#maverick campers

[caravans123]

Maverick Campers now offers off-road hybrid Sunshine Coast adventures for those who are extremely interested in the quick custom camping lifestyle that is perfect for Sunshine Coast explorers. You will definitely find top-quality products and probably unmatched services in our company. Why wait--you’re just a click away from the off road hybrid sunshine coast thrilling adventure, just contact Maverick Campers at 1300 62 494.

[shakespeareanwannabe]

As You Wish, Chapter 17

Summary: When arriving at Camp Silver Star, Abby Floyd was anticipating a summer of adventure with an ocean separating her from the three people she loved most: her mom, her Uncle Bob and her Aunt Natasha. But after a run in with Charlie Seresin, an extremely familiar looking and irritating camper in a different cabin, her summer plans take a turn that neither girl ever could have expected.

Trigger Warnings: reader's children are described as being blond with green eyes because genetics are wild and Jake's genes are strong, reader is canonically Bob's sister (but biological relation is never discussed), reader goes by Buttercup and is tattooed, angst (so much angst I made myself cry), panic attack, drinking, sadness, reference to divorce, kids breaking your heart, references to babies, swearing, references to the military, fighting and marital strife, PPD, references to sex (but nothing explicit)

Seresin Residence, Miramar, 12 years ago

Jake sighed as he pulled his truck into the driveway of the little beach bungalow he had scrimped and saved to buy for his family. Normally, he was excited to get home after a long day of training, but lately? Lately, it seemed like all they did was fight. Some days, it was him fighting and Buttercup sitting there, taking it. Others, it was all out warfare, each of them screaming at each other. And after the fight they had had that morning, Jake wasn’t too pleased to be home.

The fight had worn on him all day. He had been absolute shit in the cockpit because of it, and he’d already had a verbal dressing down by just about everyone. Cyclone and Warlock had ripped into him pretty good. Rooster and Phoenix had taken pleasure in seeing him knocked down a peg or five. Maverick had only shaken his head at him in disappointment, and that had probably hurt the most.

With a groan, Jake got out of his truck and grabbed his duffle, heading to the front door. Three months ago, he would have kicked his boots off with a playful, “Honey, I’m home!” before racing to snuggle his daughters, pecking his wife on the lips as he went. But not today. Today, he toed his boots off and tossed his duffle into the laundry room.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Maybe they were all asleep. He wouldn’t be mad about it if they were. Maybe if Buttercup got some quality sleep, she’d be in a better mood.

Jake sighed and flipped on the light in the living room, startled when he spotted Buttercup sitting in her preferred armchair.

“Hey,” he drawled. “You surprised me. I thought you were asleep. Where are the girls?”

“Asleep,” she murmured, eyes tracking him as he grabbed a beer from the kitchen.

“Good. They eat okay today?”

“Charlie doesn’t like not breastfeeding, but she’s getting used to it. Abby’s still not eating enough.”

Jake ignored her cold, indifferent tone. “She’ll get there.” He flopped onto the couch and reached for the remote.

“Jake…”

“Buttercup, it’s been a long day,” he groaned. “I really don’t want to fight tonight. The girls are asleep. Go have a bath or something, let me watch TV, and I’ll order us a pizza for dinner. Okay?”

“So, that’s it then?” Finally, her voice had a touch of a bite to it. “No comment, no nothing from you? You said no and that’s that? Your word is law?”

Jake groaned and let his hand flop back onto the sofa. “I don’t know what else you expected me to say. I’m part of the U.S. Navy. Meaning I have to be in the United States. I can’t move to England just because you got a job interview for a publishing job. There are dozens of publishers that are stateside. Why not go for one of them? I’m sure they’d let you work remotely. I don’t see why you want to move to a different continent.”

“They’re the only ones who have offered to take a look at my writing on top of my publishing responsibilities,” she hissed. “Which you would know if you paid any attention to me.”

“Okay, so you can do your whole writing thing from anywhere, can’t you? Skip the whole publisher thing and focus on writing! When you’re done writing or whatever, you can send it to a publisher! You’d at least get to stay with me that way!”

“How am I supposed to focus on my writing, Jake? I barely get a chance to breathe, let alone sit down at a computer and write!” Buttercup’s voice was weak and desperate, and grating on Jake’s nerves. He hated it when she sounded like that, and she’d been sounding like it more and more. He would’ve done anything to make it better, but he was too tired to try. “You’re not around during the day, so you don’t know what its like! One of them always needs me, and Charlie is fussy, and Abby’s not eating enough, and I can barely breathe! And you want me to what? Follow you around from base to base, taking care of our daughters on my own while you’re on deployment after deployment?”

“That is what you signed up for when you married me!” Jake shouted, his frustration and exhaustion finally bubbling over. “I thought you would’ve known that based on how often your brother gets to go home! This is what it means to be in a military family! This is what you signed up for!”

“I signed up for you!” she shouted. “I signed up for a man who loves me, who is home to share the load with me! Not a man who has his head shoved so far up Uncle Sam’s ass that he can’t see the sun!”

“Don’t you dare!” Jake stood. “Everything I do is for the safety of this country and for you and our daughters. Don’t you want our girls to grow up in a country that is safe?”

“I would rather our daughters grow up knowing their father! They barely see you anymore! And it’s only going to get worse as they get older!”

“I’ll be promoted by the time that they’re older! That means less time deployed!”

Buttercup was shaking her head, shrinking back in her seat. “You’ll never give up flying, Jake. You wouldn’t take a promotion that meant you were grounded. It’s not who you are.” Buttercup’s voice shook. “Just like sitting at home, waiting for my husband to come back while I take care of our home and children isn’t who I am. I need more.”

Jake scoffed, red creeping into the edges of his vision. He felt like he was running on autopilot, unable to stop himself or control his anger. “So, what? We’re not enough for you?”

“Don’t do that!” Buttercup snapped. “Our family is everything to me, but I need more! I need something outside of just being a mom and your wife!”

“Okay, so London is that then? Will London be enough for you?” Jake was wrangling every ounce of his strength to pull himself back, to not do this. They were both tired, both stressed. She hadn’t been herself since the babies were born, and it didn’t help that he had been deployed when they had sworn to him that he would be grounded for his first few months of fatherhood. If they could just get on the same page again, everything would be okay. But that would only happen if he could get Hangman to take a backseat and let Jake handle this.

Buttercup’s eyes flooded at his mocking tone. “Fuck you, Jake.”

Loud cries echoed through the house and Jake huffed before heading down the hall. “Go take a bath, Buttercup. I’ll take care of the girls.”

In the nursery, Jake pulled Charlie into his arms and sighed, rocking his red-faced baby girl in his arms. It would all be okay. The first year was always going to be the hardest. If they could make it through that, they would be stronger than ever.

It didn’t hit Jake that it was too late until a few days later, when he came home to find a teary-eyed Buttercup standing in the kitchen, handing him a pile of divorce papers.

Seresin Ranch, Clifton, Texas, Now

Early morning sunshine danced across her eyelids, and she tried to bury her face in the pillow beside her. It was way too freaking early to be conscious after the night she’d had, she was bone tired, and she was sore in a deeply satisfying way. The dull ache in her muscles and the muted throbbing between her thighs were better than any soreness she had ever gotten from an extended workout. It was an ache that she hadn’t felt in years.

Stretching like a cat, Buttercup slowly sat up against the headboard and blinked against the sun streaming through the grey curtains, and three things hit her in quick succession.

She was not in her bedroom. Her curtains were not grey, and her window did not face east.

She was naked. Her usual t-shirt and shorts were absent as the cool cotton sheets kissed her skin.

The soreness she was feeling was accompanied by a series of hickies and bruises that decorated her body like confetti. Her neck, her chest, her breasts, her stomach, and her inner thighs were littered with the dark purple marks, leaving her feeling like a teenager the night after prom.

Buttercup felt her stomach roil as the memories from the previous night washed over her like a tidal wave. The barbecue, fighting with Jake, dancing with Jake, having 3 a.m. grilled cheese with Jake and splitting a beer with him before giving him permission to kiss her…Jake carrying her to his bedroom and making love to her sweetly and gently, then rolling her over and fucking her hard, then taking her again in the softest, tenderest way as the sun slowly began to rise.

What had she done? What had she done? This wasn’t who she was. She had never been the type of person who just fell into bed with a guy, and certainly not when that guy was her ex-husband. But then, she had always been helpless against him. Back before things had soured between them, she had been almost as good as Maverick at keeping all of the Daggers in line, but one flash of those bright green eyes and those dimples, and she was basically Jello. She had never been able to tell him ‘no’, except for once.

Buttercup pulled her legs up tight against her chest and pressed the heels of her palms into her closed eyes until she saw stars. She was so stupid. So weak. She had put in over a decade of work to make herself stronger, strong enough to withstand being alone, strong enough to be a single mother, strong enough to hold her ground against him. And yet, like a teenage girl, she caved at the sight of gleaming abs and a cocky grin, and the sound of sweet nothings he had whispered in her ear.

What would the girls think if they found out? Would they think they were getting back together? Of course they would, that had been their plan since the beginning. But a one-night stand did not a relationship make, and neither did attraction. Attraction and chemistry had never been their problem. Communication had been, and, though they had clearly gotten better at it over the past decade, it didn’t solve all the problems that still remained between them. Past hurts and past histories and words that had been said that couldn’t be taken back.

God, how she wished she could take them back. She had been sick in the head and sick in the heart when she had uttered those poisoned words to him, wanting him to feel like she did in the most toxic way. She was toxic to him, not the other way around like so many had thought would happen. Her own brother had warned her away from Jake Seresin the minute they met, cautioning her that he would ruin her life, but he hadn’t. He had given her the greatest year and a half of her life and two daughters that she wouldn’t trade for the world. She was the one who ruined him. Just like her nickname, she was a poison, and she would only destroy him more if she stuck around.

Tears began to well in her eyes, but Buttercup quickly dashed them away as she scrambled from Jake’s bed and began searching for her clothes, which she found neatly folded on the antique wingback chair in the corner of the room. Her heart ached at the sweetness of this man, who had opened his home to her for a week so they could both get quality time with their daughters, who had ended his engagement because his fiancée had been cruel to their girls. He didn’t deserve this. Maybe the old Hangman had been cocky and brash and bold, maybe Hangman had left a trail of broken hearts behind him, but her Jake didn’t deserve to have his heart broken because she was so weak and selfish. Her heart ached at the thought of leaving him, of only seeing him at events for the girls, of eventually seeing him engaged to a woman who did deserve him. But she didn’t deserve him. She wasn’t strong enough to be his reason for living once the girls graduated.

The realization had her slowly pulling her clothes on, choking back sobs and dashing her tears away. He needed more than her. He needed someone who was strong enough to hold him up while he figured out what he wanted to do with his life once the girls had moved on. He needed someone who wouldn’t panic at the very suggestion of him going back to the Navy. She needed to walk away so that he could find that person. Despite the pain lancing through her heart and the heaviness in her limbs, she had to. She wouldn’t poison him anymore. Not when she…

More tears streamed down her face as she stumbled into his ensuite and desperately tried to make herself look like less of a heartbroken mess. He would be okay and, eventually, so would she. The girls would struggle, but she would fight like hell to make sure her girls still had so much love and support from both of their parents, even if they lived on opposite sides of the globe. They wouldn’t suffer just because their mother was toxic.

A deep wash of her face and multiple splashes of cool water later, Buttercup, resolved and heartbroken, strolled out of the bedroom and made her way back to the kitchen, finding her daughters sitting at the island while Jake flipped pancakes.

“Morning, Mom!”

“Morning, Mum!”

“Hey, darlin’,” Jake followed up the sweet chorus of their daughters’ voices with a shy grin, so unlike him but still so fitting that it made the ache in her chest deepen. “Did you sleep okay?”

Buttercup fought to keep her face straight as she regarded him with as much cool indifference as she could muster. “Yes, thank you. And good thing too. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

Plates clattered as Charlie set the island for breakfast. “What are we doing tomorrow?”

Buttercup fought the pain and panic rising in her throat as she looked at the smiling figures of her broken family. “A-Abby and I are going home tomorrow,” she croaked out. “Our flight leaves at 9 p.m.”

Silence fell like a heavy, suffocating fog over the kitchen. Abby had frozen in her seat, a juicy red grape dangling almost comically from her fingers halfway between the bowl and her mouth. Charlie wasn’t doing much better, a plate suspended in midair while her face flushed. And Jake? She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, to see the anger or pity or fury that was undoubtedly marring his handsome features.

It was Charlie who broke the silence first. “What?”

The question was so simple, but Buttercup had to brace herself before answering. “We promised you a week together, and it’s been a week. Our flight has always been leaving tomorrow.” She managed a weak smile at her daughters. “I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun.”

“Mum…” Buttercup’s heart nearly shattered at the broken, pleading sound of her baby’s voice. “Couldn’t we stay? Please?”

For the time being, Buttercup was winning the losing battle against the tears that were clogging her throat and flooding her eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but we can’t. You start school next week and I have deadlines to meet. Uncle Bob and Auntie Nat have to go back to work too. But your dad and I have figured out a good schedule for visiting. You get more school vacation than Charlie does, so you’ll get to come here for a few breaks, and Charlie will get to come visit us when she has breaks, and then we’re going to split the summer in half, okay? I—” Buttercup’s voice cracked, and she turned her eyes skyward to prevent the tears from falling again. “I know it’s not what you want, but it’s the best we can do.”

