#my brother actually pointed this out to me

[arandomao3user]

I have been watching seven kids all day long and need to project the trauma of parenting somewhere, so... Batfam quotes :D

—

Bruce, half awake in a sitting room: Please, stop.

Jason, trying to suffocate Tim with a pillow: GIVE ME THE REMOTE!

Tim: *Muffled swears*

Damian, helping Jason: WE WANT TO WATCH MEAN GIRLS!

Cass, tackling Jason from behind: OFF OUR BROTHER!

Dick: Guys please, the doctor said we had to keep Tim's blood pressure down!

Duke: Man, we need to keep all our blood pressure down, he ain't special.

Bruce: Please, don't kill your brother.

Stephanie: Guys, he stopped fighting.

Dick: OH MY GODS YOU KILLED TIM!?

Damian: Oh no.

Cass, kneeing Jason in the stomach and grinning as he falls to the ground:

Duke: Nah, I think he just passed out.

Bruce: If any of you are dead I'm going to enter a depressive episode that will result in one of you becoming Batman by the end of it.

Dick: OH MY GOD TIM COME BACK TO LIFE I CAN'T DO THIS AGAIN!

Damian: DRAKE!?

Cass: I will find a Lazarus pit.

Jason: Nah, I'll just call Talia.

Duke: Y'all, he's breathin', I think he just fell asleep.

Stephanie, checking his pulse:

Stephanie: Yeah, he did. Classic Tim.

Bruce, under his breath: Thank god, I like that one.

—

Tim: Bruce, I have to tell you something.

Bruce: Yes, Tim?

Tim: . . . I'm bi.

Bruce: . . . Didn't you already come out to me?

Tim: Wait, what!? No!

Bruce: . . . No, no you did, you were... The ginger. The ginger one with arrows.

Tim: That was Dick, B.

Bruce: No, Dick wasn't a ginger, Jason was before the hair dye—

Tim: Different timeline, also that was Dick and Roy!

Bruce: Didn't Jason date Roy?

Tim: Bruce. Jason dated Roy, Dick dated Roy, they both dated Roy

Bruce: Oh, oh! Yes, of course... Wait, no, Dick was with the alien.

Tim: Kori and Dick broke up, Bruce.

Bruce: No, he was with the— the kryptonian.

Tim: Bruce, that's you.

Bruce: No, no, Connor.

Tim: Nobody in this family has ever dated Kon, and he's my friend!

Bruce:

Bruce: You aren't dating Connor? Oh, yes, you are with... Stephanie.

Tim: She and I broke up, she's with Cass now, I'm dating Bernard!

Bruce: The... Speedster?

Tim: Oh my god, Bruce, this isn't complicated... Bart is the speedster, Bernard is a human, regular human, not a vigilante or anything, and he's my old high school friend. We are dating now.

Bruce: Oh, yes. Okay. Sorry, I haven't updated the chart since Jason...

Tim: You had a chart to keep track of your kids dating history? When you had two kids!?

Bruce: Dick was complicated, and Jason dated a girl named Rena.

Tim: Again, different timeline, Bruce, they got back together in this one though (because op said so.)

Bruce:

Bruce: What?

Tim: Rena and Jason are dating but Jason also occasionally dates Roy at the same time, Dick is gonna get back together with Kori eventually, we're just waiting for the writers to get their sh&# together, I'm with Bernard, Stephanie and Cass are dating, this isn't a complicated thing, at all.

Bruce:

Bruce: I need to update my charts.

—

TV show host: So, can you introduce your kids for us?

Bruce:

Bruce: Yes, uh, of course.

Bruce, pointing to Dick: My eldest, Richard Grayson.

Bruce, pointing to Tim: My second, Jason— wait, no, he's dead. That one died.

Tim: Please never mistake me for Jason again, I just had several flashbacks.

Bruce: Yes, sorry, no, this is my third son, Tim.

Bruce, pointing to Cass: My daughter, Cassandra, she likes art—

Cass: No, ballet.

Bruce: What? No, Tim likes ballet.

Tim: I hate being the middle child so much.

Damian: Technically Cain is the middle.

Cass: No, Tim likes skateboards and dungeons and dragons.

Bruce: Okay, haha, sorry. So, uh, my youngest...

Damian:

Bruce: That I...

Damian:

Bruce: Adopted..?

Damian: WHAT!?

Bruce: Wait, no, Jason was Talia's, so—

Damian: HE WAS FOUND NEAR A DUMPSTER!

Bruce: Oh, then Tim—

Tim: SERIOUSLY!?

Dick: Bruce this is actually concerning.

Bruce: One of you I made! Cass!?

Cass, visibly concerned: Really?

Bruce: Okay, so, uh...

TV host: Should... Do you need a moment?

Bruce: No, no, I have five children— wait, no, six. Wait, did I adopt Duke?

Dick: No, he lives with his Mom again, she got better, but you didn't even adopt me so why's it matter?

Bruce:

Bruce: I FORGOT TO ADOPT YOU!?

Dick: WHAT DO YOU MEAN FORGOT!?

Tim: I hate this family...

Cass, patting his back:

Damian: At least he remembered your names!

Jason, laughing from his apartment:

—

Tim and Cass sitting at the bat computer:

Bruce, walking over to press a kiss to Cass' hair:

Tim: ???

Bruce, walking over to Cass, patting her shoulder: Good work, son. Get to bed soon.

Cass: . . ?

Bruce, walking away:

Tim: Did he..?

Cass: Again. Yes.

—

Bruce, to Alfred: Alfred, please, I need help with Christmas again.

Alfred: Master Bruce, you have itemized lists of each villain, you can recall them all and memorize all their weaknesses and lives. You cannot do the same for your own children?

Bruce: Please, Alfred, don't make me feel bad. One of them asked for an explosive and I don't know which!?

Alfred: That could very well be several of them...

—

Bruce, walking into the kitchen where all the kids are sitting: Alright, come on Tim, time for patrol.

Tim: Why aren't you going with Robin?

Bruce: You are Robin?

Damian: Father, I am Robin.

Bruce: Why'd I do that?

Damian: What do you mean WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?

Dick: I did that, actually.

Bruce: Why? What did Tim do?

Damian: WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!?

Bruce: Nothing, nothing, I just... Tim was Robin, last I checked.

Jason: Bruce, what's the order of your Robin's?

Bruce:

Bruce: It... Okay, Dick,

Dick: Yes..?

Bruce: Then... Stephanie.

Jason: Wow.

Bruce: What!? She died! Two of you died and came back!

Damian: I also died.

Bruce: What? No, you came after Stephanie.

Damian: Yes.

Bruce: Alright, so, Dick, Stephanie—

Jason: REALLY!? I did not die in your arms for this. I wish I died in someone's else's arms. F-#% you.

Bruce: No, no! I'm sorry, you're right, Dick, Jason... Then... Alright, Stephanie and Damian came somewhere, obviously, but Tim is my Robin now! Right?!

Tim: Bruce, Alfred and Dick gave Robin to Damian after you got lost in the time stream.

Bruce:

Bruce: Oh. Uh. Okay... Damian, time for patrol—

Damian: No, I'm going with Richard tonight. You may have DRAKE!

Bruce: No, I'm sorry, son, please.

Damian, storming out:

Bruce, chasing after him: Please, I have had so many of you! And so many hits to the head!

Tim: How come he only ever remembers Dick's stuff?

Jason: Favouritism.

Dick: I fell on his head a lot as a kid. I also used to whisper in his ear as a kid when he slept that I would be the only child he'd ever have and love, so...

Tim:

Jason: And I'm remembered as the bad kid???

—

Bruce: You're grounded.

Barbara: ??? I'm not your kid, Bruce.

Bruce: What?

Barbara: Really? No, I'm not dealing with this, get a neurologist, Bruce.

Bruce: It's not a problem!

—

Bruce, on the phone: Hey, Jay, lad! Are you coming to the gala this weekend?

Jason: ??? I'm dead.

Bruce: What?!

Jason: No! I am legally dead, Bruce!

Bruce: Oh thank god, I thought I was hallucinating again...

Jason: Huh?

Bruce: Nothing, nothing... Wait, why haven't I brought you back to legally alive?

Jason: Hell if I know.

Bruce:

Bruce: Will you come to the gala if—

Jason, hanging up:

—

Bernard:

Bruce:

Bernard:

Bruce: Stephanie, when did you become transgender???

Bernard, trying not to laugh:

Tim: This is why I didn't want you two to meet.

—

Bruce, on the phone: DUKE THOMAS WHY AREN'T YOU HOME!?

Duke: ??? I am.

Bruce: Where?! I checked the entire manor!

Duke: I don't live with you???

Bruce: Oh my god did I fire you???

Duke: What? No? I live with my Mom?

Bruce: . . . She's alive?

Duke: B, that's... All the other kids minus Cass and Damian.

Bruce: Oh...

Duke: Get help, man.

—

Tim, eating cereal at two in the morning:

Bruce, stepping inside the dark room, blinking slowly:

Bruce: Oh, Jason—

Tim: I am so done.

—

[theoneandonlylobster]

My Big Damn Ashes of the Academy Thoughts

Okay so honestly I just need to take this panel by panel because frankly my overall impression of the comic is that everyone got replaced Invasion of the Body Snatchers style with people that look the same as they do and have the same name, but have zero idea of the backgrounds or motivations of said characters, and so they were just making shit up as they went along. Like, I write fanfic, I read fanfic. I have, in general, a pretty high regard for fanfic. And of course one of the more common Dangerous Ladies childhood type fics is how did they meet, why are these three very different individuals friends, etc etc.

And this was not even approaching the worst, crappiest, least coherent of that type of fiction I've read over the last nearly two decades.

Ashes of the Academy is a giant nothing burger comic, a fart in an elevator you're trapped with until you can make your escape.

So, without further ado, let's begin:

So right here on the second page of the comic, and the first page with dialogue, we have Ursa letting us know that, apparently, contrary to what we know, the Academy made Azula a bad person. Not her parents, definitely definitely not Ursa. You got that? It was all the Academy's fault. And we will continue beating that ostrich horse the entire rest of the comic, make no mistake!

Ah yes, Ursa, noted Not Ever An Imperialist At All, Not Even Once, Nuh-Uh.

Skipping several pages that would be me saying these two things multiple times...

Credit where credit is due, I like these two panels. I like this tiny glimpse into the friendship of Kiyi and Lihua or whatever here. One, because I imagine this is more like how Azula probably actually was, based on what we see in Zuko Alone. And two, that means Kiyi is unconsciously mirroring her sister and I like that interpretation of her character. It seems that Hicks does too, on a subconscious level. Look at that devious little look on her face! Little shit. Yeah, you cause a ruckus! Adorable.

I'd be lying if I said this didn't get a chuckle out of me. Is Katara on Zuko's Ministry of Education? Lol wtf. Still funny though.

More Kiyi being a little shit that I can get behind. This time in a Little Miss Know-It-All superiority complex sense that I'm sure would get real old real fast for anyone around her.

I've pointed this out on another post but Kiyi isn't a princess? Wtf? Come on, Hicks. Like it's not hard to figure this shit out. I think giving her a character trait of literally running to her big brother the Firelord anytime she feels slighted is pretty good, but of course it's never explored, because that's not a heroic trait and Kiyi has to be a hero for some reason unlike that irredeemable monster Azula who was born bad.

So nice of you to ask her first Zuko! Fuck's sake! Being Firelord has really gotten to this boy's head, like I know he has absolute power and all that shit but damn, if I was Mai, I would be wanting to get back with him less after this, not more, regardless of whether or not I liked the job in the end. Fucking consent, bro! (Previous page has him telling the headmistress she'll do it.) Unfortunately, this is actually not ooc for what we've seen of Zuko, honestly, imo. Mai, you can do so much better. Like, I ship Maiko. I love their dynamic etc etc. But girl. Respect yourself. This boy is NOT it at this point.

This is our continuing indication that they'll be rewriting the past in this comic, and we'd all better get on board. Zuko certainly thinks Azula treated him badly and has a very, "Zuko did nothing wrong!" approach to it all, but Mai was there for the vast majority of it, witnessed it with her own two eyes, so she would not react to that sentence with, "True." She just wouldn't. At least not the Mai we know. So let the assassination of Mai’s character commence!

Like, was this comic so half-assed nobody could be bothered to look up the spelling of Ukano's name? Yes. Yes it was.

Can I be made to believe Ukano said this to Mai when she was smol? Absolutely, yes. He's portrayed as a social climber and willing to utilize basically any route he can access to gain clout and influence. That's a man who is not above using his daughter in this way. I think it's somewhat implied by Mai’s dialogue in The Beach, even. Dude was a shitty father, Caldera was rife with them. Do I believe for one second Mai became friends with Azula because of this counsel? Absolutely not. The Mai we know thinks for herself 100% of the time, it's basically her thing.

Oh, cool, there's a 10 image per post limit. Well. I'll keep going in reblogs and indicate when I'm done. Bear with me, friends.

[daylightstring]

˖˚⊹ ꣑ৎ‎ my success stories so far

disclaimer: i’m posting this just for the sake of sharing my results and hopefully motivating someone 💕. the law is very, very real. it may take some time to fully understand it or make it ‘click,’ but with persistence comes success! no, these aren’t all of my success stories. i don’t want to attach photo results for these bc of privacy reasons obvi.

also, in the nicest way possible, pls don’t constantly message me about this. i am not a coach or anything of the sort, just a person who understands the law well but i still have a life of my own!

˖⋆࿐໋ i. fuller lips. i don’t want to post a before-and-after pic of this for privacy reasons, especially since my future will involve being in the spotlight (🙈). however, @aesaekki can vouch for my results.

what did i do? i listened to this subliminal and simply assumed that my lips were fuller! no ifs, no hows. my reality had no choice but to reflect that back to me. my lips are super full now, similar to aishwarya rai's!

˖⋆࿐໋ ii. airpods. this was probably my first ‘big’ manifestation, and it’s a bit old hahaha (back from my law of attraction phase). i saved a pic of airpods to my pinterest board and forgot about it tbh. i wasn’t even specifically manifesting airpods, but my brother gave me $150 in cash out of nowhere (which was a miracle in itself), and the second miracle was that the airpods went on sale for exactly $150 despite them being around $200 in my country. this was also when there was no sales happening.

˖⋆࿐໋ iii. different eye shape and face shape. i used to have an oblong face shape (19 cm), but now i have a heart-shaped face (around 15 cm)! my eyes were rounder before, but now they’re almond-shaped and much bigger. for this, i had a clear vision of my desired appearance and kept affirming that i already had it. i have a pinterest board called 'feautres' which helps me visualise. i listened to some subs on and off, but my main ‘method’ was just affirming.

˖⋆࿐໋ iv. getting into my desired university. this was a mix of manifestation and hard work! i love school and studied super hard, but my dream university was one of the best in my state, so even my studying might not have been enough. however, i am the exception to every rule. i got into my dream course, and uni has been amazing and honestly so easy so far! the day before acceptance results, my self-concept was super high, i kept reminding myself that i already got in. and i did!

˖⋆࿐໋ v. height increase, weight loss, model body. ok so i’m asian, and my whole life ppl told me i would be short forever. at some point, i internalised it. but after discovering the law, i realized that was just an assumption being forced on me. so i started assuming what i actually wanted!

i also improved my diet and worked out regularly, which definitely helped. i listened to specific subs for the height and weight i wanted. that’s pretty much it. i never beat myself up over this, nor did i ever feel disappointed. i just lived with the confidence that i already had my desired height and body.

˖⋆࿐໋ vi. quantum jumping for my identity shift. this is my favorite success story. i used to be painfully shy, and it wasn’t benefiting me in the slightest. i researched quantum jumping and decided, once and for all, that i was gonna change my entire personality.

i listened to some subs and meditations, which helped, but the real results didn’t come until i found this one meditation. and oh. my. god. i physically felt a bright yellow light pouring down on my body, and when i got up, my hands felt lighter (?). i don’t even know how to describe it.

after that meditation, my life has not been the same. i wanted a personality with the positive traits of blair waldorf, maddy perez, glinda, and jennie kim. that’s exactly how i would describe myself now. and having this new personality has definitely made manifestation easier bc confidence is the elixir for skillful reality creation.

that’s all i feel like sharing for now 💕

i have stories about manifesting money, sp’s, getting desired clothes but those aren’t that ‘major’ imo.

i’ve only been actively practicing the law for about five months. i have bigger manifestations in the works, and i’ll def post a major success story about my life doing a full 180° if i’m still on tumblr. but that’s not really something i want to happen right now hahaha.

again, i hope this motivates u, but pls don’t bombard me with questions about it, i have uni and other things to focus on! i love uuuuu

[fearlesschimera]

Friend, I made it!!!! 😂 I'm finally pain-free, so I can write without being interrupted by anything or anyone! ♥️

Let's start with the first part! The opening scene was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. It gave me all the John Wick vibes (I don’t know if you’ve ever watched the franchise, but John is Roman, Roman is John ♥️). Dwayne deserves all the flowers for his entrance, and the same goes for Jacob, who was more than effective! I know Roman still doesn’t fully trust him, but I think he will be a valuable asset ♥️.The part I loved the most was Matteo’s ambush on Luca— that surprise effect was so well executed!!!

And now, the sad notes: Jimmy 💔 I have to say, friend, I have never been more conflicted in my life. Jimmy has his rights and wrongs, and the same goes for Roman. At some points, I wanted to scream at Roman, demanding some kind of mercy, but then, once he touched on certain points, I couldn’t say he was wrong. Same thing for Jimmy. Jimmy lost so much as well! He lost Roman, his father, his brother, and his twin, too, and he’s the one I blame the least out of everyone. Yes, he knew something wasn’t right, yes, he said nothing, but at the same time, he wasn’t involved, and the same goes for Naomi. I appreciated that Roman decided not to tell the whole truth about Rikishi, but if they ever manage to fix this mess in the future, I think he should know—because, even if it’s painful, he needs to understand what kind of person his father truly was. Maybe I’m too soft, but if I were Roman, I don’t know if I’d have the strength to keep Jimmy distant, not forever. Roman is conflicted, which is why I can’t and won’t lose hope 🥺🥺

Standing ovation for the suffering you put Paul and Seth through, friend 😂 It’s hard to say who deserved it more, but personally, I think Paul is a cut above—he was so fake and slimy, the personification of a snake! This sentence was a plus : “So much for that spoiler.” I screamed 😂

Sad notes, part 2: Jey 😭😭😭 A part of me just wanted to slap him hard in the face, and that part wanted to applaud Roman for the physical pain he put him through, but the other part of me, friend… that part cried like a baby! He’s so guilty and naive at the same time. His pride, jealousy, and stubbornness? A lethal mix. If redemption is possible for Jimmy, it’s very different for Jey. He is to blame for his decisions, and sadly, he is to blame for his wife’s death as well—because all of this pain could have been avoided. Now, he will pay the biggest price, and his kids will, too. Solana, being the wonderful woman and human being that she is, obviously asked Roman to spare him, and I couldn’t agree more. I know Roman is moved by anger, betrayal and a broken heart and I’m sure his instinct is to kill him, but I’m not fully sure he would actually do it, even if Solana hadn’t asked. I know forgiveness is off the table (?), but I think Solana’s request was more for Roman’s mental well-being than anything else. Because I think Roman has a soft spot for Jey—despite the conflicts of the past, maybe he is more similar to Roman than he likes to admit. Jey broke a code, broke so many hearts, made mistake after mistake, but… it’s Jey, and it’s not easy… damn it! 😂😭

Friend, the problem is that I need to hug this man 😭😭😭The image of him being home, alone, missing Solana… AND DULCE! 😭😭😭 Roman loves that cutie pie of a dog so much 🥺🥺🥺 And I was so happy he decided to talk with Lita. I was scared that this distance from Solana, combined with this giant trail of blood, would shut him off again, but his progress isn’t completely gone 🥺🥺He misses his wife, and he needs to figure out what to do with Matteo! I’m glad he finally decided to truly acknowledge his presence in his life and the fact that he knows, deep down, that he can trust him ♥️. That man left his wife and kids, too, in order to help and protect his fratello ♥️ (I love seeing some Italian words here and there, friend 😍🥺😂).

I know you’re not going to say anything 😂 but I swear, if that “you know what” is what I think it is—something I requested a while ago… let’s just say I already know I’m going to get complaints from my neighbours for how loud I’ll scream 😍😍♥️♥️😂Roman is surrounded by love. The betrayal was huge, but so is the love he is surrounded by. Life is slowly giving him back everything he lost, and it’s so beautiful ♥️Some voids are impossible to fill, but this is definitely an upgrade ♥️

Now, the end… FRIEND, THEIR MOTHER IS ALIVE???? 😱😱😱 I’m speechless, I’m in shock! What the hell has she been doing all this time? Why did she abandon her sons? We already know she never really wanted, loved, or even liked Roman, but still… WHAT’S GOING ON??? 😱😱😱

Side note: amazing job with the face claim, friend 😍. I’m not the biggest Monica Bellucci fan… that's why she’s perfect for this role 😂😂 However, I do love Harrison Ford 😍

I already know this last chapter is going to be SOMETHING! I loved that this one focused on Roman and his state of mind, so I can already tell it’s going to be even worse reading about Solana—because she has a different kind of approach. She feels everything, she’s a woman, she’s pregnant… a very bad combo 😂🥺😭.

Friend, you are something special. You did wonderfully as always, and I can’t express how fortunate I feel to be a small part of this journey that you decided to share with all of us! ♥️♥️♥️

looking through your eyes + thirty eight | part one

authors note: see at end of chapter.

warnings: angst and graphic depictions of violence. gore. torture. not for the faint of heart.

story song inspo: ‘looking through your eyes’ by leann rimes

***gif credit goes to @romanreigns ***

cast+ masterlist +story playlist + taglist request form

words: 12k

"We need Tribal Combat!"

"There's no time for that! We need a leader now!"

"We need to follow the order of command!"

"What command? Roman is dead! There is no order anymore!"

"This is why he should have been dethroned a lot sooner! He left us no heir!"

"The child wouldn't be old enough to rule anyway!"

Aleki runs a hand over his haggard face. In a matter of weeks, he feels like he's aged another ten years.

He's getting too old to be dealing with this shit, and that's exactly what all of this is. A bunch of shit.

"Tribal Combat is the way our ancestors would handle a situation like this," he finally speaks. The situation being the fact that for the first time in his lifetime, the Bloodline is without a leader.

Roman is dead.

Solo is dead.

Roman left no heir, thus there is no clear path moving forward for what should occur. The past two weeks since the former Tribal Cheif's murder has been nothing but chaotic to say the least. Aleki is far too prideful to admit it, but a part of him blames himself. He should have known better than to trust Rikishi to get the job done. Should have known that just like he did years prior with Jey, he'd fall short.

Should have known his plan was not without holes. Holes that have left them in the mess they're in now. Allies demanding to know who is in charge, threatening to sever partnerships with a syndicate that boasts no formal, official leader.

A mess.

"And just how do we determine who is eligible for combat?"

Someone, another annoying voice, inserts their question among the mumbled conversations.

Another Elder handles the answer, offering, "it could be open to anyone."

Sione sighs, saying more to himself than anyone in particular. "Nakoa's bloodline has ruled for generations."

"And now his bloodline is all dead," Aleki counters. Cold. His voice and expression are as cold as the ice in his veins. "His son in his stubbornness has damned us to this mess." He gestures around the room, anger growing as he mulls over the situation. "We should have never allowed him to rule for so—"

His pending rant is cut short by the arrival of another attendee, which instantly has him scowling for two reasons.

One, all attendees who were allowed for this audience are present and accounted for.

Two, the identify of said attendee has him pissed.

"Dwayne." His voice is clipped. "This is a closed—"

"I don't give a fuck," comes the dismissive response of the man nearly insufferable as his late, younger cousin. Dwayne saunters over to an occupied seat, easily grabbing the seat by the back, yanking it out and knocking the person to the ground. A smug smirk sits on his face as he plops down and props his big ass feet on the table. Dwayne lifts the sunglasses from the bridge of his nose to the top of his bald head. "Oh, don't stop on my account."

"This doesn't concern you," Sione dismisses.

