#my personal theory is gun realized after they looked into each other's eyes the night before and he got flustered himself

[justafriend-ql]

🎵 seeing you makes my heart flutter / it trembles since the first time our eyes met 🎵

[fill-me-with-your-memes-daddy]

Watching the Rise of the Titans movie and I'll be documenting all of my thoughts/reactions here. [Spoiler Warning]

So instead of reblogging every new update, I'm just going to have this post up on my phone as I watch and type my reactions in a bullet list format.

Nari's human disguise is so cute. As someone who does have a cottagecore aesthetic, I want to cosplay her so bad

Are Skrael and/or Belroc non-binary coded? Regardless, I'm also obsessed and I want to fuck Skrael and be Belroc.

STEVE CARING ABOUT JIM BEING HURT YESSSS!!! My god his redemption has probably been one of the greatest there is because he doesn't just suddenly go from being a bully to a completely good person. You can see the gradual shift in learning better throughout the shows which is awesome.

IN NEW YOOOOOOORRRRRRRK!!!!!! CONCRETE JUNGLE WHERE DREAMS ARE MADE OFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!

The mugshot montage reminded me of season 1 of trollhunters when toby and Jim were arrested at the museum.

STRICKLER PUT A RING ON IT??? HE'S THE ONLY DILF IVE EVER ACTUALLY AGREED WAS HOT WYM I CAN'T HAVE HIM??? well I'm still really happy about his arc over the series probably one of my favorite character growths.

Eli my guy got his growth spurt!!! As an 18 year old who is still 5'0", I'm happy but envious for him

So I went into this movie without watching any trailers or promo, but I doubt anything could have prepared me for the existence of mpreg. In fact, I wasn't going to document my reactions until I saw that.

NAMURA!!!!!!!!! MY BELOVED!!!!!! I CAN STILL THIRST FOR YOU WITHOUT GUILT

The coach teacher just called the kids zoomers so I have to dock one point from my final rating just because of that. Unforgivable

Those husky animation models suck lmao

Oh fuck the titans got power ranger zords!!

God why did they include the mpreg??? This movie would have been perfect without it.... After that plot point being revisited only one time I'm already beyond done with it

Like it's bringing me back to the v*ltron days where they're was a suspiciously high amount of klance omegaverse and mpreg fics and art created and it physically hurts because Steve and Keith's voice actor is the same person meaning this is especially cursed to me since I was unfortunately in the v*ltron fandom and remember all of that

But like on another note, how old are these characters again??? I haven't checked any wikis because of spoilers but is Steve an adult??? I know aja might be technically a lot older than 18 because alien but is whatever age she is equivalent to an adult as far as emotionally and physically in Akaridion development??? IS THIS A TEEN (M)PREGNANCY IN A KIDS SHOW????

Like bruh I saw a singular post on here before going into the movie that was like "rott spoilers without context" and there was a pregnant belly but I was absolutely not expecting the actual context of it. I'll find the post after I finish and edit this post to tag the creator right here: @makoden

This entire post is just gonna be me ranting about mpreg huh

Anyway I love the whole roundtable allusion to the legends of king arthur (not the toa version but the one he's based off)

THERE'S 3 TO 5 BABIES????? I need to take a break bruh this is just too much

Alright I've taken a 30 minute break got some food and did some things i love (decompressed by tactile stimming with some owl plushies and watched some videos on my favorite owl, Garu. He lives in Japan with his owner and is a domesticated eagle owl who basically just acts like a sky cat. If anyone else needs some eye bleach, here is their YouTube channel)

Blinky and ARRRGHHH!!! saying their "if one of us doesn't make it" talk my god one of them is going to die I can see it and I will be utterly crushed. Jim can't lose another father figure and Toby can't lose his wingman again I will riot if this happens

On a similar but unrelated to the movie note, can we just talk about how toa started with Jim having 0 dads and (if strickler and blinky live to the end) will end with 2 dads? Like I just really feel happy for him that he has two dads who actually figured out how to put the past behind them to not have any infighting between them so that both of them are healthy father figures. Jim has already been through literal hell and back losing his actual humanity in the process so if he loses one of them, I'm going to be really pissed because at this point, this is just Jim torture porn. Y'all know how as SpongeBob SquarePants went on, the show just became Squidward torture porn? It's starting to feel that way for toa and I really hope they cut the shit by the ending

Jlaire is such a good ship but like I feel like it's too perfect they never disagree with each other

YESSSSSSS Someone finally doesn't treat toby like a fat waste of space who messes stuff up!!! I think out of all the characters that would have been most deserving of a rewrite, it's Toby. Sometimes I just feel he's only comic relief and any heartfelt moments he's had in the series was also born of stupidity (ie his flour baby project being unharmed was seen by him as divine intervention from his parents but was actually just Eli and Steve behind the scenes).

Ohhhhh yesssssss Archie's father!!! I was hoping I'd see him again because we got so little of him last

Ooooooooooh Asian trollmarket!!!!!

Oh never mind slavery trollmarket

Bruh titanic camelot

I feel like we're not seeing enough of the villains because I completely forgot about the power ranger zord things

NAMORA NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY LAST CRUSHHHH

STRICKLER NO NOT YOU TOO PLEASE

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE ONLY TWO CHARACTERS I SIMP FOR ON THIS SHOW DIED WITHIN FIVE MINUTES OF EACH OTHER

THAT WHOLE ASS RANT I WROTE IS COMING TRUE FUCK THIS MOVIE THIS SERIES IS JUST JIM TORTURE PORN

WAIT JIM'S SPERM DONOR INFO?

Oh thank God I don't want to know anything about that person

For the record, I call that man Jim's sperm donor because he has no business being called a father to him. All he did was donate some swimmers to the creation of him and give him abandonment issues

Oh another blind troll elder???? This fucker is just if vendel was a bad guy

Bruh I was grieving

PACIFIC RIM WITH GUN ROBOT VEX AND THE BELROCZORD? I've never seen that movie but I know the reference

Bruh Blinky doesn't read horoscopes? Does he realize conspiracy theories are just the manly version of horoscopes?

NO DON'T KILL VEX STOP KO-ING FOUND FAMILY MEMBERS

Oh thank God he's okay

NO NOT ARCHIE AND CHARLEMAGNE OH MY GOD

oh never mind they're just gonna coup de tat I believe in them :))

But I want to see him again

But I'm glad to see vex

Yay they're in arcadia!

But yeah I wondered why the trolls and Merlin didn't keep the whole "daylight doesn't hurt trolls" feature from the eternal night but now Guillermo del Toro I see you were playing the long con in that just to kill my girl Namora :(((

Oooooh I love the animation of the Narizord over Chihuahua!! It looks very good and realistic (if only they could have put some of that into those huskies from before smh)

Bruh the character designs of the arcane order are so good I want to be them

Nari making sure the Skraelzord doesn't crush the bus

DAMN DOUBLE HOMICIDE

Bruh I'm just glad we finally have an answer on why arcadia had everything going on as opposed to literally anywhere else!! I always found that as a weird coincidence for plot convince.

BRUH WERE BACK TO THE MPREG IM SO JEALOUS I FORGOT ABOUT THAT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS GRIEVING THE LOSS OF MY LOVELIES.

Oh that's real convenient that the ninth configuration meant all of them. Way to not decide which character gets more attention. Though it probably was a smart way to not have any infighting in the fandom between each character's stan group.

Bruh I just realized where is Barbera did they just ditch her on the Camelot ship???

And where are the other trolls that migrated at the end of trollhunters s3? They said something about new jersey but obviously Jim and the other main characters got on Camelot instead.... This feels like a plot hole

And we never learned the process of how changelings are made and bonded to humans and stuff. We just know it's super painful but I'm curious ffs!!!!

THE DONT THINK BECOME HERO SPEECH ALL SAID TOGETHER!!!

BRUH THEY REALLY HAD TO SHOW HIM GIVING BIRTH??????? WAS THAT AN ABSOLUTE MUST??????

Plus the main audience for this series is little children (the rating for the movie is literally TV-Y7) so even though my adult ass is not in the target audience, I STILL DONT UNDERSTAND WHY WOULD MPREG AND ANAL BIRTH WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT THING TO 7 YEAR OLDS???? THIS IS A LITERAL FETISH HIDDEN IN KIDS CONTENT ITS ELSAGATE ALL OVER AGAIN Y'ALL 😭😭😭😭😭

Though it's probably hypocritical of me to think fetishes don't belong in kids tv when I've openly admitted to thirsting for strickler and namora

HUZZAH

NEW AMULET WAZ GOOD????

STAB THAT BITCH JIM

WAIT NO I SAID STAB NOT GET STABBED

Alright good job just missed the directions at first but you fixed it

SEVEN KIDS?????????

T O B Y ????????????

W A I T NO

N O

IS HE ACTUALLY

OH MY GOD THERE'S HOPE

NO THERE ISN'T

F U C K THIS SHIT THEY REALLY JUST HAD HIM TO BE BULLIED THEN KILLED

Y'ALL IM ACTUALLY CRYING THIS NEVER HAPPENS

I NEVER ACTUALLY GET SO EMOTIONAL OVER MEDIA THAT I CRY IT ONLY HAPPENED ONCE AT THE END OF VOLTRON BUT AHHHHHHHH

W A I T

HE'S GONNA BE BROUGHT BACK?????

HOLD UP THEY'RE JUST GONNA BRING ALL THOSE DEAD PEOPLE BACK??????

WAIT IS HE

BLINKY CALLED HIM A SON

HOLD ON IS THIS GOING TO BE A CLIFFHANGER???????????

BRUH THEY REALLY JUST CAN'T END THE SERIES WITHOUT CLIFFHANGERS like there's always an open ending

TROLLHUNTER TOBY????? You know what forget the whole rants I had on how toby was written they just redeemed it all

And that's all! I'd rate it a 6.5/10 because it's definitely the weakest of all the sequels but still had amazing animation and some good plot points. It's just really hard to look over the bad stuff enough to rate it any higher.

[machinegunbun]

Did we ever get the freaky colson fic? Asking for a friend

Yenno what? I’ve been practically starving yall so i think you earned it. Ask (for a friend) and you shall receive. Buckle up kiddos, this ones a doozy.

TW?: Like? everything. everything is a problem here lmao. Just weird. H/A stands for haunted attraction, i had one in mind but it felt disrespectful to mention.

I present to you... The Freaky Fic ™

                                                           ~*~*~

You knew this interviewer had a history of asking personal questions, which meant when you came on you were completely expecting to be asked something or other in regards to you and Colsons sex life, but asking about the freakiest sex you’ve ever had still felt a little forward. You weren’t thirty minutes into what would be an hour-and-forty-three-minute podcast and he was already pulling out what you originally thought to the big guns. Your eyes met Colsons as you silently tried to decide whether or not you should avoid the question.

“I already know what it would be, I'm just not sure we should say.”

“It’s that bad?” The interviewer asks

“Well, it’s more that everyone is gonna say its white people shit. Cause it is.” You took a moment to think about the statement “It wasn’t incest though! Obviously. Just a little weird.”

“What was it?” Colson asked, mind reeling through your personal kama sutra for anything that would stand out as the freakiest. Colson and you were definitely not vanilla, but that was the problem, wasn’t it? When you’ve done so much weird stuff, it’s hard to rank which would be the weirdest.

“The [H/a].” You say, watching as a flash of recognition falls over his face

“Seriously? That’s the worst thing you could think of? Cause I can think of, like, five worse than that, just off the top of my head.”

 “I mean, it’s definitely not the freakiest, but it’s a good story without it being super embarrassing or personal.” Colson nods in agreement, mumbling a small “Right”

“Yeah, go ahead. You can tell it.” He says, turning to face you in his spinny chair.

“Okay, so, I’m very superstitious and, like, paranoid right? I mean, I literally will not sleep in a room that has a mirror facing me. It doesn’t even have to be facing me, it could be facing the wall opposite me, but it has to be covered. I don’t even really trust it when it’s covered, honestly, I prefer it to be face down to the floor. Because mirrors are supposed to be portals to the after life, or whatever, and I remember hearing that if one is facing you while you sleep it’s easier for ghosts to manipulate you. It’s not that I necessarily believe that, or that I think if I slept with a mirror facing me that I’d die or something, but that I respect it. However, I think when places are advertised as haunted they usually aren’t. I mean you see these youtubers go to these places and film all these videos and it’s just- That’s not how hauntings usually are. Ghosts have an ability, to an extent, to manipulate your emotion. Have you ever heard of someone suddenly being overwhelmed by an emotion because they believe a loved one is near? It’s more like that, it’s very spiritual. Being haunted, coming from someone who ghosts seem to love, is nine times out of ten nothing like what Hollywood portrays it to be. It’s not to say that I think every one of these youtubers is lying, I think some of them definitely are, or that they were scared and when you’re scared it’s easy to blow little noises out of the water, but mostly I think it has to do with the places themself.”

Your story was cut off by the interviewer asking a question, 

“Hold on, you aren’t about to make a joke about freaky also meaning spooky, right?”  The interviewer asks

“I mean, you could totally make that joke, but it’s definitely a little kinky. I’m just giving some background.”

“Okay, continue.”

“Where was I? Oh, yes. I think when you go somewhere that is advertised as haunted they are selling you an experience. If you went to the [H/a] and nothing happened, some people would be disappointed by that and would want their money back, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“I think some of these places have audio recordings and mechanised doors, things that they can use to manipulate every room and give you a good scare. This is all theory, by the way, so don’t sue us.”

“You really think it's more plausible that they have a whole control room to scare people and that none of the workers have ever squealed than believe that these places are just… haunted?” The interviewer asked

“I don’t know. Maybe, if they only allowed people with a certain seniority and made them sign an NDA? And if the ones who control it get to give their coworkers a little scare so they come online and say they’ve had their own experiences? Yeah, I think it makes sense, and it's making them money, so why would they stop?”

“Okay, I guess.” He nodded along, entertaining the idea

“But, I also believe that if you talk to ghosts or call on them they will show up, so it’s kinda” you made a scale motion with your hands before continuing.

“Anyway, I went on board with this in mind. We were in our room, cuddled up on the bed and-” you took a moment to recall that night “I don’t remember if we were waiting for something to happen, or if it already had and we were waiting for something else. Anyway, we must’ve gotten bored, because we started making out.”

The crappy old hotel sheets shifted under you as your lips met Colsons, his warm hand reaching over to rest on your lower back. The kiss quickly became heated, your mouths smashing into one another, his tongue swiping across your bottom lip while his hand pulled you closer, your own reaching down to rub his growing bulge.

A short, fast knock came from the wall, breaking both the kiss and the silence.

“Oh, do you like that?” You ask, continuing to massage him through his loose sweatpants. Colson originally thought you had been referring to him, but quickly caught onto the fact that you were addressing the ‘ghost’. 

“Hm, what about this?” You continued, kissing your way down his body, pulling his pants down when you got to them and sliding his tip between your lips. A barely audible creak erupted from the room beside you, the bathroom sink had turned on, a small stream of water pouring aimlessly down into the sink. 

“Does that make you wet?” You ask, sucking one of his balls into your mouth as you stroke him. Colson found the whole act to be a bit odd, but you seemed to be enjoying yourself, so he let you continue. As fucked up as it was, the idea of a third party watching as the two of you were doing your thing was really getting you going. It wouldn’t have been a big deal to some, other than the fact that the supposed third party was a ghost.

“Do you like watching us fuck?” You slid your mouth down the length of his prick, hollowing out your cheeks before coming back up to continue “Tell me what you want me to do to him next.” You offer up, glancing up at Colson who looked equal parts freaked out and turned on.

“You’re crazy. God that’s hot.” He said, throwing his head back while you let out a small laugh. A book slides from the coffee table across the room, falling to the floor and landing on its spine, flipping open to a random page. You weren’t entirely sure what that implied, but the only thing that came to mind was him fucking you on that table. You took a moment to ponder it before deciding if you tried it would break and that you didn’t wanna bother paying the place for a new one.

You began kissing your way back up his body instead, admiring his tattoos as you go. Your lips landed back on his, reaching down to slide the tip of his prick through your folds, gathering your arousal. Stopping the kiss for a moment, you opened your mouth to take a breath. Colson took this opportunity to spit in your mouth, connecting your lips again soon after.

“Think the ghost liked that?” He said, reaching down to grab his hard dick from your hand, teasing your hole. You shrugged, leaning back into the kiss, moving your hips along with his movements. 

After a minute or two of teasing, you swore you felt the bed begin to shake. It started off slow and small, almost as if Colson was shaking under you and it was transferring to the bed, before slowly building to a much more noticeable rumble.

“Oh, I think it wants us to shake the bed.” You say, a smirk playing on your lips, a gasp falling past them as you felt colson slip inside you. You happily obliged, the sound of skin slapping against skin filled the room. You didn’t realise how badly you needed this, you couldn’t help the moans slipping past your lips as you fucked each other as hard as you could manage, trying your best to make sure the bed shook. You were looking down at Colson when suddenly his face disappeared, replaced by impenetrable darkness.

“What the fuck.” The interviewer mentioned, more amused than judgemental “I can't believe you’re telling me this. I can’t believe this isn’t the freakiest shit you’ve ever done.”

“Well, the ghost thing was kind of a joke. I mean, it happened, but it was more about the fact that someone was obviously watching us, or the concept of that.”

“Right, right. You guys like an audience, I see.”

“While it was dark though, I swear I felt a hand slide up the side of my thigh, I know it wasn’t Colsons cause I could-” You cut yourself off “I’m not gonna say how, but I felt both of his hands on me.” 

“Oh shit, forreal? You never told me that part.” Colson said, you gave a small nod in his direction before continuing.

 “But then the lights came back on.”

The lights had only been off for about a minute, small sounds of things moving barely audible over the sounds you two had been making, Colson flipping you over in the dark, pounding away at your hips. When they flicked back on, the room was messy, your eyes scanned the room, falling on the complimentary ouija that sat on the table first. It had fallen out of its box, the lid on the floor next to it. Next, you realized the closet had slid open, it had one of those bendy doors that made it so when you slid it open it bent out towards you, they were called bifold closet doors, if you remembered correctly. 

It was slid halfway open to reveal the empty closet behind it, the only thing adorning the shelf being a couple lone close hangers. As you watched, one looked as if it were smacked off and fell to the floor.

“It wasn’t hot anymore at that point. I didn’t see anything, I think it was my paranoia-- remember when you were a little kid laying in bed and you were like, there is a person crouching beside my bed right now and if I look over the edge at them they will have no more incentive not to kill me?” A silent understanding “It was like that, I don't know how but I know what they look like and I was fully convinced that person was crouching next to us on the bed and if I looked over there I would see him. Because the bed was on the wall, and it’s a big bed, a queen I believe, and colson and I are laying with our head at the foot of it, there was plenty of room to the side of us cause we weren’t exactly in the middle. “Wait, you said that you believed the hauntings were mechanical, so do you think this was a ghost, or a worker?”

“I think it may have been the lady at the front desk, because when we came out she asked us if we were having a good day. I don't know. I don’t think I’ve ever been turned off so fast, I mean at first the idea of a ghost or a worker watching us have sex was hot, but the thought of that… thing being there with us-- That wasn’t hot. We just, kinda, silently put our clothes on and walked out to the lobby. We went back later and got our stuff and checked out early. All I know is it was a dumb fucking idea.”

The day after the interview was released twitter was filled with variations of “If Mgk and his girlfriend wanted an audience they could’ve just asked me.” 

Guess you should’ve expected that one.

[mizelophsun11]

Mizeloph's Tale Chapter 2

Pairing - Right now the pairing is General Kirigan x OC Sun Summoner, but that will eventually change to Kaz Brekker x OC Sun Summoner

Summary - Ketterdam is a city of thieves and these three are no strangers as they find themselves the first to a huge money job. Past are uncovered and people who where thought to be gone to the other might yet still be alive.

Word Count - 1574

-

Ketterdam

Kaz Brekker had changed, he wasn’t the same as he was before Jordies death, when he got back from the sea of death everything was different. He learned very quickly that being alone was not how someone thrived in Ketterdam, so he joined the Dregs. His past was something that Kaz kept close to his chest, no one knew that there was one person he thought of but always tried not to, a girl with white hair. However, sometimes that one person was overshadowed by his greed to one up Pekka Rollins, the man that had ruined his life. Which made stealing the Heartrender from underneath Pekkas grasp very satisfying. With Inej and Jesper they walked up to the gates that belonged to Dressen, the man who was offering the shining million kruge job.

A man approached the gate to see who the visitors were “Who are you?” he asked

“We’re here to see Dreesen” Kaz answered

He looked at the group confused “you’re not with Pekka’s crew”

“And you’re no longer in Pekka’s pocket if you don’t owe him” Kaz threw a bag of coins in between the bars of the gate, the man caught the bag and looked at it.

The gates then opened and they were allowed in “Hey! One of these has a hole in it!”

“Inside, now” Kaz said ushering the group into the building

They were brought into an office where Dressen was sitting. Kaz knew that they would have the upper hand, being first to have what Dressen wanted was key to securing the job. They needed this, it would be a big deal for the Crows to be able to get this kind of money. Dreesen looked them all over and already had an idea about the people who were standing in front of him.

