to your voice, but you wouldn't trade this for the world. Seeing people's faces light up when they tried something new, or close their eyes in contentment when they had their old favourites- this was your little slice (pun absolutely intended) of heaven. Although, there was one more thing that could have made it perf- oh crud!

"I have to do deliveries!"

"Nope! My turn!" Daniel gave you a two-fingered salute before putting on a bike helmet. "Check the roster!"

When you did look, he was right. Huh. You were certain it was yours, but you dismissed it. There was plenty to do inside.

The tide of activity ebbed and flowed as the hours wore on. As always, the hustle and bustle eased as daylight faded. The heat of many bodies crowded in one little café dissipated. Newcomers and regulars alike bid their goodbyes, and you could finally catch your breath.

You'd been sitting in the back kitchen when it happened. Dani called your name in that unmistakable singsong. “Someone’s here for you!”

He came? Your heart soared. It had been a while since Miguel last visited you on work. You could have your little evening ritual together.

You headed into the employee fridge, and picked up your packages, hoping he'd like the treats you'd chosen. As per store policy, employees got some of the goods that hadn't sold immediately to minimize waste. They were all well-kept, so there was no fuss about it. The rest would be donated wherever they could bring smiles.

Speeding into Entering the main dining area again, you saw the tall, mocha-toned man you loved smiling at you. “What brings you here, stranger?”

Reaching out, he slid his hands around your torso, guiding you into his chest for a gentle hug. “I missed you too.”

Hands occupied, you burrowed in with the rest of your body and smiled.

“How's work?”

“Busy. I thought you had all those new contracts to review, Mr. CEO!”

He stepped back slightly, the golden light dancing in his curls and giving a warm tone to those mahogany eyes.

“Sólo quería ver tu bonita cara.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Isaac tap the sign before heading out back. It featured a crossed-out can, then a crossed-out plate of noodles. Customers were told that it was the store policy on fast food. Your dear co-workers who knew the truth, however, snickered.

You huffed, deciding you'd ignore them all.

Once comfortable at a table, you produced your personal favourites, plus his cheesecake bars and mangonada sorbet from the bag. "I had to fight my way through Melinda and Sean for those, so enjoy them!"

"Your trials will be remembered, noble knight." He smirked, tasting the sorbet and giving a satisfied hum. You took a spoon and delved into your own treats, already feeling more relaxed.

The two of you fell into the comfortable rhythm of conversation, jokes, and the occasional silence. Given he worked in a much bigger business, there was always some new project or opera-worthy employee drama to discuss- told in his sarcastic, deadpan style that made you laugh to tears. You'd won the jackpot, my friend.

During a lull, one of Miguel's hands rested on the table as he reclined. An idea came. With a burst of courage and affection, you took his hand with both your own, lifted it to your lips and kissed it gently. You whispered what you wanted to say in Spanish, so he'd truly understand how much you appreciated him.

"Cada vez que se vuelve demasiado pesado, pienso en casa y pienso en ti."

A tiny gasp escaped his plump, parted lips, before his expression melted to fondness. The hand in your grasp moved to cradle your cheek. Leaning over, Miguel left a kiss to the corner of your mouth, then cheek, then trailed butterfly kisses down your neck.

"No sabes lo feliz que me hace, mi tesoro."

Shivers ran down your spine at the feeling of his lips. You'd reached up to pull him closer, but a tiny voice in your head reminded you of the sign.

You sighed, trying to think past the lightheadedness he always caused. “My…erm...boss doesn’t want us to…”

Miguel laughed, pulling back and looking at you one more time. “Let’s go home, then.”

Nodding enthusiastically, you went to get the rest of your belongings. The roster lay on its usual shelf, and you signed your name before leaving...wait. For all the other weeks, today really was supposed to be the day you you did deliveries. That sneaking Isaac had reassigned you so you could see Miguel more often. You shook your head, both amused and grateful.

As you headed out together, Miguel smiled to himself. One day, he’d tell you each secret and regret that weighed on him. He trusted you. But for now, he’d enjoy these happy days.

Translations:

“Sólo quería ver tu bonita cara.” : I just wanted to see your pretty face.

"Cada vez que se vuelve demasiado pesado, pienso en casa y pienso en ti." : Every time it becomes too much to bear, I think of home and I think of you.

"No sabes lo feliz que me hace, mi tesoro." : You don't know how happy that makes me, my treasure.

(Please accept my humble offering to the community. *runs back into the forest on all-fours.*)

[starwarsbean]

LOVE AGAINST THE ODDS

Pairing: TECH X F READER 18+

AN: THIS IS A SHORT STORY OF TECH AND THE BAD BATCH LIVING IN MODERN UNIVERSE. IT IS A SLOWBURN FAKE DATING STORY FOR FUN. NOT PROOFREAD. ALSO, THERE WILL BE SMUT IN FUTURE CHAPTERS.

CHAPTER 6

Waking up to the sunlight beaming through your curtains hitting directly on your face. Soft groans coming from you as you slowly stretch your arms out. As you were in hope you would be able to sleep in instead of being woken from the light. Your cat decides to jump on your lap in hopes you lay back down. Surprised as your cat was not meowing at you for food this early. As you were petting your cat, you notice a message from Tech. Not shocked that he would be awake this early. He was probably awake this early doing work like always.

“Good Morning. Do you wish to accompany me on a leisurely tour of the aquatic exhibits at our local aquarium? We can discuss more about our contract.”

You could feel your heart racing reading his message. Tech was inviting you to the aquarium. The local aquarium was such a genuine nice place to go. It was not too crowded, but it did have its peak times. All that mattered was you were going to the aquarium to see beautiful aquatic fish. What made it even more better you were going with him. You quickly reply to his message.

“That sounds great to me.” Hitting send you quickly get up to get ready. Your cat following right behind you as you rush to the bathroom .

Once you finished getting ready. You pour some food and water for your cat. Smiling at how your cat quickly eats. Phone buzzing in your hand as you already knew Tech would be outside waiting fr you. Saying bye to your cat you grab your jacket and head outside.

Tech looks up from his phone as he sees you walking down to his car. He hurries to open the car door for you.

“Aren’t you such a gentlemen”

A sly smile appears on his face as he closes the car door and walks over to the drivers seat. Tech explains to you the plans he has once you both get to the aquarium. Not a single word was coming from you as you were a bit distracted. Watching him drive was attractive. His knuckles gripping the steering wheel as his soft brown eyes were focused on the road. Staring at techs tan lips moving slowly as your eyes are glued to his lips. Wondering how his soft tan lips would feel pushed upon yours. Your hand touches your plump lips. He looks over at you wondering why weren’t responding to him.

“Is everything alright?” Tech ask he looks over at you then back on the road.

His words making you come back to reality. Every time you got lost it was as if you were in cloud nine. Just being near him brought this warm comfort and you weren’t sure why.

“Oh yes uhh. I just got distracted for a minute.” You say in hopes he didnt see you staring at him. Tech side eyes you then focuses back on the road.

“Very well then.Did you hear everything I said?”

Your eyes widen as you weren’t really listening to what he said.

“Uhhhh yeah of course I heard everything.” You casually try to lie putting a piece of your hair behind your ear.

“Okay then. Im assuming you heard the part where we both will participate in feeding the sharks?” Tech says with a little smirk as he staring at the road.

“Wait what? Feeding sharks?” A bit worried if he was being serious.

Tech laughs quietly under his breath. Feeling a bit amused as he knew you weren’t listening. “Yes, we will be feeding sharks together.”

You hear his laugh under his breath. Rolling your eyes as you knew he was joking. “Fine, if we really are feeding sharks together then you owe me a plushie for my bravery.”

Tech smiles, amused by your request. “Hm, very well then. I will make sure to provide you with the desired plushie as promised.”

“We’re not actually feeding the sharks right?”

Tech pulls into the parking lot. He chuckles softly amused by your reaction. “Do not worry, we will be safely observing the sharks from a far distance.”

You nod your head as you grab your phone putting it do not disturb. “So, what was actually running through your mind?” Tech ask as he makes sure he’s parked correctly.

“Oh just thought of something from work. same old thoughts.” You say quickly in hopes he buys this. As he’s finished parking he nods his head understanding. Letting out a soft sigh as he didnt ask no more questions.

Grabbing your purse as you both walk over to the aquarium. Tech goes to the booth to buy tickets. Taking a look around noticing there was a line waiting for others to get inside. Tech puts his hand on your back as he guides you both to skip the line. His soft hand placed on your back made you feel a bit eased from the crowd.

“I purchased these tickets in advance to expedite our entry into the aquarium. I just had to inform the worker. These tickets will gives us exclusive access to certain exhibits.”

“Wow Im excited to see. It’s been a while since I came here.” A bit impressed at tech going out of his way to get exclusive access for the both of you. Techs hand still on your back as you both head over to the exhibits.

The aquarium is a large, open building with high domed ceiling.Soft blue lights illuminated in the area where you both. The soft blue lighting making it feel as if you’re in the ocean. A large exhibit of colorful fish swim in circles. The air is cool and smells lightly of the ocean salt. You look at tech who is reading information that is located on the side of the tank.

“I am a scanning information about these species. The fish are primarily considered a schooling species. They tend to travel in large groups, both for protection and to optimize feeding efficient. They primarily feed in small algae and plankton. The bright colors of these fish are an adaptation that serves to camouflage them within their natural habitat amongst corals and rocks.”

You chuckle a bit at his info dumping. That was bonus about being in a fake relationship with him.It was exciting having the company of someone who values on learning.Tech notices he still has his hand on your back. Debating to take his hand off, but leaves as it is.

“That’s good to know. I didnt know they ate plankton.” Tech smiles as he knew you were listening. Both of you continue walking admiring different fish in the exhibits. A fish catches your eye in one of the exhibits. It was a long fish that was hidden under the sand.It was flat and a brownish color.

“What kind of fish is this Tech?” You say looking up at him. Tech reads the information provided on the plaque. “These fish are known as flounders. They are known for their ability to camouflage themselves. Notice their body is typically brown or grey color that resembles the ocean floor, while the underside is pure white. These species feed on small fish and crustaceans.” He looks at you as he explains.

You nod your head listening to him explain. A little kid runs and bumps into you. Which makes you push into techs arms a bit more. His hand on your back tightens around your waist making sure you don’t fall. Your hand on his chest as you both make eye contact. The parents apologize to you as they run chasing their kid. You chuckle a bit moving a bit away from him. Tech eyes go back on the exhibit in front of him and drops his hand from your back. Your attention going on the fish swimming. Your smile drops as you miss his touch on your back.

“Are you alright? He asks, a hint of worry in his voice. His expression is calm.

“Im alright Tech. Now let’s go see the jellyfish.” You say, grabbing his hand to walk over to the jellyfish exhibit. A faint smile, he intertwines his fingers with yours as you proceed to the jellyfish exhibit. Once arrived, beating the crowd as its just you both standing in front of the tank. The mesmerizing Black Sea nettle jellyfish. The translucent, bell shaped body hangs delicately below a mass of tentacles, which billow out like translucent curtains when they move. The color of the jellyfish has a distinctive purplish bell to it.Tech gazes intently at the jellyfish, observing their graceful movements. His brown eyes lighten up as he’s memorized.

“Jellyfish are one of my favorite sea creatures. Especially as beautiful as these.” Your eyes not leaving the tank as the jellyfish move around. Two hands intertwined the soft vibrant blue lighting in the darken room. His soft warm vibrant hand in touch with your hand. Creating two main warmth feelings in the chest. Your heart beats faster,but at a rate where you can feel the butterflies.

“They are fascinating creatures.” Tech speaks softly as his attention turns to you. A sly smile appears as he sees your eyes glued on the tank. His gaze on you as he feels a soft warm feeling in his chest. Turning your head towards him to see him staring at you.

“Did you know Black Sea nettle jellyfish stings are not nearly as painful as other jellyfish stings.” Your voice is soft with a little crack at the end. Tech looks at you impressed.

“That’s correct. I am impressed.” He pushes his glasses back. His hand not letting go as he enjoys the comfort of your hand. A sly smile as you admire the two purple fish swimming in circles in front of you both.

“We should get going to the main exhibition and discuss further about meeting my family.” Tech grabs your hand and walks with you to the main event

[peaches2217]

if you're interested in talking more about it, I'd love to hear more headcannons/musings about mareach expecting/being parents!! everything you've posted has been extremely precious and adorable

I’m in the midst of formulating some second-time parent scenarios, so do look forward to that! But until I’m ready to bite the bullet, fight past my shame, and post those, have some more first-time parent floof: The Big Day edition~

✨ The closer and closer Peach gets to her due date, the less and less Mario sleeps, to the point where in the final week or two before their baby arrives he’s getting maybe thirty minutes to an hour of rest each night, and rarely all at once. Eventually Peach gives up on trying to talk him down herself and gets a bunch of their friends involved in an elaborate plot just so he can get some sleep (which I’ve discussed here 😌). The plot works, and he sleeps for like a solid twenty-six hours! And it ends up being very good timing, because she goes into labor the following day.

