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j-eryewrites · 5 months ago

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Left Behind When We Are In Need

Part Seven of A Sinner's Redemption

SERIES MASTER LIST | MAIN MASTER LIST

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Word Count: ~21.k

Author's Note: This chapter covers some pretty dark topics. Most of the events happen in canon, but I will still say it. Do not read this chapter if dark themes such as SA trigger you. I have put discretions above the sections containing these triggers to warn you again. I am not in charge and do not control the media you consume. Please read at your own risk. That being said, enjoy this extremely angsty and dark chapter.

*Note: I very briefly edited it, and it has not been beta read.

Trigger Warnings: Canon typical violence, gore, gun violence, descriptions of injuries, attempted SA, mentions of death, descriptions of death, depressive thoughts, fire, cults/religion, mentions cannibalism, cursing/language, creepy men, mentions of pedophilia

꧁_꧂

Numb, that's all Piper felt as she sat on the porch. The chill morning light kissed her skin, and the birds sang their good morning, yet Piper couldn't feel anything. She couldn't hear the sweet song or sense the loving caress of the sunbeams. She no longer felt cold, and most of all, she was no longer sick.

She was well aware of how illness worked. It was human to contract illness, but Piper didn't feel human. She was alive and breathing, for that she was sure. However, after the scars left by Joel's words and the wounds that reopened, Piper was in pain. Sure, humans felt pain, but not like this, Not pain that lasts for 17 years. Not a pain that only increases with each breath. Sinking deeper into the frozen porch, Piper clenched her fists. No, the pain she felt wasn't human. It was a message calling out to her, a consequence, and a promise. It was a promise of death. She'd been right when she told Joel. Piper was only made to kill, and she only knew how to kill. She was a killing machine, built to survive and destroy. She wasn't human. She wasn't sure she'd ever been one at all. Maybe once, she could have been through the love she held for her sister, but it was revealed to Piper as she lay bleeding in the snow that maybe Ellie didn't want her love. Maybe Ellie was just as hurt and angry as she was, and no amount of love would change that.

Deep in her depressive derailing, Piper could not hear the crunching of the freshly fallen snow underneath Tommy's feet as he crept away from his home, family, and life to the house across the street.

A huff of air fogged Tommy's view as he stilled, noticing the statue of Piper on the porch. Her cheeks burned a bright red underneath the wood-brown knit beanie atop her head. Where tuffs of long dark hair used to lay were now pinkened, freckled skin. Around her cheeks and eyes, dark purple and blue shades merged as if a child mixed watercolor paints together. Tommy frowned at the sight, taking care to slowly approach.

"How long have you been out here?" Tommy asked her once he reached the front steps.

Piper shrugged and stood up, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. The sound of Tommy knocking on the front door was drowned out by Piper's heavy steps as she descended the stairs and began her trek in the snow.

"Hey, wait," Tommy called out to Piper. Suddenly, the door flung open and slammed shut, revealing Ellie. Ellie hopped down and trickled after her sister, leaving a wide gap between the two. For a moment, Tommy could only stand and stare before he realized he was supposed to follow the girls and lead them.

The walk to the stables seemed longer than Tommy remembered it being. With how fast the girls were walking, he was sure he'd get there faster than he thought. Yet the silence and grim expression of the girls made the trek over exponentially longer. The cold bitterness of the winter's day slightly softened as they walked into the stables.

Hay and straw decorated the floor, and various saddles, ropes, and grooming tools hung along the wall. Tommy motioned for the girls to follow as he led them down the stables. Arriving at the last few stables, Tommy stopped and sighed, stepping back.

A scowl formed on the girls' faces upon seeing what stood inside the stables.

"You came here to say goodbye or something?" Ellie spat.

"No," Joel replied as he saddled up the horse. "I came here to steal one of these horses, probably two since there's three of us, and go."

"I woulda gave you 'em," Tommy told Joel.

"I know," Joel nodded.

"Anyway…," Joel turned to the girls. "…that was 30 minutes ago, and I guess… you two deserve a choice. I still think you'd be better off with Tommy…"

"Let's go," Ellie declared and stepped into the stable.

"Okay." Joel stepped aside and looked at Piper. "Piper?"

Biting her lip, she stared at Joel. A wave of emotions crashed over her. Joel was standing in front of her, saying he'd stay. The deeper his words sank in, the more her nerves began to work. She began to feel the sharp cold that stained her cheeks and clung to her head. The soreness of the bruises Ellie had left behind struck deep within her muscles. Piper began to feel again.

With her silence, Joel stepped forward. The light trickling through the wooden planks of the stables illuminated the bruises and minor cuts from Piper's hasty haircut. Suddenly, Joel's eyes became watery, and his heart sank deep into the pits of his guilt. How long had those bruises been there? Why didn't he see them? How could he have let it happen?

After a few quiet moments, acceptance filled Piper's being, and she nodded, unsure if her words would fail her. She was glad Joel stayed, but the night before had left its mark and made her bleed. A wound like that is not so easily forgotten or forgiven.

Joel couldn't help the soft smile that melted onto his face. Waving his hand, he led Piper into the other stall where the horse he prepared earlier was ready to ride.

"You good to ride on your own? Hard to fight three people on a horse," Joel explained. Piper nodded before placing her foot in the staddle and lifting herself onto the back of the steed.

"Hold onto both," Joel instructed, gently taking Piper's hands. Mm-hmm," he hummed when they were on the lead. Once she was on the horse, Joel led the creature out of the stall. Then he got Ellie onto the horse before turning to Tommy.

"General direction?" He asked Tommy.

"Head southeast till you hit I-25. It's right off the interstate. Shouldn't be hard to miss." The crease between Tommy's eyebrows deepened, and he drew his brother in for a hug. Patting his shoulder, Tommy pulled back. There's a place for you here… The three of you," he explained with as much sincerity as he could muster.

Joel glanced back at his girls. They were his girls. It was a fact he could no longer deny. "Countin' on it." Joel pointed to the rifle hanging over Tommy's arm. "Can I borrow that?"

Tommy followed his brother's finger and nodded. "Yeah."

"'Cause Maria took mine, you know?" Joel continued to persuade.

Chuckling, Tommy handed him the gun. "I already said yes, Joel." After a pause, he continued. "Adios, big brother."

"Adios," Joel said with tears in his eyes. He had found his brother. Tommy was family, but after last night, he realized. The girls, Ellie and Piper, were family too. They were his girls, and he couldn't leave them. While he trusted Tommy with his life, he knew he couldn't bear the thought of not being there for them if anything had happened. Maybe he could have done something to save them if he had just been there. So, as he led the horses out of the settlement, he didn't feel as sad as he thought he'd be saying farewell to his beloved brother. After all, he had found his girls. He had his family.

꧁_꧂

Tommy said they had a week's journey to the university, yet Joel wished the days were longer. For the first two days, as they rode, he had successfully taught the girls, mainly Ellie, how to whistle. The first consisted of the actual whistle, and the second was about whistling a tune.

Ellie was more than eager to learn after all her failed attempts over the months they had been together. On the other hand, Piper was much more reluctant about anything with Joel.

He had tried to ask about her hair after she removed her hat the first night, but he was met with a grunt in response. Then he wanted to help her pack her sleeping gear in the morning while she was busy with other things, only to watch her repack it all. He knew he screwed things up when he left her broken on the porch that night. He knew his words had cut deep, but he felt it was more than just him.

The bruises garnishing her face only seemed to worsen in color as the days went on. They seemed to be an uncomfortable topic for the girls, with flashes of guilt appearing in Ellie's eyes every time she glanced at her sister. However, what Joel thought was the worst of all was the silence. Ellie still talked to him and made jokes here and there. Piper never spoke. Words hadn't trickled from her mouth since that night. Not even a word was spoken between the two sisters.

Today, Joel decided to teach the girls how to hunt. Well, it was more of a shooting lesson, but the knowledge was still applicable to hunting. Piper decided on a more observational approach as she sat in the snow near Joel and Ellie.

Returning his gaze to Ellie, Joel adjusted her hands and nodded for her to shoot. A thundering wave of gunshots echoed over the hills. After the third shot, Ellie sighed and loosened her grip on the gun.

"Wide right," Joel noted as he pulled the binoculars from his eyes. "You're flinchin'."

"The target's too small," Ellie complained.

"I made it bigger than I should've." Joel instructed, "Eject the cartridge."

Ellie grumbled as she did as Joel told her. "…And I am not flinching."

Joel hummed, "Mm-hmm."

"The rifle just sucks," Ellie said upon finishing the task.

Taking the gun back, Joel peered over at Piper, "Why don't you take a break and let your sister try?"

"No thanks, I already know I wouldn't miss," Piper declared confidently, leaning back into her hands.

For a moment, Joel's eyes widened. She had spoken to him. "If you're so sure, why don't you show us?" Joel teased in an attempt to have more interaction.

Piper rolled her eyes and sank deeper into her hands before pushing off and reaching for the gun. Joel passed the weapon to her without a word, and she raised it to fire. Ellie peered over as Piper's eyes narrowed and her breath stilled. Her finger pinched back on the trigger. The gun fired. The glass didn't break. Piper pulled back in confusion as Joel chuckled.

"Did she miss?" Ellie yanked the binoculars out of Joel's hand and zoned in on the target. "You missed!" she gasped before pointing at her sister. "Piper missed!"

Piper grumbled and shoved the gun to the ground. "Ellie's right. The rifle's fucked up."

Joel bit his lip from laughing more. He stuck out his hand and motioned for the gun. "Okay, give it,'" he sighed. "It doesn't aim right. Mm-hmm. You'll see." He raised the rifle into position. "A deep breath in, slow breath out,' he explained, earning a leer from Ellie. "You squeeze the trigger like you love it. Mm. Gentle… steady… nice and slow."

"You gonna shoot this thing or get it pregnant?" Ellie grumbled as she peered through the binoculars. Joel smirked and prepared to fire.

"It isn't gonna work. It doesn't aim right," Piper mumbled beside him.

Joel pulled back the trigger and beamed as he heard Ellie curse, "You dіck."

Piper only huffed and bit her lip. It didn't matter that Joel had hit the target. She had missed. She hadn't missed in years, not since that night. Not since she first killed a man. She wasn't allowed to miss. She couldn't miss. Yet, here she was. Her shot had missed the target. Peering over at triumphant Joel, Piper understood why. Even if he had hurt her and left her on the cold winter night, she was safe with Joel. Joel became home after months with him on the road, fighting for their lives. Joel became family. Frowning, she continued to grumble; even if Joel was family, he had to work to apologize. He had fucked up, and he wasn't going to get away so easily.

After Joel decided his bragging rights had been overused, he told the girls to pack it up and return on the horses. As Ellie begrudgingly trudged away, Joel called out to Piper.

She turned her head to look at him. "What?" She asked with hands in the pockets of her orange coat.

Reaching into his coat pocket, Joel pulled out a small book, brushing off some lint before handing it to her.

Piper hesitantly took it. She flipped it over and read the cover. It was white and frayed along the edges, as paper does with time. " Tiny First Aid Guide," she read. She raised it with confusion on her face.

Joel stood up and brushed the snow off his pants. "I found it in the room I stayed in. No one was using it. I thought you might like it, so you can start saving someone and not, you know…," he awkwardly smiled.

Piper felt blood rush to her face, and a soft, grateful smile appeared. With her fingers, she traced over the cover. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Joel." Joel nodded in response and watched Piper walk over to her horse, holding the book tightly. Her head looked down as her brown eyes quickly scoured over its contents. With each word absorbed into her brain, Piper began to forgive Joel a bit more.

꧁_꧂

Question after question followed as Joel, Ellie, and Piper rode along. Ellie's curiosity bubbled to the surface once she realized Joel was willing to answer her questions. Piper, however, hummed along, listening as she directed her horse after Joel.

"So the way they ran things in Jackson was how things used to be?" Ellie wondered, remembering every aspect of Jackson: the Christmas tree, the movie, the communal relationship, the homes, etc.

"No," Joel smiled as he shook his head. "The country was too big for that. Back then, there were two main ways of lookin' at things. Some people wanted to own everything."

"Mm-hmm," Ellie nodded, adjusting her grip to hold Joel tighter.

"And some people didn't want anyone to own anything at all," Joel continued.

"Which one were you?" Ellie asked. She leaned over to look at Joel, trying not to fall over.

"Neither. I just did my job." Joel shrugged and glanced behind, noticing Piper's sudden interest in her book. She'd been reading it as she rode. The horse she sat on seemed to understand that it needed to follow Joel, allowing her the time to scan the pages of her first aid guidebook. He turned back around, proud of himself for the gift.

"Which was��," Ellie trailed off as her brain recalled her previous conversations with Joel. "Building?"

"That's right," Joel acknowledged. "Houses, stores, that kinda thing. We were called contractors."

Ellie smiled and cleared her throat. Deeply, she said, "The Contractor," as if it was a superhero name from one of her comic books. "That's pretty cool."

"Yeah. We were cool," Joel shrugged. "Everybody loved contractors."

"Nice," Ellie hummed.

The conversations continued one after the other. In one conversation, Ellie chose to ask about movies and television, questioning which ones were Joel's favorite. This led them down the path of football. Joel claimed he didn't watch much TV except for the Sunday games.

Ellie's brows pinched together as she tried to make sense of the game. "Okay, so if you mess up your fourth down, then you give the ball to the other team?"

Joel nodded. "Right. It's called a turnover."

"Turnover," Ellie repeated. "But if you make it to 10 yards, then you're back to first down?"

"Yep."

"So," Ellie concluded. "Basically, just moving in one direction."

"Basically…," Joel agreed. "But violent."

"Oh, well," Ellie sarcastically said. "There's that."

Up ahead stood the I25 sign. Joel glanced around, checking if Piper was still following. Stopping his horse, he announced, "Well, how 'bout that? Made it in five days. Easy days."

"I don't know what Tommy was so afraid of," Ellie noted.

"Still time to find out," Piper mumbled as she continued to walk her horse past Joel and Ellie.

"Still time to find out," Ellie mimicked.

The road went on for what seemed like forever. Snow covered the ground, but small tufts of dried grass poked out here and there. In the distance, stood tall mountains encasing a city that grew larger and larger the longer the road. As they entered the city, the snow traded for dead leaves and forgotten cars. Rusted signs led them to the university campus.

"Home of the Big Horns," Ellie read as they approached the sign. "What does that mean?"

"Team mascot," Joel explained. "It's a kind of sheep."

"Oh, see?" Ellie playfully nudged Joel's side. "One step closer to your dream."

"Don't see any Fireflies, though," Piper noted, stopping her horse beside Joel and Ellie's.

"They're probably in the middle," Joel said. "Safer."

"Uh-huh," Piper replied. "Sure."

"This way," Joel nudged his horse and led them down the road deeper into the campus.

"So these places…," Ellie began as the towering brick buildings surrounded them. "People would live here and, like, what? Go to classes and stuff?"

"Yup."

"Even though they were adults," Ellie questioned.

"Sort of adults," Joel explained. "I think it was just as much about partying and findin' themselves as anythin' else. Figuring out what they wanted to do with their lives."

"What they wanted to do with their lives," Ellie whispered before chuckling, remembering Joel's dream of a sheep ranch.

"So I've been thinkin'," Joel began.

"Mm-hmm?" Ellie hummed.

"I don't want a sheep ranch, actually." Ellie peered at Joel. Meanwhile, Piper stole a quick peek away from her book. "I mean, if the deal is I can do anything?"

"That's the deal," Piper recalled.

"Well… when I was a kid," Joel said, "I wanted to be a singer."

Ellie was unsure what she expected Joel to say, but it sure wasn't to sing. Her grip on Joel loosened as a bout of laughter overcame her.

"Shut up," Joel's cheeks flushed red. "Why is that funny?"He grumbled.

Finding a momentary pause in her giggles, Ellie swatted his arm. "You gotta sing something now."

"No," Joel shook his head.

"Come on, man. I'm not gonna laugh," Ellie promised. "Any singing will be better than Pipers."

Piper whirled around and sent Ellie a glare, who grinned in response. Joel made a mental note to ask Piper about the singing later.

"You're already laughin'," Joel observed.

Ellie agreed, "Yeah, okay, true. Well, you're singin' for me later. I'm gonna save the fսckin' world, man. It's the least you can do for me."

Joel weighed his options and shrugged. "Fair enough," he said, looking over at Piper. "What about you, Piper? Do you have any requests once you help save the world?"

At Joel's words, Piper grew quiet, and her eyes cast down. "No…," her voice shook. "No, I-"

"Are those monkeys?" Ellie squealed, pointing over to where a horde of monkeys was running across the stone stairs.

"Must be from the old labs," Joel muttered, slowing his horse.

Ellie laughed, watching the monkeys fumble over themselves. "Look at them go."

"First time seein' a monkey?" Joel raised his brow.

"First time seein' a monkey," Ellie replied for both her and Piper.

Joel smiled, directing his horse to return to the original pace. Up ahead, he noticed a bright yellow symbol covering the faded university signs. He'd recognize that symbol anywhere: the Fireflies.

"Look-it," he uttered, nodding his head to the sign. Piper and Ellie followed his gaze.

"Here we go," Ellie whispered to herself. Anticipation boiled in her blood as they approached the building that housed the Fireflies. She was so close. So close to making a cure and saving the world.

However, as the horse approached, Ellie realized the campus was too quiet and empty for a group of Fireflies to be there. "Guard stations," Ellie said, noticing the empty stations.

Joel frowned before bringing the horse to a halt. Hopping off, Joel grabbed the harness and tied it around a tree before helping Ellie down. Next, he helped Piper secure her horse.

"Mm. No guards," he noted, looking around. He began to walk with Ellie in tow. It was a few paces before he noticed Piper's absence. He turned around and saw her standing beside the horses. Her gun in hand.

"I'm gonna stay and watch the horses," Piper announced.

Joel sighed and began to walk back. "You're comin' with us."

"No, if the Fireflies are in there, then I'll come in. Besides, someone has got to watch the horses." Piper cocked her gun. "I can handle myself."

Biting his lip, Joel found himself nodding his head. "Okay. We'll be back."

Piper scoffed. "You better."

Turning around, Joel motioned for Ellie to follow him in. Together, they entered the building. Paper was scattered all over the floors. Dirt, grime, and mold clung to the once-white walls. Forgotten glass bottles and display cases created a maze along the floor.

Ellie and Joel glanced around the room, looking for any sign of life.

"There were definitely doctors here," Ellie said, picking up some test tubes.

Joel wandered over to Ellie, noticing a brown file on the turned-over cabinet. "This is a packing list—something you make before moving," he explained.

"They just left?" Ellie's brows furrowed.

In the distance, a loud clang of metal echoed throughout the halls. "Maybe not all of them," Joel whispered, readying his rifle.

The clanging continued to call Ellie and Joel deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of the science building. Nudging a door open, they discovered some of the monkey's from earlier banging against metal cabinets. Upon sensing their presence, the monkeys screeched as they fled from the window.

"Well… at least it ain't Clickers," Joel said.

"Yeah, no Fireflies either," Ellie added in disappointment. "Maybe in all that research, they turned into fսckin' monkeys."

Joel slowly blinked his eyes, watching Ellie begin to fiddle with the cabinets and kick random bottles along the floor. In the back of the room stood a board with numerous red pins. Joel stepped closer, his eyes narrowing at what he discovered: a map.

"That's where they went?" Ellie asked from behind Joel.

"All the pins lead there." Joel's finger traced the mass gathering of pins on Salt Lake City, Utah. "Maybe gettin' ahead of the weather… better facilities?" Joel suggested. "I don't know."

A harsh whisper from outside the window made the two of them freeze. Joel quickly snuck to the window. Beneath him ran a group of men, all armed. They headed towards the entrance of the science building, to the horses, and to Piper.

"This way," one raider loudly announced.

Another raider whacked his back, "Shut the fսck up," the raider hissed, causing the other to cough.

" Out the back," Joel whispered, trying to silence his steps as he ran down the hallway and stairs. He just hoped he could get to Piper in time. She could handle herself. He knew she could, but he would never forgive himself if something happened.

"Ready?" Joel turned to Ellie as he creaked open the back door. The horses and Piper were visible, but the raiders were nowhere in sight. Joel sighed. They could get out without being spotted.

"Yeah," Ellie nodded. The two crouched down as they sprinted over to the horse.

Piper stood by the horses, whirling around, when Joel whispered her name. For a moment, she raised her brow in confusion when she saw Joel and Ellie's crouched position until she realized why. There was something here—something dangerous.

As Joel and Ellie made their way over, Piper hastily untied the horses from the tree. She handed Joel his horse's bridle and quickly jumped on hers. Her horse grunted as it made a turn, adjusting back to its rider's weight.

"Come here. Come here. Come here," Joel soothed the horse as he instructed Ellie to hop on. "I got ya."

Once her horse was still, Piper noticed another figure. She raised her gun and screamed, "Joel!"

Joel didn't waste time ducking as Piper fired her gun, shooting the raider in the arm and making him drop the metal baseball bat he had swung moments earlier. A river of curses fled the man's mouth.

The sound of Piper's scream and the commotion startled Ellie's horse. The horse screeched, kicked its front legs up, knocked its head, and removed Joel's grip. Ellie cried out, trying her best to hang on.

In the raider's moment of weakness, Joel twirled him, sliding his arm around the man's neck. The curses soon exchanged for pleas and gasps of air as Joel choked the man. The raider's punches grew weaker until he tightened his grip and twisted. A sickening crack filled the air, and the raider dropped dead.

Ellie's horse had stilled when the commotion had died down, and Piper lowered her gun. Despite his heavy breath, Joel caught sight of his girls' horrified expressions. Slowly, his eyes trailed down. His shirt was wet. It wasn't wet before. The worst was the knife impaling his torso. He was positive that had not been there. Joel yanked it out of his body while the adrenaline still pumped through his veins.

The girls' terror only grew as they saw the group of raiders rampaging towards them. "Joel! Get on the horse!" the girls screamed."Get on the horse!"

"Joel!" Ellie cried, extending an arm to help him up. With a grunt, Joel sat upon the horse. He flicked the bridle and forced the horse into a gallop.

"Get him!" The raiders yelled. "Go!"

"Get back!" Piper growled before firing her gun and taking out another raider.

"Shit!" The raiders snarled as they watched another one of their comrades fall. "You mοthеrfսckеr!"

Joel, Ellie, and Piper ignored their curses and hurried their horses. They ran and ran until the border of the university and city was no longer visible. The gigantic buildings were exchanged for train tracks and a suburban neighborhood.

"They're not following us. I think we're safe," Piper breathed, looking behind her.

"Joel? Joel, no, no, no! shit!" Ellie cried as Joel's once-tall figure leaned over and toppled off the horse.

Panic flooded Piper as she fumbled off her horse and over to Joel and Ellie.

"Fսck! Joel? Joel? Shit. Joel, open your eyes. Open your eyes." Piper's hand felt Joel's wound. Pulling her hand up, she discovered it drenched in blood. Fighting the urge to puke, she wiped his blood on her coat.

"Joel, you gotta get up," Ellie begged. Her eyes were beginning to water to a point it was hard to see.

"I can't fսckin' do this without you. I don't know where the fսck I'm going, what the fսck I'm gonna do," Piper trembled as her hands shook Joel. "Joel. Please. Joel, please."

Joel did not answer. His eyes did not open, yet his chest still rose and sank. It was something. Fighting more tears of her own, Piper sniffled. "Ellie, help me get him up." Ellie was too lost in her fear. "Ellie!" Piper shuddered, snapping Ellie out of her panicked daze. "We need to find someplace to stay."

"Where?" Ellie whimpered.

Piper whipped her head around and spotted what seemed to be a neighborhood in the distance. "Maybe there. Looks like a neighborhood." Placing a hesitant hand on Ellie's shoulder, Piper comforted her as best she could. "He'll be okay. We'll be okay."

"How? He got stabbed." Ellie blubbered. "Piper, Joel won't wake up. How is that okay?!"

"I don't know," Piper felt her anxiety flutter to the surface. "But…but I'll figure something out. I always do. Just, come on."

Piper stood up and placed her hands under Joel's shoulders. Ellie placed her underneath his feet. Together, the two girls lifted him with all their might and put him onto the horse. Using her coat to secure Joel to the animal, Piper hopped on the horse, telling Ellie to ride the other.

Piper ignored the cold winter day that nipped at her skin. She ignored the stain on her pants from Joel's leaking wound. Her mind focused only on getting somewhere safe and saving Joel. She had to save him. She meant what she said in her terrified state. She couldn't do this without him. If this occurred months before, Piper would have been fine, but not now. Joel was her home—Her dad. She'd be damned if she was going to lose that after she fought so hard for her family. Piper had to be strong for Joel, like he was for her, and most of all, for Ellie, even if her sister didn't want her strength. If it were the last thing Piper would do, she'd ensure Joel and Ellie made it out.

꧁_꧂

The horses weren't content with the heavy thud of the garage doors. They squealed in discontent, making it difficult for Piper and Ellie to drag Joel off the animal. Piper was grateful the garage could hold the horses. Not only was it cold, but having two live creatures hiding outdoors was a calling card for bad things. If the raiders did decide to come after them, the horse would be the first thing they'd look for.

Joel groaned as his weight sank into the concrete floor of the garage. It felt as if a needle pricked every inch of his body as the blood slowly regained passage to his limbs. With hushed apologies, the girls lugged Joel up the stairs and into the remnants of a home. Trash and debris littered the ground and caught on Joel's feet, halting the girls’ movements every few steps until they could clear the floor. Sweat oozed from Piper and Ellie's skin as they withdrew into the basement.

Ellie argued a bed or a room would be best for Joel. Piper disagreed. It was easier to be attacked and cornered in the room. Besides, they had yet to learn if something resided here. The basement made it more accessible to hide in and guard. After they caught their breaths, the next step was to pull Joel down a long flight of stairs.

Each step left a dull ache in their hearts. Anxiety filled their lungs, and exhaled into the air. Piper swore the air only got thicker and thicker the more they breathed, making her lungs sting. Sweat threatened to drip into their eyes, but the girls refused to wipe it away. They refused to let go of Joel.

Their muscles burned as soon as Joel flopped to the floor. His face scrunched up in pain, and he twisted in turn, increasing his pain. Piper dropped beside him, feeling his head. It was wet and just as sweaty as hers, if not more. Suddenly, she didn't feel hot anymore; she was cold. Every inch of her froze.

"Ellie," Piper whispered. "Go upstairs and find a mattress or something for Joel to lay on."

Ellie huffed a breath of air and wearily nodded before trudging upstairs. It wasn't long before she returned with some worn couch cushions. They had an ugly floral pattern embossed onto them, but Piper did not care about their appearance. The cushions were soft and got Joel off the cold, hard floor.

Placing the cushions on the ground, the girls lifted him and put him onto them. Again, their muscles screamed, but they ignored it. Instead, the girls honed in on the blood that continued to pour out of Joel. Lifting his jacket, Piper got a complete picture of the wound. Joel's once dark gray shirt was now a wet black. His blood seeped into the girl's skin and stained the pages of Piper's book as she yanked it out of her coat pocket and flipped through the pages. Her eyes were wide as she scanned the page.

"It's said to bandage and put pressure," Piper read. "Something about antibiotics, too."

Ellie furrowed her brows, trying to understand, but opened them quickly once she heard the sound of fabric ripping. Piper grunted as she tore off a large strip of her shirt, and gathering the fabric, she carefully lifted Joel's blood-soaked clothes to tie it on.

"Ellie, help me lift him," Piper said as one arm snuck under Joel's shoulder and the other prepped the fabric. Ellie copied her sister's actions, and together, they lifted his chest just enough for Piper to wrap the fabric tightly around Joel. After some rustling, a wet squelch, and a whimper from Joel's mouth. The fabric had been secured. "Put pressure," Piper repeated to herself. Her hands hovered over the wound, the makeshift bandage already turned red from Joel's blood. She gulped, took a deep breath, and, with shaking hands, pushed down on Joel's wound.

A guttural scream burst out of Joel. His back cracked, arching up as his eyes flew open. He tossed around fighting off Piper's attempts to place pressure on his injury. Ellie closed her eyes as she helped fight Joel's panicked movements off.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," Ellie said as a mantra. Her muscles demanded she release Joel, who fought with all his might.

"Come on," Piper begged, feeling her cheeks grow wet. From blood or tears, she wasn't sure. "You gotta help me. Come on."

Suddenly, Joel's movements stilled, and his pupils fluctuated as he peered at the girls. The fog that had overcome his mind briefly faded as the knowledge of their situation hit him. He was bleeding out, and they had been attacked by raiders who could still be after them. His girls were terrified, and he could do nothing about it. Finding the strength to pull the girls in, he gasped, "Leave. Leave"

"Shut up, Joel." Ellie trembled.

Joel shook his head and continued. The pain in his gut grew more and more. "Take the gun." He felt a tear on his cheek. It wasn't his.

"Joel shut the fuck up!" Piper cried.

"You go. You go," Joel heaved. "You go north. You go to Tommy. You go."

Then he let them go and fell back down. He watched them. He watched as they sat, crying. There was so much more he wanted to say. He tried to tell them so much if only there was time. But life wasn't fair. It never was, especially not for Joel Miller, but he could at least give them a fair chance. So when they huddled back, trying to help him, he mustered all the strength he could and pushed. He pushed them away so that they might have all the fairness in the world, The fairness that Joel never got. As he watched them pull themselves off the floor and trudge up the stairs, he felt his cheeks grow wetter. Except this time, these weren't the tears of his girls. They were his own. If the world were fair, they'd stay, and somehow Joel would make it out. If the world was fair, they could be a family, and maybe Joel could tell them they were no longer cargo and that perhaps they never were. But that's different from the way the world worked, especially not for Joel Miller.

Cold crept into his bones and threatened to freeze his tears—a permanent reminder of what he could have had and lost. In the dim light of the basement, Joel stifled his cries as he heard his song fade away, and in his silence, his dream became clearer. He sat on a porch with the late afternoon summer sun on his skin, in the distance, fields of green and yellow home herds of sheep. From beside, he hears laughter and giggles. Beside him sit his girls, Ellie and Piper. Ellie's reading jokes from her stupid book. Joel won't admit some of them are funny. He smiles as he watches Piper roll her eyes and fight off a smile. He knows Piper's just like him and won't admit she's fond of Ellie's puns. At some point, the jokes end, and the girls look up at him. They smile and get up. Joel knows they're going to leave. They are going to fade along with him and the dream. The dream will end any minute, and the girls will be gone. Except they don't leave. They come closer.

Now Joel no longer shivers. He opens his eyes, and there are his girls—Ellie on his left and Piper on his right. She cleans his wound with a cloth and a bowl of some liquid. It stings, but not as much as the tears leaking from his eyes. His girls. They came back.

Beside him, Piper muttered to herself the words of the page. Her hands were covered with Joel's blood, but the color had lightened. She'd done her best to clean her hands. That's what the book said, and she was reading it now. It was telling her how to stitch a wound. She hadn't sewn someone up before. She'd mended clothes for herself and Ellie, but those were clothes. Those could tear and fall apart, and she'd be fine, but this was Joel. Joel couldn't fall apart. Joel couldn't leave her, so Piper had to do this right.

Collecting the remnants of courage left in her body, she took her lighter and heated the needle she and Ellie had found upstairs. Once the needle seemed hot enough, she threaded the string through the top, biting her lip as her finger brushed by the heated end. The string went through. Piper took a breath. Her eyes met Ellie's, and she nodded. Her hand lowered, and she began to sew. The needle threaded in and out of Joel's skin, leaving him gasping for air. Except this time, Joel didn't fight. He stayed still and cried, listening to Ellie and Piper's hush sorries. But Joel's tears weren't from the pain. His girls had come back. The world could be fair for Joel Miller. Maybe for a little bit.