“Criminals, it only takes one look” he eyes them a bit more before returning to the papers on his desk “I am not meeting with anyone until midnight so you are just wasting your time”

“We have the Heartrender that you requested” Kaz said

Dressen sighed and took a moment to think “Well.. alright, she stays and the rest of you can wait here” he said getting up from his chair and walking around his desk

The heartrender went to walk forward but Kaz stopped her with his cane “No, she stays and we have an exclusive on the job”

“Now Mr. Brekker. No businessman worth his salt hires his first applicants”

Kaz shrugged his shoulders “of course, I understand. It’s a big decision to make, just like the decision to report you to the guild for kidnapping and harboring a prisoner chain of title” he smirked a little, showing off his confidence, Kaz was the one with the upper hand in their little exchange

Dreesen glared at Kaz “you wouldn’t dare”

“No businessman worth his salt bargains for what he can take” Kaz answered

The Heartrender raised her hand “I have to be back in an hour”

“Alright, come on”

Dressen brought them down to where he was keeping the hostage, he walked up to him and turned to face the crew. Kaz went from looking around the room then back to where Dressen was standing.

“This is Alexi Stepanov” he pulled the bag off of his head to reveal his face “two weeks ago Alexei here crossed the Fold on foot, he was alone”

Inej was shocked “how?” she saw that the man was mouthing the word ‘water’ and she got him a glass for him to drink

“They’re keeping it quiet, but allegedly he was one of a few witnesses to an event..”

“What kind of event?” Kaz asked

“I know an expedition was swarmed by Volcra, it should have been a total loss, but something happened.. Right now the running theory over here is that it was a new device, one only for the worst case scenarios, but something is different about what was seen. It lit up the Fold like a forest fire. However, whatever destroyed the swarming Volcra was not a device with fire, because it would have killed everyone on that skiff. It had to have been some sort of new invention no one has seen before. This man is the answer, he hasn’t been able to speak, some sort of trauma lapse” Dreesen explained

The Heartrender approached Alexei and knelt down then started to slow down his heart beat to calm him down “you are safe now, speak and I will just listen” she smiled gently at him ��tell me what happened in the Fold, what saved you?”

Alexei took in a deep breath, feeling his heart coming down to a steady pace “If I tell you, will you set me free?”

Dreesen nodded “you are in Ketterdam now, you can go anywhere in the world from here, just imagine”

“Her name is.. Anna Mizeloph, she is the Sun Summoner” Alexei said, not realizing the gates he had just opened

Kaz’s world froze, the same name of the girl with white hair he thought of every day was at the center of a myth, the Sun Summoner. So many questions were running through his mind about her and what had led her to that skiff where she had somehow demonstrated that she was the mythical Sun Summoner. He couldn’t piece together what could have happened to get her away from Ketterdam to the other side of the Fold. Kaz did understand that they had been separated as children and hoped that one day they would find each other. After he had fought tooth and nail to survive from the killer ocean in order to get back to her, she had just up and disappeared. He was always confused about how a girl with white hair would be difficult to find, but it was like she had never existed. As he was dealing with his trauma Kaz was working day and night to find Anna, but he could never find a lead that could get him something. For a while Kaz held onto those memories with Anna, they were the only way he could get through his trauma. However, those memories could not always protect Kaz forever, he had to eventually become a new person, someone who could thrive in Ketterdam, not just survive. Kaz Brekker, the Bastard of the Barrel had been shaped by his hardships in Ketterdam and he clawed his way to where he was now. Today, one thing that had always held him back was Anna Mizeloph even if he didn’t know it, if they ever found each other he questioned what she would think of him and how he had changed. In the end Anna Mizeloph was the last piece of Kaz Rietveld and he tried to let go, but Kaz never could.

Jesper and Inej knew they would want to talk with Kaz later about how he had reacted to Anna Mizelophs name. They had never seen him react so quickly just to hide it, there was something more to this and they were going to find out.

Dreesen smiled and checked the manifest “perfect” Alexei smiled “you will set me free now?” he was ready to see the world and erase the horrors of the Fold from his mind

“Thank you, of course” Dreesen then pulled out a gun and shot Alexei in the head, his body dropping to the floor, the heartrender screamed, shocked by what had just happened.

“We are now the only people west of the Fold who know this information, my ship sails for West Ravka at dawn. If you can prove that you have a way through the Fold and back, I will put you on that ship with an advance. If you don’t, I might consider giving the job to Pekaa Rollins”

“Give me a day” Kaz bargained

“You have until sunrise, then your ship will have sailed, Mr Brekker. The prize is one million kruge. Now, bring me Anna Mizeloph” Dreesens men showed them out

When they were finally back to the three of them Inej decided she would step up and ask first about Kaz's reaction “when that man said Anna Mizeloph, the look on your face.. I have never seen you react like that, you knew her didn’t you?”

Kaz looked at Inej wondering if he should indulge her question “I knew one girl named Anna Mizeloph, but she has been gone for a very long time...”

Jesper gave Kaz a look “I mean, how rare is the last name Mizeloph?”

“She is the only one I have ever known to have that last name, so it might be her.. If it is, then we have an advantage over the competition, especially if we are going to be competing with Pekka Rollins” Kaz knew that this would be the chance for his past to finally be useful

“You would really use your past with Anna Mizeloph to put her into a false sense of security?” Inej asked slightly shocked, she knew that Kaz could be a bit harsh especially when it came to the possibility of a lot of money and beating Pekka Rollins, but she did not think he would go this far to emotionally manipulate Anna if he needed to

“For a million kruge, yes” Kaz said and walked off thinking about how we would find them a way through the Fold, there and back.

-

Author Note - I am extremely happy that others are enjoying this story and the comments left on chapter 1 warmed my heart! Thank you so much for everyone who left a comment, I had no idea that would happen even when I asked. Again, it is completely up to you if you would like to leave a comment, but know that I enjoy reading them. Also I really hope that this is a decent introduction to Kazans Brekker and him finding out. Also! If you would like to be added to the tag list please comment and let me know so I can add you, I will try my best to remember everyone!

Thank you so much for all of your guys support!

Tag List - @rika90 @itsemy01 @hotleaf-juice @teatimeforusreaders

[tapping-away]

My take on a potential Santa Clarita Diet season 4, in the form of episode synopses because I’m terrible at committing to writing long things, but I also really wanted to explore how a fourth and final season could have gone. Let me know what you think of it.

Santa Clarita Diet S4

1. Joel is now a zombie; things are pretty good, he’s a bit looser, a bit more carefree, slight undertones of being a bit more dangerous than anticipated. Sheila and Abby decide to keep a close eye on him (sorry I didn’t go into a lot of detail here, wasn’t sure how to start it all off)

2. Sheila and Abby think maybe things will be fine; it takes some getting used to, but they end up having a lot of fun and think that’s just how it’ll go; Joel gets his motorcycle back out and starts using it; he and Rick talk motorcycles, and Joel is revealed as bisexual as he flirts with Rick. He goes for a ride and comes back at night, when no ones awake, covered in blood under his helmet and jacket; there’s a report on the news the next day of a brutal crime scene and a missing person, Joel turns the tv off before anyone else sees it

3. Abby begins questioning her relationship with Eric and struggles to figure out how she feels for him; learning her father is bi has made her start to consider other options she hadn’t had time to consider before then; Sheila learns about the murder that happened in the next city and is starting to worry; she goes to their storage unit to get more food and is shocked to find there’s another body in there; Joel reassures her that it was a bad person and that it wasn’t planned, but it worked out; Sheila can’t argue when she knows she’s done the same; She keeps it from Abby

4. Abby is flirted with by Winter who then asks her out and is uncertain how to respond. She tells Winter she’ll let her know; Eric notices acting odd when he comes by and Abby tries to steer the conversation away, to Eric’s confusion; Sheila tries to talk to Joel about where he was two nights ago and he says he’d just been out riding until he ran into a supposed drug dealer who he killed; Sheila asks Anne and Rick about the bloody crime scene that happened and what they know about the missing person, she learns it was someone from Joel’s high school and gets further suspicious of her husband; Joel says he had nothing to do with it and gets angry that Sheila suspects him, and Abby overhears while on her way to talk to her parents about things; Joel storms out when Abby starts questioning him as well. That night Joel pulls up outside an apartment building, he takes off his helmet and grins

5. Joel doesn’t come home the next day and Sheila and Abby are getting very concerned, they talk to Eric and try to get back in contact with Dr Wolf. Learning that they found the reason for the metamorphosis, the clams, Dr Wolf decides to look into them and attempt to figure out a true cure. Sheila goes looking for Joel with Abby and Eric, and is concerned when she’s a tv displaying news of another reported bloody scene with no body in sight. Joel is revealed to be at Ron’s place

6. While at Ron’s, Joel starts questioning him, revealing that he thinks Ron or someone Ron turned is behind the murders happening in town. Ron tries to deny it but Joel terrifies him into revealing that he turned Chris and Christa, he doesn’t know their connection to the Hammonds but did tell them everything about being undead. Joel remembers what Sheila said about the first person who got killed being from their high school and realizes Chris and Christa are responsible. He threatens Ron with death if someone else dies because of what he did or if Sheila or Abby end up hurt. Ron is left terrified and makes a phone call.

7. Dr Wolf calls Sheila and tells her she managed to locate some of the clams and is running tests. She posits the theory that the undead could possibly be able to consume the clams instead of humans, after seeing a clam ingest a finger of an undead person. Sheila is excited at this prospect but still hopes to find a cure. Abby and Eric talk about what’s been going on after Eric sees Abby staring at Winters name in her phone. Abby admits she isn’t sure about who she is anymore or how she feels about him, and Eric- while clearly disappointed- tells her that she should take the time to figure things out and that he’ll always at least be her friend. They hug but before Abby can do anything with the number, Joel finally returns. She runs up to her dad to confront him, and follows him into the house with Eric. Sheila thinks it’s only Abby and starts talking about Dr Wolfs findings before she sees Joel. The episode ends with them all looking at each other

8. Sheila tries to make up an excuse to keep Joel from realizing she is looking for a cure, uncertain of how the new him would react, and is shocked when he seems almost hopeful about the idea of not having to murder people anymore. Abby demands that Joel say where he’s been and if he had anything to do with the murders, to which Joel is still angry they suspect him but tells them that he went to Ron’s to ask if he had anything to do with it. He reveals that Ron turned Chris and Christa and told them everything, and that he thinks they’re behind the recent murders happening. Sheila wants to tell Anne or Rick but Joel is worried about what would happen if they did, as weapons won’t work and it could result in zombies being discovered by the police. Eric reminds them that that might happen anyway if there are any clues found that lead to the true culprits. Joel and Sheila decide they’ll have to kill Chris and Christa, but Abby doesn’t want to leave Christian an orphan even if she hates him. The family are unsure what to do.

9. It’s two days later and the Hammonds are still undecided on what to do; meanwhile there have been two more murders that have occurred- making four total- of someone from their high school. Anne is getting suspicious of the fact the Hammonds went to school with the missing victims, but her faith in Sheila has her believing that it’s a devil of sorts trying to go after Sheila. Abby meanwhile decides to call Winter after deciding she wants a break from all the weird shit happening. She sets up a date for that same afternoon and ends up kissing her. Abby finally gets a chance to talk to her dad about the fact he’s bi and discuss her own uncertainty of where she’s at. The two reconnect over the conversation as Joel shows he’s still her dad even if he’s different, just like Sheila is still her mom. Cut to Dr Wolf in her lab as she manages to synthesize a cure that completely reversed the undead state

10. Sheila talks with Joel about Abby and about what they should do. He says they’ll figure something out and that Abby will be fine. Eric comes in at the same time Abby appears and it’s a bit awkward , but Eric reveals that Dr Wolf is on her way there with a synthesized potential cure and with some of the clams in a farm to see if they can eat them instead of people. The Hammonds are overjoyed at the idea of getting anywhere closer to normal, but before they can get too excited there’s a knock at the door. Joel goes to answer it and is promptly stabbed in the chest and shoved out of the way to reveal Chris and Christa, who close the door behind them. They reveal to the Hammonds and Eric they are the ones behind the murders and that Ron called them after Joel left to warn them that he was on to them. Joel, after yanking the knife out, asks them what exactly they plan to do. Chris says that they are going to frame the Hammonds as the murderers, kill them, and set the house on fire to make it look like they went on the run after disposing of evidence. Abby tries to get them to see sense, tells them to think of their son, but the two seem indifferent to what may happen to Christian. This makes Joel and Sheila furious, and Joel tries to stab Christa- who’s closer- with the knife, but Chris manages to pull a gun on Eric before Joel can do more than cut Christa’s face. Abby is terrified and Eric tries to tell her it’s okay, but Chris hits him with the gun to make him be quiet. As this is all happening, Dr Wolf arrives outside but hears the commotion and tries to figure out what to do. She notices Rick in a police car next door. Inside a stalemate is happening as the Hammonds try to get Chris to release Eric. A knock at the door interrupts them all.

11. Chris and Christa tell them to answer the door, as the fact their cars are outside would make it suspicious if they don’t answer. Joel goes to the door and finds Dr Wolf on the other side. She hurries to pretend to be someone from the neighborhood and makes conversation while subtly asking Joel what’s happening through her phone text. Joel mouths the word ‘zombies’ at her and gestures to the newspaper sitting at their door with the murders on the front page. Dr Wolf seems to understand and opens her briefcase. She hands Joel a syringe and mimes poking it in the neck. Joel realizes she wants him to use it on Chris or Christa to because Dr Wolf said that previous tests resulted in death of the clams and that working tests still resulted in pain during the transformation back. She also gestures at Rick next door and Joel nods at her, telling her ‘You’d be better off asking my neighbor Rick for help about that kind of thing.’ Agreeing to her getting Rick to help. Joel closes the door and hide the syringe in his back pocket, before walking back. Outside Dr Wolf makes her way quickly to Ricks house and knocks on the door, proceeding to tell him that she thinks someone dangerous is in the Hammonds house. Back inside Joel returns and says it was someone new to the neighborhood asking for directions, and that he sent her away, tacking on that she introduced herself as a doctor or something so the others know who it actually was. Joel moves towards Sheila and Abby and shows them the syringe, while Chris and Christa talk about what to do next. Joel catches their attention telling them to let Eric go and take him hostage instead, saying that a bullet to the brain is just as effective on him as it would be on Eric. Christa doesn’t think it necessary but Chris overrides her in an urge to have his old rival in such a vulnerable position. Joel walks forward and suddenly yanks Eric out of the way before jamming the needle in Chris’ neck. Chris’ gun goes off as he collapses in pain. Joel turns to go after Christa next but she’s coming at him with the knife, right before she can stab him another shot goes off and Joel turns to see Sheila holding the gun Chris had. As Christa falls dead, Rick comes in with Dr Wolf and takes control of the situation. He asks what’s happening and the Hammonds tell the truth, for once, that the murderers aren’t them and that they were about to be framed. Rick calls in backup after cuffing Chris, telling the Hammonds that he’s glad none of them were hurt. They all hug, including Eric, the screen fades to black. Two months later shows things back to normal again, as Abby comes down in the morning to tell her parents she’s going out with Winter on a date and has plans with Eric later as well and so won’t be home till night. They tell her to have fun, and not to do anything they wouldn’t do. The scene ends with Joel and Sheila shown either eating normal food or eating the red clams, implying the cure didn’t work or that they didn’t take it.

[missorgana]

words hung above, but never would form

pairing: bucky barnes/sam wilson

fandom: mcu, what if...?

rating: mature

word count: 3500

warning: swearing, alcohol, major character death, blood, guns

summary: What might've happened after the zombie apocalypse broke out, before the last team of heroes was formed, and how Bucky Barnes lost Sam Wilson. (pre-canon fic to what if... zombies!?)

(a few days ago i posted this very painful angst fic i thought of after the zombies episode of what if...? so here i am dropping it on tumblr as well!! i apologise, please know that it broke my heart to write this. uhm. that’s all!)

read on ao3

It’s been three months since they lost Steve.

Well, since the world lost most of the Avengers, really. And since the world lost most of its, uh, regular people anyway.

It’s a dark world full of shit and blood and brains out there now, yet Bucky’s taking his cold shower in the morning and cannot bring himself to care much. Sounds harsh, he knows.

He knew nothing of this new world and new time except his best friend, so of fucking course, Steve being… not Steve made him feel like there was no fucking point to anything. If the Avengers couldn’t beat this zombie virus? Yeah, there’s no hope for humanity anymore.

Except… except the man who greets him in the morning, handing him a plate of pancakes without even asking if he wanted some and pinning yet another red pin on their vastly growing map of ghost towns. Those are fully infected spots, by the way. Nothing left but the undead. The map is turning overwhelmingly red overwhelmingly fast.

The man hovering at said map also hands him his coffee, puts on one of the records from their LP stash, and smiles his sunny, stupid grin before ruffling Bucky’s hair and telling him he missed a spot.

Yeah, the world’s become even more of a dog eat dog world than before.

But Bucky Barnes’ got Sam Wilson. And nothing else matters.

*

It’s ironic really, that when he’s gotten out of cryo, that he’s finally rid of the Hydra programming and torture and pain he’s endured for years, and at the same time, someone somewhere got bitten and humanity’s become a walking all you can eat buffet. Perfect timing.

Of course, Steve’s never fled from a fight in his life, so honestly? Bucky can’t exactly say he’s surprised. He is- sorry,  was  an Avenger after all. The little shit.

What does surprise him, however, is finding himself growing closer to Sam, Steve’s friend who for some reason, somehow, was just as intent on finding him as Steve was. And… helping him. Saving him.

Bucky never understood why. He still doesn’t. He hates himself for everything they made him do, he’ll probably continue hating himself for as long as he lives, no matter how much he tries to suppress it, but Sam doesn’t. 

Sam fought for him, fought with him, visited him in Wakanda and took him back to a somewhat normal life before… you know. Now they’ve found a safehouse after losing everyone they had, except each other, and they’ve zombie-proofed to the best of their ability.

And life with Sam, well, Bucky could get used to it. In fact, he gets used to it very quickly.

Sam smiles so easily at him and doesn’t look at him like he’s a broken man who needs to be fixed. Sam doesn’t look at him with resentment, or pity, he just… looks at him. 

It’s hard to explain.

Thing is, nothing makes sense. The violence that keeps on going and going doesn’t make sense, Bucky losing his best friend in the world doesn’t make sense, the streets being abandoned and houses vacant and survival being a constant factor in life now doesn’t make sense.

But the man he’s hiding out with makes sense. He makes so much sense. The only thing that makes sense anymore.

His existence is constant, he’s there for him when he lets him and when he doesn’t, he gives him space. The shorter man is as if the sun was living and breathing, and himself, well, he’s the moon. He’s just trying to stay in Sam's orbit.

Chasing after him. Circulating. Bashing in everything he’s willing to give him.

The scruffy beard he’s let grow, and him humming to himself while he’s working on Redwing, and the wheezing, carefree laugh he can’t stop when Bucky suggests they watch a zombie movie one night. He tells Sam not to overwork himself and he promises not to, and the other man tells him to let him know what’s going on in his head, and hell, Bucky tells him. He tells him everything.

In fact, it’s the same night they  do  watch a zombie movie, frequently pointing out the inaccuracies and turning it into a drinking game with the terrible, terrible booze they swiped from the supermarket, that he looks at the short haired man dozing off on his shoulder and realises that this is the most peace he’s ever had.

It’s basically an apocalypse outside, but Bucky can’t get himself to look away from Sam’s eyelashes fluttering lightly as he slips off to sleep.

Their legs are tangled into each other on the coffee table, the microwave popcorn long abandoned, one of his friend’s hands resting on his thigh.

His beard scratches his shoulder, but he doesn’t mind. Sam has asked him if he should shave it several times, but God no, never. That beard’s been doing a lot of things to him - all good, of course.

He turns down the volume a bit. Sam looks peaceful. He hasn’t been sleeping much, he knows neither of them have, and where’s the time for it, anyway? He’s glad he is now.

Bucky can’t get himself to move, fearing waking the short haired man from his slumber, and for a minute, the outside world is far, far away from their reality.

Sam looks incredibly soft in that ripped sweater and sweatpants and the snore he lets out is no less than adorable.

It’s like- he looks at this man, and suddenly it’s like everything just falls back into place.

He looks soft in the morning over breakfast and hazy eyes, soft in the evening when he says goodnight, soft when he’s clutching the photos of his nephews (AJ and Cass were their names, he’s learned), soft when he’s retelling a memory with his parents on the family boat, soft when they both muse about Steve and his dumb shenanigans.

He looks something entirely different when he’s shirtless out of the shower and tiny droplets still fall down his chest and abs and Bucky struggles to breathe, every damn time. He only realises now why that is.

Sam is like a sunset, because Bucky wants nothing more than to wake up to this man and nothing else every day, till the end of time. What more could he wish for?

He’s beautiful. Bucky doesn’t think he’s called anyone, or anything beautiful before.

Looking back, he can’t see anymore how they could argue and bicker and annoy each other, and doesn't understand why. He’s wasted so much fucking time doing that. Not anymore. He could never go back to that, it would most likely kill him. Steve would be thrilled if he could see them now, wouldn't he?