✨ Mario’s overseeing preparations for some upcoming festivity (Toads have at least one major holiday each month — party people, they are) when he catches sight of Toadette approaching him. And his stomach lurches into his throat before he can even see her face or she can even get close enough to say anything, because he knows. As her lady-in-waiting and one of her closest friends, Toadette hasn’t left Peach’s side in the past few weeks unless Mario’s been there, and why else would she do so now unless something major was happening? What ensues is exactly the sort of spectacle Toadette had been hoping to avoid: Mario barreling through the crowd, sending Toads flying like bowling pins, abandoning all decency and rationale in a bid to get to Peach as quickly as possible.

✨ As soon as he reaches her, he’s showering her in kisses and inquiring about her mental state and her pain levels and telling her that he loves her so much and he’s going to be right here with her no matter what. Considering she’s been in labor for an hour tops, Peach isn’t even too uncomfortable yet; honestly she’s a lot more collected than her husband at that moment. So she giggles and lets him get it out of his system because she’ll never turn down an opportunity to be lavished in love. Stars know she’ll need that support soon enough.

✨ “Your hero just about caused a national panic,” Toadette snarls twenty minutes later, returning to Peach’s room after joining forces with Toadsworth to calm the understandably alarmed crowds. Peach finds it significantly more amusing than she does.

✨ Daisy’s already there because she was part of Operation: Go the Fuck to Sleep, Mario (“We’re not calling it that,” Peach said. “I’m calling it that,” Daisy said back.), so she insists she may as well make herself useful — Peach could benefit from having a backup buddy in the room in the off-chance Mario completely flips out. And also she wants the bragging rights of being the first of this baby’s many aunts and uncles to meet them, because that’s something she can hold over everyone’s heads for like, ever.

✨ Little-known fact about Peach: she’s got a low pain threshold, and the longer it’s crossed, the more rapidly she loses any semblance of composure. She goes from chatting normally with everyone in the room to seeking out Mario's hand with every contraction to clinging to him like a koala and shaking and moaning in agony, all in the span of like thirty minutes. I can't over-emphasize how dramatic she gets. Which, yes, it's justified, because childbirth's near-universally considered the most painful mammalian experience, but dear God, it's almost comical how quickly she loses her cool.

✨ Mario, of course, doesn't find it comical in the slightest. Seeing her like this is heartbreaking and mentally exhausting. There's not really anything he can do to ease her suffering, and that kills him, but he can't let himself dwell on it because she needs him, and he's gotta be strong for her. So he holds her close and does his best to make her laugh or at least take her mind off of it.

✨ Once that stops working, he starts singing to her, quietly, stroking her hair and pressing little kisses to her cheeks. And that works wonders! Until he starts humming one song in particular. Peach recognizes it as a favorite of his; he sang it to her while she was curled up on the bathroom floor months ago, unknowingly suffering her first bout of morning sickness. It seems like so long ago, and they've come so far, and now here they are — the sentimentality paired with an intense contraction makes her burst into tears. Mario may as well have just been shot. Actually that would probably hurt less.

✨ Daisy tries getting him to take a break, maybe step outside and get some fresh air, because she's never seen him look so distressed and it's honestly starting to worry her. So she makes the suggestion, and she hasn’t seen him look so offended since she desecrated his mother’s sacred Pizza Margherita recipe with thick slices of pineapple. Being at Peach's side is about the only thing he can do for her right now. Leaving her, even for a fraction of a second, would be unforgivable. “Okay,” Daisy relents, “just keep torturing yourself, dude.” He's keeping Peach calm for now, but if that changes, she figures she can just drag him outside herself.

✨ Luckily it never comes to that. As Peach becomes less and less consolable, Mario gets more and more focused... to the point where he gets outright bossy for her sake. He pretty much takes over half of the nurses' jobs, ordering anyone and everyone to get her a glass of water, get him a cold rag so he can wipe away her sweat and cool her off, get her some more pillows so there's less pressure on her back and the base of her spine. Hey, makes their jobs easier.

✨ "You're a badass, Peach Pit!" Daisy says at one point very near the end of the ordeal. "She's right you know," Mario tells Peach. It gets a laugh out of her for the first time in several hours. They absolutely high-five in victory.

✨ Peach immediately goes from inconsolable to overjoyed once their baby's in her arms. "It's okay," she shushes, kissing her still-crying daughter's dark hair, "it's okay, mommy's here. I love you so much." In contrast, Mario completely freezes up. It still hasn't processed yet, the fact that this is their little girl, the same one he's talked and sang and read to for the past several months. In his mind, she's still just a faceless entity, an almost metaphorical representation of his and Peach's love and their hopes for the future, except she's real, and she's always been real, and now she's here, and — and that's a lot to process when you've had one solid night's sleep in the past month.

✨ It doesn't really sink in until a bit later, when Daisy's helping Peach shower and get into fresh clothes and Mario's holding the baby, all swaddled in blankets after passing her health check with flying colors. She looks a lot like him, from her dark hair to the shape of her jaw — she may as well be Mario with a smaller nose — but it's not until she blinks sleepily up at him that it finally hits him. Those are Peach's eyes looking back at him. "Oh," he says, calmly, and then he's crying so hard he can hardly breathe.

✨ That's how Peach finds him when Daisy helps her back into the room: kissing and snuggling their daughter with a big smile and fat tears rolling down his face, babbling "Ti voglio bene! Papà ti vuole tanto bene!" to her softly. She thought she already loved him as much as one person can love another, yet here she is, falling even harder.

✨ As soon as Peach is settled in bed, Daisy rushes to find all of their loved ones so she can gather them up and give them the big news: "I'm already her favorite aunt! So suck it!" (That is, in fact, how everyone finds out it's a girl.)

✨ Peach and Mario are given some privacy to bond with their baby girl and decide whether they want any visitors or whether it would be best to let Peach rest; she holds her new daughter close, and he in turn holds her, full of reverence and praises. Peach has never been so sore and exhausted, yet she's never felt so peaceful. Everything is perfect in her world.

✨ Well, almost everything. "I want to see Toadsworth," she requests, her voice so hoarse from all the bawling and screaming that even those few words make her throat burn. But Mario kisses her gently, lingering for a moment before calling a nurse over to pass on her request, and she relaxes further into his hold with a dreamy sigh. Her husband is with her, their daughter is asleep in her arms, and her father will be here any moment to meet his granddaughter. Now everything is perfect.

[timperi-fan]

Hey 👋🏻

You said we could ask questions so I have two:

1. I think I saw something about deleted scenes or outtakes for ILITAYH after chapter 7. Is that still a thing/a possibility? 👀

2. Have you had anymore thoughts about the timcoswan fic idea? I totally don’t reread that post and it’s tags every other day haha, that’d be weird right???

Anyway, you’re doing amazing, im so excited for the next chapter of ILITAYH. Have an amazing day or night or afternoon.

1. I sure hope so! Fran and I have both been feeling a little burnt out (IRL stuff), so we haven't discussed ILITAYH too much. But the outtakes/scrapped ideas and side plots would be fun to talk about.

Here's a scene I jotted down that we never found a smooth way to integrate:

Fran is so good at keeping the pacing consistent and the narrative from becoming too crowded. She's seriously amazing at knowing when to cut or add something 🥺 We have plenty of ideas that we both really enjoy, but ultimately set aside because including them would weaken the cohesiveness of ILITAYH's story. Fran is such a good writer, it's crazy 💕

2. TimCosWan lives in my head at all hours of the day. (Fran in particular has been big on the TimWan/Mama's boy Timmy train, haha.)

Here's a little snippet from what we have written so far:

This one has been slow going because Fran is interested in the build-up, and I'm more interested in the sex part. (Ironically, the opposite of how we feel about ILITAYH!)

I just keep thinking about Timmy thinking he's unwanted. Timmy with a chip on his shoulder and cracks in his heart that he's desperate to mend. Timmy bringing him women with pink hair and dumb tall guys because he feels drawn to people like that but he can't place why. Timmy having nights of passion because every time he tries for something more, it's not right.

Timmy being sandwiched between his two kind neighbors — the neighbors who gave him tea and snacks when he was drafting up contracts, the neighbors who never judged him for bringing home drunken flings but instead always made sure he got inside safely if he was too drunk to even unlock his front door, the neighbors who love each other so much that he kind of hates them for it but they want to share that love with him, too, and he can't tell why, doesn't understand why they'd waste their time with a mess like him.

Timmy inside of Wanda with Cosmo inside of him, being held from behind and in front, soft hands brushing his hair back, Wanda's lips on his neck, Cosmo murmuring lovely words into his shoulder — things like, "We love you so much," or "You're doing amazing," or "You look so beautiful." Things that can't possibly be true, but God, does Timmy want them to be, and he sobs as he's rocked between them, "I love you, I love you, I love you—" And it's so easy to say, it feels like he's been saying it his whole life. It feels like he's whole for the first time that he can remember. It feels like home.

*ahem*

Uh, y'know. Normal thoughts.

[acommonloon]

Black hole sons - egos of men daren’t be eclipsed

My sister invited us to visit her new place in Kentucky on Saturday. Her Lawrenceburg address was an hour and a half drive to “nowhere close.” Even Frankfort was 45 minutes away. As it was their one year anniversary at the new house, it was going to be a big shindig. We felt we had to go.

TD, my sister’s husband (although they never use the term and I don’t think they ever officially married) is a Marine(ret) and a black man so…

We would get to visit with some black people! Yay! lol I spent 21 years in a diverse Air Force with many of those years in North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Europe so, after our last 22 years in white bread Indiana, I was looking forward to a gathering with some color.

We had a good time but this morning we discussed a thing we both noticed.

We arrived on time so we were early. It’s a military thing. My sister met us at the car as we unloaded lawn chairs, a cooler with beer (I would drink) and a bag with a bottle of bourbon, a gift for TD. I apologized as I handed it to my sister because we didn’t find anything we specifically wanted to gift her. Then I said, “Maybe you like bourbon too?”

“I do like bourbon but TD doesn’t like me drinking it.” She said.

What?

“Yeah, he says I get too mouthy when I drink bourbon.” She chuckled

We walked in silence for a few seconds.

“I do love bourbon though.” She sighed.

This morning, I recalled this to D and she asked, “Did you notice how the black women and the white women married to black men were cheerfully subservient to the men.” She went on, “I was really shocked when Jerry said to his wife, “Hey can I get some ice over here?”

His wife, Anita, responded of course honey and brought it right over.

That was some Mad Men level patriarchy right there.

Before we were given leave to eat, TD turned the prayer into his personal story of deliverance by God, the result being the property he now owned. It was his dream, granted to him because he always put God first. He acknowledged the prior owners who were on hand, recounting how it was his note, left under the humidor entreating the, then unknown, owner to always keep the Marine Corps flag flying that sealed the deal. I felt this conclusion somewhat undermined when he admitted the seller asked the two prior contract offers to perform within 48hours and only when they couldn’t, was his offer accepted. Inshallah. After the conclusion of the prayer, I walked over to the prior owners.

What a wonderful place I enthused, “How could you bear to leave it? I asked.

They smiled and I saw genuine sadness as they said they’d always dreamed to have such a place but couldn’t keep it up. They said they’d bought a smaller place nearby but, what I was seeing here now had always been their dream too.

Perhaps they hadn’t always put God first in their lives or maybe it was just his plan to let them toil for years before letting someone else buy the fruit of their labor.

Minutes later, God’s chosen was back on his soapbox. He introduced his son. His oldest son. He said he’d always hoped one of his sons, but especially this one, would follow him into the Marine Corps. He couldn’t be prouder. Oh and his other son, a football coach, would be here later. Yikes

Then he demanded to know where the cake was. He directed this query to my sister. She said it was in the house. Well get it he smiled. She turned and went.

I watched her walk away from the crowd. No one looked her way. I shouted, “Do you need any help?”

FUCK! I never heard a cross word or impolite remark during the event. It was the type of fellowship I remembered from church dinners during my youth. Everyone emoting delight at the company around them. Sunny smiles all around + alcohol.

Earlier as we were driving down, I’d called my sister to say we would be early if that was okay so we could have a bit of time to visit before the crowds arrived. I joked there’d probably be a hundred people. She said that was accurate with all the people TD had invited. “His problem is he’s too likeable!” I joked.