“That’s BULLSHIT!” Charlie’s cry was loud and harsh. “That’s complete bullshit! You could both stay! Everyone should stay!”

Buttercup’s breath stuttered in her chest as she looked at her daughter, so full of pain and anger. “I know that you wish we could, sweetheart, but we can’t. I’m sorry!”

“You’re sorry?” Charlie was crying now, hot tears running down her red cheeks. “I only get two weeks with you after 12 years and now you’re leaving and you’re sorry? That’s bullshit!”

“Charlie…” Jake’s voice was a soft warning.

“What?” She whirled on her dad. “It is! She could stay here if she really wanted to! But she doesn’t! She doesn’t care. Not about you or me or anyone! If she cared, she wouldn’t have left us in the first place!”

“Charlie…” Buttercup couldn’t stand the way her voice crackled with tears. “Charlie, I—”

“I hate you!” Charlie turned on her, green eyes full of anguish. “I hate you!”

“That’s enough!” Jake didn’t yell, but his voice held that military tone that immediately silenced everyone in the kitchen, save for Charlie’s ragged breathing and Abby’s soft sniffles. “You do not get to talk to your mother that way. You can be angry all you want, but this is a joint decision between your mother and I, so if you hate her then you hate me too. And no matter how you feel about us, I know that I taught you respect. We do not lash out at other people because of the way we are feeling in this family. We talk it out, and if we can’t manage how we’re feeling then we take a beat before we have a calm conversation. So, go take a beat. Take a lap of the ranch and cool off, Charlie.” Jake’s tone was no-nonsense and left no room for argument. Chest heaving, Charlie stomped away and let the door slam behind her. Jake sighed and looked at his oldest daughter, sniffling quietly in her seat. “Why don’t you go with her, Abby?” His voice was gentler now. “I think maybe some fresh air and a walk will do you both some good.”

Not saying anything, Abby nodded meekly and shuffled out of the kitchen, the front door barely clicking shut in comparison to the slam that had rocked everyone to their very foundations.

Buttercup stood stock still in the kitchen doorway, hand wrapped around her throat as she fought the tears that were falling slowly.

“Buttercup…” She flinched violently away from Jake’s gentle hand on her elbow, and he held his hands up. “Buttercup, it’s alright. It’s all gonna be alright.”

She shook her head, clutching at her throat to get the words out. “She’s right. It’s all my fault.”

“Now, I thought I told you I didn’t want to hear any of that anymore,” Jake said, gently but with a hint of stern resolve. “Now, why don’t we sit down and talk about this?”

“There’s really nothing to talk about, Jake.” Buttercup’s sigh was bone-weary as she sank into one of the island stools. “We have to go home. Abby’s got school, Bob and Nat have work, I have deadlines that I’m already behind on and signings I promised to do months ago and they want me to do edits for a script for one of my novels…We promised them a week together, and that’s what they got.” She shrugged helplessly. “There’s nothing we can do to change that.”

“I get where you’re coming from, darlin’, I do…” Jake leaned against the island across from her. “But…it wouldn’t be too difficult to get Abby signed up for school here, and Bob and Phoenix are grown ups, they don’t need you to take them home. And you…” He sighed heavily. “You can write from anywhere, so why can’t you write here with us?”

Buttercup’s heart cracked wide open, years of heartbreak and loneliness and anger pouring out of her like hot lava. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that again! What about the life I’ve built for myself? My professional reputation? My friends? Abby’s friends? I have a life in London! I like my life in London!”

“I know that.” Jake kept his voice even and calm, even as he wanted to reach out and calm her. “I know I fucked it up the first time. I know I didn’t get it the first time, how much the job and the move and everything meant to you back then. But you’re an award-winning author now, Buttercup. You’re like…number one draft pick in the NFL. You would have dozens of publishers falling all over themselves and each other to publish your stories now. Hell, with the way technology has improved in the last decade, nothing would stop you from keeping your publisher in London and Zooming into meetings with them from here. Isn’t it at least an option?”

Everything he was saying made perfect sense. It was all logical and well thought out, and, for a moment, she could picture it. Staying in Clifton, on the ranch. Turning the guest bedroom into an office for her to write out of while staring out at the pretty scenery, waking every morning in the cradle of Jake’s arms and cuddling with him until their daughters dragged them from bed. Giving them a real shot.

But a real shot meant the possibility of real pain. Pain that she had barely healed from the first time. Pain that she had put him through. Pain that he didn’t deserve. He didn’t deserve any of it, but to protect him, she would have to hurt him.

“I can’t just give up my job, my life because of a one-night stand.” Her voice was cold, belying the white-hot pain that was shooting through her heart, her very soul.

“I thought I meant more to you than that?”

She could hear the pain in his voice and ducked her head, refusing to meet his eyes. “You do…” she whispered, so quiet that he wouldn’t be able to hear her. The words “You did” came at a louder volume. “But I worked too hard to get to where I am now, and so did you.” She gulped down air, feeling like the walls were closing in on her. “I…I finally healed from everything we put each other through, and we can’t just fall back together again because it’s easy.”

Jake scrubbed a hand over his face. He knew what she was talking about. They had put each other through a lot, and it had taken over a decade to even start to heal from that, but they had healed. Wasn’t he worth giving it another go? Weren’t the girls worth trying for? He tamped down the anger he felt growing in his gut and asked, “When have we ever been easy?”

“You know what I mean, Jake.” Her sigh was heavy, bowing her shoulders like she was carrying the weight of the world. “We’re familiar. We’ve been living in the same house for a week, and, in a moment of weakness, we let ourselves fall back into old habits. And it felt good. But we’ve been down this road before. We know what lies at the end of it.” Tears pricked her eyes again and she blinked them back. “Besides, you were just engaged to another woman. You were planning on going back to the Navy. I…I can’t be the thing you hold onto just because you’re afraid of what your life will look like in six years.”

Jake felt the anger within him rise, and he relied on every ounce of his military training to remain composed, to not let the anger seep into his voice. “I don’t think I’m the one who is afraid here. You’re running.”

“Jake—”

Despite the way she was shaking her head, hands covering her face, Jake moved around the island and gently put his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him. “I know you felt something last night. I felt it too. Just because we didn’t work out the first time, doesn’t mean we won’t work out this time. You don’t have to be afraid of what might happen either, sweetheart.” His voice was filled with so much warmth and passion that Buttercup felt the tears fall faster and harder down her cheeks. This sweet man. She had never deserved him. His hands stroked her upper arms as he continued. “You’ve done such a good job on your own. Abby is incredible and your books…” Jake shook his head in amazement. “You’re incredible. But you don’t have to be strong and do it all on your own anymore. I know you can, but you don’t have to. Let me help. Just stay and let me help.” He was begging and he knew it, but he couldn’t help the tightness in his chest that told him that he had to convince her to stay. That he couldn’t lose her again. “I know you felt it last night,” he ended in a murmur.

Buttercup buried her head in her hands and sobbed. He was saying all the right words and she could feel the warmth and kindness pouring out of him, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she would ruin it all again. “I…I can’t,” she cried. “We have to be the adults here. I can’t just leave my life behind and stay with you. Not again. We tried that once and it didn’t work, and we owe it to our girls to be better this time. We have to be better this time. For them. What we want doesn’t matter.”

Breath whooshed out of Jake’s lungs as he took her in. His Buttercup looked so small and broken, sobbing at his kitchen island. He had done that to her. He had broken his strong, independent, fiercely loyal and kind woman. No matter how badly he wanted to keep her, he couldn’t hold her back again. “This…this is really what you want?”

With doubt clogging her throat, she murmured, “It is.”

Jake’s shoulders bowed, and he grunted to clear the tingling in his throat and in the bridge of his nose. “Then…as you wish, I guess.”

Buttercup nearly ran down the path towards the dude ranch cabins. After a tense breakfast, one where no one said anything to each other, Buttercup got changed and got out of the ranch house as quickly as she possibly could. She felt like she couldn’t breathe with the weight of Jake’s disappointed gaze upon her and Charlie’s hate-filled words hanging in the air around them. Not even her sweet Abby had been able to look her in the eye, so she fled the moment it was acceptable to do so.

Now, she was marching to her brother’s cabin to talk to him and his best friend, to get some sort of reassurance that she was doing the right thing. She quickly climbed the two steps up and came up short when the door swung open, Javy emerging in his jeans, carrying his shirt from last night.

“Oh…” They both froze and stared at each other. “Hey Buttercup.”

“Hey Javy…”

“You, uh…” Javy shuffled his feet. “You good?”

“Not really,” she admitted, staring down at her toes. “Is Nat in there? Or Bob?”

“Bob spent the night in Mickey’s cabin with him and Yale. But Nat…” A shy smile pulled at Javy’s lips as he shrugged. “She’s asleep upstairs. I’ve gotta run to practice though. Can you tell her I said goodbye? And that I’ll see her for dinner tonight?”

Despite her own broken heart, Buttercup found herself smiling. “I’m glad you two were able to work it out. I’ll let her know.”

“Thanks, Buttercup.” He grinned and placed a light jab against her shoulder as he passed. “And hey? I’m sure whatever’s bugging you will work itself out in the end.”

“I don’t think so, Javy. But thanks.”

Buttercup let herself into the quaint little cabin and headed straight for the bedroom, where her friend was just waking up. Buttercup thanked whatever not-completely-evil god that was out there that her friend was wearing a t-shirt. After the morning she’d had, the last thing she wanted was to have her friend flash her by accident.

“Hey…” Natasha yawned as she stretched her arms over her head. “What’re you doin’ here? Where’s—” Natasha cut herself off, looking away from Buttercup.

“Javy had football practice. He says he’ll see you for dinner.” That was all Buttercup managed to get out before flopping onto the bed and sobbing.

“Jesus Christ, B!” Natasha scrambled up and pulled her crying friend into her lap. “What the hell?” A gentle hand ran up and down the length of Buttercup’s spine. “You’re alright, girl. C’mon.”

“J-Jake and I hooked up last night,” Buttercup blubbered, burying her face into the plaid comforter that covered her friend’s lap.

“And…was it…not good?” Try as she might, Natasha was struggling to see the problem.

“It was great!”

Both ladies were surprised at the strength of Buttercup’s sobs. It was unlike her to cry so much, but clearly, she had to exorcise some demons, and crying seemed to be the best way to get them out.

Natasha sighed and patted her friend on the back. “Then I am confused.”

“Join the fucking club…” Buttercup muttered, wiping her face on the bedspread before sitting up, her tear ducts seemingly empty. “We…we’re going home tomorrow. I can’t believe I was so stupid as to hook up with my ex-husband right before we’re going back home.”

“Not gonna lie, lady, but you were basically eye-fucking him all night. I’m not surprised that you two fell into bed together. The sexual tension was too great.” Natasha propped herself up against the oak headboard and stared at her friend. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know. Lots of couples do one last fuck fest after a breakup or divorce.”

“Is that what you and Javy were doing last night?” Buttercup bit out, no malice in her voice, only exhaustion.

Natasha bit her lip. “Actually…it was more of a ‘lets try this thing again’ than a ‘lets get this thing out of our systems’.”

Buttercup blinked her bloodshot eyes. “How are you two going to try it again when our flight leaves tomorrow?”

One of Natasha’s calloused fingers gently traced the scar that ran over her eye, something that she only did on the rare occasion that she was nervous. “That’s the thing…I’m not getting on that flight. Bob said that he could get me a refund with the airline since it’s, y’know, his airline.”

“You’re staying?” Of all the things she expected her best friend to say, it certainly wasn’t that. “What about your classes? Your friends?”

Natasha shrugged. “One of the other instructors can take over until they hire someone else. And there’s a gym in town that needs a new female personal trainer. Javy’s pretty sure they’d take me on the spot. And honestly, B? What friends? I had work friends that I only hung out with occasionally off the clock, and I had you and Bob. I lived in your home, ate your food, and hung out with you. No offence, because you know I love you, but not going back isn’t that big of a deal to me.”

Buttercup nodded as she looked at her friend. “I hate that you’re leaving me,” she mumbled, pulling Natasha into a fierce hug. “But I’m proud of you for giving him another shot. You just make sure he knows that if he hurts you, I’m only one transatlantic flight away from kicking his ass.”

“Or…you could always stay too and be just a walk down the road away from kicking his ass.” Natasha’s voice was gentle and kind, but Buttercup was already shaking her head. “Why not?”

“Because we tried, and we failed.”

“So did me and Javy,” Natasha nudged her.

“But you don’t have kids who will suffer if you try again and it still falls apart.”

“Fair point…” Natasha hummed and turned towards her. “What if it doesn’t fall apart?”

“I can’t risk it, Nat,” Buttercup murmured, tears welling in her eyes again. “I can’t hurt Abby and Charlie like that. They have to come first.”

“I get that.” Natasha reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand comfortingly. “But you have spent over a decade putting Abby first. You have been an amazing mother to that girl. Maybe it’s time to start putting yourself first instead.”

Buttercup squeezed back, snuggling down in her friend’s bed and sighing. If only it was that easy.