And while this realization dawns upon him, washing over him like the biggest wave you could possibly imagine, he wonders if Sam feels the same when he looks at him.

Does he feel safe falling asleep on his shoulder like this? Does he find everlasting comfort in his smile like he does in his, does he wake up hoping and praying to see his smile, just once? Does he do everything he can think of to make him look at him, like he tries every single day?

He can only dream.

Huh. So this is what it’s like to be in love. Bucky doesn’t hate it.

*

It’s only a month after his life-changing realization of the sort that couldn't make him concentrate on everything else, that Bucky decides today is the day. He’s going to confess his feelings for his friend.

And this is something in the middle of chaos, something he’s never experienced before. He’d never thought he’d practice his words in the mirror like a nervous teenager, but alas.

Sam Wilson, I’m in love with you.  No. No, it’s too short. Think, James. What does he make you feel?

Sam, you’re the last thing I think about when I go to sleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up. Sam, I want to see you smile every day. Sam, I want to make you happy… as happy, as… happy as you make me.

Too long? Shit. 

Sam, you’re the only good in this piece of shit world. I love you. Sam hates when he’s that pessimistic, though, and always tells him to cheer up, even in the middle of a zombie invasion. Another reason why he loves him.

Sam, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Nothing I wouldn't do to see you happy. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy.

His stream of thought is interrupted by faint clanging in the kitchen of their safehouse. Bucky sighs. He’s not sure this is going to be perfect, he wants it to be.

He has to go, he has to try. Now or never.

Except… the smile he’s come to anticipate every single morning isn’t there to meet him. Instead, he sees Sam suited up, wing pack on his back, gloves on, looking through one of their many folders they’ve filled up with theories of the infection and safe spots and danger zones and everything else.

Bucky frowns, looks at him in silence for a moment. Maybe he’ll try a joke, “Going somewhere?”

His friend hums without looking, “I’m going to catch Steve.”

Sorry,  what? What the fuck? 

Sam did not just say what he thinks he said. He didn’t. He couldn’t have.

This is why he blinks in disbelief, for the first time rendered speechless by the other man. Sam looks up at him, face glazed over by determination and confusion by his own reaction, most like. Then, worry overtakes his usually warm, deep brown eyes, ones that he could drown himself in and never come out of.

“You okay, Bucky?” he asks, and Bucky clenches his jaw.

“You’re going to… catch him,” he says, a statement rather than a question. It’s Sam’s turn to frown, but he nods.

“Yes. Catch him and bring him back.”

“You’re joking,” he laughs in sheer denial, but the seriousness in his friend’s face is scaring him, “Sam… tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

Oh, this is just not happening. This world lets him fall in love with the most perfect person he knows and then lets that very same person be so fucking stupid?

Bucky can’t let him go. Bucky can’t lose him.

“What, then?” he asks, one hand on his hip, “Invite him over and let him eat our brains, just like that?”

“ Bucky. We’re going to catch him, and then we’ll cure him.”

He laughs, loudly. Okay, this is just hilarious. Sam Wilson is the most perfect person in this world exactly because of this- because he believes this world is still able to be saved. Because he believes it’s  worth saving . Fucking hell. 

“You found a cure you’re not telling me about?”

Sam sighs, scratching his chin, “Come on, Buck. I talked to Hope-”

“Who?”

“Hope Van Dyne. The Wasp,” the shorter man explains, “She lost her parents, and Scott Lang, remember?”

Bucky shrugs, but nods.

“Well, she’s been recruiting those of us who survived. Who’s left. And she thinks there might be a way to reverse the virus, her father brought it from the, uh… Quantum Realm.” Sam’s about to hand him one of the folders, but he crosses his arms, and shakes his head, then.

God, Bucky’s well aware how stubborn he is. Sam has told him plenty of times.

But he’ll be damned if he lets the man go just like that. He’s not letting him get hurt.

“That’s not happening,” he says shortly. His friend’s frown deepens.

“I’m sorry?”

“You’re not going after that thing.”

The man turns to him completely, wide-eyed and shock written all over his features. “ That thing? ” he huffs, “That thing is our friend.”

“Not anymore, Sam. I’m not letting you get yourself killed by the undead.”

“He’s not dead,” Sam says. His voice raised. He looks- he doesn't look soft anymore. There’s no trace of that smile that gives Bucky shivers down his spine. He looks… upset. He’s upset. Fucking shit.

Why can’t he-  fuck , can he not try to be a fucking hero right now? That’s why Steve’s gone. Why can’t he see that?

“You’re being irrational,” Bucky tells him, feeling the anger rise within him,  this is not how it was supposed to go, stay with me-

“Oh, I’m being irrational?” Sam laughs, sarcasm evident in his voice, “There might be a cure. We might get Steve back, Buck. And I can take care of myself, you know.”

“I know, but-”

“But, what?” he sighs, again. The irritation is flowing between them, Bucky’s freaking out, and above all, Sam looks… he looks disappointed.

This is the worst he’s felt in his whole fucking life. He can’t disappoint the only person that matters to him. Yet he did.

“What if Hope’s wrong, Sam? It’s pointless, most of the population’s infected anyway, it would take forever to get everyone-”

“You’ve got that little faith in me?”

No. No no no.  Sam, no. I love you. I love you so much it pains me to see you like this, I never meant to hurt you, I didn’t-

“We’ve lost too many, Sam!” he finds himself yelling, none of the words scrambled in his brain making it out. He’s the most stupid of them, obviously, not that he wasn’t aware. “I know you believe these people can be saved, and your hope is incredible, but can you please… not go?”

“I’m an Avenger, Bucky. It’s what I do. It’s what Steve did.”

“It’s what got Steve turned.”

This seems to be something Sam has to ponder over, because a rather uncomfortable silence settles between them. His friend’s eyes soften somewhat, but his teeth are still gritted, as are his own. Would be inappropriate to confess his undying love to the other man now, wouldn’t it?

“I do believe they can be saved,” his friend eventually speaks up, “I believe that because I  need  to. I lost my parents, Sarah, Steve, Natasha. I have to try.”

See, that makes sense. Another reason why Bucky fucking loves him and wants to kiss his stupid fucking face and beg him not to go. But he doesn’t.

“It’s too risky, Sam, it’s not safe.”

“I told you, I can take care of myself.”

Bucky holds in a whine, embarrassing,  desperate , “I know you can! You’re a fucking hero. You’re one of the best, Sam, you are. I wish I was that brave, I just-”

“Then why won’t you let me do this?” his friend asks in frustration, “Why won’t you let me try?”

I can’t lose you. “Because I lo-”

The words are interrupted by a loud bang. Sam closes his mouth immediately, tight-lipped. Bucky’s mouth hangs open, voice disappearing. Another bang. Then a moan reaches them from somewhere far away.

Their eyes widen in synchron as they look at each other, eye contact unwavering. They both know what that sound means.

Someone’s coming in. Someone not human.

*

Whatever’s found them, it’s on the roof, and it’s trying its hardest to get in, so Bucky’s got to shut his mind off and get ready.

Not only is he stupid enough to start a fight with Sam, they also get discovered by one of the zombies. Fan-fucking-tastic. They run to opposite ends of the safehouse, trying to locate exactly where the intruder’s at.

Bucky follows the sound into the hallway, past the bathroom, while Sam stays behind in the kitchen, machine gun pointed at the ceiling. He could not have picked a worse time to speak his feelings than today, could he? Well done, James.

And as if this day isn’t already bad enough, he can’t hear the groaning from the roof anymore.

“Sam!” he yells, because it doesn’t matter if the brain-eater hears them, “I lost it.”

“I hear them,” his friend yells back, prompting Bucky to make his way back, adrenaline pumping, feeling the sweat running down his back, “They’re on- Bucky! Buck-”

A crash. The biggest fucking crash he’s ever heard. Silence.

No.

“Sam?!” 

“I’m here,” he hears the other man’s coughing, “It’s Steve. It’s Steve! Steve, hey, okay, now stay right there-”

Bucky’s officially panicking. This is not happening.  It’s not .

He’s running so fast he stumbles over his own feet. At the same time, he feels as if he’s frozen on the spot. He’s not sure what’s real anymore.

“Sam, I’m coming-”

Sam  screams . And Bucky’s heart is torn out of his chest and smashed onto the floor.

It’s the most earth shattering scream Bucky’s ever heard. It reaches him and goes inside every bone in his body and clouds his vision and makes him want to scream in anger.  Sam. Sam. Sam. I need him. I need you.

Yet, when he reaches the living room, he sees nothing at first but rubble and smoke. The roof’s broken down. And in the middle of it, a figure is huddled over another lying on the floor, eerily still.

No. This isn’t real.

He might even convince himself he’s dreaming, he really might, because his vision is still clouded, and his teeth are still gritted so hard he bites the inside of his cheek, until the figure turns around and he’s met with a familiar face.

Steve Rogers.

But it isn’t his Steve, it could never be, because this Steve? This one’s a walking corpse. Sickly pale skin and blood between his teeth and red eyes looking back at Bucky with no memory or remorse. And on the floor-

On the floor… on the floor- He can’t be. He’s- Sam is-  Sam .

“Sam,” is all Bucky can say, feeling like a broken record. His voice breaks, and the undead fucker in front of him doesn’t move an inch.

Sam is bitten.  My Sam. I love you. I love you so fucking much and that’s why I didn’t want you to go, you perfect idiot, I love you-

He’s clutching the machine gun too hard, his knuckles are turning white, but he can’t do anything.

“That’s enough, Steve,” he finds himself addressing him. It doesn’t faze the thing in front of him, but that’s not surprising. It’s not his friend anymore, “Enough.”

Then a moan sounds, but it doesn’t come from Steve’s mouth. The figure on the floor rises, slowly. Sam Wilson. But he isn't his Sam anymore.

Sam looks at him. There’s nothing in his eyes, they’re empty. No warmth, no safety, not anymore.

He’s gone, but he can’t make himself believe it.

The thing that used to be his friend… the man he’s in love with, the man he wanted to spend every day with, every day for the rest of his life, if only he’d let him, that monster that’s destroyed the most beautiful soul on this shitty earth, hollowed him out and taken his body,  that monster groans again.

Then, both figures move. The fuckers are moving in one direction, and that’s towards him.

They’re not fast, Bucky backs away, but his eyes are soon clouded by hot streams of tears running down his face. He can’t hold them back. He can’t control himself. He can’t control anything, not anymore.

So he raises his gun, “Sam,” he whispers, well aware no one’s going to respond, “Sam, I’m so sorry. This is my fault. This is all my-”

He squeezes his eyes shut, ready to fire all the ammo he’s got into his two undead friends, but he opens them again, looks back at them. They’re hungry. They’re still moving.

Bucky can’t breathe.

He wipes at his tears angrily, looking back and forth between those two dead fuckers and hovers his finger over the trigger, but he can’t… he can’t. He only realises in this second. He can’t shoot.

They’re not themselves anymore  , he reminds himself.  They’re gone.

But Sam’s warm voice full of peace and sunshine and lazy laughter and fleeting, shy touching of hands pops up in his head.  That thing is our friend. He’s not dead. Those things are your best friend and the love of your life, James.

The zombies keep coming closer and Bucky bites his tongue.

“Shit.”

He lowers his gun, and because he doesn’t know what else to do, he knocks over the coffee table, then the TV, then the potted plant that Sam loves-  loved so much, and runs as fast as he can, not looking back. He hears more crashes, the distraction hopefully successful, but doesn’t slow down.

Bucky escapes out the back door, jumps in the car and pushes the speeder.

Sam Wilson, I’m so in love with you, I can’t think about anything else. You’re the only one for me. I love you. And now you’re gone because of me. I didn’t get to tell you.

He doesn’t know what to do, or where he’s going, except- he needs to find Hope Van Dyne. He has to.

[stxrrywildflower]

love you goodbye (s.r)

pairing - spencer reid x reader

summary - “it’s inevitable everything that’s good comes to an end”

warnings - angst, fighting

there was something about love that people fantacized about.

finding your perfect partner, living your lives together, maybe having a family - it was something most aspired towards.

it was a natural reaction, companionship was a basic human need after all. it gave people a sense of belonging.

at first, spencer seemed to be your other half. he taught you how to love, how to be youself, and most importantly, helped you become such a better person. your relationship seemed ideal, all key points of what you wanted being checked off.

you were sure you two would end up together in the end, if asked, you would have placed a bet on it.

but over the course of your relationship, your time together slowly dwindled. in the beginning, you could easily tell spencer was fully committed. he actively tried to be home on time, and if he wasn’t, he was making it up in another way.

by the time you were a few months in, you slowly gave him more leeway when it came to work. his job was extremely demanding and you did not want to be the significant other who dragging the other down.

anyone could tell spencer took advantage of that in some way. he would start showing up ten, twenty, thirty minutes, and even an hour after when you expected him.

you always knew where he was, spencer usually got lost in work once he started. besides, he always let you know if he was doing something with the team.

you were really hoping tonight would actually happen. you and spencer actually sat down to plan out a date night. spencer had promised he would be home on time. but unsurprisingly, you were seated on his couch forty-five minutes after the time you were set to leave and just waiting for him to walk through the door.

the keys turned in the lock before the door opened a moment later. you leaned forward, resting your elbows on your knees and keeping your gaze on the coffee table in front of you.

“you’re late again spencer.”

he was quick to formulate an excuse, mind turning as he desperately tried to grasp some words that could help his case. even then he was still nose deep in work. “i know i just had an extra file to write up and then i-”

“i can’t do this anymore,” you cut him off.

spencer stopped dead in his tracks, meeting your downcast eyes in clear suprise. “what are you talking about?”

“us i mean,” you explained. “i can’t be in a relationship with you anymore. i just can’t.”

by now spencer had dropped off his work bag on the table and moved to lean against the kitchen counter. “can i go put my badge and gun away and then we can talk about this?”

you tucked your head down further after that. even during a potential breakup his first thought was work. “sure.”

he returned a moment later, resuming his previous spot almost immediately. a great concern was in his eyes. you could tell he was already formulating multiple theories on what was going on.

“can you please just explain this?” spencer asked.

you took a deep breath first. a lot was going to be revealed in the next few minutes and you wanted to be prepared.

“i can’t be with someone who isn’t here for me half of the time,” you explained calmly. “i’ve tried so hard to make this work with minimal complaints and i’m just done with it. you’re never here spencer. half of our dates get canceled and when you are in this apartment you’re working most of the time. it isn’t fair to me to deal with it anymore.”

spencer already started protesting. “but that’s not true y/n. i’m here as much as i can.”

“how many days nights have gotten canceled because of your work? how many times have i had to wake up to an empty bed because you’ve slipped out during the night? come on spence, you’re a genius. do the math.”

for once, he didn’t have an answer to that.

“do you realize how difficult this could be for me as well? have you taken that into consideration?”

something about the way spencer said that made you cower back. he took note of that immediately, guilt becoming his primary emotion. you quickly regained your stature, already ready for what you would say next.

“go on then spencer. twist that knife and turn this one on me,” you spoke, your tone already raised.

everything finally set in during that moment. you had never fought, never like this anyway. you didn’t want to fight anymore, you just wanted this to be over. the environment in the apartment was already becoming suffocating.

it didn’t feel like home anymore.

somewhere you considered to be your safe place, a place where you spent more time than your own home was no longer somewhere you felt comfortable.

the rooms felt foreign even though you had been the only one occupying. they no longer felt warm with the family like feelings you had filled them with. it lacked something, something you didn’t even know was replaceable at this point.

looking around, you tried to mentally grasp on something, anything that would give you a good reason to stay. but there was nothing, not even one of your gifts for spencer that resided one his shelf.

they felt empty, no emotional ties to them whatsoever. any sense of the love you had always felt had slipped out of the cracks and into the open air, almost as if it was impossible to catch them.

you almost just wanted to go back to the start of it all, when you were still naive enough to not see the faults in your relationship. you were mature now, and faults were the only thing you were seeing.

spencer let out a heavy sigh. “what do you want me to do y/n? there’s nothing i can do to change this.”

that question alone ignited something inside of you.

“maybe you could have started by actually putting some effort into this relationship,” you pointed an accusatory finger at him. “because i’m exhausted of waiting for you and always being the one let down. besides, it’s too late anyway.”

spencer stood quietly across from you, arms crossed and looking at you with sad eyes. it was clear that you had more to say, and the last thing he wanted to do was add more fuel to the fire.

“do you even realize how terrifying it is to be dating you? i don’t know if you’re even alive half of the time and i hope, i truely hope that i get your usual text letting me know you’re on your way home,” you spoke, desperately trying to keep your tears down. “everytime i get a call or text from someone that’s not you i panic. because more times than none it’s about you getting hurt and i have to be there to pick up the pieces. and i know that’s part of a relationship, to be there for each other, but it’s not fair to me to not get the same in return.”

the weight of your words crashed down with an uncertainty to them as they processed in spencer’s brain.

you were shaking, that’s what he took note of first. your fingers dancing across your your arms in a small effort to calm yourself down.

“i uh, i don’t,” you stuttered. “i need to pack.”

just as you passed spencer, his hand came out to hold your wrist. it didn’t hurt by any means, just took you by suprise. however, you quickly shook out of his grip.

“don’t.”

spencer frowned. “i’m sorry.”

you stayed in place, not quite knowing what he needed you for. you just wanted to pack and bag and go home.

“can you at least stay the night?” spencer asked.

you agreed after a brief thought, that’s the minimum you owed him. you would be lying to yourself if you said you weren’t going to miss him. it was a prime example of wrong place, wrong time.

there was an almost serene silence between the two of you as you headed down the main hallway and towards spencer’s room.

few words were exchanged in the whole process of getting changed and brushing your teeth other then an occasional ‘excuse me.’ it was almost as if whatever either of you said would make the whole night worse.

when it was finally time for bed, you slid under the covers first. spencer lingered in the room, he would need to leave in a moment to check the apartment anyway.

“can we not talk about all this tonight?” you pleaded.

spencer nodded. “can we just make a deal before?”

“what is it?”

“if you decide that in the morning you want to give us another try, i’ll be here and we can try again. okay?”

the silence returned for a brief moment. spencer waited on, hoping that you would agree to what he asked.

“deal,” you answered quietly.

the lights went off after that, your only source cutting through the darkness being the nightlight in the hallway.

you kept your back to spencer as he too got in bed. to be honest, you really didn’t want him seeing the tears in the corners of your eyes that threatened to fall. were you really so distant that you wouldn’t even let him see you cry?

even in the dark, spencer could already tell something was wrong. he hovered behind you, not quite sure how you would react to him right now. “is this okay?” he questioned. “yeah.”

spencer tentatively reached down to rest his hand on your arm, running it back and forth for pure comfort. a gently kiss to your bare shoulder followed.

you curled into his touch, already shifting back to press your back to his stomach. spencer wrapped an arm around you; neither of you were quite sure if this would be your last night together.

“goodnight y/n.”

“goodnight spencer.”

☆ ☆ ☆

tags - @blakes-dictionxry @hurricanejjareau @ogmilkis @ssa-morgan @gublertoon @ah-blossom @emilyslefteyebrow @holding-on-to-my-youth @agentshortstacc @emilysprentisss @bxbyspxncer @blakeprentiss @goldenxreid

[rekrappeter]

Moments || s.r

pairing: spencer reid x ssa!reader 

warnings: child abduction case | swearing maybe ?? | lmk if I have missed anything ♡

word count: 2.4k

a/n: this is my first one-shot involving any members of criminal minds. i have slowly fallen down the rabbit hole of being complete obsessed with spencer reid hence the reason for this new tumblr. lmk if you have any recommendations of other writing pages/criminal minds pages! Also if you have any requests, hit me up♡

This was the moment that you dreaded. The moment after you had the chance to clean yourself up; after you made a nutritional meal; after you made a cup of tea in your favorite mug and after you decided on a movie to spend the night watching. It was the same routine, the only differential factor was the case that happened before it. It was the moment that you were able to take a deep breath and look around your empty apartment, and each time, the sudden feeling of dread suffocated you. 

It was the moment that you used to look forward to but years had past and despite loving your job and the people you worked with, realization dawned on you that it had started taking a toll on your social life. You couldn’t even recall the last time you went out on a date. Was it two years ago or more? Every time you got back from a case, you slowly started falling into a state of loneliness and your mind would keep you preoccupied with the thoughts of never finding someone to love you. 

You stared at the steaming tea in the mug, watching it dance through the air and you felt your eyes starting to tear up with the heavy thoughts in your head. Sighing, you stood up and placed the cup on the coffee table. “That’s enough now..” You mumbled to yourself, grabbing your phone and opening the app store. You flickered through the multiple dating apps that were available, your mind boggled by the amount of them and just as you agreed to install one, your phone buzzed in your grasp.

Hotchner: We have a new case. 

A sigh of relief escaped your lips and you suddenly forgot about the dating app that was installing itself into your phone. Another routine that you were too accustomed to was changing from your loungewear to something more appropriate for work and grabbing your travel bag in less than ten minutes before you were out the door on the way to your second home. 

As you walked into the bullpen, you spotted each member of your team, and a feeling of security flooded over you. “Ah, there you are.” Derek grinned, dressed in a leather jacket and fitted jeans, as he leaned against your allocated desk. 

