#not sure many people who follow me are taking APs but hey. throwing this at you anyway

[porto-rosso]

honestly the biggest piece of advice I could give for social studies APs is like. memorize about 10 random statistics from different time periods/units/whatever and you'll almost always be able to use at least one of them as evidence for a question

[holylulusworld]

Sineater

Title: Sin Eater

Summary: You are looking for sins to eat.

Square filled for @spnquotebingo​: Quote: (“I’m a sin eater.” – Blacklist) 

Square filled for @spnmixedbingo​: Angel

Pairing: MoC!Dean Winchester x Sineater!Reader

Rating: Mature

Warnings: angst, language, blood, mentions of sins: (sexual abuse, cheating)

A/N: For my story sin-eaters are rogue angels who try to take sins away and help people. I imagined Pinhead from Hellraiser for the fallen sin-eater.

2021 SPN Mixed BINGO Masterlist

SPN Quote Bingo masterlist

“You look lonely, hunter,“ you coo, carefully stepping toward the infamous Dean Winchester. He sneers at your words but doesn’t turn around to even look at you. The hunter prefers to down the next drink and not pay attention to you.

You heard many stories about him, stuff for nightmares and to keep people awake at night. Still, you walk toward him with steady steps.

It’s in your nature. Sins draw you in and, Dean Winchester is like a huge lighthouse guiding you toward his position since he got the Mark of Cain. Sins are just your thing.

“Get lost,” well, at least you got a reaction out of him. “Or do you want to follow them?” he slams a bloody blade onto the bar counter.

His bloody hand is shaking and you wonder if the blood all over his clothes belongs only to the dead family you found at the Styne’s mansion or if one of them had the chance to throw a few punches.

“Now, why would I do such a thing?” you’re a little cocky tonight. A delicious meal like all of Dean’s sins isn’t something you will find every day. “Don’t be foolish, Dean Winchester.”

“You know my name, huh? Shall I be impressed, demon?” he gruffly replies, making you chuckle. “What’s so funny bitch?”

“That’s rude, but you are forgiven,” you hop onto the barstool next to the hunter, slamming your hand flat onto the sticky surface. “You simply confused down with up.”

“An angel,” Dean huffs. “Even worse. Kid, leave this place before I drag your angelic ass out and test my first blade on you. I bet your blood will make it a bit more…shiny.”

“I’m not that kind of angel, hunter,” you bark orders at the scared bartender. He can only stare at the bloody first blade on the counter as if it will make sure he survives this crazy night. “You did a great job at their mansion.”

“A fan, huh?” you chuckle at his comment but smile sweetly as he finally side-eyed you. “You’re a weak little angel, I guess. Not one of those mighty warriors.”

“I’m a sin eater,” leaning closer to the hunter to sniff at him you groan as the sins fill your senses. “I must admit, I never smelled so much sin on anyone but the devil himself. Well, maybe one or two serial killers.”

“So, you run around, eat other people’s sins, and they go to heaven or shit?” he gets a bitchface this time. “Aw, did I hurt your feelings, creature?”

“I only eat the sins of people regretting them, Winchester,” you explain. “I don’t run around and eat sins of people doing shit like killing their wife to have more time for their sidepiece. I go to the people offering their sins for salvation. You must ask me to do so, hunter.”

“Not interested.”

“I know, but I couldn’t resist coming here and just inhaling your sinful scent,” he smirks at that. Dean dips his head to look you up and down, tongue darting out to wet those sinful and plush lips.

“If you want to have a ride, you just had to ask, sweetheart,” you shiver at the way he sizes you up. “Pity I don’t fuck dirty creatures.”

“Hey, I’m not a creature you hairless ape,” you curse. “Crap, now you made me a sinner too. What’s with you Winchesters? Every time one of us tries to help you, we get turned down or killed.” 

“Don’t get your angelic panties in a twist. Just leave me and my sins alone, sin- eater bitch,” the hunter is slowly getting on your nerves, so you slide off your barstool, crack your neck before you spread your crimson wings. 

The bar begins to shake, and the poor bartender drops to his knees and begins to pray. 

“Admit your sins. Regret and you’ll be forgiven,” your voice softens, and your wings turn white. Your powers illuminate the bar and the bartender and the only guest crawl toward you, holding out their hands to admit all of their sins. “Tell me what you did, Fredick Marick.”

“I cheated on my girlfriend but hate myself for it. I got drunk. Her sister, lives at our place, and she hopped onto my lap that night, opening my pants,” the guest cries. “What shall I do?”

“Tell me, do you regret it?” he nods, starting to cry. “Go home, tell your girlfriend the truth. If she can forgive you, kick her sister out of your home and try to make things up to her.”

“Yes…thank you,” you gently touch his cheek, telling the man to open his mouth as you do the same thing.

“I will take away your sins now, but you must do the rest. I can’t save your relationship or fix what you broke,” opening your mouth wide you chant a few words Dean doesn’t understand. It sounds like Enochian to him. “Your sin shall be mine.”

Red smoke leaves the sinner’s mouth to creep down your throat, making you choke. 

“It is done now, Frederick. Go, and do not sin again. I cannot take more of your sins,” your voice makes the bar shake. “Everyone only gets one chance. Do not make me regret my decision.”

“I won’t…promised,” the man runs out of the bar, feeling much better now that he’s free of his sin.

“I hope he keeps his promise,” Dean turns around on his barstool to lean his back against the bar counter. “Would be a shame to watch him do this shit all over again.”

“He will go straight to hell if he sins again. No asking for forgiveness will save his soul,” you dip your head to look down at the bartender. “Now, do you want to admit your sins too? Do you want me to take them all away?”

“No—I only want to go. Please,” the man cries. “Please. This must be a bad dream. I wanna go home.”

“Go then,” just like that, you turn back into your human form. “I will not stop you, sinner. I can smell so much sin on you.” Kneeling next to the shaking man you sigh deeply. “You are not ready to admit and regret your sins yet. I see.”

“I’m not…I would never.”

“Problem is, sweetheart,” Dean finally slides off his bar stool, hand reaching out for his first blade, “that bastard doesn’t deserve to get a slice of heaven. You know what he did, right? Even I can smell it. Disgusting little creep.”

“I know exactly what he did, Dean Winchester,” snapping your fingers you reveal another sin-eater. “That’s why my friend is here.”

“Boy, that’s one ugly angel,” making a face Dean looks at the sin-eater stepping out of the shadows to tower over the bartender. He’s dressed in black leather. His face is pale and it looks like someone put pins into his face for fun. “What is that thing?” The sin-eater’s eyes are crimson as he looks at you, waiting for orders.  

“He’s a fallen sin-eater,” grasping for Dean’s wrist you stop him from attacking the fallen one. “He was like me once upon a time. One of our best. Over time, he began to take away sins from people not regretting their sins.”

“How did he end up looking like Pinhead from Hellraiser,” you chuckle as, even if only for a moment, Dean looked like the hunter you watched for all your existence.

“I had to punish him. He took it too far only to feast on more sins. He took the sins of a terrible people. Most of them were rotten to the core so,” you watch the sin-eater wrap his hand around the bartender’s throat, crushing it, “I created something even darker to punish the monsters among the people.”

Dean turns to leave you and your sin-eater behind. “I’m out of this shit show. I hope you will clean up this mess. I liked the bar,” the hunter storms out of the bar, inhales the cold air greedily to not smell the blood and death any longer. “What do you want?”

“You know, I came here for the bartender tonight, to punish him for his awful sins,” walking next to Dean you touch his arm. “If you want me to, I can stick around and help you cope with your sins. Just give me a chance.”

He twirls around to grab your throat, immediately slamming you onto the hood of his car. You claw at his hand, eyes flashing blue as he presses the tip of his first blade into your chest.

“Don’t be foolish. Dean. It’s not too late to save you. Let me help you…please.”

“No one can save me, angel,” he releases you, stepping away from the car. “It’s too late.”

“Why don’t we have a snack at the diner a few blocks away? We could have a slice of pie,” jumping off the hood you smirk. You crack your head, giggling as Dean watches you warily. “Name’s Y/N, and I will stick around to eat all of your sins, hunter.”

“You’re like the plague,” he groans. “What do you want to eat?”

“Pie,” laughing the hunter shakes his head. “What? I need food too. I’m stuck in a human body for as long as I remember. God wanted to punish the best of us for taking the angels' sins. Bastard sent us down to Earth to do the same for humankind. You owe me food.”

“I owe you shit,” he presses the blade against your throat, eyes darkening. 

Dean is like a ticking bomb. One moment he’s the cocky hunter he used to be, and the next he wants to take your head. “Fine, I’ll pay for your food if you let me suck in one or two of your sins. Small ones. Please.”

“You sound like a junkie,” walking back toward his car Dean huffs.

“In a way, I’m a junkie. I need sins to stay alive. That’s why I need to find people truly regretting their sins and to help them.”

“You didn’t help the bartender,” he gets into the car, already starting the engine as you zap into his car to sit in the passenger seat.

“We have rules, Dean. I do not take sins from people like Paul in there. He drugged girls to abuse them. He would’ve done it for the rest of his pitiful life.”

“Calling the cops wasn’t an option?” chuckling you watch Dean drive toward the diner. “Just saying.”

“Dean, I tried. For months I observed the bartender and made sure he doesn’t get the chance to hurt another person. I called the cops and told them about his crimes. They didn’t believe me so…”

“Entrance, Pinhead?” the hunter asks, glancing at you while driving. 

“Correct. Now, admit one sin your regret, Dean. I want to take it away from you,” he stops the car in front of the diner, slamming his hands onto the steering wheel. “It’s easy to let go.”

“I regret dragging Sammy back into this shitshow. If only I stayed away from him back then…”

“Yellow Eyes would’ve killed Jess, either way, Dean,” you cup his cheek, using your powers to make him look at you. “But I can take that sin away from you.”

“Do it—” he whispers. “Just that one.”

“’k,” you press your lips to Dean’s, eyes flashing blue as you suck the sin he admitted out of him. “All done, hunter.”

“You didn’t kiss the other guy,” he complains, licking his lips. “Why me?”

“Maybe I like you more. Stop talking so much, Winchester. You owe me some food…” Dean sighs, but somehow he feels a little better. He watches you get out of his car, calling his name as he wonders if you are capable of saving his soul.

Tags in reblog.

[carry-on-my-wayward-butt]

He did? Umm.. what happened exactly?

(referring to this post)

my 11th grade chemistry teacher had an associates degree in liberal arts.

you know how in virtually every class you’ve ever had since middle school, your teachers made a big stink about the syllabus? she didn’t have one. this was her first teaching job, which she got because of her length experience as a substitute, not by her licensing qualifications. we were, at first, excited to have her, because she was a “fun sub” and we were 17 years old and stupid as all shit. we were the “normal chem” class in a system where the only other options were “honors chem” which was filled with children who actually know how to study (or cheat) and have an air of proper student activity, and “AP Chem”, which is clear enough if you’ve been an american student in the last 15 years.

she followed the mcgraw hill chemistry book in order of chapters, despite the fact that our state standardized tests did several of the chapters out of order. ever notice how you’ll suddenly be looking at chapter 11 when just last week you were on chapter 5, then the next week you’re on chapter 8? standardized testing is the reason. anyways by asking my friends in other classes who had chemistry teachers of relative competence, i was able to discern which chapters i should focus on, and while she was distracted with literally watching youtube videos all period, I was turning around in my seat and walking across the classroom helping my friends and enemies with the packets. (she was a two-packets-a-week kinda teacher.)

yes i said enemies too. the people i hated, i hated because they were sons of bitches i wouldnt piss on to put out a fire. i hated them so dearly i used to pray to god that they would bump into me so i could throw myself into the concrete and split my forehead open and get them expelled due to the blood-clause of our “zero-tolerance policy”. two of the kids in my class had, only the previous year, attempted to set my hair on fire.

i hated the teacher more. 

it gave me extreme pleasure to see her fume and clench her fists when a student would say “i need help” across the classroom and she would move to get up and they would say “oh not you miss, im waiting for vicky.” jesus christ the only time ive ever felt a comparable high was when i was at a halloween party in college where i was literally so zooted i couldn’t move.

it got worse over time, her getting more and more angry, my ego growing larger and larger. i was a huge bitch in high school, i really thought i was the smartest bitch in the room at any given moment. severe main character syndrome. imagine that kind of person actually being right for 45 minutes out of every day. can you even comprehend the kind of frustration that would create? in a room full of little sociopaths who dont give a shit about anything but getting this joke of a class over with so they can graduate? your first real teaching job and they look right past you, the teacher, to this annoying little shit whose grades are completely abysmal? how are they managing to learn anything from a child who can barely speak in front of more than 10 people? who turns cherry red in the face of literally every authority figure in the building except you? who can’t concentrate and stay still in one spot for more than five minutes? all of your other classes behave! they listen! they sit down and shut up and do the packets! so what fucking gives!!!

so you say “fine, since you all HATE ME so much i just won’t teach then!!!” on literally week fucking ten of teaching. and instead of prostrating themselves before you, begging you to like... point at transparencies and read directly from powerpoints i guess.

and they all collectively say “okay” and let the chipmunk child flutter between desks and help them memorize formulas and mnemonic devices and shit. surely her grades will suffer if she’s constantly dealing with other people and you’ll have justification that her horseshit is “distracting” and “a detriment to her studies”. she got bored gave up on that after two days after nothing changed.

then we did the midterm.

except at the end of the exam packet was something we never learned because again, she was going through the book chronologically. because i actually enjoyed the chem book (so much that i stole it when the year was up lmao), i knew the material.

it was about lewis dots/structures. i couldn’t tell you a damn thing about it today but in december 2010 i absolutely knew that shit. i didnt have too much of a problem with it in the exam, but the students who had gotten to that point were complaining and at first she pulled that “you should have been studying independently uwu” shit but the class was about to get loud during exam period so she shushed us and said that when we get to that point, just stop, and she’ll mark it correct during grading, no harm no foul just keep it quiet. one of the more confrontational students called horseshit and said theres no way we’re trusting that and there’s definitely no way anyone will keep an entire classroom cheating at the instruction of the teacher quiet.

i offered to teach it.

she scoffed, rolled eyes, said “sure fine but you can’t get your exam back” and i said “okay.” so when everyone was to the point in the exam, we piled them all on her desk and i used the whiteboard to briefly and quietly explain lewis dots, used the book examples and problems, and helped the other kids understand. there were a couple exam questions that were lifted straight from the book problems so i skipped those. while teaching i realized i had gotten a couple wrong which sucked :( it was an incredibly stupid experience overall, and no teacher worth the paper their certification is printed on would have allowed that to happen. and fucking yet.

anyways everyone but me got their exams back and finished it and many of us passed, only a few of them did particularly well.

discussing the chem exam with friends who also took the chem exam, many students found their anecdote about the lewis dots to be confounding, for you see, the exam we took was not, in fact, the midterm, but the god damned final.

she had us taking the fucking final because she didnt read the fucking folders which read “midterm” and “final exam” on them

she was reprimanded severely and we all had to take the exam on different days, in different classrooms, sitting very far apart. after that she hated me even more. like girl it was your fault lmao i am literally a teenager grow up lol. anyways you can imagine how much more fucking insufferable i became, knowing how miserable she was.

it all came to a head in february when some students were giggling quietly following a minor fuck up on her part regarding bellwork. they were making fun of her like “are you sure thats not tomorrows bellwork lol” and a friend next to me did the “hey i need help wait no miss not you sorry” thing and when i answered him, she solidly snapped. blah blah YOURE SOOOO DISTRACTING blah blah YOU THINK YOURE SOOOO SMART DONT YOU blah blah blah and she was like demanding i leave the room and shouting at the top of her lungs at me “ YOU POISON THE MINDS OF EVERY OTHER STUDENT HERE. YOU’RE POISONOUS VICTORIA, YOU’RE A VIRUS IN THIS CLASSROOM.”

i will never forget that line as long as i live. it was like crack to me. i moved to open the door to leave and the vp opened it first. he escorted me to the office and asked me what happened, then told me to keep my head down in class from now on, and that if i wanted to help my friends i should give them my number and help them out on our own time. i was like “bro thats really stupid” and he was like “thats all we can do right now but i promise we’re working on it”

i lasted the rest of the year giving smug smiles as we did packet after fucking packet for the rest of the year. they were all take-home work. i wasnt comfy giving my number to my enemies. the class camaraderie ended.

the final was altered. my class took a different final than the rest of the normal chem classes.

i started 12th grade and got a solid case of senioritis. i told that story to anyone who would listen. while it was happening, i obviously told my favorite teacher everything as it happened. when i mentioned it senior year he was like “oh yeah i forgot about her,

she was fired over the summer.”

[vixenpen]

Fuck A Fan (Bakugo x Camgirl reader pt. 1)

You had gotten the idea from one of your best friends in the cam industry.

“You sure this will work?”

“Trust me boo,” he had replied, “sometimes the best motivation for a man is a little friendly competition.”

Your bestie had insisted that a fuck a fan contest would be the perfect way to get CallMeKing to finally make good on his unfulfilled promise to see you.

Putting the finishing touches on your flyer, you finally posted the announcement to all social media. You knew CMK was still lurking. So he’d definitely see it. Hopefully, this little contest would be enough to spark his interest, if this failed, you were going to scream.

Because for the first time in your cam career, a man had you chasing him.

The audacity!

To be fair, he did say that he wanted to see you too, but had to keep a low profile due to his career. He promised as soon as worked dialed down you guys would meet up.

Well that had been over a year ago, and not only had you guys not met face to face; he also didn’t seem to check in on you as much anymore.

He still tipped and re-subbed to your page. He had even cash-apped you money for Christmas and your birthday.

But aside from that, there were no more late night, sexting sessions, no more random check ins, no more nude trading.

At first, you brushed it off.

He was apparently a very successful man. Successful men were busy. They couldn’t give you every second of their time. As a successful woman, you could relate to that.

Not to mention, you were a bad bitch and bad bitches did not pine over any man.

PERIODTTT.

Buuuut...when the man in question was fine as hell with boulders for biceps, a big dick, and long money, well...you’d like to think the City Girls, Meg the Stallion, and all the other bad bitches you looked up to would understand your thirst.

“Alright, King,” you sat back in the furry, white computer chair and glared at your laptop screen. “Ball is in your court now.”

“Mr. Ground Zero, can I get a picture too?”

A precocious looking blue haired kid asked. He stared up at Katsuki with wide, hopeful eyes.

Katsuki grimaced.

“Whatever kid, c’mon.”

He leaned down, attempting to keep a safe distance from the walking germ pool, while keeping in the lens of his camera phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thanks a lot, Mr. Ground Zero!”

The kid giddily ran back to his group of friends.

Kirishima slung his arm around Bakugo’s shoulder, weighing down on his slightly shorter friend.

“Wow, Bakubro, looks like those public relations training classes have really been working, huh?”

“Whatever, I just don’t need anymore shitty press with kids.”

“You still have energy for happy hour with Sero and Me tonight?”

Bakugo replied with a noncommittal shrug. He scrolled absentmindedly through his phone as he and Kirishima headed towards their agencies to call it a day.

He decided to check in on (cam name’s) IG page to see how she was doing.

A pang of longing tugged at him. He missed her. A lot. Sure, she was a cam girl, and being friendly and flirty was her job, but she always brightened his days. With crime picking up steadily over the past year, Bakugo could use her presence in his life now more than ever, unfortunately, nothing in his schedule would permit it.

He was researching a new threat that had been developing in the crime world. Apparently the new mob of villains seemed to have some connections to the crime world in America, and Bakugo found himself flying back and forth to the west for meetings and to make media rounds to help put the public at ease.

His sleep schedule was completely out of whack with all the stress he was under, so any spare moment he wasn’t working, he was sleeping. Which meant no time for his virtual boo thing. Though he did try to make it known he was thinking about her with bill money.

As he flipped through her newest posts, something caught his eyes.

Fuck a fan contest? Winner gets to make content with me at secure location!

What the fuck was this shit?

Whatever it was, he was certainly going to get to the bottom of it when he got home.

CMK: Hey, (cam name) what’s this all about?

Y/N: what does it look like? Fuck a fan contest

CMK: fuck u mean? You don’t do meet ups!

Y/N: 🤷🏾‍♀️ first time for everything.

Anger hummed beneath Bakugo’s skin. Since when did y/n start doing meet ups? She had always told him she didn’t trust her fans as far as she could throw them.

He had encouraged her to not be forthcoming with personal information and never feel like she had to meet up with randos online for money. He would take care of anything she needed before it came to that.

So what was the meaning of this? Had he not been taking good enough care of her? Keeping her bills paid? Her nails and hair done?

Y/N: u entering or what? 👀

CMK: hell no im not entering and neither is anyone else. Now take that shit down.

Y/n: (voice note) first the fuck of all, you don’t tell me what to do. Second the fuck of all, do you know how much money is in this? You ain’t stopping my bag boo. Period! 💅🏾

He was practically seething. Who the fuck did she think she was talking to like that?

Who the fuck did she think she was saying no to?!

His dick stirred in his pants as he re-listened to the voice note of her cursing him out.

CMK: how much does it take to win?

Y/N: just whoever has the most.

CMK tipped $150,000

CMK: now take it the fuck down

Y/N: nobody else has entered yet.

CMK: nobody else up here has the money I have.

Y/N: if you’re not meeting with me, I ain’t takin it down.

CMK: god fucking dammit y/n. Tonight. 9pm. Text me the addy. I’ll have my driver pick you up.

True to his word, CMK had his driver pick you up an hour and a half before the time he had mentioned.

Your knee bounced, causing the black mini dress hugging your shapely thighs to ride up. You pulled it down absentmindedly.

You could count on one hand how many times you had been flown out by one of your fans. It certainly wasn’t a weekly occurrence for you the way it was for other models.

Fear and excitement fluttered in your stomach.

You wondered what the driver thought of you. Heading to this rich and powerful man’s house in the middle of the night.

You had tried to dress up as if you were going to be taken on a fancy date. Your hair styled, silver chandelier earrings dripping from your lobes to match the long silver necklace that dipped between your pushed up cleavage.

If the driver gave two shits, you at least hoped he thought you were going to get a nice meal before getting dicked down.

The community where CMK lived was on the outskirts of town; hidden in a forest of natural and manicured foliage. One could go literal miles between each home before they saw the next one.

You pressed your forehead against the window to take in the flora and fauna, manicured lawns, and huge mansions. So. Many. Styles. Of mansions!

“Here we are ma’am.” the driver announced.

He drove you up a looping, stone drive way that led to a very modern home that reminded you a bit of abstract art what with its odd angles, jutting sides, and square architecture.

The driver stepped out and opened your door. Once you were faced with the massive stairs and wooden doors before you, the song: Pretty Woman blared in your mind. You certainly felt that way.

Before you could knock, the door swung open revealing a pair of red eyes that were devouring your body head to toe.

“Oh my god...”

“Wasn’t expecting to hear that before I even touched you, beautiful.” He chuckled. His lips quirked into the cocky half smirk you’d grown familiar with from his interviews.

Was this real? Call me king was Ground Zero?!

“C-call me king?” You managed to stutter out pitifully.

“I would prefer to call you by your real name.” He joked. “Come in, beautiful.” He grabbed your hand gently and pulled you through the door.

You couldn’t even appreciate the high ceilings, polished wood floors, and tasteful stone wash colored furniture as you followed Ground Zero through the door.

He took leggy strides into the airy kitchen taking out a couple of glasses from a cupboard. You could only gawk.

He looked good as hell in his short sleeved denim button up shirt and ripped black jeans. His physique flexed under the well tailored clothes showing off the broad chest and bulging biceps you’d seen in the Nudes. His spiky Blonde hair looked soft and a bit damp.

“You wanna drink, beautiful?”

“I don’t accept drinks from new people in new environments.”

He looked up to shoot you a half smile. The usual mischief was missing from his red eyes, replaced with genuine affection.

“Of course you don’t. My (cam name.)”

“F/N,” you replied.

“Bout damn time you gave me a real name. Mine is Bakugo, babe.”

He strolled over with a glass of water for himself.

“So, f/n,” his ruby colored eyes darkened with a predatory gleam as he stepped right to your face. “Why don’t you have a seat? I promise the couch won’t bite.”

He brought a hand down to smack your round ass, making you jump.

“Can’t say the same for myself though.”

Licking your lips, you lowered yourself into the couch. Bakugo settled beside you so close the sides of your bodies touched. He draped an arm around your shoulder.

“I know you got a camsona and all, but damn, y/n, where’s my feisty little c/n? Huh? Lil Ms. Period!” His voice took on a lighter tone as he tried to imitate your twang.

The attempt earned him a giggle.

“Well excuse me, sir, but I wasn’t expecting the number two pro-hero in Japan to be my biggest fan.” You snapped back, playfully rolling your eyes. “Forgive me if I’m still wrapping my brain around it.”

“There’s that smart ass mouth I love so much.” He tucked your chin.

This close to him, you could feel his warm minty breath fanning against your lips. A familiar warmth was already growing between your legs.

Pulling away you asked: “Why me?”

“Hah?” His brows knit in confusion. “Fuck kinda question is that? What do you mean why you?”

“I mean, I’m a bad bitch or whatever, but I’m just...me and you’re...you.”

“Tch. You just answered your own damn question, dumb ass.” He tilted your face back towards him. You felt his other large hand roam the bare skin of your thigh and shivered.

“You’re a bad bitch. You don’t seem to forget that any other time, don’t fuckin’ forget it now, got that? Your confidence is what’s sexy about you.”

A smile tugged at your lips as heat flooded your cheeks.

“You know, when you’re not being a fuckin’ asshole, you can be pretty damn charming when you wanna be.”

“And when you’re not being a defiant little brat, you can be real fucking cute.”

A moan slipped from your glossy lips as his hand crept steadily up your thigh

“Please,” you leaned closer to him, “you love my brattiness.”

He scoffed, amused.

“I’ll show you just how much I like it.”

Without warning, Bakugo scooped you up. His large, rough hands dug into the soft flesh of your round ass as he straddled you on his lap.

Your wet, bare pussy pressed into his bulge as he stole a greedy kiss. Your gasp quickly morphed into a moan as desire burned in your core and flooded your entire body.

His tongue overtook your mouth effortlessly.

“No panties, huh, brat? I can feel you leaking through my jeans.”

“I hate panties,” you managed between kisses. “And bras.”

That little confession just inspired more arousal in Bakugo. He deposited you on the long couch and let his hot tongue snake along every sensitive bit of exposed flesh he could find. Goosebumps rose on your skin.

“Damn, beautiful,” he managed between kisses, “can’t wait to taste the rest of you.”

His bulge rubbed your aching clit deliciously.

You tugged his shirt up over his mess of blonde hair.

He grabbed the deep ‘V’ of your dress and ripped it open, drawing a gasp from you.

“Now we match.” He grinned

“You ass—“

“You’ll have a new outfit by tomorrow afternoon, now shut up.”

True to his word, Bakugo tasted every inch of you. He nibbled your ears making you shiver, licked your nipples making you hiss his name, and devoured your toes like blow pops.

Your body was trembling from sensory overload.

“God..” you moaned.

“You look like you want something, babe,” Bakugo smiled wickedly as he hovered above you. “What is it?”

“Eat me.”

[ssfghfrrggf]

Heavy is the Head Chapter 3 Watch It

ao3 link

Six months later…

Inside the house is so chock full of nervous energy, it practically feels like the whole place is full of static electricity, the apartment was almost worse. Between it being Casey's first shift as acting chief and it being Stella’s first shift as truck lieutenant there’s enough raw energy to power the city for like a month, not to mention everyone else being nervous to see how things will. And frankly, Kelly finds it stressful to be around. He’s given Stella three pep talks this morning, and now it’s time for him to sit back and let her be her and kick ass. The most relaxing place to be in the station right now is seated comfortably in his chair at the squad table.

“Excuse me, I was told to report to 51 as my assignment…”

Severide jumps a little at the sound of the voice behind him and spins his chair around to find himself looking across the bay at a familiar face. It’s been a long time since he’s actually seen the kid- Nathan had called him and asked to put him down as a reference on his CFD application, but the last thing Kelly ever expected was for him to actually get assigned to 51.

“Oh hey Kelly! I didn’t realize that was you!” Nathan says, immediately loosening up.

“That’s lieutenant Severide to you, candidate,” Severide says in the most serious tone he can muster. It’s so incredibly hard not to run over and give him a hug. He’s grown up so much since that day Kelly saved him out of the tipped over backhoe.

“Oh-” Nathan says, flustered and visibly distressed by Kelly’s comment. “Sorry-”

“I’m just messing with you,” Kelly chuckles and waves him over. The kid instantly looks relieved and hurries across the ap floor to get to Kelly. “Everyone’s gonna be thrilled to see you. Come on.”

They’ve barely made it through the doors before Herrmann sees Nathan. Kelly was hoping to get him in and get him to Stella and Casey before everyone mobbed, but it’s too late for that now.

“I’ll be damned! The savior of 51!” Herrmann cries. “Get over here!”

Nathan looks hesitantly up at Severide. 

“The lieutenant wants to see you,” Severide says with a nod.

“Get in there!” Herrmann says ushering the new candidate into the common room. Severide follows from a couple feet behind. “Mouch! Cruz! Look who it is! It’s the savior of 51!”

“I don’t believe it! Hey kid!” Mouch says, getting off the couch to greet him.

Ritter and Gallo exchange confused looks.

“Back a long time ago, this lady tried to get 51 closed down, and this little bastard arranged a protest and saved the house!” Herrmann explains and throws an arm around his shoulders. Severide can see him blushing.

“He’s still gotta report in with Casey and Kidd,” Severide says to Herrmann, who inhales sharply.

“Hey, chief wants everyone in the briefing room,” Stella says poking her head into the common room. She looks a little less terrified than she did this morning, but she still sounds nervous.

