#neena i need to make you a specific tag

[65ths]

finnick & peeta

@gamehaunt

[highfivecalum]

Here With Me {LH} 3

Previous Chapters: One Two

***

“WELCOME TO BILLIE’S SHAKE SHACK!” An older man greeted Neena with a smile when she stepped inside of the small restaurant that was connected to the pier. Neena smiled and pushed her hair back, already annoyed with how her baby hairs were always in her face. “How many people? Just you?”

“I was actually wondering if you guys were hiring?” Neena asked. Neena read his name tag; Billie. He must have been the owner, Neena guessed.

“Well, a girl did just move away and left us short a server. You got any experience?”

Neena shrugged. “I was a waitress in high school.”

“Perfect. Can you start today? Preferably now?” Billie asked and Neena nodded with a small smile. She was glad to start so soon, glad to get out of her house and start finally making money and keep her mind preoccupied. “Great. Just fill this out. You’re already hired, since we’re short staffed, I just need you to fill this out so we have it on record.”

Billie handed Neena a sheet of paper and a pen and left her at the hostess table to fill the form out. She did so quickly, putting down the few jobs she had, but leaving out the phone numbers in case they called them. She didn’t want any ties to her old life in Michigan and putting the numbers to her old jobs was definitely a tie.

“Hiya,” Neena looked up at the sound of somebody else and pursed her lips at him. He was tan, as to be expected, and had dark hair and tattoos here and there on his skin. There was no denying that Neena thought he was attractive. She would have to be blind to not be able to see that. “Are you our new server?”

“I believe so,” Neena handed him the paper and pen and he happily took it.

“Calum, I’m gonna have you train,” Billie looked at the application for her name. “Miss Neena Compton here for the new server spot since Cara left. You gonna be okay with that?”

“Am I going to get a pay raise for this?” Calum cocked an eyebrow.

Billie rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Yeah, right. Dream on, kid. Just do it, will ya? We’re slow, you don’t have any tables and you’re not doing anything but sittin’ on your ass.”

Calum obliged and motioned for Neena to follow him to the back room. He dug through a few different bins before looking at her. “What size shirt do you wear? Small?” Neena nodded her head and Calum went back to digging. “Ah-ha!” He pulled out three different shirts; all short sleeved but different colors. “Okay, we have three colors; blue, white, and black. You get all three and we don’t have specific days for colors, so wear whichever one you want on whatever day you want. Got it?”

“Got it.” Neena nodded her head.

Calum showed Neena around the break room and gave her a locker for her to use when she worked. He introduced her to the other workers, whose names she knew she wouldn’t remember right away, and told her which table was which. The table closest to the hostess table was one and the one in the back of the restaurant was seven, and he told her to go clockwise. She didn’t quite understand it at first, but she knew she would figure out her own way of remembering which table was what.

“It’s pretty slow right now since lunch just ended, so we can just hang out here for a little bit,” Calum and Neena leaned against the bar area and Neena looked out at the ocean, smiling at how pretty it was and how good the salt water and sunscreen smelled. Neena made a mental note to call Michael or Amy and plan a beach day with them. “So, where are you from, Neena?”

Neena tore her eyes away from the water and looked at Calum. “Oh,uh, you know… just around.”

“Around?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“I move a lot,” Neena lied. “I’ve lived all over the midwest.”

“Well, where did you move here from?”

“A small city in Michigan.” Neena finally revealed. She wasn’t going to specify which city, not wanting to risk anything, whatever that anything may be, so her answer was brief.

“Why did you move here?”

Neena swallowed the lump in her throat thinking about it. She tried hard not to think about it, but it was usually the only thing on her mind. There was not a chance in hell that she was going to tell Calum, somebody she had just met and hour before, that she was running away from her past.

“Just needed a change.” Neena shrugged. “And I’ve never lived on the beach.”

“How did you pick this small town out of all of the places you could live?”

Neena didn’t have an answer. Her answer was that when she arrived at the bus stop she bought the ticket to the first place she saw on the board behind the man selling tickets. It wasn’t very logical, Neena knew that, but her brain wasn’t working right when she decided. She was too scared, too paranoid, and in too much of a hurry to think rationally or logically at the time.

“Question time is over,” Calum spoke up and nodded to the only table that was now occupied. The table in the back of Billie’s right in the corner with a perfect view of the ocean. Calum handed her an apron, a notepad, and a pen. “Your first table. Good luck.”

Neena took the pad and pen and nervously made her way over to the table. She recognized the little girl, but didn’t recognize the little boy or the man she was with. “Hi, welcome to Billie’s, what can I get started for you?”