“Missing me already?” You teased. You could tell that the spark in your smile didn’t reach your eyes but you had to try your hardest to hide your negative thoughts in a room full of profilers. You placed your bag underneath the desk by Derek’s feet and he reached an arm out for a side hug.

“You ok?” He whispered, making it look as if he just kissed the side of your head. 

You knew you couldn’t trust your voice so you just responded by nodding at him, returning the friendly gesture. Derek was your closest friend in the BAU, you enjoyed his energy and could tell there was more to him than just pretty looks and a funny demeanor. Your attention was pulled away from him when Hotchner walked into the room, his confidence stride going towards the conference room. “Let’s go.” 

Garcia debriefed everyone on the active case that we were going to cover and the moment you heard the words child abduction, you sucked in a deep breath. They were always the ones that had the biggest impact on you and it took a while for you to recover from them, depending on the outcome. As you looked around at the team, you noticed that everyone looked exhausted from the previous case you had just closed; you caught Spencer’s glance and returned the empathic smile that he gave you. 

“Wheels up in ten, we’re already four hours behind. We can rest on the jet.” Aaron said before everyone fleeted from the office. 

Over the course of the next few hours, you slowly started to feel yourself slipping away from being hopeful that you were going to find this child. Two other children have gone missing from the area within the past six months and they still haven’t been found. You sat on a chair, your eyes scanning the information board over and over; there had to be something someone missed. Three young boys stared back at you, and time was ticking away. 

A knock on the door pulled your attention away from them and you looked at the door, seeing Spencer there. “Sorry, I didn’t want to startle you.” 

You stood up from the chair, shaking your head and fixing your shirt. “No, no, it’s okay. I should actually be out there. Just thought I might see something different.” You forced out a chuckle when you realized it was Spencer that was in charge of this board. Of course, if he couldn’t see anything, you wouldn’t be able to. 

“How are you holding up?” Spencer asked, walking into the room and taking his rightful place at the board. Spencer had noticed how you were more reluctant to leave the offices at night; how you were always trying to hold onto that last conversation. He could see that empty look in your eyes in the morning, noticing how your cheerful demeanor would come out after you spoke with people. 

“I’m okay, Dr. Reid.” You teased gently, watching the light blush flutter across his cheek. “It’s just... cases like these are tough, especially when we have three missing boys and no leads. It just seems all too strange….” 

Spencer listened to you rant on about the case, watching you sigh in frustration and he admired the way you spoke with your hands. He wanted to ask how you were feeling despite the case, he wanted you to open up to him like you do with Derek and JJ but he just couldn’t get past that wall. He wasn’t too sure if it was him or you that kept rebuilding the wall between you, was he afraid to admit that he has slowly started to fall for a colleague… again? 

“That’s it.” You whispered, rushing over to where Spencer was standing and examining the photo of the second child that went missing. “When I went to speak with Mark’s parents, they had a photograph on the wall and his father was wearing this exact shirt, it’s from a boy scouts association.” 

“Do you think it was his father?” Spencer questioned, trying not to get distracted by the fact that you were centimeters from him. He could smell the lingering scent of your shampoo and he could almost feel your heart racing. 

“N-no, I don’t think so. If you look at the photo, you can see that the shirt is too big for it to be his. What if someone had some kind of grudge…”

“Over the fathers and his way to get even is to take their sons.” Spencer finished your sentence. 

You looked up at him, his body closer to yours and you felt your skin getting red. “It could be a long shot but it could also be worth it.” You mumbled quietly, very aware that Spencer hasn’t made any objections to you standing this close to him. You took your phone out to call Garcia, and inwardly groaned when you unlocked it and Tinder was the page that was exposed. Glancing at Spencer, his face looked defeated and he took a step back from you. You couldn’t understand why regret and panic swept over you, and you started blabbering excuses out to him. 

“Don’t worry about it, Y/N. Your secret is safe with me.” Spencer chuckled softly before he turned his back to you and you could see him running his fingers through his hair. When you got through to Garcia, you explained your theory to her but your mind was distracted by the tousled brown-haired man in front of you. As you waited on the line for Garcia’s confirmation or rejection of your theory, your eyes kept glancing at Spencer. You so badly wanted to be able to explain to him that you haven’t even been on the dating app, that it was a moment of weakness on your behalf. 

“Y/N Y/L/N, if you were here right now, I would kiss you! I’m going to call Hotch, I’ll send the address your way.” You released a sigh of relief when she hung up, and you smiled at Spencer. 

Spencer returned the smile, “Who’s the genius now?” 

“Come on, let’s go get ‘em.” You retorted, ensuring that you had your gun and left the precinct with Reid hot on your heels. The hope was finally started to come back. 

It was always good closing cases that had a happy ending but unfortunately, not all of them ended like the one today. But you were going to take advantage of the blissful feeling that you were feeling while it lasted. You were back at Quantico now, filling out the last of the paperwork. It was just past eleven in the evening and you had said goodbye to the team merely two hours ago. On your way to the storage room, a light caught your eye in one of the conferences room. 

Peeking through the half-open blinds, your stomach twisted when you spotted Spencer there, flicking through an unknown file. The feeling was strange, it was as if you had the sudden urge to want to go talk to him and there was no doubt that he has been on your mind the last few hours. You knocked on the door, opening it and leaning on the doorframe. “What are you still doing here?” You smiled, and when he lifted his head, his hair danced around his face. 

“I-just catching up on some research,” Spencer replied, placing the chart on the table in front of him. But the truth was, Spencer just picked some random file to read so that he had a reason to make sure you weren’t going to stay here all night by yourself. “What has you here?” 

You shrugged your shoulders gently, walking further into the room. Nibbling on your cheek, you wanted to open up to Spencer but you didn’t want to bore him with details of your life that he had no interest in. Before you could reply though, Spencer started talking again. “When I asked you earlier about how you were feeling, I didn’t mean at that moment. I couldn’t help but... but notice that you have been acting strange recently, it’s as if your mind is always elsewhere and you’re always the last person here. Is everything okay at home?” 

You couldn’t hide the shocked look on your face but you knew someone was going to pick up on it eventually. Spencer was the last on your list though that you’d expect to notice unless he has been watching you. And what would that mean if he was? Did he like you more than what you thought he did? “I-I… Spence, I don’t know how to explain it.”

“You feel as if your whole life has been dominated by this job? That it’s not giving you a chance to live how you would like? That you might end up being alone because of how intense this job is?” Spencer spoke softly, as if he knew exactly what he was talking about. 

You shook your head, a light smile on your face and you scoffed in disbelief. “Exactly like that. That no matter how much I give to this job, I’m not getting anything back from it. I could agree to go on a date with someone, but I could never be 100% sure because at the last minute, I might have to leave for a case. No one would understand that.” You sighed, leaning against the table.

“I would.” Spencer whispered, and you whipped your head to look at him, noting how he was suddenly avoiding eye contact with you. 

“What?” You asked, your heart beating against your chest. 

Spencer looked around frantically before standing up from the chair, “Noth-Nothing, it doesn’t matter. Do you want me to walk you home?” He asked, his beautiful brown eyes avoiding yours still. You stood straight and walked over to where he was, his adam’s apple gulping.

You reached your hand to rest on his cheek, testing the waters at first. He didn’t flinch away as you expected, instead his eyes flickered closed for a moment and he rested into your touch. This was a moment that you could get used to; you watched his all the worries left his features and when his eyes opened, they were soft and swirling with unexplained motions. “Can I try something?” You asked quietly, not wanting to make any sudden movements. He nodded slowly, and his eyes widen slightly as he watched you move closer. 

“Are you sure?” Spencer whispered, knowing that what is about to happen is something that you can’t take back. 

“Yes.” You replied, closing the gap between yours and Spencer’s lips. The kiss was hesitant at first, neither of you wanting to scare the other away. His lips were soft, but as second passed, his confidence built and he wrapped his arms around you slowly, pulling you to him. Your lips moved in sync, savoring every moment and broken touch. Your fingers swam through his hair and your heart felt as if it wanted to explode with happiness. An emotion you haven’t felt in so long. 

When Spencer pulled away, your eyes remained shut for a second wanting to remember every moment of it. You wanted to replay the kiss over and over again. His breathing was heavy and the air was fawning your face. “I have wanted to kiss you for so long.” He broke the silence, and your eyes connected with his. 

“Really?”

“Really.” He whispered, leaning in to peck your lips again. 

“What took you so long?” You asked. 

“It was never the right moment.”

           🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻

please please please let me know what you thought of this! It’s my first s.r fic so I would love some feedback! also I have 0 followers, follow me and I’ll follow you back! <3

[the-silentium]

Folded messages

Masterlist

Pairing: Five Hargreeves x Reader

Words: 4900 words

Warnings: TUA season 1 and 2 spoilers, swearing.

Requested by: Anon

Hello!! I just recently read you 11 Five fic and I have to say it was incredible. I have no words to describe it, your writing is so good💖💖 with that, I was wondering if you did fics based on songs, if you do, would you mind doing a 5xreader based on “sway with me” by Micheal Buble? Idk what the plot could be, maybe they are in a mission from commission and have to go to a fancy ballroom. Maybe they are enemies. Maybe reader pulls him to dance around S2. The choices are endless, go crazy :”)

A/N: Finally I found time to write! I've had insomnia for too long because I couldn't write! Damn day job! 

On a better note, I really hope you guys like this little piece of fluff 💜 I swear, this started as a small idea and then it just got bigger and bigger. Sorry not sorry!

Was it even possible? The prospect of falling in love for someone of his nature was almost as high as his targets' survival rate. He wasn't an emotional man, his feelings were deeply buried in the depth of his heavily guarded heart, locked away in a three inches thick chest that was itself hidden in an impossible maze where traumas and demons were furiously protecting the paths. 

Add this to the fact that he never saw her, not even once, the only proof of her existence being the small animals made of colorful folded paper that appears in his jacket pockets whenever he crossed her path, the possibilities of developing such feelings were in no way probable. The origami aside, the woman seemingly took pleasure in throwing wrenches into his work. He was asked to assassinate a brilliant inventor who was getting too close to discovering the secrets of time-traveling? It would have been an easy job if it wasn’t that every single bullet he had in his possession suddenly disappeared, forcing him to finish the job with his knife. 

There was another time, he was tasked with the termination of a group of people meeting in the back of a bar, his guns were loaded, his knives were sharpened, he was full of juice, there was no way that this job would take more than one minute and forty-three seconds. He made his way to the door leading to the room hosting his targets when he noticed a small dark purple llama on the door handle. He pocketed the folded piece of paper for later and tried the handle to find out that it wouldn't even turn on itself. The assassin rolled his eyes at the futile attempt to keep him from completing his mission, he closed his hands into fists but his ability decided to fail at this right moment.

The door behind him closed on a loud banging noise, a delicate click following closely behind, indicating that the door was locked from the other side. Five remembers it clear as day, the moment he knew he had found his equal. He heard you giggling lightly on the other side of the door and his heart started speeding up. Not in anger, not in annoyance nor in embarrassment. He couldn't say what it was, but he knew for sure that he wanted more of it. 

It happened four times, you making his job more challenging and him receiving a small gift before Five decided to do some research. In a box carefully concealed under the double bottom of his drawer were stored every paper animal he found during his missions along with books about origami and colors. 

An olive green and lavender cat, a dark blue dragon, an orange fish and a dark purple llama were now aligned on his desk in order of acquisition. The different books were opened on different pages and then Five started his information gathering. He scribbled in his notebook the different significance associated to each color and animal and an hour and a half later, he was contemplating his findings. 

The cat was a symbol of independence and mystery among other things. Its olive-green body with the patches of lavender told him that the first gift was, in fact, a peace offering from a feminine person. Her very own olive branch that he took long enough to decipher. 

Then there was the dragon, symbol of power, wisdom, mastery and success. The dark shade of blue told him that the dragon was full of knowledge, power and seriousness. He frowned, thinking and slightly hoping that maybe this was how she saw him. 

He didn't know what to think of the orange fish. Happiness, freedom and energy. He couldn't relate to this one, having not been free for many years now as stipulated by his contract with the Commission. He was a slave, used for his ability and his will to do everything to survive one more day and save his family from their imminent doom. 

Maybe the fish was a reference to yourself. This was the only explanation he could find. You were a young adult from what he deduced of your giggles and were pretty happy and free if the folded paper was anything to go by. 

The last gift proved that Five's theory stipulating that every origami was a metaphor about yourself and himself was correct. 

A dark purple llama. An animal representing hard work, endurance under difficult situations and responsibility. His heart accelerated at the possibility that you knew that he was trying to buy some time and betray his employer sooner than later. Would you rat him out? He really hoped that the olive cat meant that you were on his side and not against him, he would really hate to put an end to the warm feeling dancing in his chest whenever he realized that you were around and ready to play a trick on him. 

Now if he followed your logic, the next one he will receive will say more about yourself and he couldn't wait to be assigned to another mission so that he had a chance to learn more about you or even possibly see you. You, his little time traveler. Five had thought about this for the longest of time and he came to the conclusion that you were indeed a time traveler. The Commission kept very close control over their briefcase so there was no way that you had one in your possession, he would know, after all, he checked the lost briefcases records and they were all reported destroyed. 

To his dismay, his next mission was uneventful. He got in and got out. No hiccup, no paper animal. Nothing. It went like this for his next six missions and with every passing success, Five found himself getting irritated. Every night he found himself chasing your shadow in his dreams and every time you managed to evade his attempts at catching you. One morning when even his first coffee of the day wasn't enough to ease his frustration, he thought of a plan that would allow him to finally see you. 

To avoid making his kills personal, Five always prioritized a long-range way to kill, meaning with guns. Guns had a way to remove all responsibilities off his shoulder and lighten his soul at the end of the day. He had enough demons consuming more and more of his conscience on a daily basis, he definitely could do without this kind of remorse. Sure, he was the one who pulled the trigger, but ultimately, it was the bullet that killed the target, not his hands. 

But tonight, Five decided that he would complete his mission with the idea that you were around. If you were, then he would finally meet you. If not, he would need something strong to accompany his coffee. Whiskey maybe. 

He abandoned his prized sniper in the deserted building next to the one his target was currently dancing in and made his way to a back door. There he space-jumped inside the building and quickly blended himself with the crowd. He found himself straightening his suit in the case you were around and made his way to the bar. 

A glass of whiskey in hand, Five turned his back to the counter and analyzed the crowd in search of his wealthy bastard who was enjoying his very last evening on this Earth. There he was, dancing around, totally unconcerned of the people around him. 

Unconsciously, Five reached into his pockets where the gifts usually appeared out of thin air, his fingers searching around as they did a hundred times before but ultimately finding nothing. With a frustrated groan, Five grabbed his glass, emptied its content in one gulp, smashed the glass back on the counter and pushed his way to his target. Another night without your little schemes meaning another night chasing your shadow in his sleep. If this was how the night would unfold, then he wanted to finish this quickly. 

Five's hand reached for his target, grabbed a hold of his upper arm and pulled him in a nearby hallway before jumping the both of them in the nearby abandoned building where his weapons were patiently waiting for him. 

Five turned around to face his target, knife in hand and ready to strike when his breath caught in his throat and every muscle in his body contracted, stopping every movement. Where his prey stood mere milliseconds ago was now an elegant woman in a beautiful gown, all smile and giggling at his reaction. He knew it was you the second he heard your giggles, causing his heart to skip a beat and his fingers to let go of the sharp weapon. 

He stopped himself from moving a stray strand of hair behind your ear, instead choosing to release his grip on your arm and take a step away. You were too beautiful, so much more beautiful than what he imagined, with your shining eyes, your soft-looking hair, your perfectly curved body, he tried to burn every detail into his memory. 

"Dance with me?" You asked, closing the distance and reaching for his hand. Your movement got him out of his thoughts and everything came back full force. The mischievous glint into your eyes caused a smirk to form on his lips.

"You just want to keep me from my job." And you were doing a magnificent job at it.

"Is it working?" You batted your eyelashes in an innocent way, making Five roll his eyes before he positioned your hands correctly and pull your body so that you were almost touching each other. 

You smiled in satisfaction, following his steps flawlessly on a tempo only he could hear. The blue-eyed man enjoyed the silent minute, savoring the feeling of your soft skin cradled into his palm and the warmth of your waist radiating through the fabric under his opposite hand. The comfortable silence was soon replaced by a soft song playing in the background, stopping Five in his tracks and almost causing you to fall if it wasn’t for his strong arms keeping you up and close. 

Five eyes finally left your face and widened at the new scenery surrounding him. The once dusty floor was now pristine and exempt of all the trash and needles that were once lingering around, the tagged walls were perfectly painted in a new shade of light grey, giving the room a nice glow under the gleam of the light strings hanging from the ceiling. 

Five didn’t know his mouth had opened in awe before you chuckled and your hand left his shoulder to caress his chin, effectively causing him to close it. 

"I take it that you like it?" Your eyes were shining under the soft lights and the pride he saw in them almost got a smile out of him.

"You made this?" He was still stunned about the complete makeover of the room. Even the lingering moldy smell disappeared, letting a pleasant smell floating around in its place. 

"You’re not the first one the Commission took a liking to, ya know. I’m kinda like an illusionist, but my stuff is the real deal. They saw my potential and offered me a job, which I refused and they’ve been on my tail ever since." You shrugged, replacing your hand at its rightful place on his shoulder. 

Five was truly amazed by the woman standing in front of him. Her ability had so many possibilities and she managed to escape the Commission for seemingly a long time. Add this to the fact that she can time-travel and play tricks on the best assassin this planet has ever seen, Five has never been so interested in someone like that before, not even Dolores who has been his everything for many years. 

"I can see why they were interested in you." He resumed his dancing, this time following the rhythm of the soft music playing around them. "Having two abilities is pretty rare."

You shook your head, before clarifying. "I only have one. I don't know where you get the second one from." You frowned in confusion, which reflected on his own face. 

"But you time-travel." He remembered finding the folded fish in the 1800s, the dragon around the 1950s and today was September 23th, 1987.

"Yeah, the same way as you. With a briefcase." You nodded toward the black briefcase neatly placed near the window. Five only got more and more confused. 

"But they were all dest-" He cut himself at your cheeky grin. "You created your very own. Impressive."

"Thank you." You were beaming at that point and Five felt proud that he was the source of your happiness. 

The slow song ended but neither of you stopped moving your feet in unison. Five was enjoying himself like never before and he wasn't in a hurry to end it. The corner of his lips quirked upward when he realized that you pressed yourself against him when the song ended, your way of saying that you didn't want this to end either. 

You silently danced the second song in its entirety, living every second like everything would disappear at any moment. Five was scared that this was a one night deal and that he would never see you again. Why did you reveal yourself tonight of any other night? 

Before he gathered the courage to ask you, the song reached its end and a completely different kind of music floated in the air. 

When marimba rhythms start to play

Dance with me, make me sway

Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore

Hold me close, sway me more

Five pulled away slightly, not much, only to be able to see the sheepish smile on your lips. "I love this song." Was your only answer to his frowned brows. 

Five laughed softly before stepping away and made you spin. He pulled you back to him, your melodious laugh bouncing around him like the greatest melody ever written. 

Like a flower bending in the breeze

Bend with me, sway with ease

When we dance you have a way with me

Stay with me, sway with me

It was clear that neither of you knew how to dance on this song, but you didn't care. You were both moving around freely, Five making you spin from time to time. 

Other dancers may be on the floor

Dear, but my eyes will see only you

Only you have that magic technique

When we sway I go weak

Five's heart was beating quickly, not because of the physical exercise, he was trained to accomplish way more than dancing without breaking a sweat, but because the sight of your delighted face stroked something deep within himself. A primal need. The need of a life partner. Someone who he could trust blindly and love without holding back. 

I can hear the sounds of violins

Long before it begins

Make me thrill as only you know how

Sway me smooth, sway me now

A too-quick step made you trip on your own feet, in an attempt to keep you on your feet Five reached for your arms but it was already too late. Instead of helping, Five only unbalanced you more leading you to fall to the ground and drag the man with you. Thanks to his sharp reflexes, Five caught himself on his forearms before he crushed your small form under his larger one. 

When marimba rhythms start to play

Dance with me, make me sway

Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore

Hold me close, sway me more

For a moment the assassin's heart stopped in fear. He hasn't felt afraid in years and it definitely wasn't a feeling he had missed. Your laugh flicked a switch in his heart, making it beat again in an erratic rhythm that he was almost embarrassed of. He guessed that if feeling that good meant that sometimes he was going to be afraid, it wasn't a big deal. He could deal with his fears if at the end of the day you were fine and happy in his arms. 

Like a flower bending in the breeze

Bend with me, sway with ease

When we dance you have a way with me

Stay with me, sway with me

"I'm so sorry Five!" You managed to say after catching your breath. Tears rolled from your eyes and into your hair, the reflection of the lights above creating stars in your eyes. 

"It's fine." Was all he could say, for his brain had stopped working when he realized that only a couple of centimeters separated the two of you. His body started heating up to his dismay, Five pushed on his arms and sit on his heels to help you sit up. 

When marimba rhythms start to play

Hold me close, make me sway

Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore

Hold me close, sway me more

"Thanks." You muttered while passing a hand through your messy hair. 