꧁_꧂

EXTREME TRIGGER WARNING IN THIS SECTION! READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION

Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

They had found her in the morning; it was easy to tell her apart from the crowd with the blood that covered her body. She was guilty. There was no doubt about it.

As she stood before the compound's officers and leaders, Piper realized. No one could protect her. Levi was gone. She had killed him. Now, Piper was alone to fend for herself.

No one listened when Piper begged them to. He had tricked her and trapped her in that room. She had come to him for help. Ellie was sick and cold. The cold was deadly at night. Piper didn't want her sister to die, so she asked for help. Late at night, she'd snuck out of her room and found Levi. She asked him for another blanket. She felt relieved when he'd said yes, but that feeling was soon replaced with dread when she heard his following words.

"For a price," Levi smirked and locked the door. "I need something in return if I'm going to keep helping you like this."

The next thing she knew, she was on the floor. Levi was above her. In her terror, she did as any 12-year-old girl would do. She fought. Then he held down her arms and legs. So, she battled with the one thing she had left—her teeth. Levi leaned in close, and she tore at his throat. Blood seeped into her mouth and tainted her tongue. She bit and bit until there was nothing left to bite.

Piper pleaded with the officers to understand, but they could not. All they saw was a body of one of their own—a vacant spot that needed to be filled before them stood a body—a body that could be put to use, a body of a young girl that could be molded into one of them.

No one cried any tears when the twelve-year-old received her verdict. If she were old enough to kill, then kill, she would do. Once the decision rang out, it was swept under the rug, along with the bodies and lies. Piper wished she could cry. She wanted to cry, but everything was numb.

When she got back to her room, Ellie asked. Of course, Ellie asked why her sister had been taken out of the room at dawn. Looking down at her sickly sister, Piper felt her throat grow dry. There was nothing to say. She couldn't tell her sister. How was she supposed to when her mind was still trapped in that room? How was she supposed to explain it to her sister? Instead, Piper crawled into the bed beside Ellie. As Ellie fell back asleep, Piper promised to protect her sister. To never let her see the horrors of the world as she had. It was a promise never to leave. A commitment to follow her anywhere. A promise to be her sister no matter what.

Piper's head pounded as the afternoon sun rose high in the sky and broke through the room window.

Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

She'd never let anyone in again. She'd be strong enough for herself and Ellie. That's all that mattered now. She and Ellie. Ellie and her.

꧁_꧂

"You thirsty?" Ellie hoarsely asked, reaching for her water bottle.

Across from her sat Piper. Her hands shook as she traced the indent of the needle on her fingers. She succeeded. She'd sewn up Joel's wound, and the blood had stopped. Piper sighed and wiped her forehead. The sweat along her body grew cold.

Water trickled from the edge of the water bottle into Joel's mouth. He eagerly drank it before his throat closed, causing him to choke and cough. Ellie's eyes widened, and she quickly pulled the water away. With worry, the girls lean over Joel. They watch his breath settle as he sinks deeper into the cushions. As they watched, his eyes grew heavy, and their own eyes' weight was felt. Adrenaline had left, and there was a yearning to sleep in its absence.

Placing the water down, Ellie slowly lowered herself onto the floor beside Joel. Her head rested on his chest, and her eyes closed. Piper fought the tiredness as long as she could before she caved. She lay beside Joel and let sleep take her. As the girl's breath synced with sleep, Joel inched his arms around them. He pulled them closer off the cold floor. With a trembling hand, he brushed his finger through Ellie's tangled hair and, with the other, ran his hands over Piper's head. His fingers ran smoothly over her short pixie. Joel cracked open his eyes for one last glance at his girls before returning to his dream.

꧁_꧂

Grumbles from Ellie's stomach were what awoke her from her slumber. Her eyes were still heavy even after the sun had gone down and returned. She groaned as she sat up, noticing the weight of Joel’s arm around her back. Looking to the other side, Ellie saw Piper reading the first aid guide in the corner. Her orange coat was zipped up, and her beanie was shoved onto her head.

“You hungry?” Piper asked without looking up from the book.

Ellie nodded before standing up and looking for her bag. Opening it up, she found not a single crumb. “Anything in your pack?”

Piper shook her head and placed the book down. “Nothing in Joel’s either.” Brushing dust and flakes of blood off her body, Piper continued. “We need to eat.” She watched as Ellie followed her path to Joel.

Carefully, Piper lifted Joel’s shirt and the bandage to check the wound. Instead of pinkened, angry skin, a white ooze surrounded the injury. Ellie gagged at the sight and glanced away as Piper cursed.

“It’s infected,” Piper said.

Ellie whirled her head around. “How do we fix it?”

Piper furrowed her brows. “Um, medicine. Antibiotics and shit.”

“Where’re we supposed to get those?”

Piper shrugged as panic rose in her voice. “ I don’t know, maybe…upstairs? Fuck, Ellie, I’m tryin’ my best here.”

Ellie bit the inside of her cheek, pushed onto her feet, and marched up the stairs. “Come on.”

“I’m gonna be right back, okay?” Piper whispered into Joel’s ear. She stood up and took a few steps before she glanced back. Returning to Joel’s side, she grabbed his rifle before scrambling up the stairs after her sister.

The two of them scavenged every single cabinet and corner. Nothing was to be found. As their search continued, so did their curses to the world and god, even if they did not believe in him. It was someone to blame, and that was enough for them.

Lastly, the girls made their way to the garage. The horses’ ears perked up as the garage door opened and closed. Piper and Ellie walked over to their horses, giving them pets and pouring water into a bucket. The horses greedily drank the water, splashing some droplets onto the ground.

Sighing, Piper reached for Joel’s rifle, which was slung over her shoulder. She opened it up and checked the bullets. Her hands swiftly shut it and returned it to its original place on her arm. “I’m gonna go find us something to eat.”

Ellie turned around and glanced at her sister. “Can I come?” She pulled out her gun, showing Piper.

Piper shook her head and walked to the garage door, pulling it up. “I need you to watch Joel,” she said as she stepped outside into the morning sun. She gulped, took another step forward, raised her hand, and began to pull the garage door shut again.

Suddenly, the garage clanged as Ellie resisted her sister’s attempts at closing it. “Where the fuck is he gonna go?” Ellie pleaded. “Piper, I…if Joel dies…”

“He’s not going to die,” Piper growled and pulled the garage down with more force, causing Ellie to wince from the pain. Piper froze and let go of the garage door. “Ellie, I’m s-”

“If he dies, I don’t wanna be here.” Ellie grew quiet. “I don’t wanna watch him die.” She peered up at Piper with watery eyes.

Piper bit her lip and groaned, caving in. “… alright,” she said.

꧁_꧂

With guns raised, the girls left the house. They twirled around, covering their corners, until they realized nothing was there except them and the bird song. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Piper sighed. Her eyes closed as her skin soaked in the morning sun.

"Piper," Ellie grunted, using her eyes to point toward the nearby forest.

The elder sister narrowed her eyes on the evergreen trees and valleys of snow. Then she returned her gaze to the neighborhood—cars with flat tires, forgotten RVs, and doors hanging on their last rusted hinges. This place was looked over. There would be nothing here for the girls and nothing here for Joel. She turned back to Ellie and nodded her head, telling her to lead the way.

Ellie had to admit the forest was beautiful. Snow clung to the grooves of the tree bark, painting the dark a bright white. Deep, vibrant green pine needles littered the snow-covered ground as if they were the freckles of the earth. Even if the forest was pretty, the snow and pine needles made it hard for Ellie to spot any animal tracks. Ellie stopped looking a bit closer at the ground and noticed Piper doing the same.

The two of them repeated Joel's instructions as they tried tracking any animals. Rabbits, deer, birds were looking for anything at this point with how their stomachs rumbled.

Piper continued to walk around the forest until she felt Ellie slap her side. Turning around, she scowled at her sister, who rolled her eyes and pointed down the hill. Piper moved her head to follow Ellie's directions. In between two fallen trees and surrounded by brush and weeds poking through the white snow was a rabbit. IItsfur was a faint shade darker than the color of the ground. Piper smiled and raised her gun to shoot the creature. Ellie watched as Piper pulled back her finger. The gun fired. The rabbit jumped and scrambled away.

Cursing, Piper bit her lip, drawing blood from her chapped lips. She turned to her sister, but Ellie was already gone, chasing the animal. Her tiny feet trudged through the snow, sinking deeper with each step. With one more step, Ellie was knee-deep in the snow and crashed to the ground. Ellie groaned as she lifted her head covered in snow.

Piper carefully approached and helped her sister, pulling her to stand. "Come on," Piper nudged. "Let's keep going."

Grumbling, Ellie brushed off the snow and followed Piper, stepping in her sister's footprints as they went deeper into the forest and farther away from Joel. Soon, the trees grew sparser, standing tall and farther apart from the next. The sounds of snow tumbling off tree branches and screeching birds were the only things heard besides the girls' footsteps in the snow. Suddenly, a branch cracked, and a soft sound of repeated clicking was heard. Piper gulped and placed her hand in front of Ellie. She raised Joel's gun and slowly stepped closer to the sound. Ellie drew out her pistol and followed.

They tuned their ears into the clicking, and turning their heads in the direction of the sound, they found a stag. Although it was small in stature, the creature made up for it with the sheer size of its antlers. They were majestic as they sharply rose into the heavens. The deer hadn't seen or heard the girls as it was too distracted munching on some forest shrubbery.

Creeping as close as they could, the girls snuck behind a fallen log. Piper readied the rifle only to freeze upon gazing at the creature. Its dark eyes are filled with only one desire: survival. She swallowed her spit. Piper had failed to shoot the rabbit. She could not risk failure anymore, not when so many were counting on her. Taking a deep breath, she sat back and handed the gun to Ellie, who frowned but took the gun. Ellie settled down low and cocked the gun back. In an instant, the gun had been fired, and the deer toppled to the ground. As fast as it had fallen, the deer had risen again to run off in the opposite direction.

"No fucking way," Ellie spat as she stood up, chasing after it.

Piper spat her own cursing string as she followed her sister and the deer. Ellie had shot when Piper couldn't. As Ellie continued to run, Piper found herself slowing. Ellie had shot the deer. All by herself. Maybe she didn't need Piper anymore. Maybe Ellie would realize this and leave; leave Piper all by herself. Shaking the thoughts from her mind, Piper reprimanded herself. It was just hunger. It was only hunger.

Once the girls had tracked the deer and ran out of the clearing, they froze and raised their guns. There, before them, stood two grown men standing over their deer. They were armed, and that's all Piper needed to know before firing a warning shot. The men's gaze shot to the girls.

"Don’t! Drop your rifles!" Piper yelled. Ellie pulled Joel's rifle closer, ready to shoot. The men were hesitant to drop their weapons. It wasn't until the one with red hair nodded that the two lowered their guns. "Now!" Piper demanded, "Turn and face me… Slow. If you make any sudden moves, I will put one right between your eyes. Ditto for buddy boy."

The redhead smiled and raised his hands slowly to the sides of his head. "You’re quite a hunter. We didn’t even hear you coming," he gently spoke. "Both of you."

Piper clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes. She felt sicker than she had been when she was ill. Something about the man's voice made her ears ring and her lungs tense. It was as if her lungs refused to breathe air shared by whoever this guy was. She didn't like it.

"Turn around and walk away," Ellie growled orders of her own.

"Okay," the man said again, stepping back and nodding to the other. The other man shrugged his head and followed. Ellie frowned.

The snow beneath the men's feet didn't crunch fast enough to ease Piper's nerves. "Just go!" She barked when she realized their progression back had stopped.

"Okay," the red-haired man muttered. "All I ask is 10 seconds of your time. I just wanna talk."

Piper cocked her gun and shot another warning. The bullet grazed a nearby tree, making the men jump in their boots. "I won’t say it twice," she growled.

"Please. Just 10 seconds," the man spoke. "My name is David. This is my friend, James. We’re from a larger group: women, children, and we’re all… very, very hungry." He motioned to the dead deer near his feet.

"We're from a large group, too," Ellie announced. "Also hungry."

"Well, even so…" David began pointing to the two of them. "Ya can’t drag this back on your own."

"Thank you for your concern, but I think we've got that covered," Piper hissed. They kept inching closer to the girls. Her eyes darted to their feet. If they stepped one more time, she'd shoot them both in the head.

"We’re not asking for charity. We-we can trade you for some of the deer," David begged. "We have– What do you need? We have… boots."

"Medicine?" Ellie blurted. "Like, for infections."

Piper's attention was snapped away from their feet as David spoke. "We do. Back in our village. You’re welcome to follow us."

"We're not following you anywhere," Piper stated. Her feet dug deeper into the snow, securing her stance. "Buddy boy can go get it. He comes back. You get half the deer. Anyone else shows up, I put one right betw–"

"Put one right between my eyes," David finished with a chuckle.

"That’s right," Ellie said.

"All right," David agreed before turning to the other man. "Go talk to Howard. He’s got a case with some penicillin. Bring back two bottles and a syringe. It’s not code, James. Do as I said."

The man, James, hesitantly looked between David and the two armed girls. Each of them bore a fire in their eyes he'd only ever seen described in the bible. The eyes of the devil, of a killer.

"Ten steps back. Keep going," Ellie instructed James, carefully watching him as he backed away to fetch medicine.

It felt like forever as James sunk deeper and deeper into the forest. Piper was sure he'd sneak around them and attack from behind, but it never came. Still, she and Ellie stood on guard, their guns trained on David.

"That’s your dad’s gun?" David asked, pointing to the rifle in Ellie's hand. "He's the one that’s sick? That’s why you’re out here on your own?"

"What's with all the fucking questions?" Piper snarled.

David's posture caved upon hearing Piper curse. It was almost as if she was offended by her language. "Well, look, uh… it’s a four-mile round trip back to our settlement, he began. "It’s gonna be… a while before James gets back. I have some oil and matches in my pack. We could… take shelter, start a fire."

Piper's eyes narrowed. "We can handle the cold. I'm not sure about you." Ellie shifted beside her. Piper turned to look at her sister. Ellie's burned a bright red, and snot trickled down her nose. Her sister was cold. "…Fine," Piper agreed after a moment. She used her gun and pointed in the distance to a nearby shed. "There," and then waited for David to move.

Once David took his first step, Ellie demanded, "Bring him with us." David looked back and frowned, confused. Ellie pointed to the deer and repeated herself, "Bring him with you." David reached down and grabbed the antlers. "Go," Ellie continued.

She trailed behind David, the rifle ready to fire at the earliest sign of danger. Piper was in tow, tightly gripping the guns James and David had dropped in the snow.

Soon, they reached the shed and had David start a fire. The fire crackled and snapped as the flames consumed the firewood and other kindling. The heat from the fire reached underneath the girls' coats as they sat across David, who sat on the ground. While their guns no longer stood tall in the air, their hands never left the cold, smooth surface of their weapons.

"You know," David said with a smile as his eerie blue eyes flickered back and forth between Piper and Ellie. "You really shouldn’t be out here all on your own."

"Who said we were?" Piper scoffed. The flames illuminated the grim stare embedded in her dark eyes. The purple circles coloring her eye sockets only increased the darkness David found in them. Ellie, on the other hand, was warm. Her eye sockets were free from any darkness, yet her eyes still held a deadly stare, more somber than her sisters'. "From where I’m sitting, you shouldn’t be out here on your own," Piper scolded.

"Fair enough," David shrugged, trying to hide the shiver that covered his body. "So what’s your name? It’s hard to trust strangers. I know. But I honestly mean you no harm."

"I call bullshit," Piper hissed under her breath. She was right. It was getting harder to breathe around David.

David sighed and peered up at the girls. His voice was full of pity. "…For what it’s worth, there’s room for you in our group if you want."

"You’re inviting us to your Hunger Club?" Ellie rolled her eyes. She didn't need this suddenly profound pity David had mustered. She and Piper have never needed anyone's pity. It was worthless in the world the outbreak had created. "No thanks."

"It’s true. We’re hungry," David chuckled. "But… we’re still here…I’m a decent man just tryna take care of the people who rely on me."

Piper frowned. "You’re their leader?" She asked in disbelief. She eyed David up and down, and her frown only deepened. He wasn't a leader. Not in the way Joel, Tess, Tommy, and Maria were. No, he seemed weak yet confident. Piper was unsure where this confidence got assurance from. His people were hungry, and if they looked anything like James, then his people were also sick. Hunger does things to the human mind. It grows fragile and naive in search of comfort and food. Piper knew it well. The QZ would do it to punish the kids. Revoke daily meals, and the kids will start speaking a different tune. It unnerved her.

"Wasn’t my choice. It was theirs," David explained. "But… yes."

"They chose to follow you,” Ellie repeated as a thought formulated in her head. It seemed she and Piper were on a similar wavelength. "Is this some weird cult thing?"

"Uhh," David blushed. "Well, you sorta kinda got me there. I am a preacher, but just pretty standard Bible stuff."

"What?!" Ellie snickered the moment the bible was mentioned.

"The whole world ended, and you still believe that shit," Piper mocked.

"I started believing after the world ended," David corrected. He adjusted his seat to make himself appear taller and more prominent, but to the girls' he was just as small as ever, if not even smaller than before. "Before that, I was a teacher," David said, and a glimmer appeared in his eyes. Piper's breath stilled. She wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light or what, but she swore a flash of desire shone in his eyes when he said that. What was worse, his eyes honed in on Ellie. "Math. Taught kids about your age," he noted, pointing to Ellie.

"So you went from teacher to preacher because," Ellie scoffed, "what? It fuckin’ rhymes?"

David grinned and shrugged as if it was the funniest joke he had heard. "Yeah, exactly."

"But seriously," Ellie said, awaiting David's actual answer.

"Well," David sighed, beginning his story.

The more he spoke, the more Piper realized where the unease with David came from. His eyes, the look they held whenever he looked at Ellie, she had seen before. It was the same look Levi had in his eyes that night. The longer Piper thought about it, the more she realized Levi had always had that unsettling gleam in his eyes.

"I found God… after the Apocalypse," David continued. "Which is either the best time or the worst time to find Him, hard to say. But when the Pittsburgh QZ fell in ’17, Fireflies and FEDRA… I left with a few others, and that’s how I ended up with our flock."

"Long way from Pittsburgh," Piper said with a low voice. Her defense screamed at her to pick up the gun and shoot David. But she couldn't. Not when he had medicine that could save Joel.

David chuckled again. "Yeah, we’d settle somewhere, and then raiders would come, so we’d move again. And as we wandered, we picked up new people along the way until… we ended up here." He looked around the shed before settling on Ellie.

"Well," Ellie said, "your luck had to run out sooner or later."

"Hm? Luck?" David raised his brows and shook his head. "There’s no such thing as luck. No," David inched closer to the fire and, in turn, closer to the girls. "I-I-I-I believe everything happens for a reason. It does. I can prove it to you."

"Okay." Ellie urged him on.

"We didn’t expect this winter to be so cruel," David explained. "Nothing’ll grow. Game’s been hard to find. So I sent four of our people to a nearby town to scavenge what they could. And only two of ’em came back. One who didn't come back was a father. The other was a husband. The father had a daughter just like you. And her dad was taken from her. Turns out, he was murdered… by this crazy man." David hid his sneer under a smile as he looked between the two girls. "And get this. That crazy man… was traveling with two little girls."

Piper's eyes widened as she heard some of the shed's floor creak behind her. She jumped out of her seat. Gun raised, pointing into the forest. Her eyes narrowed, and she stilled her breath. While her body remained calm and controlled, her mind was on fire. An array of curses and fears swarmed each thought. These were the raiders. She'd killed one of them and Joel the other. With the glint in David's eye and the fury of the land, Piper knew one thing. Revenge was guaranteed.

Ellie stood alongside Piper, her gun trained on David instead of the vast forest, awaiting her sister's order.

"You see?" David continued. “Everything happens for a reason." Then, looking out into the forest that drew Piper's attention, he calmly called out. "James, lower the gun."

Suddenly, James appeared with his gun held high, trained on Piper. Piper let out a guttural breath and stared down James. Her finger hovered over the trigger. "They're the ones that killed Alec, aren’t they?"

David stood up with his arms raised. "The girls didn’t kill anybody," David assured. "Lower the gun."

James scoffed and prepared to shoot Piper. "She's the one who killed Desmond. The boys told me he got shot by a girl who looked like a boy. That's her."

"Drop it," Piper growled, and James ignored her, hardening his expression. "I said to fucking drop it. Unless you want a bullet to find a new home in your skull."

"Did you bring the medicine?" David calmly asked James.

James' expression broke upon hearing his leader's voice. "Yeah, but–"

"Throw it to her."

"David," James pleaded. His hand itched to shoot and kill Piper. However, David's stern demand did not falter, and James sighed. Reaching into his pocket, he tossed Piper the medicine.

With ease of breathing, Piper snatched the medicine out of the air. A syringe was taped to the side of the small glass bottle. She glanced down and pocketed the medicine before returning her gun to James.

"Back away," Ellie growled.

James slowly made his way around the girls and found a stance next to David. David handed him an extra gun in his pocket, but David didn't take it. Instead, he began to talk again. "I know you’re not with a group. You won’t survive for long out there. I can protect you," he assured.

"I'll take my chances," Piper snarled as she slowly began to back away. Her eyes never left David and James. Ellie mimicked her sister's movements until they were far enough away for the shed to be the size of their thumb.

James watched as the girls stopped and turned, entering a sprint. He scoffed, turning to David. "So you’re just gonna let them get away?"

David shook his head. "Patience, James," he assured. "God rewards those who wait."

꧁_꧂

It was stupid to run in the direction of Joel, but Piper couldn't care. They had the medicine, and Joel needed it more than Piper's desire to lead David and James astray if they decided to follow. Showing them the direction was one thing, but as the snow squashed beneath her feet, another thought soon overpowered her need to save Joel. Their footprints. They would lead David and his band of fucked raiders straight to them.

The air around her fogged up as Piper slowed her pace. "Els," she hissed, worried that David and James may be able to hear her.

"What?!" Ellie turned around to look at her sister.

Piper dug into her coat pocket and tossed Ellie the medicine. "Here, get back and give this to Joel."

Ellie's brows pinched together as a low level of panic boiled to the surface. "Piper, what are you-"

Her older sister had already moved on to her next task. Marching over to a nearby evergreen, Piper jumped on the lowest branch. A clean snap filled the air as Piper tore off the branch and swiped at their footprints. "I'm covering our asses, that's what."

Ellie's stare switched between the vial of medicine and her sister, who was hard at work erasing any trace of their footprints.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" Piper laboriously wondered. The small pine needle scratched at the ground, diminishing any sign of the girls.

Snapping herself out of her daze, Ellie tightened her grip on the medicine and ran. Worry filled her being the farther away she got from Piper. She was leaving her sister alone. David, James, and whoever was out there could come after them. They could be coming now, and she had left her sister alone. Her only thought of respite was Joel. If she could save Joel, he could save them. That's what he did. He always saved them.

The house appeared before Ellie's vision faster than she thought it would. Her legs burned as she darted into the house and down the stairs to Joel. Desperate pants left her mouth as she collapsed beside Joel. With shaking hands, she lifted the blanket off of him. Then, deftly peeling up his shirt, she winced in disgust. The wound seemed even more infected than it had been before. Sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled down her brows as she handled the antibiotics with as much care as possible. A new wave of panic filled her once the syringe was filled to the brim.

"Ah, okay," she said, wiping away the sweat threatening to cloud her vision. "The fuck do I put this? Alright, what would Pipes do? Uh…" Ellie glanced around the room and spotted Piper's blood-coated first-aid book. Scrambling over, she snatched it up and flipped through each page. There was nothing about injections and antibiotics.

"Fuck," she cursed and crawled back over to Joel. "Joel? Joel? Joel, where the fuck do I put this?" Joel lay unresponsive. A layer of sweat and grime coated his skin, making his dark skin appear pale. "Fuck it," and with one swift motion, she stabbed the syringe directly into the sewn-up wound.

Joel groaned. His eyes tensed but never opened despite the immense pain his body was in. Once the syringe had been emptied, Ellie withdrew the needle before debating giving him another injection. Shaking her head instead, she carefully wrapped the needle and medicine and placed them into Joel's bag for safekeeping.

She watched Joel's tense expression soften and sighed, feeling a wave of exhaustion fall over her. She had run. For how long, she didn't know, but she had run. Her whole body ached: her legs, her shoulder from the kickback of the rifle, her back, and her head. Everything hurt, and she was tired. She was a little girl who only wanted to curl up beside Joel and fall asleep into a beautiful dream of a sheep farm on the moon. So, that's what she did. She snuggled up close to Joel, pulling the blanket over them, and sank deep into sleep.

By the time Piper had reached the house's front steps, her orange coat had been removed and tied at her waist. Her shirt was soaked with sweat from disguising her and Ellie's footsteps. Groaning, she wiped away the last of Ellie's prints and opened the garage before tossing the branch with the horses. With the garage door closed, Piper slid to the floor and took a moment to breathe. One of the horses trotted beside her, sniffing her hair before deciding to try to nibble on it. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth as she brushed the horse away.

Standing up, Piper pulled off her coat and threw it over her shoulders, not placing her arms through the sleeves due to the heat her body was still disposing of. She'd done her best removing any sign of where the girls went, but the knowledge that David and James knew the direction they had gone in and the footprints from before she began her bluff that they could trace and track. She prayed that they were enough to keep them safe. At the very least, to give the girls time to recuperate and Joel time to heal.

Her feet felt heavy as she stepped down the stairs and into the basement. "Ellie, did you…" Piper's voice trailed off when she saw the scene before her.

Ellie's chest softly rose and fell. Her arms were wrapped around Joel, who looked better than he had ever had since the injury. A soft smile melted onto Piper's features, and she quietly stepped down the rest of the stairs.

It felt colder in the basement, so Piper placed on the rest of her coat, zipping it up. Carefully, she picked up Joel's rifle and tip-toed over to the basement window. Sitting beneath it, she cracked it open, just enough to hear the world outside but not enough to invite the cold in. Leaning up against the wall, Piper rested her head on the wall and closed her eyes, Not to sleep but to relax. Piper had no time to sleep, especially if predators were hunting them.

꧁_꧂

Voices cascaded over the ground like the morning fog. Piper's eyes shot open as a wave of footsteps and grumbles grew closer and closer. Her blood ran cool, and her skin paled as white as the snow. It was David, and he brought company.

They were too far away for Piper to make out anything they said, but that didn't matter. Securing Joel's rifle over her shoulder and pocketing her pistol, Piper shuffled over to Joel and Ellie.

"Ellie," Piper hissed, shaking her sister awake. "Ellie, wake up."

Ellie's eyes flew open, and her lungs gasped. "Piper?"

"They're here," Piper anxiously explained. "They found us."

Ellie gulped and looked down at Joel. Placing her hands on his shoulder, she shook him. "Joel! Joel, wake up. Joel, wake the fuck up, Joel," Ellie pleaded.

Joel's eyes shot open, and he darted around the room before settling on the girls. His mind was still in a daze, making it difficult for him to process Piper's words.

"Okay… okay, look at me." Piper turned Joel's face to look at her. "There are men coming, okay? I’m gonna lead them away from you, but if anybody makes it down here, you fucking kill them. You got it?"

Joel's eyes slowly closed, causing Ellie to snap her finger loudly next to his ears.

"Joel, do not fall asleep," Ellie demanded, but it was useless. Joel's eyes closed, and he returned to his sleep.

Piper pushed herself off the floor and began to hike up the stairs when a pair of footsteps accompanied her.

"What are you doing?" Piper asked.

"I'm coming with you," Ellie replied.

Piper shook her head and walked her sister back down to Joel. "No! Ellie, I'm serious. I need you to stay with Joel. He's…he's fucking out of it. I need you to make sure no one makes it down here."

"I'm not letting you do this alone," Ellie desperately said.

"No! Ellie," Piper commanded. "Just fucking stay. Or you'll get us both killed. Stay with Joel. Protect him until he wakes up. I'm gonna lead them away and kill'em. Stay here."

"No-" Ellie began, but Piper shut her down.

"I didn't ask you," Piper growled. Her voice grew dark and dangerous, warning Ellie to back down. "You're staying." In the blink of an eye, Piper shoved Ellie to the ground and darted up the stairs. When Ellie got to her feet, the stairwell door had been shut and barricaded.

Ellie pounded on the door, tears in her eyes. "Piper! Let me out!" She cried. "Pipes! Fuck!"

Fighting the tremble in her voice, she spoke to her sister through the door with clenched teeth. "I'm doing this for your own good."

Without another word, Piper readied Joel's rifle and snuck out the back door. A sigh of relief escaped her once she realized the horses had stayed quiet. With the silence of the late morning, Piper crouched down low. It was up to her now. She couldn't miss. She had to keep Joel and Ellie safe. She had to lead them away.

Her first thought was to take them into the forest, but she knew they would expect that. They'd only send so many men after her and keep the rest in the neighborhood. Instead, Piper chose to lead them deeper into the neighborhood, away from Ellie and Joel. Recalling her faint memory of what the rest of the neighborhood consisted of, Piper remembered a school. She could lead them there. Like a forest, the hallways and classrooms would provide a vantage point to take out the group quietly. That's if Piper was brilliant. The problem there was getting the group into the school. She had to make them think that's where she was staying.

Sneaking around the backyards of the homes that littered the street, she crawled onto a fence and into one of the yards. On the ground lay a rusted ladder. Glancing at it, Piper realized she could sneak onto the roof. It was the perfect place to shoot them down one by one. Maybe she didn't have to lead them to the school.

Pulling herself up the ladder and onto the roof, Piper crawled across the tiles until she spotted the group. David walked into the center with James on his right. There were eight of them. Each of them were armed, all except David. He pointed to the homes on the right and started barking orders.

Preparing the rifle, Piper lay down and peered through the scope. Her sights were on David. She could pull the trigger and kill him right then and there, but then she'd have a pack of revenge-hungry cultists after her. She smiled. That's exactly what she wanted. Kill the leader and then lead the whole group to the school, where she'd pick them off one by one.

Steadying her breath and focusing on David, she pulled back the trigger and fired. There was a cry as the gunshot echoed off the homes. A raider fell, soaking the snow a dark red. But it wasn't David. Piper cursed. She shot the man behind him. Hurriedly, she got ready to shoot again. Her head was down low as she prepared to fire. A cool, sharp whisk of wind flew by her head. She whirled her head around.

"Shit," she snarled. They'd found her. Getting up from her spot, she heard them fire a few more shots as she crawled off the roof.

"Get her! Remember, alive!" She heard David scream as thundering footsteps ran in her direction. She pulled herself over the fence and ran. The school, she kept telling herself, away from Joel and Ellie. She had to keep them safe.

When she heard the raider reach her old spot, Piper had circled the back of the neighborhood. She could see David, James, and one other man.

Piper scoffed and snuck closer, preparing a shot. "It's their own fucking funeral," she whispered to herself.

A horse's shrill filled the air as she readied to fire again. Piper froze as the body of a horse ran onto the street. It wasn't the horse that terrified her—it was the person who sat on the back of the horse.

"Hey, motherfuckers!" Ellie yelled. She shot her gun a few times, taunting the raiders.

David and his group ran after her. Piper bit her cheek, drawing blood. "Fuck," she cursed and ran after her sister, who was half-hazardly firing her gun from atop the horse.

"Shit!" A raider screamed after a bullet grazed his skin. Then, they began to fire at her and the horse.

"Fucking hell, Ellie." Piper's speed picked up, and her breath grew labored.

"Go! Let’s go," James yelled as he motioned for some people to follow him.

"Alive!" David shouted over the chaos of it all.

"Keep comin’, fuckers!" Ellie teased.

Piper continued to run. Her feet blurred as she ran on the pavement, not caring to hide behind the cars and homes. All thoughts of the school were gone. Ellie was out. They had seen her, and she was taunting them to come closer. With each fire of their guns, they got closer to stealing Ellie away. Piper's heart pumped faster and faster. She had to save Ellie. She couldn't let them get her sister. She had to-

A gun fired, and the horse fell to the ground, sending Ellie flying to the ground.