"Come on." The 'n' drags on as he props his hands behind his head. "I'm still Bloodline, aren't I?"

"You were apart of Roman's Bloodline, and he's dead now, so you have no place here anymore." Someone, an attendee whose name Aleki would never bother to know, counters with a huff. "Plus, where the hell have you been the past few weeks?"

Dwayne shrugs. "Around."

"Around." Someone else mocks. "Our empire in on the brink of collapse, and you've just been around."

"It's like candy ass small dick over here said." Dwayne gestures with his thumb. "I'm unemployed."

The insulted man slams his fist on the table, shooting up, "you smug son of—"

Dwayne quickly silences him by pulling out his Glock G-19 and shooting him directly in the temple, his lifeless body instantly dropping to the floor. Gasps sound around the table, Aleki angrily calling for security.

"You need to leave now!" He hisses. Aleki glances toward the door, wondering why the hell security didn't come barging in at the sound of a literal gunshot.

"See, I would, but I don't answer to you anymore." Dwayne replies in a significantly more serious voice. Gone is the nonchalant "devil may care" attitude. His big body shifts as he moves both elbows onto the table, gun still in hand. "I only answer to the Tribal Chief."

Aleki hisses. "Roman is dead. There is no Tribal Chief."

Dwayne's growing smile can only be described as sinister and predatory. Knowing. "You sure about that?"

Seconds later, not even a full minute, the sound of grunts and thuds from outside the conference room. The Elders and other attendees looking around in confusion.

Except for Dwayne.

He just keeps smiling.

And an almost thunderous sound is accompanied by two more unexpected arrivals. One significantly more unexpected than the other.

Jacob Fatu's unhinged, crazed look of insanity is accompanied by his big body throwing down two dead guards, their heads awkwardly and sickly hanging from their lifeless bodies. Snapped. Their necks have been snapped.

But, that grotesque sight is severely outmatched and borderline underwhelming compared to the inconceivable sight of a dead man walking.

Roman's hair is down and wild, his murderous gaze steady and focused forward. Brass knuckles attached to a chain are secured to his right fist. The table of men are suddenly in shambles, falling over and working to put as much distance between themselves and the man everyone has believed dead.

Again, everyone except Dwayne.

Aleki can barely compute what's happening before him. So much so that there's no time to react, no time to think, just a tremendous of pain that courses through his aged body. Because one minute, he's in his chair at the head of the table, and the next he's on the floor, an enraged Roman having slapped the heavy metal chain against his body.

The old man cries out in agony as the chain is whipped once more, cutting into his skin and laying heavy onto his already brittle bones.

"Please!" He begs, allotted a brief respite as Roman redirects his focus onto Sione and the other Elders, each being mercilessly whipped with the chains.

Punishment.

He's punishing them.

"You wanna take me out!" Roman's infuriated voice slams against the walls the same way he starts to slam his fists against the broken, bloodied men who sought to see him six feet under. "It ain't ever fucking happening!" Roman lands a bone breaking kick to the neck of one of the elders, killing him instantly. The next is killed not directly by Roman but by proxy, as he screams for Jacob.

Jacob, who grabs his gun and shoots out a window, marches over, snatching the man up, dragging him to the window and not wasting a second of a minute to toss him out of said window.

Onlookers watch in horror as one by one, Roman kills them all in various brutal ways. Suffocation. Slit throats. Snapped necks. A brutal beating with the brass knuckles. Various, violent methods and manners in which each meet an untimely, grisly demise. But, the best is saved for last. Aleki. A thorn in Roman's fucking side since he was a boy.

The older man is barely clinging onto life when Roman easily snatches that life away with each slap of the heavy chain, the brass knuckles slammed onto his face until it's disfigured beyond recognition. And finally, the severing of life is achieved via the slicing of the large hunting knife across his throat.

Heaving, splattered with blood, a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, nothing but adrenaline and unbounded rage soar through Roman. His lethal gaze falls on the room of people who've been forced to watch the gory bloodbath.

The faintest hint of a smirk on his face.

Good.

Dwayne whistles. "Well, if it isn't obvious, he's not dead."

Roman shoots his older cousin a glare. Dwayne simply shrugs while Roman tips the chair back over, kicking Aleki's body to the side, rolling the chair and sitting down.

And silence. A piece of lint could fall off the wrinkled shirt of the man sitting a few seats down from Roman, and it could still be heard.

Fear.

Fear fills the room and dances off the walls, surrounds the men who just witnessed a bloodbath unlike any.

And then, finally, a brave—or stupid—soul decides to take a risk. Take a chance. "You're….you're alive."

Roman's gaze easily flickers to the man whose wide, horrified gaze is focused on him, trembling finger pointing in his direction. "We—we thought—"

One nod toward Jacob, and the man is barely able to stammer out an "I'm" before his head is violently forced to the side, the sound of his neck snapping followed up with the loud thud sound of it dropping onto the table.

The men around him back and cower away, eager and desperate to escape the death that's already claimed their pathetic lives.

"I was betrayed." Is the first thing to leave his mouth, the word 'betrayal' leaving a bitter, disgusting aftertaste that has him craving more blood. Craving vengeance. "They tried to overthrow me. Tried to kill me, and they should have." Roman stabs the large knife into the table, almost certain he heard someone whimper, as if about to cry. As if they were already crying. "They should have because they killed my wife, and now there's no fucking place on this earth anyone can hide or escape my rage." Saying it aloud is more difficult than Roman anticipated. Playing along with this storyline where Solana is no longer among the living. The discomfort is only quelled by the constant reminder that she is okay. That she's safe and simply waiting for him to return to her after handling business.

And, that's exactly what he's going to do.

Roman digs the knife deeper into the wood. "When I'm done with everyone involved in this shit, the only thing anyone will be able to see is red, and that's the fucking blood I'm going to paint this whole fucking town with." Sitting back in the chair, Roman leaves the knife protruding from the table. "But, until then, I need you all to send them a message."

Another foolish, ignorant, naive soul decides to ask what will be the final thing to leave his mouth before he leaves this room. "Wh—what m-m-message, s-s-sir?"

And for the first time since his entrance, Roman offers something other than a menacing glare. He smiles, but there's nothing humorous about it. If anything, it's predatory.

"That I'm coming."

Similar to the onslaught Roman bestowed upon the now deceased Elders, it's quick and violent. Jacob and Dwayne work almost simultaneously, not killing, but maiming the men. Severed, bloodied pieces cut from bodies. Fingers, noses, ears. Nothing fatal. Just warning enough.

And, it's only when each men has been left with a mark, a sign of Roman's pending revenge, they're ushered and forced out the room. Jacob landing a particularly painful looking blow into the back of the last disfigured, partially dismembered man.

Rolling his shoulders, Roman doesn't even need to instruct them on what to do next. Dwayne is reaching for the laptop, ripping a shirt off one of the dead elders to use it to clean it of the blood. "Fucking disgusting," he hisses, throwing it down once its completed the job.

Roman's eyes cut to the clock on the wall. Right on time.

He's uncaring of his appearance, focused on one thing and only.

Blood.

Roman is out for blood.

As Dwayne works to get everything set up and synced to the large TV screen anchored onto the wall, Jacob stands off to the side, waiting, observing, protecting almost.

Roman would be lying if he said he wasn't skeptical when Solana first told him about Jacob.

Told him how he allegedly protected her and vowed his loyalty to Roman and Roman only, as he recognized Roman as the Tribal Chief.

The only Tribal Chief.

Told her how not everyone in the Bloodline was involved in the coup, and many were waiting for Roman to show up.

Truth be told, Roman is still trying to test that. Test Jacob. So far, he's proven useful, offering Dwayne and Matteo intel and information on those allegedly involved and those not involved.

He's a a hell of a body to have around, capable of the most violent desecration of people. Useful. He's useful, but only time will tell to what extent Roman can trust him.

Can trust anyone, really.

"It's ready," Dwayne announces. Roman breaks from his thoughts, rolling his shoulders once more, ignoring the throb. Solana would have his ass for all the physical exertion. But, it needs to be done.

The sooner Roman handles this, the sooner he can have her back home with him.

Right where she belongs.

Dwayne and Jacob move to take seats, both on opposite sides of the table but in view of the TV that also serves as a casting source. The television screen is then filled with the exact person Roman wants to see next.

"This is a fucking waste of time." Luca's irritated voice is heard, his irksome ass face focused on something beside him. It looks like he's signing something. "Without someone of Italian blood at the head of your table, we have no alli—"

He stops, finally turning to look at the screen, and if there was ever someone to be as pale as Casper the fucking ghost, it's Luca.

"Roman." He all but whispers.

The Tribal Chief remains stone face. "Luca." He tilts his head. "You look surprised."

The younger man stammers, eyes darting around, hardening slightly when he lands on Dwayne who offers a small, mocking wave.

He then narrows his focus back on Roman. Clearing his throat, trying to play off indifference, he straightens his tie. "We were told you were dead."

"Were you?" Luca makes a sound. "I suppose that would have made things a lot more easier for you, now wouldn't it?"

Luca glares. "Just what—"

"Don't fucking play with me," Roman growls. "Do you think I'm stupid? I know you've been trying usurp me. That you were behind that missing shipment. The hit that killed our men. That you sent my brother to spy on me. That you were working with them to kill me."

Roman refuses to name them. Refuses to have their names on his lips. They're not fucking worth it.

Luca, to the best of his limited abilities, tries to remain unbothered. "I don't know what you're talking about."

At that, Roman chuckles, smiling, looking down and nodding. "That's….that's good." Roman can give credit where it's due. Albeit a paltry amount. But, just as quickly as he was smiling, he's glaring. "But, here's the fucking problem, I'm better. I'm better than you. Better than anyone else in this fucking family. I've always been better, and I always will be better." Always. "And you know what else?" A beat. "I'm always three steps ahead."

Luca opens his mouth to respond, fire and fury dancing in his irises when commotion can be heard through the TV.

Roman smirks.

Luca looks to the side, once angered, now confused, and then disturbed.

Gunshots. It's the sound of gunshots.

He curses in Italian, barking orders at what's probably security.

Roman says nothing.

It makes no difference.

None whatsoever.

He just sits back in his chair, enjoying the sound of men crying out in pain, bodies dropping, bullets being emptied into now lifeless corpses.

Luca's clearly shitting bricks, perspiring, gun in his shaky hand. He calls out another order that's cut short by what sounds like the door being kicked open.

Gunshots ring once more, back to back, strategic and aimed.

Luca curses loudly, holding onto his shoulder where he's been shot.

And seconds later, the base of his neck is exposed as another figure stands behind him, forcing his head back, gun pressed to his temple.

Matteo

True to his character, Luca uses his dying words to curse at not only Roman but Matteo who stands with a smug expression, giving Roman only a simple nod of acknowledgment.

Roman smirks.

He sits back in his chair, voice calm and collected. A contrast to the mayhem just unleashed. "Luca." The man in question struggles and works to move out of Matteo's unrelenting grasp. "Take this free advice. If you're gonna go for the devil, you should go always go for the head, because if you miss." A quiet chuckle. "He sure won't."

A loud bang followed by blood and brain matter splattering the screen, partially obscuring the view of Luca's lifeless body slumped over.

Like a bug, Matteo shoves him away, taking the seat, seemingly unbothered by the blood that stains his clothes, hair, and skin.

"It's done."

"Good." Sitting forward, Roman's mind travels to the mental list curated. "Get on the first flight back here."

Matteo nods. "Will do." The connection ends, and Roman closes the laptop.

Looking around the room, he readies to order Dwayne to start seeing about replacements for the Elders council but ultimately decides against it.

It can wait.

He has bigger, important things to worry and focus on, like making his way down his infinite kill list.

The OTC is coming.

---------

There are many, many things on Roman's to-do list once he arrives back home. Many bloody, violent things. Lives to take, primarily.

But, while that remains near the top, there are other things that also require his attention. Things he'd moderately prefer to not have to do but things he needs to do.

It's what leads him a few days later standing outside of Jimmy and Naomi's house. One of his first of many stops during his "revival" tour of sorts.

But, the minute the door is ripped open, and Roman is standing face to face, directly across from Jimmy, a new influx of confusing emotions fill him. The same way they paint the face of his wide eyed cousin.

Roman can see the way Jimmy continues to grip the door so tightly that his knuckles whiten. "It's….it's true." Roman's jaw twitches as he briefly looks away. "You're…you're alive?"

"We need to talk," is Roman's response. He looks at Jimmy. "Can I come in?"

A delayed response is followed up with an almost distracted head nod as Roman makes his way inside of his cousin's home, a place he's been in countless times over his almost 40 years on this earth. But, this…..this has to be the first time where it's felt different. Felt off. Felt wrong.

"Where the hell have you been?" Jimmy breathes. Roman turns around to face him, seeing the shock and confusion melt away into a bowl of anger. "We thought you were dead, Roman. Almost everyone thinks you and Solana—" He stops himself, pausing, eyes widening slightly. "Wait, is she—"

A pause. Hesitation. The moment Roman wrecked his brain over and over again trying to navigate the best way to handle such a tricky, complicated, complex situation. Ultimately, Solana's words and recommended or requested approach taking front seat. "She's safe."

Once the words leave his mouth, there's a semblance of regret. Like, he wishes he had gone a different route. Almost like he wishes he'd continued to maintain the story being spread about the fate of his pregnant wife.

Jimmy places both hands behind his head, walking away just enough to blow out a big breath. "What the fuck, Roman?" He growls, walking back over and pointing upstairs. "You got any fucking idea how gutted Naomi and I been?" He scowls, the anger and relief clearly at odds. "Thinking you and Sol were—"

"I know what you thought," he interrupts, hating his own emotions being at war. "You thought what we needed everyone to think."

Jimmy swallows. "Even me?" Silence. He once again motions upstairs. "Even Naomi?"

Silence

He runs a hand over his face, and in that moment, Roman can see for the first time the toll all of this has taken on him. He looks drained. "Roman….I know….I know what happened was fucked up. I'm not denying that. But, to treat Naomi and I like this when we ain't even do nothing?" He shakes his head. "When I'm already having to mourn my brother and father—"

"The same people who tried to kill me?" Roman interrupts, his voice sharp and even. "The people who kidnapped and were going to kill my wife?"

"I know that, Uce—"

"Do you?" A pointed question, as anger starts to overpower everything else. "Cause you're acting like I did something fucking wrong—"

"You did!" Jimmy snaps. "You kept us in the fucking dark when we deserved to know the truth!"

"The same way you kept me in the dark?" Is Roman's almost quiet response. He sees the way Jimmy's anger twitches, how it's briefly interrupted by what Roman considers to be a valid point. "For years, your father was trying to get ya'll to challenge me, trying to turn you against me, and you never said anything. Never told me shit!"

"I told you, I didn't realize—"

"I don't give a fuck what you did or didn't realize. I had a right to know!" He needed to know. Roman needed to know that the same people he considered family, the closest thing he had left to a father figure, even with them never necessarily being super close, was plotting against him the entire time. "If you had just told me—"

"Then what? It would have changed something?" Jimmy shouts, also unwilling to back down like the man across from him. "Would have stopped all this from happening? Would change what happened—"

"I don't know!" A forced, short, angry response as the Tribal Chief turns away, running his hand over his face. This conversation is equally heavy as it is challenging. He wasn't stupid enough to expect anything about it to be easy, but Roman can't deny a small part of him hoped it would go….different. In what way, he's not entirely sure. Just something….not this.

"Uce, we can figure this out—"

Roman briefly turns to him. "Can we?"

And, when Jimmy doesn't respond immediately, doesn't respond at all, Roman realizes in one area of all of this shit, they're on the same page. They're both confused as to how to untangle this massive mess of betrayal, lies, and hurt. Because for Roman, it's not even the coup organized by the people he once considered family, it's the fact that he also has to come to grips with that same "family" was a part of the plan that cost Roman his entire immediate family.

Left him essentially alone.

In many ways, that's what hurts the most.

But, it's also something Roman has opted to not tell Jimmy. As much hatred the Tribal Chief holds toward Solo and Rikishi, he can still acknowledge that was Jimmy's brother and father. He won't complicate his cousin's grief.

Because Roman doesn't hate him.

Doesn't hate him at all.

He just can't trust him anymore, and he's not sure if and when that will change.

Which is why he settled on the decision he did. The decision he's ready to finally share.

"When Solana comes home, and she will come home, I don't want to see you."

Gaze focused on the wall art in Jimmy's living room, Roman doesn't need to be looking at his cousin to know he's floored. "W-what?"

He swallows, recalling the specific wording he decided on. "You're out of my inner circle. I'll have Dwayne find a position for you in the Bloodline when things settle—"

"Roman—"

"Solana can decide for herself what she wants her relationship with Naomi to be, but I don't want either of you at my house."

"You can't—"

"I can do whatever the fuck I want." Even if he's not entirely sure it's exactly what he wants. It's the best Roman can do under these circumstances.

All he can do.

That doesn't mean there's not the reappearance of that damn weight that's been on his chest ever since he had to leave Solana. Even before that, if he's being completely honest with himself.

"My decision is final, Jimmy." Because maybe sticking to the facts, or rather the stipulations Roman has decided to put in place until he can navigate a better solution might be helpful. Emotions are getting in the way of business.

Jimmy just looks at him, stares at him, unwilling or maybe even uncaring of how visible his many emotions are. "So, that's it?" Roman's jaw clenches. "After everything we been through, the good, the bad, the everything in between. Almost 40 years of friendship, of being family….." He swallows, emotion and vulnerability on full display. "You're like my brother, Roman—"

"But not a brother, right?" Silence. "That's why you didn't say anything."

It's a deeply rooted point of insecurity. One that Roman hasn't really allowed himself to think too much about since he was a kid. That feeling of being "not like them." Of feeling like he didn't necessarily "belong."

An outsider among his own blood.

"This isn't fair, and you know it," Jimmy finally responds. "You're punishing me, punishing Naomi, for something that we didn't even do."

Perhaps. The Tribal Chief won't entirely deny that. He knows he can be vindictive, and maybe some part of him does want to punish them in a way he can't the deceased. But, the vast majority of him only seeks to have a temporary solution in place to relieve him of all the other very many tasks on his plate.

And, the deep fucking truth of the matter is also something he won't allow himself to admit aloud but feels fully.

He needs Solana.

Roman needs his wife to help him sort through all of this. He needs her support. Her safety. Her sage wisdom and soft way of helping him navigate these things. So, until that can happen, this is what needs to happen.

Roman takes a deep breath. For as nice and big a home Jimmy and Naomi have, it's suddenly feels a lot more stuffy than he recalls. A lot less welcoming. His presence more…intruding than anything.

"I have to go." Both a truth and a lie. The day is practically just getting started, but time waits for the Tribal Chief. He could stay longer, could maybe talk things through with his cousin.

Problem is he doesn't want to.

Not right now.

Not for a while, most likely.

Roman is a bit unsure why he's some level of bothered by Jimmy not protesting his leave. It's what's best….

Right?

"You're going to do it, aren't you?" Roman's hand is halfway to touching the doorknob when he's hit with the question. The one he knew was coming but hoping wouldn't. The one that makes sense. "You're going to kill him."

His eyes shut.

Debated. Roman debated the hell out of and with himself to try to figure out how he would tackle that one. Of course, Jimmy would want to know that. Would want to know if another person will be added to the list of lost loved ones. Especially his brother.

Jey.

Roman also considered how to respond to this, how much he wanted to share, if he wanted to grant Jimmy some sense of peace with knowing the answer or grief with also knowing the answer.

Roman swallows once more.

And, he walks out the door.

-----------

The only way for Roman to decompress from his heavy conversation with Jimmy and all that will come from the decisions that have been made is to cope the best way he knows how.

Murder.

Roman needs to cross off another name from his hit list.

Two, precisely.

"Where the fuck are they?" Dwayne complains and swats away a pesky fly that seems to prefer to fly around and in his personal bubble. "Fucking hate the outdoors."

Matteo snickers. "So, you wouldn't accompany Afia, the kids and I on a camping trip?"

Dwayne just stares at him. "Do I look poor to you?"

Roman manages a chuckle and a thought of something else. About the sacrifice Matteo is also making by being here with him. Standing with him. He's also separated from his wife. From his children. Agreeing to no contact to help keep Solana being alive a secret.

Roman swallows.

He didn't really realize until just now how massive an ask that was.

And how Matteo never once hesitated to agree to join him.

The sound of a truck engine revving is a welcomed distraction and something that allows Roman to reorient his focus to the task at hand. Jaw clenched, he watches the ambulance come to an abrupt stop followed by the drivers door being flung open.

Jacob's large body drops down, his boots leaving imprints in the slightly muddy ground as he stomps to the back of the truck and snatches the door open.

Hate fills the Tribal Chief as he watches Jacob angrily and almost erratically yank the two hospital beds out the back, both participants crying out in pain as they tumble onto the ground.

But, the cries of pain from one ease into a sick, twisted, laugh.

Roman's stomp onto his neck effectively silences that laugh. Seth's brown eyes peer up into him, that deranged smile on his face causing Roman to lift his foot and stomp once more. Seth almost instantly coughs up blood.

However, it's wheezing from the rotund man on the ground a few feet away from the lunatic under him that snatches Roman's focus.

Carefully, slowly, he walks over, anger accompanying each step until he kicks Paul over, a loud howl leaving his former advisor's mouth.

Tears stream down his face that has a large bandage on the right cheek and other unhealed cuts around various areas. "Pl—please."

Roman growls. That damn word has easily become one of his least favorites.

Similar to Seth, Roman lands his boot down on the top of Paul's fat neck. As the man screams out in pain, Dwayne chuckles.

"I know that hurt."

It all must hurt, Roman realizes. Hurt tremendously. Good.

For the first time, he takes in the sight and state of the two men before him still in hospital gowns. Their legs and arms covered with bandages, peaks of red, burned skin peaking out, the lesser of their injuries minimal compared to the latter end of severe.

Severe…

Nothing will ever be severe enough for them.

Roman barks for a knife, and the minute he's handed one, he crouches down and begins cutting. Not just the bandage. The fresh, still healing skin graft underneath the bandages as well. The screams of pain are ear piercing and music to Roman's fucking ears.

Methodically, like a butcher mastering his craft, he cuts away, ignoring the blood and body matter that splatters and splashes his clothes, tossing the mangled, ruined patches of fleshto the side like trash to the can.

Around him, no one interferes, no one stops him, and no one damn sure responds to Paul's blubbering as he transitions between screaming, apologizing, and eventually begging for Roman to just kill him.

That last is definitely on the agenda. Just not yet.

Because, one he's done butchering victim one, he transitions to victim two. Seth. Seth's torture is the eerily the same, the maniacal laughing eventually melting into sobs of agony. But, he doesn't beg for death, doesn't beseech the Tribal Chief for mercy.

No, that doesn't come until Roman is handed the electric chainsaw.

It comes then. Screams and shouts of unimaginable pain as Roman saws off arms and legs, one by one, blood shooting and spurting out. Again, the man intent on making their last minutes on earth nothing but horrific, forever uncaring. It's satisfying in a demented sort of way, but Roman doesn't care.

They're getting exactly what they deserve.

Heaving and sweating from the exertion expended through the torture, Roman only stops when all that remains is exposed bone from where he cut off their arms below the elbows and their knees slightly above the knees.

He would have continued too, if not for the fact both men are starting to lose consciousness, and that won't do.

He wants them awake for as long as humanly fucking possible.

Especially for the grand finale.

Roman snaps, speaking to Jacob. "Douse em'."

An order that doesn't need to be repeated. As Roman lifts off his shirt that's caked in blood, pieces of bone, and human flesh, tossing it to the ground, Dwayne hands him a towel to dry off and remove some of the other unmentionables.

Jacob moves quickly and efficiently, pouring the gasoline all over what remains of Paul and Seth's carved up bodies. Drenches them.

And with a wicked smirk on his face, Matteo tops it off, tops them off with the cherry on top.

An accelerant.

He forces their mouths open, the sound of them gurgling and choking sounded out with a kick to the side of the head. It's effective, allowing him to empty the bottle that he tosses to the side.

"Done," he says, voice ice cold as he goes to stand beside Dwayne and Jacob. None of them showing even the slightest hint of disturbance. If anything, there's more of a pleased, satisfied aura.