Casey looks tense, like what he looked like when he got promoted to captain, but 10 times worse. Kelly feels a little bad for him; over the past couple months leading up to this, Boden put Casey in a charge of a lot of things to help prepare him for this. He’s ready for this, but Severide isn’t sure if Casey knows that.

“So we all know I’m no good at speeches,” Casey says as soon as everyone’s in the room. “So I’m not really going to try. There’s just a couple things we need to go over before we get started for the day-”

The bell rings and interrupts Casey mid sentence, and Severide can’t help but be a little amused, the city really is going to throw everything it’s got at him on his first day.

“Engine 51, Truck 81, Squad 3, ambulance 61, Battalion 25, multi vehicle wreck Dan Ryan Expressway.”

“You got this Case,” Severide says and slaps Casey on the shoulder as they all head to the trucks. Casey glares at him.

***

Stella pulls herself up into the front passenger seat of 81; it’s weird not climbing into the driver's seat. The space in front of her seems empty and new. Mouch climbs into the driver seat a couple seconds later and 81 rumbles to life. 

“Okay, candidate, we're going to be riding into a mess,” Stella calls over her shoulder to the newest member of truck, who looks more excited than nervous or scared. “Highway wrecks can be more dangerous than fires. You gotta worry about the wreck and the cars passing by. I want you to stay with Mouch the whole call. Don’t leave his side for any reason. Got it?”

“Yes, lieutenant,” he says, his voice quivering with excitement.

“How many cars are we looking at with this?” Gallo asks, shifting in his seat.

“It’s looking like it’s going to be a pile up,” Stella says scrolling through the report coming on the truck computer. “There’s already two other battalions on scene.”

This is going to be a mess. She’d been hoping for a relatively calm shift as her first shift as lieutenant, but of course, almost predictably so, the universe had other plans.

***

The road is a mess as far as Matt can see, and the air is thick and hazy with smoke and exhaust from the endless expanse of cars spread across the highway as he steps out of his car. He takes a second to take in their section of the scene before reaching into his chief’s buggy and grabs his white helmet. It’s like a lonely silent coronation on a battlefield. He’s chief now. It didn’t feel real a couple minutes ago, but it does now as his crews arrive on scene behind him, red lights flashing and sirens screaming into the cool air.

***

“51 I want lines ready incase any of these cars flare up, 81 have your extinguishers on stand by and start extrication, Squad help with extrication. 61, start setting up for triage, and we need an LZ set up incase we need to call in a chopper,” Casey is barking orders almost before everyone is off the trucks. Stella is honestly a little surprised with how quickly their new chief was able to find his stride. With his calm and collected nature that seemed lost only a couple minutes before the call, the white helmet suits him.

“Mouch set up the LZ and keep Nathan with you, then start trying to see who all you can get out without extrication tools and send them to triage, Gallo get the spreaders and cutters off the truck, me and you are working heavy duty tools,” Stella orders, taking command of her crew.

***

“Anything off you see comes through me,” Casey says as people begin to break up to carry out orders. “Tanker trunks, anything that could be hauling hazards, I need to know about it.”

“You got it chief,” Severide says as he moves past him.

“Battalion 25 to main, request for additional med units and a water tanker to my location,” Casey says switching his radio over to main.

“Acknowledged.”

“Chief, we got a gasoline tanker about 100 yards down,” Severide’s voice sounds over the radio.

“Copy that, I’m sending a line down,” Casey replies and turns to Herrmann. “I want a line on that tanker in case a spark decides to make things exciting.”

“You got it, pull,” the lieutenant says and grabs Ritter. “Pull the three inch and get it to that tanker. I’ll be behind you with the wye and two sections of one and a half inch.” 

The young engine firefighter is small, but he can run hoses better than anyone Casey’s ever seen. Herrmann made the right choice in having Boden bring him on.

“All units, I want the cars closest to that tanker cleared first,” Matt calls over the radio. “Clear out from there.”

“Main to battalion 25.”

“Battalion 25, go ahead main,” Casey says, studying the mess spread out before his eyes. 

“Your extra med units are inbound, but we have a delay on that tanker.”

Casey lets out an angry huff of air before replying to the dispatcher. “I need that tanker. We’ve got an overturned gasoline truck here. We need more water.”

“Understood, eta is 20 minutes.”

Casey clenches his jaw in frustration, when his gaze settles on the new truck candidate. “Candidate, find a hydrant,” Casey orders, and Nathan freezes like a deer caught in headlights. “What’s the matter?”

“Lieutenant told me to stay with Mouch…” he says nervously.

“And I’m telling you to find a hydrant,” Casey snaps, not in the mood to get in a debate with a candidate. 

“Yes sir,” the kid chokes out and takes off at a run down the empty road behind them.

“Kidd, I sent Marks to find a hydrant. We’re going to need it if that tanker goes. Mouch is headed your way.”

***

“Damn it,” Stella hisses as Casey updates her on his relocation of her candidate.

“What’s wrong?” Kelly asks, over hearing her angry noise.

“I had Nathan with Mouch for a reason,” she says flatley. Firstly no candidate should be running off on their own, and there’s a lot for him to learn from shadowing Mouch, especially on a call like this.

“Chiefs are gonna be chiefs,” is all Kelly says in reply, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder at the tanker truck. 

Stella’s not happy about Casey’s decision to move her guy, but that truck goes and engine doesn’t have a hydrant, they're all screwed.

“We got a spark!” Herrmann shouts and no less than a couple seconds later one of the cars next to the overturned gasoline truck goes up in flames.

“Son of a bitch!” Kelly hisses and ducks grabbing Stella by the coat and pulling her with him.

Stella shakes herself free from his grip as she recovers from the wave of heat that hit them.

“Your probie better hurry up and find a hydrant, or we’re all toast,” Kelly comments under his breath and then ducks off to help Cruz.

“”Lieutenant, foams mixed in we’re clear to spray,” Ritter calls and picks up one of the lines they have stretched.

“Marks, any luck on a hydrant?” Stella asks, keying her radio. The water in 51 is probably enough to put out the car fire, but if spreads to the truck leaking fuel onto the road, they’re going to need the hydrant.

***

“I’ve got a hydrant.” Nathan replies to his lieutenant, his heart pounding in his throat. He can see smoke rising in the air from the wreck down the road from him. Every part of him is itching to be back at the scene helping.

“Ritter’s coming to you with a supply line,” Lieutenant Kidd says. “Hang tight at the hydrant until he gets to you.”

“Yes lieutenant.”

***

“Lieutenant, the driver’s still in this truck!” Capp calls from a good 20 feet away where he’s standing next to cab of the tipped over truck.

Stella can see Kelly freeze and look up from what he’s doing with Cruz. Casey freezes too and the chief and lieutenant make eye contact. It’s always baffled Stella how the two of them communicate on a scene; they have their own silent language. They just seem to know exactly what the other one is thinking.

“You have like two minutes, Severide,” Casey says, answering the question Kelly never asked.”Engine, keep that line on the fire, everyone else it’s time to pull back.”

“I’m not going anywhere until Kelly and Cruz are out of there,” Stella says, it’s always a risky move defying Casey, and it’s probably a thousand times worse to do it now on his first day as chief.

“Lieutenant, I said pull back,” Casey snaps, pinning her down with a glare.

Stella clenches her jaw angrily, but obeys.

“51 is hooked up!” Ritter’s voice comes over the radio.

“Run another line up here,” Casey replies.

“Copy that, chief.”

***

“Kidd, I need to see you in my office,” Casey says before Stella even has her feet on the ground back at the station.

“Aw, somebody’s in trouble,” Kelly teases and pokes her in the side as she walks past him.

“Don’t even joke,” she replies and follows Casey to his office.

“What’s up Chief?” She asks, closing his office door behind her.

“I can’t have my officers second guessing my orders on a call,” he says bluntly, and folds his arms over his chest. “I know you care about Severide, but that doesn’t mean you get to undermine my authority.”

“Yes, Chief,” Stella says, biting back the urge to argue.

“Further more, this isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation,” Casey adds. “Can I count on you to lead? Being a leader you have to put personal feelings aside for the sake of the team.”

“Excuse me?” Stella replies, raising an eyebrow at her chief.

Casey shakes his head. “Don’t challenge my orders again.”

“Yes sir,” Stella says stiffly.

***

“Gallo, Mouch, Marks, on the Ap floor. We’re doing drills,” Stella says blowing through the common room like a storm.

“But I was helping Ritter with dinner-” Gallo starts to say, making Ritter wonder once again if his friend actually knows the tiniest thing about reading situations, because if he did Darren is about 90% he would not have just tried to argue with Lieutenant Kidd. It’s obvious she’s pissed about something and looking to blow off steam.

“App floor, now. 50 push ups,” the lieutenant snaps.

Gallo opens his mouth, and Ritter elbows him in an attempt to save him from getting his head bitten off.

“Just go,” he whispers to his friend, who thankfully complies without another  word. 

As soon as all the truck members have emptied out of the common Severide and Herrmann whistle in unison.

“Heaven help their souls,” Herrmann says, shaking his head and looking back to his book. Severide looks a little more concerned and lets his gaze linger on the door to the bay before returning his attention to his crossword puzzle.

“You guys, did you know Mouch could still do push ups?” Cruz asks coming into the common room a couple minutes later with a grin on his face. Tony and Capp aren’t far behind him. “And lieutenant, Stella should become a drill sergeant.”

Severide leans back in his chair and frowns. “What’re they doing out there?”

“When we left, push ups,” Cruz says, plopping down on the couch. “We decided to head inside before she tried to make us do em too.”

Severide doesn’t say anything, he just gets up and leaves the room.

“Hey, Ritter, what’s for dinner?” Cruz asks and changes the tv channel.

“Hey!” Herrmann protests looking up from his book.

“Oh come on! You weren’t even watching!” Cruz protests.

“No, but I was listening!” The engine lieutenant argues. “Switch it back!”

“No, you and Mouch always watch what you want to. I’m watching what I want to while he’s out doing drills.

***

“Hey, chief, you want a smoke?” Kelly offers, poking his head into Casey’s office. He can see the chief is busy and absolutely buried in paperwork.

“Maybe in like five years after I have all this crap filled out,” Casey replies, shuffling papers on his desk.

“I’ll save you a cigar then,” Kelly replies with a chuckle. It’s like when Casey got promoted to captain, but worse. He feels bad for him, but it’s a little amusing.

“Don’t laugh! This isn’t funny!” Casey snaps, but for the first time since this morning he seems more at ease and a little amused.

“Sorry Case, but it is a little.”

“You better watch it! I’ll promote you so fast just so you have to deal with this crap too!”

Severide raises both hands defensively. “I will just go back to my office. No need you for you to do anything drastic. I apologize your majesty.”

“No, it’s fine. I honestly thought you were coming in here to try to fight me about Stella,” Casey says and leans back in his chair.

“I wasn’t aware that was something that needed to be done,” Kelly says and steps all the way into the office and closes the door behind.

“It’s not. She argued with an order on the call, I told her not to let it happen again,” Casey replies.

***

Casey is grateful when Severide nods understandingly and doesn’t immediately jump to Kidd’s defence.

“It’s not my job to fight her battles for her, even if I want to,” Severide says and leans against the door frame. “She doesn’t need me to come in and rescue her. But there’s a lot going on in this house. There’s a lot of new stuff to get used to. It’s a learning curve for everyone, don’t forget that Casey.”

Casey sighs. While he can’t be having his officers second guessing him on calls, Severide does have a point. But he can’t let people get comfortable with disobeying orders or arguing. He let that happen years and years ago with Andy, and he died because of it.

“Thanks Sev,” Matt says.

“Yeah, and hey I can make Capp and Tony come help you with paper work if you want,” Severide offers, opening the door again.

“That’s really generous of you, Kelly. Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Severide says with a cheeky grin.

“Get the hell out,” Casey laughs and makes a shooing motion with one hand.

“Yes, chief,” Severide laughs and ducks out of the room.

Casey sighs and returns his attention to his mountains of paperwork, and remembers what he was about to do before they even got called out to the freeway wreck “Oh, hey Kelly wait!”

“Yes sir?” Severide says spinning on his heals and standing to attention.

“First if you don’t stop mocking you I’m going to write you up for being disrespectful,” Casey laughs.

“Sir, yes sir,” Severide replies and solutes.

“I’m going to kill you,” Casey shakes his head.

“I’ll tell the union,” Kelly snaps back quickly. “I think chiefs murdering firefighters is frowned upon.”

“Oh, they’ll side with me when they find out how annoying you’re being- no, can you get Nathan Marks and send him in.”

“Wow I’ve been demoted to erond boy-”

Casey glares at Severide.

“Yeah I’ll go get him,” Kelly laughs. “Is that all you wanted?”

“Yes, now go away!” Casey replies through a laugh. He’s grateful Kelly was able to make up for them not being able to go smoke. His messing, even if it was a little extra than normal, made things feel at least a little normal again.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Nathan asks, knocking on the door frame of Casey’s office a couple minutes after Kelly left.

“Yes, I did,” Casey says and stands up. “Your proper introduction to the house got a little interrupted this morning, and I personally didn’t get to extend a proper welcome. So I’m doing it now.”

“Oh, thank you chief,” Nathan replies. It still feels weird being called chief. Like it doesn’t quite fit. “It’s an honor to be here serving with you guys. This house did so much for me.”

“And what you did for it hasn’t gone forgotten either,” Casey replies with a fond smile. The kid standing before him saved this house. “I was thrilled when they told me we’d be getting you. Let me know if there’s anything you need.”

***

“You wanna unscrew the screws on the probie’s bed tonight?” Gallo asks coming back in from doing drills and grabbing an apple.

“No…” Ritter replies slowly. “That would be mean.”

“No, it’d be hilarious, that’s what it would be,” Gallo says around a mouthful of apple. “We gotta do some messing with the new guy.”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea right now, though?” Darren asks. He mostly doesn’t want to do anything mean to the candidate on his first day, but everything also seems really on edge because of the recent changes in leadership. “I feel like everyone’s on thin ice right now.”

“That’s why it’s exactly the right time to do it. Messing around and playing pranks will get things back to normal-”

“What are you two knuckleheads talking about?” Herrmann asks, coming into the cooking area to pilfer from the fridge.

“Nothing,” Gallo says, suddenly looking very interested in his apple.

“Yeah-huh,” Herrmann says looking unconvinced.

“He wants to unscrew the legs on probie’s bed,” Ritter says, holding his friend’s gaze, who looks at him in betrayed shock.

“Oh, yeah, you should do it,” Herrmann shrugs, but really seems more interested in the yogurt he’s swiped from the fridge, than the conversation at hand. “Something's gotta be normal around here.”

“See! Herrmann thinks it’s a good idea!”

“Yeah, or he wants to see us get our heads bitten off!” Ritter whispers.

“You’re so boring.”

“Actually…” Darren says, a better idea coming to him, one that probably won’t get them in as much trouble, but will still satisfy Gallo’s need to prank Nathan. “I’ve got a better idea.”

***

“Did you say something to Casey?” Stella calls to Kelly, as she walks out into the bay. It comes  out a little more angry than she means it to, but she is a little angry. She doesn’t need him fighting her battles for her, even if it did soften Casey up a little. Kelly looks up from his crossword puzzle looking surprised and equally confused. 

“About what?” Kelly asks and tosses his pencil down on the table.

“Chief ripping me a new one- I didn’t even tell you about that-”

“Take a breath Kidd,” Kelly says calmly and stands up.

“I don’t need you fighting my battles for me.” She knows whatever he said to Casey he was trying to help, and it did help, but she can’t always have Kelly swooping in to save her. If she’s going to be a lieutenant she needs to handle these things herself.

“Stella,” Kelly says a little firmer this time and puts both hands on her shoulder. “I don’t know what exactly happened this morning. And really that’s between you and him. The only thing I told Casey was that this whole thing is a learning curve for everyone, and that he shouldn’t forget that.”

“Oh,” Stella says and deflates a little. Ever since her first talk with Casey she’s been so amped up for a fight. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Kelly replies and wraps his arms around her in a comforting hug.

“I just feel like this big ball of stress, all wound up and ready to burst,” she mumbles and rests her chin on his shoulder. Having him close makes her feel a little better and a little more relaxed.

“You’re doing great, Stella Kidd.”

Stella leans in a little closer to Kelly and as she does so the tones sound.

“Truck 81, person trapped.”

***

“Go get em’,” Kelly says encouragingly as Stella pulls away from him to run to the truck. He wishes he could go with her; he knows whatever the call throws at her she can handle it, but the instinct to protect her and be there to catch her if she falls still tugs at him. He’s never been much of a worrier, but even before she made lieutenant, he’d always get a little pang watching her climb onto 81. Now it’s worse.

***

There’s a woman waiting outside for them waving her arms frantically and shouting when they arrive on scene. 

“You have to help him!” she’s crying before they’re even out of the truck. “I told him a hundred times not to try to work on that damn pick up of his!”

“Ma’am what happened?” Stella asks, forcing herself to be calm. This is her first solo call. There’s no chief giving orders, it’s just her and her instinct.

“He was working under the truck and the engine fell on him,” the woman cries, grabbing hold of her coat.

“Okay, I need you to show us where he is,” Stella says, this time she actually is calm as she silent reminds herself this isn’t her emergency, it’s this poor woman’s. “Gallo and Marks, you two stay out here, I’ll radio you when I know what we need. Mouch you’re with me.”

Gallo and Marks both look disappointed but don’t argue with her. Mouch just nods and follows her and the woman to the back yard.

“You awake under there, sir?” Stella asks, laying on the ground and pearing under the truck.

“Oh, she didn’t call 911 did she?” the man groans, answering her question.

“She did, and from the looks of things she did the right thing,” Stella replies, switching on her flashlight to get a better look at what they’re dealing with. “You got a name?”

“Doug.”

“Lovely to meet you, Doug. I’m Stella. And I’m gonna need you to stay still for me, okay?”

The main part of the engine is pinning the man to the ground, but it’s still attached to the truck in a couple places which is probably the only thing stopping it from crushing him all the way. If they move it wrong it could come down all the way and kill him.

“Gallo, we need cribbing, air bags, jaws, and a rope bag,” she says, keying her radio.

“You got it lieutenant.”

“That sounds like a lot of stuff, am I going to be okay?” Doug asks, sound nervous now.

“Yeah, you’ll be fine. I just wanted all our bases covered,” Stella replies and scooches a little closer to him to get a better look at his injuries. “Can you tell me where you’re hurting?”

“My chest… it’s hard to breathe,” Doug wheezes, in the short amount of time since she’s slid under the car with him, he’s started to look more flushed and weak.

“Okay, that’s normal,” Stella says reassuringly. “And it’ll feel better once we get this thing off of you, but I am going to go ahead and call EMS so they can check you out when we’re done, okay?”

Doug nods.

“81 to main, I need an ambo dispatched to my location.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Lieutenant, we got the cribbing,” Gallo says, pearing under the truck.

“Take half of it and get on the other side, we’re going to prop the thing up with it. Mouch get in the hood and see if you can attach the rope to the engine and anchor it off somewhere to stop this thing from falling any more,” Stella says as she grabs the first couple blocks of cribbing and slides them under the edge of the engine. “How we feeling Doug?”

“I’m doin okay,” he mumbles, but doesn’t seem to be doing all that great.

“I’m all good on this side lieutenant,” Gallo calls from the other side of Doug.

“Good, now we just gotta get this thing up.”

***

“What do we have?” Sylvie asks as she and Mackey make their way to the back side of the house. Stella and the rest of the crew already have the victim on a backboard.

“Minor crush injuries, some labored breathing, but he should go to Med for a full check up,” Stella reports as Mouch, Gallo, and Marks load the backboard onto the stretcher. The lieutenant helmet suits her, Sylvie had always been of the opinion that her best friend would make a great leader.

“Okay, thanks,” Sylvie says as the bring the stretcher back around the house. “We’ll see you guys back at 51 later.”

***

“Hey, Mouch, take a left up here,” Stella says as they’re making their way back to 51.

“You got it.” 

“Alright stop right here,” she directs right before they pass one of her favorite doughnut places in the city. Mouch looks a little surprised but does as he’s told. “Circle the block and come back and get me.”

She climbs out of the truck and heads for the doughnut shop. She feels bad for running them all on drills so hard just because she needed to blow off steam; she’s been on the receiving end of that with Casey, all of them but Nathan have, and it’s something she always hated. So now she’s going to try to make it up to them, doughnuts won’t fix everything but the way to firefighters’ hearts is through their stomachs.

---

“Okay, eat up ladies,” Stella says, climbing back into 81 with a box of doughnuts.

“Careful, it could be a trick,” Gallo says, stopping Marks before he can grab one of the doughnuts.

“Shut up and take the doughnuts,” Stella quips.

“I wanna know what the occasion is,” Gallo replies, his tone thick with scepticism.

“I’m proud of you guys. You all did great this morning on that pile up and you did great on that last call,” Stella replies.

“Awww, she feels bad for being mean earlier,” Gallo teases, with a cheeky grin.

“Watch it, or I’ll give all your doughnuts to Severide,” Stella warns.

Gallo shrugs and takes a doughnut. Mouch gives her a knowing nod and mumbles something about how he’ll have his back at the station so he’s not eating and driving.

“Truck 81, are you available to go back in service?”

Both Gallo and Mouch groan at the sound of the dispatcher’s voice coming over the radio.

“Just leave her hanging a second,” Galllo pleads.

“I want a doughnut before we do anything else,” Mouch adds.

Stella rolls her eyes and picks up the radio. “We’re available, main.”

***

“Hey, candidate come here,” Gallo says beckoning to Nathan. 

Nathan looks at him warely, he’s been warned that fire houses are places of pranks especially for the new guys, and he’s been waiting for something to happen all day.

“Come on!” Ritter says a little more enthusiastically. 

Nathan doesn’t know either of them very well, but Ritter seems to be the more trustworthy of the two other young firefighters, and like he’s too nice to pull and pranks. Gallo just seems devious.

“Yeah, what do you guys need?” Nathan asks, finally making up his mind to bite the bullet and walk over to them.

“We need you to make dinner,” Gallo says and hands him the spatula. 

“What-”

“It’s a sacred tradition that the candidates cook,” Gallo says, “And see, me and Ritter haven’t been candidates for a hot sec, and yet we’ve been stuck cooking, but now you’ve freed us from that responsibility.”

Nathan sighs and takes the spatula; he’s not really sure if this is better or worse than being pranked. He wasn’t really expecting to be cooking today.

***

“This ain’t half bad,” Herrmann’s the first one to say anything about Nathan’s cooking.

“Yeah, good job candidate!” Casey agrees, raising his cup in Nathan’s direction. 

“It’s my mom’s recipe,” He replies proudly.

“Well your mom’s got a good recipe,” Cruz adds, getting up for his second plate of lasagna.

“Who’s the best cook you guys have ever had?” Nathan asks, sitting back in his chair. He’s so glad the lasagna was a success, he was half expecting it to fail like it usually does when he tries to make it.

“I’d say Mills,” Cruz says sitting back down at the table.

“That’s just because you weren’t around for the Casey, Darden, and Severide epic trio,” Mouch says with a fond smile. “Those three knew how to cook.”

“No, me and Darden knew how to cook, Severide knew how to stand around in the kitchen and pilfer while looking like he was cooking,” Casey corrects.

Severide laughs. “I’ve never had to cook once in any of the years I’ve been here.”

“Well maybe we should make you,” Stella says, prompting a couple nods of agreement.

“I don’t think anyone wants that. It’d be worse than Otis’s cooking.” Severide’s response prompts groans from Casey, Mouch, Herrman and Cruz.

“Was Otis bad at cooking?” Gallo asks, and for the first time since being at the house Nathan realizes that Gallo must’ve been the one who replaced Otis on truck.

“The worst!” Cruz says with a laugh. “He was so bad we had to stop letting him cook. It was me and Darden up until…”

“Until we got Mills,” Casey finishes for him, and the room falls quiet for a minute. Nathan can’t help but feel awkward sitting there, he only briefly met Otis once or twice and Darden had died a while before he even met Kelly. He can’t help but wonder if Gallo feels the same way he does.

“Well, I think I’m going to go try to catch some early evening Zs,” Gallo says, stretching his arms and breaking the silence. “The way today’s going, who knows whether I’ll actually get any sleep tonight.”

“Me too,” Ritter says, scooting out his chair. “Lasagna always makes me sleepy. I’d suggest you do too, Marks. Lesson number one about the fire service, you sleep whenever you can.”

The idea of some down time relaxing in bed does sound nice, and all of the older firefighters seem to have had their moods sullied, so he gets up and follows the two of them back to the bunk room.

“Um, guys. Where’s my bunk?” Nathan asks, discovering that his bad is no longer sitting in his assigned corner.

“What do you mean, it should be right...?” Ritter trails off as he walks over see what Nathan’s talking about. “That’s a good question. They did assign you one, right?”

“Yeah, this morning. I made it up and everything. It was right there,” Nathan insists. It was right there. 

“Wow, losing your bed on the first day,” Gallo chuckles shaking his head. “Chief’s not gonna be happy if he has to buy a new one.”

“It’s a bed! It can’t just get up and leave!” Nathan protests.

“Come on, we’ll help you find it,” Ritter promises.

Nathan is really pretty sure this is the doing of these two, but he’s going to go along with it because he needs to find his bed.

***

I thought you youngsters were going to bed?” Herrmann asks as Gallo, Ritter, and Nathan come back into the common room. Nathan looks like a man on a mission.

“We were, but Marks here lost his bed,” Gallo replies, and it’s all Severide can do to not snort. He’d watched Ritter and Gallo move his bed out into the bay.

“I didn’t lose it,” Nathan says defensively. “Someone moved it.”

“Probie, why would anyone move your bed?” Casey asks, in a completely serious tone.

“I don’t know, sir,” Nathan replies, starting to get a little flustered.

“Well you better find it,” Casey says, keeping his voice dead serious.

“Yes sir,” Nathan chokes and heads toward the bay doors. Severide gets up and follows him, and everyone else follows suit, obviously wanting to see how this prank ends. The candidate makes it a couple steps out into the bay and stops. His bed, nightstand and lamp are set up nicely in the middle of the app floor.

“Really guys?” he says turning around to face the whole group. Everyone’s starting to chuckle. Nathan holds their gazes for a couple seconds before shrugging and walking over and plopping himself down on the bed, as he does so it gives out and falls on the floor. He lets out a surprised shout and the shock on his face is priceless. This time there’s no holding back the laughter. Ritter and Gallo share a victorious high five, and Nathan joins in the laughter.

When Severide saw them moving the bed, he thought it was a risky move with how high strung everything at the house has been this shift, but they got everyone laughing so it’s actually the best thing they could’ve done.

***

“So, lieutenant, how was your first day?” Severide asks, tucking his arm around Stella’s shoulders as they leave the station to head home.

“Well, I got yelled at by my chief, and then I took it out on my crew, something I promised myself I wouldn’t do, there was a massive highway wreck…”

“Sounds like an average day,” Kelly says comfortingly and kisses the side of her head lovingly. He’s already heard from his fair share of people that Stella did a great job, so he knows she’s just being hard on herself. “And don’t pay any attention to that crusty old chief.”

“No, definitely pay attention to the crusty old chief. He can have the both of you demoted right back down to candidate status like that,” Casey says behind them, and Kelly ducks his head. He had no idea Casey was right behind them. “I’m kidding. You both did great, especially you Kidd, Mouch said you really kept your head screwed on out there today.”

“Thanks Chief,” Stella mumbles.

“You two going to Molly’s for some day drinking and celebrating surviving the first shift with this new order?” Casey asks hopefully.

“Nah, sorry Case,” Kelly replies. He and Stella had already made plans to do some special celebrating involving the shower, the bed, and later beer and ice cream on the couch. “We’ve already got plans.”

“That’s fine,” Casey shrugs. “See you guys around.”

“Should we go to Molly’s?” Stella asks after they’ve parted ways with Casey.

“I mean I personally like the idea of our other plans…”

“Yeah, but doesn’t seem a little lonely to you?” Stella asks nodding toward Casey, who’s fumbling with keys by his truck.

“He’s got Brett and everyone else.”

***

It had once been told to him by Boden that leaders lead from the front, but also that the front is a lonely place to be. Matt thought he understood it when he got promoted to captain and kept getting in disagreements with Severide- it had been lonely not leading things right alongside his best friend, but this is worse. He and Kelly didn’t get into any fights, but he’s the boss now… two ranks above Severide. Their rolls as leaders are now very different, and Matt can already feel the shift in people’s attitudes toward him, like they’re trying to figure out if he’s just the boss and if he can even be their boss and their friend. He can even feel it from Sev.

“What can I get for you chief?” Herrmann asks as Casey sits down at the bar. The Engine lieutenant is the only other person in the bar.

“Whiskey,” Casey says flatley.

“No gentle morning drinking for you this morning than, huh,” Herrmann jokes.

“No, he’ll have a beer.” 

Casey is taken aback to hear Severide’s voice from behind him, and the squad lieutenant sits down on a bar stool next to him.

“And his lieutenants will be paying for it,” Kidd adds and sits down on Casey’s other side.

“I thought you guys had plans,” Casey says glancing from Kidd to Severide.

“Yeah, but none of them seemed as fun as having a drink with your sorry ass,” Severide says.

“You guys didn’t have to cancel your plans,” Matt says, but he’s really grateful they’re here.

“Oh, we didn’t really have much to actually cancel,” Stella says and pats him on the back.

Casey smiles at his three lieutenants; leading from the front doesn’t always have to be lonely, not if you’re leading the right people.

***

“Hey! Chloe! You didn’t tell me you were coming to visit!” Cruz cries happily as his wife comes into the station. She looks like she’s ready to pop at any second.

“Well, I’m not allowed to work, so I didn’t have anything better to do,” she replies with a happy smile and sits down in the chair Gallo pulls out for her.

“Well, you’re always welcome here,” Casey says sipping his coffee. It’s nice to see her and Cruz so happy.

“Do you need anything?” Cruz asks, rubbing his wife’s shoulders and looking down at her lovingly. The moment, however, doesn’t last long because the bell rings.