"I got her!" James triumphantly yelled.

"Ellie!" Piper's voice cracked. Raising her gun to fire, she didn't care if she missed. She had to get them away from her sister. She had to get David away. "No, no, no," she breathed, watching David pick up her sister and cradle her in his arms.

Suddenly, a searing pain shot through her leg. Piper screamed and clutched her thigh, feeling the blood trickle out. Her ears screeched as she tumbled to the ground.

"Got the other one!" A raider announced from behind her. He stepped up to her side, yanked the weapons out of her hand, and kicked her in the chest just for good measure.

Piper gasped and clenched her teeth to stifle her cry of pain. She wouldn't give the fucker the pleasure. The pain flooded her, making it hard to notice anything around her. Suddenly, the sun's gaze was blocked by a shadow. Worn leather boots stepped up to her face.

Peering up, fighting the tears in her eyes, she saw David holding Ellie. He smiled down at Piper and brushed away some stray hairs on Ellie's face. Piper groaned and spotted her pistol just beside David's foot. She pulled her hand away from her bleeding leg and reached before James stepped up and kicked it farther away.

"Everything happens for a reason," David muttered.

"If you fucking hurt her," Piper growled. "I'll-"

David nodded, and then her world went black. A dull pain traveled from the base of her head, encasing her in darkness.

"Shhh," David whispered to Piper. "Everything will be alright. You're in God's hands now." Then, turning to the group, he began giving out instructions. "Two of you with me. Drag the horse. The rest of you, stay here. Go door to door. Are you so hungry for vengeance? Deliver it."

The men didn't need another word as revenge and rage flooded their souls. With a sickening grin, they readied their weapons and began their search. They were determined to find the man who had killed one of their own. The girls would be dealt with on David's accord, and only God'; would save them.

꧁_꧂

Something inside Joel forced him awake. It was a whisper tickling the back of his mind. Gently, it eased his eyes open. The location of the basement dimmed the light of the sun that fought its way through. Flickering its way down to the concrete floor, the light touched particles that bounced in the air. They shimmered as the air flew them around.

In his daze, Joel's dark eyes followed the dust as they captured the sun's light. A soft smile crept onto his face. The sun's light reminded him of his dream. It was such a good one. One he hoped to make real—him and his girls. Just as fast as the smile had come, it had faded into something more grim. His girls.

The whisper in his mind grew louder and louder. Words that were once fumbling together now became apparent. "There are men coming, okay?" He heard Piper's voice as it struck away the fog clouding his mind. "I’m gonna lead them away from you, but if anybody makes it down here, you fucking kill them. You got it?"

Joel nodded to an empty basement, and his face paled upon realization. The girls were gone. He shot up, wincing from the pain in his stomach. The guns were gone. The familiar colors of Ellie's purple and Piper's orange coats were replaced with the wooden walls of the basement. His girls were gone.

A cool metal burned his skin, causing him to look down. Ellie's knife. He'd recognize it anywhere. She never let it leave her sight. It had been a gift from Piper. Joel's grip around the knife tightened. His girls. Where were they?

A cloud of dust fell down the ceiling, catching more of the sunlight. Joel froze before looking up. The floor above creaked as footsteps pounded down. Whoever the steps belonged to was trying to be quiet, but they were heavy on their feet—almost sluggish, Joel noted. His girls' footsteps didn't sound like that. Ellie held the weight of her feet on her toes, and her step was springy.

On the other hand, Piper's step was silent. It was almost as if she floated above the ground with how she walked. Joel knew his girls, and whoever was above wasn't them.

The footsteps stilled momentarily, and then a screech was heard as something dragged across the floor. It was an unmistakable noise. Close to the door. Joel stifled his groan as he stood up to a standing position. Clutching the knife close to his body, he quickly scanned the basement for a place to hide. Creeping into a dark corner, Joel held his breath and waited.

Footsteps descended the stairs. Joel heard the heavy breath of the invader, and the shakiness of his hands at the gun he held rumbled between his hands. The man had crept deeper into the basement, flipping around for any sign of Joel. With his back turned Joel saw his chance. He pounced on the man, wrapping an arm around the man's neck.

He struggled and fought Joel's grip, dropping his gun to favor his hands. They beat against Joel's arm before coming to a still once a sharp blade pierced his jugular. The man fell weak and turned to look at Joel, who drove the blade deeper. Blood squirted out, spraying all over Joel's hands. As the man fell, his weight dragged Joel down with him, and with a deadly grin on his face, the man died.

Joel released his grip on the blade and yanked it out of the man's neck. Blood pooled out of the wound and spilled onto the concrete floor. Joel groaned as the wound on his side sent flashes of pain along his body. His lungs wheezed and craved the restful slumber he had before, but now wasn't the time for slumber. Piper wouldn't have let this man get into the basement. He'd seen how she killed that boy. He'd seen her fight. The only way she'd let it happen was if she was gone.

He knew now what happened. Joel understood from the footsteps outside the basement that his girls were gone. These people had come to hunt them. If it were a hunt they wanted, he'd give it to them. He'd get his girls back.

꧁_꧂

The floor was cold and uninviting when Piper woke up. A chill rolled through her body quickly to be replaced with pain. In waves, it rippled from her thigh, roaring as it left echoes of agony in its wake. Her breath tensed as the pain reached her chest. Hastily, she clutched at her head and leg to ease it. That's when she felt it, the coarse cotton of a bandage. Peering through the sweat and tears, Piper saw her leg neatly wrapped up. She felt around the bandage and almost immediately regretted her decision, biting her lip to stop the cry of distress that thrashed within her.

"I started worrying you wouldn’t wake up." A ghostly voice said.

Whirling around, Piper caught sight of David. He stood outside her cell with a smile on his face. Piper scowled as she took in her surroundings. A chain-link fence tied the walls together, trapping her in a cage.

"Don't worry, it was a clean shot. The bullet went right through," David noted, pointing to the leg Piper had been clinging onto.

"Where's my sister?" Piper asked. Her voice seemed alien to her with how hoarse and dry it was. It was as if she was speaking on the edge of death.

David folded his arms across his body and looked down at Piper. "She's safe with us," he assured her, and his smile grew large upon seeing Piper's reaction. "You'll see her soon."

Piper lunged at David, only to be stopped by the fence. She violently shook it, causing the room to erupt in a screeching fit. "Let me out, you fucker." Piper screamed.

"Well, that’s certainly the goal," David chuckled.

Feeling another spasm of pain from her leg, Piper collapsed to the floor. "Why am I in a cage?"

Crouching down to her level, David answered. "Because I’m afraid of you. You’re a dangerous person." His eyes slowly looked Piper over, leaving trails of goosebumps over her skin. "You’ve certainly proven that. The others, they want me to kill you for all that’s happened. Did you hear me say the others wanna kill you?"

"Yeah," Piper coughed, her original voice poking through.

"But I stopped them," David added and leaned in close as if he wanted Piper to be grateful and get on the floor and beg for forgiveness.

"I don't need your fucking protection," Piper snarled before spitting into David's face. She watched as David's smile faded.

With jerky motions, he flicked her spit off his cheek. "Well…," he said, returning to his terrifying gentle expression. "Why don’t we just start with your name?"

"Buster Hi-Man," Piper smirked.

Something in David snapped, and he lunged for Piper but stopped before reaching the fence. "Hey, listen to me!" He yelled. "You can’t survive on your own. No one can. But I can help you. Let me protect you."

Piper growled at David, and through clenched teeth, she corrected him. "I’m not on my own."

"Right," David scoffed. "Your friend. And how is he? I can see how much you care about him, so I know it hurts. But even so…" he looked at her leg and sighed. "You gotta face reality. That part of your life is ending. And what I’m offering you is a beginning. But if you can’t find a way to trust me… then, yes, you are alone."

"Fuck you," Piper hissed. She couldn't let David see how deep her words cut. Joel was out there. She had left him with those monsters. She had let them capture Ellie. She had failed. She had failed Riley. She had failed Tess. She had failed Henry and Sam. Now, she has failed Joel and Ellie. She had failed, and now she was truly alone.

"Everything happens for a reason," David muttered with a smug smile. Pushing off his feet, he stood up and walked to the door of the room Piper was being held in.

"Where the fuck is my sister?!" Piper roared.

"Like I said," David said, peeking over his shoulder. "She's safe. Maybe she'll be smarter than you. I can keep her safe. I can protect her, unlike you. Ponder what I've said."

With that, David was gone, and Piper was alone. Piper had failed, and now she was alone.

꧁_꧂

Joel had hunted. It was easy to take out the two other men who were after him. With one swift bang of the butt of the rifle, he had knocked them out and tied them up in the living room of the house he and the girls sought safety in. He'd find his girls and bring them home.

The first man was a denier. He pleaded with Joel as he brought his hand to his face, beating him over and over. If the man wouldn't speak, Joel would tear it out of him.

"Stop… stop. Please," the raider begged as Joel punched him again. A sharp groan escapes his mouth.

Joel withdrew his hand and reached for Ellie's knife. In doing so, he saw the other man awake. With a threatening smile, Joel raised the knife for the other man to see.

"Leave him alone," the other demanded.

Joel ignored him and instead tuned into the raider before him. He kept spouting the exact words. "Please… I don’t know any girls," he cried. Joel clenched his jaw and stabbed the knife deep into the man's thigh before twisting it. "Oh, fuck!" The raider screamed as his body involuntarily squirmed.

"Jesus!" The other raider whispered, alerting his fellow man to his presence.

"Marco," the raider called out, leaning his back to catch a glimpse of his partner.

Joel snatched the raider's head and yanked it forward, forcing the man to look at him. "No-no, no-no-no. He can’t help you," Joel used the knife to point to himself. "You focus right here. Or I’ll pop your fuckin’ kneecap off." He placed the knife at an angle to do just as he said. The tip of the knife dug under the skin, and the raider whimpered.

"She’s alive," the man confessed. "Both of 'em."

"Where?" Joel growled, leaving the tip of the knife embedded in the man's knee, but he didn't answer. Joel's body tensed as the urge to live up to his promise became stronger and stronger. But today wasn't the day Joel would fight his violent urges. His girls were gone. Whoever was with these men took them, and Joel would get them back. He pulled the knife back and stabbed it back in, lifting it.

A raw scream erupted from the man's throat. "Ah, fuck! Fuck! Ah, the town!" He shrieked.

It wasn't enough. None of the answers were enough. He pulled the knife with as much force as he could muster. "What town?!" He roared in the man's face.

"Silver Lake," the man whimpered, and Joel twisted the knife. "Ah! It’s not a real town name. It’s a resort," he exclaimed.

"A resort?" Joel asked. The man didn't respond fast enough, so Joel twisted the knife further into his knee and leaned in close. "You’re gonna point to where we are… and where your “resort” is. And it better be the same spot your buddy points to," Joel warned.

Taking the knife out of where it impaled the raider, Joel shoved the knife's handle into the man's mouth. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a map. Carefully unfolding it, he held it open for the raider and awaited his answer.

With a trembling head, the raider used the knife to point to a location on the map. "Okay," Joel muttered, marking the spot in his mind.

"…That’s where we are. I swear. Go ask him. He’ll tell you. I’m not lying," The raider explained.

Joel stood up and removed Ellie's knife from the man's mouth. He nodded as his mind absorbed the raider's words. They were to be his last. Within the blink of an eye, Joel drove Ellie's knife into the heart of the man. The blade twisted as the man's life slowly faded from his eyes.

He had died faster than Joel liked. The more pain he could give these men, the better, but that required time. Time his girls didn't have, so he had to settle for a swift, bloody end. Pulling the blade out, Joel marched over to Marco, who scrambled to escape.

"No… no!" Marco cried. "Shit! Jesus! No! Why the fuck did you do that?! He told you what you wanted!"

Joel wiped Ellie's blade and carefully placed it in his jacket pocket. Then he picked up a pipe he had taken from one of the raiders. The metal felt light as he flipped it in his hands. Then he sauntered over to Marco, who resorted to cursing out Joel.

"You motherfucker. Fuck you. I ain’t tellin’ you shit." Marco spat at Joel.

"It’s okay…," Joel coolly said. "I believe him."

He raised the pipe in the air as if praising the heavens above. Then, allowing the weight of gravity to take over, Joel brought the pipe down. Marco didn't have time to scream his god's name before his face resembled a dirtied bowl that not even the devil would use.

꧁_꧂

Ellie snickered to herself about her captors' stupidity. They had put her in a cage with a window. While the window was too tall for Ellie to reach on her own, her captors kept a bucket in the cage. Flipping the bucket upside down, Ellie placed it under the window, stepped up, and jumped. Her hands caught the bottom of the windowsill. Grunting, she bent her arms in an attempt to pull herself up.

It failed, and Ellie was no longer laughing. Maybe her captors were more competent than she thought. Hearing footsteps outside her prison door, Ellie pushed herself up and pulled the bucket away from the window. By the time the door flung open, Ellie had shoved herself into a corner far away from the bucket and window.

"It's good you're awake," David greeted. Your sister woke up a while ago," he mentioned as he pulled a chair to Ellie's cage.

Ellie's head shot up and ground her teeth together. "What the fuck did you do to my sister?"

David smiled and waved off her aggression. "She's fine. You know, my people," he added. "They wanted to kill her. She killed two of our men. It only seemed fair, but I stopped them. I protected her. I can protect you, too. How are you feeling?"

"Eat shit," Ellie growled before tucking herself as far as she could go into the corner.

David smiled before looking to his side. He picked up a bowl and slid it through Ellie's prison bars to her. "Here, this is for you."

Ellie glanced at the bowl and scowled, but it soon faded with the look of pure horror. Beyond where David sat lay a bloodied ear. Ellie glanced down at the bowl of soup containing chunks of thick meat. She felt sick.

"For what it’s worth," David added, "this is just deer meat. I swear."

"You’re gonna chop us up into little pieces," Ellie accused.

Shaking his head, David replied. "I’d rather not. Please, just tell me your name." She refused to answer. She wasn't giving this fucker her name. "If you wanna judge me–"

"Judge you?" Ellie shouted from the top of her lungs. as she kicked the bowl out of the cell. The glass shattered as it hit the wall. "You’re eating people, you sick fuck!"

"Yes," David agreed with a soft voice as if he was trying to quiet Ellie. "There are only a few of us that know. But I would’ve told you. Sooner or later. I guess sooner,' he shrugged.

"You’re an animal," Ellie hissed.

"Well, yes, we all are," David said. "That’s sorta the point." With a deep sigh, David continued. "It was a last resort. You think it doesn’t shame me? But what was I supposed to do? Let them starve? These people who put their lives in my hands, who expect me to keep them safe, who love me?"

Ellie scoffed. "Yeah, maybe."

Stepping closer to the cage, David adamantly shook his head. "You don’t believe that. I don’t think your friend would either. Didn’t he take another man’s life to save yours?" Ellie turned away. She couldn't bear to look at the monster anymore. "What about your sister? She took two men's lives. She did it for you."

"They were defending themselves," Ellie refuted.

"They were defending you. But you knew that. You see a lot. So do I. And you know what I see when I look at you? Me. You remind me of me," David stated. Ellie wanted to throw up. "You’re a natural leader, you’re smart… loyal. Violent."

"You don’t know anything about me," Ellie replied.

"But I do," David corrected. "If I let you out of that cage right now, put that knife of yours in your hand, you’d stick me in a second. You have a violent heart. And I should know. I’ve always had a violent heart. And I struggled with it for a long time. But then the world ended, and I was shown the truth."

"Right…," Ellie rolled her eyes. "…by God."

"No. By Cordyceps," David said. Ellie's brows pinched together, and she turned to look at David. "What does Cordyceps do?" David continued, having caught Ellie's attention. "Is it evil? No. It’s fruitful. It multiplies. It feeds and protects its children, and it secures its future with violence if it must. It loves."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Ellie's feet had pulled her closer to the bars of her cell. Her hand wrapped around the cool metal and squeezed it with the image of David's neck in her mind.

"Because you can handle it. The way the others can’t. They need God. They need heaven. They need…," David paused and looked at Ellie. Cautiously, he approached her. "They need a father. You don’t. You’re beyond that. I’m a shepherd surrounded by sheep; all I want is an equal. A friend."

Ellie frowned. "What about my friend? What about my sister?"

David sighed. "Like I said, loyal. I can tell the others to stop looking for him. I can tell them to let your sister go."

The hope in Ellie's voice betrayed her. "Really? They’ll just let them go?"

"Yes," David nodded. "If they leave us in peace, my people will just let them go. They do what I tell them to do. They follow me. And they would follow us. Lord knows I could use the help." Taking the final steps, David stood directly in front of Ellie. The only thing separating them were the bars of the cage. "I– Look what’s happened. Think of what we could do together, as strong as we are. We’d make this place perfect. We’d grow, spread out. And we’d do whatever we needed for our people. Imagine the life we could give them. Imagine the life we could build." Then David gently wrapped his hands around Ellie's.

Chills were sent down Ellie's spine as she turned a ghostly white. "Oh," Ellie muttered. She hesitantly looked up at David as his finger began to rub against the skin of her hand. The shock on Ellie's face was wiped clean and replaced with a deadly snarl. She grabbed David's finger and pulled. She pulled until she heard that snap.

"Ah, ah!" David screamed and pulled his arm back, but Ellie wasn't done. She would break every bone in his hand and then move to his arm until David was a pool of shattered bones. She yanked his arm back, but David was too strong. With one swift pull, he freed his hand and pulled Ellie into the poles of her prison.

Ellie fell to the floor, clutching her bleeding nose. Her fingers gently pressed against the ridge of her nose. It wasn't broken. She knew what a broken nose felt like. After all, she had broken Piper's.

"You little cunt," David cursed, clutching his broken fingers. "Let’s see what I go tell the others now. Let's see what I tell them about your sister and friend."

"Ellie," Ellie said through the blood and pain. It trickled down from her nose and into her mouth.

"What?" David lowly asked, turning away from the door.

"Tell them," Ellie began, "that Ellie is the little girl who broke your fucking finger!"

David stood stunned as he took in Ellie's appearance. Her face was bloodied and filled with raw rage. Biting his tongue, David glowered at Ellie. "How did you put it? Hmm? “Tiny little pieces”?" Then David was gone, and Ellie was alone.

She was alone, and her strength faded. Her eyes only held fear. She was trapped here with cannibalistic cultists. She only wanted to help Piper. She had heard the gunshot and freaked out. She only did it to save Piper; instead, Ellie led the monster to them. They had Piper. Her panic only multiplied as the image of the ear burned in her brain. They were going to kill her and Piper and who knows what else.

Tears mixed in with the blood that fell from Ellie's face. It was her fault. She left Joel alone with those fuckers. She got herself and Piper caught. She was the reason they were going to be killed. If only she had listened. If only she didn't curse everyone around her. Everyone left. No matter how much she clung to them, they'd leave one way or another, and they'd leave because of her. The more Ellie thought about it, maybe she was the reason. After all, she was the reason Henry and Sam died. She couldn't cure him. Hell, she was the reason Tess and Riley died. She was the reason Piper got caught. She was the reason Joel was alone and dying.

Ellie no longer fought the sobs that fled her mouth. She was a curse, and she was alone, utterly alone.

꧁_꧂

Spite filled Piper's being once the doors to her prison flung open. She jumped back as David and James surged into the room. "Welcome back, you fucker. Oh, brought back up. Scared of little old me?"

David ignored her taunting and fumbled with the lock, keeping her cage closed. Piper scoffed and opened her mouth to spill more curses when the door flung open.

David and the other man lunged for her as they reached for her arms and legs. She ducked before slamming the man closest to her into the brick wall. A sweet crack filled the air as the man swung his hands to clutch his broken, bleeding nose.

"Fuck!" he cried before shooting Piper a glare as he jumped back to his feet. He looked at David, and the two nodded before stepping closer to Piper.

With each step they took, Piper took one back. Suddenly, her hands felt the cool metal of the cage. She was cornered. In the blink of an eye, firm hands squeezed her arms. Then, her legs were lifted into the air. Piper screamed.

"Get off of me! Fuck off." She swung her head around, trying to bite anything she could grab, and found James' hand. He bit his tongue as her teeth entered his skin, drawing blood.

"I tried to redeem you," David scolded her as his hands were replaced by another's, the man who shot her in the leg. "To save you in God's eyes, but you're too far gone. The devil has claimed you."

"Fuck you," Piper growled as she flailed around.

"Take her and bring her to the other one," David instructed them. The men nodded and began to drag Piper out of the room. She scratched, screamed, bit, cried, and did anything she could to free herself, but to no avail. They were going to kill her and kill Ellie too. Piper had failed, and now she was going to die.

꧁_꧂

No matter how much pain he was in, Joel had to keep going. It was as if the blood pumping through his veins was replaced with the need to ensure his girls were safe and back in his arms. Even if the wind and snow howled at him and the cold bit his skin, he kept going. He had to save his girls.

Despite the fogginess the whirling snow created, Joel had found the resort. It was huge, buildings lined, what Joel assumed was the road. As he passed, most of them were empty. Glass windows were broken, and dust and snow littered the insides. Yet he continued. His girls had to be safe so he could tell them they were no longer cargo. He needed to tell them his dream and to share it with them. It was vital he found them, and Joel knew if he couldn't, he'd be gone.

It seemed so long ago his only goal was to find Tommy. Tommy. Tommy. Tommy. The girls were a means to an end to get to Tommy and his family. But fate had a different plan, and the girls stuck around longer than Joel intended. With each horrible joke from Ellie's mouth and eye roll from Piper, Joel found his goal to be changing. Yes, he needed to find Tommy, but most of all, he was searching for his family. He found Tommy and discovered Tommy had a family of his own. With the smiling faces of Maria and his unborn kid, Joel knew Tommy didn't need him anymore, but Joel needed someone.

So, as Joel lay in the dark in the bedroom, he claimed it was his own, and he gazed up to the heavens. The longer his gaze lingered, the denser Joel. What was he looking for in the darkness, staring at the ceiling? He stared that whole night, and as the sun trickled in between the bent plastic blinds, Joel's mind awakened. Joel had his family. They had been with him all along. He'd found them under his gun in a hallway in the QZ. Piper and Ellie became his girls, and most of all, they became his family. Just as quickly as he found them, he lost them as fast. They were taken, trying to protect him and their family.

Clenching his jaw, Joel pushed further into the storm. Leaning his back against the stone wall of one of the buildings, he caught his breath. The wound in his side seared with pain. He quickly checked it for blood. It wasn't bleeding, yet the snow around him was red. With narrowed eyes and careful steps, Joel followed the trail of blood into the building.

He found the door to be unlocked and stepped inside. With his flashlight equipped, he searched the room for any sign of his girls. It didn't take long for him to set sights on the girl's bags tucked underneath a table. He frowned, pushing himself to a stand. The girls were here. The raiders hadn't lied. Making a mental note of the bag's location, Joel pressed forward.

Not one of Joel's steps rang out across the building as he continued his search. His flashlight flickered as it bounced from wall to wall, searching for Ellie and Piper. Suddenly, his light stilled. The beam floated towards the beams in the ceiling. Tied from the beams were three bodies. Their heads were gone, and their skin was paler than white as they dangled from the ceiling.

Joel felt all sense wash away from him. He no longer felt the jabbing pain in his side or the way his lungs heaved air in and out of his lungs. Instead, the purest form of fear entered his body. It infected every inch like a disease, invoking an urge he hadn't felt in twenty years. It was intuitive paternal protection. If it was clear before, Joel had to get his girls out, and he'd do anything to get them back.

꧁_꧂

As the door flung open, Piper's ears were met with the worst sound in the world: Ellie's screaming.

"No! No! No," Ellie screamed as David tried to grab her. With one swipe, he snatched the collar of her shirt, pulling her in. She jabbed her fingers in his face and bit his hand, forcing him to drop her, only to find his boot kicking her down to the ground. Ellie coughed and wheezed as she protected her head from David's attack.

"Get off of me! Get off!" Her violent shakes grew stronger as she tried to free herself from the grasp of her captors. "Ellie!" Piper called out to her sister as David stepped out of her cage, closing the door behind him.

"Shut up!" James yelled at Piper as they dragged her

Ellie pushed her head off the ground, allowing Piper to look at her sister. Blood steadily flowed from Ellie's nose down her face. Scratches littered her sister's once-pale skin. "Piper!" Ellie croaked, raising a hand to reach towards her sister.

Suddenly, there was a thud, and the oxygen in Piper's lungs disappeared. She gasped for air and clenched her fists as James and the other man held her down on the table.

Ellie began to scream again. The words were incoherent in Piper's mind as the assailant from before squeezed her bullet wound. With a knowing smile, he watched as Piper jerked around in pain.

A silver glint appeared. A hand was placed beside her head. Above her stood David with a cleaver raised.

Air fled back into Piper's lungs. "Wait, wait!" She pleaded, shaking her body even more.

"Shut up!" James yelled again.

"Hold her still," David commanded as he steadied the blade above Piper's neck. Her eyes widened as the fight began to drain from her body. She was going to die. She knew it, and after she was dead, they were going to kill Ellie. Piper had failed. She had failed Ellie.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Don’t! Don’t do it!" Ellie cried out. She clung to the chain link fence and shook it. "Please, don’t do it! Please, don’t! Don’t!"

"You had your chance," David reminded her.

Ellie's breath escaped her lungs faster than her heartbeat. "We're infected!" She exclaimed. "We're infected. Both of us!"

James scoffed and then glanced down at Piper. He froze. His grip weakened as the sight sank deep into his mind. It was a bite mark. Piper had been bitten. Ellie also flashed her bite mark in her cage, lulling James' eyes to her wound.

The room grew quiet as James looked to the other men for guidance. His hand was still bleeding from when Piper had bitten him.

"And now, so are you," Piper chuckled. "What did you say? Everything happens for a reason, right?"

"David," James whispered, but David didn't hear him over the sound of his own heart beating in his ears. Ellie had bitten him. She was infected. Both of the girls were infected.

Shaking his head, David began to pray and not the scripted bullshit he continuously repeated for his flock. For the first time, he began to truly pray to the God he always preached about. "No. No, they would’ve turned by now." He tried to assure himself and James. "This isn’t real."

"It looks pretty fuckin’ real to me," James cried.

The other man released his grip on Piper. His feet failed him as he stumbled away from the table, checking his skin. There wasn't a bite mark. He was safe. He glanced between James and David.

"You're infected. You-"

"Now, Peter," David began calming the man down.

"You're infected," Peter gasped before running out the doors.

Piper grinned, seeing her chance, and flung herself off the table at David, knocking the knife out of his hand and forcing him to the ground. Jumping up, she scrambled to open Ellie's cage. With swift hands, she swung it open and pulled her sister out.

"Ellie! Run!" Piper yelled, shoving her sister out the door. Ellie listened this time, and this time, she regretted what she did.

Once the door settled, James retrieved the cleaver and pounced on Piper. She grunted as they toppled to the ground.

"I've got her!" James yelled to David. "Go!" With another word, David ran after Ellie.

Piper screamed and thrashed as she watched David chase after her sister. But there was nothing she could do. James sat above her, forcing the cleaver down closer and closer to her neck. Yet Piper fought. Her arms shook as they pushed against James' weight. Her eyes began to darken, and her heart thundered. Despite her efforts, the cleaver came closer. Tears formed in her eyes as she kicked her legs. She was going to die.

The silver blade shined in the faint light of the sun as it sliced her face. From her right eyebrow to cheek, her face burned. It was a scalding, searing pain as she felt warm blood trickle down her face. She pushed back, but the blade sunk deeper and deeper. Her dark eyes widened as the blade's fine edge hovered above her eye.

In one last effort to force James off of her, Piper gritted her teeth and screamed as she kicked him in between his legs. His eyes bulged, and his grip loosened. Turning his force against him, she swung the blade into her hands. The silver blade shone no longer as blood splattered over the walls, onto the floor, and Piper.

The blade never clattered to the ground as Piper pulled it back and drove it deeper into James' neck, except it wasn't James she saw, with his blue eyes and scraggly beard. Instead, she saw a face that only haunted her nightmares: Levi. She swung and swung until her hands were drenched in red. Her tears stung as the blade finally clattered to the floor. It was then Piper realized the room was darker than it was before. Clouds of gray and black filled the air.

Tilting her head, her eyes followed the trail. It was smoke, and it came from beyond the doors. That's where Ellie had run. Piper's heart clenched, and she grabbed her chest, wincing in pain. Ellie, she thought. She had to get Ellie. She had to save Ellie. Piper pushed herself to her feet. Her eyesight grew muddier as blood continued to flow into her eyes. She tried blinking it away, but her face spasmed in pain. It was as if the pain on her face caused a chain reaction; Her leg buckled from underneath her, bringing her to the floor. Instead of a hand touching the door handle, it was her head. Piper's head hit the floor with a smash, and her world grew black.

The darkness was a sweet relief from the pain and fear. There was no monster hovering above her. In the darkness, she was a kid again, safe in her room with her sister tucked beside her. She could dream in the dark. She could dream of that farm with the sheep and her family sitting beside her. Anything was possible in the darkness, so Piper sank deeper into the darkness.

꧁_꧂

EXTREME TRIGGER WARNING IN THIS SECTION! READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION

Ellie ran. Piper had told her to do so, and she ran. The doors she opened only seemed to end in more doors. Twirling around, she searched for anything to protect herself with just in case it wasn't Piper who came after her. She was in a kitchen now. Knives hung from the walls, too high up for Ellie to reach. If she had time, she'd grab them, but time was not on Ellie's side. A glint of red and orange from beneath the stove caught her eye. It was the remnants of a fire still lingering on a chunk of wood. Without much thought, she snatched it and ran through the next pair of doors.

Wood and shades of red clashed together as the new room appeared. Seats, tables, and benches were everywhere. Ellie darted between the tables for the glass door, for freedom. When she reached the door and pushed, it didn't budge. It was locked. Cursing, Ellie whipped her head around. She had to hide until she could get out or until Piper found her.

Hiding behind a wooden wall, Ellie crouched down and caught her breath. Her ears listened for any sign of Piper or an oncoming assailant. There was a deafening creak as the doors swung on their hinges. The footsteps Ellie heard following were heavy and frantic. This wasn't Piper. Holding her breath, Ellie waited until the footsteps were a few paces away before she jumped out. With all her strength, Ellie threw the stick. It flew towards David, who ducked out of the way. The stick landed underneath a window. The remaining fire flew onto the curtains, swarming the fabric with desperate flames.

The fire grew upwards, reaching the ceiling before spreading over the chairs and benches. Crackles came from the fire as it consumed everything around it.

"There’s no way out, Ellie," David said as he stalked around the dining hall. His steps were calculated as he peered under each table for Ellie. "The doors are locked. And I have the keys. Ellie?" David cooed. "Ellie!"

From underneath a nearby table, Ellie squeezed her body tighter. She needed to be invisible until Piper came. Ellie knew Piper would save her from David. After all, her sister had made a promise.

"Ellie…" David called out as he continued his hunt. "I know you’re not infected. No one infected fights this hard to stay alive. So… how did you two do it? What’s the secret? Or are you girls just that fucking special?"

The roaring fire had consumed most of the building. Clouds of smoke soared from the flames, filling the air. Ellie's lungs tensed as the black mist threatened to enter them. She crept deeper into her hiding place, covering her mouth to stifle any coughs.

"No one likes being humiliated, Ellie. You don’t know how good I am! You don’t know what I could’ve given you! If you had just let me!" David's search grew more frantic as he searched for Ellie.

Meanwhile, the young girl darted from spot to spot until she crept behind the bar. With shaking hands, she picked up a steak knife and held it close, ready to strike if needed. Sweat clung to her skin, and worry filled her mind. Where was Piper?

Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream erupted from the back room. Ellie shuddered and slapped her free hand over her mouth. It was Piper. The scream seemed to last an eternity before the sound was abruptly silenced. Ellie whimpered as the blaring quiet filled her ears.