“You don’t have to live with him.” She responded.

These men love their wives like cherished possessions. They ply them with caring condescension giving all credit to godly provenance and their own wisdom for doing so.

[necros-writing-stuff]

The Horrors of Humanity: Collabo'ween Day 6.

Gn!Journalist!Reader/Darius Radner.

Warnings: Serial Murders; Kidnapping; Obsessive thoughts; Someone gets skinned but it's only mentions of it having happened. That's right, no smut in this one. Just dread. He do be playing mind games.

Word Count: 2366.

Notes: Might continue this later through smaller prompts. It's a good au for Dare.

His closed fist tapped against the cold metal of the table he sat at. His tongue trailed at the back of his teeth as he sucked in his lips and rolled his jaw. People sat around him, laughing or simply taking in their drinks as they watched the crowd float on by the window. 

You were late. Meant to be here 10 minutes ago. It's how you always met, grabbing your warm drinks before walking around the local park and discussing the case you were following like a bloodhound. 

'I'm starting to feel your absence in my heart when you aren't here,' he wrote in his journal. 'It feels leaden heavy, yet beats quicker than ever from the anxious thought that you'll never come back. How did you worm your way into my heart so fast? Was it because I wasn't looking at you when I should have had my guard up? Was that how you found the missing link in the fence that let you crawl through?'

It was true, he never meant to find your company so magnetic. People weren't his forte; a low social battery and a grumpy disposition can only handle so much before the man had to retreat back to his home to recuperate. Yet, when you left after your evening walks together, he couldn't help but yearn for more. When you were around he found himself smiling, snapping less when bumped into, hell, he even paid for that lady's baby food the other week. 

'Your infectious kindness makes me feel like a new man. It was a newness I rejected at first, but I think I might like to try and be good. If it'll make you see me and not your work, I want to be good. But I still find myself playing the devil to keep you in my grasp.'

The Devil always got the contracts signed and the souls as his own in the end, didn't he?

"Hi, Dare!" You plop yourself into the seat across from him, a whoosh of air escaping your lungs as you sank into the frame. "Fucking traffic. Sorry for being so late." 

You sip your drink, he closes his journal and hides it away before your instincts kick in and you try to pry it from him. Everything. You had a thirst for knowing everything. And most of the time you found it, but Darius kept you at an arm's length. He had to. To keep you safe. 

" 's all good. You look knackered, love." 

Dark circles under your eyes crease as you give a half-hearted smile. Your hair looks like you had your hands bothering it all day. "I haven't been sleeping the best - too busy looking over everything." 

His eyes roll, already seeing that you're wasting no time on small talk today. You want straight into your little hyperfixation. Something must have really worked you up. 

"Come here," you lean forward, chest touching the table top as you whisper. Darius follows with a deep sigh, his eyes shifting around the room and he feels like a toddler playing spies. 

"Would be nice for you to ask me how I am, y'know?" It's bad manners for you to forget. 

"Right- how are you?" Your eyes are so pretty. Your lips deserve his on them. 

"Just fab, not considering skinning my employee for blunting all of my chisels." 

Your face falls for a split second. Just a little bit before your eyebrows shoot up and that smile is back. "Funny you should mention skinning - that's what our friend's done." 

A one track mind, truly. "Oh? Do tell me more." 

It's like pulling the cord on a chainsaw. Four simple words, but he'll hear the buzz of you talking for hours now. He likes hearing you talk. He could sit and listen to you instead of being at home, watching the same old shows as he got drunk enough to pass out. Or out in the woods, in his workshop, listening to birds screech and bucks bugle. 

Your excitement should be strange. It should put him off. It never has.

"Well I was talking with that constable again, you know, the tall lady? Yeah, well, there's been another body found. They don't think it's his because it's different from the others, but I know it just has to be." 

What a rat. Darius never would have let shit leak like that back when he was on the force. He'd kept a tight grip on his underlings. At least this one leaks things to you; for that he could forgive her. 

"How do you know?" Another sip of his coffee as you just keep fiddling with the lid of your drink. 

"There's signs that he's been escalating, Dare. More violent and slow as he's killing, but an increased number of deaths. He's getting bored, so he's trying new things to bring back the magic of the first time." 

The greying man considers it for a moment, his head tilting. "You should be careful, love. All this attention you give him might have him chasing you. You're well known enough that you'd end up in the news more so than the others - especially with how pretty you are. You know how the media likes a sleeping beauty sob story." 

A scoff escapes your lips as you finally have a drink. "He's not dumb enough for that. Look at his targets. They're all people society ignores. He knows shit about how people work, he knows to be careful on who he picks. Since eyes would be on me, he'll stay away."

"Surprised you want him to stay away." 

Oh, you don't appreciate that. A pitiful frown peers at him from across the table, your sweet face falling. 

"I'm not like that, Dare. I've told you before." It's barely audible. He'd bet that your cheeks are feeling burned right about now. 

A crack can be heard as he leans back and stretches his spine, his large hands combing through his hair and getting it out of his face. He's due a haircut. 

"I know, love. Just teasing."

You arch a brow at him, a look that says you believe him as far as you could throw his giant frame. "Come on then. Give me your theory, what's he up to." 

Ah, yes. The part of these meetings that caused them in the first place. Darius had seen your first article on your news site, your pretty little picture right there on the page. When he'd found you typing your next in this very café, he'd had to give his own two-cents. You'd been astonished and thankful that anyone was ready to hear you out (outside of degenerate threads on the internet full of strange people in love with the killer). 

Bless your heart. You'd tried telling the police all of your theories, but they just wouldn't listen. Insisted they had a handle on things. 

"He's lonely." A simple conclusion. A truth - not what the killings had started as. But very much what they'd turned into.

You know nothing. You never have. You know far more than anyone else but there's half of the picture you haven't filled in. And couldn't yet. That informant told you scraps of the details, but not everything about the bodies. About the messages left on them.

But you had guessed right on a few other things. Like his age range, his education or professional background - the fact that it was nine bodies so far, not six like the police believed. The fact that he is indeed a he. 

"I doubt it. He shows all of the signs of a highly functioning person. He's probably well liked by people around him, probably-"

"But do any of the people around him understand him? Quite common now, no? Mental health pandemic and all that." 

Your voice stutters as you find your response. "So he's… killing to feel connections? But he doesn't keep trophies. Not that we know of, anyway." 

"Who says it's the victims he's vying for the love of?" Dare tips his nearly empty coffee at you. 

Adorable, really. Watching the cogs in your brain turn as you recall everything you know. Watching how your tongue flicks out and wets your lips. You're a smart one. Surely you'll see what he's planting. 

"He's killing to get the attention of someone else. They didn't start out like that, though. He's changed." 

Darius nods along, proud. "How do you know he's changed?"

"Because of how slow and methodical he's getting. He used to just brutalise his victims, but now he's taking his time. Like he's… crafting messages?" 

Bingo. You don't see the messages he makes for you, but you hear about them. And they bring you to him. The only time he gets to see you is right after he kills, when you can't wait to meet up and talk about your latest findings. But you're getting too close there. 

"Or you were right the first time and he really is getting bored." 

Now you're growling, rubbing your tired eyes. "Yeah… yeah… goddamn it." 

Once again, you deflate. It's too easy, playing with your hopes and dreams like this. You want to catch him so bad, to know him inside and out. To know what makes him tick. But so long as you don't know, you'll come back to Dare to bounce your theories around. 

Taking a final drink, Darius picks up his coat and heads to the bin to toss away the empty cardboard cup. Time for your evening walk together around the park. The cool air helped you both think. 

Following suit, you chug what remains of your beverage while checking your phone. and thank him as he holds the door open even though you're enamoured by whatever is on the screen. You used to pay more attention to Darius himself, but his actions keeping your focus is close enough.

Your hand finds his, tugging him along as you rush to the park. A giddy laugh pulls from your chest. He's never touched you before. He can't think of words to say as he feels your skin against his own. 

The first two killings had been out of curiosity. A need to know if they'd alleviate Darius' boredom. To know if it would shock some excitement within him. They hadn't been exciting at all until he'd found your article. You do such strange things to his head, love. All of those extra lives gone just because he needed to see you. 

"Our friend managed to get some pictures for me! They're sending it over now, but they're messing around with emails to make sure it can't get back to them." 

"Good news, that. You'll have more to think about." Ah. He wasn't exactly expecting this to happen so soon. Your room wasn't fully finished. "Are you sure you want to look, though? It'll be a real body. Not some movie prop. A real, skinned body." 

"For better or worse, I'm very desensitised to blood and gore. I'll be fine. Are you sure you aren't the one scared to see it?" Your eyebrows waggle as you release his hand, having made it across the road and in through the gates of the park. 

"I've seen this shit before. Ex-homicide department, remember?" 

"Mmmm, but that was years ago, and we can go soft in our old age." 

If you were anyone else he'd slap you upside your head. Despite himself, Darius laughs. "Not that old, love. I'm still in my prime." 

There's a lot of trees in the park. And very little people at this time. He'd always think ahead and parked his car in a lot that just backed off into the foliage, in a blind spot from cameras, just in case. You walked to the café since it wasn't far from the office. 

Your phone buzzes, your smile ceasing as you take in a deep breath and look over the photo. Your fingers pinch and you zoom in to examine every detail you can. A paleness crosses your skin. 

"Fucking hell…" 

Yeah, that's about right. Dare went the extra mile with this one.

"He really did take his time with this. It's. God, its smooth work. He knows how to butcher." The disgust is evident in your tone and the way your lip curls. What did he just tell you? You're biting off more than you can chew.

Darius' fingers snake their way into the deep pockets of his coat. They trace the rope he has hidden away. The capped needle he prepares before every meeting.

"He's-" 

The gulp is audible as you scroll to the next photograph. Almost gag like as you zoom in as far as you can - your eyes blowing up as your expression blanks. You found it. His little note. A name, sewn onto the sole of the foot delicately. A nickname you barely tell anyone about because it embarrasses you. But you'd told Dare. 

He can't hear anything over the sound of his blood rushing through his veins in his ears. Time seems to slow as your terrified gaze meets his own. The twitch of your muscles comes too late as you realise he's already moving - that he has something in his hand. Your scream dies as a gargle when Darius' free palm meets your throat, squeezing tightly as the needle goes in. 

Oh, his poor little investigator. It was time to go home. 

To Darius, you weigh little. Trussing you up is simple work, as is getting you in the boot of his car. There's a pillow in there for your head. Memory foam. He'd bring it inside to your new bed along with you, even if the room wasn't quite ready. He could make it work. Keep you bound, chained.

Driving past the café on the way home raises his curiosity. You wouldn't talk to him like you had in there. Not anymore. You'd be scared; feeling confused. Betrayed, maybe. He'd explain it all for you, though. His journal would tell you everything you ever wanted to know. Everything about how you became his muse. 

The police wouldn't be hearing from him again. He had what he wanted. 

[margojacksonpotter]

Part in BOSAS books that should have been in the movie

-Dr. Gaul used on Avoxes for her mutation experiments, combining humans with gills, feathers, tentacles, and other animal parts. Also, Dr. Gaul spoke in rhymes sometimes which just made her character even creepier.

-When Arachne was killed by her tribute, Brandy, Coriolanus was asked to sing the national anthem at her funeral. The tributes were also paraded on the funeral while Brandy’s lifeless body swung high into a crane. It was meant as a reminder to the tributes of what would happen if they tried to resist. A few weeks later, when two other mentors were killed in the arena explosion, a hologram of himself sang Gem of Panem to their funeral as well.

- The large crowd forming in front of the arena during the Games. People dressing up their dogs as their favorite tributes. People at the zoo making the tributes do tricks for food. It was all so disgusting and just added to the horrors of the Games.

-All of the scenes with Coriolanus in the classroom. They had such deep, profound discussions about the Games, war, humanity. I can’t list all of them but the students made interesting points.

-How Coriolanus got the guitar that Lucy Gray used it in her interview before the Game. He borrowed it from Pluribus Bell, a family friend. Pluribus and his partner used to own a bar pre-war but now make a living selling items on the black market. Pluribus loved Lucy Gray and gave her a standing ovation after her interview performance where she sang. He even wanted her to headline at his bar if he ever reopened one. He kinda reminded me of Cinna.

- There were only a few microphones in the wall of the arena so most of the time spectators were watching the Games in silence. The microphones could only pick up so much sound, so they had to interpret facial expressions or body expressions to understand what the tributes were doing. I understand for the purposes of the movie they couldn’t do that but it would have been interesting to see.

