#my two children were born at ages 22 and 29

[abdullahblogsposts]

Some unauthentic reports regarding the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ

Part 1

—As-Shaykh, al-Muhaddith, Abū 'Alī al-Hasanī

1. The Prophet ﷺ was a light and that the Sahābah were not capable of looking at his face [Fabricated]

2. The Prophet ﷺ had no shadow [Fabricated]

3. The Prophet ﷺ had no trace on sand. [Fabricated]

4. If the Prophet ﷺ walked on a stone, it left his footprints on it [Fabricated]

5. Any sayings that the Prophet ﷺ had any names other than those mentioned below:

Muḥammad (مُحَمَّدٌ)

Ahmad (أَحْمَدُ)

Al-Muqaffy (الْمُقَفِّي)

Al-Hāshir (الْحَاشِرُ)

Al-Māhy (الْمَاحِي)

Al-'Āqib (الْعَاقِبُ)

Nabiyyu-Tawbah (نَبِيُّ التَّوْبَةِ) Nabiyyu-Rahmah (نَبِيُّ الرَّحْمَةِ) Nabiyyu-Mal'hamah (نَبِيّ الْمَلْحَمَة)

[Any names other than the above are not authentic]

6. The Prophet ﷺ was more handsome than Prophet Yūsuf [Fabricated]

7. The Prophet ﷺ was born on 12th of Rabī'ul Awwal!!

8. Abū Lahab rejoiced at the birth of the Prophet ﷺ, and because of this, his punishment is lessened for him on every Monday [Fabricated]

9. The Prophet ﷺ was born circumcised [Inauthentic]

10. The Prophet ﷺ was born with his umbilical cord cut [Inauthentic]

11. He ﷺ addressed the moon, and that he spoke while he was in his cradle [Fabricated]

12. During his birth, the Prophet ﷺ came out with his arms stretched up on his own and his gaze on the sky [Fabricated]

13. His mother was told of his birth date by the fortune tellers among the jinns [Inauthentic]

14. The story of Bahīrah, the Monk [Munkar]

15. The Prophet ﷺ attempted to jump from the mountains when revelation ceased for a long period [Bātil]

16. Hadīth of Umm Ma'bad [Daīf]

17. If you put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left... [Inauthentic]

18. Parents of Messenger ﷺ were resurrected, then they accepted Islām and after that went back to their former state [Fabricated]

19. Abū Tālib accepted Islām [Fabricated]

20. That the Prophet ﷺ said: "O Allāh, from among two Umar's, grant honor to Islām through the Umar whom You love the most" [Inauthentic]

21. That Khadīja عليها الصلاة والسلام was of a certain age when she got married [nothing authentic concerning this]

And from among the (weak) narrations regarding her age, what seems to be more authentic is that she was 28.

22. That he ﷺ named the year Khadīja رضي الله عنها and Abū Tālib died as "The Year of Sorrow" [Munkar]

23. That Prophet ﷺ made Hijrah from Makkah to Madīna in the month of Muharram [Inauthentic]

24. That Shaytān joined with the disbelievers of Quraysh in Dār an-Nadwah and that he said: We'll appoint one from each tribe. [Inauthentic]

25. That Ali رضي الله عنه slept in Messenger ﷺ's bed on the night of Hijrah. [Munkar]

26. That the disbelievers of Quraysh encircled the house of Prophet ﷺ on the night of Hijrah, and that he ﷺ set off scattering dust to the eyes of the disbelievers reciting the ayāt {يس والقرآن الحكيم} till {فأغشيناهم فهم لا يبصرون} [Inauthentic]

27. That Abū Tālib asked the Prophet ﷺ, "What are you people trying to do to you?"

Prophet ﷺ replied, "They either wish to cast sihr upon me, or kill me, or expel me out (from the land)."

He was asked, "Who informed you of this?"

He, ﷺ replied, "My Lord."

He was told, "Verily, your Lord a tender Lord, so advise Him nicely."

He, ﷺ, said, "Am I to advise Him?! Verily, He is The One Who advises me."

And he mentioned that this ayah was revealed: {وإذ يمكر بك الذين كفروا ليثبتوك أو يقتلوك أو يخرجوك} [Munkar]

28. That Abū Tālib had several children, so Prophet ﷺ took 'Alī, and he remained with him. And al-Abbās took J'afar and he remained with him. [Daīf]

29. That Abu Bakr Siddiq set off to Hijrah before the Prophet ﷺ [Bātil]

30. Story of Abū Bakr being stung in the cave, by a snake or a scorpion [Inauthentic]

أحاديث لا تصح في السيرة (١)

١- النَبِي ﷺ نور لم يكن الصَحَابَة يستطيعون النظر الى وجهه . [كذب]

٢- النَبِي ﷺ ليس له ظل. [كذب]

٣- النَبِي ﷺ ليس له أثر على الرمل. [كذب]

٤- النَبِي ﷺ له اثر على الصخر اذا مشى عليه . [كذب]

٥- النَبِي ﷺ له اسم سوى الأسماء الآتية :

مُحَمَّدٌ ، وَأَحْمَدُ ، وَالْمُقَفِّي ، وَالْحَاشِرُ ، وَالْمَاحِي، وَالْعَاقِبُ، وَنَبِيُّ التَّوْبَةِ ، وَنَبِيُّ الرَّحْمَةِ، وَنَبِيّ الْمَلْحَمَة. وما سوى هذه الأسماء فلا يصح فيها شيء.

٦- النَبِي ﷺ اجمل من يوسف.[كذب]

٧- مولد النَبِي ﷺ يوم الثاني عشر من ربيع الاول .

٨- فرح أبي لهب بمولد النَبِي ﷺ ومكافأته بتخفيف العذاب عنه كل يوم اثنين . [كذب]

٩- ولادة النَبِي ﷺ مختونا. [لا يصح]

١٠ - ولادة النَبِي ﷺ مقطوع السرة. [لا يصح]

١١ - مناغاته ﷺ للقمر، وكلامه وهو في مهده. [كذب]

١٢ - حين ولدته أمه ﷺ اعتمد على يده رافعا رأسه إلى السماء. [كذب]

١٣ هواتف من الجان بشرت أمه ليلة مولده ﷺ . [لا يصح]

١٤ - قصة بحيرا الراهب . [منكرة]

١٥ - محاولة النَبِي ﷺ التردي من شواهق الجبال لما فتر الوحي عنه . [باطل]

١٦ - حديث ام معبد . [ضعيف]

١٧- لو جعلوا الشمس في يميني والقمر في يساري. [لا يصح]

١٨- احياء أبوي النَبِي ﷺ واسلامهما ثم إعادتهما . [كذب]

١٩- اسلام ابي طالب [كذب]

٢٠- قول النبي ﷺ اللهم اعز الاسلام باحب العمرين . [لا يصح]

٢١ - تعيين عمر خديجة عليها الصلاة والسلام حين زواجها [لا يصح فيه شيء].

وأصح الاسانيد ان عمرها كان ثمان وعشرين عاما.

٢٢ - تسمية النَبِي ﷺ للعام الذي توفيت فيه خديجة وعمه أبو طالب بعام الحزن. [منكر]

٢٣ -هجرة النَبِي ﷺ ﻣﻦ ﻣﻜﺔ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺍﻟﻤﺪﻳﻨﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺷﻬﺮ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺮﻡ. [لا تصح]

٢٤ - ﺗﻤﺜﻞ ﺍﻟﺸﻴﻄﺎﻥ ﻟﻜﻔﺎﺭ ﺍﻟﻘﺮﻳﺶ ﻓﻲ ﺩﺍﺭ ﺍﻟﻨﺪﻭﺓ ﻭﻗﻮﻟﻪ ﻟﻬﻢ ‏: ﻧﺄﺧﺬ ﻣﻦ ﻛﻞ ﻗﺒﻴﻠﺔ ﺭﺟﻞ‏. [ﻻ ﺗﺼﺢ].

٢٥ - نوم علي مكان النَبِي ﷺ ليلة الهجرة [منكرة]

٢٦ - محاصرة المشركين بيت النبي ﷺ يوم الهجرة وخرج ﷺ وذر في عيونهم التراب وهو يقرأ قوله تعالى {يس والقرآن الحكيم} .....إلى قوله تعالى {فأغشيناهم فهم لا يبصرون}. [لا يصح]

٢٧- حديث: أبي طالب أنه قال للنبي ﷺ : ما يأتمر بك قومك ؟ قال : يريدون أن يسحروني أو يقتلوني أو يخرجوني : فقال : من أخبرك بهذا ؟ قال : قال : ربي . قال : نعم الرب ربك , فاستوص به خيرا . قال : أنا أستوصي به ؟ ! بل هو يستوصي بي . قال : فنزلت {وإذ يمكر بك الذين كفروا ليثبتوك أو يقتلوك أو يخرجوك. [منكر]

٢٨ - كان أبو طالب ذا عيال كثيرة، فاخذه رسول الله ﷺ علياً فضمه إليه، وأخذ العباس جعفراً فضمه اليه. [ضعيف]

٢٩- ﺧﺮﻭﺝ ﺃﺑﻲ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺍﻟﺼﺪﻳﻖ في الهجرة ﻗﺒﻞ ﺭﺳﻮﻝ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﷺ [باطلة]

٣٠- قصة ابي بكر والحية أو العقرب التي لدغته في الغار . [لا تصح]

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Super important ask for science! What are your headcanons for the age ranges of the bachelors/bachelorettes?

Your most recent post with Magnus got me thinking and I wanted to know your thoughts if you had any?

Oh, you mean how old someone is? Sure, why not (for science! 😃).

To be honest, I think me and my moots discussed this topic somewhere earlier (like year ago maybe???), but it seemed to be with the Expanded mod, because I remember Lance exactly. Not sure, dear anon, if you mean the characters from the SVE mod too (because Magnus is Rasmodius' name in SVE, in vanilla SDV his name is not revealed. He's just Wizard or Rasmodius), so I'll do only vanilla ones.

______________________________________

Shane is one of the "old" bachelors, according to one of the secret notes. I always figured he was somewhere in his early 30s. Somewhere closer to 32.

Harvey is another one of the old bachelors, but a little older than Shane. Either early 30's or mid 30's, I'd give him somewhere around 33-35 years (considering he graduated from medical school).

Sam is early 20's for sure. In my mind, he's still a pretty young guy who's just about to go to university. Somewhere between 20 and 22 years old.

Sebastian I consider Sammy's age, but about a two - three year older. If Sam is going to be, say, 21, then Sebastian will be 23-24. Also pretty young.

Elliott is the last of the three "old bachelors" along with Shane and Harvey, but his age borders between late 20's and early 30's. I always thought he was between 29 and 32 years.

Alex... it's a little hard to tell here. My opinion is split on whether he's also the same age as Sam and Sebastian (20-21) or somewhere in his mid 20s (25, 26). So instead of the two options, I'll go with the alternative and give him 23-24 years old.

In general I always thought Maru was 3-4 years younger than her half-brother Sebastian. Somewhere starting at 20, at least (Sebby would be 23-24 at the time). I thought Robin and Demetrius got together and Maru was born when Sebastian was three or four years old.

Penny is the same age as Sammy, which is 21. I always liked to think that if Pelican Town had any class where children were taught, Sam and Penny were in the same group and were the same age.

Leah in my mind is definitely somewhere in her mid 20's, I'd give her 26 to be exact.

25-27 years old for Emily too! She's kind of one of the older (not old) bachelorettes.

I don't remember if it was mentioned in canon somewhere, but Haley is Emily's younger sister to me, so I'd give her somewhere around 23-24 years old here.

In Abigail's situation, then she's Sebastian's age, it's like Penny and Sam situation here. So my verdict is either early 20's or even mid 20's (something between 22 to 25 years old)

[varenykmeson]

The ages in Gungrave games and Gungrave anime do not match up: an unhinged rant

Hello and welcome to "Varenykmeson goes on a long tirade about discrepancies in ages of fictional characters".

Apologies for any mistakes (English is not my native language) and strap in because this post gets pretty long:

The games tell us little to nothing so I had to refer to the Gungrave Archives, copy of which I do not possess, and therefore had to scrape off all the following information from this video on YT and especially this page (approx. 7:00 time mark):

Even though the quality of the screenshot is pretty ... bad, with some desperate squinting you can dig up this information:

Beyond the Grave - Age: 29 (at time of death) Mika Asagi - Age: 14 Dr. T (Tokioka) - Age: Late 50's Bob Poundmax - Age: Around 33 Balladbird Lee - Age: Around 35 (unfortunately, the paragraph for Bear Walken is an accidental copy of Bunji's. Shame.) Bunji Kugashira - Age: Around 36 Harry McDowell - Age: 42 Big Daddy - Age: Mid 50's (at the beginning of the story) Maria Asagi - Age: 29 (at the beginning of the story)

Now, is that consistent with the information in the anime?

Well-

When it comes to Brandon himself, according to his tombstone in episode 15 he died at age 27, which is slightly off.

(also on an unrelated note, damn, the anime is taking place really far in the future and also guess we now have an official date for the infamous elevator incident :( )

Mika is mostly likely 13 years old (or 12 and approaching 13) in the anime as in episode 18 Bear and Lee say that Brandon has been dead for 13 years. Also, in episode 17 Maria says that "it's been our 13th winter here".

If we try to figure out Harry's age then things get slightly messy because from episode 26 we know that he is the same age as Brandon (he pulls out a 43 year old bottle of bourbon and says it was made the same year he and Brandon were born). However that contradicts the fact that Brandon died aged 27 and then is "dead" for the next 13 years, therefore Harry should be 40. To make things even "worse", when Harry pulled the same bourbon trick on Big Daddy in episode 15, which takes place shortly after Brandon's death, he claims that the bottle is 28 years old. Help.

Now this section might get somewhat unhinged.

In episode 7 Bob compiles a file on Bunji, which is also shown on screen.

The whole thing is full of grammatical mistakes and general nonsense, but the first line says "This man appears to be in his 15 years old and has the characteristic skin." (????), which,

well,

if that information is true then this is the roughest anime teenager I've seen in my whole life (and i've seen the Stardust Crusaders OVA).

Now, in episode 15 Widge tells Maria that Brandon was 17/18 when he worked for him and Gary, which means that in episode 7 (which as the name implies takes place "5 years later") Brandon must've been 22 or 23. If you pair that with the fact that he dies at 27 and returns 13 years later, then approximately 18 years have passed between Bunji's introduction in episode 7 and episode 17 (5 years of working with Brandon + 13 years during which Brandon is presumed "completely dead") in which the anime timeline arrives to the plot of the first game, and Bunji would be somewhere in his mid 30's.

On the other hand the ages for Bob and Lee do not add up at all.

They are both introduced in episode 5 and the issue is pretty much evident right away as if we went by the ages in the book, they both would be younger than Bunji (33 and 35 respectively). Since Bunji is approx. 15 in the episode 7, here he would be a measly 10 year old and these two definitely aren't children.

Also, in the english dub Lee introduces himself as "Balladbird Lee, Esquire", which means this bastard is already a full fledged lawyer (however, in English subtitles for the Japanese dub there was no mention of this and he introduces himself just by his name).

As for Maria, we know that in episode 6 she is atleast 15 or 16 because Jester adopts her as an infant (shown in episode 3) and Big Daddy tells Brandon that it happened 15 years ago. However, in episode 25 Harry says that she seems to be same age or older than him and in episode 7 she tells Brandon that she used to view him as her "little brother".

I don't think there's been any mention of Dr. T's or Big Daddy's age.

TL;DR: help.

[dreamyshifts]

family tree | thiarus empire

The Rheagi family is also well-known to be loving, supportive, and affectionate with one another, as well as protective and just a bit overbearing, but with good intentions, and the same for those who are in-laws. They do know when they’ve crossed the line, overstepped boundaries, etc., and apologize/make amends when necessary.

I am closest to Preciosa and Phineas, enough so that there is a running joke in the family that we’re “the triplets,” as well as very close to our first cousin, Lady Annaleigh Rheagi (21), and my younger siblings are adorably overprotective as are my other siblings. Overall, I am a cherished and beloved daughter, and therefore, sheltered.

Thus, I have very romantic and dreamy thoughts/beliefs about life, society as a whole, and romance. Considering my parents and married siblings have been love matches, I expect no less for myself

Heir of the Family

Lord Isaac Rheagi (29)

Other Children

First Countess Dyonisia Cottia nee Rheagi (27), having married Countess Odelina Cottia & Count Ludovic Cottia nee Katorth) two years ago.

Master Hydrus Rheagi (25)

Currently, a Secretary to the Third Princess Sedehana de Thiarus (the Minister of Culture & Artisan Endeavors; 28), and is in courtship with Lady Lavender Futthar (27), of the Futthar Barony and the 4th Cavalry Captain of the Templars of the Divine (Holy Knights, basically)

Master Phineas Rheagi (22) & Lady Preciousa Rheagi (22 — Frat. Twins)

Myself: Lady Serafina Rheagi (21)

Master Daedric Rheagi (18)

Master Blaise Rheagi (14)

Both Daedric and Blaise are enrolled in Kogore Academy of Magics, Arts, and Mundane—an established and renowned academy for noble-born aristocrats, wealthy merchants, foreign nobles and high-ranking citizens, from ages 14 to 19.

Master Dracomir Rheagi & Master Perseus Rheagi (10 — Twins)

Technically, orphan cousins from an extended line that my mothers adopted in a blood adoption ritual when they were 4-5.

[fiveisnumber1]

The Worst Isn’t The Worst When I’m With You - A “Remembering The Past/Fixing The Future” Side Story

Timeless Fanfic Main Story Parts:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35

Hi everyone! Sorry that it's been a bit since I posted. I've been focusing very hard on finishing my master's degree, but now that I know I am officially graduating I will have plenty more time to write. To make up for things though here is a side story that I have slowly been working on in between portions of my final paper. I will be getting back to the main storyline and start working on the next chapter sometime next week. I'd also like to thank my trans bestie Georgia for her assistance on the last section of this side story, her advice and input were very much appreciated.

Thank you all for your patience, and much love <3

Warnings: Mentions of physical abuse (section 1/Lucas) and deadnaming/misgendering (section 7/Viktoria). If those topics are uncomfortable feel free to skip them.

_____________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Lucas Alexander Klein. Born June 16th, 2001 at 1:37 am to Austin and Meredith Klein. With two older siblings, Jackson and Katherine, he was the youngest and last child of the Klein family. From the outside life in the Klein household looked as golden and shiny as the hair on all their heads, but inside it was much darker. Rules and standards were engrained into the family structure and stepping outside those bounds led to one thing. Punishment. Physical punishment. But in the house, those rules were arbitrary and ever-changing. What was fine one day was wrong the next and it was entirely at the discretion of Austin Klein. He was an abusive man who relished the power he had over his children and his wife Meredith felt no need to step in as she idly let him parent the way he did.

Their children however were completely unlike them. Jack, Katie, and Lucas stuck together doing their best to keep each other safe rather than leaving each other alone to face things themselves. They were kind and empathetic to each other and other people because none of them wanted others to feel the way they felt. None of them wanted to be like their parents and did everything they could to make the world a better place, from activities, to volunteer work to just helping random people because they all knew how terrible it could be sometimes. Being the oldest, Jack took the brunt of the punishment in order for his siblings to face less. But when he turned 18 he knew he couldn't stay any longer. No matter how much he loved his siblings, for his own sake, he had to go, no matter how much he wanted to take them with him. And so he left.

Lucas was 12.

It was then that Katie tried to step up to protect Lucas just as Jack had done for them but as Lucas got stronger he instead stepped in to protect Katie even if it meant he got hurt more. But that didn't last long as two years after Jack left at age 18, Katie did too. She cried the day of her birthday as she packed her bags to leave and go live with some of her friends. She wanted to take Lucas with her, she told him she'd find a way to get him out, but Lucas refused. Jack had tried the same thing and Lucas remembered how their parents made his life a living hell until he stopped. Lucas, still trying to protect his sister, told her that he was strong. Strong like Luther Hargreeves, his hero and inspiration. Strong like he was in all the comics she and Jack gave him since he was six. He didn't want her life to be difficult because of him and he would be okay. And so she left.

Lucas was 14.

And so Lucas was all alone, with four years left til he too could leave and never look back. But until then he was stuck in his shitty situation. He stayed away from home as much as possible to try and minimize his time in his father's presence. Between school and sports and activities and friends he managed to stay away for the most part but not entirely. And it was on those days that he was stuck at home with no excuse or got home before his parents went to bed that times were tough. Very tough. But he never told anyone, not even his closest friend brushing stuff off as a thing he got from football or at the gym or being clumsy. Except for one night, when he was 16 and he finally came clean to one person. You.

June 16, 2017:

Today was a good day celebrating Lucas' 16th birthday.

Your friend group had a tradition of always saying yes to whatever people wanted to do for their birthday. It made for the best celebrations and always made the birthday person happy. And for Lucas, he decided he wanted to get away and go to the beach. And so you did. Getting up early everyone had piled into Dean's car and driven to Rockaway Beach. Together you swam in the warm salty water, collected shells on the sand, and even indulged Lucas in an impromptu game of capture the flag. You soaked in the sun and watched as Dean used a toy shovel to scoop up a tiny crab and fling it toward Kenny. It was hilarious. And once Lucas was satisfied with his beach day you moved on to the next thing.

And so after washing off in the bathrooms at the beach, you piled back into the car once more before coming back to the city and going to your favorite comic shop. You all scanned through all of the vintage comic collections looking for more Umbrella Academy comics for Lucas to take home and add to his collection, especially the ones that focused on Luther. Lucky for him you were able to find one, which of course you and all of your friends paid for him.

And then finally to end the day you went to the local arcade pizzeria to eat shitty pizza and play overpriced and definitely rigged games. And as you sat cramped together in a booth you presented your birthday gifts to Lucas. He loved every single one of them but you knew he really liked yours. You had gifted him an astronomy book that had Luther's signature in it. Granted, all you did was steal the book from Luther's room, but it's not like he was using it anytime soon and it made Lucas happy so what was the harm? As the day ended you had all gone your separate ways but you knew that you had given Lucas the best birthday you could. But as the night drew on, and you wrote about your day in your journal for Five to read one day, your phone began to ring.

Looking at the caller  ID you saw it was Lucas. It wasn't odd that he was calling you but the timing was. It was 11:18 pm. The latest he had ever called you before was 9 pm. Picking up your phone you could hear his voice on the other line.

"(Y/N)?" He questioned

He sounded out of breath and clearly upset.

"Lucas? Are you okay?" You asked concerned

"Can you come to the park?" He asked quickly "To the sitting area by the pond."

Something was off. Something was very off. You had never heard Lucas sound so panicked. Your heartbeat began to pick up its pace as you worriedly asked,

"Lucas, what's going on?"

"Please," he begged, "Please just come to the park."

He sounded like he was crying. There was no time for questions. Something was wrong and you needed to get to him. Immediately, you sprang from your seat and quickly replied,

"Don't move. I'll be there soon."

You could hear Lucas whimper a tiny sound of acknowledgment before the call ended. Rushing to your closet you quickly threw on a pair of shoes and a jacket before dashing out of your room and towards Reggie's office. Entering you looked around before finding the key to Hermes, the car the academy used to drive around in. Everyone was asleep at this point so no as was going to stop you from taking them. Running out of the office you transported your molecules outside and into the car. Placing the keys in the ignition you turned on the car and peeled out of the driveway behind the academy and onto the road toward the park. It took you practically no time and if Eudora had seen your reckless driving she would've been highly disappointed but the urgency was needed. Parking the car you immediately jumped out of it and ran down the pathways to the area he had told you to meet him. The park was dark and empty and your voice echoed throughout the area as you called,

"LUCAS? LUCAS?"

As you neared the area by the pond you could see a figure stand up and look your way.

"LUCAS!" You shouted

Quickly you spatial jumped over toward him but as you regained your focus and looked up at him the sight you saw shocked you. His face was wet with tears, streaks of dried blood ran from his nose and he had the beginnings of a black eye.

"Oh my god, Lucas what happened?!" You asked panicked

But instead of saying anything he just hugged you and began to cry. Wrapping your arms back around him your heart broke as you heard him sob into the quiet night. Just a few hours ago you both were having an amazing day together with your friends, what happened to make it go so wrong? Pulling away from the hug only slightly, you guided him over to one of the tables and had him sit down. Gently, you placed one of your hands over his black eye and made it colder in an attempt to quell the swelling and bruising. You could feel the wetness of his tears on the palm of your hand as he placed one of his hands over yours and pressed your cold hand against his eye more.

"Lucas, what happened? Who did this?" You softly asked

Lucas tensed up for a second. The fear of being honest was so ingrained in him that even the mere thought of opening up scared him. What if he was found out? How screwed would he be? But then he let out the breath that he was holding in and his shoulders dropped. He called you for a reason.

"M-m-my dad..." Lucas stuttered out "He did it."

His dad did this? Why the fuck would he do this? What reason did he have to harm his son like this? Not that any reason would be acceptable in the slightest but you needed to know what happened so you could help.

"What? Why?" You questioned more urgently

"Because I apparently got home too late." Lucas answered

"He did this because you were home too late? You've gotten home later before though." You mentioned

"I know...I- he's always changing his mind on what's allowed and not. It's always been like this..." Lucas responded sadly

Even with one eye covered, you could see his thousand-yard stare. You recognized that stare not only because you had caught glimpses of it on him before but because it was the same one you would get when you thought about the pain of your past. When he said it's always been like this he didn't just mean his dad changing his mind, he meant this. The injuries were not new. And that's when it clicked. The long sleeves in summer, the last-minute canceled plans, the way he would occasionally flinch if you approached him from behind or called his name too loud.

Your brain felt like it was running at a million miles per hour. Sadness and anger filled your system with adrenaline as you sprang to your feet and began to pace back and forth. You needed to help him. He didn't deserve this. Nobody did, but especially not your friend. Especially not when you could help.

"Oh my god, Lucas. We- we need to tell someone about this. We can go to Eudora, she's a cop-" You ranted your thoughts

"No- I-" Lucas tried to interject

"I mean I know the whole department. The detectives, the chief, the district attorney. They all like me and would be willing to help." You stated

As you paced past him Lucas grabbed your wrist catching your attention. You stopped and looked at him, tears in his eyes and the hand that held you visibly shaking.

"(Y/N), please. No." Lucas begged, his voice trembling "I can't go through the hell Austin put Jack through."

Jack was Lucas' older brother. You had met him a few times before he had moved out of Lucas' house but it was never for long. He was nice but also stand-offish, wary of people, and very protective of Lucas. But now it all made sense. You had no clue what type of hell Lucas was talking about but if he was begging you not to do anything you would put the subject aside for now. Even if you hated the thought of doing so, Lucas came first.

Relenting you sat down next to him once more, his hand still shakily gripping your wrist. And with a question nagging at your mind, you quietly asked,

"Dean is your best friend and Addison is your girlfriend so why did you call me?"

"Dean and Addison would be on a war path the minute I told them my dad did it regardless of whether I wanted them to or not." Lucas explained quietly "But you- I know you can keep a secret."

You looked at him confused and slightly concerned. How did he know you kept secrets? Did he know the truth and hadn't said anything?

"What makes you say that?" You asked

"When you talk about your past, you choose your words carefully so you don't lie, but I know you also don't tell the full truth. You have habits with seemingly no explanation like how no matter how old you are you insist on only 8 candles, the way you start to panic when it snows unexpectedly, or the way you grab onto people tightly if they walk too far ahead of you. Without fail, you refuse to leave the house on November 22nd every year but won't tell anyone why. Certain topics cause you to have a 1000-yard stare and I know on occasion you've hidden power-related injuries from the group." Lucas explained

You were taken back. He had seen all of that? You knew some of the things he mentioned were things you were actively hiding but you didn't expect him to notice. It seemed like none of your friends had noticed. And then there were other things you never realized you did. You grabbed onto people if they walked too far ahead? You would stare off blankly occasionally? He had noticed these things the whole time?

"You noticed all of that?" You questioned

"I did. Because it reminded me of myself." Lucas replied "And I don't know what it is and I don't expect you to tell me, but I know that whatever it is, it's something you feel you can't talk about. So I felt like...I felt like you would understand."

You did understand. Maybe not like how Lucas had experienced, but you held a lot of pain within you that you felt you couldn't talk about. You didn't know how people would feel or what they would think if you told them, especially your friends who knew the bare bones of your past. And for the people who knew a bit about your situation, like Diego, they already had their own biases so you'd never be able to have a true discussion with them. It was tough keeping all of your pain to yourself. You could feel tears come to your eyes as you somewhat understood how Lucas felt. How he was probably feeling now. Gently pulling your wrist out of his hand, you then took his hand in your own.

"Whatever you need, I'm here for you." You stated

"I just need you to hold on to this for two years. I'm used to it, I have strategies and I can get through. Once I turn 18 and get out there's nothing else my dad can do. And he never bothered Jack or Katie once they left and didn't bother him." Lucas explained "I don't know how he's going to react when he has no children to directly control but we'll get there when we get there. And if he does pull some shit I promise I'll let you get involved then."

"If that's what you want, that's what I'll do," You replied softly "But if you ever change your mind before then I'll help. Whatever you need I'll be here to support you."

Lucas looked at you. There was sadness in your eyes and the light of the lamp illuminated the tears that were beginning to form. There was something about seeing the pain reflected in your eyes whether from calling you out about your own secrets or finally admitting his that made him feel overwhelmed. He tried to hold it back, to not worry you further but sadness washed over him as he began to cry once more.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Lucas apologized through tears

"What are you sorry for?" You asked confused

"F-for crying and making you s-sad. For being scared an-and waiting this out. For not being st-strong enough to deal with i-it now." Lucas cried

Without even thinking, as those words left his mouth you let go of his hand and pulled him into a tight hug. You loved your friend dearly and to think he thought he needed to apologize for wanting someone to be there for him, for someone to let him be vulnerable, it broke your heart. He didn't deserve to feel this way. He never should've had to feel this way. You couldn't go back in time to change it, as much as you wish you had the power to, but you would do everything you could to help him now and going forward. As his head rested on your shoulder and tears stained your shirt, you stroked his hair gently trying your best to calm him. He wrapped his arms around you tightly once more, his body vibrating from the weight of his emotions. You had trouble breathing from the strength of his hold but it didn't matter. What mattered was Lucas.

"Lucas, you have no reason to be sorry." you cooed "You're the strongest person I know."

The strongest person you knew? Lucas couldn't believe it. There were way stronger people than him. He could think of a few but especially, one. Pulling back from the hug to look at you Lucas quietly questioned,

"As strong as Luther?"

"Stronger." You stated firmly

Now Lucas was especially confused. Not only was he the strongest person you knew, but he was stronger than Luther Hargreeves?

"How?" He asked

"Because even through all the unjustified malice you've faced you still choose to be kind." You answered softly "And there's a lot of strength that comes from still trying to be good even when everything seems so bad."

"I just don't want anyone to feel the way I feel or experience what I do." Lucas explained

"I know and if it means anything, you're doing a great job." You mentioned

"It does." Lucas replied before slumping against the picnic table and remarking "What a way to end my birthday, huh?"

You watched as he looked up at the dark sky above. The vast expanse of space covering the sky, but no stars to be seen with the lights of the city surrounding you. And then an idea hit you. Looking at the clock on your phone you saw it was 11:51 pm. You still had time. Quickly standing up, you exclaimed,

"Come with me, I have something to show you."

Lucas looked at you surprised but stood up anyway. Grabbing his hand, you ran off towards the hill at the center of the park, Lucas keeping pace with you. As the hill got closer you called back,

"Run to the top and look at the sky."

Lucas nodded his head and when you both got to the base of the hill he began to run up it. But when he saw you weren't following he stopped.

"Aren't you coming?" He questioned

"No, I need to be here." You quickly replied

You saw as Lucas still hesitated. Checking the time once more you saw it read 11:57. You were running out of time.

"Lucas trust me." You told him

Seeing the pleading sincerity in your eyes Lucas finally turned around and ran up to the top of the hill and looked up at the sky like you asked. Rushing over to the closest lamp post you dropped to your knees and phased your hand through the locked electric plate at the bottom. Placing your hands on the wiring inside you hoped you could recreate what you had done once before by accident. Looking at the clock once more you saw it said 11:59. It was now or never as you focused on the electricity inside the wires. Taking a deep breath you closed your eyes and then-

It was dark.

Lamp by lamp, building by building the lights shut off.

Lucas saw as the sky grew brighter and brighter. New stars became visible by the second as the world above illuminated with twinkling lights. It was so bright. It was so beautiful. He had never seen anything like this before except in pictures from his space books. Never did he think he would get to experience a sight like this let alone on his birthday. And as he watched a shooting star fly across the sky emotion overcame him again. A smile came to his face and tears welled in his eyes once more, not from sadness, but from joy. Closing his eyes, a few tears of joy ran down his cheeks as he made a wish on the shooting star above. When he was done wishing he opened his eyes and looked towards you, his friend who gave him the greatest gift of all.

Hope.

It would take time but Lucas knew from small moments like these, with the love and support of his friends, life could get better. No. Life would get better.

"(Y/N)!" Lucas called

You looked toward him trying to keep your focus on suppressing the city's electricity. It was taking all of your efforts, and you knew you couldn't hold it much longer.

"Make a wish!" He shouted excitedly pointing at the sky

Looking up you saw the same shooting star that Lucas had wished on and made a wish yourself. Closing your eyes, you wished that one day all of your friends would be with you and that they'd all be happy. Truly happy. As you finished your wish, you opened your eyes and looked up the hill toward Lucas.

"Happy birthday Lucas!" You shouted back

Lucas smiled. And as the lights of the city began to come back he knew that today was still a good day and with you as his friend, he knew no matter what every day after could be too.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Decano Francisco Sebastián Hernandez. Born December 4th, 2000 at 9:26 pm to Sebastián and Liliana Hernandez. With older brother Antonio and younger brother Matías, Dean was the forgotten second son. Although his mother attempted to show him he was remembered, he still did everything he could to try and climb into his father's graces and earn his praise. But as time went on Dean realized that praise would never come nor would his family fully remember that he was around. And even on the rare occasion they did, it was never as special as Antonio. He would always be second best.