Recognizing they've reached the end of the road, that the men are mere minutes away from unconsciousness—and death—Roman stalks over to them. Slowly. A predator enjoying the final moments of his prey's existence. Moments that must consist of pain beyond human comprehension.

He looks down, the sight grotesque and enough to evoke vomiting from anyone without a seasoned stomach, but Roman is anything but. The sight makes him smile. The putrid smell of exposed bone, organs, and extensive blood pleasing to him in every sense of the word.

A dark, quiet chuckle leaves his mouth. "So much for that spoiler."

Stepping back, his eyes dart between the both of them, studying and committing the grisly image to memory.

Gratifying, indeed.

And without much thought, he pulls out the matchbox, lighting two matches, each thrown onto the men.

Turning on his heel, Roman walks away, tuning out their screams of misery and suffering.

"Let's go." It's spoken to the three men with him as they head out of the forest and to their SUV's. Extracting his revenge on the two men grants Roman with a sense of relief. He's relieved to know those two fuckers no longer breathe, or will breathe, the same air as him.

But, as gory and sadistically satisfying as Paul and Seth's deaths are, it still doesn't dull or ease the mixed emotions that fill the Tribal Chief at the thought of his next task.

Arguably, one of the hardest he has to complete.

----------

There's one reason and one reason alone why Roman asks Matteo and Dwayne to be present for this.

One very valid, important reason that can't be ignored or pushed aside. It's not his preference though.

Not really.

This is so personal that it feels almost wrong to have other parties present, but Roman also knows himself. Knows that when he fully succumbs to that uncontrollable rage that dwells within him, he can't see or think beyond it. It totally and wholly consumes him. Controls him.

Thus….his need for a contingency plan.

Roman has his back toward the door that's flung open, the intensity causing nearby photos on the wall to shake. Roman sighs. As effective as Jacob can be, he's…..a lot.

The Tribal Chief turns around just in time to see one cousin throw down the man Roman also once considered cousin.

Considered family.

Considered to be a brother.

As prideful as he can be, Roman would never deny the fact that he could have done a better job with being less hard on the twins. Less…..him. But, the truth of the matter is that despite the frosty disposition and irritation that marred a lot of their interactions, no one but the three of them know what they've been through. The countless times they've had each other's back out in the field. Protecting and looking out for each other.

The times Roman looked out for Jey.

All those moments that have boiled down to and left them right where they are now.

Jey, on the floor before him, hands on the ground, his fiery gaze on the man he also once considered family.

And seeing it, seeing Jey be upset with him?

It pisses Roman the fuck off.

He walks toward his table and grabs the brass knuckles. Both pair.

"Get out." A command directed only toward Jacob who offers no protest, walking out the same way he came in, standing watch outside the door.

"Roman…"

Roman has completely tuned out the voice of either Dwayne or Matteo. He doesn't know nor does he care.

Roman lifts his foot, kicking Jey right in the face with so much force that his body jerks back violently.

"You son of a bitch," he growls, not wasting a second to pounce on top of him, aiming for his ribs first. Jey's' howl of pain drives his determination—and fury—and distracts the Capo from his own lingering pain. The injuries that have not yet fully healed, marginally due to the fact that Roman has done nothing but exert himself from the moment he landed back home.

He'd kept his promise and continued rehab, continued to follow the doctor's orders, but that was all in between carrying out violent, bloody, brutal punishments for every fucker who turned on him.

Including the one underneath him.

And thinking of Solana, thinking of how she's not here, not with him, it only deepens the color of red he sees.

It's all he sees.

The sound of Jey's ribs cracking and his fruitless efforts to push the enraged man off him only drive Roman to lift the man up and slam him against the nearest wall. Another brutal kick to his ribs. Roman doesn't care if every single one is broken.

He grabs Jey by the chin, squeezing, enjoying the way his face remains scrunched up in pain. "You broke up my Bloodline." Not the massive crime syndicate that Roman has spent the better half of his life improving and making it into the billion dollar empire that it is now. He's referring to the family component, the familial bond and connection they shared.

That Bloodline.

"My wife isn't here because of you, Jey. You understand?" Roman continues. A part of him wonders if anything, especially that, means anything to Jey. He's unsure if Jey knows that Solana is actually alive or if he even cares, because his wife is most certainly not.

And, it's that, Roman is sure, that fuels Jey's hatred. Has him, despite the brutal beating he's receiving, refusing to cower, to show any sign of fear. Just impenetrable defiance.

"I looked out for you, I spared your fucking life, saved your ass time and time again, and what do you do?" Another fresh wave of rage, as Roman slams Jey's head back against the wall, shouting, "you break up my fucking family!"

Again, double, maybe even multiple meanings, all with one heartbreaking conclusion.

It creates a brief fracture in Roman's anger, paves the way for a small glimpse of what lies underneath all of that fury that courses through his big body. "I would have never done this shit to you, Jey."

Because, he wouldn't. Because for all the bad things Roman is, how awful he could be, he would have never stooped so low. Would have never allowed whatever prideful feelings he was struggling with to lead him down a path that could only end in heartbreak. But, Jey did. His insecurities got the best of him, and it's cost him.

It's cost him dearly.

Because as far as Roman is concerned, Nicki's death is on him.

"So just…." Jey coughs up blood as Roman realizes at some point in his inner dialogue, he'd moved back to pounding Jey into the floor. "Just…do it." Roman stops and stares at him, his own chest heaving. "You wanna kill me…..fucking do it then, Uce. It's…it's what you want, ain't it?"

Bullshit.

Roman can see right through it, right through the paltry front he's trying to put up in the face of a true life or death situation. Stubborn as all outdoors, very much like himself, Roman knows that Jey loves his kids more than anything. He would never want to "leave" them.

Especially after what's happened.

He's calling Roman's bluff, and that pisses him to fuck off.

For more reasons than the man under him and the two before him can realize.

Roman closes his eyes.

"Please." It's the pleading nature of her voice as well as the borderline desperation in her eyes that has Roman struggling. Struggling with it all. "I know….I know what he did was wrong."

"It wasn't just wrong, Solana," he calmly counters. Roman is working hard to be mindful of his tone with her. The anger that dances and burning within is 100% not aimed or geared towards her. Whatsoever. "It was unforgivable."

She swallows. "I know." He shuts his eyes once more as she continues to gently massage his scalp with one hand, the other tracing his inked arm, carefully maneuvering the ridges of disfigured skin from his burn scars. "But, I'm not….I'm not asking you to forgive him, Ro."

"No," he murmurs, jaw flexing. "But, what you're asking is a lot fucking harder."

Solana moves closer, her hand traveling to his face. "Roman….his kids lost their mother." She licks her lips and shakes her head. "We both grew up without our mothers, and I know that your relationship with yours was…..complicated, but….mine wasn't and not having her…." Her eyes watering is something he can't avoid. Can't ignore. "No child deserves that, Roman, and you know it." His silence is all that she needs to continue. "Baby, I know I'm asking a lot from you, but….please don't kill him."

He's always said and "joked" about never being able to say no to her. But, this….this might be a first. "Solana…."

"Please, Roman." Her voice cracks as she leans up, her forehead against his, breathing. "For me."

Roman is returned to the scene before him, to the decision he'd made just this morning. A decision he's not sure how he'll handle moving forward, but it's one he's accepted as his final answer.

"I'm not going to kill you," he announces. Jey can't hide his surprise, and Roman would bet his cousin and brother mimic similar expressions.

He hadn't shared his decision with anyone until this very moment.

"And, the only fucking reason I'm not is because of the woman you almost got killed," he hisses. Jey continues to look dumbfounded. "But, you are fucking dead to me in every other sense of the word. You've got a fucking week for you and your kids out of the city. Your security access is revoked, your position with the Bloodline done. You are done."

Jey continues to look around, obviously struggling to process what's being said. Like, he hadn't expected Roman to actually kill him and yet still expected Roman to kill him.

"I never want to fucking hear or speak to you ever again, you understand me?" It's a watered down warning. It's all watered down, truly. Even the fact that Jey lays before him, potentially half dead, in need of medical assistance. It's not enough. Nothing will ever be enough, even if he took his cousin's life with his bare hands. And, Roman knows this.

Still, this has to be one of the hardest decisions he's ever made.

"But, if you ever fucking step foot in this town again, I don't care what Solana says, I'll fucking kill you. I swear it on Fetu's grave." A vow to carry out the act of vengeance, love, in all the irony, prevents him from completing.

It's solely Roman's love for Solana that stops him from killing Jey.

Nothing else.

Literally nothing else.

Roman's final declaration is accompanied by another stomp, this time to Jey's face, effectively knocking him out cold. Standing up and rolling his neck, Roman grimaces and grabs at his shoulder.

Way too much exertion. Not that it makes a difference.

Jey is just one of many he plans to visit today.

He looks over his shoulder, uncaring and unwilling to discuss what transpired. What's done is done.

Roman so casually, and coldly, walks over Jey's slumped, unconscious body and snatches his jacket off the hook behind the door. "Let's go."

Footsteps of the other two men follow him swinging the door open, Jacob standing at attention.

"Make sure he's gone by the time I'm back," Roman commands. What's done has been done, and while there's a tremendous amount of unspoken, unresolved issues between himself and the man he's just effectively banished indefinitely, it's not a task he's up for.

Not now.

Not ever.

Roman meant what he said.

Should Jey ever try to return to the city, Roman will absolutely kill him.

But, until then, he might as well already be dead.

Because he is to Roman.

---------

Following Roman's dramatic, bloody return from his supposed demise, he places the city on lock down.

No one enters, and no one leaves.

Armed guards, a mixture of verified Bloodline loyalists as well as soldiers from the Legado Del Fantasma, remain stationed at every entrance into the city, whether it be by land or harbor, to ensure that this order remains non-violated.

Roman intends for not a single fucker to escape his bloody vengeance.

And bloody, it most certainly is.

Nothing but unbridled rage courses through Roman's body as he spends the weeks making his way down his list eliminating target after target. Traitor after traitor. Life after life, taken.

Doors are kicked down, pieces of shit dragged out. Some granted quick death. Simple head shots that leave blood and brain matter splattered in the nearest vicinity. Some are tossed off of buildings, leaving their splattered remains for all to see. Some are used as examples. Their tortured, mangled remains tied up on display in the middle of the streets as both a reminder and a warning. A reminder of what happens to all who dare to cross Roman fucking Reigns, and a message to those who played in any role in the coup that he's coming, and he's coming for blood.

Roman has the city in a state of terror and fear. Families keeping their children in the house. Picking them up and dropping them off to school to avoid being caught in the cross hairs. A bit unnecessary, as despite Roman slipping back into that dark space that consumed him before Solana, his few morals remain the same. Women and children are off limits.

Neither of those groups are included in his hit list.

Everyone else though…..tough.

But, while the adrenaline that races through him fuels his revenge tour, that fuel of sorts easily melts away when he arrives home later in the evening. Arrives to an empty home. No sweet, delicious aroma of Solana's cooking to greet him. Or the pitter-patter of Dulce's feet as she races to the front door, eager to jump at and try to lick him but mostly just wanting to be petted and to have her belly rubbed. Being able to come up behind his wife, holding her, kissing her temple, taking in the feel of her body up against his.

Things he'd gotten used to.

Things he misses.

He misses a lot.

He misses her.

He thinks about her, about what she could be doing, about whatever pregnancy symptoms she could be experiencing, as he follows along via the app she'd installed on his phone. He checks daily, each time wondering about the swell of her stomach, imagining the excitement she must feel. Or, the sadness.

Because there is something undeniably sad about them not being able to experience this together. Something that was so important to her.

Important to him.

Being there with her to support her as she carries his children, their children, is important to him.

But….but, her safety comes first.

Their safety comes first.

Her absence is with him every fucking second of the day, though on the back-burner when the sun sits comfortably in the sky, and he has the distraction of his murderous rampage. But, when the sun is replaced with the moon, and he lays in that same bed where they've made love countless times, where she's laid on his chest, talking about her day. Where he's held and slept with her, rubbing her belly, allowing himself to feel genuinely happy for a long fucking time.

All of that is soured and dampened by the cruel reality. Solana is not there. Dulce is not there.

She's not with him. They're not with him, because of them.

And then the rages builds up all over again.

It's a vicious, cruel cycle. One that he can't escape. One that leads him to the place he wasn't expecting or planning to visit anytime soon.

Too difficult.

But, necessary.

"Not gonna lie…." Lita trails off, shifting in her seat. It's one of the few times he's noticed she's not almost casually lounged, legs tucked under her. She's sitting with both feet planted on the ground, a small frown on her face. "Believing you to be dead only for you to show up with quite the return….and now having you in front of me, I'm not quite sure where to start except to tell you that I'm so sorry about Solan—"

"She's not dead."

Silence.

Lita, for all her expertise and experience, can't hide her shocked expression. "What?"

Roman looks away. Just as he battled with whether or not to tell Jimmy the truth about Solana, he experienced the same battle regarding just how honest he wanted to be with Lita.

That's not to say he doesn't have a host of other issues he could probably, definitely, benefit from talking and working through with her.

Like the two panic attacks he's had since returning home.

Or, the several nightmares that have awoken him from the little sleep he has received. The nightmares that started when he was in the hospital in Mexico. The reason Solana refused to go home and leave him alone, staying and sleeping with him. Comforting him.

She's his comfort, and not having her has him six different shades of fucked up. On top of the pre-existing level of fucked up-ness he is on any given day.

If there was any doubt in his mind before just how codependent Roman is with his wife, this whole experience has successfully zapped it all away.

Still, that doesn't take away from the fact that Solana isn't here, and he's not okay, so he needs to find a way to get his shit together.

And, the woman before him is his best bet.

It didn't take much research and digging to realize Lita had no connection or involvement with the coup, thus eliminating her from the hit list. But, there's still this overwhelming importance of only keeping Solana's true status a secret from anyone who doesn't need to know.

And, while Roman wouldn't consider Lita someone who needs to know the truth, it would help him a hell of a lot considering the whole reason he's sitting before her.

Plus….while Roman isn't sure just what trust means to him anymore, he trusts that if she didn't know before, the bodies dumped in the streets, should be all the reminder of what happens to anyone who crosses Roman fucking Reigns.

"She's….she's in hiding. Safe." He clarifies, not willing to offer much more than that. "I'm not bringing her back home until I'm sure it's safe to do so."

"I see…." Lita trails off once more, slipping into her usual sitting position, legs tucked under her. For some reason, it makes Roman feel slightly more relaxed. "It all makes sense, then."

He eyes her. Skeptical. Cautious. "What do you mean?"

She takes a deep breath. "Roman, I don't….I don't fully understand how all the crime shit works, but I know and have heard enough to know that you were betrayed, Solana was kidnapped, and my guess would be that they tried to kill you both." He says and offers neither agreement or disagreement. "I can understand why you're so angry and why you've been on a murder spree, making the town look like something out of a horror movie, but it's….it's deeper than that." She tilts her head, assessing in a low voice. "It's even more personal, because she's not here….you don't have her with you, and that's….difficult, I'd gather."

He looks away once more, fist forming at his side. Roman's voice is also low and quiet, as he admits aloud for the first time, "I'm not….I'm not used to it." He swallows, pushing back the pride, knowing he needs to talk about this. To unload at least one thing on his plate. "I'm not used to….to being without her."

He doesn't really know how to function properly and normally without her. Just knows how to channel all of that frustration in his killing and torturing.

"I'm sure," Lita murmurs.

"I—" He struggles, the word a tremendous weight that weighs him down to the point of needing release. "I miss her."

Lita presses her lips together, voice sympathetic. "Are you….are you able to spe—"

"No," he interrupts, voice gruff. "We're no contact to ensure her location can't be tracked."

"I see." She's quiet for a few minutes, eventually and gingerly approaching all of the other shit Roman now has added to his collection of baggage. "I've also heard that….that you were betrayed from the inside. That it was….some of your family members."

"They were never my fucking family," he growls. Roman has shifted from that place of vulnerability to that stainless steel wall of defense. "And don't fucking call them that."

"My apologies." She nods, recognizing that the extent of his regression might be more than she realized. Understandable though. Completely understandable. "Can I ask you something?"

His hesitation is noticeable. "What?"

"With Solana gone for the time being, who do you have?"

It's a delayed response. The question requires contemplation.

"My cousins, Dwayne and Ava," he finally answers, and for the first time, in a long time, Roman allows himself to be honest about the very thing he's avoided for years. Tried to pretend wasn't a thing. But, it is. And, it's been more than proven in the past few weeks. "And Matteo….my brother."

This time, Lita expertly shields her surprise at yet another shocking confession. "Your brother?" He says nothing. Expected. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a sibling still living."

Tense and partially uncomfortable, Roman nods. "It's….complicated."

"I bet," she murmurs. "Do you…do you want to talk about it?"

No. He doesn't want to talk about anything. What Roman wants to do is be with his pregnant wife. He wants to not have to deal with any of this shit. Wishes it never fucking happened in the first place, but it did, and now he's here trying to use a dollar store mop for a rainfall of issues.

But….

But, in this midst of this storm of epic proportions, there have been some glimpses of….something.

Like the fact that Roman can't and won't continue to deny something he's spent his whole life avoiding. Trying to avoid.

That he has a brother.

That despite all off the bitter feelings of resentment and jealousy toward the man that got the same short end of the stick that he did, Matteo has more than proven himself to be someone Roman can….can trust.

Such a difficult, virtually impossible thing considering what happened, the depth of the betrayal, but the truth of the matter is that Matteo and so many others showed up when Roman needed help the most.

Needed his brother.

It's why he's decided to stop denying the truth and maybe, just maybe, himself.

Roman shifts in his seat. "I've…I've realized that….I should…probably try to form some kind of relationship with him." Because, it's time. "It's what Solana thinks I should do, and….one of my aunt's dying wish that I….make things right with him."

"Sure." A pause. "But, what about you, Roman? What do you want?"

A lot of things. The biggest thing? His wife back home with him, so he could have her by his side as he works through all this shit. But, that's not an option. It's not an option, and he has to learn how to be without her for the time being.

Has to learn how to navigate the waters closest to him.

No matter how much he hates it.

"I—I—" He also hates this fucking stuttering and stammering. It's so unlike him. "I don't know how….how to go about that."

An almost embarrassing admission but a truth, nonetheless. Solana is good with these sorts of things. Not him.

Lita keeps a contained smile. Regression has certainly occurred but not, perhaps, as much as she initially believed. There's something there she intends to grab and hone in on as much as she can while still acknowledging his already complex treatment plan just got significantly more complicated.

"Well….." She starts, standing up and walking over to grab the infamous box of Giant Uno off her bookshelf. "Murder and mayhem, I don't know, but that…." Trailing off, she takes a seat, offering another small, patient smile. One step at a time. "—That I can certainly help you with."

----------

"Ya know," Ava starts, lifting her beer from her mouth after taking and swallowing a decent ass amount. "I'm a little offended none of you fuckers have invited me along for the kill tour."

Dwayne chuckles, the beer in his hand looking significantly smaller than it actually is due to his big ass overall size. "Didn't realize that was your thing, cuz."

"Psshhh." She makes a sound, leaning back in the chair, lifting her middle finger to the sky. "They came after our family. Of course, I want my pound of flesh."

Matteo's smile is small as he traces the mouth of his bottle. "Well, there still remains a few outliers we haven't caught."

Being reminded of that makes Roman scowl as he tightly squeezes the bottle in his hand.

Despite his shutting down the city, a few bitches were perhaps smart enough to get the hell out of dodge when they realized Solo was also dead. When they realized that while Roman had been "eliminated," not having the protection of the men who led the charge meant their fates were left up in the air.

So, they ran.

Not that it's made a difference. Roman has accompanied Dwayne on various trips to other states where the Bloodline has locations, where tips from traitors who were dumb enough to stick around and ended up singing like canaries from a little bit of torture. Or, if Roman doesn't accompany Dwayne for said trips, Matteo does.

They're smart enough to know it's not wise for all three to leave the city at once. Not when they're working to restore order and balance.

A process that's…..going, which is good, but it's still going, which is the problem.

It's been two weeks, and they're still not there. At that point where Roman can bring his wife home, and that….that's been rough, to say the least.

It helps to have the people around him, but even them combined together don't equate even half of the comfort and relief his wife provides him.

"Good," Ava replies, smiling craftily. "Save some for me, then." She then gasps, looking around the room. "Has big ears told you what we came up with for you know what?"

At that, Roman rolls his eyes, but he can't ignore the skip and leap of hope that dances within at the shift in topic and conversation.

"Hopefully, you did most of the thinking, cause Lord knows this man ain't got a romantic bone in his body," Dwayne scoffs, gesturing to Roman who only scowls in response.

"I'd argue there's maybe one there." Matteo shrugs. "Or, half of one."

Ava snorts. "More like a quarter." Roman flips her off, something she entirely ignores. "Anyway, so here's what we came up with…."

As Ava moves into specifics, excitement painting her face and accompanying her hand gestures as she almost illustrates what they, what Roman primarily, intends to do for his wife upon her return. A plan months in the making, marked and interrupted by several setbacks but something he's ultimately decided to follow through with.

Roman tunes them out to a certain extent, focused less on the conversation at hand and more the people.

In under a year, his life has taken such a turn. Many unexpected turns. He's gained and lost, lost and gained, gained some more, lost some more, and started all over. Overwhelming in a lot of regards, especially considering the latest chapter has easily been the most traumatic.

But, there's also something else he can't deny. Something he's been working on in therapy with Lita, that he'd love to be able to talk with Solana about, but something he can't really deny, nonetheless. Even if he wanted to.

He's gained such a loyal, strong inner circle. People who, if he continues upon the path of honesty, have always been there for him. It's just been him, Roman, who's kept that wall up.

The wall that, according to Lita, kept the "bad" people out but also kept the "good" people from getting in.

She wasn't wrong.

Roman has spent so many years pushing people away, only letting a select few close to him, and while a few of those select few have caused him an insurmountable of pain, hurt and trauma, there still remains the fact that he still has people he can trust.

He still has family.

Even more, Solana's several statements regarding as such return to the forefront of his mind.

"The girls deserve to have a big family who love and support them, Ro."

Solana was also right.

His family might look slightly different now, but they're still family.

"I—" He cuts in, interrupting the conversation among the three regarding that. Equally important but not as germane as what he wants to say. Needs to say, really. "I want to thank all of you."

"Hell hath fucking frozen over." Ava scoffs. "Did you just…..thank someone?" She smirks, crossing her arms, head tilted. "I didn't think you were capable of that shit. Not unless it's Solana."

Roman scowls, but he doesn't disagree. "Are you done?" She rolls her eyes and lifts her hands in a defensive manner, signifying her silence. Roman shifts in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable with the three sets of eyes on him. "I know I….I'm not the fucking best with this shit, but I….I do appreciate the three of you. What you've done…..for me." He primarily looks between Dwayne and Matteo. "Especially you two….you saved my life." He swallowed. "I don't….I don't take that lightly."

"You better fucking not," Dwayne shakes his head, sipping some of his beer. "I don't risk my life for just anyone."

"And, you're not just anyone, Roman," Matteo adds, his tone more on the serious side. Sincere. "You're family."

"We're family," Ava corrects, looking among the men. "A dysfunctional ass family of killers and shit ton of trauma but family nonetheless."

Roman chuckles. "Yeah…." He clears his throat, carefully trying to balance vulnerability with some element of business. "Matteo…." His brother looks his way, eyebrow raised. "You said you trust Vinci, right?"

Vinci. The man who assisted Matteo in making his way back to Italy without the Administration finding out, allowing him the element of surprise needed to carry out his hits. A man who, according to Matteo, has worked hard for and with him for over a decade.

He offers no hesitation, just a nod of confirmation. "With my life." Skepticism is raised. "Why?"

A bit of a delayed response, because that damn trust thing. Roman isn't sure how he's supposed to trust anyone outside of the group of people who helped him ever again, and while this Vinci fucker isn't anyone he knows, Matteo does. Matteo is vouching for him, so that has to be enough.

For now.

"We'll need someone we know we can trust to handle business over there." At that, he and Dwayne share questioning expressions. "Because I need you two stateside with me."