-Lucky Flickerman being absolutely chaotic: being completely oblivious to Highbottom’s snide remarks towards him, doing tricks with his parrot Jubilee, Jubilee flying to the ceiling and refusing to come down because Lucky’s theatrics were too much for him, looking uneasy at Dr. Gaul who wanted to do experiments on Jubilee, giving the weather forecast when the Games were too slow and making snow related jokes at Coriolanus’ expense, getting sprayed with a fire extinguisher on camera because his sprinklers set off the alarm. The list could go on.

- Though that scene of Coriolanus saying “I was just sending water” was very funny in the movie, it did not happen in the book. Coriolanus was about to send water to Lucy Gray to fend off Jessup who was rabid with rabies. However, Lysistrata, Jessup’s mentor, insisted that she send the water because that’s what Jessup would have wanted. She and Jessup had also become very close before the Games. As she sent the water to him, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

-The Games did not end after Lucy Gray sang to the snakes. There were still five tributes left. Heavy overnight rainfall and cold weather caused most of the snakes to die in the arena. Honestly it seemed like the movie just wanted to wipe out the remaining tribute to get the Games over with.

-Reaper!! What a complex character! This is the guy who, before the Games, personally apologized to every tribute for having to kill him. And he is the only tribute who didn’t have a single kill. Instead, he formed a short alliance with Lamina, tore the Capitol flag off the arena wall ( which caused a commotion in Heavensbee Hall) and made a makeshift morgue for the fallen tributes. I think the movie did an injustice by having him die off from the snakes. He and Lucy Gray were the last two standing. Lucy Gray, knowing Reaper was starving and had contracted rabies when Jessup spit in his eye, tired him out to death when she ran off with the Capitol flag he used to cover the other tributes. Then poisoned a puddle using the compact, knowing he’d drink from it, which led to his death. He deserved to have more of an acknowledgement. All the tributes did really.

[zhakyria]

Ben found himself floating above a colorful village surrounded by dense, dark green jungle. He knew this was a dream, and yet it did not feel like his usual dreams nor did it feel like the frequent nightmares that plagued his sleep. There was a calm to this dream, a comfort, an acceptance like he’d never felt before.

He floated closer to the village. It was filled with all manner of people though the most common by far was an alien species he did not recognize. They were similar, in a way, to twi’leks, nautolans, or togruta, sporting several leku-like tendrils, and colorful skin tones decorated with unique patterns, but they had bone and scale-like plates covering their foreheads reminiscent of crowns. He wanted to explore this place, to taste all the different foods he could smell from the various street vendors that lined the main thoroughfare. He floated just above the roofs of the lowest buildings and something within the dream stopped him from getting closer. He grumbled a colorful word he’d heard one of the other students say under his breath.

A shuttle flew low over his head and landed at the small pad located at the far side of the village. It wasn’t a model he recognized, it was painted black and had wings that folded from horizontal into vertical position as it landed, similar to the old Imperial transports.

He drifted closer to that end of the village until he bounced off another invisible barrier. He rolled his eyes and stopped. He watched as two men departed the shuttle. One dressed in all black with a helmet trimmed in silver. He felt familiar to Ben, but darker than anyone he’d ever met. This man walked with a heavy stride, like he wanted people to know he was coming. The people avoided him, flowing around him like water flowing around a stone in the river. Ben couldn’t tell if it was just the man’s presence or a trick of the Force that he was using.

The other man was dressed in a military uniform. Not too dissimilar to those worn by the old Imperials. This man had red hair and pale skin, a stark contract against the black of his uniform. Though Ben could not hear what the two were discussing, he got the impression that the man in uniform was frustrated, annoyed at the man in the helmet, though his gait never faltered from the military precision he moved with. What stuck with Ben the most, however, were the piercing blue-green eyes that watched the crowds around them with cold calculation.

Ben felt a pull to this man he’d never experienced before. It tickled his curiosity. The man felt like a black hole, pulling and devouring everything before him and yet, there was a calmness about him. The type of calmness one only felt in the middle of a mountain forest during the depths of winter. His companion on the other hand felt like a wild monstrous beast stalking the shadows with blood and ash following in his wake. Where one fascinated Ben, the other frightened him.

The scene faded and turned to night. Ben stood at the edge of a clearing. At the center was a crackling campfire. Children sat around it on log benches while an older alien sat before them. His skin pastel yellow skin faded to almost grey, his face wrinkled with years of laughter. Adults of all species stood or sat on the outskirts of the fire’s glow, included the two men from earlier. The helmeted and cloaked man leaned against a tree, he appeared relaxed but there was tension to his shoulders and crossed arms. The other man stood nearby; he fiddled with the cuffs of his uniform and had a thin line to his lips. He glared at his surroundings and pointedly avoided looking at his companion.

The old story teller was speaking and realizing that he could hear and understand the elder, Ben crept closer, taking an empty seat on one of the benches with the other children.

“Long ago, well before the Empire cast it’s shadow over the galaxy, well after the fall of the Sith Empire, a lost son of our world returned. He had never stepped foot upon our soil, his family stolen generations before his time.

“His body bore the marks of many wars and the color had faded from his scales with age. Yet he did not come with weapon in hand. He came to listen and wander the wilds. He spent days out in the jungle, we warned him to respect it, or it would chew him up.” The elder made chomping motions with his hands towards the nearest kids, who squealed and giggled. He smiled. “The lost son would nod and thank us for the warnings. He always returned.

“He spoke little of his past, but even here, untouched and overlooked by Empires and Republics alike we knew him. Few of our kind walk the stars. Fewer still are known to lead the Knights of Ren. To us he was legend, yet when ask who he was, the lost son would only smile sadly and say ‘I’m a lost soul seeking a long forgotten place.’

“We interrogated him: Were you a thief, a marauder, a raider, a warrior, a defender, or protector? For travelers had spoken of the Knights and few agreed on what they were, surely their leader would have the answer.

“’All of that, and more.’ the lost son replied. He never spoke of it again.

“Before he left this world, he gave a message to the Elder of our Village. ‘One seeking the past will arrive here. His coming will herald a great flood of darkness that will leave no world untouched. Aid him. Or be swallowed by Chaos.’”

The elder and the listening children faded away and Ben found himself on a path leading to a carved stone mausoleum somewhere deep in the jungle. It was raining. He stepped closer, his heavy boots squelching the mud beneath their soles. The cemetery was well cared for, but felt ancient. The hairs a the back on his neck stood on end. Shadowy figured watched from the periphery of his vision.

When he reached the mausoleum door, he reached out, not with his bare hand but a gloved one and pushed open the door. Something called to him from within the crypt. Something he needed to find. It tugged at him. He stumbled against the steps. He looked down and his body glad in black robes and armor, thick murky ooze grasping at his legs.

He struggled but it only tightened its grip, yanking him down. He reached out with the Force but felt nothing. The ooze rolled over him; it covered his face, filled his lungs. He cried out but no sound emerged.

Ben jolted awake, his bed sheets twisted and tangled around his body. His heart pounded and he gasped for air. The dream quickly fading as he grasped to remember what he saw before the nightmare took hold, but it was gone. The only thing he remembered were piercing blue-green eyes.

He untangled himself and rolled up into a sitting position. He rubbed his hand across his face and through his damp hair. He sighed. It was going to be another hot and humid summer day. He glanced out his only window to see the warm glow of the sun brightening the horizon.

“Kriff…” He flung what remained of his bedsheets off and bolted to the basin of water to wash up. It was warm, but he didn’t have time to cool it, something he’d only recently learned how to do with the Force.

He was scheduled to help Lena in the kitchens before morning meditation. Normally, he would jog for 15 minutes before hand. It usually helped him meditate, now he’d be lucky to avoid his Uncle’s chastisement for falling asleep during meditation, but nothing compared to being berated by Lena if he burned the porridge again because he dozed off. He pulled his summer robes over his head, snatched up his wooden practice blade, and ran out the door.

[apomaro-mellow]

Part 2

Steve knew a thing or two about business thanks to the unwanted lessons from his father. He knew a significant portion of it was schmoozing with those you planned to do business with. It was why he didn't balk when Henry Creel put his arm around his shoulder and led him away from the rest of the group. This was just the way things were done.

Henry took him outside to a magnificent garden.

"So, you wanted to sign us to your label?", Steve asked as Henry moved away from him and put his hands behind his back.

"I want to collaborate with you", Henry said. He disappeared behind a hedge and Steve jogged to follow behind, only to find himself alone when he turned the corner.

"Mr. Creel?"

"Please", he said, reappearing behind Steve and startling him. "Call me Henry. You have just the voice I've been searching for, Steve."

Steve smiled, glad that he had impressed him. "Well, it's not just my voice. The whole band has really been coming together lately. Eddie's actually our main vocalist most of the time-"

"A fact that has been holding you back", Henry crowded into his space suddenly before backing off and walking again.

"Holding me back?", Steve questioned.

"I want your voice, Steve. Just your voice", Henry clarified.

"I'm not a solo act. I'm just a part of Corroded Coffin."

Henry's fingers brushed against a flower's petals. "A coffin is where you're headed if you throw your lot in with them. After years of obscurity, that is. I want to give you more than that." Henry walked on to a small fountain and Steve watched his wavering reflection in the water, trying to keep from wavering himself.

"I don't want these things just for myself. Crash, Jeff, Gareth, Eddie, these are their dreams too."

"I make dreams a reality", Henry said with a snap of his fingers and then about half a dozen of them stood around Steve in a circle.

"What..."

"I want to usher a new era into this world. One where my powers are recognized. Where my talents are appreciated."

Steve didn't know which one to look at. "You have a ton of fans! What do you need me for?"

"For the ultimate spell."

All of the Henrys poofed away in a puff of smoke and Steve was alone again. "What are you talking about? You're not making any sense!", he shouted to thin air.

"Oh Steve...", Henry's voice sounded from all around him. "I'm the only one in this world who does make sense. You can use your voice to help me and be a part of the new world order."

"Eddie was right about you. I'm not doing anything with you!"

A flower next to Steve spritzed him with something and his head was swimming. "I'm not...I won't...", he struggled to speak while also having trouble standing. He didn't last long, falling onto a flowerbed, unconscious.

Once he was down, Henry sauntered forward. "You will. Whether you like it or not."

Jeff was wandering the mansion, having completely lost track of Steve and Henry. He cursed under his breath. Now he wasn't just worried about what Eddie would do, he was worried for Steve. Celebrities thought they could get away with anything. What if he hurt Steve? Jeff heard footsteps coming down the hall and tried to hide behind one of the many tacky statues Henry had of himself but was caught immediately by one of the suits.

"Hey! Where's Steve? What'd you do to him?"

"He's discussing the terms of his contract with Mr. Creel", was the answer.

Jeff's eyes narrowed. "Steve wouldn't do anything without us. You're lying!" He fought against the man with little to show for it, being dragged back the way he came and towards the door.

"Your friend is off to bigger and better things." He picked Jeff up and threw him over his shoulder the rest of the way before tossing him in the driver's seat of Eddie's van.

"Hey-!"

"Get your friends home."

Jeff looked and saw Eddie, Gareth, and Crash were in the back of the van, limp and looking dead to the world.

"We're not leaving without...without Steve..." As he spoke he saw a private jet lifting off into the sky. Somehow, Jeff knew Steve was on it. But he also knew there had to be more to the story than that. He was shoved fully into the car and had the door slammed on him before he could ask any other questions.

"Have a nice ride", the suit smirked while two others pushed the van from behind.

Jeff pressed down on the brakes only to realize they weren't working. "Eddie!? EDDIE! GUYS!"

He did his best to steer while the car careened out of control, taking them back to town. He swerved away from pedestrians, and poles, got lucky that there was an uphill slope that helped to slow the car down just a bit but unlucky as at the top of that hill was a fountain which he promptly crashed into. The collision jolted the other three awake and Eddie was in an instant bad mood.

"What the hell Jeff?! Anyone ever teach you how to drive?" He opened the back doors of the van, feeling sick with a headache coming on.

"Sorry I couldn't figure out how to do it with no brakes. But we've got bigger problems man!"

They all stumbled out, taking a chance to look over themselves for any injuries. Eddie turned all around as he took stock.

"Where's Steve?"

"That's the problem", Jeff sighed. There was a sound from above and he pointed up to the plane flying over. "I think he's on that. With Vecna."

"Steve ditched us?", Gareth asked.

"He wouldn't do that...right?", Crash asked, sounding uncertain.

Jeff saw a myriad of emotions passing over Eddie's face and already knew what was happening before he said a single word. He was closing up, hiding himself away as he watched Steve fly away.

"Well then, guess the spotlight wasn't big enough for all of us."

"Eddie, we gotta go get him", Jeff said.