He tried his best to accept it. If Diego Hargreeves from the Umbrella Academy could be number two and still be cool then he could too, right? He could still be a hero and make a change without his family's approval...no matter how much he wanted it. And so he worked and trained every day he could. His combat skills were much more than the average citizen, his knowledge of law, history, and mechanics was impressive for someone of his age and his archery skills became unmatched. But even with that he still compared himself to his older brother. Dean had far greater skills and knowledge but Antonio only had to exist to be number one. It felt unfair. He hated that he had no family to notice him.

That was until you came around. You noticed him. You noticed his skills, his knowledge, his talents. You saw it all and you praised him for it. The praise he had never gotten before. It was amazing. You were the closest thing he had to actual family.

No. You were his family.

You never rejected him, you never ignored him, you never not cared for him. You were his sister and he was your brother and together you were an unstoppable twin duo even if you weren't actually related. If neither of you had anyone else, you'd always have each other. Dean would protect all of his friends with his life, they were the family he chose, but especially for you. And especially after The Incident.

March 23, 2018:

School was boring today. In early March there's not much going on and today was no different. Typically, a slow school day with no tests or quizzes, or presentations was desirable, but after having days like this for the past 3 weeks it started to become mind-numbing. Dean was just itching for something to happen. But today was Friday which meant that he and the rest of your friend group had time to go off and do something exciting and he had the perfect idea.

For seven months at this point, your friend group had been going out across the city fighting crime just like the Umbrella Academy did. Just on a smaller scale. Dean and the rest of the group had received more in-depth training from you and they all learned how to work like a team. Each of you playing up each other's strengths and filling in the gaps where there were weaknesses. Together you ran like a well-oiled machine of seven highly competent fighters all under the direction of their talented and super-powered leader, you. And so like many other days as the final bell rang and your group of friends met up by the front doors of the school Dean proposed,

"So what do you guys say we take a little cruise around the city today? See what's up?"

Most of your friend group perked up with excitement at the thought. They loved going out to fight crime just like the Umbrella Academy did. They felt so cool and like their heroes. Hell, they didn't just feel like heroes, they WERE heroes. Even if nobody knew so besides the seven of you.

"That would be awesome!" Kenny exclaimed

"I've been dying for an adrenaline rush." Addison added

Dean felt excitement grow within him. Finally, the action that he had been looking for. He had heard rumors from some guy at his MMA club that there was some seriously shady business going on at the abandoned warehouse downtown. That would be the perfect place to shoot some arrows, fight some criminals, and get him out of this slump. Looking at the group as they all walked toward his car he shouted,

"Alright, the seven of us taking on the town once more!"

While the rest of your friends cheered for the adventure they were about to have, you gave a wary smile.

"What's that face for sis?" Dean questioned

"I don't think that's a good idea..." You mentioned reluctantly

"Why not?" Bren questioned confused

"I'm really tired." You replied

It was true, you were very tired. For years you had been working on some theories on how to use your powers to manipulate space-time. You had been tweaking one specific idea for the past 8 months now and you thought that you had gotten it to a workable place. All last night you had been trying to rip molecules apart in a specific fashion that would open a wormhole without creating a black hole. Over and over you tried again with no results, but then you started to get the hang of it and for one instance you could actually see something forming. It had been working up until the moment it snapped back closed causing a huge burst of energy and sending you flying into a wall knocking you out. When you woke up, your alarm for school was going off, your head hurt, and you felt mentally exhausted and physically tired. It was as if that burst of energy had knocked all of the energy out of you. You felt weak in a way you never had before. Granted, you had never pushed your powers to the point you did last night but you knew that you didn't have it in you to fight today. You had a regenerative nature to you so you knew that a day to relax and sleep in would fix you right up and you could go out fighting tomorrow, but today you just couldn't.

"I can't protect you guys as well as usual if I don't have the energy to." You added

"C'mon Ringmaster you've been training us constantly for eight months and we've been killing it every time we go out." Lucas reminded

"Yeah, but-" You began to say

"But nothing. We're practically professionals." Dean interjected

"If you want to take it easy this time when we go you can do that. I'm sure we can handle it." Viktoria suggested

As you all made it to Dean's car you stopped and stood in front of your friend group. It felt like they weren't listening to your concerns or what you were saying at all. You didn't have the energy to fight and you could not guarantee their safety like other times. The last thing you wanted was for something to go wrong because the outcomes were disastrous. Look what happened to Ben...

Most of the group was already his age. Hell, Bren had turned 17 nine days ago and Kenny had nine days until he turned 17. You were all around that age and it just put a bad taste in your mouth to have your concerns ignored.

"It's not about me wanting to take it easy. It's about me being at the power capacity to keep you safe." You emphasized, "We're not the Umbrella Academy."

"No, we're not the Umbrella Academy because we'll never be as cool as them." Dean stated, "But we sure are close!"

The rest of your friend group nodded ecstatically at Dean's sentiment as they all opened the back seat doors and slid into the car. Opening his door Dean looked at you as he asked,

"You coming?"

Letting out a reluctant sigh you knew you weren't getting out of this. You were just going to have to pool your strength as best you could and hope that you couldn't find any trouble around. Nodding your head you watched as Dean got into his seat before opening the passenger side door.

"They weren't even that cool..." You mumbled to yourself as you got in the car "They were lonely dorks who just happened to have powers..."

As you closed your car door Dean turned on the car and began to drive out of the high school parking lot. Speeding down the city streets he made his way toward the downtown sector of the city. And specifically toward the old abandoned warehouse that he had heard stuff about. If the rumors he heard were true there was some type of group or organization that was utilizing the warehouse to hide and guard something. As he approached the building, he slowed down and parked the car behind a dumpster. The anticipation built in him. Something big was going to happen he just knew it.

You however weren't excited about being here. From the times that you had spent in the police precinct waiting for Eudora to get off of work, you heard that there was some "underground" organization moving into the downtown area of the city. It was recent, so they didn't have enough evidence to confirm and were waiting on warrants to go investigate places such as this abandoned warehouse. You didn't feel right about being here but obviously, that was not the sentiment of everyone else.

You watched as they reached into bags and pockets pulling out the masks you had given them months ago and placing them on their faces. One by one, they got out of the car pumping each other up for what came next, but you lingered in your seat. Pulling Five's mask out of your bag you held it in your hands and stared at it. If he was here would he agree with this? Would he tell you to deny your gut feeling?

You knew the answer.

"You coming, Ringmaster?" Dean asked

You snapped out of your trance and looked away from the mask. To your right you saw your brother leaning over, the passenger door open, looking at you from behind the mask. Looking back at him you thought,

Dean, I don't know about this...

You don't have to come but the rest of us are going to go

From behind Dean, you could see the excited looks on your other friends' faces. Looking down at the mask in your hands once more you pushed your concerns down. Perhaps it would be alright. You had trained your friends well and they were competent in their abilities and working with each other. They were your friends and you trusted them with your life. Looking toward Dean you relented,

"Yeah. I'm coming."

Getting out of the car you closed the door behind you and placed the mask on your face. Things were going to be fine. Everything was going to be...

Fine.

And so you were off as you had done many times before. Going in solo, you scouted the building invisibly before reporting back.

"12 guys in total. Two are guarding the doors and the rest are inside. 8 in total are armed, the two at the door and then 6 more inside. Three of the men inside are arguing so tensions and adrenaline are high but it might give us the element of surprise since they're distracted with each other." You explained

"Not too bad," Bren mentioned

"We've definitely faced more guys before," Addison added

"So what's the plan?" Lucas asked

"Marksman and I will take out the armed guards swiftly and quietly. Once that's done I will sneak you all through the walls and to safe places to ambush. The first objective is for me to get the guns away from those that have them and then it's business as usual for everyone." You replied

And with the nodding of your friend's heads acknowledging your plan, you headed off. Taking Dean's hand you transported the two of you behind a parked car. A pinching feeling ran down your spine as you bit your tongue to keep yourself from making a sound. Peering very slightly through the windows of the cars you turned to Dean.

On my call, we take them out. I'll take left, you take right.

Dean nodded his head back as you shifted yourself closer to the front of the car while he stayed behind the trunk. You took a moment to center your self and then you thought,

Now.

Both you and Dean popped up from behind the car, a knife and arrow immediately flying from your position across the alley towards the two guards and lodging in their hearts. You watched as the men collapsed to the ground, their guns dropping from their hands. Using your powers you swatted the guns out of their reach if they were even still alive to reach for them. And once more the shooting pain you felt a minute ago raced through your body and caused you to stumble for a second. Regaining your balance you rushed towards one of the men on the ground and pulled your knife from his chest while Dean ripped his arrow from the other one. Tapping the one next to you with your foot you saw there was no response or reflex. Two fewer guys to worry about.

With the coast clear you waved the rest of the group over to you. Carefully, they snuck over and arrived at the doors with you and Dean. Grabbing onto Kenny and Bren's wrists you flashed them inside and behind a large boiler of sorts quietly making hand motions to signify for them to stay there and keep quiet. Returning back to the front door, you stumbled a bit as you materialized in front of the group, your knees feeling slightly weak. Grabbing onto Lucas and Addison, you repeated the process for them as well, placing them behind a pallet of crates and giving them silent instructions before going back and repeating the process once more for Dean and Viktoria.

With all of your friends in place, you moved yourself to a different location behind the group of gang members and hid behind a pillar out of view of everyone. You leaned up against it for support and you could feel your stomach begin to churn in such a way that you were becoming nauseous. Pressing your back against the wall you slowly slid to the floor and your arms wrapped tightly around your waist. As you sat there waiting for your gut to settle you could feel the sensation of something running down from your nose. Wiping your nose with the back of your hand you could see a slight trail of blood. Great. A bloody nose. Using your powers you slightly cauterized your nostril which did get the bleeding to stop but it also made your stomach jump. You just wanted to get this over with so you could rest for a while.

Peering around the corner you could see the few men from before talking as the others stood by. Closing your eyes you took a deep breath as you focus on the guns in the room. Most of them were holstered either on the hip or inside a jacket except for one man who held his weapon in his hand. One by one you used your powers to melt the holstered weapons to the point that they would be unusable. You knew that the molten plastic and metal were going to hit the skin of the men with holstered guns very soon so, to cause a distraction you finally melted the gun that was being held directly in hand. Poor guy decided on an all-metal one though. Oh well. The gun immediately turned into molten metal that had a bright orange glow. The man who held the gun cried out in pain as the others became distracted and turned to look. The action of the turning spilled the molten liquid from the other guns onto the men carrying them while the 6 unarmed men looked on in confusion.

As you tried to stand up a searing pain ripped through your thigh causing you to stumble back down, before finally forcing yourself up. You leaned against the wall you hid behind as you could feel your other nostril start to bleed and pain stab in your side. Taking deep breaths you tried to concentrate on the task at hand and push past your physical pain. And it was at this point with all of the men distracted that the rest of your friends sprung into action.

Quickly, Dean shot off two arrows taking out two of the men and causing them to drop to the floor. Addison had convinced a guy to run away from her only to be surprised picked up by Lucas and slammed into the concrete ground below. Viktoria had found some type of pipe and slammed it against the kneecaps of one of the men sending them to the ground before cracking it against their skull. The sounds of clanging metal and crackling of bone rang through the air like a loud soundwave. Kenny went back and forth fighting with one guy before finally managing to grapple him and bash his head repeatedly into the ground while Bren use his whips to grab and snap the neck of two other guys. In a matter of a few minutes what was once a room of ten men was dwindled down to three.

You finally stepped out from behind the pillar as you became more aware of your surroundings and the damp humidity of the space making itself known. It gave you an idea. Looking at one of the men left standing you pulled the water molecules from the air and redirected them into the body of the man before you. Slowly the water molecules began to fill his lungs as he gasped for air finding none. You pulled more moisture from the air and into his body as he began to drown from the inside. You watched as he doubled over pressing on his gut and trying to cough up water but it was no use as you began to fill the rest of his organs with water. His body began to swell from the fluids as foamy blood ran from his nose and mouth. And then he collapsed. Dead.

As he dropped though, so did you. You fell to your knees as you felt a tearing pain rip across your right forearm. You couldn't see what had happened though as your jacket covered the skin and before you could get a chance to tug it up you saw a man rushing towards you. With a flick of your hand, you sent him crashing into a nearby pillar, his head and neck crunching against the concrete, but you could feel a tearing sensation rip across your collarbone as you did so. You grunted in pain as you reached a hand up to touch the area, only to be met with the sight of blood as you pulled your hand back to look at it. You stared blankly at the red on your fingertips. This had never happened before.

But then you heard the sound of fleeting footsteps. Looking up you saw as the last man began running towards an exit, Bren quickly pursuing him. You watched as the man slowed slightly as he passed a large gas tank and everything that came next felt like it was in slow motion. You saw as the man pulled out a lighter and tossed it into the tank that Bren was about to pass. You didn't even notice as you pushed yourself up from the ground, your body reacting on instinct as you shouted,

"BREN!"

Flashing in front of him you pushed him to the ground behind you before turning your body towards the tank. Mustering all your strength you forced your powers to work overtime blocking the explosion from harming your friend. Energy coursed through your body as you tried to redirect the explosion and flames away from him. Searing pain ripping across multiple parts of your body until all you could feel was the sensation of your body being torn apart. You could feel the energy of the explosion dwindle and as you looked back, you caught a glimpse of Bren's terrified face before the world went blurry and then completely back.

From across the large warehouse floor, the rest of the group heard the sound of an explosion and a blood-curdling scream, and then...

Nothing.

There was of course the crackling of some flames but nothing else except haunting silence. Dean looked around before seeing Bren across the room kneeling in front of something. Concern shot through his body. What if it wasn't a something? Taking off toward Bren, Dean's heart raced but as he approached he was met with a horrific sight. There he saw the corpse of the last man burnt to a crisp, but that's not what terrified him. It was seeing Bren frozen in fear as he kneeled in front of a separate body.

Yours.

Rushing toward you, Dean dropped to his knees by your side as Bren remained frozen. Blood ran from your nose and seeped through parts of your clothing as you lay still on the ground, the area surrounding you and Bren blackened and charred. Your mask had fallen from your face only to reveal your eyes were closed. Grabbing your shoulders he gently shook you calling,

"(Y/N)?"

But when he received no response he shook you harder. This wasn't funny. You needed to get up now. Harder and harder he shook trying to wake you, but it wasn't working. His heart began to race and he could feel his hands shake as he held your face in them.

"C'mon sunshine, open your eyes." He begged, his voice cracking "Open your eyes please. I need you to."

The rest of the group found their way over to you as Kenny and Lucas saw the scene first. This wasn't good.

"Oh shit," Kenny said turning on his heel to go grab his medical bag from the car

"Don't look." Lucas exclaimed quickly pulling Addison and Viktoria in towards him shielding their eyes from the sight

Dean picked your motionless body up and held you tightly in his arms as he sobbed. This was all his fault. You told him you were uncomfortable and he let his own wants outweigh your concerns. And now here you lifeless in his arms. He was a failure of a brother. He promised himself he would keep you from getting hurt and yet he was the one who caused you to get hurt.

"I-I killed her." Dean cried, tears streaming down his face and leaving behind messy streaks "It's my fault I killed her."

The rest of the group recoiled in pain hearing those words. No. You couldn't be dead. They needed you.

Rushing back over with his med bag Kenny dropped to his knees next to Dean.

"Dean I can help. Let me help." Kenny stated trying to pull you from Dean's arms

"Back off!" Dean shouted pushing Kenny away

Kenny knew Dean's emotions were getting the best of him. He wasn't thinking straight and it was actively preventing you from getting help which is the opposite of what you needed right now. Kenny hated to do it, and he knew he would face Dean's ire at some point for it but he didn't care. You were his main concern right now. Looking back at Lucas, Kenny commanded flatly,

"Grab him."

Lucas hesitated for a second but saw the seriousness on Kenny's face. Stepping away from Addison and Viktoria, the two girls grabbed onto each other for support as Lucas wrapped his arms around Dean's waist and pulled him away from you and Kenny pulled your limp body from his arms.

"No No No!" Dean yelled, "Let me go!"

"I'm sorry." Lucas apologized pulling Dean further away from you

"LET ME GO!" Dean shouted

He needed to get back to you. He had to be there for you. You hated being alone. He wasn't going to let you be alone. He promised you so. Kicking Lucas in the shin, Lucas momentarily loosened his grasp enough for Dean to break free, but as began to run back toward you he was tackled to the ground. Lucas held his body against the floor, his face pressed against the cold concrete. And from where he laid he could see you. With one arm that he was able to get free, he reached out to you even though he knew he was too far to reach.

"THAT'S MY SISTER!" Dean cried out "GET OFF ME! THAT'S MY SISTER!"

Tears silently fell from Lucas's eyes as he held his best friend down. he knew how much Dean cared for you and he hated having to hold him down like this. Dean's shouts and cries were filled with heartbreak and pain that all of them were experiencing and it only made him feel worse for not allowing Dean to have the comfort of being near you.

"She's our friend too, Dean..." Lucas said, his voice cracking as he spoke

Dean did not respond and continued to cry out for you, but Lucas knew Kenny wouldn't be able to work on you if Dean wouldn't let him get close and so all Lucas could do was keep Dean tackled and hope that maybe he would calm down.

"I'M SORRY (Y/N)! I'M SO SORRY!" Dean wailed, his pleas echoing across the room

Kenny tried his best to tune Dean out as he was distracting him from providing you medical attention. Pulling out a stethoscope Kenny placed it in his ears and put the flat portion against your chest. Dean was wrong. You weren't dead. You had a pulse, but it was low. Very low. Same with your breathing. It was shallow. But you were still alive. Kenny had been in plenty of high-stress situations before in terms of medical crises, but this was different. This wasn't some stranger, this was you. His friend. Nevertheless, he had to put his emotions to the side and think of something quick. He couldn't let it get any lower or else there would be severe complications. Quickly wrapping up the cuts on your collarbone, arm, and waist he now needed to get your heart rate up. Flying by the seat of his pants he reached into his bag and pulled out a syringe and a vial of epinephrine. Pulling the syringe out of its sterile packaging, he placed it within the vial and pulled out 0.6 milliliters of epinephrine into the syringe. The standard dose in most cases was 0.3, but you were not a normal human and therefore he believed that following most standard procedures was not going to be beneficial. Pressing the depressor he made sure all the air was out of the needle before taking a deep breath and lining up the needle between two of your ribs and pressing it down directly into your heart.

Was it the best plan? No. Was it the standard? No. Did it present risks that would not come up in a typical case? Yes. But you were different. Unlike most people, you had a quickened regenerative factor, and he believed that as long as he could keep you alive your body would do the rest.

As he released the epinephrine into your system, he slowly pulled the needle back out, placing it back in the sterile packaging and into an empty pocket of his bag. Placing the stethoscope to your chest once more he could hear your heartbeat pick up its pace more and your breathing steadied out. With your vitals seemingly stabilized, for now, Kenny began to figure out the severity of your unconsciousness. Pulling out a mini flashlight he lifted up each of your eyelids and shined it into your eyes but found that your pupils were not responding to it. Kenny tried to get the limbs of your body to move but the only time they would do so was through intrinsic reflexes. And on top of it, even if unconscious there was no reaction to the needle he had just put in your chest.

"Oh, that's not good." Kenny said to himself

Slowly Bren, who had been kneeling there silently the whole time, looked over and asked,

"What's wrong?"

Kenny could see the look on Bren's face. Kenny knew his best friend since birth better than anyone else and it was evident that he was completely broken by this sight. Bren was blaming himself and while Kenny wanted to comfort his best friend he couldn't confidently reassure or comfort him until he knew you were okay.

"She's not just unconscious. She's comatose." Kenny answered trying to mask the concern in his voice "But I have some old medical equipment that my job let me take to practice using at home."

Standing up Kenny turned on his heel to face the rest of the group as he stated firmly,

"She's alive but we need to get her to my house now."

Lucas finally stood up which allowed Dean to spring to his feet and rush over toward where Kenny stood, the rest of the group quickly following behind.

"I'll drive." Dean stated, pulling his keys out of his pocket

"You're not driving." Kenny rejected

"It's my car!" Dean shouted

"I said you're NOT driving!" Kenny yelled back "You are in no condition to drive now give Lucas the keys!"

Dean grasped his keys firmly in his hands. Why didn't Kenny get it? He needed to be the one to do these things. He needed to help somehow to make it up to you. This was his fault. He was the one who caused this and now he had to try and figure out a way to fix it and he wasn't letting him.

Seeing how Dean was not relenting, Addison stepped forward and put herself in between Kenny and him. Grabbing his face she made sure that he was looking her directly in the eyes.

"See that fire? It's spreading, this place will come down on us if we don't leave including your unconscious sister and I can bet that police are probably headed this way due to the sound of an explosion. If we don't leave we're going to have more than a medical emergency on our hands so give Lucas the keys NOW." She commanded

Dean attempted to look away and tried to fight the urge to listen to her but he just couldn't seem to do so. She was too persuasive and he never knew how to not do what she said. Tossing the keys to Lucas, Dean looked behind Addison at Kenny and said,

"At least let me carry her."

"Fine." Kenny replied urgently "Now, we need to go!"

Placing your mask in his pocket, Dean scooped you up in his arms as he quickly carried you out to his car with the rest of the group with him. Lucas slid into the driver's seat while Addison and Viktoria shared the passenger seat and then Bren, Kenny, and he sat in the back seat with you laying across their laps. Lucas, who was typically a more responsible driver than Dean was, actually sped away from the warehouse and back to Kenny's house. Dean carried you inside and placed you on Kenny's bed as he and the rest of the group stood by and watched as Kenny pulled out some medical machinery and hooked it up to you along with putting a clear tube in your arm that dripped some clear liquid into it.

"What is this stuff?" Lucas asked

"That's an EKG heart monitor machine and this is a pole for the saline drip so she doesn't get dehydrated or lose important nutrients while she's unconscious," Kenny responded as he fiddled with the saline drip bag

"How did you get this stuff?" Viktoria asked

"My job just upgraded the stuff we had, and it's still functional so I took the old machines. Just in case." Kenny explained

"And the saline?" Addison questioned

"You can buy medical grade saline electrolyte solution in bulk on Amazon. I sometimes like to saline drip myself as I sleep after a night out 'cuz it diminishes the hangover the next day." Kenny added

As Kenny finished up and moved away Dean pulled up Kenny's desk chair next to the bed and sat in it. Brushing a strand of hair from your face, he looked down at your unconscious form and quietly asked,

"How long will she be like this?"

"Some people wake up in a few hours. For some people, it takes.....longer." Kenny responded quietly

"Well, then I'm gonna wait here until she does," Dean replied

"I don't know I think someone else should take the first watch, Dean." Kenny mentioned

"No." Dean retorted "I can't let her be alone. She gets scared when she's alone."

"Okay, so we'll rotate so she's not alone," Viktoria suggested

"No." Dean rejected once more

Lucas could see how poorly Dean was doing. He had stopped crying but he had sadness in his eyes and his tone was filled with worry. Placing a hand on Dean's shoulder, Lucas looked down at his best friend and tried to comfort saying,

"Dean it's not your fault. We couldn't have anticipated it."

"But it is my fault." Dean replied, "I'm the one who pushed going when she said we shouldn't."

"Dean, we all encouraged going," Addison stated

"And if it's anyone's fault it's mine." Bren mentioned quietly "I was the one who was in harm's way and if I didn't pursue that guy it wouldn't have happened."

"But I'm her brother." Dean stated, "I should've listened from the start...and now this is my karma...and I'm going to stay by her side no matter how long it takes."

The rest of the group knew there was no convincing him otherwise. Dean was Dean, loving yet stubborn. Seeing as nothing was going to change anytime soon the rest of the group knew that the only thing they could do was sit and wait.

"Okay, if you need us we'll be in the den, I guess." Lucas replied as he walked out the bedroom door with the rest of the group

And with the door shut, Dean took your hand in his as he said quietly,

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

Hours passed and then days as your friends waited worriedly hoping for you to wake up. No one left Kenny's house, and instead, they resorted to sleeping in different places. With Kenny's mom away on a business trip, Lucas and Addison slept in her bed. Viktoria took the air mattress and Bren and Kenny each took a couch. Kenny would go into his room to check on you at regular intervals and make sure you were still okay and each time he did so Dean's eyes would watch intently hoping for any sign that you were waking up. The rest of your friends would rotate in every once in a while they had the emotional capacity to do so, but Dean never left your side except to go to the bathroom. And he'd only ever do that if someone else was there. With each day he became worse for wear as he forced himself to stay awake in case you woke up and needed an explanation. But exhaustion is something that can only be fought for so long and Dean had fallen asleep. But on Monday morning, three days after the events at the warehouse, Dean who had fallen asleep was woken up by his alarm on his phone of Heat of the Moment by Asia. But as his, eyes opened he could see yours open too.

You put a hand over your eyes to cover them from the bright light of the morning sun pouring through the window.

"What the fuck..." You mumbled

"You're awake. Oh my god, you're awake!" Dean exclaimed sitting upright

"Are we late for school?" You asked slowly sitting up

Tears welled up in Dean's eyes seeing you with your eyes open. You were here now. You were okay. Moving from his seat he immediately went to hug you as he replied choked up,

"We're not going to school today. I'm just so glad you're awake."

It was then that you began to remember the events that had occurred. You and your friends had all gone out to "save the day" and Bren almost ended up getting hurt. You had jumped in front of him and then after that, it was all black. You had told them it wasn't a good idea and you were about to say so when you smelled a pungent stench of body odor

"Dude, when was the last time you showered?" You gagged

"Three days ago." Dean replied still hugging you tightly

"Gross." You remarked, gently pushing him away

Seeing more clearly, you could see how red and puff his eyes were, shiny lines where tear streaks had run down his face, and his messed up appearance. Knowing your brother, you knew he blamed himself for this. He was taking on all the blame for you getting hurt even if that wasn't the case, and you could only imagine how many times your friends had tried to tell him the same. You let out a soft sigh as you took your brother's hand in your own.

"I'm okay now." You whispered

"I'm sorry." Dean replied quietly, his gaze turned away from yours

"You don't need to be sorry we couldn't have known, but if it makes you feel better I forgive you." You replied

Dean turned his head back to look at you as he gave you a small smile. Things were going to be okay. As you held your sibling's hand you could hear the door open as Kenny exclaimed,

"(Y/N)! You're awake! Guys (Y/N) is awake!"

Immediately the rest of your friends ran up the stairs and into the room as you were flooded with chatter and hugs from them all.

"Oh my god! you're okay!" Addison exclaimed

"Yeah, yeah. I just needed a power nap." You joked sarcastically "But next time you fuckers listen to me when I say no, I can't today."

"We will." Dean stated, "I'll make sure of it."

"I know you will." you replied giving him a smile "Because you're a good brother."

Dean gave a small smile. He was a good brother but this was never going to happen again, not if he could help it. He was going to be the best brother.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Addison Pheobe Evans. Born July 27th, 2001 at 10:13 am to James and Taylor Evans. Everything was just perfect in their life. Their marriage was perfect. They had been college sweethearts and met during their orientation college tour. They dated all four years and then got married soon after. And then they bought a perfect home. A large two-story house with high ceilings and white walls. A high chandelier in the entranceway, rigid beige furniture, and decor that was curated for the current trend filled the rooms. And then they had their perfect family. One older son Caleb, and a year and a half later a younger daughter, Addison. They had the perfect nuclear family in the perfect picket fence house in the perfect gated community. There was not one thing out of place and there would never be anything that wasn't perfect in the Evans household.

Including the people.

From day one the standards were set high for Addison. You MUST be perfect. You must get perfect grades. There was no room for laziness in the Evans household. You must look presentable at all times. If you did not look like you could host guests at the drop of a hat then you were not up to the dress standards for the Evans household. You must excel in any activities you do and those activities must be respectable. People had to see how talented and successful the children in the Evans household were. You had to make others jealous of how perfect life was by being an Evans because if you weren't perfect you weren't anything.

She had seen the shitstorm her older brother Caleb had to deal with when he brought over his girlfriend, whom her parents did not vet, to see if they were permissible to be with him. Apparently, she was perfect in terms of grades, activities, looks, and manners but the only issue was that her family lived in an apartment. Addison knew it was superficial, but because that girl wasn't perfect to her parents she wasn't good enough for Caleb.

Addison had to have her friends be interviewed to see if they could go over to her house to hang out, but the only people she felt confident would be acceptable to her parents were you and Viktoria. She was right but it was awful to put you both through an interrogation just to have you enter her home. And when Lucas asked her out she said yes but told him that he'd have to go ask her parents first before they could officially go out. Fortunately enough he passed in their eyes but the standards of perfection made her life a living hell.

The only times she felt she could be herself were when she was out of her parents' view. She preoccupied herself with being anywhere but home. They were the times she was happiest. But still, she wished she could be like Allison Hargreeves, have powers to make everything she did perfect without the effort by just speaking it into existence. Life would be so much easier.

It was immense stress on her but Addison managed to be "perfect". She did everything her parents expected of her, but it made her nervous. She was constantly worried, looking over her shoulder for the time that she would not be perfect. The time when she would fail at being an Evans.

July 30, 2015:

It had been three days since Addison's birthday, and three days since her parents had told her that they had enrolled her in Aria Cadence's Music Performance Camp. Addison was so excited at the prospect of going to the camp and she had told everyone in your friend group about it. And when she found out that Viktoria was going as well her excitement grew even more. The performance camp was one of the most renowned summer programs in the area and the ability to go to it was an honor.

But as she was planning for a month of music and theatre and performing her skills, her parents had given her a condition in terms of her participation in this camp. Get the leading role in the camp theatre performance or else they would pull her from the camp. The excitement she had felt for the past three days had drained in an instant as anxiety filled her brain. Wanting the comfort of someone with her she invited you over and you sat on the floor scrolling on your phone as she slowly packed her bags for the camp. As she stood in her closet you asked aloud,

"You still excited about your camp?"

Addison paused. She used to be excited, but now all she was was a bundle of nerves. She wasn't going to say no though. She wanted comfort but she didn't want to get into the details of why.

"Yeah, it's a month-long of musical fun." Addison answered, "At least that's what their website says."

"I mean, you'll have Viktoria too so even if it somehow sucks at least you've got a friend." You remarked

"True." Addison replied turning to look at you, "I still don't get why you don't want to go."

You looked up from your phone and gave her an expression that was a mix of annoyance and disgust. You hated rich kids. Granted, you too were rich and always had been. You were at the level of having fuck you, fuck around, and find out money but your parents taught you that someone's wealth was not as important as their character. What mattered most was how a person treated others, the good they put in the world, and the value of their character and beliefs.

"What? And be surrounded by a bunch of pretentious, talentless, rich kids whose parents bribed their way in?" You complained "Yeah no thanks. You know how I get around other rich kids."

"Aggressive," Addison commented

"Hate them." You stated firmly

Turning around the face you, Addison looked at you confused. You had never explained your reasoning behind disliking other rich kids and anyway, the more she got you to talk about yourself the less likely she'd have to talk about her own issues.

"Why?" She asked,

"As you know before I transferred to Argyle Public Middle School I went to Argyle Academy from kindergarten to seventh grade. I was surrounded by pretentious assholes who bullied me for being nice and quiet and smart. After a while of that, you develop a certain attitude toward those types of people." You explained

"Right, well it looks like you're not getting a rich boyfriend, huh?" Addison teased

You rolled your eyes at her statement. Money was the last of your concerns when it came to getting a boyfriend. Your first concern was hoping he came back...

"I don't care how much money a potential partner has or makes." You retorted "Love is not about money, it's about mutual respect, dedication, and connection."

"That's true." Addison replied, "But still when are you going to get a boyfriend?"

"When he falls from the sky, Addison." You remarked

It was a highly unlikely scenario that the "perfect" guy would just fall from the sky and become your boyfriend and Addison knew that. How was she ever going to do cute couple things, like double dates with you if you didn't have one?

"But (Y/N)!" Addison whined, "I want to go on a double date."

"I'm not gonna date just anyone so you can have your double date." You replied, "No one around is my type."

"Well, it's going to be hard to find a dark-haired, smart, sad boy with daddy issues and a good heart who might also have superpowers." Addison explained, "Who also really likes their girlfriend."

"That's not my type..." You mumbled looking away

It was absolutely your type though. How she peered into your mind and described Five without mentioning him by name was intimidating and you didn't like how she understood your own psychology better than yourself. It was a scary power to have. Granted, the only part she got wrong was the really liking his girlfriend part. Yeah, you were a girl and his friend and he liked you but it wasn't like that...

"Oh really?" Addison questioned sarcastically "Tell that to the numerous fanfictions you have open on your phone of redeemed Zuko, Robin from Teen Titans, and Spider-Man."

"I don't like being put on blast like this."  You snapped back

And then somehow, in the middle of your frustration, it hit you. You had asked her about camp and she somehow deviated that conversation into your non-existent love life. She was deflecting. And when she deflected, something was wrong.

"Wait! You're deflecting onto me." You remarked, "You always do this when you're worried about something."

Addison's eyes when wide as she realized you saw through her conversational ruse. Shit.

"No!" She exclaimed

"Yes!" You shouted back before asking "What is it?"

Addison paused. She knew she wasn't going to be able to deflect again because now you were on notice about it. Letting out a defeated sigh she quietly mentioned,

"I'm worried about the camp."

"Why?" You asked, "It's the camp you've been begging to go to and Viktoria is going to be there too so what is there to worry about?"

"My parents." Addison answered

"What about them?" You inquired

Addison slumped down in front of her dresser, sitting defeated on the floor as she looked over at you. Her head fell into her hands as she explained,

"My parents told me that if I don't get the lead in the camp's musical performance they're pulling me out of it because it would be embarrassing for the family for me to be at such a prestigious camp and not have a worthy role."

Anger began to form within you as you heard that statement. How dare they. How dare her parents present her with an amazing opportunity as a fucking birthday present, A GIFT, and then dangle it over her head like a carrot if she doesn't live up to some pre-determined standard.