Keely gasped. “Hi Neena!”

“Hi Keely,” Neena smiled at the girl. “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m great! This is my daddy and brother!”

“Hi guys,” Neena smiled and locked eyes with Keely’s dad, her breath stilling in her throat at the sight of him. When Neena first saw him, she barely spared him a look, only seeing the broadness of his back, but now that she was looking straight into his eyes, she couldn’t believe how gorgeous he was and she could barely tear her eyes away from him. 

“Hi! I’m Finn!” The little boy, almost identical to Keely, smiled. “Me and Keely are twins!”

“Keely and I, Finn.” Their father spoke up, correcting his six year old’s grammar, and Neena’s eyes went back to him. She was surprised that her eyes even left him in the first place. If looks could kill, Neena would’ve been dead minutes ago. “Hi, I’m Luke. I’m their dad.”

I can tell, Neena wanted to say, but instead she just smiled and took their orders, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to form coherent words if she tried to speak to him. She ripped off the piece of paper and clipped it next to where the rest of the orders were, mostly take-out since the place was empty, safe for the one table Neena had.

She couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. He was stunning. With long blonde curly hair, the brightest blue eyes that mirrored his children's, his broad shoulders, and the most gorgeous smile she had ever seen; it was nearly impossible for her to not stare at him. She felt like a creep for staring, but it was like no matter what, no matter how hard she tried, her eyes always ended up on him. Neena was happy that she didn’t have to give them their food. She was sure she would have dropped it all.

“You’re staring,” Calum hummed and Neena quickly averted her eyes from Luke to Calum. Her cheeks heated up when she saw the smirk on Calum’s face, but she tried to play it off. She hadn’t meant to get caught, but she was glad she was caught by Calum and not Luke himself.

“I am not! I was looking at the water.”

“I’m sure you were,” Calum laughed, but it faded into nothing and then his smile turned into a frown and Neena looked at him expectantly. Calum cleared his throat and lowered his voice, leaning closer to Neena as he spoke, “You know what happened to his wife, right?”

“No? Did she leave him or something?”

Calum shook his head sadly. “She died three years ago from cancer.”

“Oh,” Neena frowned and looked to Luke who was smiling widely at his kids. She knew what it was like to lose a loved one to cancer, with losing her mother and all, but Neena couldn’t imagine losing the love of her life or the person she had two beautiful kids with. Neena didn’t know Luke or his kids well, but her heart broke for them. “That’s so sad.”

“Yeah. It is.” Calum frowned at the memory of Luke, one of his close friends, when he found out his wife died. It tore him to pieces and Calum didn’t think that Luke would ever recover from it. But he did, slowly but surely, he did. “Luke is a close friend of mine. I’ve known him since he moved here a while back and it really took a toll on him.”

“I couldn’t imagine going through that.” Neena mumbled, her eyes never leaving the table that was filled with the very happy looking family. She then furrowed her eyebrows and turned to Calum. “Wait, if he’s such a good friend of yours, then why didn’t you take the table?”

Calum just shrugged and stood up to serve the people who had just walked in. “Wanted to see how you did on your first table. And he always stiffs me on my tips since we’re friends.”

“Or maybe it’s just because you’re an asshole.” Neena joked, already feeling close enough around him to joke around. Calum scoffed and rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile playing at his lips. She could feel herself being able to be good friends with Calum, which she was happy about, because Neena always like to befriend her coworkers. It made work so much more bearable.

“You already know me so well, Neena. I can tell we’re going to be great friends, you and I.” Calum winked and happily greeted and seated the couple that was waiting.

Neena laughed and spun around in her chair, catching Luke’s eye in the process, and he offered her a small smile. She returned it, finding it too hard not to with the way he looking at her, but when he looked away, Neena’s smile fell. She thought back to what Calum said, to how torn apart and heartbroken Luke was. Neena never would have guessed that he lost his wife, the mother of his children, with the way he smiled.

***

The knocking on Neena’s front door woke her from her much needed nap. She groaned and rolled out of bed, her bare feet padding against her wooden floors, and swung the door open. “Neena! Hi!” Amy stood before her, dressed in a nice dress and sandals. “Did I wake you?”

It seemed like Amy’s thing- to wake Neena up in the middle of a dead, much needed sleep. “Yeah, but it’s fine. What’s up?”

“Michael and I are going out with some friends. Do you want to come along? It’ll be really fun.”

Neena looked down at her outfit which consisted of pajamas and knew that she had bedhead and smeared eye makeup on her face. Going out sounded fun and Neena did want to go out on the town for the first time after living there for a little under a week, but she was nowhere near ready to go, and she didn’t want to make Michael and Amy wait.