“Squad 3, water rescue…”

“Just get the candidate to get it,” Cruz says quickly and kisses the top of her head before running toward the bay doors.

“Be careful baby!” Chloe calls after him as he disappears through the doors.

“Hey, Candidate, see what she needs,” Herrmann calls to Nathan who’s over pilfering the fridge.

“I’ll have a glass of water, Herrmann,” Chloe says, giving a Herrmann that says all too clearly he’d better be the one to get her the water.

“Yes, ma’am,” Herrmann says and moves to the kitchen, but before he can get to the cups the bell sounds a second.

“Engine 51, residential fire alarm. No smoke showing.”

“Guess the candidate will have to get it,” Herrmann says with a shrug. “See you in a little while kiddo-”

The tones drop again.

“Truck 81, Ambo 61, single car accident.”

“Damn, no one said the Q word did they?” Casey asks as the room full of firefighters clears out. 

“You’re not going with them?” Chloe asks as Casey fills up a glass of water for her.

“No,” Matt replies and sits down next to her, setting the cup down in front of her. “They’ve got it covered. If they need me, I’ll go.”

Matt’s never liked sitting out on calls, and as a new chief he certainly doesn’t want to make a habit out of it, but all of those calls sounded relatively small. And someone should stay behind and keep Chloe company, especially with her being so close to her due date.

“Have you guys come up with a name yet?” Matt asks, leaning back in his chair.

“Not yet, we have a few ideas floating around, but nothing final,” she says, rubbing her tummy with one hand. “Oh-” she sucks in a sharp breath and winces.

“Are you okay?” Casey asks, sitting up alertly.

“Yeah, he just likes to kick,” Chloe chuckles, but breaks off and clutches her stomach with another sharp gasp.

***

“Alright, we got you buddy,” Joe says as he and Tony haul the victim into the blow up boat, while Severide pushes him up from the water. Tony throws a blanket over the guys shoulders and directs him to sit back near Capp with the motor.

“Alright, you’re next Lieutenant,” Cruz says and grabs one of Severide’s arms. Cold water splashes him and reminds him again how absolutely stupid it was of their rescuee to be doing anything in the water. Severide pushes himself up ward as together Joe and Tony pull him up. As far as water rescues go, this one was pretty tame.

***

“I’m going to run to the bathroom if that’s okay,” Chloe says standing up, after a while of the two of them just sitting and bouncing back and forth with small talk.

“sure ,” Casey replies and sips his coffee. Chloe makes it a couple steps before stopping as what looks like water splashes on the ground.

“Oh,” she says looking down at the floor, she sounds less surprised than Matt feels. The first thing to cross his mind is panic.

***

“Battalion 25 to Squad 3, are you clear on the call?”

“Yeah, we’re clear Chief,” Severide replies, picking up the radio. “We’re getting ready to head back to quarters, what do you need?”

“Reroute to Med,” Casey replies.

Joe leans forward in the back seat so his head is poking between the driver seat and the passenger seat, a nervous feeling settling in his stomach. He can tell from the tone of Casey’s voice that something’s happening, and the reroute to Med means it’s probably something bad. The first thing he can think of is that something went wrong on a call with another company. “Lieutenant, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on, Case?” Severide asks, flashing a quick glance to Cruz.

“Chloe’s in labor. I’m driving her in my buggy, but you need to get Cruz there.”

No one even has to say anything, Tony flips on the sirens and lays on the horn. Joe’s stomach jumps into his throat, and he feels like he’s about to throw up. He’s had nine months to prepare for this, and yet he’s not even remotely ready for it. Not only that but he’s miles away from his wife and his son who will be coming into the world any moment now.

***

Chloe screams, and Matt wants to join her, but the only thing he can do is step on the gas faster.

“Hold on just a little longer, we’re almost there,” Matt says trying to force calm into his voice. He’s delivered babies on the side of the highway in the middle of a pile up before, and yet he’s freaking out over this.

“Don’t tell me to hold on! You drive faster!” Chloe shouts as they pull around the loading doors to the hospital and Casey slows to a stop. 

“Okay we’re here!” He says and jumps out of the car to help her out. April and Dr. Manning are already waiting for them with a stretcher.

“Okay, honey, we got you,” Natalie promises and helps Chloe onto the stretcher. “And we have a room all ready.”

“Where the hell is Joe?!” Chloe shouts as they roll her inside.

“He’s coming, he’s coming, I promise,” Matt assures her as Maggie stops him at the doors of the ER.

“Sorry chief, you gotta wait out here,” Maggie says apologetically.

Casey tries to follow Chloe with his eyes, but she soon disappears from sight. Casey is about to make some argument when the roar of the squad truck’s sirens blares outside the doors of the hospital as the truck rumbles to a stop. The thing isn’t even all the way done moving before Cruz is jumping out the back door and running inside.

***

“Where is she?!” Joe cries as he sees Casey standing with Maggie. He can barely breathe. It’s happening. The baby is coming. It’s happening!

“Come on, I’ll take you to her,” Maggie says before the chief, who looks a little panicked himself, can say anything.

The elevator ride and everything else is just a blur to him. He’s pretty sure Maggie is talking to him, but he’s all tunnel vision, worse than some wide eyed rookie on their first structure fire; the only thing that matters is Chloe and their son.

“Where’s Joe!? I’m not doing this without him!” Joe can hear his wife shouting even before Maggie opens the door to her room for him.

“I’m here baby!” Joe cries, running to her side and taking her hand in his. “I’m right here, Chloe. You don’t have to do anything without me.”

She smiles at him for a half a second with exhausted relief and then pain spreads across her face and she squeezes his hand and screams.

“There we go, push!” One of the doctors says encouragingly.

Chloe screams louder and squeezes Joe's hand even harder. He screams with her.

“One more big push!”

Chloe lets out one more scream, tears beginning to streak down her cheeks, and after one long heart stopping moment, another cry joins hers. And as the doctor hands them their son he realizes his wife and the baby aren’t the only ones crying.

“He’s beautiful Chloe,” Joe chokes as they cradle him between them. He can’t believe it, he feels like if he so much as blinks it will all somehow disappear, and there’s joy deep down inside of him that’s like nothing he’s ever felt before. It’s like all the happiest days of his life don’t even compare in the slightest.

“Brian?” Joe breathes quietly. It feels right, and like the only name that makes any sense.

“Brian Cruz,” Chloe agrees and leans her head against Joe’s shoulder, both of them unable to take their eyes off the baby.

“Hey, Joe I think you should come bring your son to look out the window,” Dr. Manning says, after what feels like an eternity of him and Chloe sitting in awed silence.

“What?” he asks, a little confused.

“Just come over here,” she says nodding her head toward the window. He looks to Chloe who gives him a nod okay. So he scoops tiny baby Brian into his arms and carries him over to the window. Down below them in the parking lot are 51, 81, 61, the squad, and even Casey’s battalion car, all of them lined up neatly with lights flashing, and everyone standing in a neat line in front of the trucks. They must see him standing in the window because they all salute while looking up toward him, and they give off a couple blasts from the truck horns. And Cruz starts crying again as his 51 family welcomes its newest member into the world.

[anna-justice]

Lost or Found - 15

Summary: As Jay, Hailey, Kim, Adam and Kevin start their junior year in the wake of a tragic summer, the past year of their lives comes back to haunt them. If you enjoyed Pretty Little Liars, this is for you! *UPSTEAD/BURZEK High School AU

...

15 - Glimmer ...

“Jay, this has to be perfect.”

Jay scoffed at his friend, who was attempting to paint massive letters on a blue sign. “This seems a bit extravagant Adam.” 

Adam rolled his eyes, dropping his paint brush. He had asked Jay to come over a few hours prior to help him. It was Sunday, the day before spirit week and Adam was planning on asking his girlfriend to the homecoming dance the following weekend. The plan was simple: Jay (and Kevin, who ditched because he had an extra practice) were going to help Adam make all the shit he needed while Hailey kept her away from his house. Then after school Monday, Jay and Hailey were in charge of distracting Kim until he was ready. The only problem was, Adam’s ability to paint was about as good as his handwriting and the letters on the sign were equal to chicken scratch. 

“I mean, you are already dating.” Jay continued.

“So,” Adam said, standing. “You are telling me that when you ask Hailey you won’t be holding a corny sign and a bouquet of flowers?” Jay began to speak but Adam kept talking. “Because I guarantee you, you will look like an idiot when every other girl has a cute story to tell.” 

Jay shot his friend a dirty look, “Who said I was going to ask Hailey?”

“I hate you…”Adam muttered, groaning in defeat. He was sick of watching Jay dance around his feelings, especially since he knew Hailey felt the same way. He knew that he was the one that told him it was a bad idea in the first place, but he had retracted the statement a million times since then. 

“Adam stop stressing, you know she will say yes.” Jay said, changing the subject.

Adam shrugged, “I know. That’s not the point. I just want her to feel special.”

Jay grinned, it was fun to watch his usually dickish best friend get all sentimental. “You know, sometimes you have these moments where I forget how much of a sarcastic little smartass you are.”

Adam glared at him. He then put on a fake smile and put his hand over his heart. “Really Jay? That means so much to me.” 

Jay rolled his eyes and laughed as Adam got back to work. And even though Jay had dismissed him just a few moments earlier, he had planned to ask Hailey. He was right, it needed to be special, and Jay had the perfect idea.

…

Going back to school on Monday was a bit of an adjustment for Hailey. It was exactly the same as before, Jay picked her up (she really needed to start giving him gas money) and they met their friends in the parking lot and she went to her first block as normal. Except she had had heart surgery, and everyone knew that she was the girl that got trapped in a garage with a running car. That alone made people's stares a little more intense, but she also couldn’t seem to forget about the scar running up her chest. 

It was crazy, she was wearing a t-shirt, no one could even see it. But she still felt like she had something she was hiding. It was all too familiar, she flashed back to just a year earlier when she began to hide the bruises caused by her father. There was something scary about her situation (other than the obvious facts), she moved to Chicago to escape the danger she was in, but somehow she had walked into something worse. And now she was a 16 year old with a pacemaker and a stalker, and she wasn’t a fan of either.

Hailey and Jay were walking to first block together, since they both had Criminal Justice. Hailey was still nursing the cup of coffee that Jay had brought her that morning, and she would admit that it made her morning much better. The two ways to her heart were coffee and pizza, and Jay had gotten pretty good at buying her both. 

They settled into their seats (of course right next to each other) and Hailey pulled out her textbook. She noticed the sheepish look on Jay’s face and pushed it between them, it wasn’t the first time that he had forgotten his. 

Jay smirked as he watched Hailey pull out her notebook and pencil pouch, the girl was a bit of a control freak when it came to her notes. Not that he minded, his looked like a five year old did them, so he’d be studying with hers anyway. 

That’s how they spent the whole class: Hailey listening attentively and taking notes and Jay watching her listen and take notes. By the end he couldn’t remember one sentence their teacher said. He looked down at his own blank paper and chuckled, he hadn’t realized how out of touch he had really been. 

“Mr. Halstead, did you find something more important to do than paying attention in my class?” Their teacher, Mr. Chavez asked as he stared him down. 

Jay was about to respond with a “yes” but Hailey beat him to it, “He has a headache sir, I told him he could copy my notes later.” She explained. 

“That’s very kind of you Ms. Upton. Great work as always.” He looked to Jay, his smile faltering. “See to it that you get those notes, don’t throw away Ms. Upton’s kindness.” 

Jay nodded his head, stifling a laugh as he walked away. He gathered his things, preparing for the bell to ring and Hailey smirked beside him. “The next time you want to stare at me for an hour and a half, pick a class you aren’t close to failing.” 

As soon as she finished her sentence, the bell rang and Hailey jumped up. “Hey! I’m not failing.” He called after her, but she just threw a grin over her shoulder at him and exited the room. Jay shook his head and grabbed his backpack, pulling the strap over his shoulder. That girl was going to be the death of him. 

He made his way to his next class, Advanced Physics, which he unfortunately didn’t have with Hailey. He felt a little pathetic if he was being honest, but his happiness at the moment completely revolved around her. When she was around, the air felt a little lighter and he could breathe easier. 

It was crazy to think that something so good came out of all of the shit they were dealing with, but it did. Hailey Anne Upton was his best friend, what more could he ask for?

…

Hailey sat in Psychology next to Severide, keeping her eyes locked on Kevin who turned around every five seconds to check on her. It was hard and she spent the whole class a little on edge, but they couldn’t risk Severide knowing that they were onto him in any way. Which meant Hailey had to spend 90 minutes every other day pretending to be his friend. 

“How are you doing?” He asked, grabbing her attention. 

Hailey looked back at him, startled. “I’m good, thanks.”

Severide nodded, glancing back down at her paper. “Uh, do you have number seven?” 

“Yeah, it’s cognitive.” She said, looking at her own.

“Thanks.”

Hailey grimaced at the awkwardness of their conversation. “No problem.”  She needed to get out of there. She raised her hand, “Can I use the restroom?” Her teacher nodded and she jumped up and grabbed the hall pass before high tailing it out of the room. 

She let out a breath as she entered the bathroom, taking in her disheveled appearance. She hated how riled up Severide made her, but everytime she looked in the mirror she pictured the bruises that once covered her neck. 

A toilet flushed behind her and she quickly got herself together. She gleaned in the mirror to see Nadia exit the stall, they made eye contact and quickly looked away. Hailey’s second uncomfortable interaction of the day. “Hailey right?” Nadia asked. 

“Yeah.” Hailey said, she patted her legs nervously and gave her a small smile. “We haven’t officially met.”

Nadia gave her a cautious smile, “No we haven’t, but I don’t doubt you know everything there is to know about me.” Her tone turned darker at the end, her facade giving out. 

“I’m not one to judge.” Hailey said, hoping to give her some solace.

“I’m not either.” Nadia turned towards the door, “Be careful with Jay, he’s not all he’s cracked up to be.” 

“We’re just-” The door slammed shut, leaving Hailey alone to her thoughts, “Friends…” Not that she would be opposed to something more, but she wasn’t sure that was a secret. She ignored Nadia’s jab at Jay, if Hailey was her she would have said the exact same thing. Nadia didn’t know that Jay only ruined her because his mom’s life was at risk.

She grabbed the hall pass off the sink and made her way back to class, against her will. She was ready for the day to be over and she was barely halfway through. 

…

After school, Hailey stood at her locker waiting for Jay, something else that had become normal. She was scrolling through instagram, not paying attention to anything going on around her. She was trying to keep her mind off the amount of AP Chem homework she had,but the tactic was proving to be unsuccessful.

“Hey,” a voice said, pulling her out of her trance. She looked up to find Kelly Severide standing over her, and she practically jumped out of her skin. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Hailey laughed nervously, removing herself from between him and the locker. “You’re good, what’s up?”

“Uh, nothing really I was just wondering if maybe you would want to go to homecoming with me?” He asked and Hailey stared at him blankly.

She figured she was going to be asked, but not like that and certainly not by him. She stood there in silence, trying to figure out what to say. She was 100% sure that she had watched this movie and the probability of her ending up dead at the end of it was high. Who else could say that the guy who choked them in the middle of their living room at one in the morning was also their homecoming date? Not many, probably because everyone who could check yes for that box was either murdered or missing. 

She was about to respond when she felt a presence behind her. “Sorry man, she can’t go with you.”

Hailey sighed, Jay.

Severide gave Jay a bored look, sighing. “Why’s that?” Hailey looked up at him as if to ask: Yeah Jay, why not?

Jay smirked, glancing down at Hailey and the to Severide, “Because she’s going with me.”

...

@lissethsrojas @fuckyeahkillianemma @puckluck28 @chilly7188 @thebigapocalypsewolf @karihighman @upsteadheart @ruzek-halstead

[maybeimamuppet]

dream a better dream

hello my little muppets!! happy wednesday!

this is a request fill for @erikascadys who requested sharkboy and lavagirl au! janis is lavagirl and damian is shark boy. and cady is just cady :))

i don't think i need any trigger warnings, but as always if I've missed one please let me know so I can add it!

anyway, please enjoy!

---

Cady has always been a dreamer.

Growing up in Kenya, it was nearly the only thing she could do to entertain herself. Sure, she had a few toys, or books to read, or lions to chase. But in terms of other humans, all she had were her parents and her dreams.

Her personal favorite dream first appeared one night when she was ten. Cady’s family had just gotten the news that her older brother, Rhys, had been killed in the line of combat. The only place Cady has as an escape from her grief is in her dreams.

She dreams of two people. Friends. A boy and a girl. The boy is part human, part shark. He has legs, but also fins. A human face, but shark teeth. And human hands, but sharp claws. In spite of everything, he seems kind. He cares for his shark friends and all the fish, carefully tends to the corals and feeds the seaweed and anemones. Cady cleverly dubs him Sharkboy.

The girl is very different. She’s made of lava and fire, with bright pink hair and the ability to shoot lava from her hands. Cady doesn’t know much else about her. She names her Lavagirl and leaves it at that.

-

Cady frantically writes her dream in her dream journal when she wakes up the next morning. She’s kept one since she learned how to write, detailing all her most precious dreams. She has a feeling this one is extra special.

“I’m going to the watering hole to take a bath!” She yells to her parents as she runs out of their tent. Her dad grabs her by the back of her shirt and scoops her up before she can make it out. “Hey!”

“Why are you suddenly so eager to take a bath?” Her dad asks, setting her down again.

“I’m not! I’m just excited for the day! I had a super special dream!” Cady says, bouncing up and down a few times. Her dad gives her a sad smile and ruffles her hair.

“Okay. Watch for crocs and hurry back for breakfast, binti.”

“I will!” Cady says, dashing out again.

-

After a quick but expert assessment, Cady dubs the small pool to be free of crocodiles and any other predators. The zebras wouldn’t be drinking here for so long, otherwise.  Cady leaps in with a small splash and opens her eyes under the water. She’s been trying to learn how to do that recently.

But someone else is there. She screams and pops her head back above the surface. The figure follows. “Sharkboy?”

“Yeah!” Sharkboy says. “Hi!”

“You’re real?” Cady asks in awe.

“Yeah, duh! I’m right here,” Sharkboy says.

“Whoa,” Cady whispers. “Um… can I finish my bath, please? Then we can get to know each other!”

“Oh! Yeah, sorry!” Sharkboy says, turning around and covering his eyes. Cady swims back down and finishes cleaning herself, then dries herself off and gets dressed. Sharkboy swims up and rests on the shore.

“I thought you were a dream,” Cady murmurs, tilting her head. Sharkboy shakes his head.

“Nope! Well, kinda. But everything that is, or was, or will be, began with a dream.”

“Huh,” Cady says, tilting her head. “Okay, do you wanna go play? I’ve never… I’ve never had a human friend before.”

“I’m not human,” Sharkboy says, smiling so she can see his teeth.

“Oh, right,” Cady giggles. “I’ve never had a shark friend before either.”

Sharkboy smiles wider. “Yeah, come on. I bet you’re pretty fast growing up out here.”

“Tag! You’re it!”

-

Cady shares her breakfast with Sharkboy, and they play together in between Cady’s chores. She learns his real name is Damian, and that he was a marine biologist with his mother. Their research base was destroyed in a storm, and he was practically adopted by the sharks. And now he searches the universe for his mother.

“I hope you find her,” Cady says genuinely. “We lost my brother a while ago. But he’s not coming back.”

“I heard. I’m sorry,” Sharkboy says. Cady shrugs.

“It’s okay. I miss him a lot, but my parents say he’s still with me. Anyway, you wanna come see the lions? They’re my favorite.”

Sharkboy nods and runs after her to help feed the lions their dinner. The sun is setting, painting the sky gold and orange and pink as it makes its way down for the day. Once the first stars are just beginning to twinkle for the night, a bright flash of pink light suddenly glows from behind them.

“Lavagirl,” Cady breathes when she turns around. Lavagirl smiles slightly and nods. Maybe that really is her name. “You’re real too!”

“Sharkboy, I need your help,” Lavagirl says. “You have to come with me. A great crisis is developing on the Planet Drool.”

Sharkboy nods and heads to her side. They begin to run off together, before freezing and turning back to Cady.

“Can you come as well, Cady?”

“Er… I would,” Cady stutters. “I’d really like to, but… I have homeschool tomorrow.”

Lavagirl nods in understanding, and they both turn back and continue running off. Cady doesn’t see them again.

—-

Until six years later. Cady’s parents have lost their funding and are forced to move back to America. Cady is both upset and excited. She’s sad to be leaving the only home she’s known, but eager to experience life in the west. And go to real school for the first time.

She starts at North Shore High three days after they move to Chicago. Her wishes for a happy American life are quickly dashed.

The building is massive and meandering, built of a labyrinth of hallways and classrooms that all look the same and packed wall to wall with other kids all shoving and pushing and yelling. Like sardines.

Sharkboy would like that, she thinks with a little smile. And he could use his navigation instincts to help me get around this place.

By some miracle she makes it to homeroom on time and plops herself in an empty seat near the front of the room. She looks up when it suddenly goes quiet and the teacher begins speaking.

“Hello class, I’m Ms. Norbury, I teach AP Calculus,” she begins. Cady looks up in relief and checks her schedule. This is her math teacher. “And we have a new student this year, I see. Caddy Heron?”

“Uh-it’s Cady,” Cady stutters quietly, raising her hand. “I used to be homeschooled.”

That gets a few snickers from people in the back of the room, and Ms. Norbury’s demeanor seems to change slightly. “That’s a fun way to steal from my union.”

“Oh! No, no,” Cady says immediately. “I grew up in Kenya, my parents are zoologists. Not many unions there.”

Much to her relief, Ms. Norbury relaxes slightly and gives her a kind smile. “In that case, welcome to North Shore. I saw you on my roster for the afternoon, I look forward to seeing what you can do.”

Cady gives her an eager smile back and nods as she gathers her things once the bell goes off.

—-

In her English class, she gets an assignment to write a short story about her favorite childhood memory. Cady thinks long and hard about which moment to choose. The time a lion broke into her tent and cuddled her all night? Or the time she got to see the city of Nairobi for the first time? Her first airplane trip?

Suddenly, it hits her. She had never had more fun as a kid than when she spent the day with Sharkboy. So Cady writes about that. What could go wrong?

As it turns out, reading the essay aloud in front of the whole class is what can go wrong. Cady eagerly volunteers to go first. Mistake one.

She looks up when she finishes reading, to the sneers and smirks of her classmates. And that’s before they start laughing out loud. One of them even throws a ball of paper at her.

“Sit down, Cady,” her teacher says gently. Cady sits down quietly back at her spot, trying to ignore the jeers of the other students. “Cady appears to have merely misunderstood the assignment. I asked for true stories. But that was a very well done work of fiction.”

“It is true!” Cady says, much louder than she’s spoken all day. Another paper ball hits her. Cady pulls her dream journal out of her backpack, where she also wrote about the day she got to spend with Sharkboy. “He said everything that is, or was, started with a dream. It’s true.”

Her teacher looks at her sadly and gives a slight head shake as the next kid gets up to read their essay. Cady doesn’t speak up again until the bell rings.

“Cady, a moment please,” her teacher asks quietly. Cady sheepishly heads over to her desk. “You have a real way with words. But you’re sixteen, in the eleventh grade. It’s time to stop dreaming, okay?”

Cady takes the pencil she had tucked behind her ear and scratches that down in her journal. “No dreaming. Got it. I-I’ll try harder.”

Her teacher looks at her sadly but nods, sending her off to her next class. Cady is pulling her schedule out of her backpack to check the room number when she’s suddenly knocked to the ground.

“Watch where you’re going, jungle freak,” the girl she’s bumped into spits.

“I’m sorry,” Cady says desperately. “I didn’t see you, I didn’t mean it-“

“I’m sure you didn’t. As payback… what is that?”

“My-my dream journal,” Cady says, clutching it to her chest.

“Can I see it?” The girl asks. Cady naively hands it over. The girl flips through it and laughs. “You’ll get an edited version tomorrow.”

“Wait, give it back!” Cady yells, trying to run after her. The girl’s two cronies block her path.

“Trust us, don’t mess with Regina. We’ll try to keep her from doing too much to it. But she can do a lot worse,” the blonde one murmurs.

Cady hollowly stops fighting them and steps back. The girls give her an apologetic look before they run after their friend.

————-

Cady cries herself to sleep that night. America is nothing like she thought it would be. She wishes she could be back in Kenya, where the only things around for miles to laugh at her were the hyenas. Or, at the very least, that she wouldn’t have to go to school tomorrow. Maybe there’ll be a bad storm. With tornados.

In her dreams, Sharkboy and Lavagirl make an appearance for the first time since she was eleven. She’d gotten little glimpses of their work on planet Drool, as they helped make it into the awesome planet of Cady’s dreams. They seemed happy.

But something is wrong, now. Cady can’t quite piece it together, but the scenes she can see clearly aren’t right. She wakes up with a gasp and runs to the window. A bright, clear day greets her mockingly.

“Guess I didn’t dream hard enough.”

—————

Cady trudges through the morning. Her parents are arguing over something or other, probably trying to get her father a job again. Cady’s mom asks her to come right home after school so they can all talk. Cady suddenly starts wishing something will happen at school so she doesn’t have to go home.

By lunch, the sky about matches her mood. Dark clouds block out any hint of blue that wanted to shine through, and loom ominously over the building. Her science teacher takes the opportunity to teach about tornados and their origins.

Regina strolls in casually about ten minutes after the bell, holding a bag that must be too small to carry all her books. Not that she cares.

Cady stands and goes to her desk, holding out a hand. “Give it back.”

“Ladies, is there an issue?” the teacher asks.

“Regina took my dream journal yesterday.”

“Ooh, a liar, too, how fun,” Regina titters.

“Regina, give Cady her book. It hasn’t even been a week and you’re already picking up the bullying again,” the teacher huffs. Something tells Cady that Regina had never set the bullying down in the first place.

Begrudgingly, Regina picks up her designer bag and roots through it. Cady thankfully takes her precious book back. But as she opens it to check that all her dreams are where they were before, she gasps in horror.

Every single page has been scratched out one way or another. Lipstick, black marker in swirly handwriting, even a few pages covered in letter stickers that spell out particularly cruel taunts.

“She ruined it!”

“Where’s your proof, you little freak?” Regina retaliates.

“That’s enough! Both of you will be reporting with me to the principal’s office after school. With your parents,” the teacher yells, trying to get her class back under control. It turns out to be a futile effort when the windows suddenly blow open with the force of the winds outside. “I do not get paid enough for this.”

Everyone ducks underneath their desks as papers start flying around the room, covering their heads and faces for protection. In her haste to get back to her desk, Cady accidentally drops the journal by Regina’s feet, who bends down to pick it up with a coy smirk.

Cady has curled up in a ball beneath her desk when there’s suddenly a thunderous crash accompanied by the sounds of breaking glass. Carefully, Cady peeks up above to see…

Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Evidently having entered through a new hole in the wall.

“I’m looking for Cady,” Lavagirl says, staring down Cady’s classmates. Everyone points to Cady’s desk in the far corner. Cady squeaks and ducks back down. Lavagirl makes her way over regardless, setting homework alight on her way. When she reaches her, Lavagirl lifts Cady’s desk off the ground with just one hand, revealing Cady curled in a frightened ball. “We need your help, Cady. Come with us.”

“Wh-what do I have to do?” Cady stutters, following after the girl made of fire.

“Just come with us, we’ll explain on the way.”

“Hi Cady!” Sharkboy says, waving eagerly. Lavagirl whacks him gently.

“I can’t go with you.” Cady says.

“Why not?”

“Be-because you’re not real! Both of you! You’re just a dream,” Cady says, trying to admit it to herself as well. “And-and you’ll be gone when I open my eyes.”

Cady squeezes her eyes shut for a moment.

When she opens them again, Sharkboy and Lavagirl are gone. Or so she thinks.

“We’re still here, Cady,” Sharkboy says from behind her. Cady screams and whirls around.

“If you want to stop The Darkness from destroying our worlds,” Lavagirl growls slightly. “You’ll come with us.”

“You should probably go with them,” Cady’s teacher squeaks, poking her head up from behind her desk. Cady nods.

“Okay. I-I’ll go with you.”

——————

“Where are we going?” Cady yells, trying to keep up with her friends. Creations? No, friends is much better.

“Planet Drool!” Sharkboy yells over his shoulder.

“It’s real?!”

“Yeah! We just punched a hole in your school, is it so hard to believe?”

“How are we getting there?”

“Enough with the questions!” Lavagirl demands. Cady suddenly notices the shark shaped rocket ship in front of them.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Put on the goggles,” Lavagirl says, handing Cady a pair of electric blue ones. Hers are purple, and Sharkboy’s are pink. Cady doesn’t judge.

“So how do you fly this thing?” Sharkboy asks. Cady looks at him.

“You don’t know?”

“That’s our whole problem!” Lavagirl says angrily. Cady blinks at her a few times sheepishly before she slams her foot on a pedal. It reveals a green ‘GO’ button. Cady presses it, and they’re off.

Cady looks out the window at the tornados, before they’re suddenly in the atmosphere.

“How do you control it?!” Lavagirl yells at her over the roaring of the engines.

“It has an auto-pilot!” Cady yells back. Lavagirl smacks the button in front of her.

“Wow, you really thought of everything!” Sharkboy says happily.

“Er… not exactly,” Cady says.

“How the fuck do we land?!” Lavagirl says when she realizes.

“That’s the bit I forgot!”

“Well, there’s Neptune,” Lavagirl spits. “Hold on to your asses!”

Cady braces and shuts her eyes, clinging to her harness for safety. Luckily they don’t seem to crash too hard. The ground is almost… squishy.

The mouth of the shark-rocket opens for them to step out onto the surface of the planet. Cady looks out in awe at the world she’s created.

“Do you recognize it, Cady?” Sharkboy asks quietly.

“Not really,” Cady admits shyly. “I feel like I should, but I just… don’t.”