"That's bullshit and you know it." You snapped

Addison didn't say anything though. She didn't even lift her head from her hands to acknowledge that you had said something. Her parents had such a grip on her that she was now obviously reeling from this. You needed her to recognize the truth though, this was bullshit.

"Addison look at me and tell me you know that's bullshit." You stated

Slowly, Addison lifted her head. It took her a moment, but quietly she spoke,

"I know it's bullshit..."

"Your parents are so superficial and egotistical that even Narcissus would pull his gaze away from the water to tell them to chill." You ranted

You were right. She knew you were right, but god it was hard to say so. She was so nervous. Her parents' judgment loomed over her just as it had for her entire life. What if she couldn't do it? What if she failed and became an embarrassment to her family name? Her parents still held things Caleb had done wrong over his head, and she saw how it hurt him. It was wrong, she knew so, but she also didn't want to be next.

"I just- what if I don't get the role? What if there's someone better?" Addison questioned

"Addison Pheobe Evans I don't know anyone as talented as you are." You reminded

"Really? Look at yourself, you can sing and dance and play the piano." Addison retorted frustrated

"Yes, but those were my parents' interests that they introduced me to and I just so happened to fall in love with them too." You mentioned "But theatre? You chose that. That's all you, Addi."

"It's never enough..." Addison complained looking away from you, "I do everything to make them happy and it's never fucking enough."

Letting out a small sigh, you got up from where you sat on the ground and walked over to where Addison sat before crouching down in front of her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, as nicely as you could make it sound, you said,

"Addi, I say this with so much love for you, but your parents don't love you."

Addison's head turned to look back at you hearing your statement.

"Huh?"

"Your parents don't love you, Addi. They love the idea of you." You elaborated gently "They didn't want children to raise them, they wanted children for show purposes to fulfill society's expectations of what the perfect life is. Your parents don't care about your happiness, they care about how they look to others and treat you and Caleb like decorations to make themselves look better."

Your words hurt. She knew you were only telling it how you saw it and you had never been wrong about things before, but it wasn't something she wanted to hear. For so long she at least believed that her parents' love could be conditional even if she believed conditional love was wrong. But now you had presented her with reality. A reality that she had been trying to avoid.

Her parents didn't love her.

They had no capability to love her, only themselves.

"It's not fair." Addison complained, "I wish I had Allison's power so I could rumor myself into a better life."

You were not surprised by her reaction to your words. The anger made sense, but you were taken aback by her statement. Allison's power, just like any power, was not something to be taken lightly. There were serious consequences if they were misused and the ability to control a person's mind just with one simple statement was a slippery slope that could lead to dangerous places if a person was cautious. One simple request could quickly turn into a series of more controlling ones.

"You don't want that." You replied firmly

Ugh! What did you know? You thought you were so knowledgeable on powers just because you had them. Standing up from the floor she began to angrily pace across her floor.

"I do!" She shouted "If I could rumor people I could make my parents actually genuinely love me and my brother! Or I could rumor the camp director into giving me the leading role so my parents don't throw a hissy fit and pull me out. I want that ability to control my life, make it better."

Addison was being ridiculous. She didn't know what she was talking about. You knew that she wanted to become successful in her parents' eyes and in her own but she was never going to accomplish that with the mentality she was having right now. You needed to get her to truly see what she was suggesting. Standing up you looked at your pacing friend and in a serious tone stated,

"Well, I guess you'll never be successful then."

"What do you mean?" Addison questioned, "Of course, I would be successful."

"It is really success if you never earned it?" You suggested

Addison paused.

"I- I mean-" She began to stutter out

"Because the way I see it if you had Allison Hargreeves rumor power, and you rumored people into giving you what you want you're not earning it, you're forcing it to be given to you." You explained

"But-" She tried to interject

You didn't let her though as you wanted to finish getting your point across to her. You felt bad as what you were doing was a bit harsh but she needed to hear it before she continued to bemoan the fact that she couldn't force people into doing what she wanted solely because her hero could do so.

"You will have proved nothing in terms of talent and any 'success' you have will always be hollow." You remarked "And one day you'll look back and realize nothing you got was actually yours and you will never know if it could've genuinely been yours."

Addison stopped. Once again you were right. God, she hated how you were always right, but you were. And if she had Allison's rumor ability, and made people give her roles to appease her parents' ideals of her, she would never be earning the parts. Just taking them. Why did life have to be so difficult? Why couldn't it just be easy and perfect? Allison's life was easy and she was perfect. Why couldn't she have that?

"I just wish I could be perfect like her..." Addison whispered looking down at the ground disappointed

You placed a reassuring hand on your friend's shoulder. As much as you wanted to explain to her how that was most likely wrong you didn't want to accidentally make things about yourself by talking about your past. This was about Addison and no one else. And so the best you could do was be supportive and work around the topic.

"I can promise you that she is not perfect. No matter how good it looks from the outside everyone has something going on. And with powers, I can only guarantee that fact because this shit," You said creating a small ball of flame in your hand "Only complicates life more."

"But her life looks perfect and I want mine to be too," Addison replied bringing her gaze to meet yours

"Addison, your parents want a 'perfect' life, is that really what you want? The same thing as your parents?" You questioned

"I don't know..." She replied quietly

"Removing your parents from the equation what would you change about your life?" You asked

Addison thought for a moment. If she excluded her parents there wasn't anything she could think of to change. She loved her brother, her friends, her boyfriend, and her life as it existed outside the realm of her parents' judgment. She loved it as it was.

"Nothing." She replied

"Then your life is already exactly how you want it to be." You responded kindly "You don't need to try and copy someone else's or have a superpower to make it any better."

Addison smiled as you brought her into a tight hug. You didn't want your friends to doubt themselves or try to change because of what their parents thought. That didn't work out well the first time and you weren't going to let it happen again. History would not repeat itself because you loved your friends and you were going to make sure they knew they were amazing and loved as they are.

"I believe in you, and all you need to do is believe yourself the same way." You said as you hugged her "You're perfect as you are and anyone who actually loves you can see that."

"Thanks, (Y/N)." She replied as she held onto you

After a moment, when it felt like Addison no longer needed a hug, you pulled back and gave her a wide smile.

"Now c'mon, you have a camp to pack for." You mentioned heading over to her closet "You're gonna need to look like a star after all since you're gonna get that leading role."

Addison smiled as she followed you to her closet to pick out clothes once more. You were a good friend and she was glad she had you to talk sense into her and keep her grounded. God only knows what kind of mess she'd put herself into otherwise without you here. Addison's life was great as it was, and with your reassurance, no one could tell her otherwise.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Kenneth Dearil Wagner. Born April 1, 2001 at 11:49 pm to Oscar and Clarissa Wagner. As an only child, he should've been his parents' focus. Unfortunately, that was not the case with his parents constantly arguing throughout his childhood. The shouting only stopped once his father walked out when he was seven. The screams still haunted him though. Like ghosts in his head.

During the day he was perfectly happy, especially when he was with his best friend and next-door neighbor Brendon Young. But when the sun set and it was time for bed the sound of those terrible fights returned plaguing his mind. If he tried to sleep he would have night terrors beyond compare and if he didn't he would experience severe insomnia for days. Seeing this his mom attempted to fix it by getting him a body pillow with an image of his hero Klaus Hargreeves in his Umbrella Academy uniform on it. She would tell him that Klaus would fight all the "ghosts" in his head as he slept. And when he was younger it really worked. He had Klaus to fight the ghosts and his mom down the hall to keep him safe.

But when he turned twelve his mom got offered a better-paying position at her job. The issue was that it was the night shift. Of course, she didn't want to leave her son, but she was a single mother and needed to make sure she could provide all that her beloved baby boy needed. Deciding that it would be better to have more money to take care of her only son she took the promotion and began leaving Kenny alone at night. If anything happened the Youngs were right next door anyway. But being alone in that empty house only made things worse for Kenny. While he still had Body Pillow Klaus, he was now completely alone. His night terrors got more terrifying and his insomnia grew worse. He was struggling and even his best friend Bren couldn't fix it, so he found a different solution.

He had overheard an eighth grader talking about how he had stolen some weed gummies from his older brother and had them in his backpack. Kenny had taken a drug prevention course in his health class and knew the possible outcomes of using weed. But honestly, at this point, he would give anything a try to get out of his own head, and without even thinking he very sneakily snuck the gummies out of the eighth grader's backpack and into his own. That night when bedtime came around he hesitantly took one, and for the first time since he didn't know when he actually felt at peace. His mind was calm and he was able to sleep well and from then on he never turned back.

The edibles helped him sleep at night and drinks from his father's abandoned alcohol stash kept him calm during the day. Granted he didn't let it affect his school work or his friendships, and he was always already a few days sober on the days he did his volunteer EMT job but together both items made life easier and helped him really open up with who he truly was.

But even though he had a supportive group of friends he needed more. He was still at home alone every night haunted by the ghosts of his past that hid around every corner. He could still hear the screams of his parents arguing even though both of them weren't present. He wanted to feel wanted. And so he went to parties. Became practically a king of the party scene and experimented more with some good results and some bad results. But at one party trying to forget his last few insomnia-ridden days he experienced one of the worst times he had so far.

May 22, 2016:

With his mom always working the night shift, Kenny was home alone a lot. But that lack of supervision turned out to be a blessing because it meant that whenever he wanted to, or more so needed to, he could just leave for a party. No questions asked, no lying necessary, just freedom to come and go as he pleased. And tonight was no different. He needed to get out of his house and needed to get out of his own head. And so, to a high school party hosted by one of the school's basketball players, he went. Consuming jungle juice, smoking what he knew to be sub-par weed, and making out with the Graves twins, Jasper and Jade, from the grade above him he was getting his mind off of things.

He had barely been sleeping, insomnia causing bad memories of the house he lived in to resurface. The shouting and screaming, the sounds of doors slamming, and the deafening silence when all was said and done. He could hear and see it all in his head even if it wasn't actually happening in front of him. But compared to the other times he had gone to a party to free his mind, this time, it wasn't working as well. And so he drank more jungle juice and smoked more sub-par weed. And the more he did so the more clouded his mind became. At first, it was a great feeling and he was having a good time, but as the night went on and he consumed more and more he began to feel ill.

Getting up from the couch he pushed his way out of the grasp of the Graves twins. As he walked away attempting to make it to the bathroom his view of the world doubled. It looked as if everyone had a twin. The world around him was spinning and the voices of the people he pushed past sounded muffled and distant. Kenny bumped into people and walls trying to find some type of support to keep him moving forward. As he finally found his way to the bathroom he saw no one inside. Thank god. Using that last bit of energy to push himself forward, he entered the room shutting the door and locking it behind him. But as he turned to approach the sink his legs could no longer hold him up. Falling towards the ground he hit his head on the side of the tub and everything went black.

Coming to, his eyes shot open and he sat upright, a chill running down his spine. But then all the feelings he had lacked laying cold on the floor flooded him at once. His head was pounding just like the distant sound of music playing outside the door. His vision was still blurred and seeing double. His muscles felt like jello and made him feel nervous to stand.

"You done fucked this time, Kenneth." Kenny said to himself as he leaned against the wall next to the toilet

He needed to get home, but there was no way he was getting home in this condition. The thought of standing up, let alone walking, was enough to make him nauseous. He needed help. Pulling his phone from his pocket, the screen lit up brightly causing searing pain to rip through his head. Quickly, turning the brightness down he struggled to type in his password but managed to do it before it locked him out. Tapping into the messages app he looked through the blurry names of the people he talked to who could help. He had his mom, but if he asked her to come get him he would never be able to leave the house again. Lucas, Addison, and Viktoria were definitely all asleep, and even if they weren't, they wouldn't be able to sneak out if they tried. Dean was probably asleep and wouldn't pick up because he's such a deep sleeper, while Bren was probably awake and although he would come to get Kenny there would be a whole lecture on the way home. Of course, the lecture would come from a place of care given that Bren was his best friend, but Kenny already knew his head could not take the talking to. At least not in this condition. Narrowing all that down, he was left with one option. You. With shaky hands, he tapped on your text conversation and tried his best to type out a message. Hitting the send button he watched as the blue bubble of his text popped up on the screen before placing his phone down on the tile floor. Resting his head back on the wall again, he closed his eyes as he tried to keep his head from spinning.

You however were looking at a wall of complex math in front of you in another attempt to figure out how you could use your powers to manipulate space-time. Matter and space-time were intrinsically intertwined so there had to be a way to get your abilities to work like that. There had to be...

Hearing the text chime of your phone from behind you, you looked away from your work for the first time in god knows how long. Seeing the time on your screen you realized it was 2:36 in the morning. Thank god it was a weekend or else you would be screwed in terms of sleep before school. Looking at the text on your screen you saw it was from Kenny. As you read it though, your head cocked to the side a bit confused.

pleade c0me hwre

It only took a few seconds to see that what the intended message was supposed to be was Kenny asking you to go to his location. Opening up the text you tried to figure out what was going on and replied:

Are you okay?

You waited a bit before seeing the bubble with three dots appear in the chat and then a blue message show up.

In bqthroom nedd hekp plz

He was obviously not okay. Looking at the find my friends app you saw his location pinned at a house that definitely wasn't his and you could only assume he was at the party that the Graves twins had been talking to him about. You looked back over at your work. You had been at it for hours, postulating and formulating some kind of theorem to work with. But at this moment faced with the choice of which problem to solve, the choice was simple. You needed to find Kenny now. You didn't even know if the other wanted to be found.

Turning on your heel you walked away from your work and toward the window across the room. Stepping out onto the fire escape you made your way down before hopping on your bike and using your phone to navigate your way to Kenny's location. After about 20 minutes you had made it to the house. Muffled music and the sounds of dozens of voices could be heard outside and only grew louder as you approached the door. Places like this weren't really your scene, but you put your feelings aside to get to your friend. Opening the door, you walked your way through the crowd of people drunkenly dancing and shouting their conversations over the blaring music. Looking around you tried to find where the bathroom would be located and after a bit, you saw a closed door that seemed like it would be one. Walking over you tried the doorknob but finding it locked you decided to just walk through the door. Everyone here was too drunk or high to comprehend or probably even remember you doing so. And there you saw Kenny leaning against the wall by the toilet. Walking over, you crouched in front of him and shook his shoulder a bit. You watched as he opened his eyes and looked confused for a moment before he finally smiled and said,

"Hey (Y/N), you came."

"Yeah, you said you needed help. What happened?" You asked

"I've been having a rough few days and went a little bit overboard." Kenny explained "I couldn't get home myself like this."

"It's gonna be okay. I'll get you home." You reassured before asking "Can you stand?"

Kenny looked at you for a moment before placing his arms on the ground and trying his best to push himself up. For a moment it seemed like he was going to be able to do it but then his arms gave out from beneath him and he slid back to the ground.

"No can do, buckaroo." Kenny groaned back

When he said he went overboard, he really meant it. You had been around Kenny when he was drinking or having a few edibles before but he had never gone off the edge. He knew his limits, which you could admit were high, but nevertheless, he typically stuck to those limits. You didn't like seeing him like this. You were going to figure out what was rough enough to make him forget his limits but first, you needed to get him home safe first.

"Okay, give me your hands." You replied extending your hands out

Nodding his head, Kenny held his hands out. Taking them in your own, you helped Kenny to his feet before throwing one of his arms around your shoulder to help him stand and walk. Once you knew he was stable you made your way toward the bathroom door but as you did Kenny planted his feet in place.

"I can't leave through the crowd." He mentioned

"Why not?" You asked

"I'll look like a quitter." Kenny answered, "It'll mess up my party king reputation."

Now, it was established that you hated the party scene but you weren't going to put your biases in front of your friend's desires. If he felt that it would affect him negatively, you'd find another way. It's not like you needed to walk through the house anyway. Turning to face the blank wall in the bathroom you said,

"This is gonna feel weird just for a second, okay?"

And with that, you walked you and Kenny straight through the wall and to the outside. The night sky above as you quietly made your way over to your bike. And then you realized there was no way you could get Kenny home on your bike in the condition he was in. That's it, next time something like this happens you're just stealing Reginald's fucking car. No license be damned. Looking around you saw a large child's wagon and a jump rope on the next lawn over and you got an idea. Sitting Kenny on the grass, you went over and grabbed the two items to bring next to your bike. Picking Kenny up again, you helped him into the empty wagon. He didn't quite fit as his legs hung out of the wagon but it was better than nothing. Tying one side of the jump rope to the wagon's handle, you tied the other side around your waist. Giving each side a tug, you made sure they stayed in place before getting on your bike and peddling away. As you peddled, you used your powers to make Kenny lighter making it easier to move. And with that, you were well on your way back to his house. The ride was relatively quiet besides Kenny's drunken ramblings from behind you.

"Y'know, I met god in that bathroom." Kenny stated

"Did you now?" You asked intrigued

"I did!" Kenny exclaimed before explaining "They were a little girl on a bike in a dress and floppy sun hat. She told me I wasn't supposed to be there but invited me for tea anyway. We had a good chat and she called me her silly clown creation before telling me that she was going to wake me up because I'm part of her earthly entertainment."

"So heaven is real?" You asked

"It's called The Void and it's just a place after death." Kenny answered

"I see...." You replied unsurely

He sounded very confident but Kenny sounded very confident a lot of the time. On top of it, he was highly intoxicated. And you were the type of person to like empirical evidence. It's not that you couldn't believe it, but you'd rather see it to believe it. Hearing the wariness in your tone however Kenny exclaimed,

"It's true!"

"Okay Kenny, whatever you say," You playfully relented "How about you tell me about that Lego Ninjago show you love so much."

Kenny's ears perked up at the name of his favorite show.

"Oh believe me, I'll fuckin' tell you about Ninjago." Kenny commented

And so for the rest of the ride back to Kenny's place, you listened to him explain the lore of Ninjago, his complaints about the writers adding Cole as a love interest for Nya, and his theories on what he thought would come next. As you pulled up to his house you rode your bike up the sidewalk path to his front door before untying the jump rope around your waist and getting off of the bike. Going round to the wagon you extended your hands out to Kenny and helped him up once more. As he stood he found his own balance without the need for you to support him. A proud smile came to his face as he proclaimed,

"Y'know I think I'm feeling better."

"Really? That's gr-" You began to say

But alas, you were cut off by Kenny leaning over and puking in the bushes in front of his house.

"Gross." You finished

Gently, you rubbed circles on his back as you let him finish emptying his guts into the bush. After he was done, he stood up straight once more and gave you a thumbs-up with a weak smile.

"C'mon buddy let's get you inside." You cooed guiding him toward the door

Letting you guide him, he reached into his pocket and handed you his keys. And when you got up the steps to the front door, you opened it and let both of you inside. Bringing Kenny over to the couch you sat him down before heading off to get some items to help him feel better. shuffling through the cabinets and drawers of the kitchen you find what you're looking for and collect the items. Coming back to Kenny you handed him a glass of half water and half Gatorade, a plate of some saltine crackers, and two ibuprofen pills. Taking the glass, Kenny grabbed the two ibuprofen and took them before grabbing the plate and beginning to pick at the saltines. Sitting down next to him on the couch you looked at him with concern as you questioned,

"So are you gonna tell me what happened?"

"I told you. I went overboard." Kenny answered curtly

"But why?" You pressed

You weren't going to let this go, were you? Granted, he couldn't fully blame you for pressing the issue, since he did call you in the early hours of the morning and you found him on the floor of a party bathroom incredibly unwell. The only person who had ever known about his insomnia and night terrors was Bren though. It was the reason he would've gotten a lecture if he had called Bren for help. While Bren understood the reasons Kenny did what he did, he thought they were destructive. He thought that Kenny would push his boundaries if things got bad and he would spiral. As his best friend, Bren was concerned, and perhaps he was right. If Kenny learned anything tonight it's not to push his boundaries again because the outcome was pretty shitty. Letting out a sigh, he looked up from his plate of saltines to you and explained,

"I've had really bad night terrors and insomnia for most of my life. I have some healthier ways to deal with it like melatonin and a um- specific body pillow to comfort me,"

"Yes, I've seen Klaus before." You interjected

"But they haven't been working and the night terrors were getting worse so I went to the party tonight and drank more than usual, had some shitty weed that was definitely more on the THC side, and made out with the Graves twins a lot to help me forget." Kenny finished

"You realize the Graves twins just use you as an incest buffer right?" You mentioned

"Whatever they do at home is their own business, all I know is they're both hot and are good with their tongues," Kenny remarked

"Didn't need to know that." You replied before adding sincerely "But you needed a distraction. I understand."

Kenny's head cocked to the side confused at your admission. You understood? How?

"You do?" Kenny questioned

"Mhmm. I have night terrors too." You admitted "And the occasional hallucination. Although those are much less frequent than they used to be."

Night terrors? Hallucinations? You never gave off the impression that you dealt with those things. You always seemed so put together. Even with the stuff you had told the group about your life before meeting them you still seemed like you were always on top of everything. How had he not seen it?

"I never knew..." Kenny whispered looking down at his plate of saltines

"I wouldn't expect you to." You explained "Only my mom, older brother Diego and his girlfriend Eudora know."

"I feel like I should've noticed though." Kenny replied still disappointed he never knew

"I hid it pretty well." You replied honestly "Never wanted to worry anyone."

"I'm sorry." Kenny apologized

"Don't be. I should've noticed what you were going through too." You stated

Kenny turned to look towards you. If he had never noticed you were going through these things then maybe you knew how to cope with them better than he did.

"How...how do you get through it in such a healthy manner?" He questioned

"I wouldn't call it healthy," You remarked "Just different than yours."

You were damaging yourself, just in a different way than Kenny was. You constantly were keeping yourself busy and even going so far as to sometimes stay up late until your body literally collapsed from exhaustion so you wouldn't have any time to think about the past. At least not in the way you didn't want to. You looked back towards Kenny, meeting his gaze.

"While you use whiskey and weed I just throw myself into learning. Books and theories and power training constantly so that anytime I'm alone I'm never without thought." You explained "If I distract myself I don't dwell as much and if I don't dwell I don't have nightmares."

"Does it work?" Kenny asked curiously

"Not all the time, but enough to justify doing it still." You answered

It wasn't the answer Kenny was expecting to hear but he understood it. While he numbed his mind to forget his past, you filled your mind to do the same. Kenny coped by making himself incapable of thinking properly about his trauma while you coped by making sure you thought of everything but your trauma. Kenny nodded his head slightly understanding your words.

"Yeah. I get that." Kenny replied trailing off "I get that..."

There was silence for a moment. A heaviness loomed in the air at the admission that both of you were far more broken than you let other people know. Of course, there was a feeling of solidarity but it stemmed from your unspoken sorrow. Kenny was okay with the silence. Honestly, it was nice to not have his head fill it in with the echoes of his parents screaming all those years ago. But looking over at you he could see the way you shifted uncomfortably. You must hate the silence. Trying to change the mood, Kenny put his cracker plate down on the coffee table before turning and laying down, his head now resting in your lap. Gently you stroked his hair, running your fingers through his dark curls. For someone with such a strong personality, you were always so gentle. Looking up at you he joked,

"We've got pretty messed up heads, huh?"

"Yeah," You commented looking down at him "But we have each other now and I think that makes them a little bit better."

You gave him a smile to which Kenny reciprocated with one of his own. But even so, as he tried to bring up the mood, he wondered,

"Why did you come for me?"

"Because you're my friend and you needed help." You responded

He would've accepted that answer outright if he couldn't see that it seemed like you had more to say. Your answer was a response on its own but it felt like you were holding something back.

"And?" He pressed

"And what?" You asked

"There's more. I can sense it." He replied

You let out a sigh. There was more. There was always going to be more because no matter what everything connected back to your life pre-time jump. It would forever influence who you are no matter how far in the past you wanted to put it. But you knew Kenny wasn't going to let this go and at almost 3:30 in the morning you had no reason to lie. Your voice dropped low and you spoke softly as you began,

"Before I lost my parents and had to move to my new house, I had a different group of friends. And I loved them so so much. They were the first friends I had and I did everything I could to have them know how much I cared for them but..."

"But what?"

"But I guess it wasn't enough." You lamented

Your eyes looked off at the wall ahead of you instead of at your friend. Your gaze tuning into a 40-yard stare as you rambled on,

"I thought maybe even though I left they still knew how much I cared and it would be enough to make sure they stayed okay...but that didn't happen. Last I heard, things went bad for all of them. Some came out better than others but none of them are okay and I fear it was my fault for leaving that they turned out the way they did."

"But you couldn't have known what would happen." Kenny tried to comfort

"I know..." You whispered before stating "But knowing what I know now, I swore to myself that if I ever made friends again I was going to make sure that there was never a doubt in their mind how much I loved them."

Kenny knew how much you loved him and the rest of the friend group. You made it known every day through your words and actions. Both explicit and implicit. You were an amazing loving person and none of them could've asked for a better friend.

"If it makes you feel any better I feel very loved right now." Kenny mentioned

"Good. You are." You said softly

"I hope you know that you're loved too." Kenny reminded "I love you. We all love you."

"I love you all too." You replied

There was silence again as you looked at each other. This time however it felt more peaceful. Nevertheless, Kenny didn't want you to get uncomfortable with the silence, especially after discussing something that you probably didn't want to linger on too long. Giving your brain something else to work with, he requested,

"Hey, will you sing that song I like? The one with the funny lyrics. I can't recall the name but the quiet kind of bothers me."

"Of course." You responded

You were happy to sing for your friend. You'd do anything to help make them feel better and loved and singing a song was not a difficult request to do. Gently as you continued to stroke Kenny's hair you softly began to sing,

I was scared of dentists and the dark I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations Oh, all my friends are turning green You're the magician's assistant in their dream

Kenny closed his eyes, a small smile coming to his face as heard you sing while stroking his hair. Taking your free hand in his, he held it close and placed it over his heart.

Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ah-ahh-ah-ah And they come unstuck

Opening his eyes back up, he saw you looking down at him softly and he smiled wide. You were an amazing friend, and after tonight he was never going to let you forget that. Joining you in the chorus together you filled the quiet house with song and the bond of your friendship.

Lady, running down to the riptide Taken away to the dark side I wanna be your left-hand man I love you when you're singing that song And I got a lump in my throat 'Cause you're gonna sing the words wrong

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of (Y/N L/N). Born October 1, 1989 at 12:00 pm to (M/N L/N) with the man who would become your dad, (F/N L/N), present at the birth. Raised in a loving home with parents who would give you the world you had all you could ever need. Your parents did everything they could to make sure you were raised happy, healthy, and with a good and caring heart. They tried their best to help you when your powers developed but that however came with a caveat. Nobody could know.

And for years nobody did until you became too curious about the house you were forbidden to go to across the street. And it was there that you met Five and soon after the entirety of the Umbrella Academy. For a while things were great, you had friends and family and there was nothing wrong in your life. Of course, that was until Five ran away through time, accidentally dragged you with him, and the rest was history.

You knew the story of what happened, you were the one who lived it. The one who was currently living it. But nevertheless, you picked yourself up off the ground, tried to brush away the pain as best you could, and move forward. The last thing you wanted to be was alone. You hated the feeling of being alone and so you started over, filling the spots where others used to be. Not intentionally of course, but it still managed to happen. And through that life got better. You returned to a sense of normalcy in a new fancy home, going to school, with six new friends Lucas, Dean, Addison, Kenny, Bren, and Viktoria. And while you saw all of your friends as family, Dean became like a brother to you. Which was perfect because someone had to take over the brother spot since you had subconsciously filled in the father figure role.

And of course, that unintentional father figure role was filled by none other than your older brother, Diego. He watched over and took care of and loved you just like your dad had! And his lovely girlfriend Eudora filled in perfectly for your mom. The world outside saw you as a happy little family and while you had never said it aloud, you did too.

The three of you did so much together. You took plenty of day trips to do fun activities, you would go out for meals, and you even would spend time at Eudora's house playing games or watching movies or just being all together. And at Eudora's house, you had your own room right across the hall from where she and Diego slept. When you had nightmares of your past they were immediately there to comfort you until you felt better. They would drop you off at school as many days a week as they could and they would always make time to see you perform at your activities. By the time you were fifteen, they were already discussing what colleges to take you to go visit and when you turned 16 they threw you a wonderful sweet sixteen party. You could still remember clearly your "father-daughter" dance you had with Diego and Eudora wiping a few happy tears from her eyes on the sidelines.

They reminded you so much of your parents. So happy. So loving of you and loving of each other. You just knew that you three would always be together and happy. Right? No. The thing was no matter how much you wanted them to be your parents, no matter how much you subconsciously thought of them as that, they weren't your parents.

Granted for a very long time things were good but a little after your sweet sixteen things went downhill. Eudora was getting further into her career and Diego had been kicked from the police academy and refused to stop or slow his vigilante work no matter how many times Eudora asked. And one night that all came to a head, but the one thing they never expected was you finding out that night.

November 4, 2016:

After a long day of school on a Friday, most kids would've headed home when the final bell rang. But you however were not one of them. For you, you had been working with Dean on your history presentation after hours in the library. It was only assigned one day ago and you had a week and a half to finish it but you both decided it was best to trudge through and get it done as soon as possible so you didn't have to worry about it anymore. After about 3 hours of research and work to put it together you finally had your slide presentation done. You had made it a challenge to finish it by the time you did because when you were finally done the school library was going to kick you both out anyway as extended hours were finished and it would be closed for the weekend. Packing up your things the two of you walked outside to the now dark and empty parking lot of your high school. Feeling accomplished and ready to relax Dean turned to you and asked,

"Hey, do you wanna come over to my place? It's the weekend after all. We could play Mario Kart."

You however had other plans.

"Nah, I was planning on surprising my older brother Diego and his girlfriend Eudora at her house since they haven't made plans with me in like 2 weeks." You replied

"You know you don't have to keep reintroducing who they are. I know their names and their relation to you." Dean mentioned, "Also I've met Eudora, just not Diego."

You kept your friends separate from Diego and your mom Grace and relatively separate from Eudora so it sometimes slipped your mind that they already knew their names and relation to you through your mentions of them. Perhaps it was because you weren't ready to explain your past more so you established who they were over and over as a boundary that was not meant to be crossed yet.

"Oh right. Sorry." You mentioned, "And good, you don't need to meet him."

"Pfft, he shouldn't meet me because then he'd see how much better I am than him." Dean jabbed

You smiled as you playfully shoved his head and jokingly replied,

"Shut up, loser."

"Anyway do you want a ride to Eudora's?" Dean asked

"No thanks. I rode my bike to school today, so I'll just ride it there." You said gesturing to the only bike left on the bike rack

Dean knew you were completely capable of riding your bike to Eudora's safely. You were the most indestructible person he knew, but that didn't mean he didn't worry about you getting there still.

"You sure? I can just put it in the trunk of my car, it's pretty dark already." He pressed

"It's nice out right now. I think a bike ride would do me some good" You replied, "And anyway Eudora's is in the opposite direction of your house."

Dean was still a little wary, but he trusted you. You were right that the houses were in opposite directions and if you wanted to go surprise them then riding your bike would be a much better option than having his only semi-familiar car drive up outside a cop's house when it's dark out.

"Alright, well, if you're sure then I hope you have fun."

"Thanks!" You exclaimed

Walking over to your bike you unlocked it from the bike rack, putting the lock in your backpack before gently riding up next to Dean.

"Hey call me when you get there," He requested before adding "And be careful, the weather app says it's gonna downpour sometime in the next hour."

"Yeah yeah sure." You rushed as you began to ride away calling back "See ya, Dean!"

"Call me!" You heard him shout back

You waved him off as you continued to ride away as if to signify your same sentiment of yeah, sure, whatever. The streets were relatively empty with a car passing by here or there, and the fall air was crisp as you rode your way to Eudora's house. Like you had told Dean, it had been two weeks since you saw either Diego or Eudora. It was understandable if they were busy, but both of them typically made an effort to see you at least once a week individually, if not together. It was odd. They had never done this before. But then again, they had adult schedules and lives, and you were a sixteen-year-old who could do pretty much whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. So this situation was okay with you because now you could surprise them! You smiled as you pedaled your bike along the roads taking your time to just enjoy passing homes and the rising of the moon.

And soon enough you could see Eudora's house in the distance. Her and Diego's cars were parked in the driveway and there were lights on behind closed curtains signifying that both were inside. As you pulled your bike up you gently placed it on the ground and pulled out your phone to call Dean. Tapping his contact image and then the call button you let it ring as you walked toward the front door, but as you did so you could hear what sounded like yelling. Getting closer to the door Dean's voice came through the phone,

"Hello?"

You didn't recognize it though as you stayed silent trying to hear if the yelling was truly coming from the house. Getting even closer to the door you could hear loudly hear the shouting of two familiar voices. Through the phone, Dean became more worried as he didn't get any response from you and could also hear shouting although it was muffled for him.

"(Y/N)? Are you there? Are you okay?" He asked concerned

But instead of getting a response the call ended. You had inadvertently ended the call as your hand fiddled to force your phone down into an undersized pocket on your jeans. Damn women's pocket sizes. Trying to find out what the shouting was about you turned yourself invisible and quietly phased through the front door, only to be met with a shocking sight. The living room was a complete mess as it seemed police files were scattered all over the floor. Diego and Eudora stood by opposite sides of the couch their faces filled with an emotion you had never seen before.

Anger.

"I'm trying to make the world a safer place!" Diego shouted

"No, you're trying to relieve your glory days and play hero because you don't know what else to do." Eudora yelled back "If you really wanted the world to be a safer place you would let the police department do its work."

"We both know that the police department isn't making those changes fast enough." Diego retorted "I'm stopping the problem at the source!"

"You're being reckless and disregarding the law." Eudora remarked, "What kind of example are you trying to set for (Y/N)?"

Oh no. They were arguing. You had never seen them argue before. Perhaps a playful banter but this wasn't that. This was serious. And to make matters worse it seemed to be that they were arguing about you. At least in some capacity. Quietly, you took a few steps closer.