"Oh he hasn't seen the last of us", Eddie crossed his arms. "Mr. Ambition owes us an explanation. He was pretty quick to sell out and I'd like to know why."

"How are we gonna get to him?", Gareth asked just as a police car drove up.

All of the boys shared a look with each other. Ask and the universe shall provide.

Part 4

[gudvina]

The things I do to keep you near.

Ship: Effie Trinket/Haymitch Abernathy

Fandom: Hunger Games

Chapter 2: Marriage Contract.

Can also be read on AO3!

71st Hunger Games, Gamemakers’ party.  

The venue was filled to the brim with people, and Haymitch was glad that the Victors’ area was separated from the crowd. Small mercies. Trashy music, flashing colours at every turn, the party was so Capitol that maybe they should have called it that.

It only happened every five years, and the Victors were required to attend if only to be able to gain sponsors. Not all of them were there, but for next year’s mentors it was the best bet.

He was sitting on the couch and sloshing his drink absentmindedly, pretending to listen to the chatter around him.

“… right, Haymitch?”

He turned to see Finnick look at him, waiting for an answer. He surmised that he’d been telling a story to Johanna, the new Victor from District Seven, a girl who was already raging from the inside out. He knew that anger.

“What?”.

“Chum, you’ve got to stop looking at Trinket. What’s going on with you this year? Afraid she might disappear on you again?” Chaff joked, eyeing him from his stool. Haymitch winced at the mention of Effie’s leaving and hid it by taking a big gulp of his drink. He knew his friend was worried, that behind his jokes there was a silent warning against getting involved too much with Capitols. No matter how great of a fuck they were. No matter how caring they seemed.

If Chaff had known he’d married her, he would have never heard the end of it.

He didn’t, though. Nobody had to know, not even Effie, and she’d be safe. Safe to be his. Maybe, he would croak before the end of her escorting mandate. After all, he was 38, his alcoholism didn’t seem to get any better, and judging by Lavinia Albus’ stay Twelve was always reticent to let go of their escorts.

“She ain’t going anywhere if she knows what’s good for her”.

“Who the fuck is Trinket?!” Johanna asked, frowning.

“Haymitch’s escort. I’ve wanted her in One for ages, Finnick has been begging her to switch to Four, but nothing. The Gamemakers do not want to go through the ordeal of searching for another escort and he keeps a tight leash on the poor woman” Cashmere chipped in, sitting beside her brother.

“What makes her so good?”

“She always shows up for the tributes, and you will learn that an escort can either break or make a set. A few years ago, District Three used to have an absent escort and it showed, they had to replace her abruptly: now Three has a few loyal sponsors. Twelve is already a hard district to lead, I can’t imagine what it was like before Effie Trinket”. Finnick explained, leaning back on his chair.

“Liviana did her job, but she was a bitch”.

“A bitch? She was hell” Chaff scoffed “The escort who reaped me couldn’t stand her. Gloria and Liviana were at odds because Liviana was never giving escort guardianship or some shit”.

“To be fair it was always Gloria, Iuno, and Pulchra the ones in charge of ‘producing’ new escorts”.

“And I’d say thank God for that, Cecilia. Imagine a little Liviana Albus walking around the Training Centre, I wouldn’t last five minutes”.

“Well, yeah, but we get a little Gloria who follows Haymitch everywhere”. Woof said, mischief in his eyes. Despite Chaff’s usual stance against Capitols, he’d always liked Gloria, who in her time had won the Best-Escort-Of-The-Year award for three years in a row. She had always cared for Chaff and his mentor, and he’d been unable to forget it.

“Trinket and Gloria have nothing in common! She mentored Trinket, so they operate similarly, but that’s about it. Especially in the way they dress”.

“Come on Chaff, you’re not a boy anymore. You know what was going on between Gloria and Jasper!” Woof insisted, and Haymitch considered the benefits of digging a hole in the polished floors of the venue. The discussion was taking a turn he didn’t like. Not only were they talking too much about him and Effie, but mentioning Jasper Arbore was always a recipe for disaster, as he’d been like a father to Chaff.

Jasper Arbore was the winner of the 15th edition of The Hunger Games, the first District 11 win. He’d been followed by Seeder very soon, alternating the mentorship charges until the Fortieth edition. And if Gloria Shimmers had come about during that edition, for Chaff it was only a coincidence.

He had never coped well with his Games, that much had been clear to Haymitch, he was a soft-spoken man with a gentle soul who struggled with the weight of his corruption. He hoped for their tributes, why he didn’t know, and every year that hope was crushed. At the time he didn’t understand why he would come back. Why would a man so gentle and weak put himself in that position willingly, when he could have left it to the other Victors?

When Gloria’s mandate ended the answer was clear. That year Jasper didn’t come back, and Victory Tour had to be announced yet when he was found dead of a morphling overdose. Seeder was the one who found him, and it had been a low blow to both her and Chaff. Out of the game scene, Gloria was not even allowed to travel for his funeral.

He didn’t like the reminder.

“Whatever was going on, it has nothing to do with Trinket and sulky boy here”. Chaff denied, more for Haymitch’s sake than for anything else. That seemed to be the end of it, and Haymitch poured himself another drink, hoping to drown the feeling that sat heavily on his guts.

“Talking about Trinket” started Gloss “Is she back with Crane?”

“No”

“How do you know that?”

“Because she is not”. He barked.

“Uhm, good, because they seem real chummy over there”.

He could have killed. When he turned in the direction Gloss was pointing, the first person he spotted was her. She wore a brown puffy wig dotted with gold, a brown dress that came at an end at her thighs, and was currently trying to whisper something in response to the Head Gamemaker. His arm was around her waist, her hand held the lapels of his jacket. They still looked like the Capitol’s darling couple.

He knew they were childhood friends, that the end of their relationship didn’t mean the end of their friendship, but the intimate way he touched her never failed to make his blood boil. The man always had a hand on her, and always demanded her attention.

His eyes took in each movement. She was his escort, it was her job to be overtly friendly, to sport the brightest smile and charm the stupidest fool. It wasn’t real, he knew. It wasn’t real.

He saw her frown and shake her hands to deny something. The Head Gamemaker nodded and whispered something else, but Effie seemed to deny some more, so he relented the grip on her waist. He continued whispering in her ear when she turned in his direction and their eyes met.

The grey of his eyes was darkened by an emotion she couldn’t decipher. It made her body feel weak, it burned her to her very core.

“I don’t want this, but Patroclus is willing to sponsor Twelve, Phim. And since your Victor is not actively doing his job passing this will be a bad choice” Seneca whispered.

“Haymitch is doing what he can!”. Small lies; it was true that he wasn’t doing his job properly, but Effie couldn’t help her instincts. Nobody touched her Victor.

“I’m sure, Phim, but that’s not enough. Not nearly enough. Now, it’s been a while since you’ve had to do this, but Patroclus is chivalrous, being on the older side, and can be even fancied as handsome. He’s just asked for a night with you, that’s all”.

“It’s not a small thing to ask…”

“You are single, so is he. It’s not a big thing to ask either” he shrugged, his hand now on the small of her back.

“Can I consider it with Haymitch?”

Seneca’s mouth opened to say something, but then he stopped himself. He took a deep breath, smoothed her dress beneath his hands, and seemed to be deep in thought for just a second.

“Yes, you can, but the decision should fall on you, you know that, right?”

“Thank you, I… will let you know”.

She smiled again, and her facial muscles stiffened due to the exertion. Seneca left her to talk to other people and her eyes prickled with tears. It wasn’t the only time she danced this ballad, admittedly, even when she was with Seneca she used to go with Sponsors, but she hadn’t done it in a few years and now it felt different. It felt wrong.

When she’d been in a relationship with Seneca it was easy, he’d find her sponsors and she’d charm her way into their pants to aim at their pockets, a perfect mechanism. Their relationship was open, and she hid behind these trysts to avoid the reality of her affair with Haymitch.  

But it had been a few years since she’d been with anyone that wasn’t Haymitch. The thought of hands that weren’t his on her skin made her sick, to the point that she wondered if maybe she had drunk a little too much.

At that moment Haymitch got up and strode toward her, ignoring Chaff’s raised eyebrows and Cashmere and Gloss’ snickering. She was upset, and he didn’t like that.

“What happened?” he whispered, concerned “What did Crane say?”

“Nothing, just… he’s found a new sponsor for us”. She felt bile in her throat.

“That’s good news, isn’t it? Why do you look like that?”

“Because I have to fuck him”, she hissed but regretted it instantly. It was stupid, but she didn’t know if he realised what being an escort truly entailed. And if he did, maybe he was okay with it, maybe he didn’t care and she was sure that would kill her, him not caring. But he’d always made that clear, hadn’t he? That what they were doing was just scratching an itch. Nothing more.

Suddenly his hand held onto her wrist and steered her away, dragging her through the crowd. He was walking quickly towards the exit, and she struggled to keep up with him, complaining about how rude it was to flee a party without taking a proper leave.

In a minute they were in the limousine that would take them to the penthouse, and only when they were driving did he let go of her wrist.

“Haymitch, really, this is absurd! How could you leave all your friends in such a manner? And I’ll have to remind you that I’m a lady, and it is highly improper for you to drag me away like that”.

“Oh, but it’s so proper for boyfriend to pimp you out, huh?”

“His friend asked him, he did not seek it” it was a half-lie. Her eyes were prickling with tears again.

“Do you want to do it?” he held her gaze, and she realized he was challenging her. Or maybe testing her. She could not tell the difference, but he’d not looked at her so coldly in a long while, and it was breaking her.

“No” she sobbed and felt hot tears stream down her face, surely ruining the elaborate brown eye makeup.

Seeing her like this was more than he could bear. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her firmly, his tongue ready to battle for dominance but finding, for once, little resistance. She’d limped in his embrace, and she would have kept kissing him forever if it wasn’t for the need for air.

“Seneca talked of him, said he just asked for a night, that he’ll sponsor us” she said breathlessly “I told him I wanted to talk about it with you”.

“Good girl” he whispered and kissed her again, this time making it dirty. She let out a soft moan.

He backed away and looked at her. She was aroused, he could see the tell-tale signs by the dazed look in her eyes and the way she licked her lips. She’d been since before the party, but now it seemed to have reached its height. His little wife.

“Tell me you won’t do it” he whispered, one of his hands cupping her breasts and squeezing as the other made its way up her skirt.

“I won’t do it” she moaned, her legs spreading readily for him.

“Promise me. Promise me you won’t let anyone else touch you”. He groaned when her hands moved to massage his crotch.

“Only if you promise you won’t let anyone touch you” she pleaded coquettishly, but he wasn’t fooled. Through the haze of her arousal, he knew she was going to hold him up to his words. She didn’t know, but there wasn’t anyone else. He didn’t mind making a promise he was already upholding if that meant he’d get his wife all for himself.

“I promise” he smirked when he felt the soaked fabric of her panties, claiming her lips in a heated kiss as she started to unbuckle his belt.

She couldn’t wait anymore.

In a moment she was straddling his lap, the other guiding him to her entrance. She slid down his length with a strangled moan, every inch of him filling her in the way only he did, and when he bottomed out she took a moment to adjust and press soft kisses on his jaw. Soon she rotated her hips in a fast-paced rhythm.

His groans and her strangled moans were the only sounds that could be heard, and for a while, she enjoyed having control of the situation. That was until he gripped either side of her waist and started to take charge, slowly taking over and becoming her undoing. She reached her peak, muffling the sounds against the crook of his neck, and felt him follow right after.

They rested on each other for a little bit, recovering from the mess of their coupling. She leaned back a little bit to look him in the eyes, and he raised a hand and caressed her forehead gently.

“Did you mean it?” she asked feebly, her voice still not quite recovered.

“I did, sweetheart”

“Really?

“Really”.

He kissed her, his stubble burnt against her cheeks. She didn’t mind being his if that meant he’d be hers. She didn’t mind at all.

[contentment-of-cats]

Thrawn and Thysa from the Care story universe.

They. Put. Him. Out.

Thrawn was lifted off his feet, carted in a state of shock and disbelief into the hallway and set on his heels.

Moreover, there was a fingerwagging lecture about this being in a situation he can't control and to let the obstetrical medics do their job. Thysa was doing just fine, Thrawn's opinion to the contrary, and their child was likewise doing just fine. However, said child was comfy in her human mother's warmth and dilatory enough about entering into the greater universe that induction of labor had been considered but ultimately unneeded. He was readmitted to the birthing room after a promise to 'behave' was extracted and deemed sincere.