“It’s affecting you too, then,” Sharkboy says sadly. Lavagirl glares at him. “I thought she’d remember!”

“Remember what?”

“Your dreams,” Lavagirl says. “The whole fucking planet? Us? Your powers?”

“I’ve got powers?”

“More than any of us,” Sharkboy says. “Remember what I told you when we met? Everything that is, or was, or will be, began with a dream. And you dreamt us, and this whole place!”

“Every dream you ever had landed here,” Lavagirl says.

“Oh. Why-why is it so dark? I don’t have that many nightmares,” Cady says.

“It began yesterday. What’s the calculation, Sharkboy?” Lavagirl asks. Sharkboy pulls out a shark-shaped device. It’s beeping quietly and seems to be scanning the environment for something.

“About forty-five minutes,” he replies.

“Forty-five minutes until what?” Cady asks.

“Until the planet… is… destroyed,” Sharkboy says sheepishly.

“We didn’t pick you up to save you,” Lavagirl says, looking out over the darkening horizon. “We need you to save us.”

“Oh. How-how do I do that?” Cady asks anxiously. This is way more responsibility than she asked for when she started keeping a dream journal.

“The dream lair over there. That’s where your dreams are going bad,” Sharkboy says sadly. “We have to get you there and find out what’s happening to them. And hopefully reverse it.”

Sounds simple enough.

“We’ll have to travel through the Passage of Time, catch the Train of Thought, swim down the Stream of Consciousness, and skate across the Sea of Confusion. Because it’s frozen now. Nice going, Cady,” Lavagirl grumbles.

“Lava, don’t be mean! It’s not her fault,” Sharkboy admonishes. “We brought Cady here to put things back in order. We just have to stay positive! It’s not the end of the world.”

“It literally is, though!” Lavagirl yells from a ways away. She turns around and walks backwards away from them for a moment. “The planet is dying, come on!”

“What’s her deal?” Cady asks anxiously as she and Sharkboy run after Lavagirl. Suddenly, a groaning creak is heard, and they both turn around to find the shark rocket being swallowed by the Darkness. “Run!”

Everyone picks up the pace, until they’re suddenly on a platform moving rapidly towards a sort of carnival.

“How is this here if you’ve never been to a carnival?” Lavagirl asks.

“I read about them in books and stuff. I always wanted to go to one,” Cady says sheepishly. “I was, like, ten, give me a break!” Lavagirl shrugs and turns away from her with a huff. “Where is everyone? My dream planet shouldn’t be so lonely.”

“They’re stuck,” Sharkboy says, pointing to a roller coaster weaving around a tall mountain that looks remarkably like Kilimanjaro. “Trapped. Ms. Neverbury has everyone kind of held hostage.”

“How awful,” Cady says sadly. “My world was supposed to be fun.”

“Oh, it’s fun, alright,” Lavagirl chuckles sardonically. “Endless fun. Once you get on, you can’t get off.”

“Kids aren’t allowed to rest here, because if they rest, they sleep, if they sleep, they dream, and if they dream…”

“It takes power away from Neverbury. But we have a secret weapon to stop her,” Lavagirl says mischievously.

“Oh, good,” Cady says in relief.

“It’s you, dipshit,” Lavagirl huffs.

“Oh. You know, you’re a lot more rude than I remember!” Cady yells as Lavagirl rushes up to the coaster. “You’re very dismissive!”

“Get used to it!” Lavagirl yells back, reaching up a fist and floating up to the carts rushing around.

“Don’t mind her, she’s having a sort of… identity crisis,” Sharkboy says apologetically. “She’s usually pretty nice, but she’s scared, and she gets angry when she’s afraid.”

“Would you two shut up? We’re on a time crunch here!” Lavagirl reminds them, dangling upside down from the coaster.

“Oh, oops,” Sharkboy says. He does the same motion and joins Lavagirl above their heads, moving to stop the coaster. Cady tries it too, but she can only jump about a foot.

“Man, why can’t I do that?”

Luckily for her, there’s a ladder a few feet away. She’ll have to use that until she figures out how to jump the way her new friends do.

“Whoa,” she breathes as Lavagirl suddenly lands on the cart of the coaster, somehow perfectly steady even as it hurtles around the winding track. Everyone on the cart cheers in relief. Lavagirl hops down in front of it, causing sparks to fly as she attempts to stop it with one hand and shoots lava to weaken the tracks with the other. Sharkboy grabs onto the back and pulls, and their combined strength makes the coaster grind to a halt.

“Who knows where Neverbury is hiding?” Lavagirl demands. She tilts her head in confusion as everyone appears to have both hands raised. “All of you?”

“You’re all upside down,” Cady giggles from her position on the ladder.

“Oh.”

Suddenly, a booming voice echos around them. “Who is stopping my unstoppable fun?!”

Lavagirl gasps and shoots small jets from both hands to release the bars on all the kids, allowing them to fall gently to the ground and run to safety.

“Who is Neverbury?” Cady asks, hopping into the coaster herself and bringing the bar down for protection as it begins to move again. Sharkboy sits next to her, and Lavagirl stands on the front to coast along.

“She’s supposed to be the sort of protector here,” Sharkboy says. “Keep everyone safe. Be a light. But all she brings now is darkness.”

Cady is about to respond when she’s suddenly slammed backwards into her seat. She screams as the coaster suddenly rockets off, hurtling down the track at impossible speeds. Nothing is impossible here, she reminds herself.

“She’s taking us up!” Sharkboy yells. Cady clings to his arm in fright. She decides she’s not quite so interested in riding roller coasters anymore.

Cady peeks up from Sharkboy when they finally come to a blessed stop, letting out a little squeak of fright. Sharkboy gently pats her head to let her know it’s alright before he hops out of the cart. Lavagirl follows him, and Cady scrambles out once she can feel her extremities again.

A large robot has its back to them, fiddling with various buttons and levers to bring images up on the large screens in front of it. It yells something at whatever she sees before it turns to see them. Cady screams quietly. It looks a lot like Ms. Norbury. What I wouldn’t give to be in calculus class right now.

“Well well well, if it isn’t Sharkboy and Lavagirl,” the robot says. “What do you want? Why have you halted my endless fun and infiltrated my lair?”

“We don’t need permission from you, you circular bitch,” Lavagirl huffs.

“Man. Fiery today,” Neverbury huffs. She appears to notice Cady then. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met. I am Ms. Neverbury.”

“Um-hi,” Cady says anxiously.

“Why are you doing this to our planet? You’re supposed to be running it,” Sharkboy demands.

“You’re supposed to be running it,” Neverbury mocks. “I am running it, I do run it. Right into the ground. Er, those are my orders.”

Maybe Cady has less control here than Sharkboy and Lavagirl thought. Everything here is supposed to be under her command, but she would’ve never ordered something like this. “Who ordered that?”

“No school, no discipline, no rules,” Neverbury continues. Cady loves school. She loves rules. This is clearly the work of someone else. Not even childhood Cady would’ve done something like this. “And no dreaming.”

“Dreams can destroy you, can’t they?” Lavagirl asks coyly. “That’s why we have to stop you.”

“You and what army?” Neverbury scoffs.

“Guys,” Cady says quietly, pointing behind them. A series of electrical plugs appear to have come to life behind them, sparking ominously. That’s probably not good.

Sharkboy and Lavagirl snap to attention, doing a series of very sophisticated moves and fighting the plugs back. Lavagirl looks very eager to be demonstrating some rather violent tendencies.

“Hey Sparky,” she calls loudly, getting Neverbury’s attention. “Catch me if you can.”

Cady and Sharkboy watch as she sets her hands and feet alight and rockets herself upwards, to another metal platform higher up. Neverbury follows and winces as Lavagirl shoots jets of magma out of her hands.

Cady doesn’t quite know what to do. She was never much good at fighting. Sharkboy snaps back into his fights, punching out several of the plugs and grinding their circuits with his sharp teeth. Wanting to be helpful, Cady grabs a cord and tugs as hard as she can. Eventually, it gives, and Cady winds up on her behind looking up at a plug. It rattles rather ominously and gives chase, so Cady bolts. So to speak.

She runs as fast as she can, and being Kenyan, she’s still pretty fast. She turns to check that she’s lost her pursuer at one point, and finds the plug straining at the confines of its cord.

“Aww, are you a bit short?” She teases. “We’ve all been there. Come get me, loser!”

“Cady, stop trash talking, it doesn���t suit you,” Lavagirl yells, still fighting off Neverbury above them.

“Fine,” Cady huffs. She tips her head and coos quietly as the plug continues straining. Suddenly it appears to ‘look’ to its left and spies another plug. Cady watches in horror as it plugs itself in and gives itself more reach. “Ah, shuck!”

She runs again, but pauses when she hears crunching behind her. Sharkboy is jumping up

and down on the plug, smashing it to bits and stomping out any hint of current still running through it. He smiles at Cady when the last spark flies and fizzles out.

“You’re amazing,” Cady beams.

“You had to be scared of electricity?!” Lavagirl yells.

“I grew up in a tent, I don’t like it!” Cady yells back.

“Both of you shut up!” Neverbury yells. Lavagirl shoots a stronger jet at her face. Neverbury closes her eyes and drifts down slightly. Lavagirl relaxes, but Neverbury quickly pops back up. “Haha, pranked.”

“Good one,” Lavagirl huffs, grinding her heels in an attempt to get a good stance to continue fighting.

“Did you really believe you could stop me? Aww,” Neverbury coos.

Lavagirl kites her back down to Cady and Sharkboy. Sharkboy runs up to aid in the fight.

“I know we can’t,” he says threateningly. “But she can!”

They both point to Cady, who stands there uselessly. Neverbury laughs. Cady holds up her fists.

“Show ‘em what you’re made of, Cades,” Lavagirl huffs.

“What am I supposed to do?” Cady asks urgently. Lavagirl takes a moment to smack Sharkboy upside the head.

“I told you this would happen!”

“I thought she would remember!” Sharkboy defends, rubbing his sore spot.

“Remember what?!” Cady demands from the both of them.

Lavagirl is about to answer when she’s suddenly snatched up by one of Neverbury’s metal claws. Cady shrieks as the other claw grabs her by the foot and dangles her upside down.

“Your dream! Remember the dream,” Sharkboy yells at her.

“I don’t remember half my dreams!” Cady yells back. “That’s why I write them in my journal!”

“What part of your dream do you remember?” Lavagirl yells, trying to get free from Neverbury’s grasp.

“I remember this,” Cady says, feeling like she’s about to hurl. Keep it together. Sharkboy is grabbed by a third claw and brought up to their level.

“Where are you taking us?!” He demands.

“Oh, where all useless dreams go. The dream dump,” Neverbury shrugs. The three of them are suddenly dangled over the chasm below, and dropped.

“This is not what I signed up for!” Cady yells on her way down.

—-

They fall for who knows how long before thudding down onto a metal platform. It spits them back out, onto a sort of conveyor belt. At least they all made it.

“Cuckoo!” Sharkboy warns. Everyone ducks down to avoid being decapitated by a large bird. “At least we’re on the passage of time! Maybe it’ll take us to the dream lair!”

Cady looks around at the various clocks they’re surrounded by. Something isn’t right with them. They’re going backwards.

“It’s going the wrong way,” Lavagirl huffs. “Dream lair is that way, genius.”

“What is the dream lair?” Cady asks quietly.

“It’s where all the dreams that fuel the planet are stored,” Sharkboy replies. “But they’re being destroyed.”

“How?”

“That’s what we have to find out. Soon, even the two of us will cease to exist,” Sharkboy sighs, gesturing to himself and Lavagirl.

“Duck!” Lavagirl yells, pointing. Everyone hits the deck again to avoid a duck-shaped cuckoo. “Heh.”

“Cady, just out of curiosity,” Sharkboy asks as they warily stand once again. “Where is this dream journal?”

“Oh, good idea,” Lavagirl says, the first positive thing she’s said all day. “We can read it out loud and set everything back the way it was!” She adds in a whisper, “And maybe find out my true identity.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Where is it?”

“I… uh…,” Cady stutters, feeling around in her pockets. “I don’t have it. I must have dropped it during the storm.”

Lavagirl’s hair suddenly sets ablaze in anger, and she shatters the next cuckoo in a single punch. “I was really starting to think you were the answer, Cady.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Sharkboy grumbles protectively. “She’s just mad because she’s having an identity crisis and you didn’t fix it for her.”

“Shut up, Sharky!” Lavagirl yells. “Look who’s talking. You’re mad she didn’t make you… king of the ocean or whatever the fuck, with a giant fish army. Cady thought her dream world would be a happy place. We’ve all been had.”

“Guys!” Cady yells, interrupting their bickering. “End of the line.”

“Oh, shit,” Sharkboy says, as the end of the conveyor belt gets ever nearer. There’s nowhere to go but down. Lavagirl falls first, followed by Cady and Sharkboy.

Cady yelps in pain as she lands smack on top of Lavagirl, scrambling away to avoid any serious burns. Lavagirl buries her face in the dirt and groans. “I think you dislocated a few of my craters.”

“Sorry,” Cady says frantically. “Ow, you’re hot.”

“Thanks,” Lavagirl teases. “We gotta find a way out of here.”

The three of them stand and dust themselves off carefully, before setting off in an attempt to find an exit.

“I don’t think there is a way out of here,” Sharkboy says after a while. “And the Darkness is coming.” He appears to realize something, suddenly. “Wait! Cady, sit down.”

“Uh… okay,” Cady says confusedly, sitting down on a pile of calculus textbooks.

“Now dream,” Sharkboy commands. “What do you see?”

Cady closes her eyes carefully and tries to dream. “I see… a giant… Kälteen bar.” Both her companions look very unimpressed when she opens her eyes again. “I’m sorry, I’m starving! I never got my lunch.”

“For the love of magma,” Lavagirl huffs, massaging the bridge of her nose.

“Here,” Sharkboy offers, brandishing a… fish? Maybe? “Fresh sushi.”

“Blech, that’s not fresh,” Cady nearly-heaves. “I don’t even know if that’s sushi anymore.”

“Just a few weeks old,” Sharkboy shrugs.

“You want me to cook it for you?” Lavagirl asks, wrapping a fist around the poor… thing. When she pulls away, it’s been charred to a crisp. “Oops.”

“Er… on second thought, I’m not that hungry, it’s fine,” Cady says. “Let me try again.”

“Hey, um… if you happen to dream about, like, who I am… how I fit into this world,” Lavagirl murmurs. “That would… really be helpful for me.”

“Stop distracting her. Focus on the problem at hand,” Sharkboy insists.

“I can put her to sleep,” Lavagirl huffs. Sharkboy grabs her and pulls her away. “Come on, one punch?”

“She made us!”

“And where has that gotten us?!” Lavagirl roars. Cady backs away in fright, until she hits something with a metallic clang. She whirls around and looks up to see…

“Tobor!”

“Huh?”

“It’s Tobor! I tried to build him out of our old food cans and stuff when I was little,” Cady says happily. “But… I could never get him to work.”

“So here he is, forgotten in the dream dump,” Lavagirl says, finally seeming to calm down.

“He’s supposed to be very smart. Maybe he can help,” Cady says. “Tobor, wake up!”

“Yeees?” Tobor replies. Cady gasps in shock. That voice is… familiar.

“Rhys?” She asks, eyes brimming with tears. She hasn’t heard that voice since she was eight years old. She thought she had forgotten.  Tobor just gives her a wink. That’s all the confirmation she needs.

“Hello, Cady Heron.”

“You can answer anything, right?” Cady asks, wiping her eyes and looking up at Tobor’s large tin head.

“That I can. Whether it is correct is another matter entirely,” Tobor replies ominously.

“It can answer anything?” Lavagirl asks, unceremoniously shoving Cady out of the way. “Tell me something about me. Please.”

“Never heard you say please before,” Sharkboy grumbles under his breath.

“You are extremely bright,” Tobor says to Lavagirl. Her brow furrows, but she gets a slight grin as she tries to work out what that could mean. Sharkboy goes next.

“Hi Tobor! Am I king of the ocean?”

“No.”

“Damn it.”

Cady chuckles and pats his shoulder comfortingly before she goes to ask Tobor her question. “How do I save this planet?”

“The answer… is in your dreams,” Tobor says.

“You mean if I put her to sleep?” Lavagirl asks, brandishing what looks to be a tire iron.

“No, where did you even find that?!” Sharkboy says, wrestling her to take it and throwing it as far away from them as he can.

“No… at least, not here. Darkness is falling. Any dream of hers will become a nightmare. And you don’t want those becoming a reality,” Tobor continues. “But, if you go to the land of Kälteen bars… that’s where the good dreams are.”

“Oh, duh!” Sharkboy says, as if it should’ve been obvious the whole time.

“That’s where the answers are.”

“Can you take us there?” Cady asks Tobor.

“I would, but I have no body. I can’t move,” Tobor says sadly.

Lavagirl looks him up and down suspiciously. “You can move your eyes and your mouth.”

“I suppose that might work.”

Lavagirl and Sharkboy each take one of his eyes, and Cady climbs into his mouth. Suddenly, they detach from the large tin can that made up Tobor’s head a drift off to the land of Kälteen bars. What a day.

——

“Tobor, why didn’t you work when I built you?” Cady asks, drifting peacefully over what looks like a forest of brains.

“Some dreams are so powerful they become real on their own, like Sharkboy and Lavagirl. I, on the other hand, am still only a dream.”

“Oh.”

“Um…” Tobor says.

“What’s the matter?”

“Train of thought. I’m losing it.”

“Land of Kälteen bars,” Lavagirl huffs.

“No, I’m literally losing the train of thought,” Tobor says. “Down there.”

“Huh,” Cady says interestedly, looking down. “I never thought I had a train.”

“What did you think you had?” Sharkboy chuckles.

“I dunno,” Cady shrugs. “Maybe a race car. Doesn’t get too much use, but when it does it goes fast and needs frequent pit stops.”

Lavagirl chuckles at that, but stops abruptly and tries to cover it up with a cough.

“Well, since I do actually have a train… how do I keep it on track?” Cady asks anxiously.

“With your mind. You are easily distracted. Stay focused, and it will speed you directly to the land of Kälteen bars,” Tobor explains. “The rest is up to you.”

Cady and her companions jump down onto the train. Cady looks back at her old creation for a moment. “I’m sorry I forgot you.”

“Are you kidding? You’ve just saved me,” Tobor chuckles gently. “I’m free.”

“Cady!” Lavagirl yells. “Get your ass down here!”

Cady gasps and whirls around. Lavagirl has her head poking out the window of the engine car.

“What’s wrong?!” Cady yells over the roar of the train engine.

“We can’t control it!” Sharkboy says as he and Lavagirl frantically press every button and flip every lever they can reach. Cady joins in as if she knows what she’s doing.

“All you have to do is keep it on track,” she says. Sounds easy enough.

“There is no track!” Lavagirl reminds them. Cady freezes and looks out the window. She’s right.

“What do we do?” Sharkboy asks anxiously.

“Uh… scream?” Lavagirl says. “I don’t know.”

Sharkboy flips another lever, and the door opens. “Jump! It’ll be fine!”

He leaps out the door and is quickly blown off by a gust of wind. Lavagirl follows almost immediately. Cady is left alone on a crashing train. At least if she jumps she’ll crash with her friends.

Cady closes her eyes and leaps, hoping for a miracle. The wind blows her hair everywhere and stings her skin as she hurtles to the ground. Until it stops. Warily, she opens her eyes.

“A Kälteen bar!” She says happily, pushing herself upright. It tips slightly, so she puts her arms out for balance. “Whoa. In a river of milk. Huh. Um… do you guys know what it means when your train of thought… crashes?”

“Nothing good,” Lavagirl says, sounding remarkably chipper. “How much time, Sharky?”

“Twenty minutes,” Sharkboy replies anxiously. He takes a step forward to look around, but his foot suddenly sinks into a puddle of something. He yelps in surprise, but crouches down to inspect it. “Chocolate?”

“It must be the s’mores flavor,” Cady chuckles. “There’s marshmallows too.”

“Why Kälteen bars, though?” Lavagirl asks. “And not, like, cookies, or something?”

“I never had cookies as a kid,” Cady replies. “But we always had Kälteens. And I wasn’t really allowed to eat them, I ate a whole box in a row once and got sick, so my parents hid them and I could only get them if they gave them to me. They were a special thing.”

Lavagirl gives this a moment’s thought and nods. “Try to dream again. Lie down.”

Cady does, using a bit of marshmallow as a pillow. She closes her eyes, but the bar beneath her begins to shake. “It’s too shaky.”

“I hear it too,” Sharkboy says, listening around with his highly trained ears. Lavagirl raises a suspicious eyebrow at the two of them.

“Let me try.”

“No, Lava-“ Sharkboy says, but it’s too late. Lavagirl rests her head on the marshmallow, and the whole thing is suddenly charred. “Hothead.”

“Cady,” Lavagirl says suddenly. “When you dreamt up these giant bars… who did you expect to be able to eat them?”

Cady shrugs. “I dunno, I never really thought about that part.”

“Because if you dream giant bars, something has to be created to consume giant bars,” Lavagirl explains. The rumbling sounds get louder, suddenly, and everyone looks around for the source.

“Giants!” Sharkboy yells, pointing off to the left. He abandons ship again, followed by Lavagirl. Cady is so distracted looking at the giants that she nearly doesn’t make it off, leaping at the very last second before one of the giants chomps down on the Kälteen bar raft.

Luckily for them, they appear to land on…

“Hey, this was my ninth birthday cake! That thing was awesome,” Cady laughs. “Nice and springy.”

“Too much frosting,” Lavagirl grumbles, trying to brush herself clean.

Cady removes herself from her cake and turns around, watching the giants leave peacefully hand in hand. Sharkboy approaches her and rests a hand on her shoulder.

“Those giants look a lot like my parents,” Cady murmurs.

“They seem happy together,” Sharkboy nods. “Is that… another dream of yours?”

“Family,” Cady nods. “Hasn’t really been coming true lately.”

“Well, most dreams don’t come true on their own. You have to make them true,” Sharkboy says. “It takes a lot of work. Not easy. But it’s not impossible either.”

“Alright, we’ve had enough sweets, go to sleep,” Lavagirl huffs, joining them.

“I’ll try,” Cady says anxiously, laying down on the granola ground. Sharkboy gently plays with her hair to help her drift off while Lavagirl paces around.

Flowers begin to bloom around them as Cady dreams, and a shark-shaped motorcycle suddenly drives up. Sharkboy gasps excitedly and runs to check it out, so Lavagirl takes over his position by Cady’s head.

“Dream about me next,” she says quietly. “I need to know who I am. Dream of me as something good.”

A clap of thunder suddenly booms overhead, making Lavagirl whirl around. She looks back to Cady’s face and finds it pinched in concern. “She’s having a nightmare. Sharkboy, get back here!”

Sharkboy runs over and tries to shake Cady back awake, to no avail. Lavagirl stands and aims her hands carefully at Cady’s backside.

“Sorry Cady,” she murmurs, firing a jet of lava.

“Jesus!” Cady yells, her eyes snapping open as she leaps to her feet. “Ow! What the hell was that for?”

“You weren’t waking up,” Lavagirl shrugs sheepishly. Sharkboy kindly fires a jet of water to help cool her off. “Thanks Sharky. Cady… your nightmare… it was about me, wasn’t it?”

Cady tries to think. Surely that can’t be right. She can see bits and pieces, but can’t quite reach them enough to put them back together. “I don’t remember. I’m sorry.”

“Plug hounds!” Sharkboy suddenly yells, pointing to an ice cream hill above them. Neverbury makes her way to the top.

“I have the high ground!”

The hounds suddenly run towards them, stumbling down the hill. Cady and her friends run to the shark bike, but nothing happens when Sharkboy attempts to start the engine. Other than…

“Ah, fudge,” Cady says. “I forgot to dream of gas.”

“Oh my-“ Lavagirl says angrily, storming off in a huff to fight the hounds off. Sharkboy joins her. Lavagirl shoots a jet of lava at one, before she looks at her hands. “My powers are weakening.”

One of the hounds suddenly unravels, wrapping her up in tight confines while a few others zap at her toes. Sharkboy, on the other hand, is doing remarkably well, punching out several with a series of very elaborate karate moves.

He rips off a part to the shark bike to use as a staff, and takes out several more. Unfortunately, he doesn’t notice one that hasn’t quite been beat down rise to its feet, followed by another. They both shock him, causing him to fall to the ground with a pained moan.

“Hey! Leave my friends alone!” Cady yells, bending down and swiping some frosting onto her face like war paint. She’s in the middle of a battle cry when she also gets shocked and falls to the ground. It didn’t quite go to plan, but it did allow Sharkboy to escape his attackers and rush to her side.

“I don’t-I don’t have much fight left in me, Cades,” he pants.

“Where’s Lavagirl?” Cady puffs back. Lavagirl comes… flowing over, so to speak.

“What?” She asks when they both give her confused looks. “How else was I supposed to escape? Oh, don’t look at me like that, I’m literally made of lava. It’s up to you now, Cady.”

“Cady, you can dream us out of here,” Sharkboy realizes. “We believe in you, go on.”

Cady squeezes her eyes shut and tries her hardest to dream. Lavagirl quietly pleads for a lava bike behind her, and Sharkboy asks for a shark boat.  Cady opens her eyes to reveal…

“A banana split?” Lavagirl spits. “Seriously?”

“They’re really good!” Cady defends, crossing her arms over her chest protectively.

“Still hungry?” Lavagirl says threateningly, popping back into her human body and holding up a fist. “How about a knuckle sandwich?”

“Lava, chill,” Sharkboy says, batting her hands away from poor Cady’s face. “Look at it, it’s a banana split boat!”

“Then let’s split,” Lavagirl yells as another wave of plug hounds rounds over the hill. Cady helps Sharkboy push it into the milk river and start rowing just before the hounds reach them.

Once they’re steadily drifting down the river and being steered by Lavagirl, Cady and Sharkboy finally get to sit down on a swiss roll bench. “This is great, Cades. You’re starting to daydream. If you can keep this up, they’ll never get us!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! If you learn to dream with your eyes open, you don’t have to be asleep to dream,” Sharkboy explains. “You’ll be able to make anything happen at any time. You’ll be unstoppable.”

“Grool,” Cady says. She freezes suddenly. “I-uh… I meant to say great, and then started to say cool…”

Lavagirl bursts out laughing, a remarkably bright, clean sound. Cady likes it. She smiles back at her before scooping some whipped cream onto a finger to taste it. “Mm!”

“Sugar will give you nightmares,” Lavagirl says, already back to her typical brooding. Cady immediately spits out her mouthful before she swallows any. “How much time, Sharky?”

“Uhm… best not to ask,” Sharkboy says anxiously, checking his radar. “The lair of dreams is across the ocean of ice. We’ll have to travel there on foot. What did you see in your dream, Cady? Anything we can use?”

“I saw an object, shaped like… do you have something I can draw with?” Cady asks. Lavagirl holds up one of her fingers and shrugs.

“Sharky, come steer.”

Sharkboy takes hold of the cherry stem to steer their raft, and Lavagirl offers Cady her hand. Cady takes it gently and aims at one of the ice cream scoops. Lavagirl fires a jet of lava from it, letting Cady steer it around.

“A heart?” She asks, tilting her head when Cady finishes. Her eyes go wide when she puts it together. “The crystalheart!”

“It’s the treasure of the kingdom of ice, it can freeze anything!” Sharkboy says excitedly, coming to join them. The raft spins wildly until Lavagirl leaps to grab the cherry stem to keep steering. “Even time.”

“Wow,” Cady breathes. “I’ve only ever dreamt of freezing a moment in time.”

“And, even better,” Sharkboy says. “The ice kingdom is ruled by the ice princess. She’s said to be the most beautiful girl in the world.”

Lavagirl’s jaw drops open indignantly, and she fires some magma at Sharkboy’s bum.

“Ow! What the hell, man?” Sharkboy pouts, rubbing his sore backside.

“She is not! She’s cold and cruel and cares for nobody but herself! And you don’t even like girls,” Lavagirl accuses.

“Cady does!”

“I do?” Cady says in shock. She thinks for a second about her past crushes, and then shrugs. Lavagirl certainly doesn’t look too bad. “Eh, yeah, I probably do. Have you met her, Lavagirl?”

“No,” Lavagirl replies sheepishly. She puffs out her chest before continuing, “But I know we don’t get along! She’s ice. I’m fire. We must be enemies.”

“We need that crystal heart,” Cady says pleadingly. “But I’ll need you both to get it.”

Lavagirl sighs and lets go of the cherry stem. Sharkboy leaps to grab it so they don’t drift away too far. Lavagirl looks out off the edge of the raft and huffs. “I just hope this isn’t a trap.”

—————-

“Wow,” Cady breathes happily, looking around at all the beautiful crystal clear ice and powdery white snow surrounding them. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and clearly very intricate, but the air is barely chilly. Even in her thin flannel, Cady isn’t cold.

They approach a thin bridge, made of solid ice. Cady is a little apprehensive at the height, but carefully steps out onto it. Sharkboy follows. Lavagirl thinks about it, but pauses and hunches in on herself a bit just before she tries.

“I can’t go with you,” she calls. Cady and Sharkboy pause and turn around. “I’ll melt the bridge.”

“Can you chill enough to get across?” Cady asks, reaching a hand for her. Lavagirl looks at her feet, then back at her.

“I’d have to be asleep.”

“Try sleepwalking!” Cady calls to her. “You can do it!”

Lavagirl nods slightly and closes her eyes, shaking out some of the tension in her muscles before warily taking a few steps forward. She mumbles under her breath about… a dream of her own. To live on Earth. Someplace warm. And to be accepted.

“Oh no,” Sharkboy says suddenly, anxiously watching his best friend as she crosses the bridge. “No, Lava, don’t sneeze!”

He runs to block her nose with a finger, and breathes a sigh of relief when she relaxes again. He carefully removes his finger and takes a small step back.

“Achoo!”