The next 24 hours passed in a blur of emotion. Charlie still wasn’t speaking to Buttercup, despite Jake’s private talk with her when she returned to the ranch house after her walk. Abby wasn’t faring much better, quiet but not angry the way her sister was. More…resigned. And Jake…well, Jake did what Jake always did. He walled up everything he was feeling behind thick, military issue shields and pretended. It was what he was trained to do. Compartmentalize and prioritize. His priority was making sure that his girls didn’t leave the ranch sad.

Buttercup’s eyes remained bloodshot for the rest of the day, and it broke Jake’s heart to see his girl so distraught. Part of him wanted to ask her to reconsider, to ask if her decision to leave was what was making her so miserable, but he didn’t. His Buttercup had only made one rash decision in her entire life: staying with him in Miramar. Every other decision had been meticulously thought out, including going to London to start over. He couldn’t blame her for that, and he couldn’t blame her for wanting to return to her life abroad, no matter how much it felt like it was killing him to let her go again.

So, Jake pushed it all down and tried to make it the best 24 hours he possibly could. He took his three girls on a trail ride after having a small goodbye lunch for their remaining guests. Fanboy, Yale, Payback and his family all enjoyed a small gathering despite the tense atmosphere. That atmosphere remained throughout the trail ride, though Jake had hoped it would help cool Charlie down. Dinner was similarly quiet, the five of them eating their spaghetti and meatballs in relative silence, though it seemed that both Rooster and Charlie were cheered to hear that Phoenix would be staying. Jake couldn’t help the glance he spared at Buttercup when that news was shared before Javy swept Phoenix out the door to keep their dinner reservation in town. He knew he couldn’t question why Phoenix was brave enough to stay and try to work things out, not when he knew why Buttercup was doing the brave thing by leaving. She was doing it so that the girls wouldn’t suffer from the fallout if they couldn’t keep their shit together a second time, and Jake couldn’t blame her. He would do anything to make sure Charlie was happy. Problem was that this decision didn’t seem to be making anyone happy.

Nobody got much sleep that night, the tension growing over the house like a big black storm cloud, what ifs and maybes swirling like a tornado. Day dawned without sun; the metaphorical storm having grown into a real one that had rain lashing at the windows. Breakfast was a silent affair, and Jake could barely choke down any lunch, one final meal before he had to say goodbye to his girls.

Bags were piled at the front door, waiting for the airport limo Bob had called for, complimentary because of his position with the airline. Six adults and two children stood in the doorway of the ranch house, waiting for the telltale sound of tire on gravel to signal the end. When Jake caught sight of headlights bouncing through the darkened sky, he sighed and gathered Abby into his arms.

“I love you, baby,” he murmured into her hair, and his heart broke as she clutched him tighter. “I’ll see you at Thanksgiving, okay?”

“I love you too, daddy.”

Jake opened his eyes and saw Buttercup ringing her hands as she approached Charlie, who had her arms crossed stiffly across her chest.

“I…I’m sorry, Charlie,” he heard her soft words and his chest ached for her. For both of them. His two girls were so strong and so stubborn, and they were both in so much pain. “I love you, sweet girl. I hope you remember that.” When it became clear that Charlie was not going to embrace her mother, Buttercup sighed and pressed a kiss to her hair instead. “I love you, darling.”

Buttercup turned to Rooster, who wrapped her in a tight hug. “You take care of yourself, alright, Buttercup?” he gravelled.

“I will. You take care of them for me, okay?”

“You know I will.”

A similar exchange happened with Javy, though Jake was sure that it included some sort of threat about treating Phoenix well, based on the slight grimace on Javy’s face as Buttercup turned and hugged her friend.

It was at that point that the car pulled up to the front door and Jake forced himself to release his daughter.

“Go say goodbye to everyone while I take your bags out,” he whispered to her, trying his best not to crumble at her tear-stained face.

She nodded and ran over to Phoenix, almost knocking her over. “I love you, Auntie Nat.”

“I love you too, kid.”

She squeezed Rooster next, the two of them having a whispered conversation as Jake passed, taking the bags out to the limo. He didn’t care that his white t-shirt was becoming see-through. He didn’t much care for anything at the moment. He was completely numb, just like he had been when he watched Buttercup and Abby walk out his front door the first time. He took his time loading the bags into the trunk before heading back into the house, feeling like he was walking to his execution.

When he stepped into the foyer, his eyes went straight to Abby and Charlie, embracing by the stairs. He sighed and turned to Bob, shaking his ex-brother-in-law’s hand before turning to Buttercup, who was watching her daughters with a sad sort of smile.

A gentle hand on her shoulder pulled her attention to him right as he pulled her into a hug. She folded into him the same way she always had, like she belonged there. Jake told himself that her trembling was because he was soaked to the bone, and if he felt moisture soaking into the front of his shirt, he told himself that was just the rain too.

She pulled away a few moments later, surreptitiously wiping at her eyes as she murmured, “It’s time to go, Abby.” She met his eyes for a fleeting second. “Thank you, Jake.”

“As you wish, sweetheart,” he murmured and escorted them onto the covered porch, where he gave Abby one more hug before pulling Charlie into his arms as they watched Bob, Buttercup and Abby make a run for the limo.

Bob held the door open as Abby slid in. Buttercup glanced over her shoulder at Jake and Charlie, standing like statues on the porch. She waved a sad goodbye before sliding in beside her daughter. Bob gave him an understanding nod before joining them and slamming the door shut. The limo roared to life and started down the dirt drive, rain and wind whipping at the windshield as they went. Abby and Buttercup huddled together on the leather seats as Bob gave instructions to the driver, and then they were silent.

Jake’s chest heaved as he watched them go, watched two-thirds of his heart walk away from him again.

“Wait!” Charlie cried, throwing off his hold and taking off down the wet and muddy driveway. “Mom, wait!” Jake lunged after her, grabbing her up in a hug as the limo disappeared between the trees, the falling rain too loud for them to hear her pleas.

Tags List: @jessicab1991

@waltermis

@buckysteveloki-me

@allepaula

@yuckosworld

@bradshawssugarbaby

@ahopelessromanticwritersworld

@kim-stark

@high-speed-r

@starsrfun

@tomanyfandomstrash

@averyhotchner

@the-blueatlas

@dashes-dizzydisaster

@a-girl-who-loves-disney

@boiolay

@djs8891

@tgmreader

@kmc1989

@landpiranha-blog

@sydthekid1518

@lynnevanss

@mackenzieblair

@minejungwoo

@starset21

@tgmavericklover

@dempy

@lovemarvelousfics

@starkleila

@magical-spit

@whatislovevavy

@simplyreading96

@vivalas-vega

@itsdesiree86

@inky-sun

@books-are-escapes

@abaker74

@devil-angel-winchester

@mrs-perfectly-fine

@inthestars-underthesun

@smoothdogsgirl

[waywardnerd67]

Cowboy Chasing

Title: Cowboy Chasing Summary: Chasing storms was simple. Chasing the tornado chasing cowboy was a whole different story. Main Characters: Tyler Owens, Reader Pairing: Tyler Owens, Reader Rating: E - Everyone Warnings: Fluff/Angst Word Count: 2481 A/N: My first fic in over a year thanks to a certain tornado chasing cowboy :) I used my taglist from over a year ago. If you don’t want to be tag please let me know (no hard feelings, I totally get it).

“Are you sure?” Her best friend asked as (Y/N) continued to pack her duffel bag.

She sighed, “Yes, I’m sure. When he left we had a fight and I can’t live with myself if anything were to happen to him.”

“How long has it been since you’ve been chasing?”

Flashes of that last night played in her mind, “A few years…”

Her best friend took her hands, “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise.” (Y/N) smiled.

“Also, tell Boone he still owes me a dance.” They started laughing as (Y/N) zipped up her bag.

“Will do. I’ll call you when I get to Enid.” (Y/N) hugged her friend then made her way out of their apartment.

(Y/N) knew the drive to Enid, Oklahoma like the back of her hand. Every storm season that is where the chasers would gather to prep for the first chase. Checking the forecasts, she knew there was a chance the Wranglers would already be out on the road heading south towards Oklahoma City. She pulled out her phone, hitting Dani’s number and sending her a voice memo.

“Hey, I’m heading out to you guys. If you leave Enid, could you let me know. I appreciate it. Oh and don’t tell Tyler. Love ya.”

Dani’s response was immediate, “As I live and breathe, (Y/N) (Y/L/N). Girl, it’s been too long. We’re heading south on the 81 towards Kingfisher in the morning. Miss and love ya.”

Another voice memo came through, “Also, your secret is safe with me. Does this mean you’re back?”

(Y/N) shook her head. The thought of chasing again was exciting and terrifying. There was no way she could go back. Not after all the time that had passed and not after the last chase. No, this trip was for closure and nothing more.

Between several cans of Monster and singing to the top of her lungs, (Y/N) made it to Enid by one in the morning. A soft smile spreading across her face seeing all the cars, vans and rigs of fellow chasers. Two groups stood out the most. The pristine white trucks and van of Storm Par were parked all by themselves. Javi must have gotten more money from Riggs noticing their team now having a fourth truck code name Toto.

Then there was the all too familiar red Dodge Ram parked in the middle of the lot. (Y/N) couldn’t believe they still had the beat up camper and van. With their YouTube channel taking off, she figured they would have at least updated the camper. Knowing Tyler, he probably used any money to go to helping the families and loved ones after a tornado. Humanitarian was one of the qualities that had attracted her to chasing with them and following Tyler Owens wherever the wind blew him.

“(Y/N)?” A familiar voice called out.

“Hiya Boone.” She turned around to see Boone, Dexter, Lilly and Dani all walking back from the small 24 hour diner.

“‘Bout time you came back out with us! We missed you!” He pulled her into a hug before everyone else surrounded her.

For the first time in years, (Y/N) finally felt at home again. The years she spent chasing storms with her Wrangler family were the best years of her life. Until it all went to shit.

“Well, well, who do we have here?”

His southern drawl never failed to send goosebumps over her skin, “Hey Tyler, how are you?”

“I’m good, (Y/N). I’m very good.” He smirked.

Dani smacked his shoulder, “Don't mind him, he’s been watching Top Gun Maverick on repeat.”

“You look good, Tyler.” (Y/N) couldn’t help her eyes from traveling down the length of his body.

There was nothing noticeably different about him since she last saw him a year ago. He still wore the same blue jeans, brown boots, Wrangler belt buckle and dark button down. The only thing missing was his Stetson and she knew exactly where it would be.

She noticed he was taking inventory of her as well as those dark green eyes gave her once over, “You look good too. So, what brings you out here?”

“I was hoping to talk to you before you went out tomorrow, if that’s okay?”

Tyler motioned for her to follow him to his motel room. (Y/N) waved to her family when Boone stopped her.

“You’re not staying, are you?” He asked with dark chocolate puppy eyes.

She shook her head then said, “Annie wanted me to let you know that you still owe her a dance. You should come on by and square your debt with her after this storm season.”

His smile was infectious, “I will. It was damn good to see ya, (Y/N).”

She turned around to see Tyler leaning against the door frame of his room. She stepped inside, chuckling to herself seeing some things truly would never change. He had clothes laid out everywhere drying. An empty pizza box and three beers out of six left sitting on his table. The TV was on showing infomercials until the morning news came on.

“Ya know, if you’re wanting to head back out I don’t know if we have room for you. We have a big shot British reporter going out with us this year.” Tyler offered her a bottle of water which she accepted.

“Reporter? Wow… you’ve really hit the big time.” She didn’t mean for it to come out as snarky as it did, “Hopefully, they knew what they were getting themselves into.”

Tyler flopped down on the bed, crossing his ankles and resting his head on one of his arms. Seeing his body stretched out brought up older memories of their early chasing years. The thrill of getting close to a tornado and the adrenaline they would need to work off when they got to a motel for the night. (Y/N) knew that body as well as she knew her own and now she could feel her cheeks flushing.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” He asked, a knowing smirk on his handsome face.

She rolled her eyes, knowing she played right into his little trap. He knew she would think of the good times seeing him stretched out like that. Knowing she couldn’t help to be nostalgic and remember the good ole days. As well he could read her, she could read him. (Y/N) sat down on the opposite bed taking a long drink of her water.

“The last time I was with you, we had a huge fight.” She looked over at him as he moved to mirror her sitting position.

He leaned forward on his elbows, clasping his hands together, “Mmhmm.”

“We both said some hurtful things and I wanted to clear the air between us.”

His green eyes locked onto hers, “You’re wanting an apology.”

She sighed, “No. I want you to know that… that I care about you and the team. I didn’t want you leading them into unnecessary danger for more followers or views.”

“If I remember correctly you said that I was and I quote, A reckless tornado chasing cowboy with a death wish.”

She flinched, “I know. I was frustrated and we had just lost…”

Tyler stood up, running his hand through his golden hair, “Theo knew what he was getting into when he started chasing with us. Hell, he had watched you chase well before he joined us. We all know the dangers of this job, but it’s worth it if we can help the people here.”

It was the same speech Tyler had given her a year ago. She clenched her fists on top of her knees, unable to keep the anger from flooding her system.

“Damn it Tyler, he should have never been in your damn truck! He should have been with Dex and Dani in the camper, but you wanted him to experience the real thing. What did that get him?”