Thysa was (in his opinion) too pale and (also in his opinion) sweating enough to concern one with dehydration, and additionally gave off distress indicators nerve block or no nerve block. The contractions were horrifying in terms of intensity and duration. Even at full dilation, there wasn't enough progress and as the Chiss medic said, even a small Chiss baby was a large one for a rather small human.

Also - broad shoulders.

Thrawn fed his po'sa ice chips and from time to time had his fingers crushed when the nerve blocks wore off. There was discussion of a surgical extraction until the shoulder could be tuned and his (their) daughter arrived in the universe like a nightmelon seed being spat out. It was distressing that both were removed from him, and Thrawn got to experience fatherhood hormones at full full blast. His Thysa and Ava were returned to him just short of painting the room with someone's blood, one exhausted and one ferociously hungry. He bundled them into their bed, back turned to the unwanted crowd of Chiss and Humans, and slipped Ava into Thysa's arms where she rooted and then settled.

A father. At his age.

Thysa treated him tenderly, worried (for him?!), but willing to be soothed to sleep with purring. A glance at his daughter made him wonder that anyone survived being so small, so helpless.

If anyone gave his wife and child so much as a hard look, he'd fracture them in so many places that they'd need an MSE droid to sweep up the bits.

And with that, Thrawn slept.

~

Ba'kif had a Thrawn-shaped headache again for the first time in years. It did not improve with age.

Surely he misunderstood what Kres'ten'tarthi just said.

"Firstborn."

"Firstborn." Stent was far too cheerful. "There are no Imperial recruiting stations out this far, so as the Human females' contraceptive devices failed over time..."

The mother was Human. The term moactan teel existed for a reason. And Thrawn, always paternal to young ones, was getting the fatherhood hormones right in the teeth.

"Has there been bloodshed?"

"Human mothers can be as fearsome as nightdragons-"

"I meant Thrawn."

Stent's answer was to lead him to Ar'alani, and then lead them both to Thrawn. The Human mothers, it was explained, denned for three months - an effective fourth trimester - before becoming social again. It dovetailed nicely with Chiss fatherhood hormones that drove protecting and nurturing po'sa and infant. The suite of rooms was expansive, bright, and airy - the mothering room was small, gently lit, and warm. He could see the white back of Thrawn's tunic and smell the sweet musk particular to humans with the milk-fed scent of a newborn child.

And heard a soft 'hrrrrrrrrr' as Thrawn turned his head, red eyes squeezed to glowing slits.

Ba'kif had been a hormone-addled new father, true, but Thrawn's manners were absent. Chiss males needed three to six months of newborn leave for a reason. Mindful that those shoulders were still broad and muscled, Ba'kif stopped a respectful distance away - and stopped Ar'alani with an outstretched arm. The mother, a black-haired and night-orchid colored human peeked unblinking just past Thrawn's shoulder.

The hrrrr-growl continued. Lip lifting to show sharp eyeteeth.

Ar'alani decided to break the stalemate by moving quickly on Ba'kif's right. Thrawn's eyes darted to her momentarily and that's all Ba'kif needed to step up and scruff Thrawn like an unruly pusheen.

The Human then became stabby.

The baby wrapped close to her body did not unlatch.

And Thrawn bit him.

Hard.

Ar'alani - wary of a stabby Human - got Thrawn off his arm and coaxed the Human into removing the knife. The little mother had plenty to say in fluent Rentor dialect and the insults were positively baroque. Thrawn kept himself between his po'sa and Ba'kif and Ar'alani as Ba'kif was treated with bac'tah.

"-and you left him there for FIVE YEARS, so fuck off and keep fucking off until you leave orbit, continue fucking off out of the system, then proceed to fuck off right to the galactic boundary and into the dark of intergalactic space."

Can't say that they don't know where they stood with this one.

~

Ava lay warm and snug in the vik'kiki wrap - skin to skin with Thysa, boob and milk in reach. Her spouse still occasionally growled at Ar'alani and Ba'kif, and Thysa was Not Having Anyone's Shit Today. Yes, they all understood that the exile was a ruse for an intel insertion, but five years waiting for it to happen was fucking heartless. They deserved to lose him and the Empire - which in the end didn't deserve him either - got him.

A quick check showed her a sleepy, milk-fat baby, deep blue with warmth. Thrawn told her that Chiss infants put on a thick coat of baby fat, the start of thermogenic fat that will keep them warm, but right now she can't regulate her temperature. Ava needed close warmth and lots of milk. As loath as Thysa was to let Ava away from her, she needed a shower.

"Can you take her? There's milk packs if she wakes up." Thrawn touched his forehead to hers, then she slipped the wrap over his head and transferred the baby, "And if they lay a finger on my child, I will go full Wookiee."

"Understood."

Thysa left him the knife and surrendered to the planetary luxury of hot water. Her insides still felt strange, her belly pooched out, and using the tubes was a whole different dimension, but the hot water beat down and she washed until every muscle was loose and lush. She left her hair loose and damp, pulled back in a tail, then put on a clean gown. The scents of food wafted in, and suddenly Thysa was ravenous. All she'd done was eat, sleep, and nurse for the past three days. Thrawn barely let her out of bed and catered to every whim.

Thrawn lay on the bed, Ava on his chest, coaxing her to accept a milk pack. Soft cranky noises meant she wanted the fresh stuff but she settled sleepily as Thrawn purred. They'd been afraid, at first, that so many evolutionary changes meant that Thysa's pregnancy wouldn't be viable. Every time Ava beat the odds. Ba'kif and Ar'alani had moved back to the window seat and that was just fine with Thysa. Unbuttoning the front of her gown she reclaimed the little guzzler from Thrawn and was immediately latched.

~

Ar'alani knew this Human from her time on the Chimaera and from the unfortunate second meeting where Pyrondi fired on her ship. Ar'alani hadn't noticed anything between her and Thrawn at first, but by the time the Steadfast encountered the Seventh, they were established and Thrawn was not returning to the Ascendancy, but chose to remain with his Humans. She'd gone back for Ba'kif and others who might convince him - to no avail. There was even less chance of Thrawn's return - none, exactly - now that he had a mate and child.

Ba'kif seemed to have hit on a strategy of Knowing About Infants, and when Ava glutted herself on milk and expressed displeasure with the result Ba'kif intervened. Of course, when one's placid newborn wailed like an incursion alarm, it ran into the sleep-deprived, hormone-addled brains of new parents and addled them further. Ba'kif simply scooped the infant up after Thrawn failed to reason with her put her over one shoulder and in a few pats-

Oh. Ugh.

Ba'kif wore an outsize amount of white slime as he cleaned up the ch'ithsin'bo hsiro in'a  and issued an order. "Sleep. I will not leave the room with Mitth'ava'thysa. When you wake and eat, we will talk."

"He's not going back, and if he is we're all coming with him." Thysa was defiant.

Ba'kif nodded. settling into an oddly made chair with curved runners and setting it in motion. "When you wake. Sleep."

Thrawn took his mate into his arms, and they murmured to one another in that other language before curling up with one another. ar'alani stretched out in the window seat and let her own exhaustion weigh down her eyelids. Thrawn was their last thread of hope.

[ruvviks]

Chapter >> 13 [x] Characters >> Cato Wu (oc), Eddie Wolfe (oc), Judy Álvarez, Mikhail Koshechkin (oc), Rogue Amendiares, Vitali Dobrynin (oc), a long list of side characters Total >> 6.6k words Warnings >> Alcohol, blood, brainwashing mention, death, descriptions of suffocation, injuries, violence

The sun had long set, the sky a deep, dark blue color yet too polluted with light and fumes to show any of the stars it held. Bright beams of advertisements between skyscrapers and Megabuildings illuminated the city and even at that hour of the night the streets were crowded and full of life.

Truly a place that never slept.

Tucked away between buildings in Watson, muffled music rose up from the underground club the Afterlife. Especially busy that day; for no particular reason, though the entrance itself was already crowded enough to signal to anyone who wanted to enter what the rest of the club’s grounds would be like.

The bright neon lights above the entrance flickered lightly when a car came to a stop on the club’s parking lot. Some curious glances in its direction- innocent, mostly, simply the gazes of those wondering who had arrived.

Though those very same gazes lingered just a little longer when three people exited the car- one of them dressed in a deep red suit with golden accents and stitched embroidery of flowers decorating the back of the jacket, and the other two in full combat gear- and slowly made their way inside.

The Afterlife was known to be the place for mercenaries and fixers to discuss business; no one would bat an eye upon seeing even the most popular of fixers- or the most infamous, for that matter- enter and make themselves right at home.

Though this was different.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Slicked back bleached hair; recently cut, a few loose strands covering a freckled forehead. Head held high, shoulders pushed back and a black cane with the same golden details as the ones decorating the suit in a gloved left hand and two piercing blueish gray eyes staring straight ahead, ignoring the stares of the rest of the club’s clientele.

Vitali Dobrynin was not a fixer often seen at the club. Most if not all of his business took place in his own office building in Wellsprings, far away from the prying eyes of nosy mercs looking to only half-commit to a job and jump ship with their payment before the contract would end.

Though people talked about him. Many visitors of the Afterlife did not want to work for him- believed him to be a faulty fixer still knee deep into the corpo life, ignoring the fact he had managed to build everything he now had up from ground level with nothing but hard-earned eddies from his own time as a merc.

Especially now, with the Broker running around; with ties to that very same Vitali Dobrynin, mercenaries rumored to work for him wreaking havoc in Night City not too long ago- and especially after that very same Vitali Dobrynin had supposedly worked for Arasaka again, about half a year back.

Rumors, rumors, rumors.

Nobody there knew Vitali had been brainwashed by the corporation, used like a puppet by them to try and tie up the final loose end of the disaster with the Relic. Nobody there knew the mercenaries in question no longer worked for Vitali, and now worked for the Broker instead.

And nobody there knew the Broker was not Vitali himself, but no one other than his very own father.

But that was about to change.

‘Eyes on the prize, boss. Milf spotted in the back booth, left of the bar.’

‘Cato, can you please be respectful for once in your life?’

Mikhail’s voice was only barely audible to Vitali over the noises surrounding them, earpiece in his right ear and earplug in his left. His friend’s exasperated comment was merely met with laughter from Eddie- there with them in the Afterlife- and Judy- on the other side of comms, with Cato.

‘Aw, come on, Mish- Am I wrong?’ Cato playfully asked. ‘Rogue’s a hot piece of ass, everyone can see that! ‘s Not as if she can hear me from all the way over there, anyway.’

‘Usually we try to handle these kinds of operations with a bit more…elegance,’ Vitali responded as he slowly maneuvered through the crowd, a greeting nod in Claire’s direction as he passed her by. ‘But, you have a point. So I’ll allow it- this once.’

‘See? Even the boss can appreciate- Wait, what?’

Vitali reached for his earpiece, switching channels with a hint of a smile lingering on his face as he stopped at the far end of the bar, carefully lowering himself on one of the barstools. Claire had followed along and reached for a bottle to pour him the usual- but Vitali caught her gaze and signed a quick “just some water, please” before she could lift it up.

‘She’s still busy at the moment from what I can tell,’ Judy said over comms, Cato’s confused stammering still slightly audible in the background. ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to send her a quick ping? Both you and V are on her good side. Shouldn’t be an issue.’

‘Thank you, Judy, but it’s alright.’ Vitali smiled at Claire and swiftly stopped the glass of water shoved into his direction from sliding any further. ‘The Council does not need to know about my visit to her. Off the records. Surely she will understand.’

‘Your call, jefe. I’ll let you know when there’s a window.’

Mikhail and Eddie stood on either of Vitali’s sides as the minutes slowly passed by. He had not wanted to bring them along; but Vincent had not allowed him to visit the club all by himself and had even threatened to come after him were he to try it anyway.

In hindsight, it had been a good decision. It had been a long time since the last time he had walked in there; well over a year now, as a matter of fact. Vitali knew he wasn’t liked and he knew he had to watch his step in there, well aware it would not have to take much for him to end up with a bullet or two between his eyes.

Eddie leaned backwards against the bar, elbows on the counter as he slightly tilted his head toward his boss to get his attention. He gave him a playful wink the second Vitali’s gaze met his, and in return Vitali softly slapped him with the glove he had taken off, right before shoving it into his pocket.

‘What are we here for anyway, if I may ask?’ Eddie asked, a grin on their face as they bumped their hip against Vitali’s thigh. ‘Talking to Rogue. Not really your style, considering- well, you know.’

‘Things were different back then,’ Vitali answered, crossing his arms on the bar and leaning on them a little as he shifted position on his seat. ‘Through…unfortunate events, we have history now. And I- I need to talk to her about the Broker. Who they are.’