"Did you hear that Ellie? That was the sound of your sister dying. She has failed you. I won't fail you. I never will if you'll let me!" David yelled with a gleeful smile on his face. From her hiding spot, Ellie began to cry. Piper wasn't coming to save her.

"Ellie," David taunted as his steps grew closer to Ellie's hiding place. "I have news for you. Neither one of us is dying today. You see, I’ve changed my mind. I’ve decided you do need a father. So I’m gonna keep you… and I’m gonna teach you. Ellie. Ellie…"

With tears and blood adorning her face, Ellie crept out of her hiding place. David's back was turned to the raging fires. Instantly, Ellie lunged and stabbed the steak knife into David's side as he turned and swung the cleaver at her. She ducked before tripping over her feet and bringing herself to the floor.

Above her, David groaned as he pulled the knife out of his side. "Ah, fuck," he cursed, clutching his side. He pulled back his hand, which was dripping blood. Biting his lips, his venomous eyes trailed over Ellie as she crawled along the floor. Her hands desperately reached for the cleaver David had dropped in their struggle. He took a step before swinging his leg into her stomach. He kicked and kicked, forcing a grunt of pain to escape from Ellie's mouth.

When she turned on her back, he pounced. His hands flew to hers, forcefully holding her down as he sat down on her legs, keeping them still. Ellie screamed as she thrashed around. David leaned in close, and Ellie spit. Pulling back, David chuckled; "Oh. I thought you already knew. The fighting is the part I like the most."

Ellie screamed as loud as she could. It was a call for anyone willing to save her. She begged that it reached her sister's ears, so that just maybe, Piper would awake from the dead to rescue her. But the dead don't return that quickly. Next, she screamed for Joel, who lay dying in the basement. Maybe he'd be able to hear her call and save her. Someone had to come for Ellie. Someone. Anyone.

"Don’t be afraid," David soothed as Ellie continued to scream. “There’s no fear in love.”

As David released one of her hands to reach downward, Ellie reached. No one was coming to save her. Piper was gone. She risked her life for Ellie's escape. Joel wasn't here. No one would save her, so she had to save herself. Her finger brushed against the handle of the cleaver. Pulling it down, she grasped the handle and, with all her might, swung it down onto David's neck.

David fell back, struggling to stop the blood from falling from his body. Gurgles escaped his mouth when he tried to speak, but Ellie wasn't listening. She was saving herself. She brought it down repeatedly with her hands clinging tightly to the cleaver. As the blade cut deeper into David's face and body, Ellie cried. She cried for her loss: her sister, her childhood, Joel, Tess, Riley, Henry and Sam. No one came to save her, and Ellie was alone.

The fire raged on as curtains fell into piles of ash. The wooden walls and ceilings turned dark as the flames consumed them. Hovering David's body, the orange and red blaze reached out to Ellie. The heat was trying to comfort her mourning heart. Stumbling to her feet, Ellie brushed the gentle flames aside and headed towards the door's light. With bloody and trembling hands, she placed the key into the lock and stepped out into the bitter cold.

Smoke trickled out as the door opened. Her body shivered, and her feet sluggishly wobbled in the snow. She had nothing now. There was no Joel and Piper. Her coat and bag were stolen from her when she arrived. The only thing she had was herself. In a daze, she shuffled forward deeper into the snowstorm.

Suddenly, a pair of large dark hands flew onto her shoulders. Ellie screamed and flailed her arms around. "No! Get off of me! Get off!" She pleaded.

"Ellie," a deep, gentle voice uttered. "It’s me."

"Get–" Ellie yelled as the hands turned her around.

"Ellie," the voice repeated her name and a soft hand cupped her cheeks. "It’s me."

The fog from her dark eyes faded to reveal Joel. His face was all pinched up as he looked at her. His brown eyes welcomed her in and told her she was safe. Someone had come for her. Ellie wasn't alone. Joel had found her.

"Hey…," Joel said. "Look, It’s me… It’s me. It’s okay." He brushed some of the hairs from her face away.

"He-," Ellie began to mumble.

Joel nodded and gently pulled her into his warm embrace. She didn't hesitate to place her head on his chest and allow the tears to come. Joel had come for her. "It’s okay. It’s okay, baby girl. I got you," He soothed as his hands rubbed along her back. Closing his eyes, he rested his chin against her head. Ellie was safe. He only had one more daughter to find.

"Where's Piper?" He asked and immediately felt Ellie's legs grow weak. His grip tightened as he held her up.

Choking on her sobs, Ellie peered up at Joel. "She-she's," Ellie's voice shook. "I heard her scream. It was so loud. Joel, she's-"

"Okay," Joel said as he looked at the building Ellie had emerged from. "Ellie, I need you to come with me. We need to fi-"

The shrieking sound of glass shattering filled the air. Smoke tumbled out from the side of the building, pulling Joel and Ellie's attention. What they heard next was quiet. It was a plea for help. It was Piper.

꧁_꧂

Pain. It's all Piper felt once her eyes opened. The room was as dark as her unconsciousness had been. Piper's lungs heaved as they remembered to breathe, only finding nothing to take in except for dark, heavy smoke. As coughs erupted from her chest, Piper felt her body grow weaker than it had ever been before. The temptation to fall back into the darkness grew too much. It had been so welcoming and peaceful, but the darkness couldn't give her everything. The darkness couldn't hold Ellie and Joel.

She placed her hands in the sticky pool of blood that had seeped out of her and pushed herself to a stand. Her hand instinctively covered her mouth as she opened the door she had seen Ellie run out of. As the metal doors opened, a roaring fire was ready to greet her. Quickly, she closed the door and turned around for a new escape.

Above her, a faint light seeped through the dark fog of black. She limped over to the countertops and pulled herself atop them. She prayed Ellie made it out and ran. It was the only thing keeping her going. If Ellie was gone, she might as well sink back into the fire and smoke and return to the darkness.

Standing tall, Piper reached her hands into the air. Her scorched and bloodied fingers felt the cold glass windows. She banged against them, fighting the smoke that forced its way down into her lungs. The windows refused to open. She grew more desperate with each hit. She had to get out. She wanted to live. She needed to find Ellie and Joel.

A glint shone through the darkness. A metal rolling pin glimmered. Piper dragged her feet along to grasp it. Her arms dropped down from the weight. This would break the glass, Piper thought as she lugged it back to the window. She raised it and swung. The metal thudded against the glass. She swung again. The glass cracked. Swinging one final time, the glass shattered. Using the pin, Piper enlarged the hole so that it was big enough for her to crawl through before dropping the pin to the ground.

Piper's knees buckled beneath her as the rolling pin clattered to the floor, and she fell. She was so tired. Her lungs had given up any fight to inhale only breathable air. Her wounds continued to scream in pain as red liquid soaked her skin. Everything in her body told her to crawl into a ball and welcome the fire. However, her heart and mind sang a different tune. It was a song of freedom. It was her dream.

Struggling to stand, Piper clung to the walls, searching for anything to help her up. She reached to the window and clenched her fingers around the ledge. Her muscles strained against her will to pull herself out. Glass dug into the palms of her hand as she forced herself off the counter and into the air. Flinging her elbow onto the ledge, she kicked her legs into the air, allowing her second elbow to gain a grip. With both arms on the windowsill, she pushed down, throwing herself through the window.

A cry fled her mouth as she removed her hands and arms from the window. Shards of glass embedded themselves deep into her skin, and even more blood fell from her wounds. Swinging her legs around, Piper jumped. She welcomed the white snow, which immediately turned a dark pink.

Her head rang with a static noise as her world began to spin. Something loud was crying out into the air. She winced, trying to make sense of it.

"Piper!" Joel and Ellie called out. They ran to her fallen body in the snow. Joel's knees fell to the ground as his hands wrapped around her broken body. Worry and guilt filled his being as he took in her torn-up figure. With heavy eyes, Piper looked up at Joel and Ellie. Ellie was in tears as she lunged for her sister, enveloping her in a desperate hug. Meanwhile, Joel took both girls in his large embrace. He held them tight to fight off the biting winter cold.

His daughters were home in his arms. His daughters were alive. His shirt grew wetter the longer they sat in the snow, holding onto each other.

"It's okay," he whispered into their ears. "I've got you. I've got you."

꧁_꧂

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114 notes · View notes

yanderes-galore · 2 years ago

Note

heyyyyy,

so i really loved your self-aware ethan winters and was hoping you could write a scenario with ethan finding a way to leave the game and darling is just wondering why is a man in the middle of the room

sending all my good vibes so you have a great day <3

sorry if there's any grammar mistakes, english is not my first language

Ah, sure! I'll see what I have, I never thought of continuing it so I'll try 😊 Thanks for the good vibes, your english is fine 💜 May be a bit tame, struggled a bit but did what I could for Ethan's yandere behavior!

Self-Aware! Ethan Winters Concept

Real

Yandere! Self-Aware! Ethan Winters Scenario

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Self-Aware game character, Swearing, Breaking and entering (?), Delusional behavior, Forced relationship, Poessessive themes, Cutting mention, Wounds.

When you woke up the first thing you smelt was mold. The thought puzzled you at first. Black mold... the type of mold that develops during events like water damage.

But you never had any water damage in your home.

That was the first incident that puzzled you. The next was when you walked towards the room you kept your game system/PC in... only to be met with something stranger. A man was on his hands and knees in your house, looking bewildered.

The musky smell of mold got stronger when you got closer. When you saw the man you stayed quiet and gazed at his clothes. They were dirty... familiar.

It was like those of a video game character... Resident Evil in particular. You decide to test your luck... this must be a dream, right? Why would any of this be real?

Maybe you were smelling mold in your sleep?

"Ethan?" You find yourself saying. There was no way it actually was him, dream or not. You're stunned into silence again when the man looks up.

"You... You know my name!"

The mysterious man's tone is less of a question and more excitement. His face reminds you of the rendered models you'd seen of Ethan Winters online. Were you scared... or just confused?

"Sir... that's really your name?" You ask with hesitance, moving your hand to the pocket that holds your phone. The man sits up on his knees with an intense gaze on you.

"E-Ethan Winters."

"Like the game character?" You narrow your gaze.

"Game...?" Ethan looks around and sees your copy of Resident Evil 7/8 on the desk. He stares at it blankly for a moment before slowly nodding. "I guess so...."

"Where did you come from? How did you get in my house?"

Ethan looks puzzled again before slowly standing up.

"Um..." He looks towards your TV/monitor. "Supposedly from there?"

You're both bewildered and confused at this point.

"Explain yourself or I'm calling the police."

"Wait, wait, wait! I've come too far for that!" Ethan holds up his hands. "This may sound weird... but I do think I came from your game. I've been trying really hard to come here-"

"The hell are you talking about!?"

"I-I've been the person you've been playing in your... game." Ethan starts, still new to the concept himself. "I've wanted to meet you for a long time since you're the player... and I found a way!"

"You're trying to say you're a game character...."

"Yes!"

"... and I'm supposed to accept this is not a dream?"

Ethan frowns at your response.

"... I can prove it to you."

"Really?"

Ethan pulls out the knife he always has in the game and presses it to his arm. You look away with a grimace when he cuts his arm... but there's no blood. Only mold... the same mold you've been smelling.

Ethan Winters... the GAME character... was inside your home....

"No shit...."

"Believe me?"

"How can I not after... that-"

"Great!" Ethan cheers, stepping a bit closer. "It's so nice to meet you...?" Ethan says, expecting a name to call you. You give him your name. Ethan smiles, saying it's nice on the tongue.

"What brings you... here?"

"Not sure how I did it... but I wanted to meet you since you're the only thing real in my 'life'."

"Only thing real?"

"My life is merely a game in your world..." Ethan sighs. "Don't you get it? Nothing I know is real except this place. No Mia... No Rose...."

You frown. Putting it that way is... really sad. You never thought of it like that. Then again... video game characters aren't supposed to be real.

"Damn...." You mutter. Ethan asks to sit on your couch and you comply.

"None of it matters... not when I'm here now, at least." Ethan gives a small smile. "Maybe I can make a new life here."

His gaze on you is unnatural. It feels synthetic... you know that he isn't entirely human, and that's not just because of the mold. However... you're still trying to understand the situation you've just been thrust into.

"Could you... show me around?"

---

Ethan already knew how to make connections between items in your world and his. After all, his world was modeled after yours. As a result... Ethan adapted quickly.

You, however, struggled to grasp the concept of Ethan in your home. You didn't think you could get used to it. You didn't even know what to tell people.

Ethan treats you like you're his savior. He praises you for opening his eyes. He thanks you for allowing him to stay. You only allowed it as you weren't sure what else to do...

You can't release him into the public.

Living with him was strange. Mold was a frequent smell that invaded your nose no matter what you did to cover it up. You also noticed Ethan doesn't eat... sometimes he doesn't even sleep.

He's unnatural... an anomaly.

You tried to treat him like a friend. If others asked... you said he was just a friend! Ethan appeared to enjoy it when you called him a friend....

If anything, Ethan just wants to incorporate himself into your life.

In his eyes... your fates have been intertwined since you first played that game of yours...

Why wouldn't he cling to you? You're like partners!

Partners... soon, Ethan starts to think you're better than Mia. Mia isn't even real... but you are, just like him! You wouldn't mind if he inched your relationship towards something more... intimate, would you?

After all, he technically was designed for your entertainment one way or another.

You notice Ethan become overly sweet towards you. He's always been sweet and respectful due to his character. Over time... it gets concerning.

Ethan vows to dedicate his whole existence to you, his player. He wouldn't be where he is right now without you! As a result... he doesn't want to leave your side.

Ethan feels he's your type anyways! You seemed to like the game he was a part of a lot... and you mentioned he's really sweet at times... surely he can make this work! Even if he's not fully real compared to you.

Ethan is more like a synthetic lifeform compared to you... still born of code rather than flesh and blood.

Ethan realizes this may cause problems. Yet... he's patient. After all, he isn't going anywhere. There's nowhere to go for him.

Even if he could go back to the game, he'd rather stay where's it's real.

Truthfully, Ethan believes fate will bring you two together in the end. Even if you don't reciprocate his gentle touches. Even if you ignore his words of praise and adoration... he's confident.

There has to be a reason you released him from the game. There must be a reason he's so drawn to you. You're partners... for everything!

Clearly Ethan will be here for you until the end...

If you can't get rid of him, why not choose him as your next and only partner instead of looking for someone else?

#yandere resident evil #yandere resident evil 7 #yandere resident evil 8 #yandere ethan winters #yandere self aware au

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milaisreading · 2 years ago

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Author: This is a pt 2 to this request I wrote😭 hope u like it🩷

Warnings ⚠️: Reader uses she/her. Might come off as suggestive in some parts, but nothing really happens. Requests are open

⚽️Blue lock belongs to:Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

"He is where?!" Baro yelled at Chigiri as the rest looked at the redhead in disbelief. As soon as he came back to the room, he explained to his teammates that he saw Ness in (Y/n)'s room and how he manipulated her into spending time with him and completely ignored Chigiri for it. At that Kurona and Isagi spoke up, catching the attention of their teammates.

"So that dumbass IS doing it on purpose?! We tried to talk to her the whole day, but we were put in second best spot. Ness started blabbering something and (Y/n) immediately lost her interest in us." Kurona huffed in annoyance as Isagi nodded his head.

"That bastard is monopolizing all of her time and we just get scraps! How is this fair?! (Y/n) is our manager!"

"I hate to say this, but I agree with Isagi. It's not fair that he gets all the kisses." Rin said, blushing in embarrassment.

"And the hugs, those loving, warm hugs..." Bachira sighed, already feeling a ton of emotions hit him as he thought of it.

"Why is Ness (Y/n)'s favorite of all people?"

"Karasu, he isn't. She is just now nice to him now since he is a baby." Yukimiya denied the idea as Hiori and Aryu sighed, shaking their heads.

"Now you are just lying to yourself. We all know (Y/n) lo...likes Ness." Hiori said, trying not to gag at the idea.

"Yeah... I even heard Teieri-san tease her about some wedding gowns if Ness ever proposed." Aryu added, causing the rest to flinch at the idea.

"Hell no! That's not happening, (Y/n) is marrying me!" Baro yelled, earning a disapproving look from some.

"(Y/n) is marrying ME, because I am much more stable than all of you combined. Also, she already said I am handsome, so that is enough." Reo soud proudly.

"She said I am handsome too, also I can give her stability as well."

"Nagi, no offense but you would oversleep your own wedding. You are not suitable for the role."

"Neither are you, Otoya! You would probably cheat!" Kunigami yelled at the silver/green-haired boy.

"I would never do that!"

"Hmm~ I would love to have a wedding with (Y/n), maybe a cute, nature themed one? Ahh~ she would look so adorable in a wedding dress." Gagamaru blushed as him and Niko sat in a corner, while the rest argued.

"You are right, and imagine her cute hairstyles~ you think she would like a winter or summer wedding? I am going for winter."

"I think it's summer, Niko. She seems to like the sun and outdoors events more."

The two continued talking as the rest of the group kept on either arguing or cursing Ness out.

The next day, (Y/n) woke up to...to quite something. Instead of seeing the toddler Ness she fell asleep with, she found the all grown-up Ness smiling down at her. (Y/n) blinked and smiled back at the magenta-eyed boy, trying to get consciousness of her surrounding.

"Ness, you are back in your usual form! Thank God that curse wore off. How are you feeling?" (Y/n) asked calmly, still not realizing a big, glaring issue. Ness laughed and nodded his head.

"Yeah! But I really had a good sleep, we should do this again sometimes, just in my normal form again." (Y/n) blushed at the idea of cuddling up with Ness, but still nodded her head.

"Sure... uh... Ness, where are your clothes?" The girl asked, finally realizing that the German didn't wear a shirt.

"I don't think they grew with me." Ness said nonchalantly as (Y/n) nodded her head. After a few moments of silence, the girl's eyes started widening and her face got flustered.

'Wait...so... is he...is...'

"You are naked right now?!" (Y/n) yelled in embarrassment.

"Kinda... I don't have any clothes and can't really go outside to get any." Ness shrugged his shoulders again.

"Ah! Yeah, you are right! I will go and get some!" (Y/n) gulped as Ness smiled brightly at her.

"Thanks!"

"(Y/n)!- oh Ness, you are back to normal, nice." Bachira exclaimed as he, Isagi and Rin approached them during breakfast.

"Y-yeah he is!" (Y/n) nodded her head, still flustered from the encounter from this morning.

"Yeah, I woke up like this. Poor (Y/n) here was pretty shocked to see me." Ness said, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer.

'Ahh! So close!' The girl gulped and sent Ness a few nervous glances. The other guys from Blue lock stopped eating and observed the situation, as jealous as the trio was by their closeness.

"Yeah yeah, (Y/n) I will need your help with something-"

"Wait up." Rin interrupted Isagi and pointed at Ness.

"You two slept in separate beds, right?"

"No... Ness was crying whenever I left him in a separate futon, so he slept with me." As (Y/n) said that, she heard something break from across the room.

"Baro! You broke my fucking glass!"

"Oh shut up, Otoya!"

"Wait... you two slept together in a bed?" Isagi said again, looking at (Y/n) in disbelief.

"Kinda." The girl admitted in embarrassment.

"It was nice tho, you are quite soft and warm." Ness said as he looked back at her. The three boys had to use all the willpower in the world to not jump at Ness.

"Gagamaru broke a knife you all!" Hiori exclaimed.

The rest of the boys were pretty much in a sour and pissed off mood, hoping they will practice with Bastard München today.

'Sleep with one eye opens, Ness.' Kunigami glared at him. Feeling his, Chigiri and Niko's glares at himself, Ness looked at them and posed his tongue out while winking.

'SON OF A-'

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bajistadiamond · 26 days ago

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Yuu and the Magical Power of Songs

Yuu Singer, 🎶💎Ramshackle💎🎶 (This is Halloween) Halloween - Part 1

Halloween… one of the biggest holidays in the world; filled with a lot of joy and fun, but also hiding a lot of darkness. Yuu hoped it would be as normal as she could be in a place as extravagant as Twisted Wonderland.

And yes, at first it was… except for the part where Yuu wanted to hit Crowley to a pulp with a frying pan for almost leaving him out of the event organization meetings.

Each dorm had its theme and area specified for the event; and while Malleus initially wanted to use the Ramshackle area, Yuu wanted to prepare something of his own.

The entire Ramshackle dormitory (Yuu already had a new name and even a representative figure, he just wanted to make the presentation and inauguration at the right time) had been transformed to look like a mix of all the sagas of the Uncharted video game.

Fortunately for Yuu, somehow without explanation or logic Uncharted existed on TW under another name.

The bedroom became the ruins of a Victorian mansion with torn pirate flags and skeletons dressed as pirates. With the help of his magic, ghosts and Idia for special effects he was able to achieve an area with a golden sacphage with a sign that said "Do you dare to open it?". Inside was the seal of the bedroom in the hands of a very realistic plastic corpse. When you opened the sarcophagus and took the seal, skull-like zombie-like monsters and hairy beasts would appear and chase you into a room with two doors. A door took you to a winter area that had a grayish tree with blue veins connected to a blue amber sphere. The other sent you to a desert with fountains and marble statues with floating pyramids. Both areas were more for selfies than anything else; Then you walked out of the building to see the scene of a plane crash, an abandoned train, and boxes with the Shoreline logo. And finally, next to the entrance tree, a statue of Sir Francis Drake.

Yuu doesn't know how, but somehow everything came together nicely.

Yuu's outfit was that of Nathan Drake and Grim, transformed into a human beast thanks to a potion, dressed as Sullivan.

Yuu smiled as he looked in the mirror with the costume ready for him.

There was only one day left until the entire event began and the doors of NRC opened to the public.

"Nhya! Henchman, hurry up!" Grim shouted from below. The other delegates had already arrived to review the final details.

Yuu sighed before adjusting his belt a little and leaving the room.

"I hope everything turns out well." The brunette thought as he went down the stairs. … … …

Little did Yuu know that: Halloween + NRC = Chaos

Yuu certainly shouldn't be surprised at what a disaster the open days turned out to be.

What leaves the white-haired man speechless is that it all started with a photo… with a fucking photo!

Yuu knew that he had a decent amount of followers on MagiCam (having the "voice of the gods" already gives you a very high status in Twisted Wonderland society) and thanks to that he has made a couple of very good contracts for his account banking with the help of Vil as his instructor in the world of reflectors.

But hey… who knew that a photo of Yuu and Grim in their Halloween costumes and the three Ramshackle ghosts would cause visitors to become "MagiCam Monsters".

Now all the NRC students are elated with the parade on the last night of the event.

The floats decorated with the theme of each dorm came out of the warehouse where they kept the black carriages near the coliseum.

"It was a long time ago, much longer than you think." Yuu narrated in an enigmatic voice. "In a place that you have perhaps seen in your dreams." People felt a chill run through them. "And the story I will tell for you, the world of endless parties happened." Leaders and sub-leaders began to laugh macabrely. "Maybe you've wondered about the history of the holidays." The magic made the entire NRC look much creepier under the glow of the full moon. "Pay attention, because this is now beginning." Yuu finished saying before the streetlights went out and only the pumpkin lanterns remained lit that made the pupils of all the students shine. Yuu led the parade as the music started to play… it was sinister, mysterious and lively.

Boys and girls of every age~

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?~

The light came to life in flashes that blinded the visitors for a second; All the students danced on the floats, each one to their own chaotic and crazy rhythm. The hair hid Yuu's eyes, so only a big smile was visible as he sang. For the NRC visitors it was fortunate that the event was not canceled by the crazy people at MagiCam; It was lucky to see the youngest person in TW with "the voice of the gods".

Come with us and you will see~

This, our town of Halloween~

The spectators most sensitive to magic felt that a mermaid was singing; luring them into a perverse and dark world. Yuu jumped almost 2 meters; doing cartwheels in the air and walking as if he were the king of the world among his companions.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween~

Pumpkins scream in the dead of night~

The pumpkins seemed to have come to life; the pumpkins seemed to sing and jumped on the dry grass, the will-o'-the-wisp appeared dancing between the trees and the crows flew laughing while dropping feathers.

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene~

Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright~

From their floats Deuce, Jack, Ortho and Sebek threw candy and confetti while Grim, Ace and Epel threw rolls of toilet paper and bags filled with fake blood. Everyone was laughing like crazy horror movie villains and having a great time. The visitors also laughed with amusement at the little scares caused by Yuu's magic.

It's our town, everybody scream~

In this town of Halloween~

Ghosts were also part of the show; appearing from the ground where there were tombstones, passing through and flying over the visitors. In turn, Yuu surfed on an army of spiders made of magic and the horses on the floats, which were painted with chemical-free neon paint, became more skeletal and spooky.

I am the one hiding under your bed~

Yuu climbed onto Scarabia's float and hugged Kalim and Jamil by the shoulders, who smiled and howled at the moon.

Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red~

Jamil smiled, he danced like he had never done before. He felt so free, so wild, and it was all thanks to Yuu. "How handsome he looks." Viper thought, as he saw the prefect of Ramshackle, who smiled at the dark-haired man and dragged him with him. Kalim looked mischievously at the first year and Jamil as they jumped onto the Heartslabyul float; he was very sure that the two of them and Ruggie would make a very romantic threesome.

I am the one hiding under your stairs~

Riddle danced sublimely with his cane as he greeted everyone. Trey mischievously came up behind him and gave him a little scare. Riddle looked at him with a pout. "He spends too much time with Floyd." The redhead thought because the habits of the most annoying of the Leechs were infecting his childhood friend.

Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair~

Trey looked at Riddle with tender eyes before removing his black veil and giving him a quick kiss. Riddle blushes like a strawberry while Trey laughs like crazy; they both started dancing as if they were at a gala. Cater was more than happy to have photos of the moment.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween~

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!~

Bats and crows circling over the NRC castle. Yuu jumped with Jamil from the float onto the pavement of Main Street. The first year snapped his fingers and the statues of the Big 7 began to dance to the music.

In this town we call home~

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song~

Jade and Floyd smiled like predators, giving candy to the minors and taking photos with those they wanted. The ribbons and scraps of fabric from their suits floated as if they had a mind of their own.

In this town, don't we love it now?~

Everybody's waiting for the next surprise~

Azul, to no one's surprise, was already making plans to extend the Halloween specials at Mostro Lounge for another week. "I need to talk to the mayor about tariffs on exotic products." The one with glasses thought before throwing his hat into the air and Yuu's magic made it explode into jelly beans.

Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can~

Idia couldn't describe in words the feeling he got from being dressed up. He felt like the brave hero of the stories he and Ortho read. "You look so normal Nii-san." Ortho told him, trying not to laugh.

Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll… ~

The eldest of the Shroud brothers crossed his arms, but nothing took him out of his moment as a brave knight… or so he thought.

Scream!

Yuu's scream almost made Idia fall; Ortho laughed and was grateful to have his cameras in recording mode.

This is Halloween~

Red and black~

Lilia sang, appearing head first among the visitors, who were scared and then laughed. Sebek despite initial reluctance, was having fun. It had taken him time and he still had to learn, but being more tolerant was paying off.

Slimy green~

Silver looked at Sebek, and couldn't help but feel proud of how he had managed to make friends. Ace approached the green-haired man to point out a group that seemed to come from Noble Bell College. The two laughed before approaching said group and scaring them.

Aren't you scared?~

"Although… maybe those friendships are corrupting him." Silver thought, watching as Sebek laughed out loud while Ace chased the group that came from NBC as if they were monsters.

Well, that's just fine~

Then the silver knight of Diasomnia remembered that it was his father who suggested that Sebek have friends. "It's not my problem." Silver thought, shrugging his shoulders and continuing the song.

Say it once, say it twice~

Take a chance and roll the dice~

Vil danced with his characteristic poise and grace; many were fainting or having runny noses when they saw the actor's captivating gaze and his tongue running over the fake quotes of his costume. Neige, who was incognito among the visitors, bit his lips, resisting the urge to kidnap Vil.

Ride with the moon in the dead of night~

Epel will never admit to Vil, but he felt very handsome in the suit, although perhaps that was already obvious considering he was dancing with Rook while they pointed at the moon. Yuu also pointed at the moon, causing it to turn crimson.

Everybody scream, everybody scream~

In our town of Halloween!~

Yuu stopped for a moment to take in his surroundings; He concentrated a little and took control of everyone. All the NRC students followed the choreography with enthusiasm.

I am the clown with the tear-away face~ Idia said before removing the pumpkin from his head.

Here in a flash and gone without a trace~ Floyd sang with his sharp smile.

I am the “who” when you call, “Who's there?” ~ Malleus, who had walked with his head bowed, began to sing.

I am the wind blowing through your hair~ Prince Draconia raised his head; His eyes were shining and smoke came from his lips.

I am the shadow on the moon at night~ Grim sang as he transformed into his monstrous version.

Filling your dreams to the brim with fright~ Jack, using Vil's modeling lessons, walked as if on a catwalk while making the gesture of passing his saber across his neck.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween~

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!~

Halloween! Halloween!~

Yuu and Jamil boarded Savanaclaw's float. The one with white hair was euphoric, it had been a long time since "the voice of the gods" no longer tired him but filled him with energy.

Tender lumplings everywhere~

Leona and Ruggie were putting on a great show; The beastmen threw their steel and gold sabers into the air to retrieve them and start a fight on the galleon-shaped float. Scarabia and Ramshackle smiled at each other before taking a saber.

Life's no fun without a good scare~

It looked like Leona was going to win the duel, but Jamil and Yuu joined the hyena beast boy. The lion couldn't say anything, because nothing in life was fair, so he decided to try to kick their butts.

That's our job, but we're not mean~

In our town of Halloween~

The teachers and director watched the entire parade from a box. They were enjoying delicious sangria provided by Sam while also enjoying the song; None of them could deny that they wanted to be part of the parade.

In this town~

Don't we love it now?~

Everyone's waiting for the next surprise~

Yuu, accompanied by Ruggie and Jamil, escaped from the pirate Leona, and went to the center of the parade. The floats stopped and were ready to give the grand finale.

The big seven could catch you in the back~

The crescendo of the song began to make an appearance. People couldn't stop dancing and laughing at the mischief of the atmosphere... All the students looked at the floor as they stomped their feet.

And scream like a banshee~

In unison, they raise their heads abruptly and shake, making a quick backward movement, bringing their hands to their mouths to simulate a scream. Then, with jerky movements, each dormitory leader opened his arms and carried them in a wide circle upward; the color magic of his dorms swirled in his hands.

Make you jump out of your skin~

Ace, Deuce, Jack, Epel, Ortho, Sebek and Grim danced in a circle, with small jumps, as if they were doing a ritual to call the spirits. Meanwhile, the sub-leaders stepped back sharply, feigning surprise, and each one in a different posture, as if they had seen something terrifying.

This is Halloween, everybody scream~

Won't ya please make way for a very special people?~

Everyone followed Yuu, making exaggerated movements, stomping their feet and opening their mouths as if they were screaming. Then everyone dispersed, each student going to their dorm representative. Since Yuu and Grim's statue had not been added yet, the white-haired one represented their statue.

Our Great Seven, Monarchs of the Pumpkin Patch ~

The light illuminates the statues (and Yuu); Each student, with soft and slow movements with their arms, bowed towards their idols

Everyone, hail the Pumpkin Kings and Queens now! ~

Each student looked reverently at the statues, as if they could see the seven great ones alive. Yuu lifted Grim from his bow and hugged him, then looked at the others mischievously.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween~

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!~

Everyone left their bow to dance like crazy, waving their hands as if they were scaring something away, shaking their feet or simply moving their cloaks. Halloween really was NRC's time of year.

In this town we call home~

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song~

Ruggie looked at Yuu mischievously while Jamil looked at him longingly. Yuu looked at them and winked at them. "Gods, I really have to talk to them about us." He thought as he sang the last verses of the song.