Matteo is the first to respond, that skepticism still looming. "Yeah?"

Roman rolls his neck, explaining. "I….I need people around me I know I can trust." A survey of the gatherers. "And outside of Solana, I don't know anyone I trust more than the people in this room."

Ava sits forward, seeing her cousin's gaze on her. "Wait…." She lowers her beer, small smile growing on her face. "You're inviting me into your inner circle?"

Roman nods. "You may be a pain in the fucking ass majority of the time, but you're smart. Loyal. I know I can trust you, and I know you'd be a valuable asset."

"Hell yeah, I would." She agrees. "Some estrogen to tamper down all that testosterone would probably do you all some good."

Roman doesn't entirely disagree. He just continues to share the tentative plans he's been mentally mulling over since returning home. "I'm also….I'm considering including Escobar."

"Escobar?" Dwayne's look of skepticism sure. "Brotha, you sure you didn't hit that big ass head of yours at some point?" A sarcastic question, of course, but there's also a hint of truth. "You hate Escobar."

"Dumbo hates everyone. What else is new?"

Roman ignores Ava. Her being on his council will be….an adjustment, for sure. "I did, or I do, but….I can't deny what he did, and Lopez wants him to be the liaison between us and the Cartel, so it only makes sense to include him. In some things. Not all."

"Isn't he technically your in-law as well?"

"Don't remind me," Roman mutters, trying to wipe his brother's valid but irritating reminder from his mind.

"I hate to break it to you, Roman, but it seems Solana's maternal side of the family is….large." Matteo's comment doesn't help, but it's not meant to. Meant to remind The Tribal Chief that his future is most likely filled with forced interactions with….people. "It might benefit you to get used to….large family functions."

"Make sure that Stephanie girl is there."

Matteo frowns. "Did she not tell you, not so eloquently, might I add, to fuck off?"

"Sure did." Dwayne answers. Proudly, almost. "I'll wear her down."

"Oh my God." Ava rolls her eyes, standing up and heading to the kitchen. "I need another beer."

"I'll join you," Dwayne announces.

"Please don't," she objects. Not that it makes a difference as he says something about warming up a slice of pizza.

Their departure leaves Roman and Matteo alone. A blanket of silence befalls them. One that has Roman moving around in his seat, eager to down the rest of his beer. In the madness and chaos that's thrived and consumed his life in the wake of fixing everything, this evening of just….calm, of normalcy, is appreciated.

Needed, even.

"So…." Matteo starts, placing his beer down on the coffee table. "Your inner circle…"

The younger man nods, stroking his beard. "Well, there are openings now."

While Roman is dead serious, Matteo laughs quietly, shaking his head. "I bet there are."

For the Elder council as well, but that's also being taken care of. Another task Roman is overseeing with the help of his cousin and the man before him.

"Thank you, Roman." Matteo's voice has shifted to a serious, solemn tone. "I don't take the honor lightly. Especially after what's happened…."

Roman says nothing initially. Just nods as something unfamiliar and indescribable fills him. Emotion, maybe? Some form of it, perhaps. He just knows it's partially settled by the conversation he had with Lita about this.

One step at a time.

"You've earned it." Is the response he settles on. The latter portion of his response a bit difficult for him to share but a truth, nonetheless. "Besides, it might be kind of hard for us to work on this….brother shit, if you're on the other side of the world."

While it's not the first time Roman has referred to Matteo as his brother, it's certainly the first time he's verbalized it in an accepting manner.

Especially in front of Matteo whose small smile can only be described as one of relief.

And joy.

Happiness.

"I suppose you're right, fratello," he hums. "I suppose you're right…"

Fratello

Brother.

And for the first time, Matteo's use of the word doesn't anger Roman. Doesn't pick at a long-term, never healing, always open, fresh would.

It feels relieving.

Healing.

---------

Despite an evening of relaxation and camaraderie, the next day brings about more work. More shit to work through.

"So…." Matteo starts as the two walk into Bloodline Headquarters, Dwayne planning to meet them later in the day, tasked with carrying out a side quest for Roman. "Who are we killing today, fratellino?"

Little brother.

Again, no irritation. No vexation. Just….the calm.

"Depends on who pisses me the fuck off," Roman mutters, and the two brothers share a small laugh and chuckle that's almost instantly washed away from both the minute they walk into Roman's office to see someone already waiting, sitting in Roman's seat.

Roman's fist forms at his side. Alicia's days are fucking numbered.

"You got a minute to tell me who the fuck you are, and maybe I won't blow your brains out just yet."

The man smiles. Older. Very old. His face reveals that he's seen decades of this world past him by, his eyes filled with countless stories of mischief and mayhem. A smirk on his face accompanies him standing, revealing a height rivaling Roman and Matteo's. He comes to stand in front of Roman's desk, leaning back with his arms crossed over his slim build.

"Well, I'll be damned." His voice is thickly accented. Familiar. Italian. "Can't say I ever saw this shit coming."

Roman is ready to kill the old man and be done with it, but Matteo grabbing his arms stops him from adding to his never-ending kill count. Roman looks over to see Matteo's head turned slightly, studying, observing, but something else. Something unfamiliar. Alarmed. He looks alarmed.

Roman frowns. "What?"

But, Matteo says nothing. Not to his brother, at least.

"Nonno?"

And, at that, Roman's gaze shifts back and forth, quickly, between the two men.

His chest tightens, asking again, but for a completely different reason. "What?"

Gaze on the old man, Roman sees how he simply raises his chin, offering a nonverbal response. And confirmation.

Only then does Roman see it. The slight but now visible similarities between not only Matteo and this man, but himself and the man.

In all of them.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Matteo speaks in Italian, his voice even, the former shock and confusion easing into a coldness that Roman often feels and see in himself.

"Well." The older man makes a sound, rolling his shoulders, face turned up in a brief grimace. "Given all that's happened the past few weeks, we realized it was time—"

"We?" Roman cuts in. It's the first thing he's said to the man he now recognizes the same way Matteo does.

His nonno.

Their grandfather.

This is their maternal grandfather.

"Hi, boys..."

Another voice speaks, but this time, this time there is no word to describe just what courses through either of the brothers as they turn around in almost perfect synchronization. Initially guarded and partially alarmed, that's punted away the minute their sight confirms what the auditory already knew.

Roman doesn't get disturbed often. If ever. It's not in his character. Matteo's neither.

But, it's a miracle that neither man stumbles back at the sight before them.

She stands in the doorway, an expensive, beautiful, intricately designed scarf over her head, tied under her chin. A wrap that slender fingers with disfigured looking skin slowly moves to undo, allowing it to crumple in her hands. She swallows, the lines on her face prominent as she frowns, her familiar light brown eyes bouncing between the two stunned men.

The weight on Roman's chest has grown to an unbearable amount, so much so that it prevents him from speaking. From thinking. From breathing, it feels like.

No, Matteo is the one that finds the wherewithal to speak the word Roman can't find in him to verbalize.

"Mom?"

------

welp. do ya'll agree with roman's decisions regarding jey and jimmy?

also, yes.....matteo and roman's mother is still alive.

reminder: next chapter is the last one.

[godricgryffinsnore]

A Tipsy Heart And Tender Arms ♡ : A Remus Lupin Fan Fiction.

pairing : Remus Lupin x female!reader

summary : After a night out, you come home slightly tipsy and full of uncontainable love for your beautiful boyfriend, Remus. Your drunken adoration leads to an onslaught of kisses, squished cheeks, and dramatic confessions of affection. Remus, ever so gentle, takes care of you, changing you into comfy clothes and holding you close as you both drift off to sleep.

warnings : Slight intoxication (reader is tipsy but happy), Excessive fluff and sweetness (may cause spontaneous swooning), Dramatic declarations of love (because why not?), Remus Lupin being the softest, most patient boyfriend alive. Please let me know if I missed any.

author's note : English is not my first language, so please forgive me for any grammatical errors or spelling errors. Re-blogging is completely fine with me, but please don't copy my work. I love you all. Enjoy <3. This is a drabble, i.e., an extremely short fan fiction.

Word Count : 1.1k

main master list <3

banner : @uzmacchiato and @roseschoices

The door creaked open with a soft whimper, letting in a sharp gust of night air that made the candles flicker and cast long, trembling shadows along the wooden floor. The room smelled faintly of old parchment and cinnamon tea, the fireplace offering a dim, golden glow that painted the walls in sleepy warmth.

And then there was you.

A beautiful mess.

You stumbled in with your shoes barely clinging to your feet, hair windswept and wild, and eyes glassy with the kind of joy that only came from one-too-many drinks and good company. Your cheeks were rosy, glowing with laughter still clinging to your lips. You clung clumsily to the doorframe for balance, and for a moment, you simply stood there, swaying slightly, your eyes landing on the man sitting quietly on the bed.

Remus.

God, Remus Lupin.

You sucked in a dramatic gasp, eyes going comically wide, like you’d just spotted a mythical creature in your bedroom—a celestial being, a thing too beautiful for this world.

“Remussssss,” you breathed in reverence, the ‘s’ dragging out like you were trying to cast some drunken spell with his name.

He looked up from the worn book in his hands, the faded pages folding slightly beneath his fingertips. His sweater sleeves were pulled over his knuckles, the soft candlelight turning the threads a buttery gold. His hair was tousled from absentminded fingers running through it—messy, windswept, and effortlessly perfect.

Your jaw dropped. You stared at him as if he were made of moonlight and poetry and everything ever written about beautiful, tragic men.

“Oh. 𝑂ℎ, 𝑛𝑜,” you slurred softly, staggering forward with both hands pressed over your heart in mock agony. “You can’t be serious.”

Remus blinked, bemused. “I’m not, actually. That’s my brother.” His lips twitched with a tired grin.

But you weren’t laughing. No, you were utterly and tragically serious as you staggered toward him, wide-eyed and starstruck. You pointed a trembling finger at him, stumbling slightly but determined, as if you were making some grand declaration.

“You’re too… 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥,” you wailed softly, almost heartbroken by the realization. “It’s so unfair. How dare you?” You let out a breathy, dreamy sigh, your eyes misty with affection.

Before Remus could respond, you practically launched yourself onto the bed, knees landing with an ungraceful thump against the mattress as you clambered over to him. The book tumbled from his hands, but he barely had time to react before you were on him—straddling his lap and cupping his face with both hands like you were holding the very sun itself.

“𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛,” he chuckled softly, his hands instinctively finding your waist, fingers steadying you.

But you were far too gone to be steady. You squished his cheeks together with both hands, causing his lips to pucker slightly. Your eyes narrowed in playful accusation as you leaned in.

“Why… are you like this?” you slurred dramatically, nose brushing against his, your words drenched in love-drunk wonder. “How are you even 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 to look this good? Who gave you permission?”

He let out a soft chuckle, voice low and hoarse from the day, but before he could answer, you were peppering his face with kisses—soft, clumsy, adoring kisses.

“Too—” smooch “—pretty.” kiss “So stupidly—” peck “—pretty,” you babbled breathlessly, your lips fluttering against his freckles, his cheeks, his eyelids. You kissed him with all the love-drunk reverence of someone trying to etch the feeling of him into their skin.

Your lips landed sloppily on his jaw, and you pulled back slightly to stare at him, a wobbling pout on your lips. “I swear to Merlin, Remus Lupin,” you mumbled with intense seriousness, your eyes wide and glassy, “I want to 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞.”

A startled laugh burst from his chest, but you weren’t done. No, you were far too impassioned, clutching at his sweater as if you were about to deliver some heart-wrenching sonnet.

“Like… I want to… to just—” you squinted, struggling for the words, “—eat you. Not in a weird way. In a like… 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐞 way. Like—” your voice dropped into an intense, stage-whisper, “—if I could, I would keep you in my pocket forever. Little pocket Remus.” You held your thumb and forefinger together as if imagining him tiny enough to carry with you.

He was grinning so hard his cheeks ached, eyes soft and crinkled at the corners as he watched you, utterly endeared. You were still rambling, voice slurred and sleepy, head drooping slightly to his shoulder.

“Gotta… gotta keep you safe,” you murmured against his neck. “You’re too pretty for the world. Can’t let anyone steal you. Gonna have to fight everyone. Even Sirius. Especially Sirius.” You huffed in mock outrage.

Remus shook his head softly, pressing a kiss into your hairline. His hands were steady as they slipped under your shirt, warm palms guiding the fabric upward.

You blinked sluggishly, watching him with bleary, unfocused eyes. “𝐌𝐫. 𝐋𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧,” you drawled, voice slurred and lazy, “are you… undressing me?” Your lips curled into a wobbly, mischievous smile. “𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬.”

He snorted softly, voice low and amused. “Just changing you, love. That’s all.”

You made an exaggerated gasp, eyes wide with mock outrage. “Remus John Lupin, are you 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐞?” you accused, blinking slowly, your grin lopsided and cheeky.

“Oh, absolutely,” he deadpanned, lips twitching with a smile, gently guiding your arms through one of his oversized sweaters.

You let out a loud, delighted gasp when you recognized it. “𝐎𝐡!” you squealed. “𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫!”

Remus quirked a brow. “𝑀𝑦 sweater.”

You clung to the fabric, burying your face in the collar. “𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞,” you mumbled stubbornly, your voice muffled against the wool.

He smiled softly as he tugged back the covers, guiding you into bed with steady hands. You flopped down heavily, nuzzling into the pillows with a dramatic sigh. When he slipped in beside you, you immediately curled into him, your arms winding around his middle, tangling your legs with his.

“𝑀𝑦 Remus,” you slurred sleepily, voice barely a murmur against his collarbone.

A smile so soft it barely existed tugged at his lips. He pressed a lingering kiss to your temple, his hands splayed protectively over your back, holding you close—his heart beating steadily beneath your palm.

“Yeah,” he whispered into your hair, voice soft and full of devotion. “Your Remus.”

You let out a tiny, content sigh, your breath warm against his skin, and in that moment, nothing else in the world existed. Just you, curled against him, safe and sound, in the arms of the man who loved you more than he knew how to say.

And with a final, sleepy, love-drunk sigh, you drifted off to sleep, held against his heartbeat.

[bengals-barnesbabe]

boys night has some perks…

You were there when the ‘Step Brothers’ Group FaceTime call happened. Andrei jumped up upon seeing Gesicki’s signed contract, Charlie was already yelling ‘I told you so’s’ and Chase was just happy to be included.

You heard their plans to celebrate and knew they were gonna have the ultimate boy’s night. And you didn’t bet an eye when Andrei kissed you goodbye.

Why? Because your island boyfriend is very predictable and precious when he gets drunk.

Andrei’s only smoked a handful of times around you, he prefers to be high on life. But when he goes out, best believe the drinks are flowing.

You only attend this parties if you know Mike and Chase’s wives are gonna be there. But Andrei said it was strictly the core four. And you had no problem with it.

Because Andrei’s amusingly loyal and turns into the biggest simp when he gets drunk. It usually only takes 3 full drinks or 5 shots to get him to that point. And boy is it entertaining.

So about an hour after he left, you were sitting in the couch watching a ridiculous comedy when he started calling.

Upon answering it was loud, you knew there was a party bus involved but you could not tell where exactly he was.

“Hi baby. How’s the party, Drei?”

“Babyyyyy, my perrrfect island princess…”

You giggle as he draws out her name drunkenly. “Yes my cocobutt?”

Andrei’s cute laugh comes through easily. “Haiiiii…”

“Hi handsome, are you having a good time?”

“Oh yeah! The best! But but but buttttt…”

Here it comes.

“Babeeeee I miss youuu… I wanna cuddle and put my face in your boobs…” He finishes with another giggle.

“Is that so? What about your friends?” You snort.

The line goes silent for a second. “Youuuu’re my best friend, Princess.”

“Then what are you doing at a party instead being home with me?” You chuckled.

“Fuck. I don’t know? I’m coming home! Right now! Wait where’s my phone?” He mumbles.

You have to hold yourself back from laughing any harder. “Drei, baby. You’re talking to me on it.”

“Ohhhh! I’m coming princess sushi!”

You finally let out all the giggles as the line goes dead and start a small timer in your head for how long it takes him to actually get home.

Just like how all boys nights end for your boyfriend, he ends up cuddled up in your arms, his rest resting on your chest as he sleeps the excitement from the party off.

And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

A/N: blurb-a-thon will continue for all the March Madness contestants🧡

[starxanemone]

꩜ⴰ ࣪˖ BLLK LOVE LANGUAGE HEADCANONS

isagi yoichi & itoshi rin ( as per @newinhalerpls request )

⸻ in which i'll be rating their love language on a scale of 1-10 based on my understanding of their personality + include the type of person they'd be compatible with.

⸻ [ part i. itoshi sae & nagi seishirou ] [ part iii. bachira meguru & noel noa ]

ISAGI YOICHI

ACTS OF SERVICE: 9/10. Out of everyone in Blue Lock, he's the only one (or one of the very few) characters with a decent mental health and thus, have a secure attachment style—at least, based on my observation. He seems like a genuinely nice person so he strikes me as someone who'd be really helpful towards their significant other even when it's unprompted. You don't have to tell him if you need help with something because he's probably on it already.

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION: 9/10. Although this guy has such a dirty mouth when playing soccer, off the field, he's actually pretty nice. He even comforts his rivals and isn't really afraid to say when he feels really grateful. You could be doing something as simple as picking up something he dropped and he'd probably give you a small smile with a grateful look on his face as if you handed him the world—that is, when you're his significant other.

Exhibit A: when he thanked Rin for the assist when he scored the last point in the U20 match. Technically, considering their relationship and the nature of Blue Lock, he wasn't obligated to thank him, but he personally felt the need to express it.

PHYSICAL TOUCH: 7/10. He's probably not the type to initiate it, but he's definitely not against it especially if it's his significant other. At first, he'd probably be all awkward and unsure since no one really showed romantic interest in him (according to the Egoist Bible as he hasn't received chocolates on valentines), but he eases into it pretty fast. You just have to be the one initiate all the time. Also, I feel like he doesn't want to feel like he's intruding your personal space which is why he holds back.

QUALITY TIME: 7/10. He strikes me as an independent person, but not the type to isolate himself or retreat into a little shell. He'd probably be the type to think that when you're in a relationship, there are sets of "obligations" he wants to fulfill as a significant other such as remembering significant dates, spending quality time by going out or even just staying in, etc.

GIFT GIVING: 8/10. He gives gifts when there is a special occasion like christmas or your birthday or whatnot, but he probably thinks that he's not all too great at picking out what gifts to give. I feel like he's the type to get you things that you once mentioned you wanted at one point in the past. Like if you say that you wanted a watch about three months ago, that's probably the gift he's going to give you for the next special occasion.

COMPATIBLE WITH: honestly, he looks like he can get along with anyone so long as you're both able to treat each other with respect. It doesn't matter whether you're outgoing or more introverted, or love to explore or stay indoors. I think that with this guy, what matters more is having equal respect for each other.

ITOSHI RIN

ACTS OF SERVICE: 6/10. He's a pretty angsty and irritable teenager on the exterior, but if he warms up to you, I'm sure that he's always helping you, though it's more for his sake than yours. He seems like the type to feel a bit annoyed when something's out of place, so if he sees that your bag's about to fall off your shoulder, he's immediately grabbing it and putting it back in place.

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION: 3/10. Not the best at words (he probably got that from his brother). He's not going to comfort you with words or reassurance if you're feeling down, but I think he has the decency to at least stay quiet and listen if ever you're sharing your feelings; it's just that he's not really sure what to say. The best reassurance he can give is by objectively telling you how a situation could likely play out.

PHYSICAL TOUCH: 2/10. Sorry, but he doesn't look like the touchy-feely type. The best he can probably give is a pat on the shoulder that might feel a bit heavy with how he works out a lot. It would be up to you to initiate stuff like hand-holding or hugging, but I'm quite sure that that will take a very long while for him to warm up to.

QUALITY TIME: 7/10. I feel like this is the best love language for him. I feel like he's the type to prefer hanging out in peace and quiet, doing mundane things if he isn't vigorously training. The best hangout would probably be something like watching a scary movie together or chilling on the couch playing scrabble or whatever. Still, I think he'd want hangouts to not be so frequent as he gets pretty tired from social interaction.

GIFT GIVING: 5/10. He knows that couples usually give gifts to each other, but he doesn't really see the point in doing that unless the object he's going to give is something necessary. Basically, he doesn't like giving useless shit that will wither and die in a few days. So, he probably wouldn't randomly buy you romantic stuff like flowers or give you letters, but he'd definitely give you something useful like a pouch, or a table organizer, or a watch if you don't have one.

COMPATIBLE WITH: someone who is empathetic, but also able to set boundaries. I feel like he spent a lot of his time brewing negative feelings due to the disagreement between him and his brother and their lack of communication, which is why someone who is empathetic and isn't afraid to articulate their own feelings is suitable for him. He needs someone to learn from as he doesn't even know how to healthily process and assess his own emotions. But still, they should also be able to set boundaries and know how to stand up for themselves because he tends to be pretty harsh with his words.

[elodieunderglass]

Driving to the car shop to get my snow tires off (as one does) and I was ruminating on Charlie’s anxiety about his natural boy-child being a secret prince able to inherit the horfe business.

Then it occurred to me that all Bill’s issues would be fixed if he would just allow Ciara to inherit.

Then it occurred to me that maybe some of Ciara’s issues would be fixed if they just acknowledged that a woman can inherit and run the business as well as or better than her brothers?

And now I’ve accidentally invested in a head canon where Ciara has a redemption arc in which she stages a coup, takes the reins of power, and joins Pippa and Rossa in an open relationship in order to set Pippa’s exquisitely tiny jockey babies up for D-generation inheritance.

(messy horse dynasty / charlie's inheritance worries)

OOOH.

In addition to misogyny (and there IS misogyny!) part of why Bill (and his father) want a D-generation inheritance is to manage things like the inheritance tax burden; Killie is actually a perfectly decent (if currently absent) heir, firstborn son of a firstborn son etc, but a huge sticking point is how he doesn't have kids. In addition to needing to dodge/manage the 33% inheritance tax, there's always the spectre of the fact that 20+ of The Family depend on the horse businesses; the businesses make NO profit; and the land itself is worth millions. Leaving it to the wrong person, even if it's The Right Person but they have no clear heirs (i.e. if Killie falls off a horse and breaks his neck For Real This Time, dying young) risks the whole empire landing on someone who sells up and cashes out.

Ciara is (fairly) considered to be untrustworthy, and probably unlikely to put The Family first. She would be INFINITELY more appealing as an heir with a spouse and family to properly nail her down. Turning up with a Baby(TM) would be a BALLER move. This is an excellent idea!! and exactly the kind of plan she'd come up with to seize power from Killie! the baby would probably have to carry the family name, but if you're already putting in the hard yards to do all this to seize power, you probably want that to happen anyway.

however...

is this fair to Rossa? to poor darling Rossa???? is this not like feeding a beautiful hamster to a ravening giant poisonous spider? You EXPLOIT Rossa?? EXPLOIT HIM for his gametes? :-(

(I did not think of them this way before, but something about evil-princess-schemes-for-political-marriage-to-unwilling-local-idiot is extremely amusing to me. political violence. i approve.)

[dianawinchester03]

Season 3, Episode 7 - Fresh Blood

Series Masterlist

Y/N’s POV

Why in the fuck shit does my boyfriend have a goddamn ring in his glove compartment?

Does this motherfucker think I’m that stupid? ‘iTs FrOm A cAsE’ MY ASS.

My mind raced with the possibilities as to why Dean decided to feed me that bullshit of an excuse last week. I mean, we’ve been together what? 3 months? When in that period of time did he get to possibly purchase a ring? We’ve been joined at fucking asscheeks since then. Hell, we’ve been joined at asscheeks our whole lives.

Even when I ran away from home, we didn’t go a week without talking. Our conversations would range from “hey princess, your dad and i are coming up south so head back east” to “dude i miss you like crazy, might be in st. louis the rest of the week, team up?”

Holy shit, how did I not see he liked me before???

Besides the point, WHY THE FUCK DOES HE HAVE A GODDAMN RING?!?! I wanna ask, I wanna ask so fucking bad, but I might have to pry his cute little head open with a crowbar, reach in and get the answer out myself because my man is like a fucking Venus flytrap sometimes, which is funny seeing as he doesn’t know how to shut his cute stupid mouth.