The sound of a metallic object falling on the ground made you jump. Five frowned, confused as to why the Commission would send him another assignment right now and not wait until his return. 

"What was that?" You whispered. 

"My employer." He was beyond annoyed by the interruption. They couldn't have chosen a worse time than tonight. 

Offering you a helping hand, Five got up and helped you when your hand closed on his. He couldn't stop himself, he enlaced his fingers through yours, the tightness of your grip made him chuckle. 

"Don't worry, they are not here." He lightly hit the wall near the window with the underside of his fist, searching for a spot on the wall that wasn't hollow. When he found it, he searched for the dissimulated door and took the canister with his name written on it. 

Releasing your hand, Five opened the canister, took the folded paper and read the words. Terminate Y/N L/N. How was he supposed to terminate someone he didn't even know? This job was so frustrating! He folded back the paper, storing it in his pants pocket. This would have to wait. He turned back to you and the sight bring a genuine smile to his lips. 

You were smiling at something outside the window, the light of the moon joined to the string lights gave you an angelic glow. He would have loved to contemplate you longer, but duty called and he now had two targets instead of one. 

"I have to go." He didn't dare say it too loud, maybe time would stop and let him live this perfect night for all eternity. 

You turned around with a small smile on your lips. He could see that you were disappointed even though you nodded like it was nothing. "Well, tonight couldn't go on forever." You walked up to him, with each one of your steps Five felt himself growing weak in the knees. Oh how he didn't want to go. "It's fine. I'll find you again." At that, you tenderly reached for his cheek while your lips pressed a delicate kiss on the other one, stealing his breath. 

You giggled, surely at the blush covering his cheeks and walked away, the illusion fading along with your steps. Just as you were about to walk down the stairs, Five remembered something. 

"Wait! I didn't get your name!" He quickly space-jumped in front of you to block your path. 

"Y/N L/N." Her smile dropped when a dark expression fell on his face. Even if he tried, he couldn’t have repressed it, the surprise and the anger were too much. 

"You have to leave." He didn’t know how they found her, he always made sure he didn’t have any bug on himself before going on a mission. 

"N-not that I wasn’t doing that anyway, but w-why the long face?" His fingers twitched at the waver in your voice. It wasn’t his intention to scare you, even less to scare you off. 

"The Commission knows you’re here. I don't know how, but they know." Five was starting to get tired of them pretty quickly. Maybe one day he would get out of there with explosions resonating through the hallways. Maybe he could use grenades. Yeah, grenades were good. 

You started to walk down the stairs when you stopped and turned to him, one last time. "Be careful."

Five smirked although your concern was touching. "I should be the one telling you that." 

With one last giggle, you walked out of his sight. Five returned to his very first task of the night, took place at his spot by the window and finished the initial job. 

Back at the Commission that night, Five removed his jacket, eager to go to bed and find himself dancing in your arms again to the sound of soft slow music. A sound caught his attention when he threw his jacket on the back of his chair, the sound of crumbling paper. 

His hands searched his pocket, grabbing the grey fox that somehow found its way into his jacket without him noticing. A smile stretched his lips before he carefully slipped the fox under his pillow and went to bed. 

A whole year passed before the next animal appeared in his pocket. As frustrated as he was of being away from you for a whole year, Five knew why this was necessary. The Commission was close on your tail. Apparently, he wasn't the only agent tasked of your termination and some got lucky enough to find your location but not enough to hurt you. 

The whole year he kept tabs on the Commission's information on you and kept worrying that someday he would find a red stamp crossing out your picture.  As of today, his worst nightmare hasn't yet come true, so he pushed his worry aside and continued his job. 

He assembled his sniper, preparing himself to kill the president of the United States in 1963 when something hit him in the head. It didn't hurt or anything, it was light as a leaf. Frowning, Five pulled away from the scope of his weapon to discover a brown frog made of folded paper lying on the ground next to his feet.

Receiving one of your signature gift after all that time caused his heart to skyrocket in his chest. All those feelings he had repressed, fearing that one day you would be gone for good and that he would definitely be alone in this cruel world, came rushing back at full speed, making him drop his gun and look around for you. 

You weren't far, waving at him with a tired smile on your face, dark shadows marking the underside of your eyes. He didn't take the time to run, simply jumping to you and engulfing your body into his arms.

Many times he thought about how much he had fallen for you after only one dancing night and five tricks followed by origamis. If it were someone else, he would have told them that they were being stupidly influenced by their primal urges that forced them to find a partner and procreate, for this was the circle of life since the dawn of time. In his case, he knew it was much more than that. It was more important to him than a need to procreate. He had found his equal, someone that sparked an insatiable interest in him and showed him that there was way more in this life than what he originally knew. 

Five tensed as soon as he heard the first sobs. Immediately he started to scan your body for wounds or blood, anything to show that you were hurt. However, his analysis was cut short by both your hands cradling his cheeks. 

"I'm fine. I'm just real' tired and I'm so happy to see you." Your arms wrapped around his neck forcing Five to hug your body closer. Not that he minded. 

He whispered words of reassurance into your hair while thinking of what to do next. You couldn't keep fleeing the Commission alone, not in your state. They would catch up to you in no time and he couldn't have that. He couldn't say that he killed you to get them off your back, the higher-ups would request physical proof of your death. It only left him with his last resort. He would have liked to find the good variable, but time was against him so he would have to deal with it. 

"I have a plan, don't worry." He dried her tears with his thumb when she lifted her head to look into his eyes. "I'll get us out of here." 

You managed a smile before chuckling. "I know. Why do you think I gave you a brown frog? A frog to ensure a safe return of your journey and brown for home." 

Five shook his head, once again amazed at how perfectly you could read him despite everyone else describing him as unpredictable. 

He grabbed your hands in his, mentally reciting the equation he passed the last 45 years developing. Before the portal appeared, Five stopped everything in a hurry, scaring the shit out of you. He let go of your hands for two seconds, enough time for him to run back at his sniper, grab the brown frog and run back at you. You rolled your eyes when he secured the frog in his jacket pocket, quickly saying that it has sentimental value, before concentrating on the portal again. 

The blue vortex appeared, its power pushing them away. It took every ounce of strength into Five's body to pull you with him through the portal, your weakened state left you helpless in front of the blue resistance. 

Five did his best to catch you during the fall, your body falling directly on top of his, stealing his breath for a moment. 

You managed to roll off of him, allowing him to take a nice bowl of air to fill his lungs. He made it. You weren't 100% safe, but he could have help now. He cou-

"Five." The worry in your voice along with your hand closing tightly on his forearm pushed him to sit up quickly and find the source of the danger. He understood your reaction when his eyes fell on his siblings who looked like hell. 

"You guys didn't change one bit." He deadpanned. His usual unimpressed face was back in service at the gaping fish-like faces of his siblings. 

"We should be the one telling you that. You haven't aged at all!" Klaus yelled, his outstretched arms moving up and down in his direction. 

Confused, Five glanced at his body and realization hit him like a brick. He knew something wasn't right! 

Your repressed giggles caught his attention, he found your 13 years old body, a hand on your mouth desperately trying to keep a full-on laugh in. He couldn't help but notice how much more tired you looked in your younger self. 

"It's not funny." Was all he said before he spacial-jumped the two of you to his old bedroom. There he guided you to the bed where he helped you get under the covers and watched you get comfortable. 

"It is funny." Five scoffed and went to the door, knowing his siblings were gathered behind it and very probably listening to their conversation. He hit the door with his foot and as expected, Klaus yelled in pain, complaining about his hurting ear. 

"I'll be downstairs to talk in a few minutes so get lost." He told them through the door. He was awarded by some angry muttering and finally, fading footsteps. 

He walked back to your side when he was sure that everyone went on their merry way, sitting on the nearby chair with your hand in his. 

"You need to rest. You'll be safe here." He kissed your hand at your tired smile. "I'll stay until you fall asleep, that okay?" You nodded, already your eyelids seemed pretty heavy. 

"I missed you Five."

You were out in less than two minutes, your breathing became deeper and slower, your facial muscles relaxed and your mouth opened slightly allowing Five to hear your even respiration. 

The boy didn't notice exactly when it happened, but the demons were now silent and the traumas shrank in size, forming a clear path toward the center of the maze that was his heart. There, the three inches thick chest that was protecting his feelings was now wide open, strings were delicately wrapped around them, not too tight as to not suffocate them, but with just enough contact so that he could permanently feel her affection enveloping him.  

"I missed you too."

[A/N] This passed SO close to having an angsty ending! So close! I figured you guys had enough angst with 11 already… and the part 2 that's coming next. 

[marjansmarwani]

Trouble Will Come

11.6k || ao3

Ever since TK had been caught up in Austin's latest serial bomber's attack, Carlos has thrown himself into looking for the mysterious bomber. He had watched his boyfriend almost die at the hands of this maniac, and he needed to do everything he could to make sure that never happened again. It makes him feel better, helps to counteract the helplessness he felt in that moment.

What he didn't expect was to actually find him, and to be trapped with him and a bomb in another abandoned factory. Now he just wants to make it out alive, because he is pretty sure TK will find a way to kill him if he doesn't.

--- Sequel to Trouble Will Not Take Me

I ended up rereading this today and decided to repost it because I don’t think I ever got around to making a masterpost of the chapters when I first finished it and just because I really like it and we could always use some more Carlos fic. So enjoy this shameless bit of self-promotion and a reminder of an older fic in lieu of anything new since I am still fighting my way through some writer’s block. 

-----------------

“Wow,” Mya deadpanned as they pulled up to a dilapidated abandoned factory building, “you take me to the nicest places.”

“Next time we have a serial bomber I’ll be sure to mention to him that he should aim for sites that are more aesthetically pleasing,” Carlos replies drily, already unbuckling his seatbelt.

“I’m just saying, would it kill us to not have chosen the place on the list most likely to give us tetanus by just looking at it?”

Carlos merely shrugged in response because honestly, he couldn’t disagree with her. It had been just over two weeks since Austin’s most recent serial bomber made his big splash by blowing up a building with firefighters inside. It had been only been two years since the last bomber and everyone was on edge. The memory was fresh enough that the majority of the police department had been there, had watched the last bombings unfold. To see it happen again didn’t sit well with anyone, especially Carlos. He had vivid memories of the last time, of the fear and uncertainty that had reigned over the city. This time he had his own fears to add to the pile; his own nightmares to haunt his days. It had been the 126 who responded to that call, it had been TK and Marjan trapped inside the last building when it exploded. That had been 15 days ago, and every day since APD had poured a significant amount of its resources into identifying likely targets and patrolling them regularly. Carlos had been volunteering for every shift - this case was personal.

He still saw TK’s limp and battered body being pulled out of the collapsed building every night when he closed his eyes. The first few nights, when TK had still been in the hospital, he had resisted going home because he knew he wouldn’t sleep anyways. Even now, weeks later, he still had those dreams; still woke up in a cold sweat. Only the presence of TK besides him, soundly sleeping and breathing and alive was enough to calm him. So yeah, maybe he was taking this one a little personally.

Fortunately, Mya was completely on board. She had been right by his side the entire way: in the waiting room of the hospital, in their sergeant’s office volunteering for extra shifts. He hadn’t even had to ask her. The first day he showed up to work, once TK had finally been out of the woods, she had materialized in front of his desk. “They’re going after this guy,” she had said, “I want in and I am sure you do too.” He had barely had time to nod before she was leading them to the sergeant’s office.

It was times like this he was so grateful for his partner. She was a force to be reckoned with on a regular day, and she cared just as much about TK as she did for Carlos. To say she was feeling spiteful would be an understatement: “If some asshole bomber thinks they’re going to almost crush my friend to death and get away with it, they’ve got another thing coming,” she had said fiercely.

Carlos almost felt bad for this mysterious bomber - almost.

That didn’t change the fact that this was the 12th abandoned building they had checked out this week and while it certainly wasn’t the gnarliest building they had been in, it wasn’t winning any home and garden awards.

“Just think,” he said as they drew closer, “if we ever decide to give up this whole cop thing, we’ll have a jump start on real estate to enter the haunted house business.”

“I know you’re joking, but that’s honestly not the worst idea I’ve heard.”

Carlos shook his head fondly, “You ready to do this, again?”

Mya nodded, “Twelfth time’s the charm, right?”

“We can only hope,” he muttered as the entered the structure. “Structure” may even be a generous term for it; there didn’t seem to be much standing. They looked around the entry: it appeared to have been a lobby of some sort at one time and it opened up into two diverting hallways. “Looks like we’re splitting up. Do you want left or right?”  

“I’m feeling left today. Be careful though, will you? Wouldn’t want you getting into trouble without your partner to watch your back.”

“You too. Radio if you find anything?”

“Always.” With a quick salute, Mya was off, disappearing down the hallway to the left. Carlos quickly followed suit and entered the other hallway. It was dark and quiet. He pulled out his flashlight and looked around. It looked like your typical, nondescript, dilapidated hallway - just like the other eleven they had searched that week.

Still, it warranted a cursory investigation. If only to cross it off the list, to eliminate another possible location. The reigning theory at the precinct currently is that the bomber had been scared off by what had happened with the last bomb. The only casualties of the first four bombs had been the buildings themselves. Never before had there been victims of the bombs, and only luck and talented medical professionals had prevented there from being any fatalities. Normally Carlos would have been grateful and left it at that. But TK had almost died - Carlos had thought he was dead for several heart-stopping moments. He wasn’t over it, and he was bringing that baggage with him. Logically he knew that he should have recused himself from the case, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He needed to be a part of this, he needed to know he had done everything he could to bring this maniac to justice.

It was coping, he supposed.

He continued down the hallway, shining his flashlight into the dark corners. He moved carefully, keeping his eyes moving and his ears open. He froze as he heard a sound up ahead. It was probably just an animal, or a piece of the crumbling ceiling falling, but Carlos was still on high alert as he turned the next corner. He frowned when he saw a weak light cutting through the surrounding darkness. He moved towards it. It was a lantern, shining dimly on a makeshift table. The rest of the table was covered with paper and blueprints. Carlos could feel his heart rate increase - this was it. This was the work of the bomber they had been tracking. He went to reach for his radio, to tell Mya that he had found something, to tell her they had the guy and to get here now; but it was then that he realized he had made his first mistake.

“What are you doing here?” a harsh voice behind him demanded.

Carlos froze - hand hovering just above his radio. He slowly turned around to find a middle-aged man with a scraggly beard, wild eyes, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, and a gun pointed at him. He slowly raised his hands up in surrender, even as he cursed at himself.

He had forgotten to clear the room. He had made a rookie mistake and had let this guy get the drop on him. Now there was a gun pointed at him and he was in deep shit.

He spoke slowly and evenly, even as his heart thudded in his chest, “My name is Carlos Reyes, I am an officer with the Austin Police department. I was investigating a report of suspicious activity at this location.”

The man continued to glare at him, “Are you here alone?”

Carlos shook his head, “No, my partner is here too. She’s on the other side of the building.”

The man didn’t say anything to that, he simply looked around Carlos, towards the table. Carlos cursed himself silently. He had moved the papers and blueprints around; it was clear that he had seen them. The man clearly came to the same conclusion as his expression had grown darker as he looked back at Carlos. There was silence for a few long moments before he spoke, “This needs to be done, you can’t stop me.”

Carlos swallowed, but took care to keep his expression even, “Why does it need to be done?”

The man scowled at him, “No questions. Just, keep quiet until I figure out what to do with you.”

Carlos nodded, and the room lapsed into silence. His mind was racing, trying to find a way out of this that didn’t involve a bullet in his head. He didn’t know if this man would actually use that gun he had pointed at Carlos, but it was safer to assume that he would - which took all plans of action off the table. Trying to talk him down would be his best bet, but he was still too on edge from the unexpected appearance of Carlos to start pressing his luck by breaking his mandated silence so soon.

They stood at an impasse, silently staring each other down until the sound of Carlos’s radio sliced through the heavy silence.

His radio beeped and Mya’s voice broke the tense silence, “I just finished my sweep, a whole lot of nothing - again. I’m heading back to the entrance - you done yet?”

Carlos didn’t move. He maintained his eye contact with the strange man, and spoke slowly, “That’s my partner; she’s wondering where I am. If she doesn’t hear from me she’s going to start looking and then you’ll have two of us messing up your plans. Can I respond to her?”

“Tell her to leave.”

“Okay, I’m reaching for my radio to do that,” Carlos slowly lowered his right hand to reach for his radio, heart hammering in his chest. He switched it on and responded, taking care to make sure that his voice was even, “Negative Officer Esquilin, proceed to the next location without me.”

He released the button and took a deep breath. He desperately hoped that she would be able to read between the lines. Somewhere between the formality and the fact that there was no next location, he had faith she’d figure it out. She was smarter than he was, after all.

When her response came, it was much more clipped than usual, “Please confirm last transmission Officer Reyes, you will be staying on scene?”

“Affirmative, Officer Esquilin.”

“Has there been any progress on our current objective?”

Carlos looked back up at the man in front of him, “Affirmative.”

There was a pause, a several second delay before Mya spoke again. When she did, she had dropped the pretense, “Carlos Reyes, you do not get to do something stupid without me.”

“Just get out of here, please.”

“I am not going anywhere! If you think for one second I am going to leave you behind you have clearly not been paying attention!”

The man in front of him put out his hand, “that’s enough, hand it over.”

Carlos clenched his radio one more time, “I’m sorry, Mya.”

Then he unstrapped his radio and tossed it to the other man. Even as it sailed across the room, he could still hear Mya’s voice coming through it, calling him all sorts of things. Her words were jumbled, but heavy with fear.

“Reyes if you die on me I swear to god I’m going to—“

Whatever threat she was making was cut off by a foot smashing his radio.

“I can’t have all that noise,” the other man said irritability, “I have to focus.”

He slid the duffel bag off his shoulder onto the ground between them. He slid down the zipper and pulled it open,  revealing a mess of wires and mechanics that Carlos could only assume was a bomb.

Maybe it wasn’t but given how today was going, he wasn’t too hopeful.  

Well, he thought wryly as he stood in a crumbling room of an abandoned building with a gun leveled at his chest; at least he had found the bomber.

[read the rest on ao3!]

[sweethugsandhoney]

hanahaki disease pt 3

summary: hanahaki disease- a disease where the victim of unrequited or one sided love begins to vomit or cough up the petals and flowers of a flowering plant growing in their lungs. which will eventually grow large enough to render breathing impossible if left. it ends when the beloved returns their feelings or when the victim dies.

a/n: i decided i’m going to be writing a fourth partt because i write too much lmaooo. lmk your thoughts and thank you so much for the support and comments i’ve been getting!

pt 1 pt 2 pt 3 pt 4

“spencer stop!”, my laughter filled the room as spencer’s fingers kept tickling my sides. i mentally cringed at my laugh, trying to close my mouth but failing. spencer’s actions stopped as he hovered over me, “are you going to say yes now?”. i shook my head no with tears in my eyes, spencer’s hands returned to my side. “okay stop stop stop! i’ll watch it!”, i said quickly.

“why are you crying?”, spencer asked concerned, his beautiful eyes staring into mine. i bursted out laughing as i clamped a hand over my mouth, trying to muffle my laugh. “i’m not crying, my eyes are just watery from you tickling me”, i managed out. “hey, don’t hide your smile from me”, he said grinning as he pulled my hand down from my face. his words made my heart burst. i groaned as i sat up from my position on the couch, my sides hurting from the torture they received.

spencer got the remote and put on ‘doctor who’. he put his arm around me as i cuddled into his side. this is wrong, i thought. he just thinks of me as a friend but then he acts like this around me. i felt spencer’s fingers tracing random shapes on my side. my chest tightened and my breath quickened. i felt like i could pass out, i never wanted this moment to end, i felt pure bliss in his arms.

unfortunately it did, that happened three months ago. i realized that night that i was in love with him, it wasn’t just feelings anymore. that was also the night the plant started growing inside of me. i spent the night at his house, baking cookies and watching doctor who together.

i had decided who i should put on my life support form. the noise of my footsteps climbing up the stairs filled the silent hallway. i cleared my throat, still feeling uncomfortable although i already coughed some petals out. i stopped in front of his door, softly knocking on spencer’s door. this plant is growing for him, he should be the one to decide. spencer opened the door, opening it wider once he saw it was me.

“y/n! you came”, his excited voice said, i stepped into his apartment with a smile on my face. his presence alone made my mood so much better. “yeah, we haven’t hung out in a while”, i said taking off my sweater and putting it on the couch. “actually i have something to talk to you about”, might as well get this over with.

“what is it”, spencer replied, coming to take a seat next to me. i stayed silent for a second as i chewed on my lip. i saw spencer’s eyes glance down at my hands, my eyes following his. i was subconsciously picking at the skin around my nails, something he said i did when i was nervous. i quickly stopped doing it and cleared my throat.

“it’s about the coughing. you said that i could tell you when i was ready, and i’m ready”, i started. i exhaled a long sigh as my vision blurred with tears. “i’m dying spencer, i have hanahaki disease”, i desperately blinked the tears away. it doesn’t matter how many times i cried, the tears just kept coming. his face remained expressionless as he just stared at me.