La, la, la ~ (Halloween! Halloween!)

La-la-la, la, la ~ (Halloween! Halloween!)

La-la-la, la-la-la, hey! ~

The NRC student body fell to their knees from exhaustion, but still laughing. They had their hearts racing. The spectators began to applaud excitedly; Seriously, the best Halloween festival Night Raven College has ever seen. "Happy Halloween." All the first years exclaimed, still laughing like villains…

" When you look in the mirror tonight, make sure you are the only person in the reflection "

Notes: While the song would be perfect for the "Nightmare Before Christmas" Halloween event, I want to use another song for that event (also, it would be very cliché). @selenacrest made me a request before publishing this so I will open part 2 in a few days.

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twisted wonderland #twst oc #disney twst #alternate universe #yuu singer #au #mc #yuu #disney song #twst wonderland #twst fanfic #twst fandom #halloween #twst halloween #happy halloween #spooky season #night before christmas

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hetalia-rng-showdown · 3 months ago

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The Summer 2024 RNG Champion is Lithuania!

Under the new rules, he is the first to complete a back-to-back for his first and second ever wins! However, like Prussia, he now gets to serve bans after each win going forward, starting today. As a multiple-tournament winner, Lithuania is banned from the Autumn 2024 Tournament...

... Or maybe not...

As was teased yesterday, the showrunner is considering having the Autumn 2024 tournament be a special event with a set of special rules and a theme based on a medieval sport. Included in this set of rules would be exemptions to our two ban-able nations so they'd be allowed to participate without affecting their regular serve-bans-after-every-win situation.

If we go ahead with the special tournament, Lithuania will participate and serve his ban in the Winter 2024-25 tournament instead of Autumn 2024. Also, if he or Prussia wins the special tournament, that will not count for triggering a subsequent ban.

The next big clue for the format of the special event is that - if the matchups in this special tournament line up nicely - we could see Lithuania and Prussia duke it out in a one-on-one 24-hour poll.

Information post with a poll goes up tomorrow, with a week to vote on whether to have the special event. The following week, the showrunner will create a proper Special Tournament Rules post to temporarily supersede the regular FAQ pinned post and have everything ready to go for September 1st.

#hetalia #rng showdown #champion

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divine-knight-hand · 1 year ago

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Worshiping the Masterpiece

Loki Masterlist || Full Masterlist || Read on AO3

Pairing: Loki x Female Reader

Summary: Loki’s lover finally gains the courage to ask him about his Jotun form. When he lets her see it, she takes the moment as an opportunity to help him do a little confidence building… by kissing… and touching… and praising…

Content Warnings: Sub!Loki (but hints of him being a switch), Soft Dom!Reader, themes of insecurity, [heavy appreciation of] Loki in his Jotun form, handjob in front of a mirror, lots of praise, no oral (but just a little taste of cum!), and explicit consent

Notes: (Prepare for lengthy notes with mushy sentiments! Hehehe!)

Happy birthday, @sarahscribbles!!! I’m still pretty new-ish to this whole tumblr-fanfic-writer thing, and I ended up gravitating to her as one of the blogs I look up to the most (specifically in terms of Loki content). So, happy, happy, happy birthday, Sarah! Remember that your community loves you very much. May you get lots of presents, cake, and Loki love~

This piece was written as a contribution to her Birthday Celebration. I originally started writing using some of the prompts from the original post, but I soon lost motivation, only to remember that I had this idea on repeat in my mind sooooo long ago, and it resurfaced just in time for me to finally put it to paper. So, I didn’t end up using any of the prompts, after all. Maybe someday I’ll finish what I originally started for this challenge and post it anyways. Maybe…

All in all, it was kind of refreshing to be able to write a fic about Loki. I don't really write about him as much as I would like to, so this writing event gave me the perfect motivation to just jump right in. So, without further ado, here we go!

Word Count: 3,547

Dividers by @cafekitsune

“Absolutely not.” Loki’s eyebrows furrowed at my daring request. “I refuse to burden you with that monstrous visage.”

Loki’s response to me asking to view his Jotun form again was that of pure terror. He sat next to me on our shared bed, eyes frantically avoiding mine. He seemed a lot more timid than his usual confident disposition allowed. His hands were folded over his lap, fidgeting out of obvious discomfort at the idea of me seeing him resemble a frost giant.

The first time I saw Loki in his Jotun form, it was an accident. He was taking me on a tour of the castle vault, and all was well until I was left to my own devices. I wandered around the vault, admiring the architecture, as well as the artifacts, when I found myself walking backwards into the stand that held the Casket of Ancient Winters atop it. Loki happened to be in perfect range to step in and catch it as I knocked it off its pedestal, at the cost of revealing his birth form.

Amidst the chaos his panic created, he didn’t notice me watching the way his skin changed, or admiring the raised marks that accompanied its cerulean hue. I knew Loki was born on Jotunheim–and I knew of all the trials and tribulations this fact created throughout his childhood–but I’d never even heard Loki so much as mention the possibility of having another form connected to his Jotun roots. This was new to me. He replaced the Casket and rushed out of the vault before I could even form the words to tell him how beautiful he looked. How odd…

Since that day, I was determined to see him change again. It was like an obsession to me, the way it was constantly on my mind. I had to see Loki’s Jotun form again. I just had to. Now that I’d seen it once, I knew there was a part of him that I wasn’t experiencing all this time. I felt that I was missing out on sharing something important with my lover, and that didn’t sit well with me.

There were times I tried to hint at it subtly, only to get confused and alarmed looks from him in return. I should have expected him to catch on. Nothing flies over the head of the God of Mischief. There wasn’t any point to beating around the bush anymore. I decided to finally outright ask him to change forms, and this was the exact reaction I feared.

“Don’t talk about yourself like that.” I asserted. “Nothing about you is monstrous. Nothing. Do you honestly think that I could love a monster?” Before he even had the chance to sarcastically respond to my rhetorical question, I beat him to it. “No, because I don’t.” I reached over and grabbed his hands in mine. “I love you, and I want to experience every part of you. Every single one. Because, I want to be able to love every single part of you.”

I could almost see the gears turning in his mind as he began to consider the idea. “I don’t believe you understand the true nature of my birth form.”

“Then show me.” I insisted. “Teach me everything I don’t know about you. Please… I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide from me.”

“You will regret this, love.” With a defeated sigh, Loki conceded.

He made sure to remove my hands from his before the familiar green flash of his seidr marked his transformation. My breath hitched at the sight of all the changes to his appearance.

His skin turned an icy blue, and his face sported markings in the form of raised lines. His eyes, formerly a similar blue, now watched me intently with a ruby red, awaiting my response.

“Loki,” I breathed, my heart swelling with the joy of finally being able to see him like this again. “You’re absolutely gorgeous.”

He quickly looked away, ashamed. “As sweet as your lies sing to me, please don’t.”

“I would never lie to you.” I leaned in and slowly reached out my hand.

He flinched at first, but allowed me to cup his face, the chill of his skin cooling my hand. “How do you not hate this?”

“I’ve said, already,” I smirked at him. “I love you, and if this is you—which I know it is—then I love this, too.”

“But, I’m a monster…” Loki’s eyes began to glass over with tears, but none dared to spill over his cheeks.

“No, you’re not.” I leaned in until I could feel the chill radiating off of his face against my own. “You were only told that for far too long.”

“It’s all I’ve ever known.” He sadly confessed.

My heart shattered for him. It wasn’t fair that he had to face horrible treatment just because of where he came from. Growing up, he was constantly dehumanized by his own father. Politics didn’t exactly allow Asgardians to empathize with Jotuns. Loki didn’t have a clue as to why he was treated so poorly his whole life until his adult years. No wonder he hid himself for so long. He didn’t deserve to live like that. Not at all. I was determined to make sure he would never experience that kind of pain again.

“That’s awful.” I frowned. “I promise you that I’ll make you feel loved, no matter what you look like.” I leaned in and pecked the tip of his nose. “I guarantee it.”

I brought my other hand up to cup the other side of his face before pulling him into a kiss. I felt him tense up for a moment, but a sudden chill on my back accompanied the motion of him wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer to him.

When he deepened the kiss, it was colder than I expected it to be. Every point of contact I had with him sent a chill into my body, but I wasn’t cold. It was a comfortable chill. It was authentically Loki, and I wanted to explore this as far as I could go.

He pulled me onto him in a straddling position, our bodies crashing together as my hands wandered along the leather covering his back. I wanted to feel all of him. Since he swapped forms, it was like I fell in love all over again, and I was once again kissing him for the first time.

I was ravenous, wanting to touch as much of Loki as I could get my hands on, but I was also careful, fearing what could make him uncomfortable. My worries were put to rest when I felt a light twitch underneath me, and my own ache to have him began to build within me.

As we pulled apart, I left my hands cupped around his face, slowly tracing his markings with my thumbs. He’s just so beautiful~

“My desire for you could drive me to madness, darling.” He breathed, a smile ghosting his lips. “I do hope you’re aware.”

“I am.” I softly giggled.

“That being said, I have to have you, my dear.” His voice deepened to a growl. “Just give me a moment to return to my usual appearance.”

“Wait!” I interjected. “Why can’t I take you like this?”

“Are you off your rocker?!” Loki fired back, terror creeping back into his eyes.

“Maybe I am,” I retorted, “But I know that I want you like this, and you can’t change my mind on that.”

He just stared at me in utter shock, unmoving and unspeaking.

As the silence hung between us, an idea slowly crept into my mind. “There’s actually something I’d like to try, if you don’t mind.”

Loki let out a deep sigh, the shock in his expression lessening.“If you’re absolutely sure you want this, then I’ll be at your mercy. But, the moment something happens to you-”

“It won’t.” I cut in. “Because I know you won’t let anything happen to me.”

Loki frowned in disbelief, muttering, “Your optimism is dangerous.”

I stood up off of the bed, beckoning for him to follow me. “First, I want to see all of you. Would you mind stripping?”

“As you wish.” Loki lowered his head, his seidr removing his clothes with a flash.

I let out a soft gasp out of awe at the view. The icy hue continued from his head to his toes, as did the raised markings in his skin. They decorated his shoulders, chest, legs, and even his-

I felt arousal begin to pool between my thighs at the sight of his ornate length. “Loki…”

He looked back up at me, clearly anxious for my response. “Is this what you wanted?”

I quickly approached him and cupped his face in my hands, kissing him again. “It’s everything and more.” Loki’s cheeks blushed a light purple as I took him by the hand and led him across the bedroom to stand in front of a full-length mirror. “Do you trust me?”

“I trust you with everything I have, just as I’ve always done.” He responded, and I just knew he was being genuine. I could almost feel it emanating from his words.

“Kneel, my love.” I softly commanded.

Loki knelt in front me, exactly where I placed him. I smiled warmly down at him, stroking his cheek before moving to sit right behind him, looking over his shoulder at the mirror.

I looked over his reflection, my eyes lingering at how he instinctively spread his thighs as he sat on his heels, allowing his semi-erect cock to hang in the middle of the sinful display. He was almost ready, and fully accessible to me. I felt my ache for him thrumming between my thighs, but I quickly refocused on my mission when I noticed that he refused to meet his reflection’s gaze, instead looking away from me and the mirror entirely.

“Look, Loki.” I lightly coaxed his face back towards the mirror by his chin. “Look at how beautiful you really are.” I dropped my other hand near his inner thigh. “May I?”

“Please,” I could see eagerness flash in his eyes as he glanced at my reflection before looking back at his own.

I began to lightly rub along his thigh, my heart fluttering at his resulting shiver. “I want you to see how perfect you are as you’re overcome with pleasure.” His eyes fluttered closed as he shivered again, and I paused my motions. “Watch.” I reminded him.

His eyes flew open at my command. “Yes, of course.”

“Yes, what?” I felt a proud smirk tugging at the corners of my lips.

“Yes, mistress.” He corrected himself.

“There’s my sweet prince.” I sighed my praise as I resumed my motion on his thigh, noticing the twitch of his cock at my words. I began kissing him messily along his neck as my hand continued to tease him. When I brought my free hand up to trace the marks on his chest, I noticed the tension in his shoulders slowly melting away.

“M- Mistress, please…” He let out a low moan. “Please, I need more…” A bead of precum gathered at the tip of his fully grown erection, which now began to shine with a deep blush of purple, similar to that of his cheeks.

I moved from his neck to whisper in his ear, “If you want it, then you’ll have it.” I stroked his face with my free hand. “A work of art like you deserves to be worshiped and praised.” I lightly nipped his ear. “And I’ve been blessed with the privilege to make sure that you are. Now, sit tight, my prince.”

I rose to my feet and moved, swift as the wind, to our dresser for lubricant to cover my hand with before returning to my original place with Loki in front of the mirror. “Tonight, I plan on fucking you with my hand, leaving your whole body on display for the both of us. I want you to see that you are no monster. You’re a masterpiece, and deserve to be treated as such.” I gave his shoulder a light squeeze with my free hand. “If you wish to stop at any time, you can always use our safe word. You remember it, don’t you?”

“I do.” His words were just above a whisper.

“Very good.” I kissed him on the cheek. “Then let’s begin.” I started to slowly stroke his cock with my lubricated hand, earning another shudder, accompanied by a contented sigh, from him. “I just have one rule for you…” Loki turned his head to look at me with curiosity before I softly turned it back to the mirror with my free hand. “You have to watch the whole time.”

“Ah- Mmm…” He let out a clipped moan before responding. “Yes, mistress.”

“Very good.” I slowly stroked all the way from the base of his cock to the tip before swirling my thumb in small circles on the head and stroking back to the base. Each time I teased the head, a small growl emanated from the back of his throat, only to crescendo into another moan when I stroked back down to the base.

I felt each of his markings against my hand with every stroke, and I wondered for a moment how they would feel against my inner walls. I felt arousal thrumming between my thighs again. Focus, damnit!

But, focusing was difficult. No matter how I looked at Loki, my eyes always returned to his elaborately decorated cock. It was as if I walked into an opulent dining room, only to end up staring at the shiny centerpiece all throughout dinner. It was the center of attention in an already artistic scene. I struggled to find the perfect words to convey these thoughts, so I kept my praise simple.

“You have such a pretty cock~” My words were a sultry whisper against his skin, accompanied by the kisses that I peppered along his jaw. “I can’t wait to pleasure it in every way I know how. Would you like that, my prince?”

“Y- Mmm… Yes, mistress.” Loki struggled to respond between moans.

“I would like that, too.” I peeked up at the mirror to make sure that he was still looking. He was. How obedient~

Not only was I filled with the pride of seeing him willing to do as he was told, but I also noticed the way his chest moved with each heavy breath he took, which it typically did when I dominated him. His breathing would grow labored as I teased him before he finally found the words—or word fragments—to beg me for more.

His hair also didn’t change. It tumbled down his angular face in its usual raven locks, the smallest of curls lying slick against his forehead as a sheen of sweat glued them there.

And just under it were his eyes. Though they shone a bright red, his pupils were blown wide with lust, leaving a sliver of red around the edges. Save for their usual blue color, his eyes looked exactly the same as they usually did. It was comforting to see that even though he changed, there were familiar parts of him to remind me that he was still my Loki.

Although, change is nice~ I thought as I allowed my free hand to roam his chest again, tracing the markings until I approached his hips. I reached down and began to fondle his balls, still keeping pace on his cock with my lubricated hand. His eyes were lidded as he quickly neared an ecstasy-born stupor. He used one of his hands to steady himself on the ground as the other wound into his hair, ruffling it with each pass he made with his fingers.

“Yes, I would love to please you.” I continued my earlier thought. “To worship you like the god you are. You deserve that. You deserve to have someone willing to offer you their service. Even as your mistress, I wish to satisfy you.” I sped up the pace of my hand on his cock, and a whimper escaped his throat. “You look so regal, my love. Do you see it? Do you see how, even as you sit bare in front of me, you still look elegant enough to sit upon the Asgardian throne?”

“N- no, mistress…” Loki’s voice cracked as he let out another moan.

“Hm. That’s unfortunate.” I mused. “Maybe someday I should suck you off as you’re seated upon it. I’m sure that would help you see what I see.”

Loki bucked his hips into my hand. “M- mistress…” His voice curled into a light sound that almost resembled a whimper. “Feels good… Feels so- Mmm… good…”

“It’s about time you felt something other than pain while showing this part of who you are.” I trailed kissed back up his neck to his ear before whispering, “You’re still watching?” I glanced at the mirror to see him still looking, just as I’d asked him to. “That’s my sweet prince. I’m so glad you’re heeding my directions tonight. This is all for you, after all.”

“Yes, mistress.” Loki gritted his teeth, his eyes squeezing shut in pleasure before they shot back open as he remembered my command. “M- Mistress…?”

“Yes, my love?” I felt a small surge of concern rush through me. “Is something wrong?”

The soft whine he let out clued me in to what was happening before he even responded. “I- I’m close… Mmm- May I cum? …Please?” His last plea was no more than a breathy whisper. He needed this. Desperately. And who would I be to deprive him of it?

“Cum for me, my prince.” I purred. “You’ve been so good tonight. You deserve to. Come on, show me how your pretty cock looks when it’s dripping with cum.”

“Ohhh, mistress… Ah-” Loki practically screamed my name as his eyes rolled back, ropes of cum painting his thigh in a milky white.

I helped him ride out his high as his cock twitched in my hand, spilling his seed. Every time I thought he’d finished, he’d release what seemed to be another load with a roaring moan and a full-body shiver. I just kept stroking his cock while softly kissing along his neck and praising him until the last of it slowly dripped out over my fingers and he was left panting.

“That’s it, my prince.” I sighed against his neck. “You were so good for me. I’m so proud of you.” I finally let go of his cock and brought my hand to my mouth to slowly lick the cum off of my fingers. “Mmm, and you taste so good~”

“Mmm, darling,” Loki’s voice wavered as he took on a cautionary tone. “If you carry on like that, I just might grow hard again.”

“Then I’ll have no choice but to take care of you again.” I playfully walked my now clean fingers up his shoulder. “And again… and again… and again…”

“I like the sound of that.” He chuckled softly as our eyes moved back to the mirror in front of us.

I looked him over again, my eyes lingering over each part of him, almost as if my brain could take a snapshot his beauty. His hair was thoroughly ruffled, sweat shone on each curve of his skin, and his cock hung limply between his thighs once again, having spent its cum onto one of them. I watched as it began to slide down his thigh, following the raised markings before nearing the floor.

“You truly admire this, don’t you?” Loki’s question interrupted my thoughts.

“I do.” I answered without hesitation. “And I won’t be satisfied until you do, too.”

“You stubborn woman.” Loki lightly chuckled. “I will say, if this is the treatment my Jotun form entitles me to, then maybe it’s a sight I could get used to.”

I couldn’t keep back the cheesy grin my mouth curved into. “I’ll take it.” I crawled around him to sit between him and the mirror, holding my hands out to him.

He smirked and took my hands in his. “I feel compelled to thank you.”

I cocked my head in curiosity. “Hm? What for?”

He leaned closer to me, and I leaned in to meet him in the middle, electricity crackling in the air between us. “For loving the ugliest parts of me, and cherishing the things that I’ve only ever frowned upon.”

“Oh, Loki,” I squeezed his hand. “You take yourself too seriously. As soon as you stop criticizing yourself, I know you’ll lead a happier life.” I brought the same hand up to my lips to brush a soft kiss onto it. “Now, come on. You must be tired. Let me clean you up, and then we can cuddle for the rest of the night.”

“Of course.” Loki’s eyes conveyed a sweet sense of innocence… It was too sweet. He must have had other plans.

My suspicions were confirmed when he leaned in towards my ear and whispered. “Though, I believe I still have some dues to pay before we carry on with our night. Don’t you?”

I felt my ache for him quickly returning all at once. “Oh, you-”

Before I could finish my teasing remark, Loki had me trapped in another kiss.

#loki laufeyson #smut #marvel #marvel fanfic #loki fanfic #loki #loki x reader #loki x y/n #loki x female reader smut #marvel smut #loki mcu #mcu loki #mcu fanfiction #loki fic #loki smut #loki fanfiction #loki odinson #smut fanfiction #fem reader

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magicalqueennightmare · 1 year ago

Text

I Meant You

Sometimes Tony's meddling ends up being a good thing

Drinking games gone right

Warnings: Cursing, mention of kissing and steam (ish) themes

You glanced up from where you'd been laid back across Wanda's legs when Tony walked in whistling. "Uh oh" the downside of the compound when there were no missions or no big event to attend? Tony tended to get bored and a lot of times you all were dragged into it.

"Tony" you warned cautiously but he just smiled "C'mon now sparky we need some fun and I've got just the idea" you groaned under your breath glancing around the room and realizing just why Tony had summoned all of you to the media room "What's the idea?" Nat asked coming to sit next to you and Wanda, curling her legs under her gracefully. "Well I have a few bottles out of my personal collection for us mere mortals and Thor brought some mead from home for the super soldiers and demi gods amongst us"

"You called us all here to drink?" Sam spoke up but Tony shook his head "Not just drink. We're gonna do some team building exercises" you narrowed your eyes "Drinking games" he pointed to you with a smirk "first point goes to sparky for figuring it out!"

You rolled your eyes but honestly? It sounded kind of fun. Hell it wasn't like most of you ever got the chance to have downtime and a lot of you had never had a normal upbringing so why not cut loose a little? Or maybe the appearance of a certain brunette super soldier wandering into the room with Steve and Thor perked your attention.

Bucky had moved into the compound a while back, after Steve and Sam's prompting. Your quarters were on the opposite ends of the same floor. Of course you'd known stories about him, both as the winter soldier from the S.H.I.E.L.D. files and as Bucky from Steve.

You didn't judge him for the winter soldier stories, you knew those codes were far gone out of his head and he was no longer a threat in that way. He'd shied away a lot, only talking if you prompted first and honestly you hadn't thought he liked you at all until one night he'd been plagued with back to back nightmares.

You hadn't been able to sleep so you'd headed for the kitchen that was the middle mark of your floor. Tony had them all strategically lined up, something about ventilation systems or something. You knew that he had the best espresso machines in every kitchen and that the fridge and pantry would be stocked.

You walked into the empty room and asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. if she could access your Playlists. She started playing one and you smiled, humming along with it before moving around the kitchen. You started a cup of espresso then headed for the pantry to see if any of the croissants Tony had brought still remained.

You'd walked out the pantry and nearly dropped the box of croissants because Bucky had spooked you. He moved so quietly and was so damn broad you hadn't been expecting him to be standing in the doorway. "Sorry doll. Didn't mean to scare you"

The small smile that was pulling at his lips made your stomach flip. Damn he was gorgeous, those damn blue eyes made you forget your train of thought for a moment before you recovered "Oh, it's fine Bucky. Did I wake you?"

He looked confused so you motioned to the lights and speakers "I couldn't sleep" he nodded "Yeah me neither" a silence fell so you held up the box in your hand "Ever had chocolate croissants?" He shook his head so you smiled "Ever had espresso?"

He shook his head again so you grinned "So I'll set the machine to make another cup and we'll head to the media room. Tony has like every movie known to man at our fingertips so we might as well take advantage right?" He looked unsure for a second "You sure you want the company?" "Of course! Bucky you're my team mate and I'd consider us friends. Friends hang out so let's hang out" he smiled "sounds good"

Since that night you and Bucky had started getting closer. He let you in on things only Steve knew and a few things Steve didn't. When you had a nightmare he was there to comfort you and vice versa. On missions you always ended up teamed together and any outing the avengers had to attend he'd be close to your side especially after the incident where you'd threatened a reporter for making statements towards him and Natasha about the redroom and hydra.

You'd started to develop feelings for him but damn who could blame you? He was gorgeous and sweet, strong but gentle. When you'd fall asleep against him and wake up in his arms it made your mind wonder to how it would be to truly be in his arms. How did he kiss? How would it feel when he touched you? When he pulled you close?

You knew that was a line that couldn't be crossed, no matter how you felt when he smiled and asked if he could sit with you even as Tony and Sam argued over what game all of you would play. "So what's Stark up to?" You shrugged "He wants to play never have I while Sam wants to play a twisted version of two truths and a lie"

You turned towards him and saw the confusion in his eyes "Bucky, you don't know either of those games do you?" He shook his head so you quickly explained the basics of both games, not only to him but to Steve and Thor as well.

By that time Tony and Sam were through arguing and turned to adress the room "We're playing never have I first if there's no interesting incidents we'll move onto two truths and a lie" "Set up" Sam motioned to the table so everyone grabbed a glass.

You were seated cross legged between Bucky and Nat. So far you'd taken two shots, Bucky had taken one of the mead while Nat was three shots in. Everyone around the table had taken at least one shot.

"Ok here's one" Nat spoke up and when you cut your eyes at her she gave you a wink "Never have I...had feelings for someone younger than me"

Tony took a shot considering he was married to Pepper who was two year younger than him. Wanda took a shot since technically Vision was younger than her. Steve and Thor both took a shot. What surprised you and made your thoughts run rampant was when Bucky gave you a small smile before tipping back a shot himself.

Who did he have feelings for? It couldn't be you no matter if the thought had been fleeting through your head. Could it be Nat? Or maybe Maria or even Sharon.

Of course he'd have feelings for someone, hell he was allowed to date same as the rest of you. No matter Iif the thought of him with someone else made your heart clench.

Bucky noticed how you went quiet at his side. You'd been laughing and joking over the various questions up until that point. Christ, had you figured out he meant you?

Maybe that's what was wrong. You knew he meant you when he took a shot for having feelings for someone younger than him and didn't feel the same.

He didn't want to make you uncomfortable, hell you were one of his closest friends now. When he'd moved into the compound he hadn't been sure anyone would trust him, not that he blamed them. You on the other hand had been one of the first to greet him with a smile.

You were beautiful and smart. You were able to think on your feet during missions and always did the headcount once everyone was back on the jets to ensure no one was left behind. You'd defended him and Natasha alike to the press.

More than one night when neither of you could sleep you'd end up in the media room watching some movie you'd clicked on. He hadn't cared about the movie as much as the company. You always slowed his mind down and help chase the demons out.

The first time you'd curled up into his side he'd been sitting with his arm across the back of the couch. You were sitting hip to hip with him citing that the movie had freaked you out a bit but you refused to not finish it. He hadn't minded you getting closer. The movie was almost finished when he realized your head was leaned over on his shoulder where the metal of his arm met with flesh.

He hadn't been sure if he should wake you or not. As he sat there you snuggled closer to him and despite himself he found a smile working its way onto his face. He'd let his mind wonder what it would be like for you to be in his arms in earnest, to feel your lips against his.

He'd never meant to fall for you, it just sort of happened and now had he inadvertently pushed you away by half admitting his feelings?

You shook yourself from the shock of Bucky admitting he had feelings for someone to clear your throat "Ok here's one, never have I had merchandise of me" you laughed when damn near everyone in the room aside from yourself, Bucky, Wanda and Maria took a shot. "Ok Sparky you got me on that one. My turn. Never have I threw a punch on reporters" you, Nat, Sam and Maria all took shots.

You leaned a little closer to Bucky, trying to get your mind off the question of who he had feelings for. You missed the look Nat shot Sam who spoke up "Never have I had feelings for someone older than me" you leaned up to glare at him before taking a shot. Luckily you weren't the only one, Nat and Maria both took a shot which opened a whole new line of questions.

You avoided Bucky's eyes when he bumped your arm with his. He leaned down next to your ear "Is it Steve?:" you shook your head slightly "Nope" "C'mon now didn't think we had too many secrets any more" you turned to face him, thoughts escaping you at those blue eyes staring back "Yes I have feelings for someone older than me, way older but no it's not Steve"

You felt everyone's eyes on you which made heat rush up your neck. Normally you could handle it but given the amount you'd drank mixed with the fact that Bucky clearly had meant someone else was too much. You downed the shot in front of you before standing up "Excuse me. I've got to use the bathroom" you turned and walked quickly out the room with intentions to hide in your quarters long enough to let the embarrassment pass.

Maybe you could convince Bucky you meant Loki or Sif?

The moment you left the room every set of eyes landed firmly on Bucky "Tin man are you really that dense?" Tony was the first to speak up. Bucky was trying to comprehend what had just happened "What the hell did I do Stark?"

"She means you man!" Sam shoved him when he spoke. "What? No she doesn't" Bucky argued which made Nat stand up and walk over to him "Dammit I know her better than anyone. She's had feelings for you for a while and you've had feelings for her. Man up, go chase her" "and if you're wrong?" He asked so Nat pointed towards Tony "I will let him take out a billboard that says Natasha was wrong for once"

----------

Bucky headed in the direction you'd went knowing you were more than likely in your quarters. The closer he got the clearer he could make out the faint music slipping under the door. It was that band you loved.

He paused for a second before finally knocking. The moment the door opened he saw your eyes widen "Damn I was hoping for Natasha" he shrugged "I can go get her?" He started to walk off but you grabbed his arm, your fingers curling around the cool vibranium of his palm. "Wait, Bucky what did you need?"

He looked down where you were holding his hand and a smile slipped onto his face. "I meant you" the words escaped without any thought behind them but the moment they were out in the air he didn't want to take them back.

----------

You froze, fingers digging into Bucky's hand slightly. He meant you? "Are you saying that to save my feelings because Nat told you I meant you?" He smirked slightly "Actually Nat, Tony and Sam told me you'd meant me but no I'm not saving feelings. I meant you"

You stood there for a second before Bucky moved, his right hand cupping the side of your face "Can I kiss you?" You nodded and he smiled before leaning down to capture your lips with his.

He tasted sweet, the honey of the mead prominent in flavor and on his tongue. You sighed slightly and felt him relax into you as he deepened the kiss. His left hand went to your waist pulling you flush against him even as you were forced to pull away in need of air "Well damn" you breathed out and he smiled "That a good reaction?" You laughed breathlessly "The best. Now please kiss me again"

#bucky x you #bucky barns fanfiction #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x female reader

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ultralightpoe · 9 months ago

Text

Vigilante Shit - Bucky Barnes

Authors Note: Never liked this one which is why it stayed in the drafts fr so long, it just always seemed empty. It's definitely missing something.

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

Word Count:9,131

Warnings: Cuss words, reader was once apart of the red room

Apart of my MIDNIGHTS EVENT.

Main Masterlist

Enjoy!

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man

You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie

They say looks can kill and I might try

I don't dress for women

I don't dress for men

Lately I've been dressing for revenge

It’s the pity on her face that makes you want to claw her eyes out, or maybe the happy family photo sitting on her desk staring and taunting you with their stupid smiling faces. Each of her children smiled like nothing was wrong in the world, like they didn’t have to worry about earning their way or surviving the day.

Dr. Aquinos children would never know pain.

But that was a given, they weren’t bought and sold off. They weren’t tortured and abused for years only to be torn out when Natasha fucking Romanoff decides to free everyone from that chain and force them into the real world.

Did it make you pathetic to say you missed it?

In the red room you had a cot, a meal at least once a day and training. Out here you were no one. No trace of you existed. No ids, or photos, no friends or family. You were nothing.

Even ghosts had more than you at this point.

“You know it’s common to feel this way about it? That longing to have it back? It’s the pain and the change, you feel like you have nothing right now but I can assure you that’s not true.”

You say nothing.

“Have you given any thought to our last session?” The therapist asks, voice saccharine amount of sweet that tells you she knows your looking for a fight today and she won’t be giving into it. You hated that she knew you would try that, you hated these sessions all together.

“Yes.” Lie. And judging by the quirk in her smile she knows it too.

“I think it’s extremely important for you in this next step, to get rid of the suit. What was it they called you?” You don’t reply for a minute, your own little form of rebellion, but she doesn’t let you get away with it for long. “The…. Cobra?”

“The. Viper.” You bite out, grinding your teeth together and fisting your hands at your side. “The Red Viper to be exact.”

“Can you explain to me why it is you got that name? I mean your other counter parts all follow a …..widow theme….. but you don’t?”