Lavagirl sneezes, unleashing a rush of hot wind that blows Sharkboy backwards and off the bridge. He grabs onto it with one hand just before he topples all the way off to a certain doom. Cady runs to help him back up.

“Look,” she says quietly, gesturing to Lavagirl. She’s somehow still upright, but deeply asleep. She’s actually snoring quietly, which is remarkably cute. “She’s sleeping.”

Lavagirl sleepwalks towards them carefully, slowly, but isn’t melting the bridge. Cady watches her with a small smile. Until she looks behind her.

“They found us again,” Cady says, her heart sinking. “Lavagirl, behind yo-“

Sharkboy claps a hand over her mouth before she can finish her sentence. “If you wake her up, she’ll reheat. She can make it.”

Cady nods and clings to his arm in fright. “Come on, Lava.”

Sharkboy holds her back, feeling himself growing more tense. They’re all in danger, and his instincts are demanding he protect his best friend. “Lavagirl, they’re behind you!”

Cady frantically slams a hand over his mouth, and he covers it with his own hands in shame. But it’s too late. Lavagirl opens her eyes and looks behind her, bursting into flame when she sees the hounds closing in.

Cady and Sharkboy both scream in fright and run away, barreling for the other end of the bridge. Lavagirl follows them, the bridge melting and crumbling away beneath her feet as she goes.

“Come on, Lava, hurry!” Sharkboy yells. He and Cady both reach out to help her make it onto the platform holding up the castle, but yelp and quickly pull away as she burns them. They made it.

But the ground beneath them begins to crumble. The three of them whirl around.

“It’s a trap!” Cady yelps, instinctively shoving her friends behind her. A small pit suddenly forms from the ground that’s crumbled away, and Neverbury leaps out at them. Cady furrows her brow in thought. “This can’t be right. Someone-someone else’s dreams are in here.”

That’s the last thought she has before the world goes black.

—-

When she comes to, she’s suspended from the ceiling by a spring over a hole in the ground. Sharkboy is also hanging next to her, and Lavagirl is on the other side with her feet stuck in a block of solid ice.

“Welcome to the dream lair,” an ominous voice says. Ominous but… familiar, somehow. “I am the leader of this planet.”

“No you’re not!” Sharkboy yells, wriggling to try and get down. “Cady is!”

“Cady might have dreamed it originally,” the voice says with an airy titter. The large chair in front of them suddenly rotates to reveal none other than Regina George. “But I’m, like, so much cooler, wouldn’t you say? I… am Requiem.”

“How did you get so much power here?” Cady asks. “This is my world.”

Requiem pulls out a small book and holds it up to show them. Cady gasps in understanding.

“My dream journal! That’s why all my dreams are going wrong! You’re changing it!”

Requiem gives a quiet chuckle and sashays her way down in front of them. Sharkboy gasps and goes into a sort of Superman pose when he spies the tank of electric eels beneath them.

“Shocking, isn’t it Sharkboy?” Requiem hums. “Reminds me of… when an electrical storm blew apart your mother’s research lab.”

Sharkboy stops struggling for a moment and looks at her. “Where is my mother?”

Requiem flips through the journal to see if it says anything, and gives a particularly evil sounding chuckle when she finds the right page. “Check the bottom of the ocean.”

Sharkboy snarls at her and tries to get loose again. Requiem moves to Lavagirl. “And you. Once I figure out how to freeze the core of this planet, all your powers will disappear.”

“I have powers?” Lavagirl asks quietly. “What powers?”

Requiem doesn’t grace her with a response, walking to stand in front of Cady. “And last, but least. You. You thought you could escape fear by running to dreamland, hm? But fear exists in the one place you can never escape.” She hops a few times, and is suddenly floating at Cady’s eye level. “Your mind. I’ll show you the true meaning of fear.

“Anyway, for now, you must all leave. I have dreaming to do. Kisses!”

She blows them a mocking kiss with two fingers before they’re dropped, plummeting through the holes beneath them. Sigmund Freud would love it here, Cady thinks to herself.

——————

They land in a large bird cage. Lavagirl paces back and forth while Sharkboy sits next to Cady on the uncomfortable bricks they have for chairs. “If only I had my journal. Then I could turn everything back to the way it was.”

“My fire is dimming,” Lavagirl says quietly. Sharkboy looks at her sadly. He grabs one of the bars behind him and pulls as hard as he can. Nothing happens.

“My strength is fading too.”

“How much time is left?” Cady asks.

“Who cares?” Lavagirl huffs. “We’re never getting out of here.”

Cady frowns at her, but looks up in confusion when a quiet song can be heard. “That’s freaky.”

“Aww, hi La-La’s,” Sharkboy says, playing with the small bubble creatures. Lavagirl bats them away from her face angrily.

“Where did these come from? They’re so annoying.”

“Don’t listen to her, she’s just mad you’re not made of fire,” Sharkboy comforts the little things.

“They piss me off,” Lavagirl grumbles. “That song. Disturbing. It’s so high!”

“Sing louder. Higher,” Cady encourages them quietly. Lavagirl’s hair is on fire again, and she’s visibly tense. Sharkboy grabs her and pulls her close.

“You don’t want to be too close to her when she erupts,” he says quietly.

“Enough!” Lavagirl yells, firing lava out of both hands at as many La-La’s as she can reach. Inadvertently, she also melts them a way out.

“Nice progress, Lava! Much more control this time,” Sharkboy praises. Lavagirl grins at him sarcastically before she crawls out of the hole she’s made. Sharkboy and Cady follow quickly.

—————

“She’s asleep,” Lavagirl whispers to her friends beneath her. Cady crawls her way back up into the dream lair and tiptoes back over to Requiem. Ever so gently, Cady lifts her journal off of Requiem’s chest. She tiptoes back to her friends, and slides down the pillar holding the lair aloft.

“Okay, first things first,” Cady says, flipping through the pages. “A way out of here.” Suddenly, she finds the perfect page. “Oh, Lavagirl! You have a lava bike!”

“I do?” Lavagirl asks. The bike suddenly materializes next to her and she gives a delighted cackle. “I do!” She eagerly gets on and revs the engine. “Hehe, this is tits!”

“Chill out, babes,” Sharkboy chuckles.

“Even has fuel this time! Now, Sharkboy,” Cady continues, flicking through to another page. She quiets when she reads the first few sentences of it. “Your mother really is at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Oh,” he says quietly. Lavagirl takes his hand and squeezes it gently.

“She’s in a submarine, she’s looking for you! She has been since the storm,” Cady continues, looking up at him with a smile.

“Oh!” He says again. Lavagirl squeezes him one more time and smiles at him too. Sharkboy comes to read over her shoulder to figure out specifics of where it is. “I’ve gotta get back to Earth.”

“What does it say about me?” Lavagirl asks quietly. Cady flicks to yet another page.

“I’m not sure what this is.”

“I can figure it out!” Lavagirl replies, climbing off her bike and running over to them.

“Lavagirl, no, you’ll-“ Cady tries to warn, but it’s too late. Lavagirl grabs the book and turns it to ash. “Burn it.”

Lavagirl stares at her hands in shame. “What have I done?”

“Hey, it’s okay-“

“Why the fuck did you make me out of lava? Why? What fucking good am I?” Lavagirl yells, holding up glowing fists and with her hair on fire yet again. “Look at me! Why, Cady?!”

Cady looks at her sadly, and tries to follow as she storms off, but Sharkboy grabs her shoulder and pulls her back. “Let her cool off a little.”

Cady doesn’t listen, running over to where Lavagirl is sitting on a rock, head in her hands. “All I’ve ever wanted is to be good. I know I can be. I-I can feel it. But I destroy everything I touch.” She turns to Cady with tears in her eyes, boiling away into steam the second they touch her cheeks. “Why-why did you make me like this? I have-I have more potential.”

“I’m sure you do,” Cady says quietly. Lavagirl stands suddenly and turns around to see her.

“And why did you make us a team?” She continues, pointing to Sharkboy. “We’re nothing alike! I fizzle out when I touch water. When he’s near heat, he shrivels. We aren’t compatible!”

“You’re… really on fire,” Cady murmurs sheepishly.

“Yeah. I do that,” Lavagirl huffs. Sharkboy shoots some water at her to put her out. “Thanks, Sharky.” Sharkboy nods.

“No problem.”

“Maybe I really am evil. So far, everything sure looks that way,” Lavagirl murmurs, sitting down again. “Everything else you’ve dreamed has been right. Maybe I do need to learn to accept it.”

“That’s it!” Cady says. “Everything else I’ve dreamt has been right, the crystal heart!”

“We were captured last time,” Lavagirl sniffles.

“Because Requiem doesn’t want me to have it! That must mean it’s important, we must be able to use it to stop her!”

Lavagirl’s face suddenly splits into a wide smile, and she rejoins her companions.

“We have to get back to the ice kingdom!”

“We only have ten minutes left,” Sharkboy says. “We’ll never make it!”

“We can do it!” Cady yells, running off.

“How?!” Sharkboy and Lavagirl yell at the same time as they follow her.

Cady freezes in her tracks and turns back to look at them with a small smirk. “You’re Sharkboy and Lavagirl. You can do anything.”

—————

“This way,” Cady says, beckoning Sharkboy and Lavagirl over to a sort of slide into the ice palace.

“You had to pick ice?” Lavagirl grumbles.

“Hey, Kenya is really hot,” Cady defends. “Not my fault that’s where I wound up. I’m sure if my parents were studying penguins we’d be somewhere hot and you’d be having a better time right now.”

Lavagirl just crosses her arms and pouts. She’s remarkably precious, for a girl made of fire. Cady chuckles before turning back around, stopping just in time to avoid crashing face first into a tall ice pillar. Sharkboy is already looking up at the large heart shaped crystal floating above it.

“Is that what you saw, Cades?”

“Uhhuh,” Cady nods. “You’ll have to climb up there and get it. But it’s as delicate as a snowflake, so don’t drop it. And don’t touch it or you’ll freeze, use your claws.”

“Got it,” Sharkboy says, using his claws as a sort of ice pick to climb up the ice pillar. He makes it rapidly up the tower, but as he’s reaching for it, he loses his grip and slides back down. He ends up dangling from his fin a few feet off the ground. “You’re up.”

“Lava, can-“ Cady asks. Lavagirl raises an eyebrow at her. “Er… nevermind. Chew on some ice, it’ll help you cool off a bit.”

Lavagirl looks confused when Cady hands her a chunk of ice, but gnaws a bit off with her molars. “Hmm.”

Sharkboy removes his claw gloves and hands them to Cady to climb the pillar herself. It’s slower going for her, but she finds enough hand and footholds to make it to the top. Carefully, she puts on the gloves and reaches out.

“Hey, nice job, Cady!” Sharkboy calls up at her when she grabs it. Just then, he slips, and the crack caused by his fin splits the whole tower in two. It crumbles beneath Cady and she’s forced to drop the heart to save herself.

“I got it!” Lavagirl yells, lunging to grab it before it can hit the ground. She makes it, but is immediately frozen into a solid block of ice.

“Lavagirl!” Cady yells, sliding down what she has left to hold and helping Sharkboy out. She knocks carefully on Lavagirl’s forehead. “She’s frozen solid.”

Just then, a creaky rumbling echoes throughout the cavern as several ice golems rise from the ground and come to life. One with a large club looms over them threateningly and escorts them to a different room.

Once they arrive, they’re roughly shoved to the ground with a command to, “Kneel before the ice princesses.”

Princesses? Cady thinks. There’s more than one?

Sure enough, two girls in white dresses come out onto what appears to be a small stage, hand in hand. They look familiar too. An uncanny resemblance to Regina’s little minions back on Earth.

“You try to steal our crystal heart,” the one on the left asks gently. “Why?”

Cady is too distracted staring at the both of them to hear her. Why are they here? Sharboy nudges her gently to get her back into the moment. “Oh! Uh, we believe it can stop time. Long enough for us to defeat Requiem.”

“Our crystal heart cannot help you,” the other one says. “Only the two of us have the power to use it.”

“Then you can come with us!” Cady says.

“They cannot leave this castle. The crystal is the only thing that protects our kingdom,” one of the ice golems says.

“Please, princesses, we’re running out of time,” Cady begs.

“Perhaps we could… give it to you?” The first princess says. “But are you worthy to wield it?”

“I think so!” Cady chirps. “I hope so.”

“The crystal you stole was a decoy,” the second one says. A rumbling noise sounds off behind them, and several more ice pillars rise from the ground. “The real one is somewhere in this room. Choose the correct one, and you may take it with you.”

Cady and Sharkboy both turn around and look at all the crystal hearts glimmering above them. Sharkboy points to the one nearest them. “That one looks nice, pick that one.”

But Cady shakes her head and turns back to the princesses. “It’s around your hands. Tying you together.”

Sure enough, the gem dangling from what Cady originally thought to be a simple bracelet gives a magical glimmer, and the princesses give her a kind smile. She heads to stand before them politely.

“How’d you know?” Sharkboy asks in awe.

“Saw it in a dream,” Cady murmurs.

“Be aware, Cady,” the first princess says, more serious this time. They gently remove the necklace they had looped around their entwined hands and rest it in the palm of Cady’s. “If anything happens to the crystal heart, our entire kingdom will be destroyed.”

“I won’t let anything happen to it,” Cady says bravely. “I promise.”

“The crystal will now work, but we must stay here,” the second one says. “Good luck.”

And with that, they’re all tossed from the palace onto the frozen sea of confusion. Sharkboy and Cady have no choice but to push a still-frozen Lavagirl to their destination themselves.

—-

“We’re almost back to the dream lair!” Cady yells when she has it in her sights. “How much time do we have?!”

“Uh… we’re out of time!” Sharkboy yells back. “Ten seconds!”

Cady stops Lavagirl and hops off, standing on the frozen sea. She holds the crystal heart aloft. “Here goes nothing.”

The crystal gives a promising glimmer, but then… everything goes dark. Including the crystal.

“What happened?”

Sharkboy shrugs. “It didn’t work.”

“How could it not work?”

Suddenly, a crunching noise can be heard as Lavagirl finally frees herself from her ice cocoon. “Only the ice princesses can use it. I was trying to tell you.”

“There’s nothing,” Sharkboy says, staring at his shark radar. “No readings, no nothing.”

Suddenly, a small crack forms in the ice, revealing a melted chasm. Neverbury’s cackling laughter can be heard.

“Sharkboy, no!” Lavagirl says. “She’s baiting you.”

Sharkboy tenses, and clenches his jaw. “I can’t… resist my instincts!”

Before either of them can react, stop him, Sharkboy dives into the water in front of them and swims rapidly to the other side. Neverbury stands ominously above him. Sharkboy tilts his head in confusion as she tries to make a poorly timed electrical joke.

“Oh, fuck it,” Neverbury huffs. “Electric eels, eat up.”

“Sharky, no!” Lavagirl yells, lunging for him. Cady grabs her to hold her back. “Swim away! Run!”

Sharkboy tries, swimming as fast as he possibly can. But the eels are faster, and quickly surround him. Cady and Lavagirl watch in horror as he suddenly goes limp and sinks to the bottom.

“No!” Cady says, trying to touch the water. It’s still electrified, the current nearly melting off the rubber sole of her shoe. “Can-can he survive down there?”

“He can hold his breath,” Lavagirl replies, staring hollowly at the water. “But not forever. He’ll drown if I don’t save him.”

“No, I can’t let you go,” Cady says with a sob, clinging to her arm. “You’ll die too.”

Lavagirl turns to look at her, gently cupping her cheek with a warm hand and kissing her. She pulls away before Cady has time to process what’s happening. “He’s my best friend. I have to. We love you.”

With that, she turns back and dives into the water, swimming down to Sharkboy on the sea floor. Cady watches as she grabs him by a hand and hauls him back up to the surface. Cady helps lift them both back onto the shore.

“Sharkboy?” Cady asks frantically, trying to shake him awake. “Wake up, please! Come on, please, please please.”

She’s so distracted with Sharkboy that she doesn’t notice Lavagirl crawling away from the water before collapsing. She’s not breathing, and her fire has been extinguished.

Cady whirls around when she hears a rattling breath, and finds Lavagirl’s lifeless form. “No, no, no, Lavagirl, please! Not both of you!”

Neither of them wake. Cady frantically shakes them, crying harder than she thinks she ever has, but to no avail.

“I can’t do this without you!” She sobs. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Suddenly, the disembodied face and voice of Tobor appears. “What do you think you should do, child?”

“Dr-dream… a better dream,” Cady whimpers, holding the lifeless hands of both her friends.

“Interesting,” Tobor says kindly. “Explain.”

“I wanted all my dreams to come true,” Cady sniffles. “But… I only dreamed for myself. This whole place only exists because I wanted to escape my real world. But I should’ve dreamed to make my real world a better place. Selfish dreams shouldn’t come true.”

“You’re becoming a very good dreamer, Cady,” Tobor says. “You always were, monkey. Get it back.”

“What do you do?” Cady asks hollowly. “When your dreams have been destroyed?”

“Dream a better dream,” Tobor replies. “An unselfish dream. You can do it. I believe in you, monkey.”

“I love you,” Cady says as Tobor floats away. She never thought she’d hear her brother call her ‘monkey’ again. She needs to say it. Tobor winks at her, and then he’s out of sight.

Cady takes a deep breath, and squeezes both of the hands in her own. “Dream a better dream.”

Sharkboy suddenly snaps awake next to her, coughing some water out of his lungs. Cady tips him onto his side and pats his back to help. He looks at her thankfully before crawling over to Lavagirl.

“She knew this would happen,” Cady murmurs. “If she saved you. I couldn’t stop her.”

Sharkboy nods sadly, taking Lavagirl’s hand. It’s cool to the touch, for the first time since their creation. Suddenly, a bright light is visible from behind them. Sharkboy and Cady turn around to see Lavagirl’s volcano home glowing brightly.

“Lava,” Cady breathes. “We have to get her there.”

“I’ll go,” Sharkboy says. Cady grabs his arm to stop him. “I’m stronger, and faster.”

“No, I can’t let you go again. You’ll burn up,” she says desperately.

Sharkboy doesn’t listen, cradling Lavagirl’s body in his arms. “Are you sure this will save her?”

“It’ll do more than save her,” Cady agrees quietly. They have a stronger bond than they’ll ever have with her. She knows she can’t stop him now. She blinks, and Sharkboy is gone. She can faintly see a blue and pink blur running at inhuman speeds towards the volcano. Cady hunches in on herself and says a little prayer.

“I know who you are now, Lavagirl. You are not fire, or a simple flame. You are greater than that. Something more important, and so necessary. That is why you have to live. You are not destruction. You are not evil.”

Cady winces as she sees Sharkboy chuck Lavagirl into the mouth of the volcano, and watches in horror as he’s thrown back by the force of the eruption once she makes contact.

But then, she sees Lavagirl standing where he just was, and watches her hands suddenly glow bright like beacons.

“You are light.”

Cady closes her eyes as a bright glow rushes over her. Lavagirl has realized her true power. And so has Cady.

“Holy shit!” Sharkboy screams when she suddenly appears beside him. He holds a hand over his heart as he tries to get his breath back. “How-how did you get here so quick?”

Cady doesn’t answer that. “Hold off Neverbury. I’m off to deal with Requiem.”

“I’ll need my fish army,” Sharkboy says. Cady turns to look at the frozen ocean they were just on.

“I’ll unfreeze the ocean.” With a snap of her fingers, it’s done. “Good luck. I love you both.”

-

“I’ve become what you feared most,” Cady murmurs to Requiem’s turned back. “Requiem.”

Requiem whirls around in surprise. “How’d you get in here?”

“I’m the day dreamer,” Cady replies. “Able to dream with my eyes open.”

“Hate to burst your bubble here, dream girl, but I’ve read your little book,” Requiem says. “There’s not one dream you have that I haven’t already seen. So what do you say? Let’s blow the roof off this place.” She raises her arms, and suddenly they’re on what appears to be a battlefield. “May the best dream win.”

She sticks out a hand towards Cady, releasing a wave of piranhas. Cady winds up and sticks out her own hand, releasing a wave of…

“Bubbles? Come on,” she whispers. But, as the bubbles make contact with the chomping fish, they’re suddenly trapped inside and carried off with the wind. “Oh. I guess that worked.”

She winds up again, and blows a wave of butterflies towards Requiem. Requiem unleashes her own swarm of wasps.

“Wait!” Cady yells. All the bugs suddenly disappear. She puts a finger to her temple and closes her eyes. “Brain storm.”

Requiem looks at her in confusion before she puts the pieces together and looks up in horror. “Eww!”

Brains splat down to the ground all around her, and she puts her arms up to protect her head from the falling craniums. She screams when one lands in her hands and throws it as far as she can, wiping off the fluid on her cape.

“Brain… freeze!” She yells, lifting her arms to the sky. All the brains raining down pause in place before landing in the ground in a single sheet.

“Brain.. fart,” Cady replies with a giggle. Requiem’s head suddenly swells to roughly one hundred times the size it’s meant to be, and she leans from side to side in a ditch attempt to keep her balance. Before she knows it, she’s completely upside down resting on top of her hand. “Nice headstand!”

Requiem’s head deflates, and she lands back on her feet. She looks at Cady and gives her a quiet chuckle. “You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

Cady watches in horror as she moves her hands down her sides in a quick motion, and suddenly rockets off into the sky on a stone tower. Cady repeats the motion and rises to the same height on a pillar of her own.

“I used to be,” she says quietly. “But now I understand. Someone ruined your dreams, and now all you can do is ruin everyone else’s.”

Requiem scowls at her, and sends her tower even higher. Cady follows again. The air is getting a bit thin up here. Hopefully she won’t have to go any higher.

“We can create a better dream than this,” Cady pleads. “A better world. Don’t you see?” She snaps her fingers, and a makeshift bridge suddenly appears between each of their towers. Cady carefully walks halfway across it and reaches out a hand. “What do you say? Regina?”

Regina looks at her in shock for a moment, but slowly joins her on the bridge. She looks at her own hand, before inching it toward’s Cady’s.

Just before they touch, a creaking can be heard and the bridge gives way beneath them. Cady uses her day dreamer powers to sort of float, rushing quickly after Regina.

“Don’t let me fall!” Regina screams, covering her face so as not to see her rapidly approaching doom. Cady grabs her wrist and floats them gently to the dream lair.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Don’t ruin people’s dreams, Regina. Because you ruin your own, too. And then you’ll stop believing.”

Cady is suddenly tackled to the soft ground from behind. She screams, but looks up just in time to see Lavagirl before their lips are slammed together. Her warmth is back.

“Cady,” Lavagirl whispers against her lips. “I am light. Thank you.”

“You always were,” Cady replies, holding Lavagirl’s hips as she straddles her. “Nothing to do with me.”

Lavagirl kisses her again. “But now I know. So thank you.”

“Big deal,” Sharkboy teases. “The real news is what I am!”

“A pain in the ass?” Lavagirl asks, finally standing and helping Cady up.

“I’m king of the ocean!”

Cady giggles at their bickering.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for saving me,” Lavagirl says quietly, leaning in to kiss his cheek. There’s a quiet sizzle and flash of light when she makes contact.

“Ouch,” Sharkboy says, rubbing his cheek. At least he’s smiling.

“Everything will return to the way it was,” Regina says from behind them, joining the conversation. “You will be able to travel to Earth and back again as you wish.” She gestures to Sharkboy. “You can search for your mother.” To Lavagirl. “You can rule Earth’s lava realm.”

“And just what am I supposed to do?” Neverbury asks, appearing out of nowhere. “Now that you’re all… buddy buddy.”

“You can go back to being the good guardian of the planet,” Regina replies.

Neverbury cackles. “Oh, really? Keeping everything running? Making sure this loud, obnoxious world is a happy place?”

“Hey!” Cady says sadly.

“You’re dreaming.” Neverbury chuckles.

“I dreamt you,” Cady says boldly, letting go of Lavagirl’s hand and puffing out her chest at Neverbury. “And I can un-dream you.”

“You think you can just snap your eyes open and make me vanish?” Neverbury threatens. “Not so easy. I am the danger of dreaming. For every person who dreams up the lightbulb, there’s the one who dreams up the atom bomb. This is one dream you won’t be waking up from. I’m gonna put an end to this ridiculous tangent at it’s source.”

With that, she takes off towards Earth. Cady yelps and leaps out of the way. “Where did she go?”

“She’s headed to Earth,” Sharkboy says, tracking her on his radar.

“She’s going to try to destroy you in your sleep,” Regina says.

“In my sleep?” Cady asks quietly. “You mean I’m asleep?! All this time I’ve been asleep?!”

“No,” Lavagirl says calmly, coming over to her. “You’re dreaming, Cady.”

“With your eyes open,” Sharkboy adds.

“Make the dream real,” Lavagirl says, taking her hand again. “And you can live out your dreams on Earth. Just like you made us real.”

“Make it real,” Sharkboy commands gently. “You can do it.”

“Blink three times,” Lavagirl murmurs, gently cupping Cady’s face in her hot hands. “One.”

Cady listens. “Wait, but-“

“Two,” Sharkboy says. Cady blinks again.

“Will I ever see you again?”

Lavagirl kisses her one more time before letting her go. “Three.”

Cady blinks.

——

When she opens her eyes, she’s back on Earth, huddled under her desk in the science room. The teacher is trying to gather everyone to head to shelter from the storm, with the help of Ms. Norbury.

Ms. Norbury lifts the desk off of Cady. “Cady, get up! There’s a tornado heading our way!”

Cady scrambles to her feet and dusts herself off. “It’s not a tornado!” She yells over the gusts of the wind. “It’s worse!”

“Regina, wake up,” Ms. Norbury commands, tapping Regina at her desk. Regina snaps awake and winces at the large puddle of drool coating her desk. Gross.

Cady leads them to the gaping hole in the wall, created by Sharkboy and Lavagirl. That was a mere moment ago, but it feels like years. “Look!”

The tornado barreling towards them suddenly begins sparking, and Neverbury emerges from the cyclone before it dissipates into a simple thunderstorm.

“It’s Ms. Neverbury, from planet Drool! The one from my dreams!” Cady explains.

Ms. Norbury and the science teacher both look at it in confusion. “You mean… this is real? Your dreams are real?”

“Some dreams are so powerful they become real,” Cady says.

“I don’t believe it,” Ms. Norbury says.

“It’s literally right there!” Cady yells.

“No, yeah, I can see that!” Norbury replies. “What I can’t believe is… you dreamt me! As a big, round bad guy!”

“Sorry!” Cady says. “Kinda took on a life of its own!”

Ms. Norbury sighs before turning to the class, watching in horror as the storms grow again and Neverbury looms ominously just outside.

“Okay class, we’re just teachers,” Cady’s science teacher says. ���And we are here to inspire the answers in you! And there’s some damn good inspiration outside. So, this is now a pop quiz. We need to defeat that lady! Any ideas?!”

Regina raises her hand, surprising everyone.

“Wow, Regina. Yes?”

“I can take her,” Regina says boldly, running outside.

“No, you can’t!” Cady yells, grabbing her hand and pulling her back in. “Not by yourself. We need another idea.”

“No dumb ideas, come on,” Ms. Norbury says.

“Maybe we can freeze her circuits,” Regina suggests.

“That’s literally the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” Ms. Norbury replies. “We’re in Illinois in August. Next?”

“No, that might work!” Cady says. “Regina, where are your friends?”

“Gretchen and Karen?”

“Yeah, where are they?”

“Uh… English, I think?” Regina says with a shrug.

“Then come on!” Cady yells, grabbing her hand and hauling her out the door. The English wing is on the other side of the school.

“I am in heels!” Regina yells.

“Take them off, then! This is kind of an emergency!” Cady yells back, breaking ahead. Regina pauses to snatch her shoes off before barreling after her.

The teacher looks up in shock as a very disheveled Cady and Regina suddenly slam the door open. Cady points at them and pants, “We need… Gretchen and… and Karen.”

They already seem to have known this was coming, and stand to join them. Regina says, “Take off your shoes now, save yourselves. Just come on.”

When they make it back to the science room, Cady reaches into her pocket.

“Those jeans are horrific, by the way,” Regina says. Cady waves her off as she pulls out the crystal heart.

“Is this yours?” Cady asks, holding it up to show Gretchen and Karen. They both look at it and each other in shock.

“I’ve only seen it in my dreams,” Karen says quietly, gently running a finger over it.

“Me too,” Gretchen murmurs.

“It can freeze anything,” Cady murmurs, looping it gently around their intertwined hands and fastening it.

“Even time,” they both say at the same time before looking at each other with a small smile.

“Let them out,” Cady commands. Everyone parts like the Red Sea to make way for them to get outside. “Do you know what to do?”

“Yes,” they say. “Stand back.”

Cady watches with a smile as they approach Neverbury casually and each hold up a hand. They still hold each other with one, and fire a beam of ice at Neverbury with the other. Neverbury freezes solid, and then shatters. Snow begins to fall around them.

Everyone cheers and runs outside to play in the magical snow, except for Cady.

“You’ve made me a great teacher today, Cady,” Ms. Norbury says.

“How did I do that?” Cady asks. “I punched a hole in the school.”

“A good teacher learns as much from her students as they learn from her,” Ms. Norbury explains. “You’ve awakened something in me. That being said, I’m going to start looking into a different career.”

“I don’t blame you,” Cady chuckles, before Ms. Norbury pushes her outside to join her peers. Cady heads out aimlessly, not really knowing who to join. Until she sees Sharkboy and Lavagirl standing with her parents. “Sharkboy! Lavagirl!”

“Hey!” They both say. Lavagirl catches Cady as she barrels into her and slams their lips together.

“Oh, um…” Cady says sheepishly when they break apart. “Mom, Dad, I’m bi.”

“After today, we’re just glad you’re alive,” her dad chuckles, ruffling her hair. Cady throws her arms around both of them, and smiles as they squeeze her tightly. They feel like a family for the first time in years.

—————-

epilogue

“The following story is true,” Cady begins. “It may have began as a dream, but as we all saw last month, when you let your dreams become reality, reality becomes a dream.