“i know”, he finally said. “after i saw you cough up a flower, i went home and researched everything i could about coughing up flowers. i was waiting for you to tell me”, i nodded my head as a tear slid down my cheek. spencer scooted closer to me and wiped the tear off my face with his thumb. “who do you love?”

my breath caught in my throat at his last question. i glanced down at my hands, should i tell him? i looked back up to meet his eyes, my eyes glanced at a framed picture he had of maeve on his book shelf. “that’s not important”, i finally said, my eyes returning to his. “the reason i came here is because there’s a surgery i can get, but it’s risky. there’s isn’t enough research done for the surgery to be a guaranteed success”, i said pulling out the manila folder from the bag i brought with me.

i placed the folder on his lap. his fingers reached for it, opening it to the life support form dr. lee had given me. spencer reached for the x-ray scans behind the first paper, eyes taking in the image. “red carnations are my favorite”, he said softly. yeah i know, that’s why they’re growing inside of me. “spencer, i want you to be the person to decide my fate”, i said reaching for a pen from my bag and giving it to him.

“i don’t think i can do this”, he said after a few moments, his eyes looking up to meet mine. i opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted when both of our phones ringed. i furrowed my eyebrows as i reached in my back pocket for mine. ‘new case. get here asap!’, penelope’s text message read. “look you don’t have to sign it right now, just consider it”, i said with a pleading look in my eyes, “please”.

spencer nodded his head and closed the folder. we both got into our separate cars and arrived at FBI headquarters. “alright, my lovelies”, said penelope as she entered the briefing room. the whole team had arrived and was sitting around the round table. “six prostitutes have been found dead in alleyways right here in virginia. they all have an extreme amount of stab wounds and their hair has been cut off”, garcia said cringing.

“six? why are we barely being told now?”, i said, looking down at the crime scene photos on my tablet. “the police don’t really care for prostitutes that die. they kind of just slip it under the rug”, morgan said in a disappointing tone. “why is he taking their hair though?”, emily added in.

“it could be for trophies, relive his crimes. we’ll be taking the cars over there”, hotch said in his usual serious tone. we all hopped onto two different cars, three of us in each. my eyes followed the scenery we passed on our drive. ah shit, i thought as i felt the familiar itchy sensation in my throat. i started lightly coughing, “ hotch can you please stop the car”, i heard emily say . i felt the car being pulled over and i hurriedly opened the car door.

i violently coughed onto the floor, getting down on my knees. i felt the lump come up my throat, the damned flower finally making its way out of my mouth. i heaved as i felt more coming out of my mouth, hurting and stinging my throat. i breathed heavily as i pulled back my hair. i stood up on shaky legs, using the car door for support. my thoughts ran a million miles a second as i saw that i coughed up more than the other times.

the last thing i fucking need is for this thing to get worse. i wiped the blood off my chin with my sleeve, climbing back into the car and shutting the door. “everything alright, y/l/n?”, i heard hotch’s voice say, looking at me through the rear view mirror. i nodded my head as i composed myself, emily looked back at me concerned. she’d never actually seen it happen, just heard me talk about it. we arrived at the springfield police department, where they provided a board room for us.

we ran through different theories but nothing seemed to make sense. there were two different types of stab wounds. “there’s two unsubs. one is the dominant personality which goes with the violent stab wounds”, i said looking at the crime scene photos on the board. “and one is the submissive, indicating the hesitant stab wounds”, spencer followed, coming to the realization i made. after talking to witnesses and coming up with theories, we figured out the unsubs were 36 year-old connor andrews and 17 year-old jackson gregory.

we were on our way to an abandoned warehouse, which was slap in the middle of the geo profile reid created. i felt the familiar tightness in my throat as i mentally cursed myself. you just had to go falling in love with your coworker, i internally scolded myself. we arrived to the warehouse, quickly getting out and forcing our way into the building. “put the weapon down!”, morgan’s voice boomed as we found the older unsub pointing a gun to the younger one’s head.

i suppressed my coughs and ignored the tightness i felt. “no! he betrayed me!”, the unsub connor andrews said as he held the 17 year-old against him, shielding himself with him. i felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my chest. it worsened whenever i took a breath in. my hand reached to touch my chest, trying to keep my composure. i somehow still managed to keep my coughs in, even though i felt like my throat was being ripped open. the world around me started spinning as i felt myself fall.

taglist:

@squirrellover1967 @thatsonezesty13 @yomama-umbridge @arttrash02 @ladydansblanche @shellbeerocks @skrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt

[anjuschiffer]

To Kill A Ladybug

I couldn’t help myself but write something for Maribat March, no matter how hard I tried to stop myself. So here’s my contribution to this event. Enjoy!

Maribat March- DAY 15: Gone Wrong

Context: Marinette is Marinette Wayne, the adopted child of Bruce Wayne. She wanted to study in Paris, the Dupain-Cheng’s her host family and family that offered her to use their last name to study in Paris. While they don’t know about her secret identity, Bruce does, but Marinette made him promise to not interfere unless she says so. She didn’t want to rely on her family for help, but fate had other plans for Mari.

----

AO3

He didn’t mean it. Really he didn’t. 

“If you truly cared about me, then why don’t just accept my love for you?!” Chat Noir exclaimed, placing down his foot. Ladybug looked at him with squinted eyes

“Are you being serious right now Chat Noir?” Ladybug said, capturing the akumatized butterfly. “Are you even listening to yourself?”

“Are you being serious?” Chat bellowed, his hand over his heart. “I’ve told you over and over again that I love you and each time you never give me the answer I want to hear.”

“Well sorry to burst your bubble, but I already told you that I don’t feel the same.” Ladybug said, releasing the purified Akuma. “And before you say anything else. I want to clarify something. I’m not interested in looking for a partner, not platonically nor romantically. I want to do this job properly. Until Hawkmoth is defeated, I will not be investing any time into romance.”

Chat scoffed.

“Are you enjoying this Ladybug?”

“Enjoying what?” She really hoped that what she was thinking wasn’t what was going to happen.

“Playing around with me. Playing with my feelings.” Chat emphasized.

He’s going there alright. Disappointed, but not surprised.

“Chat you know that’s not why-”

“Oh I bet it is.” He accused, walking up to her, pushing her back with his finger. “Not only do you like to keep secrets from me, but you also like to play around with my heart.”

 “Chat, that’s not true-”

“Oh, I’m sure it is.” Chat spat, “I bet you’re enjoying all my attention because I bet that no one like the real you.” Something loomed over Marinette, pressing itself onto her being. “I bet the real you adores lying, adores manipulating those around them, not caring at how they hurt others with their words.” At the accusation, Marinette took a step back. 

Again, she was being compared to that girl. That girl that always manages to crawl under her skin. That girl that she was nothing like. Nothing like what Chat was telling her he thought she was. “You do it all for fun, don’t you?” 

“I-I-”

“And maybe I was the first person to actually love you.” He turned to face the city, the chatter and noises became mute. “But how stupid was I to actually love someone like you. Maybe we really weren’t made to be partners. Nonetheless friends.” Chat huffed. “So from now on, do me a favor and take the high road, got it?” He said as he turned to face Ladybug.

 He wasn’t expecting the scene in front of him

His eyes widened upon seeing her face pale, her eyes boring through him, dripping with tears. 

“Is-Is that what you think,” Ladybug started, startling Chat. He’s never heard her voice so wobbly, so... fragile. “Is that what you think is the reason behind me not accepting your feelings for me?” Chat gulped. 

“Ladybug, I didn’t-”

“That I should take the high road?” Ladybug hiccuped, letting out a small giggle afterwards. “That’s the second time I heard that phrase.” She looked at her hands, her tears falling into them. “Both said by people whom I adore and trusted.” She looked back at Chat, who stared back at her with wide eyes, as if he just realized some grand revelation. “Maybe… maybe I really should take that piece of advice.”

With that, she dashed away, Chat’s voice fading as she grew further away from him. 

Little did he know that that was the last time he would ever see her. 

Night turned into days, which turned into a month. A solid month without Ladybug ever appearing. 

Chat had to fight akuma after akuma without Ladybug ever by his side. Sure he had allies, but none could replace the gap Ladybug had left behind. A gap he had caused and ate at his conscience every minute of the day. 

It didn’t help when the day after the whole incident, that Marinette went missing, appearing back to class a whole week later. When Adrien approached her, wanting to confirm his suspicions, she flinched harshly against his touch. After apologizing and telling Marinette that he knew she was Ladybug, her reaction horrified him. 

Marinette went pale, her breathing becoming faster with each inhalation, her eyes quickly darting around the room before she collapsed to the ground. 

Adrien simply stood there, watching and hearing as their classmates scurried to find help, Adrien watching as the world around him moved as he remained still.

A group of paramedics were soon in the class, taking Marinette off to the nearest hospital. 

Had Adrien looked closer, he would’ve seen that she no longer wore the earrings she had once held with great honor. 

He had missed the first of many signs of his bad luck.

That night, Adrien went out on patrol, wiping his tears for what seemed like the umpteenth time. 

Stopping a tiny crime didn’t relieve him of his sorrows, Adrien wanting an akuma to appear so badly so that he can forget the pain swelling in his heart.

That’s when he was taken by surprise, his vision flipping and the air from his lungs escaping him as his back hit the tar of the roof. Preparing to fight back, he froze upon feeling a cold blade pressed against his throat. All Adrien was able to tell from this guy was that he had to have been younger than him, but obviously was more trained than him.

The male was cladded in all black attire, the only color on him were his eyes.

Green met emerald.

“Adrien Agreste.” The person growled, causing the blood on Adrien’s face to drain. How did he know who he was? The only person that knew who he was was the Guardian, but the Guardian had been missing for quite a while.

“Who are-”

“On behalf of the Guardian, I now renounce your duty as Chat Noir. I hereby strip you of your mantle as Chat Noir.” The male spoke, Ariden seeing bloodlust in his eyes. Like if that was going to prevent him from backing off without a fight.

“You can’t just-”

“Orders are orders.” The male said in a monotone voice, shudders rippling through Adrien’s body. “It’s a wonder how she still kept working with such an incompetent asshole like you. If I were Ladybug, I would’ve kicked you off the team the moment I felt you were useless to me or a hindrance to the mission.”

“You know Ladybug?” A scoff.

“Of course. She’s the reason why you haven't been killed yet.” The male pressed his blade further into Adrien’s skin, causing Adrien to whimper. “If it were up to us, you would’ve been skinned alive and then killed.” 

“Us?” Adrien croaked.

“The rest of her brothers. Do you know how much pain you made her go through? For the past week, she’s gone through breakdowns and panic attacks, suffering from depression and anxiety. None of us can touch nor talk to her without her reacting negatively, mumbling self deprecating things about herself.” 

“And that’s just touching the surface.” A new voice added, Adrien watching another male emerge from the shadows. He wore a red helmet, Adrien feeling his heart temporarily stop upon seeing the guns holstered at each side of Red’s side. Adrien didn’t want to know if they truly were real or not.

“All because you threw a tantrum like a child because she said ‘no’ like the right she’s allowed to have.” Another male said, Adrien shifting his eyes to a male sitting on the building’s fence. He got up and started to walk on the fence with no care in the world, almost childlike despite Adrien having the gut feeling that he was the eldest of the new crowd. 

“I didn’t-”

“You’re an idiot if you thought your words couldn’t hurt her.” Another voice chipped. Adrien finally noticed the new person, leaning against Red. “She’s the most kind and caring person we know and you tore her because you’re spoiled ass couldn’t take a rejection. Even I know how to take one.”  

“So you’re going to do what we say unless you want to die tonight.” The young assasin said, Adrien gulping and giving an okay.

-----

Adrien watched as news spewed their opinions and theories of what happened to Ladybug and Chat Noir grew, the media wondering where they went and what was going to happen to Paris now that they were gone. 

Adrien already knew the answer to one question, but was also looking for answers for that second question himself. Where was his Lady? Where was Marinette?

The answer was soon given in the form of Adrien arriving home one day, seeing national forces in front of his house. There he saw his father get escorted to a car. Ladybug stood in the distance, Adrien cheering up upon seeing his Lady.

Or so he thought it was his Lady. 

When he had gone up to talk with her, she simply glared at him, ignoring his pleads of wanting to speak with her. It took the new cat to stop Adrien from pestering his partner.

“She obviously doesn’t want to speak to you.” The cat said, standing between the new Ladybug and Adrien.

“But I have to speak-”

“How insensitive.” The Cat said, shaking his head. “Didn’t you know? The new Ladybug can’t verbally speak? She can only physically speak.”

“What is that-”

“Sign language.” Cat said, narrowing his eyes in an all familiar fashion. “She’s a mute.” With that simple explanation, Adrien was left alone, the police surrounding him and taking him back into his empty home, giving him a briefing of what had just happened.

His Lady was gone, so was Hawkmoth, whom he found out that day was his own father. 

He had no one left. His aunt wanted him to come to England, Adrien compromising with her to let him finish his studies in Paris before heading to England. It worked. He was to live alone, but Adrien denied this fate.

He had one last hope.

However, that faith he had started to dwindle when he later found out that Marinette was no longer in their school, no longer in Paris, nonetheless France. She had left for the States, with a new family.

He was truly alone now.

Adrien struggled to keep his grades up, his health depleting thanks to his lack of self care. He hadn’t eaten a proper meal in days nor had a proper night’s rest. 

He was a wreck and he knew. 

It didn’t help when Damian Wayne came to the school and barged into the class, grabbing Adrien by his shirt collar and punching him square in the face and wanting to give him a few more.

A man with a white streak on his hair had to rip Damian away from Adrien while another male talked with Bustier. 

Under other circumstances, Adrien would’ve been more alert and willing to fight back, but now he didn’t care. Nothing mattered anymore and for some reason, he felt like he deserved it.

Nino had helped him get back to his seat, giving him a few napkins to deal with the blood seeping from his nose. Alya then helped him go to the nurse’s office, which then led to him having to be sent to a hospital thanks to having a fracture.

As he sat on the hospital cot, he decided to ring his aunt when he found an envelope with the initials MDC and a ladybug sticker sealing the envelope. 

Adrien opened the letter, the first words caused him to tear up, covering his mouth in attempts to suppress a wail. 

He watched as tears dropped onto the letter in his hand, the paper soaking it, earning a stain. 

He didn’t want their reveal to be this way, to be done in this matter. He had imagined their reveal to be done properly, to be done face to face, not through writing.

Guilt gnawed at his body, causing him to vomit, a nearby nurse seeing this and attempted to help him before calling out for a doctor.

Soon after Adrien recovered, Gabriel  was losing to its opponent MW, Adrien having to shut it down and simply live with whatever his good-for-nothing father had left behind. 

He didn’t have anything to fall back into, having to use his aunt’s connections to get into the acting field, seeing as he had no dream to pursue and acting being the only thing he was decent at.

Another year at the Wayne Gala, Adrien sulking in a corner as this aunt and cousin enjoyed the event to their heart's content. He was only here because his company asked him to represent them. If not… there went his career...

“-introduce my lovely daughter and her fiancé, Marinette Wayne and Garfield Logan.”

Adrien’s eye ghosted over the couple that had gotten onto the stage to join Bruce when they sharply landed on Marinette Wayne, or should he say Marrinette Dupain-Cheng.

He watched as she dazzled everyone with her presence, her midnight hair done wonderfully into a side braid, covered in all different types of flowers. Her simple black sweetheart dress with golden trims matched Garfield own all black suit with golden cuffs and trims. 

That could’ve been him up there. That could’ve been him but he just had to have acted like a child instead of a professional all those years ago. 

What a fool he had been. 

Everything went wrong when he decided to kill a ladybug. 

He had killed their everyday ladybug and then Ladybug herself, although in reality, he had killed the same person twice.

They said killing a Ladybug was bad luck… seems like that was true. 

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 263 “Oosawa Fusatarou, also known as Boutarou the Pirate”

And so we’re ready to talk of the chapter we got as a (rather sad) present for Christmas and of someone we shouldn’t forget…

Yeah, Oosawa Fusatarou, better known as Boutarou the Pirate

(for who’s wondering the quote below his name is actually based on this quote: "Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story." by Tim O’Brien)

So okay, now let’s dig into the chapter.

We first follow some of the escaping knights, the ones who were tailed by Hijikata. Hijikata shoot them but he’s displeased to discover he chased the wrong group as the sack they were carrying is filled with barley and that he didn’t manage to kill them at the first shoot as they stand up again and try to gang up on him. At this Hijikata takes his sword...

...and since Hijikata is not bad with the rifle but he’s usually much more awesome with his sword I don’t expect them to last long.

We then move to Tsurumi’s steam pumper where Sugimoto has his rifle in his hands... and he’s ready to use it as a primitive club... because he has figured not even that up close he would manage to shoot something. Okay so he is also holding himself up with his other hand so shooting would be difficult but really, I see Sugimoto using his rifle as a club way too many time to think this is an one time thing motivated by emergency.

Sugimoto favours to use it as a wand, if this can’t be done, he revert to using it as a rifle.

Anyway with hit he tries to break Kikuta’s head but Kikuta manages to lower himself right in this so Sugimoto gets close but manages to make no harm... well, apart from managing to knock from Kikuta’s hand one of his PRECIOUS Nagant.

This is a hard blow for Kikuta, more than if Sugimoto has managed to hit him, because everyone has his priorities.

Tsurumi too has his priorities and tries to shoot at them.

I doubt he genuinely bothered aiming as Tsurumi is usually much better with his gun (though yes, they’re on a moving vehicle, but really Tsurumi is good and they’re close). I’m sure he thinks hitting Sugimoto would be preferable but he wouldn’t be above getting rid of Kikuta whom he never fully trust... so Kikuta complains that what Tsurumi is doing is dangerous. I doubt Tsurumi cares.

But we go back to Boutarou and Shiraishi. The bottle car enjines are still roaring but the car is still. Boutarou is still alive but no more in shape to drive.

Shiraishi, sweating a little, is asking him ‘what the hell came over him’ as saving Shiraishi wasn’t Boutarou’s normal behaviour in Shiraishi’s books.

Boutarou, who’s clearly dying, tell him that he has messed up and therefore, since he saved him, Shiraishi will do better not to forget him and tell his children the reason they exist is ‘thanks to Oosawa Fusatarou, also known as Boutarou the pirate’. Shiraishi agrees and Boutarou tells him he also has to make something of himself as he can’t live his life as nothing more than the escape king.

As he says so... Boutarou hands him the skins he got from Kadokura.

Shiraishi says he understands...

...and Boutarou pulls him closer to reveal him the info he got from the Ainu about where is the place where the Ainu first gathered up all the gold. This surprises Shiraishi greatly but when he asks Boutarou for confirmation the latter is dead.

The next we see is Shiraishi driving the bottlecar, a dead Boutarou on his side, as he promises him he won’t forget him... OosaKA Fusatarou, also known as Boutarou the pirate (Boutarou’s surname is actually ‘Oosawa’).

Okay so I stop here to say Boutarou’s whole death felt very underwhelming. Shiraishi, who up to the previous chapters seemed concerned and worried for him even though Boutarou had betrayed them, now doesn’t really look like he’s feeling much, even though Boutarou has just saved him from death taking the bullets that were meant for him.

Sure, it can be that Shiraishi is a bit in shock, hence the lack of expression but really, I’m not particularly impressed. The only moments in which Shiraishi seems genuinely affected are when he’s surprised at hearing the location of the gold and when he says to a dead Boutarou that he won’t forget him. Though since it seems Noda wasn’t in his best shape when he drew this chapter, maybe this scene will be revised later on. Shiraishi seemed a lot more emotionally involved when Kiro died than now... and it doesn’t help that Shiraishi, at the end of the scene, spells Boutarou’s name with the wrong kanji. If it’s a joke to say that Boutarou’s name couldn’t even be remembered correctly, well, that’s not funny, placed at this point. If it’s a typo though, this is also something we can only find out in the volume version.

Overall, okay, I was expecting for Boutarou to die, and it was great how Boutarou, in his last moments, passed everything to Shiraishi while pretending to remain himself (oh, I made a mistake in saving you) yet still showing he cared for him by telling him to get a real life, something that was more than escaping from prison to prison, and something Boutarou has always insisted Shiraishi should search for himself so it’s not like he’s saying so just because he’s dying.

And I think that Boutarou’s death will affect Shiraishi’s future, the way Kiro’s death will affect Asirpa (will Sugimoto too have someone whose death will affect him? Kikuta? Hijikata? Ogata? We’ll see...) but really, I wanted to see Shiraishi reacting more to his dead, at least as much as he has reacted to seeing him wounded. Well, whatever, we’ll see if this gets improved in the volume version.

Meanwhile back to Sugimoto we go.

Tsurumi has given up on trying to shoot him and is merely driving the steam pumper carriage, while Sugimoto is pinning down Kikuta, taking care of not getting shoot by another of Kikuta’s beloved Nagants.

Sugimoto, with his irises white in full murder/beast more, demands to have Asirpa back and that he’ll send them all to hell. Now that Kikuta is lying flat on his back and Tsurumi couldn’t shoot him too by mistake, Tsurumi is taking good care not to try to shoot Sugimoto. I guess if Sugimoto kills Kikuta Tsurumi will consider it as a personal favour.