“I have to get ready,” Neena told Amy. “But I’ll, uh, I’ll meet you there?”

“Perfect!” Amy cheered. “We’ll be at the Tin Roof. It’s a few buildings down from Billie’s.”

Neena knew where it was, but she had never been there, just walked past it a few times. Neena told Amy she would take a quick shower and get ready before meeting them there. Amy said they were meeting friends and Neena wasn’t in the best mood to meet new people, but it had to happen sooner or later.

An hour later and Neena was finally ready. It was chillier, so she settled on a pair of jeans and a blouse with her sandals, although walking in them in the dark would be a challenge, she didn’t want to wear her Nike's or the pair of combat boots she brought on a night out. Neena walked rather quickly, partly because she didn’t want to show up too late and because walking in the dark at night spooked her out, especially when she wasn’t too familiar with her surroundings.

“Neena!” Amy called her name once Neena stepped foot inside the crowded bar. She was surprised Amy spotted her right away, but she was glad she did. She would have rather not stood there looking like a lost puppy until she spotted the people she was meeting. “Over here!”

The bar was more like a tiki bar, but the roof instead of wood was tin, it was an open bar with only two walls on either side; one that was the bar and one with darts and a chalkboard on it. It was a strange little set up, but it seemed to a very popular bar, so Neena was going to give it a chance.

Neena made her way through the crowded bar, saying excuse me and apologizing if she bumped into somebody, and finally made it to the picnic table the group was sitting at. Neena recognized Amy, Michael, and Calum, but there were a few other people she wasn’t familiar with.

“Neena! Didn’t know you knew these two,” Calum smiled, pointing to Amy and Michael.

“We were her first friends here, Cal.” Amy bragged and stuck her tongue out at him. Calum simply rolled his eyes and lifted his drink up to Neena, even though she didn’t have one yet, and tipped it back. Neena wanted to go up to the bar to order herself a drink, but it was packed, so she decided on waiting until it cleared out a bit.

Thirty minutes of conversation and laughter, a familiar voice rang through Neena’s ears. “Hey guys, sorry I’m late. The sitter, like always, is not punctual.” Luke plopped down on the seat next to Calum, across from Neena, and she rolled her lips into her mouth. Neena was going to try really hard not to stare this time. She didn’t want to chance getting caught again, especially not by Luke.

“No problem, bro.” Calum clapped him on the back and Luke relaxed.

He looked around the table and his eyes widened just slightly when they landed on Neena, surprised that he hadn’t noticed her right when he arrived, who was staring out at the ocean that was lit up from the almost full moon. He took his lip in between his teeth and cleared his throat. “It’s Neena, right?”

Neena jumped in surprise, not expecting anybody to bring her into the conversation, and she smiled and nodded her head. “Yeah. Luke, right?” Like she even had to ask.

“That’s right,” Luke grinned and Neena found herself smiling along with him. His eyes glanced down at her hands that were laced together on top of the wooden picnic table and noticed the small rings on her fingers. He also noticed she was drink-less. Luke stood up, towering over everybody, and looked down at Neena. “I’m going to get a drink. Can I get you something?”

“Oh uh,” Neena glanced at Calum who was smiling into his beer glass and eyeing the two of them. Neena refrained from rolling her eyes and nodded her head. “Sure. I’ll just have a beer. Please.”

Luke nodded with a smile and sauntered off to the bar. Neena tore her eyes away from him and looked at Calum, who was already looking at her with a knowing smirk and Neena narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head while mouthing a what to him. Calum just shook his head, trying to fight the smile on his head, and Neena knew that it was going to be a long, long night.

***

Taglist: @cosmocalum​ @wrappedaroundcal @hereforlukescruff @glitterprincelu @astroashtonio @irwinkitten @irwinvalentines @kinglyhood @roselukes @swiftmusicinmymind @jetblackyoungblood @old-zeppelin-shirt @cantbehandled-ever @in-paper-dreams @kaxseychill @catchinqcalum @monsteramongmikey @calteahood @queen-of-daydreaming @alotof1dlove @mysteriouslycali @calssunflower @fallfrxmgrace @gosh-im-short 

[libraford]

ALL THE ROSE PROFILES (so far) 

Tag yourself at your own risk, there’s a lot of them. 