She covered her mouth as Tyler’s eyes widened, “Tyler, I’m… I didn’t…”

He stormed over to the door, “If you think that I don’t spend every moment of every day not blaming myself for your brother’s death then you never knew me.”

He was gone with the door slamming shut. (Y/N) punched the bed beside her to release some of the rage overwhelming her.

“Fuck!” She yelled out before the tears started to fall, “This was not how I wanted it to go.”

After an hour, (Y/N) left the room in search of Tyler. She knew exactly where he would be heading towards his truck. He was sitting up on the roof tinkering with some the gauges.

“I’m sorry.” She said, climbing up onto the bed of the truck, “I really didn’t come here to fight again.”

“Then why did you come here? It’s been a year since you told me to get out of your life for good. Why now?” He never looked up at her.

She carefully sat up on the roof, “I hated the way we left things. I would never be able to live with myself if anything happened to you and the last thing I had said to you was I hate you.”

He glanced up at her, “You don’t hate me?”

“I think you know that I don’t. I… I never could hate you.” She sighed, “Tyler, what we had was special. We both shared the same goals in life and careers. We were good together, but losing my brother changed me. All I could think about was I couldn’t lose you the same way I lost him.”

(Y/N) looked up when she felt his hand cover hers, “I’m sorry.” he whispered.

“Me too.” She squeezed his hand and a spark ignited in her chest.

“Come on, I need a few hours of sleep and you can stay in my room on the extra bed. I’m sure you need some sleep as well.”

He jumped down onto the bed of the truck helping her down as well. He jumped down from the truck holding out his arms for her. His hand gripped her hips and he lifted her from the tailgate setting her on the ground. Her body slid down his and once again her body flooded with heat.

“You know I could sleep in my car or get my own room.” She said softly, looking up at him.

“Scared something might happen?” He smirked, making her roll her eyes.

Pushing him gently, “Nope. I gave up chasing cowboys a long time ago.”

“Really? Yet, you drove nearly eight hours to talk with me. Sounds to me like you might still be chasing cowboys.” He leaned down, “Or am I wrong?”

His soft lips were close to hers and his woodsy cologne filled her senses. Her knees were going to buckle if she didn’t step away from her and she would fall right back into oblivion with him.

“We can’t.” She whispered, “I can’t stand back and watch you drive into tornados not knowing if you’ll come back to me.”

His eyes softened as he backed away from her, “I understand. You can sleep in my room and I’ll sleep in my truck.”

“Tyler, there’s two beds. We can share the room.” She caught his arm and felt him flinch.

He never turned to look at her, “You were always the strong one. I know I won’t be able to keep myself in control. Goodnight (Y/N).”

He walked to the driver’s side, getting in his truck. (Y/N) stood there for a moment before retreating into his room. She sat on the bed thinking about everything they had said and everything that was left unsaid between them. She loved him. She had been in love with him for nearly a decade and still was. She wanted to be by his side, but that fear of not knowing if he would come back to her kept her from doing what she wanted. The sun was peeking over the horizon when she heard the door open to the motel room.

She turned around to see Tyler staring down at her. Since she hadn’t grabbed her bag, she had opted to wear one of his white t-shirts for a night shirt. (Y/N) stood up grabbing her clothes that were on the small table.

“Sorry, I will get dressed and let you get ready.” She mumbled.

His hand grabbed her elbow, spinning her towards him, “Fuck it.”

His lips crashed to hers. Immediately, the stress and tension in her body melted as he wrapped her legs around his waist. Her back hit the mattress as Tyler began a hot trail of kisses down her neck.

“Ty-Tyler…” She moaned.

He lifted himself up, “I know, I know. We shouldn’t do this, but there is nothing in the world that I need more than you. Not storm chasing or anything. All I want is you and if this is the last time I get to be with you then so be it.”

Her heart was thumping rapidly against her chest, “You still love me?”

“Seriously?” He scoffed, “You think one little fight was going to erase you from my heart? Sweetheart, there is only one other woman I spend my time chasing other than you and that’s mother nature. There’s no one else in the world worth chasing other than you.”

She couldn’t help the grin spreading across her face, “For the record, I love you too.”

His breathtaking smile appeared and (Y/N) knew she was right where she needed to be. Tyler leaned down kissing her slowly, passionately. She was pulling his shirt off when there was a knock on his door.

“Go away!” He yelled, kissing her inner thigh.

“Tyler, we got a storm brewing just outside Bartlesville. If we hit the road now then we can beat Storm Par.” Boone’s voice was barely audible as Tyler groaned.

“Alright, we’re leaving in fifteen.” He rested his cheek against her thigh, “You think we could finish in fifteen minutes?”

She giggled, “It has been a while for both of us, but no I don’t. However, after chasing this storm we could pick up where we left off at another motel. Like the good ole days.”

“You’re staying?” he asked, helping her up and sitting her on his lap.

She nodded, “Cowboy, there’s nowhere else I would rather be than by your side.”

He kissed her again, gripping her hips tight. She moaned against his lips as she rolled her hips against him.

Tyler growled when Boone banged on his door again, “Be out in five!”

“Come on cowboy,” She kissed him, “I’m feeling it, so let's go chase it.”

“Yes ma’am.” He smacked her behind before they both got up gathering their stuff and heading out to the truck.

-----

If you enjoyed this story then check out my Masterlist!

For updates please follow #waywardnerd67fics

Taglist: @waywardbaby​ @ladywinchester1967​ @akshi8278​ @dean-winchesters-bacon​ @carryonmywaywardcaptain​ @destiel745​ @carribear31​ @whimsicalrobots​ @adoptdontshoppets​ @mrswhozeewhatsis​ @bella-ca @imascio08​ @mannls​ @time-travel-bouqet​ @myinconnelly1​ @maddiepants​ @tumbler-tidbits​ @sandlee44​ @destielhoneybee​ @jerkbitchidjitassbutt​​ @stoneyggirl​ @mimaria420 @emoryhemsworth​ @atc74​ @cosicas-cuquis @stixnstripesworld @sexyvixen7 @samsgirl93 @perpetualabsurdity @deanwanddamons @smoothdogsgirl @lyarr24 @cevans-winchester @leigh70 @nancymcl @djs8891

[yesornopolls]

is ethical to sign a contact with terms or beliefs you don’t fully agree with you so that you can make a subtle difference as a maverick voice in that space?

(i.e. working at a christian camp where you’re expected to agree with the statement of faith with a clause about sexuality/gender, but the camp itself is a great, fun place and you can make a positive impact on your campers)

[yourfavoritecreepycrawly]

“Hey, Peter?”

That low, timbre of a voice spoke soft, almost in a whisper as Maverick stood next to the boy in question, trying to do his best impression of listening to Chiron’s lecture about the different sorts of blades to the newer campers. He shifted to get a little closer, eyes still on the centaur in case he looked over.

“Hey. Want to be my sparring partner?”

- @cerberusfavorite

Sure!!

Peter whispered excitedly, lookinvg up at Mav

[mireya-the-awkward-extrovert]

♪Mireya

My main acc: @mireyaaaaaa

☆Name: Mireya

☆Age: 14

₊·*◟Birthday on 23rd January ◜‧*･

☆Resides at cabin7 ₊·*◟Apollo◜‧*･

☆Hobbies: Reading, writing, singing, playing instruments, gardening, photography and filmmaking, making jewelerry, talking~ oh and some other stuff I can't remember

☆Personality: awkward but loves to talk and make new friends, golden retriever, kinda sensitive... Okay maybe a lot.. And is also kind of embarrased to approach new people because of her awkward personality even though she wants to

☆Loves her plushie bunny a lot (her now deceased brother gave it to her)

**about her mortal family

Mother- Cassandra suncrest

Step father- Maverick Suncrest

Older brother- Phoenix Suncrest @phoenix-isnt-dead

☆Heterosexual

《I'm open to keep my ocs in a realtionship》

｡ﾟooc: I'm a minor so no nsfw intercations pleaseﾟ｡

☆MBTI: ENFPﾟ｡✧°ﾟ｡

☆Height: 5'4

☆Years at camp: 0 (just arrived)

☆She hasn't decided yet but is probably going to be an all year round camper since her brother was killed in a car crash (ooc: currently writing lore for Mireya, everything will be explained... I'm sorry I procastinate)

☆weapon of choice: an amethyst dagger flaked with gold, can switch into a bow too

☆Appearance: wavy, long blonde hair, almost always smiling, has heterochromia but got bullied for it so wears eye contacts

☆Bestieees:

Irene♡ @iwillsarcasmthemonstersaway

Ivory♡ @when-stupid-meets-chaos

Penelope♡ @archery-and-musicals

Cam♡ @one-of-apollos

Lara♡ @oh-to-be-a-robot

☆New friends who I want to be closer to:

Serene @arisdaughter

Naomi @random-daughter-of-hades

Alp and Nuray @best-siblings-ever

Cameron Gwen Grace @gwengracecameron

Lucas @if-chaos-was-a-boy

♡o｡+..:*♡o｡+..:*♡o｡+..:*♡o｡+..:*♡o｡+..:*

☆Tag I use: #₊·*◟mireya speaking◜‧*･

And

₊·*◟mireya reblogs◜‧*･

And

#₊·*◟mireya speaking ooc◜‧*･

And

₊·*◟open starters☆◜‧*･

When I start posting more of her backstory and lore I'll use ₊·*◟Mireya loreee☆◜‧*･

♡o｡+..:*♡o｡+..:*♡o｡+..:*♡o｡+..:*♡o｡+..:*

ⁱ ʰᵒᵖᵉ ʷᵉ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵇᵉ ᶠʳⁱᵉⁿᵈˢ ^^

People I know>>

(ʷʰᵒ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ᵐᵉ ᵗᵒᵒ)

@will-solace-aaaaa

@cabinseventheaterchick

@one-of-apollos

@apollos-favorite-child

@iwillsarcasmthemonstersaway

@apollos-only-sane-child

@arisdaughter

@the-forgotten-apollo-kid

@the-forgotten-son-of-aphrodite

@when-stupid-meets-chaos

@never-too-much-kool-aid

@archery-and-musicals

@thatonebitheaterkid

@if-chaos-was-a-boy

@random-daughter-of-hades

@evie-the-hecate-goth

@best-siblings-ever

@cabin7-bookworm

@your-lucky-lady

@gwengracecameron

@oh-to-be-a-robot

Dad(dads...?)who probably don't know I exist>> (hii!)

@thatoneprophecyguy @the-god-of-sun @apollo-god-of-prophecy

(sᴏʀʀʏ ғᴏʀ ɴᴏᴛɪғs-)

If anyone wants to rp as besties with me, lmk<33 I'm okay with keeping my character in a relationship too so js send an ask or dm :)

✽・:..｡o￠o｡..:・✽・:..｡o￠o｡..:・✽・:..｡o￠o｡..:・

I have a post with pictures of her, her weapon and few other pictures for her hobbies i couldn't add on this post

back story under the cut

Born in Manhattan, her mother Cassandra decided to shift back to Thailand, her hometown, with her boyfriend Maverick and get married when she was age 3. Her parents never really cared for her, it was her brother Phoenix, who raised her. He left for New York for college though.

At age 13, she finally decided to run away and traveled all by herself to find her brother.

She was made the heiress to her family riches after Phoenix fled away, her going missing was manipulated into kidnapping. She came from one of the most powerful bloodlines in Thailand, the one closest to the royals since the very beginning.

He's supposedly dead according to Mireya because they were ambushed and he seemed to have died. (He isn't actually dead, it'll be explained as the lore goes on i guess)

[riordanverserpdatabase]

Maverick

Child of Hades, Step-Child of Persephone

Camp became Maverick’s year round home when he was 11, right after Hades had removed him from mortal home he had been living in. He enjoys being there, training new recruits, participating with the other campers, and generally having a good time. He enjoys reading books, writing, going on hair dying sprees with other campers, and helping lost souls (and animals) get the closure they need to pass on.

Two Interesting Facts:

1. Maverick has a companion named Kytty With No I’s (She also does not have eyes either)

2. He is currently enrolled in a questionable online course to become a tattoo artist, and will often have to sneak out of camp to use the old laptop he uses to write with

System's favorite thing about Maverick is KYTTY WITH NO I'S WHO IS A CAT THAT DOESN'T HAVE EYES!!!! KYTTY!!!!!

Say hi to Maverick @cerberusfavorite

Spotlight 2 of 3, June 19.

[foreverrandomwritings]

What’s In The Plane?

Summary: Months after her work accident in which you discovered the envelope full of last words from Natasha she finally asks you the most important question of her life. Less than a month after she asks, you finally ask her the same question. This can be read as a stand alone.  Pairing: Natasha “Phoenix” Trace x afab!Reader

Warnings: Fluff and mentions of sex.

Word Count: 1744

Masterlist Series Masterlist

You hadn’t told Phoenix that you had gotten your pilots license over the last couple of months. It had been a secret kept strictly between you and Maverick. You would go and do lessons with him while she was away on a mission or when she had weekend plans with the squad. You had wanted it to be a surprise for her. The love she had for flying was never something you fully understood until you started flying yourself. 