Eddie slowly nodded, their gaze trailing their surroundings as they checked if anyone was trying to listen in. Vitali finished his drink in the meantime and fiddled with it a little, the rings on his right hand softly ticking against the glass.

‘I am hoping to clear my own name,’ he continued, ‘call in the Council. Not sure if it is even possible in these times, but- I need to speak to them. Situation might escalate again soon and I would like to have things sorted out before that happens.’

‘Understandable.’ Eddie made brief eye contact with Mikhail and gave him a solid nod and Vitali briefly glanced over his shoulder, just in time to see his friend wander off into the crowd. ‘You think she’ll help?’

‘I sure hope so. Though with my track record of “getting help” these days I feel like it’s not going to lead to anything. But at least I’ll have tried.’

Even the act of visiting the Afterlife was already a big risk Vitali was taking and he knew it; yet nobody had been able to talk the idea out of his head. Another dumb mistake, possibly- but who would he be if he would not even give it a try?

‘Boss? Trouble.’

Vitali instantly perked up, first glancing at Eddie and then quickly turning around on his seat to assess the situation.

Mikhail had started making his way back to the two of them but had been stopped by- someone Vitali did not recognize, from that distance at least. A tall, muscular enough man with blond hair, wearing DIY combat gear over a jumpsuit; almost as if he was an NPC that had somehow wandered its way straight out of a video game.

Vitali tightened his jaw and hopped from his seat, grabbing his cane before slowly making his way over to the two men. A small crowd had formed around them, for some reason; friends, possibly, or just random bystanders waiting for a show.

‘Gentlemen,’ Vitali said, raising his voice slightly to make himself audible over the partially incoherent yelling of the man. He stopped, turning his head to look at Vitali- who used the split second of silence to his advantage and gently tugged Mikhail on his sleeve, positioning himself between his friend and the man despite the fact Mikhail was suited up for exactly these kinds of situations and he himself very much was not.

‘Can I help you?’ Vitali asked, and watched as a wide grin spread on the man’s face. He pointed at Vitali and turned to look at some others- they all looked like mercs of some sort on closer inspection. A gang, perhaps? Though Vitali had never seen them before in his life.

‘Been lookin’ for you,’ the man said, wagging his finger around in Vitali’s face before moving it over to Mikhail behind him. ‘That motherfucker screwed me over. You’re the big man in charge, right? I want my eddies back.’

It only took Vitali a fraction of a second to realize what he meant- A job done in the time he had been in Arizona with Vincent, when Mikhail had temporarily taken on the role as fixer to keep business going.

‘I’m sorry- screwed you over?’ Mikhail repeated and scoffed. ‘You provided us with shady, unreliable information, your informants didn’t show up and you nearly got several of our mercs killed. You should be glad I decided to let you walk away from the situation alive, you fucking-’

‘Alright, alright,’ Vitali gently interrupted him and raised his hand, ignoring the whispering and laughing of the crowd surrounding them. ‘Any of that true, sir?’

‘Well, I- uh-’ The man paused, visibly clenching his jaw as he straightened his back, towering high over Vitali; a weak attempt at intimidation, perhaps, though it did him very little and he merely patiently waited for his answer.

He knew his absence had not been easy for Mikhail and he knew not every job had gone as smoothly as they had usually gone, before his sudden departure. Did not blame him for it either, if anyone had to take the blame it would be Vitali himself and he had made sure Mikhail knew he had done everything he could and any trouble they would get because of it would not be his problem to deal with.

Hence why Vitali stood there now, positioned between Mikhail and the man- who was visibly starting to become more frustrated and took a few jumpy steps back as he ran his hand over his face and shook his head.

‘Listen,’ he said, once again pointing his finger in Vitali’s direction. ‘I’ma give you to the count of five, and if I don’t have my eddies back by then- all three thousand of ‘em- that dark red suit o’ yours is gonna be red for vastly different reasons.’

‘Really now?’ Vitali asked, raising his eyebrow and slightly tilting his head, a smile taking shape on his face as he let his eyes trail the crowd; people were starting to get rowdy, starting to cheer. A rush of adrenaline was already soaring through his system, reminding him of the street fights he used to participate in-

Sure, he was there for business now. But he could have a little bit of fun.

‘One!’ the guy yelled, his voice barely audible above the buzz of the club, the music suddenly a lot louder than before; though it could just be Vitali’s imagination, straightening his back and redistributing his weight to his left leg while grabbing his cane halfway down the shaft.

‘Two!’

‘You sure you’re going to do this, jefe?’ Judy asked. ‘Viktor’s gonna kill you.’

‘Only if I get hurt,’ Vitali replied, rolling back his neck as the man yelled out a loud three, dragging it out a little bit longer as if he was trying to give Vitali time to reconsider.

Another day, another client turning against him. Far from the first time and far from the last; though usually Vitali dealt with these sorts of things with a bit more finesse than he was about to do.

‘Four!’

He did not care. His reputation preceded him; the bruising of his knuckles as dark as the rims underneath his eyes, everyone knew Vitali Dobrynin was a fighter first and a fixer second. All to protect, all out of love- but no one cared about that. They only ever saw what was on show.

‘FIVE!’

The man wasted no time and went for a swing- and Vitali intercepted his arm with his cane with ease, hitting it from the side and causing the elbow to bend the wrong way. He swiftly stepped aside, allowing the man to stumble past him and he used the momentum to kick him down to the ground.

Accidentally used his right leg for it. It hurt a lot more than he had anticipated.

Vitali noticed people reaching for their weapons and glanced at Mikhail and Eddie who immediately drew their guns, keeping the crowd under control. The man was on the floor now- squirming, cursing and coughing his lungs out as he clutched his broken arm close to his body.

‘You have some nerve, I’ll give you that,’ Vitali said, tossing his cane aside and taking off his jacket. ‘Endangering the lives of my mercenaries with faulty information and then crawling back on your knees to beg for your fucking eddies. I should stuff them up your ass. Deliver your body in a box to your parents.’

‘Every job comes with risks, man!’ the guy cried out, trying to scramble to his feet as Vitali rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and walked closer. ‘Look- Sure, maybe I could’a been a bit more careful with some things, provide more detes, but-’

Vitali set his foot down on the man’s hand before he could finish his sentence and a strangled cry left his throat. He leaned forward and reached for his collar- but before he could get close enough, two pairs of strong hands grabbed him by his arms and violently dragged him back.

The world spun around him as a fist collided with his jaw and only a split second later he was face down on the floor, people screaming and cheering around him. Oh, and it felt good- the stinging pain burning through his muscles and the taste of blood in his mouth and he pushed himself back up on feet with a grin decorating his face.

A man and woman had joined the fray- both twice his size with biceps about as big as his head- and Vitali steadied himself and with a single blink of his eyes he was suddenly looking directly at Jackie and Viktor instead, a bright and warm sunday morning in the ring.

‘Watch your footing, Vito,’ Viktor said. ‘Can’t have you gettin’ swept off your feet before you can even land a hit.’

Vitali spat some blood on the floor and dodged another incoming swing, balling his fist and ramming it between the woman’s ribs before running straight into the man and shoving him violently into the wall. His hair was grabbed and yanked back- but it did nothing as he turned his head and sank his teeth as deep into the man’s wrist as he possibly could, until he let him go.

‘Dirty fighter, huh, V?’ Jackie grinned up at him as Vitali pinned him to the ground. ‘And right you are- Night City don’t play by the rules, either.’

The woman kicked him hard on his leg- his right leg once again, causing him to wince in pain and nearly sink through his knees. She wrapped her arm around his neck and lifted him from the floor, squeezing as hard as she could and he could feel his windpipe getting crushed.

Tears sprung in his eyes as he dragged his nails over the woman’s arm, cutting into skin and flesh and drawing blood but not nearly enough to cause her to let him go. He swung his leg back and managed to kick her in the crotch- with barely any effect- but she slightly loosened her grip giving him just enough space to push his arm between the two of them and elbow her hard in the chest.

He was dropped to the floor and landed painfully on his knees, coughing and wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. The man had regained himself in the meantime and walked forward- and without warning went for a kick, hitting Vitali in his ribs.

He grabbed the man’s foot and rolled to the side, dragging him along and causing him to fall backwards and hit his head hard on the concrete floor. The woman tried to stomp on him- but Vitali was a lot faster and dodged her foot, then reached for his belt, flicked out a knife and stabbed it through her shoe as hard as he could.

He was back on his feet within seconds, the world only slightly spinning as he swayed from side to side and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The woman had yanked the knife out of her foot, cursing loudly at him as she swung it around and then hurled it through the air-

‘You need to be quicker.’ Viktor smiled gently as he extended his hand, and Vitali begrudgingly took it and allowed the man to pull him back to his feet. ‘Reflexes are key, Vito. You’re agile, you’re perceptive; use that to your advantage.’

Vitali caught it.

He licked his lips as he carefully twirled the knife between his fingers, watching the blood drain from the woman’s face right before she quickly raised her hands in defense and took a few steps back until she was once again part of the crowd.

People were a little bit quieter, now. The man on the floor hadn’t moved yet.

Vitali absently wiped the knife on his pants as he redirected his attention to the man who had started it all; still sitting on the floor, holding his arm tightly and looking even more pathetic than he had done a few minutes ago. The second he realized Vitali was looking at him, he made another attempt at scrambling to his feet- but slipped on the little pool of blood that had taken shape underneath the head of the man lying dead at his feet and he fell down on his ass again.

‘If I can’t even beat the two of you, I’ll never make it out there.’ Vitali tilted his head up and allowed Jackie to pinch the bridge of his nose for him, while holding a tissue up against it.

‘Just give it time, mano,’ Jackie simply answered, and playfully kicked his foot against the side of his friend’s leg. ‘You tackled me to the floor just now like I weighed nothing- you couldn’t do that a month ago.’

Vitali walked over to the man and grabbed his collar- then seemingly without effort dragged him on his feet and tossed him on one of the benches to his right, only to then ram him violently into the wall and climb on top of him.

‘It’s funny,’ he sneered, leaning in until his forehead nearly touched that of the other man. ‘You even admit that you were in the wrong. Do you truly think that will save you?’

‘You’re fucking insane!’ the man yelled back at him, struggling in his grip- but his broken arm prevented him from doing anything, and with Vitali straddling his lap there was nowhere for him to flee.

‘Piece of- corpo trash! Fucking- Get off of me!’

‘Shh,’ Vitali gently shushed him, letting the back of his fingers run over the man’s cheek- leaving behind a trail of dark red blood. He wasn’t even sure if it was his own or someone else’s.

‘Just let me go, man! I won’t bother you again, I swear!’

‘I know, I know.’ Vitali paused, and he felt the eyes from nearly everyone in the club on his back. Could almost hear their thoughts, could feel their judgment like acid burning through his skin-

‘But you almost got my mercenaries killed. And I can’t let that go unpunished.’

And he balled his fist, and let his knuckles collide with the man’s jaw.

One hit.

Two hit.

Three hit.

He grabbed his collar again, ignoring the blood dripping out of the man’s mouth and his eyes rolling back in their sockets. Wanted to speak- but then noticed the man reaching for his knife and grabbed his hand before he could get to it, twisting it around and pinning it against the wall.

‘Alright, enough!’

A sudden silence washed over the crowd and Vitali slowly turned his head. People had stepped aside- to make room for no one other than Rogue Amendiares, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she slowly let her gaze move over the scene playing out in front of her.

‘Show’s over, everyone get back to your fucking business,’ she said. ‘Vitali, get off the man. You got your point across.’

Vitali clenched his jaw and turned back to his victim, who was only barely conscious anymore. He slowly let go of the man’s wrist and instead firmly gripped a handful of his hair, to yank his head up and look him in the eyes.

‘Did I?’ he asked, slightly tilting his head again- adrenaline still coursing through his veins yet his heartbeat as stable as ever.

The man weakly nodded in response.

Vitali slowly got up and stepped back, exhaustion instantly washing over him the second his body realized the conflict was over. Mikhail carefully walked closer to him- and after brief eye contact as confirmation handed him his cane again, his jacket held tightly underneath his arm.

Breathe in, breathe out.

‘I’m surprised to see you here,’ Rogue said, turning back around and making her way back to her booth, gesturing for Vitali to follow her. ‘Thought this place was- how did you word it? “Not your style”?’

‘Times change, Rogue, you know that,’ Vitali coldly responded, wincing a little as he set his right foot down and he leaned heavily on his cane while following her down the steps.

‘Just fuckin’ with you, kid. Here.’

Rogue turned around, snatching a tissue from a box on the table and she grabbed his chin to keep his head still- and he allowed her to wipe the blood off his face.