Anyway, at Sugimoto’s statement Kikuta says to do it as ‘they’ll be rolling out the red carpet for him’.

This rings a bell in Sugimoto, whose eyes return normal, and should ring a bell in us also as Sugimoto said this same sentence in chap 2.

With an almost vulnerable look Sugimoto seems to realize the man he’s strangling is ‘Kikuta-san’.

As he calls him that this rings a bell in Kikuta as well who realizes ‘the immortal Sugimoto’ is the one he knew as ‘Norabō’ (ノラ坊 “stray boy”)…

...which draws a funny parallel with how Ushiyama called Ogata ‘Nora Ogata’ (のら尾形 “stray Ogata”)…

...but this nick is more likely meant to be here to tell us the truth is Kikuta met Sugimoto prior to the war, when Sugimoto was wandering after he left his village, which might explain why Noda was very vague when answering to a question asking what Sugimoto did in those 2 years.

Q8: What did Sugimoto do in the 2 years between leaving the village after burning his house and coming back to Ume’s wedding? Noda: He travelled to places such as Tokyo and Kyoto. [translation courtesy of @piduai]

This might also explain why Sugimoto and Kikuta, despite knowing each other, didn’t recognize each other.

Sugimoto was younger, without his distinctive scars, with longer and more straight hair so Kikuta, who apparently never learnt his name, didn’t connect him with the boy he knew. As for Sugimoto evidently he didn’t pay Kikuta any attention when the latter was in Karafuto with Tsurumi and now he was so knee deep in the heat of the battle he likely paid no attention to Kikuta’s face, only seeing an obstacle in front of himself.

I’m genuinely curious to see how things will go between them, especially because, at this point, Tsurumi decides to try to shoot Sugimoto again (no idea if because he’d heard their talk and understood things could turn out unfavourably or because he decided the chance Sugimoto were to kill Kikuta wasn’t worth carrying Sugimoto with them, especially because, once he had dealt with Kikuta, Sugimoto would try to kill him), the shoot distracting an already confused Sugimoto and Kikuta, instead than taking advantage of this to try again to shoot him, just kicks him off the cart.

Sugimoto rolls on the ground with his rifle...

...again Kikuta making no attempt to shoot him and then resumes running after them, calling Asirpa.

At this point we see Asirpa’s face as she tries to call Sugimoto...

...but we can’t know if she’s with Tsurumi because the scene switches to Koito, Tsukishima and Nikaidou’s group and really, I would totally LOVE if Asirpa’s with them (so yes, I’m biased and therefore not reliable in trying to guess where Asirpa is) because, as they think they’re safe because no one is pursuing them, Koito’s horse gets shoot down by someone in front of them, causing Koito to fall.

Tsukishima thinks someone is following them when, in that moment, Sofia, MY QUEEN, jumps from the roof on Tsukishima’s horse.

So you see, of course I want Asirpa to be there and end up with Sofia as I’ve been anticipating their reunion for YEARS. On another side Koito and Tsukishima are in a really bad spot because not only Sofia is very strong and her men are probably with her (hence Koito’s horse could be shoot by someone ahead of him), but Sofia knows they had a hand in Kiro’s death and wants revenge, sweet revenge.

Now, I don’t want those two to die but it was high time the tiger curse were to come bite their backsides and Sofia is such a formidable foe even alone she could spank Koito, Tsukishima and Nikaidou with a single hand considering how she had no problems holding her ground with a tiger and with Gansoku.

On another side I really wanted Sofia to have a chat with Koito as there’s a huge chance Koito too talk French and I think it would be really good for our Bonbon if he could talk with a lady who used to be a bonbon herself but grew out of it to became such AWESOME revolutionary leader.

Really, I’m so happy Sofia is back to the plot I can barely wait for the next chapter!

Anyway the story ends here, with Sofia ready to spank the boys while Sugimoto runs after Tsurumi. I expect Shiraishi will reach Sugimoto with the bottlecar and they’ll resume the chase and that Hijikata might possibly join them. That or Hijikata will join Sofia.

Will the Hijikata group join their boss as well?

We’ll see.

I doubt someone will catch up with Tsurumi though, and it’s entirely possible the next chapter won’t even spend a word on this as we’ve left Ogata and Vasily in the middle of attempting a sniper duel so next chapter might be about them.

We’ll see.

[jeongyunhoed]

A year after the events of Past-Present-Future, Lee Mirae, Choi San, and Jeong Yunho receive a mysterious envelope containing photos and notes about the deaths of several individuals. The deeper they go into the case, they find that the entertainment industry hides a very dark secret. 

Group: ATEEZ Pairing: Yunho/OC Genres: It’s a little bit of: adventure, romance, mystery, crime, fantasy, action. Things to note: It also features mentions of other idols/artists: Junhong (Zelo), Dean, Chanyeol, etc. Superpowers AU if it wasn’t obvious as well. 

T/W: Themes of death, violence, demons, cults, blood, use of weapons and/or firearms, use of drugs (both recreational and medical), implied/referenced assault, implied/referenced suicide

A/N: The main conflict is a reimagining of an actual long-running theory. This is also a remaking of a previous fic I wrote before on Ao3 that will now be under the new super powers au. (if you know, you know). This work is pure fiction and does not bear a direct reflection of the idols in the story. Please let me know if you would like to be included in the tag list. 

Masterlist

One

Lee Mirae and Choi San were seated at the dining table, huddling over the steaming pot of noodles in front of them. Even with the heater on, the freezing winter winds seeped through the windows that night. The television was on, the evening news reporting anything that happened during the day. Aside from the reports of finances and petty crimes, there was the sudden update in the case involving a nightclub owned by a celebrity. 

“You know, the more the police let people like that get away with what they’re doing, the more I’m convinced that it’s all about the money,” San muttered in between bites. 

“When hasn’t it been? Times are hard,” Mirae replied, glancing at the television every now and then while they ate. 

It had already been a year since the events at Kang Tower, where she faced off with the family that played a big part in turning her into what she was. A year since remembering everything about her past, a year since putting it all behind her once and for all while reuniting with the man she loved, Jeong Yunho, who also turned out to be a mutant, an immortal mutant that could teleport in the dark. 

Mirae was a mutant, as was San, who was her half-brother. Both of them essentially had the same abilities, only Mirae’s was much stronger and she was referred to as an omega-level mutant. The two of them had the ability to manipulate energy and were capable of turning objects into explosive projectiles. San only channeled his through his harpoon gun while Mirae did it with lighter objects like playing cards. Although she never played card games much, she knew how to throw it. Both of them were also highly skilled at hand to hand combat, both unarmed and armed, and had an extraordinary healing factor that made them almost-immortal. 

However, that was only a few of Mirae’s capabilities. Her abilities also presented her with one unusual power set, that was being able to trap souls. This manifested when her eyes would turn black and was likely a result from using her powers to the fullest extent. Her powers also resulted in her being able to generate static, that not only made her able to neutralize touch-based powers, but it also gave her a strong psychic shield, making her mind unreadable to psychics. Yunho was an exception as he was what her old colleague Ino called, her soulmate, and would always be connected to her. 

San on the other hand, ran away from home when his mutant powers first manifested. He witnessed Mirae get taken away and interned in the sanitarium when he was younger. Years before reuniting with her, he worked as a mercenary, a highly-paid assassin. San had since put that life behind him when they met again and decided to work at the store after the event at Kang Tower.  

“It shouldn’t be hard for those celebrities that get arrested for those kinds of things. They could do whatever they want and get away with it. They’ve got some balls to be that cocky,” San pointed out. 

“You talk like you don’t have billions stashed in your clothes.” 

“Those are my life savings, I kept 1,000 won every day since I started school,” San argued. 

“And how much of those billions were your cuts from old jobs?” She raised a brow. 

San wrinkled his nose at the comment and went back to eating. Mirae reached over to ruffle his hair, amused at his reaction. “Where’s Yunho?” He suddenly asked. 

“He’s closing the store for tonight. He lost the rock-paper-scissors game with the other employees, so he’s closing,” Mirae replied, pausing to drink water. “Money’s the root of all evil, isn’t it?” She heard more updates on the incident in the nightclub. 

He noticed the way she said it. “You think there’s something more to it? Government cover-ups?” He was curious. 

“There’s always something like that, isn’t it? When a government official messes up, what does the media do? Rather than cover it, they release an entertainment industry-related scoop or scandal, whatever it is,” Mirae explained. “How much of those celebrity relationships were revealed just when executives or high-level government officials were being charged for crimes? Hyuk told me a lot of those were publicity stunts too,” She added. 

San looked intrigued at his sister’s explanation. He wasn’t one for being interested in the private lives of celebrities but even he knew a publicity stunt of a relationship when he saw one. “Eat the rich, kill the parasites,” He managed to say, chuckling. 

“Depends on who the parasites are,” Mirae pointed out. 

They heard a rustling coming from the hall and Yunho appeared. “Honey, I’m home, and good evening to you too Sannie,” He said, sitting down at the table to help himself to a bowl of noodles. 

Jeong Yunho was also a mutant, an immortal mutant who had the ability to teleport. However, his teleportation abilities were very limited as he could only do so in the dark or at night. His powers manifested when he was killed during a mission in Morocco, when he died in Mirae’s arms only to wake up shortly after they had gone and made a long journey back to Korea. Yunho was also interned in the same sanitarium as Mirae, trained with the same fighting abilities and seemed to be the only one who could match up to her with an added advantage of his height. 

“We were just watching the news, another update on that case with the club,” Mirae tilted her head towards the television. The news shifted into a commercial that featured an idol group. Mirae noticed that the group looked familiar, until she saw the face of Lee Midam, her best friend and producer Kwon Hyuk’s cousin. Both Hyuk and Midam were mutants that had psychic abilities. Hyuk was a powerful, omega-level telekinetic that had some telepathic ability, while Midam was a telepath of what could be the worst kind - he could project a person’s worst fears and desires and saw how they may die if they were to die in the near future. “Oh, I see those boys are doing very well. Hyuk told me they’re all overseas now for a concert or something.” 

Yunho sat up upon remembering something. “Oh yeah, I saw this envelope for you, placed on your desk in the back room,” He took out a long, thin, piece of paper and slid it across the table towards her. 

Mirae put her spoon down to tear the envelope open. Out fell several small photos of men and women, including one of a police officer. All the photos looked years old based on how their hair was styled. Another photo was a wedding photo. Behind each of the photos had names and some information. The wedding photo was of Na Youngji and Ji Myungsoo, and it struck her as familiar. Myungsoo was one of the biggest basketball players in the country. Youngji, his wife, was among the top actresses. She paused as she read what else was written. 

Na Youngji - Committed suicide by hanging in 2008 - murder covered up as suicide. 

Ji Myungsoo - Committed suicide by hanging in 2013 - murder covered up as suicide. 

No wonder they were familiar, she thought, and Yunho heard it as he peered over from his seat, as did San, both of whom looked at the wedding photo. Mirae looked at the other photo. It was of Min Junghwa, who played one of the mean girls in a very popular drama. She looked through the rest of the photos, realizing why they were so familiar. 

Min Junghwa - Committed suicide in 2009 - forcibly hanged, murder covered up as suicide.

 Na Jongsuk - Committed suicide in 2010 - murder covered up as suicide - brother of Youngji, carried her portrait during funeral possession. 

Oh Jinho - Committed suicide by hanging - murder covered up as suicide - carried Junghwa’s photo during the funeral, accused of drug possession. 

Mirae stopped at the photo of a police officer and turned it over to look at what was written behind. 

Officer Kim Yujin - apparent suicide in 2015 -  murder covered up as suicide. 

Yunho and San peered through the rest of the photos she slid to the center of the table, careful not to let any soup from the ramen noodles spill on each one. Mirae took out a few pieces of paper that were also included in the envelope. It was a chart linking all the deaths together, including what was currently on the news. The actresses in the photo were all under the same company, and at the very center of it all was one name. 

Madame Seo

“Who sent this to you?” San asked. 

“There’s no name, not even inside,” Mirae shrugged. “What could this mean?” 

“I think you know what it means,” San was trying to contain his excitement at the realization. 

“It’s been a while since we did something like this,” Yunho eyed her. “Whoever sent this to you must have known what you did before, with the cult? And the Seoul attack?” He said. 

“And probably the Kang mob too,” San added. 

Mirae looked into the envelope. There was another folded piece of paper and a business card of a luxury fashion brand called Montague. Unfolding the paper, she saw it was a list of five people, all of whom were prominent CEOs, one of which was a CEO of an entertainment agency, Yang Ent. 

“All of these men, Junghwa was supposed to sue before she died. All the victims were found with piercings on their necks and wrists,” was written next to the list of names. 

She handed the note over to the males. San and Yunho gaped at the note. “Now I’m even more convinced we have to solve this,” San nodded. “But where do we even start?” 

“We could start with these five guys, but then there’s this too,” Mirae held up the business card and stopped when she saw another note at the back. “I’m thinking we start at this place first, it’s Madame Seo’s fashion brand. Maybe this is a front or something.” 

“Maybe,” Yunho nodded. “I don’t think we have a lot of time, but whoever’s doing the killing probably believes they’re vampires or something because why would the victims have holes in their necks and wrists?” He read the descriptions again. 

“Serial killers do tend to have certain preferences,” Mirae pointed out. “It’s one of the things I had to read in university,” She mumbled. 

“You know, since you’re taking that up in university, this could make for field work,” San said, making the two of them stare at him. “What? I’m just saying, you won’t only solve a long-running problem in the entertainment business, but you’d also have some firsthand experience.” 

“So do you, and especially you” She eyed him and then Yunho. Mirae sighed. “Well, I guess we could check this out. Whoever brought this to our attention will probably be glad we’re saying yes to solving this.” 

San cheered in his seat and went back to eating, only to sit back and cringe. “Oh, my noodles have gone soggy.” 

~ 

Mirae was staring at the notes behind the photos and the charts and the list later that night at her study desk by her bed. Her laptop was open and she needed to finish her dissertation. Yunho turned the television in the bedroom off and turned to face her. “You should probably come over here and rest, you’ve had a long day, we’ve had a long day,” He said, rolling over to her side. 

“I will, you get some sleep,” She said, eyeing him with a small smile on her face. 

“I won’t unless you do,” He said. “Also, you forget I can read your mind, I really won’t be able to sleep unless you relax.” 

“Since when has that stopped you?” She teased. 

Yunho sat up. “Since I started being able to read your mind, which was almost right away when you remembered who I was,” A fond smile crept up on his face. 

“You really have to remind me?” Mirae grinned. 

“Mhmm, because it’s how you know we’re stuck together for life” Yunho was beaming. “In a way, you could say, we’ll always have some kind of connection no matter what happens.” 

“We do, yeah,” She nodded. Mirae closed her laptop and kept the photos and the pieces of paper laid out on her desk. “You’re excited about doing something like this again, aren’t you?” She got up and climbed into bed, Yunho rolling back to his side with an arm outstretched to hold her. 

“Yeah, it’s been a while, I’m starting to miss beating bad guys up and I’m getting tired of having to play bouncer whenever Hyuk’s group’s fansigns are at the store,” He teased.

“Are you still sure you want to work at the store? You could work somewhere else-” She was cut off when he kissed her quiet. 

“I’ve been away from you for so long, it took years for us to be together again, I don’t want to be away from you anymore,” Yunho rested his forehead on hers. 

“I don’t know, I guess I was thinking you never got to do what you’ve always wanted to do, you know?” She said. “Not that I know what you’ve always wanted to be when you grow up, but, don’t you have dreams to do something you’ve always wanted to do?” 

“My father wanted me to be a dentist, I think,” Yunho tried to remember. “But I didn’t want it, I rebelled, but he thought that me not wanting to do what he wanted me to do was enough to intern me.” 

Mirae frowned and ran her fingers through his hair. “He was that strict, wasn’t he?” 

“Very,” Yunho chuckled. “He wanted things his way, not even my mother could argue, not even my brother, and he was the favorite. But no, my father always wanted things to be done his way. You can imagine how suffocating that was.” 

“I can,” She hummed in response. “My birth parents were the same way, they liked my sister more than me. If not my sister, they also liked San more than me. When my powers manifested, well, they called the sanitarium. My father ordered them to put me through electroshock therapy, and the rest is history.” 

“We’re really not that different after all,” Yunho smiled, nodding knowingly of the tale. 

“No, I guess not.” 

“Now, you’re a lot more tired than I am, you should sleep, we’ve got some snooping to do tomorrow,” Yunho kissed her cheek. 

“I guess you’re right,” Mirae watched him close his eyes. “It’s always going to be you and me.” 

“You’re reading my mind now, aren’t you?” 

“Somehow I don’t have to, I can tell when you’re so assured,” She was grinning. 

~ 

The three of them spent the entire morning piecing everything that was in the envelope together. It went to the extent that both Mirae and San drew up a diagram on a piece of paper noting each connection everyone had to Madame Seo to Yunho’s amusement. It made him see how they were related to each other. “There wasn’t any name on the envelope either,” He said, peering over at the piece of paper that contained the notes and the photos. “Whoever sent this also seems certain we’ll solve this and get this Madame Seo arrested with the proper evidence to do it.” 

“That, or wants her dead, after everything she’s done,” Mirae said. “She was the reason why Ji Myungsoo divorced Na Youngji. He left Youngji for her, and then they divorced eventually.” 

“Oh, and these actresses aren’t the only victims apparently,” San looked over at what he wrote. “They all came from one entertainment agency, and a few singers were also victims of this whole scheme. You won’t even believe where they all came from,” He reached over for his phone and showed them what he found. 

“Kang Entertainment,” Mirae and Yunho read. “...That better not be what I think it is.” 

“Yeah, I can’t even believe that guy. Is every Kang company in this country under the Kang Organization?” San was unable to hide the annoyance in his tone. 

“Well he is one of the richest guys, it wouldn’t be surprising if Kang Entertainment was a subsidiary business for the Kang Organization,” Mirae shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he practically owns nearly the whole capital either.” 

“He’s got a lot of answering to do then,” Yunho pursed his lips. “And then I thought he was really coming around, he gets involved in this mess.” 

“Well, when we first met him, it wasn’t in the best of situations either. We found out he killed the CEO of Park Enterprises,” Mirae recalled. “Did the dirty work of the CEO’s daughter. She’s in maximum security now.” 

“I remember that well,” A small smile crept up on San’s face. “We just found each other again when someone called you,” He turned to his sister. “It was something out of a murder mystery story.” 

“Oh yeah, I remember that. One of the first times I saw you, but you didn’t see me then,” Yunho eyed her. 

“So, I think we can cover more ground if we split up today,” She suggested. “There’s Kang Entertainment, Montague, and… Yeosang. San, you can pass as a model, you should probably check out the store. Yunho, you’re the only one who can get through to Yeosang without really fearing death so you should pay him a visit. I’ll go to Kang Entertainment.” 

“As long as we interrogate those five men in the list together,” San pointed out. “We’re surprisingly efficient now.” 

“We’ve always been, and it’s a lot easier with you two anyway,” She chuckled. “We meet at Viva Polo tonight for dinner and to talk about what we’ve found out for today. Let’s hope we get answers.” 

The doorbell suddenly rang, making them look at the hall. “Who could that be?” San strode over to the monitor to see who it was. “Oh it’s Junhong, and Mirae, I think you know who else is standing outside,” He gestured to the screen. 

Yunho and Mirae approached the monitor and upon seeing who else was with Junhong, they exchanged looks. “Hongjoong?!” He was stunned. 

“I know. Well, I guess we may as well let them inside. Ino oppa’s probably foreseen or seen this happening, whichever one it was,” She rushed to the door when the doorbell rang again. Yunho and San crept by the hall, peeking over. “Coming!” 

As soon as Mirae opened the door, Junhong was smiling, while Hongjoong looked a little reluctant but certain of his resolve in being here. “Ino hyung told us to come here, said you needed help, he saw this situation,” The taller of the two said upon taking his shoes off. 

“It’s been a while, Hongjoong,” She said to the shorter one of the two. His hair was now dyed a very light brown and his fashion sense was now a stark contrast to the all-black garb and the sanitarium uniforms from the past. 

“Yeah, a year since we last met,” He replied with a small smile, following her and Junhong down the hall, where he quickly greeted Yunho and San. “Yunho, it’s been a while too. I’m...glad you’re not dead after all.” 

“And I probably won’t die anymore either,” Yunho replied. 

“What kind of help did Ino oppa say you two would bring…?” Mirae asked this time. 

“I’m glad you asked. Well, for starters, Hongjoong is your reinforcement. Apparently, the Kang family did more than just give your old colleagues some improvements, in fact it was an understatement as I’ve observed over the last six months,” Junhong said. 

“What do you mean? Like they gave him powers or something?” San tilted his head in confusion. 

“Yes and no. You see, the chips in the brains were one thing that I took out, and the audio trigger Ino hyung took out. Hongjoong’s now incredibly impervious to pain, practically built like a zombie, or a wall, whatever you prefer,” Junhong explained. “He still knows what you know in terms of combat though, one more person that could match up to you,” He eyed her. “But aside from that, he’s also gotten so much faster.” 

“Wait a minute, I stabbed you with your blade thing back in Sky Sushi, does that mean you heal too?” Mirae raised a brow. 