That’s how you found yourself driving your fiancé to Mavericks hangar 4 1/2 hours away on your 3 year anniversary just under a month after she had proposed on Valentine's Day. Phoenix had been there a couple times but somehow hadn’t asked where you guys were going. It wasn’t until you pulled up in front of the builiding that she questioned it. “Is there any particular reason why we’re at Mavericks hangar baby girl?” Phoenix asked you. You simply gave her a big smile, turning the car off and getting out. You opened the trunk grabbing out the weekender bag and cooler you packed for the long weekend. You pulled the door closed and made your way to the building. Natasha opened her door and followed you quickly jogging to catch up with you. Trying to grab one of the suitcases from you. 

“I have a surprise for you sweetheart.” You told her as you sat the suitcases down and unlocked the large doors. You slid open one of the doors gesturing towards the other door for Natasha to open it. She moved to the other side quickly pulling the door open. You confidently walked into the building Natasha hot on your heels. Maverick had promised to spend the weekend at Pennys and leave the hangar to the 2 of you.

“Have a look around.” you told her as you threw your keys next to the bowl of his keys. You saw 2 new pairs of aviators and a note telling you not to do anything he wouldn’t do. You shook your head at that before heading over to the camper opening the door and going to the fridge putting some of the food away. You walked out of the camper and saw Natasha standing next to the P-51 Mustang running her hand along it admiring how it looked since Maverick and Rooster had finally fixed it up. 

“Do you wanna take it out for a ride?” You invited her as you came up beside her throwing an arm around her waist pulling her towards you. She turned her head slightly in your direction, eyes narrowing at you. 

“Mav would definitely kill us if we took this thing out.” She said to you, as she pulled her hand away from the plane. You simply shook your head, handing her her aviators and turned around heading to the shelf he kept the helmets on. You grabbed 2 and walked back up to the brunette. 

“I promise he gave me the okay for us to take it out.” You assured her by handing her one of the helmets. She shook her head at you. 

“I don’t even know how to fly this old ass thing baby girl, I’m sorry.” She told you disappointment in her voice. What she didn’t expect was the giant grin that broke across your face. At that moment suspicion came oozing out of her. “Why in the hell are you smiling like that?” she asked you, giving you a weird look. 

“I know how to fly it.” You replied to her with a look of mischief in your eyes. Her eyes held a look of seriousness as she once again shook her head. She was used to your silly antics but this was a bit far. She knew of your fear of heights so she wasn’t taking you seriously in the slightest. 

“Baby girl, let's be serious now. Why did you drag me all the way out here just to play a joke on me that you know how to fly a plane?” She asked you with a hand on her hip. 

“I’m not joking sweetheart. I know how to fly the plane.” You responded by reaching into your back pocket, pulling out your pilots license and handing it to her. She looked down at the document in her hand before looking back up at you. She repeated that process for a couple of seconds before handing it back to you. 

“I don’t believe you. Did Rooster or Hangman put you up to this?” She questioned you as she looked around the hangar for signs of anyone else. Your lips pulled into a pout as you shook your head. 

“I’m really not joking. Do you want me to call Mav so he can tell you?” You asked her as you grabbed your phone. She nodded her head so you pulled up his contact and pressed call. Then you handed the phone over to her. She put the phone on speaker as it rang a couple of times. Then the click of him answering sounded out from the phone. 

“Hey did you get in alright?” Mav immediately asked you. 

“Hey Mav we got in fine but Phoenix doesn’t believe me that I got my pilot's license. She thinks one of the guys is trying to pull a prank on her or something.” You replied to him shaking your head as he laughed. 

“Natasha get in the damn plane with your fiance. She didn’t overcome her fear of heights just for you to fuck around and not believe her. I’ve got to go Amelia needs help with something. Go have fun and don’t crash the plane.” He said with clear amusement in his voice then hung up the phone. She looked at you with wide eyes and handed you back the phone. 

“When the fuck did you get your pilots license and why the fuck didn’t you tell me? You’re literally terrified of heights baby girl.” She questioned you throwing her hands up in the air.

“I’ve been working on it for a couple months. I wanted it to be a surprise.” You replied simply shrugging your shoulders. “Now let's do the preflight check and we can get going.” You told her as you quickly walked around the plane going through the list in your head that Maverick had repeated time and time again. Natasha stood and admired you. She never thought she would be able to combine two things she loved so much. The fact that it was finally happening had her swelling with amazement and excitement that she was going to be able to spend the rest of her life with you. 

You came up beside her as you finished the check “Alright let's get going sweetheart. We’re burning precious daylight.” you finished smacking a hand on her ass. Which had her jumping in surprise. She loved this newfound confidence you had. The both of you slipped into your seats soon after. Slipping on your helmets and sunglasses. You could feel the buzz of the plane as it came to life. You slowly made your way out of the hangar onto the runway next to it. 

Before she knew it you were speeding up and taking off. She sat in the backseat speechless. She never in the whole time she knew you thought you’d be flying a plane. It was never something you had shown interest in. As she saw you sat in the front seat flying the plane with ease she knew she had never loved you more than in this moment. The two of you flew around for a while. You pointed out random things you had seen on previous flights with Maverick. 

Then you were turning around and heading back to the hangar. As you approached you started getting nervous. The flight had gone well and Phoenix had already asked you to marry her so you knew what her answer would be. But there was still a voice in your head making you wonder if she would possibly say no. As you got closer you saw the back of the hangar and the words sprawled across the top on the biggest banner you could find. 

“Hey Nat can you look down and tell me what that says?” You asked her pointing down at the hangar slightly angling the plane to give her a good view. She nodded her head telling you she was on it. Then she was looking down at the hangar. A gasp leaving her mouth tears coming to her eyes. “Did you read it sweetheart?” You asked her after a moment of silence worry in your voice. 

“Oh yeah, yes uhm yea I read it.” She stuttered out. 

“So what do you say? Will you make me the luckiest woman in the world and be my wife?” You asked her. 

“Fuck yes baby girl. That’s the easiest yes I’ve ever given to anyone in my life.” She told you as you landed the plane. You turned the plane off then you were climbing out of the plane. You slipped off your helmet in unison with Natasha. Getting down on one knee you pulled the ring out of your pocket. As she gave you her hand you slipped the ring onto her finger. You stood up with her hand in yours. She brought her other hand to your cheek before smashing your lips together. The kiss was quick and passionate, your tongues fighting for dominance. Before you knew it you were inside the camper clothes strewn across the hangar and the camper laying naked next to your fiancé. 

She had pulled her ring off her finger inspecting the details in it. When she looked at the inside band she saw Baby Girl engraved inside the ring. Her heart swelled at the thought of having you with her everyday. “I have a pack of silicone bands in the car as well so you can wear one to work.” You told her as you ran your fingers along her back. She turned her head and met your lips before pulling back.

“I can’t wait to brag to the guys that my already super hot fiancé is a super hot pilot as well.” She said with a big grin on her face making you giggle and kiss her again. She slipped the ring back on her finger before rolling you onto your back getting on top of you starting round 2.

A/N: This is the last part of this short series…. Unless y’all want to see the wedding.

Tags: @wkndwlff and @sylviebell

[roosterbruiser]

Okay I got out of work so now I’m back. Let’s get into my completely out there theory (just a warning it’s super long)

The first part is that I think Bradley’s definitely in on all the murdering. Mabel said she smelt sulphur when she was attacked. She smells this again at lunch. Then when Bradley goes to Gale’s cabin she smells sulphur which is sus. This got me thinking though like what if the lightning that stuck the tree was not lightning at all but a man made explosive. Sulphur is used in gun powder and fireworks so it seems like it would be pretty easy for someone to explode the tree and blame the storm for it. I think Bradley wanted there to be no way out once he started his killing spree. Another thing that really makes me suspicious of Bradley is that Bob was the first counselor to get attacked and he was the first to ask where everyone was when Mabel was attacked. Now I don’t think Bradley attacked him because I feel like he would’ve recognized him. This is where my suspicion of the sheriff comes in. Idk if the sheriff is still alive or not so to add in an extra sprinkle of insanity let’s just say that he was the one to hack off Bob’s arm (he would be an unrecognizable old naked man so it tracks).

This is where it all really goes off the rails and I’m just making things up as I go lol. Bradley would need a partner to help him with the killing in a way to get people off of his back (like for alibis and stuff) and to just make it easier to pick everyone off. I think his partner is Maverick. What evidence do I have to back that up? None. It’s been 30 years since the first attack and what if Maverick was one of the campers during it? This night would’ve changed his whole life.

I firmly believe that the sheriff killed everyone and pinned it on Gwyar. Gwyar was supposedly stabbed in the neck, chest, and back like there was no way he did that to himself. The Sheriff was really pushing the narrative that Gwyar was the devil like REALLY pushing it. Jake even still says that Gwyar was working with the devil to commit these murders so this story has prevailed for 30 years. So let’s say the sheriff comes in does his whole murdering thing and leaves the kids. Unknown to him one kid, Maverick, was like I love this. From there Maverick made it his life goal to own the camp and pull off murders of his own.

So he buys the camp and starts hatching plans but he knows he can’t do it alone. He recruits Rooster as a young age to join him (Rooster is older than Gale and has been a counselor for a long time so this would’ve been a while ago). Together Maverick and Rooster are gonna go kill everyone they want but they’ll need a fall man like they don’t want to take the blame. This could really be anyone like I feel like Rooster is really trying to pin it on Hangman right now but the fall guy could really be anyone (i haven’t thought that far ahead yet). Rooster is really trying to play hero and he tried to set himself up as being bad with an axe so it just makes me more sus of him.

I’m sorry this is so long but this is just the way my brain works lol. To summarize, I think the sheriff did it originally and now it’s primarily Rooster and Maverick. If you’ve made it this far thank you so much for writing this story I love it! 💛

again, posting this and then coming back bc OMG.....

[roosmavexchange]

RoosMav Explicit Exchange Fic:

A Feature, No a Bug by pohjanneito

Written for code name: Apple Prompt/summary: Maverick set the tablet on the nightstand and settled his arm over Bradley’s shoulder, pulling him against his flank. They watched each other in the dimly lit camper, some of the fluorescent light from one of the work benches bleeding through the blinds in the windows. “Are those rods something you’d like us to explore?” Maverick finally asked. Bradley’s tongue flicked out to wet his lips several times in a row, a nervous tic he’d been doing since he was little. “We don’t have to if it seems too extreme or you don’t trust me to—” “I do,” Bradley blurted, sounding almost offended. “I trust you, Mav,” he said, his eyes big and sincere. “And yeah, I wanna try it, like, a lot.” Or: Maverick and Bradley try sounding for the first time.

[caravans123]

Australian Made Caravans by Maverick Campers promise a level of quality and luxury that is unmarked to their followers. The caravans, which are made to be tough enough to drive the National Highway on Australia's hilly area, are conceived with maximum exactness and an unparalleled degree of workmanship. Go Maverick Campers - whether you are going on the road less traveled or having a relaxing retreat on one of the beautiful coastlines, expect nothing but the ideal holiday from us. Get the true freedom of Australian Made Caravans excellence today. Call Us: 1300 628 494 for inquiries and to start your journey!

[shakespeareanwannabe]

As You Wish, Chapter 14

Summary: When arriving at Camp Silver Star, Abby Floyd was anticipating a summer of adventure with an ocean separating her from the three people she loved most: her mom, her Uncle Bob and her Aunt Natasha. But after a run in with Charlie Seresin, an extremely familiar looking and irritating camper in a different cabin, her summer plans take a turn that neither girl ever could have expected.

Trigger Warnings: reader's children are described as being blond with green eyes because genetics are wild and Jake's genes are strong, reader is canonically Bob's sister (but biological relation is never discussed), reader goes by Buttercup and is tattooed, angst, drinking, sadness, reference to divorce, kids doing sneaky things, swearing, references to the loss of a parent or parents, reference to past bedroom activities

Seresin Ranch, Clifton, Texas, Now

The ride home was spent in silence. The girls had quickly packed their things and mounted their horses after Savannah had shrieked at their father that she wanted to go home, right that second. Jake had nodded at them that they were going home, and they were all fully packed within a half an hour.

Savannah hadn’t made a peep since, only hissing at their father that his ‘chances’ with her father were now impossible before plopping herself onto a boulder and ignoring them all. Jake had only huffed a sigh and packed both of their bags up before tacking up the horses.

They had taken the short trail back to the ranch and took no stops, so they ended up back at the ranch just before dinner time, their mother peeking her head out of the curtains and frowning at them.

Savannah clumsily dismounted, Angel stomping her foot in discomfort until the petite blond had her designer cowgirl boots on solid ground. With a huff, Savannah whipped her hair as she turned towards their father and hurled her engagement ring at his chest.

“You could’ve been so much more than this,” she hissed at him, jerking her chin at his girls. “We could’ve sent them to a boarding school or to live with their mother, and you could’ve joined the Navy again like you wanted to! Instead, you’ll never be anything but some…some…farmer!”

Jake shook his head slowly at her, his eyes locked on her with a look that Charlie was very happy she had never seen directed at her.