“Sharkboy and Lavagirl both live here now. Sharkboy rules the ocean as king, and is searching for his mother. He says his instincts tell him he’s getting closer every second, so he’ll find her soon. And Lavagirl lives with me. We just have to keep the heat on max.”

That gets a chuckle from everyone.

“She gets to live her dream too, don’t worry. She rules all of Earth’s volcanos, a source of light and life for all of us. Just from a distance. So… so she can be with me. My advice to you all is… dream your best dreams. Then work to make them real.”

The end.

---

hope you enjoyed!

I'm sorry it wasn't the most romantic, but i did my best to make it fit with the story. we'll be back on earth next week :))

thanks for reading!

lots of love,

ezzy

[yikesharringrove]

Hi! Could you please write about Billy having PTSD/issues with panic at school like having a PTSD episode in class or basketball and Steve helping him get somewhere private and helping him calm him down and having dad Hopper pick him up?

Read on ao3!

The Hawkins police force was surprisingly, well, good.

For small town cops who mainly sat around snarking and smoking, they caught on to the violence in the Hargrove-Mayfield home fast.

Billy was in town no longer than a month before his dad was being placed into custody. He supposed it may have had something to do with a little redhead spitfire and a police chief who spent a few nights a year fighting monsters with the best of ‘em.

But nevertheless, it took a few home visits and one instance of Claudia Henderson witnessing Neil slap Billy in the parking lot behind the gas station for Neil to get arrested.

The rub was, Billy was still a minor, and Hopper didn’t really know if Susan could handle this boy, this 5′10″ ball of muscle and rage.

So he took the kid in.

He had experience in angry kids who were abused their wholes lives, who knew nothing but hurt. So he cleaned out the spare room in the cabin, helped Billy move his few duffle bags in there, his weight racks, his two boxes, just barely unpacked only for him to be moved again.

The first few days, Billy was quiet.

Didn’t really talk to him or El, mostly kept to his room. Not that Hopper didn’t try, it was difficult. El was easy to coax out, with the promise of some Eggos, she’d be wide-eyed and in the kitchen, nearly plastering herself to Hopper’s back as she followed him around, the hungriest little shadow.

Billy would smile tightly at Hop, obviously not trusting his huge stature.

When Billy had moved in, he and El had a talk. They were both going to try their best not to yell, to make loud noises, sudden moves. Hop had seen Billy flinch at cabinet doors being shut too hard, a beer can being crushed. Hop tried his best not to touch the kid without warning after one such incident when he reached out to clap him on the shoulder. Billy had squeezed his eyes shut, his chest heaving, braced for a blow.

El infiltrated before he did.

She asked Billy to help her with her reading. Noticed Billy was always flying through new library books, could demolish books in one sitting. He helped her with word definitions, vocabulary. Hop even came home one night to hear Billy in El’s room, reading to her softly.

Billy became fiercely protective of El very quickly after that. He had asked Hopper about her past, heard about her coming from the lab in general terms from Harrington, but Hop was candid, told him about the abuse, solitary confinement, the forced killing. Billy hardly left her side after that.

That’s another thing that came with Billy; the Harrington brat.

Apparently, at some point in the tunnels, the two had set aside their differences, had become friends even, good enough friends for Hop to come home to find the Harrington brat on his couch, braiding El’s hair, laughing at the television.

Turned out he wasn’t much of a brat as he once had been. Hop figured a brush with The Upside Down could straighten out even the shittiest kid, the kid that would mouth off to Hopper when he found him and his friends doing illegal shit at the quarry, throwing parties and getting into fights.

He now would just kinda, be there. He and Billy would talk quietly to one another, Hop once overheard actual giggles coming from behind Billy’s closed door one night.

And then El decided she liked him too, so it was a done deal.

Hop wasn’t sold on Harrington until December.

Neil’s trial was coming down the pipeline. He had been in custody for some minor charges, but the trial was for the long-term abuse he had been doling out to Billy.

So Billy had to testify. And Billy was a wreck about it.

Hop noticed him drawing into himself as the date came closer and closer. He would lash out sometimes too. Never at him or El or Harrington, but sometimes he would be doing homework and get tripped up a little and throw the textbook, swearing up a storm. He would listen to louder and louder music, would lift weights and chain smoke like nobody Hopper had ever seen.

The most explanation he got was when he heard Billy in his room with Harrington, talking softly through the door about the trial. He heard Harrington tell Billy he was proud of him for standing up, that he was strong. Hop smiled, and agreed with Harrington silently, moving on to plant himself on the couch for a while, the television loud enough he couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation (or when it dissolved into breathy moans).

But Harrington proved himself to Hop the next Wednesday.

It was only three days to the trial. Billy was shaky at best. Steve had been over most nights, had been talking him through his testimonials, practicing with him. When it would be too much for Billy he would coo praise into his hair before distracting him nicely.

But Billy was sitting in class, in his AP Chem lab to be exact, when someone dropped their textbook. The big monster made a loud smacking thud on the tile floor and billy was off.

His breathing was shallow, coming in too rapidly to fill his lungs. He fled the class, ignoring the teacher shouting his name as he all but ran.

He was so lucky to find Steve wandering the halls, swinging the hall pass on his finger as he avoided his English class. He grinned when he saw Billy, the smile giving way to concern when he noticed Billy’s wide eyes, the way his hands shook.

He pulled Billy into the library, shutting the blinds on the study room, the one they designated as theirs after a few too many panic attacks.

Steve could smell a bad one a mile away. He got Billy sitting, planted himself on the table in front of him, careful not to touch, and just, talked.

Billy had told him once that he liked it when Steve just made noise. It gave him something to focus on. Steve would keep his voice soft, delicate, and just rambled on, explaining the plot of some movie Billy didn’t care about in extreme detail. Billy was able to just focus on the sound of his voice, was able to focus on the overwhelming safety he felt when he thought Steve.

It took Steve until the end of the period to get Billy calm enough to head out, collecting Billy’s things from the lab, explaining to the teacher with his most charming smile that billy had fallen ill, a terrible flu causing him to run out and spew in the nearest restroom.

He checked back in with Billy before asking the sweet librarian if he could use the phone, gave her his big eyes and most I am the sweetest boy in the whole world smile he could muster.

He asked for Hopper when the tired secretary picked up with Hawkins Police, how may I direct your call?

Hopper sounded gruff on the phone, chided him for skipping class when Steve said hey Chief, it’s Steve. But he went silent at the mention of Billy’s name. When panic attack and bad one and library cut through, Hop was off the phone and in his truck, sirens on, speeding towards his kid.

He didn’t bother stopping at the office. He was Chief of fucking Police, he didn’t need to check-in or whatever. He found the library quickly, explaining to the woman at the circuit desk that his kid’s friend had called him, that his son was sick.

He checked every study room, opening the doors slowly after a few soft taps, knew sometimes Billy got tense when the doors flew open.

He found them in the last one, the shades on the window drawn. Harrington was perched on the table, talking softly to Billy, stroking through his hair.

Billy was sitting in a chair, his face planted onto Harrington’s leg as he shook. Harrington smiled a little at Hop, just kept talking, kept running his fingers through the curly hair.

“Hey, Kid. I’m gonna check you out for the week. When you’re ready, we can go home.” He hesitated when he moved to put his hand on Billy’s shoulder. Harrington took his wrist, moved Hop’s hand up, gently set his on Billy’s head, replacing where his had been skirting through Billy’s hair.

Hop just set it there gently for a second, giving Steve a thankful smile before pulling back, checking both boys out of school for the week. Figured if Billy was gonna sit tense at home, it may be easier for him if his best friend was there, his best friend that obviously knew exactly what Billy needed in his moments.

So he took them both back to the cabin, let Steve get Billy set up on the couch under a few blankets, sat with them on the armchair through a few episodes of some cartoon none of them were paying much attention to, El sitting on the floor, leaned against Billy’s legs.

Steve hadn’t stopped touching Billy once since Hop had seen them. He was holding Billy’s hand now, his thumb gently rubbing Billy’s skin.

They ate dinner together, Steve chattering away like he did, although he looked a little harder now. What he once thought was a nervous tick on Harrington’s part, was obviously helpful for Billy who would throw Steve looks through his lashes, would stare at him like he hung the stars in the fucking sky.

That was the first moment he realized why the kids called Steve their mom, he took care of people, had been taking care of Billy right under Hop’s nose.

He cornered Steve after Billy went to bed. Offered him a smoke on the porch.

“Kid, tell me about Billy. How do you help him like you do? He doesn’t trust me, which I understand, but if he continues not, then I can’t do shit for him.”

“I mean,  he does trust you. He just hasn’t figured you out yet. With his dad, he knew he was angry just from the way he would breathe. He doesn’t quite know what you’re about, if you’re gonna be mad at him for the same shit his dad always was. If he breaks a glass, are you gonna slap him or make sure he didn’t hurt himself? He’s weary. Doesn’t wanna test your limits.”

“But, he knows I wouldn’t hit him, right?”

“He doesn’t know that. The only father he’s ever had slapped him around his whole life, Chief. Now he has you, and you may not have given him a reason to be freaked, but he’s defensive, careful. Doesn’t wanna give you a reason.” He took a drag, making a face at the cigarette. Hop smoked strong stuff, the menthols Steve kept behind his ear were mainly just for show.

“But, if he’s, you know, like he was, how do I help.”

“He likes noise. The first time he had one in front of me, I started nervously talking and doing the dishes and he called it my benign chatter or something. He said he just focuses on the sound of me and because the noise is connected to someone that’s, safe, he feels safe.”

“But, if he doesn’t feel safe with me, how does that work?”

“He feels good with El, maybe she could practice reading aloud to him, or something until he’s there with you.”

“Okay, that could work.”

“And you can’t touch him until he’s ready. He’ll freak if you lay a hand on him. I was sitting there for a long time, but once he put his head on me, that means he wants touch, just soft. He likes his hair being touched a lot.” Hop huffed a bit of a laugh.

“He’s like a scared cat. Exactly like a scared cat.” Steve laughed too.

“It took me a while to figure this shit out, Chief. You’ll get there. He just doesn’t know where he stands a lot of the time. Kinda sees the worst in people. Makes sense, though.” He stamped out the barely smoked cigarette.

“You’re a good kid. Kinda had it out for ya for a while there. But I’m glad he’s got a friend like you.” Steve’s smile was really, odd. He wouldn’t look Hop in the eye, but then again, the kid could never hold eye contact for long. Hop kinda got the feeling Billy wasn’t the only one with some father issues.

“Uh, thanks, Chief. I should, uh, I should get home I guess. I’ll tell Bill I’m going.”

Hop stayed on the porch, mulling over what Steve had said.

Steve headed inside, kissed Billy goodnight and promised to be over tomorrow, pulled on one of Billy’s jackets and leaned over, muttering at him you’re safe here, Bill before giving him one more kiss.

Hop came home early the next few days, always walking in to find Billy and Steve pressed against one another on the couch, El usually pressed to Billy’s other side while they all watched t.v.

Steve waited outside the courthouse during the trial, hugged Billy tight when he came racing out, whooping and yelling the bastard’s goin’ to the slammer, Pretty Boy!

They all ate ice cream for dinner, the rest of the brats celebrating along with Max. Billy even hugged Hopper, briefly and with one arm, and went right back to Steve’s side after, but it was a start, and Hopper liked where this was leading.

[a-reasonforthoughts]

My thoughts on the Rise of Skywalker, because quarantine forced me to finally watch it. !!!!Spoilers!!!!!

Growing up, Star Wars was my childhood. My sisters and I read all the books (including the comics) and we packed the Essential Guides with us everywhere. Because for our deep love of the Extended universe, when the last few movies came out we had... mixed emotions. I didn’t even see the last movie when it came out after hearing some less than stellar reviews. So here’s my review, or rather my reactions to the Rise of Skywalker. (Yes, I actually sat down with paper and pen and watched this movie.) Title craw: The DIABOLICAL First Order.

‘The Emperor has returned.’ Wow, the are expecting us to go along with a lot aren’t they.

Cool. Kylo wrecking everything.

Yay, a planet that isn’t snow, desert, or forest. Hold on tight kids, they’re throwing us right into this one. We’re already at Palpatine’s house.   Ew. Whats with the tank?

Whoa eyes! What’s up with his lips? Can someone bring this fossil a drink?

Imperial March playing while a Star Destroyer rises in the back ground. Is this Vader’s old ship? Rey is “Not who we thought she is.” Thought she was “Nothing”?

Ew, what is Klaud, and why is he here?

Who are all these people on the Falcon? “How do we thank you?” “Win the war.” aren’t you all on the same team? Why do you need to thank him? Cool, another planet thats not snow, desert, or a forest. Never mind.

Oh great, Rey’s here.  Looks like the Lightsaber is fixed.  I know the names of a bunch of these plants! When Luke was training with the ball thing (Training remote) he was just trying to deflect the shots. Rey’s trying to take down the whole forest. 

You sure you want to destroy that thing Rey? There can’t be to many of them laying around Who are all these people? Why’s the Falcon on FIRE?! Since when is “Light-speed skip” a thing? Seriously. Who are all these people? I thought after the last movie there was only like, 10 of them left. Hey! It’s Merry from Lord of the Rings!

What’s this old orange doing here?

“Sith Way-finder” Sigh. Are Poe and Rey a “thing”? Are Finn and Rey a “thing”? Why’s everyone here but R2? There he is. Why did they not bring him?!

Now I’m watching a Planet of the Apes crossover.

That guy who was on the same team is dead now. His blood is clear so the rating doesn't go up. Well, Hux is certainly different.

Someone must have taken his hair gel because his hair was never this poofy before.   Is this a Holi Festival, or Burning man.

Why are we learning the name of this random kid? Rey just walked away from her, what was that? Yay! The force link is still there!

Kylo is giving off stalker vibes. It’s nice to see him growing into his role of Supreme Leader. Looks like everyone hates him. Wait- Who is this guy?! Why are they following a stranger!

It’s LANDO Oh, so Rey know’s who Lando is, but thought Luke was a myth. Makes sense. Boom. First order is here.

Lando: “My flying days are over.” Why? “Give Leia my love.” Ew.  Wait, why is Lando out here? Did Luke just leave him? He said he came here with him. Has the emotional issues of being abandoned by Luke led him to never fly again? Is this a parallel story to Rey’s abandonment? What’s the motive here movie!  They made it even harder for these Storm Troopers to see out of those helmets.

3PO is getting a lot of lines. Rey *is distracted* Ship *Blows up*  Now they have sinking sand. WAS THAT ALMOST A CONFESSION?! This guy just says, “The Falcon is not responding.” when asked, and they’re like “Don’t be such a downer!” Oh yay, they survived.  Kay, we’re just brushing over Finn’s almost confession. I’m sure they’ll come back to that later. *Cough* Okay, that flashlight bit was funny. 

How do you know that’s the guy you’re looking for? That could be anybody’s skeleton! How’d they find a knife that neither Luke, or Lando (who might have been here for 20 years) could find!  Rey’s making friend’s with the basilisk.

She just transferred some of her life force to the snake! Why!? This old ship they found in the desert still works. “Chewie, tell Rey we got to go!” Why can’t you do it? You’re not doing anything. Axe. Here comes lover boy.  How to Breathe, the movie, by Rey.

Trailer shot.

Was he just gonna run her over?

Cool, she’s pulling the ship out of the sky. Uh oh, helmet’s off, there goes her focus.

Now they’re playing tug-a-war with the ship. It’s the light saber fight all over again.  Whoa!!! She juST LIGHTING’D THE SHIP! Kylo Looked freaked out for a second! She just told Finn she had a vision of her and Kylo together, and he looks like he’s gonna cry. 3PO tells them how horrible and dangerous it is to override a droid’s programming. “Let’s do that!” That droid looks like a yoga wheel and a hairdryer. 

Rey to the new droid: “Someone treated him badly. It’s alright, you’re with us now.” Yeah, just don’t watch what we’re about to do to this other droid.

Looks like we’re adding another girl to this love triangle (hexagon?) She’s not supposed to be a Mandalorian is she. (So help me-) I hate you and I’m going to turn you in *Hit’s her over the head and pulls out a lightsaber* Okay, lets go.

Why they so mad at Poe for being a smuggler?  Wow. They are forcing C-3PO to do this. Backup his memory to the hairdryer! It’s got to have a reason for being here! C-3PO “Oh! I just had an idea of something else we could try-” ZAP!  ...Was that supposed to be funny? These writers need to learn what humor is, and when to use it. Why are we focusing on Poe and his old girlfriend the Power Ranger? Wah! What’s up with 3PO’s eye’s? Is he a Sith droid now? Why does he have that function?!

Rey, you’re boyfriend’s here. They wiped 3PO’s memory and he doesn’t know who anyone is, but he’s still polite. Poe angrily points “That’s gonna be a problem!” Our heroes ladies and gentleman. I hope the First Order just blast them. That Admiral’s badge just let them in? Like no one reported that missing?? Wiped 3PO’s memory and they’re getting the dagger anyway. Worst rescue ever. 

Vaders Helmet has had a hard life. Rey has a vision in every scene she's in.

More ‘Rey’s family history’ with Kylo “Tell me where you are,” She’s in your room dude.

R.IP. Vader Helmet

That Stormtrooper behind Kylo must be so confused.  *Sees helmet, breaks link*  “She’s in my quarters!” Told you so. Why is Hux the spy? When did this happen? What does he think the outcome of this will be?

3PO just wandering the halls with a crossbow. 

“You are a Palpatine.” Wanna be a Solo? Is this like his fourth proposal? OooooOOOOooo, that was cool! Kylo standing in the blast of the Falcon’s engines was a moment we needed!

Yikes! They took out Hux fast! They didn’t want to question him or anything? No?

The Death Star was blasted to smithereens, why is it here? How is it here?

They made that dagger to line up with the wreckage? I’m pretty sure things that are constantly beat by the ocean will move or erode over time. Who even made that? What was the purpose?!

Yay, another scavenger  Who’s also a ex-Stormtrooper, because why not.

That’s a horse covered in a rug. Rey’s out trying to kill herself again.

“There’s another Skimmer!” Wonder who that is. He is literally following her to the ends of the galaxy. 

Wait- The throne rooms still in one piece?! The chair and everything?!!! Dark Rey- YIKES! TEETH

I thought he stopped the holocron with his foot, I was really surprised when fingers formed and he picked it up.

Kylo acting so cool as she’s trying to slash him to ribbons. I see Merry again! Wait- What’s Leia got to do? And why does Maz know? They’ve never explained what this strange orange is and what she can do.

Finn’s in deep- Wait how'd he get out here?????

Leia don’t distract your son while he’s fighting for his life!

SEE!!!!!!!

“I wanted to take your hand. Ben’s hand.” You think he’s going to leave you alone after that?

Why is Rey just a total mess in every movie.

Chewie mourning Leia is a good touch. It’s nice to see the reaction of someone who ACTUALLY knew her.  Whoa! They got Harrison Ford to come back! That must have taken a lot of bribery (or blackmail).

Has almost dying given Kylo/Ben the power to see non-Force user ghost, or is he just going nuts? So this is just a rehash of Han’s death scene. 

Aw, he called him Dad- Hey don’t throw that away, you need that!

He’s nuts. Those red helmets look stupid. Aaaaand it’s the Death Star again Merry in the background! Why’d they make Poe the General? Lando finally got off that planet 

“General.” “General.” She’s burning his ship. Good luck Kylo/Ben.

You know how hot that fire has got to be to burn metal “A Jedi weapon should be treated with more respect.” You brat.

Why did he have Leia’s lightsaber here? “...it would be picked up again, by someone who would finish her journey.” Oooookay, but why not just have her take Luke’s old Saber? It’s gotta be laying around here somewhere.

I know it’s symbolic and all that he’s raising the x-wing, but there’s no way that thing still works.

Alright, 3PO’s memories are back. Why’d we have to go through all that? I spy Merry again! How does Poe know all this stuff about Exogol? He’s just a fountain of information over here!

“Now we take the war to them!” That’s literally what you’ve done every movie ever No one is questioning how Lando got here. Isn’t this a secret base? *Dr. Evil voice* ONE MILLION STAR DESTROYERS 

Who even wrote this story line? Finn’s going with his gut and everyones just going along with it. Not like you could all die or anything. They brought the rug horses with them

How are they breathing in space!? Those red troopers still look stupid.

What’s this crowd chanting? Are they speaking Parseltoungue?  “I never wanted you dead.” That’s why I told Kylo Ren to kill you.

Hang on- his plan is ‘You be the empress, and I’ll just possess you. Grandaughter.’  EW. Why would she want that? How is that a tempting offer? Someone’s gone senile. Direct quote: “I got to go do something!” “I’m coming with you!” Why do these people get attached so quickly?! 

“Luke was saved by his father. The only family you have here is me.” Yeah, but I got a boyfriend who follows me everywhere!

Ben runs and jumps: “Ow.” We finally get to see the Knight’s of Ren in action! (Where have they been this whole time?) “Once you kill me I shall become apart of you!” So she could just, not kill him. Right? Oh yeah, here we go, now we got a showdown!

Well, that was anticlimactic 

WHAT IS HAPPENING Poe just realized he's the worst General ever.

YO. Don’t tell your troops there is no hope! What is wrong with you??? Why isn't Lando the General? He is a lot more qualified!!!

Wait a minute!! Where were all these people when LEIA ORGANA called for help????

Wedge Antilles!!!!!! So all the life force sucking was just so Palpatine could up grade his outfit? *Flings Ben into a pit* Palpatine is so done with the Skywalkers Hey, I know these voices!!!! Aaaaand now he wants to kill her. So whats our big moment? TWO lightsabers! 

Why did the make that the big epic moment? Why didn’t they have Ben run over and they do it together- It would have been perfect for his story arch! Rey: “And we” Together: “are all the Jedi!” Now she's dying. Why? Not even the writers know So Finn’s Force sensitive. Cool I guess? This is a really touching moment for them, even more so if they did anything other than fight this entire movie!

This kinda feels out of nowhere

I’M SO MAD RIGHT NOW

NOW SHE’S SMILING AND FINE. HE JUST DIED Merry’s here again and I can’t even be happy about it Now Finn has to chose between Rose and the new girl  Poe’s trying to start something with his Power Ranger old flame, and she's like “Not a chance.” Now everything’s all happy like BEN DIDN’T JUST DIE. ARE WE NOT GOING TO ADDRESS THIS?????????? Oh hey, it’s the Lars farm. Nobody else moved in after all these years? Now she's burying the Skywalker lightsabers in the place they all hated.

WHY IS BEN NOT HERE!!!!!!! HE WAS A MAIN CHARACTER FOR THESE MOVIES AND THEY DID HIM DIRTY!!!!!!

Well I guess they had to wrap this mess up somehow

[ificanthaveu]

Senior Year, Third Wheels and #55 || The DropBack || Shawn Mendes

Description: you attend the first football game of the year, wearing your brother’s old jersey, realizing that a transfer student now has that number

A/N: Welcome to part 1 of The DropBack! This was supposed to be just a onetime thing, but when I was writing it, I really felt that it could open up to a series so I outlined the whole thing and decided to make it happen! Go, Dani!! Sorry part one was a little late but this week has been HECTIC

Word Count: 2k

The DropBack Masterlist

It felt like you had been looking forward to your senior year since you stepped foot into James Monroe High School on the first day of your freshman year. And here you were, the end of the first week of your senior year, and you felt like you were on top of the world.

Sure, you were stressed 90% of the time with college applications and AP classes, but there were still some rare moments where you didn’t feel any of that.

This was one of those moments.

You were sitting on the floor of your best friend’s bathroom as she French braided your hair into two braids. You laughed along with your other friends as they did their makeup and got dressed for the football game. Everyone was decked out in green and white for Monroe High’s colors. Numbers of friends and boyfriends on the team were written on your friends’ cheeks, and green glitter seemed to be everywhere in Elsie’s bright white bathroom.

You stood up once she was finished and grabbed the green jersey that was hanging next to you. You slipped it over your head, and it reached just above your knees, covering the spandex you were wearing. 

You adjusted it and glanced at the back in the mirror. Your last name was written in classic white block lettering across the back with 55, your brother’s old number, underneath it. He had graduated two years ago and was a constant and favorite on Monroe’s football team. So you gladly wore his old jersey on occasions like this. As far as you knew, no one had the number last year, so hopefully, this year would be the same. 

You packed into your car and drove over to the game. Elsie gladly took over as DJ and blasted the playlist she made at full volume. 

Like always, you were almost late as you and your friends jogged to the stands where the rest of your school cheered as the ball was kicked off. 

You squeezed towards the middle and tried to get towards the front, so you could watch the action. 

Elsie was shoulder to shoulder with you as you gripped onto the railing in front of you, cheering with the rest of the student body as your school scored the first touchdown of the season within the first two minutes of the game. 

“That was number fifty-five, Shawn Mendes!” The announcer’s voice boomed. Your jaw dropped as you glanced down at your own jersey and over to the unknown man celebrating in the endzone.

Elsie looked over at you and laughed.

“I thought no one had your brother’s number?” She questioned. You shook your head and stood on your tiptoes to get a better look at this player whom you had never heard of.

You couldn’t see him well. The only thing you saw was “Mendes” written across his jersey, and of course, the same number you were wearing across his back. You’d never heard the name before, so you thought maybe he was a freshman who was good enough to make varsity. His height and talent said otherwise. There was no way he was 14. 

“Have you heard of him?” You ask Elsie as she pulls up the roster on her phone. She hands it over to you as you read his stats. He was a senior. Eighteen-years-old and 6’2”. 

“I don’t know, but he’s definitely a senior. Must have transferred,” she said as she took her phone back from you. “We’ll quiz Matthew about him after the game.”

For the rest of the night, your eyes were glued to him. He was a phenomenal player. You knew enough about football since you practically grew up at a field because of your brother. He scored two more touchdowns that night. He was untouchable. 

He didn’t take off his helmet the entire time, as many of the other players, but you still hoped. The final buzzer went off as everyone cheered since your team won by a landslide. Everyone streamed out of the bleachers as quickly as they could. Some people made their way to their cars while others waited for the team to walk by so they could congratulate them or just say hi to their friends.

You and Elsie waited near the exit, so she could see her boyfriend Matthew before you left back to her house for the night. You waited a few minutes before the players started making their way through. 

Elsie jumped into Matthew’s arms, and you just gave him a high five. You’d only known Elsie for two years since she transferred to Monroe in the middle of your sophomore year, but you’d known Matthew since sixth grade. The two of you had always been close, so naturally, he and Elsie met because of you. You take full responsibility for the two of them being together since the beginning of your junior year. 

Elsie finally let go of him and the three of you talked about the game, congratulating Matthew on his interception.

“Hey, who’s fifty-five?” Elsie finally asked. Matthew’s face practically lit up.

“Mendes! He’s fantastic,” Matthew said like he was practically in love with him. “He just transferred here since his family moved. He’s phenomenal. He’ll for sure play in college.”

“Ok, cool, but personality-wise, looks-wise, how is he?” Elsie pried. Matthew looked at her with a questioning look before continuing.

“He’s super nice. Gets along with everyone. He hasn’t really made any close friends yet since he’s only lived here for two months. I don’t know if I’m the best person to ask about looks, but I guess he looks good?” Elsie patted his arm to subtly cut him off. Matthew finally glanced over at you and put two and two together.

“He has your brother’s number!” You didn’t respond and just rolled your eyes and looked away.

As if on cue, you saw the number fifty-five a little ways away from you. You elbowed Elsie and pointed to him. 

You both looked up at the same time, and you probably both had the same look on your faces.

“Oh, man, is he gorgeous,” Elsie said quietly enough, so Matthew wouldn’t hear her and get offended.

“My God, how have I not seen him since class started? I’d remember a face like that.”

“And those arms!”

You both watched him laugh at something, you were assuming, his parents’ said to him. He hugged them goodbye and stood alone for a while, looking around, clearly not knowing anyone enough to go say hello to.

“Go talk to him,” Elsie said as she subtly pushed you towards him.

“Yeah, do it!” Matthew encouraged, always going along with what Elsie said, especially if it was at your expense. 

“Hell no!” You said as you took a step back.

“Mendes!” Matthew yelled before you had a chance to stop him. You turned around and grabbed his arm with all the force you had, being half his size, and gave him a dirty look. Elsie grabbed your other arm, so you couldn’t make a quick escape.

Shawn walked up to your group with a smile on his face and high fived Matthew. The two launched into conversation about Shawn’s touchdowns and Matthew’s interception. Shawn finally noticed the two of you standing there and turned towards you.

“This is Elsie, my girlfriend,” Matthew said as he pointed towards Elsie. 

“I’ve heard so much about you. I swear Matthew never shuts up about you,” Shawn said in the most polite way possible. He glanced at you next, the smile not leaving his face.

“Hi, I’m [Y/N], and I’ll be repping you all season,” you said as casually as you could with a hint of laughter in your voice. He gave you a questioning look before noticing the number on your chest. Before he could say anything, you spoke up again.

“My brother played a few years ago, and this is his old jersey,” you said as you pulled at loose strings coming off the bottom of the jersey. 

“[Y/L/N]?” He questioned. 

“Yeah, that’s me - or my brother, well, both of us,” you said.

“Coach mentioned him to me before. He’s playing for USC right?” He said with a genuine interest.

You were shocked he knew anything about your brother. Sure, your classmates did because you were sophomores when he was a senior, but Shawn was new. 

“Yeah, Elsie and I are actually going to the first game next weekend,” you said. 

“I’m going, too. Even though [Y/N] never really wants me to,” he said as he slung his arm around your shoulder. You shrugged it off quickly before you could smell the sweat.

You looked over at Shawn, and he laughed.

“I mean, he gets annoying,” you whispered. Shawn nodded his head and leaned closer to you and faced the opposite direction of Elsie and Matthew as you followed suit. 