“It just….. happened that way.” You lie. “How much longer do we have?”

Why did she not have a clock?

“Ah. So the story has something to do with Bucky Barnes.” She smiles and you fight back the sneer.

“Nope.”

“You always ask for the time when memories of him are brought up.”

Not. True. You don’t bother arguing because that might prove her point.

“Can you recall what he looked like?”

A flash of ice blue crosses your mind, his eyes. Followed by roses and ballet slippers. A small opening to freedom right there in your grasp, his smiling face….. replaced by that of betrayal, the pain and torture you suffered for weeks after because he-

“No.” You lie. “I only knew him as the winter soldier.”

“Have you tried reaching out?”

“No. And I never will.” Not until you were able to kill him, get your revenge.

Your therapist didn’t know about your revenge list though,she would have you imprisoned for it. The list of names of every mastermind and agent that did you wrong, and at the very end of the list was the one person you actually managed to trick you, the one person you gave everything you had left to.

Bucky Barnes would be the last person you killed in this life, and you would make sure to enjoy every second of it.

It’s not everyday they pull you from your training program and load you into a transportation vehicle, and you don’t know whether to be scared or excited by the change in routine.

You decide on excitement, because a widow is never. Ever. Scared.

The keepers transporting you all avoid eye contact and you bite back the smirk, knowing that you installed that fear when you bit the thumb off the last guard that tried to touch you inappropriately. You might be hydras toy but you were not a plaything for these half wits.

“Your mission will be in direct partnership with the Winter Soldat.” The agent in front of you explains, watching you load up your widow uniform with hidden weapons “there’s a list of names that needs to be taken care of, and it might take a minute so they are pairing you both. They want no mistakes, only the best.”

“No traces no trails. No chances.” You answer, already having it memorized, biting down on your tongue when you remember the poor girl you left as a witness to your last mission.

Hydra never found out, but her scared scream when she caught you killing her father will haunt you.

You wondered if you might have had someone to scream over at one point.

“He won’t speak to you so don’t bother.” The agent grunts as the vehicle comes to a stop and he slams his fist on the side to let them know it’s safe to open the doors.

They all cast you another look as you try not to roll your eyes at the drama. If you truly wanted out of this vehicle you could slaughter them all, you just knew that hydra would track you down no matter what so what was the point?

They lead you down hundreds of gray halls, each getting darker than the last and the smell of mold and desperation heightened with each step. Finally at the very last cell door they all raise their weapons and slide it open, muttering something in Russian before a figure emerges.

The glint of his arm catches on the shit light above you first, and then he is there, glowering and confused in the same go.

“Soldat. This is the widow.” His mentor speaks in Russian, gesturing to you which makes the soldier give you one look. That’s it. One brief look of disdain and he goes back to looking at the mentor like you weren’t even there.

This mission is going to go well.

“You’re making progress Bucky.” Dr. Raynor hums, her eyes glinting as she watches him over the pad of paper she hasn’t scribbled on in the past hour. He likes to think that it’s a good sign, but he also tries not to get into his own head about it. “But I’d like to go a little deeper if you’ll let me.”

“Don’t really have a choice doc.” He mutters, but his tone lacks the usual bite.

“Funny. Have you slept in a bed recently?”

“I’ve made it to at least 3 hours of sleep in my bed.” He nods, not mentioning he thought the laundry detergent smelled like your shampoo.

“You bought any home decorations? Anything at all?”

“There’s a welcome mat by the front door.”

“Inside or outside?”

“…..inside.” He wasn’t brave enough to put it out in the hall yet.

“I just want a house that has a welcome mat and that cookie smell. Something to call home.” Those were your words, whispered to him the night before the soldier…..

“Tell me what you have been up to lately.”

“Lunches with Yori….missions with Sam…. And I’ve been…. Trying to find someone.”

“Someone from your time as the soldier?”

“Yes.” His throat is tight and he might throw up.

“For revenge?”

“No…. Well she might want revenge…… I just want her.” He admits.

Dr. Raynors eyebrows shoot up, and she tries to keep neutral as she asks the next question. “The viper then?”

“She didn’t like that name.”

“How did she get it?”

“Me.”

“And what did you call her if she didn’t like the name?”

“Flower.”

I don't start it but I can tell you how it ends

Don't get sad, get even

So on the weekends

I don't dress for friends

Lately I've been dressing for revenge

The roof of the bagel shop on the stupid block you were on was probably the worst spot to be.

Best, if you’re focusing on the fact that it’s the perfect hideout for the sniper gun you are aiming and the fact that you’re able to lay at a slant so your legs don’t falls asleep while you focus.

Terrible for the fact that you could smell the pizza shop next door perfectly, and your stomach was beginning to rumble in hunger.

But you had to focus, your target was supposed to be in his apartment right now, Viktor Aubrel, the man that sold you in the first place.

Your intel told you he should have been home an hour ago and yet you were still waiting in the winter air that sent a shiver up your spine, too focused on the aim to realize the two figures now on the roof.

“Are the widows that oblivious now?” A deep voice laughs causing you to whirl, knife out as you spot none other than the winter soldier and the new captain america, both watching you.

It was the captain that taunted you, a sneer making its way into your lips as you prepare yourself to launch. The winter soldier extends a hand out, blocking the captain with a skeptical look.

“Sam. A little forewarning, she doesn’t fight like the others.” He mumbles and you all but hiss, not giving either of them a moment before you’re launching at them.

They track your movements well, both standing to fight as you run across the roof, jumping up on the ledge to give you the upper advantage and launch yourself at them. Starting with the easier target, the man with the shield. Wrapping your arms around his neck and spinning your body until you have his weight thrown in the air. He manages to catch himself standing but you’re ahead of the game, jumping so your feet are planted on his chest and shoving him off the roof right as the winter soldier gets to you.

“I don’t want to do this.” He mutters and you hiss again, lunging with a knife out, slashing expertly over and over as he dodges as much as he can. “You don’t need to do this.”

The knife catches in the elbow of his metal arm and his flesh hand comes up to grab your wrist so you twist, kicking his knee down and flick another knife from your uniform.

“I want to.” You mutter in Russian, voice dripping with disdain as you raise the knife and bring it down. Only to get blasted across the roof.

The air leaves your lungs as you skid across the concrete of the roof, splayed out staring at the sky and blinking away the pain.

“She’s quicker than the rest.” Captain America huffs, helping the soldier up.

“A lethal experiment. Taking a trained widow and injecting her with mutated blood of some guy named Logan Howlett.”

“Where does the viper come from?”

“Her knives are all laced with venom and poisons. One touch to your skin and it doesn’t matter if it was a fatal wound or not. You’re out.” You hear them both approach, pretending to be passed out before they get close enough and you can kick the soldier in the stomach. He catches your foot, twisting so your body would have to twist with it or break, but you’re already pulling out a knife and launching it at the other.

A shout of warning leaves the soldier's lips as the knife nearly gets his partner's thigh, you take this weakness and twist until you are wrapped around him and launching you both across the roof. But he is already working his way out, twisting so you slam into the roof once more, his metal arm on your throat holding you down as you claw at it.

Panic attacks your body, scratching at the metal as the captain comes into view.

“Stop. We can help you.” The man sighs.

“Y/n.” The soldier mumbles, eyes pleading. “Let us help-“

Your foot bends to smash into his jaw and send him sprawling back.

“That’s. Not. My. Name.” Your voice is scratchy from the choking and it hurts to talk, but you don’t have time since you’re already dashing to clear the roof.

But the captain throws his shield and hits your ankle sending you falling until Bucky catches you and twists you with his metal arm so your back was to his chest and he can hold you.

“It is. You told me so yourself. Remember?”

“I wanna see my life before all this. I want to see my family and tell them I’m alive. My name was y/n. I found my file and I just-“

You were disgusted that you ever told him such things.

“LET GO!”

“We can help with your list.” It’s the caption saying this, his face holding pity. “We can’t kill but we can help take them down. If you’re willing.”

“They all deserve to die!” The one holding you counted in that.

“I’m not arguing that. But I am setting boundaries. Justice by more death is not the way to do this.” The man tries to ease, attempting a smile. “I’m Sam. You already know Buck-“

“Let me go!”

“We’re proposing a partnership. We help you take them down, get them arrested and you don’t kill any of them.”

“Right. And I get thrown in a cell right after I’m assuming.” You sneer, trying not to focus on the scent of hazel and coffee coating your senses from the soldier.

“You will be pardoned. You had no choice back then and we are giving you one now. Pardoned.”

“And what do you mean by taking them down?” What choice did you have?

It had been a week with the soldier when he finally showed a small amount of emotion. Insane.

You had been huddled in the corner of the abandoned hotel you made camp in, keeping close to yourself for warmth as he pretended to sleep by the wall. You knew he wasn’t actually asleep, not trusting enough to do so. And you don’t know when he does get sleep, all you know is you fight to the last possible moment your eyelids can stay open and you don’t sleep long.

The exhaustion and the cold were beginning to wear you down, a week in and you had yet to kill a single person on this list because the Soldat refused to listen to how you can manage it. With him it’s all silent and watching, your missions were usually more lively. You wore disguises and set traps. Hydra liked sending messages and it’s what you did.

They want a quick and efficient widow? They send Belova. They want a widow that draws attention to their dangers? A prize possession? They send you.

Which is why this entire mission is so weird. Why send you if- before you can finish your thought you are being pelted with a warm jacket, the Soldat glaring at you.

“Your teeth chattering is keeping me up.” He mutters in Russian, sitting up and checking all his weapons.

“As if you sleep.” You reply back in Russian, rolling your eyes. His eyes flick to you in surprise for just a second before he trains them again, watching the window in the opposite corner. “What’s your name?”

“Soldat.”

“What’s your real name?”

“I….. should the viper be asking questions?” He snaps, glaring once more before you roll your eyes and stand up. He watches your every move as you toss his jacket back and cross the room. “Where are you going?”

“To be a viper.” You sneer back, enjoying the way the Russian makes the words bite out more.

He stands up quickly when you move to climb out the window but you send him a glare and descend quickly, making sure he does not follow.

When you get back three hours later, he is standing in the center of the room with his arms crossed and a glare on his features.

You simply walk past him to grab your list, crossing off the first name. “Can we get an actual hotel this time? I need to shower some of this blood off.”

As you move to walk past him his arm shoots out to grab you, pain erupting as he bends your neck to look at him. You would allow this, because is his anger is on you then he won’t look into the 2 little children you helped vanish tonight after you killed their father.

“You do not make moves without me. Understood?”

“Yes Soldat.” You try to nod before he lets go.

“Viper.” He hisses. And you would allow it, because if anyone knew what you had done you would be killed.

The three of you ended up in a warehouse not too far away from the roof you had been scouting on, bucky carrying your bag of weapons on his shoulder as he tried not to look at you while Sam paced back and forth.

You sat on a fallen beam, seeming bored and uninterested as you picked at your nails. But Bucky knew that was your game, to let the world think you were a valid assassin with little to no care.

But he knew you cared, he knew how much effort you had put into saving kids back then. You had always been so warm without even realizing it.

But maybe that all changed, after it….. all happened he hadn’t heard about you again and after he was freed by Steve he couldn't seem to find any of the children you had saved.

“What happened to them?” He finds himself asking, his chest pinching at the sight of you. His flower. But that look in your eyes, the betrayal and anger…..

“The first three on my list? I dumped their bodies in the river.” You smile, turning your glare to Sam. “How about that pardon now?”

“The kids. The ones that you-“ you stand before he can finish his sentence , both him and Sam preparing for a fight as you seem to try and ease yourself.

“What kids?” Sam snaps, anger and protectiveness rolling off of him. “Did you hurt-“

“No. She used to smuggle them out.” Bucky explains. “When she got missions if there was a kid in the family she would pretend to kill them, and help the kid out.”

“I thought hydra confirmed kills by bodies.”

“Not when you’re the best.” You smile, that vapid venomous smile that made Bucky's stomach churn. “And Soldat is right. I used to smuggle the kids out.”

His chest hurts at the name you use, but he assumes that it’s fair. “Where are they now?”

He wants you to look at him, to tell him they are all safe and that he didn’t ruin everything. But you keep your eyes trained away, pain flashing through your features as you explain. “After you…. Told them….. they got the names and locations from me and sent out the shadow widow.”

“Kaltain Amerie.” Sam nods, recognizing the name. She was married to a fancy rich guy now, had been the one Yelena found.

“She took care of what I couldn’t. She did the job.” You nod, hands fisting at your sides as the words clang into Bucky. “And I was punished for my failure.”

“And the missions you got after they caught you?” Sam asks, casting a brief look to bucky at the word caught.

“I had a partner, and they always made sure I did my job.” Fuck.

He was going to puke, how many kids had…..

“You mentioned an alliance. Not an interrogation.” You snap, obviously uncomfortable. “And if you want to revoke my pardon because of-“

“I don’t.” Sam says gently, nodding. “And I’m sorry that it happened.”

“I’m not.” It was a lie and Bucky could taste it. Anything to keep both of them away, that wall you built up when he first met you.

“Okay. The name on your list. Let’s talk about how to get him.” Bucky changes direction, wanting to get you to ease again, not liking the pain in your eyes.

You continue to avoid looking in his direction, and he continues to stare at only you.

She needed cold hard proof so I gave her some

She had the envelope, where you think she got it from?

Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride

Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife

And she looks so pretty

Driving in your Benz

Lately she's been dressing for revenge

It’s a month into the mission when the Soldat tells you his name.

Gone were the days of sleeping on opposite sides of the room, now you both shared a bed. Gone were the days of him not sleeping, and he was now the one that fell asleep first.

Tonight being one of those nights, with you sitting against the headboard of the hotel bed, his forehead pressed into your thigh as he falls asleep slowly, letting you play with his hair as you review footage of your next name. The third on the list.

“My name….” He mutters, this time in English which still shocks you everytime he does. “It’s Bucky.”

“Bucky?” It tastes like vanilla on your tongue, your chest lightening as you whisper it a couple more times. “I like it.”

“What’s yours?”

“My file…. My file says Y/n.” You whisper back and he tilts his head up to look at you.

“You don’t seem to like it.”

“I….. it just doesn’t feel real.” You admit. “It feels wrong for me to use it.”

“I think it’s a wonderful name. It suits you well but… I think you’re my flower.” He murmurs back, moving to press his forehead into your thigh once more and finally lets sleep claim him.

The next morning you both work in tandem, cleaning weapons, he gives you time to make sure that your knives are still potent with venom as you try to come up with a plan to get the 5 year old girl out of the country without the soldier knowing.

But the betrayal of it hurts your chest, watching him work around you as a smooth unit. A team. That’s what you had become.

“Ready?” He asks in Russian, coming up to fix the hair that had fallen out of your braid, using his flesh hand to push it behind your ear as his thumb traces your jaw.

“Always. You?”

“With you my little flower? Always.”

It was ironic the way you and the Soldat still worked in tandem, moving with an effortless grace.

Sam, the captain, watches with wide eyes as you both move around each other.

“Do we have-“

“Yes we have enough intel.” You snap, closing the camera footage the second you spot the young boy running down the hall of the mansion when both him and his mom get home. The pain in your chest could be blamed on the image, and or the stupid soldier standing too close to you. “I can smell your breath.”

“He ate a cheeseburger for lunch again?” Sam chuckles and you stand straight, giving him wide eyes as the Soldat rolls his own. “You know you can’t get in trouble for calling him an idiot, right?”

“I’m aware.” Your words come out clipped and you try not to shudder at the way Sam snickers, catching your lie.

“Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Call Barnes a dumbass.”

“I won’t speak to the Soldat.” You reply, moving to clean your knives.

“Oh come on. Try it. It helps me..” sam laughs, sitting across from you at the kitchen counter as the Soldat shuffles closer to help you clean the knives. You could feel the warmth radiating off of him.

“You….. are a dumbass.” You squeak out, not looking at him. You hear him snort behind you and he reaches across to grab another knife. You roll your eyes at the way he presses his body next to yours.

“That was lame. Try again.” Sam laughs.

“Fine. You’re a DUMBASS!” You snap out, watching both their eyes widen before laughs break out and they start cracking up.

You feel your stiff spine loosen a little, the anxiety easing as you start laughing as well, all three of you cackling. His flesh hand finds its way to your lower back to keep you stable as you both drop the knives to laugh. And finally, after three weeks of working with them you drop the angry front, and give in to their warmth even though everything in you screams to not fall for it.

“Is this….. proper mission food?” You ask from the spot you had taken at the window, watching Bucky and Sam come in with pizza boxes and beer in their hands, both laughing at each other .

Bucky had, sort of tripped up on the stairs which sent Sam in a spiral of making fun of him, but the second they laid eyes on you that humor fell out the window, both going quiet.

“You don’t think pizza and beer are good?” Sam asks, offended. “This is the best combo.”

“Is it…. Allowed?” You ask again and Bucky feels that pang in his chest before he passes the box to you and opens it smoothly.

“You get the first slice pick.” He offers and Sam gasps at the counter.

“That….. oh that’s just cruel to me.”

“It’s an honor to pick the first slice then?” You quirk your eyebrow, humor written on your face, the spark in your eyes setting him on fire. “This is a New York custom?”

“Oh indeed.” He smiles, pushing the box closer to you. “It would be a great dishonor to refuse this.”

There is a second of discomfort, he watches you contemplate it before you reach for a slice, grabbing the largest slice and raising your eyebrows as you wait to see their reactions.

“Perfect choice!” Sam grunts, reaching around you to grab another slice.

“I was going to choose that one.” Bucky smiles, watching you bite it immediately then stick out your tongue at him before taking up a spot on the couch as both of them find their own seats in the living room. You seem tense still, obviously not used to this sort of freedom anymore and his lungs constrict at the thought that this was caused by him.

Back then you had been so… warm and open. Even as an agent you melted the ice exterior the soldier had around him. And through the muddled haze of his memory every memory attached to you was always crystal clear, like a flame in the fog.

“So…. you guys knew each other back when he was the Winter Soldier?” Sam asks, popping the lid off of a beer with ease, he leans forward on his knees and pretends to be more interested in the pizza box. Making it seem like he was an open book, a comforting thing.

“Yeah, we had a long list of enemies that they wanted us to deal with.” You answer, looking to the window rather than either of them.

“It seems like it went wrong…”

“It went fine.” Bucky is quick to snap.

“It was fine. We made it through half the list, before Hydra had to get involved.” You snap as well moving to set the rest of your slice on the plate left on the table for you. “I made a mistake.”

“It wasn’t-” Bucky goes to argue, chest tight.

“I let emotions muddle my task.” You explain to Sam. “I got too attached and ruined it. And then I got caught smuggling the kids out- I was further reported for my behavior and handled accordingly.”

“Hey, this isn’t Hydra.” Sam tries to ease you. “I think what you did was very noble and-”

“All I did was give kids hope where it didn’t belong.” You sneer. “I will never allow myself that weakness again.”

You cast Bucky a glare, his palms sweating and chest blistering as he watches you disappear into the bathroom and the shower running a second later.

Sam continues watching Bucky, eyebrows pinched together. “You reported it?”

“I… as much as I broke away at that time I was still under the soldiers spell.” Bucky admits, gulping down half the beer in his hand. “I…. I had sent in a mission report. Well I had to send it in and I had caught her plan a little bit before that.”

“I’m sorry that happened, Buck.”

“I am too.” He sighs. “I got rewarded and she… well they broke her.”

She don't start it, but she can tell you how it ends

Don't get sad, get even

So on the weekends

She don't dress for friends

Lately she's been dressing for revenge

“You need to be careful in the upper levels.” He warns, keeping his flesh hand on the small of your back as you both move to start scaling the side of the house.

“I know.” You growl out, keeping your voice low as his eyebrows pinch in frustration. “Don’t be a worry wart.”

“Stick to my side.”

“The job is quicker if I take care of the kids.” You mumble, leaning up to kiss his cheek lightly, the closest you had ever gotten to actually kissing him, no matter how much you wanted to. Three months with him and you were hopelessly in love.

“Fine.” He grunts out, his Russian sharp. He nods once before moving to his starting point, checking that you had begun scaling the wall to the kids room before heading in to handle the parents. But you had been so caught up in Bucky that you didn’t check to make sure both the children were asleep.

The girl screamed first, followed by the boy and you began rushing to ease their worries, kneeling by them and trying to swipe the tears away. “No no. Easy my little ones. It’s okay. I just need you to listen-”

But the boy screams again, this time at something behind you which makes you whirl to find Bucky in the frame of the door, watching intently with blood on his arm.

“No! Please!” You beg, up on your feet and shoving yourself in front of the children as he cocks his head to the side. “Please.”

“Move.” He orders, raising his gun. It seems he’s already assessed the weakness and was willing to handle the problem. “Now.”

“No!” You hadn’t even realized that tears were falling down your face until you could taste the salt, moving forward to grab his gun. “Please!”

“The mission-”

“They are children.” Both of you were speaking Russian, which seemed to be scaring the kids even more as they wailed, and you turned to ease them again. They dash into your arms, holding you tight as they sob. You would die before letting anything happen to them.

When you turn to see him again you see that he has lowered the gun and is merely staring at you, something sparking in his eyes.

You wait for the blow, but it never comes. Instead he nods his head and moves to pick up the boy. He helps you get them out, aboard a ship and hidden from Hydra. When you make it back to the hotel you pace a bit, waiting for him to finish you off.

But he merely stands in the center of the room, watching you closely.

“I’m sorry.” You sob, hand on your chest as you turn to him finally. “I failed the mission and-”

He moves forward in three easy strides, his hands grasping your jaw to bring you up into a searing kiss, arms wrapping around you tightly as he lifts you off the ground to keep you close. And all anxieties peel away, as he lifts his hand to undo your suit. Giving yourself to the soldier that night, and once you were done you stay huddled together, whispering your dreams of the past and future.

And for once you felt like…. You were home.

The next morning tensions were gone, and you seemed to have forgotten about the night before. Or at least you were pretending to, and Bucky didn’t know if he should be happy or angry at the fact.

You had combed through all the footage of the target, piling it all into a folder and he had sent the flash drive to the people needed that would be able to get him arrested. And after that had been sent you had sent out another envelope to his wife, with proof of an affair so she would be able to divorce him.

And just like that another name was taken off your list, and Bucky tried not to feel the pressure at the fact that he was sure you would be gone the second the list was done. And he wouldn’t have an excuse to see you anymore.

He’s lucky Sam went along with this plan in the first place.

“Where is Sam?” You ask from your spot at the counter, legs crossed as you play with one of your knives, watching him closely where he sits on the couch.

“He went to go check on his sister and her kids.” He answers, looking up to you. “They are really close.”

“That’s nice.” You hum, dropping the knife out of boredom. “What comes next?”

“You got another name?”

“Are we allowed to start without Sam?” You ask, eyebrows pinching together.

“Yes. We can. Your list?”

“Front pocket of my duffel.” You hum out, something having caught your attention. He reaches for the bag and checks for the list as you shuffle closer to his open laptop. For a second he hears you hesitate, but he had already made it clear that you had access to anything so he nods and lets you look as he finds the paper you wrote the list on.

His eyes skim across the names, landing on the very last name as his heart stops. ‘Bucky Barnes’ , and no matter how many times you blink the name does not disappear. Why did you let him see this? Was this a trap set?

He whirls, only to find you staring at the screen unblinking. “Flower?”

Your head snaps to glare at him as he shuffles closer, shoving your list in his pocket and looking at what had caught your attention. He finds an old sitcom, a scene with a mother curled up with her kids and reading them a bedtime story.

“You never told me why.” He mutters, sitting on the couch with you on the floor staring at the screen again.

“Why what?”

“Why did you risk your life for all those kids?”

“Because they… because no one fought for me back then.” You admit, turning to look at him. “What is this show?”

“Full house. I don’t know, Steve put it on my list.”

“Your list?” You ask and he nods.

“Things to catch up on.” He smiles. “Like the star wars series.”

“The what?” He blinks slowly at your question, purely shocked.

Three hours later you are both sprawled out on the couch, pillows and blankets thrown about with snacks everywhere. Bucky had dragged you out to the store, buying tons of snacks that you had never tried before and before you knew it the apartment cupboards were packed with snacks and you were preparing to see the first star wars.

“Should we… have brought all this to the mission base?”

“The what?” He laughs, leaning forward to snatch a gummy worm from the bag you were holding.

“The… this apartment. Are we allowed to use it for this?”

“It’s my apartment.” He shrugs, and you blink slowly.

“It’s empty though.”

“I have a couch!” He scoffs. “And a tv!”

“No bed, no plushy towels or…. This is your home?” You didn’t know why this upset you. “You live like this?”

You want to kill him. You want to kill him. Why does this matter?

“I have a welcome mat.” He points to the door.

“That’s an ugly welcome mat.”

“Is not.”

“That would scare away any child on halloween.” You snap. “Are you trying to ruin their halloween?”

“No one really comes up here on halloween.” He shrugs again. “Why does it matter?”

“You… you’ve been free! You have been free this whole time and this is how you live and- I…..”

“I had other things to worry about besides Hydra. And John Walker. Tony Stark and the snap and- well I was trying to find you.” He admits.

“You were trying to find me?” Your chest constricts, as you watch him. “You tried to find me?”

“I did but after I was freed it was like they made you completely disappear and I’m assuming it’s because they knew I would start looki-” Before he can finish his sentence his phone rings and he sees Sams name, giving you an apologetic look before picking it up. You take a moment to try and fix yourself, taking deep breaths in. “He WHAT?”

This catches your attention, sitting up to watch him carefully as he stands. “I’ll be right there.”

He hangs up and nods. “I gotta go help Sam. Stay here and-”

“I’m coming with you.” You snap, moving to grab your duffel.

“No, we have a situation with John Walker and I need to-”

“I am coming.” And just like that you grab your suit, giving him your best glare as he shakes his head. “You both are helping me. The least I can do is help you.”

“You don’t have to.” He mumbles.

“But I will. Let’s go.”

Ladies always rise above

Ladies know what people want

Someone sweet and kind and fun

The lady simply had enough

“Thank you.” You whisper, keeping your head on his chest as you trace patterns along his skin. “Thank you for helping.”

“If you got away what would you do?”

“Me? I….. I would find the kids and make sure they made it. I would buy a house and get a cheesy welcome mat for it. I would decorate for halloween and….. And I would adopt a kid and-” You could taste the freedom, imagine it right there. A happy life.

“That sounds… amazing, flower.”

You lift your head, smiling softly as you lean up to kiss him, and he smiles back before moving to kiss you back.

You feel him stiffen before sitting up quickly and reaching for his knife. “Bucky?”

“I’m sorry.” He mumbles. “I’m so sorry.”

Before you can realize the door is blown open and agents rush in to grab you.

“Oh…. oh I like this duo.” John Walker smiles, watching you stand slightly behind Bucky with your arms crossed. He doesn’t say a word and neither do you, both giving him a good glare. The Winter Soldier and The Viper. “I hadn’t realized that Bucko boy came with his very own sidekick.”

“этот идиот знает, что от него пахнет рыбой?” (does this imbecile know he smells of fish?) You ask, sneering a bit and taking a step closer to Bucky. “и так небрежно использовать свое имя. Я могу сломать этого человека за считанные минуты.” (and to use your first name so casually. I can break this man within minutes.)

“Я с нетерпением жду этого. Еще я очень голоден, мармеладных червячков мне не хватило, чтобы поесть..” (I look forward to it. I'm also very hungry, gummy worms were not a sufficient meal)

You nod, trying not to smile as he gives you a look over his shoulder while Walker shuffles uncomfortably on his feet. “Shouldn’t we all speak english?”

“Maybe.” Sam shrugs. “But I find it’s easier to let these two do their thing. You said something about a raid?”

“There is a train heading down south here in 30 minutes and I know for a fact that there are rebels planning on stealing what’s on it.”

“What’s so important about what’s on the train?” Bucky asks, casting a look towards you and you see him catalog each and every one of your weapons just as he always used to do as the soldat. You give him a glare and he shrugs.

“Weapons.” John mutters. “And if we can intercept the rebels then-”

“You get your job back?” Sam snides. John stutters for a second and you snort, enjoying the panic on his face. He glares at you, preparing to say something as you step forward to grab one of your knives. You had no clue who this man was but it was easy to know that he was not an ally.

“Get your-”

“She’s not a dog.” Sam snaps, as Bucky sneers. “We’ll help, but on our terms. No one gets hurt and no one gets pummeled without cause.”

“Fine. Let’s see what you guys can do.” John sneers at you both, and Bucky sends you an easy smile over his shoulder as you smile back.

“Устроить им ад?” (Give them hell?)

“следую твоему примеру, Барнс.” (Following your lead, Barnes) You smile back, both of you swiveling to Sam and moving together.

You stand with him on a bridge, keeping a hand on his arm to stabilize yourself as you keep an eye on the ledge, fixing the comm in your ear with your other hand as he does the same.

“I….. I never wanted to betray you.” He blurts, as John tries to convince Sam to give him one of their comms, his argument of ‘I’m part of the team!’ almost making you snort. But Bucky’s words kept your attention as you tried to play it cool. Keeping your eyes trained on the bridge before you.

“Is this a good time to talk about this?” You mutter in Russian, just in case Walker could hear you both like you could hear him.

“It was the status report. They were making me do it every month and….. I fought it. I really tried to fight it.” He admits in russian, casting a look to Walker before turning back to you, his hand shooting out to wrap around your arm as you lean to prepare a landing. “Careful.”

“I thought…. You were…. Nevermind it was my mistake.”

“It wasn’t a mistake.” He snaps, pulling you closer. “It… It was everything to me.”

“I shouldn’t have. I should have kept my eyes on the mission and I ruined it and I ruined it for those kids. You were a weapon dangled before me, they knew I would fall for it. They knew I would fall for the freedom of it. And I’m sure they already knew that I was helping those kids and they just needed to prove-” The words are spilling out and you just can’t seem to stop them, tears beginning to fill your eyes. “I just wanted… I just wanted to help them.”

“You did.” He mumbles, moving until his chest is pressed to your shoulder. “Please look at me.”

“I messed it all up.”

“You didn’t mess anything up-”

“I did. I fell in love.” You finally look at him, tears in your eyes as he takes a deep breath in.

“I-”

“Incoming.” It’s Sam's voice in the comms that makes you both jump before you look to see the train coming.

“On it.” You mumble back in english, stabbing a knife into the brick beneath you as Bucky keeps a hold on your arm.

“Be careful, we’ll be right behind. Keep a knife ready and-”

“I’ve got it.” You laugh, watching the train get closer and closer.

“I just worry.” He admits, leaning forward to kiss your cheek softly. “And just so we are clear, I fell in love too.”

You try not to smile, giving him one last look before using the chord and launching down as you hear Sam count down in the comms, feet landing on the top of the train with a thud before you dive for the top grate and begin working on tearing it off.

You manage to tear it off in time to duck and lay flat as a sign under the bridge appears, managing to avoid it before crouching and climbing in as the train breaks from the bridge, three heavy sets of footprints hit the top of it while you climb across boxes to get to the end of the cart.

“Viper?!” Walker calls, landing in the crate followed by Bucky and Sam. You don’t bother answering, too busy trying to lift the shaft on the cart.

“You good?” Sam asks, coming to your side.

“I’m fine.” You mumble. “I can handle the mission sir-”

“Did you just sir me?” Sam laughs, leaning to help you with the shaft, letting the sunlight break in as the wind snaps in both your faces.

“You guys see anything?” John yells across the way as Bucky hops over a box and reaches you both.

You have just enough time to turn, ready to bite a response to Walker when you spot the bomb taped to the far wall. Your mouth opens in an attempt to yell a warning but it’s too late. It all blasts to shit.

There was nothing but pain as you hung suspended in the cell, the Shadow Widow sneering at you from her spot in the corner while Valkov took a break from torturing you. Your breathing is ragged, blood falling out of your mouth with the saliva as your eyes water.