God I love him.

WHY DOES HE HAVE AN ENGAGEMENT RING AHHHHHH!!!

This is what I ponder as I snuggle with my loving snoring bastard, my left hand tracing lines going up and down his spine to soothe his body. His head resting snug on my chest, lips parted and his mouth slightly agape with his left hand tucked away in my right boob, gripping it like a stress ball and his right hand tucked under his pillow, cradling his pistol.

This, everybody, is what dating Dean friggin’ Winchester looks like.

____________________________________________

Third Person POV

Somewhere in the US

•One Week Later

Y/N furrowed her brows as she hung up the phone in the back of the Impala, her fathers machete and flashlight in one hand as she stuffed her phone into her pocket. “Who was that?” Sam asked curiously as he sharpened his machete in the passenger seat. “Bela. Called to say thanks for saving her” she scoffed, “Bela said thanks?” Sam asked surprised. “That cold bitch actually had a change of heart?” Dean chimed in from the driver's seat, stuffing his mouth with the last of his burger.

Y/N shrugged in response before sighing, “Guess people can change” she muttered but she was still unconvinced. Sam frowned before creasing his lips in a way to say, ‘I guess’ as Dean slurped his slushie. Sam fished out his phone to quickly text Jo. She parted ways with them a few days after the last hunt to track a pack of werewolves in Arizona.

‘Gonna hunt the sloppy vamp, track the nest and take ‘em out. Call you when it’s over’

A few seconds later, he got a reply, ‘Please careful, I love you’

Sam felt her last words pierce through his heart as his fingers lingered on the screen. He hated leaving her, he hated not knowing if she’s safe. But knowing she could take care of herself was what made him feel the slightest bit better. So instead, Sam smiled to himself before shooting her back a sweet text and turning his attention back to his Dean as he began to clean up his trash.

“You good, little brother?” Dean asked, noticing his silence as he twisted around to look at him. Sam nodded, forcing a small smirk. “I’m managing” He responded bluntly as Dean nodded in return. Y/N remained unfazed as she checked that her butterfly knife was still inside her boot.

“She’ll be fine, Sammy” Y/N assured him as she stuck her machete into the covering and then into her thigh holster. Sam exhaled deeply, his eyes glued to the window. “Yeah, I know” he muttered, fidgeting with the silver bracelet on his wrist his girlfriend gifted him as an early Christmas gift. It was well into November but she still got it for him in the case they didn’t get to see each other during Christmas.

-

A little later, the trio made their way down an alley, shining their flashlights about. Once bending the corner, they spotted a pool of blood. The three shared a look, cautious approaching it, only to find a man bleeding profusely on the floor, a bite wound to his neck. The man looked up at them with tired frightened eyes. “Please,” he begged hoarsely, “Please help me.”

They all jumped into action, crouching down over him. “Hey, hey. Don't worry. We're gonna call you some help, okay?” Sam assured the man as Y/N peeled off her leather jacket, handing it to Sam and then her dark grey flannel, pressing the soft material to the man’s wound as Dean shone his light around the alleyway. The alley seemed to go on and on, no sign of a vampire, she couldn’t have possibly gotten far if this poor sap was still alive.

“I don’t see anything,” Dean muttered as he stood. “There’s nothing around here” Y/N observed, placing her palm on the man’s cheek to elevate his head, “Sir, try to stay conscious, alright? An ambulance is on the way.” She said softly, he nodded weakly. “Where is she? Where'd she go?!” Dean asked the man a bit harshly, referring to the vampire they’d been tracking.

The dying man gestured down the alleyway to the opposite direction with a shaky, bloody hand. Dean followed his line of vision, seeing a long and creepy abandoned parking garage up ahead. “That way” he mumbled to himself and the others. Sam looked into the alleyway before looking at his older brother with a nod. A silent agreement between the three occurred in that split second, Sam and Y/N opting to stay with the man while Dean ran after the vamp.

“Be safe” Y/N said firmly to her boyfriend, fixing him a sharp warning look as she held the man’s head up. Written behind her eyes was, ‘Don’t do anything reckless’ He shot her a wink as he drew out his machete, headed down the alley. “Ditto. I love you”

Y/N continued holding the man up, making sure he was still conscious, she bit her lip as her worried eyes followed her boyfriend down the alley.

“Ditto” She mumbled to herself, feeling that maybe she should have gone with him instead of staying behind. Sam leaned in close to her. “He’ll be fine, it’s Dean” he assured her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder, sensing her stress. She snapped out of her thoughts, nodding at his words. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about”

Sam instantly caught on, understanding what she meant. Dean grew more and more reckless as the days went on. The duo constantly in a pit of worry if this was the day Dean was gonna kick the bucket due to riling up the wrong person before his time, before they could save him.

Meanwhile, the air grew colder the further down the alley Dean went cautiously. He walked down the first row of cars when he noticed blood splattered across the graffiti on the walls, raising his machete once he met a dead end. His instincts told him that the vampire was still around, just hiding in plain sight.

Dean’s eyes darted constantly, expecting the vampire to jump out and attack him at any second, his flashlight pointing to every inch of the area. He suddenly stopped, tilting his head to hear the sound of something shuffling in the distance. He cautiously began walking towards the sound, gripping his machete a little tighter.

An idea popped in his head, he pulled up the sleeve of his leather jacket, leaving his forearm bare. He then brought the blade of the machete against it and slid it downwards. He grunted heavily in pain at the deep cut in his left arm. Blood oozed out of the clean cut, running down his arm and he held in a hiss, wincing a bit. Dean’s blood dripped to the concrete floor as he bellowed, “Smell that?! Come and get it!!”

A blonde young woman emerged from a side alley and stared at him, her chin covered in blood as she bared her fangs at him. “That's right. Come on.” Dean smirked “I smell good, don't I? I taste even better.” He lured her, using his words. She snarled, eyeing his machete cautiously. Dean held it up, a dark look in his eyes as he toyed with it between his fingers. With a smirk, he discarded it to the ground. The machete clattering.

The vampire’s eyes flickered between the blade and the hunter, trying to figure out if she should attack or not. “Come on! Free lunch!” he baited her further with a confident look, walking forward. The vampire lunged at Dean instantaneously, aiming for his neck with his fangs. She grabbed him by his shoulders and barely nicked his neck since he pulled out a syringe of dead man’s blood from his jacket, sticking the needle into her neck and emptying the contents into her veins.

The vampire stumbled off him with an outraged squeal, coughing and grasping her neck in horror, before collapsing onto the ground unconscious. Dean panted heavily, a look of sick excitement on his veins. “Whoo!” he exclaimed, his blood pumping. Sam and Y/N came running in, stumbling upon Dean and the girl. The duo looked down at the unconscious vampire and back up at Dean, the younger Winchester frowning at his brother while Y/N looked at Dean with utter distaste.

The oldest of the trio rolled his shoulders, looking at the two with a cocky smirk on his face. “What?” he asked before being met with two pairs of disapproving eyes. “Cutting it a little close, don't you think?” Sam’s worried voice started but Dean waved it off. “Ah ... that's just chum in the water. Worked, didn't it?” He assured them, clutching his arm. “Yeah.” Y/N agreed, but her voice was harsh, like she was scolding him.

She wanted to scream at him but now was not the time, so she marched over to him and took his wounded arm into her hands. “Nothin’ a little bit of your healing balm can’t fix, right?” He smirked. Y/N pressed her lips into a thin line, giving him a flat look as he chuckled at her and Sam’s expressions. They were not amused, in fact they looked both irritated and frustrated with him.

-

The next day, the three were in their motel room. A bit dingier than what they would usually occupy, the walls of the room were lined up with old mattresses, blocking any external sunlight. The young vampire, whose face was still covered with blood, was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Sam, Dean and Y/N stood over her chair. She was still unconscious but stirring as it looked like she was going to wake up soon. Her limbs were bound to the arms of the chair, her ankles tied to the legs.

Y/N had a cup of cold water, drinking from it while Dean and Sam stood in front of her, looking at the vampire with stern faces as she started to wake up. They heard her groan in pain. Her eyes fluttered as she struggled to open them. Y/N grew tired waiting and tossed the water into the vamp’s face. Dean and Sam snickered in amusement as the vampire woke up with a gasp, her head shooting up.

The water ran down her skin as she looked up at the three with surprised eyes. “You with us, sweetheart?” Y/N quipped harshly, leaning down towards her. The vampire flinched back, now realizing she was tied up, groaning as she tried to flail around to free herself but there was no use. “Oh, yeah, sorry. You're not going anywhere.” Dean added with a smirk. “Wha-” She gasped in fear, struggling.

“Where's your nest?” Sam demanded in a stiff tone. The vampire looked up at Sam in pure confusion, “What?” She said again, panting. “Your nest! Where you and your bloodsucking pals hang out.” Dean demanded also as Y/N crossed her arms over her chest. “I don't know what you're talking about. Please! I don't feel good.” The vampire pleaded genuinely. The trio shared unconvinced and tired looks, rolling their eyes simultaneously.

Y/N took out a syringe from her jacket, handing it to her boyfriend. “Yeah, well, you're gonna feel a hell of a lot worse if we give you another shot of dead man's blood.” Dean said with a smirk, taking the syringe and twirling it between his fingers. The vampire physically recoiled, shaking her head. “Just let me go,” she pleaded. Sam scoffed a laugh, “Yeah, you know we can’t do that” He chuckled. “I’m telling you the truth. I'm just... I took something. I'm freaking out! I don't know what's going on!”

The three furrowed their brows, confused. They didn’t know if the vampire was just a good actress or genuinely not aware. Y/N refused to believe it, going against her better instincts. Wanting to stick with the fact that all vampires are scum. “We’re not letting you go,” Y/N stated firmly. The vampire's eyes were blown wide, now looking desperate. “Please just- you gotta help me.” She pleaded. “You took something?” Sam asked, circling her chair as Dean placed the syringe down on the table.

“Yes! I can't... come down. I just want to come down.” The vampire freaked out, genuine fear in her eyes. Okay, maybe she was telling the truth. Y/N thought to herself as she and Sam shared a weary look. “What’s your name?” Y/N asked, propping herself on the table besides Dean. “Lucy. Please. Just let me go.” The vampire answered, begging. “All right, Lucy, how about this? If you tell us what happened, we'll let you go.” Sam proposed as he leaned down, Dean and Y/N’s eyes shot over to Sam with eyes that said, ‘The fuck you mean let her go?’

“You will?” Lucy asked hopefully, looking over at the couple, Dean nodding and smiling in a completely insincere way. Y/N gulped down her guilt at the false hope they just gave her, knowing they couldn’t possibly let this vampire go as she rolled her head to the side and cracked her neck. The couple shot Sam a confused look over Lucy’s head as she tried to piece the event together. “Uh, I don't really... um, it's, it's not that clear. Uh, I was at Spider.”

“Spider?” Y/N asked, raising a brow. “The club, on Jefferson. And there was this guy... he was buying me drinks.” Lucy clarified. “This guy... what's he look like?” Sam asked as he pulled a chair, straddling it. “Uh…He was old, like thirty….” Lucy shook her head as she tried to remember. The trio nearly flinched at the way Lucy said ‘thirty’ was ‘old’ all of them quite literally nearing their thirties. “He had brown hair, a leather jacket... uh, Deacon or Dixon or something. Said he was a dealer... he had something for me.”

“Something?” Dean asked, moving from beside his girlfriend to circle the chair. “Something new. "Better than anything you've ever tried." He put a few drops in my drink.” The pieces began to come together in their heads, glancing at each other once more before Y/N asked, “Was the drug red and thick?” Lucy nodded shakily. Dean clapped his tongue, “Well, genius move there.” shooting his baby brother a look, the younger Winchester shaking his head in disbelief.

“That was vampire blood he dosed you with.” Dean stated, looking back down at the vampire, who’s head snapped over to Dean. “What?!” Her eyes filled with bewilderment. “Yeah, you just took a big steamin' shot of the nastiest virus out there.” Dean mused, “You're crazy! He gave me roofies or something!” Lucy denied it as Dean pursed his lips. Her head shot back over to Sam and Y/N. “No... The next thing I know, we're at his place, and he says he's gonna get me something to eat, just wait.”

The two looked at her with sympathy, their hearts giving for this poor unsuspecting girl. “But I get so hungry.” Lucy emphasized, her eyes filled with tears. “So you busted out?” Sam asked knowingly. “But it won't wear off... whatever he gave me?” Lucy nodded. “Lights are too bright? Sunshine hurt your skin?” Y/N asked knowingly, trying to push aside her sympathy, reminding herself that Lucy was still a literal monster who killed innocent people because of her urges. “Yeah... And smells. And I can... hear blood pumping!” Lucy cried.

“Well, I hate to tell you this, sweetheart, but your blood's never pumping again.” Dean stated as he moved back around her chair, standing beside Y/N. Lucy shook her head, “Not mine... yours. I can hear a heart beating from half a block away. I just want it to stop.” That was enough for Sam and Y/N, the latter unable to swallow her sympathy any longer. The pure desperation in Lucy’s voice broke their hearts.

“All right, listen, Wavy Gravy.” Dean began sharply, leaning down to speak to Lucy, propping his hands on his knees. “It's not going to stop. You've already killed two people, almost three.” He informed her, Lucy began sobbing even more, shaking her head relentlessly. “No, I couldn't. No-! I was hallucinating!” Y/N tore her eyes away from Lucy, the internal battle between monster and innocent victim riding her conscious. “You killed them, all right? We've been following a sloppy trail of corpses, and it leads straight to you.” Y/N stated firmly.

“No. No, it wasn't real! It was the drug! Please! Please, you have to help me!” Lucy panted with them desperately. Sam glanced over at his brother and best friend, jerking his head in indication for them to step out of the room. The three walked out of the room, leaving the door open and an inconsolable Lucy tied to the chair.

Sam shook his head, “Poor girl” he sighed. “This is insane.” Y/N muttered, rubbing her forehead and her hand over her mouth. “We don’t have a choice” Dean said to them, him and his brother glancing over at the vampire. Sam sighed, shaking his head. He couldn’t bring himself to kill this girl himself but she had to die or else more lives would be at risk. Y/N felt bad too, but she knew it had to be done.

The look of absolute helplessness on Lucy’s face was tragic, but the fact that she killed two people was unforgivable. She could almost hear her father in her head, ‘She’s a monster. A victim too but she’s a danger’ not to mention, a goddamn vampire took him from this earth too soon. Her eyes darkened in Lucy’s direction as Dean took his machete out of his jacket, he opted to do it when he saw the defeated look on his brother’s face.

“I’ll do it” She suddenly said, stopping Dean by gently gripping his bicep. The brothers looked at her with surprise, not expecting her to offer. “You sure?” Dean murmured as Y/N nodded firmly in response. She stepped into the room, glaring at Lucy while the battle in her head continued. The vampire looked at her with hope she was going to untie her, the hope diminishing when the Hunter took out her father’s machete from her thigh holster.

“No…please!” Lucy pleaded with her. Y/N gripped the machete tightly, her eyes hardening, no longer seeing the girl but rather the monster in the chair. She drew her arm back, flicking the machete. The brothers looked on as Lucy’s screams filled the room, their hearts filling heavy in their chest. Dean’s face remained expressionless but the look in Y/N’s eyes were dark, unblinking and cold when she took off the vampire’s head with one fell swoop. Sam flinched and grimaced as Lucy’s head fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

-

Later that night, the trio exited a crowded club with neon red lights named Spider, the one Lucy told them about. All looking equally frustrated. “That was a big, fat waste of time.” Dean grumbled as they entered the crowded area with people drinking. “Look, three blondes have gone missing, including Lucy, all last sighted here. I'm telling you, guys, this is the hunting ground.” Sam stated, Y/N clutched her jacket to her chest at the mention of Lucy. She had to remind herself that what she did was right, although the sick feeling she got when she killed her didn’t feel so.

While Sam spoke, across the way, Dean spotted a 30-something man duck into an alley with his arm around a young blonde. “Hey” he pointed them out to Sam and Y/N. They watched them disappear into the dark alley, the trio following them. When they got into the alley, they spotted the guy with his hands on the woman, her blonde hair falling down her back as he lifted a dropper filled with red liquid to her tongue. Y/N’s eyes widened, “Oh no, this ain't good.” Dean said as they hurried over to them.

Before any could drop to her tongue, Dean snatched the man’s arm. Pulls it down and then clocks him in his face. Y/N and Sam quickly grabbed the terrified girl, “Get out of here, sweetie. Go! Go!” Y/N urged her. The girl nodded, stumbling over her feet as she ran down the alley back to the club for safety. Y/N and Sam turned their attention over to Dean, who was now getting hurled into the wall by the vampire before he ran for his life.

“Dean!” “Charming!” Sam and Y/N rushed over to help Dean up. “I'm good. Come on.” Dean assumed them, groaning in the process. They nodded hesitantly and took off after the vampire, as they hurtled around the corner, the vampire was nowhere in sight. But facing them, guns at their sides, familiar faces they didn’t want to see at all at this time. Gordon Walker and his friend Kubrick.

The trio were startled, almost freezing in their path until Gordon and Kubrick advanced toward them, guns raised. Both firing freely. Instantly, they dove behind parked cars, shielding their heads, windows shattering in the process and bullets whizzed past. They managed to avoid getting shot entirely, now crouching behind a wall, panting. “Fuck,” Y/N cursed under her breath, cursing herself for not bringing her gun. The one time she doesn’t bring a gun because it was a vamp case, they get shot at.

Dean peered beside the wall to see Gordon and Kubrick reloading, resuming their guns at them. “All right. Run. I'll draw them off.” Dean grunted, pushing himself forward. Sam and Y/N’s eyes widened with fear and bewilderment, “What?! No, you’re crazy!” Sam shouted, “Are you a fucking idiot?!” Y/N screamed at the same time. Their words went into one ear and out the next.

Dean darted out into the line of fire, leapt on top of a car, luckily dodging bullets as they whizzed past him in the process and used it to get over a second-story parking lot entrance. “God damn it, Dean!” Y/N cursed, her heart beating out of her chest and her eyes glued to her boyfriend as he ran. Kubrick followed him as Gordon stayed behind and slowly crept to the corner where Sam and Y/N were hiding.

Luckily, they were gone by the time he rounded the corner when a figure leapt down on him from above, sending him sprawling, the figure revealing to be the vampire from earlier. He kicked Gordon in the face repeatedly and knocked him unconscious.

-

Couple hours later, Sam and Y/N were in their motel room. The younger Winchester pacing the room nervously, biting his nails as Y/N called Dean’s phone numerous times. Both their nerves were getting the worst of them, “Goddamn, Dean!” Y/N cursed as she tossed her phone onto one of the dingy mattresses, bringing her nearly burnt out cigarette to her lips.

Sam began biting his nails more, his face taut with worry. “He’s been gone for hours, Y/N. And his phone is going straight to voicemail.” Sam pointed out. Y/N quickly crushed her cigarette into the ashtray, padding over to Sam to snatch his fingers out of his mouth. “Quit biting your nails, dude. Before it goes down to the stub” She scolded, pointing a firm finger at him.

Sam sheepishly pulled his hand back, running a hand through his hair, “You’re worried too..Y/N. I know you are.” He observed, noticing the nervous tremble in her chin. “Of course I am..” Y/N admitted weakly. The two remained in an awkward and tense silence, the sound of their heartbeats drumming against their chest.

Suddenly, the motel room door opened and in walked an unconcerned and casual Dean with a pizza box in his hand. Their heads snapped in his direction, a look of relief washing over their faces. “There you are!” Sam exclaimed like a parent that had been up all night waiting for their kid past their curfew. “Yeah. Sorry, I stopped for a slice.” Dean chuckled, patting his stomach. He handed a fuming Y/N the box and a bag with a chocolate cookie before peeling off his jacket.

She couldn’t care less about her favorite dessert right now, more pissed at the reckless move Dean pulled. “Nice move you pulled back there, Dean running right at the weapons!” His girlfriend hissed, nearly tossing the pizza box down onto the coffee table as placing the bag with the cookie on top of it. “Well, what can I say? I'm a bad-ass.” Dean smirked, turning to face them. Sam glared daggers at his brother's head due to his witty remark, the elder Winchester ignoring their genuine concern. “So, I guess Gordon's out of jail.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so. You know, how the hell did he know where to find us?” Sam wondered out loud. Dean shrugged, not knowing as the wheels began to turn in Y/N’s head. “That bitch.” She seethed as she pulled out her cell phone, now remembering her little phone call with Bela included the slimy thief asking them their location. How could she have been so stupid?

Sam and Dean looked at her with confusion, “What? What's up?” Sam asked her as she began dialing Bela on her phone. “The location... I know how Gordon found us.” Y/N grumbled, bringing her phone to her ear, waiting for Bela to pick up. “Hi, Bela.” The psychic snapped as soon as the phone was answered. “Hello, Y/N” Bela answered casually with a smile as she drove. Y/N gritted her teeth as she put the phone on speaker, the boys listening in on the conversation.

“Question for you. When you called me yesterday, it wasn't to thank us for saving your ass, was it?” Y/N called her out immediately. “No. Gordon Walker paid me to tell him where you were.” Bela replied frankly and unabashed. “Excuse me?” Dean snapped, his face contorting with disgust. “Well, he had a gun on me. What else was I supposed to do?” Bela laughed as if it was obvious. This made Y/N’s blood boil, “I don't know, maybe pick up the fuckin’ phone and tell us that a raging psychopath was dropping by?!?” Her voice held pure anger.

“Ah. I did fully intend to call, I just got a bit sidetracked.” Bela responded simply, “He tried to kill us!” Dean shouted. Bela rolled her eyes unapologetically. “I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was such a big deal. After all, there are three of you and one of him.” She replied. “There were two of em’ you selfish bitch!” Y/N shouted, Bela’s face fell, now realizing what her actions caused. “Oh” she muttered, she went to make a witty remark but Y/N’s deathly tone caught her off guard as she took the phone off of the speaker and pressed it to her ear.

“Bela, if we make it out of this alive. So god help me, the first thing I'm gonna do is kill you.” The psychic promised, “You’re not serious” Bela scoffed, trying to maintain Y/N’s bluff but she wasn’t whatsoever. “Listen to my voice and tell me if I'm serious.” Bela gulped harshly, her grip on her phone tightening. She could tell Y/N meant every single word of what she said, making a chill run through her veins. Her eyes flickered on and off the road as she exhaled roughly and the line went dead.

-

Dean was now sharpening his machete on a whetstone next to Y/N, who was doing the same thing with her father’s machete as Sam cleaned his gun. All three hunters wore grim expressions, “That vampire's still out there, guys.” Sam voiced his concerns, “First things first.” Dean began, nodding his head. “Gordon” Y/N stated, tucking her machete into her thigh holster. “About that. When we find him, or if he finds us…” Dean said, shooting looks at the younger hunters. “Yeah?” Sam and Y/N said in unison.

“Well I'm just saying he's not leaving us a whole lot of options.” Dean stated, Y/N nodded firmly, understanding where he’s getting at. “Yeah, I know. We've got to kill him.” Sam stated calmly. This shocked the couple, “Really? Just like that? I thought you would have been like- wait, no. Y/N does it better than me, hit it sweetheart” He pointed over to his girlfriend, earning an amused snort from her and an eye roll from his brother. “No, we can't, he's human, it's wrong” Y/N marveled in a mock-whiny tone, mimicking Sam.

Dean snorted in amusement, earning himself an elbow to his ribs from Sam. “Shut up.” He muttered weakly as a smirk curled across Y/N's face. Sam sighed deeply and rubbed his temples, “It feels like we’ve been down this road before.” He pointed out. “What do you mean?” Dean questioned, dropping his smirk. “I mean, I'm done, Gordon's not gonna stop until we're dead... or till he is.” Sam pointed out, Dean and Y/N looked proud of him. Both sharing a look. Then, y/n’s phone rang. Hoping for it to be Jo, she pulled it out of her pocket.