“I would never have let you send my girls to boarding school. Being their father is the best thing I have ever done. And if you can’t see that, then it’s your fault,” Jake’s voice was calm and cool, but Rooster recognized it as he and Buttercup emerged from the house, trying and failing to look nonchalant as they rushed towards the tense looking confrontation. It was Jake’s mission voice. His Hangman voice. The same voice he had used when he had confronted Rooster about the Uranium Mission, about him not having what it takes to fly, about how he was only there because Maverick had flown with Rooster’s old man. Hangman was pure arrogance and jet fuel, with none of Jake’s tenderness and homespun, golden boy manners.

“Or is it your fault for not telling me there were two of those little demons?” Savannah sneered.

“Watch it,” Buttercup stepped forward. “Nobody gets to talk about my girls that way.”

Savannah rolled her eyes. “You can have him,” she scoffed as she turned her back on them all and strolled towards the big, black SUV that was thundering up the drive. “Nobody will want him now anyway.”

Rooster moved to stand next to Jake as Savannah clambered up into the SUV that her father was driving, offering the retired Air Force Colonel a sarcastic salute before crouching and retrieving the fallen diamond ring.

They watched in silence as the SUV roared away, a collective sigh of relief rippling through them all as it disappeared into the distance.

“I feel like I should burn this thing,” Rooster mused, staring down at the platinum band. “Y’know, douse it in holy water and set it on fire so it doesn’t attract any more hell spawn.”

Jake groaned, running a hand through his hair. “Shut up, man. Hey! Slow your roll, you two!”

Rooster peered over his shoulder at the twins, who were trying to make a sneaky exit into the house. Rooster chuckled as they glanced at each other and slowed their footsteps but didn’t stop.

“Freeze, ladies!” Buttercup barked, striding towards them. “You know what your father meant.”

With a sigh that heaved their shoulders, Abby and Charlie halted on the porch and turned towards their parents.

Jake crouched in front of them and scanned their faces with his pilot’s precision.

“Someone better start talking…” he murmured into the still air.

“Well, you see—”

“We didn’t actually do anything wrong—”

“It’s only that—”

“Nothing dangerous—”

Jake held up a hand and the air went still again.

“Chipmunks don’t just miraculously appear in a closed saddlebag,” he started, staring between them. “They have to be placed there. And I don’t know anyone better at handling rodents than my daughter Charlie, who has been helping remove chipmunks and squirrels from the hay loft since she was a toddler.” Charlie flushed, kicking at a stone beneath her boot. “And while I appreciate the concern you both had about Savannah having an allergic reaction, that doesn’t explain this.” He pulled the open packet of itching powder out of his jeans pocket. Abby gulped. “And don’t think I didn’t notice the hay around the tent spikes of Savannah’s tent either.” He looked between them. “All I want to know is why?”

He stared at them for a long moment, green clashing with green, until Abby groaned and crumbled. “I’m sorry, Dad, but Savannah was awful. She bragged about being a champion rider, but anyone with eyes could tell she had never been on a horse! And she was always hanging off you like she couldn’t do anything by herself. And…”

“And her vibe was way off, Dad,” Charlie added, stepping forward. “And I think you knew that. That’s why you didn’t introduce us until after you proposed.”

“I didn’t introduce you because you were off at camp,” Jake argued, biting back a groan as he stretched back to his full height. “And I’ll admit that I should’ve told her that you’re twins, but at the time, I thought you didn’t know about each other.”

“So, you kept Abby a secret from me, and I kept my feelings about Savannah a secret from you,” Charlie grinned slyly. “Sounds like we both did the wrong thing, old man.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Maybe…but I’m the adult here. Which means I’m the one who gets to dole out any punishment for unnecessary pranks pulled on the trail ride.”

Charlie gulped. “You’re not going to make Mom and Abby go home early are you?”

Jake’s eyes softened. “I would never do that, Charlie-girl. But you and your sister are going to be doing extra chores around here. You’re going to have to muck out all the stalls in the morning, feed the horses, and polish the tack.”

Abby and Charlie grinned at each other. “Is that it?”

“Restricted phone time,” Buttercup shot them a stern look. “You can have your phones for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. But that’s it. I have no doubt you used your phones to help coordinate these schemes of yours, so this is just a natural consequence.”

“Can Abby still sleep in my room?”

Jake met Buttercup’s eyes and nodded. “We’re okay with that.”

“And we can still go to Uncle Javy’s football game?”

Buttercup grinned at Jake and rolled her eyes fondly. “I suppose that’s alright.”

The girls cheered and hugged each other. “We’re okay with that!”

They grabbed their backpacks and ran into the house, chattering away, and Buttercup sighed before following along behind them.

“Not so fast.”

She blinked and turned to him. “What did I do?”

Jake folded his arms across his broad chest and cocked an eyebrow at her. “You know what you did.”

Buttercup’s hands met her hips as she shifted her weight to jut a hip out. “Do I?”

Jake rolled his eyes as a smile played on his lips. “What exactly did Savannah say to you to make you bail on the trail ride? I know you. Spending time with Abby, getting to know Charlie, the opportunity to see me potentially make an ass of myself? You were ready and willing to go on the ride until I went outside to get the horses ready. So, what did my ex-fiancée say to my ex-wife to scare her off the ride?”

Buttercup scoffed. “I wasn’t scared. I figured it was a good opportunity for the girls to get to know their stepmother.”

“And if their stepmother got the chance to get to know them, and didn’t like what she saw?” Jake’s grin was sharp with challenge.

“Then that would be her loss, just like you said.” Buttercup tossed her hair over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows at him. “I don’t know what you’re implying here, Hangman.”

Jake’s answering chuckle sent a small thrill through her. “I’m implying that I spent three months with Savannah, and the only way she would get near a horse would be if there was a risk of her losing face. And the only person who would be willing to put her in that situation is you. But you wouldn’t do that without reason, so c’mon, darlin’. Out with it.”

Buttercup sighed lightly. “She asked me to write her wedding vows for her. Her vows to you.” She could’ve giggled at the way Jake’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, but the whole situation had left her with an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. “It was a power play, plain and simple. So, yeah. Maybe I got the feeling that the girls didn’t like her and would probably make her life hell on the ride, so I might have suggested to Savannah that she should go on the ride because it would make you happy and she would be able to bond with the girls.”

Jake chuckled in spite of himself. “You’re just as diabolical as they are, you know.”

Buttercup shrugged delicately. “They had to get it from somewhere. Too bad for you, I’m an adult too and you can’t dole out any punishment to me.”

Jake shifted on his feet, his quiet chuckle sending tingles through her body as the air around them spiked with…something.

“Not like I haven’t before,” he breathed, mostly to himself.

Buttercup folded her arms across her chest, almost as though she were afraid that her heart would beat right out of her chest. The memories of them, the things they had done together, surged through her brain, her bloodstream, lighting her up like a firefly. But he was still Jake, and any fire between her and Jake had been doused a long time ago, and it had to stay that way. For the good of everyone involved.

“Um,” she swallowed. “Rooster made chili. He said it was some sort of post-trail ride tradition. We were just setting the table when we heard the commotion.”

Jake nodded and patted Firewall’s flank. “Let me just take care of these guys, and I’ll be right in. Make sure you save me a bowl, alright? Charlie would eat the entire pot if we let her.”

Jake groaned as he pushed his bowl away.

“That was your best batch yet, Uncle Roo,” Charlie grinned a sleepy smile, inching towards food coma territory.

“I’m still pissed you couldn’t cook like this when we lived together,” Natasha grumbled, though the smile on her face stole any bite the words might have held.

Bob nodded in agreement. “The whole squadron would be shocked that Mr. Ramen and Burnt Toast has a degree from culinary school.”

Rooster grunted at them. “I only burnt my toast once. You two just won’t let me forget it.”

“More than once,” Javy grinned at him, leaning back in his chair, and Jake smiled. It seemed like, for tonight at least, Javy and Nat had called a truce. They hadn’t glared or shot thinly veiled remarks at each other all night. Of course, they hadn’t spoken or looked at each other either, but Jake found himself grateful for the lack of anything between them.

“Alright, well maybe I should prove my badass kitchen skills then, huh?” Rooster leaned forward, a smirk tugging on his lips. “I think it’s high time for a Daggers Reunion. What do you say? We can celebrate the fact that Jake isn’t gonna marry that absolute pain in the ass he called a fiancée.”

“Rooster!” Buttercup looked shocked. “I know you didn’t like her, but Jake wouldn’t have asked her to marry him if he didn’t have feelings for her.”

Javy scoffed. “More like feelings about his future. Your boy here didn’t want to have an empty nest when Charlie grows up, so he was gonna—ow, shit!” Javy winced as Jake’s foot connected with his knee. “Dude, what the hell?”

Buttercup felt the blood rush to her cheeks. “It’s alright, Jake. I get it. They’re almost 12. In six years or so, they’ll be off and we’ll be left on our own. I don’t know what the future holds for me either, and it’s a scary thought.”

“Don’t worry, Mum,” Abby yawned, leaning against her sister. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Buttercup grinned. “Thank you, baby. But I do think maybe you two should go upstairs to bed. You’ve had a busy day.”

Abby nodded and tugged Charlie off her chair before hugging her mother, then her father.

Charlie followed suit but stilled at the landing of the staircase. “I like Uncle Roo’s idea. A Dagger’s reunion sounds like a lot of fun.”

“Alright, kiddo. We’ll see if we can make it happen,” Jake smiled softly at the girls as they ascended the staircase.

“Can we also go out to dinner tomorrow?” Abby paused a few steps from the top. “Just the four of us? As a family?”

Jake nodded. “Sure, baby. Whatever you want.”

“Okay. Night, Dad. Night, Mum. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” their parents chorused.

“Dude, you’re such a softie now,” Natasha smirked at him over the lip of her wine glass. “They just cost you your fiancée, Bagman. And you’re letting them call the shots.”

Jake fixed her with a look. “I’m not soft, Phoenix.” He grinned. “In fact, everyone else on this ranch have been pulling their weight, except you two. So, I’d really appreciate it if you and Baby On Board would do the dishes while Javy and I go make sure everything is locked up tight.”

Natasha gaped at him. “What about Buttercup? Or Rooster?”

“Rooster cooked,” Jake shrugged. “And Buttercup’s been working on her novel. What have you and Bob been up to? Other than drinking my wine, eating my food, and eating up my Wi-Fi?” Natasha glared and he grinned. “Enjoy. C’mon, Javy.”

The two men rose from their seats and left the room, clearly headed to make sure the ranch was locked up for the night. Rooster rose with a groan and mumbled something about watching the football game in his room, leaving after patting Buttercup on the head.

Natasha looked around at all the dirty dishes and grumbled. “Your husband is such an asshole.”

“Ex,” Buttercup clarified quietly, running her finger over the lip of her glass. “Besides, you shouldn’t have shot your mouth off with the softie comment. You had to have known he’d retaliate.”

“Yeah, but did he have to bring me into it?” Bob sighed, already gathering dishes and taking them into the kitchen.

Buttercup giggled as her family disappeared into the kitchen, the soft sounds of their bickering carrying through the archway as she stared at the darkened front door, waiting for Jake to return.

The next day passed smoothly, and the four occupants of the main house (plus the grumpy uncle living in the attic) fell into a rhythm of sorts. Jake and the girls were out of the house by the time Buttercup woke up, jetlag and a sleepless night weighing on her mind. However, she found a breakfast of cinnamon oatmeal and fruit salad waiting for her on the stove and a box of her favourite tea sitting next to the kettle. Buttercup settled into the desk in her bedroom and cranked out a few more pages of her book, the characters finally deciding to play along and follow the plot, though the plot wasn’t turning out exactly the way she had imagined it. By the time noon came around, she had wandered down into the kitchen, where she helped Rooster prepare barbecue chicken Ceasar wraps for everyone before going out into the ranch and calling her family home to eat. After their meal, Jake stole them all away to the local high school, where he assisted Javy with coaching their football team. Even when they had been together, Buttercup hadn’t been much of a football fan, but she found herself enjoying the time spent in the bleachers, especially when Jake would demonstrate a play for the rookie quarterback (though she would deny that last part to the ends of the earth and back).

By the time they got back to the ranch, the girls were hustling their parents into their bedrooms to change for their family dinner.

“Babe, we didn’t even make a reservation,” Buttercup sighed as Abby shoved her make up bag into her hands and pushed her towards the ensuite bathroom.

“Any place that would dress code me for not wearing a suit would be booked up months in advance, kiddo,” Jake protested as Charlie tossed his navy-blue suit onto his bed.

“Don’t worry about it,” both girls had reassured their parents. “Our aunt and uncles took care of everything.”

The statement had been less than reassuring, but both parents were determined to play ball. Buttercup had conceded to wearing her aqua coloured midi dress (a dress Charlie had insisted she pack once she had seen it in her mother’s closet back in London) and had even put on the diamond necklace that had been a joint Christmas present from her family last year. Jake had begrudgingly put on his navy suit and the silver and blue aviator watch he had bought on a whim a few years back. The girls had dressed up in matching black dresses (no doubt a gift from their Uncle Bob) and ushered them out of the house before they could say goodbye to Bob, Rooster or Natasha. 

“Alright, ladies,” Jake grinned, spinning his car keys around his finger. “Ready to tell me exactly where we’re going?” He started as Charlie clamped onto his wrist, dragging him down the dirt path towards the dude ranch.

“Right this way, old man.”

Jake craned his neck back just in time to see Abby take a much gentler grip on her mother’s arm, steadying her as the heels of her shoes sunk into the dirt.