“Yeah, I know. If I have to hear him talk about Elsie one more time, I might throw up,” he said as the two of you were now shoulder to shoulder, whispering in each other’s ears, facing the field as it cleared out.

“I completely understand. Either he’s always around, or Elsie is talking about him. I don’t get a break,” you whispered back.

Matthew and Elsie watched you from a few feet away as the two of you talked, occasionally giving each other a look.

“So, you’re third-wheeling them at your own brother’s game?” He said with a look of disgust on his face. You couldn’t help but laugh at his expression

“Yeah, but I’m used to it. Matthew insists that he’s the actual third wheel, and Elsie says she feels like she is too sometimes since I’ve known him longer than I’ve known her. We work well together,” you said as you shrugged your shoulders. You glanced over at the two of them as Elsie gave you a look. You knew exactly what she was trying to tell you.

“Hey, you should come with next Saturday. You’d save me a lot of pain and keep me company in the back seat of Matthew’s car,” you said as you looked up at him with a hopeful smile. 

His face lit up at your request. 

“I’d love to keep you company in the back seat. Thanks for inviting me,” he said as he looked away for a moment as a blush crept up on his cheeks that you could just barely see from the field lights.

“No, thank you for sparing me a two-hour car ride where they usually forget I exist,” you said through a laugh paired with a sarcastic smile. 

“We should get going,” Matthew said as he seemingly came out of nowhere and clapped his hand on Shawn’s back. Shawn nodded over at him and started turning around.

“I’ll see you Saturday, [Y/L/N],” he said with that damn smile again. 

“You know you can call me [Y/N],” you said as you folded your arms across your chest shifting your weight onto one leg.

He gave you a look before shaking his head.

“No thanks. Bye, [Y/L/N],” he said over his shoulder.

“See ya, Mendes,” you said. “If you wear UCLA colors on Saturday, you’re uninvited!” You yelled after him. 

He glanced back at you and winked, walking backward, so he could still see you.

“Would never want to offend you, [Y/L/N],” he yelled as he held his arms out with a cocky smile on his face. You shook your head at him as he smiled one last time and turned back around to catch up to Matthew. 

You couldn’t wipe the smile off your face as Elsie came up next to you, and the two of you began walking back to your car. 

“Inviting someone you just met to your brother’s game? Who are you?” Elsie said as she bumped her hip against yours. You shook your head slightly as you looked over at her. 

“I’ve got a good feeling about this one.”

Part 2: Car Rides, Middle School and Older Brothers coming next Sunday!

tags: @peacedolantwins2 @shawn-youth @t-holland2080 @innocentb3an  

(let me know if you want to be added to my taglist for the dropback!)

[baroquebucky]

chemistry

part 1

A/N: okay so this is the first real part of my new series :D let me know what you guys think <3 it’s kinda slow but i promise it’ll get better !!!! also i know there’s like not much about the schools programs in the movie but just imagine that they have a vet program lmao thank u :-)

You shuffled around your backpack looking for your dialectical journal, quickly scribbling your name on it and handing it to your AP lang teacher with a smile as she collected them.

“i hope you enjoy midtown tech ms. Parks” she smiled at you and you gave her a soft thank you as the bell rang. You gathered your things and swung your backpack over your shoulder, heading to the area sami had pointed for you to wait for her earlier that morning.

As you looked over the sea of people you saw the unfamiliar yet familiar curly brown hair you had set your eyes on earlier, you glanced at his face and quickly checked him out as he walked through the halls, weaving through the many teens talking and crowding the halls. Before you could fall head over heels for the stranger you saw sami walking quickly your way, eager to see what you had thought so far.

“i mean yeah it’s pretty good so far, nothing much has happened” you smiled biting into your pizza, half paying attention to what your friend was saying and half glancing to see if the curly stranger had A lunch too.

“okay either you’re thinking about something much more important or suddenly you think my analysis of parks and rec is boring” sami spoke, looking at you with such seriousness you let out a small laugh.

“you know i love your episode by episode review sam” you smiled, sipping your water and hoping to avoid the subject of a crush with sami, because once she envisioned a pair of people together, not even the national guard could stop her.

“I know you do, so why weren’t you paying attention to it” she spoke, quirking her eyebrow out as you leaned your head back and groaned at her persistence. “I just saw this cute boy and i just can’t get him off my mind it’s nothing” you shrugged, shoving a spoonful of your fruit cup in your mouth.

“oh my god y/n finally i can get some work done!” She shouted causing you to choke at her sudden outburst. You swapped the fruit quickly and began coughing, immediately downing water and starting to laugh.

“jesus christ sami i almost choked calm down” you laughed as she pulled her phone out and went to Instagram. “What’s his name?” She asked not even looking up at you and you rolled your eyes.

“I don’t know i just saw him for like three seconds before you blocked my view of him” you smirked at her, knowing he dreams of playing matchmaker were gone. “I’ll find him, what kind of hair did he have? What was he wearing?” She asked quickly.

“uh curly hair, brown curly hair and brown eyes, a grey jacket i think” you shrugged finishing your lunch before throwing it away and sitting back down. Sami groaned as you gave her your vague answers. “I’ll find him” she mumbled as you both walked out of the cafeteria.

You looked at your wrinkled paper, searching the halls for your 4th period, art. You found the art room after taking two wrong turns and having to walk the entirety of the second floor because you were too scared to turn around.

“For your first art project of the year i want you guys to draw or paint a place you like, it can be your home, a safe space or just somewhere in the world” the teacher spoke, explaining the project that would ease you into the year.

As the bell rang once more you headed to an outside building for your small animal management class, then you headed back inside for your pre calculus class. You sighed walking through the halls, pulling out your wrinkled schedule once more and walking downstrairs again to look for your AP chemistry class.

You scanned the walls for the matching room number and you were met with your new chemistry teacher as you approached the door.

“hi what’s your name?” She smiled at you holding out a clipboard. “Y/N parks” you smiled at her, fiddling with your lanyard. “Ah yes, go ahead and sit wherever you’d like, i don’t have a seating chart yet” you thanked her and took a seat near the middle of the class.

You watched as more kids pounded into the room, your eyes searching for Sami, you were giddy just thinking about having a class with her. You smiled widely as she walked into the room, taking a seat beside you.

You were so engrossed in your conversation you didn’t see the boy with the brown curls walk in. The teacher closed the door and smiled at the class, welcoming you all and giving you a syllabus. That’s when you saw him.

Four columns over and two seats ahead of you, sat the cute boy with the curly hair you had been thinking of all day. “That’s him!” You whispered to sami as you unsubtly pointed in the boys direction as you took out an empty spiral notebook. “Oh my god that’s peter parker! You have a crush on him?” Sami laughed a little and you blushed.

“I mean look at him he’s so cute! And he must be smart, i mean AP chem isn’t for everyone” you smiled, wanting to get sami off your case. She only shrugged and put the syllabus you handed her into her binder. As the class ended you and sami both walked out, heading to your final class which you had together as well, orchestra.

It didn’t take you long to realize that peter and his friend, Ned, were walking behind you two, talking about something in Star Wars. “sami hes behind us holy shit” you whispered, smiling widely at your friend, following her to the orchestra room.

“Oh yeah i forgot to mention he’s in band!” She scoffed, mumbling under her breath a little. “hey bands not so bad! they’re pretty good and guard is amazing” You huffed, furrowing your eyebrows and pushing your friend slightly.

“look just because you almost did color guard your freshman year doesn’t mean you have to defend marching band” she laughed as you rolled your eyes.

“it’s fun okay!” You defended yourself laughing at her mock annoyance of you.

As you walked down the strairs you noticed how peter and Ned took the elevator down, you shrugged it off and continued your way into the orchestra room. You told the teacher you played bass, she quickly assigned an instrument for school and one to take home and got you the music you were missing.

The final bell of the day rang and you packed your stuff up. Getting ready to call your best friend back home and tell her all that had happened today.

You and sami walked out of school, waving bye to her as she entered her moms car. “You sure you don’t want a ride?” She asked for the fifth time and you laughed.

“Yes I’m sure, I’ll take the train I’ll be fine” you smiled and said goodbye one last time, hopping on the train and quickly finding a seat, texting your best friends back home of today’s events.

-

“Ned she was so pretty! Like oh my god, her hair! and during class she said ‘that’s him!’ Oh my god she’s so cute” peter spoke to his best friend, an extra bounce in his step as they made their way to the train station.

“you know it’s unfair you use your senses to find out who likes you but you call it cheating when i want you to see if the girl from 5th period likes me, or that girl in the tuba section!” Ned scoffed throwing his hands up as peter ugly laughed softly.

“listen dude, i just think i might have a real shot with her, i just have to find a way to talk to her you know?” Peter spoke, hopping on the train with his friend, ending the conversation about girls and starting the one about building the new LEGO set he got over the weekend.

As he got down from the train with Ned it didn’t take him long to spot you, his heart racing a little faster as he saw you talking on the phone, a smile on your face.

“wait Ned shut up!” Peter spoke quickly, rushing to move closer to you. He focused his senses to hear your voice amongst the crowded train station.

“i mean yeah it’s pretty nice here, i have to take the train so that’s pretty fun, also there’s this really cute guy i saw, i have chemistry with him- no dumbass the class” you laughed.

Peters heart rate sped up as he heard you talking, were you talking about him? I mean that one football player was sitting next to him, maybe you were pointing at him. He focused once more to see if maybe, just maybe you would drop another hint.

“- yeah no way bro, i think he does sports” you spoke, going up the stairs. Peters small smile fell from his face and Ned watched intently.

“what did she say?” He quickly asked, peter sighed. “I think she was talking about charles, she said she thought he did sports, we both know I’m not the sport type” peter spoke, clutching the strap of his backpack tightly as the two headed to his apartment.

Ned put his hand reassuringly on peter shoulder, “dont man, I’m sure if it’s meant to be, fate will pull you two together” he smiled and peter looked at him.

“dude that was so wise” he smiled, Ned only winked at him in return, causing both of them to burst out laughing.

-

The next day came quickly for you, and before you knew it you were walking into AP chemistry again, heart racing as you anticipated the new seating chart.

“please for the love of any higher force put me next to the cute peter kid” you whispered, taking the seat you sat in the day before. Sami soon walked in with a smirk on her face, that immediately set off alarms in your mind.

“oh god what did you do” you spoke worried.

“oh no not me, fate” she winked before turning to face the front, peter rushing in as the bell rang and taking a seat.

“okay as you know we will have a seating chart so if you will all please line up,” Ms. Patrick spoke, naming off kids, it wasn’t until 9 kids in that you realized he was going alphabetically.

“Mr. Parker you’ll be behind Jamie” she spoke, peter stumbled as he made his way to the seat and you smiled softly at his awkwardness.

“Ms. Parks you’ll be next to peter” the teacher spoke, continuing to name out the list. You however, cough as you choke on your spit, walking to your seat with a flushed face, not wanting to look at the boy next to you.

You quickly gulped down your water, not wanting attention drawn to yourself, even though yesterday you would’ve pounced on the boy sitting next to you.

“are- are you okay?” He whispered, causing your face to turn a deeper red.

“me? Yeah I’m fine I’m really good why?” You spoke quickly, fiddling with your pencil as the teacher gave instructions on how to set the notebook up.

“you just look really nervous, don’t worry, i don’t bite” he smiled at you and you felt your heart skip a beat, Jesus his smile is so cute.

You returned his smile and quickly looked down at your notebook, cutting the small slips of paper and gluing then into the first page.

“okay write your names on the front of the notebook and then I’ll hand out your homework” the teacher spoke, handing out sharpies.

You looked at peter, seeing how his brow furrowed just a bit when he was taking notes. He glanced up and you quickly looked forward, heart racing at the thought of him knowing you snuck glances at him.

“y/n?” He asked and you looked at him quickly, face slightly red, scared he had caught you staring. “the sharpie” he spoke and you laughed, facepalming yourself mentally.

“oh yeah- uh thanks” you spoke clearing your throat, then you realized, your front cover is black.

“where the hell do i write my name” you whispered, looking to see if there was another colored sharpie.

“you can- you could write it on the inside” peter spoke, leaning over to flip your notebook cover. He smiled brightly at you and you returned it.

“oh yeah, duh, you’re smart” you smiled, chuckling softly as you write your name before handing the sharpie to the girl infront of you.

Peter watched as you wrote your name down, falling in love with the way you wrote your name, how would it look if you wrote his name down? He smiled at the way you looked taking notes, thinking the way you bit your bottom lip slightly made you look cute.

Peter blushed when he felt your eyes on him, he knew exactly how fast your heart rate became when he looked up and you thought he had caught you. Technically, he knew so you were caught, but you didn’t know that, and the way you smiled at him when he wasn’t looking made him swear he wouldn’t let you know he knew.

Suddenly, AP chemistry became your favorite class, and not because of the subject.

Peter realized that AP chemistry was all he looked forward to, because the pretty girl somehow ended up next to him. And then he smiled at himself as he swung through the streets of Queens, maybe it was fate.

part 2

[ahiddenpath]

hey hidden. I hope this question isn't weird but your job is very cool to me, so I was wondering: what exactly did you need for education to get into it, and what's it like for you?

Are-  Are you-  Are you asking me to nerd out?

THE NERDING WILL COMMENCE BELOW THE CUT!

EDIT:  Trigger warning for discussion of cancer treatments/research.

SO I am a molecular biologist.  I am currently researching immunotherapies for a biotech company.  

One thing I should emphasize is that this stuff takes an enormous team working together for years.  I don’t want anyone to think that I’m, like...  Personally producing cancer medicines.  I’m part of a team of about 400 people, working together with 20 ish years of data produced by our company and the companies we partner with.  And my boss tells me what I’m going to work on!  I design the experiment, run the experiment, and consider the data from there, but I’m not the “mastermind” for anything.  It’s usually the upper level career scientists with pHDs doing that.

Another disclaimer is that, sadly, we as humans aren’t at the “defeat cancer forever” stage.  Like, it’s not... near.  The best defense continues to be frequent screening so it can be caught and treated early (which is bad news in the states, where people can’t afford the screening because we don’t have universal health care, or they can afford it but don’t go because they have three part time jobs, none of which give benefits-  But I digress).

Oh!  And one more thing I want to tell all future science dorks, something I was super lucky to learn at age 19: follow the money.

When I was 19, I was culturing and chemically processing algae, then assessing the data.  My company at the time wanted to create biodiesel from algae, and my whole world was rocked when they told me: WE ALREADY CAN MAKE VIABLE FUEL FROM ALGAE.  The problem is that it costs about $4.50 per gallon, so it can’t compete with normal diesel (at the time, this was like 12 years ago).  

So what they wanted was algae that had the correct chemical profile for use in biodiesel, that could also be grown at tropical temperatures.  Why?  Because the algae was to be grown in sugar cane processing centers, where it’s tropical, and most of the production costs came from cooling the incubators and instruments that would grow the algae.  So they needed algae that could make diesel, but also grow in hot weather, which apparently isn’t common.

ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY!  It’s often not even about “can we do it,” but “can we do it at x cost, considering conditions hundreds of miles away.”  Crazy!

Ah, but you asked how to get into biotech!  It’s not that hard, thankfully!  I have a BS in biology.  I made sure to get good grades and all of that, and if you’re serious about biotech, you want to take classes in things like immunology, virology, any science class that can return to human health and biotech.  I will say that, while I’ve always naturally excelled at biology, I had to take more chemistry than bio!  Plus, you need math and physics...  

But here’s my best advice for biotech-interested young people:

-If you’re looking at universities while in high school, PLEASE check out what AP classes will get you out of undergrad labs.  The WORST PART about being a science kid is the labs.  For example, every bio and chem class has a lab.  The class itself usually consists of three 50 minute lectures (150 min/week), and you get 3 credits.  The lab is 170 min per week, and you only get 1 credit.  If you don’t place out of some classes with labs attached with AP credit, YOUR ASS WILL BE SITTING IN LABS FOR AT LEAST 340 MINUTES A WEEK!  AND YOU ONLY GET 2 CREDITS FOR THAT!!!!  It’s utter bullshit.

So, if you’re in high school and really serious about pursuing a science degree, check out which AP scores get you out of labs at your favorite universities, and really commit to getting 5s in those.

I was able to place out of 3 labs this way, and it played an enormous role in maintaining my sanity.

-Everyone in biotech knows EVERYONE in biotech.  It’s absolutely astounding.  But it’s a small field, centered around a few hot spots, and lots of these people have been at it for 40+ years.

Here are some of the hot spots in America (you might have to live in one of these areas to find biotech jobs, so be sure you’re down for that).

Anyway, like I said, I worked as an undergrad at a biotech.  I was so fortunate, because they paid me, I was already doing actual-factual research, and I got to know people.  And when I graduated, people went, “Oh you worked for Bob?  Let me give him a call.”  And then they did.  And then Bob said, “Oh yeah, she’s a hard worker, hire her.”

SO you need to make connections ASAP, and strive to show people your hard-working, curious, problem-solving, good-attitude-having self.  Sadly, there’s an element of luck there, for sure.  But you need to be ready to try to work in professional labs in college, which means juggling your difficult courses and school labs with work.  Hooray!

...Did I say this wasn’t hard?  I’m full of shit, aren’t I.  Looking back, all I can see is how lucky I was, and how I “only” needed a 4 year degree, but...  It really takes a lot to get here.

As for what it’s like...

I love it, it’s great, but like any job, it...  Well, it’s rough.

Here’s what I think you need to thrive in biotech, assuming you’re not put off by the stuff I’ve already covered:

-Organization, time management, and focus.  Honestly, being a lab researcher isn’t about being smart, it’s about juggling a lot of things simultaneously.  Lots of folks describe the job as “hurry up and wait,” because you rush to mix the experimental ingredients together so they can incubate for two hours before you do the next step.  And while that’s incubating, you do x, which has a few 15 minute incubations.  In those 15 minutes, you generate graphs with yesterday’s data, make records for you lab notebook, order items for next week’s experiment, print labels, or...  Any number of things.  There are ALWAYS tons of balls in the air, so organization and time management are 90% of the job.

And you need to focus, because most of the time it looks like you’re adding a single droplet of water to other droplets of water.  Almost everything you work with is a clear liquid, so you can’t go spacing out and forgetting what you’ve already added to the mix.

A typical day is to arrive at work, sit down for a while to plan out how to best use the incubation times to do other things, head into the lab, hope for incubation periods for toilet/water/food breaks, and scramble to get data processing in there somewhere.  Deadlines are usually tight, because it’s always a race to patent a medicine before one of the other 5,000 companies trying to do it can.  We all work from the shared published scientific knowledge, so there’s no...  Developing something in secret.

I’d say my job is challenging, but rewarding, especially as we come closer to generating medicines for what we call “patients with unmet needs.”  Remember how I said “follow the money?”  Sadly, often, um...  Okay I’m gonna do a really quick and loose explanation.  People have different versions of the same genes, right?  And sometimes, there are “cancer” genes- this is a really sloppy explanation, sorry.  So medicines get created for the most common mutated cancer gene first.  So say 70% of cancer patients have this mutated gene, 20% have that mutated gene, and 10% have a third mutated gene.  Guess who gets medicine made for them first?

If you guessed the largest group, you’re right!  The trouble is that big companies will then move on to the largest group for another cancer/gene group, leaving people with more rare genetic issues without treatment options beyond chemo, which many elderly or immunocompromised patients simply can’t tolerate.

My company specifically aims to help these people with no help in sight.  On the one hand, follow the money- we are doing it because we will have a market, and we can’t compete with big companies yet.  On the other, we are helping people who have no options.  I’m so grateful to use my gifts (organization, planning, focus, problem solving, and natural curiosity) to play a small, small role in hopefully helping people.  It means something to me.

On the other hand, it can be a grind, no lie.  And any high-pressure job will have colleagues who are also under pressure, and might lash out or try to throw other people under the bus when problems arise.  A certain level of emotional maturity and strength is required, and frankly, I needed therapy to get there.

Also, if you’re a female-presenting human, some people will give you shit in biotech.  Luckily, I’ve only ever had one coworker be blatantly sexist and ask me (multiple times) if I was sure I belonged here.  Unfortunately, you’re more likely to see more discrete sexism, like folks asking you to organize parties for pregnant or engaged coworkers because “you seem like you’d be good at it,” ie “you’re female and I am throwing social tasks at you so I can focus on my science, which you also have to do.”  I’ve had a lot of coworkers try so hard to corner me into doing emotional work for them.  But...  Honestly, most of this is just existing as a woman, and isn’t specific to biotech.

So yeah!  You’re gonna have to work hard, but if you have an interest in science, great organization skills, and want to play a little role in helping people who are suffering in a way that doesn’t involve direct social interaction with the hurting people...  It’s great!

Sorry for the absolute wall of text, I hope this helps!  I’m always happy to talk about this, so please ask away if you’d like.  Thanks for the ask!

[omgjasminesimone]

The Hot Exchange Student Part 1

Logan x MC (Ellie)

Next Part: Part 2

Author’s Note: I have a Logan ficlet queued to post at 7 AM PST for Logan RoDAW day, but then I had this idea and couldn’t resist writing it up. At first it was going to be a one-shot, but now I realize it has to be a series. Even though I told myself my next series will be Colt x MC (I’m still going to write that one eventually). This is my first Choices AU, since I’ve been reading so many great AUs lately and now I’m inspired!

Summary: Logan is an exchange student from Detroit. He arrives at LAX to meet his hosts for the semester, Ellie Wheeler and her father, who just so happens to be a Detective who’s very protective of his only daughter.

Word Count: 2000

“….I didn’t think we’d be hosting a boy.” Detective Wheeler complains again, as he and Ellie wait by the luggage claim at LAX for the exchange student they’re hosting this Fall semester.

Ellie adjusts the sign she’s carrying so Logan can find them. The sign simply says Logan. His application didn’t include a last name, or a photo. The only info the Wheelers have is that Logan is a high school Junior, like Ellie, and he’s coming from South Detroit High School in Michigan.

"I think they usually try to pair the same gender, so there must have been more boys than girls this semester.” Ellie explains.

“Had I known they were going to place a teenage boy in my house, I wouldn’t have agreed to do this Ellie.”

Ellie rolls her eyes. “Dad, what are you worried about? You know you can trust me. I promise you Logan will not be sneaking into my room in the middle of the night.” Considering that Ellie has yet to go out on a date, or even kiss a boy, her dad’s fears are completely unwarranted.

“I do trust you Ellie. It’s him I don’t trust.”

“You haven’t even met him yet Dad. Don’t rush to judgement so quickly. And this is going to look really good on my college applications so please don’t make him want to go back home.”

Detective Wheeler sighs, “Fine, I’ll play nice.”

“Thank you.”

Many teenage boys exit through the automatic doors from the terminal, and each time Ellie holds her breath for a moment, wondering if it’s Logan. But they all pass, giving no attention to her homemade sign. The flow of people starts to trickle, and still no Logan. Ellie frowns, lowering the sign to the floor. She turns to her dad. “Do you think he missed his flight?”

Before Detective Wheeler can respond, another teenage boy comes out of the terminal. He’s carrying a backpack, rolling a yellow and black carry-on bag. He glances around for a moment, and then his brown eyes meet hers from across the room. She tentatively lifts the sign again, he reads it, and then he smiles at her.

Her heart literally skips a beat. Okay, maybe her dad was right to be concerned about this whole arrangement.

Logan is insanely hot. His hair is on the long side, and there’s really no word for his brown locks besides luscious. His eyes are piercing, his smile charming, his arms which are left exposed by his tight white t-shirt veiny and muscular. She can only assume there are more muscles under the t-shirt. Ellie prays her face isn’t as red as she thinks it must be as he approaches.

“The Wheelers?” Logan asks. Oh God, she even likes his voice.

Words fail her, so she just nods enthusiastically. Logan smiles at her again, or is that a smirk? Why is he so hot?!

Detective Wheeler offers his hand for a handshake, “Nice to meet you Logan. Detective Kyle Wheeler. And this is my daughter Ellie.”

Logan shakes the offered hand, “Nice to meet you both. Thanks for hosting me.”

Ellie clears her throat, hoping she can speak to him without stuttering. “Do we need to wait for your checked bag?”

“Nah, I didn’t check a bag. I don’t own a lot of stuff.” Logan answers, adjusting his backpack.

“Well, let’s get back to the house then. Welcome to Los Angeles.” Mr. Wheeler greets.

…

..

.

“And this will be your room.”  Ellie concludes the house tour, turning on the light in what had been their guest bedroom and then standing aside so Logan can pass.

Logan drops his backpack to the floor, leaving his carry on by the door as he walks around the room, surveying the space with his hands in his jean pockets. “This is really nice.” He’s making an observation, not complimenting the house, Ellie notes.

“Different than your room in Detroit?” Ellie asks to make conversation.

“Very.” He replies shortly.  

When he doesn’t offer anything else, Ellie figures she should let him settle in. “Well, I’ll let you get some sleep. You must be tired from the flight.”

 “I’m not that tired. It’s only a five-hour flight.” He sits on the mattress, bouncing a little to test it out. “This is so soft.” He notes, leaning back on his hands. His gaze suddenly turns to her. “So, what’s your deal?”

Ellie frowns, puzzled as she leans against the wall. “My deal?”

“Like, what made you want to host an exchange student? It’s kind of a weird thing to do, open up your home to some stranger from across the country.” Logan clarifies.

Ellie shrugs. “We have a big house. It’s just me and my dad. I thought it would be nice to have some more life in the house.” She doesn’t mention that since her mom died a couple of years ago, having all her dad’s focus on her makes her anxious, the house is too quiet, they sometimes sit at dinner together in an uncomfortable silence. Ellie also doesn’t mention her Langston college application, how this will show her ability to emphasize, mentor, and all those other buzzwords she’s planning to use in her admission essay.

Logan’s stare starts to unnerve her. Ellie clears her throat. “Why’d you want to come? Do you have dreams of Los Angeles stardom?”

Logan smirks at her. “Nah. They don’t actually let you pick the place you know. I just figured wherever they sent me, had to be better than my situation in Detroit.”

She’s about to ask him what his situation in Detroit is, but her dad appears in the open doorway. “What do you think Logan? Is the room up to your standards? Sorry it’s a little undecorated, Ellie and I weren’t sure what teenage boys like nowadays.”

Logan’s gaze flickers to Ellie for a split second before he looks around the room. “This is exactly what I like.”

…

..

.

“Hmmm….we have Spanish and P.E. together, but that’s it.” Ellie notes as she looks over Logan’s schedule after they collect it from the registration table outside the building.

Logan looks around the Mar Vista Prep parking lot, there are some really nice cars here. There most be a lot of spoiled rich kids at this school. “Probably because you’re smarter than me. I see a lot of AP classes on your schedule.” Logan responds as they head into the building.

Ellie blushes. “I’m not that smart you know. I just study a lot.”

“I’ve noticed.” Logan arrived in Los Angeles a week before the school year started. Ellie has been a great host, taking him to the beach, In N’ Out, Griffith Observatory, all the tourist hot spots during the day, but every night she studies. It’s kind of bizarre to him. He’s never met anyone like her before.

Logan follows Ellie through the halls. “This is your first period class Logan. We’re on block schedule, so I’ll meet you here in 2 hours and we can walk to 3rd period Spanish together.”

“Can’t wait.” Logan flirts, enjoying the rush of red that floods her cheeks. She’s fun to rile up. Ellie is cute, but not the kind of girl he usually goes for. In Detroit, he picks up girls at sideshows. Those girls don’t spend their Friday evenings studying for the PSATs. Additionally, he’s living with her and her father, so it would definitely be a bad idea to move past innocent flirtation. Despite this, his gaze falls to her pink lips anyway.

He’s making her nervous. He seems to have that effect on her. “Have a good day!” Ellie waves before covering her blushing face, hurrying off to her own class.

In third period Spanish, Logan meets Ingrid.

“You’re Ellie’s exchange student? I thought they weren’t supposed to mix genders! They gave me this awkward girl from Canada who never speaks, while Ellie gets a hottie like you.” Ingrid complains.

“Maybe if you were nicer to her, she’d speak to you Ingrid.” Ellie interrupts, drumming her fingers against her desk irritably.

Logan raises an eyebrow. Seems like those two have a whole thing.

Ingrid glares at Ellie, who she wasn’t speaking to. “They probably figured you were the safest to mix with Wheeler because obviously nothing is going to happen with a prude like you.” Ingrid retorts.

The classroom fills with snickers at Ellie expense, which Logan doesn’t like. But before he can say anything, Ingrid continues. “Hey Logan, Brent is throwing a back to school party this weekend at his house. His parents are in Europe. Brent throws the best parties, and it will be a good chance to meet people. I worry you won’t get the full LA high school experience being stuck with Ellie. Most of us actually do more than just study.”

“The best parties? Ellie, how are Brent’s parties?” Logan turns to look at her, and she freezes under his gaze.

“I wouldn’t know. I’m never invited.” She reveals.

Logan turns back to Ingrid. “Is Ellie invited?”

Ingrid sputters for a moment. “I mean….I don’t know why you’d even want her there, but sure. Brent’s parties are an open invitation kind of thing.”

Logan leans back in his seat, smiling charmingly at Ingrid. “We’ll think about it.”

…

..

.

Ellie sighs as she adjusts her black lace romper, putting her ombre hair into an Ariana Grande inspired high ponytail instead of her usual braid. She shouldn’t have let Logan talk her into going to this party. Parties aren’t her scene. Not that she’s ever been to a real high school party, but she’s seen them in movies. She assumes there will be loud music, and underage drinking, and maybe 7 minutes in heaven? That happens in some of the movies, that or spin the bottle. That’s not her scene. She’ll probably just stand awkwardly in the corner with Riya and Darius all night while Logan grinds on Ingrid.

A cheery knock sounds on her door, and she opens it for Logan. He’s dressed the same as usual, albeit darker jeans. But there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken. As always, Logan looks really good. He gives her a quick look over. “You look really nice Ellie.” God, he’s smiling at her again. She tries to fight down her blush that arises with such simple praise. She really needs to get a grip.