Instead, she scowled as she placed it to her ear. “What?!” She hissed at Bela, “I don't like it when people hold grudges against me, and more to the point, I'd rather you didn't kill me, so I went ahead and found Gordon's exact location for you.” Bela’s slightly nervous tone piped up through the other line as Dean and Sam looked at the psychic curiously. Y/N’s brows furrowed, “You're a hundred miles away. How the fuck did you-?” but Bela cut her off.

“Hello? Purveyor of powerful occult objects? I used a talking board to contact the other side.” Bela answered. “And?” Y/N demanded, “Warehouse. Two stories, riverfront, neon sign outside.” Bela replied, “Thanks” Y/N muttered sarcastically. “One more thing. The spirit had a message for you. "Leave town, run like hell, and whatever you do, don't go after Gordon." For whatever that's worth.”

Y/N took the phone off of her ear, a thoughtful look crossing her face as she glanced over to the Winchesters. The brothers wore looks that said, ‘So??? What’d she say?’ Y/N took a deep breath, “Bela said she used a spirit board to find Gordon’s location, there's a warehouse near a river. She also said one of the spirits she contacted had a message for us to just run and not go after Gordon.” She explained.

Sam and Dean's faces were now confused, more so Dean than Sam, “Why would a spirit warn us not to go after him?” He asked curiously. “No idea, probably some demon trying to screw us over.” Y/N muttered as she tossed her phone on the table.

____________________________________________

Despite Bela’s warnings from the spirits, the trio found themselves at the warehouse she directed them to. This time, armed to the T. Sam took the lead, creeping down the steps into the room where Gordon was previously held. Y/N was right behind him, luring over his shoulder as Dean crept down behind them. All three hunters cocked their guns, the elder Winchester holding a flashlight to aid in their path.

Upon further investigation, they stumble onto the bodies of the girls who are hanging from their wrists by chains bound to the ceiling. Their corpses headless, and the vampire they tussled with earlier was kneeling in front of them, tears running down his face. Dean nudged Sam on his hand, pointing to a knife on one of the tables. Sam glanced over to his brother, nodding in agreement. He then glanced over to Y/N who also nodded firmly. So slowly, he crept over and swiped up the knife from the table before sticking his gun into the back of his jeans.

He began to approach the bloodsucker with caution. The monster heard Dean coming but didn't move an inch. “Go ahead. Do it. KILL me.” Dixon, the vampire’s voice quivered. The trio shared a surprised glance, keeping their caution and distance. “What happened here?” Sam demanded as he and y/n’s grips tightened on their guns. “Gordon.Walker.” The vampire gritted his teeth, “I never should have brought a hunter here. Never. I just…” He sobbed as he pushed himself to his feet, turning to face the hunters.

Dean instinctively shoved Y/N behind him, placing himself in front of his little brother at the same time. His both arms shielding the two as they held their guns in Dixon’s direction, Dean’s right hand wielding the large knife. “I just wanted some kind of revenge. So stupid... exposing him to my family.” Dixon’s tear stained face crumpled up with grief as the three looked at the monster with disgust. “Oh, yeah, you're such a family man.” Y/N scoffed sarcastically, no kind of remorse directed to the bloodsucker.

Y/N grabbed Sam gently by the sleeve of his jacket, shoving the oaf behind her to shield him with her free hand and slowly crept around the monster keeping him behind her as Dean stood near the entrance, glaring at the monster with his knife ready to use. “You don't understand.” Dixon gulped as Sam and Y/N made their way to the headless corpses, “We don't want to understand, you sick son of-” Dean growled.

“ was desperate! You ever felt desperate?” Dixon defended, beginning to circle them. Dean clenched his jaw as he paced around to meet with Sam and Y/N. “I've lost everyone I ever loved. I'm staring down eternity alone. Can you think of a worse hell?” Dean refused to allow himself to relate to Dixon’s words, wanting nothing in common with a monster like him. “Well, there’s hell” Dean stated matter of factly, blinking rapidly. “I wasn't thinking. I just ... I didn't care anymore. Do you know it's like when you just don't give a damn?”

Dixon took a step closer to Dean, the Hunter raising his knife instinctively as Sam and Y/N checked the bodies. “It's like ... it's like being dead already. So just go ahead.” Dixon glanced down at Dean’s knife, “Do it” He urged him. Sam and Y/N shared a startled look, their breaths hitching in their throats. “Babe.” Y/N called out to Dean urgently, his gaze snapped over to hers immediately. “Head wasn't cut off, it was ripped off. With someone's bare hands.” She told him, her tone wavering as she glared back over to Dixon simultaneously with the boys.

“Dixon, what did you do to Gordon?” Sam demanded, Dixon didn’t answer. His face crumpled up again as he began to sob once more. This indicated their worst fears. Their hearts plummeted in their chests as they shared bewildered looks. Dixon had turned Gordon Walker into a vampire. Of fucking course.

-

Daylight finally hit, the trio running on little to no sleep. Sam and Y/N ended up back at the motel while Dean was still scouting for anywhere Gordon could be. Y/N sat by the table across from Sam, the palm of her hand resting against her cheek, propping it up on the table as her tired and heavy eyes fluttered shut. A slight snoring sound coming from her mouth.

Sam snorted a little in amusement at the way her mouth hung open, the tiny snores leaving her mouth reminded him of a grandma. He gently kicked her chair but she didn’t budge so he kicked it harder a second time. “Wake your ass up, sleeping beast” Y/N’s eyes sprung open, jolting as she tried to sit up straight. Her tired eyes fluttered as she glared at Sam, rubbing the exhaustion out her eyes. “Why’d you kick my chair?” She mumbled, running a hand over her face. “You were snoring,” Sam replied bluntly.

She scowled at her best friend in return, “Dipshit” Sam rolled his eyes at her again, “Pardon me for not enjoying the little symphony that you were having from your snoring, crackhead” He replied sarcastically. “Shut up” She muttered, flipping him the bird. He chuckled, shaking his head softly as Y/N stretched once more. “Wake me up when Dean gets back” She muttered before folding her arms up to rest her head into the crease in the table.

Sam went back to reading in one of the many maps that covered the table while Y/N slept on the other end. She was passed clean out, even his occasional movements didn’t seem to phase her. It was only after about an hour and a half, Dean finally entered the room, frustrated as he removed his jacket. “Man, I must have checked three dozen motels, empty buildings, warehouses” Dean complained, “Yeah, us too” Sam replied, sighing deeply.

He nodded in response as he looked down at Y/N’s knocked out form lying with her chin laid down on her arms. He was tempted to walk over and mess with her when he saw the dark circles under her eyes, the exhaustion was showing on her face. He approached her slowly, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. “Y/N, princess. Hey, wake up” He called to her gently. This snapped her out of her unconscious state, jolting awake. She looked up to meet his gaze, looking like a confused deer.

The fatigue was still evident on her face as she sat up straight. Dean’s hand moved from her shoulder to her chin, tilting her head up to get a better look at her. “You’re back” She said groggily, a small sleepy smile making its way to her face. Her eyes were glossed over, struggling to focus on his face as he gently spoke to her. “C’mon, sweetheart. Let’s wash your face” She was too tired to protest even if she wanted to, reluctantly allowing her boyfriend to lead her to the restroom. Sam frowned with concern as he watched Dean take Y/N’s sleepy form to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Dean pulled out a small and clean wash rag from Y/N’s duffel, wetting it with water from the tap. With a careful and gentle grip, he grabbed her chin once more, beginning to gently dab away the tiredness from her face. She remained quiet, relishing in this tender moment with Dean as she closed her eyes and tried to suppress a tired yawn. “You’re exhausted” He pointed out, his face soft as he began to carefully remove Y/N’s smudged mascara.

“I’m fine” She waved it off, shaking her head as she bit back another yawn. “Bullshit” He retorted, moving over to her other eye. “You look like you’re gonna collapse any minute now. And you were snoring so loud it could’ve woken the dead” He chuckled gently. She chuckled weakly, “You love my snores” She retorted. “Mhm, that’s why I’m gonna stuff a sock in your mouth the next time I catch it hanging open” He teased, gently wiping the rest of her makeup from her cheek.

“Mmm why don’t you stuff something else in and we’ll call it even” She winked, gasping playfully when Dean smacked her thigh after dropping the rag in the sink. “You’re not too tired to use that smartass mouth of yours, huh?” He shook his head with an amused smirk. She shook her head as she smiled cheekily, hooking her arms around his neck as Dean leaned down to give her a gentle kiss on her parted lips.

It lasted for a good few seconds, her eyes fluttering shut and enjoying the way those rough, but soft lips felt against her own. When the moment came to an end, they pulled away but their faces remained an inch from the other. “How’d the looking go?” She asked, placing her hands on his chest, going back to the case. Dean scoffed, shaking his head as he took her hand into his, leading her out of the bathroom. “It's like a giant haystack, and Gordon's a deadly needle.” He told both her and Sam.

“And we’re running out of daylight. Won't have the sun slowing him down.” Y/N muttered, rubbing her eyes, “Yeah, he'll be unstoppable.” Sam sighed in agreement as they nodded. “Hey, uh, give me your phones” Sam suddenly said to them, “What for?” Dean and Y/N asked in unison as they took out their phones and placed it on the table next to Sam. “Well, if Gordon knows our cell numbers he can use the cell signal to track us down.” Sam explained as he began taking out their SIM cards.

“Oh, yeah. Nice. Thanks” Dean snorted with a nod. “Yeah” Sam responded, before dropping all three phones to the ground and stomping on them with the heel of his combat shoes as Dean walked over to the curtain. He peered through them for a second before walking back over to his duffel bag. “Sammy, Y/N/N, stay here.” He instructed the younger hunters. “What? Where you going now?” Sam asked confused as Y/N’s brows furrowed. Dean then pulled out the Colt from his bag and a case with bullets. “I'm going after Gordon.” Dean stated matter of factly.

Y/N’s jaw dropped, “What?!” She damn near yelled, “Don’t raise that tone with me, sweetheart. You heard me” Dean shot back, trying not to escalate the situation as he loaded up the Colt. Y/N’s eye twitched, clenching her jaw to stop herself from reaching over and smacking the taste out of her boyfriend’s mouth for doing the most reckless shit possible. She glanced over to Sam, pleading with her eyes to say something but he beat her to the jump. “Not alone, you’re not” Sam argued.

Dean scoffed as he cocked the Colt. “Sam, Y/N. You’re not my parents, okay? I don't need you to sign me a permission slip. He's after you two, not me, and he's turbocharged. I want you guys to stay out of harm's way. I'll take care of it.” Dean responded dismissively. “Charming, you're not going by yourself. You're gonna get yourself killed!” Y/N argued, Dean went to smart mouth her before she pointed at him firmly, “Don’t you dare tell me to ‘don’t raise that tone’ asshole, you know we’re right”

“Just another day at the office. It's a massively dangerous day at the office” Dean shrugged, smirking before smiling cheekily. Sam had enough at this point, “So you're the guy with nothing to lose now, huh? Oh wait, let me guess. Because, uh, it's because you're already dead, right?” Sam mocked Dean’s self righteous words, “If the shoe fits” Dean shrugged once more, Y/N shook her head. Her hands rested on her hips as she tore her eyes away from her boyfriend. That gaping hole in her chest returned as she tried to swallow down her guilt.

“You know what, man? I'm sick and tired of your kamikaze trip. You’re constantly guilting Y/N without realizing it and you’re being a dick!” Sam snapped, “Whoa, whoa, kamikaze? I'm more like a ninja.” Dean mused, shooting Y/N a wink, “That’s not funny” Y/N hissed, “It’s a little funny” He smirked in return, “No, it’s not” Sam retorted, “Whatever. And I’m not guilting Y/N, where the fuck did you get that from?” Dean argued.

“Every single time you say that bullshit, don’t you think it hurts her, you jackass!?” Sam got in his brother’s face, Y/N’s eyes widened, instantly placing herself between the two. “Whoa, okay! Fellas, enough” She snapped, her arms splayed out to keep them a safe distance away from one another. Sam’s nostrils flared in anger as he glared over Y/N’s shoulder at his brother who stared back at him with equal venom.

“I’m not guilting anyone! Am I? Am I guilting you, sweetheart?” Y/N’s face remained stone cold, “Don’t sweetheart me right now, Dean. You’re being difficult!” Dean’s face fell. “Me!? I’m being difficult?!” He gaped, pointing to himself. “YES!!” Sam and Y/N shouted in unison as if it was obvious. Dean placed the Colt onto the table. “What do you guys want me to do, huh? Sit around all day writing sad poems about how I'm gonna die?” He argued sarcastically as he picked up a pen and paper from the table.

“You know what? I got one. Let's see, what rhymes with ‘shut up, Sam and Y/N’?” Y/N smacked the pen and paper out of her boyfriend’s hands harshly. “Dude” Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. “Seriously, drop the attitude, Dean. Quit turning everything into a punch line. And you know something else? Stop trying to act like you're not afraid” Sam fumed. “I’m not.” Dean denied firmly, Y/N placed her hand to her forehead at her terrible lying. Shaking her head. “You’re lying. And you may as well drop it 'cause I can see right through you.” Sam called him out on his bullshit.

“You got no idea what you're talking about.” Dean scoffed, shaking his head as he tried to hide his pain with a smile. Pacing away from the two, his back now turned to them. “Yeah, I do. You're scared, Dean. You're scared because your year is running out, and you're still going to Hell, and you're freaked.” Sam’s words scared the shit out of Dean, he’d been trying to hold himself together. He tried to seem strong infront of his little brother but it didn’t seem to work. Everything Y/N was telling him, reminding him that Sam wasn’t an idiot and the whole ‘macho man’ bullshit facade wasn’t gonna work.

He glanced over to Y/N nervously who held a look that said, ‘I told you so’, her arms crossed over her chest. “And how do you know that?” Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam. “Because I know you!” Sam exclaimed. “Really?!” Dean retorted, “Yeah, I've been following you around my entire life!” Dean’s heart sank in his chest. “I mean, I've been looking up to you since I was four, Dean. Studying you, trying to be just like my big brother. So yeah, I know you. Better than anyone else in the entire world.” Sam’s voice held pure emotion and admiration as Dean’s gaze fell to the floor.

Y/N stood silently with her eyes glued to Dean’s back, her throat was tight. She could feel the pure vulnerability and desperation hanging off of Sam. “And this-” Sam’s words got stuck in his throat. “-is exactly how you act when you're terrified. And, I mean, I can't blame you. It's just…” Sam paused, tearing his eyes away from his brother as his tone wavered. “What?” Dean’s voice broke the silence as he finally looked at his little brother.

However, Sam’s eyes snapped over to Y/N, pleading with her to take over. The unshed tears glistened in his eyes as he tried desperately not to break down in tears right there and then.

Y/N inhaled a shaky breath as her gaze fell back over to the eldest hunter who now shared the same scared and vulnerable look. She rubbed at her nose, a sign that she was trying to compose herself, trying not to let her own emotions get the best of her. “Sam just wants you to drop the show and be his brother again. Because he loves you…we love you”

Once Dean got a proper look at the two, looking like kicked puppies, their lips quivering as they clawed to hold back their tears. His gaze softened, looking down as he scratched the side of his head, “Alright, we’ll hole up” He obliged, “We’ll cover our scent so he can't track us, and wait the night out here.” Y/N and Sam nodded, “Okay” Y/N whispered, “I’m gonna go uh-” Sam cleared his throat, pointing to the door.

“-get the stuff for the sage. It’s in the trunk” Y/N patted his shoulder, understanding that he needed some time alone to get his cry out before he can face his brother again. Sam smiled gratefully at Y/N before making a beeline for the door, picking up Dean’s keys from the table in the process. Dean went back over to the table to pick up the Colt once more as the door shut and Y/N as she wiped at her eyes, taking a seat in the chair near the table.

“Baby,” He called softly. She didn’t look up to meet his gaze so he knelt beside her and placed a hand on her knee, he gently touched her chin. “Look at me,” He murmured. She inhaled a shaky breath, before lifting her head. “Yeah?” She looked up weakly. Dean’s heart shattered at her puffy eyes. He grabbed both of her hands, pulling her up from the chair, to stand to her feet and bringing them chest to chest.

“I’m sorry” He whispered as he pulled her into his chest and placed a kiss on the crown of her head. He sat back down onto one of the chairs and gently pulled her onto his lap, “I’m not the only one that needs to hear that” She croaked, gesturing to the door. “I know” he sighed as he wrapped his arms around her waist, placing his chin on her shoulder as she curled into him. Her own arms wrapped around his neck, toying with his amulet.

“Don’t you dare say I told you so” Dean murmured. Y/N scoffed, “I wasn’t going to” she murmured into his neck, inhaling his scent, “At least not verbally” He smirked a little, “I know what you were thinking, smart ass” He chuckled, lightly pinching her side. Y/N smiled to herself, feeling his rough fingers against her waist, “I’m your smartass”

“That you are” He agreed, tilting her head to the side, giving him easy access to her neck. His lips planted kisses to her exposed skin as her jaw went slack, and a soft gasp escaped her. “I’m gonna go check on Sam- make sure he got the right stuff for the sage” She cleared her throat, peeling herself away from Dean. He groaned playfully, “Why can’t you stay here and kiss me instead?” He protested, trying to pull her back to his lap.

“Because we’ve got a turbo charged Gordon trying to kill us. But you’ll get all the kisses you want after we kill the bastard” She quipped back, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips before pacing over to the door. Dean grumbled, annoyed by her words and the fact that she was right, as he stood up from the chair and got to work barricading the place. Y/N gave him a cheeky smile before slipping out of the motel room, shutting the door behind her.

In the parking lot, across the way, she spotted Sam near the trunk with his face buried in his hands. Her smile faded almost instantly, realizing he was crying. Y/N’s shoulders sagged at the sight. She quietly made her way over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Sammy?” She spoke softly. He tilted his head down to meet her eyes, and she felt her heart drop, his eyes were red and filled to the brim with tears.

Without a word, she wrapped her arms around him and he broke into her arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Y/N held him close, rubbing his back as she tried to soothe him. He held on tightly, afraid to let go. For the first time in a while, he let himself be vulnerable, and she held him, letting him take as much time as he needed to get it all out. “I-I j-just-” He blubbered into her shoulder as his hands gripped onto the back of her shirt. “Shhh, it’s okay sweetie, just let it out” She shushed him softly like a mother comforting her child.

His hands gripped her harder, trying to ground himself. He inhaled a few breaths before pulling away reluctantly. “I’m fine” he said, trying to suck it all up, but of course, Y/N was having none of it. “Don’t you go pulling the macho man act with me now, little Winchester” She said firmly with no room for argument as she pointed a firm finger at her surrogate brother.

Sam hung his head sheepishly, “Sorry” was the only thing he could manage to say. “Don’t be sorry, just don’t push down your emotions again, ‘kay?” She spoke with a firm but gentle tone. He nodded, looking over to the trunk, “Grab the sage?” Y/N asked. He nodded, wiping away his tears. He reached for the sage, handing the bundle to her. “Thanks, how do I look?” He asked as they made their way back towards the motel.

She smirked at the stupid question, “Like you’ve been crying your eyes out, dumbass” Sam scoffed, rolling his eyes. “If you tell Dean about that, so god help me, I will tell him about that time you stole the Impala and snuck out to see Xander” Sam half-threatened, his red puffy eyes narrowed at her. Y/N’s eyes widened as she looked up at him in shock, “You said you would never bring that up again!” She groaned, shoving Sam playfully.

The two entered the motel room once more, Dean glanced over to them with curious eyes. “What?” Dean asked with a cocked brow. “Nothing” Sam and Y/N suddenly said in unison. Dean raised his brows at them once more but decided not to press on it, shaking his head and dismissing it as the two dorks and their childish ‘inside jokes’ they always had. Once Dean had his back to them, Y/N shot Sam a warning look, her eyes widened, signaling him not to say anything.

-

Hours passed and it was nearing sundown, Dean was leaning back on one of the beds they had laying in the ground. His machete in one hand and his sleepy girlfriend wrapped up in his other. Y/N’s dominant hand gripped her own machete while Sam peered at the curtains. Dean’s fingertips danced along her back tracing patterns into her shirt mindlessly, his eyes fluttering open and shut. He tried to keep himself awake but he was struggling.

His body was exhausted and Y/N was not helping his case, her warm form snuggling into him, her head resting on his chest made it very hard for him to keep his tiredness at bay. The tiredness shot out of his body when his new phone suddenly rang, causing Sam to get startled from his position by the window and Y/N to jump awake. The hunters looked to one another nervously, Dean was quick to reach into his pocket. “You've had that phone two hours, Dean. Who'd you give the number to?” Sam asked, “Nobody” Dean answered.

He frowned as he answered, putting the phone to his ear, “Hello?” He asked, his tone cautious. “Dean” Gordon’s voice came through the phone as Sam sat crossed legged at the foot of their bed. Dean’s face fell, “How’d you get this number?” He demanded, “Scent’s all over cell phone store. Course’ I can’t smell you now” Gordon responded, “Where are you now?” He asked, Sam and Y/N’s faces fell also when they realized it was Gordon. “Well, I guess you'll just have to find us, won't you.” Dean quipped cockily. “I’d rather you come to me”

“What’s the matter, Gord-o? You’re not afraid of us, are you? We’re just sitting here. Bring it on” Dean challenged, his grip tightening on his phone as Sam and Y/N listened intently, sharing nervous looks. “I don’t think so” Gordon said menacingly, “Please. Please.” The sound of a woman sobbing through the phone, someone Gordon was holding hostage, pleaded to be saved. He hushed her as Dean’s jaw nearly fell, “Factory on riverside off the turnpike. Be here in 20 minutes or the girl dies.” Gordon demanded.

“Gordon, let the girl go,” Dean tried to reason. “Bye, Dean.” Gordon dismissed. “Gordon, don’t do this! You don’t kill innocent people. You’re still a hunter!” Dean snapped. “No. I’m a monster.” With that, Gordon hung up and the line went dead. Y/N, Sam and Dean were stunned into silence. The only thing that echoed the room was the faint sound of the phone call disconnecting. They sat there speechless.

____________________________________________

In record time, the group made it to the factory Gordon demanded they be at. Refusing to risk the life of an innocent woman. Dean bared the Colt as Sam and Y/N wielded their machetes, creeping down the dark hallway with caution. As they bent the corner as the sounds of muffled crying filled their ears. There they saw the woman Gordon had kidnapped tied to a post.

“Hey, hey. Its okay, you’re okay” Dean whispered as they walked towards the girl to free her from her gag. Sam was quick to go over and untie her and comfort her. “Hey, we got you. Don't worry. We're gonna get you out of here.” He assured her as he helped her up. “Watch your head. Watch your head. “ Sam cooed, covering the trembling and sobbing woman’s head.

Y/N remained close to the door, glancing around the area to make sure Gordon wasn’t there to pop out of nowhere. "Thank you” The girl said, her voice shaking uncontrollably. She could barely walk so Dean gently slung her arm over his head and lifted her up bridal style. “Sam, Y/N, stay close” He instructed the two younger hunters.

They nodded obediently, following behind Dean. Their hearts have out for the poor girl who was terrorized by Gordon. Sharing a sympathetic look. They continued to follow behind Dean and the woman closely, but not closely enough. As they trudged down the hall, a mechanized door suddenly slid down in front of Sam and Y/N, cutting them off from the other two.

“Sam?! Y/N?!” Dean screamed panicked, dropping the woman to her feet, allowing her to lean against the wall. “Dean?!” Sam and Y/N yelled from behind the door, knocking their fists against the cold iron harshly. The three pounded on the steel but to no avail. “Dammit, guys!!” Dean bellowed, kicking the iron door. Sam pounded the door one last time in frustration, his nostrils flaring as his eyes darted over to Y/N.

An idea popped in his head so he quickly nudged the psychic. Y/N raised a brow at him curiously once they shared a look. “What?” She asked, “Use your ESP thing in the door” Sam urged her. “You did not just-” She stopped herself from cussing him out for using the term ‘ESP thing’ instead of telekinesis. Dean was truly rubbing off on his little brother. She rubbed at her temples as she nodded. “Dean, sweetie, step back!” Y/N shouted through the iron door.