First photo: Coffee Break (brown, top) and Cherry Brandy (amber-pink, bottom)

Second photo:  Jade (green), Sonrisa (yellow on top), Pink Mondial (pink), Tara (yellow-green on right), Tibet (white), blueberry (purple), Neena (orange red)

Third photo:  Nina (light pink), Carpe Diem (peach)

Fourth photo: Iguana (coral, bottom left), Brighton (yellow), Ocean Song(lavendar), Black Magic (dark red), Atomic (red tipped yellow, bottom right.)

Fifth photo:  Tycoon (yellow orange) and Tiffany (peach) roses 

Sixth photo:  Shogun (purple) Brave (deep magenta) Amnesia (purple gray) and Tabasco (pink tip yellow)

Cherry Brandy is an ART MOM, even if they’re not a mom and even if they’re not related to you- if you call them ‘mom’ they will respond. Folk art, goes to craft shows and sells painted chairs. Buys way more art than they sell. Too many necklaces and rings, many layers of clothes. Stylish yet comfy. Coffee Break is Farmer’s Market Dad, despite being no one’s father and also bearing no relation to you. If there is a space in their home that has room for a bookshelf, there is a bookshelf there and by golly- there are books. The occasional cigar. It’s uncertain whether they were in the Navy, but the stories they tell certainly would imply it. Blazers and loafers.

Jade- Is all about the chill. Listens to vaporwave and trance music. Has been to at least one silent disco and would definitely go back if they could remember where it was. Manages to both never sleep and also sleep all the time. Can never find them when you need them. Sonrisa- Calls you ‘sweet pea’ and means it. Lemonade, jean shorts, and a toolbox. Knows how to carry a tune and give your truck a tune-up. Sneaks out at night even though they don’t have a curfew, no one knows where they go. Pink Mondial- is going to have the fairytale wedding that they imagined when they were six, despite not having a significant other yet. Still waiting for 'the one.’ Attempted online dating at one point but got a little freaked out by it. Prefers cake over ice cream. Tara- The party don’t start til they walk in! A real night-owl. Neon signs and headlights, cover charges and cutting in line. Always hungry, trying to fill a void. Doesn’t remember what daylight looks like. Sarcastic sense of humor to cover up low self-esteem. Tibet- T I R E D. So tired. Please just let them sleep. They are tired. Makes jokes that they don’t realize that are morbid until they tell it to the wrong person and then they feel bad about it for the next four years. Curious about death and dying, but not in a goth way- more in a science and philosophy way. But still… just… so… tired. Go to bed, Tibet. Blueberry- Will never graduate from their Emo Phase. If it’s black with a neon accent, they will buy it, wear it, and when the thing is worn into torn rags they will sew it into something else. Tries really hard to be edgy but comes off as… trying REALLY hard to be edgy. Resurrects memes from the early 2000’s as a coping mechanism. Striped socks. Invader Zim. Made you a cookie, but they eated it. Neena- The kind of artist that other artists HATE. Uses unconventional materials- melted crayons, tar paper, house paint, scrap metal. Has an entire shed dedicated to the accumulation of this stuff and even actually uses it. Knows how to weld. If you’ve got some junk you want gone, they’ll make something out of it and what’s worse? They’ll sell it for a dollar with a smug smile on their face. Youtube personality.

Nina- Shy. A popular person, but they have no idea why. Everyone wants them to become a model or actor but they get stage fright too easily and aren’t likely to change that about themselves. Prefers numbers to people, but can be coerced out to social places provided it isn’t too loud there. Carpe Diem- Just let them be a mermaid. It’s all they want. They wanted to be a marine biologist because they thought it meant they could swim with dolphins but it turns out you have to memorize a bunch of names. Hair goes down to their butt and proud of it. Flower crowns. Seashells in their jewelry. Saw Aquaman four times in theaters.

Iguana is a Crafter with a capital C. If there’s a Pinterest tutorial on it, they’ve tried to make it at least once (to the result of many failures.) Their business model is ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ There is glitter. Everywhere. Their house is a mess and there’s nothing that can stop it from getting bigger. Fabric hoarder. Tends to say things like 'I’ll use it in /something/.’ Brighton used to play the flute in high school, but the competitive nature of music school has burned them out on instruments that aren’t fun. Now plays the ukelele on Youtube. Sundresses, short hair, winged eyeliner. Attempted unicycle. Has had many, many different jobs. None of them stuck. Emotional support extrovert. Ocean Song is The Sad Friend. Gets their hopes up easy and just as easily gets their feelings hurt. Just wants to stay at home and curl up in a blanket for the next century but /noooooo./ Listens to binaural beats and ASMR videos. Forgets to eat. Often. Needs someone to check on them. Black Magic is Old School Goth. Remembers when Hot Topic wasn’t a thing and is kind of glad it’s not 'the goth store’ anymore because it kind of wasn’t goth enough for them anyway (but they still shopped there. Has at least two keychains from The Old Days). Coffee. Unabashedly Bad Poetry. Despite all this? Probably the most genuinely optimistic people you’ve ever met. Atomic has spent more than one summer working for a traveling circus. Has tattoos they don’t remember getting but figures 'it’s all good.’ Rides a motorcycle and keeps a journal of their travels across the states- but it’s mostly a record of places where they’ve seen cool dogs. Tells excellent stories- who gives a crap if they’re true or not? Has been craving venison for like four years now.