“Charlie, your mother is going to break her neck out here without much light.” In truth, the sun would be going down in a few hours, but the way it hung low in the sky had shadows painting the path in darkness. Charlie blinked up at him, a challenge gleaming there, and Jake sighed. “Let me go, kid.”

He shook off his daughter’s grip and strode backwards until he could offer Buttercup his elbow. “C’mon, darlin’,” he murmured. “Can’t have you breaking an ankle out here. Don’t want a lawsuit on my hands.”

Buttercup chuckled as she wrapped her arm around his. “Thank you…” she whispered as Abby pranced up the path to join her sister. “Honestly, I don’t know how they come up with so many harebrained schemes.”

“You think they’re scheming?”

She shot Jake a knowing look. “Do you know any family friendly restaurants where the diners dress up like this?” She gestured to their semi-formal clothing. “And if you do know any, are any of them located down this dirt path?”

Jake nodded his head towards her, conceding her point. “They’re your daughters, alright.”

She elbowed him lightly in the ribs. “I’m not the scheming parent, thank you very much.”

“Seriously? Wasn’t eloping in Vegas your idea?”

She bit her lip to hide her grin. “That wasn’t a scheme. That was taking advantage of the air show in Vegas and the fact that everyone we loved was there. Besides, that didn’t run the risk of potential bodily harm.”

Jake shook off the zing of pain that ran through him at the memory and forced the smile to remain on his face. “Maybe for you, but I have only the haziest memory of the morning after our wedding. Rooster and Fanboy kept pouring marga-beers down my throat even though you told them to stop.”

Buttercup giggled, and something warm flared in Jake’s chest. “Maybe they get it from them then. Rooster, Javy, and Natasha are all pretty heavy handed with the schemes, aren’t they?”

“Oh, more than you know,” Jake laughed as they approached the gazebo that overlooked the manmade pond. They’d put both features in a few years previous, trying to make the dude ranch more attractive for people who wanted more of a vacation than a chance to prove themselves on a ranch.

“Girls?” Buttercup called as they jumped up onto the gazebo before ducking out of sight. Within seconds, the whole structure was lit up, the tiny fairy lights glittering off the water.

“Speaking of schemes…” Jake muttered, guiding Buttercup over the rocky terrain and up onto the gazebo.

In the center, a small, round table for two sat invitingly, a vase of fresh wildflowers pushed to one side to make room for the plates, cutlery, and linen napkins that waited to be used.

“Hoo boy,” Buttercup whispered as he pulled out one of the wrought iron chairs and helped her sit comfortably.

“Girls, what are you doing?” Jake turned to find them standing by the stairs of the gazebo.

“We…wanted to thank you!” Charlie grinned. “Y’know, for being so nice about us switching places.”

“And blackmailing you,” Abby added.

“And blackmailing you,” Charlie nodded her agreement. “Oh! And we wanted to apologize for chasing off Savannah.”

“And you decided that a romantic dinner for two was the best way to do that?” Buttercup’s face was filled with such bemusement that Jake had to laugh.

“Well, if you’re going to coparent, you need to be able to get along,” Abby chirped cheerfully. “Consider this our way of trying to make that happen!”

“We’re going to leave you to eat,” Charlie grinned. “I really hope you can make it through a simple dinner without arguing. That would bode really well for all of us.”

Jake groaned as the girls skipped away, then groaned again when a shadowy figure stepped into the gazebo, carrying two serving trays.

“Hey man, don’t groan at me. Those two little demons are your spawn,” Javy muttered as he set the two trays of food on the table. “They’re better at finding information and using it to their advantage than the freakin’ Navy.”

Natasha scoffed as she stepped up beside Javy, brandishing a bottle of wine in each hand. “If they weren’t so damn cute, I’d want to kill them.”

Buttercup blinked at them. “You got sucked into another one of their schemes?”

Natasha shrugged. “Apparently, I need to watch what I say when Abby and I are watching trashy TV and eating junk food. The kid’s got Fort Knox as a memory. Don’t know what his excuse is though,” she added, jerking her head at Javy. “Now, do you want red or white? Because Rooster said either will work with the food, but Abby will throw a hissy fit if I don’t play along.”

“They got Bradshaw into this too?” Jake turned to Javy, who shrugged.

“You two somehow managed to raise two extremely intelligent blackmailers, with zero input from the other person and an ocean between you. It’d be impressive if it wasn’t kinda terrifying.” Javy sighed. “Natasha and I will be watching from the cabin. Buttercup, as much as you may want to, please don’t drown him in the lake.”

Buttercup stifled a giggle as their friends strolled away. “Well, at least they’re not arguing anymore,” she mused before lifting the lid off her meal and smiling. “Penne a la vodka with a side salad. How did they know?”

Jake gulped and hoped the dim lighting did enough to hide the redness in his cheeks. They had gone for Italian food for their first date, and that’s what they had both ordered. Buttercup because it was her favourite, and Jake because he’d been so taken with her that he had just said “Same” so that they could get back to their conversation without the waiter being present.

“I might’ve mentioned it once, I guess,” he murmured, taking the lid off his dish and picking up his fork.

“Should we toast or something?”

Jake smiled softly and picked up his glass of red wine. “To…fresh starts?”

Buttercup smiled so sweetly at him that his chest ached with it. “Yeah, fresh starts sound good.”

Buttercup couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed so hard. Her sides ached and her cheeks hurt and she desperately hoped that she had put on waterproof mascara because, otherwise, she would have racoon eyes from the tears of laughter she had shed.

She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn’t real. This was the part of her relationship with Jake that had been easy. Falling in love with him had been as easy as breathing. He could make her laugh until she cried, and he would hold her while she cried until he could make her laugh. He made her want to pull her hair out, but one look at those bright green eyes and that sinful smile, and she would forget all about why he frustrated her. She always counted herself lucky that he was there to frustrate her. It hadn’t taken her long to realize that she would rather run the gamut of emotions with Jake Seresin than risk not feeling anything so strongly with another person.

Loving him was easy. Making it work with him was another story. And now, they had two young daughters who were depending on them. She wasn’t about to risk letting them down again. Still, she found she couldn’t quite keep her guard all the way up around him.

“…and that is why I will never take Charlie to another baseball game,” Jake finished his story to Buttercup’s peals of laughter.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you two,” she giggled breathlessly.

“Hey, she’s half you. She doesn’t get those nerves of steel from me.”

Buttercup rolled her eyes. “Oh please. How many confirmed air-to-air kills do you have under your belt?”

“Hey! That’s totally different. Having nerves of steel in the air while facing down enemy aircraft is completely different from having your six-year-old daughter try to beat the shit out of the opposing team’s mascot because it kinda looked like a monster from her nightmare.”

Buttercup snorted. “I don’t know about that. Sounds like you were both protecting yourselves with those nerves of steel.”

“You were too,” Jake said quietly, taking a sip of his wine.

“When?”

“When you left…” Buttercup froze, and Jake almost regretted saying anything. Almost. “It took guts to leave. I didn’t want to admit it at the time, but you were doing what was right for you.”

“I…” Buttercup took a fortifying sip of wine. “I hope you know I didn’t leave just because of you. I mean, I hope you know that I didn’t leave to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you.”

Emboldened by the wine, Jake reached out and took her hand. “C’mon, darlin’. Of course I know that. I know you never wanted to hurt me, and I know it felt like you were ripping your own heart out to leave Charlie behind.” He gave her hand a firm squeeze and something squeezed in his heart when she returned the gesture.

“I wish the pandemic had never happened,” Buttercup sighed. “It would’ve been so much easier to keep to the custody schedule if air travel hadn’t become so dangerous.”

Jake nodded. “I wish the court lady hadn’t transcribed our phone numbers wrong.”

Jake had called his lawyer earlier in the day and found that both of their numbers had been written wrong in the paperwork. It had happened to a few other clients, and that’s how they had come to realize that the court stenographer had been drinking on the job.

Buttercup scoffed. “Yeah…the odds were stacked against us at every turn.”

“You really think so?”

Buttercup blinked at him. “You don’t think so? Your deployments, my diagnosis, the pandemic, the clerical error? You don’t think that was fate stamping a big red X on our family?”

Jake leaned forward, close enough to her that she could smell the sharp tang of his cologne and the deep woodsy undertones that were pure Jake. “I think we had a hell of a lot going for us but neither of us knew how to handle the bumps in the road and we fell apart. Tell me, Buttercup. If we knew then what we know now, would we have made it?”

The question made her pause, made everything inside of her freeze. If her past self had all of her present knowledge, would they have made it? Would they have been able to dig through the tunnel of bullshit and make it out clean on the other side? She could imagine it. The open communication, the therapy, the fights they’d have, but together, not against each other.

She shivered at that imaging and met his green gaze. “I’m getting cold,” she whispered. “I think it’s time we go inside.”

Jake sighed but nodded, taking off his suit jacket and draping it over her shoulders. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”

Knowing that Javy and Nat were on dish duty, he offered Buttercup his elbow and slowly guided her down the path, the silvery light of the moon illuminating mere feet in front of them. She leaned against him more now than she had when they had initially walked the path, but Jake knew that was the jetlag and wine working against her.

“We’ll have to thank Rooster for dinner,” she mumbled as they strolled. “That was probably the best penne I’ve had since—shit!” Her heel caught on a rock in the path and she pitched forward. Quick as a flash of lightning, Jake had her secure against him, one arm wrapped around her waist and one pressing between her shoulder blades.

“I’ve got you, you’re okay,” he murmured into her hair, only realizing how close they were when the scent of Hawaiian orchid wafted over him.

“S-sorry,” she whispered, leaning into his chest more as she steadied herself. She looked up and met his gaze, their noses almost brushing. All it would take was a tilt of her head, and they would be—

Buttercup abruptly pulled away from him, leaning down to take off her shoes and dangling them between her fingers.

“Sorry,” she murmured again. “I didn’t mean to…I can’t…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Jake’s hand warmed the middle of her back. “No harm done, right?”

Buttercup gulped back the knot in her throat as she nodded. “Yeah…no harm done.”

Tags List: @jessicab1991

@waltermis

@buckysteveloki-me

@allepaula

@yuckosworld

@bradshawssugarbaby

@ahopelessromanticwritersworld

@kim-stark

@high-speed-r

@starsrfun

@tomanyfandomstrash

@averyhotchner

@the-blueatlas

@dashes-dizzydisaster

@a-girl-who-loves-disney

@boiolay

@djs8891

@tgmreader

@kmc1989

@landpiranha-blog

@sydthekid1518

@lynnevanss

@mackenzieblair

@minejungwoo

@starset21

@tgmavericklover

@dempy

@lovemarvelousfics

@starkleila

@magical-spit

@whatislovevavy

@simplyreading96

@vivalas-vega

@itsdesiree86

@inky-sun

@books-are-escapes

@abaker74

@devil-angel-winchester

@mrs-perfectly-fine

@inthestars-underthesun

@smoothdogsgirl

[wr1t3w1tm3]

SEAWOLF - Part 1 - Chapter 2

Tuesday - May 18th

Words: 2,771

Estimated Read Time: 12-15 min.

TW: Brief mentions of blood and brief allusion to panic caused by a traumatic experience.

It ends up taking five hours for him to reach Maverick’s hangar. For miles down the gravel back road he follows the wide swaths cut by large tire tracks earlier that night. The hangar door is closed. When he pulls up next to the hangar, his SUV is the only car. Walking through the dust to the side door, he notices a lime green post-it note, which reads:

Ring the doorbell then come in. Unlocked.

There’s a ring doorbell mounted next to the door. He presses the button, it’s lit by a blue circle for a moment, then it dings out a little song and he enters. As soon as he opens the door, he’s hit with the overwhelming stench of industrial cleaners and the harsh hangar lights.

Inside is almost immaculately clean. Maverick was never one to be messy, but he also didn’t have any specific method to his “madness” He kept his magazines, books, NATOPs and anything made of paper and bound stowed within the coffee table set up in his “living room”; and he kept his tools all over the hangar without any rhyme or reason. Roosters Ford Bronco - the same one Goose had back in the day - is parked against the hangar door.

The smell begins to dissipate as he gets closer to the fans set up in a triangle between the Mustang, the camper, and the line of tarp draped bikes. The trailer door is wide open, and a brunette in a black t-shirt and ripped up jeans steps out. There’s a paper towel roll tucked under her arm, a mop in one hand and its bucket in the other. 

She puts the pedal to the metal, booking it towards a mass of towels he notices on her approach. “You Theresa?” He calls. 

She nods, panting. The bucket hits the ground with a plunk and the mop clatters down with it. She stands, rubbing her back as he approaches. “And you’re Ice…man?”

He nods, sliding his aviators into the crook created by his unbuttoned top button. “Tom Kazansky. Callsign, Iceman. Everyone calls me Ice.”

Her hand shake is firm, but when their hands come together, hers are shaking. Maybe from the adrenaline, but when he tries to look her in the eyes she maintains contact for only a couple seconds before she drops it and motions to the bucket. “I was, uh, just cleaning up. They gave me to okay to clean up.” 

“The cops?” Ice asks, surveying the hangar. 

“Yeah,” Theresa picks up the mop and nudges the towels out of the way with her boot. 