“What?” Dean was confused but he did as she said and held the woman close to him in one arm, backing up just a bit. Y/N pressed her hand to the door, her eyes fluttering shut. Her face remained blank as she focused on the iron door, hoping her powers might be strong enough to open it. Her veins ignited up blue as her eyes shone white, the door shook a bit but it didn’t budge whatsoever.

Her nose twitched, she was trying as hard as she could but it felt like the door was resisting. She let out a frustrated grumble, pulling her hand away from the door. “God dammit it’s iron!” She yelled in frustration, pounding the door with her fist. The one element she knew of that she couldn’t break through. One of her unfortunate weaknesses.

“Dean, we’re gonna have to find another way around!” Sam called to the other side of the door. “Great!” Dean retorted sarcastically in response. “Sam, Y/N, be careful!” The two huffed in frustration as they turned and began walking around, when suddenly the lights went out. Y/N’s heart sank, realizing that Gordon ambushed them, “Son of a-“ She seethed, cursing at herself for not being more cautious.

The two nearly froze, blindly feeling around for each other as they raised their machetes in their dominant hands. "Sammy?!" Y/N called out for her brother. "I'm right here" He assured her, his hand gently touching her biceps. They gulped simultaneously, “Gordon! You got us where you want. You might as well come out and fight!” Sam shouted, “C’mon out you filthy fang!” Y/N bellowed as they crept around the dark room.

“I’m right here,” Gordon suddenly appeared behind them, they instantly broke contact and swung their machetes behind them. It swishes through the air but doesn’t make contact. “What’s the matter, Sammy and Y/N/N?” Gordon chuckled darkly, now suddenly on the other side of the room. “So, this is really the way you want to do it, huh?!” Sam seethed, his anxiety skyrocketing as Y/N’s heart beat out of her chest. Both making sure to stay close to one another, “Damn right I do.”

Gordon can see them perfectly through his infrared vision while Sam and Y/N had to feel their way around the room, in what was total darkness for them. Eventually, they made it to a wall, braving their back’s against it. “You have no idea what I faced to get here. I lost everything. My life….. But it's worth it, 'cause I'm finally gonna kill the most dangerous things I ever hunted. Neither of you are human.” Gordon hissed with pure hatred.

“Look who’s talking” Y/N retorted with venom and anger, she swore she saw Gordon at the corner of her eye, swinging instantly. A loud grunt left her throat when she missed, hitting a steel pipe. “Y/N/N!” Sam shouted. “You're right. I'm a bloodthirsty killer.” Gordon confirmed, continuing to stalk them. Sam got ahold of Y/N, gripping her by her wrist to shove him behind her, shielding her with his free hand.

They heard the shuffling of Gordon’s feet as he moved closer to the pair, circling them like a hungry predator, “But you two. Oh, you are a lot worse than me." He added with disgust. “Don't talk about it like you don't have a choice!” Sam argued. “I don't.” Gordon scoffed, “Yes you do, Gordon. You didn't kill that girl.” Y/N defended, “No I didn’t. I did something much much worse” Gordon stated darkly. Their eyes widened simultaneously, their hearts beginning to race.

-

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door Dean was still hacking away at the iron with a large tool. Heavy desperate grunts left his throat as he slammed it against the chains. He grew frustrated, tossing the tool away. Suddenly, the girl vamped out and attacked, knocking him to the ground. His body hit the floor with a heavy thud.

“Jesus Chr-” Dean quickly dug into his pocket and pulled out the Colt, firing a single bullet bullseye into her forehead before she could tackle him. She convulsed brutally, energy crackling throughout her body and wound and eventually slumped to the floor. Dead. He panted heavily as the smoking gun grew hot in his hand.

-

Back on the other side, Gordon continued to taunt them. “I gotta hand it to you, guys. You two got a lot of people fooled. But see, I know the truth.” Their breathing increased as they felt around desperately. “I know what it's like. We're the same now, all of us. I know how it is walking around with something evil inside you.” Gordon’s words were menacing. “It's just too bad you won't do the right thing and kill yourselves. I'm gonna ... as soon as I'm done.” He promised them, “Three last good deeds. Killing you, you and then killing myself.”

They finally got backed into a corner, their breaths getting hitched in their throats. They directly faced Gordon, the bloodthirsty vampire growling as he bared his fangs. In a flip, he attacked, sending them all flying into a drywall that was separating them from Dean. Y/N got knocked to a further end of the room, both her and Sam being disarmed of their weapons. The machetes clattering to the floor, “Sammy!” Y/N grunted out when her back collided with the wall.

Before she could recover, Gordon stalked over to her and grabbed Y/N by the hair, slamming her head roughly into the concrete, hard enough to dazzle her but not kill her. Sam scuffled to his feet, retrieving his machetes and lunged for Gordon the moment his hand pulled at her hair, the vampire whirled around and knocked him off his feet with a kick. The younger Winchester being flung into a shelf.

“It’ll make a great story. One vampire hunter turns and he saves the world from bastards like you.” He growled lowly, pinning Y/N to the wall by her neck. Dean then came up from behind out of nowhere and aimed the Colt at the murderous vampire’s head, but was too fast for him, back handing the Colt off of his hands. He slammed Y/N once more into the wall roughly, cracking the wood before grabbing Dean’s gun-arm before twisting it back before flinging him across the room.

Y/N struggled and stumbled over to the side as she pushed herself to her feet, trying to stay up but the pain was making her head feel fuzzy and blurry while Sam picked himself up off of the floor, trying to recover from his own dizziness. Their hearts froze when they saw Gordon stalking over to Dean, grabbing him by his shirt before sinking his fangs into the elder Winchester’s neck.

“No!!” Both Y/N and Sam screamed in horror. Gordon sucked his neck vigorously, the loud sucking sound echoed in their ears as if to taunt them. Dean cried out in pain, his body flailing desperately in the vampire’s grip. Before they knew it, Sam had a large iron in his hand, knocking Gordon in the back of his neck as Y/N sent Gordon to the other side of the room with a wave of her hand.

In no time, Gordon recovered and vamp sped over to them. Kicking Y/N across her face and gripping Sam by his hair before reeling his fist back and driving it into his face. Y/N let out a sharp pained cry when she landed against the concrete. Sam groaned painfully, stumbling to his feet as blood poured down his nose. Both were growing more and more hopeless. Gordon’s vamp-speed was far too quick and skilled for them to overcome. The little recovery time for Y/N to send a blast his way was deadly.

Gordon kicked Sam in his midsection and returned his gaze to Y/N, picking her up by her neck and slamming her across a work table. Dean desperately tried to pull himself to his feet as Y/N cried out in pain. He cursed himself angrily, watching hopelessly as Gordon tossed Y/N to the floor like a rag doll. “Sam!!! Y/N!!!” He cried out weakly.

Gordon got sloppy when he turned his attention back to Sam, kicking the younger Winchester brutally. Y/N’s weary eyes searched the room for her machete, coming up empty. So she thought quickly on her feet and managed to grab a piece of cloth and an end of razor wire in each hand. Y/N pulled herself up with a groan. Her whole body shook with the combination of pain and adrenaline. She rushed over to Gordon and instantly wrapped the razor wire around his neck.

Gordon stumbled backwards in a panic, his hands clawing at the wire like a wild animal. He forced himself to turn, his wide eyes connecting with Y/N’s anger filled ones. She held on desperately as he tried to throw her off, but she remained clinging to it. Sam got up off the floor, his vision was blurry from the blood that kept pouring from his nose.

Her eyes glanced over to Sam who was a bloody mess on the floor and her boyfriend, who was still clutching his neck. Dean’s chest fell up and down with heavy breaths, trying to regain his sense. The sight of her family like trash on the ground fueled her anger. She glared at the monster with hatred and disgust as her veins ignited blue once more and her eyes shone white. A sick feeling of pleasure and satisfaction coursing through her body when a death-rattle sound came from Gordon’s throat.

She grit her teeth and pulled harder, forcing Gordon to stare her dead in her eyes as his life slipped from her hands. Blood dripped from her hands where the razor wire was cutting in and through Gordon’s fully fanged teeth. Yet, she pulled harder, until she cut all the way through Gordon’s neck and sent his fully decapitated head tumbling.

She panted from the effort, and dropped the razor on the floor beside her. A feeling of nauseous filling her. She stared down at Gordon’s head on the ground, and examined her slightly shaky bloody hands. Dean and Sam finally staggered to their feet. Both groaning and coughing. Dean clutched his neck in pain as Sam covered his bloody nose. Dean was still holding the Colt as he and Sam hobbled over.

The brothers look down in surprise at the headless Gordon, then back up at Y/N, who shrugged in return. Her own head was bruised, a cut right above her eyebrow bleeding terribly and her lip busted open. Y/N pulled herself from her place and began stumbling with the boys, none of them moving very well. “You just charged a super-vamped-out Gordon with no weapon. That's a little reckless, don't you think?” Dean’s croaky voice and untimely humor didn’t garner any response from the equally beaten down Sam and Y/N.

____________________________________________

After the long and traumatic hunt, it was now daytime. The group fully rested and back on the road. Dean was under the hood of Baby, poking at something while Y/N leaned against the passenger side door, smoking a cigarette. Sam opened a cooler that sat near Y/N’s feet and pulled three beers, then shut the lid and sat on it. He opened two bottles and passed one to Dean and another to Y/N. All while the stereo was playing Bad Company’s "Crazy Circles".

“Here you go.” He offered them the beer. “Thanks” They accepted in unison. The boys took a swig of their beers. While Y/N took a long drag of her cigarette, blowing smoke out of her nostrils, her head tipped back, enjoying the blissful moment. “Figure out what's making that rattle?” Y/N asked her boyfriend as Sam flicked the bottle caps into a nearby bush, “Not yet. Give me a box wrench, would you?” Dean responded, “Yeah. Here you go” Sam conceded, digging into the toolbox at his feet before handing Dean the tool.

As Dean went to begin his mechanical work while Sam and Y/N made conversation. He looked up thoughtfully, “Sam?” He called out to his little brother as he pushed himself back to his feet, “Wrong one?” Sam asked, his head snapping over to his big brother. “No no no, come here for a second.” Dean shook his head. Sam looked over at Y/N with confusion, the psychic just shrugging in response as she blew smoke out of the corner of her mouth and gesturing for him to go do what Dean said.

Sam pushed himself to his feet and leaned over the hood with Dean. “Yeah?” Dean licked his lips before beginning, “This rattle could be a couple of things. I'm thinking it's an out-of-tune carb.” Y/N smiled to herself when she realized what Dean was doing, positioning herself to the side of the hood as she tossed her burnt out bud onto the ground and crushed it with her heeled boot. “Okay?” Sam responded, still confused.

Dean cleared his throat before reaching back over the bonnet, pointing to a certain spot. “All right, see this thing? It's a valve cover. Inside are all the parts that are on the head.” He explained, “Hand me that socket wrench.” He instructed Sam, who went to do so but Y/N placed her hand over the toolbox and summoned the socket wrench to her hand before handing it over to Sam with a wide grin.

Dean’s eyes shifted to Y/N, his brows raising a bit. “Show off” Sam mumbled, playfully snatching the wrench away from her. “Jealous” She teased as Sam handed the tool over to Dean. The older Winchester took the tool, going to work with a smirk. “Alright, you with me so far?” Dean asked Sam for reassurance, “Yeah, uh, valve cover covers the heads.” Sam answered, pointing to the valve as he intently listened. “Very good,” Dean commended before continuing. “Now this is your intake manifold, okay, and on top of it?”

Y/N found it so cute how Dean was teaching Sam, a little pout playing on her lips as she lit another cigarette, glancing between the brothers. Sam smiled as he tried to remember, “It's, uh, uh, a carburetor.” Sam replied. Dean nodded in confirmation, “Carburetor. Very good” He commended once more, pushing himself up from the bonnet as Sam side eyed him with amusement. “What's with the auto shop?” Sam chuckled, his eyes widening when Dean twirled the socket wrench before handing it out for him to take.

“What, you don't mean you want-” Sam stuttered. Even Y/N nearly choked on the smoke when Dean did that. “Yeah, I do. You fix it.” Dean cut him off, smiling up at his brother. “Dean, you barely let me drive this thing.” Sam held his hands up but Dean shook his head. “Well, it's time. You should know how to fix it. You're gonna need to know these things for the future.” Sam and Y/N’s face fell at his words, the two sharing a look. Y/N nodded, urging him to take the wrench.

Sam sighed deeply as Y/N took a long drag from her cigarette as she forced herself to swallow her emotions, “And besides, that's my job, right? Show my little brother the ropes?” Dean said encouragingly, offering him a small smile. It was now Sam’s turn to swallow his emotions, choosing to look at this little moment as a good thing rather than impending horror as he leaned down and started unscrewing. Dean smiled like a proud father, patting Sam on his back.

He then walked over to his girlfriend, taking a seat on the cooler beside her. Y/N’s eyes remained on Sam as he carefully took the engine apart. She found this moment oddly tender, her heart swelling at how Dean was teaching Sam. She blew out a ring of smoke, a light gasp leaving her lips when Dean suddenly snatched her by her waist, pulling her onto his lap. “Are you actually letting him get up under the hood?” She asked with a light chuckle.

Dean’s tongue ran across his lips as he nodded his head, “Mhm.” He confirmed. She chuckled, raising a brow as she placed her cigarette between his lips, “That’s risky.” He inhaled the cigarette as he hummed in agreement before exhaling a small cloud of smoke around Y/N. He took the cigarette into his fingers, taking another puff, “It is, but he's a quick learner…little dull when it comes to cars but a quick learner” He replied with a smirk, his free hand rubbing her leg affectionately.

“I can hear you y’know!” Sam’s pensive voice pierced into their conversation as he stood up slightly, accidentally hitting his head on the hood, thanks to his impeccable height. Dean and Y/N snickered in amusement, the psychic covering his mouth as Dean said, “Put your shoulder into it” Urging Sam, only to retrieve a glare from his brother as he sipped his beer.

Sam scoffed, muttering profanities at them before returning back to the car. Y/N let out a breathy sigh as she relaxed back into Dean's lap, her chin resting against his head, her arm wrapped around his shoulder. He chuckled, enjoying having her in his lap, as he continued to smoke their cigarette and watch Sam struggle but learn.

____________________________________________

Author’s Note: Hi beauties! Okay, I’m not gonna lie. I'm not so confident about this episode😭I don’t know if it’s just my writing insecurities being a nasty bitch but I genuinely don’t like how I wrote it and had a hard time garnering motivation to do so BUT I worked hard so I’m gonna love it regardless, despite what my stupid ass brain is saying🥰

It’s a bit shorter than most but I guess quality over quantity?💀

I hope you guys loved it too!! Don’t be shy, tell me what was your favorite part🫶My personal favorite moment was Y/N comforting Sam, these two babies go through enough on a daily:( their slight banter throughout this chapter gave me life😂

Honorable mention: Y/N’s internal conflict about the ring at the beginning of the chapter💀💀💀I was crying/laughing while writing it, MISS GIRL IS TIRED LMAO

Anyways, I hope you guys have an amazingggg day. Sending love to everyone and see you in the next one! Mwaahhh

Taglist: @hjgdhghoe @rach5ive @tiggytaylor @star-yawnznn @quarterhorse19

@deangirl96 @bitchykittenconnoisseur @globetrotter28 @hobby27 @mrsjjkwinchester

@juwu-theliciosa @magiccliopleurodon @nesnejwritings @karrah89 @whattheduckisupkyle

@iloveyou2mia @thelittlelightinthedarkness @lmhf1 @littletomboy2 @zigzoggy

@hey-its-zoe @modiddys-blog @thvxr @tommysaxes @cookiemonstermusic258 @elite4cekalyma

@ladykitana90 @strawberrykiwisdogog @barnes70stark

Xoxo

[eightyonefour]

omg thank you so much for the primer! oscar being a fanboy that far back and even interacting with TeamL4ndo is so insane. 😭 the very first video I saw of them was the portrait painting video they did in august ‘23 and I loved their dynamic even then so much already.

if you ever want to make a part 2, I’d be very grateful ❤️

so i guess we're back for part 2! i'm gonna leave the main mclaren challenge videos out of this because i guess those are easy enough to find, but feel free to ask about them as well ☺️

again, random landoscar cute/fun moments under the cut 👇

post hungary -> so these two are actually hilarious because while we were all in the trenches after hungary, a bit worried about how their dynamic would shift after that whole debacle, the next race weekend they arrived gigglier than ever and oscar kept teasing lando about his height. they have later both admitted that hungary actually brought them closer together (thank god)

nickname saga -> this is probably the biggest inside joke between us and them (?) it's an inside joke between them in and on itself, that much's obvious, but it's also quite funny how lando keeps coming up with crazier names for oscar the more fans use those nicknames. and at this point it's just a game for us to spot interviews where he uses "osc", which is very fun

baby birds -> this is just a veeeeery cute video of both of them talking on the phone and teasing each other

accessories -> lando wore a bracelet with oscar's name on it (he put it on in front of him as well) and oscar wore a lando pin (when there was an oscar pin that he did not use)

related to the previous one, oscar has also worn a ln branded shirt

shaving -> this one is a bit different but i like it because it seems to me like lando's "older brother" persona came out. oscar got a very weird comment about him being hairless and you can kinda see how he was thrown off by it a bit, but lando instantly chimed in with a "joke", saying he shaves, and allowed him to run with it and "get him out" of the uncomfortable conversation

radio interview -> again, because these two like to have parallels for everything, we have oscar picking up that lando doesn't really wanna focus on the bad weekend he had and running with the joke to make it all more lighthearted (lando's smile at the end is v cute)

rating video -> they were the sole reason this video wasn't a total flop, they carried the whole thing

airport -> because they refuse to be normal oscar waited around at the airport for an hour because lando's luggage got lost

chanting -> this is one of my favourites, the crowd chanting lando's name and lando chanting oscar's to include him 🥹 also how they end up just facing each other and talking among them because they are crowded and it's all a bit overwhelming so they need their emotional support teammate to survive

biggest fan -> lando making oscar laugh (fork found in kitchen)

that's all that comes to mind for now! i know there are a million other things tho so don't hesitate to come yap about whatever 😁

[williamaltman]

On Lochlan, his sexuality and incest

Ok, so the following text was written with reddit in mind, so my tone is a bit more... idk, serious and cautious than it usually is, but I decided to post it here as well, cause this whole topic has been eating me up. I'm also aware that I'm kinda preaching to the choir when it comes to how tumblr sees this situation, but still.

Ok, so I was thinking of waiting for the end of the season to talk about this, but to be honest it's been kind of driving me mad.

For a while now, there has been debate about what exactly is going on with Lochy and his relationship with his brother and what exactly is the truth behind this whole situation. After all the debate about him supposedly being an evil predator who spit the pill (which he didn't!) so he could take advantage of Saxon, it seems that now most people have settled on "he was just genuinely trying to help and the handy was bad but not actually incestuous in nature", and I kind of understand why because this is pretty much how the actor is explaning his character away, but I'm gonna be honest, I don't think that's really the case.

I don't want to discredit Sam entirely, cause I do believe that actors' opinions matter as it affects how they play things, but he's still not the writer/director/anything with actual input in the story, and both he and Patrick have also said that Mike White decided to leave things up for interpretation, and he hasn't given any interviews or explained his thoughts himself (well, apparently he mentioned something about a "gay storyline that is truly satanic", as that's mentioned in a couple articles, and if that is true, the fact that he's even referring to it as a gay storyline kinda supports my point).

I actually agree with most of what Sam has said, which is that Lochy is a people pleaser who is desperate for approval and attention. As of these last few episodes, he has basically followed his brother's lead and done everything that Saxon has told him to. I do believe he did not have any malicious intentions.

However, this doesn't necessarily negate the idea of him being sexually attracted to him. I think the way Sam talks about it, as well as a large part of the audience, comes from the idea that it has to be either one of two extremes: Either Lochy is a creep and a freak and predatory, or he's actually just a teenager helping out his brother in a no homo way... Which honestly just doesn't compute.

If you pay attention, there has been a lot of stuff suggesting Lochy is queer. Whether he's gay or bi I don't know, and I don't think it really matters, but I just can't possibly think he's straight. I'm gonna list all the ways that I think indicate that, and I will warn that some will probably be considered a reach by some, but others imo are very clear, and I ask you to read this with an open mind.

1 - From the beginning, he has the dilemma of going to Duke or Tar Heel for college. As in, will he follow the same path as the men of his family or the women. He doesn't know himself. This could mean different things, like does going to Duke makes him more masculine like his father and brother, or does it mean that he's choosing their side as in... choosing men? And vice-versa. Not like it's an actual choice, but again, as a storytelling device.

2 - Both his parents (but particualr the dad, I think) are adamnt on him fixing his posture. Straightening his spine. Making him stand up straight. Saxon also encourages this, on the same situations where he encourages him to hook up with women or drink his protein shakes to get buff.

3 - If you think the last point is a reach, in the very session that he takes for said issue, the therapist tells him that he sits in a defensive posture because he's "protecting himself with his female side."

4 - He's the one who notices the "ladyboys" and asks "Dad, are they women?". When Saxon makes his joke about them, "you never know which one is gonna have nuts", he looks visibly uncomfortable. He tries to laugh at it like he does with most of his jokes, but for that one he can't. You can see that he's affected.

On his mother's dream, she also sees him sitting with two "ladyboys" as he talks about the tsunami.

5 - When Saxon is getting drinks for them on the Full Moon Party, he says "pink one for the lady" and tries to hand it to Chelsea. When she refuses and goes to take her call, Lochy takes it instead.

Now, to kinda go back on the Saxon/incest-related.

If you're a straight guy, losing your virginity to a woman, would you really be so focused on jerking off another man? Even if it's like, some guy you really like such as your best friend and your brother? I don't know. And he didn't seem to be actually that interested in Chloe to me. Not grossed out either, so I don't think he has to be gay necessarily rather than bi/pan/whatever, but still.

Chloe also mentioned how young virgin guys get all flustered and shaking with their hearts beating rapidly when they take off their clothes and etc, that she wanted that kind of attention. Yet we don't see any kind of excitement from Lochy over her, really. If you look at Saxon's memories, Lochy only smiles when he's looking at Saxon and Saxon looks like he's about to come (as he jerks his body up).

Going back to the first episode... Many people have rationalized that scene as not really being sexual. I know what Sam has said about it on interviews, too. But I just don't think it checks out. There is a real focus on Saxon being naked and Lochy staring at him. That soundtrack, which seems to be one that plays when something kind of spicy and perhaps unsettling is happening, starts playing right as we get the shot of Saxon walking naked with his ass on full display. It continues as Lochy is looking at him.

And then Saxon notices, and even him, who has no boundaries and was talking about porn and sex, seems a little freaked out when he does. As Saxon closes the door, Lochy looks like he's either embarrassed for being caught looking, disappointed that he closed the door, or both.

And then on episode 2 we have the scene of him waking up. And again the first thing he sees is Saxon's ass, and then he goes wash his face and looks in the mirror. Yeah, this isn't quite proof of anything, but what is the purpose of the scene then, why was it written and shot and kept in the final edit? Especially when you consider it in addition to the previous one.

And lastly, spoiler alert, in one of the trailers/promos,there are scenes where he says to Piper "I don't want to give in to my dark shit" and "if everyone gave in to their base instincts, it'd be total depravity."

If he does not have any incestuous feelings for Saxon, what is this "dark shit" he has in him that he's talking about? For the second one there could be some other context, but even then it seems like he's thinking of his own "base instincts" as depraved.

To go back to what Sam has been saying on interviews a bit, I think a lot of it comes from the fact that he wants to defend Lochy and believe that he's a good person, especially after the reactions to episode 5 where so many people were saying that Lochy was a creep, a predator, some kind of evil mastermind/manipulator and theorizing that he had spit out his pill and was perfectly sane.

I think he feels the need to defend him and not paint him in such a negative light, and because incest is a thing that is considered, well, bad by most people, he's denying that as well. In another interview he also said actors need to find a way to love and connect with the character no matter what, and I think this is a big part of it, not seeing him as fully incestuous if one thinks that incest is something irredeemable.

Both he and many people watching also seem to think that Lochy thinking of the handjob or even the kiss as him wanting to make Saxon happy and impressed automaticaly negates him being attracted to him and having any other feelings about it, but that isn't necessarily the case. It can be both, it makes sense that it's both imo, and I think that's part of what makes him and this storyline as a whole so interesting, that there are so many layers to it.