"One in which she recognizes that if given the opportunity to make a change to do what's right, she should," Diego responded firmly, his arms crossed over his chest

"She is not like you, Diego!" Eudora snapped as she took a step toward him "Just because she has powers does not mean she should be inclined to save the world or whatever. I'm trying to raise a law-abiding citizen who can make positive changes in her own way. Not your way."

"I don't know what you're talking about! We both want the same thing!" Diego jabbed

Your bottom lip started to quiver and it felt like your heart was breaking in your chest. You knew it was. You had felt it break like this before, almost three years ago. Why? Why would they be yelling at each other? You had never seen two people who were supposed to be in love argue like this. Argue with so much anger and vile in their voices. Is this why they had been avoiding you these past two weeks? Because they were fighting so much? Your heart began to clench in your chest as tears formed in your eyes. And as much as you wanted to you couldn't look away from the situation.

"No Diego, we don't." Eudora scoffed "The hero schtick was charming at first but we're adults now. You need to grow up."

"I am grown! I make my own decisions and I'm tired of you telling me what you think I should do!" Diego spat before jabbing "Constant criticism isn't attractive."

"Neither is breaking the law! Or unnecessarily putting yourself in risky situations! OR NOT LISTENING TO YOUR PARTNER'S FEELINGS!" Eudora exclaimed

"This is who I am and if you don't like it then maybe I should just go!" Diego yelled stepping closer to Eudora

"Maybe you should!" Eudora retorted getting in his face

"No." You said quietly

After you realized what you had done you placed your hand over your mouth, not only as a reaction to you accidentally speaking but to hide the cries that you could feel forming in your throat. You could feel the way it tightened and clenched as you tried to hide any more sounds of the surmounting sorrow you felt. However, your one sad little no was enough for Diego to snap his head in your direction.

"Did you hear that?" Diego questioned more quietly

He looked at the area of the room where you stood. You knew he couldn't see you. You were invisible, but the look on his face made you think that maybe he knew you were there. His expression softened just enough for you to notice it and it almost seemed as if he was going to walk toward you. And for a moment, you wanted him to. You wanted him to find you, to realize that you had been there the whole time, and perhaps the two of them would tell you that they were alright. That it was just a one-off argument and they hadn't been hiding this from you for a while. But that one moment was short lived as Eudora remarked sarcastically,

"Oh, what? Is that the sound of another mission for you to leave me to go on?"

And so you watched as Diego's face contorted back into anger. His gaze whipped back toward her as he complained,

"You know what? I don't fucking need this and I don't need you."

"Fine by me!" Eudora shouted as she pointed to the door "Get your shit and leave my house."

"It'll be my pleasure." Diego sneered getting in her face before storming off upstairs

And there it was. The complete and utter heartbreak as you realized that this was the nail in the coffin. Just as you thought life was truly getting better it came back to slap you in the face again. Your hand pressed against your mouth harder as a few tears began to roll down your face. Maybe you were never meant to be happy...

Carefully you walked backward and phased yourself back out the front door before taking off toward your bike at the front of the drive. Hopping on your bike you immediately sped off. For a moment it sounded like you could hear the shouts of your name echoing in the distance but you couldn't dare turn back. It was too late. It hurt too much. The night was dark as storm clouds had gathered in the sky blocking out the moon and the air that felt crisp earlier now chilled you to your bones. Rain began to fall from the dark clouds above but you didn't stop pedaling. You had no clue where you were going. You had no direction. You just kept riding as far as you could away from the pain.

But it was unavoidable. It lived inside you. Your pain was like a cancer. One that you thought you had fought, but the truth was that it sat benign for years only to become malignant out of nowhere and taking over your being once more. Your scars from the heartbreak of being pulled to this time were carved open with the sharp pain of this new discovery. And just like that, all that you had built up came tumbling down. Tears spilled from your eyes as the rain picked up. The dark sky opening into a downpour drenching your clothes completely. The raindrops fell at a furious pace just like the tears from your eyes, both of them blurring your vision ahead. For a moment you lifted up your soaking-wet sleeve and wiped your eyes in an attempt to clear some of your vision but as you looked back up you saw the bright flash of oncoming headlights.

Quickly swerving out of the way your front wheel hit the street curb sending you flying forward off your bike. The left side of your face scraping roughly against the concrete sidewalk. Your body ached from the impact almost as much as your heart did from what you saw. Rolling onto your back you stared up at the dark sky as the rain beat down on you. Your head raced with all that you had suffered, all the pain and trauma you had endured in such a short time.

And you screamed.

You screamed into the void of the night, a harrowing sound of heartbreak cutting through the downpour. There was nothing you could do. Nothing you could say, that would stop this pain. You were forced to feel it no matter how it tore you apart and broke you down. And all you could do with it was scream. Scream the pain into the world just as the world had forced tragedy onto you. And when you could no longer scream, when your lungs ran out of breath, you just laid there on the sidewalk letting the rain fall down on you as you cried, wondering what you had done to deserve this. Closing your eyes you drowned out the world around you as you wondered if you could just sink into the earth and hide away from it all. But then you heard a voice shout,

"(Y/N)!"

Opening your eyes, you sat up and looked toward where the voice came from. And there you saw your brother standing there. He stood behind his open driver's side door, an umbrella in his hands as his eyes looked at you worriedly.

"Dean...?" You called weakly

Hearing you call back his name, he immediately stepped out from behind his car door, slamming it shut as he raced over to you. Still standing he held the large umbrella over you two as he got a better look at the condition you were in. Your clothes were fully soaked by the rain as blood ran down your face from the scrape you had gotten. And even though the only light was that of his headlights it was obvious your eyes were red and puffy from crying. Dropping to his knees to be at eye level with you he questioned panicked,

"Oh my god (Y/N), what happened to you? You hung up abruptly and I got worried. What happened?"

Tears began to well in your eyes once more as the events of earlier began to replay in your mind. You tried to speak but it felt like the words were stuck in your throat. You pushed yourself to speak, your voice wavering as you stuttered out,

"Th-they were screaming and fighting- an-an-and-"

But then you stopped. The words caught in your throat once more as you began to get choked up. They were so angry at each other. Their words were so full of malice. Every jab they threw at each other was another jab to your heart. And as much as you tried to keep it together, which was barely, you couldn't. You fell apart. Your body shook both from the chill of the rain that had fallen on you and from the strength of your emotion.

"Screw the umbrella." Dean said letting go of it before wrapping his arms around you "Come here."

Dean held you close as tears spilled from your eyes and you cried once more. Your sobs muffled as you buried your head into his shoulder. Dean held you tightly as he stroked your wet hair. He didn't even care that it was raining. All he cared about was figuring out what happened and what he could do to help.

"Hey it's okay, I'm here now. I'm here." He cooed

"They broke up, Dean. Diego and Eudora broke up." You choked out "I watched it happen."

Oh no. That's why they must have been avoiding you for so long. Because they didn't want you to see them fight...

"Oh, (Y/N) I'm sorry." Dean apologized

He had nothing to apologize for though. He had done nothing wrong. In all honestly, he was the only one doing something right currently. You didn't know why things always ended so fucked up for you when you least expected it. Things like this always ended taking you by surprise. You hated it. You hated it beyond belief. It was so overwhelmingly infuriating that you were stuck in this shitty cycle of loss and heartbreak. Pulling back from Dean you angrily shouted,

"It's not fair! Everything I love I lose!"

But just as quick as the wave of energy that caused your anger came on, it went away just as fast. Your shoulders slumped and you looked down at the sidewalk as you quietly repeated defeated,

"Everything I love I lose..."

"Hey look at me." Dean softly called, gently taking your face in his hands

As he tilted your head to look up towards him you could see the concern but also care in his eyes. You didn't know why he was here with you, getting completely drenched by the rain, but you appreciated his presence.

"Remember what you told me?" He quietly reminded "When you have no other family, you will always have me. Always."

You didn't know what to say, so you didn't say anything. All you did was lean back into your brother again and held him tightly as if the world was going to take him away from you too. Dean held you once more, his hand rubbing your back as he rested his head on top of yours and comforted,

"You're not alone. I'm going to take care of you."

After a quick moment, Dean stood up taking your hand to help you stand as well and although it didn't really matter at this point he held picked up the umbrella and held it over the two of you. Walking you towards the passenger side of his car he opened the door saying,

"C'mon let's get you out of the rain. I don't want you getting sick."

Sliding into the passenger seat Dean closed the door after you before heading back to grab your bike and put it in his trunk. Closing the trunk he closed his umbrella and threw it into the backset before getting in the driver's seat and turning on the car. He turned the heating on to keep you both warm as he turned around and drove the two of you back to his house. The ride was quiet. You weren't in a mood to talk and Dean wasn't going to force you to either, but at least you had stopped crying for now. As you got back to the house Dean parked his car in the garage before getting out and heading over to the passenger side to get you. The two of you walked together toward the door inside the garage that led inside the home. Taking your shoes off first, you entered the door that led into the laundry room, Dean closing it behind you. And right as Dean finished shutting the door, you could hear his mom call from inside the house,

"Decano? Has vuelto?"

"Sí, Mamá," Dean called back "(Y/N) también está conmigo."

"Oh (Y/N)!" She exclaimed

You saw as his mom rounded the corner into the laundry room, an excited smile on her face until her eyes landed on you. Her smile turned to an expression of shock as she quickly made her way over taking your face in her hands and turning your head side to side to look at you.

"Ay, dios mío! What happened?" She questioned

"Lo siento aparecer aquí en tan malas condiciones." You apologized before explaining "I was riding my bike over here and it started to rain. I couldn't see and hit the curb causing me to fall and scrape my face."

"Oh don't apologize mija. I'm just glad you're safe." She cooed

"Mamá, can (Y/N) stay the night?" Dean asked

"Stay the night? She can move in if she wants. We'll give her Antonio's room in the basement." Dean's mom responded before mumbling under her breath "...entonces tal vez finalmente le proponga matrimonio a su novia y se mude..."

You watched as Dean's mom turned to grab a towel from a stack of them before turning back and handing it to you.

"Here mija, take this towel and go take a hot shower since you must be cold from the rain. Dean will grab you some fresh clothes and can help with your cuts when you're done." She explained gently "And I'll make some hot food for you to have."

"Gracias Señora Hernandez." You thanked

"Te lo dije, llámame Liliana," She replied with a smile before walking out of the room presumably to the kitchen

"I told you my parents like you more than me and my brothers." Dean mentioned "If any of us came home in this condition solo we'd get hit with the chancla for sure."

"I'm surprised you didn't realize that when they asked to throw me a quinceañera last year because they had no daughters." You commented back

"No, I did. I'm just glad you convinced them to make it a joint party for us." He replied "The look of envy on Tony's face as we got a huge celebration and he didn't warmed my second-son heart."

"You're welcome for that by the way." You remarked

"Whatever man," He dismissed before recalling the task his mom set him to "I'll go find you some dry clothes, okay?"

"Okay..."  You responded "I'll go take a shower. Just leave whatever clothes you get outside the door."

With a quick nod of your head, you walked out of the laundry room and down the hall toward the bathroom. Turning on the hot water to the shower you stripped off your drenched clothing and got in. The heat of the water helped to warm you up and remove the chill you felt in your bones from the cold rain but it also stung the scrape on your face. You didn't mind it though. Honestly, the physical pain of the scrape helped to numb the emotional pain of the night a bit. It provided a distraction even if it necessarily didn't feel good. You had no clue how long you stayed standing there but when you felt the hot water start to become lukewarm you realized that it was probably time to get out. Turning off the water you grabbed your towel and dried off, wrapping it around you once you finished. Opening the door just slightly you saw a plastic shopping bag hanging on the door handle with clothes inside. Grabbing the bag, you closed the door once more as you used your abilities to dry your undergarments and put them on before changing into the baggy t-shirt and gym shorts that Dean had provided you. Hanging your towel up on the rack next to the shower you went and opened the door to the bathroom. Stepping out, you saw Dean walking down the hall from his room in your direction also wearing some new dry clothes. Catching sight of you, he came up and asked,

"Hey, how you feeling?"

You shrugged your shoulders. You weren't sure yet how you felt.

"Understandable." He replied adding "I hope the clothes are okay. I know they're probably still kinda loose but since you're smaller than I am, I tried to find stuff that I'll probably outgrow soon that would fit you better."

"No they're great, they're comfy. Thank you." You reassured

"Oh good." Dean replied

Dean then again recognized the cut on the left side of your face. Fortunately, it had stopped bleeding but it could get infected if it stayed uncovered and untreated like it currently was.

"Here uh- let me help you with that." Dean said gesturing back into the bathroom

With a nod of your head, you stepped back in and sat on the sink counter as Dean looked underneath the sink for the tiny first aid kit his family had. Finding it, he stood back up and placed it on the side of the counter away from you pulling out some antibiotic ointment and a very large bandaid. Placing some of the ointment on his pointer finger, Dean gently spread it over your cut making sure to get it evenly spread across your forehead and upper cheek on the left side of your face. When he felt he had done a thorough job he placed the tube of ointment back in the kit as he washed of his hand.

"That's gonna be a nasty scar, huh?" Dean commented

You looked behind you in the mirror as you saw the large abrasion that ran across the upper left side of your face. It was pretty bad, but you weren't one to scar. Any time you got hurt, the signs of an injury would disappear faster than most people's would. At least it did so for minor ones.

"Don't worry it'll be gone by morning. Like it never even happened." You replied quietly

Dean looked down at the first aid kit as he brought out the large bandaid he found. Gently he questioned,

"And the internal scars? What about them?"

"I don't know..." You murmured "I still haven't figured that out from the last time something this upsetting happened."

Turning back towards you, Dean tilted your face toward him so that he could get a better view of your cut. Opening the bandaid, he took the protective backing off revealing the adhesive part. Carefully, he brought it up to your face and placed it over your injury making sure to avoid getting adhesive on any of the scratched parts. After taking a moment to look his work over, his focused his gaze on you as he replied,

"That's alright. We'll figure it out together."

"Promise me." You said sticking out your pinky finger for a pinky promise

Wrapping his pinky around yours he gave a gentle shake as he promised,

"I swear."

"Okay." You spoke, the slightest hint of a smile on your face

"You hungry?" Dean asked as he put the first aid kit away under the sink

"Yeah." You answered

"Good. My mom made you a whole pot of soup." Dean stated

Giving him a nod you hopped off the sink counter as you walked out of the bathroom and to the kitchen, with Dean following closely behind. The two of you sat down as Dean's mom served you a bowl of fresh made pozole before then giving a bowl to her son. You ate your soup quietly only really talking when you asked Liliana for a second and then third bowl of soup. You didn't realize how hungry you were until you had started eating. But of course Dean's mom didn't mind and was in fact delighted that you wanted to have more than one serving. As you finished your third bowl, you got up from the table and walked over to place the bowl in the sink. Turning toward Liliana you asked,

"Would you like me to help wash the dishes?"

"Oh (Y/N), that's not necessary. Dean will do them, you should rest." She responded

"Are you sure? I don't mind helping him." You replied "I mean it's the least I could do to thank you for the food you made."

"You are so thoughtful, but it seems you've had a rough night and you are a guest. I'll get Matías to help him." Liliana explained before shouting "MATÍAS VEN A LIMPIAR LOS PLATOS AHORA."

You watched as Dean's younger brother ran into the kitchen, a frantic look on his face before stopping as he noticed you.

"Oh. Hi (Y/N)." He said

"Hey Matt." You replied

"What happened to your face?" He asked confused

"I fell off my bike and cut it up." You answered

"Aren't you a little old to be falling off a bike?" He asked condescendingly

Jeez. It was pretty harsh to hear that from a 10-year-old after the day you just had. But just as quick as it hurt, you immediately felt better as Dean's mom smacked the back of his head.

"No seas grosero!" Liliana chastised "Ve a limpiar con tu hermano."

You smirked as Matt walked past you grumbling under his breath before helping Dean with the dishes. Sitting in the living room you waited for Dean to be done with the dishes but as you rested on the couch you could feel yourself growing a bit tired. Once Dean was done with his chore he came to find you and the two of you walked down the hall to his bedroom, shutting the door behind you. As you looked at the room you saw a sleeping bag rolled out on the floor next to the bed. Turning to look at you Dean said,

"You can stay in my bed, I'll take the floor."

You were about to nod your head but then something in you just felt the need to check the bed more thoroughly. And instantly you regretted it. Granted, you were happy to now have this information due to your powers but you were also grossed out that there were...bodily fluids...in the sheets. You weren't surprised, he was a teen boy and teen boys tend to jerk off occasionally. But your lack of surprise did not mean you wanted to stay in that.

"Um- I don't want to take your bed from you." You politely declined "I can sleep on the floor."

"No, you should have a comfortable place to rest after tonight and anyway my mom would kill me if she found out I let you sleep on the floor." Dean insisted

"I've slept on a floor before, it's totally fine." You tried to persuade

"No absolutely not." Dean rejected "The bed is yours."

This was not good. He was not letting up and you worried about what to do now. Your mind raced with various thoughts about what to do in this situation because you had never been in this predicament before.

Oh god. How do I insinuate that I know he's jacked off in his bed and that his sheets are gross? 

Dean's head snapped toward you. You didn't speak...but he somehow still heard you. He thought for a moment that perhaps he was losing it from the stress of worrying about you but then he could hear your voice in his head speak once more.

Do I just keep denying sleeping in the bed until he caves? Can I somehow make UV light and not give him radiation poisoning by being so close?

You watched as Dean walked past you back to his bedroom door. Stopping at it he looked back toward you as he stated,

"I'll get new sheets."

Your eyes went wide as you began to question,

"How the fuck-"

I don't know you tell me.

Taking a step back your eyes went wide just as Dean's had done a moment ago. Did you just hear his thoughts? Could he hear yours? You knew the two fo you were close, but what the fuck.

"Oh- oh that's fucking weird." You retorted "We are NOT dealing with that tonight."

"Whatever you say, but I think it's cool." Dean replied before leaving his room

It only took a few moments for Dean to return with a new set of sheets, stripping the old ones and putting the new ones on. As he walked out of the room once more to bring his old sheets to the laundry room, you sat down on the newly made bed and looked out the window. The rain still in a torrential downpour. The door to Dean's room opened and closed once more as he made his way over and sat on the bed next to you.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Dean asked

"I don't know..." You responded, your eyes still trained on the rain outside

"That's okay," Dean responded "I'll be here either way."

There was a moment of silence between you two. Neither saying a word, just existing side by side. But after a bit, there was something you wanted to express. It wasn't specifically about what happened but you felt you needed to tell someone.

"It just feels like every time things are going well something goes wrong, and it always feels like my fault..." You sighed "Maybe I'm just a rain cloud on my own life..."

"Well if you're a rain cloud then I must be a thunderstorm because to me you're a ray of sunshine." Dean mentioned

"You think so?" You inquired

"I know so." Dean responded "My life was never as bright as it's been since you came into it."

You looked away from the rain and toward Dean, the corners of your mouth lifting up briefly into a small smile before falling back into a neutral position. It might not have been much, but it was a start. Leaning over you rested your head on Dean's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around you and rested his head on top of yours. You both stayed quiet for a moment, but then you could hear as Dean quietly sang,

Eres mi sol Mi único sol Me haces feliz Cuando el cielo esta gris Nunca sabrás, querida Cuanto te quiero Por favor no me quites mi sol

As he finished his song he turned his head only slightly to kiss the top of yours. There wasn't much he could do to change what had happened but as long as you knew he was there for you and he loved you he felt that was enough for now. You were his sister, his favorite sibling, his closest family and if he could help it, he would never let you suffer alone.

"Thanks Dean." You whispered

"It's been a long night, how about you get some rest?" Dean suggested

You nodded your head before pulling away from Dean as he also let you go. Dean slid from the bed onto the floor and climbed into the sleeping bag he set out as you got yourself comfortable in the bed. Turning off the lamp on his nightstand you both lay there in the dark as the rain poured outside but after a few minutes, you rolled over to look down toward your brother on the floor.

"Dean?" You called quietly

"Yeah?" He replied

"Will you hold my hand?" You asked

"Of course."

Sliding one arm off the bed you reached down toward Dean as he took your hand in his own. It felt comforting to know someone was there and you always slept easier knowing someone was nearby. As the waves of tiredness began to wash over you and your eyes began to get heavy you mumbled one more request,

"Please don't ever leave me."

Holding your hand just a little tighter, Dean looked up at you and quietly replied,

"I wouldn't even dream of it."

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Brendon Mal-Chin Young. Born March 14, 2001 at 7:51 pm to Alistair and Adeline Young, Brendon would be the only child that the Youngs ever had. He was the only child they would ever expect they would need. But things didn't turn out quite how they wanted. When Bren was born, it was in the middle of his parents setting up their consulting business and therefore he got just enough of his parents' care for him to survive, but not enough to nurture him. And when he became a toddler that needed more supervision, he was placed in the care of his next-door neighbor Clarissa Wagner who was so happy to give her son Kenneth a friend to play with. Especially since they were only about two weeks apart in age. The two boys became inseparable and the Wagners became more like family to Brendon than his own parents did.

This would go on for years until his parents' business was settled enough that they were comfortable being home more often, but by that point, Bren had already formed his connections and bonds. There was a strong disconnect between him and his parents as when it really mattered most they weren't around and now the people he cared about most were Kenny, Kenny's mom, and Ben Hargreeves of the Umbrella Academy.

Bren was introduced to Ben Hargreeves as Kenny was discussing how cool he thought Klaus from the Umbrella Academy was. And together when they would hang out, Clarissa would read all the comic books to the boys and would even make sure to pick up two copies when new ones came out so that Bren could take on home. Bren admired Ben because he was like him. He looked like him and even though he was kind of in the background of his family he still had people who noticed him.

Ben was his hero.

But then tragedy struck. When Bren was just about to be six years old the Jennifer Incident occurred and Ben Hargreeves tragically died. It was unexpected and it absolutely shattered Bren. His hero was gone. No, no. He couldn't let that happen. Ben couldn't just be gone. Ben was like him and he was like Ben so Ben needed to be remembered. He didn't want to be forgotten, he didn't want his existence to be left behind by the people around him. And this incident put more space between him and his parents at a young age. They didn't understand why he was so despondent all of a sudden but never sought a solution.

And as he grew up his parents seemed to forget him more and more as they sunk themselves into their work because Bren wasn't turning out the way they wanted him to be. It was not that he wasn't successful, he was just successful in the wrong way. He played an instrument but it was the guitar. He was excellent in his English courses and was a stellar writer but he mainly put those skills into solitary reading or writing lyrics for songs. He had a physical activity that he was great at but it was focused on using two whips for some reason. It never made sense to them.

It hurt that his parents put him so low in their priorities. He wanted someone to remember him and love him as he was. Granted, he had his friends and of course, they loved and remembered him, but he wanted more. And when he was seventeen, that love would walk into his life in the form of Juniper Lee. But unfortunately, Juniper was not the miracle he was hoping for and the tragedy of that would hit him hard.

August 12, 2018:

Around two weeks ago, Bren announced he had gotten a girlfriend. Your group of friends was incredibly surprised by this fact since he had never even talked about liking anyone prior but nevertheless, you were all happy.

Well almost...

You did not like Bren's new girlfriend Juniper. Juniper was a recent transfer from Argyle Academy, the fancy K-12 private school in the city. The fancy private school that you would've continued to attend had Five not pulled you to the future. The fancy private school that you knew was filled with rich assholes who, one, bullied you in your youth, and two did not care about anyone but themselves. The fancy private school that had a strict honor code and a "one strike and you're out" policy. Already you knew this girl was bad news. But your opinion grew worse as you spent time around her.

She was in the English class you shared with Bren and Kenny, and she began sitting at your table at lunch. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but you tried to be cordial with her so you could be supportive of your friend. Juniper however exuded red flags. She was very controlling of Bren even if she tried to portray it as being playful. She never compromised with him even on little things. She was very critical of your friend group, but especially you since your cordiality didn't hide your disdain. And you had a strong assumption from the way you could feel her heart race with your powers that she was lying. A lot.

But on top of it, you could see how she was changing Bren, for the worse. He would brush off plans with your friend group to go be with her. He was becoming more critical of you all just like she was. But the biggest thing was he was becoming a real dickhead. Sure he could be a jerk sometimes, just like everyone can, but this wasn't that. He was acting out of character being super pretentious and all high and mighty for no reason. It was like she was completely changing who he fundamentally was.

And you despised her for all of that. You had a terrible feeling in your gut about her, but for Bren's sake, no matter how much you hated her or how he was acting, you kept your mouth shut. That was until you had ridden your bike to the local shopping center to pick up some new running shoes when you saw Juniper, Bren's girlfriend, making out with a guy in an Argyle Academy uniform.

The AUDACITY of that bitch.

You saw red as you pulled out your phone and took a photo of her before turning your bike around and riding like the wind to Bren's house. Enraged adrenaline pumped through your veins as you dropped your bike on his lawn and flashed into his room. Materializing in front of him, Bren looked shocked for a moment, and taking in your upset demeanor he questioned,

"Are you okay?"

"I need to show you something." You stated firmly

Pulling out your phone, you pulled up the picture from your camera roll before turning your phone towards him and showing him the image. Bren took the phone from your hand, examining the screen for a moment before looking up at you and asking confused,

"What am I looking at?"

"That's YOUR GIRLFRIEND making out with SOMEONE ELSE." You emphasized

"How can you be sure?" Bren questioned, "That picture is far away and it doesn't really look like her to me."

"Are you fucking insane?" You blurted him in disbelief

He had to be joking right? That was obviously her. It was clearly, unequivocally, 100% her. And he didn't believe it was?

"What?" Bren asked confused

"I have photographic evidence that your manipulative bitch of a girlfriend is cheating on you and you don't believe it?" You ranted pointing at your phone "It's right there!"

"Hey, you don't get to fucking talk about her like that!" Bren yelled

You honestly wanted to start laughing you were in so much disbelief. This was crazy. You felt like you were being pranked. Was he really this blind or was he being willfully ignorant? Either way, it was fucking stupid.

"Wake the fuck up, Bren! She doesn't love you!" You exclaimed "She. Is. Using. You!"

Anger welled up within Bren as he heard you hurl insults and accusations at his girlfriend. What did you know? You weren't part of their relationship. They were happy. They were in love. They were a power couple as Juniper liked to call the two of them. You just didn't get it.

"You know what, I'm starting to think Juniper was right about you." Bren snapped

"Oh yeah? And what did she say, huh?" You taunted sarcastically

"She said that you were jealous." Bren stated matter-of-factly

"Jealous?" You repeated with a shocked laugh "Jealous of what?"

"You and I were the last two people in the group to never had been on a date but now that I have Junie you're the last one and you're jealous of me being in love." Bren explained, his tone obviously demeaning toward you

Were you the last one to never have been on a date in your group now? Yes. But you had your reasons and you were fine with that. However, you were not fine with Bren, someone who is supposed to be your friend, demeaning you for your choices. You were not jealous of his relationship in the slightest because you would never get in a relationship with a lying, manipulative, cheater.

"I'm not jealous of you in the slightest." You remarked flatly

"And there you go denying it." Bren spouted "You've hated my relationship since the start because now you realize how alone you are! But that's not my responsibility and it's not my fault you've never loved anyone-"

Before he could fully finish his rant the sound of a smack resonated throughout the room. One of your hands was held up, frozen in place as the other held tightly around your locket. As Bren held his one cheek with his hand he turned to look at you. Shock and anger on his face as he questioned,

"Did you just fucking slap me?"

Tears pricked at your eyes and your voice trembled as you spat back,

"Fuck you, Brendon. I wish-"

You paused. Standing up straight Bren removed his hand from his cheek. Stepping toward you, he stared you down, his face getting in your own.

"What?" Bren asked, his voice low "What do you wish, (Y/N)?"

"I wish I never met you." You answered

Bren pulled his face back from yours and for the first time, throughout this whole argument, his expression contorted from anger into hurt. But it only lasted a moment as his anger returned and doubled. All of this just because you don't like his girlfriend. You were ridiculous and needed to get a grip on reality. You were lying to yourself. Just like Juniper said, you were jealous and you were wrong.

"Get out of my house and leave my relationship alone!" Bren shouted

At this point, you had resigned though. Your heart hurt from Bren's words about never loving anyone as your heartbreak over the only boy you ever loved washed over you again. The tragedy of letting him go and losing him to time still pained you to this day and you weren't going to deal with someone who obviously didn't care about hurting you. You stared at him blankly as you bluntly replied,

"Goodbye, Brendon,"

And with that, you flashed out of his room, picked up your bike, and rode back home with no new running shoes, one less friend, and a re-broken heart.

September 3, 2018:

It had been three weeks since your argument with Bren and things had noticeably changed. Besides English class, where it was impossible to do so, you actively avoided Bren. If he wanted you to stay out of his relationship you would make it easier and stay out of his life altogether. The rest of your friends noticed this change the day you started doing it and asked for an explanation. You showed them the picture, explained what happened, and told them that you did not want them to feel like they had to pick sides, and they were free to still be around him, just that you would not.

Of course, after explaining that, Dean immediately picked a side. Yours. You being his sister apparently mattered more than Bren being his friend. Nevertheless, if he wanted to stop talking to Bren that was his decision but you weren't making any of your friends choose. Which of course left the rest of them in an uncomfortable position. They saw the photo and were on your side, but if they just emotionally cut ties like Dean did it would only push Bren closer to Juniper. And so the rest of them continued to be awkwardly cordial with Juniper and try to still be normal around Bren in an attempt that he would hopefully come to his senses. But the confused tension was palpable.

Bren of course noticed the changes too. Most of the friend group was still around and talking to him, but any time Juniper was around they got weird. And if he ever showed up when a conversation where you were a topic was happening, the group immediately stopped and switched gears. Then of course there was Dean who Bren obviously knew was making a point to show he was mad and ignoring him. But the biggest change was you. You were never around anymore except for in English class where you didn't talk or look at him. You used to talk to each other all the time. English class was the time when you would jot down potential song lyrics into the margins of each other's notebooks that you could use for your band. Now the margins were empty. Lunch was when you would all be together with the group chilling before classes started again, but now you sat in the library for lunch with Dean. You didn't read any of the few messages he had sent you since your argument. Granted, none of them were apologies but he didn't need to apologize. Even so, it was as if he didn't even exist to you. As if he as a ghost in your life. When you said goodbye, he didn't think at the time that you would mean it.

But that was the way things were, and you settled into this routine over the three weeks. But as you were biking to the shopping center before it closed at 7, to finally go purchase new running shoes you got a phone call from Kenny. Braking, you pulled your bike over to the side as you picked up the phone.

"Hello?" You spoke

"(Y/N)?" Kenny replied, "I need you to do me a huge favor."

"Yeah, what do you need?" You asked

"I know you probably aren't going to want to do so but I need you to go to Bren's house," Kenny begged on the other side of the line

"Why?" You questioned annoyed

"Because you were right and he's upset." Kenny explained "He had gone over to Juniper's house and caught her in the act with some other guy. He called me heartbroken but I'm at work and can't go be with him."

"But why me?" You pressed "I mean Lucas is a ray of sunshine and positivity and Addison is the one who's good at manipulating people's psyches."

"Because you're the only other person besides me he'll listen to," Kenny replied "And I know you love your friends more than anything."

Damn it. You hated it, but you knew he was right.

"Fine," You sighed "I'll go."

"Thank you." Kenny expressed relieved

Hanging up the phone you let out a sigh as you once again were not going to get your running shoes. Getting back on your bike you turned around and after one quick stop along the way you made it to Bren's house. Laying your bike on the grass, you could see that the house looked empty. His parents' car was gone and the lights were off. Taking a deep breath you walked up to the door and into the house before making your way upstairs toward his room. As you approached his door you could hear the sounds of muffled crying.

Phasing through the door you could see him sitting on the edge of his bed, his face in his hands. Gently, you walked over towards him, but as Bren heard footsteps he looked up expecting to see Kenny, but instead finding you there. His eyes were red and puffy and his face was obviously wet from tears. His eyes narrowed at you as he snapped,

"What are you doing here?"

You knew he was upset, and there was a strong chance he was redirecting his pain toward you because one, he didn't know where to put it and you were the closest, and two, you did warn him three weeks ago about this. But no matter what he said, you knew he was hurting and you weren't going to let him be alone anymore. Walking to stand in front of him you looked down at him with a soft expression as you answered quietly,

"Kenny called. He told me what happened."

Of course, he did. When Bren had called him and Kenny said help would be over soon, he thought it was going to be him. Not you. Why did you even show up anyway? Probably to rub it in his face that you were right. Standing up he looked at you angrily, although his eyes were still filled with pain as he shouted,

"Well go on then, say it!"

You didn't respond. You didn't know what to say and instead, you just looked up at him with a sad, soft expression. Your lack of response, however, didn't ease him as he tried to get you to say what you came to say.

"Say it (Y/N)! Say I told you so!" Bren shouted once more, his voice breaking "Tell me that you were right and I was wrong and stupid!"

But you didn't respond to that either. You weren't here to berate him or shame him. You were here to try and help him begin to work through this pain. Quietly, you stepped forward and wrapped your arms around Bren, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry." You whispered, "For everything."

Bren froze for a moment as you held him. He was expecting you to brag and taunt him about how you had warned him of this and he didn't listen, but instead, you apologized. You apologized for all that had occurred. You were sorry for fighting with him, you were sorry for not talking to him and you were sorry for what had happened to him today. And with that, all the anger that Bren was trying to feel and push onto you went away as he could feel the pain of this situation return. His chest clenched and his knees grew weak and began to shake. His legs gave out beneath him bringing the two of you to kneel on the floor. Gripping onto your jacket tightly, balling the fabric in his hands, he rested his head on your shoulder as he began to sob. He gasped for air between his painful cries as the memory of what happened played in his head over and over again.

Gently, you ran your fingers through the back of his hair trying your best to comfort him as he processed what happened. You quietly stayed there with him and let him cry as long as he needed because what else could either of you do?

"I got you. It's going to be okay, I'm here." You reminded

As his sobs turned into sniffles, Bren lifted his head from your shoulder and looked at you as he quietly asked,

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend, and I'm not going to let you suffer alone." You answered sincerely

"Why did you ignore me then?" He questioned

"You told me to leave your relationship alone." You explained, "I was never going to be supportive of her so I thought it was best for me not to be around at all."