“Kind of yeah, just not the way you heal,” Hongjoong tugged on his shirt a little to reveal the scar of the stab wound on his chest. San and Yunho cringed. 

“Well, if it helps, at least you fight well? You won’t have a lot of scars to worry about either way,” She assured him. 

“Which also leads me to the other things,” Junhong opened the black bag he was holding. “I was tinkering in my lab again, and I thought I’d bring some things you should try out while you’re out snooping on whoever this Madame Seo is,” He handed her a roll of what looked like small, black poker chips. 

“What’s this?” 

“Hongjoong told me about some of the gadgets you all once had back in those missions of yours, and I was so intrigued that I built my own. I guess you know how to use them?” 

Mirae glanced at Hongjoong, whose face was expressionless, as if also intrigued by what the taller had built. Yunho nodded, remembering what he meant. “Oh, these. When I whistle these explode,” She looked down at the chips again, feeling the cool, marble-like texture of each one under her fingertips. 

 “Bingo,” Junhong grinned. “Here are more communicators. The ones I had you test before went through some improvements. I’ll be a call away if you need anything. Last but not the least, here,” He brought out a small wooden box and handed it over to Yunho. 

Yunho opened the box, revealing a set of test tubes and a few bottles of some solution. “A chemistry set?” 

“More or less, for sudden findings, you never know what needs to be collected,” Junhong shrugged. “It was Ino hyung’s idea to give you that,” He added right away. 

“I’m not surprised one bit,” Mirae shook her head. “But to make sure, we’ll go ahead and bring the samples to you anyway.” 

“That might probably be the best idea,” Junhong nodded, feeling assured by her words. “So, what were you three planning to do today again?” 

“We were thinking of splitting up in our investigation today. San will be going to Madame Seo’s fashion label, Yunho will be paying Yeosang a visit to ask him what he knows, and I will be going to Kang Entertainment. All the actresses that were killed came from that one company, which might have been owned by Yeosang’s company too,” Mirae explained. 

“We’ll interrogate the five guys in that list Min Junghwa left before she died together,” Yunho finished. “Hopefully tonight but we can’t be sure.” 

“Well, you will cover more ground in one day that way,” Junhong nodded. 

“Hongjoong, you might want to go with San to the fashion label, but we’ll explain on the way to where we need to go,” Mirae suggested. 

“Got it.” 

“Everyone armed and ready?” Mirae glanced at the two other males. 

San lifted his coat to reveal his harpoon fitted into a holster and the extra blades and the ropes carefully inserted in other parts of the belt. Yunho did the same, revealing the holsters in his jeans that had his trusty sai. To their surprise, Hongjoong lifted up the sleeves of his jacket, revealing the blades that were activated by the fingerless gloves he was wearing. Junhong beamed with pride at his invention being brandished. 

“So, I guess this means we’re on,” Mirae said.

[princessofguineapigs]

Home Is Where the Heart Is | Tom Holland Chapter 3

“Sam is coming. To help protect you. I want to make sure you’re untouchable to any thugs who might wish you harm.” Tom was explaining his plan to keep you safe despite the threats against you. “I can put him up in a hotel, if you like. I know you never invited my brother to stay with us,” he continued. It had been one day since the attack and Tom had passed the time thinking of ways to keep you safer, then arranging them.

“No, it’s alright. Sam can stay here. I’ll feel safer with an extra man in the house.”

Tom picked you up by the waist and you squealed. “Plus, we won’t have to worry about complicated dinner recipes,” he said.

* 

So, Sam arrived, another long-term house guest. You weren’t sure how long he would stay, but you knew it had to be until the danger was passed. He took up residence in the guest room (Tom offered the bed up since he spends his nights in yours anyway). 

Sam’s first request was to use the kitchen and “make a proper meal.” You easily agreed. “Is there anything Tom and I can do to help?” “You can let me work in peace.” Sam winked.

Tom walked in an joined you leaning against the counter. “How are things at home? Are mum and dad okay with you leaving?”

Sam laughed. “I’d say mum and dad are more than okay with me leaving. They’re down to two boys in the house from four. But things are good otherwise. Mum decided to take on the project of cleaning all the windows -- from the outside. She’s got ladders and everything. Dad isn’t a fan, but she won’t let him help because of his back.” Sam rolled his eyes. “Oh, Paddy is convinced Harry is seeing someone again, but Harry won’t let on about it if he is.”

“We’ll have to interrogate him later,” you said.

“What’s Paddy’s proof?” Tom asked.

“He claims Harry says this girl’s name in his sleep. I say dreaming about someone doesn’t mean they’re together.”

Sam ducked down to pull a pan out of the cabinet. The thunder of pots clattered as he jockeyed them around, searching for what he wanted. If Sam was still speaking, you couldn’t hear him over the noise. He stood and looked at you as if waiting for you to say something.

“If you asked me a question, I couldn’t hear you over the din you were making,” you said.

“Right. I asked what you thought of Paddy’s theory, Y/N.”

You drummed your fingers on the counter. “I think we should invite Harry for dinner and press him for information.”

“Excellent idea,” Tom said.

“I’ll give him a call,” you said. You went to your bedroom to grab your phone. As you listened to the phone ring, you sat on the edge of the bed and picked at your blue jeans.

“Hey, Y/N. What’s up? I hear my twin is staying with you now.”

“He is,” you confirmed. “Until Tom thinks I’m safe again.”

“What exactly happened?” Harry questioned.

You got a lump in your throat unexpectedly. You shook off the dark thoughts. “Come over for dinner and I’ll tell you about it.”

“Sweet, a free meal. Wait. Who’s cookin?”

You laughed. “Sam, of course.”

“Phew, now I know it’ll be good. No offense, Y/N, but I like Sam’s cooking better and right now I’m as hungry as a lion.”

You giggled again. “See you soon, Harry.” You hung up.

You went back downstairs and found Tom lounging in the living room adjoining the kitchen. You snuggled up on the couch with him. Tom shifted his position so he could give you kisses. You heard Sam groan. “Oi! Love birds, set the table! There’ll be plenty of time for that,” he gestured to your compromising position on the couch, “later.” You and Tom grabbed cups and silverware while Sam started to plate the food. 

The doorbell rang and Tom ran to answer it. His curly-hair brother was standing on the other side. You sat down with Tom and his brothers to eat and the meal began, as well as the relationship interrogation.

“Are you seeing anyone, Harry?” you asked, unusually candid.

Harry nearly spit out his drink.

“Why would you ask that?”

“It’s just a question.”

Sam set down his fork. “Stop avoiding it. It’s a yes or no answer.”

“I--” Harry’s ears grew pink. “I may have someone I’m interested in, but we aren’t seeing each other.”

“Who is she?” you pressed.

Tom leaned forward, eager to hear the answer. You were reminded of a dog waiting for a treat in it’s owner’s hand. Golden retriever indeed.

“If it works out, I’ll tell you,” Harry answered. He shoveled another bite of food into his mouth and that was that.

*

The four of you sat around the table, sated by the delicious food Sam had made.

“So this creep actually pulled a gun on you?” Harry reiterated.

“Yeah. Fuckin prick forced her to her knees,” Tom sneered.

You stood up from the table. “Um, I’m going to clean up,” you said. You cleared the plates, eager to get away from the conversation. The boys continued to discuss the attack in hushed tones. They might as well have been shouting from the way their whispers carried. It was sweet that they didn’t want to upset you, having picked up on the reason you left the table, but it wasn’t working.

Tom got up to carry the rest of the glasses and cutlery to the sink. “Can we watch a movie tonight?” Sam requested. “Sure. Harry, will you be staying the night?” you asked. “If that’s alright with you, yeah. I’ve got a sleeping bag in the car. I’ll go get it.”

“What do you want to watch?” you asked.

“How about The Golden Compass?” Sam suggested.

“I’ll put it on,” Tom said.

Soon, the four of you were huddled under your respective blankets enjoying the film under the dim lights. Except you and Tom who were of course sharing a blanket on your own island of cuddles. Eyes fixed on the screen, you laid your head against Tom. As the credits rolled, sleep overtook you like a riptide, unexpected and strong.

You were vaguely aware of Tom carrying you to bed. Waves of unconsciousness washed over you and you were out cold.

Tom smiled to himself as you muttered in your sleep. “Please don’t go...”

“Never, darling. I promise.” He was content watching you doze in his arms until he reached sleep himself.

*

“Morning, lover,” you said through a yawn. In the new day’s first light Tom looked like a golden god. “Is there any better way to wake up? I can’t imagine one,” Tom said. “How are you so quick with a flirt this early in the morning?” you asked. “Someone as beautiful as you, practically made of stardust makes it easy to flirt.” Tom kissed you. “To praise you.” Another kiss. “Pay homage to your beauty.” Tom moved to position himself overtop of you, flinging the blankets away. “Feel like making love to you,” he whispered. “Then do it,” you said.

Tom littered your body with kisses, leaving no marks, lest he mare the skin of such a perfect creature. No matter how many times you made love, he couldn’t believe he was seeing you naked, exposed like this. You were willing, too. Willing for him to use you. No, not use. Using something meant disposing of it when you were through. He would cherish these moments, not dispose of them. You were his angel open for him to worship.

His lips dusted your thighs with kisses on his way to your center. His hands traveled over the mountains of your chest. You fell apart easily under Tom’s touch.

“Hey, Tom, we’re --”

You screamed at the intrusion. Tom snatched the blanket off the floor and covered you with it, leaving himself bare, but at least they wouldn’t see his angel’s perfect body. You were only for his eyes and he wanted to prevent your shame.

Sam and Harry were in the doorway and you realized it must have not been locked.

“What the fuck? Get out!” Tom yelled.

The twins blushed. “Sorry, sorry,” Harry said, backing out. “Can’t control yourselves for one day,” Sam snickered, leaving too.

“It’s our room!” Tom called after them, peeved. He settled back on top of you, attacking with fresh kisses. You giggled, but pushed him off. “We should get ready for the day.” 

Tom groaned. “Why are you always right?”

*

Harry departed for a photoshoot and you decided you didn’t want to be cooped up in the house, hiding like a scared groundhog. “Let’s walk in to town for the day,” you suggested to the boys.

“Into the wild, I like it,” Sam said.

You rolled your eyes. “It’s just the town, Sam. Nothing dangerous.”

“Could be dangerous. It was a few ni--” Tom cut Sam off. “It’s the middle of the day. No harm will come to Y/N in broad daylight. Especially not with us accompanying her.”

“I dunno...” Tom was still hesitant.

“We can’t stay in the house forever,” you tried to reason.

“Tom, I personally guarantee her safety,” Sam said.

And so the three of you made the trip into town, in a car this time. You whiled away the morning meandering through bookshops and boutiques. Tom even helped out pick out some items to try on.

Your trio was just trying to decide on what to have for lunch when you saw him. Sam and Tom had their back to him, poring over a menu outside a bistro. The man who had attacked you the other night. The man you’d been tryin to forget ever since he threatened to find you again. 

He approached you at full speed, arms outstretched. “I’ve got you this time, Giselle!” he roared. “You can’t run away from me!”

Tom and Sam turned around at his shouts and horror overtook both their faces as the man lunged at you. As he pounced, you screamed and threw up your arms. The boys sprang into action. Tom jumped in front of you as a shield and Sam ran at your assailant from the side, tackling him to the ground. The man was still screeching. “Where you go, I’ll follow! You can’t run from me, Giselle. I will finish the job I was sent to do!” Tom was holding you with his hand reached behind him, still shielding you while Sam wrestled with the man on the ground.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” you screamed.

“And who sent you?” Tom yelled.

The man threw a punch at Sam’s throat. The attack was enough to cause Sam to cry out in pain and loosen his grip. The man got to his feet and started to run. Tom ran after him while you went to Sam’s side. Sam was on the ground, coughing and sporting a bruised cheek. He tried to control his breathing and you helped him to sit up.

“Sorry he got away from me, Y/N.”

“Hey, tackling that man was no small thing,” you reassured. “You did your best. And look, I’m fine.”

Your mind still wondered why he had called you that name. Giselle. Maybe this whole thing was a case of mistaken identity. That still didn’t make it better. This man was intent on hurting someone. The question was, why did he want to hurt this Giselle girl?

Tom came back, huffing and puffing. It was clear his attempt to chase down the culprit had but in vain. “That man is bad news,” Tom said. He gulped in air between words. “He got into a car that was waiting for him with some dangerous looking men. They drove off.”

“Let’s get you home,” Sam said. “We can worry about who that man is later.”

taglist: @canwekissforever-hazzy​ @wonderfulfluffer​ @osterfieldshollandgirl​ @chrisosterfield​

[noncanonlove]

Happy Birthday, Draco Malfoy

The cake had been cut, the presents opened, and now Draco was alone again. 

In theory it'd been the perfect 40th birthday. 

 The house elves had outdone themselves this year with the cake and he'd been surrounded by all of his friends and chosen family for an amazing meal. The gifts had all been lovely and thoughtful. They'd even all evaporated by his preferred hour of nine o'clock. 

There had only been one thing missing. 

Well, actually, one person.

He hadn’t seen her since he’d asked her to marry him three weeks prior. She asked for time to think about it and while that’d stung, he’d tried to be understanding and had given her space. He knew she wouldn’t leave him waiting forever. Had faith that whatever she was doing, it was of the utmost importance. It wasn’t within her character for it to be otherwise.

The stars twinkled overhead as he sat,enjoying the splendor of the evening with a glass of aged Firewhiskey.

The tumbler was half empty when he felt a presence behind him. He didn’t even have to turn to know who it was. Hermione settled in the seat next to him and before he could utter a single syllable, she’d plonked a small box neatly wrapped in light gray paper and tied together with a dark gray bow.

His eyes moved from her to the box and back. He took a moment to study her. She was wearing his favorite green off the shoulder gown, the pearl earrings and necklace set he’d given her, and a pair of tall black high heels that brought to mind many nights of passion. She was sat straight up with a regal posture that would have made his late mother proud. The only thing that gave her away were the fingers that were pleating her skirting despite how she tried to hide it with her other hand.

A mix of emotions battled for dominance. He wanted to demand to know where she’d been, what she’d been doing, and did she know how destroyed he’d felt the past three weeks? Again, his knowledge of her overcame that aspect by the skin of its teeth. So instead of saying anything, he pulled apart the ribbon as well as the lid.

Inside, on a bed of velvet was a Golden Snitch. His eyebrows furrowed. He had dozens of snitches, even now that he rarely played anymore. He had every single Snitch from every match he’d won except for one. The only Snitch he did not have was the one he’d given to her. She’d lost a wager with him over the outcome and it’d resulted in their first date. When he’d dropped her off on her doorstep with a kiss to the hand, he’s slipped it into her palm “for safekeeping.”

He opened his mouth to ask when a thought interrupted him. Snitches have flesh memory. His teeth clicked when he shut his mouth and he delicately plucked it from the box with his left hand and cradled it in his palm.

In the span of a breath it floated off of his palm opened up to reveal a neatly folded piece of parchment. With trembling fingers and a shaky breath he pulled it free and unfolded it.

I love you. Yes. Was written in her neatest script. He looked over to meet her gaze and found her biting at the corner of her bottom lip. His fingers itched to pluck it free.

“You mean it?”

“Only if the offer still stands.”

“Come here.”

She shot to her feet, only to stumble in the tall footwear. He managed, just barely, to maneuver her into his lap before she hit the ground. 

She brushed her hair back from her flushed face. “Happy birthday.”

He couldn’t stop his chortle. “Thank you. Despite it being my birthday, I think I have something to give to you.” 

He reached inside the tiny pocket of his waistcoat and produced the platinum and ruby engagement ring he’d used when he’d proposed. It was an heirloom, of course, and one of the singular red pieces in the entire collection.

She placed her hand in his and he slid the ring home before squashing her against his chest, burying a hand in her ridiculous curls, and pulling her down for a fierce kiss.

When they finally parted and he’d sucked in a lungful of fresh air, he met her eyes again. “Where did you go?” he whispered.

Now that he had the most life-altering question in his life answered, he had to know what was so important that she would leave him hanging for three bloody weeks.

“Australia,” she replied, just as quietly.

He froze. That meant... “You saw your parents?”

She hadn’t spoken nor seen her parents in twenty years. They’d had many a conversation over it around the anniversary of the falling out. He’d watched her drink herself silly on more than one occasion over it.

“Yes.” The wind ruffled their hair as she assembled her thoughts and clutched his waistcoat with both hands. “I showed up on their doorstep and said that it was high time that we sorted everything out between us. As you know, they wouldn’t even speak to me after they’d gotten their memories back. Had me removed from their property.”

The fingers he’d curled in her hair slid down to run up and down the length of her spine over and over. He’d sit here all night with her if he had to.

She let out a quiet breath before she picked her tale back up. “At first they shut the door on me, but I remained there for two days without moving. Then on the third my mother came out in tears and demanded to know why I’d done what I had. Then for the rest of the time I was there I explained why I’d done it and spared no detail.” Hermione tucked her head against his neck and breathed until the shakiness had steadied out.

“How’d they take it?”

“Poorly. It took them a long times to come to term with the fact that I fought in a war that they’d never have been able to protect me from. It was the first time in my life I’d seen my father cry. It’s something they’re still struggling with but they’re slowly working on it. When I left, they made me promise to call them every week. They’re thinking about coming back to London now.”

“Why did you decide now to go?”

“Because, like I told them, I could not begin my life afresh with the clutter and the shadow of the past hanging over me. My house had to be in order before I joined it with yours.”

He froze. “What did they say?”

He sat back up and looked him in the eye again. “They were angry at first but once that wore off it opened up an entirely new set of questions and conversations. They want to meet you.”

He was forty years old today, he refused to be afraid of a pair of Muggles. “They don’t own one of those rifle things do they?”

“Of course not! I could never imagine my father with a gun even if you implanted the image straight into my brain.” She snorted and then again, but the second time with laughter.

She’d went there to resolve her past. She’d did it for herself, but she’d also done it to start fresh with him. He couldn’t imagine the anguish she’d suffered with the act. The reason of why she’d done it quenched the secret anger and agony that had built up while she’d been away.

He pulled her into another kiss. Everything was going to be fine. She’d conquered her boggart and now she could move forward in life with him. She stroked a line down the buttons of his shirt and he felt the cool brush of her magic as it undid each one.

“Let’s go inside,” she muttered against his mouth.

They made it to the living room before she divested him of both the shirt and the waistcoat before pushing him onto the sofa.

She climbed back in his lap and trailed open mouthed kisses down his throat. Her lips crossed his clavicle and trailed down his chest, pausing to flick her tongue each nipple and eliciting a hiss from him. She explored his abdomen and belly button with that wicked tongue while her fingers unbuttoned and unzipped his trousers.

His mumbles of how she didn’t have to went ignored as she pulled them off of him entirely, along with his socks. He almost never wore underwear, so that was one layer skipped.

She stared at him from her position between his knees as she lubricated her palm and fingers with her tongue. He hissed when she wrapped it around his stiff cock and began slowly to pump up and down. He swallowed hard when she licked her lips and sucked the head into her mouth.

She was warm and wet and perfect as ever as she bobbed her head up and down, suckling him as her hand worked what wouldn’t fit in her mouth. The ends of her curls tickled his thighs as the fingertips of her other hand caressed his bollocks. He threaded his fingers through her hair as she worked him, entranced at the sight.

He’d wanked so much in the past three weeks but now after having his cock in her mouth for less than five minutes he was already on the brink. He tightened his fingers in her hair and gently pulled her off of him before he could embarrass himself. He wasn’t ready to be finished yet.

He leaned forward, reaching behind her and unzipped her dress the entire way before pulling her to her feet. He froze for a moment and drank her in. The dress and heels were all she’d been wearing and now only the heels remained.

He pulled her down onto the couch and maneuvered between her legs. Two fingers slid between her folds and he delighted in finding ample slickness. He began to rub tight circles on her clit as his mouth enjoyed the bounty of her breasts. Her thighs tightened against his as she squirmed and whimpered.

“Please.”

That was all she ever had to say. He lined himself up and slid the tip along her slit before slowly sliding home with one smooth thrust. He grasped one of her hands, pulling it above her head as their fingers laced together. Her other arm pulled him down flush against her as he set his pace. The scent of her was strong in the curve of her neck and shoulder where he worshiped with his mouth. 

“Touch yourself,” he begged. 

When her hand snaked between them to work her clit, his hips picked up the pace, snapping against her with each thrust. His heart slammed against his ribs.

Bum-bump bum-bump bum-bump, love-you love-you love-you.

It wasn’t he heard her breathy cries that she loved him too did he realize that he was mumbling it against her skin over and over and over.

Her walls fluttered around him before she came apart with a shriek, squeezing his fingers and leaving indents of her nails in the back of his hand as she trembled beneath him. Moments later he followed her with a hoarse cry against her skin as he came undone.

Afterwards, when cohesive thought was a thing again, he maneuvered them to where she was tucked between him and the back of the couch, wrapped up in him.

She watched him with hazy brown eyes. “Did you have a good birthday?”

He kissed her fingertips, then her ring finger, then stole one straight from her lips. “It was the best.”

“Love you.” “And I love you. Always.”