“My dad wants to talk to us before we leave.”

Logan nods, “Lead the way.”

Ellie and Logan head down to the living room and take a seat on the couch. Mr. Wheeler sits in the recliner across from the pair.

“You look nice Ellie.” Her dad comments, taking in her outfit.

“Thanks Dad.”

Mr. Wheeler turns his gaze to Logan. “Logan, you’ll look out for Ellie right? Make sure no one slips anything into her punch, that there aren’t strange boys around her, that-“

“Dad.” Ellie interrupts. “I’ll be fine.”

Logan nods. “I’ve got her Mr. Wheeler.”

“Okay, you guys need to be back by 10:00 PM”

Logan frowns. “You’re giving us a 10:00 PM curfew on a Friday night?”

Mr. Wheeler frowns back. “What’s your curfew at home Logan?”

“I don’t have one.” Logan answers.

“Well, I’m clearly not as lax as your parents. Nothing good happens after 10:00 PM, so I would prefer you both be home by then.”

“It’s already 8:00 now, and we have a 10:00 curfew?” Logan continues to challenge.

Mr. Wheeler’s eyes narrow, he’s not used to back talk. Ellie always does what he says. “10:30 then.” He replies.

Logan looks like he wants to argue more, but Ellie knows her dad much better than he does. Mr. Wheeler’s next move will be not letting them go at all. She places a hand on Logan’s knee to stop him from saying anything else. Her dad catches that, frowning, so Ellie quickly takes her hand off of Logan.

“10:30. We’ve got it.” Ellie agrees.

Riya’s distinctive honk sounds from outside, breaking the tension in the room. Ellie quickly gets up, Logan following after her. “Bye Dad, I love you!” Ellie calls as the pair head out the door.

Detective Wheeler just frowns as he watches them go.

…

..

.

Author’s Note: I’m aiming to put out part 2 on Logan RoDAW day, let me know if you’d liked to be tagged!

Taglist (Logan x MC/RoD, I think this is right, let me know if you want to be added or removed!): @choicesarehard @ifyouseekheart @brightpinkpeppercorn @regina-and-happiness @choicelogansbitch @flyawayboo @fairydustandsarcasm @alesana45 @umiumichan @maxwellsquidsuit @professorortegasstudent @god-save-the-keen @mrsmckenziesworld @paisleylovergirl @iplaydrake @sinclaire-made-me-sin @hazah @lovehugsandcandy @desiree-0816 @cora-nova @justdani14 @lady-dianelewis @emceesynonymroll

[linphd]

pirate!tomura x pirate!reader | master of the seas [potc AU]

tomura shigaraki x reader

female reader

Once Tomura and his ship members have no choice but get saved by another pirate, he gets pissed off.

no warning

the lyrics are from master of the seas from ice age 4

pirate of the caribbean AU

Here you are on a boat,

you're adrift, you're afloat,

one might even say you're stuck.

Well I don't want to gloat,

but I would like to note,

that you're in luck.

         ''We have no other choice !'' Dabi yelled. ''No, there must be another way !'' Tomura shouted back at him. ''Captain Tomura Shigaraki, we can't control the ship anymore, the storm is too strong.'' Kurogiri said, trying to sound as relax as possible in the context. Of course going through a storm while controlling a ship was complicated, but when your captain was Tomura Shigaraki, it was even worst. He was too stubborn to understand that nobody could control the weather.  

            After that, everything became black. The mast got broken by a lightning, and it had fallen on most of the members. That's why Tomura didn't understand when he heard music and people laughing, when he woke up. He opened his eyes and understood ; he wasn't on his ship anymore. He turned to his left to see Dabi, that was stuck in ropes -just like him. ''Good morning Captain. A nice lady saved us.'' The word 'nice' worked as 'scary' in that sentence, but Dabi was right ; Tomura was going to find out right after.

You've been saved by the ape

that rules these waters.

So forget about your wives and daughters !

           ''Ahahah ! You woke up ! Now that you are all awoken, I can finally introduce myself !'' A lady exclaimed -she looked hysterical, and it looked like Toga was quite pleased with that. ''I'm Captain (Y/N) (L/N), Captain of the Black Pearl ! And yes, I've inherited this ship from the great Chisaki Kai !'' She stared at Tomura, waiting for his answer. ''Why are we here ?'' Was all he asked when he finally spoke up -after 3 minutes of a staring contest.

            ''You've been saved by my comrades and I ! You guys were drowning, your ship has been destroyed ! I don't know if we could save all of you though, you were the only ones we could see in that storm.'' She looked proud of herself, but Magne, Spinner and Compress were obviously missing. ''3 of us are missing.'' Dabi said, knowing that his Captain didn't like to be saved nor helped.

                ''And now, it's else you're staying here with us and become members of my ship, else you don't want to give up your Captain title and fight with me ! But you'll obviously lose.'' She said, pointing to Tomura's leg ; it had bled a lot. He couldn't tell that it was broken, but it had been severely hurt. ''I know you're the Captain, your nice friend told me.'' That time, she pointed to Dabi. Could he never shut up ?

He's the big and scary,

elegant and hairy,

fear inspiring, years till' retiring,

looting stealing, banana peeling,

undisputed master of the seas !

           ''I'm the Captain of anything I'm stepping on ! You're not going to defeat me even with my leg in that state !'' She giggled at the man's rage. ''No problem, you can stay here, without being able to move and obviously in a uncomfortable position, and not drink nor eat. Tell me when you give up so you don't die.'' That said, she walked away, dancing to one of her mate's music. That ship was too loud. Dabi looked amused. Of course he was !

               ''Don't ever think of it.'' The white-haired Captain said, seeing his amusement. ''Why not ? I'm not the Captain. And that ships looks much better than ours.'' Toga nodded. ''Yep ! It's not in ruins, and is actually floating much better. We had water on our ship because there were holes everywhere.'' The blonde continued. ''Hey ! We wanna join in !'' Dabi exclaimed, before Tomura was able to say something.

           That said, the members of the ship took the ropes off Dabi, Toga, Kurogiri and Twice -who couldn't speak because he had a gag in his mouth ; he had surely annoyed those people on the ship- making them able to move on their own. Toga sighed in relief.

He rescued us, he saved our butts !

For that we owe our lives to Gutt,

and assuming he doesn't kill you,

you will owe him too !

            After the whole day not saying anything to anyone and watching his teammates enjoying their day with those on the Black Pearl, Tomura felt thirsty and hungry -everyone could hear his stomach growl. ''Are you seriously that hungry already ?'' (Y/N) asked him. ''We didn't have much food on our own ship. It was in ruins.'' Toga commented, taking a bite of a whole steak. ''Oh, and I thought it was because of the storm.'' The woman giggled.

            ''Shut up Toga !'' Tomura finally said. She simply frowned, and kept eating. ''Come on, Captain ! Agree to stay so we can eat.'' Twice said. And immediately, he got pushed on the floor, throwing his food in the process. A sword was touching the tip of his throat. ''On my ship, I'm the Captain. If he's not on his own ship, he's just whatever his name is.'' (Y/N) said. Her gaze has changed ; she had totally changed her facial expression within a second. Twice nodded, quietly, and she let him get up.

Here we are on ship,

moving at quite a clip,

through the ever shifting ice.

Come along on a trip !

That's a hint, that's a tip,

that's good advice.

              Tomura had finally managed to fall asleep. It was night anyway, and any sound could be heard anymore. He was scared of mermaids that could've seen him and tried to sink the Black Pearl, but it wasn't his ship anyway, so he relaxed. Well, that was until he felt something. He woke up instantly, looking at his wounded foot ; (Y/N) was applying something. ''Don't jump like that ! We cleaned this when we found you and we have to do it everyday. You're still bleeding a bit.''

               However, Tomura kicked her hands away with that same foot. ''Wow, okay okay ! Don't let me save you and just die. It happened many times, I'm used to it !'' She stood up. ''Denki Kaminari.'' The Captain laughed, a crazy eye, still. ''Well, that ain't me-'' she got cut off by the man. ''I know, I know ! I just know he used to be on another ship. I recognized him.'' She nodded.

               ''Yeah. There was a tornado, and we found him and his teammates, and they didn't want to stay here so we had to kill them. But Denki, he agreed to stay on the Black Pearl, and since he owes me his life, he has to obey me forever.'' She said it very casually. Tomura started to understand why she was called the master of the seas and had inherited the Black Pearl.

In a world that's going under,

To survive you must learn to plunder.

Luckily that's my field of expertise.

He's the best !

           Of course he had heard of her before ! The person inheriting Chisaki's ship is obviously known for it. He didn't want to give her that satisfaction. But suddenly, she cupped his cheeks. ‘’Why don’t you stay here just like him ? I never had a Captain staying !’’ He didn’t have time to reply, though. ‘’And your scars ! I love them ! Stay with me, please please please !’’ This time, he got the occasion to say something back. ‘’You’re a crazy bitch.’’

She released his cheeks, laughing. ‘’Of course I am ! I wouldn’t have been able to become the master of the seas ! See all that gold and all that food I have ? There’s gold everywhere ! Jewels, and cash, and clothes !’’ Tomura sighed, which only made her even more amused. ‘’What’s wrong ? You don’t wanna die ? But you don’t wanna stay neither ?’’ She almost sang that.

He frowned. ‘’If I stay, it’ll be only to take the power from you, someday.’’ She giggled. ‘’And I’ll be very happy to fight with you once you’ll recover !’’ She smiled at him, which made Tomura finally relax, putting his foot back on the floor. ‘’So you’re staying ?’’ He nodded, hesitantly, after she started to heal his wound once again. ‘‘So cool ! We have Tomura Shigaraki on board !’’ He smiled. She didn’t want to say he was known neither.

2 potc stories in a row but it’s the only 2 I’ve got so they’re following each other 👉🏻👈🏻

[finderskeepersff]

63. Part 5

Things have become slightly awkward between us all, I mean of course it would have because I don’t care what they say, I will be asking Cassius and if he says no then no what can I say, I don’t care for the club anyways “my sister, my fucking sister” Jasmine yelped out “you made it? I text you the address five times” Jasmine hugged me “I know but you know me, you out here? Oh shit, bring back memories huh” I had to laugh “somewhat, how are you? You look so well” holding Jasmine close, I miss her “you think? You know what, I am trying. I am much more happier being me, being away from my family. I needed it, I needed to get away” Jasmine moved back from the hug “you look happier, you lost weight?” I looked her up and down “I did, you like?” nodding my head “you are popping, but you know Amira, these are my friends. You know them” waving at them “anyways, I am glad you came. I didn’t think you would have, you too busy for me now” I can see she has a overnight bag “I’m not, I am actually doing my own thing here. I got a job, at a gas station currently but I am getting there. Oh and I have a story to tell you, it’s a groupie story” I had to laugh, this is Jasmine all over “you are crazy, but come in. We are renting this out thanks to my lovely friend Mia” she is not happy and neither is the rest of the girls, I mean whatever I guess “this is nice, Mia chose well. Not cheap here either” stepping inside the home, I can hear a lot of people talking, I mean like a party type “I know you ain’t having a party here” Mia said, Olivia did not.

Walking into the living area, there is at least five guys and then the very guy that left in the morning “came for round two?” I said looking at him, he just smiled “come and join us?” he said “I’ll pass” feeling an arm rest on my shoulder “typical Cali niggas, tuh” Jasmine said “I am actually going to beat you myself” Mia said as she started taking her earrings off “Mia, stop. Leave it, she wants to do that she can. Olivia has always been unstable, we been knew that. I think she is waiting for Kenton to come, and we have seen this situation before, toxic asses” turning aorund “come” I said to Jasmine “I am not staying down here, they are going to argue it out, I just don’t care. This whole trip has been a disaster Jasmine” walking up the steps “why? Don’t say that, Cali is always good” rolling my eyes “not when people are going through things. I feel like there is a alot of broken souls reunited, including me so there is that” I am pregnant and fucking tired, I can’t be bothered. Had that disagreement with Mia and I am done, Amira is high and Olivia is tossing her pussy around so I will go and do my thing upstairs.

Walking out of the bathroom and throwing my oversized shirt on the bed “no way!?” Jasmine said “no way are you just fat, you are pregnant!?” Jasmine spat, I forgot that she don’t know “uh yeah?” I breathed out smiling, I totally didn’t tell her this “oh my gosh! Cassius does not wait, come here” Jasmine ran at me “congratulations, another one!? I mean I understand why he don’t want to wait, this is so fucking good, such beautiful news. We Warrens haven’t had that in so long, I am so happy! For you and and him, look at you, you look so cute pregnant” Jasmine held my hands “oh my god, wait till my mom hears. Another baby, I miss you guys so much. I don’t even know what Cartier looks like anymore, how is Cassius? We have so much to talk to about” it’s nice to see and hear such happiness for this bundle of joy I got in my stomach “I am so emotional” Jasmine walked off “so much has happened, I mean it’s just so much. It hurts when I think about it but we have this blessing, even though Cassius hates my ass but I am so happy for him” Jasmine wiped the tears that fell “it’s nice to hear that, Jasmine I don’t think he does hate you. He just wanted all of you gone, he has a little heart. Trust me, so much has happened” walking over to her slowly as I sat next to her on the bed.

“You really think he don’t hate me?” nodding my head “I really don’t think he does Jasmine, he was in that moment but Carnell, he won’t forgive and your mom I think there could be space for her in his heart but he was so hurt by her, you know. The man abused him and she chose him, but anyways. How is your mom and dad? I have not heard from them I mean Monique tried but she left, never came back” I would like to know they are ok “my dad is at Walmart still, they are staying with family, my mom is not the same. Josiah, he’s actually in LA. He is living out his little modelling thing. But I guess we are getting by, it split the family up anyways. But I miss my family home so much but how is Cassius?” Jasmine asked “hard, he went back on drugs, life has been cruel to him and I hurt for him but he is ok now, he went to rehab and he got better for himself. And I am here, he is looking after Cartier” Jasmine smiled “I am glad he is ok, he is actually looking after his son on his own? You got him trained” I laughed out “trained? I mean I wish, he does what he need and he does help when he can but I love your brother so much, he means the world to me and I miss them both so much” I smiled “I can see you do, you have been his blessing and look at that! Two babies, oh god, I am so happy” I chuckled “thank you Jasmine, I need to call him actually” he did call me earlier and I kind of forgot.

Pressing my phone to my ear as it rang out, I hope he picks up his phone and not moody that I had to go because I was shopping “hey” he picked up “hey baby, I am free now. I called as quick as I could now that I am back, why did you call anyways? Well facetime me?” pacing the room “just wanted to say sorry I disconnected, you know me I worry a lot but are you ok?” he is so cute “I am, I want to be back with you both. Is Cartier being nice to you? I mean besides biting, I don’t know why he likes biting you, I think because you don’t give him that look of don’t you dare, he probably thinks you’re funny” he doesn’ try to bite me “I think it is, he does that a lot. He bites and then watches me but Cartier is being good, he is being daddys boy, he is on the floor playing. We are going to go out again today, I am actually enjoying myself” least one of us is “I am happy you and Cartier are bonding, where are you going both anyways?” I am jelous “we going to get some food, we having a daddy and son date. This little nigga been out every night also people are so helpful, this lady thought I was a single dad, it’s was funny” pulling a face “you been flirting with other women?” I questioneed “not exactly, Cartier been pulling the girls not me, no ma’am” I bet his ass been loving it “sure, but honestly I am happy you have been having a good time but I called because” I paused “well Amira has been calling her connects in the club business and well, A$AP Rocky is hosting tonight and she got us VIP, and she wants us to go” I hope he doesn’t get too annoyed with that “wow, y’all been clubbing a lot. Tell Amira she ain’t shit by the way” he ain’t happy, that tone in his voice, he is not happy “I am not happy” I knew he wouldn’t be “but I guess you go, be careful. I will be worried” I am shocked he even said go but I know he is hating it “you want to say no, I know you” I know him “have fun” he avoided the question.

So to say, I am not a fan of this guy I mean he is ok but still. I mean at least Jasmine is with me “you never told me, the groupie story!” I shouted over the music in the club “oh, so. I was in a club like this, and I don’t know who the fuck this guy was but he said he was a rapper, which he ain’t, probably was but let’s just say his jewellery looked fake but he had a whole section full of bitches, so anyways. I ended up in there, so I ended at his condo, full of girls. I am just there for the free drink and weed, and then I realised it ain’t no free ride, he was like threesome, I goes no and ran off, but anyways. The following morning, I was getting a coffee, he sees me walking and he tried to kidnap me saying I owed him weed money, I was like the fuck I do. Anyways I am still alive to tell the story, it was funny because one of his people tried to pick me up, I screamed and threw coffee at him. So there is that” I am staring at Jasmine like she is crazy, how calmly she is telling me this “ain’t you scared?” I questioned “of what? I lived with Cassius and do you know how many times I have been threatened and nearly died, I’ve seen worse” she got a point.

I take morning with Cartier then nights, morning Cartier is such a breeze. He is so goofy in the morning and more loving, I don’t know who that kid is in the evening because he is some devil’ child now that he can crawl. I can’t even look away for once second, he is gone straight away if I do “why your momma call this bubzy, it’s stupid” grabbing his little monkey toy and held it up “you woke up early today” I am slightly tired, I would like to have slept more but he is awake now. The bed is full of toys, I am just laid on my side on the bed watching him. I don’t want to fall asleep either “Hey, son. Say dada” placing his toy down, he ain’t even playing with any of his toys he is just staring at them. He looked up at me and smiled “aww you goofy as shit boy” Cartier fell forward and made his way over to me “you coming to get bubzy?” he ignored the monkey and came over to me “you want dada, them other toys ain’t shit. I get it, I am the best” he reached up and used my arm to get up “I ain’t about to be your climbing frame again” Cartier shakily shuffled across “what do you want boy?” looking at him, he fell forward and on me, near head butting me “I ain’t having you biting me again” using my hand I moved him back down “you stay there” looking at his wrist and at the bracelet, that Kyle got him. Cartier gurgled placing his hands in his mouth before falling to the side “such a fat baby, come” getting off of the bed “let’s go down and feed you, hopefully your momma is good in Cali” reaching over the bed and grabbing Cartier “heyyy dada” picking him up “you daddy boy yeah” pressing a kiss on Cartier’ cheek, you know what. I ain’t going to lie but this is a mess, I mean this home is a mess. I still got my old boxers on the floor in the bedroom “shall we get someone to clean for us? I ain’t doing this” walking around the pile of clothes.

Cartier loves to make so much noise, honestly. Him and his damn high chair tray, all he keep on doing it slapping his hands against it “I am here” sitting down across from him “I think I warmed your oatmeal up too much, so we going to wait” placing his oatmeal on the table “today we got Banana oatmeal, you going to grow up strong son” turning to him “say dada then, you know you want too” he is staring at me like I am crazy, like I swore at him “let’s see what momma been up too, you think she been good. If not, then we going to have problems” unlocking my phone, tapping on Instagram and the first thing to come up is Sofia and “Jasmine” pulling a face seeing them both, they met up then. Sofia looks nice, liking the picture and scrolling “oh your momma being fancy now, she met the man himself. I could have been there with her, but no” locking my phone “I am stuck with you, let’s test this oatmeal out” grabbing his bowl, Cartier is greedy, I can hear his breathing heavily from here now he has seen the oatmeal. Putting some of the oatmeal on the baby spoon “this is nasty” testing a little and pulling a face, hearing Cartier gurgling “you think this is funny? It’s not nice” moving my head back quick “that is hot, you outta luck” we got to wait a little longer now, I really think I should tidy this house up.

“You know when I think of Cassius, I didn’t think this” Ethan said, his complaining ass “you mean come to the aquarium? When you have kids then you will know, I want to do shit with him. Or maybe I wanted to come? Just stay away from me, I don’t want people thinking we are a gay couple doing this” I did say I was going to tidy the house but I didn’t I ended up wanting to take Cartier out again, I mean I felt the need to take him out. Even though he probably won’t remember, he will have memories, well I will anyways “so what is your next move, once Sofia is back” Ethan asked “my next move is to celebrate Christmas with my family and then it’s go time, I am not rushing this. Just I need you to get those pictures of Kalia doing the deed, she wants the money right?” its actually so cool seeing fishes, it’s crazy “yeah I will get that done, I need to go back to Brooklyn for that. I just need to know a timeline that is all” least Cartier is awake for this “look at that son, oh wow boy! Is that a shark” this bitch is just floating over us “imagine if the glass broke” I shuddered at the thought “after Christmas Ethan” pushing the stroller.

Picking Cartier out of the stroller “my boy” kissing his cheek, walking over to the glass slowly as I turned Cartier in my arms “you see these fishes, look” I pointed, Cartier probably thinking what the fuck is this shit. Holding him near the glass as the coloured fish swam by “oh wow” Cartier placed his hands on the glass staring “it ain’t cheap you know” Ethan stood at the side of me “what ain’t?” I questioned “Kalia’ hospital bill, she need to be jumping through hoops. We use her” I sniggered “I will be getting my drugs imported here, she will be helping me or I will cut off her money that she needs. It’s simple, Imagine it, imagine all of the drugs just flowing. Having all the details they have on me, I just need to get her on my own. But continue to scare her” Cartier slapping the shit of the glass “awww it’s a seahorse, it’s cute” looks lonely as shit on it’s own “you going to make history Cassius, I just know it” I hope I do, I just need to take my time with it.

I laughed to myself “who knew penguins were dope” typing out a caption for the gram picture ‘The day we met a penguin, Cassius and Cartier Chronicles #Theboy’ it was kind of dope to have a picture next to a penguin, I mean shit is weird but cool at the same time but things like that with my son, I will remember always. Pressing send on the picture “I think little don is tired now, he is out now” Ethan said as he pushed the stroller “you make being a dad a breeze, not lying. It makes me want to be a dad” I chuckled “people make it hard, it’s not hard. I mean all they want is love. If you got that in your heart then you will be ok with that” I pointed at Ethan “now you like pushing the stroller” walking behind him “I am telling you, you make being a dad a breeze, you’re a good dad. Like you fun, every day you took him out and you ain’t been scared of it” it’s nice that he sees that “thank you, I appreciate it. To know I am not my dad” I am different “I mean if Cartier was a girl, I may have to keep her at home. He’s the boy you see, he can hang with me like that. If that was a girl, I would handle with care a lot more. They are delicate” what if Sofia is having a girl, I didn’t think of that actually she could be.

[mrjennifer]

Writing of the Week. Week One: New

The prompt for week one was new.

1. New

              To me 2020 sounds like the most futuristic year since 2000, but in reality, I’m at a high school friend’s New Year’s Eve party two months after my childhood home burned down in a fire. Can you even call it a wildfire anymore if it blows through towns like a stiff breeze?

              I had just moved back in with my parent’s that summer, finishing my final two years of college studying linguistics. I hadn’t gotten a job yet and I had nowhere to go, so I went back.

              Home hadn’t changed much since I’d been gone. The mint had gotten out of control on the side yard and instead of a front lawn, there was gravel, bushy grasses, and cacti.

              “It saves on the water bill,” my dad said when I asked about it.

              He would never say it was to save the water itself. If it wasn’t for money, it wasn’t for anything.

              Take me moving back home. I paid a small amount of rent, far less than I would in the real world, and I helped with chores around the house. I was cheaper than hired labor, my dad would say as I emptied a full lawnmower bag into the green waste bin. The backyard was still grass.

              We had many arguments about how I couldn’t or didn’t find a job. I know part of it was that I focused on coursework my final year when other folks were interviewing. My dad was convinced it was because my studies were career-less.

              I tried early on to contextualize my academic interests with something someone would pay me to do. I knew I loved linguistics, so I thought maybe I could pair it with computer science. The problem was I hated programming. Everything about code made me frustrated and clammy. I would be up late in my bed, illuminated by the cold light of my laptop while frantically trying to get the output I’d intended.

              Then the house burned down in a fire, something that we’d come to fear each October ever since the altogether surprising fire storm in 2017. My parents up and moved out of the state, no longer feeling any attachment to a place that would scorn them like that, and I had to rent out a bedroom in a house full of strangers paid for by serving wine at a tasting room, a job I was very happy to have gotten. At least I’d successfully decluttered, a resolution I could firmly tick off before even starting the year.

              So here, now, I am shoving my face with charcuterie tidbits, getting plumb drunk on other people’s champagne, and listening to the parents of people I went to high school with talk about the people they know who’d lost their homes. They react with their heads cocked, brows crinkled with a surface-level compassionate, “Oh, how sad.”

              I am one of them, obviously, but I decide not to tell them that because it seems like it would bring them down to know a displaced was among them.

              Then I hear a voice coming from the living room, across the kitchen from me.

              “The world isn’t some warm, soft ear to whisper your sweet nothings into anymore,” the voice says. It has my full attention.

              I peek my head out of the kitchen and see her. She still has that swooping nose, the mole on her chin, eyebrows darker than her complexion would indicate. Her hair is dyed red now, fading slightly, but I know that voice. It’s Kara Young.

              She had been in my classes throughout high school. In those times she had been opinionated, a know-it-all, and she voraciously read romance novels whenever she was bored in class. My junior year I was hopelessly in love with her. Not her actually, I didn’t know her that well, but what I conceived of her.

              I had always been kind of annoyed by her, but eventually she’d grabbed so much of my attention that I decided that annoyance had been a defense mechanism for my true feelings.

              She dated a lot of people in high school but never me.

              “No,” she says, arguing with a boy wearing a college sweatshirt, probably someone’s younger brother. “The world is a tough leather bag that you can’t take anything out of that you didn’t put in first.”

              He widens his eyes and wrinkles his face in irritation. Clearly he is no longer interested listening to her.

              “You know as a society we’ve been systematically degrading our soil for years. Somehow homeowners have been convinced that one, they should grow a monoculture of grass on their land instead of say fruit trees or lettuce or beans ��� anything useful – and two, that they should cut this grass with powered equipment and throw that grass out into a bin where any of its conceivable usefulness is taken away. It’s all backwards.” She flings her hand into the air dramatically.

              “Who would want to keep their grass clippings?” the boy says, having paid enough attention to continue to argue.

              “It could be used as a natural fertilizer, in compost. If you just leave it be it’s better than having the city haul it off away from the land that produced it.” She is cupping a glass of red wine and it sloshes about as she angrily gesticulates.

              I’d heard about her older brother as told about by our AP English Literature teacher as either a cautionary tale or some sort of retrospective. He’d decided to forgo college and instead work at a local farm collective. Our teacher explained that the boy had been heavily inspired by Walden and that as a teacher he was conflicted about his influence. I wonder if Kara was wooed by the farm life too.

              I realize now that the conversation has gone quiet and I’ve been staring at her and now she is looking at me.

              I shake my empty champagne flute at her and head back into the kitchen. I feel like I’m back in high school doing things that don’t make sense because I’m not sure how people work yet. I set the glass down on the counter next to the sink and snake around some women taking a fresh baked lasagna out of the oven.

              Ah yes, the new years tradition of too much booze and a whole tray of lasagna.

I walk along the dark hallway past the family room, seeing a ring of light around the bathroom door. My escape plan is foiled. I keep walking, out into the cool garage.

              I open the fridge there. This will be my excuse. It’s starting to make sense now. Empty champagne flute wave means that I’m out and would prefer a beer.

              I’m in the fridge scooting aside energy drinks when I hear the door to the garage open.

              “I was hoping I would find you out here.”

              It’s Kara’s voice. I stay in the fridge knowing I’ll need to come out soon.

              “Hey,” I say. I grab two cans of craft beer. I exit the fridge. “Here,” I say, turning to face her. She’s wearing a pointed party hat with a little elastic band under her chin.

              She takes the beer and leans against the wall between the steps and the plywood shelving. She’s looking lanky, her head cocked.

              “What are you doing back in town?” she asks.

              “I, uh, work at a winery,” I say.

              She nods loosely. “I moved back too.”

              “Do you live with your parents?” I ask.

              She shakes her head. “Did you ever meet my brother?” She asks, “Andy?” She seems restless, her body constantly moving.

              I shake my head. “I heard about him,” I say.

              “We live together,” she says. “We have some property a little north of here. It’s a bit in the sticks, but I like it.”

              “Was it affected by the fire?” I ask.

              “Only smoke,” she says. Her voice is becoming raspier, almost a whisper.

              I nod and finally open my beer with a hiss.

              “You lost your house,” she says. Her voice gives out at the end.

              I nod as I take a long sip.

              “I am sorry about that,” she says. She looks into my eyes and I don’t feel like I’m in high school anymore.

              “Why are we here?” I hear myself ask.

              “At this party? I guess we had nothing better to do.” She takes the party hat off and rubs the underside of her chin. “Do you want to try it on?” she says, holding the hat up, still leaning against the wall.

              “Sure.” I smile.

              She comes to me, stretching out the elastic. “Lean down,” she says. “You’re too tall.”

              I lean down and she puts the hat on me. Her fingers are cold against the bottom of my chin as she adjusts the elastic.

              She smiles up at me, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “You look great,” she says. Then she gets on her toes, puts her hands on my shoulders, and kisses me.

              It isn’t something slobbery and drunk. I can taste the IPA on her lips as I’m sure she can on mine, but I don’t feel like we’re outside of ourselves.

              She steps back and then resumes her position against the wall.

              “Do you still read romance novels?” I ask.

              She purses her lips bemusedly, her eyes glittering. “Yes,” she says. “And I plant trees, I argue with meatheads, and I still want to know more than the other people I’m in a room with. But I’m happy now.”

              “I’m glad,” I say.

              “Are you happy?” she asks.

              I can’t look at her in the eyes anymore. My eyes shift until they find a crack in the paved garage floor. “No,” I say, “but I think I could get there.”

              She peels herself away from the wall and turns towards the steps leaving the garage. “You should come to my property sometime,” she says. “I find it helps with those kinds of things.”

              I follow her up the cement steps, back into the party.

Prompts for the rest of the month:

2. outdoors 

3. bend 

4. build