Bren nodded his head before slowly letting go of you and sitting on the floor leaning against his bed. He took slow deep breaths after crying so long and his pulse began to steady. And as you quietly sat next to him he leaned and rested his head on your shoulder. You had apologized to him, and he knew that he had to apologize back to you. The things he said were wrong and you deserved to know so.

"I'm sorry for what I said." Bren apologized "It was wrong of me to say you were jealous and it was worse of me to claim you've never loved anyone. You're a very loving person."

"Thanks." You replied

"You hit me hard though." Bren commented, "So I kinda feel like I have to ask, who was he?"

You paused for a moment as you stared off into the distance. One of your hands instinctively went to hold your locket as you thought about the boy you loved. Your beloved Five. It had been years and yet in your mind, you could still hear his voice calling your name and see his smile as he looked at you. A bittersweet smile rose to your face for a moment as you reminisced.

"He was my best friend and I would've done anything for him." You explained "He had a shitty home life, and I thought- well I thought I was doing enough to mitigate that. But he still ran away and left me behind to deal with the fallout."

Ben tilted his head on his shoulder to look up at you. There was a slight smile on your face but there was deep pain in your eyes. Your voice was wistful as you spoke but there were tinges of sadness within it. This boy had broken your heart.

"He sounds like an idiot." Bren commented

"No. He was wonderful." You corrected "He was sweet and caring and smart and he knew me better than anyone else did. And he made me happy. So so happy."

Lifting his head from your shoulder he looked at you as he asked,

"You still love him, don't you?"

You looked towards Bren, an earnest yet melancholic expression on your face.

"With all my being." You answered, "It's been four years, and every day I still hope it's the day he comes back to me."

"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." Bren quoted

"Wiser words have never been uttered." You responded, nodding your head

"Thanks but those aren't my words." Bren said with a slight chuckle "They're from the poem The Coming of the Ship by Kahlil Gibran." Bren replied

A small smirk came to your face as you joked,

"Flexing your literature knowledge I see."

"Well, I've got to now since my ex hated it so much," Bren remarked

"I told you she was a bitch." You mumbled

"And there it finally is ladies and gentlemen. The I told you so!" Bren exclaimed to his empty room

"Yeah, yeah. I had to say it at least once." You laughed before adding "If it makes you feel any better though you'll never have to see her again because the only places she's going now are either juvie or a psych ward."

Bren's head snapped toward you as he heard you say that.

"What did you do?" He questioned

"Don't worry about it." You replied

He thought for a moment about the extent of your abilities and what you could have possibly done to get his ex either sent to juvie or involuntarily committed. But then he remembered how she was a cheating bitch and he honestly couldn't care.

"You know what? I won't." He stated proudly

"Good. Now go take a hot shower and put on some comfy clothes. I'll order us some comfort food and we can break out a bottle of wine to watch some shitty reality dating show with." You explained, "Be a pair of lonely broken fucks together."

Bren liked that idea. Shit still hurt but it hurt a little less with you around.

"Okay." He replied, a small smile on his face

You ruffled his hair a bit before standing up and walking out the door. And as he watched you walk away, he was happy to have you back in his life and there was no one else he'd rather be a lonely broken fuck with than you.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the story of Viktoria Rodya Petrov. Born January 12, 2001 at 6:08 am to Vincent and Anastasia Petrov, Viktoria knew who she was from a young age even if others couldn't see it yet. She loved dolls and stories of princesses and dressing in her mother's clothes. Viktoria would profess how she was the prettiest girl in the world and would correct others when they told her otherwise. She hated when her hair was cut short and didn't like dressing in the clothes that her parents bought her. It wasn't right. It wasn't her. And she knew that.

It was not until her younger brother Maxim was born that her parents began to understand. As she grew older her parents could see the differences between her and her brother and the way they behaved. She and Maxim were quite different even if they looked the same. Viktoria's parents had their concerns about how the world would view Viktoria but in the end, it wasn't the world that mattered it was their daughter. And so they did all that they could to support Viktoria as she was and to help her feel as comfortable in her skin as possible. They stopped cutting her hair, they let her pick her own clothes, and they even went to specialty doctors to discuss how to make sure future Viktoria was just as happy as current Viktoria.

But even though her family was supportive of who she was, some of the kids in school weren't as nice. It wasn't all the kids, but the ones that weren't nice didn't understand and bullied her because they didn't get it. It made Viktoria sad and she became isolated, even from the kids who were nice to her. She wanted to be included, but it was easier to just pull away and be alone. If she remained in the background, just passing by, perhaps things would be easier. And they were, but it was a lonely existence.

Viktoria wanted people to see her as extraordinary. As someone who was allowed to be around other extraordinary individuals. But she wasn't sure how to do that. Until one day, she was watching the news on TV and saw the famous Umbrella Academy doing a press conference after stopping some French supervillain. While most kids would've focused on the superheroes Viktoria noticed someone off to the side. There in an Umbrella Academy uniform was someone who looked just like her holding some kind of string instrument. Viktoria didn't know who they were but they had to be part of the Academy. They had the uniform and all! If that person could look like her and be part of the Umbrella Academy they had to be extraordinary. And if they were extraordinary then Viktoria could be too.

Immediately, Viktoria begged her parents for a strong instrument like she had seen on the TV and was gifted a viola. She began taking lessons and excelled at her craft. This is how she would get the world to recognize her. Just like that Umbrella Academy member she would craft beautiful music and become extraordinary. But even with her skill and enthusiasm, it was going to take a while for the world to see her as extraordinary.

December 15, 2014:

Today was the day that Viktoria had been preparing for all weekend. The results of solo auditions were finally going to be announced. The high school orchestral band's winter recital was in a week and for months they had been preparing for the performance. It was going to be a spectacular night but what everyone was interested in was who would be getting the solos. Mr. Lennox the band instructor only handed out one solo to each instrument section. One for percussion, one for brass, one for strings, etc. The solos were completely coveted and for months Viktoria had been determined to get one. It would be an honor to earn one as a freshman and so for months she had rehearsed the solo piece over and over again until it was second nature for her. And when audition day came last Friday she put her heart and soul into the performance. And after spending the whole weekend anxious about what the results would be she finally was going to be able to see if she had gotten the solo or not.

Walking toward the entrance to the band room Viktoria could see you leaning against the wall outside the door. She gave you a nervous smile and a wave as she approached.

"Hey." Viktoria greeted

"Hi," You responded before saying "Results for solos are out today! You excited?"

"Kind of..." Viktoria replied warily

"What do you mean kind of?" You questioned

"I don't know, I'm just kind of nervous to see if I got it or not. They don't usually give solos to freshmen." Viktoria responded, "I mean you'll definitely get one since you're amazing, but I don't know about me."

Viktoria's anxiety always seemed to get the best of her, even when she was feeling somewhat confident in herself. It was always what if this, and what if that. She wanted to be perfect at her craft and for everyone to see so but sometimes it was difficult when her feelings were getting the best of her.

Seeing that Viktoria was obviously nervous, you placed a hand on her shoulder and reassured her,

"Well, I for one think that you are the best viola player out there and you will 1000% get that solo."

Viktoria gave you a small smile as she replied,

"Thanks, I needed to hear that."

"And hey, y'know what?" you mentioned "If I get a solo and you don't I'll tell Mr. Lennox that I pass on mine because it would be crazy if you didn't get one."

"Don't do that!" Viktoria exclaimed

It would be ridiculous for you to pass on a solo opportunity just for her. How could you even think of doing something like that?

"We have four years of high school and there's only one other piano player and they're a senior. I think I'll be okay." You stated with a shrug of your shoulders

You were so nonchalant about the whole ordeal. Viktoria wished she could have your level of confidence about things.

"If you say so..." Viktoria mumbled

"I do." You replied before asking "Now, you ready to go check the solo postings?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Viktoria remarked

With a nod of your head, you entered the band room, Viktoria trailing closely behind. She could feel nerves of anticipation begin to build within her. Viktoria wondered if she should take her anxiety medication out of her backpack as her palms became clammy and her heart began to race. She slowed her pace as she looked back at the door to the room wondering if she could just escape and go to the nurse. She was prone to giving herself a stomach ache from her anxiety so telling the nurse she was unwell would not be a challenge.

You however had noticed her demeanor and the way she stopped. Viktoria had a tendency to get in her head about a lot of things. She wanted to be noticed and accepted but she was also concerned about being too noticeable. You tried your best to reassure her and support her but you weren't in her shoes, so you could only do so much. Seeing the results sheet hung on the wall just a few steps away you turned to look back at her and asked,

"You coming?"

"You go first. I'm scared." Viktoria responded

You hesitated for a moment but then nodded. If this is what she needed then you would oblige.

"Okay." You said turning to walk over to the paper

Viktoria watched as you walked over and stood in front of the results postings. Your hand lifted up as your pointer finger ran down the paper looking for your name or lack thereof. Your finger tapped a spot on the paper three times before Viktoria saw you turn around. She looked at your face to see your reaction but was met with an expression of neutrality. She couldn't tell if you got the solo or not and was now concerned about figuring out how she was supposed to react. Slowly you walked back to stand in front of her your face of neutrality fading away as a smile appeared and you exclaimed,

"I got it!"

A wide smile came to Viktoria's face as she threw her arms around you wrapping you in a hug. Of course, you got the piano solo! There was no reason to ever doubt you!

"I knew you would! Congrats!" Viktoria cheered

Pulling back you looked at Viktoria, a smile on your face as you already knew the results of what came next. Stepping out of her way you gestured toward the paper on the wall as you replied,

"Thanks but now it is your turn."

Viktoria gave you a nervous look. Right. It was...her turn.

"Okay...here I go," Viktoria said warily as she took a few steps forward

But then once again she stopped. She couldn't bear to look at the paper. She was too nervous. It felt like she was gonna puke.

Rolling your eyes, you put your hands on the back of her shoulders as you pushed her forward toward the paper remarking,

"C'mon Vi."

Viktoria closed her eyes as she felt you push her closer and closer to the wall. When the two of you stopped walking forward she could feel as you grabbed her hand, pointed her pointer finger, and placed it somewhere on the paper.

"Open your eyes Viktoria." You requested

Taking a deep breath, Viktoria nodded her head and slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze landed on where her finger was pointed and it took her a moment to process what she was seeing. That was her name. Right there on the paper, it said Viktoria Petrov. Her jaw dropped. She did it. She got the solo. You both got solos as freshmen.

"Oh my god! I got the solo!" Viktoria shrieked "I got the string instrument solo!"

"I told you!" You stated excitedly

You knew Viktoria had gotten the solo when you looked at the page but you wanted to offer her the same excitement she had for you. She had worked so hard practicing the piece she would need to play and her efforts had paid off. She was a master at her craft and you were so happy she was being recognized as so. She deserved this.

"Looks like Mr. Lennox is running late once again." You stated, "Wanna go to the instrument storage to get your viola and hang til he gets here?"

"Oh definitely. A soloist is only good if they have their instrument." Viktoria replied confidently

"Yeah, I suppose that's true." You commented as you walked toward the instrument lockers

The room was relatively empty already as most people had gotten their instruments and headed into the band room so for the most part it was just you and Viktoria. Mr. Lennox had a habit of running 15 minutes late for class. The rumor going around with music department students was that he and the theatre director, Mr. Bardot, were hooking up before class since they both had a free period then. Nobody could confirm it of course, but Addison told you how she had seen Mr. Lennox's from one day tie sticking out behind the notorious theatre couch so you were inclined to believe it. Whatever the case was, it gave you and Viktoria more time to chat. The two of you went back and forth excitedly talking about your solos next week and how you would be inviting your families to come watch you perform when the sound of someone calling the name Viktor could be heard. Neither of you really paid it any attention until the voice entered the instrument locker room shouting,

"Viktor Petrov!"

Viktoria froze in place. She hadn't been called that name in a very long time and it wasn't a name she wanted to hear.

Viktoria was born Viktor Petrov and while she never hid the fact that she was trans she also wasn't making it known to everyone either. If someone she felt safe around asked her about it she wouldn't lie, but for the most part, she just laid low and kept it to herself and the people close to her who knew. It wasn't that hard to lay low either as her parents had started helping with her transition when they realized how serious she was in her identity around the age of 8. She started dressing like she wanted to, grew her hair out like she wanted to, and she finally was able to change her name to Viktoria. And fortunately, the schools she went to integrated that with ease. Her parents even went so far as to find a doctor who specialized in gender-affirming healthcare who assisted in her getting on puberty-blocking medication six months ago since she wouldn't be able to start hormone replacement therapy for at least two years when she was sixteen with her parent's written consent. Doing so helped with the dysphoria she was beginning to experience and kept the way she looked on the outside on par with who she was inside. She stayed small, petite, and with softer features and a lack of body hair. All of it helped her to feel more like her but it also helped in her ability to pass with relative ease. She had been presenting as herself for so many years that a majority of people didn't know and wouldn't have guessed otherwise.

But that didn't mean there weren't assholes. One of those was the voice calling out her dead name Ronan Jeffries. Ronan Jeffries and her had only crossed paths once before when she was in 6th grade and he was in 8th in the middle school band. Ronan was a violin player and therefore in the same section as Viktoria. Both of them were good players of their instruments but Ronan always seemed to have some kind of vendetta to be better than her. She never figured out how he had found out about being transgender but at some point he did and he made her life a living hell out of it. No matter how many times he got detention for calling her the wrong name or purposely misgendering her he still continued to do so. Apparently, her misery meant more than his record because halfway through the year he was forced to transfer to another middle school because he had gotten expelled from all his detentions. After his departure, Viktoria had pretty much forgotten about Ronan and his harassment marking it as a bad experience from her past. But hearing his voice now shouting a name that was not her own sent a frightful shock through her system.

Viktoria didn't move. She didn't even know he went to this school, in the months she had been here she had never seen or heard about him once. Her body froze as she tried to think of what to do or say but she couldn't come up with anything. But there was time to think of anything as a hand harshly grabbed onto her shoulder turning her around. There stood Ronan much taller and angrier than he was when she was in 6th grade.

"Who the hell do you think you are coming in and taking my solo Viktor?!"

"Ronan, what are you doing?" Another boy called from behind him "Why are you so mad at her?"

"Stay out of it, Sawyer." Ronan retorted "And they're a boy. His name is Viktor."

The boy behind him, Sawyer, looked confused at the entire ordeal. You however had a completely clear mind and a reaction time that could rival formula one racers. Immediately you pushed Ronan away from Viktoria, putting yourself in between the two. You didn't know who this guy was, or how he knew Viktoria but you weren't going to put up with his disrespect of her.

"Hey, hands off asshole." You snapped "I don't know who you think you are but she's a girl and her name is VIKTORIA. Now, I know you're not in our band class so why the hell are you here?"

"I don't need to be in the band. It's beneath me. I audition for solos as an individual player and for three years all the strings solos have been mine."

Oh, so not only was he a bigot he was a pretentious bigot. If there were two things you were known for not liking it was disrespect and pretentiousness. And this motherfucker decided to be both. If he didn't leave soon you knew he was going to have a very bad time.

"Get out of my way, I'm not here for you. I'm here for him." Ronan stated trying to push you aside

You planted yourself firmly, making yourself denser so that it was impossible to move you. He was not getting past. Not without a fight that is. He looked confused as to why he wasn't able to force your small frame out of the way but all you did was scowl back at him. Your eyes filled with rage as you replied loudly,

"HER."

"Are you blind?" He asked maliciously

"No, but you'll be when I rip your fucking eyes out." You threatened

Viktoria had her back against the wall of instrument lockers as she watched the two of you go back and forth. She could feel her hands shake as her heart raced. She was scared and backed into a literal corner. Even if she had you defending her, all she wanted to do was get away. Maybe if you two went into the actual band classroom he wouldn't follow. Then again, he didn't seem the type who would be afraid to cause an even larger disruption in front of more people. He would probably relish it. Perhaps you two could just run into the hall and then you could make both of you invisible. She didn't know, but it would probably be safer for both of you if you disengaged. Her hand still shaky, she placed a hand on your shoulder as she quietly said,

"(Y/N), let's just go..."

"Oh, so he's confident enough to steal my solo but too much of a coward to face me about it," Ronan remarked

"It's not your solo. You didn't get it." You corrected through gritted teeth "And stop calling her that, she's a girl."

And for the first time in a while, the confused boy, Sawyer spoke up and contributed,

"Yeah dude, I'm pretty sure that's a girl."

Ronan's attention looked back towards his friend, who obviously had no clue what he was talking about, as he snapped at him,

"Shut the fuck up, Sawyer."

Turning his attention back, Ronan looked over your shoulder. His gaze dead set on Viktoria. There was malice in his eyes and vile in his tone as he spoke,

"Mr. Lennox might think you're special but you're not. You're just an attention seeker who doesn't deserve that solo Vik-."

Before he could finish his sentence though you had shoved him into the instrument lockers behind him. The back of his head smacked against one of the closed wood doors. His eyes became trained on you as you looked back at him taking a step closer. Anger radiated off of you and adrenaline was pumping through your system at a rapid pace. You were done with his transphobic bullshit and you were going to put this to an end.

"Call her the wrong name ONE MORE TIME-" You threatened

"Or what?" He retorted

"Or I'm gonna ruin your life." You stated firmly

If he made just one movement, any movement, it would be game over for him. You watch as he scowled at you, clenched fists at his sides that began to raise slightly as he moved forward away from the lockers behind him. Your eyes kept focusing on his hands as he commanded,

"Shut up you freshman bitch."

And with that, you felt the impact of a fist colliding with your gut sending you doubling over. All the air in you felt like it was pushed out of your body, but you held your composure. You had taken a hit before this was nothing new. But then just as quick as the first punch came a second one flew towards your face making direct contact. You could feel the ring on Ronan's finger cut across your cheek.

"Oh my god (Y/N)!" Viktoria gasped

"Ronan what the hell are you doing man!" Sawyer exclaimed

Ronan looked down at his hands, one of them now covered in your blood. He stared at them, flipping them over back and forth, as shock and confusion appeared on his face.

"What the fuck..." he questioned under his breath

With him distracted, you stood up wiping your face with the back of your hand. Bright red blood coming from your nose and the cut on your cheek from his punch. You bared your teeth at him, anger burning in your eyes as you shouted,

"YOU FUCKING CUNT!"

Kicking him in the crotch you watched as he began to drop to his knees, his hands now covering where you kicked and he groaned in pain. Before he could fully hit the ground though, your hand roughly grabbed his hair slamming his head into the wooden lockers behind him twice. With one hand still gripping his hair you placed your other hand on his shoulder pushing him to the ground. As he landed on his side you kicked him in the gut hard enough to cause him to roll onto his back. As he groan out in pain again you dropped to your knees and began swinging at his face just as he had swung at you.

"THIS. IS WHAT. YOU GET. YOU BIGOTED. PIECE. OF SHIT!" You yelled as you punched him repeatedly

"Holy shit," Sawyer said in total shock

"(Y/N)!" Viktoria exclaimed

She didn't know what to do. This asshole deserved what you were doing to him and she knew she would've never been able to do it herself, but she didn't want you to get in trouble on her behalf. She knew you probably didn't care, but she didn't want you to have a bad reputation nor did she want herself to somehow end up with a bad reputation either. She wanted to be liked and accepted. The situation was hard enough already and it was only the first half of freshman year. The last thing she wanted was for people to look at either of you differently because of this. As Viktoria stood there panicking on whether to stop you or get help, Mr. Lennox finally showed up bursting into the instrument locker room. He looked disheveled and shocked as he frantically shouted,

"Miss (L/N) stop that right now!"

Bending over he pulled you off of your knees and away from Ronan who was bloodied and in pain on the floor. Carefully, Mr. Lennox let go of you as you caught your breath. Your hands and clothes were splattered with red, but you didn't care. You watched as Ronan slowly stood up from the floor but leaned himself against the wall away from you. Unconsciously, you took a step in front of Viktoria to block him from her.

"Someone tell me what is going on here?!" Mr. Lennox questioned loudly

"He punched me!" You shouted angrily "He physically and verbally harassed Viktoria and when I told him to stop he punched me."

"No, she beat the shit out of me!" Ronan exclaimed back

"Yeah after you hit me!" You yelled, "I was trying to defend myself and Viktoria, Mr. Lennox!"

"I didn't punch her, I swear!" Ronan denied

Mr. Lennox looked between the two of you noticing distinct injuries to your face and bright red on Ronan's hand.

"Ronan, there is blood on her face and blood on your hand. You really want me to believe you didn't hit her?"

"I didn't do it myself!" He bellowed

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Mr. Lennox turned toward Viktoria looking for answers. You and Ronan were going to do nothing but shout, therefore he needed an actual witness.

"Viktoria, did Ronan punch (Y/N) just now for the reason she stated?"

What you said was true but you had been much more vague in your description of events. Perhaps you were having trouble finding the words through your anger or perhaps you were worried about outing her to Mr. Lennox and that kid Sawyer. Either way, Mr. Lennox already knew and Sawyer seemed a little too dense about it all, so after taking a moment to herself Viktoria spoke up,

"Yes, he did. He grabbed onto me harshly and continuously called me the wrong name and pronouns. And when she verbally told him to stop he hit her."

"Twice. He punched her twice." Sawyer added

Viktoria could see the seething rage appear on Mr. Lennox's face, but he forced it down and tried to keep his composure. Turning slightly, he faced Viktoria and Sawyer as he said in a steady but serious tone,

"Thank you for that information, you two."

"Sawyer, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Ronan yelled, "Whose side are you on?!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Sawyer yelled back "You punched a fucking freshman girl over a high school solo that some other girl got."

"He's not a girl!" Ronan exclaimed

Quickly rushing away from Mr. Lennox, you decked Ronan in the face once more sending him sliding down the wall. Turning back towards the others in the room you stated firmly,

"I'm sorry Mr. Lennox that one was on my own accord. I refuse to tolerate his bigotry."

"I understand, I really do, but you can't keep hitting him. We just-" Mr. Lennox sighed obviously overwhelmed by the situation "Ronan you're coming with me to the principal's office. Your words and actions are unacceptable. The rest of you stay here."

The other three of you in the room watched as Mr. Lennox went over to Ronan picking him up and carrying him out of the room, most likely toward the principal's office. Sawyer, the confused boy, then looked over toward Viktoria. He had an awkward look on his face as he nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"I know my words probably don't mean much but I'm sorry for what happened. I don't know what he was going on about. I've never seen him act like that before but you don't look anything like a boy to me." Sawyer apologized before adding "I'm gonna go away now but uh- congrats on your solo."

"Oh...thanks." Viktoria responded quietly

As Sawyer left the room and closed the door behind Viktoria let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. A wave of emotion began to overcome her as the embarrassment, sadness, and fear from the situation caught up to her. Seeing her body begin to tremble you walked over to her, gently taking her hand in yours as you softly said,

"Hey sit with me."

Viktoria could only respond with a slight nod of her head, and the two of you sat down on the ground, your backs leaning against the door of one of the lockers. You watched as she closed her eyes and breathed in and out deeply, her hand gripping yours tighter and tighter. Tiny tears fell from her eyes making her pain visible and leaving streaks down her reddening face.

"You okay?" You asked leaning closer to her

"I've been better." She whispered

Viktoria rested her head upon your shoulder. Her eyes still closed but her breathing became calmer and her hand now held yours a little looser. The room was quiet. You were trying to let her go at her own pace but after a few minutes, you decided there was something you wanted to say.

"I wish I could tell you that everything is going to be okay. That it was a once-off occurrence and this will never happen again. But we both know the world is full of assholes." You tried to comfort "What I can tell you though is that so long as I'm alive I'm not going to let anyone hurt you for being yourself. Or anyone else for that matter."

Slowly Viktoria opened her eyes, her breathing finally steadying as she looked up at you. Her hand holding yours tighter once again as she asked,

"You mean that?"

"Of course I do Vi. You are beautiful, you are talented, you are amazing just as you are," You explained with a smile "And I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. Just as you are."

Tilting your face, you placed a kiss on her forehead. You never believed that physical affection was strictly a romantic act and your friends, who were like your family, deserved to feel loved too beyond just saying so. Wiping a few of her tears away with your free hand, you held the one in your other a little tighter as you stated softly,

"You are exactly who you are supposed to be."

Viktoria gave you a small smile. Thank god she had you with her for this.  Your love and reassurance helped her to feel a bit better even if she was still slightly shaken up. She could feel that you meant what you said and what you said meant a lot to her. There was another silence, the two of you just sitting there once more, but then just like you, Viktoria felt inclined to speak.

"I can't believe Ronan punched you." She joked, her voice croaky

"No, he didn't." You replied nonchalantly

Viktoria's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What did you mean? She saw what happened to you.

"(Y/N) I literally just watched you take a punch for me. TWICE." Viktoria stated

"Well, he didn't do it himself." You remarked with a shrug of your shoulders

"(Y/N), your face got cut by his ring. Your nose is bleeding. What do you mean?" Viktoria asked for clarification

A smirk came to your face as you used your powers to drag Viktoria's free hand off to the side. Gently of course. Her eyes went wide as Viktoria finally realized what you meant.

"Oh my god!" Viktoria exclaimed in a hushed tone "You made him punch you?"

"Well I knew I could take it," You stated matter-of-factly "And I couldn't call it self-defense if I threw the first hit."

"You're insane. Completely insane." Viktoria replied

"Perhaps, but there was no way I was going to let him get away with what he said to you." You mentioned, "Nobody is going to talk like that to someone on my watch but especially not one of my closest friends."

"I cannot believe you," Viktoria said still trying to process everything

"Well, you better. If we weren't at school where I've got to hide my abilities I'd send that prick same-day shipping to hell." You explained, "Full-scale combustion comes quite easy these days."

Viktoria blinked her eyes at you a few times not quite sure what to say. She didn't know how serious you were since your tone was so upbeat but honestly, it didn't really matter to her either way. You sure were one of a kind though. She had never met another person like you.

"You are...something else (Y/N)." Viktoria commented

"Yeah, but you Viktoria Petrov are amazing." You replied with a smile "And everyone at the upcoming concert is gonna think so too by the time you're done with your solo."

Just as you had finished your statement though you saw Mr. Lennox walk back into the instrument storage room. The look on his face was serious as he stated,

"(Y/N), the principal would like to see you, and the people listed under your emergency contact info are on their way."

"Oh no..." You said under your breath

This was not good. Diego and Eudora were not going to be happy about this. They both had the day off today, so they were going to show up together. God, they were probably in the car figuring out how they were going to lecture you already. You looked a mess too. Ronan's blood was on your hands and your blood covered your face and shirt. When they saw you they were going to flip and you had no clue if it would be at you or the kid who started it. Well, it was too late at this point and it's not like you regretted your actions either. You just had to face the music for what occurred. Letting out a heavy breath you stood up from where you sat on the floor. Looking down at Viktoria you remarked,

"Well wish me luck. I'm either gonna get my ass chewed out by Diego and Eudora for fighting in school or I'm about to watch two 25-year-olds beat the shit out of a 17-year-old."

Turning away you walked to the door to be escorted by Mr. Lennox to the principal's office. Viktoria watched as Mr. Lennox stepped out of the doorway allowing you to follow him, but before you could get too far Viktoria called,

"Hey (Y/N)?"

"Yeah?" You answered stopping to turn back and look at her

"Thanks," Viktoria said

A smile came to your face as you kindly replied,

"Anything for you Vi."

December 22, 2014:

It had been a week since the altercation that had happened in the instrument locker room occurred and with each passing day the anticipation of the winter concert continued to build until it was finally here. The auditorium was completely filled with students and family members coming out to see the show. The way the program worked was unconventional compared to how Viktoria was used to it in middle school. Typically, all the band would come out at once and perform and the soloist would stand up and go to the front of the stage when it was their turn. However, at the last minute, Mr. Lennox had been presented with a new format idea by Mr. Bardot and decided to go with it. Now the entire band would perform their group songs together, then once finished the entire band would exit, and then the soloists would come from off stage and perform well...solo. And unfortunately, with that new format, it meant that Viktoria would be the last performance of the night, on stage, in front of the packed auditorium, alone. 

As the soloist before Viktoria performed their song, Viktoria held the neck of her viola and bow tightly in one hand as she fiddled with the fabric of her clothes with the other. This is not what Viktoria had planned for and she felt extremely concerned about the whole thing. 

"You ready?" You asked leaning against the concrete wall of the stage left wing

"Yeah, I think so..." Viktoria replied pulling nervously at the skirt of her dress

You could tell that Viktoria was nervous. Between the change of format and the huge crowd, she was becoming extremely anxious and her anxiety was not going to help. Trying to ease her nerves you encouraged her,

"You're going to do great and I'm gonna be right here cheering you on." 

"Thanks. I'm glad you were allowed to be here." Viktoria replied before adding "I'm still sorry you can't participate and lost your solo though."

"Eh, don't worry about it. There's always the spring concert." You mentioned unbothered "Anyway, losing my solo and four days ISS is worth you getting to perform and that asshole kicked from school."

You didn't let Viktoria in on all the details of what went down in the principal's office last week but apparently when Diego and Eudora arrived to see you covered in blood things got pretty heated and things got even worse when you had explained why you looked that way. You told her you were disappointed nobody got into a fistfight in the office, but somehow the issue was resolved by Ronan being expelled from school, and you having in-school suspension all of last week plus losing the ability to perform at the winter concert. Viktoria appreciated all that you did but now the annoying irrational little voice in Viktoria's head wondered if Ronan was right. What if she wasn't actually good enough for the solo? What if she screwed up? Ugh, why did she have to be the last performance? Anxious thoughts plagued her mind and as she could hear the soloist before her beginning to wrap up their performance Viktoria blurted to you,

"I can't do it."

"What? What do you mean?" You asked confused

"I- I just can't." Viktoria stuttered nervously

She was getting into her own head too much and you needed to pull her back out. Taking a few steps over to her you gently placed your hand on her shoulders and turned her to look at you. 

"Viktoria, look at me." You stated softly but firmly "You practiced for months for this, you gave your all in your audition to earn this and now you are going to go out there and show everyone why this is your solo."

You were right. Of course, you were right. This was her solo. She worked hard for this. She fought for this. This was her time to shine. Her time for everyone to see her and know how amazing she could be. This is what she was good at, this was her passion and she was going to perform.

"Okay." Viktoria replied, "I'll do it."

The sound of clapping could be heard and soon died off as Marissa Syddel walked by shooting you a smug smile before meeting some of her friends and laughing. 

"Laugh it up Syddel," You berated "Just remember you got that solo by default because I beat a 17-year-old half to death."

You an Viktoria watched as Marissa and her friends immediately stopped laughing and quickly scurried off until they were out of your sight. You relaxed your shoulders as you turned back to your friend and gave her another reassuring smile.

"Y'know people are intimidated by you now." Viktoria mentioned

"Good. I'm not looking to make more friends." You stated 

Viktoria watched as Mr. Lennox stepped out from the opposite stage wing and walked to the center of the stage. Picking up a microphone he looked over to Viktoria before looking back toward the crowd and announcing,

"I'd like to welcome our final soloist to the stage, performing a rendition of Halo by Beyonce on the viola, Miss Viktoria Petrov."

There was the sound of clapping again as Viktoria looked over to you one more time.

"This is your moment." You reminded "Give 'em the performance of a lifetime."

"I'll try," Viktoria replied

"You will." You reassured, "I know you will."

Viktoria nodded her head at your statement and then walked out onto the stage. Glancing over to the side she could see the rest of your friend group sitting on the front row clapping and giving her thumbs ups and her parents and younger brother a few rows further back smiling and waving at her. Viktoria gave a shy smile as she made her way to center stage and turned to face the large crowd. The clapping faded as she lifted her viola up and rested it under her chin before lifting up her bow and placing it upon the strings. Taking a deep breath she held it for a moment reminding herself of all the positive things you said. She worked for this. She earned this. This was her solo.

And nothing and no one was going to take that from her.

Letting out her breath, she remembered what she had worked so hard on and began to play. And just like that, the crowd faded away and all that was left was Viktoria and her viola. With each note, she became more entranced in her performance. The music flowed from her as if the sound was already part of her, to begin with. Her soul poured out into the piece as melody filled every part of the room. A smile played on her lips as she got lost in her own performance.

This was her moment.

Just like the crowd, you watched intently from the sidelines. The music was so entrancing and you had no doubt that this was always going to be the outcome of her performance. She was an amazing musician just as much as she was an amazing person. A small smile came to your face as a few tears welled in your eyes knowing everyone here would get to see your friend in her happiest and truest form. She deserved this. The joy, the recognition, the praise. She deserved it all and you couldn't be prouder. She was her, and she was happy, and everyone could see so. And that was beautiful.

As her song ended, Viktoria slowly lowered her viola and bow and looked out into the crowd as people began to clap. She could see her parents standing up as they clapped for her, her dad lifting her 7-year-old brother up so he could see her better. And looking down at the front row she could see your group of friends as they stood up cheering and clapping up a storm. The love and support from her friends and family meant a lot but it was to be expected. However, what wasn't expected was the way people besides her friends and family began to stand. Person by person, row by row, the auditorium stood as they clapped for Viktoria.  Viktoria's face lit up with pride and her mouth lifted into a smile as she looked out across the sea of people giving her a standing ovation for her performance. This is what she worked for. She worked hard to have people recognize her and her talents and now they were. Not just her friends or her family. Everyone. And if this was her starting point it could only go up from here. After a few more moments, Viktoria gave a curtsy to the crowd before turning away and walking backstage toward you. Her head held high at the accomplishment she just did. When she was sure she was behind the curtain once more she rushed over toward you into a hug.

You held her tightly, beaming with pride at your friend. She had done such an amazing job and there was no better at playing the viola than her. As Viktoria pulled back from the hug, she looked up at you with bright eyes and a wide smile and asked enthusiastically,

"How did I do?"

You smiled at her knowing there was only one way to describe her performance,

"Extraordinary."