Tycoon is TOTALLY RAD and knows all the best spots for surfing, snowboarding, and mountain biking. Drinks like four Monsters a day, but won’t touch alcohol after that one night they played Thumper and got too messed up over it and they swear they’re clean now. Misses Ska. Tiffany has a really, really, really strong urge to find a spot on the beach, set up an umbrella and blanket, and spend the rest of their life reading trashy romance novels there. Has at least one piece of art that says ‘live laugh love’ and it’s probably in their living room. Breakfast consists of coffee and biscotti.

Shogun is a hopeless romantic that handwrites all their letters. She loves wine a little too much, and sings ‘Total Eclipse if the Heart’ at karaoke. Brave is a woman working her way to the top of the corporate ladder and specifically asks for every Wednesday off- not because she has a prior engagement on that day but just to make herself seem like a desireable candidate by appearing to have other commitments. She spends this day at a Mexican restaurant eating bottomless tortilla chips and salsa. Amnesia has a finely-curated Instagram with a penchant for beautifully ugly things, such as graffiti or rusting structures. They carry a camera with them everywhere and think of themselves as an observer of humanity rather than a participant. Tabasco has driven the entire length of the US twice and would do it again in a heartbeat if someone told them there was a burger joint they just had to try. Unironically idolizes Guy Fieri.

[dresupi]

i don’t need therapy, i just need to vent

Darcy Lewis Crack Challenge |  Day 3: Stuck in an air vent | 

Ship: Darcy Lewis/Axel Cluney |  Rating: T  |  Word Count: 3055 |  Characters: Wade Wilson, Jesse Aaronson | Bedlam, Shatterstar, Axel Cluney | Zeitgeist, | Neena Thurmon | Domino, Cable, Peter (Deadpool) |  Prompt: Day 3 - Stuck in an air vent |  Other Tags: Swearing, Crack, Break-Up, Post Break-Up, Reunited and it feels so good, Humor, Group chat, Awkward, Banter, Fourth wall break | 

Summary:

Darcy's stuck in an air vent and ofc her ex is the one who comes to unstick her.

Darcy bit down on her bottom lip and released the green 'button' on her phone screen that would connect her to the communication app she'd designed for Wade.. It was a simple enough app, she'd made one for the Avengers too. X-Force just seemed to use it more.

This mission wasn't supposed to be this complicated. It was supposed to be a quick job. One and done. Break in, steal the intel, sneak out.

But of course, it didn't go that way, because the universe hated Darcy Lewis. Hate, hate, hate, capital H.

Okay, maybe it didn't hate her, but it certainly loved fucking up things that were supposed to be easy and then laughing at her while she scrambled.

She probably shouldn't have tried to do this alone. She was technically a field agent, but mostly, everyone wanted her for tech. And the intel she'd stolen was about that. But field agenting was something she was still green at. But Cable had needed the intel, and everyone else glazed over when she started talking about dismantling the firewall, so. Here she was.

"What is it, Monkey?" Wade's voice responded.

"Wade," she replied.

"Use our code names, dearheart."

"WADE. This is a private channel. No one's hacking in, I promise."

"Still not right, but I can tell by your tone that things aren't exactly peachy keen, so I'll let that slide. My code name is Rainbow Smash, in case you forgot."

She hadn't. But he was right about the' no time' thing. "Look. I got the intel Cable asked for. That part was easy."

"Okay, I sense a but in the future. Or a, however. Probably a but."

"It's a but. These idiots came back from wherever the hell they were and now I'm stuck in this vent because if I shimmy out the way I came in, I'll not only alert everyone in this building with the resulting rumble, I'll probably get mowed down by assault rifles before I can even squeeze out of the vent."

"Where are you now?"

She looked around, her surroundings not helping in the slightest, so she pressed against the smartwatch on her wrist, swiping through all the screens until she found the infrared map.  "Directly above the barracks. No one's there currently, but they will be in a few hours. And the longer I stay put, the more likely this vent will give way and I'll fall into AIM barracks on my ass."