Ice smiles gently. “Are those Mav’s old boots?” 

Theresa shrugs. “Probably.” He steps closer, but she refuses to look up. The mop swipes away at the floor, taking with it the remnants of red from under the towels. He glances at them himself. The bottom ones seem to be completely blood soaked. 

“Where are Maverick and your father?” 

Theresa rolls her shoulders, then shudders. She kicks the towels a little further, mopping that up. She starts humming something he vaguely recognizes from the radio. He steps with her, then suddenly she turns, grabbing the bucket and mop and marching towards the Mustang. There’s a similar, though smaller, mound of towels there as well. The path over is lined with muted bloody stains.

Ice stops a couple yards back and repeats his question. “Where’s your dad at, kid?”

Again, Theresa shrugs. But she speaks “Uh… I dunno. They disappeared before the cops showed up and they couldn’t find ‘em.” 

She dunks the mop in the bucket again. It slaps and some slips over the side, onto the floor. It makes a wet squelch against the concrete when she sets it down and the fibers scratch a bit as they glide over the floor. “Are they looking for them?”

“Oh, uh… the cops?” she chuckles uneasily, replying with a shrug “nah. They’ll keep an eye out for ‘em but they aren’t too worried unless they don’t turn up by tomorrow.” 

Ice steps forward. Theresa glances at him then takes a step back, mopping up where there definitely wasn’t blood before. He broaches the next question with a little more delicacy “Do you know where your dad and Maverick are?”

“The Hard Deck?” She suggests with a shrug and uneasy chuckle. Realization dawns immediately. The boots Theresa’s co-opted squeak as she walks.

Ice slides his hands into his pockets and clears his throat. “What, ah, what do the cops think happened here?”

“Rabid animal attack.” Theresa’s response is to fast. Too perfect. 

“You said it was a wolf, right?”

She pauses, glancing at him. She cocks an eyebrow, not unlike Mav when asked a stupid question. Then she turns back to her mopping. “Yeah. Big black one.” 

“What else did you see?”

“Not much,” again, too quick. Too rehearsed. “It got Mav, then it go Brad.” 

“And they both disappeared after they got bit?” 

Theresa stops, taking a deep breath as she rights herself. She nods curtly, “Yeah,” she drops the mop in the bucket and hoists it up, headed towards the trailer. 

“So what’d you tell the cops?” Ice calls. There’s a coolness in his voice that irks Theresa.

But she plays along. “That Mav and Brad got attacked by a big black wolf and that I hid in the plane.” 

“And that they disappeared after they were attacked?” 

She nods, setting the bucket at the trailer steps. Ice stops a couple yards away again. His khaki’s are crisp, his shirt is ironed. He looks well rested, despite the hour. Theresa is running on a RedBull and and looks like it. She imagines that she looks cooler than she does, staring Ice down, but she can feel the grease slicking her hair back and it does not feel pretty. 

He sighs, taking one step closer and asking quietly “What color where they?”

Theresa blinks, trying to wake herself up. “What color where… who?” 

She takes a sudden breath. Ice sighs, pressing “What color where the wolves?”

“The… black one?” Theresa slides back a step. Her back is practically against the trailer now. Ice shakes his head and crosses his arms. 

“What color fur did your father and Mav have after they shifted?”

Theresa balks like she’s about to throw up. The mop clatters against the wooden steps, then it hits the floor. It echoes through the hangar. Ice’s ears ring a bit. It fades within a moment, giving Theresa enough time for realization. 

“Can you drive Mav’s Jeep?”

Theresa doesn’t respond at first. One hand slowly drifts to her chest, where it feels her heart racing. The other reaches back for the trailer, and once it makes contact she leans back against it. Ice takes another step forward, repeating himself tersely. “Can you drive Mav’s Jeep?” 

She swallows hard, but she nods. Ice nods, stepping back. “Good. Go ahead and grab the keys kid, then follow me. Slider’ll get in soon and we need to have Mav and your dad wrangled by then.” He starts towards the door, but he only hears his footfalls. He turns back after a few steps, and Theresa simply stands there, unmoving. Her mouth slightly agape. 

“Come on kid,” he puts on a small smile and tries to sound cheerful. “Grab the keys. It’ll be fun.” 

She seems to snap out of it, shaking her head a bit violently. She steps up into the trailer. Ice listens to her search around for Mav’s keys. The search is by no means silent, but she doesn’t say a word otherwise. The shock should wear off soon. She’ll be fine then. 

“Oh!” He calls back. “Make sure to grab them each a change of clothes!”

They don’t have to go far. Approximately a mile from Maverick’s hangar and equidistant from the runway is a large collection of rocks. Hiding amongst those rocks are two wolves: one black, one hazel. 

Ice approaches cautiously, dimming his lights once he spots them. Theresa’s eyes aren’t nearly as well adjusted. Luckily, she’s far enough back that her lights don’t startle them. 

They were resting when they arrived. Both still shifted. For a second, a pang of… anxiety strikes him. What if they attack Theresa? She’s in an open Jeep after all. 

No. They won’t. They’ve had nearly five hours to come to terms now. Besides, he’s in front. They won’t attack him. He’s familiar. Wolf and friend.

Theresa shuts off the Jeep. The dying headlights catch the hazel, almost dirty blonde wolf’s attention. He’s huge. Easily ten feet from snout to tail. He probably weighs about what he did before, and Rooster was a pretty big guy by all metrics. 

“Easy. Easy.” the hazel one - Rooster - growls. Theresa, halfway between the SUV and the Jeep, stops dead. She looks like she’s just seen a ghost. The black one turns his attention to her. “Whoa Mav,” Ice glances back. He reaches one hand out in front of him, and gently calls back to Theresa “get in my car.” 

She doesn’t move. She can barely breath. All she can see is an eruption of black and hazel fur as bodies contort and someone screams. Mav. She thinks its Mav’s scream she hears. The desert wind whips up and the sand swipes her arms and face. 

Tears start to fall. The stinging only makes them worse. Ice turns back to the wolves. Now he was gonna have to get both wolves into the SUV without any help. 

Well, maybe… “She’s alright,” he assures them, turning to Maverick first. “You didn’t hurt her. She’s just… tired.” He just told them she was fine. He can’t admit that she’s scared. Not now. 

Bradley takes a step forward. Ice pivots right at him. “Whoa, Rooster. No. No. She’s fine,” he glances at Mav “you’re both fine, but you’ve got to come with me. We’ve gotta get you shifted back.” 

The black one - Maverick - takes several cautious steps towards Ice’s hand. Once he’s within a few feet, he takes a wiff. Ice smiles. “Yeah, that’s it Mav. Easy.” 

Maverick seems to smile, and with a little yip he closes the distance between himself and Ice. He pops a squat right in front of him, slinking the last few inches. Mav nudges his outstretched hand, begging for pets. 

Ice’s smile only gets bigger, and he obliges, running his hand over Mav’s head a few times, following his stroke behind the right ear and giving a nice scritch. It almost looks like Mav smiles as he snuggles up against Ice’s legs. He’s absolutely beaming. “There ya’ go, Mav. Thats better, isn’t it? Figured you didn’t wanna be stuck out here all night, huh?” He crouches down, scratching behind both of Mav’s ears “Yeah. You don’ wanna be stuck out here, do ya? Do ya?” 

Maverick yips. Suddenly, Bradley barks, once, then whines. Ice chuckles, shaking his head. “Yes, you too, Rooster, I have two hands.” 

Rooster starts walking, but not towards Ice. Both Mav and Ice watch him start towards Theresa. She sees him, and slowly starts to back up. But every step she takes is matched by the wolf. He’s huge. He’s getting bigger. Getting closer. 

She’s gotta hide. Something inside is screaming at her. The screams echoing in her head don’t help anything. She’s able to shake them off. For a second, her head is clear.  She turns and bolts for the Jeep. 

Okay, not that clear. 

“No! Bradley!” 

Maverick’s off in a flash. He intercepts Rooster as Theresa makes it to the Jeep. Rooster growls, looking past him at the Jeep. Maverick glances back and matches his growl. They’re locked in this stand off until Ice closes the distance. He sprints the whole way. Theresa’s in the Jeep, thank god, and she’s got it on. But she’s still got open windows. Rooster or Maverick could easily get in that way. 

“Easy, easy guys.” He goads. He crouches again, trying to get on their level. It’s awkward, since they stand so high off the ground. “Come on. Let’s go.” He motions to the SUV. “Slider’ll be here any minute, and we’re gonna get this all figured out, alright?” 

Rooster seems calmer. The growling stops. Theresa’s sobs replace them. Ice glances at her. She’s got her knees pulled against her chest and her forehead resting on them. Great. She’s of no help right now. 

With a sigh he starts towards the SUV, but backwards, to keep his eye on Maverick and Rooster. Once he reaches it, he pops the middle door. “Come on guys. We’re gonna go back to the hangar and get this all figured out.” 

They hesitate for a couple seconds. Rooster glances back at Theresa. Ice nods, “She’ll follow us back.” 

Maverick sneezes, but without further protest pads over to the SUV. He climbs in easily, but he looks tired. He lays down on the seat, taking up nearly the whole back bench. Ice turns back to Rooster. He’s moved a bit closer, but he’s still got a lock on Theresa.

Ice meets him where he’s at, crouching down and petting him a few times. “Yeah, I know Roo. She’s a little upset right now,” Not scared. Not now “but she’ll be alright. We’ll get this all sorted out once we get to the hangar, alright?” Rooster sighs. “Hey. Hey. Everything’s gonna be fine. It’ll all get figured out once we get back to the hangar, okay? Come ‘on.” he stands, starting towards the SUV. 

Rooster glances back at Theresa once more, and after a moment he - almost reluctantly - follows Iceman back to the SUV. Once he’s in, Ice shuts the door and gets in, pulling up next to Theresa. 

She’s been having a moment. Her eyes are red, and there’s wet spots on her shirt collar from where tears escaped her hands. She sniffles on their approach, trying to seem more put together. 

Ice still practically scowls at her, and everything he says sounds like an order. “Head back to the hangar. Slider should meet us there.” 

She nods, pursing her lips. Ice sighs and rolls his window up, rolling back towards the dirt road they took out. Theresa… Theresa hesitates for a bit. It’s not like she’ll get lost, she can see the hangar from the pile of rocks. She… she just needs a minute. 

What the fuck happened? She tries to wrap her head around it. First, some big black wolf appeared and got Mav. Then Mav… Mav turned into a big black wolf and attacked Bradley. Then… then Bradley must’ve turned into a wolf and they both must’ve run off when the EMT’s showed up. 

Were… were they werewolves now? That… that… I should’ve had that on my 2021 Bingo Card. She doesn’t know what she feels, but it’s not pleasant. It’s a whirl wind of fear, yes, and anxiety. She’s gotten a major… spine tingle, for lack of a better word, as her mind replays Maverick’s… shift? Is that what he called it? She’s not sure, but it sounds right. 

The fact that Tom Kazansky - who she knows is Commander of the US Pacific Fleet the same way she knows that the sky is blue and Taylor Swift sings about her exes - is one of these… werewolves. He’s a werewolf. Since when did they exist?

She combs her memory for the handful of times they’d even been in the same room with him. She did meet him briefly at some ball thing she had to attend for Roosters squad. He’d seemed normal. And… the Slider guy he mentioned. She thinks she’s met him. Something to do with an unofficial “class reunion” for Maverick sometime that summer. He might’ve been out at the hangar at one point. He’d seemed completely normal too. 

How many werewolves where there? How dangerous where they? Part of her wanted to geek out but a larger part was scared and betrayed. She felt paranoid, and she hated it but… I’m not wrong. She told herself.. If… if werewolves existed… what else was out there? Vampires? Witches? Ghosts? Demons? Fuck, it was Supernatural, but real. Was that a true story then? No… their werewolves worked differently. Unless… unless that was what they wanted you to think!

She’s lost in her own fears long enough for her tears to dry and a small plane to pass overhead and land at the hangar. The dust it kicks up stings her face and drags her back to the hellscape she’s woken up in tonight. She begins to cry again, and with a sniffle, tucks her knees to her chest and watches the hangar.

[maverickcampersau]

Discover the untamed splendor of Australia's outback with assurance when traveling in an off-road hybrid caravan from Melbourne's reliable Maverick Campers. These hybrid caravans combine the greatest aspects of traditional caravanning with the adaptability of off-road experiences. They are built to withstand challenging terrain and offer all the comforts and conveniences of home. Maverick Campers' off-road hybrid caravans provide the toughness and adaptability you require, whether you're traversing uneven paths or camping in isolated areas. With an off road hybrid caravan melbourne from Maverick Campers, Melbourne's top supplier, you can begin your journey right now.

[localizee]

This is your chance to see why ATVs, RZRs, Mavericks, and other Side-by-Side UTVs have become so popular with campers, hunters, friends, families, and business groups.

[maverickcampers1]

Embark on a journey of caravan excellence at Caravans Melbourne, where you'll encounter an extensive array of premium caravan options, including models from the esteemed Maverick Campers. Dive into their diverse inventory of innovative and finely crafted campers, all thoughtfully designed to provide both adventure and comfort during your travels. Your ideal caravan is ready and waiting for you at Caravans Melbourne – begin your exploration today!