______________________________________________________________

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[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Thursday, December 22, 2022

december 22_december 9

THE CONCEPTION BY SAINT ANNA, OF "WHENCE IS CONCEIVED THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD"

Saint Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, was the youngest daughter of the priest Nathan from Bethlehem, descended from the tribe of Levi. She married Saint Joachim (September 9), who was a native of Galilee.

For a long time Saint Anna was childless, but after twenty years, through the fervent prayer of both spouses, an angel of the Lord announced to them that they would be the parents of a daughter, Who would bring blessings to the whole human race.

The Orthodox Church does not accept the teaching that the Mother of God was exempted from the consequences of ancestral sin (death, corruption, sin, etc.) at the moment of her conception by virtue of the future merits of Her Son. Only Christ was born perfectly holy and sinless, as Saint Ambrose of Milan teaches in Chapter Two of his Commentary on Luke. The Holy Virgin was like everyone else in Her mortality, and in being subject to temptation, although She committed no personal sins. She was not a deified creature removed from the rest of humanity. If this were the case, She would not have been truly human, and the nature that Christ took from Her would not have been truly human either. If Christ does not truly share our human nature, then the possibility of our salvation is in doubt.

The Conception of the Virgin Mary by Saint Anna took place at Jerusalem. The many icons depicting the Conception by Saint Anna show the Most Holy Theotokos trampling the serpent underfoot.

“In the icon Saints Joachim and Anna are usually depicted with hands folded in prayer; their eyes are also directed upward and they contemplate the Mother of God, Who stands in the air with outstretched hands; under Her feet is an orb encircled by a serpent (symbolizing the devil), which strives to conquer all the universe by its power.”

There are also icons in which Saint Anna holds the Most Holy Virgin on her left arm as an infant. On Saint Anna’s face is a look of reverence. A large ancient icon, painted on canvas, is located in the village of Minkovetsa in the Dubensk district of Volhynia diocese. From ancient times this Feast was especially venerated by pregnant women in Russia.

THE HOLY PROPHETESS HANNAH MOTHER OF THE PROPHET SAMUEL (1100 BC)

icon from Uncut Mountain supply

The Holy Prophetess Hannah dwelt in marriage with Elkanah, but she was childless. Elkanah took to himself another wife, Phennena, who bore him children. Hannah grieved strongly over her misfortune, and every day she prayed for an end to her barrenness, and vowed to dedicate her child to God.

Once, as she prayed fervently in the Temple, the priest Heli thought that she was drunk, and he began to reproach her. But the saint poured out her grief, and after she received a blessing, she returned home. After this Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son, whom she named Samuel (which means “Asked from God”).

When the child reached the age of boyhood, the mother herself presented him to the priest Heli, and Samuel remained with him to serve before the Tabernacle (1 Kings/1 Samuel 2: 1-21).

Source all texts: Orthodox Church in America

LUKE 21:28-33

28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. 29 Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. 31 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

GALATIANS 4:22-31 

22For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar- 25 or this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children- 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written: "Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband." 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

Commentary of the Church Fathers 

St John Chrysostom AD 407: What is the meaning of after the flesh? Having said that Faith united us to Abraham, and it having seemed incredible to his hearers, that those who were not begotten by Abraham should be called his sons, he proves that this paradox had actually happened long ago; for that Isaac, born not according to the order of nature, nor the law of marriage, nor the power of the flesh, was yet truly his own son. He was the issue of bodies that were dead, and of a womb that was dead; his conception was not by the flesh, nor his birth by the seed, for the womb was dead both through age and barrenness, but the Word of God fashioned Him. Not so in the case of the bondman; He came by virtue of the laws of nature, and after the manner of marriage. Nevertheless, he that was not according to the flesh was more honorable than he that was born after the flesh. Therefore let it not disturb you that you are not born after the flesh; for from the very reason that you are not so born, are you most of all Abraham's kindred. The being born after the flesh renders one not more honorable, but less so, for a birth not after the flesh is more marvellous and more spiritual. And this is plain from the case of those who were born of old time; Ishmael, for instance, who was born according to the flesh, was not only a bondman, but was cast out of his father's house; but Isaac, who was born according to the promise, being a true son and free, was lord of all.

[popplepiie]

1. my middle name is elizabeth

2. at the time of writing this I'm 18 but this is going in my queue so i might be older by the time it actually posts

3. my birthday is 16/09/2004

4. my sign is virgo. Im also pisces moon and rising

5. my favourite colour is yellow. I also really like pink tho

🩷💛🩷💛🩷💛🩷💛🩷💛🩷💛🩷💛🩷💛🩷

6. my lucky number is 3, it's how old I was when my cousin was born

7. I have two dogs. misty who is a black labrador and cocker spaniel mix and mac who is a shollie. I also have loooaaaads of fish I've had them for years

8. I'm from scotland! specifically the east coast

9. I'm 155cm

10. uk 5.5

11. I have so many shoes. wayyy too many. most were my mum's but she's got bad feet so she can't wear them.

12. my last dream was that I got really obsessed with personal hygiene and I'd shower like 4 times a day. it was weird. I used to run a dream blog but I'm not very good at describing dreams

13. I'm not very talented tbh ;-;

14.

15. my favourite song rn is boy division by my chemical romance

16. my favourite movie is labyrinth. my favourite animated movie is porco rosso

17. my ideal partner is just someone who is nice. and someone who recycles lol

18. I don't think I'd ever have children. I like time with myself

19. I'd never get married

20. I'm not religious! nothing against it tho

21. I've only been to the hospital when my gran was dying of lung cancer :(

22. I've never been in trouble with the law

23. when I was like 7 or 8 I went to go see dancing on ice live. there was a little competition where audience members had to "be the most noticeable" to win a back stage pass. my mum won it and we invited the family next to us to go backstage with us. there was a girl like my age there. if you're from glasgow and you're like 18 now and saw dancing on ice backstage.... uh.... hi. anyway we met literally everyone there. I was too shy to speak to any of the celebrities but I remember jorgie porter was really nice

24. I take showers but I really like baths!

25. I'm not wearing socks. I don't really like wearing socks and I always get blisters

26. I've never been famous. I think the closest I've been to famous was when I had 1000 insta followers. I sadly can't log into the account anymore. I just posted random stuff. if anyone happens to follow snortered on instagram let me know 😭

27. I think being a celebrity would be fun! I don't plan on it tho

28. I mostly listen to punk, emo, grunge and metal but honestly I like all genres

29. nooo I've never been skinny dipping

30. I sleep with 4 pillows. I'd like more tho

31. I sleep on my front

32. I live in a two bed bungalow. it's not fancy or anything and it's not insulted which means it's like 8°c in the winter.

33. I like to have oatibix, yogurt or a pastry for breakfast

34. I've fired a gun once and it was in a gun club when I was like 10

35. I've never done archery

36. my favourite clean word is uhhh idk I'll come back to this one

37. my favourite swearword is peenids

38. I've pulled an all-nighter a couple of times I think that's the longest I've went

39. I have a small scar on my hand from riding my gokart into a ditch when i was 6

40. this one time I had a friend who threatened to kill me and two of my friends if I didn't date him. I think he was a secret admirer for a while

41. I'm a terrible liar >.<

42. I think I'm an alright judge of character

43. noooo i can't do accents but a lot of people think a sound english

44. I don't think I have a strong accent ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

45. I love manchester accents. one of my besties is from there

46. I'm an INTP 9w1 phlegmatic king. there I think that's literally every personality test ever

47. I think my most expensive piece of clothing is some tokidoki clothes I got when I was like 13.

48. I can curl my tongue

49. if this is about belly buttons, I'm an innie

50. I'm ambidextrous!

51. I think spiders are really cute

52. my favourite food is carbonara

53. I love mexican food sm. literally every mexican food is my favourite

54. I'm a messy person but I try to be clean

55. my most used phrase is "omg" I literally say it all the time

56. my most used word is uhhh I'll come back to this one

57. it takes me ages to get ready. like half an hour to an hour

58. I don't have an ego at all ;-;

59. I suck lollipops!

60. I talk to myself all the time

61. I sing all the time but I'm not good at it >.<

62. see above

63. I'm scared of heights, drowning, knives and public speaking

64. I don't like to gossip. a lot of people gossip about me tho. in highschool loads of people would tell me that this girl who I didn't even know was always talking about me. it was weird. also minceraft number

65. best dramatic movie? hm I'm gonna come back to this one

66. I like to have my hair short to medium length. what sucks about short hair is that everyone says "you looked so much better with long hair" as if I asked

67.

hawaii

new york

texas

florida

ohio

pencilvania or something

oregon (idk if that's a real place or only exists in gravity falls)

wyoming

massive two tits

west virginia

virginia

california

conniticut (I think that's where luz lives)

uhhh

dakota (?)

ohio

florida

kansas

arkansas (for some reason this is pronounced "ark in saw")

ohio

washington

new orleans

georgia???

hey girl are u form mississpissi cuz ur the only miss whose piss I sippy

68. my favourite subject in highschool was RMPS. my favourite in college is uhh idk probably programming

69. I'm definitely an introvert. also nice

70. I've never been scuba diving that sounds scary

71. talking to new people makes me nervous

72. I am kinda scared of the dark tbh. I hate night time (⁠๑⁠•⁠﹏⁠•⁠)

73. I don't like correcting people

74. I'm very ticklish but I'll bite anyone who tries /th

75. I don't think I've started a rumour

76. the only authority I've ever had was being a prefect in school and being in charge of a few clubs

77. I don't drink ever I think alcohol tastes gross

78. the hardest drug I've done is antihistamines

79. my first crush was I think a boy called Romeo who I went to primary school with. my first fictional crush is princess rosalina

80. I only have my ears pierced rn. I want loads of piercings tho

81. I can't roll my rs 😭

82. I type at like 30wpm

83. I cannot run for the life of me 😭. probably like 3.5mph

84. my natural hair colour is brown. I don't really like it tho. my hair rn is dark red. it was supposed to be purple tho

85. I have blue eyes

🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵

86. I have super sensitive skin. I can't wear most make up

87. I have a journal! I'm pretty inconsistent with updating it tho :/

88. my dad is a courier and my mum is a nursery teacher

89. my age is fine. I wish I could be a kid again tho

90. injustice makes me angry. also being accused of things I didn't do

91. I like my name. I've considered changing it tho

92. me and my ex were gonna name our future kids after the chipmunks and the chipettee /srs

93. I don't want any kids

94. I think I'm a good listener

95. my biggest weakness is poison

96. in my family variations of the name catherine is common. catty, katie, cathy etc. cathERINe

97. supposedly my ancestors were rich but not royalty

98. hasn't this been asked already?

99. my bedspread is pink and blue

100. my room is pink

Get To Know Me Uncomfortably Well

PLEASE DON’T LET THIS FLOP AHHHH

1. What is you middle name? 2. How old are you? 3. When is your birthday? 4. What is your zodiac sign? 5. What is your favorite color? 6. What’s your lucky number? 7. Do you have any pets? 8. Where are you from? 9. How tall are you? 10. What shoe size are you? 11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? 12. What was your last dream about? 13. What talents do you have? 14. Are you psychic in any way? 15. Favorite song? 16. Favorite movie? 17. Who would be your ideal partner? 18. Do you want children? 19. Do you want a church wedding? 20. Are you religious? 21. Have you ever been to the hospital? 22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? 23. Have you ever met any celebrities? 24. Baths or showers? 25. What color socks are you wearing? 26. Have you ever been famous? 27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? 28. What type of music do you like? 29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? 30. How many pillows do you sleep with? 31. What position do you usually sleep in? 32. How big is your house? 33. What do you typically have for breakfast? 34. Have you ever fired a gun? 35. Have you ever tried archery? 36. Favorite clean word? 37. Favorite swear word? 38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep? 39. Do you have any scars? 40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? 41. Are you a good liar? 42. Are you a good judge of character? 43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? 44. Do you have a strong accent? 45. What is your favorite accent? 46. What is your personality type? 47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? 48. Can you curl your tongue? 49. Are you an innie or an outie? 50. Left or right handed? 51. Are you scared of spiders? 52. Favorite food? 53. Favorite foreign food? 54. Are you a clean or messy person? 55. Most used phrased? 56. Most used word? 57. How long does it take for you to get ready? 58. Do you have much of an ego? 59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? 60. Do you talk to yourself? 61. Do you sing to yourself? 62. Are you a good singer? 63. Biggest Fear? 64. Are you a gossip? 65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen? 66. Do you like long or short hair? 67. Can you name all 50 states of America? 68. Favorite school subject? 69. Extrovert or Introvert? 70. Have you ever been scuba diving? 71. What makes you nervous? 72. Are you scared of the dark? 73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? 74. Are you ticklish? 75. Have you ever started a rumor? 76. Have you ever been in a position of authority? 77. Have you ever drank underage? 78. Have you ever done drugs? 79. Who was your first real crush? 80. How many piercings do you have? 81. Can you roll your Rs?“ 82. How fast can you type? 83. How fast can you run? 84. What color is your hair? 85. What color is your eyes? 86. What are you allergic to? 87. Do you keep a journal? 88. What do your parents do? 89. Do you like your age? 90. What makes you angry? 91. Do you like your own name? 92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? 93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? 94. What are you strengths? 95. What are your weaknesses? 96. How did you get your name? 97. Were your ancestors royalty? 98. Do you have any scars? 99. Color of your bedspread? 100. Color of your room?

[cyarskaren52]

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BABIES

The 10 most wild, funny and notable birth stories of 2023

Create your free account or log in to save this article

Dec. 27, 2023, 12:04 PM EST

By Rosie Colosi

Every baby's birth is a special event, and some are extra memorable.

This year, we saw giant babies, dads freaking out in delivery rooms and incredible moms overcoming huge obstacles to safely bring their children into the world. Here are some of the most notable birth stories of 2023.

Cheers to parents everywhere — we see you and we appreciate you!

1. 70-year-old woman Ugandan woman gives birth to twins

Safina Namukwaya got pregnant with IVF and had a boy and girl via cesarean section on Nov. 29, she and her doctor reported to TODAY.com. The babies were born at 31 weeks gestation and each weighed more than 3 pounds, according to Namukwaya’s fertility specialist, Dr. Edward Tamale Sali.

To help with the conception of her children, Namukwaya turned to in vitro fertilization (IVF). Due to Namukwaya’s age, she used donor eggs and her partner’s sperm. 

In the U.S., the upper age limit for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other medically assisted reproduction is generally mid-50s.

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“I feel great,” Namukwaya told TODAY.com through an interpreter on a video call. “Some might argue that 70 years is old, but God decided that I get to have twins at 70. There is no one that can put a limit on God’s authority and power.”

2. Dad makes hilarious faces as his partner gives birth

The birth process isn't for the faint of heart, as this Arkansas father discovered.

Brett Sills, a father of three, was assisting in his the labor of his girlfriend of six years, Amanda Roelofs, when he did something he hadn't done for the births of his older children. 

He watched while his youngest child emerged into the world.

“I was just looking at her head! It went from being baseball size to a freaking cantaloupe,” Sills tells TODAY.com.

3. Cowboys fan goes into labor at Sunday Night Football

Texas couple Haley and Tyler Waterman had been waiting nine months for Sunday night.

But shortly after they took their seats at the Cowboys-Patriots game on Oct. 1, Haley's water broke, three weeks prior to her due date.

Even with the general chaos in the stands, fans surrounding the Watermans noticed what was happening “because I kept repeating — basically yelling — ‘My water’s broken and we need to leave!’” Haley says. “I had tunnel vision but apparently everyone was cheering us on.”

Security guards and medics helped transport the Watermans to the hospital, where they welcomed daughter Delaney Lou Waterman, into the world. Weighing in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces, Delaney was about half as heavy as an NFL football, and at 21 inches, she’s about twice as long.

4. Alabama woman with rare two uteri welcomes two baby girls — one from each uterus

Kelsey Hatcher from Dora, Alabama has a rare condition — a double uterus. She shared the good news on Dec. 22 that had she given birth to two daughters, one from each uterus.

Releasing two eggs and carrying a baby in each uterus is incredibly rare and “classified as truly one in a million,” according to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, where Hatcher gave birth.

One daughter, Roxi Layla, was born Dec. 19 at 7:49 p.m. while her sister, Rebel Laken, was born Dec. 20 at 6:09 a.m.

Hatcher and her husband, Caleb, were already parents to three kids, and they say they look forward to having Roxi and Rebel join the crew.

5. California couple treks through blizzard to deliver baby

Crystal Wade navigated four foot snow drifts down the side of a mountain to deliver her daughter, aptly named Winter, during California’s February 2023 blizzard.

“It hurt to be outside. You couldn’t even see,” Crystal says. “You had to close your eyes and the snow was whipping you in the face.”

Baby Winter's birth wasn't the end of the story, though. Crystal and her husband Brady had to make their way back up their San Bernardino Mountain home, picking up their 4-year-old at a neighbor's house on the way. 

When their truck got stuck in the snow-covered road, the couple walked. “My wife, literally two days after giving birth, carried a baby in her jacket through massive snow drifts,” Brady tells TODAY.com.

Luckily, the family of four made it home safely.

6. These two babies are breaking records for their birth weight

Cleidiane Santos dos Santos, 27, gave birth to son Angerson on Jan. 18 at Hospital Padre Colombo in Parintins, Amazonas State, according to Brazilian newspaper O Globo. The infant, who weighed 16 pounds and measured 2 feet long, was delivered via C-section. 

“I felt like I had been hit by two tractor-trailers simultaneously,’’ Buckley told The Washington Post about her condition the next morning.

Later in 2023, Britteney and Chance Ayres of Ontario, Canada, got the surprise of their life when their infant, Sonny, was born on Oct. 23 weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces — about double the size of an average newborn. 

Sonny is the biggest baby on record at the hospital since Cambridge Memorial Hospital started tracking measurements in 2010.

“When they put Sonny on the scale, there was a drumroll and all the doctors and nurses were throwing out guesses about what the number would be,” Chance, 37, tells TODAY.com. “After they read his weight, everybody was cheering like the league had won the Stanley Cup.”

7. Dad faints in the delivery room ... and goes viral on TikTok

In April, Corianne Johnson captured the reaction of her husband, Cody, when he saw her epidural needle. He fainted, crumpled up on the delivery room floor, crawled on the ground, sipped juice and passed out on a couch with a blanket draped over his body.

She posted the images on TikTok with this text: “I’m totally not going to pass out while you’re in labor, babe.”

“I knew he was going to pass out. I regret not betting money on it!” Corianne, 26, tells TODAY.com, with a laugh. “He can’t handle needles. He didn’t even see the needle go into my back — he just saw the needle and that was it. He went down.”

8. Teacher delivers baby after mom goes into labor at Dallas elementary school

School nurse Tylar Krause called Loren Carcamo to pick up one of her two daughters at the school because she was sick — but when she arrived, Carcamo went into labor.

Krause’s office summoned teacher Maria Perez, who had delivered hundreds of babies as an OB-GYN resident in her native Venezuela, and she quickly realized Carcamo would not make it to a hospital in time.

About 10 minutes later, Carcamo welcomed her baby, a girl named Leire Madeleine.

“What are the odds of having a baby at a school in the first place? But having a doctor there that’s done it? We’re lucky. Blessed, I would say,” Krause said.

9. Mom went home from hospital after being checked for labor. She had the baby 30 minutes later

Shayanna Markham, 27, of Vacaville, California was having contractions and was 5 cm dilated when she was examined at her hospital. 

Doctors told her she could stick around and wait hours (or days) until the baby arrives, or she could return home. Markham chose the later option. 

Shortly after arriving at home, Markham used the toilet and realized she could feel the baby's head. The mom prepared to give birth by laying a towel on the floor and squatting over it.

“There was no stopping her from coming out,” says Shayanna. “I got really quiet — there was no screaming. I pushed and then caught my daughter.”

Markham’s sister Surena shared a June TikTok video of the experience, partially captured on home security footage. It has over 14 million views.

10. Woman goes into labor at Pink concert and gives her baby boy the perfect name

On July 31, Angela Mercer, who was 31 weeks pregnant and had been experiencing pain, had just settled into her seat at Fenway Park in Boston for a Pink concert when she received a callback from her OB-GYN.

“My doctor was like, ‘This is more than Braxton Hicks, you need to get to a hospital,’” Mercer tells TODAY.com. 

With help from her mother and sister-in-law, Mercer hobbled to the street and made her way to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she gave birth to her son, Aycen Hart.

Mercer calls his name “serendipitous.” As luck would have it, Pink is married to Carey Hart.  

Pink took a moment from the U.S. leg of her 2023 Summer Carnival tour to tweet her congratulations to the Mercers.

Rosie Colosi

Rosie Colosi lives in New Jersey and is a reporter for TODAY Parents. She has bylines in The Atlantic, The Week, MSNBC, and PureWow, and she has written 33 nonfiction children's books for Scholastic, Klutz, and Nat Geo Kids. Once upon a time, she played Mrs. Claus in "The Rockettes' Radio City Christmas Spectacular," but now she mostly sings songs from "Annie" to her two daughters … while they beg her to play Kidz Bop.

Sent from my iPhone

[dailychapel]

Galatians 4:1–31 NLT - 1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that's the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. 4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, "Abba, Father." 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God's own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. 8 Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist. 9 So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? 10 You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. 11 I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing. 12 Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles--free from those laws. You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you. 13 Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News. 14 But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself. 15 Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible. 16 Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth? 17 Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them. 18 If someone is eager to do good things for you, that's all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I'm with you. 19 Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I'm going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. 20 I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance I don't know how else to help you. 21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God's promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God's own fulfillment of his promise. 24 These two women serve as an illustration of God's two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27 As Isaiah said, "Rejoice, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor! For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband!" 28 And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29 But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit. 30 But what do the Scriptures say about that? "Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman's son." 31 So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

O God, you see that we have no strength in ourselves. Keep us both outwardly and inwardly. Defend us from all adversities which hurt the body, and cleanse us from all evil thoughts which afflict the mind; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

[eventcharts]

Parents welcome twins from embryos frozen 30 years ago

Twins born last month in the US may hold the record for being born from the longest-frozen embryos, according to America’s National Embryo Donation Centre.

Sun (fatherhood, children, especially offspring) square Sila-Nunam (life giving, wombs, birthing (”I was 5 years old when God gave life to Lydia and Timothy, and he’s been preserving that life ever since”)).

Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway were born on October 31, but the healthy twins from Texas came courtesy of embryos that were donated 29 years and 10 months, CNN reports.

New parents Philip and Rachel Ridgeway, who have four other children aged 8, 6, 3 and almost 2, found the concept “mind-boggling.”

“I was 5 years old when God gave life to Lydia and Timothy, and he’s been preserving that life ever since,” Philip Ridgeway told CNN.

“In a sense, they’re our oldest children, even though they’re our smallest children,” he added.

The embryos were donated to the National Embryo Donation Centre by an anonymous married couple, using the husband’s sperm and eggs of a 34-year-old donor, CNN reports.

The embryos were frozen on April 22, 1992.

Almost 30 years later, Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway consulted with the National Embryo Donation Centre as they looked to have more children through IVF.

 "We've never had in our minds a set number of children we'd like to have," Philip told CNN.

"We've always thought we'll have as many as God wants to give us, and … when we heard about embryo adoption, we thought that's something we would like to do."

After the 5 embryos were thawed, the couple found out 3 were viable. Rachel Ridgeway decided to have the remaining 3 transferred, she told CNN.

"You just showed me a picture of my three children," she said. "I have to have them all."

Two were successfully transferred.

Minor planet keywords developed by Philip Sedgwick, used with permission http://philipsedgwick.com/

Centaur, TNO & Asteroid Aspectarian http://serennu.com/astrology/aspectarians.php

[theodorevg923]

Werebeast FNAF AU

WERE!FNAF X Gen Reader

Cause thanks to getrammed I can't get this outta my head. I've been writing it with Bonnie's Bar n Lounge and I'm taking a break so let's do some world building!

(Been working on this for a couple weeks!)

Feel free to use snippets off it. I'd love to see what ya make with it!

(Updated May 9 '22)

I'll update it eventually

Master List!

Really long with ⚠️ NSFW Rut Habits info!

⚠️⚠️⚠️🔞🔞🔞

Lots of kinks, arachnophobia, and slight gore

Glamrock Band:

Freddy:

Brown Bear

7' 10"

Age: 34

Leader of the band and singer, co-owner of the plex

Relationship: Unknown

Werebear Bite: TBA

Breeding Habits: Oh ho, ya thought this bear was SOFT? Just wait, ya see how he truly is during breeding season. Special room built within his office, away from from prying eyes. Only the best for his SUPERSTAR! A massive bed in this dark den, piled high with pillows and silk sheets. Being the owner of the plex, he can't spend all day with ya, but that doesn't mean ya can escape! Bound to the room, all ya could ever need will be there. His desires to fill ya up are strongest at night, writhing beneath this big bear. Soaked and dripping, bites and scratches galore, his desires for CUBS overwhelm ya. Don't worry, he won't let ya fall as ya moans and whimpers drown out his roars.

Monty:

American Alligator

8'

Age: 25

Bass player, runs Gator Golf

Relationship: Spiked / WerePanther @spikedsoul

Weregator Bite: Worst bite in the plex. Bit at the young age of 7 years old by a feral weregator.

Taken in by Freddy and Bonnie at age 15.

Breeding Habits: Alligators are typically monogamous, but not this one! Expect nests in both his room and deep in Gator Golf. Mating for alligators is simple but an exquisite show of strength, AGILITY, and stamina. Expect rough sex and a lot of LOVE bites, rolling ya around, wrapping his body around. Don't think ya can escape, cause he will keep ya in the nest for days, cock warming is a GODSEND with this alligator. Coming to breed ya after every show, all his anger turned to lust and desire. In the still of the night, this alligator's guttural growl will have ya soaked, swimming in the clear pools.

Roxy:

Grey Wolf

6' 8"

Age: 25

Keytaurist, runs Roxy Raceway and Roxy's Salon

Werewolf Bite: Unwillingly bitten at the age of 15 causing self esteem issues.

Raised under Foxy's care after her bite.

Breeding Habits: RUN! This werewolf lives for the chase between . Once she catches ya, everything's over. Wolves don't den much until pups are born, but there will be two in the Raceway and her room. She will take ya after every show, for every chase. Her favorite is the Raceway Shop, smell of ya juices, sweat, metal, and oils driving her FERAL. Be prepared for her to eat ya out nonstop, nips between ya legs, belly, thighs, and ya neck. If toys are ya thing, there will be bites to ya back n neck during WOLF style. Unless ya don't mind scars, scratches will be soft and gentle to prevent scarring.

Chica:

Sussex Chicken

6' 3"

Age: 29

Guitarist, runs Mazersize and Roxy's Salon

Werechicken Bite: TBA

Breeding Habits: OH, ya thought she was just a sweet chicken? Wait until breeding season, she ain't such a softie then. Better get ya stretches in first cause this girl will try EVERY position possible. Nests will be in her room, kitchen closet, and a hidden room in the Mazercise, coated in her FEATHERS just for ya. Chickens don't normally have teeth, but werechickens do! Bites will be galore, eating up the taste of ya skin and soft bites. And she will LOVE to eat ya out, coating ya in food, devouring it off ya flesh.

Daycare:

Sun:

Eastern Coyote

9' 3"

Age: 24

Daycare Attendant, runs daycare with Moon, and runs the children's theater.

Werecoyote Bite: Bit at the age of 17.

Breeding Habits: This coyote keeps his den high above the plex, in the balcony. A loud howler, romps with him are fun with teasing and tickling. Drawing all over ya skin as a CANVAS, washable or edible PAINTS of course! Soft blankets, pillows and plushies will fill the den ya share. Just because this coyote is gentle with children, doesn't mean he is with ya. Bites and scratches mark was skin in patterns and designs. The FUN never ends with this one!

Moon:

Eastern Coyote

9' 3"

Age: 24

Daycare Attendant, runs daycare with Sun, head of security

Werecoyote Bite: Bit the same time as Sun, age 17.

Breeding Habits: Stolen from Sun, this coyote is much different than his twin. Bound, BLINDED, and gagged high in a suspended nest above the daycare. He competes with the bites his twin left, making his own designs. He prefers ya SOFT moans, watching ya body seize in the dark. Sweet nothings are whispered in ya ear, taking ya long and slow. Gentle squeezes and caresses, cock warming as ya SLEEP so peacefully. Be warned, this coyote has a thing for somnophilia.

Others:

Bonnie:

Flemish Rabbit

8' 2"

Age: 34

Retired from the band. Runs Bonnie's Bowl and Bonnie's Bar n Lounge, bouncer of the bar. Co-owner of the plex.

Relationship: TBA

Wererabbit Bite: TBA

Breeding Habits: Rabbits are well know for their breeding habits and his one ain't any different. Ya will have a BURROW in his room, but he will take ya anywhere, anytime a hint of arousal hits his ears. Rabbits are known to be QUICK, but not this one. This rabbit is loud, purring and growling, taking ya for hours at a time. Being the most violent in the plex, he will pepper ya in bites, loving every one of ya screams and moans. If ya try to leave, he will BIND ya down. Can't be having his cottontail escaping! This rabbit is the ultimate dom, breaking ya down to need only HIM, forever.

Foxy:

Red Fox

Age: 32

7' 5"

Captain Foxy of Pirate Cove

Relationship: [FINALLY] Rosebush Twins; Raspberry and Karvelia / humans

Werefox Bite: TBA

Breeding Habits: This fox loves his tricks, even more so during breeding season. His den can be found deep in the bowels of the ship, ever suspended HAMMOCK with exquisite pillows, silks and satins. Bondage play if wonderful with the fox, just the right tension to suspend ya from the ceiling in SILK ties, blinded and gagged by bandanas. He will adorn ya body in oils and RICHES, praising ya for hours. Nipping and licking at ya supple skin, coated in whiskey and RUM. Don't worry about leaving Captain's quarters, he'll keep ya well fed as he breeds ya every night, desperate for crewmates.

DJMM:

Zebra Spider

10' 7"

Age: ?

Runs Music Man's Dancefloor n Karaoke

Relationship: unknown

Werespider bite: Werespiders are rare. Not much is know about their bites and DJMM will not speak of his.

Breeding Habits: A special nest high above the dancefloor, woven of spider threads and SILK ribbons. Wrapped and bound in his threads, this spider will worship ya as he breeds ya. Bites caress ya skin, greedy for the SWEET liquid contained within. This spider lives to dance all night, bound in the night for an endless ritual. Ya squeals and cries echo through the dance floor, in a SONG just for him. Ambrosia drips from his fangs, in a never ending high of ecstasty. The world disappears, lost in his gentle embrace of music.

WereBlobby: [NOT CANON]

Not much is known about this... creature.

Said to have been infected with an unknown bacterial infection.

Simply put, it's grotesque. Rotting flesh perpetually drips from it's various species bones, black blood pouring out in rivulets. Supposedly contains remains of animals and werecreatures it's consumed. Bear, fox, rabbit, and other creatures heads and limb protrudes through shifting flesh. Various HEARTBEATS can be found within and heard in the ever present silence.

It doesn't mean any harm, it lost it's conciousness and hunger a long time ago. But if ya gentle and QUIET, it might either leave ya alone, or approach CURIOUSLY. Forming a bond with it is the key to survival.

If ya try to hurt it, ya will NEVER be found again.

WereMice / WereRats:

Security team of the plex.

Breeding Habits: They each have their own nests throughout the plex, knowing every blind spot. Hiding ya away, they'll adorn ya with treasure, cherishing ya with everything they are. Getting FED by them is the best, bringing anything ya crave as they pound away, breeding ya as quick as they can. LOVE bites all over, scratches gracing ya body as they cuddle ya against their soft fur, deep in the plush nests.

WereGerbils:

Janitors of the plex.

Breeding Habits: Cleanest hidden nests throughout the plex, stowing away merch and snacks. Feeding ya SWEETS as they soak up the warmth from ya body. Gently caressing galore, cock warming deep inside the soft warmth of ya flesh. Ya be kept SAFE they wrap around ya, desperate to keep ya forever.

-

Megaplex History!

Freddy took over ownership of the old pizzeria at the age of 20 in 1993 after the death of his father when the original pizzeria burned along with the original band.

Megaplex was built years 5 later in 1998, starring Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica as the original band.

In 2003, Bonnie retired from the band, allowing Monty and Roxy to take their places.

Megaplex expanded afterwards for Bonnie's Bowl, Bonnie's Bar n Lounge, Pirate Cove, Roxy's Salon, and Chica's Cafe.

Werebite Lore!

Once bitten, human form is gone for good. Only other form possible is feral.

Transformation can occur at any age, but the saliva that causes said transformation is not produced by the werecreatures until they have matured.

For a transformation to occur, direct contact of the weresaliva with the bloodstream is needed.

Once a were goes feral, there is no returning. Turning feral is still not fully understood as many reasons can cause it. But turning feral is when a werecreature fully transforms into said animal species.

Werecreatures can conceive but only during their rut season that varies my species.

During each species' rut season, the werebite saliva production is suspended.

-

Stay Cruel Until The End! - Theodore

Posted Mar 25 '22

[queerlordsimon]

Ok, I'm a writer who wishes to write. But has no idea what to write. (I have one thing in progress but I'm out of internal fs to give to write it right now)

So, prompts. Characters. Whatnot.

Characters I'll write for.

Twisted wonderland

Pretty much everyone, not the teachers or jamil/grimm.(if you ask for Jamil I will unapologetically do it poorly, sorry) won't do ortho as well, purely because of age. I can not garentee the quality of work if you ask for sebek as I don't know him well, and ace and rook, purely because I don't think I can write them well. But I'd give it a go

My hero

I'm open to writing most characters here as well, except mineta, muscular, endeavor, and tiny children. I cannot garrentee the quality of most of the league, except toga. Dabi, and shiggy. And anyone From class 1-b, but I'll give it a go and try my best. (Also I have only seen to like, halfway through season 3, so I won't be great at those characters, but I'll try

Obey me!

Anyone but Luke, but I'm not well aquinted with thirteen, Raphael, and mephestophelis.