You can no longer feel your legs, and your fingernails had been torn out first. Sobs racking through your body as he asks the question again, his russian loud.

“WHERE ARE THE LOOSE ENDS?!!”

You couldn’t betray the kids, you couldn’t do it. So when he picked up the drill you closed your eyes, sobbing once more as you try to blink Buckys face out of your memory, succumbing to your punishment.

Heat blasts against his back as you scream out, Sam yelling loudly, all three of you grasping anything you can as the train keeps going.

Bucky’s metal arm finds purchase on a broken handle of the train, trying to pull himself up as Sam grips the side grates of the train trying to activate his falcon wings while you struggle to keep hold of what is left of the floorboard in the train car, nails scraping as you grimace in pain while your legs stay suspended in the air.

“HOLD ON!” He calls, reaching his flesh hand for you before the metal of the door groans and he has to freeze.

Walker appears, bleeding from his ears and looking frazzled as hell, but Bucky breathes out a sigh of relief when he sees the idiot reach to help you. Hope that you would make it out of this mess, that is until John stumbles as he reaches for your hand and ends up making you lose your holding.

You scream out, nails scraping as you slide out, nearly all your body suspended in the air. Both Bucky and Sam scream, reaching for you before they realize they can’t.

“When does this fucking bridge end?” Bucky snaps, looking down to the hundreds of feet below, memories flashing in his mind.

“Language.” Sam grunts, exhaling in relief when he sees you manage to grab the final woodboard, your last chance at holding on.

“Complete the mission.” You snap. “I can get up.”

“We don’t leave each other behind.” Bucky grunts, using his flesh hand to reach for a rope connected to the roof of the train car.

“Hydra tells us we need to complete the missi-”

“This isn’t Hydra and I’m not leaving my girl on this train.” Bucky snaps and Sam whoops out a loud ‘fuck hydra’ as they both struggle to get to the main opening.

There are thuds on top of the train and you risk a look to see multiple hooded figures with bags getting ready to ransack the weapons. A grunt of anger passes through you as let one hand free from the board, much to Bucky's chagrin as he yells out for you before you reach and grab your compact launcher you had hidden in the belt of your suit and shoot the roof with the grappling hook, pulling yourself up right in time for Walker to fall back into the car.

“This manchild is useless.” You sneer, reaching for Bucky immediately, hands grasping his tactical vest and dragging him as much as you can into the train car as Sam struggles to get in as well.

“There are about 15 figures. We should have about 10 minutes before they blow the rest of this train up.” You explain, keeping your hands on his shoulders as you assess him. “Are you hurt?”

“No I’m-”

“I’m hurt!” Walker calls, making you hiss an unappealing word at him in russian before moving to look at Sam.

“Do you want the viper or me on this mission?”

“Viper would be nice.” Sam nods, looking at all the weapons. “Viper for sure.”

You nod, turning to assess Bucky one more time before he nods at you and you both begin working.

While he was doing lines

And crossing all of mine

Someone told his white collar crimes to the FBI

And I don't dress for villains

Or for innocents

I'm on my vigilante shh again

You both work in tandem, every punch he throws shoves the person straight into your kick. You slash your knife at anyone that gets too close to him, slicing their skin easily as he snipes out anyone rushing to the train.

Sam is finding the rest of the bombs, disarming them to the best of his ability.

You hiss in pain when you get hit in the jaw, but Bucky is there smashing the butt of his gun to the back of their head as you blink away the tears. His hand finds your jaw, assessing the damage before turning and nodding to the path you guys need.

“So…. what’s the plan after this?” He asks, huffing as he gets to the slate you had originally been planning on clearing.

“After this? Probably dinner.” You laugh, bending to break the controls. He adjusts himself so you were back to back, him watching to make sure you were good.

“I mean…. After this mission.”

“I….. I want to finish the list.” You answer, tearing out a board to access the rest of the control panel.

“Does that list still include me?” He blurts, making you freeze. When you don’t answer he looks down to see you already staring up at him with wide eyes.

“You saw that?”

“On your list. Highlighted and everything.” He nods, snapping his attention to a thud across the way, finding it empty. It was enough to get you back to work, focusing on the wires and buttons again. “I would understand if you wanted to-”

“I don’t anymore.” You snap. “I don’t think I ever would have been able to but it’s not like I planned to make it far after I got out. I didn’t have a plan. Everyone else had a plan and I was left! I was tortured and maimed for wanting that freedom, and when the time came I was the only one that had nothing to live for.”

You were seething, and he could only agree. He hated the other widows for what they did to you, that would never be forgiven.

“I wanted a family. That’s all I wanted.” You whisper, finally breaking the right chord. The lights immediately die out and the train lurches as it comes to a complete stop.

“Is that still what you want?” He whispers back, holding his hand out for you to grab and help you up.

“I don’t deserve it.”

“You are the only person in this entire universe that deserves that.” He snaps. “And it’s important to me that you know that.”

“It’s not like I have much of a future open.”

“Well I think you have a bit of a future in the vigilante game if you ask me.” He smiles.

I don't start it, but I can tell you how it ends

Don't get sad, get even

So on the weekends

I don't dress for friends

Lately I've been dressing for revenge

“I’m sorry, you used to what?!” Sarah laughs, coming around the kitchen counter to grab a bottle of soda from your hand, eyes wide. “Dip your knives in lethal poison.”

“It made things easier. Even if I didn’t hit a vital organ I still knew the job was done.” You explain, shrugging a bit as she laughs. You still got nervous when talking about your past, but Sarah seemed anything but judgemental.

Sam's sister ended up being your very best friend on this earth, which surprised you to no end. You loved her kids and you loved her. You especially loved girls night because you never thought this would be an option in general. Nonetheless you had friends now. You had a home, with a silly little welcome mat that was left on the porch for the trick or treaters every year.

The very same one that was getting trampled on every time Sarahs kids ran through with your adopted children, covered in mud and laughing loudly.

“Hey! Mind your mess!” She snaps out but you can’t stop smiling as you watch your adopted 4 year old chase after one of her sons.

“What are you up to?” Bucky asks, coming in from the garage with Sam and Joaquin smiling from ear to ear as he rushes to kiss at your jaw.

“We are getting ready.” You laugh, shooing him away.

“For?”

“The Eras movie. You have daughters now Barnes. You need to get with the program.” Sarah scoffs playfully, making her brother laugh as they pick up the snacks and head to the living room.

“Hey…. I just wanted to say thank you for your help on the mission the other day.” Torres smiles before following the rest into the living room leaving you with Bucky.

“Hear that? Vigilante shit right there.” You laugh, leaning forward to kiss him.

“Still waiting for you to kill me.” He whispers against your lips, winking before heading to catch your daughter as she tries to dash past, making her laugh loudly and reach for you.

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osaemu · 1 year ago

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#MERRYCHRISTMAS: if you're receiving this message, you've been cordially invited to hannah and dazai's exclusive christmas party!

NO LONGER ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS.

BRING YOUR BOYFRIEND! 🎄

it's more fun going to a party with a handsome boy on your arm, isn't it? but we need to know how many people are attending, so why don't you let us know if you and your date plan on coming, yeah?

asks have to be off-anon bcs i don't want people sending a thousand asks, sorry! unless you're one of my mutuals, the ask limit is one for the entire event. mutuals can ask for one regular plus one of the mutuals slots!

also, i'll have to ask that you refrain from asking for dazai bcs he's one of the hosts and will likely appear in most of the fics as a background character!

RSVP via my askbox, and hurry up! remember, slots are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. what are you waiting for?

CHRISTMAS COOKIES! (SFW) 🎄

christmas isn't christmas without cookies, right? so i wanna know how good you and your boyfriend are at baking cookies, duh!

(also, i think dazai and i would burn the house down if we baked them... so you guys should do it instead!)

send me an ask with your favorite boy from any of the following fandoms AND how good you think you'd be at baking cookies. then we'll see what happens when you guys start baking!

JUJUTSU KAISEN: 5/10

BUNGO STRAY DOGS: 2/5

GENSHIN IMPACT: 0/3

SEASON'S GREETINGS! (SFW) 🎄

so maybe you don't have a date for the party. cool! neither do all those guys, and i think you'd look good with any (or all) of them!

winter is a magical season, and what is love at first sight if not magical? so come on, go talk to him! i'll be watching... and writing.

sending me an ask with your favorite boy from any of the following fandoms AND if you want a meet-cute or meet-ugly, and we'll see how your meeting unfolds!

JUJUTSU KAISEN: 4/5

BUNGO STRAY DOGS: 1/5

GENSHIN IMPACT: 0/3

SEX BY THE FIREPLACE! (NSFW) 🎄

parties can be tiring, i totally get it! especially when you've been teasing him all evening. yeah, dazai and i saw. you weren't being all that subtle about it, ugh.

anyways, the second you get home, i just know your boyfriend was sick and tired of you and your brattiness! gee, i wonder what happened next.

send me an ask with your favorite boy from any of the following fandoms AND a kink you have in mind, then we'll see how he got you back for teasing him the entire party!

JUJUTSU KAISEN: 4/5

BUNGO STRAY DOGS: 0/5

GENSHIN IMPACT: 0/3

EXCLUSIVE ENTRY! (SFW OR NSFW, MUTUALS ONLY) 🎄

merry christmas to my beloved mutuals!! you guys are the sweetest ever and i wanna add a portion of this event that's just for you!

actually, i can't think of anything, so just send me whatever and i'll write something for you guys based on that . . . just keep it christmas-themed and within the scope of the event's setting/rules, and that'll be perfect!

if you want it to he nsfw, i'd love it if u could make my life easier and give me a specific kink to work with :3

SLOTS: 8/10 [JJK, BSD, GENSHIN, AOT, OR MHA]

we're lookin forward to seeing you at the party! love, hannah and dazai ;)

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newtthetranswriter · 11 months ago

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Hair dye and Soulmates

Word count: 1431

Paring: Chifuyu Matsuno x Reader

Summary: Everyone has a soulmate connection, they come in all different styles, yours is you have a section of hair that matches your soulmate’s current color and changes if they dye it.

Warnings: shit used once, other than that none that I can think of.

A/n: Hello peoples, This fic is dedicated to Chifuyu Matsuno for his birthday. Even if the theme isn’t about his birthday I thought it was cute so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Chifuyu. Also as I'm posting this for his birthday it will be part of my winter fic event even though it isn't wintery. Anyway I hope you enjoy and Remember to hydrate or diedrate.

Having a soulmate was a relief for many, it gave people hope that one day they would meet the person that will love them unconditionally. Unfortunately the way to find your soulmate is a little less than perfect. It’s different for everyone, some have a timer counting down to the day they will meet, others can hear each other's thoughts, but for me, I’m stuck with a chunk of hair that matches my soulmate’s hair and vice versa. This would be fine if they didn’t have blonde hair. Hair color marks are fairly common but that just makes it difficult to find your soulmate unless one partner dyes their hair a crazy color to help notice each other in a crowd.

Every morning I would wake up hoping my soulmate had gotten tired of the wait and finally dyed their hair to make it easier, but every morning I’m faced with the same blonde streak at the front of my hair. Around my last year of high school I got tired of waiting, so one Saturday I bought the stuff and dyed my hair bright blue. Sadly when I got to school on monday morning none of the blonde students at my school who had the color connection had a stripe of blue in their hair. Even though I didn’t find them that day, I decided that I would keep dying my hair crazy colors until I finally found them.

A few years after high school, I got an opportunity to move to Tokyo for work. With no luck on the soulmate front in my hometown, especially after their hair changed from blonde to black, I figured why not, and accepted the offer. Within a month I was moving me and my dog into a small apartment in the heart of Japan.

While I was unpacking I remembered I needed to find a pet store nearby to get some food for my sweet husky. After getting the essentials taken care of in the apartment, I sat down to look up pet stores hoping there would still be one open close by as it was fast approaching evening. To my surprise there was one just down the street called XJ Land, but they would be closing in about thirty minutes. Deciding this was the best option so I wouldn’t be wandering the city as the sun set, I quickly grabbed a coat and my keys before bidding my dog goodbye, and left to hopefully get dog food before this place closes.

As I entered the shop I was greeted by the worker at the counter. “Welcome in, we will be closing shortly just so you are aware.” He said as he went back to looking at his phone. I smiled looking at him, noticing a large tattoo on his neck, thanking him I went to the wall of pet food.

Reaching the wall I started looking for a food that would work for my dog. Completely lost in thought, I failed to notice another person in the store. “Hey Kazutora, you can head out, I'll finish everything up here.” A new voice called out from the end of the aisle I was on, making me jump. It seemed the person noticed me as they then spoke to me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize we had a customer. Is there anything I can help you find?” The person asked as I overcame my shock.

I took a second before answering, having turned back to the wall of food. “I’m looking for good food for my dog. I just moved here and can’t seem to find the kind I normally get. Do you maybe have any recommendations?” I asked, turning to look at the person next to me. Before the person could respond we both froze. The young man had jet black hair except for a small chunk in the middle of his bangs that was currently bright purple. It was the exact opposite of my head full of purple hair with a black chunk in my bangs. “Holy shit” I was all I could say realizing what was going on.

“I’m Chifuyu Matsuno, and I’m guessing you’re my soulmate.” The Green eyed man said, offering his hand for me to shake. I accepted it and quietly introduced myself. “I like the hair all though I do have to say the time it was pink, was not fun.” He said with a smile.

“Sorry about that.” I said, still in shock from having met my soulmate in a pet store. “I was just trying to make it easier to find you. I thought my soulmate was just covering the piece with their hair and figured that pink would shine through your blonde hair and make it easier.” I explained my choice, receiving a chuckle from him.

“It’s all good, the gang just liked to poke fun. Anyways about the food for your dog, I personally have a cat but many customers have said this is the best one for dogs.” The man named Chifuyu explained. I nodded before reaching to grab the bag from the shelf, only to be stopped by him grabbing iot for me. “I’ll carry it for you, don’t worry.” I was stunned, I came into this shop fifteen minutes before it closed and now my soulmate is carrying dog food to the counter for me.

As we got to the counter, he placed the food down and walked around it to ring me up. “So Y/l/n, what made you move here?” He asked as he pressed a few buttons on the till’s screen.

“I was offered a job at a local beauty school, teaching students how to dye hair.” I explained briefly. Before I continued talking he told me the total, though I was shocked to hear it was significantly cheaper than what the price listed on the shelf. “Ok, here’s the money but I thought it was more than that. Won’t you get in trouble for giving me a discount?” I asked hoping I wouldn’t be costing my soulmate his job, after just one meeting.

He just smirked at me, about to speak before the man with the neck tattoo left the back room and interrupted the conversation. “He can’t get in trouble for giving discounts if it’s his store. Anyway, have a good night Chifuyu and don’t stay up too late or Keisuke will kick your ass if you’re late.” The man I think Chifuyu called Kazutora earlier said walking out. I just looked back at Chifuyu in shock.

“You own this store.” I said in shock. “I can’t let you lose money just to give me a discount Matsuno.” I continued trying to get him to let me pay full price.

“One call me Chifuyu. Two, If I want my soulmate to pay less than half price at my own store, my soulmate is not paying anything more than that.” He said finishing the transaction before I could give him any more cash to cover the full price of the bag. “Anyway, do you live too far from here? If you’re fine with waiting for me to close up I can walk you home.” Chifuyu offered, flipping the open sign to closed.

I paused thinking for a second. “I live just down the road, I can get home on my own. Thank you though. Also if I’m supposed to call you Chifuyu, you can call me Y/n.” I said moving to grab the bag of food from the counter.

I watched as he hesitated before nodding. “Okay, If you’re sure. At least let me give you my phone number and you can call me if you need anything ok?” He asked and I could hear the slight concern in his voice.

Nodding I handed him my phone to enter his number, smiling when he handed it back. He saved his contact as ‘Soulmate 😻’. I sent him a quick text so he could save my number, before bidding him goodnight. With that I headed home to feed my dog and sleep.

I knew moving to Tokyo would give me a better chance of finding my soulmate but I didn’t think it would be the first night. Anyway when I got home I sent Chifuyu a message letting him know I got home safe, and received a ‘great, have good night’ text in response. After feeding my dog, I decided it was time to sleep and I drifted off with the thoughts of how great my life will be now that I’ve finally found my person.

#tokyo revengers x reader #chifuyu x reader #matsuno chifuyu #tokyo rev x reader #x reader #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers chifuyu #Newt's Winter Fic Event

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amywritesthings · 1 year ago

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CHAPTER 16: PEACE

The POINT A TO POINT B Series

Pairing: Din Djarin x F!Reader ( The Mandalorian ) Word Count: 2.7K Summary: You and Din take a travel break for a wintery surprise. Tags: Sensuality, Anxiety, Wintertime themes, Helmetless!Din, Kisses A/N: Welcome to The First Day of the Twelve Days of Amymas! It's been a while, Mando. Enjoy this fluffy, feel-good winter-themed update as our fearless Duo get cozy one week after last chapter's events.

Previous Chapter. / Next Chapter. | Series Masterlist.

CHAPTER 16: PEACE

“I told you not to look.”

The modulated voice catches you before your hand can touch the cockpit’s steel ladder.

On a ship as small as the Razor Crest, you're not surprised the Mandalorian has caught you in the act of defying his request:

Stay in the belly of the ship until his say.

(As if there is anywhere to go.)

Don't look out of portholes.

(As if there are any.)

Don't peek at the cockpit.

(As if you're constantly lounging in it.)

But his request, as silly as it may seem, comes with a caveat.

It's a surprise — whatever that may be.

At first, you're worried that the end is closer than you thought.

Maybe, just maybe, he's decided to beeline straight to Coruscant. After all, everything came to a head last week.

You still haven't spoken about the incident on Trask. Your run-in with Bo-Katan and her crew. The freighter.

Too close of a call; you thought you'd lost him, and in turn, he thought he'd nearly lost you.

Such turmoil could convince him to finish the job faster, if only for your best interest.

However, it isn't like either of you have tried talking in the last several days — not when your mouths are busy elsewhere.

(Blindfolds, eager kisses, sweat-slicked skin, fumbling hands, whispered promises.)

You could chalk up his sudden change in gear to finally sleeping with you, though with the amount of hours you've laid lazily in his bed rather than your makeshift closet, you very much doubt he regrets the change of pace.

(You sure as hell don't.)

Still, the worry festered the longer he keeps this 'surprise' from you.

Had something gone wrong?

Was he trying to keep you ignorant from growing danger?

Had he caught wind on Moff Gideon's location?

So many variables.

So little time.

Din, of course, reassured this is a good surprise the second he saw that thousand-yard stare begin to surface on your face.

(You're still not used to calling him Din, not really.)

Instead of spiraling, then, you listen — for the most part.

Clearly he overestimates your patience when saddled with scrubbing blasters for the day.

Now you're here, caught red-handed at the cockpit ladder.

To keep the growing smile to yourself, your chin drops to your chest.

“I thought you were up there," you begin, airy in tone, "so I thought I’d come to say hello.”

“Really?”

The punctuated syllables tells you he’s unconvinced.

“Really,” you lie.

The clanking of shifting beskar armor moves closer to your back. You stay staring forward at the ladder to avoid the budding laughter in your throat.

Then an orange-tipped glove reaches past you to tap twice against a little red knob on a square console.

"Funny you say that," he begins, and you snort with suppressed laughter, "because a steady red on the occupancy indicator usually means—”

“Okay, okay,” you relent with an amused sigh. "I knew you weren't up there."

"Thought so."

Guilty as charged: he calls out your white lie with a little joke of his own.

You've noticed he's more at ease these last few days. Lighter. More open to this, whatever this is.

The heel of your boot finally turns clockwise until you're approached to face the Mandalorian in full. His armor gleams under the faint overhead lights of the Crest. One hand sits square on his hip while the other drops to his side.

“Maybe I wasn’t looking for you, but you have to understand: I’m restless, Mando. You’ve had me cooped in cargo for hours.”

“Din,” he corrects, “and it’s barely been an hour.”

“Feels like it’s been four, Din,” you quip, cheekily chirping his first name back to him.

Din Djarin; the name rolls off your tongue, more intimate that a kiss.

He clearly loves hearing it.

Both of your hands raise in surrender. The white flag has been raised.

“What’s so special about where we’re going, anyway?”

The chin of his helmet tilts ever so slightly to the left.

“I told you: it’s a surprise.”

“So much of a surprise that I can’t even look? You know, even if I did look, I couldn’t tell you which planet is what anyway.” You tap your temple. “Memory’s gone, remember?”

Din chuckles, disengaging.

“Be patient, Princess. We’ll be landing soon enough.”

You want to keep asking questions, but a curious coo from a blanket-bundled nest breaks both of your concentrations.

The Child stares up from his comfy cocoon, observing you both with bleary, beady eyes. He's only half awake, clearly only checking to see if all is well in cargo.

“Right, kid? You agree with me,” you tease, pointing to the Mandalorian as he passes you.

Din gently pushes your index finger out of his way with a filtered huff, before his boots clank against the metal ladder.

“He tells us not to look then expects us to actually listen." You lean into towards the Child when he coos happily, seemingly on your side even if he's sleepy. "The nerve of this guy.”

“I heard that,” he calls back to you once he reaches the upper level of the ship.

Then an exhale of a door sounds above, only to seal seconds later with a clean zip.

The red dot on the occupancy indicator flashes green.

"Cute, Mando, very cute," you mumble under your breath.

For an hour you pace the tin can of a ship with little restraint.

Every time you round the ladder, you're half-tempted to climb up yourself and remind him that you don't have to point towards the window of the cockpit if he simply lets you sit on your knees to—

In a flash, everything shakes and wobbles.

You can tell you’ve breached an atmosphere, but the lack of portholes in the cargo belly makes it impossible to see exactly what's going on.

It’s a slightly bumpy descent — not enough to warrant seatbelts, but you do hold onto the cargo straps near the Child’s bedding to make sure you and the kid stay put.

"Everything okay up there?" you call to him, but Din doesn't respond.

The mouth of the ship, however, does.

Slowly the mechanics wheeze to detach from their locks, detaching from the Razor Crest's frame to open the cabin to something blindingly bright.

You wince and take a step back, shielding your eyes with your left forearm from the outside light as the landing pad continues to lower from the ship.

A foreign freeze meets you, chilling you to the bone.

Cold licks and clings to your body.

The landing ramp begins to extend, revealing... a sea of white.

Wait.

Your arm drops like lead, eyes widening when you realize a belated breath too late what stands before you.

Or really... falls.

Gentle white flakes float from the sky to a pillow-soft ground, covering any grass that could have been in sight.

Large trees are littered with slippery domes, solidified from the cold.

Ice.

What covers the tree branches are what they call icicles.

One foot in front of the other, you're slow to investigate the mouth of the ship.

Even if you hear heavy boots descend the ladder in decided clunks, you cannot look away from the scenic atmosphere ahead of you.

Then you remember:

I know there's planets out there full of oceans.

Two nights ago, you'd been lying in bed naked with the Mandalorian recovering from another round of exploring what it means to be alive.

Your black blindfold was discarded carelessly across his bare chest, sheets barely hiding the patch of hair trailing under his belly button.

You'd chosen to lay over the sheet, too overheated from the night's activities.

His breath puffed gently through the modulator while his naked thumb absently stoked your bare shoulder.

As he came back down from his high, he let you talk to fill the silence.

About anything.

Everything.

Legends of cities born underwater, forests that survive through endless white… it's silly, but I'd love to see them all. To travel the galaxy and then some.

He never interrupted you.

He just let his fingers explore, dance, along your skin like his need for discovery ended right here.

Maybe once I'm there I'll remember that I've been there before, but experiencing that sort of stuff for the first time?

He hums with acknowledgement.

Content.

I hope to see as many as I can before I’m back to Coruscant.

(The unspoken caveat was three words: Only with you.)

"Forests that survive through endless white," you whisper to yourself, cautiously walking down the ramp closer to the flurry of white.

You reach out a palm to catch the tiny flecks as they descend.

One hits your palm, cold to the touch, and you draw your hand back to your chest in surprise.

“Naboo isn’t always covered in snow.”

Your attention finally breaks from the woods ahead to look back.

Din finally reaches the bottom of the ladder.

The metal jostles as the bounty hunter drops his arms and makes his way towards you.

“This is Naboo?” you ask, unable to hide your excitement.

Din settles beside you, his metallic helmet tilting high to watch the gray sky above the ship.

“I thought Naboo was full of cities. This looks deserted.”

“Naboo is densely populated, yes, but it also has its untouched biomes,” he explains. "The entire planet doesn’t experience snow, but some parts do. It isn’t an endless white, but—”

You can't help it.

You rush towards the forest floor.

The bounty hunter’s voice cuts with concern when your boot slips a little at the bottom.

“Careful, Princess.”

“I’m fine, Mando!” you call back once you’ve found your footing, invigorated by the sights and sounds before you. "Sorry — Din!"

You grin from ear to ear, feet walking in a circle to take it all in.

He listened.

He really detoured from the original travel plan to bring you here.

Something cold and wet hits your cheek, your chin, and you flinch on impact.

The flecks from the sky — you gaze up into the cloudy, cold gray with palpable wonder.

Snowfall.

You twirl again in pure joy, giggling softly.

“Mother of Moons, this is… I’m…”

Perfect.

Maybe you had visited a snowy planet in your past life.

Maybe the old version of you would have found something so miraculous to be so trivial.

Yet here, now, you cannot think of anything more perfect that this: the crunch of snow under your boots, the blanket of silence that seems to envelope the forest around you—

And him.

The Mandalorian willing to offer such a gift when so much is already at stake.

“What do you think?” you finally ask, spinning back to face him.

The Mandalorian is no longer staring at the sky.

His chrome visor simply watches you.

“It’s beautiful,” he answers quietly, contemplative.

Your heart swells.

"How long can we stay?"

"An hour," he replies. "Maybe two. Not long."

"That's plenty of time," you reassure, already feeling the cold swell on your fingertips.

For what feels like forever you step around the blankets of snow, admiring how the fluff crinkles under your boots. You shift back and forth, toe to heel, to memorize the sound.

You're well aware that your clothes, your hair, are quickly becoming damp.

It doesn't matter.

Eventually the circle you've created with your feet takes you back to the Razor Crest. The shoulders of your tunic are quickly turning a peppered tan and white.

Din is also covered head to toe in the gentle flurry, though the little specks melt on impact against the beskar armor.

You grin.

"Hold still."

"Hmm?" He listens nonetheless, straightening his posture at your command.

Reaching with chilly fingers, you wipe away a rogue snowflake from his visor and laugh under your breath.

"Did that make it worse?"

"I can't feel the snow," he responds. "I'm not cold."

"No, I meant your vision, Din Djarin," you reply with a snort.

"Oh. I..."

"Here, let me fix it."

He drops his chin obediently when you pull at your tunic sleeve to wipe the streak of water from the chrome visor.

After a moment passes, you drop your arm back to your side and stare into his helmet.

“...thank you, for taking me here,” you murmur. “You didn’t have to stop here just because I wanted to see—”

“I did,” he interrupts with complete certainty.

His hand rises, mirroring your motions. Din crooks his orange-tipped index finger and lifts your chin to meet his visor.

“No need to thank me.”

You can’t help but melt like the snow between you.

Always so chivalrous and thoughtful; something has changed in the Mandalorian since that fateful day. Where he once looked at you as cargo now sits a warm aura in a profoundly human way.

And it's touched you, too. He isn't just a bounty hunter, but an ally.

A partner.

A lover.

His quiet considerations have only wanted you to become a better person.

(And for the Razor Crest to never make its final destination.)

You could spend all of your days, you realize, traversing the galaxy just like this: with a bounty hunter and his ward and this imperfect ship, with no final point of descent.

“Close your eyes.”

The modulated command is but a whisper.

Without delay, you obey — your eyelids flutter closed, allowing the silence and light scent of frozen water to overtake you.

Then you hear a mechanical wheeze overhead.

You continue to keep your eyes shut, but the smile that grows on your lips is telling:

You know exactly what Din Djarin is about to do.

Although you cannot see him shifting above you, you imagine the way he lifts his Mandalorian helmet just over the bridge of his nose. The strong lines of his jaw, peppered with bits of facial hair…

You have never seen his face yet Din is a crystal-clear image in your invisible sight.

Then something warm tinged with ice presses to your lips.

The tip of his thumb drags along your lower lip, tugging it away from the seam.

You can’t help but huff a breath of anticipation. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Something like that," he replies in his noncommittal way, unfiltered by his helmet. "Let me help catch it."

For seconds it’s just this: sensation, feeling, trust—

And then his lips brush against yours, pressing plush and eager.

He is drastically warm compared to you, and you press back to soak up his heat.

Your cold fingers glide along his chest plate, blindly searching for that cowl of his. Your fingertips quickly snag and curl around it, pulling him closer.

The message is loud and clear — his free arm encircles your waist, dragging you into his armor.

Din’s kiss is adoring, gentle, and you linger in the high of his boldness.

His trust.

(The blindfold never left his pocket.)

Desperate to feel him, you keep your eyes shut tight and meet his deepening kisses, unable to stop the breathy noise in the middle of your throat when his tongue flick against your lower lip.

Then he pulls away, and you find yourself tumbling closer.

A naked laugh, smooth as velvet, vibrates through your whole body.

"Easy."

"Come back."

"We have to go," Din murmurs, and you lift your chin to follow the sound of his bravado.

"Can we warm up together, at least?"

"Was that not always the plan?"

You grin, eyes still closed.

A beat passes, and his gloved hand gently runs along your chilled cheek.

“Happy?”

His voice is so small.

You nod, brushing your bare nose with him, and reply just as small.

“Very.”

And you could be, for all of your days, if he chooses to never let you go.

#din djarin fanfiction #the mandalorian fanfiction #mando x reader #din djarin x reader #mando x you #din djarin x you #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin fluff #fic: point a to point b #twelve days of amymas

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sofasoap · 1 year ago

Text

In your arms

Pairing: Simon “Ghost ” Riley x F!Reader ( OC aka Mini MacTavish )

Summary: Comforting your husband after a nightmare.

Connecting to event of “Death, Comes easily”

Warning: Mature theme. Nightmare discussion ( related to PTSD ), discussion of death. Angst.

A/N : This was an extension of ANOTHER drabble/comment I wrote a while ago thanks to my midnight muse @a-small-writer-in-a-big-world ( seriously please let me sleep LOL )

Character of Mini MacTavish is from @saltofmercury fic “The Favorite MacTavish”” which she graciously let me borrow and write bit more expanded universe. Please go read her wonderful story to get bit of background

“masterlist” for more prequel to this Mini MacTavish expanded universe

You stare up at the ceiling. Eyes wide open. Fidgeting away.

It’s three in the morning. But you are not sleepy at all. Even after a solid twelve hour afternoon shift.

Oh, you should add more carrots into the twin’s lunch box….

You started making a mental listing of what you need to get from the grocery store tomorrow. Maybe that will tire your brain out and finally get some sleep.

That wallpaper is peeling off slightly beside the window… need to get Simon to fix that..

Is Johnny and Emma coming over for lunch this Sunday?

Crap the electricity bill is due soon….

Ok, this isn’t working. Your mind is even more stimulated with all these questions and a list of chores in your head.

Tucking yourself into the armchair beside the fireplace you just rekindled, armed with a generous mug of hot chocolate ( and maybe with a sneaky dash of whisky in it ) you set yourself about getting back into the historical romance novel you started a year ago but never had the time to finish.

Turn to the left, fluffing up the pillow. Nope. Not helping either. You knew that extra cup of coffee after lunch wasn’t such a good idea.

Letting out a sigh, you finally accepted that you weren’t going to get any sleep that night.

Swinging your leg over the side of the bed, you shuffle towards the lounge chair beside the window, grabbing the hand knit throw over blanket Gaz made for you last winter. Draping it over your shoulder, and quietly slipping out of the room, without waking Simon up, down towards the kitchen.