"Damn those AIM bastards for needing a tight ten and a half every night…" Wade muttered. "Listen. We'll get you out. Just sit tight. I'll send someone in to get you."

"Right. Because another person in the vents is what we need."

"Look, you can't go crawling over their heads and risking them hearing you unless we got a clear shot out.  Plus. Two is better than one."

"Only if one of the two is Cable," she countered.

"Noted."

"So you're sending Cable?

"Did I not say noted?" he asked.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Yes. But that doesn't always mean you're doing what I asked."

"I will do what's best for you, Monkey."

She sighed. "Give me an approximate wait time."

"Seven minutes."

"Okay. I'll chill for seven, and if no one's here, I'm calling you back."

"I'd expect nothing less."

She exhaled and lay her head down on her folded arms and started to count four hundred and twenty Mississippis.

Approximately three-hundred-ninety Mississippis later

"Incoming, Monkey," Wade's voice rang in her ear.

"Cable?" she asked hopefully.

"Nah. But I got you the next best thing."

She raised her head off her folded arms, watching as a very familiar face crawled around the corner in the vents. But it wasn't Cable.

"Axel!" she exclaimed, frowning as her ex continued army crawling towards her.

She got back on her comm. "Wade. WADE! I asked for Cable."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Axel replied, his voice on a slight delay in her ear as well.

"Why are you on my comm when you're right there?" she asked.

"Oh right. I kind of have everyone on the same channel. Or Bedlam did. I don't have admin access anymore," Wade replied.

She would facepalm, but she was kind of in an air vent, so she sighed heavily. "Who else is here?"

"Hiya Darce!" came Domino's bright greeting. "Cable's also here, but he's not talking. Typical."

"I would if I had something to say," was his terse reply. "Shatterstar's here too, pick on him instead."

"Only in spirit, I couldn't fit in Doppinder's cab," was the curt response.

She pressed her lips together in frustration. "Wade. I asked specifically for Cable."

"Zeitgeist is the next best thing."

Hardly. She turned her gaze to Axel's. She almost couldn't look at him. Pain bloomed right over her heart and she swallowed back the lump in her throat. This wasn't funny. This was raw and painful and the worst timing of ever for her to have to face him again.

"I don't mean to be rude," she began.

"Cable couldn't fit through the vents, so I'm here," Axel said sharply. "I'm pulling you out because I don't want you to get shot to pieces. Can we please put our personal shit to the side for the next half hour?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, embarrassed to be so perfectly called out for all the right reasons. This was work. Not some awkward night at Sister Margaret's where they caught each others' eyes and slunk to opposite tables, Darcy taking Cable and Domino, mostly because Cable was already sitting across the room from everyone else.

"Awesome," Axel said with a cool smirk.

"Aww, you guys…" Wade cooed on the comm.  Both Darcy and Axel chose to ignore him, as did everyone else in the comm group chat

Axe switched to business mode immediately. Which Darcy was still in charge of her brain enough to admit was totally hot. "Follow me around the corner and they'll pull my cord, yank us both out slowly."

"How did they not hear you?" she asked.

"I crawled in over the laundry room. There was a load in the dryer so they couldn't hear me crawling. Won't have that luxury on the way back, so it's good they're dragging us." He shot her a quick smile that faded immediately. Almost like he'd forgotten for a second that they weren't in flirty banter mode.

"Heya Darce. Bedlam here…" The lower voice immediately shocked her until she remembered that they were all here. All of X-Force. Why Bedlam hadn't piped in during her impromptu roll call, she didn't know.

"Sure, what is it, B?" she asked, slowly moving around the corner.

"I'm out here on the roof with the pulley. Just letting you know that we gotta drag you slowly so the cord we attached to Axe won't snap."

"I'm not that heavy, am I?" Darcy joked.

"What? No! Not in the slightest, but this is a different sort of weight than it's used to. Just wanted to let ya know… … You're not big. You're not. Not what I meant."

Axel snickered a little, stopping when Darcy shot him a look.  "What? You're not."

"It's fine, let's just get a move on, okay?" she replied.

A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead as she followed Axel around the corner. It was an awkward squeeze, but she finally made it.

"Okay. grab my hands," Axel said, holding both out in front of him.

"Just making sure, but… you're feeling alright, aren't you? You're not hungover, or nauseated, or claustrophobic or anything, are you?"

He shot her a look. "If I was, I wouldn't be doing this," he said. His tone taking on a much softer tone that called back to something Darcy wasn't ready to revisit just yet. The break up was too fresh.