Im not sure or positive on any others that I write a ton for, but feel free to ask if I know it, If I do I'm more then likely willing to try.

I'll do most au ideas. Nsfw or sfw. I'll leave some prompts below for asking as well

kissing in the rain and getting soaked before running inside laughing

playing with their hair while their head in your lap

jolting awake after a nightmare and being comforted

theres only one bed and we sleep as far away as possible from each other but wake up cuddling

you confessed your feelings and were about to kiss but we get interrupted

"you are breathtaking"

"i cant help it, you're fun to mess with

"we both dont want to do this, i know. but you have to understand that we need this."

"why didnt you say h-how bat it was?"

"im not a lot of peoples favourite person."

"no ones ever done that to me before"

"could you play with my hair?"

13. "i cant remember the last time i did this with somesomeon

14. "that feels nice." 

15. "i havent been hugged in years"

16. you put your arm around me and i literally felt my knees buckle

17. "i just want to be held for a little while"

18." ive never been in a relationship before, so i dont really know how to do the whole… kissing thing."

19. "take another step, and i cant be help responsible for my actions."

20, " theres only one rule. you cant use your hands."

21. "look deep into my eyes, sweetheart."

22. "i want you to leave marks"

23. "i want to watch you fall apart."

24." i dreamed of you all night"

25. "the things that i want to do to you, baby"

26. i have you shoved against the wall but now i cant stop looking at your mouth.

27. i just told you i like you but now im shy and say, 'never mind, forget it; and why are you looking at me like that?

28. congratulations! one of your dreams has finially come true, let me give you a big hug and wow youre warm

29. "im going to marry you one day"

30. "i was wondering how long you two were going to make out like that before you realize you werent alone."

31. "were you just touching yourself?"

32. "can you please come and get me?"

33. "hey, just look at me, breathe"

34. " you need to eat something."

35. "what happened to you??"

36. "apparently all our friends have a bet going that we end up together"

37. "cant you see it? the spirit of the dragon is within them"

38."how long have you been covering this?"

39."im way to sober for this."

40. "damn it, why arent you obeying the laws of physics?"

41. "i dont know whats wrong, okay? im just….really tired."

42. "my mind is in a dark place, you dont want to be there."

43."i wasnt born to be soft and quiet. i was born to make the world shatter and shake at my fingertips."

44. "theres a reason im afraid of my own shadow."

45. "their back. i saw them last night, but they wouldnt talk to me and it looked like they had a black eye."

46. "shit, your freezing, lets get you warmed up, alright?"

47. "you cant keep it all inside you know. bottling it up wont do any good"

48. "only a fool would fall in love with someone as deadly as me"

49."sometimes memories are the worst form of tourture."

50. "they were made of ice and glass, but they would risk being broken"

you dont have to request a prompt, just ideas. 

just ask character, au/prompt, gender of reader. any other specifics youd like/need (such as a specific idea, sfw or nsfw. ext)

any underaged character will be aged up

[thebrixtons]

questions & answers about your oc!

i was tagged by the lovely @wa-royal-tea! i’m super late to this, but it was sm fun to do and a really good character writing exercise !! i’m tagging @nexility-sims, @thestenhams, and @evandroyals for this oc questions & answers tag game 💗

q&a is under the cut!!

1) What is your favorite sport?

Soccer! Or football, depending on where you’re from, I guess.

2) What is your favorite color?

Sage green. Everything in my bedroom is sage green! But I also like medium blue, like a Pantone dresden blue. Is that too specific?

3) What is your favorite movie?

That’s an easy one. Halloweentown, for sure.

4) Taken? Single?

Are you allowed to ask that? You are? Umm... next question, please.

5) What would be your perfect day?

Having my mama be home, since she’s always busy. She’d cook us all her Simyeon scallion pancakes for breakfast, and I’d play with my little brother, Rhys. If my papa’s not busy, we’d go down to the beach and play soccer for hours.

6) Are you a night owl or an early bird!

I’m an early bird. Usually, I’m the first to wake up in the morning.

7) Do you think you’re smart?

That’s a trick question, right? I guess I’m smart? I get better grades than my twin sister.

8) How do you like to be comforted when you’re sad?

I don’t like being alone when I’m sad. I want someone to distract me with macarons and mochi and make me laugh.

9) Where do you want to be in 5 years time?

In five years, I’ll be like 25 years old? And by then, I’ll have graduated university and started preparing to work as a full-time royal. I’d like to play soccer professionally but— uh, never mind. Where I want to be and where I’m going to be are different.

12) Do you have any regrets?

No, not yet! I hope I won’t have any.

13) Who are/is your best friends?

My twin sister, Lina, is my best friend. I feel like we understand each other better than other people do? But I’m also really close with my friends I met at boarding school. Ren, Arthur, Nora, and Penny! I love them. 

14) What was your dream last night?

Last night, I dreamed I fell into a puddle and was transported into this alternate reality. The sky was purple and there were monsters everywhere! I usually have really wild dreams... though they’re mostly nightmares.

15) Who in your family are you closest to?

Lina, obviously! I’m also really close with my papa.

16) What is the one thing people don’t know about you?

I have asthma. I try to control it as much as possible— and always take my medication— so that when I’m playing soccer or working out I won’t have an asthma attack.

17) Best present ever given to you?

When I was 12 years old, I went through an embarrassing photography phase. Mama bought me a brand new DSLR for Winterfest! I think it’s a Rikon, or something. I’m starting to get back into taking pictures of special moments and the people I love.

18) What is your favorite food?

Anything my mama makes. But my favorite would have to be her homemade dumplings. And we always have it with this secret sauce she makes. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I could cry thinking about it.

19) Earliest childhood memory?

I was like three years old, and I remember watching my papa look out the window. It was snowing. I think he hates the snow.

20) Do you have a crush?

I... do, but it’s none of your business.

21) If you could live in a different period, which one would it be?

I’d rather live in this time period. We have technology, cars, cellphones, and a modern understanding of hygiene. That’s good enough for me.

22) Any nicknames?

A lot of people call me Clem.

23) Introvert or Extrovert?

I love talking to people and making new friends, so that makes me an extrovert.

24) Favorite book?

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. A close second is These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong.

25) Hobby?

Aside from soccer and anything athletic, I like photography, painting even though I’m really bad at it, reading, and journaling— you know, with the cute calligraphy pens and stuff.

26) Beach or pool?

Beach. There’s nothing better than laying out at the beach and feeling the sun on your skin.

27) First kiss?

Seriously?

28) Favorite subject

Anything science-related. History, too!

29) Age

I’m 19! I turn 20 years old next month.

30) Full name

Clementine Beauchamp.

31) Pets?

I don’t have any.

33) Favorite song?

I can’t choose! Right now, my favorite song is Step On Up by Ariana Grande.

34) Where do you live?

At my parents’ house?

35) What/who do you miss?

I miss my... close friend, Ren.

36) Which school(s) do/did you go to?

I’m a freshman at Foxbury Institute.

38) Tattoo?

Uh, no. Those hurt.

39) Done anything illegal?

Huh? Illegal? Nope.

40) Fav TV show?

Girl from Nowhere. I love it, even though it’s kind of dark?

41) Do you know any celebrities?

Mama knows celebrities and movie stars, so I’ve met a bunch of them and their kids at her parties. I guess that counts?

42) Dreams/wishes?

I want to be happy. 

43) Are you very competitive?

Uh, yes.

45) Greatest accomplishment?

Getting a full-ride soccer scholarship to Foxbury Institute. I hope I’ll become captain of the women’s soccer team by junior year!

46) If you were stuck on a desert island, who would you be stuck with?

My papa. Since he was in the military for a long time, he knows how to survive in all kinds of places. 

47) Zodiac sign

I’m an Aquarius sun, Taurus moon, and Aries rising!

48) Where were you born?

At a hospital in Newbury?

49) Sexuality?

I don’t know. Pan?

50) What color are your eyes?

Dark brown.

51) What color is your hair?

... Dark brown.

52) Do you want/ have kids?

I’d love to have children when I’m settled down and comfortable. Two, maybe. A boy and a girl.

53) When is your birthday?

January 21st!

54) Current mood?

I’m fine.

55) Do you send goodnight or good morning texts to people?

Yup! If I’m too busy to text my family and friends during the day, I like to at least message them in the morning or night.

57) How long do you sleep for?

8 hours. From around 10pm to 6am.

58) How long does it take you to get up in the morning?

As soon as I’m awake, I’m ready to go.

59) How long does it take you to get ready?

Including a shower, getting dressed, and all that stuff? I’d say like 20 minutes.

60) Meyer Briggs personality type?

ENFJ.

[acrossthewavesoftime]

22 and 23 September 1762: A Life Gained, Another Lost in the Gwillim-Spinckes Family or: A Very Special Baby

Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe, née Gwillim in 1790, at 28 or 29 years old.

Today is 23 September 2021, which may sound insignificant, particularly when compared to a certain fairly recent meme-able date, but for me, there's some measure of historical significance connected to both 22 and 23 September. I originally planned on making this post yesterday but didn't get around to do it, so here it is now; those days were two rather important dates in the life of one of the historical figures I post about every now and then, and in 2021, they even fall on the same weekdays as they did in 1762, the year Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe, née Gwillim, was born. This is going to be a post about her family and early life, and why those two dates in late September were so important, shaping her upbringing and future outlook on life.

Happy B... Baptism Day

We don’t know exactly when Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim was born; only that she was baptised in All Saints Church in Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, on 22 September 1762 (though the parish record misspells her name as Elisabeth Posthuma Gwilliam), her godmother being her maternal aunt, Margaret Spinckes (future Graves).

A persistent misconception about her year of birth that has over time been repeated in print every now and then is that Elizabeth was born in 1766, not 1762, which is easily refuted: both her parents died within nine months of another in 1762; not to mention Elizabeth Posthuma's baptism and her mother's funeral occurred within a day of another and are both listed in the parish register for that year.

All Saints Church, Aldwincle. By the way, All Saints is allegedly the first champing-church in the UK (champing being the thing where you can rent a disused church for an overnight stay, the word being composed of church+camping). So yeah, you can stay overnight where a host of Elizabeth's ancestors, including her mother and grandmother, are buried, her aunt married and she was baptised. Another, more famous name connected to All Saints is John Dryden, who was also baptised there, and also related to Elizabeth's family. Definitively on my bucket-list.

While the year is thus fully established, the exact date is not; we know she was baptised on 22 September, but the day of her birth remains unclear. A helpful detail that may allow pinpointing her birthday somewhere close to 20, perhaps even 21 September is the fact that Elizabeth was baptised on a Wednesday, not, as the Book of Common Prayer advises, on a Sunday:

The people are to be admonished, that it is most convenient, that Baptism should not be adminiſtered but upon Sundays, and other Holy-days, when the moſt number of people come together: as well for that the Congregation there present may teſtify the receiving of them that be newly baptized, into the number of Chriſt’s Church; as also because in the Baptism of Infants every man present may be put in remembrance of his own profession made to God in his Baptism. For which cause also it is expedient, that Baptism be miniſtered in the vulgar Tongue. Nevertheless, (if necessity so require) Children may be baptized upon any other day. [1]

In little Elizabeth Posthuma’s case, it’s possible that “necessity” did “so require”: given her mother had died and the baptism was performed even before the burial, her remaining relatives probably were particularly anxious for the life of the child, even more so in an age of high infant mortality that had struck the family previously in the generation of the new baby’s late mother and aunt: of six and five children of the Gwillim and Spinckes families in the generation of Elizabeth Posthuma's parents, only Elizabeth's aunts Elizabeth Sophia and Henrietta Maria survived their parents; of the Spinckes', only Margaret ultimately survived her mother (her father having died in 1749).

1762: Two Funerals and a Baptism

In 1750, Elizabeth Posthuma’s parents Thomas Gwillim (1726–1762) and Elizabeth Spinckes (1723–1762) married on 14 January in Whitchurch, where the Gwillims were based at a manor house called Old Court (which, similarly to All Saints Church in Aldwincle, is now a Hotel). Groom and bride were first cousins through their mothers. All her life, Elizabeth was very close to her sister Margaret, who would frequently stay with her at her marital home in London while her husband was away. The couple remained childless, yet was probably quite happy; relations with his in-laws were so good that Thomas even named Margaret as the beneficiary of his will in case something should happen to his wife, should she, unbeknownst to him while on campaign, predecease him- his intention to ensure his possessions would go to someone he approved of in the event of the deaths of both him and his wife proved to be prophetic.

Thomas, then a Lieutenant Colonel in the 50th of Foot, was stationed in Germany and returned home on his Christmas leave in 1761. After 11 years of marriage, it appears that a Christmas miracle happened- their first and only child was conceived during his leave. Sadly, this was to be the last time Thomas came home; he died a mere month later, on 29 January 1762 and is presumably buried somewhere near Kassel (Hesse) in Germany. He never received the news that his wife was expecting.

Elizabeth, recently widowed and pregnant, dissolved the London household she was no longer able to finance without her husband’s pay with the help of her younger sister and for some time, moved in with her in-laws, but returned home to Aldwincle for the birth. What exactly went wrong can’t be ascertained; at 38, Elizabeth Gwillim was old for a first-time mother, and there appear to have been severe complications, since she died shortly after having given birth; she lived just long enough to see her baby daughter.

Contrary to the fears the baby might not survive the first few days of her life, Elizabeth Posthuma, whose middle name had been given to her with the intention to reflect the sudden deaths of both her parents, grew up in what could be called a sort of ‘custody agreement’ between her maternal aunt and grandmother in Aldwincle, with whom she lived primarily, and the Gwillims at Whitchurch, whom the little girl visited frequently. Both paternal grandparents died when she was still very young, leaving only her two aunts Elizabeth Sophia and Henrietta Maria, with whom she was extremely close to the point that Elizabeth Sophia was the only person Elizabeth Posthuma wanted with her in the room when she had her first child in 1784.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

In June 1769, a third part-time home was added when her maternal aunt Margaret married Admiral Samuel Graves, who primarily lived on his country seat at Hembury Fort House in Devon. I really need to make a post about Margaret and her rather fascinating life at some point, but suffice to say here that she, a proto-feminist if you will whose views on women's rights and -education have barely lost any of their currentness even in 2021, had never planned on ever getting married at all before Cupid’s arrow struck.

When her grandmother died in 1776, Elizabeth was given the choice where she wanted to live, and she decided to stay with the Graves’. While Margaret Graves was strict and a disciplinarian to the core, Samuel Graves seems to have been more indulgent.

In a way, Elizabeth was as much a miracle to him as to her blood relatives; he had been childless from his first marriage and Elizabeth became the daughter he never had- substitutes for sons there were plenty, beginning with his godsons John Graves Simcoe and Richard Graves, the son of one of his older brothers, and countless nephews. Letters from later years between Elizabeth and her best friend since childhood days Mary Anne Burges are surprisingly relatable and give insight into how surprisingly little has changed about what it's like to be a teen: the two had sleepovers, stayed up late together on their so-called “vigils”, eluded Margaret’s school of strict discipline and bible study by quite literally running for the hills and made up secret nicknames in Spanish (which, surprise, Margaret didn't speak) for the somewhat kill-joy aunt.

While Samuel Graves was arguably the more indulgent parental figure in Elizabeth’s life, he apparently introduced her to his godson Richard while both were still fairly young, hoping the two might fall in love and get married once they were older. I haven’t found any historical proof for this particular anecdote, but the introduction of the two is said to have gone so spectacularly wrong that Elizabeth and Richard had a terrible row which ended with the tiny, less-than-5-foot (1,52m)[3] Elizabeth kicking him out of his uncle’s house. “Dick” as he was referred to in the family, and Elizabeth never got along for the rest of their lives to the point Richard was once again shown the door, this time of Elizabeth's own house- so much at least is well-documented.

While Elizabeth was very much aware of how special she was to her relatives, it seems as if she, in her younger years at least, did not quite care for the constant memorial to her parents that was her own name: an artwork signed by her as “Eliza Gwillim” and the name given to her firstborn, also Eliza (picked by the proud new papa in order to reflect his love for his wife) may indicate that sometimes, she wanted to be just plain Eliza- not Elizabeth Posthuma, on whose shoulders the expectations of her entire family weighed.

Speaking of the family's expectations, her aunt Margaret had had Elizabeth's life planned out for the latter in advance: she wanted her niece to grow up into an independent, unmarried woman who would thus not die in childbirth and could retain legal ownership of her vast inheritance instead of having to yield control of the same to a husband upon marriage. While I am willing to believe Margaret had good intentions after having been there to watch the sister who was also her best friend die, she appears to have had trouble letting Elizabeth go and allowing her to be her own person. She never accepted either Elizabeth's husband or her best friend and at least in case of the latter, tried to rid herself of a younger woman she saw as a competitor for her niece's affection time and again by treating her as unkindly as she could, hoping Mary Anne would one day just walk away.

However, like many children whose parents/guardians have had their life mapped out for them in advance, Eliza grew up and had other ideas. It probably didn't help that the only person self-assured and curageous enough to stand up to Margaret Graves was Eliza, who arguably had reached the necessary levels of self-confidence to oppose her aunt from the latter's very upbringing in which Eliza knew herself to be at the centre of the universe of all the adults in her life. The teen rebelled, and graduated from silly nicknames and hiding from her aunt by getting herself an older boyfriend the latter thoroughly disapproved of... But that's a story for another day.

Footnotes/References:

[1] The 1662 Book of Common Prayer as printed by John Baskerville in 1762 section on baptisms, p. 2 [accessed 23 September 2021].

[2] Here's an excellent family tree of the Gwillims, Spinckes' and SImcoes to disentangle all the different Elizabeths.

[3] While it was noted that Elizabeth was rather small, I don't know how her supposed approximate height was established; until the early 20th century however, a then extant garment (the skirt of a 1790s ensemble by the looks of it), worn by Elizabeth in Upper Canada, was kept at Wolford Lodge, so I'd guess the skirt was used to guesstimate a relative height. Sadly, the skirt almost certainly fell victim to a blaze in the first half of the 20th century that destroyed Wolford Lodge and its contents entirely; a rather bad photo from the 1910s, when John Ross Robertson, Elizabeth's first biographer managed to befriend the last Mrs. Simcoe, travelled to Wolford to collect images for his project publishing Elizabeth's Canadian diary, luckily survives.

For more on her early years, I warmly suggest this sadly somewhat dated, yet well-researched and to this date only biography of Elizabeth: Beacock Fryer, Mary (1989). Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe 1762-1850. A Biography. Toronto: Dundurn Press.

Images:

Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe by Mary Anne Burges, 1790. Photograph by the Library and Archives of Canada, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons [accessed: 23 September 2021].

All Saints Church, Aldwincle. Photograph by John Sutton, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons [accessed: 23 September 2021].

[petri808]

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33-Epilogue

— I just wanna say thank you so much to everyone who followed along, your comments and suggestions along the way really helped to bring this story to life! It’s my longest fic to date, and to think it started as a one-shot for nalu day 2020 lol. YOU GUYS HELPED MAKE THIS HAPPEN! 🥳🥰🥰 ILY YOU ALL!💜💜💜💜

@mcornilliac special shout out for you help with the toughest part 😘

Even after all these years, riding on a train still brought a small flutter to Lucy’s stomach as she remembered the long ago evening when she’d met her husband. From an innocent meeting to a death defying experience, talk about a roller coaster ride. And yet, if she had to do it all over again, Lucy wouldn’t change a thing. Crazy sounding yes, for why would anyone not want to avoid what she’d gone through? Touka had truly pushed her sanity to the breaking point, but well, the therapist was right in the end and Lucy felt almost invincible now. All that pain, all the struggle she’d pushed through had made her the strong and resilient woman she was today. Happily married to Natsu with their fraternal twins Nashi and Ryuu. Mrs. Natsu Dragneel, Lucy smiled to herself, there was no way she’d change a thing.

Of course, it hadn’t been easy. After Natsu proposed and Lucy had accepted, there were still a lot of work to be done. But that measure of acceptance and affection did wonders. Any worries she’d had that he wouldn’t want a broken woman melted away and gave her the confidence to get better. With each passing therapy session, her strength grew, and by the time they graduated college, Lucy could honestly say she’d been cured to a functional degree. No longer struggling through nightmares and panic attacks, her anxieties were under control and the debilitating depression a distant memory where it belonged.

Yeah... Lucy sighed happily as she watched the landscape pass by from her train seat. Meeting Natsu was the best thing to ever happen in her life, well, aside from the kids. They’d married about a year after graduation on the anniversary of their meeting. It was a beautiful affair at an indoor venue, with close friends and family to join them. They’d gone a more modern route for the ceremony but did take pictures at a garden dressed in the traditional attire for sentimental reasons. Lucy wore the shiromuku white kimono while Natsu a montsuki haori hakama. And no, it wasn’t train themed! Levy was the Maid of Honor and Gray was the best man. By then, Levy and Gajeel were also married and Gray in a serious relationship with a girl named Juvia Lockser. Lucy was so happy for them both. All of their lives were moving in the right direction.

Everything was perfect. Great jobs in their fields of interest, lives settled into a comfortable routine, when 5 years later Lucy was pregnant with fraternal twins. It was a total surprise since twins didn’t run in either of their families. Always the jovial optimist, Natsu joked that they’d been doubly blessed because of what they’d gone through, and Lucy couldn’t help but love such a concept. Of course, once the euphoria of the motherhood prospect waned, reality set in that she was having twins! Two! Double the babies meant double of everything, from the pregnancy concerns to raising them. Growing up without a mother and as an only child, Lucy didn’t have a lot of experience with small children. But Natsu patiently assured her, that she’d do just fine. Think of it as a new challenge, and after overcoming one pretty tough situation, this would be a walk in the park. On the bright side, Levy was also pregnant with the couple’s first child so the two best friend’s kids would grow up together.

And Natsu was right, there were a few bumps in the road but nothing too difficult. During her fourth month Lucy was diagnosed with gestational diabetes as well as some minor gastrointestinal issues, so Natsu swayed the doctor to put her on bed rest. Better safe than sorry. The babies were healthy, but by the 7th month, she really couldn’t move much, and she was miserable being stuck at home all the time. Lucy missed her job because she genuinely enjoyed working for the magazine. But in the end, it had been a good thing. She could manage her health easier that way and it gave her time to do something she’d thought about doing as part of the healing process. With Natsu’s support and permission, it was time to put her writing skills to good use and write a book about their experience.

It became an instant hit, especially with female readers. The book was not only an autobiographical reflection of what had happened to them but focused on shining a light on the dangers of stalkers, as well as the importance of taking the warning signs seriously. Lucy didn’t hold back in her re-telling, even pointing out the serious flaws in Japan’s laws in protecting citizens from stalkers which at the time were nonexistent. Feminist organizations working to change those laws used her story with permission for their cause. She had no intentions of becoming a poster child for the movement, but in the end her role may have played its part, because 2 years after the publishing, Japan finally adopted anti-stalking laws making it easier for police to string together harassment cases, as well as for victims to get the help they needed.

Her life was nothing but exciting to say the least! And with two young children, now age 10 certainly kept them on their toes. Their daughter Nashi was just like Natsu, very outgoing, friendly, but a bit of a daredevil while her brother Ryuu born 4 minutes after her was the quieter of the two. He preferred books like his mother to adventure. Of course, that never stopped Nashi from dragging him into shenanigans! But the best part was how close they still were and fiercely protective of each other. Lucy and Natsu couldn’t be prouder of them and hoped this would continue throughout their lifetimes.

Fifteen years... come to think of it, their wedding anniversary was coming up shortly. With Natsu now a senior fire inspector for the Tokyo prefectural government, he was often busy. Lucy did mind it, because frankly it gave her some peace and quiet. She chuckled at the thought. Not that it was all that peaceful with the twins. But she digressed. His success meant their lives were very comfortable, and her own journalism successes while not as financially based, were still celebrated in their relationship. Natsu never waned in being the dutiful and supportive, always loving husband that Lucy felt blessed to grow old with.

‘Two more stops, pick up the kids from school, stop at the grocery store for dinner...’ Lucy tapped out on her phone a to-do list of ingredients to pick up at the store. Perhaps katsudon... ‘Mmm, or maybe nabe,’ hot-pot soup since it was expected to be a bit chilly that evening.

Lucy looked up briefly, really just spacing out in thought when someone catches her eye. At the other end of the train car, she noticed a woman facing slightly away, but enough to where she couldn’t quite see a face. It couldn’t be... Lucy looked away not wanting to stare, but somehow... for some reason the woman was awfully familiar... looking exactly like Touka. Well, not exactly, but enough to make the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It was a blonde, with a different hair style— and that could always be changed. Similar body type, the facial side-profile features that Lucy could see resembled Touka...

Now despite being better, her anxieties still bubbled up from time to time, so she immediately switched to her coping techniques to calm them down. ‘You’re fine,’ Lucy talked herself through it, ‘no point in getting riled up.’ The woman hadn’t done so much as looked in her direction, so it must be okay. Contrary to popular belief, things like depression and anxiety never fully goes away, especially when someone has experienced a severe level of it. Those emotions and irrational thoughts are forever programmed into the brain, but there are ways to keep them at bay and Lucy’s successfully done just that for 15 years.

‘Just go back to what you were doing. Katsudon or nabe? And don’t forget you need to pick up milk...’ But, fifteen years... could Touka have been released by now? Lucy shook the thought away again. ‘Stop it! Everything is fine. It’s not her!’ The train was semi-full of passengers all minding their own business... including the woman. There was no reason to start panicking now. Lucy adjusts her position on her seat away from the woman’s direction. If she couldn’t see her, she could pretend she didn’t exist. ‘Maybe I should pick up ingredients for both, that way I don’t have to shop tomorrow.’ Lucy thought to herself, and with the kids with her, they could help in carrying the shopping bags. ‘Yeah, we’ve got a plan…’

After figuring out her shopping list, Lucy pulled up social media to keep herself distracted and for a few minutes it did the trick. Silly videos of entertainers never got old. The train reached the next stop and she felt it come to a stop. Since it wasn’t hers, she didn’t pay it any mind as she scrolled through her feed. But as the disembarking passengers funnel past Lucy, her eyes pick up on a pair of pink high-heels peeking from over the edge of her phone. Her body instantly stiffened up from the similarity to the ones worn by the woman, while her curiosity slowly got the better of her. ‘Breath, act nonchalant!’ Lucy’s eyes tracked the high-heels moving past her until they left her periphery. She then slowly sat back up, pretending to readjust her position, when she caught a pair of eyes looking back. Lucy’s breathing hitches with a shaky exhale. “Oh, my god—"

Standing at the doorway with one hand on the frame, the blonde woman smiled at Lucy then winked before stepping off the train.

It was Touka!

[marlborodean]

spn quotes: season two

i’m collecting a bunch of quotes from the show! my favorite lines, good points of characterization, etc. all organized by episode and character, and with timestamps!

w/ncest shippers get lost

season one.

1. IN MY TIME OF DYING

Dean—

I’ve done everything you have ever asked me. Everything. I’ve given everything I’ve ever had. Now you’re just gonna sit there and you’re gonna watch me die? I mean, what the hell kind of father are you? (11:14)

So you’re okay with dying? [Tessa: No, of course not. I just think, whatever’s gonna happen is gonna happen. It’s out of my control. It’s just...fate.] Hm. That’s crap. You always have a choice. You can either roll over and die, or you can keep fighting no matter what. (18:48)

There’s no such thing as an honorable death. My corpse is gonna rot in the ground, and my family is gonna die. (30:38)

[John: You know, when, uh...when you were a kid, I’d come home from a hunt, and after what I’d seen, I’d be...I’d be wrecked. And you...you’d come up to me, and you’d put your hand on my shoulder, and you’d look me in the eye, and you’d...you’d say, “It’s okay, Dad.” Dean, I’m sorry.] Why? [You shouldn’t have had to say that to me, I should’ve been saying that to you. You know, I put...I put too much on your shoulders. I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You did that. And you didn’t complain, not once.] (37:27)

Sam—

How is revenge gonna help him? You're not thinking about anybody but yourself. It's the same selfish obsession! (13:17)

I don't know how to help you. But I'll keep trying, alright? As long as you keep fighting. I mean, come on, you can't...you can't leave me here alone with Dad, we'll kill each other, you know that. Dean, you gotta hold on. You can't go, man, not now. We were just starting to be brothers again. (28:36)

Misc—

Tessa: You'll stay here for years—disembodied, scared. And over the decades, it'll probably drive you mad. Maybe you'll even get violent. [Dean: What are you saying?] Dean, how do you think angry spirits are born? They can't let go, and they can't move on. And you're about to become one: the same thing you hunt. (31:15)

Azazel: If only your boys knew how much their daddy loved them. (32:15)

2. EVERYBODY LOVES A CLOWN

Dean—

[Ellen: I’m so sorry.] It’s okay. We’re alright. [Really. I know how close you and your dad—] Really, lady, I’m fine. (11:37)

[Sam: You ever notice Dad had a falling-out with just about everybody? Don’t get all maudlin on me, man.] What do you mean? [I mean this strong, silent thing of yours. It’s crap, I’m over it.] Oh my God. [This isn’t just anyone we’re talking about, this is Dad. I know how you felt about the man.] You know what? Back off, alright? Just because I’m not caring and sharing like you want me to— [No no no, that’s not what this is about, Dean. I don’t care how you deal with this, but you have to deal with it, man! Listen, I’m your brother, alright? I just wanna make sure you’re okay.] Dude, I’m okay! I’m okay, okay? I swear, the next person who asks me if I’m okay, I’m gonna start throwing punches. These are your issues. Quit dumping them on me. [What are you talking about?] I just think it’s really interesting, this sudden obedience you have to Dad. It’s like, “Oh, what would Dad want me to do?” Sam, you spent your entire life slugging it out with that man. I mean, hell, you—you picked a fight with him the last time you ever saw him, and now that he’s dead, now you want to make it right? Well, I’m sorry, Sam, but you can’t. It’s too little, too late. [Why are you saying this to me?] Because I want you to be honest with yourself about this! I’m dealing with Dad’s death! Are you? (29:48)

Sam—

[Dean: This case was your idea. By the way, why is that? You were awfully quick to jump on this job.] So? [It's just not like you, that's all. I thought you were hell-bent for leather on the demon hunt.] I don't know, I just think taking this job, it's what Dad would have wanted us to do. (16:57)

[Mr. Cooper: You see, this place is a refuge for outcasts, always has been, for folks that don't fit in nowhere else. But you two...you should go to school, find a couple of girls, have 2.5 kids. Live regular.] Sir, we don't want to go school, and we don't want regular. We want this. (22:34)

[Dean: I thought that once the demon was dead and the fat lady sings that you were gonna take off, head back to wussy state.] I'm having second thoughts. [Really?] Yeah. I think Dad would have wanted me to stick with the job. [Since when do you give a damn what Dad wanted? You spent half your life doing what he didn't want, Sam.] Since he died, okay? You have a problem with that? (23:27)

I'm sorry that the last time I was with him, I tried to pick a fight. I'm sorry that I spent most of my life angry at him. I mean, for all I know, he died thinking that I hate him. So you're right. What I'm doing right now, it is too little. It's too late. I miss him, man. And I feel guilty as hell. And I'm not all right, not at all. But neither are you. That much I know. (39:04)

3. BLOODLUST

Dean—

So I picked up this crossbow, and I hit that ugly sucker—silver-tipped arrow, right in his heart. Sammy’s waiting in the car, and me and my dad take the thing into the woods, burn it to a crisp. I’m sitting there, and I’m looking into the fire, I’m thinking to myself, “I’m 16 years old. Kids my age are worried about pimples, prom dates. I’m seeing things that they’ll never even know, never even dream of.” So right then, I just sort of.... [Gordon: Embraced the life?] Yeah. (16:16)

You’re always saying to yourself, “He’s indestructible. He’ll always be around. Nothing can kill my dad.” And just like that, he’s gone. I can’t talk about this to Sammy. No, I got to keep my game face on. But, uh...truth is, I’m not handling it very well. I feel like I have this— [Gordon: Hole inside you? And it just gets bigger and bigger and darker and darker? Good. You can use it. Keeps you hungry. Trust me, there’s plenty out there needs killing, and this will help you do it. Dean, it’s not a crime to need your job.] (18:32)

[Gordon: It’s all black-and-white. There’s no maybe. You find the bad thing, kill it. See, most people spend their lives in shades of gray. Is this right? Is that wrong? Not us.] Not sure Sammy would agree with you, but, uh. [Doesn’t seem like your brother’s much like us. I’m not saying he’s wrong, just different. You and me, we were born to do this. It’s in our blood.] (20:22)

[Sam: You know what? You slap on this big smile, but I can see right through it, ‘cause I know how you feel, Dean. Dad’s dead. And he left a hole, and it hurts so bad you can’t take it. But you can’t just fill up that hole with whoever you want to.] (27:47)

[Gordon: You’re not like your brother. You’re a killer, like me.] (37:08)

I wish we never took this job. It just jacked everything up. [Sam: What do you mean?] Think about all the hunts we went on, Sammy, our whole lives. [Okay.] What if we killed things that didn’t deserve killing. You know? I mean, the way Dad raised us. [Dean, after what happened to Mom...Dad did the best he could.] I know he did. But maybe he wasn’t perfect. And the way he raised us, to hate those things—and man, I hate them. I do. When I killed that vampire at the mill, I didn’t even think about it. Hell, I even enjoyed it. [You didn’t kill Lenore.] No, but every instinct told me to. I was gonna kill her. I was gonna kill them all. (40:20)

Sam—

[Gordon: Well, lighten up a little, Sammy!] He's the only one that gets to call me that. (15:05)

4. CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS

Dean—

Going to visit Mom’s grave? She doesn’t even have a grave. There was no body left after the fire. [Sam: She has a headstone.] Yeah, put up by our uncle, a man that we’ve never even met. So you wanna go pay resects to a slab of granite put up by a stranger? Come on. [Dean, that’s not the point.] Well, them enlighten me, Sam. [It’s not about a body or a casket. It’s about her memory, okay? And after Dad, it just—it just feels like the right thing to do.] It’s irrational, is what it is. [Look, man, no one asked you to come.] Why don’t we swing by the roadhouse instead? I mean, we haven’t heard anything on the demon lately. We should be hunting that son-of-a-bitch down. [That’s a good idea! You should! Just drop me off, I’ll hitch a ride, and I’ll meet you there tomorrow.] Right. Stuck with those people, making awkward small talk until you show up. No thanks. (02:48)