But in my mind, with all of the context we have for the character in relation to both his relationship with Saxon and in regards to how his own identity and individual arc is portrayed, I think Lochy is definetely queer, and indeed attracted to his brother. And when you put these two things together, it can easily be explained as something similar to, if not straight up the same thing, as the Oedipus/Electra complex.

Lochy, even though he's legally an adult at 18, is clearly still developing in many ways, including his sexuality, and Saxon is the closest male figure in his life, not to mention one who's showing up naked in front of him and talking about sex.

If you're grossed out by it and want it to be explained away, or get some comfort about it in general, I think it would make sense for him to sort of grow out of that as he gets older and more secure in himself/his sexuality, especially after the confusion and guilt he feels over what he did as seen in the monastery scene when he remembers things.

[mixelation]

@phoenixremix69 said this on this post:

i really hope [tori] doesn't corrupt sakura and now she's reading trashy porn of her sensei

and actually i have been rotating tori & team 7 a bit (this post is largely NOT about reading bad erotica novels)

point the first: the wave mission-to-chunin exam arc is meant to be a turning point in tori as like, coming into her own as a ninja. almost everything she does up into this point is stuff she could have feasibly done as a civilian, or else something she felt massively uncomfortable about

the end results of the wave mission is team 7 comes out thinking tori is....... kind of cool? tori calls the missing-nin's boss in front of sakura and then tells sakura "don't do things the way every says they should be done, do them they way that works. there's infinite ways to skin a cat" and sakura feels her third eye start to creak open. it's the first time naruto has seen fuuinjutsu applied in a practical way that's not just (whta he perceives to be) his parents fucking around, and also the first time he's sensed that if he can figure out what tori is saying, it's actually maybe sort of cool. sasuke has been told more than once by his brother than tori should always be ignored, unless it's life-or-death, in which case sasuke should do exactly what tori says* and he finally gets wtf that means

*tori has agreed that sasuke should live at all costs or else itachi will lose his mind. itachi has accept that tori probably cannot stop herself form trying to trick a cute kid into walking into a screen door, but she will do insane things to keep sasuke alive. that's romance baby

also i guess my Vision for the final confrontation was Zabuza/Haku?/Zombie Combi vs Tori + Team 7. i might change the choreo but basically i think tori largely doesn't monologue/say cool lines but what she DOES do is

tori @ kakashi, realizing hidan is probably the the deadliest if you don't know his jutsu: i'm going to take the one with light hair, and then help you with the rest

kakashi, pretending not to be serious even though he's panicking: maa, i wonder why you're the one making the calls?

hidan: BITCH WE CAN HEAR YOU????

tori, attempting to communicate with both at once: you know that when i say i'll do something, i'll make it happen, no matter what god you pray to about it

and then naruto goes home and is like "and then tori siad THIS AWESOME THING--" and tori is like "NOOOO WHY DID I SAY THAAAAAT"

anyway! sakura. sakura is like "i have found someone to look up to" and kakashi is like "please don't" but then the chunin exams come around and actually what IF kakashi let tori train sakura

and i was thinking, in a blatant move for me to work through a lot of the gripes i have with strong!sakura fics..... so sakura's first tournament match is against neji. so i was thinking maybe she goes over to team gai to tell him she's looking forward to their match. she doesn't really mean it; she's kind of afraid of him. but lee likes her and gai and her sensei are friends, and she feels like it's polite. and neji is going through his moody thirteen year old phase and he's like: i'm not looking forward to it. you're clearly the weakest on your team and i don't think you're a serious ninja. look at you. did you waste your time bringing lip gloss to this exam?

and sakura's been having self esteem issues because like. in this au she's really the odd-man out on her team, and she doesn't really have anything special going for her, and that's just..... is she a serious ninja?

and i want tori to be like: sakura, how many hours a week do you train and do physical conditioning? how many hours to do you spend studying and meditating? you're fine

tori: a lot of people act like if you're not constantly training, you're wasting your time. but overworking your body is worse for you than not training at all

sakura: but--

tori: and who fucking cares if you like make-up? most kunoichi wear make-up. the handbook has recommendations for a minimal make-up travel pack to carry for undercover work, and it ALSO recommends cultivating hobbies for mental health reasons. there's nothing wrong with make-up and it could even help you. plus if you didn't wear make-up, he'd just criticize you for not being womanly enough

sakura: but--

tori: if he looks down at you for wearing lip gloss, then it'll just make him all the more surprised when he's missing his skin

sakura: wait what

anyway i don't think sakura starts reading tori's erotica. i think she tells tori all the COOL pre-teens read this other series, and tori goes off and buys a copy. it's really compelling. itachi, what do you think about--

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

Istg C@tra stans are cry babies

Aint no way Cat's hate bigger than HORDAK'S, like my brother in christ did you forgot 2020?

They can't handle someone saying that C@tra sucks (with reason) and they start crying and whining and "ooOohh liking C@tra's character is so haaardd" dude you have 90% of them fandom on your side what are you even talking about.

Meanwhile Hordak's stans r just there 🧍‍♂️<- them

like they know their fav character is an ass and they just accept that and live on lmao (there's at least 1 person saying that hordak did nothing wrong on a C@tra like vibe but idk?? Never seen 1 of them lmao?) They most of the time just:

A) Ignore the hate

B) debunk some of the arguments

C) "cool" *walks away*

Plus the way people presents their hate is so diff, most of the C@tra's hate ive seen is actually very logical and have good points, you can easily make a post on that vibe with Hordak, BUT NOOoooOOo

Is easier to harass anyone who likes the character 😀

And Im basically glad that a lot of Hordak and Entrapdak fans are older/adults bcuz Im sure SOMEONE would come off of the fandom mentally scarred for life with the scary amount of hate Spop fandom managed to summon.

it's so funny to me when spop stans are like "catra is overhated! unpopular opinion but catra is actually innocent" like no babes, that's a very popular opinion. catra is loved by 99.9% of the fandom. sure, hordak has fans and apologists too but catra is definitely the fan favorite.

and it's even funnier that they call hordak "abusive" or entrapdak "toxic" but then refuse to elaborate. like i'm willing to hear them out if they have something to support their argument. but no, it's just "hordak is a villain so he's an abuser".

and i agree that hordak is not some innocent little baby. he is, just like catra, a sympathetic villain, with emphasis on villain. but it should be acknowledged that while he was a shitty person in general, he was a good partner to entrapta.

“y'all are contributing to romanticizing colonization, g3nocide and abuse” right, because catra was not a part of any of that. she only tried to end the entire world, that's not genocide! /s

i would have agreed with that particular fan if they were talking about the spop fandom as a whole, and not just hordak and entrapdak fans. like how are you this hypocritical?

i am personally desensitized to the death threats and shit but you're right, if any of the younger audience had seen this, they would have been traumatized.

[rebellionbeach]

Reblogging my 3 year old analysis because I am narcissistic and want to yap about the Usami bros again...

I agree with most of what I put down but with the new chapters I think there is somethings that have been cleared up regarding their dynamic.

I think it's important to note that the idea of Haruhiko "stealing things away from Akihiko" is like the first thing introduced about his character around act 9~ or beginning or season 2. I'm not saying Akihiko is delulu but there aren't really any good concrete examples he's laid out obviously disregarding Misaki. But with Misaki I truly believe that regardless of his association with Akihiko, Haruhiko would have made a move cause he was going to be sending this man flowers anyway. This isn't to say however that the association didn't add a bit of interest on Haruhiko's part (he does put himself against his brother when he was harassing Misaki lol).

Okay, so maybe he wanted Misaki initially because Akihiko had him (he owns him bitch), but aside from that what else? I've come to believe that the main thing that Akihiko might be referring to is this head position of the Usami family. It all really makes sense when you think about it, the whole arc surrounding the family is regards to this succession and the one flashback we get to demonstrate Akihiko's trauma is regarding that whole point.

That brings me to a side tangent, Natsuko's character. I have a lot of bias when it comes to the idea of redeeming parental figures who did their children wrong (which I really think Nakamura is aiming for with Natsuko and even Fuyuhiko blegh), and Natsuko did Akihiko a lot of wrong. This whole character trait of her words coming out like 1000X worse then the message she actually wants to convey is honestly a little relatable, but in what way ma'am is saying I should not have had that man's child in front of that man's child anyway to convey to them that you want them to pursue their own path in life??? That's what this whole arc is shaping up to be which is a bit disappointing. Even Kaoruko notes that even though she "may have not meant any harm" she could never forgive her for hurting Akihiko like that. I won't even get into the mess that is Fuyuhiko's character because honest to god how are you going to redeem that. I just feel that if Nakamura is trying to shine a good light on Natsuko and Fuyuhiko's characters, there's going to have to be a lot of apologies in order, to like almost everyone, they fucked up all the kids.

Anyway, back to Haruhiko and Akihiko, they were basically manipulated by almost all adult figures around them into believing that becoming the heir of the Usami group was their merit or right. Really, it seems that Akihiko moreso and Haruhiko mostly by Fuyuhiko, since everyone didn't want a "bastard" to lead them. It's honestly a classic succession set-up, but really fucked up when you think about the fact that Haruhiko was raised as the perfect heir only for Fuyuhiko wanting to give that position to Akihiko now.

Obviously, Akihiko has no intention of doing this, the whole conflict in this arc, but I don't think its unreasonable to think that there weren't lingering feelings before. He became a successful author and swayed from that route, but the constant influence of people in his life telling him he should have that spot probably affected him in some type of way. That's why I think it's really nice closure on the chapter like 4 emeralds ago where Akihiko not only fully states he doesn't want to succeed, but he thinks Haruhiko will succeed based on the merit of his accomplishments and that anyone around him would feel the same. It's almost a full circle moment where Haruhiko finally gets some sort of validation from the brother he was 'competing' against this whole time. This was a great chapter and a really sweet interaction between the two which is actually the first time that's really happened.

Now, if I had a say in this, Haruhiko and Akihiko would then go to Fuyuhiko and assault him with bats....but I don't think that's where this is going so the remaining conflict lies primarily between Natsuko and Fuyuhiko. So, I think we're pretty much at the closing stretch of this quite long-drawn arc and the next chapter we'll probably see a Natsuko-Fuyuhiko conversation which will be very interesting. Their dynamic hasn't been properly depicted and, while I don't sympathize, I do find both of their characters pretty interesting and am very curious as to how Nakamura wants to wrap this all up. Will Fuyuhiko cry and beg for Natsuko's forgiveness? Will they finally get that divorce? Will Misaki-Kaoruko-Akihiko-Haruhiko beat that old man up with hammers? Yeah...idk

The Usami brothers and whole family as a whole are really interesting characters.  Due mostly by the fact of how different Haruhiko and Akihiko are yet similar in many ways as well.  Let’s start with rabbit boy.

Not only is this man extremely sexy but he’s also one of the most popular novelists in Japan believe it or not (not in real life guys)  Akihiko is the presumably biological son of Natsuko and Fuyuhiko and younger brother of Haruhiko Usami.  Growing up, he had always yearned for the attention of his parents, wanting to impress them and make them happy.  Haruhiko had actually been introduced to the Usami household at the age of 12 so Akihiko was 10 at the time and significant development seemed to grow from this change.  As shown from volume 21, everyone had been cheering Akihiko on as the legitimate heir of the Usami family meaning to take over the family business however he had never gotten this support from his parents before.  As a young child he had believed that if he just tried harder and became good at everything, then his parents would finally recognize him.  However, this wasn’t the case unfortunately as shown in the same volume once a young Akihiko came home from school gaining full marks on a test, eager to show his father when he caught him telling Haruhiko that he truly intended to make him the heir of the family business.  This impact was further felt once his mother, who had also witnessed this, declared that she should have never bore Fuyuhiko’s child which in the eyes of a young child must have been completely shattering.  An important seed was planted however and I believe that it was at this moment that Akihiko had started to evolve into the person he is today.  He poured all his emotion, pain, loss, suffering into his notebooks, his stories, proclaiming it to be his entire world.  Overtime we see that Akihiko grows to be very adept at the talent, being one of the top-selling authors from debut which occurred while still in high school and becoming a full-fledged novelist.  Doing this, he completely rejected his family and any connections he might have had to take over the business.  

Looking as Akihiko today it is very clear the type of individual he is, independent and self-serving, he’s his own boss and does only the things he wants to do.  From the first episode of season 2 we see this as there is a key event that takes place between the two Usami brothers in which a confrontation between two escalates into a full-out argument over Akihiko coming back to, as I assume, take over the lead of the Usami company and or serve there.  I will note later on Haruhiko’s tone and content of his language but it’s Akihiko’s response which truly stuck out to me as he stated that he had no inclination of going back to that house and if that Haruhiko truly didn’t like being there then why doesn’t he just leave as well.

This point may seem entirely irrelevant but I actually believe it highlights an essential part of Akihiko’s character that not only serves as his strength but also a blind spot in that of his independence.  Akihiko is the type of person who is able to do the things he’d like to do and encourages the people he cares about, basically Misaki, to do the same such as in episode 2 of season 3 where he is actually the one who encourages Misaki to enter into Marukawa after Misaki dismisses those thoughts as just a fantasy.  This is a thing for his relationship with Misaki as he allows the man a different perspective and in a way allows him, or at least encourages him, to be more selfish.  However this can also be seen as a flaw of his character as it can be interpreted that the only reason he has this lax and independent personality in the first place is because of his more well-off family and the fact that he’d had connections from the start.  In all honestly though, this part of Usagi-san’s personality is one of the main reasons why I actually enjoy his character, along with his thoughtful nature, as I believe that it’s a pretty unique and well-suited trait.

Let’s get into Harry Potter or the eldest brother of the Usami residence, Haruhiko.  Haruhiko isn’t Akihiko’s direct brother as stated before but rather a product of an affair that Fuyuhiko had with his mother.  For the first 12 years of his life, Haruhiko had actually been raised by his single-mother whom he loved very much.  During these times he had been seen to be much more happy despite living in poorer circumstances.  This is a large aspect that is pretty big onto why he is the way he is today.  After his mother tragically passing on, Fuyuhiko took him into to live in the Usami residence.  Now this in itself is absolutely devastating, living with a father-figure that had never truly been there for you with a new mother-in-law that despises your every existence because you’re the proof of the infidelities of her marriage and a new younger brother who seemed lifeless from the rest of this.  Top it all off with the devastation from losing the only person you truly loved and was there for you and damn I’m surprised that Haruhiko didn’t full out lose it.  

Now going back to the scene originally discussed with Akihiko’s backstory, let us switch perspective onto Haruhiko during this situation.  Your new dad just stated that the person he had truly loved in his lifetime was your dead mother and that he intended to make you, a 12 year old child, the heir of their family company that you had just learned about.  Not only this but everyone around you is your enemy as shown through all the people cheering on Akihiko to become the true heir and saying that Haruhiko stole his position.  There is basically no one there to support you, similar to Akihiko, and unlike Akihiko he actually was not used to this new circumstance making the situation even worse. 

I’d like to discuss the scene stated before during episode 1 of season 2.  Here, Haruhiko is visibly angry as Akihiko’s lack of care for his role in the Usami residence.  This is something we’ve never actually gotten to see ever since with Haruhiko barely showing any emotion at all.  However, if you take in the full context of his upbringing and circumstance to that point, you can see a fuller picture of what the man has gone through to become the stoic chosen one we know today.  Akihiko, after being hoisted by Isaka to finally start publishing his works, his entire being, finally achieved success independent from the Usami residence, marking himself finally as an individual allowing him to finally see that he only needs himself.  I think this is what caused Akihiko to cut most connection from his family, despite the occasional visits, and totally puts himself away from the idea of succeeding and become the heir of his family’s company.  This leaves Haruhiko with the burden of shouldering the entire Usami company’s future, something he never truly wanted to today with architecture being his main priority.  What he see’s in Akihiko is this lazy, selfish person who only thinks of himself, abandoning all his familial duties to a brother whom he barely batted an eye to during childhood.  This is what he hates in Akihiko, but also envies.  A very interesting point that season 2 makes with the connection between the Usami brothers is the inherent jealously Haruhiko feels toward Akihiko, with him trying to steal things from him during their upbringing together according to Akihiko.  Even Misaki finally has this revelation during episode 8 I believe when he was distracting him from Kaoruko.  I think his jealously mainly stems from the fact that Akihiko got his independence while Haruhiko is still confined to the Usami gates.  With all of Akihiko’s absent-minded behavior and to quote Haruhiko, “having the eyes of a dead fish”, Akihiko in the end still achieved that sense of independence that Haruhiko could only dream about having.  Add onto the fact that everyone around you hates that you got this position, lobbying for your younger half-brother who barely gives in the effort to succeed you, then baby that’s a recipe for childhood resentment if I’ve ever seen one.  

So what does this all mean, well nothing since this is an over-analysis on a yaoi manga but in a reality I think it comes to show the clear dynamic Haruhiko and Akihiko have on one another.  In recent chapters it is shown that Haruhiko is more and more aspiring in his own pursuits in architecture, even accepting his position as lead of the Usami household and accepting the fact that he’ll never get Misaki, wanting to stay as his ally instead (which is a lot more than I can say for a CERTAIN manga author).

I love Haruhiko AND Akihiko, they both are really great characters and I’d think it would be nice if in the future they could perhaps reconcile their relationship and kind of start to get along.  The Usami household fucked up a lot of kids but they are still going strong and who knows, maybe Haruhiko might get a lover in the future (AKA Todo)

Thank you and now I implore you to go listen to Nelson’s After the Rain album, 10/10 made me cry.

[leet911]

Us the series still has 2 episodes left to prove me wrong, but I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say that I don't think Us is a romantic drama. It's a family drama that happens to feature a wlw couple as the main characters.

I have seen posts praising the pure trusting love that Pam/Rak have. And other posts saying that nothing ever happens in their relationship, and all the big revelations that should be dramatic end up being nothing because they don't end in big outbursts or meaningful consequences. I don't think either of those perspectives are wrong, I just think they are approaching the show from different directions.

My theory is that the core plot of Us is the family drama. What Rak & Kawi have going on in their immediate family with their parents, and then extended to the half-siblings — most prominently featuring Nene of course — that's the actual story. The love story between Pam and Rak is incidental to that. And I think they're cute together too, but this explains why the heavily marketed plot points (e.g. "I'm in love with my brother's girlfriend") turn out to not be that impactful to the story. This isn't a show about Pam & Rak's relationship at the end of the day. It's a show about Rak's family, and maybe Pam becomes part of that, and Pam has her own family issues to deal with (and what family means to her). But again, a show about family that happens to include a wlw main couple.

If you're looking for classic romantic drama, I think this show isn't it. And there's nothing wrong with that. People are allowed to like different things.

I feel I get asked for GL recommendations sometimes (even if I don't consider myself an expert, or even particularly well versed), and one of the most common requests are for series "with plot". And I think the truth is, you have to be able to define what "plot" means to you. I would argue that Us "has plot", in the sense that Pam & Rak's relationship is not the focus, the family drama is, but the question is whether or not you want to watch a family drama? As far as romantic stakes go, from the very first episode of Us, it's clear Pam/Rak are in love and there are the barest of excuses to keep them apart. I'm enjoying Us regardless.

In contrast, the other series that comes to mind when people think about "plot" is Petrichor. But that one is arguably a cop show about a serial killer, and even if it features a wlw couple also, I'm not interested in serial killer shows anymore. So I enjoyed Petrichor far less. But that's just me.

I guess what I'm saying is to stop putting so much stock in other people's opinions. Other people (even GL fans) can like or dislike different things from you. The only way to know if you like a show is to watch it. The gif sets lie, no matter how pretty they are, those are cherry picked moments. Trailers lie. They are also cherry picked. And in my experience, translated synopses for Asian series (especially niche ones, such as wlw stuff tends to be) are just terrible at giving you any indication of what a show is actually about. So take a chance and watch a show, figure out what you like.

I don't care if people don't like the same things that I do. I'm just going to yell about blorbo from my shows on tumblr.com regardless.

[ardentpoop]

hey!! i'm new to the spn fandom (haven't finished the show yet, a couple seasons left) and i love sam dearly and can obviously see all the abuse he suffers (mainly by dean, who is actually so so so awful to him in inconceivable ways) but i'm new to tumblr and all the meta and critical thinkpieces of the people who discuss this and the amount of topics and information and posts (bc there are layers upon layer upon layers!!) is so overwhelming for someone who just got here lol so i was wondering where do you think i should start & if there's any "start here" guide to the show through the sam lens or how did you start bc obviously i can see it watching it but there's stuff i miss. anyways yeah sorry for the rambling and hope i could get my point across lol <3 ty in advance, i love reading your posts on the spn dynamics even if sometimes they make me a little confused or I can't fully grasp everything hope i don't sound dumb

oh my god hello. first of all please understand that my perspective on the show is (unfortunately) quite fringe and tends to attract hate whenever people from the broader fandom(s) notice it. doesn’t help that I get heated abt certain recurring issues sometimes 😀

overall this fandom is genuinely huge and obviously pretty old now so I understand being overwhelmed by it. frankly if you watched the show while focused on sam and especially if you care about him for personal reasons you need to be aware of how cynically and/or one-dimensionally much of the fandom interprets and portrays him - this has been going on for years because most people (regardless of fandom segment) prefer dean and shape their “meta” and their fic around that preference regardless of canon characterization and power dynamics.

speaking of fandom segments let me give you a basic overview of what those look like:

d*stiel fandom (I refer to it as “D/C fandom” sometimes and “normie fandom” often). this is the largest segment of the tumblr fandom by a MILE. most outspoken sam haters live here bc it is better for their ship if sam doesn’t exist and particularly not as dean’s long-term partner.

wncest fandom (I refer to it as “S/D fandom” sometimes). many outspoken sam haters here as well - though they would never identify themselves as such - because viewing the entire show through a Traditional (lol) shipping lens can tend to muddy individual characterizations, and because dean is the character with the louder voice in canon these fans get just as offended as others do when you turn up the volume on sam’s perspective. this is all exacerbated by fans in general wanting their favorite character to be the victim in every scenario regardless of the actual power dynamics at play.

sastiel fandom. extremely small compared to either of the above, and better off for it. I will always think of them as the chillest group of fans. what no dean does to a motherfucker (positive) <3

on top of these ship segments you have the overarching “dean g*rls” versus “sam g*rls” dynamic. you’ll see people in S/D fandom in particular claiming these separate fan perspectives as compatible/harmonious. do not believe them lmfao. a lot of people use these labels to signal a superficial preference for one brother over the other (e.g. which one is hotter to you in the context of porn) but for the more engaged fans there is a world of baggage attached to each of these labels, depending on your own view of the show. TL;DR if you love sam and are invested in his mistreatment on the show - especially if this includes his mistreatment by dean - you’ll quickly notice that dean stan circles are not for you.

non-shippers and multi-shippers will more than likely self-identify as either sam g!rls or dean g!rls. if someone calls themself a “cas g!rl” they are almost definitely a D/C shipper or only ever interacting with D/C shippers.

with All That out of the way I recommend making note of which meta posts are most interesting to you and who wrote them, and seeing who their fandom friends are/whose meta they are boosting. here are some common discussion topics that you can search sam blogs for:

sam and bodily autonomy (lack thereof)

the implications of the demon blood arc and how general audiences responded to it

the implications of the soulless!sam arc and how general audiences responded to it

the implications of the trials!sam arc and how general audiences responded to it

the implications of the gadreel!sam arc and how general audiences responded to it

sam and lucifer/sam in the cage

the case for transfem sam (beware of reductive “woman-coding” discourse)

related to the above: dean’s role in the story vs sam’s

sam and faith

sam and food

how we got from “early-seasons” sam to “late-seasons” sam

I have an entire crazy list of sam relationship tags that I won’t put here but here are a few general ones of mine that might be of interest:

#the roles

#us and them

#the audience versus sam and dean

#fandom mythbusting

#hall of mirrors

there is also the “sam winchester centric” ao3 tag which you can try using to narrow down fic/fic collections.

good luck!!!! samtuals feel free to drop recommendations of your own in the comments.