She simply nodded tersely and held out both arms towards him.  He gripped her gloved hands tightly

"We're ready," he said.

Slowly, they began to inch forward. Backward for Axel, but down the vent, regardless.

Bedlam had been right. It was slow. Achingly slow.

"D, you alright, baby?" Bedlam's voice came into her comm and she nodded before stopping herself and actually replying out loud.

"Doing fine. I don't weigh too much for the cord, do I?" she teased, even though her heart wasn't in it, what with being dragged slowly through the vent by her ex and all.

"Darcy… you know that's not what I meant. You're a good healthy weight." He paused before continuing, "We'll have both of ya outta there soon."

"Umm…" A decidedly more timid voice joined in. "Is there any way I can mute you guys?"

Axel frowned, tilting his head as he tried to recognize the voice. "Peter?"

Darcy groaned in protest. "Wade. Is Peter with you guys?" He had to stop bringing him to dangerous places like this.

"No, actually…" Wade replied.

"I'm at my nephew's bar mitzvah," Peter replied.

"Why do you have your comm with you?" Bedlam asked, sounding slightly perturbed.

"Well. After Darcy set it up for me, I didn't want to mess it up, so it just… pairs to my headset automatically…"

"Well, just unpair your headset," Darcy said. This was actually something she knew how to fix. "It should send the call back to the app on your phone, and you can disconnect."

"Oh great. Thank you!" Peter sounded relieved, so they all waited a few moments, Axe and herself slowly inching down the vent the whole while. A snail was probably faster.

"Uh oh…" Peter's voice sounded distinctly more echo-y. As did the background noise. Which very quickly became numerous groans of anguish.

"What is uh-oh?" Darcy asked.

"I might have… sent the group chat to the DJ's Bluetooth speakers…"

"Disconnect from the speakers," Darcy exclaimed. "Peter. Just disconnect from--"

At that moment, she and Axe stopped moving. Since they weren't moving fast to begin with, it wasn't jarring, but he grunted out a sound that vaguely registered to her as pain, so she abruptly snapped her attention to him.

"I'm caught on something," he said. "Stop pulling." He released her hands and slipped his arm down his side, rummaging around before ceasing all movement entirely. He exhaled loudly. "Shit."

"Language!" Peter chastised. "You're still on the DJ's Bluetooth… I'm so sorry, these are my coworkers… that last part was for the bar mitzvah guests," he explained. "But really, if you could all watch your language."

"We're kind of in deep doo-doo, here, Peter," Darcy hissed.

"Thank you. Just like that. Thanks, Darcy."

"For the love of--"

"It's my tact belt," Axel concluded, looking back at Darcy. "Something's snagged."

"Great. Take off the belt and we'll go," she said.

"Not that easy, I can't fit it through the loops with everything attached to it. I also can't reach where I'm snagged, so…"

She sighed. "So I need to? Is that what you're so eloquently refusing to ask me?"

He made some sort of movement that was probably supposed to be a shrug. "Well yes. I can't quite bend that way. You're smaller."

"You are," Bedlam piped in, happy to finally be able to save his ass from his combined weight statement before. "You're so much smaller and--"

"Shut it, both of you. Left or right?" she asked, nodding once when Axel jutted his head to the left.

Darcy let go of his hands, inching forward until she could hook her chin over his shoulder and reach down to where he was snagged. She couldn't see what she was doing, but she could definitely smell his cologne and aftershave and laundry detergent. It made her eyes water, but not in a 'jesus-christ-stop-wearing-so-much-product' kind of way. It was more of a triggered memory kind of thing, and she didn't like this in the slightest.

"Okay, I think I found where to unpair the speakers," Peter said.

"Glory be," she deadpanned. "I was waiting with bated breath."

She felt Axel snicker a little, but she didn't really want to think about him at all. She just wanted this to be over. And the sooner she could swear again, the better.

"Uh-oh. Again…" Peter lamented.

"What now?" Axel asked.

"Instead of unpairing, I think I hit the stream button. Now we've got video streaming on the digital projector on the stage…" Peter replied.

"Video of what, exactly?" Darcy asked.

"Zeitgeist's helmet has a cam on it," was Bedlam's response.

"So you're seeing what Axe is seeing?" Darcy asked. "Which is what? Dark tunnel?"

"Well, considering my head is on your shoulder, I'm looking down your backside…" Axel said.

"Turn your head immediately!" Darcy said, sliding her hand around to finally unhook whatever it was from his tact belt.  

"I wasn't doing it on purpose," Axel said softly. "Promise."

"I don't care if you see it. This is just work, right?"

"Right," he said with a short nod.