The heavy footsteps become more frantic, and you hear room doors opening and closing, and the person in question is running down the staircase.

Barely three pages in, you heard stomping noise coming from the bedroom upstairs.

You set the book down,looking up, frowning. Is one of the twins awake? But the noise sounds like it’s coming from your shared bedroom with your husband.

The next second, you saw Simon, shoulders uptight, breathing erratically, with tears streaming down his face. As soon as he spotted you curling up in the armchair, his beautiful brown eyes widened. Mixture of panic and relief evident in his eyes. Your heart aches at the sight.

Simon calls out to you. Voice quivering, like a scared little child.

Extending your hands, silently asking him what he needs.

He stares at you for the moment, before slowly moving towards you, kneeling down on both knees, enveloping his large, warm hand around yours.

“… Just want to feel you. Knowing you are here.” He whispered in a deep rumbling voice, tinged with sadness. “That you are real.” his voice broke into a sob. “ That you are alive.”

“ Oh love…” You immediately knew he had one of his nightmares again. Flash back to the bombing incident. Death of his mother and brother’s family.

“I woke up, I couldn’t find you, you weren’t there in bed, I thought the worst…” grabbing onto your hands tighter as he poured out his fear, “I thought I failed you… Just like I failed my family… I got you killed.. And the twins.. The team…” He buried his face into your lap, trying hard to control his emotion.

It pains you to see him in such a vulnerable state. A side he never shows. Not even to his most trusted team mate.

But here, in front of you, he’s not the ruthless, fearsome Ghost.

Here, he is just Simon Riley, your companion, beloved husband. The men you trust with all your life.

And he loves and trusts you enough to pour his heart and fear out to you. Laying it bare.

Pulling him up to a stand, giving him a kiss on the lip. “Come on, you should get some rest.”

Leaning forward you place a kiss on the back of his head, whispering into his ears, trying to reassure him, “I am here love. I am not going anywhere…” pulling one of your hands out from his grasp, you stroke his hair lightly, “You haven’t failed us. You saved my life that day. Both of us came home safe and sound to the children and the team at the end, right?”

Cupping his face and lifting his head up, you smiled gently, “It’s all behind us now Simon.”

“You're not coming to bed with me?” He asked in a small voice.

Looking at the fireplace, “I can’t leave it burning overnight. Besides, I couldn’t sleep anyway, that’s why I am down here, reading a book.” pointing to the book and drink, abandoned on the side table.

“Can I stay with you?”

That is how the twins found the two of you the next morning, sleeping on the lounge, wrapped up in thick blankets, with you cocooned in Simon’s embrace, with a contented smile on both of your faces.

The sweet twins woke both you and Simon up, with simple breakfast and tea all ready on the table for both of you.

tag:

@a-small-writer-in-a-big-world

@floral-force

@homicidal-slvt

@kaplerrr

@siilvan

#simon riley #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley #simon riley imagine #simon riley x you #cod mw2 #simon ghost riley x you #simon riley x reader #simon riley x f!reader #mini mactavish #mini mactavish universe #call of duty #simon ghost riley x f!reader #cod

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blurredcolour · 2 years ago

Text

Frostbite & Mistletoe

Summary: An extremely long shift at a Christmas tree lot brings an unexpected customer with an unusual request. Agreeing to help Austin Butler acquire a Christmas tree leads you down a path of rather unexpected events.

Pairing: Austin Butler x Gender Neutral Reader

Warnings: Language, Holiday Fluff, Christmas Trees, Car Trouble, Cold, Snow, Exhaustion, Allusions to Mental Health Struggles, Mature/Explicit Themes [Hickeys/Love Bites, Oral – m/f receiving, Condoms, Lube, Manual Stimulation – m/f receiving, Penetrative Sex] – 18+ Only

Author’s Note: This is pure fantasy! While it’s fun to think of going home with a random celebrity, please try to be more circumspect in real life! Also - Thank you for your suspension of disbelief about the weather!

Word Count: 6179

Just twenty minutes more. In twenty minutes, you would be free of the longest day of your life.

Cincinnati, Ohio was certainly not the coldest place on earth but eight hours outside in an unprotected Christmas tree lot had chilled you to the bone. It was a tradition of yours, to volunteer for a few shifts and help raise money for the children’s hospital. It had proven to be one of those winter days where the temperature dropped by the hour and the person scheduled to take over for you never showed up.

Meanwhile, the weather had done nothing to deter the steady flow of customers. So as the sky clouded over, you had agreed to stay and help the next shift until closing at eight. Nineteen minutes to go. Walking down the aisles in your bright orange hi-vis vest, you were tidying and cataloguing the remaining trees. Yet another thing on the never-ending list of shortages and inflated prices. Demand was high as everyone was throwing themselves headlong into a holiday season with every cliché trimming. It was only day one and a third of the stock was already sold.

Over-sized, fluffy snowflakes had been gently falling for the past two hours; so light that they seemed to defy gravity, hanging in the air or some even floating back upwards. If one had to pick the best kind of snow, that would have to be it. The strains of Frank Sinatra’s Christmas Waltz reached your ears for what felt like the hundredth time that day, but you were practically euphoric at the prospect of going home in eighteen minutes and allowed your feet to shuffle across the snow-covered asphalt as you waltzed along to the music.

Frosted windowpanes

Candles gleaming inside

Painted candy canes

On the tree

Seventeen minutes. Spinning dramatically, you turned up the next aisle to continue tidying and collecting inventory.

It’s that time of year

“When the world falls in love, every song you hear…”

Your feet stumbled to an awkward stop as a rich, male voice joined in with Old Blue Eyes from right behind you. You turned quickly to see what you guessed was a long, lanky man bundled up in several layers including a baseball cap, hoodie, and peacoat. A man with azure eyes that were sparkling with mirth at having caught you waltzing to Christmas music in a tree lot.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you stop…it’s just such a good song…” He grinned, the movement drawing your eyes to his plush, pink lips framed by a golden-blonde goatee.

You hugged your clipboard to your chest as though it were armour that could protect you from your mortification.

“D…do you need any assistance?” You asked, forcing a professionally pleasant expression despite your embarrassment.

“Well…” He chuckled awkwardly, pulling at his lower lip with long, chilled-looking fingers. “I do have a bit of an odd request? I really, really want a tree, but I don’t have a car…Do you do delivery at all? I’d be happy to pay…”

You stared at him, brain struggling to process his request after such a long day.

“But…how did you get here?!” You blurted and winced as maybe that was not the best tone.

“Walked…” He grinned sheepishly. “I’m in town on business and pass by here every day with my driver. I came as soon as I could, but I don’t think I can carry a whole tree back to my rental…”

You swallowed thickly, closing the distance to an appropriate conversation proximity.

“How many blocks?” You asked, looking up at him. Definitely tall.

“Maybe ten?” He cocked an eyebrow, and you felt your throat tighten as you realized you had seen that face before. On a movie screen. On a tv screen. “Look I brought $200 to make it happen, happy to donate it to the cause…well causes. Your hospital and my sanity.” His laugh rang a little hollow.

Swallowing painfully, you managed to clear your throat.

“We close in…” You glanced at your watch. “Fifteen minutes. I have a roof-rack, I can help you.” You smiled softly, hoping to cheer him a little.

The way his eyes lit up…well, like a Christmas tree…brought warmth back into the chilled cheeks. His smile was infectious, and you felt the tired muscles of your face stretch to echo his grin. You took a moment to properly introduce yourself before getting back to business.

“So…what kind of tree are you looking for?” You asked.

He shrugged with an adorable, hopeless expression and shrug of his shoulders. You could not help the laugh that tumbled from your lips.

“Long needles or short?” You started simple.

“Short, like a fake tree but real.” He nodded authoritatively.

“Ok then, let’s walk away from these scotch pines.” You chuckled and led him over to the fir trees.

Working with his description of the space he wanted to fill, you helped him choose a six-foot douglas fir. You moved to pick it up, but he beat you to it, slinging the bundled tree over his shoulder. You paused a moment to appreciate the sheer physical presence of him before swallowing again tightly and leading him up to the cashier. He handed over his two one-hundred-dollar bills to the bewildered woman who, upon your explanation, beamed and tucked it into the cash box.

You handed in your inventory list to the site leader who thanked you for working a double with a great big hug. You shook your head warmly and promised to see him again next weekend, leading Austin over to your somewhat dated, compact SUV. The snow was falling thicker now, clinging to both of your outerwear, making everything dramatically whiter as you strapped the tree to your roof-rack.

“Do you know if your rental has a hacksaw?” You asked curiously.

“Yes! Yes, I checked that. There’s a tree stand, a whole box of decorations, and everything I need…except the tree.” He beamed proudly and you felt warmth emanating from your chest.

“And you’ve fixed that now too. Hop in.” You shook off some of the snow and slid into the driver’s seat as he did the same, sliding in across from you.

The vehicle seemed just as tired as you, the engine turning over sluggishly before it finally roared to life, and you found yourself able to exhale the breath you’d been holding. You cranked the heat before heading out into the rapidly accumulating snow.

“Well, I guess it’s fully winter now…” You muttered and followed his directions to a small home fairly close to downtown.

As your limbs began to thaw, a bone-deep ache of exhaustion bloomed throughout your body. You could not wait to crawl into the tub and stay there for hours, topping up the hot water as needed. You pulled into the driveway. Perched on the doorsills, the two of you worked together to untie the tree before you jumped down to help ease the tree to the ground as he slid it off the back. The angle cause all the accumulated snow on the tree to cascade onto your head and down the gap at the back of your collar. The pathetic gasp was completely involuntary, causing him to leap down and quickly take the tree, looking you over.

“Are you alright?!” He asked, resting the weight of it against his body and gently dusted the snow from your head and shoulders. “I’m so sorry…”

You smiled up at him wearily and shook your head.

“I should have seen that coming…” You sighed ruefully and carried the tree up to the porch.

Making sure the stand was ready in the living room, you held the tree as he cut a slice off the bottom of the trunk, under your instructions. You could tell he wasn’t the most natural handyman, but precision was not a huge concern here. Using the screws in the stand, you made sure the tree was standing up straight before filling the well with fresh water.

“You need to water it every day.” You instructed him as you ensured the heating vent behind the tree was closed. “And never leave the lights on when you’re not home.”

“Thank you.” He smiled as he saw you back out to your car. “Really, you have saved the holidays for me, thank you.” He repeatedly earnestly and held his arms open. “May I give you a hug?” He asked before sinking his teeth into his lower lip.

You regarded him with wide eyes for a moment before nodding shyly as you looked to the side and shuffled forward into those open arms. He wrapped them around you tightly, surrounding you in warmth and the heady scent of cinnamon and black pepper. Your exhaustion had you forgetting all sense of propriety as you leaned into his chest with a deep, contented sigh. You’d never fit so well into someone’s arms before…

With one last squeeze, he pulled back slightly.

“I should let you get home; you must be exhausted.” He smiled gently and you nodded, dumbstruck at how truly gorgeous this man was.

“I’m crawling into a hot bath and staying there until tomorrow.” You managed to murmur and tensed as you realized you were close enough to feel, as well as see, the warm puffs of air falling from his lips. “Have a good night.” You said quickly as you pulled back and waved somewhat awkwardly before climbing into the car.

As that sluggish, shuddering sound emanated from your engine once more, your initial reaction was denial. It worked last time, you just needed to try again. And again. And…and then it wasn’t even making a sound at all. You pressed your forehead to the steering wheel, taking deep calming breaths as the temptation to just cry was overwhelming. Thankfully you remembered your AAA membership and quickly dug out your phone and membership card.

Austin knocked on your window and you rolled it down.

“I’m gonna call for a boost…” You sighed and dialed the number on the back of the card.

“Come inside before you get frostbite…” He insisted, opening your door. You sighed as the recorded voice assured you ‘your call is important to us’ and followed him in without argument. It was nowhere near cold enough for frostbite, but his concern was genuine and touching.

You sat at the kitchen island and quietly watched him get a kettle boiling as the overly cheerful hold music played in your ear. As he shucked off his winter coat and pulled off his hoodie, you gulped audibly at the peek of his tanned, toned abdomen as his white t-shirt caught on the fabric.

“Put it on speaker, I don’t mind. Let me take your coat so you can warm up properly.” He smiled and held out his hand as you quietly obeyed. You could not help but watch the way his bicep bunched at the weight of your sodden jacket.

“Hello this is John speaking, how may I help you?” A human voice suddenly filled the room and you fumbled with the phone to answer as he took your coat to hang it up to dry.

“Six hours?!” You cried out incredulously at the service estimate and the agent issued a litany of apologies. You were furious and seriously questioning why you paid for this service, but poor John sounded just as tired as you felt, and you knew it wasn’t his fault. “Ok, thanks.” You ended the call and looked to Austin pathetically as he filled two mugs with tea bags and boiling water.

“Must be the cold and all the snow out there…” He murmured sympathetically.

“Yeah, I guess. I’ll get a cab or something and come back when they call.” You opened your ride share app and gasped at the wait times. Your last-ditch effort was the taxi app, but the fare estimate was murder.

Sliding a mug of tea to you, Austin leaned in.

“This is entirely my fault, please. Please just stay here until they can come.” He looked up at you pleading through his lashes. “There isn’t a tub but there’s a shower and I can get your clothes dry and…”

You blinked back tears of frustration yet again and took a shaky breath. The snow dump that had covered you had now melted in the warmth of his rental and had water dripping from the ends of your hair onto your shirt. Completely disarmed by cold and fatigue, you were helpless against that look. That pleading.

“Ok…” You breathed meekly and sniffed. “Sorry, it’s just been a hell of a day…” You apologized, gesturing at tears that had snuck into your eyes despite your best efforts.

He pulled you in for another reassuring hug and you sighed warmly.

“No apologies” He smiled and stepped back, holding out his hand. “C’mon, shower’s this way.”

You took it slowly with yours, marveling at the way his warm skin completely enveloped yours, making you shiver deeply.

“You’re freezing…” He frowned and tugged you to your feet before leading you quickly down the hall, past the stairs. “Robe for you to wear, stay as long as you like. Lock on the door too.” He touched the items as he mentioned them before stepping out to leave you in peace.

Stripping off your wet clothes, you stepped into the warm spray of the shower with a deep moan, not being mindful of your volume at all. It just felt far too good. You shuffled back to sit on the shower bench and let your skin soak in the warm water. After a good ten minutes you finally felt the ache and tension leave your muscles. Coming to your feet, you borrowed whatever was in the shower to wash your hair and body before you turned off the water. Stepping out in a cloud of steam, you towelled off before pulling your underclothes back on, putting the robe on top.

Carrying your damp clothes, you rejoined him in the kitchen, smiling softly to see him ladling hot soup into bowls.

“That was a lot shorter than I thought you’d be.” He smiled. “But I’ve got dinner ready!”

“Truly, this is beyond generous, thank you very, very much.” You shook your head in awe.

“Here let me put those in the dryer really quick. You eat.” He set a bowl and spoon on the counter and snagged your clothes before disappearing downstairs.

Sitting down, you dug in happily, groaning a little a how hungry you suddenly realized you were. You’d eaten nearly half before he reappeared to join you, chuckling and giving you a few pieces of bread to mop up every last drop. He sat beside you, eating his own bowl as you leaned heavily on the counter, making small talk about the weather or something. Honestly, now that you were fed and warm, you found it quite difficult to keep your eyes open.

“Why don’t we go sit on the couch…” He offered generously and you nodded, shuffling after him.

You grabbed the thick, cozy blanket that was draped over the back of it and wrapped it around your legs before sitting down carefully. Through your drooping eyelids as you watched him turn on the gas fireplace.

“So how long do I have to wait to decorate again?” He asked as he sat down at the other end of the couch.

Inhaling through your nose while rolling your shoulders back, you tried to wake yourself.

“A couple of hours. The branches will relax, and you’ll smell the pine when it’s ready.” You nodded before giving in to the temptation to rest your head back against the couch. You briefly felt a surge of guilt as you had a fleeting recognition that you were falling asleep but were too far gone to do a thing about it.

The sound of soft curses, muttered under Austin’s breath, sunk into your consciousness and your eyes flashed open. You were fully curled up on the couch, tucked under the blanket, and Austin was fighting with a tangled string of tree lights on the floor before you.

“Shit, I’m so sorry…” You hastily apologized and sat up. “How long was I asleep?”

He glanced at you before clearing his throat and looking back to the task before him. You glanced down at the gaping robe and quickly covered yourself, pulling the belt tight again.

“A couple. Don’t worry about it, I had some work to do. But now, now it’s time to decorate this tree. As long as I can get these untangled.” He muttered bitterly and you carefully slid to your knees on the floor across from him.

“Let me help.” You smiled softly and worked patiently at the various snags until all the lights were stretched out and ready to wrap the tree.

You looked over to it, smiling as it did indeed look perfectly ready to decorate.

“You picked a very nice one.” You carried the first string over to begin weaving the lights through the branches.

He beamed brightly and you were grateful that the tree bore the brunt of that blinding smile. For two people who had only met a few hours before, there was remarkably no sniping, and no heated comments as you worked together on a typically frustrating task. You were about halfway up the tree, and thus far your soundtrack had been Austin humming snippets of an assortment of holiday songs. The brief contact of his fingers against yours as you handed off the string of lights caused shivers of electricity to flash across your skin. You snuck glances at his profile while he was busily weaving the lights on his side of the tree, and felt, more than saw, him doing the same – the heat of his gaze tingling along your skin. He always looked away when you raised your head, however. That is until his eyes deliberately sought yours through the curtain of pine needles.

“May I ask you a question?” He asked solemnly.

His tone of voice was so serious it made you hesitate, uncertain if you were honestly awake enough to engage in a meaningful conversation while half-inserted into a tree. Straightening your back, you nodded, trying to convince yourself that there was little he could ask that would be truly catastrophic.

“Sure” You nodded, hoping your tone registered as light and care-free.

“Do you consider Die Hard to be a Christmas movie?” He continued in that serious tone but that spark of mischief was back in those sapphire eyes.

You stared at him, jaw slack, stunned. Leaning around the tree, trying to read if this was a joke of not, you saw his lips trembling with the effort not to smirk.

“I was fully prepared for you to ask me something….I don’t know, sensitive?!” You exclaimed with a guffaw of laughter.

“Some people find this a very sensitive topic!” He countered before losing control of his face and breaking out into giggles.

You could not help but join in, letting your head fall back as your laughter came from deep inside you, somehow erasing a large portion of your disgruntlement over the events of your no-good, terrible day. Eventually you were able to contain yourself and you cleared your throat before answering.

“Absolutely. It takes place during a Christmas party, features Christmas music, and Hans Gruber even says ‘ho ho ho’” You nodded emphatically.

“Ho, ho, ho” He grinned as he delivered a very convincing impersonation of Alan Rickman’s German accent.

After the laughter subsided you tilted your head.

“In that same vein….Is Hallelujah a Christmas song?” The lights were winding higher and it was a bit of a stretch for you….not for him though.

“Absolutely not.” He replied firmly, lips drawing into a thin line as he shook his head. “It’s literally about an intense and painful relationship. Nothing festive. Not even in the same orbit as the holidays.”

You nodded in agreement.

“This tree-decorating partnership can continue.” You grinned. “Though, I might just be support at this point.” You commented as he easily wrapped the lights all the way to the top before plugging the string into the star.

“Now we see how it looks!” He said excitedly, turning off the overhead light before plugging in the tree.

The glow of the multi-coloured lights was a comforting as a hug from each one of your holiday memories delivered directly to your heart.

“Incredible…” He sighed contentedly and you nodded, somewhat speechless.

You turned to look up at him, recalling that sense of heavy sadness he’d had when discussing his sanity back in the tree lot, and swallowed to see hit tanned face lit by both the tree and the firelight. He was a work of art come to life before your very eyes. The lines of worry had also eased across his features, leaving an adorable exuberance. You had a feeling that the duality of this man could easily obsess scholars for centuries…

So deep in your own thoughts you were, that you did not notice that his own eyes were tracing your features in turn, a contemplative expression falling over his face.

“Are you up to some more decorating?” He asked softly and you watched the way his lips caressed the words he spoke.

“Mmmmhm” You intoned, biting your lip at the hum of desire in your lower abdomen.

The glare of passing headlights beaming through the front window jarred you from your state and you cleared your throat, quickly kneeling to unpack the rest of the decorations from the box. You had already thrown caution to the wind and put yourself in a very vulnerable position with a total, albeit famous, stranger. There was no need to make it more complicated…despite the throb between your thighs.

“Definitely a coordinated person’s decorations…” You chuckled softly as you pulled eight boxes of matching Christmas ornaments in neutral shades.

Kneeling down across you he chuckled softly.

“Given how they decorated the rest of the house, this does not surprise me at all.” He hung a couple of them on his fingers before taking them to the tree to continue decorating.

Collecting your own assortment, you focused on the lower branches, being sure to reach in and hang some closer to the trunk to give the tree dimension. You did not notice the way the branches of the tree pulled at the robe, loosening it once more. Nor the way that it slipped off your shoulder as you knelt over the remaining boxes of ornaments, opening them up for ease of access. That is, until he knelt beside you, tracing the backs of his fingers across your shoulder and down your bicep. You shivered softly as his touch raised goosebumps in its wake.

“Mmmm sorry…” He murmured and leaned in to press an apologetic kiss to your skin with lips that felt just as soft as you had imagined. “Your skin just looks so soft…” He whispered, the tickle of his facial hair making you gasp raggedly.

As his eyes snapped to yours at that sound, a thrill of heat ran through you at their noticeably darker appearance. His lips stretched into something markedly predatory as he raised an eyebrow before slowly raising his eyes to the ceiling above you. You hesitated a moment before tilting your head back to follow his gaze, your entire body freezing at the sight of a swag of artificial mistletoe hanging from the light fixture. Leaning in, you felt his goatee tickle against your ear.

“Caught you…” He murmured.

The way his lips and warm breath caressed your skin made you tremble from head to toe. A choked-off sigh fell from his lips, and you turned your face towards his, noses brushing due to his proximity. Your eyes flicked up to his before falling back to his lips. You’d done the ‘right’ thing all damn day and it had led to an accidental double and a dead car. Now? Now you were going to do what you wanted.

“Better kiss me…don’t want any more bad luck…” You breathed shakily.

“Very true…” He whispered in return, hands rising to frame your face as he leaned in to close the last few inches of distance between you.

With a tilt of his head, he fit his lips firmly against yours. Your eyelids fluttered closed at the silky warmth of his mouth, your body turning towards his full as you reached up to cup his cheeks in return. He pulled back a little, looking over your face as your heavy breaths mingled in the space between you. You glanced up at his eyes briefly before pulling his lips back against yours, sighing happily. Licking at the seam of his lips, your tongue begged entrance.

He grunted happily and hungrily greeted your tongue with his, one hand traveling down your throat and over your shoulder to press against the flesh of your back beneath the robe, pulling you closer. You raised up on your knees to correct the height differential and raked your hands through his carefully tousled hair. You delighted in carding your hands through it, disordering it completely. A mutual need for air had your lips parting and you quickly pressed wet, open-mouthed kisses along his sharp jawline and down his neck to lap at the hollow of his throat.

With a soft growl, and eager arch of his neck, his hands moved to grasp the backs of your thighs and haul you up to straddle his lap. You whimpered against his damp skin and licked a wide stripe up along his adam’s apple back towards his lips. He caught your lips in a searing kiss, tongue pressing into your mouth eagerly, making you both hum happily at the delicious feeling of his wet muscle sliding against yours.

Wriggling a little, you encouraged the robe to gape open completely, allowing you to settle fully against the growing bulge in his jeans. His fingers slid up under the edges of the robe to grip at the skin of your hips, chest rumbling eagerly as you undulated against him. Pulling back, your chest heaved as you mewled at the feel of his teeth nibbling at your lower lip. Gripping at his shoulders, you ground against him with more intent, shivering as you felt his hands yanking at the knot in the robe’s sash. You dropped your hands to help him slide it completely from your body.

Supporting your spine with his forearm, he swept the ornament boxes to the side and lay you back on the plush rug. You stared up at him in awe as the glow of the fire caressed his features from behind you while the Christmas lights painted a riot of colour onto him from the side.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous…” You let the thoughts tumble from your lips without even trying to hold back.

You watched as he drank in your figure, only your underclothes obscuring his view, thumb and forefinger pinching and pulling at his lower lip.

“Bold words from a heavenly creature like yourself…” He whispered in a hushed sort of awe before covering your body with his, suckling your collarbone as his free hand traced along the planes of your chest and abdomen.

Arching into his touch needily, you began to gather the back of his t-shirt into your fists, pulling the hem higher before you tugged it up to his shoulders. He rose up briefly to shed the interfering cotton before quickly divesting you of your underclothes, baring you completely to his heated gaze.

“To think I got to unwrap you under my Christmas tree.” He grinned lopsidedly, eyes twinkling with that mischief as you rolled your own playfully at his seasonal corniness.

Chuckling to himself, he dragged his lips along your collarbone before kissing down your sternum. He briefly diverted to flick his tongue across each of your nipples before he continued his journey down your body. The muscles of your abdomen flinched at the tickle of his facial hair, making you chuckle breathlessly. His eyes, now nearly black as his pupils had devoured the blue of his irises, watched your face intently as he skipped over the desperate place that wanted his touch the most before pressing his lips to your right knee cap. His long fingers wrapped around the outside of your thighs and gently, yet insistently, parted your legs.

Sealing his lips around the tender flesh of your inner thigh, he sucked at your skin eagerly, drawing a shuddering gasp from beneath your breastbone.

“Austin…” You exhaled the extra oxygen that had brought into your lungs, fingers once again twining into his sandy locks.

He fairly purred against you before pulling back, licking his lips as he turned his head to treat your other thigh to the same, if only a little closer to where you really wanted his mouth. His fingers massaged your outer thighs as he sucked a series of deep purple marks higher and higher on your inner thighs until you were quivering with need.

“Please…” You keened and tugged on his hair as you felt his hot, damp exhales against the source of your pleasure, back arching and hips squirming as you ached for his mouth.

“Who am I to deny you…” He replied, voice roughened by desire before he, at last, lay his mouth against you.

Your anguished moan echoed through the room as you clenched your eyes shut tightly, chest heaving, breaths harsh. His hands wrapped around your hips, holding them down as they were bucking against his face needily. The familiar tingling began to blossom at the base of your spine, making your toes curl and heels dig into the rug.

“I’…I’m close…Austin!” You gasped out and then whimpered as he pulled his mouth away, eyes flashing open to watch him lick at his goatee-framed lips.

“Just wait right here…” He rasped; voice notably deeper.

He pressed a brief but fierce kiss to your lips before rising to his feet. You gnawed on your lower lip at the distinct outline of his cock in his jeans before he disappeared up the stairs. He was not gone a full minute before he returned with a bottle of lube at the telltale foil packet of a condom. Pushing yourself up with unsteady arms, you reached out to take said items from him to free up his hands. Setting them aside you waited until he stretched out on the rug beside you before pushing him to his back, pining him by straddling his hips as you kissed him hungrily.

He groaned hungrily into kiss as you ground along the length of him through his jeans before sliding back onto his thighs and working his belt and fly open. Inserting your fingers into the waistband of his boxers, you raised up to strip him entirely in one greedy motion, tossing the clothing aside as you settled back onto his thighs. Drinking in the sight of his needy cock, you picked up the bottle of lube, delighting in the way his length twitched as you drizzled it with the slick substance.

Your name fell from his lips needily as he gripped your thighs, hips straining towards you, raised from the rug. You swallowed thickly as you wrapped your hand around his girth, rutting against his thighs at the noise of pure sin that emanated from his throat. You could not get enough of the way expressions of pleasure flitted across his features as you traced his tip with your thumb before sliding your fist up and down the length of him torturously slow. His breathing was beginning to shallow, abdominal muscles trembling when you pulled your hand back. A taste of his own medicine while also ensuring he would last long enough to put that impressive cock inside you.

His eyes flashed open with a slight glare, but he sat up and grabbed the sides of your jaw, pulling you close for a sloppy kiss full of teeth and tongues. Groping blindly, you managed to locate a pillow on the couch and pulled it down to set it on the ground beside him, pulling back to stretch out on your front, hips propped up on said pillow as you looked at him meaningfully.

He did not need any further instruction, taking the lube in hand as he coated his fingers before easing them into your entrance with thoughtful patience.

“Fuck, look at you all needy and on offer for me…” He groaned and you pressed your forehead into the rug, shuddering with a groan of your own as he worked you open, preparing you for his sizeable length.

He pulled his fingers from you, and you canted your hips back, chasing the feeling as you glanced back at him over your shoulder. You watched with hooded eyes as he carefully rolled the protective latex over his cock, pumping it a few times indulgently, before stretching out over your body. Sinking into you slowly, inch by inch, you moan deeply at the stretch and fullness of him.

“Oh Austin!” You cried out, curling your fingers into rug.

“I know, oh fuck, I know” He panted, hands pressing into the backs of yours, fingers sliding between yours once he was seated inside you fully.

You felt his nose nuzzling against the nape of your neck, hips rocking against yours and, in turn, rocking the source of your pleasure into the pillow. You felt that same sucking pressure now against the back of your neck as he slowly slid out before quickly sliding back into you, leaving yet another mark on your body. Keeping your legs tightly together by squeezing them between his knees, he made sure you felt every single ridge and bulging vein of him as his rhythmic thrusts drove you both closer and closer toward release.

Each snap of his hips against yours had your body rocking forward, the rug applying delicious friction to your nipples, ripping pathetic whimpers and keens from you as your thighs between to quiver between his knees.

“You’re…going to…?” He panted against the damp mark on your neck, letting his teeth graze the sensitive skin.

“S’close.” You slurred in the plush fabric beneath you, arching back tightly against his torso.

“Oh yes…please…please…cum…for me….”He rambled, punctuating every few words with an insistent thrust of his hips that had your legs drumming against the floor as your release broke over you in waves of shimmering colour behind your eyelids and a nonsensical wail that ripped from your throat.

Pressing his face into the crook of your shoulder, his thrusts became erratic and sharper until he came with a hoarse cry of your name, rutting against you as he filled the condom. You could feel him trembling from head to toe above you, yet he still managed to carefully pull out and roll to the side before collapsing on the rug between you and the tree.

Resting your cheek against the rug, you drank in his debauched form, painted in ethereal, multicoloured light. Extracting the destroyed pillow from beneath you, you tossed it aside and shuffled to lay on your side next to him. Gently, you freed him from the condom, tying it closed and struggling to your feet to dispose of it in the washroom. Grabbing the blanket from the couch on your return, you cuddled up next to him, wrapping your still-trembling bodies in warmth.

He grinned at you warmly, kissing your forehead. You thought he might fall asleep, but instead he began asking you questions about your life in Cincinnati – job, friends, family, holiday traditions… You grinned a little as you were definitely doing this get-to-know-you thing in the wrong order, but you were happy to answer and ask him questions in kind. You ended up talking for hours in the low light, his fingers tracing the features of your face endlessly. Whenever his fingertips neared your lips, you would press a soft kiss to them. You did not notice who fell asleep first, though it was most likely you. The sounds of your phone ringing, however, jarred you both away in the deep, pre-dawn darkness. You struggled a little to answer it, blinking your brain into focus as a voice on the other end was saying something about your service call arriving soon…Groggily, you asked them to repeat the message before it clicked.

“Oh!” You exclaimed at the sudden return of cognitive function.

Looking down at the drowsy man beside you, his fingers stroking along your arm warmly, you swallowed and shook your head before remembering you needed to speak to communicate during a phone call.

“No longer needed, sorry I didn’t call sooner…no not at all…thank you…” You ended the call and turned to Austin as he sat up and kissed your shoulder warmly. “Bed?” You asked and he nodded quickly, helping you to your feet. You turned off the tree and the fireplace, before the pair of you headed up the stairs where you remained for the next twelve hours.

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