[Sam: Look, maybe you’re imagining a hunt where there isn’t one, so you don’t have to think about Mom, or Dad. You wanna take another swing? Go ahead, if it’ll make you feel better.] I don’t need this crap. [Dean, where are you going?] I’m gonna go get a drink. Alone. (09:59)

Look, I get it. Okay? There are people that I would give anything to see again, but what gives you the right? [Sam: Dean.] [Dr. Mason: What are you talking about?] What’s dead should stay dead! (20:51)

[Sam: Dean, I don’t scare easy, but, man, you’re scaring the crap out of me.] Don’t be overdramatic, Sam. [You’re lucky this turned out to be a real case, ‘cause if it wasn’t, you would’ve just found something else to kill. You’re on edge, you’re erratic, except for when you’re hunting, ‘cause then you’re downright scary. You’re tailspinning, man! And you refuse to talk about it, and you won’t let me help you.] I can take care of myself, thanks. [No, you can’t! And you know what? You’re the only one who thinks you should have to. You don’t have to handle this on your own, Dean. No one can.] (21:44)

I’m sorry. [Sam: For what?] The way I’ve been acting. And for Dad. Well, he was your dad, too. It’s my fault that he’s gone. [What are you talking about?] I know you’ve been thinking it. So have I. Doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. Back at the hospital, I had a full recovery. It was a miracle. And five minutes later, Dad’s dead and the Colt’s gone. [Dean....] You can’t tell me there’s not a connection there. I don’t know how the demon was involved, I don’t know how the whole thing went down exactly, but Dad’s dead because of me, and that much I do know. [We don’t know that, not for sure.] Sam, you and Dad, you’re the most important people in my life. And now...I never should’ve come back, Sam, it wasn’t natural, and now look what’s come of it. I was dead, and I should’ve stayed dead. You wanted to know how I was feeling. So tell me, what could you possibly say to make that alright? (38:56)

Sam—

[Dean: Going to visit Mom's grave? She doesn't even have a grave. There was no body left after the fire.] She has a headstone. [Yeah, put up by our uncle, a man that we've never even met. So you wanna go pay your respects to a slab of granite put up by a stranger? Come on.] Dean, that's not the point. [Well, then, enlighten me, Sam.] It's not about a body or a casket. It's about her memory, okay? And after Dad, it just—it just feels like the right thing to do. (02:48)

You're tailspinning, man. And you refuse to talk about it, and you won't let me help you. [Dean: I can take care of myself, thanks.] No, you can't! And you know what? You're the only one who thinks you should have to. You don't have to handle this on your own, Dean. No one can. [Sam, if you bring up Dad's death one more time, I swear—] Please, Dean, it's killing you. Please. We've already lost Dad. We lost Mom. I've lost Jessica. And now I'm gonna lose you, too? (21:44)

5. SIMON SAID

Dean—

You know, one day I’d love to just sit down and eat something that I didn’t have to microwave at a minimart. (18:03)

[Sam: You know, I heard you before, Dean, when Andy made you tell the truth. You’re just as scared of this as I am.] That was mind control! It’s like—it’s like being roofied, man. That doesn’t count. [What?] No, I—I’m calling do-over. [What are you, 7?] Doesn’t matter. Look, we just gotta keep doing what we’re doing, find that evil son of a bitch and kill it. (36:06)

Sam—

[Dean: There's gonna be hunters there. I don't know if—if going in and announcing that you're some supernatural freak with a demonic connection is the best thing, okay?] So I'm a freak now? [You've always been a freak.] (04:14)

Demon came to them when they were kids. Now they're killing people. [Dean: We don't know what Andrew Gallagher is, okay? Could be innocent.] My visions haven't been wrong yet! [What's your point?] My point is, I'm one of them. [No, you're not.] Dean, the demon said he had plans for me and children like me. [Yeah?] Yeah, maybe this is his plan. Maybe we're all a bunch of psychic freaks. Maybe we're all supposed to be— [Killers?] Yeah. [So the demon wants you out there, killing with your minds, is that it? Oh, give me a break. You're not a murderer, Sam! You don't have it in your bones!] No? Last I checked, I kill all kinds of things. [Those things were asking for it. There's a difference.] (10:47)

Looks like I was right. [Dean: About what?] Andy. He's a killer after all. [No, he's a hero. He saved his girlfriend's life. He saved my life.] Bottom line, last night he wasted somebody. [Yeah, but he's not a foaming-at-the-mouth psycho. He was just—he was pushed into that.] Webber was pushed, too, in his own way. Max Miller was pushed. Hell, I was pushed by Jessica's death. [What's your point, Sam?] Right circumstances, everyone is capable of murder. Everyone. (35:28)

6. NO EXIT

Dean—

[Jo: You know, I’ve had it up to here with your crap.] Excuse me? [Your chauvinist crap. You think women can’t do the job.] Sweetheart, this ain’t gender studies. Women can do the job fine. Amateurs can’t. You got no experience! What you do have is a bunch of half-baked romantic notions that some barfly has put in your head. [And now you sound like my mother.] Oh, and that’s a bad thing? (09:56)

Jo, you got options. No on in their right mind chooses this life. My dad started me in this when I was so young. I wish I could do something else. [Jo: You love the job.] Yeah, but I’m a little twisted. [You don’t think I’m a little twisted, too?] Jo, you got a mother that worries about you, who wants something more for you. Those are good things. You don’t throw things like that away. They might be hard to find later. (10:24)

[Jo: What do you remember about your dad? I mean, what’s the first thing that pops into your head? Come on, tell me.] I was 6 or 7, and uh...he took me shooting for the first time. Bottles on a fence—that kind of things. I bull’s-eyed every one of them. And he would smile, like...I don’t know. [He must have been proud.] (16:13)

Sam—

Is this job as glamorous as you thought it would be? [Jo: Well, except for all the pee-your-pants terror, yeah. But that Theresa girl’s gonna live a life ‘cause of us. It’s worth it, isn’t it?] Yeah. Yeah, it is. (36:00)

Misc—

Ellen: I am your mother! I don't have to be reasonable! (03:06)

7. THE USUAL SUSPECTS

Dean—

My name is Dean Winchester. I’m an Aquarius. I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women. (21:59)

[Sam: Nice lady.] Yeah, for a cop. (41:19)

Sam—

[Diana: Then about a year ago, there was a fire in your apartment. One fatality—Jessica Moore, your girlfriend. After she died, you fell off the grid—left behind everything.] I needed some time off...to deal. So I’m taking a road trip with my brother. (03:49)

[Dean: What do you think, Scully?] I’m not Scully, you’re Scully. [No, I’m Mulder. You’re a red-headed woman.] (06:35)

8. CROSSROAD BLUES

Dean—

[Sam: We got to find out if anyone else struck any bargains around here.] Great. So we got to clean up these people’s mess for them? I mean, they’re not exactly squeaky clean. Nobody put a gun to their head and forced them to play “Let’s Make a Deal.” [So what, we should just leave them to die?] Somebody goes over Niagara in a barrel, you gonna jump in to try to save them? [Dean.] Alright. Fine. (14:44)

[Demon: You’d sacrifice your life for someone else’s. Like father, like son. (29:01) 

[Demon: I’m not gonna put you out of your misery.] Yeah? Why not? [’Cause your misery is the whole point. It’s too much to watch. Knowing how your daddy died for you, how he sold his soul—I mean, that’s got to hurt. He’s all you ever think about. You wake up and your first thought is, “I can’t do this anymore.” You’re all lit up with pain. I mean, you loved him so much. And it’s all your fault. You blew it, Dean! I could’ve given you what you need.] What do I need? [Your father.] (30:36)

How could he do it? [Sam: He did it for you.] Exactly. How am I supposed to live with that? (38:14)

Sam—

How many people do you think Dad saved total? [Dean: That's not the point, Sam.] Evan Hudson is safe because of what Dad taught us. That's his legacy, Dean. Now we're still here, man, so we got to keep going. For him. (38:48)

Misc—

George: Listen, I get that you boys want to help, but sometimes a person makes their bed and they just got to lie down in it. (17:38)

9. CROATOAN

Dean—

Hey, look, man, I’m not happy about this, okay? But it's a tough job, and you know that. [Sam: It's supposed to be tough, Dean. We're supposed to struggle with this. That's the whole point.] What does that buy us? [A clear conscience, for one.] Well, it's too late for that. [What the hell has happened to you?] What? [You might kill an innocent man, and you don't even care. You don't act like yourself anymore, Dean. Hell, you know what, you're acting like one of those things out there.] (25:40)

[Sam: Go with them. This is your only chance.] Ah, you're not gonna get rid of me that easy. (31:17)

[Sam: Dean, I'm sick. It's over for me. It doesn't have to be for you.] No—[No, you can keep going.] Who says I want to? [What?] I'm tired, Sam. I'm tired of this job, this life, this weight on my shoulders, man, I'm tired of it. [So what, so you're just gonna give up? I mean, you're just gonna lay down and die? Look, Dean, I know this stuff with Dad had—] You're wrong. It's not about Dad. I mean, part of it is, sure— [Then what is it about?] (32:54)

I just think we should take a break from all this. Why do we got to get stuck with all the responsibility, you know? Why can't we live life a little bit? [Why are you saying all this? No no no no no, Dean. You're my brother, alright? So whatever weight you're carrying, let me help a little bit.] I can't. I promised. [Who?] Dad. (39:23)

Sam—

[Dean: Hey, look, man, I'm not happy about this, okay? But it's a tough job, and you know that.] It's supposed to be tough, Dean. We're supposed to struggle with this. That's the whole point. [What does that buy us?] A clear conscience, for one. (25:40)

You're my brother, alright? So whatever weight you're carrying, let me help a little bit. (39:38)

10. HUNTED

Dean—

He said that he...wanted me to watch out for you. Take care of you. [Sam: He told you that a million times.] Well, this time was different. He said that I had to...save you. [Save me from what?] He just said that I had to save you, and nothing else mattered and that if I couldn't, I'd.... [You'd what, Dean?] I'd have to kill you. He said that I might have to kill you, Sammy. (04:10)

[Sam: How could you not have told me this?] Because it was Dad and he begged me not to. [Who cares? Take some responsibility for yourself Dean! You had no right to keep this from me!] You think I wanted this? Huh? I wish to God he'd never opened his mouth. Then I wouldn't have to walk around with this screaming in my head all day! (05:05)

And you're pissed at me, and I get it. That's fine, I deserve it. But we lay low until we figure out our next move, okay? [Sam: Forget it.] Sam, please, man. Hey, please. Just give me some time. Give me some time to think, okay? I'm begging you here. Please, please. (06:12)

Come on, Ellen, please. Something bad could be going on here, and I swore I'd look after that kid. [Ellen: They say you can't protect your loved ones forever. Well, I say screw that. What else is family for?] (17:27)

Come on, man. I know Sam, okay? Better than anyone. He's got more of a conscience than I do. I mean, the guy feels guilty surfing the internet for porn. [Gordon: Maybe you're right, but one day, he's gonna be a monster.] How? Huh? How's a guy like Sam become a monster? [Beats me, but he will.] No, you don't know that! [I'm surprised at you, Dean. Getting all emotional. I'd heard you were more of a professional than this.] (29:15)

[Gordon: Look, I'm sympathetic. He's your brother, you love the guy. This has got to hurt like hell for you. But here's the thing. It would've wrecked him, but your dad, if it really came right down to it, he would have had the stones to do the right thing here. So you're telling me, you're not the man he is?] (30:24)

Screw the job. Screw it, man. I'm sick of the job anyway. I mean, we don't get paid, we don't get thanked. The only thing we get's bad luck. [Well, come on, dude, you're a hunter. I mean, it's what you're meant to do.] Oh, I wasn't meant to do anything. I don't believe in that destiny crap. (39:00)

[Sam: You can't run from this, and you can't protect me.] I can try. (39:27)

Sam—

[Dean: He said that I might have to kill you, Sammy.] Kill me? What the hell is that supposed to mean? [I don't know.] I mean, he must've had some kind of reason for saying it, right? I mean, did he know the demon's plans for me? Am I supposed to go dark side or something? What else did he say, Dean? [That's it, I swear.] How could you not have told me this? [Because it was Dad and he begged me not to.] Who cares? Take some responsibility for yourself Dean! You had no right to keep this from me! (04:46)

[Ellen: I wish I could blame the hell out of you boys. It'd be easier. Truth is, it's not your fault. Sam, none of it is.] (10:27)

[Gordon: You wouldn't shoot me, would you, Sammy? 'Cause your brother, he thinks you're some kind of saint.] Yeah, well, I wouldn't be so sure. (33:46)

[Gordon: You're no better than the filthy things you hunt.] *They tussle, Sam points a gun at him.* [Do it. Do it! Show your brother the killer you really are, Sammy.] It's Sam. (34:22)

I'm not gonna just ditch the job. (39:00)

[Dean: Oh, I wasn't meant to do anything. I don't believe in that destiny crap.] You mean you don't believe in my destiny. [Whatever.] Look, Dean, I've tried running before. I mean, I ran all the way to California and look what happened. You can't run from this, and you can't protect me. [I can try.] Thanks for that. Look, Dean, I'm gonna keep hunting. I mean, whatever's coming, I'm taking it head on, so if you really want to watch my back, then I guess you're gonna have to stick around. (39:13)

11. PLAYTHINGS

Dean—

[Sam: We gotta save as many people as we can.] Wow. That attitude is just way too healthy for me. I'm officially uncomfortable now, thank you. (05:16)

[Sam: I need you to watch out for me.] Yeah, I always do. [No no no no, you have to watch out for me, all right? And if I ever turn into something that I'm not...you have to kill me.] Sam.... [Dean, Dad told you to do it. You have to.] Yeah, well, Dad's an ass. He never should've said anything. I mean, you don't do that, you don't—you don't lay that kind of crap on your kids. [No, he was right to say it. Who knows what I might become? Even now, everyone around me dies.] Yeah, well, I'm not dying. Okay? And neither are you. Come on, sit down. [No. Please. Dean, you're the only one who can do it. Promise.] Don't ask that of me. (16:18)

[Sherwin: Well, would you be [happy], leaving the only home you ever knew?] I don't know. I never really knew one. (19:06)

Sam—

I told Ellen we'd think about checking it out. [Dean: You did?] Yeah. You seem surprised. [Yeah, it's just, you know. Not the patented Sam Winchester way, is it?] What way is that? [Just figured after Ava, there'd be, uh, you know, more angst and droopy music and staring out the rainy windows. I'll shut up now.] (04:27)

So I'm not giving up on her, but I'm not gonna let other people die, either. We gotta save as many people as we can. (05:09)

That guy who hung himself...I couldn't save him. [Dean: What are you talking about? You didn't know. You couldn't have done anything.] That's an excuse, Dean. I should have found a way to save him. I should have saved Ava, too. [Yeah, well, you can't save everyone. Even you said that.] No, Dean, you don't understand, alright? The more people I save, the more I can change. [Change what?] My destiny, Dean. (15:46)

I need you to watch out for me. [Dean: Yeah, I always do.] No no no no, you have to watch out for me, alright? And if I ever turn into something that I'm not...you have to kill me. [Dean: Sam....] Dean, Dad told you to do it. You have to. [Yeah, well, Dad's an ass. He never should've said anything. I mean, you don't do that, you don't—you don't lay that kind of crap on your kids.] No, he was right to say it. Who knows what I might become? Even now, everyone around me dies. [Yeah, well, I'm not dying. Okay? And neither are you. Come on, sit down.] No. Please. Dean, you're the only one who can do it. Promise. [Don't ask that of me.] Dean, please. You have to promise me. [I promise.] Thanks. Thank you. (16:18)

12. NIGHTSHIFTER

Dean—

Freaking cops. [Sam: They were just doing their job.] No, they’re doing our job, only they don’t know it, so they suck at it. (03:36)

[Henriksen: I know about your dad.] You don't know crap about my dad. [Ex-Marine, raised his kids on the road, cheap motels, backwood cabins. Real paramilitary survivalist type. I just can't get a handle on what type of wacko he was— white supremist, Timmy McVeigh, tomato, tomahto.] You got no right talking about my dad like that. He was a hero. [Yeah, right. Sure sounds like it.] (31:18)

Sam—

[Dean: When you told that poor son of a bitch to—what did you say?—”remand” the tapes that he copied? “Classified evidence of an ongoing investigation”? That’s messed up.] What, are you pissed at me? [No, I just think it’s a little creepy how good of a Fed you are.] (08:51)

Better to stay in the dark and stay alive. (08:51)

13. HOUSES OF THE HOLY

Dean—

Odd, yes. Supernatural, maybe. But angels? I don't think so. [Sam: Why not?] 'Cause there's no such thing, Sam. [Dean, there's ten times as much lore about angels as there is about anything else we've ever hunted.] Hey, you know what, there's a ton of lore on unicorns, too. In fact, I hear that they ride on silver moonbeams and they shoot rainbows outta their ass. [Wait, there's no such thing as unicorns?] That's cute. I'm just saying, man, there's some legends that you just file under “bullcrap.” [And you got angels on the ”bullcrap” list.] Yep. [Why?] 'Cause I've never seen one. [So what?] So I believe in what I can see. [Dean, you and I have seen things most people couldn't even dream about.] Exactly. With our own eyes—that's hard proof, okay? But in all this time, I have never seen anything that looks like an angel. And don't you think that if they existed that we would've crossed paths with them, or at least know someone that crossed paths with them? (06:17)

You know what? I get it. You've got faith. That's—hey, good for you. I'm sure it makes things easier. I'll tell you who else had faith like that. Mom. She used to tell me when she tucked me in that angels were watching over us. In fact, that was the last thing she ever said to me. [You never told me that.] What's to tell? She was wrong. There was nothing protecting her. There's no higher power. There's no God. I mean, there's just chaos and violence and random, unpredictable evil that comes out of nowhere and rips you to shreds. You want me to believe in this stuff? I'm gonna need to see some hard proof. You got any? (23:09)

Sam—

[Dean: What's next? Are you gonna start praying everyday?] I do. [What?] I do pray every day. I have for a long time. (19:50)

I wanted to believe. So badly. It's so damn hard to do this, what we do, all alone, you know? There's so much evil out in the world, Dean, I feel like I could drown in it. And when I think about my destiny, when I think about how I could end up.... [Dean: Yeah, well, don't worry about that, alright? I'm watching out for you.] Yeah, I know you are. But you're just one person, Dean. And I needed to think that there was something else watching, too, you know? Some higher power, some greater good. And maybe.... [Maybe what?] Maybe I could be saved. But, you know, that just clouded my judgement. And you're right. I mean, we got to go with what we know, with what we can see, with what's right there in front of our own two eyes. (37:54)

14. BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN

Dean—

[Meg!Sam: Then how the hell did I get here, Dean? What happened to me?] I don't know, all right? But you're...you're okay, and that's what matters. Everything else we can deal with. (02:51)

Sam, go wait in the car. [Meg!Sam: But, Dean—] Go wait in the car! (06:40)

What's going on with you, Sam, hm? 'Cause smoking, throwing bottles at people, I mean that sounds more like me than you. (07:51)

You know, I've tried so hard to keep you safe. [Meg!Sam: I know.] I can't. I'd rather die. [No. You'll live.] (15:53)

[Meg!Sam: What the hell's wrong with you, Dean? Are you that scared of being alone that you'd rather let Jo die?] (25:53)

This is my fight. I'm not getting your blood on my hands. That's just how it's gonna be. (31:28)

[Meg!Sam: Dean. Back from the dead. Getting to be a regular thing for you, isn't it? Like a cockroach. (34:13)

[Meg!Sam: All that I had to hold onto was that I would climb out one day and that I was gonna torture you, nice and slow, like pulling the wings off an insect. But whatever I do to you, it's nothing compared to what you do to yourself, is it? I can see it in your eyes, Dean. You're worthless. You couldn't save your dad, and deep down, you know that you can't save your brother. They'd have been better off without you.] (37:21)

[Sam: No matter what I did, you wouldn't shoot.] It was the right move, Sam, it wasn't you. [Yeah, this time. What about next time?] Sam, when Dad told me that I might have to kill you, it was only if I couldn't save you. Now, if it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna save you. (41:01)

Sam—

For the last few weeks, I've been having...I've been having these feelings. [Dean: What feelings?] Rage. Hate. And I can't stop it. It just gets worse. Day by day, it gets worse. [You never told me this.] I didn't want to scare you. (13:52)

[Dean: No one can control you but you.] Sure doesn't seem like that, Dean. It feels like no matter what I do, slowly but surely, I'm—I'm just becoming— [What?] Who I'm meant to be. I mean, you said it once yourself, Dean, I got to face up to who I am. (14:29)

I don't want to hurt anyone else. I don't want to hurt you. [Dean: You won't. Whatever this is, you can fight it.] No. I can't. Not forever. (15:16)

My head feels like it's on fire, alright? (25:21)

Misc: 

Meg: Hell is like, uh...well, it's like hell. Even for demons. It's a prison made of bone and flesh and blood and fear. (36:42)

15. TALL TALES

Dean—

[Bobby: Come on, now, you're bickering like an old married couple.] No, see, married couples can get divorced. Me and him? We're like, uh, Siamese twins. [Sam: It's conjoined twins.] See what I mean? [Look, it...we've just been on the road for too long, tight quarters, all that.] (11:19) 

[Sam: Dude, you know something? I put up with a lot from you.] What are you talking about? I'm a joy to be around. [Yeah? Your dirty socks in the sink, your food in the fridge?] What's wrong with my food? [It's not food anymore, Dean! It's Darwinism!] I like it. [And you know what? All I ask from you, the one thing, is that you don't mess with my stuff!] You done? [You know, how would you feel if I screwed with the Impala?] It'd be the last thing you ever did. (21:15)

Sam—

Dude, you know something? I put up with a lot from you. [What are you talking about? I'm a joy to be around.] Yeah? Your dirty socks in the sink, your food in the fridge? [What's wrong with my food?] It's not food anymore, Dean! It's Darwinism! [I like it.] And you know what? All I ask from you, the one thing, is that you don't mess with my stuff! (21:15)

16. ROADKILL

Dean—

You know, just once I'd like to round the corner and see a nice house. (16:14)

Me? I don't like [spirits]. And I sure as hell ain't making apologies for 'em. (20:08)

[Molly: Oh, thank God.] Call me Dean. (28:46)

Sam—

Spirits like Greeley are, uh...like wounded animals. Lost, in so much pain, that they lash out. [Molly: Why? Why are they here?] Well, there's some part of them that...that's keeping them here, like their remains, or um...unfinished business. [Unfinished business....] Yeah, uh, could be revenge. Could be love. Or hate. Whatever it is, they just hold on too tight. Can't let go. So they're trapped, caught in the same loops. Replaying the same tragedies over and over. [You sound almost sorry for them.] Well, they weren't evil people, you know? A lot of them were good, just...something happened to them. Something they couldn't control. (18:52)

[Dean: You think she's really going to a better place?] I hope so. [I guess we'll never know. Not until we take the plunge ourselves, huh?] Doesn't really matter, Dean. Hope's kind of the whole point. (38:23)

17. HEART

Dean—

[Sam: Dean, could you be a bigger geek about this?] I'm sorry, man, but what about a human by day, a freak animal killing machine by moonlight don't you understand? I mean, werewolves are badass. We haven't seen one since we were kids. (04:39)

[Sam: You go. I'll stay.] Forget that. You go after the creepy ex. I'm gonna hang here with the hot chick. [Dude, why do you always get to hang out with the girls?] 'Cause I'm older. [No, screw that. We settle this the old-fashioned way.] *Dean throws scissors while Sam throws rock.* [Dean, always with the scissors!] Shut up, shut up. Two out of three. *Dean throws scissors while Sam throws rock.* God! [Bundle up out there, all right?] (11:11]

Sammy, I got this one. I'll do it. [Sam: She asked me to.] You don't have to. (38:56)

Sam—

I'm not putting a bullet through some girl's chest who has no idea what's happening. [Dean: Sam, she's a monster and you're feeling sorry for her?] Maybe I understand her. (21:26)

18. HOLLYWOOD BABYLON

Dean—

[Sam: You know, I thought you hated being a PA.] I don’t know, it’s not so bad. I kind of feel like part of the team, you know? It’s good. (19:22)

Hey, we got to go check out Johnny Ramone’s grave when we’re gone here. [Sam: You want to go dig him up, too?] Bite your tongue, heathen! (23:25)

[Marty: He wrote a wackjob screenplay. There’s no pace, there’s no love interest. It’s all wackadoo exposition. I had to cut, like, 90 percent of it to make it readable, another 10 percent to make it good.] ...Should have kept Walter’s original script. It’s actually pretty good. (31:15)

Sam—

[Dean: I just figured that, you know, after everything that happened with Madison, you could use a little R&R, that’s all.] Maybe I want to work, Dean. Maybe it keeps my mind off things. (05:38)

19. FOLSOM PRISON BLUES

Dean—

Innocent people are dead—four, so far. [Sam: Yeah, innocent.] What, are you from Texas all of a sudden? Just 'cause these people are in jail doesn't mean they deserve to die. And if we don't stop this thing, people are gonna continue to die. We do the job wherever it takes us. (11:30)

[Sam: You're doing this for Deacon?] Damn right. [We barely even know the guy.] We know he was in the Corps with Dad. We know he saved Dad's life. We know we owe him. [Yeah, all right, but don't you think he's asking a little much?] Doesn't matter. We may not be saints, but we're loyal and we pay our debts. Now, that means something to me, and it ought to to you. (11:47)

[Sam: Dean, does it bother you at all how easily you seem to fit in here?] No, not really. (28:07)

Sam—

I hate this plan, Dean. [Dean: yeah, I got that the first ten times I heard it.] (05:12)

This is, without a doubt, the dumbest, craziest thing we’ve ever done, and that’s in a long, storied career of dumb and crazy. (10:58)

20. WHAT IS AND WHAT SHOULD NEVER BE

Dean—

When I was a kid, what did you always tell me when you put me to bed? [Mary: Dean, I don't understand—] Just answer the question. [I told you angels were watching over you.] (07:05)

Who'd have thought, Baby? We're civilians. (11:42)

That lawn looks like it could use some mowing. [Mary: You want to mow the lawn?] You kidding me? I'd love to mow the lawn. [Knock yourself out. You'd think you've never mowed a lawn in your life.] (13:08)

[Sam: I mean this whole warm, fuzzy, ecstasy-trip thing.] I'm just happy for you, Sammy. [Yeah, right. That's another thing. Since when do you call me “Sammy?” Dean, come on. We don't talk outside of holidays.] We don't? Well, we should. I mean, you're my brother. [”You're my brother?”] Yeah! [You know, that's what you said when you snaked my ATM card, or when you bailed on my graduation, or when you hooked up with Rachel Nave.] Who? [My prom date, on prom night.] Yeah, that does kinda sound like me. Well, hey, man, I'm sorry about all that. [No, look, it's all right, man, I just...you know, I'm not asking you to change, I just.... I don't know, I guess we just don't really have anything in common. You know?] Wait, whoa whoa whoa, yes we do. Yes we do. [What?] Hunting. [Hunting? I've never been hunting in my life, Dean.] Yeah, well, then we should go sometime. I think you'd be great at it. (17:51)

I can fix things with Sam. I can make it up to him. To everyone. [Carmen: Okay. What's gotten into you lately?] This isn't gonna make a lick of sense to you...but I kind of feel like I've been given a second chance. And I don't want to waste it. (19:58)

And there's this woman that's haunting me, I don't know why. I don't know what the connection is—not yet, anyway. It's like my old life is coming after me or something, you know, like it doesn't want me to be happy. Of course, I know what you'd say. Well, not the you that played softball, but you'd say, "Go hunt the djinn. It put you here, it can put you back. Your happiness or all those people's lives, no contest." Right? But why? Why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero? What about us, huh? What, Mom's not supposed to live her life? Sammy's not supposed to get married? Why do we have to sacrifice everything, Dad? (23:14)

I'm sorry that we don't get along. And I wish to hell I could stay and fix it. But I gotta do this. People's lives depend on it. (26:07)

[Djinn!Sam: Why'd you have to keep digging? Why couldn't you have left well-enough alone? You were happy.] [Djinn!Mary: Put the knife down, honey.] You're not real. None of it is. [It doesn't matter. It's still better than anything you had.] What? [It's everything you want. We're a family again. Let's go home.] I'll die. The djinn will drain the life out of me in a couple days. [But in here, with us, it'll feel like years, like a lifetime. I promise. No more pain, no more fear. Just love and comfort and safety. Dean, stay with us. Get some rest.] [Djinn!Jessica: You don't have to worry about Sam anymore. You get to watch him live a full life.] [Djinn!Carmen: We can have a future together, have our own family. I love you, Dean. Please.] [Djinn!Sam: Why is it our job to save everyone? Haven't we done enough? I'm begging you. Give me the knife.] I'm sorry. (34:47)

I gotta tell you, though, man, you know, you had Jess. Mom was gonna have grandkids. [Sam: Yeah, but Dean, it wasn't real.] I know. But I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay so bad. I mean, ever since Dad....all I can—all I can think about it how much this job has cost us. We've lost so much. And we've sacrificed so much. (40:43)

Sam—

[Dean: Get out of the car.] I'm going with you. [You're just gonna slow me down.] Tough. [This is dangerous and you could get hurt.] Yeah, and so could you, Dean. [Sam—] Look, whatever stupid thing you're about to do, you're not doing it alone, and that's that. [I don't understand, why are you doing this?] Because you're still my brother. [Bitch.] What are you calling me a bitch for? [You're supposed to say jerk.] What? [Nevermind.] (27:07)

Well, I'm glad we do [get along]. And I'm glad you dug yourself out, Dean. Most people wouldn't have had the strength. They would've just stayed. (40:25)

[Dean: We've lost so much. And we've sacrificed so much.] But people are alive because of you, Dean. It's worth it, it is. It's not fair, and, you know, it hurts like hell, but it's worth it. (41:24)

21. ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE, PART I

Dean—

I'm gonna take care of you. I'm gonna take care of you. I got you. That's my job, right? Watch out for my pain-in-the-ass little brother. (39:32)

Sam—

[Jake: By the way, I, uh, appreciate what you're doing here.] What am I doing? [Keeping calm, keeping them calm. Especially considering how freaked to hell you really are. I've been in some deep crap before myself. I know the look.] Want to know the truth? I got this brother, right? And he's always telling me how he's gonna watch out for me, how everything's gonna be okay, you know, kinda like I've been telling them. [Yeah.] I don't know if I believe it this time. (22:56)

22. ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE, PART II

Dean—

[Bobby: Don't you think maybe it's time...we bury Sam?] No. [We could maybe....] What? Torch his corpse? Not yet. [I want you to come with me.] I'm not going anywhere. [Dean, please.] Would you cut me some slack? [I just don't think you should be alone, that's all. I gotta admit, I could use your help. Something big is going down—end-of-the-world big!] Well, then let it end! [You don't mean that.] You don't think so? Huh? You don't think I've given enough? You don't think I've paid enough? I'm done with it. All of it. (02:16)

You know, when we were little, when you couldn't have been more than five, you just started asking questions. How come we didn't have a mom, why do we always have to move around, where'd Dad go when he'd take off for days at a time? I remember I begged you, "Quit asking, Sammy. Man, you don't want to know." I just wanted you to be a kid, just for a little while longer. I always tried to protect you, keep you safe. Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It's like I have one job—I had one job. And I screwed it up. I blew it. And for that, I'm sorry. I guess that's what I do. I let down the people I love. I let Dad down. And now I guess I'm just supposed to let you down, too? How can I? How am I supposed to live with that? What am I supposed to do? Sammy. What am I supposed to do? (06:27)

That's the same deal you give everybody else. [Demon: You're not everybody else. Why would I want to give you anything? Keep your gutter soul. It's too tarnished, anyway.] (11:08)

You almost died in there. I mean, what would I have.... You just take care of yourself for a little bit, huh? Just for a little bit. (16:37)

Which is why we gotta find this yellow-eyed son of a bitch. That's why I'm gonna kill him myself. I mean, I got nothing to lose now, right? (19:00)

[Bobby: What is it with you Winchesters, huh? You, your dad—you're both just itching to throw yourselves down the pit.] (19:18)

Dad brought me back, Bobby, I'm not even supposed to be here. At least this way, something good could come out of it, you know? It's like my life can mean something. [Bobby: What? And it didn't before? Have you got that low an opinion of yourself? Are you that screwed in the head?] I couldn't let him die, Bobby. I couldn't. He's my brother. [How is your brother gonna feel when he knows you're going to Hell? How'd you feel when you knew your dad went for you?] You can't tell him. You take a shot at me, whatever you gotta do, but please don't tell him. (19:27)

[Azazel: You saw what your brother just did to Jake, right? That was pretty cold, wasn't it? How certain are you that what you brought back is 100% pure Sam? You of all people should know that's what dead should stay dead. Anyway, thanks a bunch. I knew I kept you alive for some reason. Until now, anyway. I couldn't have done it without your pathetic, self-loathing, self-destructive desire to sacrifice yourself for your family.] (32:23)

[Sam: You shouldn't have done that. How could you do that?] Don't get mad at me. Don't you do that. I had to. I had to look out for you. That's my job. (38:45)

Sam—

I kind of can't believe it, Dean. I mean... our whole lives, everything... has been prepping for this, and now I...I kind of don't know what to say. (36:35)

[Dean: I had to look out for you. That's my job.] And what do you think my job is? [What?] You saved my life over and over. I mean, you sacrifice everything for me. Don't you think I'd do the same for you? You're my big brother. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. And I don't care what it takes, I'm gonna get you out of this. Guess I gotta save your ass for a change. (38:57)