"But Peter's nephew's bar mitzvah doesn't need to see it. Peter, turn off your phone and leave it off until you leave again."

"I'm so sorry, Darcy," Peter sounded sincere. He always did, but she couldn't be anything but terse right now.

"I know, babe. Just… turn it off completely, should unlink you from everything."

"Peter has left the chat," a robotic voice informed everyone.

She slid the items out of Axel's tact belt and into her hand. She scooted back and handed them to him. It looked like ninja stars, but knowing Axe, it was likely some kind of poisonous lethal weapon of some kind.  Or else it was food disguised as a weapon. "Here. Put that somewhere else."

Waiting for them to start getting tugged again, she reached for his hands as they began to gently move down the vent once more.

Darcy avoided Axel's gaze until they reached the end and he slid out the vent and got out of her way. They were at the opposite end of the roof. There was a small drop, but nothing she couldn't handle if she was flipped around.

Which she wasn't, so she waffled, frowning a little until Axel reached up and plucked her from the vent and into his brief, but lingering embrace.

Bedlam was there, unhooking his cord/pulley system from Axel and the outside of the vent. He snapped the whole thing back into a small box and gestured to the side of the building. "We'll have to rappel down the side of the building there. Doppinder's got his cab waiting out front.

"Are you kidding? He's just idling out there? I thought he dropped everyone off!"

"The others are with him. Cable and Domino. Wade."

"So Domino's keeping everyone safe and Wade and Cable are just…" she trailed off.

"Superfluous, yes," replied Bedlam.

"Well, if Domino's there. It's a shame y'all didn't think to send her into the vent," Darcy joked. "She would have fit and maybe some of her luck would have rubbed off."

Bedlam shifted awkwardly, glanced over at Axel, and gestured to the side of the roof. "I'll set in the grappling hooks. T-minus two minutes."

Darcy watched him leave, frowning a little. "That was weird. I guess he's in a hurry?" she said, taking a step towards him, but stopping because Axel had grabbed her hand.

"Look, I might as well tell you. I volunteered to go in after you."

She frowned. "Why? It would have been easier if--"

"You know I'm a control freak. I wanted to know first hand that you were alright. I couldn't have just… sat down there in the cab and listened. Wade had to send me."

"I would have been fine--"

"I wanted to save you, okay?"

"You didn't save me. You assisted me."

He smirked. "Fine. I wanted to assist you…" He trailed off. "Long story short, I want to be the one you call when you need help, okay?"

"You kind of lost that perk when we decided I couldn't call you for anything else."

"We nothing. You decided that."

"Bull. You're the one who said you were dangerous," she countered. "Too dangerous, if I recall. That whole bullshit superhero excuse that is so old it should be called the Steve Rogers."

"I know what I said. I regret it and I'm sorry. But you were the one who ended things."

"Because you kept Steve Rogering me into non-committal booty-call purgatory! Do you know how many nights of sleep I've lost over you?"

"No, tell me. I'll make up for each one." He raised his eyebrows a little, his tone monotonous and droning.

She laughed. "Ass. You know I don't lose sleep for anything."

"But I understand the sentiment. I'm sorry if being my non-committed booty-call made you feel anything less than wonderful."

"This past month's been a whole lot less than wonderful, Axe."

"Look, I know. It's been hell for me too. I want to do this the right way. I want to be the one you call for everything. Doesn't matter what. You made too many cookies? Call me. You're lonely and you don't want to fall asleep alone, call me."

"What if I need tampons?"

"Call me," he said, chuckling a little.

"Um. Hi. Ms. Lewis? Mr… Geist? Just letting you know, you were talking way longer than two minutes," Doppinder said over the comm. "Not to interrupt, but the meter is running…"

"Oh my god," Darcy reached into her pocket, scrambling to disconnect from the app on her phone. Axel did the same, but everyone had already heard. "Doppinder's on the comm?"

"He's why Wade doesn't have admin privileges anymore," explained Axel. They both turned and ran towards a very impatient Bedlam.

They all three rappelled down the side of the building and made a break for Doppinder's cab. Slipping into the backseat, Axel squeezed between Bedlam and Cable. Darcy hopped into Domino's lap, her legs stretched out over everyone else's.

Wade reached for the handle beside his head as Doppinder peeled out and turned around.

Domino glanced over at Axel after a long quiet moment. "Will you pick up tampons for me, too?"

Axel shrugged. "Text me a picture, so I know which ones to get."

Darcy's mouth quirked up a little. She was so gonna kiss his brains out later.

Wait. She didn't have to be so PG, she could swear again...

Eh. You know what I mean.