Last time Vitali had been to the Afterlife, he had asked Rogue for help- had needed information on the Relic and had thought she would be willing to provide that in exchange for eddies, or resources, whatever she desired; one fixer to another.

But given his history with Arasaka she had not been willing to even sit down for a conversation with him. Which he had understood, mostly- but in all his desperation to find a way to save Vincent’s life, he had not handled the rejection very well. And that was putting it lightly.

‘What brings you here?’ Rogue asked, tapping Vitali’s chin the moment she finished and sitting down on the couch of the booth, gesturing for him to follow her lead. ‘Doubt you showed up just to put on a nice show for the regulars.’

‘Needed to see you.’ Vitali sat down and briefly glanced into the rest of the club, watching Eddie and Mikhail take their positions at the opening of the booth, turned sideways to both keep an eye on their surroundings as well as Vitali himself.

‘That’s one way to get my attention. Could’ve called.’

‘Would like the Council to not know about my visit here.’

‘My lips are sealed. Let’s hope the dead don’t learn how to talk in the meantime.’

Vitali clenched his jaw, eyes once again momentarily pulled to the outside of the booth as the body of the man who had attacked him was carried outside. He hadn’t meant for that to happen, of course; but it also did not do him much. He had other, more pressing matters to worry about.

‘How are you doing?’ he asked, biting the inside of his cheek as he turned back to Rogue.

‘Oh, cut the bullshit, Vito-’ She leaned forward and shook her head. ‘To the point. What do you want?’

‘The Broker is my father.’

Silence washed over the booth and something about Rogue’s expression changed- softened, almost, before she clenched her jaw and a frown slowly took shape on her face.

‘Matvey Dobrynin,’ Vitali quietly continued. ‘He’s doing all of this.’

The last thing he wanted was for the Council to find out about that. But he needed Rogue to know; he knew she was the only one who would believe him when he would tell her he had nothing to do with it, and with her on his side he could finally have a chance at clearing his name.

‘Shit,’ Rogue said, dropping her head briefly and sighing. ‘Must’a been quite a shock.’

‘I’ve found peace with it,’ Vitali replied, crossing his legs and sinking back into the cushions of the couch. ‘Complicated family.’

He clicked his tongue and Mikhail walked closer, handing Vitali his jacket. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a datashard; and after a brief moment of hesitation he handed it to Rogue, who slowly brought it to the slot behind her ear.

‘Evidence,’ Vitali simply said, watching the rings around her pupils light up bright blue. ‘The attack, those mercs- ex-mercenaries of mine. They no longer work for me. Left my network during my absence and my father used this to his advantage to win them over, turn them against me.’

‘He’s behind it all and tryin’ to frame you for it,’ Rogue slowly said. ‘Clever.’

‘The Council cannot know it’s my father, but- I need them to know that it is not me.’ Vitali paused, sucking in a shallow breath as he watched Rogue pull the shard out again. ‘I don’t need their help- I can handle this myself- I just don’t want them as my enemies, either.’

‘I understand.’ Rogue gently placed the shard on the table, visibly thinking, her leg lightly bouncing up and down. ‘Have you heard anything new? Any developments?’

‘Nothing new as of right now,’ Judy said in Vitali’s ear. ‘Only what we picked up earlier.’

‘There’s been chatter, the past few days,’ Vitali said. ‘Matvey is preparing another attack- I don’t know when, or where, but something is happening again. We’re monitoring the situation as best as we can but whatever it is he’s planning, he is going to try and put the blame on me.’

They had not picked up much yet; too vague bits and pieces of conversations, encrypted messages, snippets of plans. Piecing together what Matvey was working on would require a lot more information and Vitali knew that very well- but knowing things were being set in motion again at the earliest notice at least helped him prepare himself and his mercs alike.

But he was not there to talk about what his father had planned out for him.

‘I want to defend my case, to the Council,’ Vitali slowly said, swallowing heavily and gesturing at the datashard on the table. ‘That is why I came to see you. I was hoping you could- I don’t know, arrange a meeting. Call them together. Just- an hour of everyone’s time, and-’

‘I can’t do that.’

Rogue’s voice was strict, as always- though surprisingly gentle at that, and she couldn’t look Vitali in his eyes as she shook her head.

‘Too dangerous,’ she continued, and slowly leaned forward to move a little closer to him. ‘One thing we know is that the Broker is targeting fixers. You specifically now- and I’m startin’ to see why- but the Council isn’t paying attention to that. Say we get everyone together, what if he attacks? Half the Council dead. Your point proven, but at what cost?’

Vitali leaned forward too and lowered his gaze, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to keep his breathing stable as what he had already feared for became reality right in front of him.

‘A lot of ‘em are trying to lay low until the situation’s over,’ Rogue quietly explained. ‘They’re scared, Vito. Won’t ever admit it, but I know they are. I can present the evidence you put on that shard, put in a good word for you, but- that’s all I can do right now. We gotta wait for the situation to settle down, first.’

Vitali understood.

Of course he did; deep down he was scared too and if he could disappear and wait for his father to just give up and leave him alone, then he would do that in a heartbeat.

But how many more people would get injured or lose their lives were he to do that? How much more of Night City would end up in rubble, how many more attacks would take place? How far was Matvey willing to go, just to get his revenge?

‘Just don’t mention that it’s my father,’ Vitali quietly said, as he slowly looked up again. ‘I can’t have them know.’

‘I know. Secret’s safe with me.’

Silence fell over the booth once more and Rogue reached out for the bottle of liquor on the table, to fill up her own glass. She grabbed a second one, put it close to Vitali and gave him a questioning look- he merely shook his head in response, fingernails digging deep into the palm of his hand on his lap.

‘What’s your plan?’ she asked, picking up her own glass and taking a swig.

‘Not sure yet,’ Vitali honestly answered and slowly sank back into the couch again. ‘Cards are finally on the table now, that’s a start. I know what- who- I am up against. I just need to get closer again. One last time.’

‘Good luck with that.’ Rogue paused, slightly twirling her glass around and causing the ice cubes in it to softly clink against the sides. ‘Whatever you do, though, do it quickly. It’s been going on for long enough. People are getting restless.’

‘I know. Eager to blame me for it?’

‘Some of them are. That Dinovic especially- the cunt’s got beef with you, from what I could gather. What’d you do?’

‘Threatened him at his stupid fucking bar after he dared to withhold V his payment following a gig gone wrong because of his own fucked up intel.’

‘Yeah, that’ll do it.’

About a year had passed since that unfortunate incident, but Vitali knew Dino could hold a serious grudge. Not that he cared at all- the man meant very little to him and were he to ever try something like he had again, Vitali could not guarantee he would leave the fixer alive.

He stared at the shard on the table in front of him for a while as Rogue slowly finished her drink, and listened to the noises of the rest of the club. He mostly just heard the music again- even within the booth he’d had a hard time hearing Rogue speak on occasion, but at that point he could read lips well enough to manage.

He knew there was not much else left to say. Rogue made good points- a Council gathering could very easily end in disaster with Matvey still out for blood and although it would at least prove Vitali was not the Broker himself, it would still point fingers in his direction as a possible collaborator.

And if they were to find out the Broker was his father, it would only make things even worse for him.

‘Well, if that was all,’ Rogue suddenly said and set her empty glass back down on the table. Vitali felt his heart drop, but kept his mouth shut as he inhaled deeply and watched her slowly get up-

‘Ask her about the Arasaka thing, boss,’ Cato suddenly quietly said through his earpiece. ‘Thought you wanted to mention that too.’

That was very true. He had almost forgotten about it.

‘Rogue,’ Vitali quickly said, and she stopped mid-movement to look at him again. He shifted position on the couch, moving a little closer to her- and she slowly sat down again, leaning in to make sure no one else would hear them speak.

‘Do they still think I willingly went back to Arasaka?’ he quietly asked.

He was almost scared to get an answer to his question.

He knew that on a surface level it had looked exactly like that. He had vanished- had gotten shot and Arasaka had taken him in, patched him up and had put him through their latest brainwashing program in secret, and when Vitali had finally shown his face to the outside world again he had been entirely in their control-

But to everyone else it had simply looked like he had decided to switch sides.

‘Some do, yeah,’ Rogue finally answered, a frown on her face telling Vitali she did not find it easy to say. ‘They don’t know about what went down there.’

‘But you were there, too.’

‘Only Wakako knows about that.’

Vitali clenched his jaw and lowered his gaze, an exhale leaving his chest a little sharper than he had meant for. Deep down he had already known about all of it; but to hear it come out of Rogue’s mouth like that made it even more real to him and he clenched his fists again, a desperate attempt to keep himself under control.

‘Hey.’

Rogue reached out and placed a hand on the side of his upper arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze before pulling back again.

‘I’ll present them the evidence,’ she said, ‘as my own, not yours. You were never here, they’ll hear it from me, it’ll ease their minds. For now. You deal with your old man in the meantime, and this will all be over before you know it. Alright?’

‘Thank you,’ Vitali quietly said and she shook her head, waving her hand vaguely in the air.

‘Don’t mention it. Now get outta here, kid. This place isn’t your style.’

With a light smile on his face, Vitali carefully stood up and left the booth, leaning a little heavier on his cane again as he walked. The fight had been fun- but it had not done him any good and Judy’s words from earlier began bouncing around in his brain again.

Viktor really is going to kill me, huh.

‘Ladies, we are leaving the club as we speak,’ Eddie dramatically said, slowly following Vitali with Mikhail by his side. ‘Thank you for tuning in and we will see you back at the office.’

‘Not me, I’m going home,’ Judy replied. ‘Well done though, boys. Hope you’re okay, Vito. You did great.’

Vitali was not listening to their conversation anymore.

Eyes focused straight ahead, trying to ignore the stares of everyone around him as he slowly made his way through the club back to the entrance. Some people actually stepped out of his way as he passed them by- as if he would hurt them were they to get too close.

Vitali would never do such a thing unprompted.

But they did not know that. No one cared about that.

They only ever saw what was on show.

The cool midnight air of Night City was a welcoming breath of fresh air- as fresh as it could be, at least. A pleasant change from the heavy air inside and Vitali could not complain, briefly slowing his pace as he closed his eyes and breathed in deep a couple of times.

He was exhausted now. Partially regretted the fight; his ribs were sore and his leg was screaming at him to sit down, and he quickly made his way back to the car they had arrived in.

‘Small victory, yes?’ Mikhail asked, sitting down in the driver’s seat as Vitali himself took place in the backseat of the car, right in the middle.

‘Small victory,’ he repeated and buckled his seatbelt. ‘I’ll take what I can get.’

Of course he had hoped for more, but to have Rogue in his corner was a relief; if she could turn the heads of the Council away from him, even if it was just for a little while, it would be a big weight off his shoulders and he would be able to focus on dealing with Matvey in peace.

Vitali said nothing as they slowly began making their way back to Wellsprings, eyes glued to the scenery of the city outside- flashy, neon advertisements and bright car lights alike blinding him until he inevitably lowered his gaze.

He wondered what his father was doing at that very moment. A curious thought- but one that refused to leave his head, that single question repeating itself over and over again like a broken record.

What was he planning? When would he make his next move?

Vitali looked down at his hands. He hadn’t bothered to clean them yet; the blood on them had dried, and the bruising on his knuckles had darkened.

Another sharp exhale as he quickly averted his gaze. It was fine; they’d had it coming. None of them good people- and neither was he, and he knew that, and it was far too late for him to come back from that now.

‘Let’s stop by a diner or something, I’m starving,’ Eddie suddenly said, breaking the silence as they pointed at a building nearby. ‘I’ll just hop in and out real quick- Misha, the usual? Anything I can get you, boss?’

‘No, thank you,’ Vitali politely declined, shooting them a small smile as Mikhail turned to the side of the road and parked the car, allowing Eddie to jump out and hurry their way over to the diner.

‘You okay?’ Mikhail asked after a brief silence, slightly turning in his seat to look at Vitali. ‘You look sad.’

‘Just tired,’ Vitali answered, the smile on his face turning a little weary. ‘Didn’t go entirely as expected.’

‘You could have let me handle it. I’m your bodyguard, remember?’

‘This was more fun. I gave them a good show, no?’

‘Hm, you always do. Showoff.’

‘Asshole.’

Vitali closed his eyes and smiled as Mikhail reached out for him and ruffled his hair before leaning in and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. He turned back on his seat, a few soft clicks and coughs leaving his lips as he tapped on the steering wheel and waited for Eddie to return.

Vitali leaned back again, relaxing in the backseat and once more allowing his eyes to wander outside- from his position, he could see the pier in the distance, overlooking the dark and empty ocean.

He could see a storm rolling in.